Ki

I've seen him burst forward at times, and join the attack. During his good form stints, he does this often. Check a photo posted a few pages back on this thread. Ki looks * athletic. And he strives to keep possession when nobody opens up for an incisive pass. He plays smartly, and is getting better and better at wiggling out of pressure- with the ball at his feet, so our possession is uninterrupted.

 

he was good for weeks at the start of the season, also last few weeks of last season, and november/december last season

 

athletiscism has nothing to do with looks, all of our other central mids are better athletes than Ki imo.

 

He had one good game at the start of this season but other than that was nothing special. I personally thought he was awful before he went to the Asian Cup last year, we played some of our worst football of last year during the November/December period before Ki left and Ledley came into the side. He was good the last few weeks of last season but that can hardly be classed as an extended period.

 

Surely Commons and McCourt are not?! The fact that Ki is not buzzing around doesn't mean he is slow. My guess is that he's been told not to roam around too much by the gaffer/assistant manager.

 

you obviously dont remember it that well if you think ledley just came into the team then....brown and kayal were injured, ki and ledley started together in most games.....ledley was the worse player in that spell, its the only period in his celtic career where he was slated on this forum and rightly so, he was invisable for weeks, Ki was good in that period, most people can admit that...

 

Yes I confused Ledley with Kayal but it doesn't change my general point, the team played its best football last year when Ki wasn't in the side. Ki was no world beater during that stretch. In fact your post strengthens my point, once Ki leaves Ledley became a better player. could be a coincidence but imo it is because having Ki in the side requires the other midfielders to work far harder than they should because of Ki's complete lack of workrate.

 

I would class both McCourt and Commons as left midfielders but I would also say that commons is a bdtter athlete than Ki. Commons isn't fast but he isn't quite as slow as Ki is.

 

the fact that a player of Ki's quality being kept out of the team says volumes about our depth in midfield.

he's off the boil of late but his form will pick up. i wouldn't let him go unless someone comes in with some serious dough. i think everyone is overlooking his age, he's only going to get better.

options in the middle of Kayal, Ledley, Brown, Wanyama and Ki with McGeouch knocking on the door is absolutely mouthwatering imo. if other areas of our team had this depth in quality, we would do some serious damage in Europe.

 

Sorry, didn't see the ˝central˝ part before. Still, Commons has weight issues. Ki is keeping himself in good shape.

 

so youre blaming Ledleys bad form during that period on Ki? come on to *, thats silly

also Lennon praised Ki ALOT during that period, he must have been doing something right...

 

I don't think my suggestion was silly at all, Ki's poor workrate makes his midfield partner look worse than he actually is. Being paired with Ki means you have to try and cover alot more ground than being paired with Kayal or Wanyama. And if our midfield gets bossed as it often does when Ki is played in a two man midfield both midfielders are blamed. Therefore I feel it is pretty safe to say playing with Ki can make a player look bad.

As for your second point, Lenny praised Sammy quite a bit last year when I personally didn't think he was playing well.

 

scapegoat written all over that comment

a period when our strikers were misfiring and our defence was rocky, also legley had his worst period in Hoops.....

but Ki plays well in that period, but its not enough, still gets blamed

 

I think you're both right here to be honest. Ki was decent during that period but the lesser workrate did mean Ledley had to change his game.

It's not necessarily that Ki doesn't have something, just that he doesn't really have a natural midfield partner to play alongside.

I think there's a player in there and I think at a side that can afford the luxury of a player like him then he'll go on to be something special. Annoyingly I don't think that's here, because I like the player and for the financial windfall he brings.

 

it just annoys me....the bias on the forum, if Ledley has a run of bad form, which ill admit isnt often, but he DID in that period of time....its just swept under the carpet

if Ki does the same(along with a few other players) he is absolutely slaughtered....

 

Lets all agree Ki hasnt live up to all the expectations of him

But he can get better and will I think

Next year Ki will be great I think

 

Tell me about it, any time a hooper or ledley goes off form for a while, it is excused by either the players around them or "he is allowed to be off form for a while"

Then you get to ki, the automatic assumption is Ki makes everyone else play badly, Ki is the sole reason we lose every match he plays in, Ki has a terrible workrate etc...

The biggest load of baloney, by all means criticize a player when criticism is due, but don't single it out on the same player every single time we get a bad result.

 

I've attempted to explain this several times before on here. If Joe Ledley has a bad game and doesn't get criticised, but Ki plays poorly in the same game and does get criticised, it's quite obvious to me why that happens and it's not bias.

Joe Ledley is probably the most consistent player in the whole Celtic squad. Over the course of this season he's had a handful of bad games, the rest of the time he's been solid or very good.

Ki on the other hand has been inconsistent since the moment he arrived at Celtic. He's had a couple of patches of good form but he's also had a whole host of poor/below average performances in a Celtic jersey.

If a player plays consistently well for the team, like Joe Ledley does, then fans are much more willing to be forgiving when they have a bad game. Fans know that player will probably be back to his best the following week so they cut him some slack. When you have a player like Ki who only plays well 4 or 5 times out of 10 then fans are not going to be so forgiving when they have a poor game. They're less forgiving because it's much easier for them to remember that player letting the team down in the past.

It's not rocket science. And it's not bias either.

 

you know what else isnt rocket science?

the fact that players need runs of games to have consistant form, whenever Ki has had a run of games....hes played his best stuff....Nov/Dec last season, End of Last season, Start of this season, it takes a very special player to be consistant off the bench imo, and probs about half his Celtic appearences are off the bench....

Ledley starts every week, Ki doesnt, there's no allowing for that excuse though is there? even though its an entirely valid one, yet, others get let off the hook with excuses

unfair...

 

exactly mate, its bullshit, theres no excuse for it, i dont care what anyone says, its just not on