I listened to Strachan saying, after the 3-0 Old Trafford defeat, it was the greatest performance from any team they have played against in Europe. A load of nonsense. United by their standards were average. I have watched them a lot, and if they had played against Celtic the way they did against West Brom a few days earlier they would have got five or six. Strachan has talked up the opposition to camouflage his own team’s failings. Celtic fans are pulling the wool over their eyes if they think otherwise. It is accepted by certain people that containing United is a decent evening. If that is where the club is at, if that is the limit of their ambition, then it is a sorry day. More.
Personally, although there is a lot of truth in what he says, I think that this is overly harsh. Nakamura may or may not be suited to the Premier league but he is still a great player and I would pay to watch him before I would pay to watch Burley. I think he is overstating the quality of the English league. Craig Gordon seems to have survived, McFadden played in it, Hutton is getting a game. I don't remember Celtic being desparate to sign Ricardo Fuller. He was decent in the Scottish game but not exceptional but he's playing in it. Rangers were mediocre - true but they still reached the final of a European competition.
ReplyDeleteCan Celtic afford to step up in class. I don't know I think they may have made a judgement that the approach with MON was not financially sound nor sustainable. He didn't leave the team in a great way and even now Balde might be a great drain on resources.
I like Burley as a summariser. I like his bluntness but I have always felt that he was a bit of a malcontent. And I think he has a bit of a grudge about Celtic. Strachan might leave - so what - he's done well and four years is a good stint. Do we really believe Celtic won't attract another good manager? People won't want to manage a club with a 60,000 home gate? How many premier league teams get that?
Gerry, you are getting too sensible. I agree with all you've said.
ReplyDeleteI can remember the "end of Burley" and the talk was it was him or Lambert. It was Lambert.
Nakamura might be getting to the end of his time with Celtic, but his brilliant moments have been worth having him here. There are a few players that I've seen in my adult life that have shown absolute brilliance; Di Canio, Larsson, Moravčík, Nakamura, Nicholas. They are worth the money we paid to watch them.
On another note I loved last night's game. I thought we played really well in the first half, defended well in the second (though I'm not sure why we couldn't hold or pass the ball in the second) and came away with our pride restored. There were a lot of good performances from a team hit badly by injury. They should have had this fight in the first match at Old Trafford.
The atmosphere was incredible.