Larry7
Well-known member
This isn't an anti-Gavin Strachan rant or even a reaction to last night's setback...
I adore big Ange. From the moment I first read about him, I thought he seemed like a perfect fit for Celtic. We've had some successful managers this century - MON, WGS, the
- but there was always a niggling doubt about the football ethos. Watching big Ange's team is like watching the cavalier play of Tommy Burns' team at their peak. But I worry that Ange might come undone just like Tommy did.
Where Tommy was undone (not only by the open credit line afforded to Dynamo Govan) by his refusal to spend an afternoon scouting a competent goalkeeper, I worry that Ange might struggle because of his coaching staff.
I was very impressed by his recent appearance on Open Goal. His answers were class but one of them worried me. I paraphrase but he said something like "As a coach I only read the manuals on attacking; I didn't bother reading the ones on defending." I don't know if that's good enough. Fair play, he's an attack-minded coach and I love it but I think he needs to compliment his strengths by hiring coaches who have strengths in other areas.
My missus thinks I'm a magician because I can change light bulbs and fix things, but she despairs because I leave my dirty clothes lying on the floor, whereas she's a domestic goddess who, before she met me, used to just stop using lights when the bulb went. It takes all sorts to make the world work.
How much better have our keepers been in the last decade than in the rest of your football-watching life? I think it's because we have a cracking goalkeeping coach in Stevie Woods.
Can we get a set-piece coach? Our set-pieces are rubbish at both ends of the park. Why do we keep letting a team's biggest guy run into our box and header the ball unopposed into our net? Why can't we get one of our bigger guys to put it into the other net?
Can we get someone whose speciality is organising a defence? (I know there was a myth going about that John Kennedy was the defensive coach but that's nonsense. Hearing him speak, his philosophy is the same as Ange - attack.) I don't want us ever to park the bus but teams will inevitably have chances against us - can we hire someone who can teach our defenders to make first contact with the ball?
I don't think either of these tweaks would detract from Ange's philosophy any more than me picking up some socks would impinge upon my masculinity.
We don't have the budget to sign tier one players but some top coaches would be within our budget. Who says we can't get one of the best guys in Europe or the world for each of the positions I've mentioned? We could probably get four top coaches for less than what we're paying Boli.
Liverpool were mocked when they hired a throw-in coach the year they won the league but that's what top teams do. If you get enough 2-5% marginal gains, before long you're 50-100% better.
It's 2021, Ange. Men need to pick up their own socks and defenders need to defend crosses fired into the box.
I adore big Ange. From the moment I first read about him, I thought he seemed like a perfect fit for Celtic. We've had some successful managers this century - MON, WGS, the
- but there was always a niggling doubt about the football ethos. Watching big Ange's team is like watching the cavalier play of Tommy Burns' team at their peak. But I worry that Ange might come undone just like Tommy did. Where Tommy was undone (not only by the open credit line afforded to Dynamo Govan) by his refusal to spend an afternoon scouting a competent goalkeeper, I worry that Ange might struggle because of his coaching staff.
I was very impressed by his recent appearance on Open Goal. His answers were class but one of them worried me. I paraphrase but he said something like "As a coach I only read the manuals on attacking; I didn't bother reading the ones on defending." I don't know if that's good enough. Fair play, he's an attack-minded coach and I love it but I think he needs to compliment his strengths by hiring coaches who have strengths in other areas.
My missus thinks I'm a magician because I can change light bulbs and fix things, but she despairs because I leave my dirty clothes lying on the floor, whereas she's a domestic goddess who, before she met me, used to just stop using lights when the bulb went. It takes all sorts to make the world work.
How much better have our keepers been in the last decade than in the rest of your football-watching life? I think it's because we have a cracking goalkeeping coach in Stevie Woods.
Can we get a set-piece coach? Our set-pieces are rubbish at both ends of the park. Why do we keep letting a team's biggest guy run into our box and header the ball unopposed into our net? Why can't we get one of our bigger guys to put it into the other net?
Can we get someone whose speciality is organising a defence? (I know there was a myth going about that John Kennedy was the defensive coach but that's nonsense. Hearing him speak, his philosophy is the same as Ange - attack.) I don't want us ever to park the bus but teams will inevitably have chances against us - can we hire someone who can teach our defenders to make first contact with the ball?
I don't think either of these tweaks would detract from Ange's philosophy any more than me picking up some socks would impinge upon my masculinity.
We don't have the budget to sign tier one players but some top coaches would be within our budget. Who says we can't get one of the best guys in Europe or the world for each of the positions I've mentioned? We could probably get four top coaches for less than what we're paying Boli.
Liverpool were mocked when they hired a throw-in coach the year they won the league but that's what top teams do. If you get enough 2-5% marginal gains, before long you're 50-100% better.
It's 2021, Ange. Men need to pick up their own socks and defenders need to defend crosses fired into the box.
