How can we turn it around?

An honest question.

The current manager has stated "we have went out of every competition this season with a whimper".

Marc Crosas has stated "we have as talented a squad as there is in the SPL, the problem is with our desire".

There is a serious problem at Celtic Park, perhaps even more serious than we care to imagine.

Is there anyone person who could turn this around? I don't think so - not even Gus Hiddink, or Jose Mourinho - never mind Craig Levein or Paul Lambert (who are IMO 2 of the most likely next Celtic managers). But my main point is that no matter WHO the next manager is, can he sort out that stinking rotten smell in the Parkhead home dressing room - the smell of failure, the ingrained smell of defeatism.

Lenny wanted to give the players fight, desire, hunger - against Killie he thought he had already made an impact. Yesterday, he caught the virus - he admitted defeat.
Defeat in being able to instill these values & ethics into this group of players.

Change has to come from the top. Desmond, Lawell & Reid have all been at the helm during our recent slide into defeatism, they have been so smug at their achievements with our balance sheet - while the club has been whimpering out of Championships, Cups & Europe.
Will these 3 take responsibility for the teams collapse, as they have taken it for their (self-stated) successes in the Board Room & Bank Manager's office?

Real change is required here - I don't hink we'll see it. A slow slide into mid table awaits us, as happened with Aberdeen & others.
It's going to get worse, before it gets better.

I'm now officially * myself.

 

At this moment in time I can't even think about turning this around. I can't seem to think about anything. This feeling will probably pass in a few days but right now I just feel completely and utterly empty. Haven't felt this low for years.

 

I honestly think the board is the wrong target.

Consider the boards we've had in the past. When the Bunnet took over he had to eject supposedly 'Celtic-minded' characters in order to run the place efficiently and effectively. Bear in mind that the Kelly gang brought us to the brink of extinction. Since the Bunnet's departure we have been able to attract a series of very capable people to make sure we didn't end up back where McCann started. Refereces to the 'biscuit tin' are in fact to a previous era which was dispatched by McCann's revolution. Maybe too many people on here are too young to remember the Mars Bar years and the 'Save Our Celts' campaigns. If you think yesterday was bad - cast your mind back to the dying days of the Kelly regime. Big question from then that was never answered: where did all the money from decades of domination go?

This board brought both MON and WGS to Glasgow. Not a bad track record surely? TM was a mistake - but then he wasn't their first choice candidate. Even BEFORE Mowbray arrived our profile was diminishing sufficiently to turn better people off the thought of coming to SCOTTISH football.

I believe the real enemy are the blazers who run the sport in Scotland. The little men in Park Gardens who colluded with Jim Farry year in year out. They're still there.

To really turn this club round we need more MONEY. (If we had more we would simply buy Keane and not mumble about begging him to stay for another loan year.)

Television rights are currently the big money spinner in sport. We can't sell Scottish football to TV companies because it's crap. The board have been active in trying to set up an Atlantic league, to achieve a move to an English league, to take control of the Television rights. In all of this they have been resisted by the wee men from the wee clubs.

THERE'S YOUR REAL ENEMY.

 

Sadly i agree with the OP,i cant see anyone in world footbal being able to come in and turn this around,it is there for all to see there is a massive problem at the club,something or someone needs to give. In all honesty im concerned about even finishing 2nd this season,it has been a complete disaster from day one and knowing our luck will only get worse. I also fear a slide down the league if things dont change starting on tuesday night but i just dont see it, it breaks my heart as it will with everyone on here to see my club full of players with no desire or any idea what celtic means to the fans.

We should be burying rangers,they have massive debt and havent bought anyone in 2 years but instead theyre * themselves laughing at us and its soul destroying to see and hear.

I bet yesterday if it had been the huns playing ross county they would have won,county might have outplayed them aswell but the difference is that walter smith and mccoist have the players running through brick walls for them and the players know what it takes to play and deliver the expectations needed at rangers,you just need to look at the league cup final. it crushes me to say that about rangers but its true.

 

i can only hope by the start of next season we are looking back on this with a view that this needed to happen to force big changes and financial investment
im glad now that half the players TM brought in were loans, hope we have some clauses in the others contracts that we can get rid of.
i think the heart of the teams got to be homegrown as they are more likely to understand the the supports desire for winners with heart and fight in them

 

I don't know about mid-table buddy.
But those in charge of our club need to sort out this mess sooner rathar that later, ideally before the Huns get stronger & financially stable.
They need to put some strong leader types in place. Not easy, because these types are a hard sought out commodity in football.
It might not be the supporters first choice, but we need to start again from scratch, building solid strong foundations rathar that paper overing the cracks.
No doubt we're at a all time low, but I'm optimistic & glad this has happened now, when the Huns haven't got a pot to * in.
Looking forward to changes & better times at Celtic park because let's be honest it can't get much * worse!!!!

Hail Hail

 

I feel inclined to agree with this but at the same time Brown, O'Dea and McGeady were all * yesterday. So perhaps being 'home grown' isn't the be all and end all.

 

Of course it can be sorted but whoever is given the job needs full backing to do the job his way (If that hasn't been the case with the previous 2 managers).. We haven't had a proper leader in the team since Lennon stopped playing and we haven't had a very reliable defence since then either so nothing has really changed , it's just a different shade of * which seems to be much deeper..

I think criteria for the new manager is someone who knows our game inside out , can add the type of charachters and players required while flogging off any passengers and chaff.. As someone stated in another thread we can't go down the planning for the futue route because it's neglecting the here and now , so it has to be someone that will hit the ground running.. Levein would be an obvious choice now... Anyone writing off next season as a non title challenge already is wide of the mark in my opinion.. I believe that we play in a league where each season starts as a level playing field , rather than a continuation of the previous one where you are immediately playing catch-up.. Are our rivals that good ? No..
Make the right appointment (as soon as possible) and let the guy start the rebuilding now.. I said at the time that I thought Celtic made a mistake of giving Neil Lennon the remainder of the season (instead of announcing it was on a game to game basis while they were enquiring about possible replacements) but because that was the situation I was totally behind the idea and was prepared to back him for the job permanently should he win all the games.. Lennon hasn't gone down in my estimation as a person but I can't see how he can keep the job permananetly now after the humiliation of yesterday.. Levein is probably what we need right now , a sfae pair of hands that will build a team with height and strength and have a plan A and Plan B , of playing on the deck or playing with a target man or two..

 

the problem of lack of desire lies throughout the club, the players not wanting not fighting for the win, the board over the last 3-4 years settling for "just winning", and the manager (TM) not being able to do jack * about it.

during the 3IAR era, this desire may not have been needed as much due to the lack of competition from rangers, but now we are faced with a side that is running away with the SPL, so the desire to fight for a win is a must. i think on paper we have the more talented side, but matches trophies and battles arent won on paper.

for me the only way to change our situation atm is a wholesale change. new players, new manager. some people could say weve just done that and look where it has got us, and they would be right. but like lennon said, you can give them bits of information and pointers, but as soon as they cross the white line, its down to them to fight for the ball, to fight for a goal, to fight for a win. if the current players cant or wont fight for a win or a goal or even a 50:50 ball, then they can * right off.

when we appoint a new manager, who ever it may be, they MUST be given money from the board. if that means selling almost every single player we have in that first team then so be it, i wont miss them. im not talking about getting rid of some players, we need rid of them all: mcgeady, samaras, brown and odea should be the very first to go. bring in some new faces, young players that need to prove themselves to the footballing world, that have to fight for the ball because they cant just * off down south where people know they are good players. id be up for selling the entire "first team", bar a couple, and bringing in the youth that we have been apparently building all this time.

the board, and i am 99% sure of this, will say they cannot give a new manager money because we have none, it was all spent by the tactical genius that is tony mowbray, and if we do give the new manager money to spend then we will end up in huge amounts of debt. but either way, we will end up in huge amounts of debt as many "fans" wont re-new season tickets and will stop coming to celtic because we arent winning any more. so they are faced with a choice:
1)no money, bit of debt for a while, fans coming to see the new manager and the new team and hopefully winning some trophies
2)no money, more debt for longer, nobody coming to see the new manager and the * players because who wants to spend hundreds of pounds when you are only just making second.

 

I would love to see levein in the dugout next season,he was my personal choice when strachan left but i just dont see the SFA letting us speak to him after only 1 game in charge of scotland.

Im expecting the board to do the usual of waiting until the last minute and the season book forms are in until announcing they have been searching for the right man since mowbray left and bringing in another yes man like mark mcghee. I hope im wrong but i have a bad feeling about it.

 

I fear there is no short term fix, Im looking to the future, teach our youngsters well, teach them technique and passing, forget shoving them into games at a really young age, instead build up there athletisism and ability, get them competing in ultramarathons / Triathlons .. this is the sort of athlete that becomes a winner. look at barcelona and how they pass and move.. instill it at a young age and build that foundation into the core of the club.. make it a conveyor belt for talent.. I think the whole model needs to change

 

I've never thought about anything like that, but it isn't a bad idea.

 

We need a leader in the team. At the minute there is not one player the team can look to for encouragement. Back in the MON days and even Strach days we had the likes of Lambert losing his teeth to make a tackle for us. We had Lennon sliding in everywhere and winning the ball. We need someone in a holding midfield role such as these two. We need to build from there. I seriously think this is what we're missing and a fighter in midfield can be a starting point to rebuilding the team. It doesnt need to be a Lennon or Lambert Celt. Just a strong, ball winning and leader. Then this could allow other who can (supposedly play, ie McGeady, Crosas)

 

Without a doubt that bringing in one or two real good performers can cover a multitude of problems.. A couple of names that have been mentioned in threads is Kevin Nolan and James McCarthur.. A player like Nolan (£4m from Bolton to Newcastle) would definately be a great addition to our CM and if playing alongside McCarthur we'd have a solid unit , but my fear is the same as others , that we'll more likely go for someone like Scott Arfield because he's a much cheaper option.. It really is upto the board to make their ambition clear..

 

I have an interest in sports science.. kind of a geek with stuff like that

Its clear the whole Scottish setup needs to change around.. theres so many kids with potential and we dont seem to nurture it properly, too many players look really knackered.. you can talk about not having enough desire but at the end of the day the desire has to happen in training and dedication throughout the development of the player.. The human body wont respond to something it hasnt been conditioned to do.. I think possibly too much emphasis goes on anerobic activity (short bursts) which depletes the body over time rather than make it strong for the long hall... football is a blend of aerobic and anaerobic especially when you realize it happens over a whole season.. I know from experience that aerobic conditioning allows much faster recovery times and makes the body far more efficient in using fuel.. it is the reason real athletes have very little body fat ( think Larsson) , If your carrying too much weight it is more likely the focus is on sprint type training which burns blood sugar as its primary source of fuel.. (sugar runs out very quickly.. its not going to fuel you through 90mins of football) so aerobic over most of preseason and especially when at a young age is key..

just my 2 cents.

 

Exactly how I feel mate, we have all suffered hurt, it comes with being a Celtic fan but we are reaching new lows, I would love to suggest a solution but I cant find one, I cant * wait for this disaster season to end.

I feel like my club is crumbling before my very eyes, we will get out of this hole, im sure of that, next season has got to be better, it cant get any worse can it?

We need winners, N'Guemo, McGeady, Samaras, Fortune, O'Dea, Naylor all not up to the job. How much will we have to spend in the summer? Whatever it is it wont be anywhere near enough to change these bunch of * * into a half decent team, Ross County showed more passion and desire yesterday than what Celtic have shown all season.

I dont know the next step, I really dont.

 

I'm in no way sticking up for those pathetic failures yesterday but.....
The reason we're not winning as a team is because we haven't BEEN winning all season. I suppose it's hard to get motivated when your already dubbed a failure.
I remember from my playing days, when your winning games week in week out you take it very personal when another team goes a goal or two up & threatens to stop you winning.
On the flip side if that winning belief has gone from the team, you need strong, motivated individuals around you to bring that belief & winning mentality back......And unfortunately we have none of these at celtic fc at the moment.

"There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows".
George Eliot.

 

a good solid experienced manager and to get rid of most the losers that are hanging about cp and picking up big wages and doing nothing in return.sell brown,mcgeady and boruc to generate real funds for new manager,hard decisions like this need to be done to turn this team of losers in to winners,so come on board stand up and be counted

 

a just hope none ay thum got the day of today, make um run until they drop!

 

I think a root & branch change in attitude is required & this should not stem from money being spent - quite the opposite in fact.

We've spent a lot of money this season - £3.8millions on MAF, £16k per week on Keane - well both have played in numerous defeats this season & both have to admit to being a major waste of money.

We need to bring these young players we have at the club through a lot better than we currently do now - Ross County had 3 Celtic trained players in their team as the controlled a semi-final in the Hampden sun & beat Celtic 2-0.

Mega money players are not interested anymore, we need hungry players, players with a real point to prove, players with a desire to win & the know-how to get 3 points.
This has to be in-bred within the club, Barcalona produce numerous home-grown players from La Masia, they had 7 La Masia players on the pitch in the 4-1 humping of Arsenal in the CL quarter finals.

This is what we need, I'd like to spend a lot of money on quality coaching - rather than players like MAF or Samaras.
Play guys like Simon Ferry, Charlie Grant, or go & get guys like James MaArthey or MacArthur. They are there for the taking, I'd rather have spent the money on these guys than pish foreigners...good foreigners I don't have a problem with but pish ones like Braafheid & N'Guemo are a waste of our time & money, they also detract & demoralise the young boys we have at the club or within our own country.