The return of the winter break to the Scottish football programme is welcome. There are a couple of physiological reasons for this. Players are never truly 100% fit during the season, they always carry knocks and scrapes. Allowing them time away from competitive action will allow minor abrasions to recover with less risk of a more significant injury.
The way a player can train during the season is also limited by impending football games. Endurance training requires lots of stamina-sapping exercise. This is possible in the early weeks of preseason but its’ simply not practical to push players’ endurance limits at the start of the week and expect them to play at the weekend. Even less taxing training is possible when a player has two games a week.
A three week break from games in January will allow training programmes to be implemented which simply would not be possible otherwise. A mid-season foundation layer of fitness can be laid down which will allow legs to appear fresher in subsequent months. This foundation layer should also prevent injuries.
Can’t believe it’s been 18 years since the League Cup final was played pre-Christmas. I’ve fond memories of the last one – against Dundee United, at Ibrox. The 90s brought us a Scottish Cup win in 1995 but that League Cup win came early in a season we believed we had a genuine title chance for the first time in years.
It felt like, and proved to be, a profound moment.
It was also our first League Cup since 1982 – the Hampden in the rain final, another great memory from a period we were so far out of the picture in Europe domestic competitions were always the ambition. For those to young to know, the Celtic end at Hampden was like a 90° ash park, with three inch wooden planks standing upright, which some decades earlier held back the ash to create long-gone steps. Good job we won.
I see Aberdeen’s inspiration, Jonny Hayes, is out for a month. As we know to our cost this season, losing your top players costs points. We’ll see how it affects Aberdeen on Friday.
Mangers Premium Seat Competition
Magners have offered us two Premium Ticket seats for the Jock Stein Stand on Saturday. To win you need to answer this question:
Which town do Celtic’s opponents on Saturday come from?
Put your answer in the SUBJECT LINE of an email to celticquicknews@gmail.com
The competition closes at 16:00 TODAY, so only a few hours to enter………..
…………. After you do so, you might want to donate a £1 to our Mary’s Meals School Kitchen Appeal, you know, to buy a child a meal for a year or so…….. You can do so here.
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Ive long advocated a 33 player squad with 3 players former each position
1st choice – best we can afford £30k/week
2nd choice – solid contender – £10k/week
3rd choice – development player 5k/week
£26m/ year.
Over the course of 2 transfer window one of the above is replaced. That should allow for cashing in and weeding out. Players coming also know they have a chance which will entice players. Review of who is 1, 2 or 3 takes place at transfer window.
That the kind of competition we need. Lots of financial and non financial incentives to improve.
Kitalba
I think Jock Stein would struggle with some modern day players. Imagine if one of the Lions had gone off in a public sulk for not getting a birthday card. Or Ronaldo’s strop when quizzed about his performances.
Big Jock was devastated at not being able to hold onto Kenny D.
What I’m basically saying is, we can’t compare our current situation with bygone days.
weeminger:
I’m saying our modern ways are not paying dividends. Not on the park and results anyway….
Ger57:
How could I possibly answer that question. Maybe you should ask another… like Henrik Larsson?
ger57:
George Connelly?
ger57:
We can compare our ambition, no?
Cultsbhoy
Great in theory.
Devt player gets £10k per week offer from down South. 1st team player gets injured. We now rely on no 2 choice and on look out for cover.
Cultsbhoy
I do agree that our buying policy seems haphazard.
In his book, Managing my Life, Alex Ferguson stressed the importance of having an age spread throughout his squad. ie don’t let a squad grow old together.
We will probably need to get rid of a few midfielders. This may mean that former favorites like Mulgrew and Forrest will be offloaded.
We do need to be careful though. I’m trying to think of all the players we shouldn’t have punted (as opposed to selling for a big profit)
Zheng Zhi, Morten Rasmussen, Berget, Watt, Beram Kayal, Niall McGinn, Darren O’Dea, Daryl Murphy, Paul Caddis
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-35603241
Re the Clumpany article linked to above, on penalty records.
This remarkable statistic was just posted on the JohnJames website:
Penalties awarded this season in the Championship:
‘Rangers’ – 12
Hibs – 3
Falkirk – 3
Dumbarton – 3
Raith Rovers – 2
Alloa – 2
Morton – 1
Q of T S – 1
Livi – 1
St. Mirren – 1
(Apologies if this is something everybody knew, or if it’s already been posted – it’s very difficult to track all the comments on all these CQN articles.)
Ger57:
We can compare our ambition, no?
Or we can question the lack there-of… would that perceptive fear be reasonable to a reasonable hard pressed, budget tight, Celtic SUPPORTER?
Or do we just SWALLOW on command?
Does anybody know if Peter Lawwell gets paid the living wage?
Families stand together, they hurt together, they struggle together, they joy together. They hold you hand and lend you a shoulder when hurt visits. And hurt visits often and with no care. We don’t profit from the ills of family members in my family. We don’t profit from their souls love.
Might be different in your family.
I have two feet, I need one pair of shoes. Would be nice if there was no holes in them.
Ask Celtic about the Living WAGE.
Margins????
Margins????
Margins????
I want to puke.
Why the caps in Celtic SUPPORTER ? Is it to emphasis a point that the current supporters lack the ambition of previous generations ? Generations who supported the team when they weren’t winning or does that ambitious Celtic supporter only start from 1965 onwards ?
I’m sure we all want the same thing from Celtic, well I hope we do although sometimes I get the impression that some want us to fall on our arse so they can say I told you so…
Nostalgia doth not a football team make.
In today’s corporate and Orwellian media controlled money environment that is.
Kit,
Hope you are well fella.
Football today is broken. Ambition is something we all aspire to but in today’s context it’s becoming tiered and we are slipping behind, finding it hard to retain our ‘worldly’ status when seaside towns in England can boast a revenue much higher than ours.
Scottish champions for the foreseeable future (which ironically is contributing to diminishing crowds), consistency in the cups against that one-off failure and a place in Europe that provides us with some prestige.
I think we are a Europa league team at the moment but are under performing. I’d love to get back to champions league group matches where we competed but that’s becoming more and more difficult (not impossible).
Ambition has to be realistic and the club has to be sustainable. The Lions era is gone, there to be cherished as nobody can take it away but football is sadly a very different place today.
West End of East End:
Mate,
the CAPITALS were to emphasise the heart of the supporter, there was no intended shelf life or space in time.
I apologise for any confusion on my part.
Nostalgia does not a football team make, neither does roll the dice….
big wavy
I know, but others are profiting from the forlorn hope of the dreamers.
I woke up but I refuse to herald or trumpet a 17 year old Norwegian our saviour.
How many duds have we laurelled only for them to turn out total fuds and never to be revisited again on CQN?
I hate to count. I won’t sleep for weeks. But if anybody care count feel free and offset their transfer fees and wages against the much vaunted an lauded VVD fees and transfer fees. Statistics can be a bitch when one address them without prejudice…. Without prejudice.
I like to think I live in the real world and in the real European world of Soccer (?) we are the new East Kilbride.
there is a continued belief from some that because we can’t compete with the EPL we either should just give up or we can’t compete with anyone.
They have a massive financial adbpvantage over us. But we have a massive financial advantage over Malmö etc. But they are better than us.
Unless we confront that underperformance no steps will be taken to resolve it. The board have told us the strategy remains the same. What even though it is patently failing?
Kitbalda – gie’s peace
Mr Pastry
Peace be with you son.
Ger57
It is only a theory but it’s a theory that has some shape / principle. I don’t understand current approach to squad. I do know that it is a concern if by Mid February nobody ( manager or fans) has a clue what our best 11 might be. Do we even know our best 16?
I think we accept dev players will get better offers in which case we punt them for profit.
I just feel we need some proper strategy.
Right now it’s fill the conveyor belt to the max and apply a hit and hope strategy.. Almost a % game that assumes the more we process the more we will develop to sell on. At a basic level that works. The minute a player signs from say St Mirren to Celtic he is worth more. However the down side is we have real confusion in the team selection. I also wonder how long you can hold on to Alan , Christie , etc if they are denied opportunity.
Gentlemen, Ladies,
I care, I care to my very marrow. If I didn’t then I would not post the fears I fear. The sorrows that might well be our tomorrow may well be our grandchildrens footballing highlights in the world of Celtic and her ‘vaunted’ family.
Not long to July Celtic.
What does July await for us?
Assuming… assuming….
BBC:
Five football fans have been arrested in connection with anti-social behaviour during Celtic’s Scottish Cup win over Stranraer.
It follows a police investigation into complaints of sectarian singing at the match at Stair Park on 10 January.
The probe also focused on flares, smoke bombs and fire crackers set off and thrown on to the pitch.
The five are due to appear at Stranraer Sheriff Court “in due course”, police said.
A further four people were arrested for football-related and public order offences on the day of the match.
Match commander Supt Steven Lowther said the behaviour of a minority on match day was “unacceptable”.
He said: “What was supposed to be an enjoyable event for all was tarnished by a group of individuals who were intent on singing sectarian songs as well as letting off smoke bombs and pyrotechnics within the crowd.
“It is evident that those involved had no concerns for either the safety of others or how their behaviour spoiled what should otherwise have been an event where the post-match discussion should have centred on football and not their antics.”
———————————————————————————-
To date how many Huns have been arrested post the Hibs game?….
I would say we are confronting that challenge by buying young Scottish talent who aren’t prone to looking to the next move to England. We now have a mix of experience and young talent who we need to get fit and gel together. Gordon, Baily, Brown, Commons, Mulgrew, Lustig, Izzy, Johansen are all late 20s early 30s combined with the young guys we’ve brought in over the past year.
Every team needs time to gel, as I posted earlier Ronny has been hit by bad injuries to key areas and I don’t think has had a chance to play his first pick 11. That’s not how instant gratification is achieved.
.
Strange but True..
Kristoffer Ajer: Translated..Kit..In a state of being gnarled (face)..(Dutch>
Summa
Summa,
Great to see you posting.
Any chance you could do the blog a favour and nip ‘roon tae the ole Kit bit and remove the ole keyboard from the oul git?
Cheers,
Eurochamps67
The old winter break where the players can rest up & recover from injuries & niggles & do some quality work on the training pitch
Or a winter break where CFC will organise 2 or 3 glamour games in a nice hot country risking errr injury mmmmm
Look it doesn’t matter if they are Celtic or Sevco supporters. if they missed behave at football matches.flares sectarian singing, it’s not if they are not warned before games,then they deserve all they get.so no sympathy from me.
TIMBHOY3 on 18TH FEBRUARY 2016 3:11 PM
Look it doesn’t matter if they are Celtic or Sevco supporters. if they missed behave at football matches.flares sectarian singing, it’s not if they are not warned before games,then they deserve all they get.so no sympathy from me.
——
Time?
For singing a song?
Right you are.
Good to see the young Saidy fella back close to 100% fitness.
if he can return to form before his injury, we will have him and the fearless Manxman flanking Sviachenko(Vicecapt) and one from Simunovic/Boyata/O’Connell going forward.
Seems a decent back four. Youthful, pacey, with further room for development.
Kit – Thanks for that. I chose to wake up genuinely excited at big Kris’s arrival and think he’ll be a star. If I’m wrong then I will have lived in hope and won’t choose to let it bring me down.
We waste too much of our hard earned income and fixing how we scout with a better hit rate is a major bugbear of mine.
Big wavy
NegAnon2 on 18th February 2016 2:04 pm
Using this lovely document
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:845414/FULLTEXT01.pdf
and some Google translate and http://xe.com/ucc
We see that in 2014 Malmo had:
Revenue: £31.7M
Wages: £8.5M
Profit: £12M (inc £1.2M transfer profit)
So on a very rough level their costs outside of wages would be in the region of £12M.
I know our total wage bill for 2014 was £37M but that was for 475 staff. Players and football administration staff made up 157 of those or roughly 1/3. Now I’m aware that 1/3 of our total wage bill (c£12M) is probably a lot less than the football wage bill and I think it’s been reported here as being more like £15M+ but given the fact that our whole structure is so much more massive than Malmo’s I’d suggest that we probable aren’t as far apart in player budget as some would think.
An Gorta Mor quiz night
We’re holding a quiz night to raise funds for a permanent memorial in Glasgow to remember those who perished, or were forced to flee, as a consequence of the Great Hunger.
It’ll be held in The Squirrel Bar near the Gallowgate on Friday 11th March with a 7pm start followed by live music.
Tickets are £5/person.
If you’re interested can you please contact me at hamiltontim88@yahoo.co.uk to secure tickets.
Kris Ajer: Even when I’m not wearing the arm band I play and behave as if I was captain.
I wouldn’t argue with him.
Timbhoy3
100% agree. No point defending the behaviour of supporters who flaunt the law, regardless of the team they support. No conspiracies her.. Move on!