ian1964 10,440 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Tony Mowbrayââ?¬â?¢s time at Celtic is almost at an end. In my mind, he is a dead man walking as Celtic manager and the next 10 days look like determining his fate. It wonââ?¬â?¢t be the fansââ?¬â?¢ calls for him to go that eventually ends his eight-month association with the club, should he lose or draw against Dundee United or Rangers. No, the parting by mutual consent will come from a board panicking at the thud of season tickets being returned to the Parkhead door in disgust at Celtic losing the title for the second season in succession to one of the most mediocre Rangers sides I can remember. The buck stops with the manager for failure, but there are other culprits in this farcical situation the club is currently mired in. They find themselves trying to claw back 10 points on a team that contains a 39-year-old veteran in defence, a workmanlike midfield, a Celtic reject and a Ã?£3.5million waste of money. The catalogue of mistakes is damning on and off the field, and the performances and results are evidence enough that it is not working under Mr Mowbray. During his stewardship, Celtic have played 39 games, won 19, lost 11 and drawn nine. When Mowbray arrived at Celtic, as second choice, in June 2009, the proclamation from chairman John Reid was: ââ?¬Å?The fightback starts here, today. ââ?¬Å?And thereââ?¬â?¢s nobody better to lead that fightback than Celticââ?¬â?¢s own, and Celticââ?¬â?¢s manager, Tony Mowbrayââ?¬Â. In Mowbrayââ?¬â?¢s words, he wanted to make Celtic ââ?¬Å?feared and respected in Europeââ?¬Â. ââ?¬Å?Weââ?¬â?¢ll be trying to emulate good football,ââ?¬Â he said. ââ?¬Å?Try to give the supporters a brand of football that they can be proud of; score goals, win trophies, play with a panache and style.ââ?¬Â Feared? No. Respected? No. Scared? Yes! The defending has Celtic fans looking through their fingers in the stands or, for many ââ?¬Ë?stay-awayââ?¬â?¢ supporters, popping up from behind the couch with a quilt over their heads. Iââ?¬â?¢ve said all along that, with this defence, Celtic have to score three goals to win. I am sorry, I was wrong, after last Saturday at Aberdeen; itââ?¬â?¢s five to win a game. Fifty goals scored, 28 conceded and a team now heading into the United game on Saturday without Darren Oââ?¬â?¢Dea, Jos Hooiveld (injured again) and Glenn Loovens, not to mention the suspended Aiden McGeady. Whoââ?¬â?¢s to blame? Mowbray takes the brunt with a team that contains four loan signings, only one of whom has a realistic chance of staying on. Does that strike you as a long-term plan or short-term panic? Hooiveld was signed while unfit and Iââ?¬â?¢ve already gone over the complete lack of urgency to get more cover in central defence at the start of January rather than the end. Defensive mistakes since the transfer window opened have cost Celtic 12 points in their last eight SPL games. There are no excuses. Remember the bravado of some Celtic fans about the players brought in and what was going to happen in the title race? Rasmussen has started one match and made three substitute appearances, Ki has had three starts and three sub appearances and Zheng Zhi hasnââ?¬â?¢t reached double figures in matches started since he arrived last September. As if to add fuel to the fire ââ?¬â?? or in this case to try and put out the fire ââ?¬â?? Tony then appoints Scott Brown captain of Celtic. Everyone thought the new captain was on his way out; we must have been misled? Could we have been wrong? Tactical decisions have been bewildering, but since Iââ?¬â?¢m not paid to make those decisions, I have elected not to dwell too much on Brown at left-back at Rugby Park or Robbie Keaneââ?¬â?¢s substitution at Pittodrie. The financial results released by Celtic this week show a drop in turnover from the last managerââ?¬â?¢s failings and the increase in debt shows the new boss has not spent it wisely or in the right areas. You cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Clueless, rudderless and by the time the final whistle goes at Ibrox on February 28, they will be SPL trophy-less. Chief executive Peter Lawwell has stated: ââ?¬Å?We have strategies in place for the further development of the club.ââ?¬Â It wonââ?¬â?¢t be with Tony Mowbray at the helm. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Poor old Pedro. His Celtic duvet must be full of stains from all the tears he sheds. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy steel 0 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 And yet, it seems their board is quite keen to give Mowbray the long term. He ought to avoid such dogmatic pieces as they can only come back to bite you if you are wrong. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 To be fair, I agree with the paragraph you've highlighted Ian. We do have a 39 year old defender, a workmanlike midfield and a �£3.5m waste of money. I might not agree with the Celtic reject bit though! That said, our 39 year old defender has played 3 excellent seasons for us, our workmanlike midfield is doing the business and Kenny Miller is in his 2nd most prolific goalscoring season since he turned pro. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Embarrassing drivel really. Imagine a Rangers man writing such an assessment of them in the press, would it get printed? No. Oh and it's Tony the Fourth btw, not second. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainstandbear 0 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 'the most mediocre Rangers team I can remember' ...well, I've seen worse Rangers teams in recent years and what lies under this statement is that Rangers don't win leagues...celtc lose them. It's a statement regularly trotted out by the great unwashed aimed at belittling our achievements. 'a celtc reject'... a bit harsh for a player who has won the fans over with goals and general all round play...was he a Rangers reject when he signed for them? and if we are talking about 'a waste of money'... broon, fortune, loovens..all examples of money well spent? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 'the most mediocre Rangers team I can remember' ...well, I've seen worse Rangers teams in recent years and what lies under this statement is that Rangers don't win leagues...celtc lose them. It's a statement regularly trotted out by the great unwashed aimed at belittling our achievements. something I meant to comment on. In the last decade it only appears to get mentioned how poor a Rangers team it is when we win the league. I'm nto sure the same is said of Celtic. Unless I just miss these pathetic jibes? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,440 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 To be fair, I agree with the paragraph you've highlighted Ian. We do have a 39 year old defender, a workmanlike midfield and a �£3.5m waste of money. I might not agree with the Celtic reject bit though! That said, our 39 year old defender has played 3 excellent seasons for us, our workmanlike midfield is doing the business and Kenny Miller is in his 2nd most prolific goalscoring season since he turned pro. 39 year old CB = MOPES would love to have a defender as consistent as him Workmanlike midfield = Davis for player of the season?,Whittaker on 10 goals so far Boyd & Miller = best strikers in the SPL. This article is a pile of shite, because we are so far in front they say '' as poor Rangers team as I have seen for a long time '', trying to take away any praise for Rangers FC, if the positions were reversed the article would read C****c easing their way to another title, C****c are so far ahead of every other SPL team. I feel their pain and I enjoy how much they are hurting :spl: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 39 year old CB = MOPES would love to have a defender as consistent as himWorkmanlike midfield = Davis for player of the season?,Whittaker on 10 goals so far Boyd & Miller = best strikers in the SPL. This article is a pile of shite, because we are so far in front they say '' as poor Rangers team as I have seen for a long time '', trying to take away any praise for Rangers FC, if the positions were reversed the article would read C****c easing their way to another title, C****c are so far ahead of every other SPL team. I feel their pain and I enjoy how much they are hurting :spl: I also believe that. Weir has performed at such a high standard for roughly 3 seasons now that Celtic would be daft if they didn't want him. I personally think he's a better CB than Boogie. Our midfield does lack creativity, or, it has done for the majority of the season. That said, whatever you call them, they're successful at what they're doing. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,440 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 'the most mediocre Rangers team I can remember' ...well, I've seen worse Rangers teams in recent years and what lies under this statement is that Rangers don't win leagues...celtc lose them. It's a statement regularly trotted out by the great unwashed aimed at belittling our achievements. 'a celtc reject'... a bit harsh for a player who has won the fans over with goals and general all round play...was he a Rangers reject when he signed for them? and if we are talking about 'a waste of money'... broon, fortune, loovens..all examples of money well spent? Indeed. Now if we were to win tomorrow,and the BHEASTS drop more points, then we HUMP the MOPES next week, will he change his view? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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