Celtic Suffer Heavy Loss on Derby Day

Naismith letting the Celtic fans
know what he thinks of them. 

Celtic’s 4-2 defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals Rangers has seen them slump to two defeats in the league thus far, already half of the number of losses in which they suffered in the whole of last season.  With the SPL only seven games old, this is simply not good enough or acceptable among the Celtic fans, and it is only a matter of time before the Neil Lennon faithful start to become a minority.

The players are as much to blame as the manager, their lack of hunger and inability to rise to the occasion was a big part of the reason that they lost in the manner in which they did. However, the tactics which Lennon deployed for this match were all but correct, and these must be taken into consideration when reflecting upon the match.

Emilo Izaguirre is, without a doubt, the biggest loss to Celtic so far. His ability to control the entire left flank, attacking and defending, is something which Celtic have missed dearly and struggled to fix in his absence. The loan signing of Badr El Kaddouri seemed to be the temporary missing piece to the puzzle that is Celtic’s left hand side. However, despite a very lucky goal, he struggled hugely against the Rangers’ attack and could not find the physical strength needed to contain Naismith or Lafferty, who changed positions on several occasions. Although El Kaddouri looked impressive on the attack, he simply could not do what was required of him in defence, with Charlie Mulgrew starting more advanced on the left wing, who played centre back for Celtic for the majority of last season; it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what to do- switch them. With this issue remaining unaddressed for the entire game, Mulgrew looked lost in attack, and seemed to think his only other option was to behave like a bull in a China shop, ultimately getting himself sent off.

After going a goal down due to an extremely poor Kelvin Wilson clearance and a beautiful finish from Steven Naismith, Celtic responded in brilliant fashion, drawing level with a smart turn and finish from Gary Hooper, and then taking the lead via a shot from El Kaddouri, which Alan McGregor uncharacteristically let slip through his legs into the net.  After a pleasing first half Celtic were expected to come out and capitalise on this in the second half; however, many fans are still questioning whether they came out at all.

Jelavic drawing Rangers level.
Loovens jumping with no defensive aim.

 Almost immediately after the restart a stinging shot from Steve Davis, which struck the crossbar, should have sent alarm bells ringing in each of the Celtic players’ heads, and it wasn’t long before Rangers drew level with a goal from Nikica Jelavic; extremely reminiscent to Falcao’s goal against Celtic on Thursday night. The Celtic defence looked all at sea for Jelavic’s goal, as they did against Atletico, and the strange half zonal half man marking in the box for the corner is again a question of Neil Lennon’s  tactical setup, with the unfit (for the shirt, and physically) Scott Brown left to mark Jelavic. All 5 ft 9 of the Celtic skipper not standing a chance against the towering 6 ft 2 frame of the Rangers’ target man.

From that point on, it was only a matter of time before Rangers took the lead. The Celtic defence couldn’t deal with any cross that was put into the box and, after missing a series of simple chances and having a perfectly good goal ruled offside, Kyle Laffery eventually capitalised on the poor Celtic defence. Celtic didn’t once look like coming back into the game after Rangers drew level, and it was obvious there was only going to be one team which would be taking the derby day spoils.

Rangers’ financial troubles have been subject to much publicity of late, and questions must be raised as to why the Celtic board seem incapable of opening their wallets to try and capitalise upon this. The blue side of Glasgow spent around £3.1 million in the summer, bringing in Matt McKay, Carlos Boganegra, Kyle Bartley (loan), Dorin Goian, Alejandro Bedoya, Lee Wallace, Rabiu Afolabi and Juanma Ortiz. While the green side spent roughly around the same, £3.1 million, bringing in Mohamed Bangura, Badr El Kaddouri (loan), Fraser Forster (loan), Victor Waynama, Adam Matthews and Kelvin Wilson.  It isn’t a matter of outspending their bitter rivals just because they can; it is clear that Celtic need to add more to their squad. Two defeats in 7 league games and crashing out (although reinstated) of the Europa League 3-1 to FC Sion is proof of this.

If every cloud has a silver lining, then Celtic fans must look at it this way; the SPL is only seven games in. Celtic are far better equipped to turn around their misfortune this early on, as opposed to later on in the season, and the January transfer window is only around the corner.

Sundays Old Firm was a mixture of many things: players in the Celtic shirt who simply aren’t good enough; Ally McCoist taking a bold move and changing his Rangers side, compared to the Walter Smith days, and playing with two strikers up front; a bad tactical setup from Celtic and a sever lack of passion and drive from the players on the day. Due to this, Celtic have, as far as seasons in recent years have gone, seemingly hit rock bottom, the only way can be up from here. Neil Lennon and the Celtic players must, in the coming weeks, gain back the support of the Celtic fans, entertain them and show them that the tide can turn.

That is, of course, unless Ross County have a thing or two to say about that. 

Celtic Face Tough Test in Switzerland

Celtic go into tonight’s Europa League Qualifier 2^nd Leg against FC Sion facing a tough test having been held to a goalless draw at Parkhead last week. Qualification to the Europa League is essential for the Hoops, however victory against the little-known Swiss side is far from certain.

Although the Europa League is nowhere near as prestigious or financially lucrative as the Champions League, qualification is vital if Celtic are to re-establish themselves as genuine contenders in European competition. Fans were hugely disappointed after Celtic missed out on featuring in last season's UEFA Champions League and Europa League after losing out to Braga and Utrecht in qualifying respectively. However, Neil Lennon has had a year in which to improve his squad and, although we still see Samaras on the squad sheet, there can be little excuse this time if Celtic do miss out.

Samaras doing something other than scoring.

Last week’s encounter ended in disappointment as a below par performance from the Hoops resulted in a 0-0 draw, when many fans were expecting a resounding victory for the Glaswegian side. Undoubtedly, the absence of key players through injury such as Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal and Emilo Izaguirre (out for an expected six months) could be put forward as the reason Celtic failed to put one foot in the door of Europa League qualification. A prolonged pre-season for Celtic could also have contributed to the sluggish display, as Celtic were still playing in the pre-season tournament The Dublin Super Cup when the SPL season had already kicked off.

 If Celtic do not have the strength in depth to cope with a side such as FC Sion, when arguably two of their best players are missing (Hooper and Kayal), alarm bells should be ringing for Lennon.  Lennon, thus far, has failed to make any major singings to address key areas. While the arrival of Kelvin Wilson looks to be a solid addition to the team, Adam Matthews and Victor Wanyama, although highly rated, still have a lot to learn before they are ready for first team football. However, the departure of Daryl Murphy to Ipswich could indicate that a much needed striker is on their way to Parkhead, although the defensive options would seemingly need addressed also.

Celtic must be mentally prepared as well as physically for tonight’s encounter, a shock defeat at home to St. Johnstone will have somewhat dented the confidence of the men in the Hoops. But, there will be a boost with the return of Hooper, Kayal, Kelvin Wilson and Mulgrew (open for debate). However, the extent to which any of these players feature remains to be seen, and if they do Neil Lennon will be hoping one of them holds the key to unlock the Sion defence and score past goalkeeper Andris Vanins, who proved unbeatable in the First Leg.

FC Sion will be coming off the back of a 3-0 victory in their league encounter with Neuchatel Xamax, a team that has beaten Celtic 5-2 on aggregate in the past. The Hoops have struggled in the past with Swiss opposition, suffering the worst European defeat in the clubs history to Neuchatel Xamax and barely edging out Young Boys, with an 105^th minute own goal separating the sides over two legs.

Celtic, although at the time under the guidance of Tony Mowbray, have won away from home in Europe in recent years, overturning a 1-0 deficit against FC Dynamo Moscow. So all hope of progressing to the group stages of the Europa League cannot be dismissed just because Celtic failed to make home advantage count. It’s arguably a stronger Celtic side now than that of two years ago that travelled to Moscow trailing 1-0, against, again arguably, weaker opponents. Celtic fans all over will be hoping they can do what was done against Dynamo Moscow; secure a rare victory on their European travels, with Celtic still seemingly the favourites to progress and repeat what was done in Moscow. And yes, I haven’t forgotten that Samaras scored the winner in that encounter.