Charlie Mulgrew

Not having that mate, the way we were set up in 'midfield' was utterly ridiculous. We didn't have one. Mulgrew was dropping between the two defenders and Brown and Johansen were pushing up beyond there midfield, leaving the 3 further back to deal with all the 'creativity', there was no movement up top however.

That's why when the ball went out to Lustig he kept holding his hands out wondering where the * everuone was, that's why we were * on the counterattacl, that's why we didn't impose ourselves on their midfield. It was * shocking. Mulgrew was awful, no doubt but each and every one of our midfielders were flung under the bus tonight, I feel sorry for the three of them.

 

Can't understand for the life of me why Mulgrew drops so deep to pick the ball up from the defenders, basically as a third central defender, it's pointless. Van Dijk and Denayer are good enough to hold onto it themselves, Mulgrew should be looking for space to get it way further up the pitch.

 

Tactics mate, he's not done that under Lenny and he doesn't do it for Scotland.

 

It must be down to tactics yes, I noticed it against Maribor away aswell and couldn't understand it then either, given that we were away in that match I just thought it was a defensive move so as not to leave us vulnerable to counter attacks.

It's * to look at.

 

It's * altogether, we literally had no central midfield tonight. For the majority of the game.

 

Someone described him as the best passer in our team the other night... Jesus * he was rotten tonight. Twice he gave the ball straight to their attackers about 30 yards from our goal.

 

He was brutal tonight. I wish we'd stop using him as a deep lying playmaker because he's just not up to it. I thought for a while he might be able to play that position for us but he can't. He's an SPL level centre half and that's all he is.

 

No way mate. Charlie was shcoking and ~Johansen was * non existant. If both of them had performed the way they did at the weekend then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

He was brutal, due to the way we were set up. As was Johansen, as was Scott Brown ffs! we had no midfield last night, that's the biggest problem for me.

At the weekend they were set up entirely differently, Brown and Mulgrew operated in midfield, allowing a platform for Johansen to get forward and buzz about and be a real threat on the ball. That wasn't the case last night

 

Why the * do our managers feel the need to change the set up after a great result just because the next match is a European one.
I know Guidetti isn't allowed until next round but still.

 

He recorded the most passes in a match i've seen by a Celtic player in Europe stats wise.

He completed 72 passes last night with a success rate of 88.9% really good, especially as 8 of them were long distance passes, Brown and Johansen have played all 3 of the EL games and have only done 11 Long distance passes between them, Mulgrew done 8 in one game.

Not that he played that well, he looked rusty and gave the ball away twice in our own half. Still all those passes and ball retention would have calmed us at times.

Also he didnt even play the whole game, so 72 passes in 68 minutes. Johansen's only done 125 in 270 minutes and Brown 136 in 270 minutes.

 

I agree with all of this. At times I was wanting to shout at the screen about him constantly making a back 3 when we had the ball. On the rare occasion he didn´t, Broony did!!!!!! If that doesn´t prove it´s tactics...

 

Again, that´s what I saw too...but why?!

I keep asking this, but what was that supposed to look like last night (if it had worked)? I just don´t understand what Ronny´s trying to do setting up the midfield like that. He simply must have something in mind.

Does anyone who watches a lot of European football know what he´s aiming for?

 

Bah, he´s proved our best ball player against much better teams than Astra, even this season if you include Scotland games; he shouldn´t really have anything to prove in that regard. We know he has all the tools to play well.

 

I think Mulgrew's been terrible for a long time now, even under Lennon- so to blame Ronny Deila for Mulgrew being * and not good enough seems a bit strange to me.

The only blame Deila should receiving is for picking him in the team in the first place.

 

Away in Maribor has been one of Mulgrew's better performances this season, and he sat deep and picked up the ball that night also.

 

By your own admission, and one I agree with, Mulgrew is the best ball player in our team. So with that in mind, surely we would want him on the ball as often as we can, so him dropping deep to receive the ball surely makes sense if that is the case. As he will most likely be able to turn under little to no pressure, lift his head and pick a pass. He done it away in Maribor as a middle 3 that night, and done it very well. We done similar last night, and he was poor.

 

He should be a link between defence and midfield, mate. He was dropping into the backline last night when we had the ball, something he should only do when Virgil or Denayer bomb forward IMO. On the rare occasion he didn´t, Brown did, so it´s clearly tactical.

 

Would you agree he done the exact same away in Maribor and put in arguably his best performance for us this season?