SPFL Celtic V The Huns Thursday January 2nd kick off 3PM Sky Sports football

Just finished the first half I missed, didn’t realize all 3 goals were result of deep turnovers - shame, they started brightly in those initial 10 min

 

It’s been a good season so far and we are half way. I know it’s silly to say prioritise but over the course of the season if we can react well to defeat and have a process that ensures we come back strongly by working on what we can do better then we can hopefully have a lot to show for it at the end. I don’t think we are that much far ahead of them on the park tbh, fresh off that defeat they basically schooled us in all areas, but we are still miles ahead of them in every other aspect. They showed some competitive nature, it’s up to us to respond.
Final thoughts I think you are right and a lot of our players were either not well or recovering from something, either way they were better prepared than us.

 

You don’t learn anything by winning all the time basically

 

This is why I think we should match up but to compensate for having 2 deeper we need a traditional left back to provide another attacking outlet.

If we could pair McGregor with someone more mobile and physical but who can still play a bit and a ball carrier at left back we would have two extra ways of progressing the ball. In addition, we could play a proper attacking midfielder who is more focused on getting beyond the striker and providing a goal threat. Lastly a left winger who can dribble and wants the ball and that strategy of trying to allow us the ball wide and shut off the middle of the park plays against our strengths.

 

At 2-0 we are absolutely done in any big game. Even at 1-0 yesterday it felt completely over. When we are 2 up v them they quite often manage to get back into it, not usually getting anything bar the 3-3 but make it a contest atleast. Think it’s once in the last 13 games we have won comfortably. That why I can never understand how folk say we will smash them everytime we play them. It’s rare especially away.

We are obviously a better team but these games form goes out the window. We just usaully nick it because we have a bit more class and better players individually than their opposite number in the majority of positions.

 

Well I think its fair to say that was a full on disaster of a performance. The worst domestic performance I have ever seen from a Brendan Rodgers Celtic team. Certainly the only one that comes to mind that might have been as bad was the one we lost at the diets in his first spell in charge which was our first league loss under Rodgers. Going to need a real gut check performance come the weekend.

 

The Huns just repeated the Cup Final tactics, kettled us in our own half, and swamped us with five in the middle, and had three or four bursting behind our non existent midfield, time and time again. Our defence was totally exposed, so I am going to give them a pass because of that.

McGregor disappeared along with Hatate, leaving only Bernado looking like he was trying a leg.
We have five midfielders and none of them are a conventional DM. They are basically all No.8's, and we must be the only team in the land that plays without a DM. We have no real ball winners and midfield destroyers. McGregor is 31 and not getting any younger, Hatate is just meh.

That leaves us with just Engels, McCowan and Bernado.

I think we need another two mobile ball winning midfielders.

 

Bernardo was hopeless yesterday as well. He wasn’t showing for it either.

 

We’ve got another 8 games this month alone so we need to get more quality players arriving in this window.

 

Bernardo was utterly abysmal, every bit as bad as McGregor , not sure why you have decided he is the one to get pass marks....
We need two CM upgrades .

 

A few thoughts after a day to reflect:

- we are a wildly inconsistent team. I think more than half our starting 11 have the capability to look world class at their best, but look SPFL level when off it. I guess that just reflects where we are in the football food chain as when we do get a player playing consistently brilliant they leave for big money. We also have too many players who need to be playing at their absolute best to merit inclusion in the team - Scales and Taylor in particular from yesterday's starting 11. Our results don't reflect inconsistency as we are so much better than the SPFL but against half decent teams we are capable of extremes.

- The gap in the league undoubtedly impacted the players. Whether it should or not, it did. Rangers clearly wanted to prove a point after the league cup defeat. We looked as passive as I've ever seen celtic in a Derby and the lack of urgency at 2 nil down was just bizarre. I hope it brings players back down to earth a bit.

- our ability to break a press from playing out of defence is awful. It was verging on arrogance to continue to try to do the same thing again and again. We adapted this after failing so badly against Dortmund as against Atalanta we were more comfortable clearly lines and giving up possession. To be fair to Rangers, their press and their aggression to win second balls was perfect.

- I am not panicing. Talk of Rangers mounting a title challenge is way off in my opinion - there's a real chance they go on to drop points in their next 2 games. We can't win all of them and a team is allowed a shockingly bad day at the office. I think it's a timely reminder that we are capable of being very poor and rangers are capable of being very good. It doesn't suddenly make celtic bad or rangers great, but I think it should remind us that the gulf isn't as massive as we like to think. Hopefully it's come at the perfect time and we push on from here.

 

Lining up at Ibrox with Hatate and Kyogo starting, was a major blunder by Brendan, giving how the Huns played against us in the Cup, essentially we were playing with nine against them, Hatate did his usual couldn't give a * act, and Kyogo was just totally isolated and starved of service, and when he did get opportunities he fluffed his lines again, just like he has done most of the season.

Ange's far east experiment has run its course I feel, and we should be spreading our net in different areas, to get players who actually fit the Rodger's dogma of pace and power.

 

I always hate losing to them but this was not a terrible one to lose. We’re still 11 clear and it will give the board a nudge in the right direction at the start of a transfer window.

 

We should have took Taylor off and went 3 at the back and went 3-5-2 with meada coming off and McGowan and idah coming on I know Rogers doesn't play that but I think if he did he wouldn't be getting as much flak from supporters but a extra man in midfield could have changed things

 

Its hard to imagine that the whole team that took the field were all mentally off it. In Scotland theres a relative handful of games per season that make up for the weeks and weeks of playing dross in shithole stadiums on bogging pitches. Old firms (and European nights) are the games that the whole squad would have pencilled in when the fixtures are announced each year. They are the games that the players really want to play in. Being miles in front in points doesnt wash. Especially at only the half way point in the league.

They had been given an almighty fright in the cup final only weeks before to boot. So struggle to believe they swanned up to ibrox expecting an easy game full of complacency. The days of easy wins in ibrox have been over for a long time know. And Rodgers would have known all this anyway. Im certain he would have really made a point of emphasing the need to be focused and to forget bout any points lead or complacency.

All of which worries me that the loss is a sign of structural problems which the huns have figured out now. Reminds me of 2019 when we won the first OF of the season. Then won the LC final against them but were lucky to do so. At the time it was put down to a bad day and nobody worried much but we went on to go 6 or 7 OFs without a win after that. Really hope the coaching staff dont brush that loss off as players were complacent or whatever because they really need to take a hard look beyond that as to why they were so bad against a huns team that on paper should be there for the taking.

 

We.* up yesterday. No excuses. The players have a lot to answer for though. They will be hurting as much as us I * hope. And brendan has to be more ruthless with subs , * get them subbed at half time or before if they aint playing well

 

Just close the * thread.

 

Here here m8. But if we do it means we are turning a blind eye to our failings at that time . We.move.on and we are all hurting but remember WE ARE CELTIC AND CHAMPIONS. HAIL HAIL

 

Bernardo absolutely hopeless- invisible , weak - too often in big games when he does get chance - Hatate at 50% a more influential player - my opinion- anyway agree please close this thread


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But we never do, manager is just way too rigid with the system, never changes it up, stubborn even.