Niall J
Well-known member
Possibly a bit short for an article so I've put it up as a thread. Just a few thoughts on where we're headed.
Anyone watching the last friendly before the Celts return to more inclement climes won't have failed to notice something very clichéd in terms of our style of play.
“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times we fall between two stools” Salman Rushdie might have said it but it sums up where the Celts are right now.
There seemed something rather disjointed in the decision making process on the park. We were indeed falling between two stools.
Yes we’ve flitted between formations and yes we’ve rotated the squad massively as Lennon gets a look at who can do what and of course who can’t. This however seemed something outside of all of that and as much as it could easily be construed as a negative it’s looking altogether positive to me.
The first two games of this tour have been against opposition chosen to be fairly limited, stagnant and unresponsive as we worked on shape and built up a bit of match sharpness.
We weren’t looking for a particular challenge. Just a steady incline in ability as we stuck predominately to working on our own shape and sharpness.
What we saw in the first game was a first half with a team slow into stride who gradually found their rhythm and put their opponent’s to bed in the end with the minimum of fuss.
SC Pinkafeld were dismissed as expected with relative ease. They offered no defensive challenge in particular and our game was geared to attacking shape. In the end the 6-1 victory flattered our opponent but we only really learned we have forward thrust in abundance. There was no real challenge to our overall game plan. A blow out is what it would have been called in the racing world.
On Saturday Wiener SC were a step up from Pinkafeld but no more than entering a derby bound racehorse into a Brighton Seller and watching him sweat for 4 furlongs before his jockey created the impression of a challenge for the horse. We held him up until the last furlong before letting him off the bridle in the final strides.
Wiener were beaten 2-1 on the day but the wasted chances and creative build up play didn’t go unnoticed. We dominated. Again defensively we weren’t particularly challenged from open play and although profligate in front of goal we showed enough to show our attacking intent was there and that we are only match sharpness away from being effective in the final third.
Today we played St Gallen. This evening the horse moved up to listed company, but 3 races in 6 days takes an effect especially when the opposition is a bit more street wise.
Today St Gallen were exactly what we’ll face from the bottom 6 of the Premiership at home. Niggly, breaking up play and dirty in places. Just what we needed.
It will also have given the manager and coaching staff food for thought. What was clear is we are playing a more ‘mixed’ style of passing. We’re far from direct and even further from a long ball approach but we’re also having to move from the shackles of Brendan Rodgers short passing game.
Celtic are clearly now expecting the players to get the ball forward quicker when the opportunity arises, pushing the envelope a little. We are using our game intelligence to choose the opportunity and go that little bit sharper rather than sitting tight and recycling the ball. The death by a thousand passes is going but it’s not being discarded entirely.
We are now expecting that the players can think for themselves as and when to play the Brendan game and when to decide to break with tradition. For me this is great news. Less constraint will probably come with a little more danger. It might explain why most of the transfer window has seen us linked with more defensively minded players. It’s been our Achilles heal and now it’s being addressed with a view to letting the team breathe a little and have some professional responsibility.
Next up is Rennes, now our thoroughbred moves into Group Company, we’re not quite heading for the classics but our opponent will be close to our standard.
St Gallen saw a lot of players start to get more than 45 minutes. To some it looked like the end of a tiring pre-season tour. Because it was.
It’s been hot, it’s been double sessions but it is now in the legs and it’s now in the brains as we inch forward to Europe and the games that matter.
Rennes will give us more of a test. I expect more football, more attacking threat and more challenge to the defence. I also expect the first real sight of what Neil Lennon’s European side will be. He’ll now have an idea of the character of his squad, who can do and who cannot.
I think Neetesh Dixit was a blogger (travel not Celtic!) He said “The worst distance between two people is misunderstanding”
That’s changing. We’re evolving. Slowly but surely without an ice bucket over the head we are becoming Neil Lennon’s Celtic and without losing entirely the positive impact of Brendan’s style.
It’s a mature approach to management from Lenny and all the coaching staff. To change was brave but to change was necessary. We’d become a little predictable and the players were becoming bored. Fresh impetus in style and tactics will surely do us the World of good, for both fans and players alike.
As we move to the qualifying rounds I expect a defensive counter attacking approach away from home. We’ll limit space and use the dead ball deliveries from set pieces of Shved and Connell if he gets a look in to gain advantage from limited possession. In short we’ll try to be hard to beat away from home.
We’ll surely now save the expansive stuff for Celtic Park and utilise the plethora of attacking talent at our disposal. To go back to the clichéd start of this article it’ll be horses for courses.
This horse is heading for Group 1 Company and it’s just about ready to burst from the stalls!
Niall J
Anyone watching the last friendly before the Celts return to more inclement climes won't have failed to notice something very clichéd in terms of our style of play.
“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times we fall between two stools” Salman Rushdie might have said it but it sums up where the Celts are right now.
There seemed something rather disjointed in the decision making process on the park. We were indeed falling between two stools.
Yes we’ve flitted between formations and yes we’ve rotated the squad massively as Lennon gets a look at who can do what and of course who can’t. This however seemed something outside of all of that and as much as it could easily be construed as a negative it’s looking altogether positive to me.
The first two games of this tour have been against opposition chosen to be fairly limited, stagnant and unresponsive as we worked on shape and built up a bit of match sharpness.
We weren’t looking for a particular challenge. Just a steady incline in ability as we stuck predominately to working on our own shape and sharpness.
What we saw in the first game was a first half with a team slow into stride who gradually found their rhythm and put their opponent’s to bed in the end with the minimum of fuss.
SC Pinkafeld were dismissed as expected with relative ease. They offered no defensive challenge in particular and our game was geared to attacking shape. In the end the 6-1 victory flattered our opponent but we only really learned we have forward thrust in abundance. There was no real challenge to our overall game plan. A blow out is what it would have been called in the racing world.
On Saturday Wiener SC were a step up from Pinkafeld but no more than entering a derby bound racehorse into a Brighton Seller and watching him sweat for 4 furlongs before his jockey created the impression of a challenge for the horse. We held him up until the last furlong before letting him off the bridle in the final strides.
Wiener were beaten 2-1 on the day but the wasted chances and creative build up play didn’t go unnoticed. We dominated. Again defensively we weren’t particularly challenged from open play and although profligate in front of goal we showed enough to show our attacking intent was there and that we are only match sharpness away from being effective in the final third.
Today we played St Gallen. This evening the horse moved up to listed company, but 3 races in 6 days takes an effect especially when the opposition is a bit more street wise.
Today St Gallen were exactly what we’ll face from the bottom 6 of the Premiership at home. Niggly, breaking up play and dirty in places. Just what we needed.
It will also have given the manager and coaching staff food for thought. What was clear is we are playing a more ‘mixed’ style of passing. We’re far from direct and even further from a long ball approach but we’re also having to move from the shackles of Brendan Rodgers short passing game.
Celtic are clearly now expecting the players to get the ball forward quicker when the opportunity arises, pushing the envelope a little. We are using our game intelligence to choose the opportunity and go that little bit sharper rather than sitting tight and recycling the ball. The death by a thousand passes is going but it’s not being discarded entirely.
We are now expecting that the players can think for themselves as and when to play the Brendan game and when to decide to break with tradition. For me this is great news. Less constraint will probably come with a little more danger. It might explain why most of the transfer window has seen us linked with more defensively minded players. It’s been our Achilles heal and now it’s being addressed with a view to letting the team breathe a little and have some professional responsibility.
Next up is Rennes, now our thoroughbred moves into Group Company, we’re not quite heading for the classics but our opponent will be close to our standard.
St Gallen saw a lot of players start to get more than 45 minutes. To some it looked like the end of a tiring pre-season tour. Because it was.
It’s been hot, it’s been double sessions but it is now in the legs and it’s now in the brains as we inch forward to Europe and the games that matter.
Rennes will give us more of a test. I expect more football, more attacking threat and more challenge to the defence. I also expect the first real sight of what Neil Lennon’s European side will be. He’ll now have an idea of the character of his squad, who can do and who cannot.
I think Neetesh Dixit was a blogger (travel not Celtic!) He said “The worst distance between two people is misunderstanding”
That’s changing. We’re evolving. Slowly but surely without an ice bucket over the head we are becoming Neil Lennon’s Celtic and without losing entirely the positive impact of Brendan’s style.
It’s a mature approach to management from Lenny and all the coaching staff. To change was brave but to change was necessary. We’d become a little predictable and the players were becoming bored. Fresh impetus in style and tactics will surely do us the World of good, for both fans and players alike.
As we move to the qualifying rounds I expect a defensive counter attacking approach away from home. We’ll limit space and use the dead ball deliveries from set pieces of Shved and Connell if he gets a look in to gain advantage from limited possession. In short we’ll try to be hard to beat away from home.
We’ll surely now save the expansive stuff for Celtic Park and utilise the plethora of attacking talent at our disposal. To go back to the clichéd start of this article it’ll be horses for courses.
This horse is heading for Group 1 Company and it’s just about ready to burst from the stalls!
Niall J
That's a good way of putting it. Land a couple of punches and win back some pride and some relevance again on the continent. Progress will do for this year. None of us are expecting the Quarters
