There has been a bit of revisionist nonsense expressed recently which appeared to damn the achievements of the current team by comparing them to the great Martin O’Neill side, but Martin’s team were known to struggle in qualifying on occasion.
Let the record show, four wins from four games. Three clean sheets, two of which were achieved away from home. The remainder of the tournament will present stiffer challenges but Celtic are a completely different team than the side which lost heavily in Utrecht two years ago.
This is what planned, sustainable, progress tastes like.
The Champions League proper will be difficult for Celtic to win; no fewer than 12 former European Champions battle to reach the Wembley final, but we are one of them and we’re there on merit. After a four year absence the excitement of those early Champions League nights at Celtic Park against Rosenborg, Porto and Juventus has returned to the club.
Bring it on.
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The whole Del Piero ‘will he, won’t he’ saga is, imo, beginning to unfold.
Does Neil have a coaching role in mind for Alex?
Don’t know what his command of the English language is, but his experience and CV are impressive.
If this is the case then why not?
HH!!.
Del Piero would be signed as an impact player, and given his age this would be limited to a 45 min impact player.
I would be happy to have him sign for us if this was the plan, it would still leave playing time for the younger lads who are now emerging. His experience would indeed help the team and he would love to play in front of a packed Paradise.
I can see the suits taking advantage of furthering the brand too!
gsu
Tallybhoy
14:16 on 30 August, 2012 ………….
Fair play to Pat Crerand, also when asked if he regretted leaving Celtic so soon because he would have had European Cup Medal even earlier………”Naw, I would never have got in that side ahead of Bobby”…………
Regards & Hail Hail
TheBarcaMurdoch
Kojo
I think you might need a wee trip down to Gumley’s.
The band’s Downtown rehearsal room is so jam packed with authentic Strutters that you must be running out of instruments.
Tallybhoy. Had a wry smile to myself at the furore recently over Black being booed by Scotland fans.
Short memories some peepel. It used to happen regularly to Celtic players ,notably Jinky, but I don’t recall any press outrage about it at the time.
I wish someone would give me £40,000 every week in return for 45 actual minutes of work.
Can DP win the C:L for us?
Naw!
Spend your money a bit more wisely Neil.
kdc
13:34 on 30 August, 2012
thomthethim
13:27 on
30 August, 2012
IF we got del Piero, he would give us what we need for CL games.
Guile and vision to see a pass
Step forward Tony Watt, he showed both in abundance last night
****
Tony is an 18 year old fledgling, whose form will fluctuate until he fully matures.
You seriously don’t think that he is ready to carry the creative aspect of the team,do you?
My Dear Kojo…..
What’s With All This Talk About “Del Piero & His Travellin’ Circus”…?
We’ve Already Got Oor ‘Del Piero’….And He Answers To The Name ‘Paddy McCourt’
I’d Bet Paddy Would Win A Race Over 400m/800m/5000m……And He Speaks Much Better English….
Would There Be Enough Room In The Dugout For Del Perio’s Travellin’ Entourage…?
How Would He Cope With Being Clattered By Tokely,Up At Inverness,On A Bitter February Night……?
Given That He’s Been ‘Protected’ By Referees….Since He Graduated To Long Trousers….
Hopefully,It’s All Smoke & Mirrors,Calculated To Get The Best Possible Deal For Him…From His Eventual Employers….
Could Also Serve Celtic’s Purposes By Distracting Attention From Our Real Targets / Target / PL’s Bonus….?
Yer Pal….Who Thinks Ye’ll Be Back At The Jiggin’..
Very Shortly….
Cadizzy
I always knew oor phil was a secret Guardian reader.
Greetings.
Does anybody know when that Tennents sponsorship deal ends?
So we can finally wipe the last remnants of that Sevco sh@te off our shoes for good.
Those furious Zombie leeches are hurting badly today.
RE: Hoopers goal.
Having watched the replay, specifically the angle that looks right down the 6 yard box line, Hooper is definitely in with Samaras if not behind him, making him 100% onside.
How did champagne Charlie and Alan McInally not see this in the studio?
What d’ya think guys?
Commons not in Scotland squad.
Great for us, but scientific proof Levein is an absolute baseball capped bone-headed cretin of a man.
Pat Crerand repeats the point about 12 Rangers players in Scotland squads when he was interviewed for the “Lord of the Wing” film.
12 players from a team that could only field 11 on a Saturday (excluding MIB’s) in an era, part of which was before substitutes!
*definitely in line
TUESDAY 28 AUGUST 2012 TEXT SIZE Spiers on Sport: should Celtic be prudent or more ambitious?
Spiers on Sport
Graham Spiers
The upturned tables of British football and the relative poverty of the Scottish game were never more starkly told than in the recent sale of Ki Sung-Yueng from Celtic to Swansea City.
Imagine this “little Welsh club”, as thousands of Old Firm fans might not so long ago have thought of Swansea, ambling up to Celtic and blithely offering £6m for the South Korean international.
Both humbled and grateful at the size of the largesse, Peter Lawwell, the Celtic CEO, scarcely found time to thank Ki for his three years in Glasgow in his rush to rubber-stamp the deal and see the midfielder off the premises.
Swansea City’s new financial might could make any Celtic fan (or Rangers fan) weep. Two years ago the Welsh club’s turnover was a paltry £11m, just a fifth of Celtic’s.
Today Swansea receive £35m per season just for being in the Barclays Premier League, plus the guarantee of £16m per season for two years thereafter should they be relegated.
In their reduced financial state, it is worth asking again: can anyone imagine what Lawwell and Celtic could do with such a guaranteed annual windfall?
The sale of Ki was pertinent, given that Celtic are now in the group stages of the 2012-13 Champions League. Lawwell has fashioned his club on a buy-to-sell financial model, which is nothing at all to be ashamed of.
The fact is, in players like Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal, Emilio Izaguirre, Fraser Forster and others, Celtic hope to make a profit on these playing assets rather than establish them as long-term stays.
Ki, bought for £2m in August 2009, is a classic example of the Lawwell plan. Celtic were biting Swansea’s arm off for the money. The question is, while buy-to-sell is laudable, what of Celtic’s inward investment?
On this front the strategy at Celtic Park is equally clear – loot Scandinavia for all it is worth.
In admitting that his club are after the Rosenborg midfielder, Markus Henriksen, Neil Lennon confirmed that Celtic are trying to buy a seventh player in less than three years from the Nordic countries, following the arrivals of Morten Rasmussen, Jos Hoiveld, Tomas Rogne, Mikael Lustig, Mo Bangura, on top of the sought-after – but missed – Erik Hunskelpper.
In terms of the region’s style of play, plus its low financial thresholds, Scandinavia represents a near-perfect area of prey for Celtic. Yet it hasn’t always gone smoothly.
Rasmussen and Hoiveld proved unsuccessful signings, while Bangura, who has returned to AIK Solna on loan, has looked one of the great fiascos of Celtic’s signing policy of the past decade. Having cost £2.2m, nor did the Sierra Leone striker come cheap.
All sorts of dark rumour and innuendo have followed this Bangura episode, but one thing is clear: Lennon and Celtic are ruing his purchase.
There is pressure on Celtic from supporters to invest in at least two quality players now the Champions League group stage is reached, yet Lennon himself has doubted he will see such boardroom swagger.
The Celtic manager recently stated that he remained unsure how much – if any – of the incoming Ki money he would receive.
A tranche of it will be devoted to reducing the club’s net debt of £7m, as Celtic love to do. Even modest levels of debt for recent boards have almost been viewed as a cardinal sin and, given this summer’s crash-and-burn of their great rivals, perhaps they have a point.
Moreover, while an exact figure cannot be put on it, Celtic’s current season ticket sales appear to be under 40,000 – a sinking year-on-year trend.
So while there is a cry for new players in time for the looming European adventure, the fact is that between £2m and £3m has been wiped from Celtic’s incoming season ticket revenues.
Lawwell and Celtic have much to be proud of in recent seasons, not least in eschewing the fatal recklessness of Rangers. Yet the demands on the Parkhead club to be financially emboldened remain.
There are many Celtic supporters who, notwithstanding the economic woes facing their club, want their board to be far more ambitious than it is.
Just think, within a couple of weeks of signing Del Piero will be in the same shape as sally, all those years of sports science and dietary control wasted by a single trip to gregs, do we want that on our conscience :o)
hoopeddreams
philvisreturns is a closet leftie though so deeply buried that even he doesn’t know it.
This Italian Guy..
Del Piero.. is a Luvverley Fellow..
Howevahhhh..
He is Well Past it.. He is over the Hill.
It wid be A Blunder of Biblical Proportions. fur . Us tae Even Contemplate his
Aquisition…
Na.. Pierre is No sae Daft.. Tae tak oan such an expensive.. Pensioner..
which.. Del Piero wid.. turn oota be..
Ah think~~
Na.. Pierre, Couldnae??? Wid He??
Kojo
Still, Laughin’ …
up_over_goal
14:30 on
30 August, 2012
Spot On!
gsu
Waiting an hour for a bus and then…………….
TBM
Lenny
See you?
If you sign somebody,that`s good enough for me.
Lenny
See me?
If you sign somebody,that`s good enough for me.
Gaun yersel`,son.
p>CELTIC’S Kelvin Wilson has urged the board to back Neil Lennon with funds for their first Champions League campaign in four years.
Tweet
“I think he deserves it,” said the defender (left) after the 4-0 aggregate win over Helsingborgs. “We’ve got a great squad but there are a lot of games coming up now. We are going to be playing in the league, in cups and in the Champions League. But I suppose it is a question for the manager. I don’t know what happens behind the scenes, but I think he deserves to get whatever he wants now.
“For me, the squad is strong but a few more would certainly give us a bit of depth.”
Celtic will find out tonight just who they will be up against and while Wilson would love a crack against the big guns like Barcelona, he would also relish the chance to come up against a English club.
“Barcelona are the best team in the world, but for me it would be special to come up against an English side. I think we all feel that we will be happy whoever we get because we are delighted to be there, but it would be nice to get an English side for me.”
And Wilson, who has been subject to various transfer rumours this summer, has insisted that he will be going nowhere in the next few days.
“I was never going anywhere,” he said. “I am happy here and I feel settled.”
Wilson produced one of his best displays in a Celtic shirt last night, and he has hinted that the reason for it is because there are off-field issues that have been resolved.
“There has been some things going on. People only ever see what is happening on the park but you play better on it when you are happy off it,” he said.
“I am a bit more settled now and hopefully that will be reflected in my performances.”
Henrik Larsson was 38 when he hung up his boots, Del Piero is 38 in november. Would we have taken Henke back when he was 37, for a final season?
I seem to recall many on here advocating we went for him after his wee stint at educating Rooney et al at Man U.
HH
Paul67
Whether its the manager, a player or the whole squad, infinite patience produces immediate results.
TheBarcaMole
God bless Bobby and all the other departed Celtic legends!
I know they were all watching last night – would have been proud!
HH!!
Does anyone have an idea of how soon after the draw today the dates and details of the matchdays will be decided please?
Sir Kojo @14:33….
Good To See That We Are ‘As One’….
On The Question Of Senor Del Piero….
Pinkety , Virginia….?
I know alcoholics that would rather drink water than consume that chemical laced,severe hangover Tennents p@sh anyway.
Lawwell should summon them immediately and tell them – ditch that Sevco circus,or else – get yer name off our resplendent jerseys!
Grrrrrrrrr CSC.
Tooting Tim
It depends on the Ramsden Cup draw.
Graham Spiers article is just pash based on guess work with no hard figures.
Lots of new posters about.
Hmmm…. (thumbsup)
ASonOfDan
14:42 on
30 August, 2012
You of course mean his career
Hail Hail
“Between now and tomorrow is critical for the club for the next two years.”
Philbhoy
But of course:)
Apparently a video link-up between Nyon and Parkhead Forge is being rigged as we blog…
Michael Mallon @m_g_mallon
@CelticMindedcom Champions league draw today, transfer deadline day tomorrow. Or as fans of the Rangers call it, Thursday and Friday.
Retweeted by MinceCFC
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philvisreturns
Embrace the new posters
I can remember clearly when you were the new bhoy
Hail Hail
Tooting Tim.
When the draw was made for the last round i.e Helsingborgs, on http://www.uefa.com, it stated that the dates and times for the fixtures would be available from 1330 (The draw was at 1100).
It seems reasonable to assume then, that it will be 1900 before exact fixtures are assumed.
And, no doubt Ryanair, Easyjet etc will all ‘down’ their websites around this time too….
Graham Spiers in a taxi with Rod Steiger …………..
In on the WTF…………
“I could’ve been a contender”………….
Sad……….
TBM