We have regressed.

Of course it was progression under Lennon, we got more points from that group than we had in any previous campaign, beat arguably the best club side to ever play and recorded our first ever away win.

I don't think the same arguments can be made for this season's campaign. Other than recording a win against an Anderlecht side that had just dumped their manager we failed to gain any points in any of the other 5 games.

As I said I think we were fortunate this season that the 3rd seed we drew didn't take any points in their other games which would have seen us crash out. The only worse performing 3rd seed than Anderlecht was Olympiakos.

Obviously I'm delighted we have European football after Christmas but I wouldn't attribute that to any quantifiable progression in our performances. Going undefeated twice against a high-flying Man City team and being unlucky not to beat a decent Gladbach side away from home definitely rank higher in my estimations than this season's exploits.

 

I agree,a bit of luck with the draw and we can go through,looking at liverpools,man uniteds,man city,chelseas,portos groups.Thats 4 groups were our chances of qaulfying would have increased singcfiently.Havin a look at the groups we had hardest group by far.Same with last years group stages,we had hardest group.Its luck of the draw.

 

Oneils side was full of talent,lennon,lambert,balde,agathe,thompson,mcnamara,petrov,mjallby.And was supplemented with some top class to decent youth players maloney,crainey,kennedy,marshall,mcgeady,miller,smith.Very far from bein a one man show.

 

Can people stop and think about this for a moment. We have lost one game domestically this season and are in europe after Christmas, yet people are losing their *!?

What the * is it you spoiled entitled * actually want?

 

People need to get a grip, its the first domestic game we have lost in about 18 months. We will get the double at least this season with a good chance of another treble. We will get an idea after the game with Zenit if we have regressed or not. Rogers will bring in a few new recruits in January to freshen things up but we dont need a total rebuild of the squad like some people think.

 

World peace.

 

As long as you and Eddie share space on this rock then that will never happen.

 

Don't be upset I never picked you.

 

Where we have regressed the most, sadly, is nothing to do with the performances on the park. Nor has it to do with the level of investment or even the wonderful displays of support by the fans durung the games themselves. This last point in particular is a most significant and salient one.

Over and over, we will follow you.

No, it is none of these. What saddens me most is the levels of hubris, and the self inflated sense of entitlement that is coming across loud and clear from some sections of our support, including on here.

It is the sense of entitlement, and indeed, a lack of humility. That is not the same thing as having a some expectation of the team performing to a certain level or achieving realistic results. But the level of entitlement that comes across is more akin to the way that, for years we mocked the huns for, as they just assumed that they should have everything handed on a silver platter. And if everything doesn't go exactly the way they want, there is a tendency to get a bit stroppy.

Even in a game adminstered either as historically corruptly or in more recent times downright incompetantly, as the Scottish game is, we should, as fans and as a club, never have a divine right to simply show up and expect teams to just roll over.

That level of expectation and entitlement is more akin with a blue hue'd support base concerned with a certain club in Govan, where even after all that they have inflicted upon themselves over the past few years, still have that sense of entitlement that proclaims that honours won by a dead club somehow have been inherited by their Sevconian tribute act. One thing that they have most definitely inherited is that they remain a permanant embarrassment and occasional disgrace.

It's an ugly trait, and one that really seems to becoming more pronounced unfortunately. Am not saying that Celtic need to start losing all the time for people to get some perspective, but having a little bit of humility doesn't hurt either, and no need for excessively rubbing other's faces in it.. well unless it is the Sevconians. But then again, some people never learn, so somewhat deserve it, lol.

BR's comments following the game really followed 2 themes. Congratulating Hearts for their performance, and expressing pride in what our team has been able to achieve in carrying on a run that lasted almost 70 games. That is humility, and someone who is not going to let one bad day unravel all the work that has been done since he arrived at the beginning of last season. That is not regression. This is a reality check.

The dominance we have been able to enjoy since the demise of deadco has made it a pretty fun and entertaining journey throiugh the past few years, and continues to be so, despite the trails and trevails in Europe. The fact is, the budget gap that MO'N team had compared with what was on offer down south, although still significant, is nowhere near as massive a gap as it is nowadays.

Around the time of the turn of the millenium Roy Keane was one of, if not, the best midfielders on the planet at the height of his career and is earning £19k a week. Not content with that for a long time he stalled contract talks when Man U were offering £40k pw for a new contract. Around that time, give or take a year or 2 - the top earning players we had at Celtic were on comperable wages with what was on offer at some of the biggest clubs down south, even if the gap was starting to expand, and which has just continued to grow ever since. Some younger fans may not believe that even at that point the gap was not nearly as pronounced as it is now, but it was. Check here to see: https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/jul/16/newsstory.sport2

Obviously Celtic's wage bill was trimmed when WGS took over and has continued since, and even if the top earning stars at the club now are roughly on that same sort of money and into the next bracket up, of £20-30k for the likes of Brown, Sinclair etc, that highlights exactly where we are at compared with the likes of Man City, Bayern or PSG, who are paying their top stars in the hundreds of thousands per week. That is a gap, not only between the last Celtic team that reached a European Final, and the budget we had to work with then and as the gap expanded, we continied to punch above our weight, with Strachan and Lenny, but as the gap just keeps getting bigger it does make it hardr to keep doing that regularly, when we are competing with the likes of these European powerhouses now.

These are the conditions that we have to live, exist and work with and so long as we are tied to Scottish Football, it is the way it is going to remain. We have a sustainable business model, an excellent manager and a team for over a year and a half had gone not only undefeated domestically, but a very large majority of those matches was done with elan, a style and panache that has made it such a joy to behold and scoring goals for fun from all areas of the pitch.

Eventually it was going to happen, and after a few wobbles finally iy all came to a halt at the weekend. Whatever factors contributed to that, it happened. Now we have to deal with that.

As BR has said, press the reset button and move on. This is not suddenly a bad team. We are still sitting top with a game in hand. We have one trophy in the cabinet for the season and a realistic possibility of adding one, if not, both of the others on offer here in Scotland. We were not going to finish this season 30-40 points ahead again, but did anyone realistically believe that we were? But that doesn't mean that we will not still end up comfortably as the best team and club in the country. And we are still going to have European football in February, and even in the Europa League will be up against a team that has easily and consistantly seriously outspent what we can afford to, but there is a real possibility that we can get past them as well.

As for the personnel, January is only a few short weeks away. I am not expecting wholesale changes as January is not the time for that, but it is an opportunity to freshen things up a little. There are areas of the pitch that do need attending to. In central defence most notably. It's not simply a case of resting entirely on laurels and standing still. BR as a man manager giving a chance to the players we have in that position to cement their places there, even while juggling injuries. But, be that as it may, it will need addressing and come next month, am confident that BR and the club will be doing exactly that.

This is not regression. This is not the end of the line, the end of days or a Parkhead Armaggedon. It is unlikely we are about to embark on another 60+ game streak, and considering it took over a century to emulate the first time we did this (and note, no other British club has come close to either of our 2 historical runs), it could be quite a while before we see such a run again. Just think, that for all the wonderful success that Jock Stein had and all the silverware we won in that era, we never came close to posting the domestic record that we have seen since BR arrived, it should put things in perspective, just a little bit. But that is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as we learn as much from such a comprehensive defeat as we do enjoy celebrating success.

This is not regression. This is just a reality check, and we will be moving on once again. We are fortunate to support a team where there are many more happy memories and bright days ahead than most. Enjoy it. Because it is Celtic.

The future is still bright. The future is still green and white.

 

One of the best posts I've read on here @Taz

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using Tapatalk

 

Aye, great post Taz, hope folks take the time to read it through, it's worth it.

 

Nicely put Taz.
So much hysteria in so many threads it was hard to keep up. Some of the language used towards some of our players was a quite saddening. But I guess this is what social media has allowed us to do. Imagine what this place would've been like in the early 90's had it existed? Now that would've been something.

As for the original question for this thread, I do not think we have regressed.
I think we're a squad (not team or individual) out of form & playing a much slower version of possession football than we did last year. A bit more confidence & urgency needed is my take on it.

I'm really looking forward to the game on Wednesday.

 

and the * BBC sports personality of the year team award goes to ..... Englands * womens cricket team. * the bias BBC. 30 seconds of celtics invincible season. invincibles, treble winners, undefeated in 69 games a new British Football record that will never be equalled let alone beaten. But the BBC panel of experts overlook this for an effing womans cricket team. biased fekkers

 

I’d let Taz have a shot of my Mrs thanks to that post.

 

They really need to get a good run in the EL

 

I can smell oranges.