Gordon Strachan was appointed Manager of Celtic Football Club on 1st June 2005. From that day, until today, the Celtic support remain divided as to whether he's the right man for the job. When you are a club the size of Celtic, one of only a handful of Football clubs in the UK who can truly be considered a global brand, do you appoint a manager with Strachans average at best reputation and a CV that boasts not a single trophy win? The warning signs were there for all to see and before he had time to warm the seats in the dug-out, he had an embarrassing start to his campaign as Celtic manager, losing 5-0 to Slovakian champions Artmedia Bratislava.
Shock waves were starting to ripple around the Celtic faithful, but the wee man managed to turn things around and has since delivered the SPL title to Paradise on each of the last three seasons. Now that combined with the fact he has a couple of Domestic Cup triumphs and guided Celtic to the last 16 of the Champions League, anyone would think the Celtic support would consider that as the mark of a manager of real quality....think again!

Is it that some Celtic supporters will never forget the antics of Gordon Strachan the Aberdeen player? Or was it the cup defeats to Bratislava, Clyde, Falkirk, Hearts and Aberdeen were just too much to handle? Despite a record that most managers would die for, Strachan finds himself continually the target of a noticeable section of the Parkhead clubs supporters. The tactics at times are less than convincing. The team selection is often questioned, as is the timing and selection of the substitutes. Of all the players that have come and gone since Strachan took the helm, only two are considered by many to be "Celtic Class". When you learn that these two (Naka and Boruc) were in fact already on the Celtic radar before he joined the club, it leaves more questions than answers.

Roy Keane, Jiri Jarosik, Tommy Gravesen, Stephen Pressley, Mark Brown, Derek Riordan, Andreas Hinkle, Mark Wilson, Gary Caldwell, Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe,
Massimo Donati, Evander Sno and Chris Killen are all signings that at one time or another have been questioned by supporters. Were they past their best, signed for commercial reasons, panic buys or simply just not good enough. Not forgetting Dui Wei and Jeremie Aliadiere, on second thoughts, lets forget about them! The signing of Koki Mizuno, Paddy McCourt, Ben Hutchinson could also come in for some attention as all three appear to spend more time on the treatment table than the football pitch. The successes so far have been Scott Brown, Barry Robson, JVoH, Scott McDonald and Paul Hartley, but which one of those hasn't been the focus of some negative attention since joining? all three is the answer! Scott Brown has some way to go before he lives up to the heft transfer fee and Hartley just isn't the player who used to torment SPL sides as a Hearts player.
Football attributes aside, lets talk about the man. I for won am continually angered at Strachans post and pre-match interviews. Yes we all like a good laugh, but when the team goes out the cup on penalties to Falkirk, I want more of an explanation than some comical one-liner. When you make a substitution because the make shift left-back is found wanting, I don't expect you to then unsettle the midfield and put Hartley in at left-back and throw on another midfielder when you have a young and able left-back sitting on the bench hoping for his chance.
So what's the score? Who has the answers? Is Strachan a footballing genius or one of the luckiest managers in Scottish football history. Are Celtic going unchallenged in the SPL and rather than a team winning playing football the "Celtic Way", they are the best of a very poor bunch and are not far away from a real wake up call.


Join the debate and give your opinion at THE Celtic forum - Walfrid-Og


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