It’s always dangerous to welcome news that an opponent will be without an automatic first choice player – think back to last month, when news of Leigh Griffiths’ injury broke, forcing Brendan Rodgers into playing Moussa Dembele against Newco. Well-resourced teams have strong squads, but for every Dembele waiting in the wings, there are a dozen or more Pukkis.
So while news that Borussia Monchengladbach are likely to be without striker, Raffael, winger, Thorgan Hazard and central defender, Andreas Christensen, is encouraging, it’s no more than that. It’s little more than Celtic replacing Roberts, Griffiths and Sviatchenko (three nailed-on starters at the beginning of the season) with Forrest, Dembele and Simunovic.
The absences will have no impact on Brendan Rodgers game planning, but it might play on the mind of Gladbach manager, Andre Schubert, who is dealing with the first run of sustained disappointing results since he was promoted from Gladbach reserve coach last season.
Manchester City looked vastly more accomplished than Gladbach when they met in the opening group game, so the draw City took at Celtic Park, and the manner in which they were forced to fight for it, is likely to convince Schubert that a point would be a good result for his team.
A draw would be an inconclusive result for both teams chances of finishing above the other, but a win for either team would be the most important result of the group.
Looking for tickets for the semi-final on Sunday?
Celtic sponsor, Intelligent Car Leasing, have given us a pair of tickets for the North Stand (Celtic supporters area). Tickets are all sold, if you or your auntie’s brother’s son want one, this is one of the very few ways left of getting your hands on any!
The pair will be raffled together, to enter, email the address below with the correct spelling of Monchengladbach (clue, this is not a trick question).
I’m not taking this too seriously, so all entries will be considered. Here’s the thing, though, we should be doing what we can for the Celtic Foundation on such a great occasion. While you are entering, why don’t you make a donation to YOUR Foundation here.
The last competition winner made a donation. It was a coincidence. Honest…….
Entries to competition@celticquicknews.co.uk . Competition closes at 14:00 on Thursday, winner will be informed that day. Make sure I have contact details for you, it wouldn’t be the first time someone won a CQN competition and didn’t check their email until after the event.
Good luck, and enormous thanks to Intelligent Car Leasing.
For a short period we are shipping a FREE copy of Paul John Dykes acclaimed book, The Quality Street Gang, with Andy Lynch’s autobiography, Hoops, Stars & Stripes, written with Paul. That’s two quality books for £14.99 + p&p – an absolute bargain.
Order now and the CQN Bookstore. We take delivery of Andy’s book later this week, they will be arriving with you soon thereafter.
Fill your boots before The Quality Street Gang offer ends.
272 Comments- Pages:
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kitalba on 19th October 2016 3:18 am
Haven’t seen that Blog before; I will be visiting it regularly!
Thank you.
FAC the Act
KTF
Last look at paradise until 7.30 ish as I descend into Dalmarnock
Morning all.
Looks like we are going to have some sunshine down here today. Good for the soul. Hope tonight’s match (and especially if we get a wee win) will be good for the ole soul.
BLANTYRETIM IS PRAYING FOR THE KNOX FAMILY on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 8:03 AM
A florin from my old uncle was the usual cost.
Kinda sad to hear what you say.
For the older guys.
The young Tim demographic seems to have improved.
Good morning from a dry, crisp and midgie free Fort Augustus. I can’t report the same weather that Jobo can but then that would be too hot for us to see Nessie!
Roastir Cogburn…………………
Regarding the watch-yer-car men, when I was a kid through to when I was a teenager and young adult, we used to park on David Street (just off Crownpoint Road). It was always the same guy who watched our car – a fella called Paul. Last match I was at last year I parked there again for old times’ sake and was heartened to see Paul still “watchin the cars”. I should point out that Paul must have been his 30’s when I was a kid and had probably been doing it since he was a kid. That’s what I call job security.
To everyone going to the match tonight, enjoy as much as you can – it could be a spectacular night! Hopefully you’ll all leave hoarse – or at least pony-ish. I’m not jealous at all.
And if we win…reward your car watcher generously….
Morning bhoys,
From a very dry Bowness-on-Windermere, boat day today and all the boats have a bar !
Will not even try and get a pub to show the game down here, it’s the iPad for me in my cottage:0)
Looking forward to the biggest match of the year tonight.
Well, the biggest since the Hapoel game, and far bigger than the weekend event, though I wished more of our fans thought so.
We are still 15/8 to win this with Gladbach at 13/8 and a draw at 11/4. This is as short as the odds will ever be in the 6 match CL group campaign so we better make use of them.
Personally, I think we can survive a draw but a defeat will be a huge dent in our aspirations.
It’s good to have confidence restored by the Man City game but it will take the same effort, concentration and nous to get a favourable result tonight.
Looking forward to it but work will get in the way over the next few hours.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 9:03 AM
This is our preparatory year.
A time for girding ones loins .
Any point a bonus.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
Indeed, any point is a bonus…but it’s that bit of hope and that fragment of expectation that gets the crowd going.
Let’s be realistic but no harm in a tiny bit of dreaming ;)
Morning all.
I’m guessing the excitement is setting in for most,if not all, of us.
I’ve been thinking about big games, I’ve decided to tell one of my stories, to get you in the mood,but it’s not a European game, it’s the 10 men won the league. Celtic 4 Rangers 2. Remember if we didn’t win that day, then almost certainly the Huns would have won the league. It was our last game and they had one more at home, to Patrick Thistle, a draw was good enough for them.
I was 15 at the time staying in Priesthill, the first thing I remember is that Glasgow corporation buses decided to strike that day, that caused a problem, as we would have to get a train or a ” red bus” from Nitshill, not exactly friendly territory, then a long walk from Glasgow city centre.
As you would know that wouldn’t stop two excited 15 year olds. Getting to the game and into the jungle, no worries what so ever. The game itself just magical. I’ve seen a snippet of the game and googled it in the past but without doing that, this is what I remembered from the game itself. The jungle, as usual, bouncing and in full song. The Huns scoring to go one up, Johnny being sent off for having a kick at Alex MacDonald. Half time losing 1.0, then going 2.1 up with about 15 minutes to go. The excitement was incredible, but only for a minute, they ran up and made it 2.2, seriously that was so sore, surely it couldn’t end like that, after then 10 men going in front. Of course not,Bomber Jackson scored an own goal we were 3.2 in front with about 5 mins to play, could we hold on this time, the tension was seriously unbearable, it didn’t stop us singing we are the champ, we are the champions, over and over though, then it happened Murdo picked the ball up,in the last minute, my thoughts were kick it into the fans in the Celtic end, but not Murdo’s he launched a shot right into the top corner, the place went nuts, I couldn’t touch the ground because of the crush and bit right through my lip, blood everywhere on my white t.shirt but I didn’t care, we had done it. The celebrations when the players completed a lap of honour were all a blur,but magical.
We now had to get back home, back to the city centre, no problem. On to the Nitshill train and then the fun began. A really well known, South Side,Glasgow gangster to be,was on the train. He died in 2003, but is still in the papers periodically. At the time he would be 16. Anyway word spread like wildfire that he was slashing any Celtic fans, we quickly hid our scarves, but I knew I was in trouble, S.B. knew me and knew I was a big fenian. I was pretty scared,i have to say, he entered our carriage and seen me, but amazingly burst out laughing and called me a few names saying I see someone has already sorted you, it was the blood all over my white shirt from the burst lip, he thought someone had already battered me, I mumbled words to the effect, yes I’ve already had a tanking, he moved on down the carriage laughing at me,Phew. It wasn’t done yet though, as we arrived at Nitshill, the nitzy about 20 of them,were waiting on any Priesthill bhoys. They were at the top of the stairs, we wouldn’t stand a chance,the only escape was across the tracks and over a barbed wire fence, thankfully not electrified tracks in those days, we managed it,but my trousers hands and legs were ripped to bits. I finally made it home, my mum had a fit she thought I had been fighting, trying to tell her I hadn’t was a hard task. Then I discovered the tv people had gone on strike at half time.
Nothing could take away my happiness though, the adrenaline was still pumping and 37 years later it still is.
Hail Hail
CQN Match Report is now up, it is a little late but certainly worth the wait.
http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/cqn-match-report-oh-hampden-in-the-sun-celtic-7-rangers-1/
DAVIDOPOULOS on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 9:11 AM
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
Indeed, any point is a bonus…but it’s that bit of hope and that fragment of expectation that gets the crowd going.
Let’s be realistic but no harm in a tiny bit of dreaming ;)
===================================================================
With you 100 %
I suppose I`m just doing some expectation management .
As I do with my lad.
Can`t abide their disappointment.
I`m sure you understand.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
Absolutely! Let’s not be too hard on ourselves if we only beat them 2-1 :)
Only kidding. I was doing the exact same thing before the Man City game…mostly because I can’t abide my own disappointment!!
DAVIDOPOULOS
There weren’t very many of us saw that performance coming,bud.
But what a performance!
JNP
Good wee post that thank you.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Exactly. And now that performance has got us hoping and dreaming again! Damn them.
:)
DAVIDOPOULOS
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnhmuZ27eQ
JIMMYNOTPAUL on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 9:16 AM
Loved your account.
“Adrenaline pumping” you say.
Yes. And it still does.
I was at that game.
You were 15. I was 33 and soon to enter on one of life`s great adventures.
Emigration to Australia.
5.30 am tomorrow morn.
Up with the lark . Or maybe the Cockatoo .
And another dose of the best opioid known to man .
Glasgow Celtic.
Get your fix here , lads.
CQN on tap.
I had a pretty disturbed sleep, not unusual the night prior to big games. Team selection, tactics and possible outcomes all had me tossing and turning.
It will take another monumental effort by all involved tonight for Celtic to attain 3 points but it is achievable.
Parkhead on CL nights is a special but daunting place for opposing teams, BSR’s list yesterday proves this.
There can’t be many teams in Europe with a home record like ours never mind pot 4 teams.
Believe.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Darn tootin’
DAVIDOPOULOS on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 9:40 AM
Brendan has injected hope.
And we bloody well deserve it.
Here`s hoping , my fellow Tim.
Btw, I fly up to Glasgow tomorrow morning (I know bad planning or what!) and leave on Sunday before that other game starts (good planning or what!). I would really have loved to be at CP tonight.
JNP
I was about 19 and in the Jungle that incredible night. The scenes at the end were the most emotional I had ever witnessed, and I expect will ever witness, after a football game.
I still physically smile when I uncover snippets of that night in the memory mines. It is a memory I will take to the grave, and was my greatest night as a Celtic supporter.
One footnote. From my usual position in the Jungle, if I looked up to my left, I could see the TV cameras on the gantry. I knew of the strike before the game. It was by technical staff. However the red lights on the cameras to show they were in operation were going on and off, and the cameras were being operated and panned around by the operators. The game was recorded, and is somewhere on videotape. A few weeks later I watched the very grainy black and white version in the Celtic club in London Road. A speaker before the showing apologised for the quality and “bounceyness” of the footage, but said in mitigation that the camera operators were Celtic fans, and were just as excited as everyone else.
There is a better film somewhere. The studio staff strike prevented it from being shown, but it was filmed.
Tenmenwontheleague CSC
Well done to Celtic for setting up the fan zone in George Square, a great initiative.
I suppose its the thing not to have too high hopes,but I really do have for tonight.This is not a great team.They are missing their 4 best players.They dont have any “Star players”waiting to face us tonight,like most of the teams we have faced in previous games.All they have going for them is that they are “A german team”.Maybe so,but this season,a very mediocre one.If we play as we can,we will win.Its down to us,not them.
Lets get into them from the off,no respect.
We wont have a better chance.
Morning all from a sunny but crisp South Ayrshire coast.
Will miss the game tonight due to bad planning.
Fly out of Prestwick at 2000 tonight, 15 mins after kick-off, and land in Pisa at 2240, CP time, about an hour after the end of the match.
I will be a bag of nerves.
Three points imperative tonight, and I am fairly confident Celtic can/will win even by a single goal.
HH!!
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 19th October 2016 9:50 am
DAVIDOPOULOS
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnhmuZ27eQ
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Brilliant, but not as funny as the next one up – Liz Hurley and Billy Connolly! Comic genius at its best!
FAC the Act
KTF
HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 10:04 AM.
Watched the 4 v 2 game from the same spot as you. Mind you I was only a young 18yr old.
If you are about 6’7″ tall then I was right behind you at the start of the game. Although with a wee jink at the first foul given I ended up in front of said Giant.:-).
Which reminds me why did all the guys over six feet tall never … A … stand at the back and B… Never arrive till 2 mins after kick off.
Thank God for 2 cans of tennents to stand on eh.
Soldiersrwee.cfc
Like others, I was also in the Jungle on 21st May 1979! It still ranks as possibly the best night ever at Celtic Park. I didn’t have the same problems as JNP getting to and from the game as I went on the supporters bus.
What a trip home though! Old double decker full to the gunnels with far more than was legal on the way home. It swayed around as we bounced up and down singing and cheering.
Oh the joy of seeing the unhappy huns as we disembarked for a few more drinks in the Social Club after we got back. Funnily enough, not many of them in there after the match that night! Colours were allowed that night funnily enough!
FAC the Act
KTF
Go to it Celts……..UNLEASH HELL !
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny Doyle on the Wing….
http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/johnny-johnny-johnny-doyle-on-the-wing/
HH Y’all and good mornin’ CQN (and any lurkin huns – apols TD67) from a still very dark and hot SE Texas! Been up and about for an hour or so – today’s game very much on my mind! I think it will be a very close game, and a fantastic evening for all in attendance. Hoping we will come away with a victory. Somewhat hacked off that Celtic TV and the cable channels here in US are not showing the game live. Any pointers as to where I can find it would be very welcome.
UTLR
TC45
I met a old friend the other day who advised me of the passing of another well known old mate from some years back.
It was such a shame as none of us got the chance to say goodbye to our old friend , which was in it self rather ironic, cos he drowned in a bowl of Cheerios. !
HH
BIG JIMMY on 19TH OCTOBER 2016 10:38 AM
JNP & HUNDERBIRDS,
Great wee stories Bhoys of the 4-2 game.
I was 24 at the time, and married to my first Hun wife for about 20 months in May 1979.
=================================================================
Thatcher Spring.
:-)
Just joking , chaps.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 19th October 2016 10:48 am
Behave yerself! We’re meant to be nice to each other today ………………
FAC the Act
KTF
MACJAY
Aye,indeed. You were wise and decided to gtf!