A team with a hunted look to them

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After a bad defeat, would you rather a difficult game against a Champions League team at Celtic Park, or an awkward visit to a Premiership side playing 10 men behind the ball?  Neither seems a great prospect, but in a tight league race, the latter is definitely not a desired option.

A big performance and result against a big opponent in a game with only money and coefficient points up for grabs is what this Celtic side needs right now.  Our best result of the season so far – the win at Ibrox – came after an insipid home draw to bottom of the table St Johnstone.  After that match, a patchwork squad found a cause which united them.

Give a team a cause and results will follow.  I would rather a team with a hunted look to them than one with a sense of their own brilliance, especially this early in the season.  We cannot be confident of taking anything tomorrow night, but we can be sure we will see fight from Celtic.

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  1. BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL @ 2:43 PM,

     

     

    Yes, the injuries, first to the defence, then midfield and attack have made a big impact on our UCL campaign.

     

     

    Still, the old adage, if you don’t prepare to succeed, prepare to fail.

     

     

    We are seeing it unfold this season, hopefully we can turn this around, January will be a huge indication of the Board’s ambition.

     

     

    We know they are businessmen first and foremost.

     

     

    The fact remains, there is a business plan that means coming second in the League and playing in the new format Europa League next season would be more beneficial to Celtic PLC.

     

     

    It means they may be on a different trajectory to the Manager, Staff, Players and supporters.

     

     

    Still, we do have enough quality to pick things up and hoping we see a real shift in our performances.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  2. An T

     

     

    You are on fire today. Some really good points sir.

     

     

    Pity the 12,000 child deaths in 2 months in Palestine wont get highlighted to the world tomorrow night. Only the USA and Israel wanting this slaughter to continue yet UEFA and Europe running scared.

  3. AN TEARMANN @ 2:53 PM,

     

     

    The Placemen are the folk who come on with the Board in general and Big Pedro in particular’s view point, they have an agenda and stick to it whether “facts” support them or not.

     

     

    It is totally unfair to suggest that I don’t debate the point.

     

     

    My feeling is you are referecing my post CHAIRBHOY @ 10:32 AM.

     

     

    In that comment there is a number of facts and a number of opinions to suggest I don’t debate is a nonsense.

     

     

    There is no good reason for the PLC holding on to the cash, it just makes the Board’s and Executive’s job a lot, lot easier – that’s what they want.

     

     

    Hopefully UEFA will strongly impose the FSR, won’t hold my breath though, if they do we can see a more level playing field.

     

     

    What I wish is that Celtic put out the best possible team they can, don’t mind if we win, lose or draw. Just want us to care, a lot.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  4. Prediction time- in January, we will bring in Miovski, McKenna from Forest,and the LB from Portugal, not sure if they would improve the squad, or just more of the same. I would rather take van Veen on loan till end of the season, and would buy us a bit of time to get better than the both of them,I would try to bring G Mak back.

  5. Dessy- uneducated guesses mate,Brendan bid for McKenna when he was here last time,he’s been banished to the reserves and been told to get a new club in January. I haven’t been that impressed by Miovski to be honest, but I will be watching him on Sunday, and see if he can perform in a big game.The Portuguese LB looks like he could be in contention, as we are lacking in that position IMO, hopefully we can get a few out the door as well, seen a few Japanese teams in for Ideguchi….

  6. Boondock – Sorry to hear about the situation down there. Glad you are ok, and hopefully everyone gets themselves sorted out quickly. Awful situation to be in at any time, but especially difficult at Christmas.

  7. It wasn’t long ago Scott McKenna was player of the year at Nottingham Forrest.

     

     

    A decent shout.

  8. bournesouprecipe on

    Not too fussed about the size of fees or labelling players as projects because of the amount Celtic paid, there were nine players signed. You could argue under fire Yang looks a steal when you consider we paid only £1.5M, at least he’s made the team albeit he’s a ‘project’ . If you’re dissecting who signed who, it’s a waste of time because nobody knows, all guesswork and assumptions.

     

     

    If your’e playing that internet pastime Marko Tilio is from Oz therefore definitely an Ange legacy signing. Iwata, Kobayashi, and Ideguchi were from Ange’s market and recommended by him, he also recommended Oh another project labelled player.

     

     

    In fairness he came up trumps with Kyogo and Maeda but they weren’t projects, from the summer of the nine, Kwon and Tilio ( definitely projects ) have failed to show, more concerning is bang for buck with Nawrocki £4.5 and Lagerbielke £4.5M neither have impressed but cost the same as Carl Starfelt.

     

     

    Doesn’t matter what market you’re in, nothing has changed if you insist on signing plus’s and minus’s, and £5M makes you an ‘oven ready ‘ Celtic player player and not a project, then I give you the abominable Ajeti or the just as worser Barkas.

     

     

    Project Frimpong CSC

  9. So Phillips/Lagerbielke/Welsh to partner Scales.

     

     

    I’d be utterly amazed where we to go with Phillips.

     

     

    Lagerbielke having previously been partnered with Scales seems the obvious choice.

     

     

    No Maeda and CCV is a big blow but I’d fair rather have them for the league games.

  10. “!!BADA BING!! on 12TH DECEMBER 2023 3:47 PM

     

    I would rather take van Veen on loan till end of the season, and would buy us a bit of time to get better than the both of them,I would try to bring G Mak back.”

     

     

    I posted the same thing (Van Veen) on here a few days ago as it was worrying me to think it’s been another 6 months of scouting and we’re still linked with the same Danish player and 2 SPFL strikers.

     

     

    GreatMindsThinkAlikeCSC

     

    or

     

    FoolsSeldomDifferCSC

  11. I think there was pretty much a consensus on here, or if there wasn’t there should have been, that the only way we can progress in Europe, and the CL in particular, is with a return to Fortress Parkhead, a scenario where our opponents fear to tread, and leave with nul points. This season’s campaign is a case in point, no team in our group was going to win all six games, ergo home form could take you into the last 16. This is where Feyonoord let themselves down. And more importantly where we are no longer succeeding. Not to say we have played badly in our home games, far from it, but the fact is had we prepared better earlier, we could have done better, and, if so, Athletico would be down a point and Lazio would have three less, or fewer, if you like. Tomorrow’s game is still important of course, but nowhere near as it could and should have been.

  12. CELTIC MAC @ 4:37 PM,

     

     

    You are spot on.

     

     

    Many go on about Gordon Strachan’s great European Record.

     

     

    Fair enuff

     

     

    Yet his away record is terrible, it was a reputation built on results at Parkhead.

     

     

    We need to get back to this.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  13. Apparently there is going to be around 5000 Dutch fans in Glasgow by tomorrow. There’s quite a few here already. By all accounts its not going to be a friendly invasion. Anyone heading from the City Centre along the Gallowgate should be careful. They were banned from attending the recent Lazio game. I imagine they’ll be marching to the stadium with a Police escort but that didn’t stop Ajax fans last time they were here.

  14. chairbhoy

     

     

    European football is not easy, least not in the CL these days, as both Manchester United and Newcastle are finding out. But home form can take you a long way if you can achieve a big result. It is better to be feared than loved, over fifty games at home unbeaten domestically will tell you that, but no top European club fears us now, not in the way they used to. We have way over twenty years of European experience behind us this century alone, we should know that by now.

  15. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    Quite liked the look of the big Serbian striker that played against Aberdeen for HJK. Radulovic I think it was.

  16. Burnley78 on 12th December 2023 3:21 pm

     

     

    An T

     

     

     

     

     

     

    You are on fire today. Some really good points sir.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Pity the 12,000 child deaths in 2 months in Palestine wont get highlighted to the world tomorrow night. Only the USA and Israel wanting this slaughter to continue yet UEFA and Europe running scared.

     

     

     

    Mass murder under the guise of war, strange society we live in.

  17. Full team tomorrow please BR. Passion, pride and intensity. Be bold and reap the springboard.

     

     

    Remember, A ship in harbour is safe, but that’s not why ships were built.

     

     

    HH.

  18. Quite often a poor performance can be followed by a good one as we’ve experienced on many occasions with Celtic. As the weather on Sunday decended into a deluge in the second half making silky skills football on that dreadful plastic surface and despite criticism Celtic do play a lot of good football – ok Killie adapted better in that second half, understandable familiarity on their home turf..

     

     

    Tomorrow night is important for the coefficcent points at stake particularly with European qualification we also want to finish with four points. Celtic’s form in the home games has been very good and let’s hope we continue in that mode against Feynoord.

  19. CELTIC MAC @ 5:13 PM,

     

     

    Yes, it’s not easy in Europe, yet some Clubs do have the knack of punching above their weight.

     

     

    Twenty years experience and it seems every year or two we have to reinvent the wheel.

     

     

    Building a new team, like BR is talking about in his presser again.

     

     

    We were a pot 3 team with a 150 mn pound squad in 2018.

     

     

    Why we can’t build from a position of strength is baffling.

     

     

    We have a pragmatic manager now, fortress Celtic Park should definitely be on the agenda.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  20. BADA BING

     

     

    Looks like Italy or France for Vata.

     

     

    Would love to see GMAC back but i think he wants to be #1….he could be under BR system.

  21. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    RC @ 3:12pm re Winter break plans.

     

     

    Thank you.

     

     

    Staying at home with families sounds compassionate and reasonable

     

     

    …. and yet, am not sure how I feel about it.

     

     

    Based on our form in the second halves of the 5 of the last 6 seasons (lockdown excluded)

     

     

    … the Dubai trips seemed to have had an overwhelmingly positive impact.

  22. BOURNESOUPRECIPE @ 4:23 PM,

     

     

    Good points As usual, however, our recruitment strategy is overall one of failure.

     

     

    Now I know fholks will say we’ve never had it so good.

     

     

    Yet that is just from an old firm stand point, if you come out of that, by any measure our recruitment with a few high profile outliers has been terrible.

     

     

    Do we need a DofF?

     

     

    Do we need to revamp the Scouting and Recruitment with better aims and objectives?

     

     

    Mibees, yet we won’t change while the top brass are sticking with their not fit for purpose, recruitment policy.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  23. (Abysmally low) Quality journalism awards 2023

     

     

    Please would someone enlighten me as to what Susanna Sealy at the Edinburgh Evening News has been smoking. She published a rather bizarre piece about this time yesterday which claimed that Celtic were going to beat the current SPL record points total by 3 points, dropping just 5 points in a season where they’ve already dropped 9 points. And, amazingly, she proffers that Celtic are going to finish second to a resurgent Rangers, who are going to win 39 of their 38 games, in spite of already having failed to win 4 times!

     

     

    TotallyBaffledCSC

     

     

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/scottish-premiership-where-hibs-hearts-celtic-rangers-are-predicted-to-finish-4441809?page=3

     

     

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hibs/scottish-premiership-where-hibs-hearts-celtic-rangers-are-predicted-to-finish-4441809?page=4

  24. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    Chairbhoy @ 3:20pm.

     

     

    Cheers. Good points particularly re January transfer window.

     

     

    Privately I’ve already set my expectations.

     

     

    I think we’ll be lucky to sign an upgrade in any position in January.

     

     

    And if upgrades are not available?

     

     

    I really don’t want us signing anyone.

     

     

    Summer is a different scenario altogether.

     

     

    Needs to be our most ambitious and intelligent transfer window in a long time.

     

     

    PS – I use “ambitious” with reservation and include “and intelligent” quite deliberately.

     

     

    We delivered an ambitious January transfer window for Tony Mowbray ….

     

     

    …. and the outcome was a disaster.

  25. PeterLatchfordsBelly on

    Brendan’s response to Asim’s excellent question about the summer recruitment spoke volumes. Essentially most of these guys weren’t brought in to help Celtic in the here and now.

     

     

    What is the point of the model if it weakens the team?

     

     

    He also downplayed expectations for January, nit that most of us have any under the dead hand of Lawwell.

     

     

    Football Scotland reporting numerous Lawwell Jr duds have been told to find other clubs in January, including Bernabei and Yuki. That’s positive tho’ I fear the usual outcome that no-one else is daft enough to take them.

     

     

    Also reporting that Nawrocki, Lagerbielke, Tillio and Kwon might be sent out in loan and that Phillips and Bernardo to be sent back to their parent clubs.

     

     

    Might be 💩 stirring by huns with typewriters, but if there does prove to be substance to this then it’s surely a sacking offence for the Head of Recruitment? Could only be considered gross negligence to harm string the the team with so many failed transfers.

  26. Brendan is at Celtic cause no serious club would look twice at him.

     

     

    Leicester were EPL Champion`s…within a short period of time Brendan had them relegated.

     

     

    Brendan is at Celtic to `blow` the league to help the huns get CL money to boost the status of Old Firm competition, and Brendan will blarney bluff the presser sessions and easily taken Tims will get their tummies tickled like little kittens.

     

     

    Brendan knowing full well that Tims have no voice and those who know how to articulate a narrative are banned, deleted, silenced, lost in the filters, and mugged at AGM`s by the gold plated pension crooks in the PLC.

     

     

    Leaving Celtic`s spoken destiny in the hands of 58,000 empty heads who get mugged by every mugger….and the carefully planted blogs…that`ll be all of them apart from Joe McHugh`s excellent VideoCelts.com.

     

     

    Video Celts where wasters and slippy filly buster operatives like SFTB will be removed for pouring Celtic View brainwashed poison onto the sacred pages that Super Joe McHugh and his team have brilliantly presented.

     

     

    The PLC will wait till the huns have next years CL money spent onto the pitch vs the Lawwell project stars lol

     

     

    When the huns start to collect trophy after trophy and the PLC will sit it out until apathy empties the 58,000 empty heads from their plastic seats then the club will be sold to the under world (WEF & WHO) and a year later Scotland`s first Insect and bugs farm will be built on the sacred ground for those fortunate enough to be living on the streets and have not been murdered yet by the new 6G towers on every doorstep.

     

     

    Always a caring club.

     

     

    Or,….58,000 will kick the doors in and citizens arrest the PLC parasites and let real Tims run the club.

     

     

    Just think how everybody laughed as the Ibrox club was bought by the hun fans and a few years later the Ibrox club is in yet another European final.

     

     

    What are you waiting on Timmy?

  27. scared.

     

     

    CHAIRBHOY on 12TH DECEMBER 2023 3:27 PM

     

    AN TEARMANN @ 2:53 PM,

     

     

     

     

     

     

    CB-The Placemen are the folk who come on with the Board in general and Big Pedro in particular’s view point, they have an agenda and stick to it whether “facts” support them or not.

     

     

    AT- who Chairbhoy? Moniker please.(before i go tonto/superally) and demand to know

     

     

    CB-It is totally unfair to suggest that I don’t debate the point.

     

     

    AT- and it is helpful to know who you are answering/debating with Chairbhoy,jeez i know you can debate,a la your battle of the paragraphs with SFTB over various topics,

     

     

     

    CB-My feeling is you are referencing my post CHAIRBHOY @ 10:32 AM.

     

    In that comment there is a number of facts and a number of opinions to suggest I don’t debate is a nonsense.

     

     

    AT- to who CB?the all sweeping placemen,its a bogey man(p67 doesnt answer blog now,or write it at times)all am asking is who they are

     

     

    CB-There is no good reason for the PLC holding on to the cash, it just makes the Board’s and Executive’s job a lot, lot easier – that’s what they want.

     

     

    AT- yup £72m

     

    I am sure last a/c’s intimated all t/fers balances will be pd(may be wrong)thats 20m

     

    Barrowfield,devt and restructure £22m

     

     

    I think we will spend in window in Jan,always a higher risk,as availability is better in summer but need,both in and out is greater now.it shows how quickly money can be whittled down

     

     

    CB-Hopefully UEFA will strongly impose the FSR, won’t hold my breath though, if they do we can see a more level playing field.

     

     

    AT- currently me and 3 miss worlds are hugging in watchin arsenal v psv,it wont happen buddy but enjoyin the discussion,one of them suggestedfsr, if carried out along with its predecessor ffp would mean uefa stripping their own champions-citeh,have to watch her 🤣🤣

     

     

    CB-What I wish is that Celtic put out the best possible team they can, don’t mind if we win, lose or draw. Just want us to care, a lot.

     

     

    AT-me too CB,and i think we do care at Board level,i think we were unlucky in not getting a few next level signings at summer time due to this country,but i think we are always lookin to do a wee bit better

     

     

    Hail Hail

     

    Hail Hail CB :-)

  28. bournesouprecipe on

    Chairbhoy @ 6.38

     

     

    I thought we already had a DOF, – big guy heavy set, and has another official title?🤣

     

     

    We’d need a massive shift in ownership or majority of shares, because whilst it’s current, then it’s happy families only, CV’s or credentials don’t matter.

     

     

    I think the wee Gordon is still in the lead with two sons working out of Parkhead

     

     

    HH

  29. BURNLEY78 on 12TH DECEMBER 2023 3:21 PM

     

    An T

     

     

    You are on fire today. Some really good points sir.

     

     

    Pity the 12,000 child deaths in 2 months in Palestine wont get highlighted to the world tomorrow night. Only the USA and Israel wanting this slaughter to continue yet UEFA and Europe running scared.

     

     

    Burnley78.

     

     

    An Gorta Mor

     

    Auschwitz Birkenau

     

    Gaza

     

     

    Its Genocide by a State.

     

    Truly sad and cold to watch as a human being.

     

    Our ‘stop the boats’ fascists/brexit scum abstained,as they have done on this topic historically at UN,as a defacto munitions maker for US the dogs of war have money to make.

     

     

    HH

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