Celtic were not the only seeds to get a bloody nose in this week’s Champions League play-off round first leg games. Lyon and Real Sociedad looked well matched before the game but Lyon’s 0-2 home defeat suggests the seeds were outclassed.
Austria Vienna were the team I wanted this round but despite indifferent domestic form they upset the odds and beat Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 in Croatia. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Schalke’s 1-1 home draw with Poak Salonika.
Our defeat was, apparently, an historic sporting occasion for a country who are only a decade or so into their relationship with the game. Kazak prime minister, Serik Akhmetov, went into the home dressing room after the game on Tuesday to congratulate Shakhter and bask in the fruits of his sports development policies, but I hear there is trepidation ahead of their trip to Glasgow.
Top Russian TV analyst, Vasily Utkin, predicted, “Celtic will solve all the problems before second game, they will learn what mistakes they did in Astana and they will show their real power. If this happens I’m pretty sure Celtic will go through.
“In the previous round Shakhter beat Albanian champions Skenderbeu 3-0 but in Albania they were down 3-0. They are the team whose emotions are very important. If Celtic start the game well at Celtic Park, with all their songs from the stands and support given by their fans, the players from Karaganda may start the game on their knees.
“Their only chance will be on the counter attack. Whether this will be productive is the question for Celtic. A goal for Shakhter would complicate Celtic’s situation.
“I see Celtic reaching the Champions League group games. They are Champions League quality. Whatever Shakhter will do they are not Champions League quality, at least not yet.”
“This… is a question for Celtic” is the key phrase. Champions League qualification is in our own hands. Beat Shakhter Karagandy by more than 2-0 at home is as good an offer as anyone will get to qualify for the Champions League.
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Podium
It’s gold!
podium
Craig Bellamy on Bt Sport saying the game v Murderwell was the worst moment in his career.
Damn
No there… HH
Bloody computer!!!
I hope so Mr Utkin
Oh Ayrshire is on the podium… of Green and White.. well done
HH
Edwardburns 5
Nearly went into shock there. I thought for a second Edward Ursus had claimed a podium place on CQN! That would have been against the rules surely.
Well that’s the size of it but based on what we’ve seen from our team will those problems be ironed out in a week?
I still say No.
I might very well become more confident with a good win this weekend and closer to Kick off but right now I don’t see it.
Hamiltontim is praying for Oscar
12:13 on 22 August, 2013
Bloody computer!!!
Are you chasing the podium :-)
gordybhoy64
Of course some of the posts were bad, the majority were not directed at fellow posters, supporters letting off steam in the main.
My point is about posters who attack other posters for holding a different viewpoint.
We slag the huns for the same thing, yet we resort to the same thing, I find that quite bizarre.
As for the football, I think we will win the game next week, I’m just not 100% confident we will qualify.
I have seen nothing so far this season that gives me the confidence that we will score three without reply.
We could well score 4 or 5 or 6, who knows, it’s all about taking the chances we make, which we are not doing so far this season, I hope we do, time will tell.
If we don’t get through, Paul will need a bigger server.
HH
micktt
12:14 on 22 August, 2013
Oh Ayrshire is on the podium… of Green and White.. well done
HH
It truly is mate, it truly is. The currants are nowhere to be seen.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy 12.14. He probably deserves it more than me. I just hope it does not go to my head and change me :)
SydneyTim you may die a Celtic supporter but be born completely neutral. I was a HiHi when I was very young.After their demise I went to a Celtic game and got the bug ,have had it ever since. Sure you have every right to be critical but once in a while come out with something positive,who would you like to see us buy? Hail Hail Hebcelt
ayrshirtim
12:18 on 22 August, 2013
micktt
12:14 on 22 August, 2013
Oh Ayrshire is on the podium… of Green and White.. well done
HH
three of us from ayrshire in the top 12, never to be seen again!
Did we ever find out why Celtic played A C Milan a week early??
anyone having problems when refreshing the page,every time I do it I am taken back to the top of the article
The Celtic View.
paul67,
I have no doubt that we can, and will beat, SK at Celtic Park
Can we do it without conceding and by scoring the 2 (minimum) required is another question I am slightly less confident about.
Could be a fantastic 90+mins ahead on Wed night. Just hope the ticket sales are going well. heard anything on the grapevine as to how they are going?
I think the team are going to need close to a full house in good voice to take us through!
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
While I believe we will prevail, comparisons with other teams results going against them has to be tempered a little.
We lost to the lowest ranking team in the CL qualifiers whose co-efficient is lower than St Johnstone’s. There’s really no comparison , IMHO , with losing to Real Sociedad or , indeed, almost anyone else.
The performance was abject by all accounts and the result pretty much speaks for itself.
The only saving grace is that it is still redeemable.
If we don’t get through it will rank amongst our most humiliating defeats – it really is that simple.
Paul 67 The oldest trick in the football book play down your chances and talk up your opponents then on the day shock them.This game should be played as though we are two goals down in a cup final.My only concern is the current group of Celtic players have not been in this position before and end the end of the first game looked a pretty sorry lot. H.H.
Firstly, I respectfully suggest that there has been an abdication of potential influence by Paul in penning another benign article. Paul you have ignored the many and varied criticisms of the players, management and PLC since Tuesday and (in particular) the criticism of yesterday’s contributors regarding what appeared to be a party line (i.e. ‘maybe brining in a player for next week isn’t such a good idea’ (or sentiment to that effect)).
This blog, as you know, sometimes faces accusations of bring the new Celtic View.
Today’s article serves only to fuel that ‘view’.
Anyway…
Tick, tock…
Aren’t these transfer windows a wonderful time to be a Tim?
Fed on the one hand by media garbage which we seem to collectively lap up (“Celtic in swoop for. X…”) and by PLC PR tripe on the other that “we are doing all (sic) we can”, “we have a number of players under consideration”, “there’s no point in bringing in players who won’t improve on what we have”, “disrespectful to the current squad” blah blah blah…
We continually and repeatedly hang on the PLC and management’s latest pronouncements which equate to nothing.
There was an analysis posted last night on this blog of Celtic’s transfer window activity over each of the recent seasons. By and large, we have been utterly pathetic.
Every season, we, as fans, even as shareholders, warn of the dangers of leaving things too late, of being held as hostages to fortune and of ultimately bringing in dross at the £2m level of useless loans. This is particularly true of our strikers in recent seasons.
We are potentially squandering our best opportunity of FIVE YEARS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL because of Lawwell and the beancounters’ short sightedness. It’s not advanced economics to demonstrate that a break even strategy is inferior to a Champions League income boost funded by modest investments early in the transfer window. The current strategy is actually doing the all important shareholders a disservice.
I still await any criticism, even constructive criticism, of this failing and unnecessarily risky strategy by Paul and those utterly supportive of the PLC board.
Celtic’s strategy has been wholly unnecessary and may yet prove a huge failure aswell as a golden opportunity squandered.
HH for the GB
g69 12.20
Are you talking about the away group game in 2007? If so it would have been because Milan were going away to play in the World Club Cup in Japan.
G69
Think Milan were playing in some World Club game near the original date.FIFA sanctioned so game moved
The Token Tim in support and praying for Wee Oscar 12:25:
I too think we will do. I fear that the defensive frailties could make it difficult. We will either get a performance ala Sporting Lisbon in 83, what a night. Or a tight scoreline like we got against Partizan Belgrade…I have faith that it will be a repeat of 83.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Glasstwothirds
Beat me to it
ST,
you been causing havoc again mate?
Ive deliberately avoided CQN the last couple days, partly because I was still a tad unhappy at the performance and wanted to cool down myself, but more so because I knew it would be meltdown on here!
Anyway hows that not so wee wean of yours now? Over 3 1/2 now? If anything like my 2 getting cheekier by the week into the bargain!
All the best mate.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Dexter
I’m pro P67 and pro CQN and Pro CFC….
However, I too was disappointed that P67 hasn’t developed and shaped what is clearly an important debate among CQN-ers in today’s article. Of course this could mean he is in posession of information or indeed just hope that matters will be resolved positively after our game next week.
It would be interesting to get his view on the signing policy that has taken us to the point of such a big gamble..
JFH
Killies 3-0 Tic
HT
3-3
FT
Clink\o/
Only just :-)
Tet.
“posters getting their digs in, but don’t have the balls to name us in person.”
Who said that? No it wasn’t ally mccoist, but you’ve just had a dig at anonymous posters who have a dig at anonymous posters.
“but yet it’s always the happy clappers who have to get their digs in.”
Can we assume that as you are having a dig at happy clappers that you are a happy clapper yourself? Ps by your own words that’s a Hun trait that you don’t have in yourself.
Can you change your moniker to the exiled holy willie?
“Beat Shakhter Karagandy by more than 2-0 at home is as good an offer as anyone will get to qualify for the Champions League.”
True.
If Lennon cannot get the lads up for this then it’s pretty damning.
Let’s smash this lot.
From last thread.
A Stor
You asked who I was referring to the other day?
Here is not the place for me to say anymore and I will not slag off another Celtic fan by name in print etc unless I think about it very carefully and justify it to myself.
I just don’t like certain attitudes etc from some—- enuff said!
PF Ayr
I can think of no reason to hang on to cash unless a certain amount of liquid cash is in some way needed for the triangle development funding– and I have no knowledge of whether that is needed or not.
However, even if it was, the best way to gather liquid cash is through Champions League participation so why not bring in the personnel who guarantee that?
Not to do that is the biggest risk of all!
Anyway– what do I know– I am just a bozo with a keyboard and I get seriously worried about my sanity when I see Blantyre Kev start to agree with me about too many Accountants!
laters
BRTH
If we are half the team we think we are then we will be going through to the next round. Who will we get I wonder!
Dexter and Cultsbhoy.
I agree – I am surprised P67 hasn’t been more critical.
OTH perhaps he’s not holding back for any reason other than it is only half time and the first leg result is irrelevant in many respects as long as we get through.
Here comes the sun and I say…..