Save Wee Gordon Strachan!

I am growing more and more concerned by the negativity coming from so many Celtic fans about Strachan.
By all means, we can criticise his tactics, talk about alternative formations and players etc. but if people continue to claim he is a bad manager he really just might get sick of it and walk away. To me that really would be a sad day for Celtic.
In my opinion he is up there as one of the best managers we have ever had. Yes, he makes mistakes. Yes, he can be stubborn and argumentative. But, he has done an absolutely wonderful job since he came in, transforming Celtic into a young, promising AND successful team in a very short time.
Let's have more constructive criticism please!!

Oh yeah, and he has competed against the very best teams in Europe with a FRACTION of the money they have available to them.

And without Larsson!!!

 

There has been plenty of constructive criticism.

 

plenty of overly negative and unneccessary criticism too - that is my point.

 

Its OK. WGS has left TC. Well he certainly stopped posting which is a big pity cause I liked it, fake or not. Agree re: Strachan. He is a top top manager. I think peoples opinion on him dimmed a bit because of the 2nd half of last season's displays but there were unusual problems last year including:

1. the loss of two of our best players in Maloney and Petrov
2. The totally unpredictable flopping of JJ and Grav
3. The freakish amount of long term injuries (Wilson, Gary, Bobo, JVOH, Magic etc)
4.The loss of the previous seasons strike force (Hartson in actuality and Magic in spirit).

That set back the development of the team a whole season. Most of that was impossible to predict when the season started and it is no mean feat that we did so well domestically and in Europe. I think now his 'team 3' has finally repaired the losses of team 1 and indeed improved on it. He had to replace Telfer, Camara, Bobo, Lenny, Petrov, Hartson, Magic and Maloney from his team 1 of just the season before. He has replaced them with mainy better and younger players in Wilson, Naylor, Brown, Donati, JVOH and Skippy etc. He has signed a few turkeys but when you operate on a shoestring you gamble. He has brought some quality placers for buttons to the club- Artur, Wilson, Naylor, Gary (I still think he is good), Brown, Donati, Sno, Naka, JVOH etc, all of whom would now interest at least a few EPL clubs with their buckets of money. WGS brought two world class players to the club (Artur and Naka) for one or two million quid and we could get 8 million each on them now. Most of those were for low fees and could be sold on for far more, surely giving at least a 25 million profit if we sold them all on today!!! (add up what you think we would get if some of the EPL teams wanted those players and subtract what we paid). That guarantees the clubs financial heath. He also has the best record for bringing through young players we have had in years. He lives and breathes football, he is very tactically cunning even if he has to make it less than pretty like against Spartak. He is meant to be a very good practical coach in trianing etc too. OK he is prickly but other than that (and many do find him amusing - they loved him down south) he is about as good a manager as we are likely to ever get to CP.

 

You sound really down Martin and its just not healthy dwelling on an object of loathing like WGS. You need to get away from this thread and onto a more jolly topic like how good Kenny is playing (woof woof - that me being Greyfriar's Bobby) or something.

 

Keltoi - I agree completely. Great post man.

 

Keloti that's an excellent post. That's what people mean when they say 'look at the bigger picture'. A+ mate

 

Great post kelotoi
He has had to do loads with the club and more then most managers do

 

It is perfectly reasonable to ask

1. What's the script with Riordan

2. Why he persevered with Hartley despite him continually playing poorly

3. Why we play with a left sided player on the right (and vice versa) which leaves us playing far too narrow IMO

4. Why we play guys out of postion

5. What went wrong with Gravesen

etc etc.

Being concerned about these issues is not overly negative.

 

I am touched by your concern Keltoi.

 

WGS likes to play left footed winger on the right and right footed ones on the left because when they are running back when the other team is attacking they will natually tackle the guy from the inside.

 

That is fair comment but it does have a down side too. IMO it leaves us far too narrow when we attack and we seem to be often simply trying to bundle things through the middle or, when that isn't working, lumping it up to JVOH.

I don't feel we get the best out of Naka out there for example.

 

This 'Explain yourself' pish about why he doesn't pick Riordan, Gravesen or any other player is yet another excuse to pick holes in WGS' management of the club.

Since when did the manager of Celtic or any other club have to explain every decision they made regarding team selection?. I don't remember criticism of MO'N for not explaining why he didn't use Moravcik more in his 2nd season, why he refused to start Liam Miller more often after he burst onto the scene, or why he bought Juninho then hardly played him.

A manager makes decisions about who plays and who doesn't then he stands or falls based on results.

 

Bollocks. I am not saying that he should be EXPLAINING such things. I am saying that these are valid issues which we the fans discuss on forums like these. Otherwise your forum wouldn't exist and you wouldn't be "The Doctor" Dave, weilding your power with such glee. There are valid criticisms of his management.


To point out that we have played poorly for six * months is hardly nit picking is it ?

To point out that he constantly plays players out of position isn't either.

To question why we are not getting the best out of Riordan is reasonable.

To ask what the manager is doing to get something (anything) out of a guy whom we are told is the highest earner in the club's history is reasonable.

BTW this is not a MON v WGS for me. MON had his faults too (Juninho is the perfect example) and I complained about them at the time as well. And I am not going to pretend these issues don't exist with WGS either.

 

Sorry I misunderstood. You don't want WGS to explain these issues, you want people on here to do it. My bad.

And not for the first time you have it all wrong Martin. This is not my forum, and I no longer have any power to wield.

 

That's why the forum exists is it not ?

 

You are no longer a mod?

 

here here... well said.... top post

 

Why not take Kes along with you to CP and ask him?

What a stupid question....

 

Here Here Dave...

I cannot understand what some (so called rational) people expect...

Do they really expect WGS to say his thoughts in the media... I think not.