Ex Celtic men experience mixed Championship emotions

Is time running out for Gordon Strachan?

A lot of Scottish football observers have been drawn to the Championship this season to examine the Scottish experiment being undertaken by Gordon Strachan. The league campaign is only 9 games old but there appears to be problems for the Good Ship Scotia in ‘Boro.

10 points from 9 games is a poor return in anyone’s language but for the pre-season favourites, it is a terrible situation to be in, with only 2 points separating Boro from the relegation zone.

Injuries to Willo Flood and Kevin Thomson have not helped Gordon Strachan but defeats to Derby, Watford, QPR, Barnsley, Millwall and Ipswich are a far cry from the man who masterminded his former team to wins over AC Milan, Manchester United, Benfica and of course, three SPL titles.

However, reading reports of Middlesbrough matches and what the Boro fans are saying online is eerily reminiscent of the final days of Strachan’s Celtic Park reign. Slow, plodding play and wide men being played on their wrong side was the mark of Gordon Strachan’s Celtic at their least inventive and it may be happening all over again.

All of this sees Strachan’s team retain possession but lack the cutting edge needed to break teams down, leaving them vulnerable to attacks at the back.

No doubt Gordon knows what the problems are and knows how to fix them….

If things are beginning to look bleak for Gordon Strachan, the fortunes of two other men that wore the hoops are considerably brighter. There is a world of a difference when it comes to the respect Celtic fans held Paul Lambert and Malky Mackay but are sitting neatly in the play-off places.

Paul Lambert may be a “mini-me” of Martin O’Neill with a CV containing Wycombe Wanderers and Norwich City and the tracksuit and glasses combination but he is starting to build his own reputation as a manager.

A 4-3 win over Leicester City propelled Norwich City up to third place in the league, no mean feat for a club that was promoted from League 1 in the summer. Norwich are 7 points behind runaway leaders Queens Park Rangers but only 1 point behind Cardiff City in the second automatic promotion spot.

The Championship remains one of the most difficult leagues to get promoted from, the financial rewards of the Premiership means that every team is desperate to get there and a 46 match season is not for the weak. Norwich have dropped points in recent games against Hull and Doncaster but are ticking over nicely at the moment.

Their first game of the Championship season resulted in a defeat for Norwich against Watford, which pitted Lambert against Malky Mackay.

The midweek Championship games ended in disappointment for Watford with a 3-2 home defeat against Swansea City but the Hornets have acme up with some eye-catching results of late.

A 3-1 home win over Middlesbrough came hot on the heels of a 6-1 win away to Millwall. With the Millwall fanbase, featuring unsavoury characters like Rod Liddle, proclaiming that no one likes them but they don’t care…its safe to say that most of the nation raised a chuckle at that result.

So…it is a contrast in fortunes for men who used to earn their pay at Celtic Park and perhaps the end of the line is looming for one of the men.

Can Gordon Strachan turn things around?

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