Pep granola or whatever he is called.

[Lemon]

Just watched that turgid fa semi final and it made me think about our own situation. Even the so called greats struggle to get a performance out of their team week on week against teams on a much smaller budget and that is where we are. Granola however can target whoever he wants and every player knows that his place is on the line. Me thinks that we have too many passengers and I include in that some who maybe previously have been seen as untouchable.

 

[TET]

Just watched that turgid fa semi final and it made me think about our own situation. Even the so called greats struggle to get a performance out of their team week on week against teams on a much smaller budget and that is where we are. Granola however can target whoever he wants and every player knows that his place is on the line. Me thinks that we have too many passengers and I include in that some who maybe previously have been seen as untouchable.

Think its Guardiola if were taking bout same dude.

The difference between good team and average team is very slim but financially it costs massive difference.

Then between good and very good it same but this time financials are way off the chart

And from very good to world class its sheik mohammed off the field but minimal on the field added value.

That why Celtic are stuck at very good to go that bit better on pitch we need sheik Mohammad's check book

yet despite being very good team we struggle to beat average team every week when they play back against wall with no real intention to win game, but hope for one chance to score a counter attack or set piece.

Thats just the game these days.

At one time we could afford a few players in world class bracket occasionally but currently one of them costs more than our entire wage budget.

 

[TET]

from my watching the very good teams they can break down stubborn defence 1 of 3 ways.

solo or one two dribbles with snap shots.

calculated hammer specialists from long range

overlapping fullbacks with quality crosses into box or even better backward crosses for hammer volleys outside 18 yard box having turned the defence to side facing

sadly we don't have the technical players for accurate hammer volleys
And no target man means overlapping fullback needs to be ultra accurate
At least we have regular consistency with solo or one two dribble and snap shots.

 

[Lemon]

Think its Guardiola if were taking bout same dude.

The difference between good team and average team is very slim but financially it costs massive difference.

Then between good and very good it same but this time financials are way off the chart

And from very good to world class its sheik mohammed off the field but minimal on the field added value.

That why Celtic are stuck at very good to go that bit better on pitch we need sheik Mohammad's check book

yet despite being very good team we struggle to beat average team every week when they play back against wall with no real intention to win game, but hope for one chance to score a counter attack or set piece.

Thats just the game these days.

At one time we could afford a few players in world class bracket occasionally but currently one of them costs more than our entire wage budget.

Yes it's Guardiola, that was a rather pathetic joke I made as I could not remember how his name was spelled. My point still stands though and that is that our team has a staleness about it at the moment with no one in our squad exactly banging on the door looking for a regular start thus enabling our regulars to go unchallenged for their first team place. Whatever the budget we operate under, this lack of competition will eventually lead to a form of complacency.

 

[Spherical Planet]

Yes it's Guardiola, that was a rather pathetic joke I made as I could not remember how his name was spelled. My point still stands though and that is that our team has a staleness about it at the moment with no one in our squad exactly banging on the door looking for a regular start thus enabling our regulars to go unchallenged for their first team place. Whatever the budget we operate under, this lack of competition will eventually lead to a form of complacency.

I always thought Pep Gardai ooh-ah (up da RA) was an Irish polis man with republican tendencies?

I like Pep. I like the way his teams play football, but it's one thing to be judged on the quality of player and budget he had/has at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City - compared to how he might fare with a club like Celtic.

He'd cruise the domestic set-up, but I'm not sure if he would make us any more competitive in Europe?

A packed, well-organised defensive set-up is always difficult to break down, but that's why working on set-pieces and attack vs. defence in training are so important.

I don't blame livi and Brighton for playing the way they did, it's a common enough feature in football and it's a problem teams like Celtic have to solve.

I remember going to games in the late 70's and 80's and the one thing you were certain of, was that Celtic would blitzkrieg their opponents in that first 20-minutes. I've seen that happen periodically in the last 20-years, but not often enough for my liking.

We hit a wee purple patch when Broony was injured earlier in the season, the key to it was hitting teams hard in the first quarter and getting that early goal.

 

[The Shamrock]

I'm sure there are lots of teams that park the bus against teams like Barca and Real but they still manage to break down defences easily enough.

A higher standard of Manager and player is sorely needed at Paradise before we can achieve anything in the CL but Celtic plc won't or can't splash the cash needed to fund the fans' aspirations.