[Matchday] Bristol City v Celtic, Wednesday 14th @ 7:45 pm , Celtic TV, Pass to Paradise

First 45 minutes of the first 3 games now we have been superb at pressing and winning the ball back if we lost it. Night and day from last season

 

Yep, the passing and pressing high as a unit, *, even just pressing at all, is night and day to last season..

Second half did fizzle out, to be expected with our injuries and bare bones anyway but, the youngster's knew exactly what they were doing out there also..

We need bodies and quality bodies in, we're on the right track though..

 

Anyone who hasn’t noticed a massive difference already is either at it or a complete *.

 

I'm probably being harsh, but seeing the team run out of ideas so often and skirting around the penalty area without any purpose, or lumping the ball up to Ajeti to chase and not quite finding him, it doesn't fill me with a lot of hope.

I know there's a lack of quality in the squad and I hope we bring in some quality singings but history tells us that we probably won't sign as many players as we really need to, and that we'll try and fill the gaps in the squad with some dumplings on loan.

Yeah, it's still early doors but our season kicks off in less than a week and with tonight's injuries the squad's already looking more than a bit thin. There's a lot of work that needs to be done if we're going to have a proper go of it this season, and I don't have a lot of faith in the powers that be to do everything that's required to make that happen.

 

the one certainty is that we still need bodies in the door.

 

His demeanor looks a bit down atm .

 

Mate, you were probably right. I chose ht/ft and then ft us after they made about 10 changes in second half and I lost the first bet.

Not sure what's worse.... My betting or the fact that we have a qualifier coming up in a week.

Shambles.

 

He is really being overworked with minimal staff at the club having so many people leave but also us Aussies know that's Ange to a tee. That is how he always is before and after matches with the press. Looks down and grumpy. Other than him desperately trying to get players in to the squad and the frustration with that process don't read in to too much.

 

You can see what the manager has implemented with the high press and willingness to win the ball back asap, we also have a game plan now which will make great use of our full backs but unfortunately for us we don't currently have the players in that position that can effectively execute the game plan which has meant we were a bit toothless in the final third due to the deep defending, Ajeti didn't look too involved but I put that down to poor service rather than application as I thought he worked hard. I'm still encouraged by the system we are playing though, with new fullbacks we will be in such a better position, unfortunately it seems too late for out first qualifier

 

You need to think about it in terms of a real match. What they are doing is making the opposition chase shadows for much of the game, tiring them out which we can take advantage of later on in matches. That advantage is completely nullified in preseason matches when you can change your entire team in the second half, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't still play that way in these games as our players need to get their own fitness up to a point where they can take that advantage when it matters.

 

Someone gets it.

You hammer the system into the players so it becomes second nature. Then you get some better players.

That's what he's always done. And wearing the other team down and winning late is classic Angeball.

 

The possession play is all well and good but where's the chance creation and goals.

It's valid to say we're lacking cutting edge, were not getting shots off, were toothless.

You can see how this is gonna develop in Scotland with teams defending on masse home and away and being happy to sit in their own box whilst we get frustrated unable to break them down.

 

We've scored 2 in every game. Its pre season. Its a brilliant time to have a game like that so now ange can go show them what to do in those situations so they are prepared.

 

Seriously?

I mean we've won 2 of our matches. Last night we had 2 wingers off injured, another in quarantine, and 2 of our 3 strikers unavailable. What did you expect?

Its hardly a yardstick for our upcoming season

 

Going on last night less than a week away from a strong opponent in Europe i expect with the amount of possession were getting we translate that into creating chances and getting shots of at goal or it's all show and no reveal.
We seen this all last season.
Ajeti looks *.
Not happy should I be ?

 

There is your first problem

 

Have to say I was concerned during the game about how poorly we defended corner kicks which obviously last season was one of our biggest if not the biggest weakness we had. Bristol City did pretty much nothing as an attacking force but yet they hit the post flush on and outside of the post from 2 corners one in each half that were the only times in the game they looked like scoring. So that is clearly still an issue that needs to be fixed.

 

For sure, and been like that for a long time. We are crying out for quality full backs.