DMAA

Fbref stats are pretty underwhelming for Bahrami. Difficult to know how to read them when he has been playing in Serie A though. A few green shoots but plenty concerns too. Hopeless in the air and invisible off the ball according to the stats. Underperforms his non-pen xG consistently and quite significantly so I have doubts he will be a clinical goalscorer. Clearly a dead ball specialist. Had one excellent season in Serie B in 20-21 and I'm guessing they feel that he can replicate that form in similar circumstances in our league. On balance I don't see it with this one though. Sorry to be so negative!

According to Hatchet, a very reliable poster on FF, the fee for Wright is £250k.

Two alarm bells with Nsoki. Close personal connection to manager and bad injury record for the past two seasons. Nothing inherently wrong with knowing the player but it does make me automatically skeptical because you worry we are back to phone book signings. Looking at his stats, he certainly looks a decent player. Did well at Brugge with Clement.

Bit of quality from Tavernier and Cerny there to be fair.

This is like English league 2 quality football. So poor.

Dinamo Kiev typified everything I hate about modern football.

Tav is nowhere near our worst player. He was up against Kiev’s best player though. Their left winger was a good example of what ours should be a doing. A winger with skill and power to face up full backs and can go past them on the inside or the outside.

Just sickening. Even this very average group of players should have had enough to win tonight but we were robbed. Unfortunately losing out on this £5m is another hammer blow and I think the league will be largely gone by the end of October. I don’t think we’d have got past Salzburg anyway but there was always a chance.

European teams are brutal for play acting. Always notice when we play them.

Haven’t been so angry about a ref’s decision in a very long time. They have been diving and play acting all game and the ref’s falls for it every time.

Still can't help but wonder how Kjetil Knutsen would have done here. Anyway, Clement loyal for now. I'm not seeing great signs but we have to back him and hope for the best.

Not good enough ultimately though. A ground we normally win at and I don't think Celtic will drop as many points this season as they did last.

It’s looked a game of equals at best. Change, or some luck, required for us to get three points here.

Huge test today. Hopefully a lot of hunger shown from those who know that we will be looking at signings in their positions over the next month. I hope the fanbase can show a bit of patience and restraint.

That's good news.

I don't read too much into that alone tbh. I remember well how Julien Rodriguez was talked up as Monaco’s captain. Those kind of comments are what you want to see though.

Tackling seems mediocre. 11th percentile in defensive 3rd, 53rd percentile overall. Past three seasons have been around that level, two seasons before were lower with the lowest being the 8th percentile overall. Dribblers tackled numbers are low across seasons, both in terms of instance (25th percentile) and success (7th percentile). Again suggests he isn’t a particularly strong/aggressive defender. Blocks numbers on the lower side but inconsistent across seasons. They are a top 5 side so it may be due to that, would have to compare other defenders. Interceptions generally low. Aerials aren’t great either. He gets involved a lot which is good, but his success rate is mixed. Percentiles for success rate over five seasons are 49th, 25th, 83th, 56th and 83th. A couple of good seasons there but safe to say he isn’t particularly dominant in the air. Playing for a top 5 team could possibly explain some of the lower numbers.

Reports that we are paying a few million have made me very lukewarm on this one. His stats are pretty run of the mill, and poor on a few key metrics (and inconsistent between seasons). On the other hand, he is rated by Twente fans, seems to have leadership qualities and has had a good record with Twente in terms of goal conceded so may have strengths in some of the intangibles like organisation. At the end of the day I’ll get on board because he likely improves us today (hopefully significantly). I’m just not seeing the justification for spending so much on someone this age, and another example of someone who has a personal relationship with our coaching staff is not helping my doubts about our scouting and recruitment.

I haven't understood why he's been frozen out. He's at least a natural centre mid and we could have done with him several times in recent months.

That was an absolute sickener. They've scraped most games against us but it doesn't matter. A win is a win.

His success in his second spell was an incredible achievement.

It's the fact he was being praised by a lot of people for his honesty though, when we all know others would get crucified for the exact same words. It's irrational.

Exactly what I said elsewhere. They would be absolutely crucified if they had said this. Just shows some players can't do/say anything right at the moment and others can do no wrong.

In order of weakest position to strongest, regardless of whether they happen to have been here for longer than a year.

The overriding narrative tonight is that the “old guard” are at fault. It is simplistic nonsense to pin a collapse like this on Tav, Goldson and Lundstram. Fans love a simple answer to a complex problem and that's what they've gone for. The sudden turn in our form since Hearts has been utterly mind boggling and I have no idea what has caused it, but I do know that the simplistic narrative being peddled tonight is not the answer.