Brendan Fraudgers!

And we are a stepping stone for Southampton and their 500million a year TV and sponsor packages. So * what? We must do better, no excuses for the utter * we are signing.

 

If we look at the teams around our levels that use the South American, Asian, African markets well, where they themselves are based and what their nations rules are on work permits are and what if any the difference is should be telling.

Look at how much these teams spend on said players and how much they tend to get sold for, if things were that easy for us, Lawwell would be swimming his way all around the world personally getting these players in for a couple hundred thousand and selling them for tens upon tens of millions.

The fact we aren't and know full well for years that this is how these european rivals are operating should say everything.

Absolutely no * chance in * is Lawwell deliberately turning his nose up on such profits when it lead to him getting even fatter bonuses, just no chance.

 

He needs to change how we play in Europe, it’s that simple. European Teams of Valencia’s calibre must love playing against us because we try to match their style. We are simply not good enough going toe to toe with teams like that playing the same game. Can you imagine if Livi or Hamilton tried to play football the same way we do against us? They would be destroyed, and managers clearly don’t play like that for this very reason.
Rodgers is not doing the equivalent in Europe. He’s trying to out pass better teams and this plays right into their hands. He need to play more direct. We need to bully them. It might not be “the Celtic way” it might be as pretty but by * it’s been known to work. As someone previously alluded, we beat Barca by scoring a corner from an absolute beast of a midfielder who used his main asset to dominate the defender. Could he out pass Ineista and Xavi? No of course not. But he didn’t try, nor did he have to. Combine this with some good old fashioned backs to the wall defending and you can pick up results. We don’t have to dominate every side we play against to get results. The old fashioned way can get you results too.
We as Celtic fans can see this, Rodgers for all his amazing work, needs to waken up to this.

 

He doesn't like to play defensively in Europe and that's fine to an extent. Just means we'll get pumped a lot but if we're no gonna be defensive.....then at least go out in a blaze of glory..

I can't even remember their keeper making a save second half and us even really being a threat at all. It was soul destroying and passive as * against a very decent side....no a great one. With some of their big hitters left out..

So we don't or can't really go after side's and are one of the worst side's in European competition defensively for how we defend and gift goals. Burke last night was scarily isolated and yet they could waltz past our defence on the halfway line in on goal..

It's pathetic..

 

Rodgers does need to change and adapt his plans for Europe based on the opposition but the decline of us in europe has been steady since Strachan, it's been slow with some great peaks like getting to the last 16 in the CL but we've been dropping in standards for some time.

 

Our best European results of recent times at Celtic Park under O'Neill, Strachan and Lennon were achieved with a solid defense, a solid shape to the team, the players competing well, a lack of individual errors, no needless risk-taking, a direct and effective attacking style and a genuine belief in our chances of getting a result. In Europe now we have none of those things and in some cases the exact opposite. Liverpool fans had BR down as being tactically naive in European football and it's pretty clear now they were right.

 

We simply cant play this possession based, high line football against superior teams. Modern day Celtic, the only way to win in Europe against better teams is to battle for it. Set plays, direct, counter attacking. Everything we are not under Rodgers.

We cant out Barca, Barca.. We cant even out Salzburg, Salzburg! A team with a similar budget!

I like Christie, but * me he should not be our #10 in 2019 after a double treble! We are going absolutely nowhere!

Valencia had the cigar out when we had that 20 min spell, no players in that midfield that can carve open a top defence with ease and consistency. McGregor is the best there, but he's not really that eye of the needle through ball type - We need that, and we need it in Christies position to successfully play this football.

 

Rodgers won’t change and I can live with that tbh..

 

One our biggest weakness in spl and Europe is our failure to score from corners of free kicks. That how a lot other Celtic managers achieved results in europe.
Can't understand how poor we at corners. Do we not practice them

 

Really? You're fine that he's stubborn and tactically inflexible, to the point that we end up outplayed and embarrassed by any half decent side we play in Europe?

It's incredibly frustrating.

 

Aye mate, he won’t change his footballing philosophy and he’s the best manager we could hope to have.

 

He doesn't have to change his philosophy though, just his tactics, for Europe...

 

Our only chance home or away against teams with far more resources , is sit in defend for our lifes for 90mins , play dour football , 10 in the box then hope to get lucky keeping them out and catch on a breakaway or a set piece thats the reality..hardly good viewing if paying to watch through your fingers for 90 mins but it can yeild results.going toe to toe aint happening.but sometimes its better to get beat at least trying to play football than still end up getting beat with catenaccio and never to have tried at all.

 

From the start of the game it was clear how they were going to play, 2 up front with 2 lines of 4. They were organised and very compact. So what do we do ?We try to pass it through them but that was never going to happen. Brendan must have seen that? With them set up as they were and playing such a high line it was made for Burke to use his phonomenal pace to get in behind them. Miss out the passing and go route 1. I think we did it once during the whole game. If Brendan wanted a back to goal striker to hold up and link up play then Eddy should have been on from the start. When on the occasions we got it wide and get a cross in there were no Celtic players busting a gut to get there. It has been mentioned on here numerous times, this season, last season and season before, we cannot keep playing the same tactics week in week out against weak SPFL teams and expect the same tactics to work in Europe. We need to adapt our tactics and style to each team we play and learn from it. Sadly, up until now we have not learned anything in Europe and try to play the same way, this makes us predictable and easy to setup against.

 

Thing is due to the lesser quality, the SFA will grant an exception to pretty much everyone, unlike the English FA.

 

Aye, he won’t tho.. or at least there’s no evidence he will..

So my point is when you look at the full picture of what he brings, I wouldn’t swap him..

 

Even the best managers of the best teams set their team up differently for european games and/or strong opposition.
My fear is that no matter what the group of players BR has at his disposal, this will always be the case.
There has been a few instances now in europe when we have simply failed to turn up and been made to look * at home in europe.
Borussia Monchengladbach, Salzburg, Valencia. Anderlecht.
I can accept a defeat at the hands of a decent outfit. But to fail to compete whatsoever and to put in a performance littered with the most basic errors isnt good enough.

 

It doesn't matter if it's SPL hammer throwers or classy European sides. Get after us and show a bit of dig and we inevitably crumble. It was said after Hearts, Killie, Sevco etc and it's the same again. There is a lack of fight in this team when things are going against us. That was another spineless performance. Scott McDonald talks a power of * usually but he hit the nail on the head when he said sometimes you just need to get in a teams face and show some aggression. Outside of Brown (who seems to be having it slowly coached out of him) we don't have anyone willing to put the boot in. These performances will keep happening.