Too little too late for Celtic against Aalborg

When oldtim67 is not here everybody has a chance.

I'll try for second

We need take 3 points from these guys away from home now

---From last thread---

o1bhoy

that's terrible news about JFK. Hopefully the injury isn't too serious and he can back to full fitness soon.

As for last night, I think the team played well in patches but Aalborg came to stifle Celtic and played for the draw. Disappointed not to have got the win but I think they will have to be a bit more adventurous at their ground and that could give us the chance to get the first away win under our belt.

As for Villareal and Man U, I think we need to go to both games and play for 0-0s. I know it's not the "Celtic way" but we have to be pragmatic about things.

I also think that last night shows that Aiden needs to play on left rather than Shaun as there were a number of times where Shaun was in position but unable to get a cross into the box either because he didn't have the confidence to cross on his left or the pace to get past the last defender.

Anywhoo, Hail Hail

Mort

You know you are in trouble when you see the team sheet and think 'I wish Hartley was playing'!

We should have won the game, with the missed penalty (inexcusable in my view given his last few attempts) and the disallowed goal but at about this stage in any manager's time I begin to think 'why do you never play the right team'.

We can't be so reliant on tempo, if the tempo is wrong we are absolutely honking! On the evidence of last night we need to get Crosas ready to start and get McGeady back in the team.

Stand out Celtic player was Gary Caldwell.

I did see the game on The Polish TV yesterday, and remember what our good coach in the past said about the game. Celtic played only one creative player - Nakamura. The other one, Aiden came too late to change the picture.
I'm dissapointed Celtic players did not use the experience they have from the past years of their play in the Champions League.They were to slowly yesterday.Every player needed some time, to pick up the ball, to see where is the partner, to make the pass. Everything bit to late. Besides, fotball is the simple game: if you want to win, you must score the goals. I know Celtic has potentials, that are frozen. I hope they start their best in the next game.At the end of the day, still five games to play and 15 points to win. Nothing really happened yet.

I knew exactly where that peno was going...I don't know why Naka doesn't take penalties.

Its going to be tough.

A big mistake was made last night. Crosas should have played. Celtic were sterile. And much of what was created on Saturday was down to the young Catalan.

I hope we do not have cause to rue that performance come December.

Disappointed.

Never started playing until 60 mins.
McManus was woeful, so was Naka, Maloney wide right doesnt work. Scotty cant play the holding role, McDonald needs to shed a few kilos.

Still not worth the boos though.

All for one and one for all as D'Artagnon says.

On the offide against Naka, when he rolled the ball forward and to the left for Brown to tap in, wouldn't that make Brown an offside player?

.

Mort....

Re; Kennedy..Yea justwhen you think He has Turned the Corner....He Will be Devastated....

A Few of the Bhoys were talking about Him Yesterday....Which was encouraging as l have not read anything on him since he left....

Agree with you on Our away games.Man utd.Villareal have now Played THREE 0-0 Draws that tells you something there is no reason we can't take 2-4 points away from home on what l seen at Old Trafford last night....Teams do Qualify with 7 points....

o1bhoy

MikeyBhoy

Nope as Scott Brown was behing Naka at that time.

Paul67,

That game was crying out for Crosas last night. We had nobody to take the ball off the centre half and pass the ball and make penetrating forward passes. We are one dimensional, we pass from side to side when we play this 4 4 2.

Naylor to McManus, to Caldwell to Hinkel to Brown maybe to Naka back to Brown back to Caldwell to McManus, then punt. I cannot fathom Gordon out. He found a Saturday a system that really worked. They were flying, high in confidence, and then he decides to tinker with it. Reverts to his old system and the result was there for all to see. That was a very ordinary team last night and I’ll go as far and say that was probably one of the worst European teams I seen at Celtic Park for a while.

We never had any options when we were on the ball. There was no movement at all. Players were staying in their positions. All Aalborg had to do was make sure our wide players were covered. Bruce Rich adopted a 4 2 3 1 formation last night which in defending for most of the night was a 4 5 1 . His two wide players would give his full backs a hand defending by doubling up on our wide players. How many times have we seen this in the SPL? When is the penny going to finally drop with Gordon and realise this aint happening? If it does happen then it depends in one of the centre midfielders making forward runs and looking for openings and passes through the centre rather than out wide. The midfielders that Gordon selects for this system are too identical as they play the same. The difference form Saturday was pretty evident in the middle of the park. It could have been worse if Aalborg had taken that chance in the first half. In saying that, it could also have been pretty different if Barry had scored that penalty.

As regard players wait for Sunday he will probably select Hartley to come back in to the middle and probably adopt the same system. I said to someone before the game that when you give Gordon credit for something good like Saturday as sure as anything he will make rickets of it in the next game and bamboozle us all.

If he does go two up on Sunday then for me he has to drop McDonald. I have written since pre season that something was not right with him. His attitude is all wrong. He is at least a stone over weight and is a shadow of the buzzing player he was last year. Strange to say but he is reminding me of Kris Boyd. Samara for me was the only one who looked decent last night. His running and closing down of defenders was good, unlike his strike partner who was sauntering around as if he was Larsson. He needs dropped. JVOH and Samaras possibly even Ben for me until he gives himself a shake. Crosas and Loovens need to be given their chance on Sunday.

The fans were really despondent coming out of the game last night. Something I have never seen after a CL game.

I was surprised by the fact Aiden didnt start last night as I thought he was rested on Saturday to keep him fresh for Aalborg.
We were very predictable going forward and the central midfiled pairing were too happy to play the sideways ball to Naka/Maloney, both of whom were poor.

Celtic need to use the atmosphere at Celtic Park to drive them on.
We are not technically gifted enough to play slow, probing football. We really need to play high tempo, in your face football especially against an inexperienced Danish side playing at this level for the first time.
We gave them far too much time to settle into the game and build confidence and before we know it they are counter attacking and almost scoring at our end.

The defence preformed well last night althought he distribution from the full back areas was nothing short of woeful, especially from Lee Naylor.
Having said that, both full backs covered a lot of ground and covered well defensively when required.

Last night Scott McDonald looked exactly as he has all season.....terribly off the pace. He needs to have a look at himself as he looks at least 1st overweight.
JVOH should have been introduced at half time as it was clear to everyone the Skippy was blowing.

Agree with the earlier comment regarding Gary Caldwell, he was solid last night and was trying to drive us forward.

MikeyBhoy: As long as Scott Brown was behind the ball when it was played he is onside. All academic really as we didn't get the goal and didn't really look like scoring.

I was so frustrated that we took McDonald off and simply threw Maloney forward. Pulling Naka into midfield and keeping Maloney wide would have given us that extra creative edge that I felt we lacked all game long.

The 5-4-1 that Aalborg played last night is something we'll see all too often at Parkhead this season so it worrying that we failed so miserably to break it down. We should have set the pace from the very start of the game and they would have struggled to keep up with us by the end of the game. Playing football at walking pace with square ball after square ball does not stretch the opposition.

Craiginho
Long drive home last night CSC

.

Paul67....

I Noticed you Never Mentioned Skippy....l wonder what you and others thoughts are on him at the Mo....and His Pairing with Georgious....

o1bhoy

WGS at 9.37

I 100 percent agree, with you with 20 - 25 mins to go Crosas should have been brought on he has the ability to play defence spitting pass We are so 1 dimensional it is far from funny.

Paul,

I could just about cope with the square balls. What frustrated me was the number of times Artur Boruc was chosen as the best pass by a defender.

As you correctly identified, Aalborg were not pressuring our defence or midfield, so why could our defenders not find a forward pass?

My recurring thought throughout the game was what a great away performance this would be.

Therags...

c'mon paul, now tellin naka how to take free kicks !

The Gate In The Wood continueth

The Story So Far: Romance is in the autumnal air as our hero, WG, uses fair means or foul to seduce busty bank babe, Boynita. Our bhoy eliminates refereeing rival, Dougal Stuart, by having him kidnapped by the Craigneuk battalion of The Wishaw Militia, motto - Who Drinks Wins. Stuart agrees to WG's Three Demands and must deliver demand number three to the blonde customer adviser.

Episode 16

RBS: Royal Bank of Scotland, Wishaw Branch, you're speaking to Catriona, may I have the second letter of.....

DS: Cat, it's Dougal

Cat: Oh, I'm sorry, Boynita's line is busy just now, can I take a message ? I'm sure she'll be free shortly.

DS: Oh I'm absolutely sure she will be. I'll hold. Catriona, I was doing a bit of thinking?

Cat: Oh, tell me more, Doug.

DS: I think it's maybe time I spread my wings a little, see a bit more of life.

Cat: We offer loans for all sorts of things, Doug. A new car ? Perhaps you'd like to take a holiday.

DS: Perhaps I'd like to take you out to lunch.

Cat: Oh, Dougie, Dougie, Dougie....

TBC

.

Strange Stat....

Aalborg's Full Squad had a Grand Total of 10 Champions League Games Between them with ONE Player Having a Total of NINE CL Games....He Was Eligible to Play Last Night....

o1bhoy

copenhagen pumped us in denmark
other than mcgeady we were not great against them at CP
why the surprise last night

they beat kaunas home and away - would we have ? the huns couldnt

they were 2 up against spurs at white heart lane last year albeit they lost - so why the great despair and surprise over last night

many celtic fans seem to be turning into those types we used to slag off in many ways - lack of support for the team, lack of respect for the opposition, thinking they can do better than the manager

ring a bell

There was a moment in the 1st half that summed up Scott Brown's performance. He was at the by line and got turned by the Aalborg attacker. This was no Cruyff turn, just a simple knock past him and instead of chasing the attacker into the box he just stands there and then saunters towards goal.

Him and Skippy should warn the bench for next week. No heart on a CL night? Inconceivable.

Apologies Paul of topic.

Scotland’s Shame may yet be Shamed. Somebody, somewhere, just might call them to task.

Celtic supporters should not be complacent in this knowledge. To deny that there exists a very small minority of wayward individuals within the Celtic support, whose behaviour can at times border inappropriateness, would be to ostracise your intelligence and your concerns. It would weaken your argument for impartial measures to be enacted to restore common decency to Scottish and Scottish streets.

Everybody knows that by attending a Celtic v Rangers game they will be confronted with an ensemble of parochial prejudices. The base ingredients of these prejudices are globally common, but elements from within Scottish society have managed to distil imported bigotries into a unique and repugnant Scottish malt that both the Scottish Establishment and the Scottish Media are content to decant in quaint but repulsive – morally intoxicated - apathy.

Celtic v Rangers football games are a minefield of moral and ethical hazards with a common denominator often considered by most decent human beings who attend these sporting events. Unfortunately, beyond consideration, further actions are seldom entertained.

The vast majority of people who witness the socially delinquent and morally perverted behaviour -of what many believe to be the majority of Rangers supporters - do so in desolate silence, a product of suspected inadequacies. They believe that if they chose to speak out against blatant injustice their complaints reception will be of contemptible lip service. Alternatively, a response of blatant rejection accompanied by counter accusations can frequently be an additional obstacle to deter victims from voicing their concerns. Hence, they (the decent citizens) shake their heads at the apparent indifference of the authorities, pull tight their own lethargic coats, and stoically move on until the next time. Simply because in
the past their repetitive pleas for common decency – ‘to be encouraged’ - has repeatedly been subject to neglect, or public ridicule, by both the media and some elected authorities.

Now though, the authorities cannot be negligent in their cosy indifference. Scottish Media outlets are subject to national and international scrutiny and analysis; and maybe, just maybe, individuals’ actions, and more importantly their inactions, could soon meet with belated accountability.

The authorities’ stubborn will to impartially adress collective concerns is a contributory factor in what is globally being accepted as ‘Scotland’s Shame’ Their blasé attitude and silent acceptance of organised sectarianism and bigotry is creeping up behind them and in glorious
malevolence it wants a piece of their respective elected asses. They too, may meet with belated accountability.

This is not Scotland’s elected politicians and career public servants being pro-active to the stigma that seeps from ‘Scotland’s Shame’. This is the politicians and the civil servants being re-active, for a second time, to international intervention into a domestic issue that any self-respecting society of integrity would have quashed with expedience as soon as it surfaced
from the ponds darkest depths.

A PhD in Social Science is not a prerequisite to determining what is socially offensive. Lacking said PhD, an ‘O’ level in English might assist, even the journalists’ among us, in articulating their disgust at the sewer of depravity that the Rangers supporters recently stooped to. However, even a preschooler can formulate, and express, an opinion of disapproval; so strike the need for any ‘o’ levels required to articulate and condemn rancid
behaviour and putrid songs; they are not needed at all; unbelievably all that is required to condemn is the will and sincerity to do so.

Our country enjoys a ‘first world’ status. Cultured society’s necessities are abundantly evident. We have government; we have laws and the courts to prosecute them; we have universities and schools too, and the teachers to educate in them. Scotland does not need all these pillars of society to dictate a collective social conscience to define what is, and what is not, socially acceptable. Scotland does not need it simply because Scotland is rich with decent and considerate Scottish people. The vast majority of whom feel no dark need for a weekly fix in desecration and vilification.

If only Scotland were given an impartial Scottish media outlet, Scottish people - would unequivocally let elected, and non-elected, individuals, in offices of Scottish influence – know what the good people of Scotland really feel about ‘Scotland’s Shame’.

So many supporters of so many other Scottish clubs, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hibs, and even Hearts too, along with most others, would agree that Scotland’s Shame is quintessentially Rangers shame.

A far more reaching and regrettable ramification of the despicable behaviour of Rangers supporters as witnessed in Barcelona, Manchester and more recently, Parkhead, is the deterioration of Scotland’s international reputation. A reputation that is being obscenely tarred as a direct consequence of odious and narcistic behaviour by a non-representative minority who are quintessentially nothing more than the dregs of society; nothing more than Scotland’s very own emblematic rabble. They are just a gaggle of troggs, who do little for Scotland’s prestige, other than to invite international derision and national mortification. It is not only the racially and the religiously abused in Scotland that are packing their bags and calling another country home. Others from the same social quarter as the abusers have decided they no longer wish to neither be associated with the stigmatic nor condone the social filth; so they too are departing Scotland with an excess of embarrassment in their luggage.

The sooner Scotland addresses the ‘Shame’, the sooner Scotland can redress tarnished image in the international community. Alternatively, Scotland’s reputation will be further soiled.

Remind me… how many Scottish folk died, in Scotland, as a direct consequence of the ‘Potato Famine’.

It would be expected, but nonetheless reprehensible, if Scotland does nothing.

It’s Scotland’s call.

The RST denying that there is a problem clearly encapsulates the essence of the problem itself.

Their havering and inimical response is a predictable attempt at pre-emptive retaliation but disappointing inasmuch as it is an inexplicable antithesis to any potential solution. The Neanderthals do not want a solution because they don’t believe there is a problem. They believe, it is almost their birthright, their right to ridicule, and offend, those who are not like them… with impunity from the law itself.

You have to pity their stance though, because they are so obviously aping their parent club in their protracted refusal to accept that their bigotry in not just a friendly compilation of rivalry banter, it is instead an offensive litany of hate and contempt.

Mr. Bain’s response was farcical. It was only a wee bit of harmless inter-rivalry banter.

Oh! Was it Mr. Bain? If that were so … why did you go on to counter-qualify the innocuousness of the Rangers supporters wee bit of friendly banter, regards millions being victim to a lingering death, with other teams, ‘ bit of banter’, when they desecrated the memory of those that died in the ‘Ibrox Disaster’.

It is all right to have a wee laugh at the millions across Europe that died in the Potato Famine, but conversely, it is not all right for others to have a wee laugh at those that died in the Ibrox Disaster.

What criteria do you subscribe to, Mr Bain, to quantify, and justify, such crassness and stupidity?

Don’t get me wrong Mr. Bain, all decent peoples abhor those who desecrate the memory of those good folks that have passed on. I most certainly despise the insensitivity, regardless from which quarter the bile might originate.

This brings me to a rather puzzling omission on your part Mr. Bain.

You are so right to highlight those who mock the Ibrox Disaster victims. All Celtic supporters do like wise. All Celtic supporters would be mortified to hear a fellow Celtic supporter ridicule the grief that those victims loved ones must feel every time they hear the memory of their departed loved ones desecrated by foul mouthed, obnoxious yobs.

Mr Bain, your words are the politics of farce and your irrational logic makes a mockery of the intelligence you aspire to.

So on behalf of Rangers Football Club, can I look forward to you apologising to all the peoples of Scotland and beyond who have heard - ‘your’ team’s fans - desecrate the memories of so many decent deceased.

And Mr Bain… please do not forget Mr Jock Stein (deceased) and his family in that apology too, because again your fans have shrunk to the depths of depravity in their perverted vocalisations of his memory.

Further Mr Bain(Rangers) you ask what is the agenda of the Scots’ who protest your bile and vile, well putting it in words that even the most simple of CEO’s might understand Mr Bain (Rangers): Your bile and vile is a product of your making, we don’t want it, you are most welcome to keep it all to yourselves. I hope you don’t choke on its abundance.

However, it’s just a wee wind up isn’t it Mr. Bain and Rangers Football Club, and Rangers supporters say to hell with societies, sensitive souls, and the surviving loved ones who are witness to your ‘wee bit of banter’. We’re only having a wee laugh after all.

But they just can’t see it. They really can’t see it, because ‘they’ -are the people - and ‘they’ -are accountable - to only their own.

Somebody do the decent thing and turn the lights on for them. The times… they are a changing and whether they like it or not… you will be accountable.

Paul,

i told you Crosas should have started. He was the difference in Saturday's performance and I think would have presented more opportunities for our strikers.

I know you said it was an experiment against Motherwell but it worked and there was not in my opinion a big risk in playing him last night.

Pass and move.

Slán

Marvin,

He got turned. Big deal. Naka's been nutmegged before, doesn't mean he should be benched. What was wrong there was Brown, rightly so, expected Naylor to be covering a few yards behind him, as any Left Back should do. Where was Naylor? Not even in the box. It's not Brown's fault that someone knocked the ball past him and that Naylor couldn't keep up...

There's a bandwagon with "blame Scott Brown" written on the side and far, far too many people are jumping on it when they dont have a clue. What about Brown constantly showing for the ball, taking it in and playing passes? I didnt see our other centre-mid doing that last night... no, that other centre-mid was struggling and trying to keep the ball on his left side, so loathed was he to use his right foot. He's supposed to be a professional player and he cant kick a ball with his right foot...

Scott Brown & Gary Caldwell were our best players last night. Everyone else either did too much or too little (eg, Maloney and his 98 step-overs when one sufficed, Robson just crunching into people and little else).

Ooops - I meant Maloney wide left doesnt work.

wide left and hitting the 'D' might have been better.

McManus, McDonald, Hinkel, Naylor. Not good enough. One 45 minute spell of good football all season. Not good enough.

We needed an out and out striker. We got a striker/midfielder/winger in Maloney. We needed a commanding and ball playing Centre Half. We signed Loovens and won't play him. We needed a midfield playmaker. We signed Crosas and won't play him. We needed a Left Back. We didn't sign one.

We hedged our bets big time in the summer and now we're seeing the results.

Last night was yet another disappointing home performance of which we've seen too many in the past 12 months.

Unfortunately singling out individual players for criticism[ and personally I thought Telfer was rubbish] is unlikely to produce any results when the problems lie at a higher level.

The team is over-coached and under-managed. There is no sense of urgency being directed from the dugout or coming from the players themselves.

Last night was further evidence of our lack of progress under the current regime.

spikeysauldman on September 18, 2008 9:55 AM

Couldn't agree more mate, we're not Real Madrid or Barcelona, we are who we are, the bhoys gave it there best shot last night but came up short, lets get behind them for the next game and pack in this sniping, the bhoys will be as unhappy as the rest of us but they still need our backing, booing them off indeed - shocking.

I don't agree with that post match summary at all. Although like everyone else i was dissappointed with the result, I enjoyed the game & felt we tried everything possible to go & win the game. The football was fluent from back to front & we were patient to try & find the killer pass. On another night it might've fell for us, but for whatever reason we just couldn't make the breakthrough. I also felt that Andreas Hinkel had his best game in a Celtic shirt

As an aside our weakest players are McManus & Brown & my frustration is that if we had acquired better quality in the summer for these positions it may very well have given us the edge last night.

On a sour note, i thought the home support were appaling. If your fortunate enough to see Celtic play against any opposition, the least you can do is get behind the team & this notion that teams will roll over when they hear 60,000 roar is tabloid nonsense. Aalborg were no Barcelona, but they had unbelievable fitness, a good disciplined system, coherent passing & matched us physically

No complaints from me, apart from our summer transfer activity which has left us open to results like last night

Well said stoir mha chroi (September 18, 2008 10:00 AM), we live in hope.

OLS,
it wasn't the fact that he got turned that was frustrating, it was the inaction after it.

Agree that Naylor should have been covering that area of the field, that's his position, but since he wasn't Brown could have done more, IMO.

I am really no Scott Brown fan, if there's a bandwagon then I would be the driver. I think that his runs too often end in lost possession and his shooting is woeful. And yeah the worst thing is that he wasn't the worst player last night.

You're right that that honour would go to Robson of the 100 fouls.

The most worrying aspect was the booing at half time, full time and at times during the game. What's that all about - message to to people go to Ipox where this is normal, stay away from CP.

Does anyone think some players stepped onto the park last night and decided to have an off night? Does anyone actually believe that some players just couldn't be bothered? So, why boo when someone is having an off night??
TBSITW - don't make me laugh.

OK so we were bad - get over it.

VargasShampoo on September 18, 2008 10:20 AM
Good points I agree,I thought Celtic played well against a good fit and Physical team,with a bit of luck could have and should have won the game.
Lots of new faces round about me,with one in particular who moaned non stop from 1st to 90th min...Nobody was spared !

.

Home & Away....Live-Update....'Alf's Got a Sheila'....

o1bhoy

More on Late News....

I am sick to the back teeth reading the nonsense about Scott Brown on here. He was not the weak link in midfield last night.

Our manager has bought a box to box midfielder and is trying to turn him into a holding player , having already ruined Paul Hartley by doing the same.

On Saturday Marc Crosas showed an ability to retain possession and pick out a green and white shirt with a pass, his reward was to be dropped.

Barry Robson was poor in his previous game at this level, v Barca last season, notwithstanding his goal. Last night he did nothing to show that he can make the step up to a higher standard of football. He is a blood and snotters type player who gets stuck in, last night was not the game for that. His tackling was poor, often late, his passing weak, and retention of the ball non existent. He should not take another penalty.

The team selection was wrong, the tactics were wrong. Aalborg were better than we thought and their manager had done his homework.

Folks,

Is the cup game on tuesday on the season book?

Cheers

Paul67

A very good summary of the game.

I agree and said to others last night that is the worst team we have faced in the CL, yet even they can get a result away from home?

Lets remember yes we have a chance away from home but everyone else will beat them to.In terms of qualifying I believe last nights results leaves us no prospect of qualifying for the last 16, it may sound like a knee jerk reaction but based on our record I think it is realistic

Not the DJ -

aye

just checking in on new blog
away to america
WG Give boynita a big wan from me

Yet again our creative players seemed too far apart and isolated. To remedy this I think we should do one of the following:

Play Naka, Aiden and Maloney behind a lone striker and in front of a 2 man central midfield

Or

Play only 1 out of Naka, Aiden or Maloney in a 4 man midfield, with 2 strikers.

In addition to this we should either…

Play Scott Brown wide right in a 4 man midfield

Or

Play Scott Brown as part of a 3 man centre midfield

In conclusion..

If we play 4-4-2, (see 1st half v motherwell) Scott Brown should not be one of the 2 central midfielders and only 1 out of Naka, Aiden, Maloney should play.

If we play 4-2-3-1, (see last 60 mins v falkirk) Naka, Aiden and Maloney should all play. Brown should not

If we play 4-3-2-1, (see feyenoord (I think)) Brown should play central midfield and only 1 out of Naka, Aiden, Maloney should play.

Hail Hail

FTS

I am sick of this torture on the eye football

3 years weve had to endure it

how we have won 3iar is beyond me

I cant take it anymore GS

Time for you to go

0-0 at home to no marks Aalborg is as bad as Bratislava

where's my tinhat?

Varga,

You saved me some time there pal.

I thought we played pretty good last night. My only complaint was the penalty. Sorry Barry but at CL level a big blast doon the middle was not what was called for. I expect Sammi to take over the pens.

The linesman that flagged Mac Donald and Sammi wrongly offside in the first half and Sammi again for the goal in the second and identified the wrong guy to send off was appalling all night long. Intertoto cup for him.

An absolutely brilliant save denied Naka and they showed that they can play some nice one touch pass and move football. They´ll be no pushovers at home.

I think Aiden demonstrated why he was benched when he came on the same with Big Jan. Brown and Robson need to do better in midfield where they gave the ball away too cheap and gave away too many fouls.

On the whole I thought it was a good solid performance against a decent team. We cant keep expecting to win every game at Parkhead and if this gives them the incentive to break the away day hoodoo then it will have been well worth it.

Man U have now won one in six games and have also dropped two points at home. FCK beat them in Denmark two years ago and if Chelsea win at the w.e they´ll be nine behind. I´ll expect SAF to prioritise the EPL.

We are not out of this by a long way. It is possibly more important that we start showing that we can take something away from home than it is to scrape in yet again due to our wonderful home form. We have complained about being stagnant and static well maybe the wee man is going to take us up to that level.

I expect Crosas to feature and to be the key here. Throwing him in last night was a big ask as Baw heid would say.

If It wasn´t for the linesman we would be looking forward to two home wins , scraping in and then having two more games. Today I see and feel something different for my beloved Celts.

If the options coming off the bench become a tad more hungry then they might even be able to change the game.

Keep it up Bhoys your on the right track.

Hail Hail

testing

For me the game, and maybe even the last few seasons was summed up after the game when Mick was interviewed. He said something along the lines of having to keep the ball moving from side to side. That’s fair enough but it seems to be all we ever do and from last night’s line up we all knew how the team was going to play.

We are so predictable and one dimensional any manager that’s anyway decent know’s how we play and how to stifle us.

I'm sick to the back teeth with all this sniping, Scott Brown was the worst, no he wasn't it was Barry Robson - he was shocking, no you've got that wrong mate - Scott MacDonald - an absolute nightmare , no no a thousand times no, Lee Naylor - worse than a man short….……and so on. Give it a rest, with each passing day we sound more and more like we are the people.

If he had played Crosas and he hadn't performed, for every post today saying he should have played we'd have one blaming Strachan for pitching a 20 yr old into a must win game (probably from the same people).

It wasn't a great result but ultimately there's no formation or group of players that are guaranteed to be able to go out and beat a team that gets 10 men behind the ball.

For the record I thought Lee Naylor was great last night

I can't believe some people are actually saying we did ok last night ! This was Aalborg !! Yes, Man Utd drew at home too, but to Villareal, not some average team well down the Danish League ! The team of 2003 would have taken 4 or 5 off Aalborg last night. Have our expectations really fallen so low ?

It really is the beginning of the end if we are starting to accept performances and results like this already.

optimistic little soldier @10.06am,

It's all about opinions I guess, but exactly how Scott Brown emerges as our best player last night makes me think you must have a better view of the pitch than I do?!

He wasn't even the best midfielder last night. In fact - going the whole road - he wasn't even the best central midfielder last night.

Exactly what is it that he contributes to the team? I can see he does the occasional skilful thing, but invariably he ends up back exactly where he started. There are the occasional bursts from somewhere (as per the disallowed goal), but I can't recall the last time he done that from central midfield?

Does he score goals?
Does he create goals? (He created one at Fir Park from wide right)
Does he do defence splitting passes?
Is he a ball winner?
Does he dominate games?
Is he good in the air?

Honestly, I want him to succeed and start delivering and enjoy playing for Celtic, especially after the difficult times he has had. But I just haven't seen him do it and when he's off form he contributes little to the team.

Barry Robson won possession for Celtic a dozen times last night. He drove forward as he does. He was doing what no other Celtic mifielder does, just as he did in the last 7 games of the season when Brown was suspended and Robson got the central role. He was more effective for the team than Brown was, predictably so. He missed a penalty by putting it where he always puts it, but had never missed one before for Dundee Utd or Celtic.

I agree with Paul67. Scott Brown needs to earn his place in the team, not be given the jersey on a plate. He repeatedly - repeatedly - repeatedly - fails to do the business in central midfield and he repeatedly - repeatedly - repeatedly - gets the jersey by the manager. I can count on one hand the number of good games he has had in that central role and still have fingers free to scratch my head to wonder why.

Based on performances for Celtic Robson, Crossas and Hartley have delivered more individually and, more importantly, for the team in central midfield than Brown.

I wish his continual presence was deserved, then we would have nothing to debate on the matter as he would be running the midfield as £4m would expect you to do. It's not desreved and hasn't been since he came here.

The trouble as always is the midfield, what is it with Gordon Strachan and midfields? Don't know do you? only person that does is wee Gordon himself.

You hit the nail on the head Paul, "but as a unit, it didn't work." We had a midfield that 'purred' against Motherwell in the first half, We had a midfield that won us the league last season but every time we stumble upon a system that works, what happens? Wee Gordon tinkers with it, changes it and what do we get? right again Paul "a, largely passive, central midfield."

We cannot keep going on like this, our best midfield by far this season has been Shaun, Marc, Barry and Scott. Why didn't we start with that?

As for the subs last night, taking Scott off and putting Shaun up as a forward? I thought we had sussed out that wouldn't work not being his natural position an all?

What a missed opportunity, with ManU and Villareal drawing as well. And not for the first time this year I though the team didn't look up for it at times or was that just my disappointment in the game?

Roll on Sunday and sort it out this time Gordon!

Fair point that many are making about jumping oin the players backs.
It's easy to criticise when the result doesnt go our way.......how many of us would be complaining if BR had scored from the spot or Scott Brown's goal had stood?

The players gave it their best shot which wasnt good enough on the night.

Gordon Strachan played the team he thought was best suited to win the game - I amongst others didnt like the look of it when I first saw it as to leave Aiden out and bring a grossly overweight (in footballers terms) Skippy in was baffling.
Skippy, who I admit is not my favourite player due to his dummy spitting attitude, should be doing a few extra laps of Lennoxtown before he squeezes into a 1st team shirt again.

Artur falls into the same category where he seems to have a spare tyre which pro-footballers should not have.

Disappointing result last night but I think the criticism on here is way over the top. The first half was flat and I think we looked a bit nervous but in the second half we done more than enough to win the game twice over. You don't get many chances at Champions League level so for Barry Robson to miss a penalty is disappointing and you really need your perfectly good goals to count. If we had won 2-0 I know everyone would be chuffed.

I thought a lot of problems in the first half came from Barry, his touch was poor, he gave away too often, gave away free kicks in dangerous areas and he drifted wide too often instead of staying central for the pass. This seemed to limit the options in the middle meaning a lot of punts up the park. He did improve a lot after he missed the penalty though.

Henriks Sombrero,

Aalborg are the Danish champions.

Denmark has won a major European Tournament.

Genuine question

Why the low opinion of Aalborg ?

Henriks Sombrero:

I've watched Celtic a long time and for all that time I've always wanted them to win in a meaningful match. I appreciate where you are comming from and I share your frustrations.

However...

This year and this year only, I hope we get pumped out of the CL. Not second place, not third place, but out.

I, personally want no distractions to 'Four in a row'.

We are not going to win the big one this year, so lets fight the 'BIG fight' that we can win.

That's what I think.

Awe Naw,

Aalborg:
7 points from 7 games in the Danish League.
11 points behind Odense at the top.
In 9th place in a laeague of 13.
4 points from bottom.
They've conceded 21 goals in those 7 games.

Denmark won the Euro championship 16 years ago - why is that relevant ?

Genuine question.

I thought Aalborg were the worst team Celtic ever played against in the Champions League proper. We dropped points because our own lack of endeavor, quite a few players did not show up at last night, although the old adage is true that goals changes game if the penalty went in or if the ref didn't rule that legitimate good goal offside I am sure we would won 3 or 4- 0 last night and I wouldn't be so critical this morning. I can understand why WGS was reluctant to play Crosas last night due to his lack of experience and of playing time but this Sunday I would have him starting against Killie at the expense of Skoosh.

Last night two players got on my T*ts, I feel WGS has to make at least two decisions to improve the team and that is drop Mick and Skoosh. With Skoosh we should cut our losses, if he is not going to play him out in the right then he should never play in the centre of our midfield again. I am not one for slagging our players off but today I will make an exception. Skoosh is the Kenny Miller of centre-midfielders, he runs around like a headless chicken chasing after an empty crisp packet being blown around by the wind, his first touch is dreadful his second touch is a yellow card. Nearly everytime the ball came towards him it bounce of his shins, it bobbles of his toes, when he runs with the ball he pushes the ball to far ahead of him causing him to fly into the defenders, that is why he picks up too many yellow cards, his ball controlling skills are shocking. He will never be a goal scoring midfielder, last night he had an opportunity it front of the net and he leans back so much that he is almost horizontal and balloons the ball so high that a rugby referee would have difficulty judging to see if the ball went through the upper post. But what gets me angry the most about him is when he picks up the ball a few yards from the centre circle goes about eight yards then spins around then passes back to Mick and I am screaming noooooo not to Mick, Naylor was guilty too of this last night and everybody knows what Mick is going to do with the ball and that is just hump it up the pitch where 4 times out of 5 it goe out for a shy or a goal kick for the opposition. I mean if Skoosh and Lee's intentions is just to hump the ball up then why don't they do it themselves for they would have a far better chance of hitting a Celtic player themselves than Mick would ever do.

I so wanted Skoosh to do well for us, I kept saying to myself he is full of potential, he gonnae be a Celtic legend, he had a rough time in his personal life last year, the fans wanted him, the huns wanted him, we got one over them when we bought him but now I feel it is time to cut our losses with him, unless we play him out on the right we should just sell him this January for he does not have it to play in the centre of the park and that is to get the ball moving forward. Take Crosas for example of what little I have seen of him you can tell he has had an education in football in moving the ball forward, he might not be a great tackler or defensive midfielder but he knows how to move the ball forward, next time Barcelona is on TV watch them all their midfielders know how to move the ball forward, it is taught into them. I would like to see Crosas and Donati given the opportunity to play with each other I would think they would compliment each other. Brown has to go from the centre midfield spot, forget about the Champions League, Europe is secondary the SPL is what is important, the huns have surprised everyone in spending out this year, we need to retain our title and the best way to do this is to drop Skoosh and Mick.

I will keep this brief about Mick as I have already expanded on on his "hump the ba up the pitch" skills. Mick is capable to be a good Dundee Utd or Aberdeen Centre-half but not Celtics and certainly not as Captain, matter of fact I would trade him tomorrow for Zander Diamond.

Of course there were other players that did not show up last night, Robson, Hinkel, Skippy (still looks overweight or is it the weight of his wallet from his new contract) Naka's first half, Aiden when he came on. To me the only outstanding players for us was Samaras, Caldwell and Naka's second half perfomance, I would start Samaras and JVoH the next game as they look like they good make a good partnership. The other thing I noticed and maybe it was because I was watching it on a Danish TV Channel was that the crowd sounded quite, we have played worst before in the CL but the crowd still got behind the team and urged them on to win was it because AaB are not a big team, did the support get behind the team? I must say the start of the game looked good with all the banners.

So it is going to be a struggle to get to play football in Europe after December, I can't see Manure or Villareal dropping points against AaB, we would have to get something out of Manure or Villareal away games to have a realistic shot of getting second place in the group, win our remaining two games at home and I think we would guaranttee third spot and a Uefa Cup run which would do me, as I have said before Europe is secondary winning the league championship is all important.

Mon the Hoops 4-in a row.

C'mon guys get real I know it's a big IF! If the penalty had gone in, if the goal stood , if the goalie hadn't saved Naka's free kick, then we would all be saying what a wonderful performance. These guys we were playing against weren't going to lie down and it was obvious that all our players were trying their hearts out to get a result, although certainly the quality could've been much better. These results happen if we all care to look at the other supposed "cannon fodder" in the CHAMPS LEAGUE. I'm just as disapointed as every one else on here and was quite vociferous and angry at the time, but as they say, "in the cold light of day".

However, I am really concerned about Steven McManus and the major dip in form from him especially and think maybe he and possibly Andreas should have an enforced rest. I still believe we will get through to the last sixteen, but Gordon will have to start giving Crosas and Loovens games ahead of the next round.

dip in form from him

Didn´t Man City get beat by a Danish team some time in the past errrrrrmmm 4 weeks ago

Awe Naw - left a note for you on the last thread, thanks for the 'John Lennon - I'm Celtic Daft' poster - good stuff.

WGS, aye, too little direct play.

O1bhoy, it didn’t happen for McDonald last night. His movement was not as good as Samaras’ and we didn’t get the ball into the box often enough for him.

If we persist with Brown in the middle I think a five man midfield (including Shaun, Aiden and Naka) with one up front is the way.

Therags, aye, I noticed that too.

ArdMacha, no arguments about Crosas, I didn’t expect him to play last night but hope he does on Saturday.

Antsman, I’m never one to write-off our chances, but think we will find it very difficult to qualify for the knock out stage.

U2_1888, “still have fingers free to scratch my head to wonder why” :-)

Serenity, aye.

Barry Robson looks out of his depth in the CL.

Poor performance but not totally unexpected.

stoir mha chroi,
well said that man.

Paul67,
Scott Brown and Barry Robson played in midfield together last Saturday, rather successfully in my opinion but the they were played in positions that suit them.
Samaras was MOTM for me, noi one came near him for desire and effort.
McGeady, well I think he showed us why he has not been first choice recently never mind just last night.
Caldwell's distribution was a joke, overhit long balls all night to the shortest forward we've got, whats that all about.
Why would MrStrachan select tall and short forwards then play route one football, I'm lost with that king of logic.
Anyroadup, we played well in the second half but it was too little too late.
Oh Well, I wonder what lesson was learned last night, dont change a winning team, I doubt it.
But here's hoping we revert back to the team that won on saturday.
Hail Hail

I fail to see what Man City have got to do with anything ? The team who beat them are at least sitting second in the Danish Leafue - not 9th.

Regardless, we shouldn't be comparing ourselves with Man bloody City !

Henrik,

I would attempt to explain in detail why it is relevant but I fear that it would become an essay that you wouldn´t agree with anyway so excuse me if I duck out of that one ;-)

Quote me the Celtic stats this season ?

Scotland have NEVER won a major tournament.

Danish teams and the Danish league is on a par with anything Scotland can muster especially presently. They dont seem to have an away day losing mentality. I wonder if that relevant. Mentality. MON should investigate. They narrowly got passed some crap Danish team too in the diddy intertoto cup

I think the Danes deserve to be in the exulted company of those that have came to Celtic Park and taken something.

For a team that has had a good 55 minutes and 30 minutes this season against 3rd Bottom SPL and 2nd bottom SPL. I thought Celtic done well last night.

Once Upon a Tim,

Sad but true

Hail Hail

Did Denmark not beat Portugal earlier this month - in Portugal?

Are Aalborg not the current Danish National Champions?

Was this not there burstin with pride Champions League debut?

Lets not mention any of that, lets just bash the bhoys instead.

The post match reaction to last night is farcical. Champions League Football is a different ball game to anything we experience in the SPL.

Aalborg, the Danish champions - like most scandinavian opposition showed fitness, organisation, change of pace, defensive qualities & aggression. The very fact that they are in The Champions League tells me they will be hard to beat.

It seems that there are still thousands of our own support who buy into Tabloid perception:

'Aye we're playing a Danish team - so thats an easy 3 points against the boys fae Legoland'???

It was the same a few years back when we had a euro tie against swiss team, FC Basle & they were instantly dismissed in the same way 'That mob fae the land of Toblerone & Cuckoo clocks'. They taught us a football lesson over 2 legs!

People have also seemed to forget Shaktar Donetsk playing with 10 men at CP & keeping the ball off us for most of the match under MON & poor performances against Rosenberg & away to 10 man Anderlecht

The only grey areas for me are the inclusion of Scott Brown & Stephen McManus in our starting XI & Peter Lawells failure to sign key players in the summer months

A bit of perspective here pleae.
I think the majority on here who sound so devastated at us getting our first point on the boarsd in this years champions league were probably expecting us to steam roller them before a ball was kicked. despite their home league form I thought they were the best team we have played against this season, well organised in defence and able to move the ball forward with pace.
Scott Brown and Barry Robson played to their strength and thats all they can do.
I watched the game in my local celtic club in bournemouth and there was negativity towards the players on the park from the kick off, the most laughable moment was when one guy shouted for Lee Naylor to f*** o** back to England, he had to be reminded where he was.
Had it not been for the goal being disallowed and the missed penalty we would all be sounding a lot different today.
I thought we retained possesion well and were patient in the build up awaiting an opening. Few openings came as they defended excellently.
Another thing. We were all disappointed when the transfer window closed, but it has so can we please drop it. until January Gordon has to make do with what he has, so can we please get behind whoever is on the pitch. The players desereve more support than we are currently giving them.
Four in a row is my priority this year anything else is a bonus.

Just checked out the highlights on t'internet and Brown was indeed just behind Naka when the ball was rolled forward. Would and should have been a great goal.

Once upon a tim,

Aye nae bother. I´d love to have a large 4 x 4 foot poster of that one framed in a gold rim

Hail Hail

We were BAD last night, started in 1st gear and never improved. Why can we not have a shot on goal in the first 5 mins of every match, many will go wide or over, some may force a save and and miracles permitting some will go in, but, for the love of God, just have a shot - who knows what might happen.

The fact that we were so bad and still could easily have won suggests Aalborg are extremely ordinary (bottom half of SPL level)and I fully expect Man U and Villareal to beat them home and away, which leaves us struggling badly for that 2nd spot. Only a miracle win in Spain or England can open that door again.

In hindsight, we should have played the same team that won on Saturday but it's easy to say that afterwards. Hopefully this result will be a kick up the backside for the management and squad, but we did say that after the last derby debacle too....

For all the people criticising people booing the team - If you pay your money, you are entitled to boo. Had we started the game in even 2nd gear, we would have won easily and the boos would not have been an issue. The fans only boo when they feel short changed. Last night, in my opinion, the fans were short changed!

Anyone got any idea what the team for Sunday will be, surely the wind of change has to blow...

MikeyBhoy,

It was Naka that was flagged for being offside I thought ?

I despair. I really do. A team that has shipped 21 goals in the league in 7 games can keep us out at Celtic Park. Yet we're papering over the cracks by trying to bum up the Danish League ?

Gie's peace.

Sorry Awe Naw, but I for one am extrememly disappointed in our team. We have gone backwards since 2003.

benjy - well said. It was embarassing to hear our fans booing after a draw in a Champions League match. Sadly too many 'new' fans have joined in the last few years (O'neil era) and forget how bad things were under Brady, Macari, Burns etc.

Yes, we played poorly. Does that merit booing and abuse of players? No. Too many fans think we are guaranteed to win every home match in the CL. I suggest some people watch the Shaktar game from last season just to remind themselves how lucky - yes, lucky - we were to win that game. Combined with a last minute winner against AC Milan, our home record was perilously close to collapsing last season. It was a matter of time before a result like last night happened.

Fortunately, as Paul states, a decent performance in Denmark may bring our first away win. I suspect that match may decide who finishes third.

Once Upont a tim

Quite possibbly the worst post i have ever read, we were not playing the Danish national team so who they beat is of no relevance

it was not Aalbohrg's CL debut either

Brainless post

I get so frustrated when we can't do the basics well i.e. cross a ball to a player in the same shirt! Why do we pay these clowns so much?

Samaras was the only threat for me. I had £5 on him to score first and watched his every move and he, at least, looked uo to the task.

Henrik

I´ll reiterate I thought we played VERY well considering how we have been playing this season and WHO we were playing against. I think you dont pay enough respect to Danish football especially if its compared to Scottish football. Aaalborg are about in their league where the European Champions are in the EPL doesn´t make them a bad team. Only my opinion but I tell you what your wish I can grant.

Hail Hail

U2 1888,

You’re right, it is about opinions.

I genuinely thought Brown and Caldwell were our best, most consistent, performers last night. I’m not saying they were faultless as both misplaced a pass or two, but their influence was greater than anyone else in our team. From watching all the games so far this season, it seems clear to me that Samaras’ goals and Brown’s performances have been the highlight so far.

In Celtic’s team last night, Scott Brown was head and shoulders above a limited Barry Robson. Robson fouled and fouled, he gave away possession and, bar a few crunching tackles, didn’t do much else. Even during the last seven games last season, Robson plundered his way through those games. That’s what we needed at the time and it delivered. But a midfield with Hartley and Robson would be a terrible partnership going forward. They are both limited in what they can do, Hartley less so; at least Hartley can kick a ball with his ‘wrong’ foot.

The last few games, including the derby, Scott Brown has been at the hub of nearly everything we’ve been doing. He’s playing like Lennon did, only 30yrds further up the field. He’s taking the ball in situations that Robson struggles; that is with players round him, and shows the bravery to take that ball and pass it, usually only a max of 10yrds. You don’t need to ping balls 70yrds to be a great midfield player.

Brown is our only box to box midfielder (excluding Crosas through virtue of only having seen him for 70mins). Hartley’s game is changing, much like other midfielders of his ilk (I remember Lothar Mattheus going from a great attacking midfielder to becoming a great sweeper). Robson, as I’ve said, can only kick the ball with one foot. Donati prefers playing on the counter attack and by default is deeper lying. Brown is a rare commodity in our squad. If the right player is deployed beside him (could be Donati or Crosas) then we’ll see the best from him. As it stands, I can see Brown’s game being hampered by having Hartley or Robson beside him.

Robson, you say, won possession a dozen times. He also lost possession a dozen times. He also fouled a dozen times. A good player that does not make.

You’ve said Crosas has delivered more than Brown? 70mins and a few good passes and he’s delivered more than Brown? Good one, you nearly had me there.

I cannot fathom a midfield with someone as defensive as Hartley (he thinks to be a holding midfielder you have to sit on McManus’ knee) and a limited player like Robson. It would bore me to tears. At least with Brown there is energy, enthusiasm and creativity. He also gives you steel.

All in all, Brown has more in his locker than any other midfielder I’ve seen at Celtic Park this season. Plus he has age on his side.

But, as you say, it’s all about opinions. And, whilst he’s manager, Strachan’s is the only opinion that counts.

Antsman - At last. A voice of reason ! Why on earth the current Danish National team or indeed, the Danish National team from SIXTEEN years ago is of any relevance whatsoever baffles me.

We couldn't score a goal at home against a team who have lost 21 in 7 games in their own league !

This was a dreadful result for us. Why anyone would try to gloss over that baffles me.

.

Paul67....

I'm 100% With you on both your points....l think we both said as much after the Falkirk Game....It Would be Interesting to see us Play 4-5-1 in ALL CL Away Games and see What we Do....

o1bhoy

Skippy IMO Needs to be benched for More than just Football reasons....(but l still remember the well CP Game)....

Antsman,

it was the CL debut for every player that played for them. That´s how I took it. I think you picked up that one wrong

Just out of interest, last night was Celtic's first ever point in an opening Champions League game following defeats in each of our previous 5 opening matches.

Awe-Naw,

indeed, but I thought that, had Naka not been flagged (wrongly) for offside, then S Brown would have been, but on the replay I've just watched Scott did indeed time his run well and was behind Naka at the time it was played.

I think I was off the sofa last night when it went in - needed the replay today to clarify it :)

Cheers

It's worth having a look at some of the other results from this week

Werder Bremen 0-0 Anorthosis Famagusta

Roma 1-2 CFR Cluj-Napoca

Dynamo Kiev 1-1 Arsenal (Arsenal needed a late equaliser)

Even

Bate losing only 2-0 against Real was a bit of a surprise

There is that old adage that there are no easy games in the Champions League. While Aalborg didn't have much pedigree they were certainly organised and defended well.They haven't had a good start to their league but yesterday was a different kind of game. They were happy to sit back and defend which is something they wouldn't be allowed to do in Denmark were the onus would be on them to do the attacking. A defensive game probably suits them more

It was definitely Naka who was flagged offside at the goal, the linesman had his flag up way before Naka passed the ball back to Brown. I had to laugh at Big John last night on STV (who seem to have employed all the Setanta bunch for the CL coverage) who said that Naka should have held his run a bit. John, he was ONSIDE!

I accept what everyone is saying about Aalborg being Danish Champions and deserving more respect but on what I watched last night they were far and away the worst team to visit on CL duty. Only Copenhagen come close but at least they didn't look like they would lose a goal easily. Any decent performance from Celtic last night would have gave us a comfortable win.

It said it all when Bruce Rioch was taking the mick in his post match conference. He probably still couldn't believe his team got away from Celtic Park with a point. I will be amazed if Man Utd and Villareal don't take 6 points each from them, maybe they might grind out a draw at home to one of them.

It's basically a 5-game group, only we don't have our 'banker' to play whereas Man utd and Villreal do. We are very much up against it and I fear it could come down our game in Aalborg to decide 3rd place unfortunately. I'm trying not to be too downbeat but also being realistic on last nights display.

Mikeybhoy,

Not the disallowed goal

Not the wrong man that was identified to be sent off

But Sammis first offside decision in the first 5 mins ? of the first half was the worst decision of the night. He had three Aalborg players in front of him. I think the linesman wife left him Tuesday night :-)

I do love this notion that there are still 'whipping boys' in the big cup.

I would say that Cluj are a team playing in a league that's probably worse than the Danish league and certainly no better, yet they went to Roma and got a result that ANY team in this years CL would be happy with.

Now more than ever the notion that there are any guaranteed or even near-guaranteed home wins is false.

optimistic little soldier:

Thank god for your posts mate: I thought I was one of a proscribed minority, vis-a-vis Scott Brown and his efforts.

I also agree with your assessment of Barry Robson's contributions over the last twelve meaningful games.

Maybe Scott Brown is a blood relation of that geezer previously known as… 'Paul Telfer'.

.

Paul67 @ 11:06 AM....

Paul we will get more out of Crosas if he Plays Sunday.... ;o))))

o1bhoy

"Celtic had 61% possession but had only 3 shots on target and one of those was the penalty and the other 2 from free kicks. This is the most damning stat of the night."

http://celticfcmatchreports.blogspot.com/

if you parked nine dustbins in the penalty box it would be difficult for a good football team to score - Jock Stein

.

Kaunas beat the Huns 2-1 ---> The Huns beat Celtic 4-2 ---> Aab Aalborg Beat Kaunas 2-0 TWICE ---> Does that not Mean Aalborg should have Gubbed Celtic..... ;o((((

o1thestatsdontlieCSC

Anyroadup,
The general consensus from where I watched the game was McManus, Naka and Brown were the worst culprits so its amazin how we see things so differently, innit.
Thats another lost opportinity behind us.
Looking to the killi game, I'm hoping we start with the same team as last Saturday. but as I said about last nights team we change Crosas for Hartley at half time and Brown for Naka.
hail hail

weeminger

I agree with you about the lesser teams and usually I don't count my chickens but that team we played last night were a poor team(basing on what I watched last night) and on the evidence of last night will not pose much of a problem to the two other teams in the group.

Kitalba,

No worries!

I'm off to the shops at lunchtime to get, printed on my Celtic jersey, "Brown" and below that "worthy of the no." and below that "8"...

Antsman on September 18, 2008 11:24 AM Once Upont a tim

Quite possibbly the worst post i have ever read, we were not playing the Danish national team so who they beat is of no relevance

it was not Aalbohrg's CL debut either

Brainless post

Great idea Antsman, lets start slagging one another off, maybe throw in the odd cyber punch, that'll really help things. I was responding to the 'pub team worst team whipping boys' insults thrown Aalborg's way, making us out to be a bunch of mugs for not scoring a barrowload against them.

Standing up for the bhoys - or is that another brainless idea?

NAKAGOD
torture on the eye football only confined to strachans 3 years !
what about mons last year !

Aalborg's 21 goals lost in 7 league games is virtually irrelevant as I doubt they play with 10 men behind the ball in domestic games.

optimistic little soldier:

I'd have... Celtic above the 8 - Full Stop.

.

Awe....Naw....No....Robson....Taken....Anither....Penalty....Anow....

Is there any Substance to the Rumor that before Robson took the Penalty....He looked at a Penders Diagram he had in his Shorts....

It was a Old Evening Citizen 'Spot the Ball' picture of Tommy Gemmell Taking a Penalty....and Penders had Put the X in the Wrong Spot.... ;o((((

I use to Love 'Spot the Ball'....

o1pinktimesandeveningcitizenCSC

Guys - i think we are doing this all wrong.

Its perfectly legit to have a go after, what was, a disappointing performance...however, the booing and the Strachan must go etc is definately more disappointing than the performance of the team.

The minute we think we just need to show up to win games at Champs League home games to get points, is the minute the fortress Parkhead title drops.

Maybe that in itself was the biggest disappointment..from the players and supporters alike.

optimistic little soldier

Do they still charge you per letter as the shop will be pleased to see you this lunchtime

Jan Veneegor made a difference when he came on for scott mcdonald who barely moved 5 yards all night let alone kick a ball, I thought that samaras and brown were our better players on the night and was hoping big samaras was going to take the penalty......Barry Robson spent much of the match running around like a headless chicken committing fouls, and losing possession (was he too anxious following his missed penalty ?) Shaun maloney needs to reduce the number of stepovers and release the ball earlier had to feel for Mark Crossas who was so desperate to get on he spent the whole of the second half warming up in front of the Jock Stein Stand, hopefully last nights disappointments the celtic players will be fired up to get an imperative away win in the CL....give Crossas a run in the team and pair samaras with venegoor upfront perhaps Barry Robson will be rested for sunday who knows Gordon picks the team perhaps Naka also needs a rest of to be used as an impact 2nd half sub....Moving forward 3 points against kilmarnock in another must win game......The biggest disappointment is that we still cannot break down a 10 man defence and in the CL are too dependent on Nakamura's free kicks for our goals......we need to stretch opposition defenses early in the match and keep them underpressure all too often we try to walk the ball into the net instead of hitting the byeline ....Nakamura apart no one else is prepared to shoot on goal from outside the box THIS MUST CHANGE

Guys - Hands up (Before someone else digs me up about it). After checking the danish league table again on soccerboards it seems I translated it wrong. They've lost 13 goals not 21.

Still a crap result/performance though.

JOHN KENNEDY'S injury jinx has struck again - with Scotland boss George Burley looking on from the stand.

The on-loan Celtic defender suffered ankle ligament damage last night as Norwich City lost 1-0 to QPR at Carrow Road.

Burley had travelled to watch Kennedy in action after receiving positive reports about his performances since moving on loan to the Canaries in July.

He is looking at centre-half options with skipper Stephen McManus suspended for the crucial visit of Norway on October 11.

But the 25-year-old, who seriously injured a knee playing for Scotland against Romania in a friendly over four years ago after a horror tackle, limped off in agony in the 63rd minute and now faces an anxious sweat to see the full extent of the problem.

Meantime, Scotland fans have reacted with fury after the date of the World Cup qualifier against the Norwegians in Oslo next year was brought forward a week from August 19 to August 12.

Thousands of fans had already booked flights and hotels for the trip to Oslo for what will be the last match in Scotland's bid to make the 2010 World Cup.

"In the current financial climate, I fear supporters will not be able to afford the costs of this change," said Alan Duncan, a Tartan Army branch chairman.

hunza rugli

you ara customer, not a supporter

the other fans have paid their money too and do not need the likes
of you berating the those players whose spirits need lifted, especially during the game

then again when celtic win on a charged night at cp, do you agree that fans are the twelfth man

just who are those who boo during the games ? i dont know anyone who does - a wide selction of folk who all recognise a sh*t performance when they see it

what is the mentality ? what age are they ? where do they live ? why dont I know any ?

great site paul67, very poor game last night naylor and brown are hard to watch thought wee maloney took too long to get the ball in the box. hope gordon will pick are best line up in the next game. hail hail c.q.n

I'm not in a great mood today. Reading some of the posts on here this morning hasn't helped with that either.

We were poor last night, simple as that, Aalborg were a well organised team but they were pretty ordinary. The game was crying out for Crosas, far too many square balls played all night. The one player who can pick a forward pass into the feet of the front two was left on the bench when the game was crying out for him. I have to say, tactically I think WGS got it wrong, he doesn't know his best midfield at all just now which is pretty worrying. McManus, Hinkel, Naka and McDonald were poor last night but we didn't play well enough as a team and that mainly was due to a lack of productivity in the middle of the park. Oh and did anyone else think Aiden looked in the huff not to be starting last night?

Winningemmell

Re: Zabriskie Point, I thought that Rick Wright did some good stuff on that soundtrack at his atmospheric best and I love Come in number 51, your time is up a far better version than Careful with that axe Eugene and also the Country Song (The Red Queen Theme) sounds straight out of Meddle. Supposedly Rick Wright wrote a version of US and Them for the movie but the director Michelangelo Antonioni thought it was too much like church music and declined it. Use to have the album, I am getting a friend to burn the CD Soundtrack that got re-release a few years ago that has extra tracks on it. Pink Floyd, Greatful Dead and Patti Page what is not to like about the soundtrack.

On Jools Holland on Tuesday he mentioned Rick's passing away and said hopefully the following week they will have Dave Gilmour on to play tribute to Rick could be a chance for the remaining members to get together once last time.

See to all of those who felt the need to boo at half time and full time, would you please do us all a favour and stop going to Celtic Park and give your ticket to someone who will SUPPORT the team.

Whatever happended to "faithfull through and through".

At Celtic Park we only seem to ever want to get behind the team in the last 5 mins or if we're winning already.

Im getting sick fed up of it.

Like most others,very disappointed that we didnt pick up the 3 points.
The Danes have now achieved the same points total in one away champions league game
that we have in 15!
Not good stats,however some of our support really want to get a grip.
Yes we werent great,but with a bit of good fortune we could have been sitting top of our group
this morning.

One other thing,for the first time i heard the Novo ditty being sang in the pub pre match,its a shocker,
even more so when its being belted out by half a dozen middle aged men.

I hope this particular one gets stamped out and soon.

We have plenty of great Celtic songs without reverting to this rubbish.

Lynott67

Mort:

I might just get "8" and use a black marker for the rest...

I knew someone who got 'Boyd' and '2' simply because it was the cheapest name available.

Canamalar, my question on Brown and Robson was specific to playing in central midfield.

o1bhoy, I expect us to play 4-5-1 away in the CL but not sure if the midfield five will contain three who can hold the ball and create.

Welcome greenwhitegold, good to hear from you.

You could look at it half full have empty or with rose tinted glasses whatever. The facts are WGS is our Big Eck. Still not got the midfield sorted out. What is this Team4 is it any better than Team3 or Team1 or Team2. We have a squad of average players with one or two stand out players. What happens last night our biggest game of the season, WGS leaves out Aiden McGeady, unbelievable.

Paul can you enquire as to when the big screen will be fixed we were promised after the Man City friendly on 6th August 2008 that it would be working for the SPL opener.....it is not acceptable that 8 weeks later (17th September 2008) the big screen is STILL NOT WORKING.....i feel cheated when I pay my admission fee and do not get the same big screen service as is available to the other half of the crowd....
PROVIDING BIG SCREEN SERVICE SHOULD BE A PRIORITY AND I WONDER IF THE MUCH HERALDED INTRODUCTION OF FANCY ELECTRONIC ADVERTS WHICH WERE SWITCHED OFF LAST NIGHT CAUSED CONSIDERABLE ELECTRONIC PROBLEMS

UNEW MIKE,

If you ask at the ticket office they will rent you a pair of binoculars on a stick that you can get at the opera. Turquoise, Pink and Silver. 8 quid and a 10 pound deposit :-)

JustanotherscaMCSC

bri, i would not go that far saying that wgs is our big eck. but it was a strange one not playing aiden from the start. hail hail

Well. we have one more point than we usually have after the first game! That's about the only positive thing I can think of to say after such a disappointing performance. Won't repeat everything that has already been said. But we need a new penalty taker!

IT ... IT ... IT

So I now have access to the all new CQN on my laptop, BlackBerry browser and Opera Mini ... but still not on my PC.

I need some help here - while the blog was having some problems a while back a poster recommended adding the URL to a system file. That did the trick at the time, but I now have a feeling it is the problem.

Does anyone recall exactly which file we were recommended to edit?? If I knew I could remove the entry and maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright again!

optimistic,

I had a wee giggle at your response. You got me about Crossas:)

I guess what I meant was, he appeared to be the catalyst to a wonderful team performance at Fir Park before he tired. I don't recall Celtic playing that well with Brown in the central role.

A “limited Barry Robson”, “Robson plundered his way through those games” and “can only kick with one foot”. That’s Robson summed up then. You clearly don’t rate him despite his ratio of good performances to poor performances in central midfield!! And good team performances to poor team performances when he plays there.

Brown is “box to box”, his performances have been one of your “highlights” this season, is a “rare commodity” and – interestingly – “if the right player is deployed beside him then we’ll see the best of him”. Who? Kaka? You clearly rate him (Brown, that is, not Kaka) despite his ratio of poor performances to good performances in central midfield.

How many players have been deployed beside him and the central midfield has consistently struggled?

Hartley and Brown
Donati and Brown
Robson and Brown
Sno and Brown (probably the best at Love Street)

Common denominator?

What about Hartley and Robson who delivered the best performances in the run last season?
What about Robson and Crosas who delivered the best performance to date this season?

Brown was good in a 4-2 pumping at home to Rearrangers? Was he? Don’t agree. The team certainly weren’t. The midfield weren't. He wasn’t.

It’s about the TEAM. What makes the team perform best?

I would happily see Brown come off the bench to use some of his energy late in games when teams are tired, perhaps in a wider role, until he sorts out his game. I think that would help the team.

I like him, I just don’t see why we continually accommodate him in such a crucial area of the team no matter how poorly he plays.

Kitalba,

You must sit near optimistic with the great view!

Quick question - do you think we would have won the league if Brown hadn't been suspended and Robson moved into central midfield?

Please don't think I'm anti-Scott Brown - I like him and believe he will eventually do well, but the team - my team - our team - CELTIC - benefits from better combinations in central midfield and he should have a role to play. Just not as an ever present in the crucial posiotion when his form doesn't merit it.

The big screen has been broken for 8 weeks and no one, not one single person has taken it upon themselves to start a riot?

Not a single fluid oz of stale beer/ cold tea/ urine has been flung at the blank canvas in an attempt to bring it back to spluttering life?

Not a single syllable of cheerful banter has been hurled ?

Gordon_J
Agree on the penalty taker point. Robson's penalties havent been too convincing so far.
If the reports that Honest Mike is on the whistle at Kilmarnock are true,
then i dont think we wil have to worry too much about being awarded one on Sunday.

Paul67,

I couldn't get on after the game itself. I have been travelling today. So, apart from your own report, I haven't read any comments about the game.

Personally, I was very disappointed the Marc Crosas didn't start. He made a huge impact on Saturday through his incisive FORWARD passing and last night we played like so many times last season: across the park and back.

I agree with your assessment: Aalborg are definitely the poorest CL side we have met. I think Man U and Villareal will beat them home and away. 3rd place is the best we can hope for and that in itself might have its own comensations.

Paul67,

I should have added that I thought our captain was extremely poor once again. I think, besides anything else, his confidence is shot.

Why does the crowd start chanting for the likes of McGeady (or anybody else) to be brought on? That cannot help those on the field already. I thought he was quite poor too when he did come on.

I would like to think our manager will pen in the names of Crosas and Loovens for Sunday.

Dontbrattbackinanger
your spot on, lets sack the board the manager in fact sack the whole kaboodle until the big screen is sorted

i was at the game last night, first time at at champs league for a while, our fans and the stadium were absolutley brilliant but the team put up a poor performance, i just cant get over the support, sometimes i think do the people who run our club which i love dearly, really deserve such a fantastic support

I see the "bandwagon for blame" is shifting. Aalborg were so unimaginative and so completely without attacking intent that Mick is not being considered the scapegoat so its Scott Brown's turn. Ah well. To be expected I suppose.

There are two things to take out of last night. Firstly it really is between ourselves and Aalborg for third place. No doubt we can and should do it. We should be capable of taking more points than them in the remaining fixtires. I wasn't all that confident before last night but having seen them in action then third place should be ours - if we want it. Taking into consideration our main priority should be the SPL I'm not sure its to our advangatge to ontinue in the UEFA cup.

Secondly.I believe last night should finally illustrate just the challenge facing us in the battle for the SPL. Bar the Rangers game the other four teams we have faced are those 4 teams presently occupying the bottom four places in the SPL. That should be ringing the alarm bells! In two of the games we played quite poorly - St Miren and DU and were somewhat fortunate to get 4 points. In the other two games Motherwell and Falkirk we did indeed play some inspiring stuff. However - both these teams attempted to "play real football" against us, committed men forward etc - thus allowing our better players the opportunity to get the better of thm. I would think those occasions will be the last time any SPL team tries those tactics. We will be more likely up against the 5 man midfield defensive approach we witnessed so much last season. This is common knowledge - but we do not seem to be any closer to being able to overcome this approach. Certainly the slow slow pass across the midfield we wtinessed last night will not do it.

Much as I enjoy CL and European nights at Celtic Park they are not my priority. Winning the SPL is. I wish I could be more confident we can win it.

Celtic were just not good enough.

we have played 45 european games and got 1 point...
a mid table team from Denmark comes in to the champions league after 13 years out of it and get a point away from home in their first game... not good enough...

Hinkel is not a football player.
McManus is not a football player (what does he do differently than what Balde does? except loose more balls in the air?
Brown ran 40 yards forward with the ball then passed it back 20.
McDonald is overweight
McGeadys attitude stunk to the high heavens, toys out the pram.
the midfield was non-existant.

there was no urgency at all, experementing is fine, but not at home in the champions league where we always win and things are fine, yes away from home where there is no pressure because we cannot win away from home, regardless of how we play.

why keep tinkering with a midfield that looks good one minute and is nowhere to be seen the next?

how many times are Celtic going to go in at half time playing well, come out in the seond half and the to look like they couldnt care less?

Celtic are still in the same position they were on Tuesday, 4 points from AAlborg.

Guys,

Cannot believe some of the comments on here today regards Skoosh, i actually thought he did okay, Barry Robson for me was our worst midfielder, he tried and tried but his passing was poor and he gave away too many silly fouls, anyone can miss a pen so no critisicm from me on that. I expected WGS to change the winning formula last night, but at least one thing should be crystal clear Crosas must start from now on!

Aiden's absence from the starting line up for me was trult baffling, okay he has not been firing on all cylinders this season but he is our most creative player.

When is the penny finaly going to drop regarding big Mhick, he is having an absolute nightmare run of form and must be dropped, any time someone runs directly at him with the ball he is terrified, and he dosent win nearly enough high balls, he should be dropped now for his own sake before the tide of opinion turns against him.

Skippy needs to stop the greetin and get his finger out, he certainly does not look fit. Big Sammy and JVOH up front for me on Sunday.

Was anyone truly suprised by our struggles last night, i wasnt thier are no poor teams in the UCL, AaB were written off far too early by some and our lack of real quality in the final third told yet again.

uefa cup will do for me and an improvement in our away days, i am afraid that is our level if we continue to turn in performances like last night.

gebhoy

I have to say I was initially dissappointed in the performance last night and remain so in the cold light of day. Certainly teh sideways and backward movement of the ball gave Aalborg breathing space and, unfortunately, turned the crowd off. I had the feeling that some of our players are stopping to think through ideas which have been 'coached' the result was a stilted movement full of uncertainty - it reminded me of an actor reading 'off the book' rather than having a confident grip of the lines.

Apart from the game the social side went very well with a very impressive gathering anlysing the collapse of capitalism in BB's before the game and a more select group analysing the sexual imagary of Magic Swords in the hands of powerfull French/Italian women after the game.

fantasayrules.csc

Skimming through the threads, having not been able to get in for a while. Agree with many posters about the quality of the crowd, the booing and lack of support particularly. Myself and the two lads that I sit with were standing up and applauding at the end in the face of some pretty vehement booing. On the way up to the ground, there were several choruses of the Nacho Novo song, other songs with IRA add-ons - I reckon due to lack of uptake of packages from season ticket holders this was not your usual Celtic Park crowd, and I fear for the atmosphere when Man Utd come calling.

Have to agree that Crossas would have been a better option at the back of midfield than Brown, but I've have binned Robson and pushed Brown further forward. I'd have taken Naka off instead of Maloney and wouldn't have bothered with Aiden at all. Thought Sami, Hinkel, Naylor and Caldwell did very well.

Gordybhoy from a couple of threads back, I gave some advice re pubs in Benalmadena a couple of weeks ago. I can recommend Stephen's Green on Avenida Garcia Lorca (http://www.stephensgreenirishpub.com/index1.php), but it might be worth a walk past in advance, because they do have a tendency to shut the bar when the owners are off on holiday. I usually watch the games in Inchys on Avenida Bonanza (http://www.inchysbar.com/) which is not a Celtic pub, but there's usually a fair few expat fans in there - Celtic games are usually put on at the telly right up the back. Both are up in the town rather than down on the coast. If you stumble across the Tartan Arms, avoid like the plague, it is bluenose central. The Point, although decked out in shillelaghs and shamrocks and the like, was the scene of a very unpleasant afternoon watching Hearts v Celtic (Jan + Jarosik goals) in the company of some greetin'-faced bears.

Shug - Nonsense. Aalborg are not a mid table Danish Team.

They are a bottom half of the table Danish Team. 4 points from last. ;-)

Henriks Sombrero,

The Celtic team of 2003 would have taken 4 or 5 off US last night.

tojo

Like most on here I am struggling to understand the teams crucial pairings but since I have regularly "banged on" about having players who can, pass the ball, trap the ball and receive a pass, and move to make space for a pass, I would make the following suggestions. Our pairings should be Gary Caldwell and AN Other, Mark Crosas and AN Other and Georgios Samaras and AN Other, on last nights performance the AN Others should not be McManus, Brown/Robson or McDonald. My profession is a sales manager not a football manager but if I can see this how can't a football manager? Finally I was appalled by the semi literates last night phoning up requesting the manager's head as well as the people who booed at half and full time - I have always stuck by faithful through and through. Finally v2 would there be a drinking bowl available for the fox at B.B's on the evening of the Man U game? Lynott67 will you be there as I am sure we may have something in common?

In so many ways, a replay of last year's issues with some new ones overlaid. Same team, same limitations with some addtional worries. Midfield tinkering for the umpteenth time. We have an army of midfielders that WGS constantly chops n changes, and even when he gets one that works- eg first half Saturday- he drops it for yet another version. Yes, it doensnt look positive to bring in a holding midfielder at home when you are trying to score, but when Crosas puts in quick and direct passes ( and dare i say forward passes) to the feet on the strikers, why not for heavens sake?? The continued emasculation of Brown's attacking instincts is plain to see. The new ingredients are a central defence, in particular the captain, that seems to lose players on occasions and which can be physically intimidated. I dont think that we can leave Loovens on the sidelines for much longer. Skippy, well , just didnt turn up, and as for the Irish wonder bhoy, what a pale pale shadow of his potential. Just be glad it was only Aalborg.

FAO Spikeysauldman

Firstly I was not at the game last night.

Secondly I don't boo if I watch a bad game, however that doesn't mean I think that anyone who does boo having paid £30 for a ticket (in the current financial climate) is a bad person.

If I am a consumer why would I have shelled out (well before last nights debacle) over £200 to go to Denmark to watch Celtic without a ticket (at the moment - any offers gratefully recieved).

Thanks for your input nonetheless...

And not just the big screen -many sect114 diehards are waiting for their Timcards to get fixed. Ideally [unless the tradesmen transfer window is closed] PLawell should be looking for a sparks with TV experience; ideally one who could fill in at leftback.

Or right back. Or centre mid.

Other sources of irritation which are adversely affecting my 'matchday experience'-the new advertising hoardings. Also the habit the defence now have of touching each other after one of them somehow manages to make a tackle or geet in a block; like they were playing beach volleyball. This has also become part of a pre-Huddle Huddle.

I expect these are all carefully choreographed in a big book BUT not of course the big book of cunning plans which would have a different coloured jacket, to avoid confusion in the 'technical area'

Tojo - Agreed.

I wasn’t overly shocked at Aiden starting on the bench, I think by his own high standards he’s been a little off the boil recently and no player should feel they can just walk into the team. Shame this isn’t practised in other areas of the team.

Jan should have started instead of Scott, I just feel Jan and Georgious are a better combination at the moment, Scots goal at the weekend aside he hasn’t been the same as last season and for the reasons above needs to be dropped , hopefully to return more like the Scot McDonald of last season.

I may be wrong, but most of the chanting of players not playing, wasn't to get them on, but as a welcome to the subs warming up in front of the fans. As all the songs started from that area of the ground, and from the very start of the game.

Just as away fans do at parkhead when their players go behind the goals to warm up.

However this was picked up by muppets / fans / supporters / customers, around the stadium who then sang their names to get them on.

U2_1888 12:35 PM

Excellent post, I concur.

Henriks Sombrero -

good point,

did you think that that lot were any better than Motherwell?...i didnt,

i am not blaming anyone, though if WGS has the ba*ls to drop McGeady, yet why wont he drop McManus? Hinkel... dont get me started, Caddis should play in front of him.

just sounding off. a very frustrating night all in all,and the booing is just bad loosers. what we label the huns as.

Hail Hail, last 16.

Tojo - they would have hammered us 5-0 at half time and they would have all been long balls,

in future gamesplease watch this carefully - Keeper has the ball and plays a diagonal ball towards Andy Hinkel, this has happened since the start of the season, it will come off for somone..

i hope he acts now before leaving it too late.

Shug - They were certainly no better than Motherwell. If we had drawn 0-0 at home to Motherwell everyone on here would be having a go, so I don't see the need to bum up the Danish League for some weird reason. If we had drawn 0-0 with Villareal last night then fine, I can accept that. I can't accept not beating a team like Aalborg at home.

And as for the booing. Never booed Celtic in my life. I'll never understand anyone who does. As far as I'm concerned you shouldn't let outsiders see that you're hurt. We should be showing a united front in public. The good thing about this site is we can vent our feelings here instead.

Kinkyredstar - file under close, but no cigar

I expect you may well be entitled to some executive compensation over that image.

Anyways, Real Madrid's first ground was the Campo de O'Donnell.

....against the spin.

New poster, but this subjects really stating to stick in my throat.

There's an article in todays The hun in which Bill Leckie totally misses the point. He'd rather interpret the situation as tit for tat and mocks celtic for "telling on" the rangers fans. focus's more on the Novo posting/song and mocking of Reyna after 9/11 (by the ONE celtic fan)

Must say they've now lost ANOTHER customer.

Having had time to fully digest last nights performance I cant help but wonder why Strachan felt it necessary to change the team from the previous Saturday as that was by far the best team performance since the CL game against Benfica. Crosas should never have been dropped and Brown should have started wide right. We are all aware of the teams short commings so for me I would like to see the following team selected for SPL matches with Robson coming in for one of the front two in CL away games:

Boruc

Caddis Caldwell Loovens Naylor

Brown Crosas Hartley Maloney

Samaras JVOH

McGeady has still to start his season and Naka's mind is on moving back home therefore both dropped from the side for now.

Is the histrionic poddle brigade taking over today ?

The Celtic team of 2003 couldn´t even qualify for the Champions League. They were humped out of the competition by a team who had to play pre qualifiers like Aalborg

Hail Hail

sorry that should read Histrionic POODLE brigade

Hail Hail

DBBIA I am also waiting for my season ticket/Teamcard perhaps it will be ready for christmas :-)

Histrionic poddle?

DBBIA

Ahem :-)

A slang term derived from pot hole. It is used to describe a person who never pays attention in bed. This "person" will most likely consider sandwiches to be orgasmic. If you're looking for a way to simulate a poddle, try a whale

Awenaw- we took our histrionic poddle to the vets . He couldn't do anything with it but the City of Manchester Police were happy to take it off our hands;~)

DBBIA

You'd think Celtic would put a big picture of Carla over the big screen while they are waiting for it to get fix, no imagination on the board sack em all.

I noticed the other night Jools drools overs her.

The Livi game next week is on the season ticket. I like others am still without a TimCard - has anyone had a paper ticket through as yet?

just off the phone to the ticket office..only waited 15minutes to get told that the batch has arrived and that the new ones are being posted out today.
should have them for the weekend....

on last night.we should have won the match and i don't know if manure result helps or not..big sammy tried to get the ball off of BR but he has only missed a couple of pens in his career..we shouldn't have to rely on pens to win a match like last night...

anyway

keep the faith...

hungover BT

timverse stability is wildly fluctuating, you must all remain calm, I have sent the Level 5000 knobcatchers out to have words with timverse antagonists, McDonald, Brown, Robson, Maloney, Samaras, Nakamura, Hinkel (he needs 2 knobcatchers) McManus, Naylor, Vennegoor of Hesselink, McGeady, Caldwell, Boruc and Strachan. The timverse must not be put in danger. I am sure the Level 5000's will be successful in reprogramming the tactic chords of the perpetrators of these fluctuations. In better news though, Aalborg, whoever they are will be wiped from the planet in 2017 when a major incident occurs at "Rashies" mega factory. An incident that wipes Denmark from the map in a cataclysmic bacon fat explosion.

To Infinity and Backwards

Aye they´re murder so they are ... oops I mean they are murderers so they are

I´ve implemented the spelling checker just for you btw

Hail Hail

Gordon_J

I was advised that if i hadn't received my ticket over the weekend that i would have to go to park to pick up ticket for Tuesday..

Is the sinister minister definitely the ref for Sunday?

If so, I am deeply worried. Killie away is never an easy game for us at the best of times and the rogering reverend will be only too keen to do a Hugh Dallas on us (0-3 to them 1999).

I hope Gordon picks the right team and has us shooting on goal from the first minute on Sunday.

I am enjoying reading the various opinions on Scott Brown. I was a huge fan when he was with Hibs, and saw his aggressive tackling and powerful running, both on and off the ball. He doesn't seem like the same player with celtic. It seems that he is reluctant to play the one-two passes, or get beyond the striker now. In fact whoever plays in central midfield, it is very unusual for them to drive forward into spaces. Instead the ball is funnelled through players until it reaches the wide midfielder. Unfortunately, the wide player always receives the ball with his opposite number still in front of him as well as the defender. He is almost always static, and is asked to create something from there.

Why do we refuse to commit more men forward?

Why do our mifielder , both central and wide, never seem to receive the ball whilst running?

Why is the ball always played to feet and not into space to run on to?

Why do we play flighted balls from back to front?

Why do we seem incapable of playing simple triangles to get out of wide areas?

Why is there so little running off the ball?

Why do full backs so rarely get to the by line?

Why do we need a holding midfielder in the SPL?

Why don't we commit more men forward earlier in the game?

The answers are surely that Gordon Strachan tells the team how they have to play. he has already shown that he doesn't like midfielders who push forward,and ditched Thomas Graveson essentially for this reason.

When WGS leaves (I hope at the end of this season), and Tony Mowbray arrives, i expect Celtic to be transformed into a faster more entertaining team). Until then, I don't expect to see any changes. WGS doesn't know any other way of playing.

Team 4, team 3, team 2, team 1. Different personnel, same style. It's the system, stupid.

bringontheweeman,

He ditched TG because he couldn´t pass to a team mate.

blantyretim, thanks.

Quick couple of comments before I head out of the office -

Hinkel - how many times was the ball played over the top of him (especially in the 2nd half), and he watch as Caldwell run out to the RB position to clear the danger. He is too slow, and was too easily caught out by that ball. Young Caddis is faster, and should be given a wee run in the team, not one game, but at least half a dozen to see what he can do.

Mick - it has been said on here by a lot of folks - not playing well at the moment, need to be replaced by O'Dea or Loovins for at least the same 6 games. Can get a wee run out in the reserves to keep his match fitness up while he regains some composure and confidence.

Brown - agree that he has been playing a bit better this season, but only when played out wide. 2nd half Scotland v Northern Ireland, last weekend, etc, all much better than last night.

Left / right - put Naylor to RB and Caddis / Hinkel to LB. Well, why not, since we insist on playing the wide midfield men on the wrong wings? Or just put everyone in there natural positions? Thought the experiment was an interesting one, but after 3+ years, everyone can figure us out on most occasions, so back to the natural order please Gordon.

Pies - it was DBBIA wot ate some of them - saw the evidence with my own eyes. Next time, it will be captured by my camera and put on youtube! The ones DBBIA missed were eaten by wee Scott going by the size of him - if he shaved his heid, he would be a dead ringer for the best looking poster on here.

Ulryc

PS Good meeting some more posters last night at BBs. Think Paul needs to hire the SECC, (or the lounge at the Crown Inn, Turra) for a massive get together.

I hardly ever post although I've been reading since day 1.

Paul, keep up the good work, I think this is the best place on the net to come for Celtic news.

The most disappointing thing for me last night wasn't the result, the performance, the tactics, the subs or even the keeper's infuriatingly persistent refusal to find a Celtic jersey with the ball. It was having to remonstrate with a middle-aged hooped bigot on the Gallowgate on the way to the game.

I took extreme offence to this idiot belting out "soon there'll be no Protestants at all", so I rather loudly informed him that I thought it was absolutely disgraceful to sing that and asked him if Jock Stein was a Protestant, to which his 30-ish pal inexplicably replied "naw!". A little bemused I asked what Kenny Dalglish and Henrik Larsson were. No reply. I continued ahead and I couple of minutes later I heard the same voice some distance behind me again bellowing out the line "soon there'll be no Protestants at all".

I was fairly disgusted not only that this bigot and his friend failed to see anything even remotely wrong with what was being sung, but that I was the only person in a street full of Celtic fans that was offended enough to say anything. I spent the next wee while wondering if this Glaswegian (by the sound of his accent) freedom-fighter had ever heard of James Connolly or Robert Emmett, or whether he'd read the Proclamation of Independence. That's assuming that he can actually read.

While Rangers are in the spotlight (finally and deservedly) for their racist chanting, there are too many of us willing to instantly claim the moral high ground and forget that we still have a number of bigots who attach themselves to our club. Sadly it seems that there aren't enough of us with any appetite to do anything about it, and while there aren't, it won't go away.

The fact that Rangers' problem is on a completely different level to ours and is inextricably linked to the supremacist traditions that are ingrained in their club should not preclude us from getting our own house in order.

I'd like to ask my fellow Celtic fans if you would please challenge this type of bigotry whenever you have the opportunity, because if you do we might be able to get rid of it.

Sorry to change the subject but I think this is important.

It's all about opinions... and just shows that we all have a very different view of the game.

I actually thought Barry Robson was woeful and looked way out of his depth last night, and that Scott Brown, Gary Caldwell, and Georgios Samaras were the best Celtic players on the park.

I would be looking to play Scott Brown with Marc Crosas, rather than Barry Robson, in future CL games.

McManus, however, was on a par with Barry Robson.

As for Lee Naylor, he was certainly the better of the 2 full backs, and yet again, was part of a CL clean sheet defence.

fleagle1888

The Gate In The Wood contiues

Teser, lunchtime, today

NAFOS: Well that wiz brutal last night, Ah hate tae see left-fitted players takin penalties wi thur left fit.

SOAL: Wid yi raither they took thum wi their right fit ?

NAFOS: Naw,Ah'd raither they never took thum at aw.Rogan, Dobcheck, Liam Brady, Graham Rix, the list is goalless.

WG: N yon goal

SOAL: Whit goal ? Wi didny score any apart fae the win that tool chalked aff.

WG: Ah mean the actual goal, the goalmooth area it the huns end. Hauntit it is, Ah'm convinced ay it.

NAFOS: Haunted bi who or bi whit ?

WG: Haunted bi the ghost ay Henrik Dixie Nicholas Thomson.

SOAL: Only wan ay thaym's deid WG

WG: Ah know 'fur in yir goal a spirit stands, Johnny Thomson is his name'. Bit the thing is this....

NAFOS: Whit noo, cin you no joost accept things is they ur in reality for wance in yir sad life.

SOAL: Naw, hear him oot NAFOS, Ah waant tae see whayr thus is gaun.

WG: Ower the bar probably, Arthur. Noo, if we accept that the spirit ay Johnny Thomson - NO the spirit ay Arthur Lee - if we accept that the spirit ay Johnny Thomson is in oor goal dis he chinge haufs at hauf time. Dis he know which wey we're shootin ? Ah think he disnae. Ah think he spooks OOR penalty-takers it the huns end. Think aboot aw the misses ower the years. Wi must have missed aboot a hunner agin the Jags n still goat through wan nite. Naw, Ah think that goal is hauntit, n hauntit the wrang wey.

NAFOS: WG, can Ah offer ye a spirit ay yir choice ?

TBC

On the evening of September 1st when the minutes of the last hour ticked away, who then could comfortably say that as good a season as last was in prospect? By that I mean the retention of the Title and CL beyond the group stages. The team, not the squad, required strengthening and everyone knew it. The failure to do so is the reason why most posters are unhappy today.

The winning of the Championship this year is crucial. It ensures that the runner up in the SPL will be required next year to encounter the new CL qualifying round format where they will be thrown into the same section as the likes of the runners up from Spain, Italy and Portugal.

The huns' latest accounts show a rise in debt to 21.5 million.
To be denied CL revenue next year would for them be catastrophic (how high would their debt rise to approx?) and would present a real opportunity for us then to contemplate seriously a period of domestic domination.

The Board have gambled that the present set of players are capable of retaining the Title. Let us hope that they are right and there is no need for a mad scramble in January, providing it is not too late by then.

Regarding last night, the players gave everything. At times, particularly in front of goal, we didn't get the rub of the green. I would have liked to see Marc Crosas playing but if the manager felt it was too big a step for the young fellow at this stage then I can understand that. I thought the decision to leave out Aiden McGeady was justified by his display when he did come on.

The biggest disappointment for me apart from the score was the disgraceful behaviour of sections of the support. To boo the players off the pitch at HT with the score level was dreadful, down there in the pits with the Strachan GTF mob and the appalling treatment of young Evander Sno.

On reflection, perhaps a period of domestic wilderness rather than domination would bring some people to their senses !

out of every 10 high balls that mcManus and Caldwell go for how many do you think they'll win.

3 maybe 4.

Is this not a centre halfs fundamental job - Any team struggling will pump high balls in looking for a centre half thats dodgy in the air. WE'VE GOT TWO OF THEM.

Crosas. By the time he started making an impact against Motherwell we were 2-0 up and the game was stretched. He was not the reason we were 2-0 up.

This lad (and he is only 20) may go on to be brillaint player for us but he has virtually no first team experience for any team never mind European experience. Had he played and the result been no different we might have been questioning the wisdom of playing such an inexperienced player and leaving another on the bench.

The manager seems likely to tinker with the team game by game over these next few months and Crosas and perhaps Loevans will get a chance to prove their worth

Thomas Graveson, I am happy to announce was the sole survivor of the bacon fat explosion of 2017. His survival is legend in timverse. Thomas's story is one of remarkable foresight and planning, when, hearing the hissing of the fat from 450 miles away, Thomas immediately knew something was wrong and hid in his basement of voices. A superstructure of immense strength that Thomas bought shortly after departing CelticFc, to this frame he regularly credits CelticFc and the Lawell one in particular with saving his life. He also relates the story of how the voices enabled his sanity to remain while waiting for rescue, but hates to talk about the voice of the ginger bass, his nemisis and evil overlord of the hairies.

Titor

Narrowboat- I must admit I did tune in on Tuesday evening for the purest of motives I must add[ unlazy journalism] For someone who must be used to performing she came over as rather nervous.

Your sugggestion re putting up a large picture of her is an excellent one; apparently if you type 'Carla Bruni' into google image there is a fair selection from her portfolio.

I must make the time to take a look.

An alternative idea would be to simply put' MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH' on the screen..

DubhaiBhoy,

recognise this guy ?

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ9qUF0nYIU

Hail Hail

Dontbrattbackinanger,

May I suggest "FUTURE LIFE IS TIMTASTIC IN THE TIMVERSE" for your board of scores.

U2 1888

What we have to remember is… we were playing Motherwell. If we had turned in that performance against Rangers or Barcelona, I’d be demanding Strachan explains why he didn’t stick with it against Aalborg.

If you watch the Motherwell game again, Brown did play Central; both him and Brown switched all the way, just like Sammy dropped and Maloney went forward. So I have witnessed Brown play well in Central Midfield, as have you.

Robson does what he does best. I think he’s effective at what he does (see earlier posts) but last week I watched him try swivel his hips to play a pass with the outside of his left foot – and duly stuck it out the park – rather than play it easily with his right foot. The same thing happened last night. I cant understand professional players only being able to kick with one foot. It bugged me with Didi Agathe. And it bugs me with Robson.

When Robson played in those last seven games, you could hardly describe our performances – or his performance – as scintillating. It was a solid, sturdy, workmanlike midfield. But it was hardly inspiring. I want more from Celtic; I want to see performances I can clap at, that I can get off my seat in expectation, that I can shout “eee-awww” at the opposition. With Hartley and Robson in midfield, I’d be more likely to wince as Robson clatters into another challenge and Hartley drops further back.

At the start of last season, Brown and Donati were in the midfield responsible for helping Celtic demolish teams. Donati and Brown lost form at the same time – it happens. Even Larsson went a few games without scoring. The only combination you haven’t listed is Crosas and Brown. Perhaps that is the pairing made for each other. I suspect that Crosas would like to play with someone who can control and pass with both feet rather than having to alter his approach to a pass to suit a one-footer.

Your question about the last seven games… who knows the answer to that one? We won the league so I’m not going to argue with the Robson/Hartley pairing for those games. But can you honestly say that the football in those seven games was pleasing to watch? It’s not much better now, but that’s because (in my opinion only) we’ve always had Hartley or Robson in there.

I’m changing my club’s name to ScottBrownCSC.

Sorry to go off topic but has anyone seen this

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1702847.ece

the spanish government are investigating threats made about nacho novo after being "bombarded" by emails from huns.

Paul67, do you think this could affect us?

Problem is we're easy to play against.

Crowd out our wrong sided wingers and you nullify us. Last night was a blow to us , not unexpected as we hardly strengthened in the summer. I think this year we'll struggle for points in this group. In fact we'll be rock bottom of this group unless problems are addressed.

There is a creative entertaining spark in us but we don't seem to know how to get it out regularly , too many 'jeckel and hyde' performances.

Still as I said , hardly unexpected is it?

Im no expert on tactics but could we not have played 3 at the back last night??? this would have allowed us to play a winger on the wing , instead of playing maloney out of position , maloney could have then played in his best postn ....taking the ball from robson & brown and carrying it forward, where he would have had options on all sides.

why do we play 4 at the back (at home) against a team that are only going to play 1 up front?

Aalborg are a poor team. we will now struggle to finish above them & if we do we will immediately be pitted against better teams in the UEFA cup.

Why drop Mcgeady so that we could play someone out of position.
Robson & Brown are decent harrying/tackling midfielders but their distribution is very poor. We all knew Aalborg would be defending deep against us so we would need good distbn from midfield to break them down.

Why then did we play Robson&Brown in centre midfield?

Brown isnt a BAD player but because Strachan paid a lot of money for him so he has to continue to accommodate him.

The Gate In The Wood continues

Episode 18, our bhoys are still in the Teser

WG: Naw, Ah'll hae a Grafton Blondie

SOAL: So Boynita's it work.

WG: Faur is Ah know. No a cheep oot ay hur fay last Friday bit Ah've goat the feelin Ah'll bi hearing fae hur afore the weekend's ower. Anywey the Grafton Blondie is a blond beer containing Maris Otter (Brother Walfrid wid approve) malt, wheat n a blend ay three English hop varieties, combining tae create a smooth chartacter, bit like masel, with citrus flavours n a hoppy finish. Come On The Hops.

NAFOS: Yi don't half talk and drink some Jillian, WG

SOAL: Ah'll hae a Coors in a Carling gless.

WG: Eehh up, twelve a'cloak

SOAL: Is that no yir love rival, Dougal Stuart wi anurra wummin, WG ? Unless the lovely Boynita's hud a complete makeower, I do believe Scotland's top whistler is playing the.... er...field.

WG; Aye, that's Brother Stuart aw right. Ah'd recognise that snake in the reptile hoose in Embra Zoo. Right, NAFOS, you git thum in and Ah'll confer some Celtic hoaspitality on our trooser-leg-liftin local hero.

TBC

Dontbrattbackinanger on September 18, 2008 1:55 PM

don't you mean "Modern Screens are Rubbish"

Ps I heard that Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield had their fifthy ways with her, I think wee Nicky is bit annoyed about that.

Some good debate on here today, of course we're never quite as bad or as good as made out and it's been reflected on here.

Overcoached is the big killer, so many players appear to have wee sectors of the park to operate (or not). Good job Gary Caldwell clearly ignores that! Crosas I think, unfortunately, displayed on Saturday both why he should (first half) and shouldn't (second half) have played.

In reality Aalborg were no worse than Rosenborg or Anderlecht who we so excitedly swept aside a few years back only to perform so shambolically badly away from home. I'm already worried about the building sense of 'we'll take them away from home' with my only response being 'oh will we now'!

Hi FTS
Very interesting piece about the different formations we could use, not that anyone took any notice of course.
Oor Gordon is very good at picking different teams for each occaison, remember he picked a team to beat Motherwell which did vey well for 45 minutes, but he picked a different team to beat the Danes and he had previously picked another different team to beat rearrangers, not too successful with those ones.
I am old fashioned and wish he would pick his BEST team and keep playing them together as often as possible until they start playing like a proper Celtic team should. I know, it will never catch on.
Brilliant quote by someone earlier, "we are overcoached and undermanaged"

Hail Hail

NBT- Metallica? That second rate Spinal Tap tribute band?

Jamais...

SPD 1:48

I admire your actions. We also have the knucklescrapers amongst us and will be exposed by the red tops anxious for a story (as has been previously discussed) soon enough.

Well done again.

SPD,
A tactic I've tried and has proved successful is ask them why they want to behave like huns? gets a wee argument but its usually ended by "stop acting like a hun then"

Seconded on Senor Pablo Diablo's actions. As mentioned, I was surrounded by Nacho Novo death threats/sectarian add-ons being sung all around me on the way up the Gallowgate. Being a not-very-scary-looking girl, I didn't have the guts to say anything directly to any of the offending (and offensive) "fans" - squaring up to drunk guys twice my size isn't my thing - but I did remark as loudly as I could get away with, and definitely in their earshot, to my companion that I didn't hear those songs in the stadium and could only put it down to the tickets being on public sale to people who don't go to games and recognise the changes being made, and that he wouldn't hear anything like that in the ground. A few people starting shushing them after that, and it petered out for a while, before another group took it up around the corner down Janefield Street.

For educational purposes only , this is that song in tune with a few muppets miming.

It just popped into my e-mail inbox.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=NNuEFm2gIKc&feature=related

Discretionary viewing only.

Re tactics...

In the modern game 4-4-2 is tactically the most balanced formation you can have (see any coach's manual, convention etc etc). There's many caveats to the formation, but, it's no fluke that 8 out of 10 managers world wide prefer that formation.

Strachan buys players with a system in mind. He prefers 4-4-2 so it's safe to assume he buys and coaches players to fit that system. Why then do people blurt out about "we should play 6-3-1" or "3-5-2"?... we all have opinions, but Strachan works with these guys sometimes 6-days-a-week... surely he knows more about them and their idiosyncracies and abilities than we do?

Strachan's had wolves at the door since Artmedia. Since day one people want him out; despite 3IAR and Champs League success. Strachan has never been afforded the leniency or acceptance given to his predescessor. Give him a break!

Big_liam,

why give them the publicity ?

The more you step on dogs doodles the further it spreads ?

Awenaw- are these puddles of histrionic poddles doodles?

Bazzabhoy - Incredible attempts at dragging us into this. A campaign much aided (gleefully) by the Scottish press.

I sat and showed the lyrics of the famine song to my good woman last night. She's English and had little or no knowledge of this stuff until she met me. She was in absolute horror at the words of that song and could not believe that the club (Rangers) did not condemn it outright.

Sometimes I sit in absolute awe at the hatred they have for us. It's jaw dropping.

Yet we, as a club, climb into bed with them for commercial reasons. It sickens me.

DBBIA

I´m in a muddle whats a puddles ? ;-)

HuddlesCSC

Reading the site today has picked me up a bit, some really good points have been raised I never thought about so here’s a balanced (in my opinion) list of last night’s result.

Pro: first time we haven’t lost the opening game.
Con: First time we haven’t beat the lowest seed at home.
Pro: Clean sheet.
Con: Didn’t score.
Pro: Struggling here, Samaras, Caldwell one or two others played well
Con: Crab football. Sideways up the pitch in one direction, then again the other direction until the balls crossed into a crowded box and cleared.
Cons: Booing the team

Actually I’m going to stop now because I only think of more cons!

One last thing Horses for courses Mr Strachan! Barry Robson’s steel and determination are needed in the SPL but that’s two champ leagues games where he’s looked off the pace and just not up to it. Surely Donati or Crosas would have a better bet.

Last night was a case of the chickens coming home to roost.
Our lack of serious transfer activity was clear to see.

Are We wrong to want to see our team improve each year or should We simply be happy to attain a certain level.

Our Board are happy with the level We have reached.Our winning the title so dramatically has helped mask our frailties.

Only three weeks ago an ordinary Rangers team came to our park and beat us.We as a support arrived at that game thinking We were going to whip them,very similar to last night.

As to players I'll repeat what I have previously said and someone has already used my analogy of Scott Brown chasing crisp pocks in the wind.He has been a waste of good money.a proper player should have been bought with that.

Our full backs are poor and only Caldwell can claim any form of consistency.Most of us can see what is wrong with the team,why can't a man who has won Leagues,and Cups and been capped over 50 times for his country not see what We all can see.

Our standard has fallen dramatically from 5-6 years ago as has the standard of the CL.

Celtic's Interest In The Big Cup Ends At Match Day 1

Thismancraig: Overcoached. Correct. Nail on head.

Last night was a case of the chickens coming home to roost.
Our lack of serious transfer activity was clear to see.

Are We wrong to want to see our team improve each year or should We simply be happy to attain a certain level.

Our Board are happy with the level We have reached.Our winning the title so dramatically has helped mask our frailties.

Only three weeks ago an ordinary Rangers team came to our park and beat us.We as a support arrived at that game thinking We were going to whip them,very similar to last night.

As to players I'll repeat what I have previously said and someone has already used my analogy of Scott Brown chasing crisp pocks in the wind.He has been a waste of good money.a proper player should have been bought with that.

Our full backs are poor and only Caldwell can claim any form of consistency.Most of us can see what is wrong with the team,why can't a man who has won Leagues,and Cups and been capped over 50 times for his country not see what We all can see.

Our standard has fallen dramatically from 5-6 years ago as has the standard of the CL.

People suggesting Crosas is too young to make the step up to play in the Champions League should remember that it didn't faze a young Aiden McGeady, or Evander Sno, to give just two examples.

IfyouregoodenoughyoureoldenoughCSC

Lazarus

I agree. Our standard has been falling as well as the rest of Europes apart from the big 8. Still last night was the most winnable game we have had in Europe since Artmedia.

AweNaw 1-45pm
But he still picks McManus +Naylor??

...against the minority

A big thank you to Senor Pablo Diablo.

My brother also raised this with a "fan" who was singing the nacho novo song inside the ground. Aswell as tarring our fans with the hunish brush, its also a bastardisation of a hymm. (Yes I know the same about king Henrik, but that was with praise!!)

He politely pointed out the error of the fellow fan's ways, adding that he was giving the orcs a free pass to sing whatever they like. We cant say we're any better than them if we continue to bring ourselves down to their level.

Whilst the individual tried to argue his right to sing the song, I was glad to hear others joined my brother in an attempt to make the boy see sense. The more we self police the more we'll achieve.

I just can't see what Scott Brown brings to the middle of the park, he can't control the ball, it is like a hot potato to him which might be fine in j titor time, he has lot of fight in him but does not have the simple technical skills of traping a ball he makes Craig Beattie look like he is made of glue, beside Mick Brown must be the worst at that art of killing a ball. Play him out on the right where he can use his speed and power to get by people and then he can do his sideways passing from behind their defence, the best games I have seen him play have all been out on the right.

Team for Sunday

Boruc

Caddis, Caldwell (Capt), Loovens, Naylor

Naka (Brown) Crosas, Donati (Robson), Maloney (Aiden)

JVoH, Samaras

Sorry if this topic has been covered already (been working away). As I live in London I try and explain to my work mates the difference between Rangers & Celtic fans which is sometimes difficult as they suspect I see things through green glasses, which maybe true but I had to post this, whilst being bored one day I signed up to follow follow. I have just checked my inbox and have been sent this. (asking gers fans to phone in to BBC radio Scotland show)

QUICK POINTS TO RAISE:-

Celtic fans chanting and singing in support of the IRA at Motherwell on Saturday -
are the media, Irish goverment, and the football authorities deaf and dumb.

Celtic fan songs include ones about:-
Nacho Novo dying in his sleep
Mocking Davie Cooper’s death
Raping the Queen

In the last week we have seen Celtic fans on the rampage:-
Nacho Novo’s address being published and encouraging people to attack him
Alan McGregor’s car attacked
Andy Goram’s pub in Blantyre being being attacked - windows smashed and spray painted

We’ve had enough of this pandering to Plastic Paddy Syndrome.

I will of course explain this to my friends as it is truly unreal.

FAn-A-tic

we´re not paying LN & TG after win bonuses combined TG´s wages.
LN is the only LB we have got. Who I thought had a fine game last night and Mick is captain. I think we can file this one under transfer window failings

Hail Hail

Can you imagine the reaction on here if we had actually got gubbed last night? Gloss over the result? Its the Champions League we're playing in not the Sunday Amateur & District. I've never ever subscribed to the theory that their are huns coming on here at the wind up pretending to be Celtic fans. Now I'm not so sure.

Paul67,

This may be the year that we do better away from home than at home.

Let me be the first to say then that 3 points at V, a point at M. Utd and 3 points at A along with a home victory against V would do me just nicely.

Tojo

I dont want to go on about this and well done all those that let those know that let us down. Just dont expect any protection from any Celtic steward or Strathclyde police if of these offenders becomes violent. Dont even write a letter of complaint after you have been turfed out with the offender even if others are sticking up for you as the official way for Celtic to deal with this is to trash everyone involved all you will get is a pathetic letter from Celtic praising their stewards. Be Very careful as I wouldn´t be surprised if they also removed your season ticket these days.

Hail Hail

Once Upon a Tim,

be rest assured

SeansouthCSC

iggyplopper,

show them the scottish sun

You really need to be retarded to be taking your lead from the Scottish version of the rags amongst rags

Hail Hail

Awe naw
So differing pay structures justifies an uneven approach in the coaches selection process?
Have often said we have a good squad but are not a team.
When a coach applies different standards to players in that squad then it,s hardly surprising that we don,t play as a team.

anyone know how bad john kennedy's injury is?

Paul67,

Is there any chance that we can get one of your professional hatchet jobs on Rangers recently release financial figures soon ?

Can you also incorporate the collapse of HBOS, Minty moonbeams biggest lender and what effect if any it has on his evil empire?

I´m also interested in hearing how much of his portfolio is tied up in the property market and how much of a hit that will have made on his ability to prop up his ailing hobby and was moving that from industry into property three years back coming back to haunt him?

NOrushCSC

Fan-a-tic.

Definitely. Surprised you even need to ask that one. The man has a budget to manage that encompasses his time at the club. Big earning performers that are gash need moved on ASAP. Pity we are not good at that.

But as I tried to point out and that you failed to pick up so I will try again - being the good Tim that I am ;-)

Mc Manus is Captain - and you dont drop your captain
Naylor is the only left back on the book

The Gate In The Wood continues

Episode 19 - A Meeting of Minds

WG: Good afternoon, Brother Stuart, and to what do we, The Teser Regulari, owe the pleasure of your company ?

Stuart rises from his seat and profers his right hand which WG dismisses with a shake of his Jim-Morrison/Alexander The Great locks

DS: Er, we just thought we'd pop in for a quite bite to eat, Mr Gemmell.

WG: Nice day, for it..

DS: I beg your pardon.

WG: Curry Night, Brother Stuart, Curry and a drink, £5.99 a whip. Twelve of your hard earned quid and you've substantially refreshed yoursel and Ms........ ?

DS: Er,....... Catriona.

WG: The name rings a dinger, Dougal. Let me guess. This here, Catriona, does she have a thing for the letters which would form one's mother's maiden name.

Cat: Yes, I work at the bank, do I know you ?

WG: Oh, I've got it now, Catriona. You're better with the maiden names than your actual customers' names. Mr Winning Gemmell, we spoke last week.

Cat: Are you sure your first name's not Winston ?

WG: Absolutely positive. And how is my favourite customer adviser to the European-hungover ?

Cat: Boynita ?

WG: The very one.

Cat: She went home sick at morning break

WG: Oh, dear Dougal? Do we anticipate the patter of tiny feet ?

DS: Yes, I think I'll have the lamb anton josh. Catriona? Mr Gemmell would you care to join us ?

WG: No I don't take to curry. And I particularly don't take to your close friend and fellow knuckle-cruncher, Curry McMichael. I take it you recall our little rendezvous on Saturday afternoon.

DS: It's indelibly etched on my mind.

WG: Well I'd strongly advise you to have a little word in the shell-like of McMichael prior to his mishandling of our forthcoming match against the Killjoys at the aptly-named Rugby Park. Any cheating and he will be next to be interviewed by Commander Collins and his self-styled Wishaw Militia.

DS: Consider it done....... and, er, hard lines against Bjornborg.

WG: Aye, love-all. I'll keep in touch.

TBC

On a positive note at least we have a point!!!!

But it wasn't good enough.

FIAR.

That's your lot for today. Purgatory Caird then Teser,

WG

Just home after last night's match. A few thoughts.

I thought Gary Caldwell was excellent.

Too slow paced approach given our skill set.

I'm in section 202 of the North Stand and the guy behind me is not (in my view) a Celtic fan. The personal abuse he hurled (screamed!)at every player, even before they acted, for not following his perceived best course of action. Then he proceeded to sing Celtic songs! He's a season holder I think because it's not the first time I've spent the game trying to block him out. I've just move and love the seat but this idiot makes me angry!

Hope Crosas gets his chance.

Hail Hail

A few of you have replied, thank you all for the support.

I should make it clear that I'm not exactly the bravest, I was fuelled with a little Dutch courage and it was only one voice.

I wouldn't expect indivuals to confront groups of drunken yobs - what I'd ask is that when you have the opportunity, i.e. if you don't feel your safety is going to be threatened, please try to say something if you can instead of ignoring it.

Racism and bigotry can never be defeated with silence. If we can gradually shout these guys down individually there will eventually be less of them to form packs.

Awe naw
Thanks for patronising reply.
Even my ever so simple self knows that McManus is our captain and Naylor the only left back at club.
Thank goodness in this dark hole we call CQN you are here to educate and enlighten us on all matters regarding Celtic.

Senor Pablo Diablo,

I would urge all Celtic fans not to attempt to do this while in the confines of Parkhead Stadium. The stewarding policy if they see any kind of rammy is to trash everyone and ask no questions.It´s the Celtic way. By all means report whats offending you to the nearest steward who will look sheepish and then ignore you.

Hail Hail

fan-a-tic,

you are very welcome. It seems you certainly need the education.

Hail Hail

.

The NarrowBhoat Tim....

K A RYAN.....Handicap.....Winner....14/1....Ayr....

o1bhoy

Awe Naw

What is on the front page of the scottish sun? tried finding it on the net but no joy. I must admit that I try hard to avoid such poop as it only brings rage!

Cheers

UEFA CUP FIRST-ROUND

LATEST SCORE:

Litex Lovech 1-0 Aston Villa (1520 BST)

Iggyplopper,

amongst other things Gazza getting arrested yet again for criminal damage and Kenny Miller doing hallucinatory drugs and lots and lots of ooooh -aarrrghh and titties

The same usual muck that will appeal to the huns.

hail Hail

Awe_Naw...

Aston Villa Quick News has just gone into meltdown.

Mort,

they only have a 50m annual budget and have never spent 32.5m on the one player.We shouldnt even be comparing ourselves with Aston Bloody Villa

Hail Hail

Just skimmed through the article from the Sun and it mentions the time a threat was painted on that wee ratbags fence. It's well known down here that it was his bird that did it and phoned the papers. It does show however how easy it is to get negative publicity against your rivals by doing something like that.

We really must make every effort to distance ourselves from them, it's always going to be tit-for-tat and viewed as being as bad as each other as long as we are branded the 'O** F***'. I would suggest doing our utmost to find a different sponsor than them would be a start.

Talking of stewards, anyone here sit in 407? Did you see the drunkest man in the world being helped up the stairs by the steward that monitors that staircase? He was more or less perpendicular to the stairs (leaning backwards on the way up the stairs), and was only stopped from falling backwards by the steward propping him up. I have no idea how he got through the turnstiles or that far up the stairs.

Awe naw 3-23PM
Expected nothing less from such a brilliant and enlightened one as yourself.

oneantonrogan,

are you sure that wasn´t Scott Brown having a shot on goal ? ;-)

Litex Lovech One.

That'll be their lucky number.

OOH HOO OOH HOO.

Bhoybhoywalter :

I've had a similar experience - I used to sit in the main stand section FS3, and next to me was an "older" woman. She used to scream and shout all sorts of personal abuse at the Celtic players, berating them for passing the ball to each other instead of humping it up the park.

One day I decided enough was enough, and proceeded to ask her if she thought what she was shouting at the players made them play better. She said "what do you mean?".

I tried to reason with her that the whole point of being a supporter was to encourage the team you follow to play better, and that screaming all sorts of derogatory things at them would only have a negative effect.

But, sadly, I got the usual typical response of "I pay my money the same as you, I can say what I want".

Her attitude didn't change from the point of that conversation till then end of the season, so I moved seats. Couldn't take it any longer.

Awe Naw, you seem to be on a mission to gloat over every result a so called minnow gets over a 'bigger' club in some kind of weird attempt to prove yourself right that last night was actually a good score.

I wish I could settle for second best like you clearly do.

Hail Hail.

Fan-atic,

I tell you what

I thought this was patronising

"So differing pay structures justifies an uneven approach in the coaches selection process?"

Hence my retort

But as your boring the mammary glands off of me I promise not to answer to your next witty retort so that you can feel good about yourself all day. I promise

The floor is yours CSC

I never knew that Lena Lovech had a team I hear they are lucky to be number 1 in Bulgaria

Aw_naw, lol

One of my pals has just cracked the Lene Lovich joke as well.

oldpunksCSC

I am obviously missing a very important point somewhere today...

Why are there numerous posts referring to Aalborg as:

9th best in in their League
4 points off the bottom
13 goals conceded etc.

Surely, they are the Danish Champions ???

fleagle1888

Henriks

Are you a mind reader or a dictator ?

I thought I was helping you , you being such a MON fan and all ;-)

3inarowCSC

Awe naw
Surely even you are not arrogant enough to think you have any bearing on my self esteem?

Is anyone else have a childish chuckle at Dudu's name?

puerile? me?

Marty T

Used to sit in Lisbonb Lions upper and really wanted the kind of seat I have now but...

To compound the situation, this guy has a very young boy with him!

In the 1960s ( yes, I go back to when Shakin Stevens was standing still)Radio One used to play 'pop' songs but often they didn't feature the 'artiste' but a studio band and session singer. The tune was more or less the same and the voice not entirely dissimilar to the original version. It was the musical equivalent of a 'B'movie. A pale imitation of the real thing. We witnessed one last night.

Paul67 - an excellent summary.You were spot -on (dread term) to mention Robson's 'modus oprandi'. As he ran up to take it I said to the wife ' he'll hit it straight down the middle as usual - hope the keeper hasn't been watching the videos' My rigorous analysis deadly as ever in its accuracy. Davie Provan expressed surprise that Robson chose that method. He has really got to stay in more and watch the footy on telly!

Watching Crosas against Motherwell (are Aalborg really much different?)it struck me that he couldn't tackle that fish supper but he did play the ball on the deck in and around the 18 yard box and the forwards lapped it up - it changed our style(?) completely. Contrast that with the missiles from Naylor and co last night.

Last word on Scott Brown - apparently it's sufficient for him simply not to be terrible to earn praise on this site. Safe 5/ 10 metre passes isn't what we paid 4.5 million for.

I'm done.

o1bhoy

you tell me after the race has run. Thanks

I also heard that this C. Dunnett stables are similar to what we are talking about with Ryan's, she has two horses running at Yarmouth today BOLD HAWK runs in the 4.40pm race (150 to 1) and SCRUFFY SKIP runs in the 5.10pm race (20 to 1), she does seem to win the big odds one here and there and Yarmouth is a bit of a home track for her. I don't have a bet but I'll be watching the outcome.

Neither Awe Naw.

Aren't we all MON fans ? And WGS Fans. And Celtic Fans.

I'm a Stein fan as well - is that OK ? Or are we just supposed to be fans of the current regime ?

Maybe we're just supposed to be fans of your supposedly witty retorts to other posters ?

Away and bore yourself mate.

hangingonmyeverywordCSC

Oneanton,

Didn´t Brazil once play with

Dunga, Kaka and DuDu in the same team?

About last night. It seems an increasing pattern is emerging with Skippy - a. run offside
b. blame you're team-mate
c. hang your petted lip
d. argue with the ref
e. fail to score
All these actions not necessarily happen in the same order but you get the jist. Drop this wee nyaff and give JVHOH and Sammy a run out. We've played with two big strikers before i.e. sutton and hartson, granted both were in a different class. but i though JVOH looked ok for the short time he came off last night alonside Samaras.
p.s. I've always questioned the logic behind giving a bumper contract to guys after 1 good season. Think Skippy beleives he is a "star" now and has nothing to prove whereas last year was a different scenario.

Paul67,
think you are being a bit harsh on Barry Robson,
the keeper was lucky to get the save with his feet and if Robson had shot to the keepers left it would probably have been saved anyway as he dived that direction.
The only criticism of the penalty is perhaps he should have aimed higher in the mddle of goal to avoid the possibility of contacting the keepers feet,apart from that it was a well struck penalty, sometimes they go in sometimes not.
I have every confidence Barry will step up to the plate if needs be in the future.
We will beat them in Denmark rest assured of that.

UEFA CUP FIRST-ROUND

LATEST SCORE:

Litex Lovech 1-1 Aston Villa

Litex Lovech 1-1 Aston Villa H.T

.

TNT....I Was watching his Horses today at Ayr....as He Has 3 in the Gold Cup....He's Just Had a 3rd @ 4/9 as l say a 'Gambling Stable'....

o1bhoy

PS When did you and Big Mick 'Split Up'....????

"If George Burley asked my opinion, I would say have no hesitation in putting him in your squad, If there are better central defenders in Scotland, I have yet to see one." - Glenn Roeder

Just looked in on the Lena Lovech game and it got me nostalgic I liked it better when Bulgarian teams had banks of rows upon rows of army personnel in the stands wearing big army overcoats and peak caps, you don't see smart dressed crowd like that anymore and barely any crowd troble.

Lena Lovech team play in a bright orange strip but they do have have a nice all-green away one but no Lena black headgear.

....Now don't get me wrong, there are decent Rangers supporters out there, and I can only feel sympathy for those fine fellows when they are constantly let down by the other 99%.......

GauddCSC

Lena Lovech was one of the'background singers' on Chuck Berry's 'My Ding-a-ling'.

So installing secret cameras in the women's toilet of his diner was not the biggest crime Chuck would commit.

Awe_Naw

Can't disagree with Mr Roeder's opinion. It's just a pity that injuries seem to follow our man around.

.

oneantonrogan @ 3:39 PM....

Re; Drunkious Manious....De Wee Half Bottle in De Sky Rocket CSC....

o1rehabsforquittersCSC

Sir Paul

Ye hit the Proverbial oan the Proverbial,kiddo.

Where is Monsieur Parrot... when ye need him?

Why was Master McGeady, a non starter?

The Plot thickens.

In the Second Place...

Herr Hinkel, is still not playing as well as advertised.. Na...Not He!

Howevvahhhhh..

He is playing as PREDICTED, instead!

Predicted?

By, whom?

I thought you would nevah, ask.

By Me... that's who!

He is simply destined, to present us with at least one Bonehead error.. in every game..

And Two... if he is feeling, generous.

THE predictable Bonehead..par NON Excellence,is when he loses the ba' in oor opponents territory,by his eager insistence, in endeavouring to nutmeg one of our Rival's, defenders.

When this happens... my Studied and Consistent Ritual ,is to leap to my feet...and aim a vicious ,but forlorn and totally ineffective... kick at the Cat.

Luckily, for me.. and the cat,in particular.. I am no bettah in making contact than he is.

However, I thoroughly recommend my action in time of stress... it seems to alleviate my consternation.

Strangely enough, Herr Hinkel, usually escapes any resultant calamitous punishment,when he commits this schoolboy error.

But,it is only a matter of time before his lucky penny,loses its lustre...it is beginnig to form a slight Patina,I can see.

The time is now about ripe, for when he makes his OTHER Bonehead..

And this..in my solid opinion.. is the most Dangerous one in his Repertoire of Faux Pas/Pases(?)..

It is when he is found guilty of unsuitably covering his alotted opponent, and allows a simple cross into the box, to become frought with terror.

The question of the day... is therefore..

What are we gonna dae aboot this sad state o' affairs?

An old Professor of mine,had a mind to repeat this quaint aphorism.. whenever, he was confronted with a problem

The Solution is to be found in the Solution.( Whit?..ed)( It makes sense.. I checked, with Vito)

Therefore...

Droppage, is the remedy.

Now,with whom do we replace him?

I canny even begin tae tell ye.. as it seems, we are still searching High and Low, for his replacement...

Mons. Parrot?...whaur ur ye... ye ur needed.

At this cry fur help,rang forth...

Suddenly,there was a flutter o' wings, and lightly landing oan his perch. expertly,... wiz oor vulpine feathered friend.. Luigi.
Making his entrance thru the open window.

AND Of Whom, I know... you Know... too well.

"Asa Heerd yer plaintive call, Pal...and Ah hiv the solution,fur ye!" quoth,he( Quoth?..ed)( Ah use it, noo and again..it breaks the monotony)
"That is the good News...' he continued.

"The Bad noos is... Ah went an forgoat whit Ah it wiz!" he re-quothed.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

In closing...

Any of my readers who can come up with a likely CANDIDATE, as oor Right Back Replacement... should immediately, contact.. Mr. Strachan et al... Celtic Park... Glasgow by the Clyde.

Kojo.

Who favours complete Equanimity, in the face of our Team's Disappointing Display of last evening..

Hey! The other two teams in oor Category..

Also... fumbled the Ba'...

So...

We hiv it all, tae dae over agin!

"And So say all of us, Stanley!"

"I couldn't agree more, Olly"

How come there are so many Brazilians playing in places like Bulgaria and other eastern European countries, is it the immigration laws? it must be, shurely those playing for Lena Lovech are not earning that much, I mean she hasn't had a hit single in decades and done nothing since she was in that movie with Nina Hagen who I believed use to play midfield for Rearrangers and the cousins of William in the early nineties.

Cha Cha CSC

TNT

I think immigration (or work permit) laws are different in every country in Europe and it this is the reason that we in the UK can find it more difficult to recruit young talented players from Brazil, Argentina, Africa etc who haven't made the step up to international level.

.

Kojo....

G'Day Buddi....

I Got that Link you left for Me the Other thread....Muchas Muchas Thankus....

o1bhoy

Last word before I make a bolt for the door (hammer and nails at the ready...)

Listening to Surreal Radio the other night had me gurning. Some bloke, that supports the racist singing and that of child abuse, phoned up and said "...every week I hear them play the Fields of Athenrye at Parkhead... if they're allowed to sing a song about the famine, then so are we..." and the clowns that host this show nodded (I watched it on Setanta 2).

I didn't know where to start with that one.

The majority of calls defended it as banter, the rest said "well they sing about Nacho Novo"... we've given them an opportunity to return what seemed like a 200mph serve. That's disappointing.

Be done with the crap that's getting sung. Last night was a perfect example of how to generate an atmosphere singing Celtic songs only (except the booing, of course).

Mort,

I just asked a Romanian who indicated that an acceptable level of corruption plays its part. In fact i plays its part at the heart of most Romanian bureaucracy. He reckoned that Bulgaria would be pretty much the same

O1bhoy

I have never been a fan of big Mick, I was always been a fan of the God-like Caldwell.

DBBIA

A bit of a stretch saying that she was Chuck's back up singer it was more of an invited audience that were cued to sing the chorus line "My Ding-a-Ling" it is not like they got paid for it as Chuck was notoriously cheap as well as being an amateur director of the lavatory noir genre.

TNT,

Is Chuck now moonlighting as a Scottish Solicitor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7606224.stm

How about Poly Styrene,ex of Plastika Nitra and now available on a Bosman.

Has part 1 of her City and Guilds as an electrician and can play left back.

Or Souixsie Souix, not getting regular first team football at Dinamo Cottbus? Souixsie has 5 goals in 28 starts,although there are questions over her right knee.

Why so many punk popsicles turn up in central Europe is a mystery to me, but the only way the ''extensive' Celtic scouts will see them is if they turn up at Easter Rd.

i do know that Ari Up, ex-front person for the Slits, still occasionally gets a game for non-League Altrincham

hansara on September 18, 2008 4:02 PM
About last night. It seems an increasing pattern is emerging with Skippy - a. run offside
b. blame you're team-mate
c. hang your petted lip
d. argue with the ref
e. fail to score
All these actions not necessarily happen in the same order but you get the jist. Drop this wee nyaff and give JVHOH and Sammy a run out. We've played with two big strikers before i.e. sutton and hartson, granted both were in a different class. but i though JVOH looked ok for the short time he came off last night alonside Samaras.
p.s. I've always questioned the logic behind giving a bumper contract to guys after 1 good season. Think Skippy beleives he is a "star" now and has nothing to prove whereas last year was a different scenario.

Could not agree more, Skippy blames everyone else when the ball doesn't land at his feet.
Sammi-ras and Jvoh for me all the time. Will Skippy get more than 20 goals this season????
Mcdonald and Mcgeady seem to me to be resting on there laurels(Pull there fingers oot).
Has anyone else heard of Gordon and Aiden falling out????

Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo

Love your work!

FIAR

My dear,dear,dear,dear,friend..MartyT @ 3.43.

What I am about to tell you,pal..is not meant as a Put Down.. Believe me...

It is simply what I Believe In...

The older lady, was absobloomingutely ... Correctomundo.

It is Nevah anyone's Right, to interfere with the exercising of another's Right to be Wrong and Uncouth and Unfair.

In the case that you indicated...Let the obstreperous damsel... do her thing.

That... is what makes the woild go round.

Everyone, no matter how far from one's own personal attitude on the subject, at hand... has the Entitlement, to be... THEMSELVES..

After all..

Only YOU can be YOU!

You did the correct thing... You moved.

Kojo.
yer pal.. who likes ye.

.

DIBBA....

Can't believe your Not considering Wendy....No Not from Peter Pan....

o1transvisionvampCSC

One of Lene Lovich's defenders has been inspired by the sight of Carlos Cuellar to go for a big of imitation-goalkeeper defending. Clueless Five commentator seems to think this was comparable with Maradona's handball, despite the fact that that was at the other end of the pitch for a totally different outcome, like that was the only famous handball ever. I mean, Ugly Betty's right in front of you if you want an example of some ridiculous panicking handball on the line...

.

The Famine Song Has Just Got a Mention on a Late Night (1:45am) Australian Horse Racing Show....FFS....

o1bhoy

PS. There is a Horse called Ipox in the Next race....Still Nearly Choked in Ma Horlicks tho....

2-1 to Villa from the resultant penalty, in case you were wondering.

No Aiden starting. Twice.

No change in tactics when they went to 10 men.

Not even that we didn't get the win, the defending was sloppy and dangerous.

No LB, but then that's been discussed at length on these pages.

Yes, we have 3iar, but let noone on here fool themselves into thinking that it was down to stylish, attacking football. It was not.

The boos were deserved last night. And I know the dugout gnome I was booing at.

Wendy is locked in a Bobo type contract dispute with NK Siroki Brijeg.

Her exploits at sweeper meant she was offered a much improved contract [including access to a tractor with power steering] but she found herself out of favour with a new regime which was more interested in getting the wage bill down.

Wendy remains very much a firm favourite with the Ultras who follow NK SB, who will often intersperse shouts of' Ven-deez gonnae ghet ye' with volleys of sugar beet to express their displeasure with the management.

I always thought that Annabella and Wendy O' Williams could have done a job for us as a centre half pairing if we could of only pried them away from Lokomotiv Moscow but it was harder sign players from the Soviet Bloc in those days

Gaye Advert is finding life at FC Politehnica Chişinău much more to her liking after an infected weasel bite on her right thumb brought an end to her bass playing career. Playing at the apex of the 'Chisinau Christmas tree' formation that has taken Moldavian football by storm this year Gaye has 3 goals and 15 assists from only 6 starts.

I see that FC Copenhagen - who are not the Champions - of that "wee diddy" Danish league have just defeated FC Moscow 2-1 (in Moscow) in their UEFA Cup match.

Teams from the Russian* League should be hammering teams from these "wee diddy" leagues (e.g. Denmark) by 4 or 5 goals at home !

(*substitute Scotland for Russia - for effect)

fleagle1888

optimistic,

Did you really mention Brown, Donati and Larsson in the same sentence? No, but really, did you? Strrrrrreeeetchiiing it a bit there with that one:)

"It was only Motherwell".

Yip, it was only Motherwell that beat us 1-0 at Celtic Park last season. With Brown and Donati in midfield. The same Motherwell we then beat 4-1 at Fir Park one week later with Robson and Hartley in midfield. And then again 2-1 a couple of weeks later again at Fir Park with Robson and Hartley.

There are lots of "only" type teams in Scotland. Aberdeen, for instance. Hearts, for instance. Home defeats to end any cup interest last season to both of those "only" teams. Brown and Donati in central midfield for both of those games as well.

Stale, predictable, boring football for most of last season and the beginning of this season. Against "only" teams. Thank God we won the league, but there were a few stars lining up in the sky to get us there. And then we play fresh, inventive flowing football and all of a sudden it's "only" Motherwell. I take your point about Brown playing well last week, he did. And he also occasionally wandered inside, as happens in every game with midfield players.

My point, which I'm not sure you contest or not, is that the TEAM plays better when Brown is not in central midfield. If I knew why I would be in charge of a team somewhere, I can only observe the same as others. And that's what I see. Gravesen without the goals.

If I were in charge of Celtic on Sunday I would start with Robson and Crosas in the middle, with Brown wide. I would also have Balde at centre half, but maybe that's why I'm not a manager!

Enjoyed the debate, we won't convice each other though, but hopefully your ScottBrownCSC will catch on. If it does, it means he's doing the business as he should be. Until than it's you, kitalba and Gordon Strachan who have the seats with the good view - but there are lots of us who hope to join you!

Big Ro, we do have a left back. His name's Lee Naylor. The only really troublesome thing he had to deal with last night, a break by Aalborg when he was the man left back to deal with the oncoming forward, he dealt with just fine - standing off and tracking the guy back, timing his challenge, and breaking down the attack until the troops got back to help him out and clear their lines. We kept a clean sheet last night, in case you didn't notice, and Boruc wasn't exactly kept busy.

My only left-back issue is that we don't have a spare one.

Bringotheweeman 1.43pm

Your post sums up the situation perfectly.
The system stinks,
the tactics stink,
the team selection stinks.
End of.

.

The Lisbon Babes....

1-2-3-5....

Shereen (The Cat) Nanjiani....

Vanessa Paradis....Sabrina....

Lena Zavaroni....Miss Piggy....Sheena Easton.....

Siouxsie Sioux....Wendy James....Bow-Wow-Wow....Cyndie Lauper....Gwen Stefani....

o1bhoy

PS Whit a Midfeild....

GOGO do you still want the tickets?

U2_1888 on September 18, 2008 5:01 PM

I think you have read the wrong post there friendo,
I was talking about last nights game regarding Mcdonald.
But if you want to talk about scott brown wire in because i am a BIG FAN of him.

FIAR.

UNEW MIKE, I’ll see what I can find out.

DBBIA, 12:38, :-) I may be forced to borrow that.

Parkheadcumsalford, agree.

Welcome Standing Up.

Curly, good idea.

Senor Pablo Diablo, cheers. Such actions need to be opposed, not only for the self-interest type reasons Martin Bain explained to his supporters, but because they are despicable in themselves.

Bazzabhoy, total nonsense. This is the same strategy that was used when Uefa were investigating Celtic fans for singing at the fans centre in Barcelona, even though Uefa take nothing to do with events away from the stadium, as we later found out.

You could phone up the Spanish government and ask them to investigate some threat to Spain from the moon, you would receive the same polite reply.

Lazarus I disagree with a couple of your points:

The Celtic team of six years ago were eliminated from the CL qualifiers by Basel, so we can hardly use that yardstick to condemn last night’s performance.

Our football budget is several times that of Aalborg. Yet more money would have helped, but is not the most appropriate response, in fact, if I was in charge and a manager suggested as much to me, I would send him away with a few choice words.

Notwithstanding more of everything and better everything else, we will still have nights like last night, when play is poor, penalties and missed and goals are chopped off incorrectly.

Such is football.

Tojo, that sounds like a plan.

Awe Naw, I’ll get down to finances next week.

Assetmanager, thanks. I had heard Davie Provan expressed surprise at the penalty down the middle.

half n half, agree Barry was unlucky last night, but from now on keepers will stand in the middle of the goal when he is taking kicks against them. The plan needs to change.

Kojo, no arguments from me.

.

The Lisbon Lionesses (Retired Div)....

4-4-2

Mrs Sloachum....

Ena Sharples....Mildred (George)....Betty Boothroyd....The Queen Mother....

Dot Cotton....Gracie Feilds....Madge(Home & Away)....Sheena Easton....

Liz Taylor....Liza Minnelli....

o1bhoy

PS. Whit a Forward line....

Life is sweet at FC Ordabasy for Fay Fife. Playing in front of sellout crowds more than compensates for the rigours of life in a yurt on the windswept steppe.

'For sure,yeah it is a man's game out here' she says, her now fluent Kazakh carrying a hint of her native Lothian' but the supporters are great with me, they love their wee tricky wingers out here, a bit like Scotland used to be.

'I could go back for more money but when I've got the ball at my feet ,and the fullback has this look of panic in his eyes,and the whole crowd are shouting 'skin him, skin him'- not literally, UEFA put a stop to that- that's the best feeling in the world'

0-0 at home to Aab and a humiliation at home to the Huns!

there is no progression.

time for fresh thinking.

I know the board are not going to sanction the type of spending that is wished by the majority and required as has been evident this last couple of years on the playing field.

we also know that there will be no urgency in removing our manager, who has proven to be lucky but tactically inept.

therefore we will just have to accept the situation and carry on.

it is a pity.

let the people sing

Ulster-Celt

Bruce Rioch stated last night that the £26million it cost Man U to buy Berbatov,was the equivalent of 7 YEARS ,total operating budget for Allborg.

Now here is my point.

Surely we could find some players from the Scandinavian market ,within our budget.

Mr Strachan has wasted millions upon millions.

The best option for right back is Caddis.What a waste of money Hinkel,Wilson,and Doumbe are proving to be.

Let's not discuss our shortcomings at Leftback ,or the wasted millions on Graveson,Jarosik,Donati,Brown,or the Brighton bomber ,Virgo.

He has had players who like Boruc,Naka,Robbo,and Hartley, who have been successes,but the Zurawski's and the Killen's far out weight them.

P.s. JVOH ,did you not learn anything from your sending off?

Martina 'Tina' Weymouth has left her post as player-coach at NK Drava Ptuj 'by mutual consent'

Paul67

Mr Robson was also very lucky with the penalty against St Mirren

Arthur

I really think Barry Robson should be taken off penalties. What about Naka or Sami for the job?

Surely everyone in the stadium knew how he was going to take that kick last night? or was it an attempted double bluff: the keeper will think there's no way I will put another one down the middle, so ...

Taking a penalty shouldn't be difficult. Pick a corner. Hit it low and hard into said corner. Goal.

Veteran Left Back Chrissie "I've got striker in pocket" Hynde has been released by Middle of the Road Polish team Wisła Kraków she is looking for another team and doesn't mind travelling 2,000 Miles to Glasgow, Don't get me Wrong she would only be a stop gap fill-in if Naylor gets injured, and we can say to all those that are screaming for a left back it is time for you to Stop your Sobbing for if we sign her we will be the Talk of the Town. She would have like to have played for Mark Hughes team but since new owners have taken over her favourite team she says Her City is Gone.

I'll grab my coat and go back on the chain gang

About last night
Wasn't it strange that after a very decent direct, crisp forward passing, attacking performance we went back to the pass the ball around slowly from side to side for 10 minutes to allow the opposition to get themselves organised style.

Whilst Crosas is not a saviour, he plays in a style which crearly fits with others in the team and that might just be the glue to fix our stuttering team and bring the best out of the talents we have but that don't shine as they should.

I find it very puzzling that after what i thought was the way forward on Saturday the team was changed and we went backwards - more worrying is the fact that the manager watched how poor we were and changed nothing at half time - after Saturday you would have thought he would have recognised what 1st half performance was better - but then again when was the last time a half time substitution was made or a tactical one for that matter.

A lack of fight in the team last night it was the same against the Huns.
I’m not sure if it’s a motivation issue with the manager or whether we just expected to turn up and win both these games.

Aalborg were there for the taking we just needed to raise our game a bit more. SB playing in that position is not going to work and I can’t understand why we didn’t start with Crosas. That said we had a goal disallowed and missed a penalty.

Anyone else got tiny text? How do you fix it?

Anyboady who is Anyboady...

The Following is based on the Extremely Remote Possibility..

If I WERE KING...

The C.L. was meant fur...

Massimo... and ...Crossus...and McGeady... and ...Naka... and... Maloney ....and.... Caldwell..... And ....Boruc...and CADDIS.

Those Players should hiv their nameplates permanently and prominently displayed in their alloted seats of the front Pew ,whenever we are aboot tae Celebrate any Champions League Service.

Why should I say that?

Because, it seems that naebody else, wull!

I say that... because a Champions League Opponent is usually, far,far above ...the skill and comport..that we find in the opponents in...of which we are acquainted in ...

The Usual HURL and the Burl..of oor BREED AND WAATER GAMES, in which we are exposed to, in the Scottish Premier League.

Therefore...

A Champions League Game is the Perfect Back-Drop.. in which the above named players can be expected to excel..

The Pace of those games are much more pedestrian and less frantic.

Therefore, it is the place for our skilfull and clever... But, NOT ROBUST... FOOTBALLERS...where, they can do their Leisurely Thing,and take their time and ease... to build thoughtful and more penetrating attacks..which they are not allowed to do,in a Typical Domestic Confronto.

Another technique that we employ in our Local confrontations, that is entirely unsuitable to be use in a Champions League Game

Is the Big,Speculative Thump up The Park.

Fugggggggetttttttaboutit!

The EIGHT Players, that I named at the commencement of this Idealistic Submission, are the essential Cadre,to which the other Three Players ,that are missing from our complement, can be added.

Those Three missing lads..can be of the Robust and Tough Tackling Type, that any team, even in a Champions League Game, must have extant in their ranks.

Who those four may be... I have no idea.

In that case.. I shall leave their selection to the Manager.

Come what may... I believe that we must think more out of the Box...in making our Champions League Team Selections.

More Skill and less Hustle and Mindless Bustle.

Kojo.

moisy17

Mr S is a 62 minute sub man he gets this info from his own copy of great football managers almanac

backtothefuture

Tinytim, thats a yes for the tickets. Will take all 4 if you still have them?

Replied to your e-mail yesterday!

If you want to e-mail me again on gogo1967@live.co.uk i'll re send my details etc!

Thanks again

Hail Hail
Gogo

Eye of the beholder indeed.
I enjoyed the game. The result was fine.
The Danes deserved their draw, & I congratulate them on their efforts.
The greatest club on earth could have, & probably should have, got all three points. They didn't. That's life.
I still thrill to see my blessed team at the festival that is the Champions League.
NOBODY let me down.
NOBODY deserves my criticism.
We did the best we could & it was not good enough on the night.
I move on to the next game.
I am as proud of our club as I was in May '67.
I remember having to beat Dundee to be sure of avoiding relegation.
I would not condemn them then.
I certainly won't be condemning them now in these fantastic times to be a CELTIC man.
God bless the CELTIC.

Didn't think we played badly last night, there just wasn't a killer instinct (or enough urgency at times).

Strachan made a huge mistake in my opinion by playing Nakamura and leaving out Crosas, that game was screaming for a player like Crosas to pull the strings.

Nakamura hasn't been on form for many months and I wouldn't have him near the team just now - far too much faith has been shown in him. He did come into the game in the last 15 minutes but that's not good enough, particularly when you offer nothing in terms of defensive ability or work-rate. Strachan can throw all the stats he wants at it but Naka doen't win the ball in midfield or defense.

I ask all who consistenly argue that Naka does contribute enough.

Although he may not go thundering into tackles at every opportunity like others and it can be argued to little effect for example, Scott Brown and Barry Robson, there are things he does during a game that no other player at Celtic can, or appears able to do.

I give you his diagonal pass into the penalty box that was just a yard too far for Samaras and would almost certainly would have resulted in a goal. This pass eliminated about three Aalborg defenders and in my opinion was yet another piece of sublime skill by Naka.

Do you ever see Naka fail to trap the ball (something every 8 or 9 year old is taught)?

How often does he waste a pass?

How often does he miss the target with his free kicks?

I would have The Japanese Genius in my team every single time.

Paul67

What I liked about last night's display was Boruc and the central defenders building from the back.

Rather than aimlessly punt the ball forward, even in injury time, Boruc was rolling it to Caldwell or McManus who at least tried to find players by playing less than 20 yards passes to someone in midfield.

I agree the midfield and the forward players were pedestrian but the defenders and goalie played with a lot more confidence than has been the case recently.

I also agree that Aalborg can be defeated in Denmark although I would contest that Anderlecht were weaker (or at least as weak) just we were rubbish in Brussels, despite us getting a 1st-half pen and them having a guy sent off.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who is astounded of forehead by the criticism of Scott Brown today. IMHO he was Celtic's best player last night. Lets not jump on a media badwagon with him too (Gary Caldwell is crap because the media tell us he is!)

I also think we have played worse and won CL games. For example by scoring in the last minute (Shaktar) or with a penalty (Copenhagen) or a free kick (Man Utd).

There is a fine line between success and failure at CL level in my view (no matter the team - just ask Roma!).

Hi Kojo
This is a first!
Not only did I understand your last text, I even agree with it, mostly.
Well done from yer pal who usually canny be bothered trying to decipher your pearls o wisdom or whatever

Hail Hail

The blog is verging on depression today ghuys.

Reality check time.
1. Take a look at the results over the two nights. Teams very rarely get thrashed in the CL.
2. We missed a penalty & had a cracking goal chopped off. If either had went in and been counted I suspect we would be delighted today.
3. This rollercoaster has at least another 5 nights of stomach churning, nerve jangling matches to go. Let's get this moaning out of our systems and get behind the team. No more booing!!!It disnae help.

I thought we performed not bad last night. I have seen us play worse and win. They had a decent 10mins and 1 or 2 nervy breaks. Other than that we controlled the game and just never killed it off. It happens to the best.

Scott Brown deserves the criticism because he gives the ball away too easy and goes backwards and sideways with his passes, I have to agree with Dundee Perth about Naka, his second half play was excellent last night especially the last 20-25minute, he is the only Celtic player that has the vision to slice a teams defence with a pass, no one else in the team has that class.

Tallbhoy

Agree completely on Scott Brown - whilst i think we have lots more to come from him i think this season he has started far better and starting to look more like the player we bought. Slowly but surely he will get it right cause he is very good player and needs to be let loose in a system that lets him drive forward in support of the forwards.
Come on Scotty don't let your confidence be dented by the 'he cost 4m so unless he's fantastic in every game he's a waste of money' mob not to mention the media who finger point celtic players all the time.

The fundemental tactical flaw is the spacing between our players is too great.
Our centre mids lie deep to protect our backtracking centre backs rendering them impotent as a forward threat.
This allows opponents to pull their own centre mids back to clog defensive zone.Our square ball,square ball hoof tactic makes it easy on them as they have ample time to set.Likewise our other alternative of give ball to Aiden is predictable as they just force him inside to a clogged middle.
Our forwards are always outnumbered as there is no midfield support.
Our centre mids are in a perpetual dilemma of cover huge distance to support forwards or stay deep in preventive mode.They often get caught in no mans land as their task is impossible.
Crosas on Sunday linked the defense with forwards with quick forward passes reducing opponents time and comfort against our attacks.In bridging gap he allowed Brown and Robson to get forward and support attackers.
The only reason we seem to need a purely defensive mid is to bridge a gap that our own centre backs create.
If our team was more cohesive as a unit then 4-4-2 would be fine as our centre mids could be defensibly responsible and support the attack without having an impossibly huge area to cover.

sorry bhoys/ghirls too pissed to blog anything of merit..

whats new ;00)

only thing i can say is hail hail and keep the faith..

Mrs Lanarkcelt overheard people at the BBC saying they were expecting a protest at the BBC from Rangers fans on Saturday. Anyone know what this is about? Surely not the way in which their good name has been slurred by the broadcast of footage of the Famine Song with subtitles?

Kojo @ 6.01

You have hit the nail on the head. Didn't think the 'tic played particularly badly last night but I believe your points are sound.
I think we need to choose players who can control the ball with their first touch rather than after a couple of goes and, in an ideal world, pass the ball with either foot. I think that in the CL, every second is vital if you are to keep the ball and create chances and the way to give yourself time is to have good control so that you can make your pass before you and your intended recipient are closed down.
I think we can get a result against AB away from home, so a three points out of four against Villareal will help our cause no end.

I read STV teletext earlier and saw a story about the sectarian issue which, it seems, will be cracked down upon "due to the recent attacks on OF players and the Rangers supporters chanting about the Irish potato famine".

I was under the impression that attacks had been carried out on Celtic players and staff. Was there an assault on a Rangesr player recently that I missed?
I tried to contact STV by phone to complain but no-one is home to take the call. Anyone have an e-mail or postal address to contact them with my complaint?

ggh

fan-a-tic

Spot on, our problems won't be solved until we inject some pace and brains into the back.

Forgot to say a big well done to Gary Caldwell. I thought he was our best player again last night.

ggh

.

Once a Bhoy....

Here Here....

Hail Hail....

Long and Winding Road....de de....

o1beatleCSC

ggh 6:35

Your paragraph starting from "I think we need...." and ending with ".....recipient closed down"

Exactly my sentiments as to why Naka should be played in every Champions League fixture.

Celtic invest heavily in transfer window?

Chris ;-)

fan-a-tic
I agree

sub

is that half full or half empty;)

I just wish I had the knowledge, experience, tactical know-how & strategic genius of some of my fellow posters.
We are truly blessed to have this amount of managerial expertise at our disposal.
Me ?
I am a simple lover & follower of CELTIC.

I notice the caddis debate is gathering momentum.

It does appear similar to the Bobo debate last season. A debate that was silenced when Bobo actually made the starting 11 and reminded us that , like school, if enough time passes by you only remember the good bits.

Caddis does indeed look a fine prospect, but from limited viewing of him in competitive action, I wouldn’t agree he is the answer to our right back problems at this stage of his development..

Give the guy a chance to grow into the team.

Kilbowie Kelt
Me too,,,,,
keep the faith

Kilbowie

It's nice to be appreciated thank you

and with that I am outta here

Good night all

Mon the Hoops

IT ... IT ... IT

So I now have access to the all new CQN on my laptop, BlackBerry browser and Opera Mini ... but still not on my PC.

I need some help here - while the blog was having some problems a while back a poster recommended adding the URL to a system file. That did the trick at the time, but I now have a feeling it is the problem.

Does anyone recall exactly which file we were recommended to edit?? If I knew I could remove the entry and maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright again!

Pros

Caldwell - always tries to find a pass, defended well and shows good leadership qualities

Brown - when the pressure was on he stepped up and made a number of good runs, was more dynamic than normal but will never shine until the midfield is sorted out tactically

Samaras - Excellent game I thought, holds the ball up well when needed, can control, pass, shoot, head, dribble and run which is at least 2 things more than either McDonald or JVOH can do.

Cons

McManus - insists on kicking the ball out of the park for a by-kick when under any amount of pressure

Nakamura - we needed pace down the wings and that is something he just doesn't have, sure he can thread clever passes through every now and then but we needed to put that team under continuous pressure and stretch them IMO shouldn't have played.

Hinkel - you can tell there's a decent player in there somewhere but I don't know if he'll ever find it again.

Naylor - tries hard...

McDonald - laboured and ineffective performance.

My dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,friend... Patsean

Thank you, compadre.. I guess that I got one right... for a change!

Huh?

Well, even a broken clock is right,Twice a day( Should that no be Wance?..ed)( Yer right,pal.. ye kin only be evah "right" Wance...on the same subject...efter that ..the woid "right" is redundant.)

Anyhow,be that as it may, or no may...it matters not..in the great scheme of things,I find...don't you?

In you,palomine... I have found WAN, Kindred Spirit, at least oan that ultimate opinion of mine.

Which, is Wan Hundred Per Cent Bettah, than the usual number of agreements that I usually receive, for one of my studious efforts.

So.. Thanks Again,palomine...

If there is anything ye need... jist ask..

There is nevah any thing wrong in the "asking"... it is always the
"Getting"..where the dubiety in a positive answer, is the thickest.

Kojo.
yer pal....who likes ye, already

If the maxim whats best for Celtic were applied would

Hinkel be in the team ahead of Caddis ?

Cause he cost £2.5m ?

McManus be in the team ahead of Looovens?

Cause he's the Captain and harder to drop ?

If Brown had cost the same as Paddy McCourt would he be a regular ?

McDonald starting ahead of McGeady when clearly not fit ?

Crosas is clearly an orchestrator,why was he not in the team?.

Alborg were what i expected organised disciplined, fit.

They had a second choice right back so why was Aiden not up against him from the start.

Maloney should have been in the overweight unsharp Scot Mcdonald berth but off the front.

Gordon Strachan is making the wrong decisions.

Yet again the anti Scott Brown bandwagon continues, (apparently he's a hun you know and he really wants to play for them)

The mistake the manager is making is not in playing him, but in playing him out of position.

Scott Brown was a dynamic exciting box to box midfielder when he played at Hibs. He is not a holding player. Why has he played better under George Burley for Scotland ? (back to the old line, he disnae try for us cos he's a hun)

Last season we stumbled upon a central midfield partnership that won 7 games in a row, and was the basis upon which our historic title was won. This was forced on the manager. Nevertheless it was obvious this partnership was neither talented enough nor young, fit and mobile enough for an attempt on the Champions League.

On Saturday we appeared to stumble upon a good midfield team, we passed and moved, we actually enjoyed watching it. Ok the team tired in the 2nd half but that can be worked on.

Gordon Strachan was an extremely talented midfielder, yet he can't appear to either spot one or allow one to play to the best of his abilities. Jarosik , Gravesen, Hartley , Brown and Robson, all better players at other clubs. Add to that Sno, Donati, Crosas . Surely there is a unit in there that can function together.

Our midfield is the problem. The most accurate quote I have read on here today was "overcoached and undermanaged" That sums up our current team.

Terry O,Neill
Don,t agree with all of your post but your last sentence has resonance.

Donati,Keane,Petrov,Jarosik,Graveson,Sno,Lennon,Hartley,Robson,Crosas,Brown good players struggling in an impossible system??

Hi Bhoys and Ghirls:

Got some bads news today got to go on a 3 day business trip the day before Villareal game on 30th Sept. and it is no where near Spain.

May have a couple of Tickets for the Match, would there be any takers if I need to sell them?

Hail Hail!

my dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,friend.. TerryO

I am deelighted to read, that you and I are in concurrance on most of this one.

Not the Part about any criticism of our esteem Manager,though..

He is, as far as I am concerned, way,way, above any criticism

One day, when the proper Muse is visiting me... I shall explain myself properly, viz a viz, that statement concerning my high regard for Mr. Strachan.

Incidentally.. to publish my thoughts, on the performance that Celtic turned in last evening...

As I have said, elsewhere.. I shalll repeat..

I am not displeased with our performance, muchly, muchly.

The disappointing result of our efforts in such.. has been..

Fortunately ...My Distress and Upset.. has been EXTREMELY WELL MITIGATED... by the equally, to their fan base.. most disappointing performance by Manchester United..who also shared the spoils, in their own conflagration with the Spaniards.

Bottom line..

All Four Teams are now once more back to square one.

Which, in my Book...

I can live with.

Kojo.
yer pal...who ayeways his time fur you.

Another thing Maloney and Samaras had an instant alchemy in their first (brought by circumstance rather than judgement)game together.

That partnership should have been persevered with Gordon Strachan as Paul pointed out altered it against Rangers with Maloney playing as an out an out striker a move than didnt work.

The goal against Falkirk - Shaun coming from midfield threaded a perfectly weighted pass into Samaras who duly buried it.

That type of play should have been fostered, that's were Shaun is at his best. Remember his goal against Klos coming from a similar deep lying start.

He was wasted on the wing last night,Aiden was the man for the job on the wing Shaun coming from midfield would have been far more effective than Scot Mcdonald.

Gordon Strachan is not getting the best out of these players.

Terry

Not so sure about that. a 4-5- 1 with Maloney replacing McDonald in a midfield role against 4-1-4-1.

A 3-5-2 is the way to break down a 4-1-4-1, playing 2 wide players who must have the discipline to stick to the wings leaving room for breaking midfield players. The key to this formation IMO is a target man centre. We don’t have the personnel to adopt this formation,

I don’t think the personnel deployed last night kept there shape at all well with Samaras in particular roving all over the place.

We did make it east for the Danes, who were extremely well organised.

opTIMisTIC,

my post was an ongoing (but lazy) dialague with optimistic little soldier, not your goodself.

Laziness abounds when typing long names CSC......

cardiffbhoy

I'm not sure I would agree with you or others who mention this "playing out of position" mantra. With the exception of goalkeepers, footballers should not be one-trick ponies. They should be able to adapt to various positions. Sure, they may have favoured positions but these are well payed professionals who have to play where they are put. The only players on our team who seem to have had this drilled into them is Naka and Aiden. These two can play either side and often (though not often enough) switch. They also can move inside when attacking. Though not the best at tackling, Naka does his bit to disrupt opponents moving on our defence. Aiden has come on in leaps and bounds in his defensive duties too.
A simple criteria, at least in my mind, when checking out new players is to see if they are comfortable with both feet. If not then move to the next player in our sights.
To illustrate, this is like, say, a computer programmer who can only use one finger to type...technically he may be brilliant but useless and slow, when compared to a bi-dexterous techie.
I would always think that the favoured position is the best place for a player to be but they must be flexible.
Again, in my mind, all players should be able to get back and defend. I have seen Sammi do this many times...it may not be pretty but it can be pretty effective. I saw Brown help out Naylor yesterday...the player got past Scott but at least he held him up for long enough for our real defenders to

Hail Hail

smelltheglove.

I actually agree with your point that he isn't the answer to our right back problems.He is just the best of an ordinary bunch.

smelltheglove numbers shmumbers ah dont dont know how to descibe the formation numerically, its not 451.

Maloney for the most part would float just off the front and when they had possession drop back,and as happens when a ball breaks in midfield he has the drive to carry it.

The way he played in the Falkirk game if you have a formation for that then thats how i want Celtic to play.

For me only Shaun an Aiden in the present set up have the ability to lift the pace of our atttack.

Paul67

Any truth in the rumour that Aiden and Strachan have barely spoken to each other since the Old Firm defeat.

Sorry...for some reason some paragraphs don't fully get posted. May well be just me, though.

The last line should've said"...long enough for our defenders to get back into position"

Hail Hail

Kilbowie Kelt @ 6.42.

Well said.

I too am just a lover of Celtic, the players,(good or bad), the team and the club.

The players on the park are all called Martin Brennan, they are all 66 years old and were all born in Mossend.

They play out my dream, always have and always will.

I `will never be critical of any player who wears the Green and White.

As for my ability, it would be more in tune with the ability shown by the great, WayneO BiggingO.

Talking about Wayne and THAT ERA, I well remember just how poor my eleven namesakes were at that time.

Our supporters were so charged up they actually THREW MARS BARS,(SOME ALREADY EATEN INTO) at our board of directors.

JOHN REID BEWARE THE MARS BARS,

Ah, the memories,

LONG LIVE MY CELTIC.

Martin.

Re-earlier post anybody interested Villareal away tickets?

Hail Hail!

My dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,friend ... TerryO and others of like mind..

Do not be too quick to put last night's disappointing result on the head of the Manager..

I believe that Mr.Strachan had picked a team, which was not at all to my preference..and it seems to several others preferences into the bargain..

Howevaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Those same personnel who Mr.Strachan had selected, was very capable of achieving a winning result.

The Match result, hinged on two most important pieces of hardware..

Th MISSED PENALTY.( To miss a Penalty at any time, is inexcuseable..and on such an Important Game's Outcome resting on the success of same...makes it doubly inexcuseable.

The Other Important piece of the same Hardware,was the

Chalked off.. Perfectly, perfectly legitimate Goal.

Do I really, have to continue in this vein?

All things being equal... it comes back to my boring to some battle cry.

Blame the Players for the Result...

It was NOT THE BLAME OF THE MANAGER..

Blame.. in particular..

The Dundee Bariton for his appalling schoolboy effort.

Blame the incompetent decision of the Linesman/Referee.. for the loss of a Perfectly god strike.

Och.. wihts the use..

Ah still say.. Mr. Strachan is without sin... in this wan, fellahs..

Kojo.
Yer pal..who ayeways seems to see things in a different Light, than maist...It must be these darned New Fangled Fluorescent Bulbs, that Mabel has insisted in getting pit in, in the office,tae stave oaf the dreaded Global Warming!

Is there a sausage fly in the Mars bar?

PS Toyah Wilcox has been freed by athletico WIGtownski. The two footed versatile midfielder said she enjoyed her time in the Arctic Circle but with the arrival of new manager Sting aka the Face, she felt she was being frozen out of the team.

HeyJudeTheObscure.csc

Personally I'd take us bumped out of europe this year for an eeksy peeksy toe to toe with wattie's wan...kestrians...

There was wee point in the first half when our visitors settled, our captain flapped and our midfield got very distant from each other and I thought - either they steal a goal or this has 0-0 all over it.

We play with wingers - they double up - we don't support or offer options to said wingers enough or fast enough - play breaks down - starts again - the how to beat/frustrate Celtic cycle...

Skippy is still facing away from goal - so is Jan - not so Shaun or Samaras...

these cryptic clues about players who may or may not be available for free transfer are "doin' ma heid in" .....the transfer window has long closed we will have to support the team we have ,,,,perhaps Loovens, Donati, Hutchinson, Mizuno may get a chance to play in the CIS cup game next tuesday which is only 48 hours after SPL sunday against Kilmarnock...interesting times and permutations ahead ?

Lennybhoy

I am travelling to Villareal and am waiting to hear confirmation on tickets, should know for sure by tomorrow so will be on here over the weekend if you are still left with them

I see the Broon apologists are out again tonight.

No redeeming features,

cannot control a ball
cannot tackle
cannot shoot
cannot win anything in the air
cannot pass the ball

What system fits this guy ?

Notafanofstan

Your bang on.

U2 1888,

You're a good man (or woman).

I happen to think it's better with Brown in the team, and that even with a few glitches he's worth persevering with. Here's hoping Crosas and Brown get a run out and see what they can strike up between them.

Maybe one day we'll all shufty up and let you side beside us in the good seats!

stoir ma chroi and ulysses mcghee

Both of you have mentioned that you would prefer if we were knocked out of Europe.
I have been thinking about this myself. If we are not to get to the last 16 then I would prefer not to waste our time in the Eufa Cup. I know there would be bragging rights, some (though not much) money and that darn coefficient but I would think it would be much more beneficial to the club to be able to win the SPL and get straight through to the CL again next season.
Heresy, probably, but talking long term the SPL is much more important the a few rounds of the EC.

Hail Hail

Kojo yir a hunner per cent right had Robson scored and the chaulked aff stood then then ah would be a lot less critical,its always been so, victory covers all.

By Eufa Cup I meant UEFA Cup, d'oh

Hail Hail

unew mike

I thought they were just nonsense involving female punk / new wave singers and made up football teams in a Reeves and Mortimer stylee.

Mine was.

Anyway, how is the Tyneside No1?
I used to go to the Tyneside Irish Centre to watch games until i moved back to Scotland last year.

Had my season ticket but lived in Morpeth and was able to get the first train up on a sat morning, so I never travelled on the bus.

It was a great night in there the night of the Boavista game!

Pggtips2,

I take it you missed all the punts in the first half from our centre halves?

Kojo,

I do agree about the players be able to beat Aallborg, However GS reverted back to his old system last night and that was to blame. Saturday he played a different system and got his rewards. This tinkering is doing know good at all.

He should have went with the team and system that done the business against Motherwell. I would have Aiden on for MacDonald instead as well. That boy needs a good preverbal kick up the backside. His attitude is all wrong and is a stone over weight. If i were GS i would send him to Mr Dupont for circuit training.

Gordon goes on about how the need to be able to keep posseion and play intelligent passes in these games as the key yet the player who looks good at doing this is left on the b ench for the whole of game? Bad!!

If GS can drop McGeady(although i would have went with him last night) who in all honesty can't really complain as he hasn't really started this season yet, then he can drop McManus. Gordon's resistance to this is nothing short of stupidity.

dublinbhoy

i appreciate what you are saying. what i am trying to say is that we don't seem to be playing our current players in a system that suits them best. whilst I agree that a good player can play anywhere, some players are best suited to certain positions or certain systems. on saturday with scott brown wide right and crosas and robson in the middle we looked to have balance, energy and composure in the middle of the pitch. yet when we replace crosas with naka, an undoubtedly gifted and perhaps more accomplished player, the midfield looked weaker.

we seem to buy players based on certain strengths and then try to fit them into roles which they dont appear to be suited to. paul hartley is another example of this, a box to box goalscoring midfielder at hearts, he is now being turned in to the poor man's neil lennon. why did we not go the extra £1m and buy Kevin Thomson who is a very good holding midfielder ?Or why not use the players we have who are suited to that role.

Notafanofbrown,

Eh... don't get me started. He seemed to be well able to control a ball last night. I saw him shoot, or else the ball cannoned off the grass, against his foot and into the net. I most definitely saw him tackle (without fouling unlike someone else in our team) and set up attacks. And I can assure you he passed the ball, probably better than Maloney and definitely better than Robson and McDonald. He's not the best at heading, but neither was Beckham (yes U2 1888, I mentioned Beckham and Brown in the same sentence!)...

Easy target. That's a stick-on.

I left the stadium thoroughly frustrated last night but on reflection we had enough chances to win the match. The glaring problem for me in a lot of home games is our pedantic approach to the first 45mins. Whatever happened to hitting them hard and often early? I'm not advocating it against every team that we come up against in the CL but I felt before the game started that the Danes would be there for the taking going by their recent form and nothing changed my opinion after watching them for 90mins.

So again, why didn't we go for the jugular right from the off? The way we started the second half is how we should be starting the match.

I was hoping the team that started against Motherwell would be given at least 45mins to show us what they could do. It's too early in the season to talk about rotation and players needing a rest.

Once Aalborg are down to 10 men and we still have a sub left why are we still playing with four across the back?

And finally, and I'm wearing my flak jacket for this one... watching the games, Stephen McManus makes me very nervous.

cardiffbhoy

I agree, the system is the important thing, certainly with a squad Celtic has...and (imho) probably more important than who actually plays in the system. We have the players who are good enough and, in most of the forward positions, more than one player. We should be able to interchange players within the system.
Our problem is that the system changes every week.
To me our biggest problem is losing possession. We give the ball away way too easily. Artur used to drive me nuts booting the ball for our forward to battle against the oppositions defenders and central midfielders. The odds of our forwards winning the ball is very low. Thankfully, Artur was not doing this much yesterday. While we have possession they can not score and we have the upper hand.

Hail Hail

My dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,dear,friend... TerryO

Thanks for that yin,palomine.

Ye ur a Big Man.

Look, I nevah have played the game... I am no prood o' it..

Nevahtheless...

I know a Great Soccer Manager, when Ah see wan..

F'rinstance..

I knew that Jock Stein, wiz a Great Manager..
I knew that Martin wiz, a Great Manager..

And I know that Gordon Strachan, IS... a Great Manager.

And How, wi' ma extremely Limited Soccer Nous, and only armed wi' ma extensive... Ten Pin Bowling Nous.... did/do AH know that?

The Answer is in the Answer!( whit?... sounds like Greek tae me...ed)( That's because it IS.. sucker.. It is an auld Greek Proverb.)

Okay,pal... I wull gie ye... the answer within the answer.

Because, every one o' the above named, WON ...Prizes .. and Leagues ...and Trophies..and NO, in a WAN AFF... but, in Multiples.

Ergo...

I stand by, Mr.Strachan... as the Greatest Manager tae come alang, since... well....

Martin O'Neill!

Makes sense tae me!

Kojo.
yer pal..who likes ye aloat.

Last night I seriously cosidered whether I wanted to watch Celtic again with Gordon in charge. He is the ultimate in tinkermen - he tinkers towards success, then changes back to failure. Incredibly frustrating. He says he wants the team to play at pace, I now realise there was no qualifier as to what type of pace and snails pace also fits the description.

Gordon, if you are looking in, slick sideways passing isnt getting the goals mate.

OLS ,

Easy target because a blind man can see it .

SPL delivered in his absence.

He is hopeless, cur our losses and punt him in January.

Keep clapping but look hard enough and you can see the emporer's bare erse

Coming out from The Jock Stein last night heading along the old Jungle there were Celtic supporters singing ' CL We're having a laugh'

Chris sutton you are correct We should have gone for the jugular in this instance.Here We faced newcomers to the CL and as such they should have been bombarded.We should have started with Saturday's line up. The game was tailor made for Crosas.

Stephen Mcmanus is just a very ordinary player who should neither be our Captain nor playing with us.That's how far our standards have fallen in 5 years.

chris sutton is a legend agree with regard to storming into the opposition in the first 20mins.A second choice right back should have been put under pressure from the go another reason why i dont understand Aiden starting on the bench.

Flak jacket re McManus reckon you could wear a t shirt and youd be fine with your observation.

Guys playing poorly consistanly should not feature in a Celtic team,it demeans the jersey.

A phrase that keeps coming up is "slow passing across mid field". After going missing on Sunday's game v Motherwell it made a return last night.

Is that because of the lesson Barcelona taught us about not keeping possesion? Is it fear of playing a forward pass that rules everything or simply a lack of players of sufficient technical ability to receive and move on a ball quickly enough to prevent a defence organising?

Crossas seems to have this ability but its a lot of responsibility to place on his shoulders. Naka has it but only appeared after half time. It is something WGS needs to urgently sort out. Either play the players of the right technical ability in the right positions or remove the fear of mis directing a forward pass.

I'd rather see a forward pass go wrong than the ball going across field only to be played back to the CBs to punt upfield.

And can players check their footwear before the game starts please?

lennybhoy

You got mail??

When we repeatedly struggle to break down packed defences I wonder why very few players are prepared to shoot from distance (only Naka) too many passes as we try to walk the ball into the net....In the CL many of the top teams often break the deadlock with a superb long range strike from distance, We simply cannot rely on set pieces alone to score against villareal and manchester united if we are to make any impact in this CL group.

Dharma Bham the Tyneside Irish Centre is still the hub of celtic support down here Iain and Jack put in a great shift to keep the CSC ticking over......might we expect to see you for the Tyneside No.1 CSC 20th anniversary celebrations next march ? Details will be on the club website in the not too distant future
UNEW

Auldheid,

Agree with those comments.

With Crosas in the side passes were played with both pace and purpose. In both a physical and a mental sense.

Player for player we're far better than Aalborg but playing the game at such a slow pace gives them more than enough time to organise and repel our attacks.

I honestly can't remember the last time we came out the traps flying at home either in Europe or the SPL.

Just to emphasize my point see the cracking goal just scored by Everton's debutant Segundo Castillo

Another quick point, singing for players that are on the bench even before the first half has finished makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The team may be playing poorly but I doubt that's going to help matters.

on the McManus subject. he is a disaster waiting to happen. our central pairing win about two balls in the air pair game.

UNEW MIKE,

You have a point. In many matches we seem to have a pre-occupation with getting the ball out wide and trying to get crosses into the box. And yet when we manage this there is inevitably only one target in the middle trying to get onto said cross.

Disappointing result but there will be a few more twists and turns. Personally, I would be content with 3rd place. I don't see that this team/squad is anywhere near competing with those expected to qualify for the knockout stages. They may be capable of progressing in Uefa Cup - note last year's cup wonders, Cardiff City, Rankers and Queen of the South. If these relative minnows can reach a final, then there is no reason why the current team could nto do likewise.

I want us to qualify from the group. I kind of agree with malceye about being content with third place. It's a consolation prize.

malceye,

I agree with you that we'd have a better chance of progressing further in the UEFA cup. Hard to argue with that. But there's no guarantees. We could drop into the UEFA and go out the next round. I'd rather see us have a go at a top CL team again in the knockouts if possible. We have a young side and the more big matches they experience in the European arena then hopefully the better they'll become at dealing with those situations.

We tend to perform better in the CL against better teams.

Lazarus, I heard that too ("Champions League, we're having a laugh") from guys coming out the stairwell at the corner of the Jock Stein/North stands. I had hoped I was mishearing them.