if celtic fail to win the league as looks likely will the board stand by mowbray and give him another season? and if they start hitting some form will the fans write of the season as time needed to build a new side and cut him some slack? i think the board wont get rid of him as they clearly think he's the man for the job of building a young side for the future by the cash they've given him to spend. celtic have played some good football in the last couple of months but for me lack the confidence/consistancy that will come with time and a stable starting 11. p.s. maybe biting a little brum
When the rumours were confirmed to be true regarding Keane my heart sank. Celtic had made a top class loan signing of Keane which really took the wind out of my (and most other rangers fans) sails. I thought he would instantly make an impact and we'll have a right fight on our hands. The 10 point gap will be reduced to 7, celitc will win at Ibrox and the pressure will be unbearable. I'm not someone who believes in schadenfreude and I try to focus on the good my team do as well as the bad but after last night's result I feel more reassured than I did yesterday morning afternoon. I'm not saying after 1 game Keane is pish as we all know that in a few weeks he'll be banging them in but my question is "is it too late?". Who know's how long it will take for the celtic team to gel? How many more points will the drop before the gel? When May ends, Keane will be back down south and all Celtic will have will be brief memories? As I said before I'm more interested in Rangers achievements rather that Celtic's failing but I can still have an interest and still have my opinions! My opinions are: Mowbray has had a worst record than our old manager PLG. PLG's record was deemed not good enough by Rangers fans, Celtic fans, the press, was hounded out of Scotland and deemed a failure. So Mowbray does deserve to be called an under achiever. I know that he's trying to build a team and it takes time but OF mangers don't have time. They either compete all the way through the season or they get bumped. It's terrible this happens but unfortunately it's the way it is now. Mowbray has taken a risk bringing in so many players and selling so many half way through the season. This smacks of desperation as these are things that should have been sorted out before the season began. Wholesale changes in January are practically unheard of throughout the world. It's appears Mowbray doesn't really know what his end game is! Robbie Keane is a great signing but it's all too late I feel for Celtic and Keane will be back home in 16 weeks. You may not like me commenting on these things but I have a right to as a follower of your greatest rivals
But does anyone really think that Mowbray was the driving force behind the signing of Keane. I would say the board sanctioned it for the sole purpose of winning the league, as he will definitely be off beck to Spurs in the Summer. Also Mowbray had already brought in strikers for the longer term, to build his team. The wages at ÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââ¬Â âââ‰â¢ÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Â¦ÃâáÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¡ÃÆÃââââ¬à ¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã60k+ per week also have to be coming from higher up , and not the normal wage budget. Only time will tell if this gamble pays off
Camel - why not bring in Shane Long or Kevin Doyle if its just the fact he's Irish he was bought? LR - many of the fans interviewed by SSN when he signed said much the same, great signing but could be too late.
If a was mowbary a wuda kept keane for his debut at parkheed, full house, wednesday night, wuda been like a champions league atmosphere, probably skelp hearts, (mite not now) he made a mistake playin him last nite, samaras shud of started with fortune
pretty sure it was Lawell staggie either to win the league or just to get bums on seats but probably a bit of both, even if he doesnt help them to win the league he will get people interested
Hindsights great though Nev. If he hadn't have started Keane & we lost you would be saying why the **** get someone like Keane in & not play him. Last night could be a kick up the arse to any players who thought the new signings would help Celtic breeze past other teams.
why a full rebuild in january though? do you think they (mowbray/the celtic board) had pretty much conceeded that the side they had would lose the league so why no rebuild now as it best they'll win a league they didnt expect to and at worst they'll have formed and developed a team for next season. or is that to conspiratorial?
My opinion (I don't pretend to have any inside knowledge etc) is that Mowbray was given ÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââ¬Â âââ‰â¢ÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Â¦ÃâáÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¡ÃÆÃââââ¬à ¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã5/6m budget in the summer. He got Fortune & Fox & assumed he'd be able to offload one or two to get some more players in during the summer. No offers of note came in for the fringe players he wanted to get rid of so he could not bring more of his own players in. Partly his fault for gambling his budget so early but also shows how keen he was for Fortune. When it was obvious the players he inherited were pretty **** he was given more money by the board or they held some back if required for January. We had little chance of catching up those points with some of the dross we had so we gambled on getting good players in, in the hope they will turn it round & gel automatically. Lets be realistic, Keane & Kamara have not even trained with the team so it was hardly going to be 8-0 drubbing, I was suprised Keane started to be honest. Celtic have been after Keane for 2 years or so. They have been in regular contact each of the last 4/5 transfer windows with him regarding his intentions. I'm sure Lawwell made it happen but Mowbray was hardly going to turn down a player like that was he? "Its alright Pete, tell Robbie to head back to london, we've got Samaras, Fortune..."
i just think that any football manager wouldnt expect a team thats had that many changes to gel automatically and that its not a gamble he'd expect to pay off. as for playing keane i think playing him was a risk to take but samaras **** and rasmussen not fully match fit so can see why he played, and its not like he didnt cause them problems
I'd not heard any mention of Keane playing till late afternoon & was quite suprised. He was still at the ground past midnight, had not trained with the team or anything like that. Keane & Fortune showed glimpses of what they can do together, midway through the game they started to click - towards the end it was long hopeful punts to rescue a point so that doesn't count!! What we missed most of all was a Brown type player in the midfield. When we attacked we had Ki & Nguemo sitting back as is their style, we were second, somethimes even third to the loose ball. The Killie players got all the knockdowns & not a central midfielder for Celtic was in sight!!