Our football.

I'm a happy hoop at the moment. Last 16 of the CL and still in all tournaments. In an ideal world, we'd sign a couple of players to fit into the current starting 11 to face Juventus but getting to this stage is much more than I thought we'd achieve.

Now, let's get behind the team. The football might not be great but we're doing well.

 

We've changed the way the team is playing this season so it would suit us more in Europe.

Unfortunately, that doesn't suit the SPL as well.

 

Good point. Very similar to WGS's time in charge. First season without Europe, we played some good free-flowing footy domestically and when we got serious in the CL, the football changed to a slightly more cautious approach.

 

The only thing we are lacking is motivation. We are 9 points clear and do not look like getting caught.
Why on Earth should players burst a gut or risk injury when they are already quite clearly doing enough to win the league championship?

 

To entertain the fans who turn out I suppose.

 

I don't agree with that, the only game I think we looked like we lacked motivation was the Hibs game.

If you look at how hard out players slogged out a victory yesterday, that doesn't look unmotivated.

Last year when we won the league with a good few games to go, we produced some of the best football of the season with nothing to play for.

 

I do not believe that is sufficient motivation for them to up their game.
Our play would be very pretty to watch if it wasn't for the opposition trying to take the ball off us and spoil it, and our players, rightly or wrongly, are not sufficiently concerned about it enough for it to make a difference to them.
It is difficult to play your best when you have no motivation to do so. I am not a football fan - I am a Celtic supporter. I do not mean that one precludes the other - but I care more about winning than about playing with style.
I would like to see the team be all flowery and entertaining, but I would rather they played like a bunch of seaside donkeys and win than like 11 Peles and be 9 points behind.
It is frustrating when we lose, and I accept it can be disappointing for some when we win in a dreary contest, but until there is a concrete reason to play better (ie, we'll lose the league otherwise) I think this will be standard fare for some time to come.

 

Well, the way I see it, there are only two reasons you lose a game:
1. The team you are playing are better than you.
2. You are not playing your best.

I do not think we have been beaten by a better team yet in the SPL. We have certainly been beaten by teams who looked a lot more up for it - who chased the game much more than us - who harried and harassed and looked far hungrier than we did, but there simply are NO teams in the SPL who are better than us.
When the league is mathematically impossible to lose, we may well go all free-flowing and dribbly. Until then we are caught between knowing that we are winning it at a canter, and not knowing that it is won for certain. The feeling that we lack serious competition in the league is, I believe, the main driver behind poor performances.

 

Lenny seems to be adopting a more 'european' way of playing.

It's not a style that suits the frenetic SPL, so expect to drop some points as the transition takes place. It's a perfect time to do it as the SPL title should be a foregone conclusion and it gives us breathing space.

If we stick at it, then we will reap the rewards (we're seeing it already in the CL)! Personally I am right behind it as I'm fed up of being the top SPL scrapper and then being completely passed to death in European competition because we're not up to that style of play.

 

True, though you can't deny that in the SPL we really should be performing a wee bit better. Yes we're 9 points clear and grinding out wins more often than not but it would be nice if we could play with a bit more creativity and flair considering the resources that are available to us. Granted, we've had our most creative players all injured at some point and I can accept us dropping points after European games but I do think we are a bit predictable in attack, especially at home.

Hopefully with the likes of Forrest and Stokes back after the break we'll see a bit more flair. As for Europe, I'm quite happy for us to continue playing as we have been, it's done us no harm thus far!

 

i thought we did get passed to death in the european games

i think what's needed in the spl is a quicker tempo by celtic the side to side passing is ridiculous at times especially the pace in which we do it!
if we passed it a lot quicker (yes we might missplace a pass at times) but we would also create space for penetrating attacking play
playing slow side to side passing doesnt break teams down by the time we've passed the ball around the back or accross the midfield the opposition have allready shuffled accross and blocked any space

i do wonder if neil is too close to the team and players to see this at times

 

A lot of our players are competing for starting places for Celtic and their national side. That's why they should put in extra effort.

I think our main issue is the lack of width. Get some wingers and have them on the touchline to really stretch the opposition. Samaras and Commons are always looking to cut inside which is easier to defend against.

 

I think the entertainment value has dropped somewhat this season. Complacency amongst the players probably goes some way to explaining it, although I don't like to use that as an excuse.

The best football I've seen us play under Neil Lennon was the Jan-Apr period in his first full season in charge. High tempo stuff with lots of goals being scored, it was good to watch.

 

Indeed!

Strange thing is that team was more or less the same as it is now, especially midfield and up front. The players we have are more than capable of palying like that. Our mid and front was always more or less:

Brown-Kayal-Ledley-Commons

Hooper-Stokes

 

It's not at all the same as it was. Brown has been out more often than in, Stokes has been out all season, Kayal has been out for a decent amount of time too, Commons has played more in the middle than he has on the left and Hooper has been playing a bit deeper.

 

Nope... we survived and saw some of the best European results in our history whilst reaching the last 16 of the premier football competition on the continent!

Personally, I doubt we would have made the same achievement had we still been intent on playing SPL ping-pong!

You have to take your pick about what you want. If you want to decimate SPL position game-after-game, then stick with the status quo and go for it. I find that boring! If, however, you want to compete on the biggest stages, then learn how to pass-and-show ad infinitum.

Barcelona are probably the finest team on the planet because they have perfected this art. If you watch a lot of their domestic games, then you will see that they have plenty of snore-fests and the occasional upset! If it's good enough for them...

 

Can't believe we are over 20 games in and arnt the leagues to scorers.

 

entertainment value is poor at cp so far its up to lenny to get more flair players in and it may put more bums on seats,playmaker,left winger and striker who can hold on to ball and bring others in to play

 

Creativity has been our main problem this season.

We have an excellent goalkeeper, and a solid central defensive pairing compared with recent history. We have good options at full-back and an industrious, energetic midfield. We have a bit of pace in wide areas, and a striker up front who can be deadly.

The problem is we don't have a player who can knit it all together.

Commons, in theory, is what we need. Good touch, good technique, can pass, can beat a man, has a good shot on him and gets into good positions.
The problem is he is inconsistent and ultimately unreliable as our only creative source.

Forrest would supplement Commons well, as he gives the opposition a different threat. He stays wide and can come inside and shoot, or go outside and cross.
The problem is he has spent most of this season on the sidelines.

Stokes is a good player to have available. He links well with our main striker, dropping off the front and going wide as well as getting in behind and scoring goals. He has bags of talent and can pull things out of the hat to change games.
Problem again is that he has been injured all season.

Mulgrew and Samaras have probably been our main creators this season. But Mulgrew can only really create from wide left or dead ball situations, and Samaras can only really create when he has space to run into.

Our best performances domestically have come when we have simply bulldozed teams with pace, power and precision finishing.

 

We played very negative football in the champions league to be honest.