He was our North, our South, our East and West. Then he was someone else’s in the Midlands, but he’s back, he’s ours, and he’s here for…., well, at least three-in-a-row! With a flash of those pearly whites, the Prodigal Manager, Brendan Rodgers, has taken over as manager of Celtic. He joins legends Billy McNeill and Neil Lennon as men who have been permanent Celtic managers on two separate occasions.
It is easy to forget how far the club came in less than three years when Brendan was first in charge. Tarps were taken from the Lisbon Lions stand, replaced by a season ticket waiting list. Champions League football returned after a hiatus, and the entire professionalism of the football operation leapt forward.
The Celtic he returns to in 2023 is vastly improved that when he found it in 2016, or even when he left in 2019. Already in the Champions League, Brendan will find a united dressing room, backroom and supporter base. We should all try hard to keep things this way, self-indulgent schisms do nothing for Celtic.
Work starts now. We must win the league and improve performances and results in the Champions League, and to do the latter, we need additions to the squad. Brendan will also hope he can again improve the performance of players he inherits at the club.
After all that went before, it takes balls come straight back to Celtic after his stint in Leicester. At 50, he is at the start of what should be his most productive decade in management. His ambition was never in doubt, so strap in and enjoy the ride.
Welcome to Celtic, Brendan.
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Aussies by 3 wickets of course.
Evening from a baltic SE Australia.
No longer do newly appointed managers quickly finger their rolodex (oo errr madam) and call up the agents of all their ex-players to see who will join him in their new location and league: I don’t think it works that way.
Surely the roles of the analytics and recruitment teams are much more significant these days.
The recruiters and CEO probably set-out which valued current players are being sniffed at for potential ‘big ‘ transfers; the Hatates, Jotas and Kyogos of the world. We may be prepared to trade a few to rake in big profit.
The manager looks ta his squad and decides who he can work with and who he’s happy to let move on.
Then the manager may tell the recruiters (for eg) ‘Look I want a new shotstopper; a tall 2nd LB, a midfield mauler and a brawny new forward (depending on who is outbound from the current squad).
The recruiters analyse the market and present the Mgr with mibby 5 options in each posi – and he then sez who he fancies approaching. Then the CEO initiates contact through proscribed channels.
This way, we get players less on a manager’s personal whim and informed by some more robust analytics that ensure the players can play in a variety of formations should the manager (ahem) decide to move on.
Exciting times to be a Celt.
Btw: HONKINGISTHENEWBLACK CSC
B78
Weather will benefit England I think they will win by 80 runs – hope I’m wrong.
Enjoy the day.
Martty McGhee
Are you Mark’s brother?
Are you Kev J?
🤣
It’s raining here in North Staffs this morning – should be brighter later.
Dick Campbell got a BEM?
For contributions to swear boxes perhaps?
THE EXILED TIM on 19TH JUNE 2023 9:43 PM
Coneybhoy
When I lived in Ireland I did my bit supporting the game, has a season book at St Pat’s for years, the footy wisny the may west, but it was exciting at times, far removed from the hey days, but hopefully it will come back again, folks just need to switch off their TV’s and stop watching the EPL and actually go to the games
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Footie attendance is great here now and loads of young ones getting into it. A lot of young players moving to the top Irish clubs around 15, through the clubs structure quickly and onto England and the national team so they really identify. 2-3 Ireland players were playing for local clubs near me only a few years ago
Re: Celtic Board, Exec and Non exec – I noticed that Sharon Brown’s bio mentions that she is also a NED at Circularity Scotland, the company set up by the drinks industry to run the Scot Gov deposit/re-cycle scheme.
She seems to be a NED in a few firms so must have made her bucks already in industry.
Never hear much about her but seems to have a wider experience than some of the others which is a good thing
BBC site running a ‘pick your best combined Eleven from Invincibles + Ange team. More complete players with Rodgers (older, in their peak) but think that this augurs well for O’Riley, Hatate, Abada, Oh, etc who will grow as a result of his coaching.
Here was mine.
Hart
Lustig>CCV>Boyata>Tierney
Brown>McGregor>Rogic
Jota>Dembele>Sinclair
HH
The blog has been odd of late. BR was being urged to maybe think about leaving Chris Davies behind for a bit of freshness a day or two ago. Once BR signs up the absence of Chris Davies is worrying? Maybe I’ve read it wrong.
If not it comes across as a bit irrational.
I wanted a complete change of coaching staff when Lenny left but look what the guys delivered with a fresh manager with strong ideas. Frankly most of us punters know very little. Even the ITKs.
BW
Gordon
Juranovic CCv Startfelt Tierney
Armstrong McGregor Hatate
Forrest Kyogo Jota
CHs were the ‘weak point’ of Rodgers time for me. I was conflicted on Dembele and Sinclair but went with Kyogo and Jota due to Dembele’s fitness issues and Sinclair’s loss of form after season 1
Looking forward to Friday’s press conference/media presentation. I assume there will be a big effort to get BR squirming over his departure. Will he go on the offensive and put down a marker with the MSM that he is not going to be messed with? Stonewall them? Say he only wants to talk about now and the future? Maybe we’ll go all James Traynor and chuck out any journalists who don’t toe the party line.
With respect to Paul and Tommy Burns, this is going through my head:
Oh the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old Macheath, babe
And he keeps it outta sight
You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears ol’ Macheath, babe
So there’s never, never a trace of red
Now, on the side walk, ooh Sunday morning, uh huh
Lies a body just oozing life, eek
And someone’s sneaking ’round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
. . . .
Look out, Brendan’s back in town.
AN TEARMANN on 19TH JUNE 2023 6:14 PM
The Athletic on James MacLean
https://archive.ph/U2ZN9
HH
Tremendous. Thank you
Good shout Coneybhoy…Good combo.
My ‘biased’ memories of Gordon were his running out and kung fu kicking, and some of the angriest passing from the back. He just didn’t get it. Always a very good shot stopper.
I did hesitate over Boyata for Starfelt. Felt dirty over not including Kyogo but Moussa was a beast of a CF for me.
I think we have the potential of more brawn in the team this year to supplement the excellent but wee players in there atm.
HH
Many thanks to Almore, TimHorton and Leftclicktic for your very kind words. Im a very proud dad.
On the new home jersey. Ive only seen the photo on hanger and not impressed. Maybe when I actually see a player modeling it I might change my mind, Anyway, Im too old to be wearing Jerseys now although I still wear the 1988 retro quite a lot, My favourite along with of course 1967 top.
I was at Ireland match last night and although we wernt great in the first half, we still could have been a couple up. I felt Mikey should have started and the whole stadium lifted when he came on and then scored. Hopefully, Stephen Kenny, who is a personal friend of mine since his very successful time with Dundalk, will get a bit of support. In fairness the majority of fans that attend matches are totally behind him and see what hes trying to do whilst also allowing for the fact that our squad is very inexperienced and mostly championship players. The Irish media are a disgrace akin to brit journos that cruxcified many English managers over the years.
I’m celebrating Brendans return to us. Magnificent.
But I defend the GB’s right to express themselves. They are a great addition to Celtic in the modern era.
Hail Hail!
James Forrest was electric during Brendan’s first stint, indeed, he is a given in any of those teams, por cierto
Ha Ha Ha !
So a player who the huns might sign for a couple of million suddenly becomes the most valuable player in Scotland !
https://www.glasgowworld.com/sport/football/scottish-premierships-20-most-valuable-players-ranked-if-rangers-sign-jose-cifuentes-plus-celtic-stars-gallery-4189058
ffs who ok’s this sh1te ? I blame the Schools !
GTC
Biggest load of tosh I’ve read since Mark Dungwall’s BR opinion piece on fallowfallow.
Glasgow world is s sister company to stv so what did you expect?
Click bait.csc
KLV
Sure Glasgow World is the Evening Times clickbait organ.Even so,they are really going beyond the call of duty to the scum with this tripe.So bad you really do laugh at it.
GG
Correct what a load of pish, Cantwell and Ruskin now worth £13m then Tavpen 🤣🤣🤣🤣
new article posted.
Chairbhoy @ 5.35am
Good Morning Timland – Champion Day To Be A Celt… First full day into Brendan’s new era and we are already looking in great shape… seamless
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Why- what’s happened? How do we know if it’s seamless?
All I’ve seen is the tabloids guesstimation of an agreed transfer fund. It does not even tell us if it’s dependant on generating player sales to get this. I certainly know nothing more today than I did yesterday about how Celtic are going to operate. And the club website has nothing new today.
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SFtBs @ 1:57 AM, Let’s start with my opening paragraph in response to Auldheid’s comment… …Well that’s very interesting, as I’m sure you are aware CQN gets its info and spin from big Pedro and his agents. So any other blog or social media’s input is irrelevant, I’m discussing CQN and CQN only
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A bit of a non sequitur there. Despite isolating your observation to CQN that does not lead to all other blogs are out of bounds. After all, you came on here to make the accusation. Like me, you visit more than one blog and Timternet site. Like me, you read false predictions on all these sites too. How many of those did you dig up and accuse of feeding misinformation? Why dig up Paul’s false prediction only? That is why other social media is relevant- let’s call it a “sin of omission”.
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Next is the “assumption” that CQN is “ITK” and is being briefed by big Pedro’s camp. This maybe right or wrong, but Paul67 has made it clear he has a strong relationship with PL and gets information from him. There are multiple examples. In fact he said the year around the Rangers demise that he talked to PL every day. When fholk on here were blaming PL for Dominic McKay leaving, Paul67 stated that PL was on holiday and had nothing to do with it.
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Nobody disputes that Paul HAD a relationship with PL and that Celtic Quick News WAS a conduit for this. How influential or helpful it was is a moot point. It seems to me and my reading of social media that post 2012, and certainly, since the unchallenged outcome of LNS and the duplicity around Res 12, that there hasn’t been an appetite from the Celtic support to hear directly or indirectly from Peter, even on CQN. You are stretching things if you are suggesting he still speaks to PL daily and that he got news of his holiday that way. How does PL being on holiday even excuse him on the decision to let Dom McKay go? I have no idea yet about the mechanisms behind this- do you? Do you think Paul has?
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Now, Paul67 maybe making some of this up, in fact he could be a fantasist and be making all of this up, yet the fact remains… …the default for readers of CQN is that Paul67 has a close relationship with PL, is briefed by PL’s camp and is batting for his side. So that is the assumption I’m going on – if you can prove this to be a false assumption I’m happy to hear it but please, stick to the facts and leave the tangential approach out, or we end up all over the shop.
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My “proof” is above. Knowing that Paul67 had access to some of PL’s thoughts back in the day is no proof that this cosy relationship has continued. Which Blogs that we have read were wholly Paul’s words and thoughts? Which were dictated by PL? And which ones had small inserts from PL? If we admit that Paul67 has thoughts of his own and is not just a Tucker Carlson paid shill for the Board, then why not tackle him directly on HIS assertions, rather than assume he is a mouthpiece for PL. If we both admit that PL must have a degree of cleverness to get and keep the position he has, why would he keep feeding info to a blog that was discredited by much of the Timternet for being a conduit and a mouthpiece. That is a view I have read on E-tims, Joe McHugh, Huddleboard, Sentinel Celts, and James Forest site(a bit more nuanced than most) and on Twitter and What’s App groups. Is PL stupid enough, therefore, to keep flogging a dead horse. Who in hell is being influenced by this?
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Let’s make this doubly clear, what I’m talking about in my response to Auldheid is CQN and that CQN is briefed by the PL camp and in that regard CQN is “ITK” Anything else is whitewash
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Let me make it doubly clear. Had does not equal has, was does not equal is, and true in the past does not continue to be true indefinitely. The past is not the present. PL is not a CEO – he is now the Chairman/person/thingy
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BTW: You seem to have misunderstood what the company executive is!? Worth looking it up, the company executive at Celtic in this case are the CEO and the CFO – the Chairman is a non-exec ———————————————
Not at all- mistaken assumption. You were using the term Executive in this sentence:-
“the Executive had been following quite different aims and objectives doesn’t mean that the Lawwells should “walk”.”
I am aware that PL being Chair does not place him on the Executive- that’s a widely publicised fact on Timternet but your charge is that the Money minded Lawwells, dragging Mark into the murk with Peter, were pursuing a different manager target, for cheapskate money reasons and were opposing the appointment of Brendan Rodgers. Further that PL or both Lawwells were kept in the dark about the Executive’s (or DD’s- I am unsure how widespread you imagine the split to be) real intention to land BR at all costs. You are painting a picture of a fractured and duplicitous relationship between the Executive and the Chair (and possibly his son too) and you are doing so on the basis of Paul 67’s fancying Maresca and the Man City group relationship? I think that is a huge stretch of belief built on an aged and flimsy evidence base and it shuts out alternatives.
I believe Maresca was fancied by Paul. I believe that the City Group model was admired by Paul. I still have no confidence that I could guess what PL’s views are or were. I have less confidence in my imagined projections being the truth than you seem to do with yours. I afford Paul the same courtesy I afford you and others- i.e. you are responsible for the words you print and you are answerable for them. You are not a mouthpiece for some Machiavelli – that’s just the social media way of wheedling out of dealing directly with an issue- Create a bogeyman that makes things happen this way- The Elite, The World Wide Paedophiles, The Davos Group, The Democratic Party’s Paedophile and Pizza Parlour, The Lizard People, The Covid False Claims made by almost every leading Medical Advisor and, of course, the penny pinching, unambitious, Rangers-loving non-team player that is Peter Lawwell.