Few things delight you and me as much as reading, discussing, or writing about Celtic signing targets. Mario this, George, that, Piero or Ko the next thing make the summer nights seem even brighter. Celtic, it seems, have great plans, but as one of my early bosses once told me, if you don’t achieve some early progress, you will not be around to see those great plans come to fruition.
We are 20 days away from facing Midtjylland in Champions League qualification. New signings from outside the UK are likely to have to isolate for around half of that time. I know what you’re thinking, Ange Postecoglou is unbelievably brilliant and can transform a sow’s ear into domestic and European success.
He may have to. Even if a goalkeeper, right back and central half arrive this afternoon, they do not have sufficient time to blend into a cohesive defensive unit. Try to imagine our much-needed corner kick defensive practice on Zoom. Or we could always just continue with things from last season….
We have seen the summer honeymoon movie before. It often ends with an unseasonably-early Halloween film in August.
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Celtic
OOOFT
Yip.
Realistically we are heading into the Midtjyland ties with the current squad.
Simple, achievable objectives?
Get them fitter.
Get them more motivated.
Wholesale tactical changes and integration of new recruits will come later.
Too much to ask if Ange can achieve some TINY improvement in transition speed in the short time we have?
Our host sounds almost shocked.
Now that Peter is almost out of the building, is it permissible again to actually look at our club with a critical eye?
It is nothing short of scandalous that we are so catastrophically unprepared for this coming tie, at this late stage.
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 30TH JUNE 2021 12:13 PM
Yep, we are where we are after 9 months wasted.
Spiteing the support in not sacking a lame duck, then 3 months faffing about on a new manager who never gave any impression of actually intending to take the job.
So long as someone tells Ange not to play CalMac at LB we should be OK.
This is a team who took points from Liverpool and Atalanta in last year’s CL group stage, incidentally.
So a back 4 of Ralston, Bitton, Welsh and Taylor. Ouch.
I fear another Artmedia Bratislava coming on
Prepare properly or prepare to fail.
Shambolic is being kind .
I want Ange to succeed. Very much
However, the time we took to appoint the new man was unacceptable.
Equally, we do not appear to have armed him adequately.
Bournemouth recently appointed an entire management team, consisting of the following:
Head coach
First team coach
Goalkeeping coach
Head of performance
First team Head analyst
Lead physical performance coach
It’s madness to believe Ange can sort our defensive frailties, improve on leigh’s fitness, sign the quantity and quality of player needed, analyse and bring through youth, all whilst winning games and trophies.
Amateurish
There seems to be no revamp or rebuild in progress. We’ve lost more people recently (players and staff) and we are likely to lose Eddy, Ajer, Ntcham, Christie, Shved and potentially Boli before a ball is kicked.
Threadbare squad. Distinct lack of quality.
Some legacy Pedro. Enjoy your last day.
My friends in Celtic,
It is right to point out our seemingly lack of preparedness. It is also right to point out our level of opposition we face in a short time.
However it is also right to point out the great display of support for our team. 48k season tickets sold to date is a magnificent achievement. Considering we have circa 17k on our waiting list it must be expectant that our full ST allocation will be sold.
Given the circumstances of the past 18 Months, this is a truly remarkable feat that nobody can decry.
HH.
That’s the sun oot!
Life’s not all bad.
squire danaher @ 9:29 am
Social Media- Triple standard self justifications:
He (my opposition) lectures his audience with a superior tone, a condescending attitude, self conceit and boredom-inducing repetition .
You (my misguided friend) tend to confuse objective and subjective opinion.
But I (Squire D) claim to give my opinion unadorned and without distortion, giving due weight to the complexity but not spelling it out in boring detail.
What is it they say about self praise ( and see through rhetorical tricks , for that matter)?
Never Mind about Sevco,if there was ever a time to go and watch the famous Glasgow Celtic is this season,so you 7 thousand supporters who are thing about renewing do it now ,no excuses unles you can’t financially
PAUL67
You’ve forgotten what Ange said at the presser.
“The club are working very hard.”
ROLLING_STONE on 30TH JUNE 2021 12:24 PM
So a back 4 of Ralston, Bitton, Welsh and Taylor. Ouch
_______
Oh for the halcyon days, when we merely needed a couple of centre backs for the qualifiers. Astounding incompetence for all at the club, except Ange and Dom.
At least the Scotland contingent will be back on Monday and will be fit.
At right back, we really only have Ralston or O’Connor as an option. Left back, Taylor seems a cert. Centre back, Ajer might still be here but is he back training? Other centre back, probably Welsh.
Midfield 3 or 4 looking better in comparison: from McGregor, Turnbull, Soro, Christie, Bitton (if not at CB). Front three: Forrest, Griffiths or Ajeti (Eddie might still be here), Johnston (if he’s ever fit).
Not great is it, but if we manage to overcome the Danes, we’re gauranteed anteed groups stage european football.
How many times do we have to watch this movie, unprepared for Europe, do we ever learn from our history
I was checking the quarantine requirements for player transfers, as this seems a new development. Below is the most recent news I can find which was published across various outlets, from a Govt update in February –
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12225758/premier-league-players-face-10-day-isolation-after-every-overseas-trip
The story relates to EPL players who have been overseas, quotes of interest –
“Players will still be allowed to train and play in matches but will have to quarantine in the same way as the general public and can only leave home when entering their elite sporting environment.”
“Players can reduce the isolation period to just five days on the provision of a negative COVID-19 test.”
“The latest guidance also removes the quarantine exemption for new signings, as well as managerial and coaching appointments.”
Anyone know if the same provisions have been applied in Scotland?
Ange says he is “a builder” – it may well take a season to construct a squad fit to challenge – realism not defeatism…..of course the Ibrox players could self-destruct as we did last season, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Remember when Manyoo won the league with kids? (“You can’t win the league with kids” A.Hansen)
Maybe it’s time to give our young uns a chance
It’s meant to be Lawwell leaving day today, but worryingly we’ve had no ‘god amongst men’ tribute from P67 to confirm it.
Celebration is on hold, but patiently waiting on it being confirmed.
Watching a poor Germany v England last night, the English fans always seem angry 😡
@ LAMBERT14 on 30TH JUNE 2021 1:07 PM
He is going to represent us on some European committee for 2 years.
Unsure how it is of benefit to us, but Peter sure gets a good deal.
We have 4 pre-season friendlies between 7th July and our opening CL tie on the 20th July. We have another friendly scheduled between the home tie and the return in Denmark on the 28th.
I cannot see too much new blood getting adequately built in between now and then , especially if we are recruitng from Japan, Oz or China, with quarantine requirements. In any case, new faces getting thrown in at the last minute has often proven to be a disaster , even for players like Van Dijk (at Karagandy).
So there might be a case for the tried and the tested and those who have been coached in preparation for this tie to be played. At least with youngsters like Ralston, Welsh and Taylor, you will have the energy to implement Ange’s game style. We still have enough talent in midfield and attack to win games so we must look to protect this back 4 with CL battle hardened players.
I think the toughest call is going to be the keeper. We keep expecting Ange to go with Barkas because of shared Greek heritage but, if this is the case, Vasilis will have to show much more courage and dominance than he has shown with us so far. Scott Bain may not be the most talented keeper but he is brave and confident and a young defence needs that.
More like a Horror film! John Kennedy on the sidelines advising Ange, Oh My Days!!!! Out of Europe in August, and finish a lucky 4th in the league, sad times indeed.
21-5-79
Advising Ange about what?
Desperately unfair on the new manager – lose this tie and the knives will be out. The fact you can’t make a silk purse from sow’s ear will be ignored by many.
Exactly!
Paul67
Nightmare on Kerrydale St ?
Football getting the blame for allowing travel to London
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57667163
BACK TO BASICS…
You need to add ‘Get them organised’ – far from signing stars and game-changers, that was what let the huns win the league – they got proper organised – and we can surely do that too!!
I agree that some of our wantaways won’t get the dream moves they seek atm. The teams that are sniffing round Kris (Norwich, Newcastle, Leverkusen) don’t have Euro commitments. No-one’s eyeing Eddie, it seems?
So, our back 4 could feature Ajer, Shaw, Jullien (a surprise early comeback pls) and Taylor.
Sheez; we may keep Ajer just to show towering Luke Shaw how to transition from a midfielder to a CB!
It’s lamentable to think our Euro prep policy mibby hinged on chicken Eddie H signing Bournemouth and other Championship wantaways.
Just for a reality check too; defensive durability generally isn’t a hallmark of Postecoglou teams.
My beads are starting to rattle.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 30TH JUNE 2021 12:43 PM
You don’t do irony, do you?
Upon reflection I think this is a prepare yourself for some Scottish buys, maturing talent at home is at a premium, can’t think of any I’d be too enthralled about. I’d take Nisbet as a punt but can he play centre half ?
Ziggydoc1
I said the exact sentence to my son last night , an angry lot.
Squire D
“You don’t do irony, do you?’
Well, I wasn’t going for irony- I was feeding back the see through nature of your decision to go ad hominem.
Now if you can find examples where I praise myself similarly, go ahead and provide them.
You sound surprised Paul, it’s exactly the same way Lawwell has ran it,gross negligence for our most lucrative competition of any season.
Amazing how accurate the Covid stats are re cases from Euro games involving Scotland, but hee haw all said about the huns rampaging through Glasgow twice, shitebags
TIMMY7_NOTED on 30TH JUNE 2021 1:50 PM
They put me in mind of another shower closer to home.