Green and Whitewash

After my last save crashed I got right into another Celtic save. Halfway through the 2nd season and won the treble the first season. In the league we had a poor first season finishing with just 68 points. Far off my usual target of at lease 85 points per season. To be fair I did try to bed in a lot of youngsters, perhaps too many. However the shining light of this experiment was Kieran Tierney, who finished the season with an average rating of 7.83 in 23 games.

Hamilton were relegated and Rangers won the Championship, Motherwell beat Hibs over the two-legged Play-off Final to secure safety from the drop.



Europe was a big disappointment finishing last in the Champions League Group Stage. In all fairness it was a tough group but we should have got at least one win at home I expected us to give Shakhtar a better run for their money to claim the Europa League spot.



In the transfer market I kept it simple the first season, as I usually do. Alessandro Del Piero was signed as a tutor and late game changer in the cup but it wouldn't allow me to assign him as a tutor. Mo Elyounoussi didn't have the best start to his Celtic career netting just one league goal in 10 appearances. Younger Kristoffer Ajer made a hell of an impact. We were massively lacking an extra holding midfielder as we were very top heavy in this area. Both these players are massively important to my long term tactical plan that is slowly coming into place. How could I resist signing Ron Vlaar on a free transfer? I needed experiance in that area and he was the ideal partner for young Jozo Simunovic.

I tried to shift Derk Boerrigter as soon as I could. All I could get was 40% of his £24k p/w wage covered, but he wasn't going to play so at least it was something. Anthony Stokes found his appearances limited but the arrival of Elyounoussi was the final nail in the coffin, a massive upgrade.

Again we are underperforming this season, but in the past few games we have performed much better and are conceding far less goals. I tweaked the tactics and things are looking good. I'll go into this in a later post. Patrick Thistle, ICT and even Motherwell are right behind us. I'm looking for a strong january to try and go at least 5 points clear by the end of it. If it weren't for Leigh Griffiths goals I dread to think what the table would look like. He has hit 8 in 16 so far, not as good as last seasons 24 in 33 but not bad.



We done slightly better in the Group Stage this year narrowly missing out on the Europa League spot. The most disappointing thing was we dropped 4 points after the 80th minute. Our win came over Galatasaray in Turkey and we held them to a 1-1 draw at home. Next season we must finish at least 3rd.



Again on the transfer front I kept it minimum, I looked at the league table and there was one glaring problem. Hamilton who had been relegated scored 3 less than us and we almost conceded a goal per game. I figured it would be easier to solve the lack of goals than conceding. In came Andrija Zivkovic and Gary Hooper who have 11 between them so far, not quite what I expected but as you can see we are scoring far more. Just 9 off last years tally, my target for the season is at least 70. My only other signing was Scott Bain, he seemed like a more sensible back-up than Logan Baily. He's younger, on a lower wage and Scottish.

As for players going out, there was a huge clear-out. I was left with a massive squad, so some had to go. Fortunately I wasn't forced into selling anyone I didn't want to. I was surprised to get so much for Nadi Ciftci as he didn't have a good season at all. Callum McGregor and Saidy Janko both went out on loan as I want Janko to get as much game time as possible this season and I will make a decision on McGregor when he returns. There was also about 10 youth players who went out on loan, mostly to lower Scottish sides.

I've yet to set on a tactic this save, nothing seems to really click yet. I've tried all manner of formations and styles of play, most notably trying to get Gengenpressen to work but it just didn't happen. There was absolutely no consistency in the squad, however I also think being unable to settle on a starting XI due to the size of the squad hampered us. I'm using a 4-2-3-1 just now and things have got better over the past few games.

However my long term goal is to get a 4-4-2 working that resembles but doesn't copy that of Arsenal's Invincible's. I have and idea of where I want to go and the players I want to bring in combined with the players I already have. It will take a few seasons but I'm willing to wait it out. The players I have already who I think would fit into the system are:

Kieran Tierney (Ashley Cole): Great going forward and has a good end product and is relatively solid at the back.

James Forrest (Freddie Ljunberg): He's quick and will run directly at defenders and like Ljunberg if I am correct doesn't have the greatest cross. I want him to get into the box and put it across the 6 yard box.

Stuart Armstrong/Kristoffer Ajer (Patrick Viera): They will be the engine of the side. Working hard over the middle of the pitch and just linking things together. Armstrong lacks the physicality of Viera but Ajer isn't far off it.

Mo Elyounoussi Robert Pieres: This is one of the examples where I will vary from the Arsenal side, as I don't really know what to do to get the Pieres/Henry link up to work. However Elyounoussi is very technically gifted and a skilful player.



Mentality: Control & fluid
Team Instructions: Play out of defence, retain possession, be more expressive, work ball into box & roam from position.

Another piece of the puzzle, I think he could fit my Thierry Henry role, by Scottish Premiership standard anyway. He's quite quick, relatively skilful and has a good goal record. He was a big outlet but at only 23 I think he will be well worth it. As you can see we are still in very good condition financially anyway and I might have to make some big sales in the summer as a few players are attracting attention.