With only five games to go now within this season of inconsistencies, I reckon we are operating at only 50% capacity from the capabilities of this Celtic squad. Is this actually good enough for our team?
Think overall to-date this season, I am being a bit generous at offering ourselves 50% of our capabilities, when in fact there is a stronger case for the figure to be much lower. Now operating at only 50% of our capabilities, might still be enough to ensure another league and cup double is achieved this season, and we are certainly favourites to win the league while the cup is a 50% call in itself.
Winning the double would also provide ourselves with plenty of bragging rights over the summer (it’s a ‘thing’ after all) and would shut up theRangers and their cheerleaders in the Scottish media. But the question still remains as to whether operating at only 50% is an acceptable manner for our team to be operating at?
A manager sets the tone of how the setup and dramatics of how a team will go about its business. Gone has the dramatic fast paced attacking football, to be replaced with trying to play controlled football that only creates moments for ourselves during matches.
Yesterday, we started with eight treble winning players, all looking like shadows of what they once were under the guidance of Ange, maybe with the exception of the wonderful James Forrest.
Can Brendan Rodgers start getting more than 50% from key players that we still depend so hugely upon, when he hasn’t managed to do so all season. Matt O’Riley was excellent in the first half of the season but he too has faded. Both Kyogo and Reo Hatate under-performed yet again yesterday.
Of course at this stage of the season it’s only getting the right results that matters, when the stakes remain so high. So mission accomplished at Dens Park yesterday. Yet looking at the bigger picture is seeing this Celtic team operating in such a manner, really acceptable for our supporters?
The recruitment side of the footballing operation has been a constant issue all season, yet so many established players can’t seem to deliver the type of football that Rodgers is trying to install into this team.
Getting ourselves playing more controlled and disciplined football, may well bring about better results on the European stage in due course, and a case could be made with doubling our points total on last season as a small comfort step in the right direction.
Yet at SPFL level such an approach isn’t working when it takes ourselves down a level.
So throughout our club, I believe that we are only getting a 50% return upon just how much investment our support puts into the club, which is certainly not acceptable as far as I’m concerned. The Celtic support gives 100% so we should expect the same from the players.
The support wants far more from our team that we have watched for much of this season. There’s still a long way to go for Brendan Rodgers changing the whole structure within the club, and those responsible for getting our Celtic to a far better return than the 50%, we want a supersonic, 100% Celtic putting on a show.
But for now we’ll settle for a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double and look forward to a better quality of football from Celtic next season as Rodgers brings in higher quality signings rather than the bulk buying of projects from last year.
Johnno
Can’t blame Kyogo for Kuhn playing on the wrong wing. It’s ludicrous we can’t cross a ball for Kyogo cos Kuhn cuts inside every time. Switch Forrest and Kuhn wings and Kyogo scores again. Sadly Hatate always takes weeks to get up to speed. I want 442 with Iwata and Bernardo starting for pace and power in midfield