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Guest TheJTS98
9 minutes ago, Day of the Lords said:

I realise of course Dundee are probably going to lose 6-0 at Celtic Park next, but still. 

They struck me last night as the kind of team that, while they have glaring weaknesses, will dish out the odd absolute pasting.

Huge few weeks for them. If they see out the month without getting serious bodies in, then last season might start to look like the glory days.

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48 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Don’t know if it was on here or on Twitter, but someone said that Celtic defence is something you would expect to see if the club got liquidated and had to restart in League 2, and it couldn’t be truer. Scott Bain wouldn’t get a game for any other team in the Premiership and he’s No 1 for the supposed biggest team in the country.

I don’t think the fact that Ange has played 3 different central defensive pairings in his 3 competitive matches so far will help the teams cohesion. 

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Guest TheJTS98
9 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

I don’t think the fact that Ange has played 3 different central defensive pairings in his 3 competitive matches so far will help the teams cohesion. 

What's he meant to do? He had a young defence then signed a new defender just before the Hearts game.

Was he meant to not play his new signing and stick with the young players who played 120 minutes midweek?

Edited by TheJTS98
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44 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

I don’t think the fact that Ange has played 3 different central defensive pairings in his 3 competitive matches so far will help the teams cohesion. 

Not at all, but trying to play the ball out from the back like Pep Guardiolas Bayern team with Bain, Taylor and Ralston is providing excellent comedy value. 

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58 minutes ago, TheJTS98 said:

What's he meant to do? He had a young defence then signed a new defender just before the Hearts game.

Was he meant to not play his new signing and stick with the young players who played 120 minutes midweek?

Personally I think Welsh is a better centre half than Bitton - it’s only an opinion.

I also think a regular centre half pairing builds an understanding - again just an opinion and you clearly favour swapping it about in a rotation system each game as does Ange based on what we’ve seen so far.

Also, it might have been wise giving Starfelt another week to train with his team mates - again, that’s only my opinion.

 

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Guest TheJTS98
23 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Personally I think Welsh is a better centre half than Bitton - it’s only an opinion.

I also think a regular centre half pairing builds an understanding - again just an opinion and you clearly favour swapping it about in a rotation system each game as does Ange based on what we’ve seen so far.

Also, it might have been wise giving Starfelt another week to train with his team mates - again, that’s only my opinion.

 

I think that's a no-win situation where the reaction is based purely on the result.

Their defence has been taking a public kicking. If he leaves out his new centre-half and they lose, he gets crucified. If he plays him and they lose, then some people will say he should have left him out.

In his situation with an inexperienced team and young players who had played 120 minutes abroad (and been knocked out), I can see why he chucked the new guy in.

I can certainly see where you're coming from, but I think in the circumstances a bit of chopping and changing is to be expected. They're a mess.

Edited by TheJTS98
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19 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Personally I think Welsh is a better centre half than Bitton - it’s only an opinion.

I also think a regular centre half pairing builds an understanding - again just an opinion and you clearly favour swapping it about in a rotation system each game as does Ange based on what we’ve seen so far.

Also, it might have been wise giving Starfelt another week to train with his team mates - again, that’s only my opinion.

 

Bittons last 5 yrs have been him coming in to cover our lack of a centre defence for the CL qualifiers, getting found out when we get dumped out and spending Oct - may sitting on the bench or in the stands. An imposter and a wage thief. 

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I’m staggered that Hjelde isn’t even being considered, looking at the absolute rubbish in defence at the moment.  Of course, none of this is on the manager - he seems like a disappointingly good guy - but he’s clearly been told not to pick him.     The Old Firm game could be one of those 6-2/5-1 freak shows that used to crop up from time to time.

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Guest TheJTS98

I just re-watched the game, and on second viewing it's even more striking how huge a difference the subs in the second half made to Hearts.

Whisper it, but Halkett and Souttar at the back, allied to Baningime's positioning and workrate and Haring's use of the ball, actually makes us a very stable unit and brings our attacking players into the game beautifully.

The big question is how many games this season we'll get Souttar and Haring on the pitch together, but that central spine of the team is very promising.

We will lose 2-0 to St Mirren.

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2 hours ago, TheJTS98 said:

A lot of the chat last night was about how unusual it is for Celtic to lose an opening game, or even to drop points.

They lost at Hibs in 1997-8 (then lost their second game, too), and since then they've  only dropped points on the opening day in 2003-04, 05-06 (4-4 at Motherwell then lost comprehensively at Ibrox in game 4), and 07-08.

What nobody seems to be mentioning is that they won the league in all four of those seasons.

They look a shambles, but it's not the time for big calls yet. Transfer window isn't shut and they had a couple of new lads last night who may or may not turn out to be useful.

Agree with most of what you say, the decision to play both Starfelt and Bitton was probably 2 fold, firstly as the 2 young lads played 120 minutes midweek and secondly going to Hearts it’s usually pretty physical.

I think we were also unlucky to have Abadas goal chopped off and Hearts were a tad lucky to keep Halliday on the park, on 2nd viewing that was a bit of a shocker.

We are still a number of players short, we need 2 new fullbacks who can play the way Ange wants, a keeper also has to be a priority. Then look to a centre forward as Edouard is pissing me right off with his half arsed attitude 

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38 minutes ago, TheJTS98 said:

I think that's a no-win situation where the reaction is based purely on the result.

Their defence has been taking a public kicking. If he leaves out his new centre-half and they lose, he gets crucified. If he plays him and they lose, then some people will say he should have left him out.

In his situation with an inexperienced team and young players who had played 120 minutes abroad (and been knocked out), I can see why he chucked the new guy in.

I can certainly see where you're coming from, but I think in the circumstances a bit of chopping and changing is to be expected. They're a mess.

Yes, they appear to be a shambles. I thought his priority would have been a goalkeeper but clearly it isn’t. I’m sure the lads from Israel and Japan will turn out good signings but I don’t think he was smart to target that end of the pitch when his goalkeeper and also defence are really poor.

 

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Guest TheJTS98
9 minutes ago, Grangemouth Bairn said:

Yes, they appear to be a shambles. I thought his priority would have been a goalkeeper but clearly it isn’t. I’m sure the lads from Israel and Japan will turn out good signings but I don’t think he was smart to target that end of the pitch when his goalkeeper and also defence are really poor.

 

I was thinking about this during a game, and I've still not really made up my mind.

I remember, for example, Craig Levein's first time as Hearts manager working out so well because the first thing he did was work on defence, defence, defence, and leave everything else till later. That solid foundation got us back-to-back third place finishes, and the UEFA Cup group stage, as well as leaving us the spine of the Burley team.

So, my instinct is to favour that kind of approach.

But it looks to me like AP is going baws-oot in playing his preferred system regardless of whether the personnel are in place. And maybe in the modern game that's right. You just implement the system and get it bedded in. I'm still not sure what I think there.

I think what he's saying is that he values having the long-term preferred system in place over getting three points last night. He might be right, he might be wrong.

Edited by TheJTS98
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4 minutes ago, TheJTS98 said:

I was thinking about this during a game, and I've still not really made up my mind.

I remember, for example, Craig Levein's first time as Hearts manager working out so well because the first thing he did was work on defence, defence, defence, and leave everything till later. That solid foundation got us back-to-back third place finishes, and the UEFA Cup group stage, as well as leaving us the spine of the Burley team.

So, my instinct is to favour that kind of approach.

But it looks to me like AP is going baws-oot in playing his preferred system regardless of whether the personnel are in place. And maybe in the modern game that's right. You just implement the system and get it bedded in. I'm still not sure what I think there.

I think what he's saying is that he values having the long-term preferred system in place over getting three points last night. He might be right, he might be wrong.

He’ll get away with it for a little while maybe. He’s the first Celtic manager I can ever remember not being under pressure to win every game.

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