SCOTT BROWN probably put his worst ever performance in at Ibrox this afternoon on a day where Celtic were second best all over the park.
The result itself wasn’t down to Brown solely, but when you look up to gain inspiration from your captain, and he’s struggling to keep up with the pace or make a ten-yard pass, then it can spread throughout the team.
Since Callum McGregor came to the forefront in the Celtic captain’s role, the argument has always been ‘Aye, but we need him in there for the dig and fight in games like Ibrox’ – today that has been blown out the water. Actually moving Callum McGregor out of the midfield to accommodate Brown and Ntcham was disasterous.
Going forward, Rodgers knows that Brown as a first-team automatic starter is not on the table any more.
Yes, the midfielder can still give a lot to Celtic, but he shouldn’t be automatically called upon when we need players in the trenches.
IF McGregor is fit, he should always play in the Celtic midfield ahead of Brown or Ntcham – it’s as simple as that.
It’s hard not to be reactionary but the proof was in the pudding today, no one can tell me Celtic could have been any worse with Brown out the team.
A shameful, cowardly performance, thoroughly deserved that but dreadful from Celtic, Boyata absolutely awful…him and Gordon seemed intent on giving ‘Rangers’ a helping hand…. McGregor missed badly in the centre….. Brown was dreadful….need sum new faces in January…..oh and what a horrible little wretch Morelos is…..
Gordon should never be in the team. He is a disaster And makes the situations which lead to the defence being put in difficult positions. I would not be unhappy if he never played again for usIf you analyse the games in which Scott Bain has played, you can see that the defence has been much more confident, thus making the whole team confident. I’m sure tha ‘Celtic by Numbers’ will have statistics to back this up. My number 1 would be Bain, with Conor Hazard as an able backup. Gordon is not part of our future.
The manager picked the wrong team and thus must share much of the blame. Why on earth Calmac was played out of position I will never know. This immediately weakens us. Brown and Ntcham were mostly ineffectual and I believe Brown should only be used sparingly for certain games and certain situations. He is no longer the masterful force he was. We did not deserve to win today and it was already going to be difficult with Beaton as the 12th man – a referee with a selective pair of eyes. However, we made it even easier for them today.
Izzy or Hayes should have been playing today thus allowing Calmac to be the general in midfield.
When it is a physical battle like it was today Ntcham becomes anonymous, McGregor totally wasted at left back, Gordon & Boyata look as though they just met in the dressing room before the game.