Injuries and squad a rubbish excuse

[rex555]

Kilmarnock have beat them twice this season. Hearts have beat them home and away without conceding. Clement has had injuries to contend with and yes, the players he inherited need improved upon, but if you look at the three games he's had against them, he had plenty of match fit players available to choose from to setup a starting team stronger than the Hearts and Killie starting XIs that had success. Anyone saying otherwise is sticking to the narrative that Beale left after seven games and left Clement with a Sunday league squad incapable of beating Celtic. One poster said, "walking football team". Rubbish.

Clement can be forgiven for setting us up wrong in the December 2-1 game as it was his first, but the next two is unforgivable. With the same squad Beale left him with, we performed well in Europe and won a cup. I know all fans are just armchair managers (me included), but it was obvious we keep losing the game in midfield against them. 'Injuries and a team that's not his' is a rotten excuse (tho refereeing calls isn't).

Clement has had 40 odd games in charge of the squad in all competitions. No new manager should get a pass from criticism and blame for not winning a single old firm because they haven't had a summer transfer window and the chance to replace a full team with his own. Do you think he interviewed saying, "don't judge me on the rubbish squad that's here, I'll need my own players, especially to beat Celtic"? (Fine, you're hired).

Someone started a thread asking if the SC Final should be a "free hit"? Crazy. He shouldn't be replaced if he loses the final, but he should be tore into if he sets us up wrong again and we lose. Celtic aren't Barcelona. Their starting XI is marginally better at full strength compared to ours currently with injuries... but other teams found a way to beat that same Celtic team with players no better than our weakest lineup. Beale had three defeats in seven before he left, so yeah, Clement started with a disadvantage, but they've dropped points too and were always going to. He must win the Scottish cup. Three defeats is indefensible.

 

[Fergie90]

Kilmarnock have beat them twice this season. Hearts have beat them home and away without conceding. Clement has had injuries to contend with and yes, the players he inherited need improved upon, but if you look at the three games he's had against them, he had plenty of match fit players available to choose from to setup a starting team stronger than the Hearts and Killie starting XIs that had success. Anyone saying otherwise is sticking to the narrative that Beale left after seven games and left Clement with a Sunday league squad incapable of beating Celtic. One poster said, "walking football team". Rubbish.

Clement can be forgiven for setting us up wrong in the December 2-1 game as it was his first, but the next two is unforgivable. With the same squad Beale left him with, we performed well in Europe and won a cup. I know all fans are just armchair managers (me included), but it was obvious we keep losing the game in midfield against them. 'Injuries and a team that's not his' is a rotten excuse (tho refereeing calls isn't).

Clement has had 40 odd games in charge of the squad in all competitions. No new manager should get a pass from criticism and blame for not winning a single old firm because they haven't had a summer transfer window and the chance to replace a full team with his own. Do you think he interviewed saying, "don't judge me on the rubbish squad that's here, I'll need my own players, especially to beat Celtic"? (Fine, you're hired).

Someone started a thread asking if the SC Final should be a "free hit"? Crazy. He shouldn't be replaced if he loses the final, but he should be tore into if he sets us up wrong again and we lose. Celtic aren't Barcelona. Their starting XI is marginally better at full strength compared to ours currently with injuries... but other teams found a way to beat that same Celtic team with players no better than our weakest lineup. Beale had three defeats in seven before he left, so yeah, Clement started with a disadvantage, but they've dropped points too and were always going to. He must win the Scottish cup. Three defeats is indefensible.

Celtic don't play the same way or treat the games against Kilmarnock or Hearts the same as an Old Firm so the comparison doesn't work.

Our game is a derby filled with hatred and the other games are run of the mill games.

 

[Blu_ultra]

No, players and injuries make a massive difference.

 

[Thewandofpedro]

Kilmarnock have a balanced squad with an identity and a clear way of playing as set out by their manager.

Do we have that?

 

[GodStruth]

Kilmarnock have a balanced squad with an identity and a clear way of playing as set out by their manager.

Do we have that?

They also have a plastic pitch

 

[Novichok]

Are you seriously suggesting that would not be in a better position with all players fit and firing?

Cortes
Danilo
Sima

Take that front line for example.

Add to that if Yilmaz is fully fit then Sterling can play in midfield.

 

[Ubik]

Are you seriously suggesting that would not be in a better position with all players fit and firing?

Cortes
Danilo
Sima

Take that front line for example.

Add to that if Yilmaz is fully fit then Sterling can play in midfield.

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

 

[TheFantasticNinetiesFox]

Celtic don't play the same way or treat the games against Kilmarnock or Hearts the same as an Old Firm so the comparison doesn't work.

Our game is a derby filled with hatred and the other games are run of the mill games.

This.

And the players we’ve lost through injury have been our most impactful players in an attacking sense, whilst our defence has been decimated over time.

 

[Northampton Lodger]

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

One can run, jump and find space in the box. The other one is Dessers.

 

[Family bam]

We had 7 players unavailable yesterday through injury , Goldson, Danilo, Cortez, Jack, Matondo, Sima and Balogun.
That's not an excuse that's a fact.

 

[Pentasa]

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

At least Danilo would be an alternative option, other than Dessers what other striking options did we have ?

 

[IbroxMainStand]

We are a club when the longer you are out injured the better a player you become in eyes of the fans. Out of the injured players its likely only Sima and Goldson would have started had everyone been available.

 

[Jelle1880]

5-6 important players injured, how the %^*& is that a bad excuse ?

 

[Lord Tom]

Kilmarnock have beat them twice this season. Hearts have beat them home and away without conceding. Clement has had injuries to contend with and yes, the players he inherited need improved upon, but if you look at the three games he's had against them, he had plenty of match fit players available to choose from to setup a starting team stronger than the Hearts and Killie starting XIs that had success. Anyone saying otherwise is sticking to the narrative that Beale left after seven games and left Clement with a Sunday league squad incapable of beating Celtic. One poster said, "walking football team". Rubbish.

Clement can be forgiven for setting us up wrong in the December 2-1 game as it was his first, but the next two is unforgivable. With the same squad Beale left him with, we performed well in Europe and won a cup. I know all fans are just armchair managers (me included), but it was obvious we keep losing the game in midfield against them. 'Injuries and a team that's not his' is a rotten excuse (tho refereeing calls isn't).

Clement has had 40 odd games in charge of the squad in all competitions. No new manager should get a pass from criticism and blame for not winning a single old firm because they haven't had a summer transfer window and the chance to replace a full team with his own. Do you think he interviewed saying, "don't judge me on the rubbish squad that's here, I'll need my own players, especially to beat Celtic"? (Fine, you're hired).

Someone started a thread asking if the SC Final should be a "free hit"? Crazy. He shouldn't be replaced if he loses the final, but he should be tore into if he sets us up wrong again and we lose. Celtic aren't Barcelona. Their starting XI is marginally better at full strength compared to ours currently with injuries... but other teams found a way to beat that same Celtic team with players no better than our weakest lineup. Beale had three defeats in seven before he left, so yeah, Clement started with a disadvantage, but they've dropped points too and were always going to. He must win the Scottish cup. Three defeats is indefensible.

The concept of your headline is unbelievable!
Injuries don’t matter.

 

[Davie Weir]

One can run, jump and find space in the box. The other one is Dessers.

Danilo also missed a lot of chances when he played. Of course having options would make a massive difference though.

 

[Family bam]

We are a club when the longer you are out injured the better a player you become in eyes of the fans. Out of the injured players its likely only Sima and Goldson would have started had everyone been available.

Cortez, Danilo?

 

[Blue bells are blue1872]

Can't agree OP it's not an excuse injuries have hindered us.Having a fully fit Sima,Cortes,Yilmaz and Danilo available consistently would have been a considerable bonus.

 

[RAFBob]

5-6 important players injured, how the %^*& is that a bad excuse ?

Ridiculous to try and ignore it, injuries have a massive impact on the first team selection and have done us several times this season.

A proper preseason is a must before next season, no fannying about, get who you need early, and get them all fit and ready for battle.

 

[govanfront85]

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

Exactly. Danilo was fairly frustrating before his injury too.

 

[Fife flyer]

We are a club when the longer you are out injured the better a player you become in eyes of the fans. Out of the injured players its likely only Sima and Goldson would have started had everyone been available.

Cortes would have started I think

 

[Maestro72]

Totally agree.

Every club has injury woes.

It’s only ever mentioned as an excuse when a team is playing crap.

 

[Novichok]

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

Because I've watched both of them play football. Danilo proved he can run hard, press and shoot. His pressing alone would improve the team.

 

[Novichok]

Exactly. Danilo was fairly frustrating before his injury too.

More frustrating than Dessers? I don't think so.

 

[Centralbear]

Injuries are a reason for not performing to the best of our abilities, not just the missing players but the continual changing of personnel makes it difficult to get any sort of rhythm or understanding within the team.

What there is no excuse for though is those who have came in, or those who are regular starters, not being prepared to put the effort in, to play with urgency, to compete in tackles or track or close down runners when playing for a league title that was within our capabilities.

These should be givens irrespective of whether they're "first picks" or squad players.

 

[JayDee]

Kilmarnock have a balanced squad with an identity and a clear way of playing as set out by their manager.

Do we have that?

He's been there a good while.

Would you like Derek McInnes as our manager?

 

[IbroxMainStand]

Cortez, Danilo?

Clement picked Silva for the Euro squad over Cortes so he must rate him as the better player. Dessers suits the tactics we tried yesterday much more than Danilo so if we played the same system I think its likely he would still have started.

It would have been a much stronger bench but the game was ultimately lost in midfield again. Having options on the wing or at striker wouldn't have made much difference to the result for me. Dessers can't really be faulted for yesterday, he got no service and scored with the only chance he had.

 

[RaoulDuke11]

An already poor squad, massively impacted by an unbelievable series of long term injuries to relatively-key men, is far from a "rubbish excuse".

It is an excuse, though. And I'm never a fan of those.

 

[Northampton Lodger]

We had 7 players unavailable yesterday through injury , Goldson, Danilo, Cortez, Jack, Matondo, Sima and Balogun.
That's not an excuse that's a fact.

Not a fact , Jack wasn’t injured.

 

[Blue bells are blue1872]

how do you know Danilo would be a better option than Dessers?

Is it really a matter of comparison though ?
Its about squad depth and greater flexibility in tactics.Having both would have been an advantage imo.

 

[scooter70]

You’ve nailed it

Players don’t matter when your playing football

 

[1BrianLaudrup]

Yes it's damning that we can't beat them once when Killie and Hearts beat them twice.

But of course the injuries matter, and of course the squad's limitations matter. Killie and Hearts players didn't have Europe in midweek for months out of the season. Games against the Old Firm are a cup final for even Hearts. For Old Firm players, every game is a cup final of sorts. Yes, the Old Firm is the biggest of them all, and I'm angry at our players not looking able to raise their game and level of effort for Celtic, but it takes a different level of player to keep getting yourself up for it every single week. Playing for us is a totally different challenge.

I'll keep maintaining that I believe Beale's pre-season was fucking inept and negligent and that it made the fitness, injury and squad sharpness problems worse before it finally unravelled over the past month.

 

[Angrybluebear]

when Clement came in we went on a run of 1 defeat in 28, we’ve only had 3 wins in our last 8 league matches.

We’ve been riddled with injuries for 3 seasons, it’s not like we are playing out 5th and 6th choice centre halves (one of which was a midfielder ) as a pairing week in week out.

We have a big squad, we haven’t utilised it properly. Squad rotation has been absolutely horrendous recently under Clement.

Players sitting on the bench week after week, getting flung in to big games with virtually no game time Davies, Dowell, Raskin, Roofe to name a few.

 

[MagneticFields]

You think the fact they have better players than us and half our team is out injured is an excuse?

Blimey

 

[Family bam]

Not a fact , Jack wasn’t injured.

Prove it.

 

[Three-in-seven]

Strange take on things, when you consider the mhanks were at their most vulnerable when their key players were injured, but injuries shouldn't impact our teams performance.

 

[Calvinist]

This team has a mentality issue that seems to affect just about every player that walks through the door.

Injuries and suspect referees don’t help but the players are not as bad as our failure domestically suggests.

 

[Thewandofpedro]

He's been there a good while.

Would you like Derek McInnes as our manager?

No, why?

Doesn’t mean him and his team can’t be given credit does it.

 

[IbroxMainStand]

Cortes would have started I think

I think Cortes looked OK before injury but given he missed out the Euro squad and Clement has played Silva in every big game so far I think it would have been Silva-Dessers-Sima. He would have been a good option but probably not starting.

In general we seem to hype up injured players, Roofe was the best finisher and striker at the club a few months ago when out but now he is back can't get any game time. Going back a few years people thought Jordan Rossiter if he could get fit would run the midfield.

 

[muz73]

I would also add, experienced pro's making basic errors, poor decisions or 'switching off', repeatedly, is very difficult for any coach to control.

 

[Westcoaster]

Not a fact , Jack wasn’t injured.

He's been out for months though so nowhere near match fitness

 

[Thewandofpedro]

They also have a plastic pitch

And that undeniably gives them an advantage.

Doesn’t mean my original comment is not a reasonable comment to make.

 

[Manuel]

They also have a plastic pitch

True.

 

[legalbeagle]

You don’t think not having fully fit wide players or our first choice striker fit made a difference?

Never mind losing our first 3 picks for central defence by half time yesterday.

 

[JayDee]

No, why?

Doesn’t mean him and his team can’t be given credit does it.

Sure, give them credit. But also recognise the difference between their situation and ours, as has been mentioned already.

 

[watp85]

We haven't played 1 single game this season where I'd suggest our best 11 have been available.

That is quite staggering and highlights poor pre season, recovery methods and luck.

 

[douzpwa]

Match officials play a big part and have done for some time and in particularly these games ffs along with injuries and squad! There I can be no denying it!

 

[BB155]

Are you seriously suggesting that would not be in a better position with all players fit and firing?

Cortes
Danilo
Sima

Take that front line for example.

Add to that if Yilmaz is fully fit then Sterling can play in midfield.

Courts was a big loss as he was coming in to game. Danilo was being bored as the worst Brazilian footballer ever, then scored a couple and he was a hero. Sima blows hot and cold. I'm not suggesting they're not better than what we have but it's all still too be proven imo

 

[Hallers]

You think the fact they have better players than us and half our team is out injured is an excuse?

Blimey

Our wage bill is bigger than there's.

They sell players who are going OOC in 18 months. We don't.

 

[jimbo 08]

Are you seriously suggesting that would not be in a better position with all players fit and firing?

Cortes
Danilo
Sima

Take that front line for example.

Add to that if Yilmaz is fully fit then Sterling can play in midfield.

Correct
Our poor tun of form coincided with Cortes getting injured at Kilmarnock and Sima not being available since January
No decent width hampered us and made us have to go more through the middle
A team changing almost by the day due to injuries being picked up

Just listened to Roy Keane on sky talking about players being injured for longer than they probably should at Man Utd. If a team is doing well its funny how two week two or three game injuries are exactly that but when things aren’t going well they seem to last double the time
Its a mentality thing

 

[BlueDel]

Celtic don't play the same way or treat the games against Kilmarnock or Hearts the same as an Old Firm so the comparison doesn't work.

Our game is a derby filled with hatred and the other games are run of the mill games.

One sided hatred.

Our players really do not come close to their hatred and desire to win. Not close.