Champions League

We had two important matches to play, knowing that we were close to qualifying for the last 16.

Celtic Vs Sevilla

First up was a match at home against Sevilla.  We’d already beaten them away from home this season and at home last season.  So I was confident of another win.  I played the successful 442 Counter Attacking tactic against Sevilla’s 433.

As with the last game, I noted that the morale of the Sevilla players was quite low so I was calm in my team talk, just trying to inspire a good performance.

In a very even game, it appeared that my team was just a little more incisive in front of goal, with two first half goals enough to give us the win.  It should be noted that Hoffer caused the own goal with a cross he played in.

The player ratings are where the difference is shown though.  Celtic’s players were better than Sevilla’s.  Have a look at the goals below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Qualified already

After four games played and four games won, I was presented with this message.

YES!  We’d qualified already.  See the league table below

Inter Vs Celtic

Despite qualifying already, I wanted to continue our winning run in Europe.  This was for three reasons;

1. Try to obtain 1st place, thus getting an easier last 16 draw.
2. Improve the clubs co-efficient, hopefully leading to a better seeding in future seasons.
3. Improve Scotland’s co-efficient, hopefully leading to less qualifying games in the future.

So after resting the first 11 against St. Johnstone (whoops, see above) I played Inter.  This time lining up with a Counter Attacking 4141 to balance up Inter’s 4231 formation.

It proved to be an utter disaster and early in the 2nd half when 1-0 down, with only 33% of possession I changed to 442 Counter Attacking.  Just as the change was made, we lost another goal, 2-0 down.  Then another went in and I went to my usual Attacking 442 for the last 15 minutes.  Another goal scored, 4-0 and still no inroads made on possession.

I don’t think I’ll play 4141 again.  I’ll either have to hope the 442 Counter Attacking style (which has been very successful up to this point) works or I’ll need to develop something else to play these difficult away games.  Mind you with the players playing so poorly to start with (see below) it would be hard to get success with any formation.

What do you think would work?  See the video below for Inter’s goals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Table

At least we are still top, and with the last game against Steaua Bucharest at home we could finish there.

SPL

With Hearts providing a stern challenge in the SPL I knew we needed to keep up our good run of results.  And we did to begin with against Hibernian, Ross County and Aberdeen.  In addition I was able to rotate the squad playing the 2nd string (including the young players such as Mortiz, Kauppinen and Toussaint) against Hibs and Ross County.  I even gave Jordan Rhodes a game as a Target Man!

But just before the Inter game the 2nd string let me down with a silly loss against St. Johnstone!

I have to take my share of the blame.  We were playing Overload philosophy with “Take More Risks” shout when we lost the 2nd goal in the 89th minute :S

Table

We’re still top though

A six point gap with a game in hand is quite a comfortable lead to have at this stage.  It is also nice to see we’ve lost just once (best in the league) and have the fewest goals conceded and most goals scored.

Players

In spite of that poor performance against Inter, the players are playing very well in Europe.  Hats off to Viatri with 10 games, 10 goals and an average rating of 7.59!

Overall, Viatri has scored more goals than games started.  However the contributions of Mulgew, Babacar and Juarez should not go without mention.

U19s

Like their senior colleagues the finally lost on the continent and in the league.  But they finished top of their U19s Champions Cup group.

They are also still four point clear at the top of their league with just over half the games played.

They will play Rangers U19s in the U19s Cup Quarter final too.  But with these potential star ratings I’m sure the young Bhoys will triumph.

Finances

We made a loss of almost £1.5m last month, mostly due to wages, tax, ground maintenance, match day expenses and ground maintenance.

However we remain in a great position, so good in fact the board upped my budget by £6m to £13m!

What do you think I should spend this on (if anything)?

Other

Jordan Rhodes requested to be taken off the transfer list.  I refused as he’s too inconsistent.  Plus I think Erwin Hoffer is the first choice poacher and I’m happy for youngster Pabos Kleanthous to back him up.

Next month I’ll start renewing the contracts of players with 18 months left on them, providing they are good enough.

And I was favourite for the Parma job – until I denied any interest

Blog Of The Day 21 - My Blog And Toolbar

And here is my blog name (For it’s a grand old team to MANAGE…) displayed on the FM Crowd homepage.

Blog Of The Day 21 - FM Crowd Page And Toolbar

I also notice that I am;

• 2nd on the Top Blogs (Filtered)
• 3rd on the Top Blogs (Unfiltered)
• 2nd on the Most Active Blogs (Filtered)
• 3rd on Blog of the Day Ranking

Once again, thank you to all of you who read, comment and vote.  I really do appreciate it.

The award came as I dissected the month of October in my 4th season.

• October 2014: Celtic are the 3rd best team in Europe!

Thank you very much!

The answer appears to be YES!

Champions League

Sevilla Vs Celtic

I had a difficult away match to play against 2nd seeds Sevilla.  Last season I’d played them in the 2nd Knock-out Round of the Europa League, losing 2-0 away from home, but going through 3-2 on aggregate.   I scouted Sevilla extensively myself and found that their morale was dreadful.  None-the-less I knew we’d need to be cautious in Spain so I played my 442 Counter Attacking tactic in this match.

Looking back at the statistics from the match you can see it was very even, with 50% possession for each team and an equal number of shots on target.

However when you look at the performances of the players, it seems Celtics players were more highly motivated and made more of their chances when they came.  Fraser Forster undoubtedly kept my bhoys in the game with a number of great saves.

Have a look at another winning highlights video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Group Table

Incredibly my Celtic team have played 3, won 3 and sit top of Group F!

We are 5 points clear of 2nd place Inter.   However what strikes me the most is that I have played two of the opening three matches away from home.  We have never had a better chance of qualifying for the last 16

Co-efficient improvement

Regular readers will know I closely follow Celtic’s co-efficient.  This, for me, is the metric which determines if Celtic are progressing or not under my lead.

As you can see the co-efficient has improved every season from 11/12 onwards when I took charge, with this seasons co-efficient making significant headway against last seasons already.  The red arrow shows you that next season I already know we’ll enjoy a much better co-efficient than this one.  A sure sign of progress.

Why are we 3rd best in Europe?

So why are we 3rd best?  Take a look at this table.

It is the list of European clubs, sorted by their 14/15 co-efficient value (i.e. how well they’ve played this season alone).  Celtic are the 3rd team on this list.  A massive achievement!

SPL

Alongside our European success, it was important to continue to have a good run in the SPL.  While Rangers seem to be having a poor season, both Edinburgh clubs (Hearts and Hibs) have been playing extremely well.  Hibs, before October, were the only team to take points from my Celtic side and I’d still to play Hearts.

Hearts Vs Celtic

The first game of the month was the most important – a 2nd Vs 1st clash between Hearts and my Celtic side.

Hearts appeared to get a huge number of shots on goal without doing anything with them.  After I took the lead early on, the game became something of a war of attrition with neither side able to create a good chance until the 82nd minute when Hearts equalised.  I was disappointed as there were a couple of poor performances from the team, but I can’t complain given how well other results have been.

Other matches

The other SPL matches weren’t too notable with two exceptions.  Against Falkirk, prior to playing Sevilla, I played some of the younger players in the squad including Mortiz (GK), Kauppinen (DC), Allan (MC), Toussaint (ML) and Kleanthous (FC).  I also gave a game to the unhappy Jordan Rhodes.  We came away with a comfortable 2-0 win.

Then there was the rout that was Inverness Caledonian Thistle.  To win 7-1, with a starting 11 who had just come back from winning in Spain, was quite incredible.  Viatri got 4, Babacar 2 and Kleanthous (who started but was injured during the game) 1.

Table

In spite of my Celtic teams remarkable unbeaten run, we sit just 3 points clear at the top.

Hibernian’s early season challenge has faded away while Rangers continue to struggle.  There have been news items suggesting manager Ally McCoist might lose his job soon.

Players

The continental average rating of the players continues to be remarkable!

And overall ratings are very encouraging, especially from some younger players, such as Kauppinen and Toussaint.

There is only one injury to note: Pabos Kleanthous is out with a twisted ankle for between 11 days and 2 weeks.

U19s

The young Celts are emulating the success of their more senior colleagues.

Just one draw in the league, and 8 wins out of 9 games.

And unbeaten in the U19s Champions League too.  They are also still in the U19s cup.  The hard work of searching for young players seems to be paying off for me at all levels!

Finances

Unfortunately we’ve returned to making losses of over £2m per month.

This months losses were nearly £3m however it is probably so high because we played just one European match and just one home game.

Feeder club update

I forgot to mention that several links have been cancelled, usually by the board.  Celtic are no longer affiliated with Ujpest (Hungary) nor Rochdale (England).  In addition to this I cancelled a link with Santos Laguna as having first option on their Mexican players was no use to me.  None of them were ever eligible for work permits.  However I did add a new feeder club, Wisla (Poland).

It not only gives me first option on some of Poland’s best players, but it extends our scouting knowledge of Eastern Europe.  Here is a full list of my affiliated clubs (NOTE: Man Utd are a parent club, everyone else is a feeder).

So – do you think Celtic can keep their run going?  Can we make the last 16 of the Champions League and can we do it while holding off a title challenge from Hearts?

This month, I feel that my long-term strategy of bringing through promising youth might finally be closing “the gap”.

In a month which included two Champions League and an Old Firm match, would you have guessed I’d only lose to Peterhead!?

Champions League

Celtic Vs Inter

After resting several players against St. Johnstone, I played Inter at home in my first Champions League Group F match.  I studied them extensively before the game and concluded that they had no weaknesses!

I expected them to play 451 as they had in their previous match against Genoa but they surprised me with a 4231.  I opted for my 442 Counter Attacking style.

With John Goossens still injured Freddy Toussaint played on left midfield.  Matthews played in the place of suspended Juarez.

In a fiesty game we dominated possession (it was over 60% in our favour at one point) and grabbed a goal with born-again poacher Erwin Hoffer.

This has to rank as one of my best-ever performances.  The players were superb!

Lets look at the goal just for fun!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Steaua Vs Celtic

After a big win against Rangers (more on that later) I had to retain my strongest squad to play Steaua Bucharest of Romania.  Again I studied them extensively before the game and noticed that their morale was dreadful.  Having said that they play 451 and were still favourites for the home game.  So I played my Counter Attacking 442 again.

In truth though their players were not up for this at all.  I told my player to relax and was rewarded by scoring first.  Unfortunately they replied just before half time.  However in the second half I changed to my usual Attacking formation and scored again.  Steaua had a man sent off but I couldn’t increase my lead despite this.

None the-less it was nice to dominate a game away from home as well as take the three points.  My players were brilliant again.

You can see the goals in the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Table

We’re top of our group so early on.  This is fantastic!

SPL

Against Saint Johnstone I played a second string side and still got all three points.  But the highlight of the month was this emphatic win against Rangers at Celtic Park.

I’ll confess though during the whole first half I was concerned we’d never score with both Viatri and Hoffer playing poorly.  However a hat-trick from Babacar, coming off the bench, after a Viatri goal secured us the points.  Before this game I’d studied Rangers (as I had Inter and Steaua) and noted their players have dreadful morale.  I used this to my advantage in the team talks.

At the end of September we’re top of the league and yet to concede a single goal!  Rangers are in dire straights and I don’t know how much longer Ally McCoist will hold onto his job.  Meanwhile Hearts and Hibs are putting up a fight for the title this year.

Scottish League Cup

My players have played a lot of games this month, and we have a few injuries too.  So when I had to play Peterhead before the crucial Rangers game, I played almost an entire U19 squad.

My entire midfield came from the U19s, as did Dale Allan at left back.  But Thomson, Ivan, Kauppinen and Kleanthous are all young too.  Peterhead got lucky with an own goal from Dale Allan then scored with their only shot in the game.  But it is my fault.  I should have picked one or two more senior players, even if they were tired.

I’ll need to think of new ways to bring through the young players this season.  This is my tournament for playing them but my first loss in over 3 years means I can’t use it this season.

Players

On the continent the players are playing wonderfully.  The easy qualifying rounds no doubt help the ratings but you can’t fault them for beating Inter and Steaua either.

The overall ratings make great reading too.  I’m particularly impressed with young players like Toussaint, Wanyama and Kauppinen who are more than holding their own.

Injuries

Mind you it is just as well the young players are doing well with all these injuries.

All of these happened in matches.  But it has decimated my midfield.

U19s

Like the seniors, the U19s are undefeated in their league.

Even more impressive is that they are top of the U19s Champions League group having beaten Roma 2-0 (away) and Lyon 4-1 (home).

Finances

Despite home games against Inter and Rangers as well as prize money for winning my Champions League games we made a small loss.  As usual it’s wages, tax and match-day expenses that are the main causes.

Anyway – can you see Celtic closing “the gap” now?

Transfers

I’ve very little to report here.  I’d already decided upon a squad and all I wanted to do was get some of the young players out on loan.

Which I did!  Ortola is a promising young goalkeeper and a signing from my first season.  If he’d been home grown he’d probably have been third choice but I need to wait another month for that.  At any rate, it is better for him to go out on loan.

Billy McGowan is a newgen through my own youth system.  He’d been pretty good pre-season but I knew he wouldn’t play often.  So when Livingston offered to take him on loan and play him I decided it was a good offer.

Herron, Fraser and Chalmers are young players who probably won’t be good enough.  But I felt it best to send them to feeder club Oostende for game time and to use that link.

Results

The season started indifferently with a 0-0 draw with Hibs.  At the end of this game I was ready to buy a new striker, so concerned was I that Hoffer might be too inconsistent and Babacar might not back-up Viatri as well as I’d hoped.

Thankfully things improved considerably with a 4-0 aggregate win in the Champions League against Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus and wins over Aberdeen and Ross County.

I didn’t do much with the young players in these games, with the exception of letting Freddy Toussaint play due to an injury to John Goosens which will keep him out for two months.  Freddy more than held his own at home and abroad though

SPL

We are top of the league on goal difference, largely helped by our impenetrable defence and high scoring game against Aberdeen.  But I’ll take that.

Champions League

So we won every single one of our 6 qualifying games to get to the group stages.  It shows in a way how far Celtic are ahead of the rest of Scotland.  The league is rated so poorly that we have to start at the 2nd qualifying round but Celtic are so strong we make mincemeat out of all of our opponents.  It’s the contradiction I must deal with.

As 3rd seed we were drawn against Inter Milan (1st seed), Sevilla (2nd seed) and Steua Bucharest (4th seed).  It is a tough group but I’m pleased.  I faced Inter last year in the Champions League (lost home and away) but I also faced Sevilla in the Euro Cup and beat them on aggregate!  I think we have a good chance of qualifying for the last 16.

Players

Average ratings

The players have started the season very well but it is too early to look into any more depth.

Contract

I awarded Scott Allan a new contract of £13k p/w with a 5% annual raise.  In the end I decided that he’ll probably play somewhere between 10-15 games this season and that should increase season-on season.

Fall out

Jordan Rhodes complained that he wanted to leave as he wasn’t playing enough.  I accepted his request to be placed on the transfer list but no one can afford to buy him

Injuries

John Goosens is out for 2 months with a hip injury sustained in a friendly.  I looked at loaning a backup but I have four senior wingers anyway and Toussaint has played well.

Babacar is out for a 10 days with a training ground injury.  I hope he’ll come back a better player after a rest.

U19s

My frighteningly talented U19s are top of their league, unbeaten after 3 games.

They, along with Rangers, will be playing in the U19s European Cup.  This is their group.

Finances

Qualification for the Champions League boosted our finances significantly however we would have made a profit last month even without it.

It is also notable that our balance is almost at the highest it has ever been.  Not bad straight after a transfer window.

Given the great financial shape, I asked the board to increase the stadium size.  They refused as there isn’t enough demand.  To be honest they are right, we can’t seem to get above 85% capacity most games

World Cup

I completely missed this during pre-season.  So here’s the World Cup 2014!

Brazil, on home soil, didn’t even get through the groups!  Germany also didn’t get past the group stage, but credit to Austria, South Africa, Colombia, Switzerland, Romania and Belgium for doing so.

Would you have guessed that Colombia would win the World Cup?

• Best Goalkeeper: Carlos Kameni (Cameroon)
• Golden Ball: Eden Hazard (Belgium)
• Golden Shoe: Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)
• Best Young Player: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

The following Celtic players were involved.

• Fraser Forster  – England’s first choice goalkeeper
• Thomas Rogne – one of Norway’s first-choice centre back pairing
• Erwin Hoffer  – a sub for Austria
• Erain Juarez – Mexico used him at right back occasionally

It was good to see these players get this kind of experience.