Gordon Strachan a Celtic Legend Appreciation Thread

Hail hail WGS

 

wgs is doing a good job and I appreciate the success hes brought us,,but I criticise him and the players when they deserve it and will continue to do so...

Hes not a legend in my book,,neither is mon but both have given us our best success for years....stein,,mcneill and jansen are legendary in my book for different reasons,,the later two never enjoyed as much success as wgs and mon but imho what they achieved was more important...winning a centenary double and stopping ten in a row were collosal achievements...

 

Hail Hail To Wee Gordon Strachan!

 

I wasn't too happy when he was appointed at first, but he has won me round and he does deserve more recognition and praise for the job he has done with us, however, I will still criticise him (as I would any other manager or player) when I feel that criticism is deserved.

 

Jansen, a legend? Sure, he stopped 10-in-a-row, fair enough, but that's never enough to make you a legend. You're a legend if you're successful over a long period of time with the same club, but with more than one team. Who says we'd have been as successful this decade with him at the helm? Besides, stopping 10-in-a-row was as much the team's doing as his, yet are they legends?

Sorry, but to even suggest that Jansen is anywhere near to Stein is blasphemy (forgive the undertones ). The fact is WGS is close to Stein.

You get lies, damned lies and then statistics - but statistics aren't lies.

 

Strachan isn't a legend - yet!

I think this squad is improving year on year. Coupled with the fact they are getting what appears to be worse year on year then we have the makings of 9 in a row or more.. What Strachan should get at the very least is support while he's in the job, and adulation when he brings league titles.

 

stopping the huns getting 10iar was legendary in my book,,could you suffer listening to they f*cks if they managed that,,I never suggested jansen was anywhere near to stein...Legendary status is'nt only bestowed on someone for prolonged success its also reached for special acheivements that have'nt been done before..

 

Well I wouldn't call Jansen a legend either but he has a special place in our history.

 

Legends should only be born out of the 3 Ls. Loyalty, Longevity and Love.
Like me a Legend to the wife.

 

WGS is a legend in my eyes. I've never been his biggest fan but the job he has done has been brilliant. He's won every league he's been in for and has handled the squad in his own way, which works. He has got the wage bill down and still managed to be successful. He has managed to handle big problems in the club like Tommy's passing and the McGeady and Boruc problems with strength and dignity.

Anyone who still has a dislike for him after all this needs their head examined.

 

I think he is a far far better manager than people recognise. In fact, one of the best in the buisiness and better and more experienced (CL etc) than all but maybe the the top 4 or 5 EPL managers. I know the form has been a bit up and down but a manager who using an eye for a player and an encouraging attitude to our youth brings together and nutures into a team (all except brown for peanuts) a group of players that include Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, Crosas, Brown, Naka, Aidan, Maloney, Skippy, JVOH (OK he is over the hill now) etc, slashes the wage bill, handles problem players well, has never lost a league nearly 4 years in, 3 CL runs, 2 last 16s, several cups etc is doing a great job.

The main criticism of WGS in the last few months has been his 'weird tactics' and histinkering with the lineup, especially at away games, OF games etc. It baffles some fans but I think this is simpy the mark of a guys who really knows his tactics on a level above most of us punters who have a bit of a heart on sleeve, Roy of the Rovers approach to football. Personally I think that is the difference between a football legend from a football elite background and a punter who just wants an all out attacking team of ball players in every game. The latter has been tried (Tommy's team etc) and doesnt neccessariy work. WGS has to live or die by the results.

IMO all he has done is recognise we have a serious weakness at the back. IMO this is due to the club losing out so often on wages and fees in bids for better players and not WGS's fault. WGS has hinted several times that our budget and wage structure (especially the latter IMO) has made it very very difficult to get better CBs and LBs than we have. I believe him. Why would he make that up? WGS recognised our defensive weaknesses and has simply acted accordingly by making the MF defensive in tougher games and on rank pitches.

When that leads to a draw, he gets criticised by the Mystic Meg squad who always say we would have won if we had been more positive etc. How do they know? They dont. I would say he has prevented several possible losses by weathering the storm in the 1st hour until a team is tired and then he brings on more attacking players and nails them in latter stages. That won us the league cup, has worked well in OF games in general and almost worked v Hearts away. In fact, since WGS started to become a little more cynical and tactical we have LOST very few of the tougher games (included OF games). Its not so long ago WGS had a poorer record v Wattie in the OF games but since he got a bit more tactical and defensive minded we look to have the Indian sign over them.

I also think WGS showed what kind of man he was by playing fairly negative teams in the CL because he knew our weaknesses and limitations despite huge pressure from fans to play attacking 4-4-2s. Is it any coincidence that we got more top competition European success under WGS than in decades? I dont think so. WGS is a very cynical realist and he knew we were outclassed in most games and only a very negative approach in some games/for the first hour of games might just squeeze us through on a knife-edge if we were lucky. I dont think other managers had that realism. MON had much more seasoned players and possibly because of that or possibly because he was not a very tactical manager he didnt go cynical. Consequence was despite having better players we never squeezed through.

WGS's approach can be ugly but it works and he knows it and will not flinch under pressure. George Graham had the same approach at Arsenal. Bottom line is it works. It works better than any manager in our history other than Stein. IMO, the quality of the team is now approaching a high level and there is no telling what this fairly young team could do in the next 2 or 3 years if we added a couple of good strikers, a top CH and a LB. Thats all down to money but if we got those, this team could stop worrying about the back and play the more expansive football we should with these flair players and IMO we could get past the CL last 16. WGS deserves to be there to see the best years of this team and squad he has built and IMO these best years will be the next five if we dont start losing players. Its over to the board now to decide whether we want to stay at having 8 out of first 11 good quality or if they want to shell out and make this a great team.

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Sorry dude but jansen a legend is a joke all he did was win one league title and then * off, many people have won one title.
The fact it was the year they nearly got 10 is just luck.
Making legend status takes hard work and years off it and some success thrown in aswell.

 

Yet if he didnt do that we would get stale and easy to play against.
Celtic aint playing the best football in the world so we must try new things dont you think...?

 

He is a quality manager. His team selections raise eyebrows at times but they are usually right and get us the right result. He has got us to last 16 twices and soon to be 4 in a row. think of the great nights he has gave us being in charge. 1-0 Milan, 2-1 Shakthar, 2-1 Huns are just 3 and there are lots more. Think we need to show him appreciation he deserves. * THE ANTI STRACHAN MOB

 

There's no such thing FFS !!! We're all Celtic supporters and we have the right to question the manager. Some of the football we play at times is just awful tbh, his team selections are odd at times, as are his tactics/formations. And some of his signings have been woeful.

However, I'll give credit where credit's due. The guy's won one 3 titles in a row and could well be on his way to a fourth. As you say, we've had some great occasions under him and he's brought some very good players into the club.

At the end of the day, success is all that matters to me personally, and long may it continue. I just wish that we'd play better football at times.

 

Post of the year!

 

I believe he does try new things - ultimately his ideal playing style is the attacking 4-4-2 though. However as you could see in pre-season, we've tried a 4-5-1/4-3-3 and also in the Cup Final we had that 4-4-1-1.

 

for me that 1 title win is the biggest we've won in my lifetime,,putting stopping 10iar down to luck and merely one title win is a joke,,the pressure on that man to deliver that championship and prevent our biggest rivals superseeding one of our finest acheivements was probably the most pressure a celtic manager has ever been under...

 

I'd agree. He's no legend, but he does have a special place.

Gunt -

That's something the fans very often forget - this is a young team. I made a post back when I joined (Given, it was about signing policy) that demonstrated just how young this team is. When Naka leaves, the average age will drop even lower than it was then and now Crosas is a regular that too has effected the average age.

This is a work in progress that is still winning trophies and finding relative European success. If Arsenal fans can endure 4 years of trophy-less works-in-progress, I'm sure we can deal with a work-in-progress that wins leagues and cups regularly.

In fact, if, or rather, when we win 4-in-a-row I'll remind you that there's more to come from this young squad.

 

When he gets the Treble next season, he will be a Celtic Legend, after all, realistically, that's all he's left to do.