Celtic 0 - 4 Leverkusen

Agree mate, probably the worst thing we did was pump St Mirren 6-0 then Dundee 6-0 , before that people were all saying “ he needs time for his own players, players to get used to each other, then a large majority started getting carried away with ange ball after 2 games, definitely still think he needs more time but we need to start beating teams like Dundee United and winning away from home domestically, honestly couldn’t give a fk about the europa league this season, just hope he can start turning it around domestically thou will be giving him a good few month s before I want him out, no manager in the world could turn that mess around in 2 months

 

Definitely at least till January, February no point in doing what the Huns did, with warburton, caxinha, murty looking for a quick fix then fans on their back so someone else in

they eventually perserved with Gerrard and as much as I don’t think they are a great team they are in a far better place than they were , granted if things don’t look like improving after 5 months then things certainly have to be looked at

 

I was actually trying to be smart with a comparison to Lennon, where he needed gone long before November, then eventually was in February which clearly was always too late.



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We are playing well a lot of the time but too easy to score against and against teams like this we don't have an outball to get up the park quicker.

Rogic and Turnbull are fine domestically but in Europe they're too slow and can't defend, needs to be two energetic guys in those positions like McGregor, Christie even Kyogo.

We could also do with a bit of height, main difference between the two teams tonight was they had a big striker and were able to get forward by playing it long and picking up the 2nd ball, they also had Bakker who was a big unit they aimed a lot of long balls to. We have nobody like that and are stuck trying to pass our way out under pressure all the time.

Need a big striker, a big winger or a big full-back we can let go up and have the option to knock it long to now and again. Sometimes we are in desperate need as the fans start erupting when Starfelt, Hart and Vickers pass it among each other too much but theres no easy way out and if we play it long we're likely to lose it and be caught out.

 

dont think were far away at all now after tonight, against a * hot team with tons of quality and we were going toe to toe for big parts in the game

like always at this level though opposition teams are clinical and terrific on the counter attack

we need kyogo and mcgregor though they are definitely required to get our season going without them its impossible

and we'll need reinforcements in january some energetic midfielders a left winger forrest back and another striker to replace ajeti

 

Clearly hit him in the ribs under his armpit. What happened to the VAR vision ?

 

Giakoumakis looks a big strong lad.

 

Since the start of 2021 20 players have left, including loans returning to parent clubs. The squad already had holes at left wing, Centre back and a quality issue at left back. So signing 12 players when that includes 4 who are youth players/ project signings means we have only brought in 8 players who could be seen as first team ready and 2 of those are loans and another looks like a complete mismatch for the managers system in McCarthy. One was also a Goalkeeper.

So 4 outfield players to replace your captain, your box to box midfielder, your star centre back, your third choice CB, your talisman striker, your two first choice right backs, your first choice left winger (all be it he was on loan), one of your first choice left backs(Laxalt) and your prospect striker (Klimala), so 4 outfield players (and 2 loans) to replace 10 who were involved with our first team last year.

What that’s meant is those who were not good enough to get a game in the team that finished 25 points behind them last year have become regulars in the team or squad Ralston, Bitton, Soro, Rogic and Ajeti. We haven’t addressed the quality issue at left back either.

On the game tonight I genuinely believe that if we had Van Dijk and Denayer at current ability we would still have shipped goals if the rest of the team remained the same in this current set up.

We try to play McGregor as a defensive midfielder, he is a box to box midfielder all day long, he would thrive in the position Turnbull plays in just now left CM expected to go box to box and link up with the full back and winger. If we are to invert our full backs the defensive midfielder effectively should become part of a back 3 with the two centre backs who split, that is definitely not McGregors game and he doesn’t do that most of the game, he isn’t strong enough defensively or positionally to play that role.

Playing him there with inverted full backs who were Ralston probably our most limited player technically and Montgomery a young boy trying to learn how to play full back means they are going to be receiving the ball in midfield more than McGregor is, given our players it is ludicrous.

Say you even get Juranovic back, the left side is still a glaring weakness. Also even if you want to play McGregor as the deepest of your midfield you then need two workhorses that do their share of the dirty work as box to box midfielders making up your three. We have Turnbull and Rogic the complete opposite of that. Total luxury players who have failed to deliver recently against any sort of decent opposition. If you don’t play them we have two empty shirts in Bitton and McCarthy, and a rash and unreliable Soro.

There has to be someone else worth giving a go as this Turnbull and Rogic midfield can’t go on, it is literally one of the worst thing I have seen since Mowbrary was manager with McGowan in there.

Going forward we created plenty of chances to score goals and I think given time and hopefully a fit James Forrest and if Giakoumakis can offer something we have some decent options to at least January. Mind you they need to be more clinical, Kyogo and Abada missed great chances tonight which in big games like that you can’t afford to do.

Also Jota was excellent at times but we need a goal or a more accurate final ball at times to come from his play, not always his fault sometimes poor finishing but his attempt to put Kyogo in early on in the game was terrible when they were 2 v 2. We need to strengthen with more options in the front 3 but given how many gaps we have elsewhere it doesn’t seem too bad.

 

I agree he needs time (and players) but he’s got to compromise his approach to some extent in the meantime. We’re struggling to get the ball moving forwards against far worse teams than Leverkusen. Maybe Scales & Juranovic could make a difference but that remains to be seen.

 

Hart
Juranovic Denayer Boyata Tierney
Ledley
Christie McGregor
Forrest Kyogo Samaras

You'd want a team like that to play football like this which doesn't seem that unachievable, two energetic attacking midfielders who can press and defend, a big guy as part of the front 3 to go long at times who can also run, sitting midfielder with decent legs, who is decent in the air and comfortable on the ball. Two centre-backs with pace, who are good when being ran at, good in the air and don't panic when left exposed.

Instead we have two defenders who aren't that fast when they are constantly left wide open with guys running at them, two attacking midfielders who canny run, the front 3 isn't too bad if it's Abada, Kyogo and Jota but even then it would be more balanced with a wide player who is decent defenisvely like Forrest and one of them who can win long balls and also run.

That team would have good balance for defending and attacking set pieces, mobility and combination of attacking and defending. What we have now theres not really a good XI to put on the park without holes in it.

 

Needs 2 year in all honesty but there is no patience anymore and results will dictate , I would love for him to have success with this style , on a positive note we score first and gain momentum this could ended a draw , I don't feel we could keep any team out atm, too many changes and that is affecting us with cheap goals .
Liked biton in that position , offered a wee bit stability at the back , we started well and had to score , it didn't happen and we lost belief , you have to get just reward for being brave or heads go down , big example of playing wots infront of you is juv Chelsea, Chelsea all possession and attacking juve picked them off , 70% v 30% possession, there are many ways to skin a cat , and you have to be smart .
As I say I hope it works and he has such belief in this ,we need to stay onside and not make it harder than it is already , not to concerned by the score tonight , another day those chances go in and we are all happy .

 

As I said on a pre match post, I didn't think we would win and feared a proper doing. We are sadly lacking in midfield and can't afford to have both Rogic and Turnbull there at the same time. We are also struggling to play Ange's system as we don't have the players playing in their natural positions. Ralston and Montgomery are very raw and Starfelt is hopeless. Hopefully we are still in contention in the league come January when, hopefully, we get some decent players in.

 

We should play with two center mids, means less * Midfielders on the pitch

 

Another very bad result at home. The difference tonight was they were clinical in front of goal and we weren’t. We had numerous chances to score and failed to do so. We got through them a good few times but the result everyone sees is a 0-4 loss at home which is just embarrassing.

Need to dust ourselves down and get ready for a much more important game on Sunday. Great to have Kyogo back.

 

is scales injured ? or does ange not see him as a left back, no harm to monty i just thought that scales being bought for 500k would be ahead of him at left back

maybe its just monty is more attuned to anges style so far and scales will come into it later on in the season or scales is seen as a left center back instead and one for the future since hes not been given a shot at center back even though were leaking goals

as to tonight it be great if we could get as gud at counter attacking as all the european sides we play seem to be

 

Couldnt manage to wake up at 3am
To watch but scorline looks a pumping but stats seems we played well? Someone summarise!

 

First minute they nearly scored, from then we actually had a good spell for 15-20 minutes, mostly us on the attack a couple of big chances, some good balls into the box, a few corners. Then they took more control, scored, scored again, could have scored again right after their 2nd goal as Montgomery gave it away just after we kicked off but nothing hapened. They looked really good and had good control from about 20-40 minutes, last 5 minutes nothing really happened.

2nd half again we looked pretty good from 45-55, came out quick, had chances again and they looked like they had switched off or took their foot off the gas and let us get in control, we probably should have scored here again then with their first attack of the balf they got a penalty and after that the game was done really.

So we could have went in front, probably should have, ended up 2-0 almost 3-0 down, should have scored again but ended up conceding again.

On balance of the game and chances a 3-2 or 4-3 loss would have been fair, 4-0 did flatter them but again they took chances and we never so you cant complain.

It wasn't really that much different from the Betis game and probably would have been a similar score if we did take a chance or two or had we went in the lead.

 

We had two really quite good spells at the start of each half, had good control in they periods, created good chances. We were just nowhere near clinical enough to take them. Partly us, think we missed 2 open goals - but equally their keeper pulled off some great saves.

Defensively same old story. Too much time on the ball, nobody moving enough and showing for it, stupid mistakes or slack passing giving away possession and we panic. Goal goes in our bottle crashes, more mistakes, more slack passing.

The 2 in midfield - Turnbull / Rogic - are a big problem. We're trying to play high press, high intensity with two guys that look like they can't run the length of themselves. They don't contribute nearly enough going back, don't have the legs to transition us quickly. Really no wonder we look even worse at the back when we're basically 2 men down right from the teamsheet.

 

Was a pumping and we played *

 

Especially in the opening minutes, you are treating the opposition disrespectfully and have not warmed up to the game yet. You are asking for trouble. Their coach had studied us and their forwards pressed our backline from the start as we attempted to play out from the back level with our 6 yard box - madness !