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AEK Athens v Celtic, Live updates

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  1. mickbhoy1888 on

    Achhhh everything’s awright off to Sorrento for the next couple of weeks and back the day before the Huns gemme. As there’s nae pointin investing in a 3 match Champion League package now, I mibbe might take out a silver or gold package to watch the slaughter of said huns and help keep Pedros financial targets on track.

     

    Anyway enjoy Hamilton and Thistle chaps ahm sure a couple of good results there will make up for last night.

     

     

    BayofNaplesCSC

  2. Jimmynotpaul on

    Some excellent posts last night.

     

    We are lucky to have a manager of Brendan’s quality and experience. That’s not to say he doesn’t make mistakes, we all do, but 6 trophies out of 6 suggests he’s made very few.

     

    He’s here because of his Celtic background and we are lucky to have him,make no mistake if we PI$$ him off enough, then we will not be able to bring in like for like.

     

    We should be looking to improve each season, this season, despite being cash rich, we have gone backwards.

     

    Whose fault is that, certainly not the managers.

     

    Hail Hail

     

    P.S. TET hopefully you will reconsider, although I know how you feel, as the intransigence of some, who refuse to hear a bad word about the board, is wearing. As ever the truth is usually in the middle somewhere.

  3. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    THEBLOGGERFORMERLYKNOWNASGM

     

     

    Doubt there are too many imbeciles on here. And most of us certainly understand the concept of standing still is going backwards in a race.

     

     

    Most of us understand the concept of spending money wisely,rather than not spending it at all and giving it to the taxman.

     

     

    And we certainly understand the concept of having access to c£60m and not needing to spend appreciably to generate another £40m.

     

     

    DONTBRATTBAKKINANGER reminded us of the biblical comparison of scarce and bountiful sowers. Here’s another one.

     

     

    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=ESV

  4. PeterLatchfordsBelly on

    We were the better team over 2 legs, but AEK knew our weaknesses and went for the jugular with great success. To not withstand the initial pressure for 5 mins was hopeless.

     

     

    Our defence is pretty woeful. If we’re not dominating the ball we can’t rely on them to keep us in it. I don’t know how we’ve ended up reliant on Ajer and Hendry to get to the CL. Both made awful mistakes in this tie. Ajer is a player and will come back. Hendry is probably a squad player at best. Hopefully he’ll get better, but I can’t see him ever being good enough for the CL. He also has an odds defying negative impact on our results, which isn’t obviously explicable but is beginning to look less and less like a coincidence.

     

     

    We shouldn’t expect any ambitious transfers now. Brendan will be told to get on with it and zip it. Can’t see him putting up with that for long – he’s too aware of his own worth and even Lenny grew tired of it. Hopefully we’ll only sell Boyata, but I expect one other big asset to be sold to compensate for the loss of CL income. We’ve been here often enough to know the drill. This is Pedro’s play in these circumstances.

  5. tictaewin on

    Soon as AEK came out the hat I feared the worst. And what was the subdued atmosphere at celtic park like in the first leg? How unlucky were we with injuries to our strikers and how shit is our defence? Qualifiers are the biggest games of our season for us. The all round apathy towards them puzzles me.

  7. RogueLeader on

    I will be very surprised if we go into season 19/20 with both Rodgers and Lawwell.

     

     

    I reckon this is the last year for one of them. Will be up to Desmond which it is…..

  9. Nas na Ri on

    I posted on a earlier blog regarding the failures of our CEO in getting in the players the manager had identified, it did not start with John McGinn who will become a star at Villa and will get a bigger move to a top EPL team if he keeps improving.

     

     

    The biggest failure of the CEO was his running away and whispering in the ear of a British Biased Corporation churnalist in a move to undermine and show our best manager since Big Jock who was boss…….for me that is unforgivable and would be the final nail in the coffin for Pedro.

     

     

    Has anyone ever seen Rory Bremner impersonate a CEO…………

  11. kevinjohn on

    @ROGUELEADER

     

     

    Always happy to see someone else put in the leg work on specifics.

     

     

    In terms of the two players you identified (and thank you!).

     

     

    1. Philipp Wollscheid

     

     

    I wouldn’t go near him. Since leaving Stoke, where I thought he was well protected during their season they finished 9th in the EPL, he has played a total of 9 games. Both Wolfsburg and Metz farmed him out to their feeder teams in lower divisions (German tier 4, and French tier 3 respectively), and both let him go at the first available transfer window after two games each.

     

     

     

     

    2. Diego Reyes

     

     

    That’s Championship Manager I’m afraid mate. He’s a great defender, and I would love for us to be talking to him. But it’s a non starter.

     

     

    In huge part due to him being Mexican, and only playing in Spain and Portugal in the last 5 years. While he’s an absolute step up from the level of players currently in Scotland, it’s not realistic for us to expect players from that background to be up for Dingwall in January. They also aren’t even close to use to the (poor) Plastic Pitches that we have here in Scotland. And honestly it’s such a huge culture shock, that signing someone from Central or South America is just never going to fly.

     

     

    While there was talk in after the World Cup of him heading to England (but then, my gran was linked with Everton!), we have to be aware that:

     

     

    a) Espanyol had a deal in place to buy Reyes, but after 30 games decided against it.

     

    b) He’s facing his 2nd major (and one minor) hamstring injury since moving to Europe. Which was one of the reasons Porto sent him on loan in the first place. They have also decided not to renew his contract.

     

    c) He’s still injured, and won’t be rehabilitated and match fit for another 2 months.

  12. Go tell the Spartim on

    The only good defenders (well in their own mind anyway) we ever see are our very own CQN Middle manager clique and their pathetic worship of all things finance, football is secondary to them

  13. traditionalist88 on

    The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on 15th August 2018 10:47 am

     

     

    Alas, ‘’spending money wisely’ is only apparent with hindsight.

     

    ===========

     

     

    Slight exaggeration there, scouting is vital and we’re getting it wrong in certain areas. As highlighted AEK sold their best CB before they played us and weren’t making the glaring unforced errors that are pretty much the norm for us – and not just in European ties.

     

     

    HH

  14. RogueLeader on

    KevinJohn – Thanks for that, I was being infantile and little mischievous with that to try and highlight a point and I bow to your superior knowledge :)

     

     

    With our resources it is a scandal we went with the defensive personnel we had to go with.

     

     

    The list showed up some interesting Centre Midfield cover too. Obviously big YaYa is still on the sniff for a contract but Miguel Veloso is also out of contract as is Jeremy Toulalan. Considering that if we make the Europe groups, we cannot expect Ntcham and Brown to playing each week. I think looking at some experience in that position rather than the inevitable Premier League loanee would help

  15. Bateen Bhoy on

    Anyone got any idea how much our Corporate Tax liabilty will be for curreent year if we leave all that money sitting in the bank as profit ?

     

    Enough to pay for a box-to-box midfielder ?

  16. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    I’m sure someone will have the data, but I’m going to have a guess at this and say over the past 5-10 years Celtic have squandered eye watering amounts of cash signing players.

     

     

    I’ll hazard a guess that 1 in 5 turns out well. Who would base a business midel on something that has a 20% chance of success?

  18. TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on

    PETERLATCHFORDSBELLY

     

     

    I’m afraid the same old ploy by the Board won’t work this time. This whole saga was the fault of Peter Lawell. He was the one who failed the manager by losing out on the Swiss defender Fabian Schaer (?) and John McGinn. If Lawell fails to bring in players before the current transfer window closes there will be mass unrest in the stands, in my opinion, particularly if there are any unexpected adverse results. It will be worse if he leaves any dealings until the last day of the window and fails -again- to sign any of Brendan’s targets. God help him if he sells any of our big players without making any further signings.

     

     

    Next season the fans, myself included, will keep their money in their pockets until they see improvements in the squad. Peter Lawell is the architect of this mess. We are now faced with a situation where we might not be able to attract a better quality of player because we cannot offer them CL football and some of our top players might want to move on for the same reason. He created it and would be well advised to try and retrieve a disastrous situation by employing some creative thinking like trying to appease Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic support. If I was him I’d make sure Ikd be parading a couple of decent signings on Monday at lunchtime – you know, the type that Brendan was talking about getting in after the EPL transfer window closed last Thursday.

  20. NatKnow on

    Go tell the Spartim on 15th August 2018 11:06 am

     

     

    Saving money isn’t wise in hindsight ?

     

     

    Discuss

     

    ————————————————————————————–

     

     

    At today’s interest rates, saving money isn’t wise at any point!

     

     

    But then, saving money is different from wasting money…

     

     

    Discuss :-)

  21. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    Reflections the morning after the night before.

     

    Thought McGregor was our most dangerous player but he became less effective when he moved out wide after Dembele came on. May have been better just going with a straight switch – Dembele for Griffiths.

     

    Once again the defending at the goals was really poor. Ball watching, no communication, organisation or leadership. Sviatchenko may have had some shortcomings, but I thought he gave us something in these aspects.

     

    One good, experienced defender could make the whole defence a lot better, although surely the coaching also has to be better?

     

    Player for player is the current back four not better than Telfer, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor? Is it better as a whole?

  22. The Battered Bunnet on

    GM

     

     

    That’s simply the operating environment, and virtually every club plays with those odds (whatever they actually are), factored for the ability of those who make the decisions.

     

     

    Across Europe, and with very few exceptions, football is managed profitably, irrespective of the shape and nature of the business model adopted.

  23. weebobbycollins on

    It will be interesting to see Paul’s article today. I only hope it is football related and not financial. Finance is important of course but most of us are more/only interested in the football…

  24. angelgabriel on

    A fiver for your thoughts. 8.18!am

     

     

    Excellent post sir .

     

    I’ve never felt comfortable with the ole self back slapping or over self confidence. Especially in a sporting arena. If the suits follow that train of thought , then it ain’t surprising to find ourselves in the current predicament. HH

  25. traditionalist88 on

    Why sign anyone for a fee (given its associated risk of it not working) when you have a Development squad and the Bosman list…

     

     

    Discuss

  26. Timbhoy2 on

    I see the Lee congerton is getting it with some of the supporters,it’s not him that’s to blame, it’s Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawell,are the real culprits, incidentally I would like Peter Lawell at times to address the media,ie transfers general run down on how projects are taken place,also Brendan take the media man in your media conferences,as to stop you saying about player transfers etc, and another thing Players like McBurnie,Logan, should be more respectful to there fellow professionals,rather being disrespectful,is keep your thoughts to yourself.

  27. Dilligafbhoy on

    Thursdays an Sundays are the new Tues/Weds an Saturdays. :-(

     

     

    Haw Peter I know your an accountant, but your decisions just cost YOU, being the CEO, not us, being the fans who don’t get any financial reward for our success indeed the opposite, Circa £30m+.

     

    Q, do you deserve a bonus this year?

  29. Go tell the Spartim on

    Natknow

     

     

    We’d have to spend some first before we could make that judgement

     

     

     

    Brigadoon CSC

  30. NegAnon2 on

    Weebobbycollins im afraid you can’t separate the two. The board board money, we don’t get good players, results suffer, we get less money to hoard.

     

     

    As for Paul’s article. To paraphrase.

     

     

    It’s all Brendan’s fault (after all it can’t be peters).

     

    The players should be good enough (blame Brendan)

     

    Need different tactics (blame Brendan)

     

    Time to move on (forget about it etc)

     

     

    Or maybe something about the Huns so called share issu (which is surreal to be honest). Or some other nice squirrel.

     

     

    The hilarious thing is that the accounts are due out. How are they gonna hide all that money. Special reserves, contingencies blah blah blah.

     

     

    Still we have new lights and sound. Ain’t that sweet?

  32. kevinjohn on

    @ RogueLeader

     

     

    Have a wee look at Holger Badstuber. I suggested him to my dad back in December, but we went for Compper instead. On a side note, we also discussed Ragnar Klavan at Liverpool – you’ll hear his name often in the next week – but the drop in wages to come to Scotland makes it a non starter in my opinion.

     

     

    On a wider note, you’ve kind of nailed the issue!

     

    There are only so many players. With each ‘criteria’ we narrow the field considerably.

     

     

    And that’s with just basic criteria.

     

    * Centre half

     

    * Cost less than €10m (about £8.5m)

     

    * Be European and playing in Europe

     

    * Have played Tier 1 football

     

    * Be playing in Tier 1-15 league

     

    * Not want more than £1m a year in wages

     

    * Has not moved club in the last 12 months

     

     

    A basic search on this criteria, on WYscout and Transfermarket, returns less than 200 players.

     

    If we add in criteria like – over 6 foot, has played international football, has played European football, isn’t currently serving community sentence for beating up their girlfriend, can speak basic english, is over 21, can pass the ball, number of times sent off, how many injuries that have kept them out for more then 3 weeks etc

     

     

    And that’s before we’ve even scouted them in the flesh! Let alone then see if they are the sort of person that fits in with eh club and manager.

     

     

    There are a huge numerb of well meaning folks who say that we should just splash the cash, or “get quality in”, but never actually think of WHO that would be, or WHY.

     

     

    Sadly, most that we identify don’t want to come to the league that’s ranked 26th in Europe.

  33. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    THEBLOGGERFORMERLYKNOWNASGM

     

     

    I think you are probably correct with that 20% guess. Maybe erring on the optimistic side.

     

     

    I think the answer to your question can be found in the famous Q&A with DD and NL. To paraphrase-and I’m hoping this post might see the return of THEEXILEDTIM…

     

    *

     

    DD-Not the most successful season,Neil. Disappointing.

     

     

    NL-Well,someone sold my best players and replaced them with shite.

     

    *

     

    So,no,we would not have wasted upwards of £50m-wages and fees on crap-in the six years pre-Brendan if football people were in charge of football matters,subject to budget,and financial people stuck to financial matters,much eased by success on the pitch.

     

     

    It’s why we were set up to have a football board and a PLC board. The PLC board was meant to supply the finance for success on the pitch,the football board was meant to ensure that finance was used wisely. That way,our success on the pitch would drive bigger commercial deals which would supply more money to the playing side and…

     

     

    Somewhere it got jettisoned by cross-contamination.

  35. dessybhoy on

    How many playmakers do we need, I thought Rogic was supposed to be the answer to that but I forgot he has zero work rate, then McGregor does he not do a bit of that but is unable to tackle, then its Allen not quoted but did fine at Hibs where everyone seemed to know their role,might be due to his manager there being a good midfielder,Christie never had a chance is he worse that either McG or Forrest we are obsessed with pointless possession on Sat it was 20 yards inside our own half , Hearts had to go and try to close down our midfielders not our defenders, this team needs gutted Lustig has been finished for years, I think Scott Brown is now showing signs of going over the hill and we have wide men who never hit the bye line, we make the pitch smaller not bigger,we do not have a CH at the club, Ajer is a midfielder, rather that converting him play him as a midfielder, the training regime injures our players and needs looked at,.

     

    Minimum a right back two centre halfs and get a system that helps us create chances, if we go for the likes of McKenna the league is at risk.

     

    I want BR to be totally ruthless here with his players and coaches, passengers aplenty at Lennoxtown, I hope he is up to this.

  36. Go tell the Spartim on

    What would your Boss do if perennially you had really good odds of winning a £50m contract but you continually left it to chance and even then your record is patchy, does that fit with your growth strategy (which remains confidential)

     

     

    Discuss

     

     

    Ps The balance sheet isn’t going to look too good next year. I really feel for those happy clappers

  38. Jimmynotpaul on

    For those of you thinking that Europa League would give us a chance of improving co efficient, that’s unlikely.

     

    Courtesy of Moravcik 67.

     

    We’ve given up the 4 bonus points from the CL group stage we got last year.

     

    To match last season we’d need to win the equivalent of 4 EL group games.

     

    Hail Hail

  40. twists n turns on

    Dessy

     

    Much of your thoughts I agree with, but, Scott Brown showing signs of going over the hill? Couldn’t disagree more.

     

    He has been fantastic for the previous 2 seasons, and for me, been our best, and most consistent player this season so far.

     

    Actually our Scottish players in general have outperformed the rest this season.

     

     

    KT

     

    Brown

     

    McGregor

     

    Forrest

  41. i'vehadtochangemymind on

    Crap night last night – poor poor play for the goals. I don’t want us to get into the CL because we get humped. I want us to get into the CL because we get moolah and it’s exciting before the 3rd 4th 5th 6 th goal go in.

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