I would drop Gary Caldwell for Darren O'Dea at the weekend

I never said he or any other can't be dropped. far from it. that experience part is no bullshit it at all. there are plenty of factors, that can't be seen or felt from outside and will be forgotten quite easily if you never have experienced it. I never said the world is gonna fall apart either if he ain't playing.

what I'm saying is, he has been the best celtic player for the past 2 seasons. his abilities are well known, only because of a handful bad (he didn't even look abysmal to me - others didn't look worldclass either) situations, people want him to get on the bench. it's not like he's causing us 2-3 goals every game. this situation can't be compared with McManus' one. McManus has never been Scotland's best defender neither does he have Caldwell's abilities.

people are so fickle these days, as soon as one player has one bad game, they want to replace him.

I repeat again, there are several players ("superstars/key positions") who can afford to play poorly for a while before they get replaced while others get replaced quite quickly. Mowbray decides how long "a while" is.

 

No I respect your opinion, just clearing up that you think the POTY had an "above average season" and managed to clinch the award by "making less mistakes."

 

from a footballing point of view i would be playing loovens and o dea every time. been hugely impressed with darren o dea when hes played centre back. much more of a ball player than caldwell aswell.

 

I'm ignoring most of your post because it's clearly not directed at me.

It's been more than one bad game. It's not the end of the world if he sits out on the bench and has some time to clear his thoughts and get his composure back. Seems to me like he's over-thinking things and getting away from the Fundamentals.
O'Dea can deputize in the meantime (pending loan issues?) -- much like you claim Caldwell isn't as bad as everyone is saying, O'Dea is no slouch himself.
Once his head is back in it, he can come back in the side and give us the consistency we expect and need from him -- but have yet to see this season.

 

no you wouldn't . hes off to reading on loan.

 

O'Dea is indeed no slouch, he's actually a good spl defender. nothing more yet. I trust Tony Mowbray on this matter. He works with Caldwell day in day out and probably knows well where the problem lies. you and I can only assume.

All I know is we just won without conceding a goal. it didn't look too awesome, but still a step in the right direction and a confidence builder.

 

Fair enough, I can agree on most of that. This looks moot now as well since it seems O'Dea is off on loan. Back to McManus I guess.

 

it's just after lunch time here and you are already bringing out a shocker! :icon_mrgreen:

 

hes joined READING on loan until january, to gain EXPERIENCE.
*????

 

I'd imagine there'll be some kind of gentlemans agreement with Reading that O'Dea will be getting games. Since he's 4th choice at Celtic theres much more chance of getting experience at Reading wouldn't you agree?

 

Well, so much for this thought.

 

new o'dea loan thread open...closed.