Crisis, what crisis? The Celtic board continues on oblivious to the fact that the club is finally in the midst of full blown self destruction
Eric Knott 
(Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)
For quite a a few years now, the Celtic bloggers have been warning of a crisis at Celtic.
We predicted that this day would eventually come if things didn’t change at the club.
We knew that entailed a change in the people in charge of our club, but we never envisioned that they would be so incompetent that they would allow our club to descend into a full blown crisis.
Make no mistake, Celtic is 100% in the midst of a crisis.
But to the board, nothing is wrong.
They are blind to the fact the Celtic fans are revolting, the football operation is faltering, and that by next Sunday, we could be 8 points behind in the title race.
At this moment in time, nobody is willing to take accountability for the mess the club is in.
Nobody is willing to stand up and say, yes, we recognise that the club is in trouble, and we take responsibility for that.
Because that willingness is not there, we will continue on the road we find ourselves on.
The board will continue to blame everyone but themselves.
It will be the manager’s fault, which they’ll only be too happy to point out.
Then it will be the fans fault because the Celtic Fans Collective has sown division amongst the fanbase.
But it will never be the fault of the board.
Why would it be?
They have always run a tight and successful ship.
If people can’t accept that, then that’s clearly their problem, not the board’s.
Yesterday, there was raging debate about whether the result at Dens Park was entirely the manager’s fault, or the board’s fault.
Many people were quite happy to lay the blame squarely at the manager’s door, due to his tactical inflexibility which results in the predictably pedestrian football we saw on display yesterday.
And while he has to bear a good portion of the responsibility for this, we must first look at what got us to this point.
Rodgers has not changed his tactics, but what has changed hugely is the personnel used to deploy his tactical vision.
This time a year ago, his front line consisted of players who bagged between them a combined 70 goals.
None of those players have been available to him this season.
Tactically back then, Rodgers football may still have been pedestrian, even predictable up to a point.
But teams were unable to predict what or how his front line would behave.
The players he used had the skillset to unlock defences the current front line struggles to break down.
And while the build up may have been slow, and yes, sometimes pedestrian, his team always found a way to break down stubborn defences.
In short, the same tactics he used yesterday worked perfectly for Celtic this time a year ago.
This cannot be argued.
It can’t be argued because last season was one of our most prolific seasons when it came to goals scored.
So it stands to reason that when you remove 70+ goals from the front line, and fail to replace them, then you are going to struggle to score goals.
This isn’t rocket science.
Further to that, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out who is responsible for not replacing those crucial goals from our front line.
Brendan Rodgers is not responsible for selling Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn, or Adam Idah.
That responsibility lays squarely on the shoulders of the Celtic board.
Where Brendan Rodgers has to bear some responsibility is around his tactical approach.
Yesterday proved categorically that it no longer works.
If we head to Tynecastle next Sunday, for what is now a pivotal game in our season, and deploy those tactics, we could very well see a repeat of the 4-0 hammering which brought an end to our record unbeaten run in December 2017.
In contrast to us, Hearts are flying high.
Morale is high, they are scoring plenty of goals, and they will definitely be confident that they can beat us.
Especially after seeing our meek capitulation at Dens Park yesterday.
Whether Brendan Rodgers was trying to motivate his team to be better with his ‘Honda Civic’ comments yesterday remains to be seen.
That could either prove to be detrimental or it could have the desired effect.
If the players can’t get themselves up for next Sunday’s game, then our problems are far deeper rooted than we imagined.
For Brendan Rodgers, he is now at a crossroads.
He has two choices next weekend.
Deploy the same predictable tactics against Hearts as he did yesterday, and face the inevitable consequences of that.
Or show some bravery and ambition, and change things up to take the game to Hearts.
Because if he doesn’t change his tactics, we WILL lose.
The proof of that has been there for all to see over the last five or six games.
It won’t work.
If Rodgers himself cannot see that, then he has take responsibility for the result of that.
Blaming the board or the players won’t cut it.
Yes, the board robbed his front line of 70+ goals, without adequately replacing them.
That is on them.
But to continue on the path we are on in terms of results?
Well, that will be on the manager.
Yes, we are in the midst of a full blown crisis.
Both on and off the park.
But Brendan Rodgers has it within his skillset to deflect his portion of the crisis.
Our board has caused a level of self destruction hiherto unseen at our club since 1994.
But Lou Macari is not in the dugout this time.
Brendan Rodgers is.
Its up to him to earn his £3 million salary.
Its up to him prove that he is better than the tripe we saw yesterday, and that he is better than the failures on the park that brought us to the point we’re at now.
If Brendan Rodgers loses at Tynecaslte next Sunday, and then to that shambles from Ibrox the following weekend, he will make the board’s life very, very easy.
That will play directly into their hands.
And in truth, if he can’t beat the utter shitshow that is the Ibrox side, then maybe he is the wrong man for the job?
Unfortunately for us, if he fails in the next two fixtures, and the board wields the axe, his replacement will be the stuff of nightmares.
We could be looking at John Kennedy or Shaun Moloney stepping into the dugout.
The stuff of nightmares for us.
But a wet dream for the board.
This is the reality of where we’re at right now.
Crisis, what crisis?
How’s this for a protest ? Rather than toss balls onto the pitch , why don’t hundreds and thousands of fans descend onto the park at the next home game and scream at the board to get to France . Protest ten minutes before kick off then slowly return to your seat or standing position and I guarantee the board will get the message loud and clear!
BR must not play Yang on Sunday if he wants a good result, that player doesn’t want to be at Celtic. I have faith in our manager to beat this low block but he has to get wins first and foremost.The board don’t care about our club they just take, take, take but our day will come.
I dont care as a supporter whether you wear a ROLEX or a TIMEX,IT IS NOW TIME TO SHOW YOUR OWN SELF THAT YOUS ARE NOT CHEATS OR MAKEUP ARTISTS,GO OUT THERE AND PRODUCE,WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE,WOULD YOU LIKE,CHEAT,THIEF,LIAR,ON YOUR CV GUYS!IF NOT HAVE RESPECT FOR YOURSELVES,YOUR FAMILY,DONT BE GREAT PRETENDERS,GO SHOW YOUR TRUE SELVES,MTH.
GET BACK ON THAT LADDER,’MONTHEHOOPS.
This time last year we had 2 strikers, Kyogo and Idah. Now we have 1, a player who couldn’t get a game ar Sevilla or Middlesboro. Last year we had Kuhn. Now we have Yang. ‘Nuff said
Do not make excuses for Brendan ffs. Engles, Bernardo, Balikwishaw are getting a few minutes per game it seems . These are Rodgers approved signings and he is barely playing them. Yang gets played ahead of Forrest ffs who might still be the best winger at Celtic even at age 34.
He does not seem to know how to play any other style than what has been boring fans now for God knows how long now..
He could not beat Barry Ferguson last year and he blew it against Aberdeen in the final last season as well. He did not even have the sense to keep the proven scorers of penalties on the field. How did that work out.
Brendan is playing games as well. Is it any wonder that Martin O’Neill was critical of him.
Yes I would say There is crisis at Celtic and the man who walked out on us once is not blameless.
The men that scored these 70 goals didn’t wish to be at Celtic any more.
So what do you do? Do you hold them to the terms of their lucrative contracts or cash in? You will find the
answer to that by just observing
Maeda’s depressive coupon, a mood that has went through the squad like a plague and which has infected the manager,
At the end of the day, board or no board, those players who make more in a week than Billy McNeil would have made in over twenty years, even allowing for inflation, should have been good enough to go forward in
the CL and be sitting comfortably at
the top of the league.
Rodgers should have been hooked after being humiliated by Barry Ferguson and his drunken, motley crew.
Simple answer, whether they wanted to be there or not is irrelevant, we had the money to replace them adequately, and we didn’t. A conscious decision was made not to, that’s why we’re short 70 goals up front now.
Just to clarify, Billy McNeil’s wages at today’s value would be around £700.00 p.w. Nowadays, they wouldn’t even bother to warm-up for
£7,000 per week.
That’s the root of the prolems.
And by the way, Jock Stein did not too bad with the 18 players he inherited and was signed by a committee.
Can anyone name 2players currently playing for Celtic that BR has made them better players ?? Or even 1 player… 🤔🥴
Scotty
None!
EK
The money was there to replace players before and they, Rodgers included, bought
Trusty and Engels. So do you want a repeat?
Maybe you could supply the names of a few
who would be guaranteed successes.
I seem to remember a bit of boasting when
Celtic “won the race” to beat The Rangers for the signature of Luis Palma and they were “bantered” over the signing of Cerny.
I will repeat, and repeat again, CELTIC SHOULD BE STILL IN THE CL WITH THE PLAYERS AT THEIR DISPOSAL.
For progress there I will admit they do need to spend but, again, who do they buy?
You talk about 70 missing goals.
Since Celtic had players sitting in the stand on Sunday with a weekly wage exceeding that of the entire Dundee squad, I am hardly exaggerating when I say they should have had at least 10% of that total in the bag on Sunday alone with the players they had at their disposal.
After all, Dundee themselves managed a percentage of the 70 while Celtic had 0%.
Exactly… none. BR elite manager not. 😩🥴
Rodgers goes, you’ll get Kennedy or Maloney. Will you guys be happy with either of them??
Eric.. name 1player that has improved ?? I’m not asking you who is going to be the next manager. who has BR made a better player???
I am old enough to remember the comments among the support, myself included, when Jock Stein (some pronounced him as Jock
Stine) signed from Llanelli.
What does auld Jimmy Gribben ken aboot fitba?” was a common statement, while Jimmy McGrory and Bob Kelly were told to eff off.
I don`t know much about Maloney but he
would certainly put on as good a show against THEM as Rodgers is doing at present. My reason for that statement is owing to the fact that he couldn`t do much worse.
At the end of the day, everybody should just calm down. We have been asking for competition for years now so don`t start
soiling your drawers because it seems to have come. At the present time it still only
SEEMS to be there.