Mowbray a victim of ill-advised planning

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.

Confucius

Well, we finally concede a goal and play a competitive game, with our Champions League hopes already severely undermined.

To some, this would appear to be an appropriate time to warn of the fate of other managers who lost their first game for Celtic – how some fans will never forgive Tony Mowbray.

If we read the Scottish tabloids – and those of us who try to avoid that embarrassing illness of the media world are ill-placed to comment on their responses – we might castigate Marc-Antoine Fortuné for a night of spurned chances.

But Celtic fans are already showing that, despite the worst wishes of our critics, we are capable of reacting proportionately to disappointment.

For Marc-Antoine, Wednesday night will surely not figure highly in his list of career highlights. He showed us what we were led to expect – he is willing, athletic and appears to have a finishing capability to match his scoring record. This, we were fully warned of before he signed the deal but we can reasonably expect that a few more matches will improve his effectiveness.

Landry N'Guémo continued to demonstrate that he could serve as a potent weapon in midfield, if he is careful with his distribution but then Massimo Donati, arguably the best technician left at the club, somehow managed to pass the ball to Dinamo players, scorning the vindication of a rare first-team selection. Those of us who have defended Donati are now starting to avoid people in corridors, recalling past “just wait and see” conversations.

But if we are going to single out individuals, let them be Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady. Quite frankly, it is time for these two laddies to act like men, to produce the goods for 90 minutes consistently. Instead, for too much of their careers, they have been playing like kids in front of their grandmothers, expecting words of praise and consolation, regardless of their ineptitudes.

“Some nice touches” and “effective for a while” are not phrases with which to heap praise on Celtic players. These two need to talk to someone like Bertie Auld and ask for private tuition in how to combine football with expediency in order to be effective. Hell, they could start by having a word with Peter Grant – by common consent not the most naturally talented Celt ever but one whose standing our two starlets look unlikely to challenge in their careers.

But in the case of Tony Mowbray, it would take a hard heart not to sympathise with him in his disappointment. True, he made a baffling decision in bringing on Danny Fox late in the game but a least he attempted to be proactive with his substitutions, quite rightly demonstrating to Fortuné and Scott McDonald that they will only play if they are doing so well. And it was refreshing to see him attempt to influence the game rather than waiting for something better to happen with a failing formula.

However, it would be wrong to fail to (again) point the finger at the real culprits – those who arranged a ridiculous pre-season schedule that was viable only in the case of winning the league title that they neglected to pursue professionally. Anyone with a modicum of sense would know that if there's one thing to avoid, it is playing a Champions League qualifier before even a domestic league game.

That can only be done by investing properly to win the SPL. Sending a team off to Australia in the aftermath of that gross negligence was utter folly – but then it had been pre-booked at the height of their naivety.

The outstanding image from last night was not of any player but of Messrs Reid, Desmond and Lawwell, sitting shiftily side-by-side in their directors' box that might equally have been a high court dock.

They may have sharp lawyers but the public are still likely to consider them guilty.






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Summer's no breeze for Tony Mowbray

Well, the close season comes, birds twitter, summer breeze makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine...



... and blogs are neglected.

Which is sort of a shame because there has been no proper welcome on here for Tony Mowbray, Mark Venus and Peter Grant. By all that's right and holy, Mogga & co's credentials shouldn't have got them near the interview stage at a club like Celtic but that's by the by. I like who we have in charge and I believe that they can do an excellent job for us.

That task isn't helped by having to fly to the Antipodes to play some exhibition football when they should really be preparing a squad for Champions League qualification. But then in “pursuing sources of revenue“ … “we don''t get Premiership money“ … blah, blah, Celtic always have some sort of excuse.

The truth is, of course, that all these commitments – like the Peace Cup – were made when it was believed that Celtic would win the SPL. The mere matter of adequately improving the squad to make sure that we could play in that nonsensical tournament and travel to the other end of the world without wrecking our chances of playing in the Champions League was surely a technicality.

That's in the past, of course, but not forgotten – and nor should it be.

Tony has made a bright start, attempting to re-awaken that passion and loyalty to the team and manager that disregards the intrigues of the boardroom suits. His job has not been made easier.

The departure of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink inspires mixed feelings. He was very effective for a time but when the last remnants of pace left his legs, watching him proved to be torture. Personally, I never fully forgave him for stupidly getting sent off as we were going down to an improbable defeat against the R-word at Celtic Park. At that stage, we could still have won the match and Jan's idiocy – with the wry smile that followed – was costly and unbecoming of a Celtic player.

Shunsuke Nakamura was a marvellous footballer, who seems to have been allowed to leave without even being asked to speak to the new manager. He was, after all, quoted as saying he would stay at Celtic “as long as Peter wants me“. We must presume that Peter Lawwell had no further use for him.

Tony himself made the decision to let Paul Hartley go and while it may have been the correct decision in the long term, Paul's professionalism will be missed. I often wonder how large a figure in Celtic's history Paul might have been had he been signed a few years earlier. He has exceptional qualities and Bristol City are fortunate to have him.
So with those three and Bobo gone, “salary-trimming“ is in full swing.

And now we have Marc-Antoine Fortuné, whose signing is a bold move. Most of us are in no position to make judgements on him and the coaches have high praise for a forward they worked with at West Bromwich Albion. However, strikers who score very few goals are an immense risk.

The coaching staff point to the overall scoring rate of the team in matches he plays in. Are they perhaps overlooking the phenomenon of Celtic strikers being penalised when they challenge for the ball? Since certain blue-minded zealots campaigned for special treatment allowing centre-halfs impunity when challenged by Chris Sutton, there has been a constant theme of referees favouring defenders against our strikers.

In part, this accounted for the ineffectiveness of Jan and, unless there is a serious change of culture, Marc-Antoine faces the challenge of his life. We should be patient with him as the Jacksons and Broadfoots of the world are surely waiting to compare him unfavourably to Kyle Lafferty.

We await much-needed further signings and suspect that more players will be asset-managed out of the door. In these circumstances, if Tony Mowbray takes us into the Champions League proper, he will already deserve legendary status.






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Aberdeen-minded?

Well, today is the first-day of post-Strachan Celtic and, for me, there is a degree of sadness. I had great hopes for Gordon as Celtic manager and for a time it appeared that he would fulfil all of them and more.

However, his final season has taught us one thing – just as with Martin O'Neill's last campaign, it is folly to believe you can successfully carry out a job of the magnitude of the Celtic manager's role unless you are 100% committed. Ultimately, this was Gordon's greatest failing in his period of tenure.

Managing people is 10% theory, 20% common sense and instinct, and the rest is psychological, much of it subliminal. Anyone who has had to manage people in the most minor degree will know that keeping subordinates fully focused and motivated all of the time is a monumental task.

Demand more than their abilities allow and the pressure will tell. Be too stern and their motivation will drop as their resentment rises. Be too easy-going and familiar, then people will believe they can deliver lower standards.

In a top-level, supremely competitive environment, it is impossible to perform optimally with a shred of doubt about your commitment. Communications experts tell us that 70% of any message conveyed is non-verbal. We subconsciously pick up signals from people all the time. It's what tells us when someone is lying and when someone just doesn't fully believe in what they say.

I don't know what Gordon Strachan said to his players before they performed like lions to deliver the third title in the aftermath of the death of Tommy Burns. But he could have said the same words in the last three weeks and they would have had none of the impact of 12 months ago.

I believe he will look back on the past six months with regret. He will know that a manager at Celtic cannot accept draws or narrow defeats. He cannot pass on to players the notion that anything less than victory is ever enough and he certainly cannot continually praise them in defeat. Watching the team in recent months was painful because, for the first time in years, we saw a Celtic side with no heart.

There is a time for patient play and a time for roaring your team-mates on, demanding more from each other. That passion was missing from the field of play, arguably because players had picked up signals that it was not required.

That is not to say for one second that Gordon Strachan didn't want to do the best for Celtic. I have not the slightest doubt that he conducted himself professionally at all times. But whether the death of Tommy Burns left a hole in his life at Celtic, whether he was dismayed by the reaction of some fans or whether he was disillusioned by executives who refused to invest adequately in the squad, something was clearly missing and that was evident in his public demeanour and on-field performances.

Much has been written about his lack of “Celtic-mindedness” and despite what some say there is a half-truth there. Unfortunately what masquerades as the vast bulk of the Scottish media loves to take a half-truth and spin it into an ugly lie.

Gordon's background wasn't a problem, though some remembered him as an Aberdeen player with no fondness at all. Following Martin O'Neill, whose personal circumstances encouraged fans to ignore any failings was a huge personal challenge, one not helped by two awful results in his first season – defeats to Artmedia and Clyde.

Yet it is easy to forget that his stock was at its highest when he spoke so movingly about Tommy Burns and then delivered that third title. He also received overwhelming support from the fans when he took a stand over the behaviour of Aiden McGeady.

What he was lacking was the well of goodwill that is available to someone the fans of any club feel affection for. Newcastle United fans forgive Kevin Keegan all his failings and admire a hopelessly inept Alan Shearer. The same couldn't be said for Ruud Gullit, Kenny Dalglish or Glenn Roeder. Do they face accusations of bigotry?

Aberdeen have just lost Jimmy Calderwood, their best manager since they foolishly sacked Alex Smith. He claims today that directors did not support him and it is well known that a vast section of the Aberdeen support detested him, not least because of his known affiliation to Rangers. Yet the press absolves them of the stain of prejudice; the same press that ignores mass racism and sectarian abuse from Rangers fans; the same press that besmirches the good name of Celtic supporters with invented theories.

Now, the number one choice for Aberdeen fans is Mark McGhee, a former Celt allegedly recommended to our directors by Gordon Strachan. One of the stars of the Dons' greatest era, their choice is certainly based on emotion as much as his managerial record, which includes two relegations and a bottom-six SPL finish.

Let them have their man. The truth is that the manager they have lost has far better credentials for a top job – even the Celtic job – than any of his SPL rivals. But then, if he isn't quoted, it could only be because he isn't Celtic-minded.





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