When we posted yesterday about this lacklustre Scottish football season, it was assuming there were few surprises left to maintain interest this season.
But St Mirren thumping Celtic 4-0 is one of the biggest surprises you could hope for. Especially when the Buddies were supposedly licking their wounds after blowing a great chance to win the League Cup, while Celtic were supposedly in fighting form.
St Mirren were slick and incisive last night, but the best footage came from off the field. Tony Mowbray held his head in his hands, while Sellick chief Peter Lawwell thought about which plate he'd use to serve the gaffer's head on.
So that's it - the inventor of the Celtic huddle and man to bring expansive, attacking football back to Parkhead is gone, along with his backroom team, with Neil Lennon appointed caretaker.
The fresh, enthusiastic young coach who had got his first management job at Hibs had never returned to Scotland. Instead, the Tony Mowbray who came back to Celtic was surly and defensive in public, and seemed to lack authority.
His final comments as Celtic manager were as mealy-mouthed as many of his press conferences: "Maybe it isn't a league for trying to force the game and being expansive - maybe it's a league for playing defensive, negative football, and having the quality upfront to counter-attack."
Hmm, Tony. Maybe, if one of your players earns more than your opponent's entire squad, then the onus is on you to try and break them down. And maybe, just maybe, good managers rebuild their team while still getting results on the field, rather than rip up the entire backline mid-season and then wonder why you are leaking goals.
Walter Smith - a man with his own problems - has made Mowbray look like a rookie this season, not a man with two previous jobs in his cv and a supposedly strong conviction about how the game should be played.
Ultimately, Mowbray looked out of his depth, unable to handle the expectations that go with the job.
Showing posts with label tony mowbray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tony mowbray. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
Rangers win the SPL
Well, it's all over now, isn't it? Rangers won the Old Firm derby yesterday and are now 10 points clear - there's no way Celtic are coming back from there.
Tony Mowbray could point out that the match was very even, that maybe a few decisions went against them (fuelling the current sense of injustice at Celtic) - and he'd be right.
But then everyone else could point out that truly clever managers find a way to keep getting results while changing their team. Instead, Celtic have dropped far too many points while Mowbray has tried to get to grips with the job. Walter Smith - a man with his own problems to deal with - has basically mugged him this season.
It means the title race has basically been decided before the split, not what the SPL needs to maintain interest in the rest of the season.
Any consolations? Well, we probably already know the make-up of the top six (Aberdeen look out of it) and Dundee Utd, Hibs, Hearts and Motherwell could yet give us some twists and turns in the battle for two qualifying spots in the Europa League.
And maybe, just maybe, Falkirk will pick themselves up and make a real fight of staying in the Division.
Tony Mowbray could point out that the match was very even, that maybe a few decisions went against them (fuelling the current sense of injustice at Celtic) - and he'd be right.
But then everyone else could point out that truly clever managers find a way to keep getting results while changing their team. Instead, Celtic have dropped far too many points while Mowbray has tried to get to grips with the job. Walter Smith - a man with his own problems to deal with - has basically mugged him this season.
It means the title race has basically been decided before the split, not what the SPL needs to maintain interest in the rest of the season.
Any consolations? Well, we probably already know the make-up of the top six (Aberdeen look out of it) and Dundee Utd, Hibs, Hearts and Motherwell could yet give us some twists and turns in the battle for two qualifying spots in the Europa League.
And maybe, just maybe, Falkirk will pick themselves up and make a real fight of staying in the Division.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Mowbray feels the heat
Up against the wily old campaigner Walter Smith, Tony Mowbray is being made to look a bit of a mug in his first season as an Old Firm manager.
He's admitted he doesn't enjoy the job, and now last night's defeat to Hibs has left Celtic 10 points behind Rangers in the title race. They have a game in hand, but boy do they need it.
Predictably enough, the armchair Tims were furious about the result, with "this is worse than John Barnes" being the chosen phrase to text in to whatever radio show might be interested. Expect the Glasgow rags to pick up the "Celtic in crisis" theme as they bay for some blood to be spilled.
More intelligent supporters - for example, the ones who actually go to games and pay attention to what goes on - are backing Mowbray for now. They know that Celtic would have won last night if Samaras had taken one of his chances, that Mowbray is trying to rebuild central defence half way through a season (a bold but risky move) and that the team is much more creative than a year ago.
Credit to Mowbray, he took the result on the chin, and didn't try the fanciful claim that Celtic were robbed. Yes, Hibs were under the cosh for much of the match, but they weathered the storm and deserved their win.
Mowbray has warned about "destabilising elements" that surround the club, but will be hoping to further remodel his squad before the transfer window shuts, if he can find buyers for Danny Fox and Stephen McManus.
He seems determined to carry on with the job, despite the pressure.
He's admitted he doesn't enjoy the job, and now last night's defeat to Hibs has left Celtic 10 points behind Rangers in the title race. They have a game in hand, but boy do they need it.
Predictably enough, the armchair Tims were furious about the result, with "this is worse than John Barnes" being the chosen phrase to text in to whatever radio show might be interested. Expect the Glasgow rags to pick up the "Celtic in crisis" theme as they bay for some blood to be spilled.
More intelligent supporters - for example, the ones who actually go to games and pay attention to what goes on - are backing Mowbray for now. They know that Celtic would have won last night if Samaras had taken one of his chances, that Mowbray is trying to rebuild central defence half way through a season (a bold but risky move) and that the team is much more creative than a year ago.
Credit to Mowbray, he took the result on the chin, and didn't try the fanciful claim that Celtic were robbed. Yes, Hibs were under the cosh for much of the match, but they weathered the storm and deserved their win.
Mowbray has warned about "destabilising elements" that surround the club, but will be hoping to further remodel his squad before the transfer window shuts, if he can find buyers for Danny Fox and Stephen McManus.
He seems determined to carry on with the job, despite the pressure.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Celtic 0 - 1 Hearts
So much to talk about following Celtc's defeat to ha-ha-Hearts in the CIS League Cup last night, but let's ignore the Old Firm angle for a moment - they've had plenty coverage, no? - and think about Hearts for a moment.
In the build-up to the game, manager Csaba Laszlo gave a frankly hilarious press conference in which he expressed his anger at the current situation at the club, beset by problems and lacking a clear structure.
Hardly helping to bring clarity to the situation, owner Vladimir Romanov jetted into Edinburgh ahead of the match, and apparently introduced the club's new sporting director to the players, but not the manager. All nice and straightforward, then.
And so to the game, which Hearts won after Christian Nade - a player who admitted this week to personal problems affecting his game, but didn't elaborate on them - was brought down in the box, and Michael Stewart - who was booed by his own fans in Hearts' last game against Falkirk - converted the penalty. Unsurprisingly, he passed up the opportunity to celebrate with the Jambo support.
Celtic were unlucky last night, but that didn't prevent the 18,000 or so that turned up from venting their fury at Tony Mowbray at the final whistle. Georgie Samaras once again showed that he is far from a lethal finisher, while captain McManus committed probably the most cynical and reckless tackle you'll see all season. If you haven't already seen it, you really should - it's a shocker.
Is Mowbray's job on the line, just 3 months into the season? The board won't pull the trigger yet, but the faithful are getting madder and madder and things might come to a head if the results don't improve soon.
Scottish football's pretty exciting at the moment. Who'd want to leave it?
In the build-up to the game, manager Csaba Laszlo gave a frankly hilarious press conference in which he expressed his anger at the current situation at the club, beset by problems and lacking a clear structure.
Hardly helping to bring clarity to the situation, owner Vladimir Romanov jetted into Edinburgh ahead of the match, and apparently introduced the club's new sporting director to the players, but not the manager. All nice and straightforward, then.
And so to the game, which Hearts won after Christian Nade - a player who admitted this week to personal problems affecting his game, but didn't elaborate on them - was brought down in the box, and Michael Stewart - who was booed by his own fans in Hearts' last game against Falkirk - converted the penalty. Unsurprisingly, he passed up the opportunity to celebrate with the Jambo support.
Celtic were unlucky last night, but that didn't prevent the 18,000 or so that turned up from venting their fury at Tony Mowbray at the final whistle. Georgie Samaras once again showed that he is far from a lethal finisher, while captain McManus committed probably the most cynical and reckless tackle you'll see all season. If you haven't already seen it, you really should - it's a shocker.
Is Mowbray's job on the line, just 3 months into the season? The board won't pull the trigger yet, but the faithful are getting madder and madder and things might come to a head if the results don't improve soon.
Scottish football's pretty exciting at the moment. Who'd want to leave it?
Monday, October 05, 2009
Celtic rue defensive mistakes
You get the impression that Tony Mowbray is not enjoying life at Celtic as much as he hoped. Instead of a team gelling under fresh leadership, Celtic seem to get rattled more and more easily as the weeks go by. This has not been a dream start for the ex-West Brom and Hibs manager.
Of course, the aftermath of an Old Firm derby defeat is always depressing for the losing party, but Mowbray - who normally defends his players in public - was uncharacteristically scathing about them after the match. He didn't mention him by name, but he was clearly seething at Glenn Loovens' performance, especially for letting the ball bounce in the area for Kenny Miller's second goal.
Sunday's first Old Firm meeting of the season exposed Celtic's problems at both ends of the park. Defensively they were a shambles, while upfront they failed to make an impact, despite enjoying lots of possession and facing a patched-up Rangers back line.
With all due credit to Rangers (and Kenny Miller, who once again excelled in this fixture), Celtic really failed to put their stamp on this game. Yes, Shaun Maloney was denied at least one clear penalty, but that doesn't excuse their myriad failings.
Of course, Celtic are also experiencing difficulties in Europe. Getting into the Champions League would always have been a tall order, especially once Celtic were drawn against Arsenal in their second qualifying tie. But the Europa League should be a rather more comfortable environment - instead, Celtic are struggling with just a point from their first two games.
The Celtic board gave Mowbray £4m to sign Marc Fortune over the summer, and N'Guemo has been a fine addition in midfield (albeit on loan), but was that enough? He was willing to listen to offers for Stephen McManus, and probably wanted to reshape the squad more than he was able to.
With their rivals in such dissarray, now would seem an ideal time for Celtic to invest in building a team that could really achieve something under the new management team. Yet again, by not spending money, Celtic seem determined to let Rangers off the hook. They have only themselves to blame.
Of course, the aftermath of an Old Firm derby defeat is always depressing for the losing party, but Mowbray - who normally defends his players in public - was uncharacteristically scathing about them after the match. He didn't mention him by name, but he was clearly seething at Glenn Loovens' performance, especially for letting the ball bounce in the area for Kenny Miller's second goal.
Sunday's first Old Firm meeting of the season exposed Celtic's problems at both ends of the park. Defensively they were a shambles, while upfront they failed to make an impact, despite enjoying lots of possession and facing a patched-up Rangers back line.
With all due credit to Rangers (and Kenny Miller, who once again excelled in this fixture), Celtic really failed to put their stamp on this game. Yes, Shaun Maloney was denied at least one clear penalty, but that doesn't excuse their myriad failings.
Of course, Celtic are also experiencing difficulties in Europe. Getting into the Champions League would always have been a tall order, especially once Celtic were drawn against Arsenal in their second qualifying tie. But the Europa League should be a rather more comfortable environment - instead, Celtic are struggling with just a point from their first two games.
The Celtic board gave Mowbray £4m to sign Marc Fortune over the summer, and N'Guemo has been a fine addition in midfield (albeit on loan), but was that enough? He was willing to listen to offers for Stephen McManus, and probably wanted to reshape the squad more than he was able to.
With their rivals in such dissarray, now would seem an ideal time for Celtic to invest in building a team that could really achieve something under the new management team. Yet again, by not spending money, Celtic seem determined to let Rangers off the hook. They have only themselves to blame.
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