Good effort there tonight from the Celts. There may be hope yet for Lennon in the managerial role given the spirit shown in the 2nd half.
My biggest concern was with the zonal defense marking at set pieces. The zonal marking is an accident waiting to happen. Lenny's under the cosh now, but if he can sort out the disarray in defense, he may be able to buy himself enough time to re-establish his position.
Stokes btw was great in the role of holding front man, hopefully Lenny will have learned a lesson that he doesn't need to pick Samaras anymore- maybe the penny will drop at last.
The only other criticism I would have of Lenny tonight was he left Ki on too long when it was obvious he was knackered, he should've brought on Bangura - or some other option- a lot earlier.
Good effort, defense still a problem
posted on 20/10/11
I thought Lenny's snarl was back in good form, and if he keeps it up he'll be subject of a few referee reports again <snarlfacedsmiley>
posted on 20/10/11
thought ki should have been hooked much earlier as i thought he was pretty poor and seemed to lack work rate. but when you have 5 first team first choices - hoops, izzy, wilson, commons and brown missing. ledley playing left back, cha playing right mid, forest playing left mid and big glenda just playing in the team, then the result wasn't too bad.
posted on 20/10/11
Celtic watched that Rennes 'B' (or 'C' team play around with the ball for 90 minutes. Touched it twice and scored both times.
posted on 20/10/11
The bhoys done o.k, a lot of gers fans are absolutely gutted we never got humped. A lot of fixed odds were beaten early on tonight.
posted on 20/10/11
We got lucky but...I'll take it.
Lenny's positioning of players was questionable.To not play Forrest wide was a BIG mistake...and Cha, ferfooksake!
In the last 5 mins I'm shouting..." gist pick the baw up and throw it in the back of the net, ya loonies"
posted on 20/10/11
Lenny's under the cosh now, but if he can sort out the disarray in defense, he may be able to buy himself enough time to re-establish his position.
That's how I began to feel watching the second half.
We need to pee with coque we've got till the end of the season,no point trying to bed in yet another cb in January.Mulgrew/Wilson (when fit) for me
Ki was phecked mid way through the second half.
Bangura neeeds STARTS.
Stokes,Wanyama and Ledley should be first picks.
Kayal never got going til they tired.
Loovens looked ok tonight.
Signs of heart tonight-we live in hope
posted on 20/10/11
thought ki should have been hooked much earlier as i thought he was pretty poor and seemed to lack work rate. but when you have 5 first team first choices - hoops, izzy, wilson, commons and brown missing. ledley playing left back, cha playing right mid, forest playing left mid and big glenda just playing in the team, then the result wasn't too bad.
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It wasn't a bad result. The important thing from tonight is that Lenny can be assured he has a front man prepared to work his socks off in Stokes. He can forget about Samaras for once and for all. If he pick him again I'll be calling for his head.
The other equally important thing is the zonal marking at set pieces needs to be reviewed big time. The players don't seem to get it, and as an observer of the game for many years I don't get it it either. Just mark people at set pieces and keep it simple I reckon. Still the performance in the 2nd half - particularly after the farcical og - was encouraging.
posted on 21/10/11
TBH didn't think Stokes had that kind of performance in him, a learning lesson for us all and one hopefully Lenny takes on board.
And as much as I dont rate Glenda, he is much better than Maj.
posted on 21/10/11
TBH didn't think Stokes had that kind of performance in him, a learning lesson for us all and one hopefully Lenny takes on board.
And as much as I dont rate Glenda, he is much better than Maj.
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He has the bones of a decent team. He needs to quickly identify those who will play for him or the club - same thing.
In my view his team for big games and most SPL matches should include Stokes, Ledley, Mulgrew, Forster - despite his error tonight - and Brown when fit. Kayal also showed commitment tonight.
Lenny needs to identify a core of players and a spine to his team to build a good Celtic side.
He's still on a learning curve, hopefully he'll get there on time.
posted on 21/10/11
imo the team pretty much picks itself
forster
matthews/wilson
wilson
mulgrew
izzy
brown
kayal
ledley
commons
stokes
hooper
subs - bangura, forrest, ki, wanyama, el kad, glenda
pretty much the same as last season but with the lads showing some more consistency, fight and energy than they have so far this season.