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.
207 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- »
ZIGGYDOC1 on 30TH JUNE 2021 1:12 PM
Watching a poor Germany v England last night, the English fans always seem angry
Them and the Sevco fans have that in common.
29 year old defender and one time Celtic target, Steven Caulker, signs for Fenerbahce on a free transfer after two impressive years in Turkey.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 30TH JUNE 2021 1:56 PM
I have said to you before.
I treat this place as a football blog.
Not an academic reference library.
I do not keep records of who said what to who.
I made a comment earlier today to another contributor.
Using YOUR previously used technique towards me of asserting that some questions are a bit more complicated than a yes/no binary answer. I attempted to state my case without the usual condescension which drops out of virtually every comment you make on here.
The poster to whom the comment was directed has nit yet responded so I don’t know his response or thoughts.
I appreciated that if I had re-pasted the original comment, people may have considered it arrogant and/or precious of me. Which I wanted to avoid.
You obviously interpreted that as an ‘ad hominem’ attack. It wasn’t.
I’m reminded of the Jack Charlton story of being booked for silent insolence.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 30TH JUNE 2021 1:50 PM
Ziggydoc1
I said the exact sentence to my son last night , an angry lot.
—
I wonder which other fans they remind me of 🤔
BTW, Luke Shaw describes himself as a box to box midfielder (unless we try our usual, oh a big guy, he must be a CB).
I was actually wondering if Ralston had ever been trued at CB. He’s certainly robust enough. When I first watched him years ago in the youths, I thought he’d definitely make it. Sorry to say, it’s not turned out that way.
In a positive not, we have Hjelde who had great reviews at Ross County. Also, Etoo got good reviews playing left back at Clyde. Of course we need ready made players there now.
We just have to score more than the opposition :)) Jock Stein knew his stuff! por cierto
Sorry Paul,
Your article is on the negative side for me. If the mighty Celtic cannot beat that team then they should sell the ground for social housing.
can you imagine Mr Stein worrying about a team from Denmark, didn;t think so
SCHUMMI
I am having serious problems reading anything on here and trying to log In due to a rather LARGE PRIVACY STATEMENT appearing onscreen on most occasions.
Can someone please FIX IT ?
HH.
Squire D
“I attempted to state my case without the usual condescension which drops out of virtually every comment you make on here. ”
“You obviously interpreted that as an ‘ad hominem’ attack. It wasn’t. ”
—————————
Silly Me! How could I have leapt to that conclusion?
Aff Oot for more sun
thought Bitton was long gone , another sick note that should be hunted.
AR at centre back , my god we are scrapping the barrel.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 30TH JUNE 2021 2:25 PM
For the avoidance of doubt.
The rather LARGE PRIVACY STATEMENT and WARNING of COOKIES which is often appearing in the MIDDLE of the screen….Would be best placed in the centre of the Celtic defence…it will BLOCK anything !
LOL
HH.
Engerlund are CRAP and even Today at Wimbers the Engerlund commentators just cant help themselves about their BORING, CRAP Fitba Team.
English CHUMPS……they are the WORST in the World for wanting everyone else to love them and support them, and on most occasions during a match on TV, they will deliberately attempt to get one of their Pundits…a Johnny Foreigner LOADED questions just in order to get THAT Pundit to lavish some praise on their Dull, Boring NOT so World Class fitba Team.
They have been doing that for as long as I can remember….and funnily enough its also a TRAIT of Hun Pundits and Commentators for as long as I can remember….PLEASE say something NICE about US….Even though no one likes us and we dont care ????
CHUMPS.
HH.
With the pre-season friendlies fast approaching; I’d like to start the debate on the meaningfulness of the games early.
I am in the camp where poor fitness and shape in these games (and giving away poor goals) is a bad sign for hitting the qualifiers and start of the league running. Encouraging displays do not guarantee success but show that we should compete early season
The other camp has the view that it is all about gaining fitness and not to worry about results/performance as the coaches are planning to have the team peak at the qualifiers
I can’t say which view is correct but the reason i was so worried last summer is the teams we played in pre-season were well ahead of us on fitness and shape so where was their rustiness? I was particularly worried that our domestic rivals looks weeks ahead of us in conditioning and shape than we were in the same pre-season tourney. We took our poor form into the early weeks of the season and they went on a great run
So, I’m really hoping for a lot of energy in the friendlies and a clear and obvious shape. Not too hung up on who the personnel are due to the poor show by most last season
a couple of good wins in the friendlies will do the manager, team and supporters the world of good
hail Hail
SCHUMMI on 30TH JUNE 2021 2:18 PM
——
I know where you are coming from….and I know the Ibrox franchise beat this team 7-3 on aggregate less than two years ago. However, as a football nation, Denmark are way ahead of Scotland; they have won the Euros and are again ‘in the mix’ this year – we have never got out of any group, whether Euros, or, world.
Current circumstances say we won’t beat Midtjylland – imho.
GLENDALYSTONSILS@1.58pm
Interesting point you made re the English national football team’s fans.
I have attended many England- Scotland games at Wembley but the first time I experienced real emnity was at the Euros in ‘96. I took my son to that game and had serious concerns for our safety.
Now as someone who grew up in Glasgow in the 1950’s and 1960’s and attended virtually every Celtic- Rangers game played ( including the decades following ) I am well used to the threat of conflict and the smell of conflict.
I live round the corner from the Baker Street and Marble Arch tube stops and yesterday afternoon that unmistakable taste of trouble was in the air. Triumphalism and sense of superiority stalked the streets and the tube and was best avoided where possible.
I examined my experience on the streets yesterday afternoon and wondered if I was just a teeny bit jealous of these lads out enjoying themselves and getting to go to a large scale football match. Was it that Scotland had been knocked out. The truth is none of that was true . It was the same naked aggression wrapped up ( as the BBCs David Francey would observe as the Ibrox hordes loudly sang the Billy Boys- “ they are getting right behind their team” ) in monarchist jingoism and racism. It ought to be a celebration of everything that is good in football- a high quality spectacle and Internationalism and appreciating of the other. No chance. There was very little evidence of calming voices on TV – quite the revers, so it was not really a surprise to see the impact on the streets. Nothing like what took place in Glasgow but the same anger,superiority and bigotry on show for all to witness.Ugly!
Squire D / Quadrophenian
Cheers both.
Don’t disagree gents.
We’re not in a good place for this match.
Privately I’ve set my expectations.
And they are quite low.
Yer man Ange said it would take time to impress his style in the team/squad which is perfectly fair and I respect that. Foundations and fundamentals important to build on. However, given the covid challenges still having impact, i would have issue just this once, twice, three times in qualifiers in winning ugly. It’s not Celtic, but qualifiers before the season is still crazy. So win anyway possible 🍀
We’ve yet to kick a competitive ball, yet we’re already contemplating how to set up a patched up side. Playing players out of position.
I’m not disagreeing with any of the posts- but how the hell did we get here?
A few years of negligence?
At we won’t need t worry about the ole away goals rule like what we did against Timisoara
Aggregate 2-2
What a waste of time and money that was.
Game is a 50,000 sell out in University town of Timosoara.
Estimated 40 Celtic fans travel to the iron curtain country of Rumania.
Game kicked off at 2pm in warm sunshine.
Danny McGrain won the toss but Greek referee let the Rumanians take centre and choose ends with Celtic forced to play into a strong wind.
Roddy MacDonald and Frank McGarvey controversially sent off by an inept Greek referee.
John Clark has heated arguement with referee after the match and is banned by UEFA as a result.
Loud music played throughout the game contrary to UEFA rules.
Latchford blatantly fouled at goal but referee allows it.
Referee is accused of assaulting Frank McGarvey in the post match reception.
Celtic are fined £6000 for their experience, Clark gets a 2 year touchline ban and MacDonald and McGarvey are banned for two games (after appeal) and one game respectively.
Politechnica lost 4-1 on aggregate in the next round to West Ham United.
celticwiki @
Uncle Jimmy
I too had hoped that the club would by now have announced the re-organized structure for the footballing department.
Managers who arrive at Celtic without their own support staff struggle. If Ange has his own way of doing things then he’s depending on JK & GS to implement his ways. GS senior may be slotted in as DofF but that won’t help Ange in the dat to day. I got the impression that he worked with Japanese assistants in their league so perhaps he can carry it off, but…
Quadrophenian
I agree that he needs to concentrate on what we have & get them into the correct tactical & motivational shape to beat the Danes. There are too many variables & hurdles to overcome to integrate a new player successfully into the team before July 20.
It’s been done before – a new manager transforming a demotivated & frustrated group of players into champions.
HH
Our general anger with the bureaucrats has poisoned our relationship with the team and it’s hard not to be negative and expect the worst. In an ideal world we’d all just shut up and watch what happens, see how things turn out. None of us really know the players minds. But thinking positively we should have enough to beat the Danes by a small margin, especially if the manager can build their confidence even over this short period before the match. A couple of signings will suffice, perhaps from within Scotland or the UK which seems to suit Ange. After that there’s a bit more time to develop and think of the long-term. Ralston, Welsh and Taylor have all played against European teams before and weren’t a disaster. Maybe we should focus on getting a new striker and a goalie in for the Euro game. The rest of the team can come from what we have.
GARCIA LORCA on 30TH JUNE 2021 2:51 PM
It’s an interesting social phenomena , the increasing influence of far right nationalism which (in what is merely my opinion) is reflected in both England supporters and Sevco supporters . Not Scottish nationalism in the case of Sevco’s , obviously , but a very British nationalism with England at it’s head . Violence is never far away from that kind of mob movement .
Uncle Jimmy
I think we need to move on from how we got here for our own sanity and enjoyment next season. Everyone I wanted to move on from the club in the last few years has moved on now.
As I said to my mate beside me at CP the other night; i have nothing to moan about now! He said we’ll find something but hopefully I can be more positive in my outlook now; no matter how well we fare
French Eddie’s Leicester dream is over …..is that what fuelled the “re-signing “ rumour last week
Where we are in preparations, considering how long ago we “mutually” consented NL is pretty negligent ? It is what’s its always been a game of qualification roulette
ST TAMS on 30TH JUNE 2021 12:24 PM
I fear another Artmedia Bratislava coming on
Wouldn’t disagree with that possibility, one glimmer of hope is that they fell apart big style at the end of their league when they could have won it.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 30TH JUNE 2021 3:32 PM
——-
In what specific way has organised “far-right nationalism” demonstrably affected daily life in the UK.
Oh sure it exists, so does far-left nationalism, so does racial hatred & sectarianism, so does violence & murder.
You mention England, a country with twelve-times the population of Scotland, and yes there are thousands of English ar******* and some are nationalists; however Scotland with a population the size of Yorkshire has at least a million “blood & soil” nationalists who hate England and all things English…….is there demonstrably a million of Scotland-hating people in Yorkshire? – definitely not. Is there demonstrably a million Scotland-hating people in all of England? I think not.
We should look to clean up our own backyard with its hatred, sectarianism & hard-line nationalism – there is no main political party espousing hatred of Scotland, or, its people, in the UK.
Media awash with rumours that Griff has left. While the players are at Lennoxtown, he is posting on Instagram from a private gym wearing Scotland training kit.
He has also removed all references to Celtic from his social media accounts.
My god less than 3 weeks before a euro tie and its as you were ,same old same old . Only time I’ve seen ange is in front of a microphone , time he was off his erchie and get some players in here . As for dom think lawell is still calling the shots , 46k season books sold .nah .can’t see that.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 30TH JUNE 2021 3:24 PM
My guess is that they were unable to drop the referee a bung against West Ham
DENIABHOY on 30TH JUNE 2021 4:14 PM
Saw that, got the impression when he (Griffiths) was saying about a new deal (or extension) it was hopeful rather than a given.
Can anyone see Griffiths putting in a shift week in week out as part of a high press?
I’d hope to see us sign one finished article quickly who might at least hit the ground or tarmac early and see us make a difference, effectively………………without the need for bedding in etc etc etc…………
Sure, I know Big Changes will take time but we need to mke an early impact on this season or the huns will continue thur rampage.
Rafa Benitez the new Everton manager, so the ole Springy Vaults rumour was wide of the mark or we preferred big Ange 😂
Might need to be Ajeti and Bayo upfront.
PRESTONPANS 👍
JAMES FORREST on 30TH JUNE 2021 12:16 PM
It is nothing short of scandalous that we are so catastrophically unprepared for this coming tie, at this late stage.
Typical lawwell, dose not surprise me, How much have we lost in revenue in failure to reach Champions league group stages ? Fail to prepare prepare to fail !!!!!!
https://news.stv.tv/west-central/unpaid-work-for-man-who-hit-celtic-fan-with-baseball-bat?top
JHB on 30TH JUNE 2021 4:14 PM
My earlier post was regarding some (not to generalise) England fans appearing to be full of anger and aggression and the equivalence we see in Sevco fans even when winning . Flag waving , Nazi salutes and triumphalism/elitism all suggest that a far right influence among these fans is far more prevalent than a far left one , small indicators such as the Green brigade support for Palestine being the exception .
There are some English who hate the Scots and, arguably , an even greater proportion of Scots who hate the English , but the fans who follow England around Europe and those despoiling George Square recently seem to have a hatred which extends much further .
I do agree with you that our own back yard is a midden , badly in need of attention .