Celtic v Ajax Thursday 26th November 8pm, BT Sport 2

Celtic left-bottom Ajax right-top

I knew this was going to happen soon as the Draw was made most people did.

Ajax would turn up kick off and leave.

 

Yet * all will be done, that's twice Ajax have went to attack our fans in pubs. Countless times they've went around Europe starting riots, * scumbags no wonder they have a love in with the huns.

 

Had a wee bit of time to stew on the game. I thought it was a pleasing display in general. Disappointing result and for our inability to take the chances we created, it could have been a fine win.

Some may find the aforementioned view mystifying and others may agree. Tonight we fielded a makeshift midfield due to injury and suspension. While Ajax aren't the team of 95 (we are nowhere near our time of Seville). They’re still a very handy side with some very good young players.

Onto the game,which I thought was very attack minded. Unlike the majority of games we see at Celtic Park. Both teams played a part in making it interesting to watch,even if the outcome wasn't the best.

Tierney again was tremendous, really exciting to watch this boy play. Maturity, timing in the challenge and so many other aspects of his game have been a joy to watch over the last few weeks. Had one moment 1st half where he held his position when Ajax countered and was able to block Klassen’s pass. An exciting young player in the Scottish game and yet hardly gets a mention outside of Celtic circles. Simunovic(impressive again for me) and Boyata with more time together, still the odd moment but good signs ahead. Boyata isn't and never will be Jason Denayer or Van Dijk,neither will Simunovic. Yet the expectations are that he should be. These guys are new players and will form a new style, don't expect them to step forward like Van Dijk(although Simunovic looks capable of doing so).Lustig had a difficult opponent but dealt with him much better 2nd half.I thought we defend well in the 1st game in Amsterdam and got close to it tonight. A couple of moments where we had a breakdown in understanding but otherwise a solid display. Unlucky with the 1st Ajax goal. While we gave the ball away initially, the ball bounced over the heads of our defenders and straight into the path of the on running Fischer.After that we were in a “scramble defence” to try and prevent the goal. 1st half I thought we held a good high line at the right time and squeezed the game(as did Ajax)

We had a midfield of McGregor,Armstrong and Rogic. McGregor burst on the scene in Iceland last season and filtered out of the team as the season went on. Rogic has barely featured in previous seasons, but has shown promise in recent weeks. Stuart Armstrong in his preferred area of the park, although sitting a bit deeper than he did at Dundee United. No Brown,Biton or Johansen. Yet they worked hard, worked together and used the ball pretty well for the majority. Was surprised Rogic started deeper,although eventually he rotated through the midfield positions and ended up more advanced of the central 3. McGregor got us off to the ideal start. He drove at the centre of the Ajax defence, before finishing well. For someone who hasn't featured, he shown desire to prove his worth. Slack touch in possession that began the build up for the Ajax equaliser. Given that these guys were flung in together, it was a good showing for the majority of the night. Criticism, I didn't think we got enough forward support from 1 or 2 of the central players. No surprise these guys faded as the game went on. Scott Allan with his 1st & 2nd touch shown his quality and value he can bring to the side. Took the ball in under pressure and with one touch, half turn and played through Griffiths for a great scoring chance. That as an example of what Allan can do and why we signed him. Unfortunately, he will probably be remembered for his part in the 2nd Ajax goal.

I’ve been critical in the past over our desire to have the primary source of width coming from the full-backs. I was pleased to see Forrest and Mackay-Steven in the starting line-up. Two natural wide players and it was pleasing to see them look to go on the outside of the Ajax full-backs(Forrest more noticeably, his first intention was going on the outside). Both offered good work rate going backwards as well. Mackay-Steven after his initial promising start has faltered slightly and at times he wasn't as positive as he can be.

Griffiths had an absolute stinker of a night. Passed up opportunities at this level we need him to finish. His decision making on a number of occasions let him down. Too selfish, when he should have played in Mackay-Steven 1st half and going for goal, instead of cutting the ball back. The more the game went on and he made mistakes, the more he became intent on solving the problem by himself. Then because that didn't happen, he chose wrong option after wrong option.Late on when Ajax went almost man for man, instead of looking to run his opponent. He was cutting back and allowing them to recover. For the record, while it looks like I’m blaming Griffiths for the result. One player can't be culpable of not winning/losing a game.

We fell short tonight for a number of reasons, missing good chances being one of them. However my biggest criticism which has been constant within our European games, is our slackness on the ball(decision making and technical execution). Whether it be simple passes from defence to midfield or passes to create scoring opportunities, we’ve inflicted ourselves with problems throughout this European campaign.

It's easy to be negative or critical. Depending on expectations you will either be disappointed and angry about the result. Want Ronny to “get tae *” and bring an unnamed individual in. Maybe, like myself you feel it was a pleasing display.

I thought we had plenty of pleasing signs tonight which hopefully will continue down the line.

 

Welcome to mediocrity!

 

delia will still be in charge so its looking grim for Ajax!

 

I know its subjective because of the different groups, but we are points wise the fourth worse team in the whole of the Europa League ! But that means that out of 48 teams there are 3 worse than us so its not all bad !

 

im surprised Ronny didnt mention that after game, along with the 'small things needing changed for next years champions league"...

 

We are at best a Europa League team at the moment. We did have one of the toughest groups though, no one expected Molde to do that well and all things considering that's 3 matches we've gotten 2 points out of and should of been 9 but due to stupid mistakes and not taking chances. We haven't got the all round quality and keep making the same * mistakes.

 

So there is 44 teams out performing us in the Europa. 44. Im embarrassed for Deila the problem is that he is shameless himself with that big stupid head on him looking like a deer in headlights.

 

Im afraid were going to be stuck with him for the foreseeable future. * shambles of a club

 

"Give me another year", said that last year - please just go Ronnie now
...You seem a nice person,maybe a bit of a slow learner, but please please go, not your fault you shouldn't have got job in 1st place

 

Agreed. But Molde doing so well did highlight the fact that we, in comparison, were not. And that shouldn`t be the case.

The only encouragement I can see from this is that - apart from a rank performance away to Molde - all of our games could have gone either way. We did well enough away to Ajax and home to Fener to win those matches. Stupid defending cost as at home to Molde and tonight it was a pretty even game that could have been won if Griffiths takes that great chance in the second half.

We clearly need a bit more experience (and quality) in the side and it sounds like the manager will be angling for that in the January transfer window.

 

I am getting that feeling myself. The recent contempt shown by our our board for us notwithstanding. Hopefully the bean counters see axing him as good for the bottom line and * do it.

 

yep i thought the changed team done ok, in fact i think considering our luck they done aswell as our established side would have done, if not better! as the bigger names brown bitton johansen commons have failed to get the job done

when was the last time magreggor played from the start ? him and armstrong were decent, rogic didnt play that well though, gms tried hard, as did forrest and griffiths though he had a stinker in his decision making. although i thought he done some good things on the wing and breaking with the ball

the 2 centre backs looked pretty good and will get better the more consecutive games they play, think we might need a new right full back though as lustig looks fooked
most promising youngster was keiran tierney, hes an impressive young footballer lets hope we keep developing him well and make sure we dont damage him
yeah i have to think that the game tonight as in the performance i dont think overall we could have expected this performace so kinda pleased by it, although not the result, i think we deserved the win in all honesty

 

This game was one of the fist in a long time I had practically no confidence in winning. Even against barca I had a glimmer of optimism cause we had spirit back then. How I miss the days of scalping the big fish. The worst part is that as soon as they are back the board will most likely start investing money... disgusting.

 

I take your point but really if this means we're a "finish at the bottom of Europa League group after dropping out of CL qualifiers we bundled our way through after finishing top of a league we won before a ball was kicked -team" then yes we are the epitome of this. The dismal Euro record speaks for itself, we're being let down by the people who run our club. The recruitment is just atrocious and this manifests on the pitch.

Molde showed us up, whilst Ajax and Fenerbache flattered us. Check out the other clubs who are finishing with next to no points... It's a different kind of company we keep now. Double entendre intended.

 

Agreed with that.

How laconic and insightful.:smiley-laughing002:

Also, * Ajax lout scumbags. I hope the team realise from now on that playing them is like playing the Huns. Not just another game. They must be beaten, it's as close to a continental derby as you'll get.

 

Very disappointing European night, again.
I actually thought we looked more like scoring in the 2nd half but we are atrocious at set pieces.
I was actually literally just typing into this thread that we look more like conceding from our own corners than scoring, then that very thing just happened.

We get all our big men up from the back, then hit a short corner, lose possession, and are left vulnerable at the back.

It's sickening that we are bottom of this table with 3 mediocre teams.
Ajax were * tonight but we gifted them 2 goals, same in the 1st 2 games against them and Fener. Molde are nothing special, both Fener and Ajax played them off the park but Molde ended up scrapping a few counter attacking goals.
We concede far too easily, and you can't just blame the personnel. Last year we had VVD and Denayer, both of whom are regular starters now with Holland and Belguim, but we still leaked goals for fun in Europe, 4 in Zagreb, 2 in Salzberg, 3 against Inter, the list goes on.
It's clearly the system we play, not just the defenders fault.

Get it * fixed!!!

 

Cool pictures Sean

Great match report HoopswithPride. Definitely more positives than negatives. Some good individual performances make me optimistic about our improvement over the next 7 months in time for the CL. I expect our passing will become a lot crisper.