Major shake up needed

Opinion Alert​

Before I start, two points, this isn't a thread calling for Lennon's head and neither it is a reaction just to last nights game, it's something that i've thought for probably the entirety of the season but was willing to give players that had just joined time to settle in and hope it all came together. Now I don't feel like that is happening or is going to happen, not because of the players that we have bought, but because of the fact we play the exact same style of football week in week out which is slow, boring to watch and totally predictable.

I don't know where to start really. Maybe at the top and work my way down.

Peter Lawell and the board. How much money did we make last season from the Champions League and transfers? I'm pretty sure it was in around the £35/40 million range. At least £17 million of that was player sales, with Wanyama going for £12 mil and Hooper going for £5 mil and how much was reinvested? £8 million on 4 players? That's simply not good enough if we want to at least be competitive in Champions League games. It's also no reward for the fans that have ploughed millions in to the club year after year and it's also no reward for Lennon who achieved so much last season. We had a perfect opportunity to build on last years success and the board didn't take it.

PL and the current board also, for me, seem to be shifting our club away from its roots and I think that is shown in the stands where the support now seems massively fragmented and not together like it used to. Even CL games this season haven't really generated a decent atmosphere, we've certainly become like every other club in that we only sing when we're winning. Not paying the living wage for me was also pretty disgraceful and not in line with our clubs ethos or the mission statement that the board created.

Neil Lennon. He needs to have a look at the style of play and he needs to do it now. We play the same type of football every week, whether it's in the Champions League or the SPL and it barely works even in the SPL. Our build up play is so slow and predictable. Every time we get a shot at a counter attack there is no urgency from the midfield or the forwards to move up the park, Forrest or Izzy will occasionally get down the wing and either cross the ball in to the box to nobody or stop, turn around and play the ball back to the half way line, giving the opposition the time they need to get ten men behind the ball and make it almost impossible for us to break down. Then we just go left, right, left, right, left, right, run out of ideas and lose the ball.

When you see the better European teams coming to Celtic Park, including Milan even though they were pretty gash, their emphasis is generally on one touch, quick counter attacking and flowing football, penetrating the gaps resulting from the other team still trying to get back in their own half and it works. We have no penetration, no skill, no flare, no creativity and it's tough to endure in all honesty.

Another thing i've noticed is that these teams that come to Celtic Park are all a yard quicker than our players and are all stronger than our players. There seems to have been a move towards us signing tall players and getting our average height up, maybe as a response to most our success in the CL last season coming from set pieces, but that appears to have massively hindered our pace and movement. We also seem to have a group of very tall players that can neither defend corners or attack corners and score from them.

Some of Lennon's decisions still massively confuse me as well. Take last night as an example, we were a couple of goals down and he brings on Rogic, who doesn't even get on during SPL games. Aberdeen at the weekend, 1-1 looking to win and he takes off Fisher and brings on Lustig. I just don't get some of his ideas.

The players. Last season we qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and that was unbelievable, the determination, the commitment and the passion more than made up for any short comings on the pitch. This season in the CL, no determination, no commitment and no passion. Bottling 50/50 challenges, strolling around the pitch, looking totally disinterested and disjointed. Why? Where has last years attitude gone? Is Lennon's passion not having the same effect on the players as it did last year? Have they lost belief in themselves and our current squads capabilities of competing in the CL?

Maybe Lennon has done all he can at this club, maybe it is time for him to move on to perhaps bigger and better things, thus also allowing us to completely freshen up the back room staff and give us the major shake up we need? Or maybe Lennon can make the changes we need and change the style of play to a faster and more creative style? By the way, I would in no way support anybody calling for Lennon's head, that's not my point, but I would not be against him moving on through his own free will as I feel at this point and looking ahead that could have a positive impact on us and him.

Maybe we need to have a big clear out of players who aren't good enough for the CL and bring in players that are? But do we have the finances for that and if we did do we have a board willing to back us? Probably not.

These are only my opinions but they are based on what i've watched week in week out this season domestically and in Europe. I don't expect every one to agree, I don't even expect everyone to read this post because it's pretty big to be fair, but this forum gave me a platform to vent so I thought i'd use it.

But anyway, I believe this club, from top to bottom, needs a massive shake up to get it back on track. Everything feels too settled just now and I don't think its working for us.

 

In many ways i'd argue that there is more grit and determination in this team with all types of players scoring however - that is also the problem, if we still had Hooper or even brought back Watt, we'd be an almost complete team but a genuine goal scorer is needed asap.

 

Hard to disagree with any of that tbh, if we want to progress then a major clear out is needed and that includes the manager imo

 

I agree with 99% of what your saying. When Lustig got on for Fisher that turned out to be the key for winning the game though. Lustig won the corner like a boss and Derk scored on it.

Im * it just thinking about losing Lustig, Van Dijk and Lurch.

 

Its quite simple. We sold 18M worth of player.. Wanyama and Hooper and we haven't replaced them. If we had a Hooper or a real natural powerful anchor in midfield last night would b a whole other story. if the board supported Lennon in the Transfer Market i doubt you would have ever had to start thiss thread.

 

Exactly. Hooper would be on the end of both kayal and mulgrews chances.

 

We have a powerful anchor in midfield except that he got himself suspended - thank's Scott!

 

Yep exactly but it seems to me that they dont trust him with money, so you either sack him or back him, not give him pennies to bring in average players.

It took a last minute goal against a team who we really should have been beating comfortably to get in the group stages, surely Lawell had to look at that and think, oh we really need to spend some money or we'll get our arses handed to us, which is what exactly happened.

 

We had Brown last season, Hardly replacing is it.

 

The expression is - if it ain't broke don't fix it. Brown can do the job you're "advertising". We don't need to bring someone in. He just needs to keep his head and stay on the pitch.

 

Lennon had a list I assume of wanted players and for whatever reason e top of the list wasn't doable such as your finbo's and pogrebnyak if we are led to believe who we are hearing. I assume the list went down to pukki who we eventually got. The same with Derek and co.

 

I agree with pretty much all of this.

We've also been in desperate need of a creative midfielder for ages now (even last season) and that hasn't been addressed. It's like the team fails to notice it. We don't invest our money wisely though. Instead we go for projects like Rogic or Biton (and don't get me wrong, whether they come good or not remains to be seen) rather than investing in proven talent. Our scouts are heavily praised on here and they have uncovered gems so they should be able to find a decent midfielder who can actually make a killer pass. And no, Charlie Mulgrew (you can't fault him for effort but he doesn't have the talent) and Kris Commons (Slow and slightly selfish with a poor first touch) are not the answer to that. Don't even get me started on the lack of a Hooper replacement.

We play really ugly, boring football right now. Which is a shame as for a while last season I thought we were really improving our possession game under Lennon. Now it's just lateral pass, backwards pass, lateral pass, boxed in by defenders, backwards pass again. It's not good enough. Nobody is capable of spotting a run or playing someone in.

 

How will these projects (Rogic/Biton) get off the drawing board if they never see the field of play? For me there is too much reliance on the "established" players and the others will never come on until they get game time.

I think there are so many players who look jaded - remember how little time they got off before the start of pre season and the qualifiers. Time to give a few a rest and the new signings a chance

 

Yeah, I wonder the same thing and that's part of the problem too I think. Lennon has his favourites and tries to accommodate them even if it might not necessarily be beneficial for the team.

 

At the minute im going to wait to see the next accounts to see what has been spent and what we have in the bank before moaning to much about the board,the bank balance might not be as high as we think there may be stuff we don't hear about day to day.

The problem with the players is lennon always plays his first 11,if they are fit they play.....not scored in 10 games...not a problem.......not scored in the Cl.....not a problem.....cant be arsed to run back and help defend.....not a problem.
So they can have poor games or just give 50%.
No point in buying all these next gen super stars and then give them 10 mins a month.

 

Agree. Worked out quite well when Tony Watt got the chance last season in our most important game in years.

 

Whilst i agree to a point it has however got to be said that the crowds are down on previous campaigns in the league and the CL that is lost revenue , there are overheads at a club and they still have to be paid whether we play in front of 60,000 or 40,000.
Do we want to be paying out more than is coming in ??
The league always has been priority , we are top of the table with a cushion ..The CL is an adventure lets treat it as that if we win a few games then great , if we lose a few we still get a share of the pot .
Some people seem to think we have a given right to win every game ...
I can however see where people are coming from with the striker situation but they were not at fault for the sloppy goals we conceded ..

 

There are 3 reasons for the capitualation last night and the dire Euro run.

1) the board. They recouped £20 million on transfer fees in the summer and £20 million fro the last campaign. While I think our business plan is fantastic and keeps us healthy, they have to, at somepoint, break the mould. Our players are great for the Spl but in Europe we are weak. We need one or two players that will propel us to the next stage. I agree with Paddy, to spend £10m in the summer is massive but did we spend £10m on the wrong players to accommodate our financial model? Are black numbers in the accounts better than on field perfomances. We are never going to win the champions league but we cant be happy 'just being there'.

2) Neil Lennon has to shoulder part of the blame. He has worked miracles at times but all to often he is immune from criticism. Strange team selections and abject performances will go against him eventually. Now is the time to drop some of the under performers and bleed the kids. We have punched above our weight at times and thats credit to the manager. But has he reached a plateau? Next summer will be interesting. Either the board back him and bring in big players; he stays content with his lot knowing that he will probably win the league and get group stage football; or he seeks pastures new.

3) the players. Last night showed some of them up. We lacked heart and drive. Why? A malaise has set in. Too many of them are walking on the pitch expecting to turn up and win. The old adage of 'its hard to motivate yourself when you're playing st mirren one week, milan the next ' is rubbish. These guys should be busting a gut regardless. Its became to easy for them. Too many know they are mainstays in the team. They also know they'll have their holiday in January to look forward to. Again, the summer will be interesting. I expect Ledley, Forster and a few others to go.

It was always going to be difficult to qualify from that group but to go out so pathetically is hard to take. A lot of people at the club will have to shoulder the blame. Next summer will be decisive for a lot of reasons. One thing is for sure, we need to change to improve.

 

The difference now that the scum have been liquidated though is that we are essentially relying on European football for the next couple of seasons to inject some excitement into our campaign.

Missing out on European football before wasn't as bad as it is now, although still gut wrenching of course, but we knew back then that we still had at least four games with the Huns and then competitive games against the likes of Hearts and Aberdeen to look forward to.

For the first time ever, we're now staring at a season with no European football and very little excitement domestically. At least when the scum died last year, we proceeded to then qualify from the CL group stages and got into the last 16.

 

For a start - Commons out. What has he ever done in a Champions' League group game? He's atrocious. So slow.