Malmo’s season started well. They were undefeated in their first eight games, recording wins against current league leaders, Gothenburg, and recent champions, Helsingborg, as well as a 2-2 draw at Elfsborg, but form soon slumped.
They’ve only recorded back to back wins in the league once since. Wednesday’s 3-0 over Salzburg is by some measure their best result of the season. Right now, there will be a lot of football fans in Austria wondering how on earth Salzburg are out of the Champions League. There’s a fair chance there’s just as many fans in Sweden wondering how Malmo remain in the competition, but there are clues.
Salzburg lost narrowly to Rapid Vienna days before the capitulation in Sweden, the second reversal in two league games this season. They beat a team from a regional league in the cup (0-7) but that and the 2-0 win over Malmo is the only positives in an early season full of panic.
Preseason friendlies are not to be regarded as an indication of anything, but home win over a weak-looking Southampton was the only friendly in which they avoided defeat in four attempts. At most this indicates their fitness was behind the curve.
The most telling inferences from all of these stats is that the margins between success and failure for Malmo, Salzburg, and Celtic, are tight. We could and should have beaten Maribor a year ago. Dedryck Boyata’s late goal against Qarabag transpired to be all that separated us from them. We are looking fit, and organised, but you and I both know we’ve yet to spark up front. We have a lot of work to do in the margins before the end of the month.
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Get in :-)
Yes :-) I’m H a p p y
Being a Tim
Can I get 4 in a row ?
Naw
Lucky manure at half time
Oh well awe naw, bloody blog slower than me :-)
EPL living up to the pre season hype? Aye right…. But let’s be honest what could deliver to the expectation level set by the tub thumpers at Sky?
A pair oh Roasters spoiling my fun now :-)
We need a bit more fluency in midfield and nadir needs to hit form
But i feel that nir bitton is really controlling games now and look forwards to the matches against malmo
Paul67
As being discussed on last blog
Ball retention and our passing to team mates, needs to drastically improve, and not just up front
Hail Hail
Cowiebhoy
Big lefty aint a roaster ;)
I feel the space between Nadir and our midfield was larger due to the tactics not to lose a goal, things will improve all round when we start to go for it a wee bit more but just now the tactics are working , as was pointed out not losing a goal was crucial for progress and has gained us millions already,
Cowiebhoy delighted ye got yer own seat and disappointed for those that didn’t.
offskiCSC
CHAIRBHOY on 8TH AUGUST 2015 1:21 PM:
I think RC would get to know each other later in life in a professional way, same career. However, they both hailed from St. Serf’s.
Your Cousins, a GK just like his Dad, sister Margaret? He played for Xaverian Team?
FRANNYB67 on 8TH AUGUST 2015 12:49 PM
Drank in the West End Bar years ago but only on occasion, why you ask?
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Chairbhoy from the last article
I know, that Celtic know, that there are dissaffected Celtic fans because of cheating that was proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’.
I understand those that say Celtic must be careful with what they put on record, but I also understand the protagonists for ‘Resolution 12’ and the ‘Five way agreement ‘ and why they want them to be examined, and explained in full.
You pay your money and you take your choice, I believe Celtic have lost supporters because of perceived silence and neutrality on the circumstances which caused the expiration of Rangers.
Celtic supporters having to thole football life of the new Rangers, and their status as just………. Rangers, for many is understandably unpalatible, and since their terrible shock of 2012, and the hasty exchange of said licence to the new club, SMSM have been busy rebranding in the background the notion of ‘Old Firm’ and will relaunch it between now and ‘then ‘ at every opportunity.
Having sat in CP with my family ( some now gone ) through the Tommy Burns and the many many more ‘cheated years’, I can’t assist those who profess to be somehow uber Celtic , and immune to it all, as I’m just a Blogger not a missionary.
HH
Greenpinata
The reply was considered.
Notice you didn’t say what you’d have done, if anything, had the scenario I described taken place back in 2012.
But to say ‘conditional Celtic supporters out’ is to imply that you do not want to hear the opinion of those who would find it hard to support Celtic while taking part in a rigged game, even if like me they’ve supported the Club for nearly 50 years, the nightmare nineties and all.
To try to limit free speech and opinion, as your clarion call implies you’d like to, is fascist-like, and won’t be happening on here.
Hail Hail!
COWIEBHOY on 8TH AUGUST 2015 1:28 PM
Original Roaster you are…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
LENNYBHOY @ 1:45,
“Your Cousins, a GK just like his Dad, sister Margaret? He played for Xaverian Team?
That’s the ones, his little brother a Jungle regular.
Hail Hail
CORKCELT on 8TH AUGUST 2015 12:19 PM
Your call your life M6Bhoy but Celtic are more then a Football Club to me. Tommy Burns said he was playing for a people and a cause. To me Celtic is a cause, if it was just about football I would probably agree with you but to me its not. The man will eventually let you down but the cause will never let you down.
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To me it is about football. If I am looking to belong or further a cause, I will join a political party, pressure group or a charity. To me there are far more important things happening in the world than football or Celtic for that matter. Supporting my team has given me enjoyment and enrichment over the years but it is still only a game of football. If that game of football is rigged then I’ll find something else to fill gap. I refused to be defined by the football team I support.
Good Afternoon!
For what it’s worth, here is The Clumpany’s somewhat sceptical ‘preview’ of the English Premier League season…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/tumbleweed-ahoy/
Have a great afternoon!
CHAIRBHOY on 8TH AUGUST 2015 1:54 PM
A year or two above me. His Sister was in two of my Sisters year. If memory serves they had Cousins also on Dykehead Road, the Father had a Mobile Shop. If so I knew the Son who I went to School with, think he is in U.S.A now.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
BSR
If it’s like this just now when this crops up, it’ll be something else if reality bites next season and Sevco do come up.
As you say, people have their own boundaries about what they’re prepared to accept, and I intend to stick o mine.
But the great news is that there’s still enough distance between the Cheats and ourselves to let me enjoy this year at least.
Unconditionally.
Hail! Hail!
To mine
CFC lack of action over Ogilvies reelection did it for me
Also …I’m totally scunnered at our custodians consistent failure to support the fans ….frankly , I’m still smarting at the ICT game and their lack of proper action
Pf ayr
I see you are going to Ayr races tonight
A few irish raiders over. Keatley brings 4. Corby rides, and one in the 810, Asian Wing for trainer John Feane is fancied
Beatbhoy
Indeed, it’s a lull before the storm.
HH
Congratulations on the Podium topping performance.
Ya Roaster.
Worthy of a repost I think.
Left click, sometimes we are reminded on this blog how good it is to be a Tim.
Cheers Mhate.
LEFTCLICKTIC on 8TH AUGUST 2015 1:22 PM
I wrote earlier about my Uncle John Going to his 1st game
When I asked him the score he smiled and said that the died mob had beat us 2-1 ,but he really only found that out later ,
He spent the game among Hoops supporters who were dancing and singing that much he didnt know when the goals were scored for or against and spent most of the game looking up in the crush at THE Celtic mhen knowing thats what he wanted to be when he grew up, not a train driver or a fireman but a fully grown Celtic supporter,
I later asked him if he ever regretted not marrying ,
“aye probably but thats the way it is son and the way I lived my life when i woke up in the morning after been at the pub THE Celtic were always still there ,a wummin widnae be talkin tae me :))))).
On occasion in the last few years in the midst of the skullduggery , cheating & silence, I thought if I could just switch off from THE Celtic could or would I , it was quickly followed by the realization that that option is long long gone , they are too deep rooted in my heart & marrow so it’s onward to the next game no matter the pain ,disappointment ,joy ,ecstacy whatever they give me this week,i’m in it for the long haul,
I lost my way through many things, and missed many game through making bad choices in my journey but never my love for THE Celtic.
Till later all
away tae enjoy some grandwean free time .
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Enjoy your day.
Beatbhoy,
I am sorry a toungue in cheek remark has caused you so much anxiety.
For the record, I welcome all opinions and all views provided that they are within acceptable parameters of the blog. Freedom of speech is vital to a vibrant and healthy blog as it is to society in general.
I do not think the current custodians of our club are blameless, and when they get thinks wrong they should be held to account, but I cannot see how fans can give up on our team due to events at another club, especially one only a few years old.
For many, the support of our club is the only constant. Life changes through death, divorce, jobs, location etc but the support of our club is from the cradle to the grave. Why should we let others change that?
HH.
Rubbish game of football In EPL
Some petty jealousy out there. :-)
Hail Hail, need to nip oot
Got a new wee dug coming soon, to perk wee shug up, and keep him company
So been told I’ve got a training cage and bed to buy for her before she arrives
Cage ?
It’s a dug, no a budgie!
:)
:-))
Greenpinata
Didn’t come across as tongue-in-cheek to me, but if you say that’s the spirit in which it was meant, fair enough.
And thanks for clarifying your views on those with a different opinion to your own.
The ‘head in the sand’ remark was a bit unfair, because those who see things your way do so sincerely, just as I do.
However, without the threat of supporters walking away in 2012, Sevco would have got away with the biggest scam in the history of Scottish football almost without consequence.
Those supporters have helped give us 4 years peace, and I’ll be forever grateful to them.
The threat may have to be repeated to confront the Big Lie.
Their claim to being Scotland’s most successful club, to having 54 titles, has a direct effect on our brand.
I wonder if commercial interests will force the club to demand clarification if we’re in direct competition with them next season.
Hail! Hail!
Having said that, if it’s ‘Old Firm ‘all round, any loss will probably be well covered.
Fell asleep after 10 minutes of second half of that tosh from Old Trafford, do you think Thierry Henry will be sent to wake me up and tell me what I was missing?
Paul,
I posted earlier – we are a much better team now than when we lost to Salzburg. I think we would beat them now.
Confident but not complacent for Malmo.
beatbhoy on 8th August 2015 2:49 pm
Their claim to being Scotland’s most successful club, to having 54 titles, has a direct effect on our brand. I wonder if commercial interests will force the club to demand clarification if we’re in direct competition with them next season.
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The club has had countless opportunities to challenge the Big Lie and has bottled it every time. There’s no chance they are going to do it next season if the new club gets promoted. Our club is run by gutless neo-cons. who are not only happy to sit a back of the bus but wouldn’t mind if we get stuffed into that bit of the bus where the luggage is kept.
The Utd – Spurs game was typical modern unimaginative crap.
The tacticians have turned the once beautiful game into something similar to watching paint dry.
The obsession with possession has reduced even flair players to cautious athletes.
i only get excited watching Celtic no because of our scintillating style but through my emotional attachment.
I often have epl games on in background but usually concentrate on something more exciting like scrabble instead.
The only time i give full undivided attention is when watching Celtic.
Modern football is a poor spectator sport.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE @ 1:51,
Very well said and I’m not going to disagree with any of that but sometimes things aren’t straight forward as well you know but that’s not always an excuse.
This has been a tough call for Celtic, taking the moral high ground and doing the right thing is all well and good, but from my perspective you have to look at outcomes.
Remember Peter Lawwell coming out with the AGM Rory Bremner joke and the SFA president condemning him, taking the opportunity to state the case for “old friends” or some such nonsense.
But for me the defining moment was before that, it was John Reids’ stand against us being treated as second class citizens. I loved that, we stood up to be counted, a shot right across the bows. Yet the support was divided on him, no other Club backed us nor their supporters, the press unsurprisingly turned on him, the SFA condemned him – the referees went on strike.
Total chaos because our Chairman had the audacity to say we wouldn’t be cheated anymore. Baring in mind his statements came in the wake of the worst series of honest mistakes, and referees caught red handed conspiring against Celtic.
If we had stood alone in condemning Rangers when they went bust, it would have been worse, much worse. We would have been accused of putting the boot in, only seeking self interest, sectarianism – which Charles Green pretty much accused us of anyway. The whole gambit, not to mention the threats. What about the guys who anonymously heard the tribunal into Rangers – “who are these people”. I’m not saying any of that is a reason for not doing anything – but when the Scottish Judiciary wilts under the pressure….
Well! It’s a no win for Celtic. It is a huge pity it was left to the fans of the Clubs and the likes of Mr Turnbull, when the whole of Scottish Football should have been united in condemnation of the way Rangers had went about their business. But that’s how it was.
Of course because of Peter Lawwell and Martin Bain’s had a cosy relationship, ensuring all deals and out comes were favourable to the old firm, that did put us in a difficult position.
But it didn’t buy our silence. To suggest that we stayed schtum because of what we got out of the unholy alliance was IMO wrong. That was never going to be as profitable as life without Rangers, we were always going to be better off without them.
Looking back, and I could be wrong, but I don’t think there was an upswell of opinion among the Celts that suggested we cut those ties and ensure a more equitable settlement for our fellow SPL Clubs. There was little support for JR’s position – so we did not have a platform to pontificate.
I get your point on the cheated years, I believe the Board at Celtic had a good idea what was happening and what they were up against.
Having said all that, on the new Rangers reaching the top division we should avoid any and all “partnership” arrangements. Pay no credence to the old firm spin and do all we can to change the perception of two sides of the same coin. It might not be enough for some, but I think it’s the best we’re going to do.
Hail Hail