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AEK Athens v Celtic, Live updates

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Live updates will appear below after 19:00.

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  1. kevinjohn on

    @ JOHN1314MAC

     

     

    The issue with that article is that it’s base premise is wrong (I have no issue with ti’s comments on the game last night, nor our poor play/defending).

     

     

    Many will argue that the Europa League is our level given the financial disparity between Celtic and the “Big Clubs” in the Champions League

     

    we need to be dining at the Top Table every year

     

     

     

    That’s never going to happen again. The CL has been locked up. 10 of the places that used to be open to qualification are now guaranteed to teams based on their League’s UEFA ranking (basically the top 11 leagues). Scotland are ranked 26th in Europe, with the same coefficient points as the mighty footballing nations of Belarus and Kazakhstan. We’re *under* Azerbaijan for goodness sake! In order to play one less qualifying game for the CL, Scotland’s league ranking would need to jump 7 places.

     

     

     

    The remaining 6 places open to qualification for the 54 teams from the 44 leagues outside of the top 11, are themselves split into a separate grouping of 4 spaces (champions path) and 2 spaces (league path). Celtic, playing in Scotland, can only ever be part of the 44 teams fighting for 4 places in the champions path. Being in such a poor league means we will always have 4 qualifiers to play for ever more.

     

     

    To give an idea of the weighting to ensure that we don’t make the CL again, of the 36 teams who didn’t join a later quailing round, only 2 of them are left made it into the final round. And both of those teams (Belgrade and Mol Vidi) *only* played 1st round qualifying teams in their 3 matches. *ALL* teams from the 1st round who played a team that joined the qualification process later, have been put out. Which is UEFA’s plan. They’ve not hidden it.

     

     

    They don’t want us in the champions league. They don’t want BATE, Zagreb, New Saints or Cork – and that’s who we’re in with due to how poor our league is.

     

     

    we need to be dining at the Top Table every year

     

     

    This is just a non starter. We’re not wanted. And UEFA have stacked the deck against us. It’s never going to happen again. No team has played four qualifying rounds and gotten to the Champions League in 20 years. Regardless of last night’s victory – it’s over!

     

     

    Remember, in 20 years, only 2 teams outside of the Top 12 UEFA leagues (for that year) have ever made it to the knockout stages. Celtic (twice at rank 24 and 15) and Apoel (rank 15). UEFA looked at the data, and decided that regardless of what we think, what we say, or how much money we spend – they don’t want us in the CL.

     

     

    It’s not personal, it’s not anti-Celtic, it’s just their business model.

     

     

    To turn a phrase – it’s over, the rebels have lost. The establishment have won. It’s why the mighty Viktoria Plzeň, playing in front of 9000 fans each week, are guaranteed a CL place without playing a qualifier.

  2. Jimmynotpaul on

    Jeezo, if you think it’s bad on here. On Twitter,

     

    BRTH, being told he comes across as pompous and arrogant.

     

    Two adjectives I would never use to describe him.

     

    Hail Hail

  3. RogueLeader on

    KevinJohn – the other big factor I have not seen many comment on with the CL qualifiers is we are now saying to players “Come here, play CL but you will get no holidays in the summer”

     

     

    Thats a big factor.

     

     

    Maybe we need to tweak the criteria a little then. Perhaps somebody needs to say to Brendan, sorry mate, you aren’t going to get your ball playing centre half within budget and who wants to play here?

     

     

    Still, there are better than Hendry that would surely come and play even with those conditions.

     

     

    The other question mark hanging is who thought that Hendry and Compper were better than Sviatchenko?

  4. Tommy Joad on

    There has been a humility about BR teams since he arrived. McGregor, Rogic, Tierney all grafters making the most of their ability.

     

     

    At the back though, it seems to me Hendry has a bit of swagger. It appears an unearned confidence and although I rate him, I’m sure he holds himself in higher regard than he should. Just an observation, I may be wrong.

     

     

    Boyota is another matter entirely. Ego in inverse proportion to his ability, he has to go, even if the club lose money and face.

     

     

    We need new, hungry players to get to the top of the mountain again, domestically. Trebles aren’t easy and complacency and hubris won’t win them. This might turn out to be a painful, but helpful reality check for team and fans alike.

     

     

    As for the board, I just don’t think they will ever provide funds to have a real crack in Europe.

     

     

    MON signed good players with a point to prove. A few of those would be nice by the end of the month, if only for a strong charge towards a treble treble.

     

     

    TJ

  5. traditionalist88 on

    RogueLeader on 15th August 2018 11:52 am

     

     

    Compper may be better than Sviatchenko defensively, but in all likelihood we will never know for sure.

     

     

    HH

  7. starry plough on

    KEVINJOHN

     

     

    Really good informative posts, when you see it laid out like that you seethe CL by name is just a sham and proud clubs like us and others a scrabbling around like peasants trying to get crumbs off the table of the chosen aristocracy:((

  9. kevinjohn on

    ROGUELEADER – correct. It also means we need to look at players who are not involved in World Cups, or European Championships. We are going to run into the overlap of 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds with these competitions every year from now on.

     

     

    Of course, no other club of the 32 teams involved in the 1st round had more than 1 player at the World Cup.

     

     

    People forget, we’re a total statistical anomaly not just in football, but in World Sport.

     

     

    We’re within the top 200 sports team for average wage in 2017. Not football – world sport. That includes every American team that farts. We have higher attendances than some NFL teams. But we play in a league that’s ranked under that of Azerbjan by UEFA.

     

     

    I’m not being defeatist when i say it’s game over. I’m being a realist. We need to keep our criteria strict. Buy young talent, improve, and sell on. The CL is just never going to happen in consecutive seasons again. We need to buy accordingly

  10. Friesdorfer on

    MadMitch 0945

     

    Of all your recent essays, that was a rational summary of the status quo. I agree. HH

  11. An Tearmann on

    tough old morning today,

     

    i think alot went against us in the run in to these ties

     

    moussa getting injured to me appeared to upset a good start with him and Edouard lookin good as a front two.

     

    We have had historical difficulties in defence,boyatas modern day meejah attention seeking tantrum and Kris Ajer being out hindered our game last night.

     

    We got put out in the second qualifying round for the champions league,’Champions league your having a laugh’ it is now a rigged tournament biased towards those countries with big telly viewing populations.I am disappointed as a Celtic fan but we have the Europa league to participate in.

     

     

    rememeber Celts feeling sh**e this morning you have felt worse,(me i think of Raith Rovers)

     

     

    but we regroup,recharge and build again,its what we have done since a wee meeting in St Marys hall in 1887

     

     

    Neganon you should ease up on the ad hominem attacks on Paul67,

     

    break his arguements down Neganon,

     

     

     

    The Exiled Tim- stay were yi uhrr K :-)

     

     

    Hail hail and onwards to Thistle

     

    :-)

     

    HH

  12. weebobbycollins on

    Neg2 @ 11.22…I agree the football and finances are interdependent, however, it’s about the emphasis in Paul’s articles. I honestly get fed up reading about how wealthy we are when it’s obvious, certainly this season, there is a weakening of the footballing side…

  16. Jimmynotpaul on

    An Tearmann.

     

    I hope you are well D.

     

    Yes, Raith Rovers, I was in the club deck that day, I think that’s the only time I’ve watched Celtic lose and then the fans leave the ground in silence. Usually a few are ranting and raving but not that game, just silence.

     

    Hail Hail

  18. ron67 on

    imo Ajer is not a centre back only playing in that position due to his height and not having a proper centre back available to fill that position.

  19. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    KEVINJOHN 1202

     

     

    And who have we bought this summer who fits that criteria,bar Eddie who was already here and cost is probably twice what he would a year ago?

     

     

    And who is gonna mentor these youngsters? We already have a good mix of youth and experience,but if you only replace experience with youth,you’ll end up with a youth team.

  21. Rock Tree Bhoy on

    Looking on the bright side surely we can be reasonably confident we wont be getting any embarrassing seven goal thrashings from the likes of Barca, we might even hand out a few thrashings. But yeah overall very disappointing, plus of course under Brendan we’re not used to being disappointed so a wee bit harder to take.

  22. jimtim on

    Very disappointed this morning, like no doubt many others are . Thought we were by far the better team , but we fell short in the areas nearly every fan new was our Achilles heal . Taking a closer look , although it has been said on here many times , our right back area being a problem , and it is , but no one should be ridiculing Mikel Lustig . He has been a great Celt , but unfortunately age and too many injuries have taken there toll . Same applies to young Hendry , this young man ,with a proper mentor beside him will come good , as will Ajer ,two young men thrown into the deep end . As far as BR is concerned , I hope he is with us for years to come , but I often wonder if before taking the celtic job ,he insisted on having full control over team matters . I am old enough to remember the kelly,s picking the team ,when the great jimmy mc grory was boss , we didn,t do to well then , but big jock changed all that , and the rest is history . A major blow has been struck against the celts , and it has come from within , can’t say I am surprised but never was secure in the knowledge that dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell were at the helm .

  24. traditionalist88 on

    KevinJohn

     

     

    We must remember that Peter Lawwell seen this outcome as a ‘victory’, or at least, it was portrayed that way. The alternative apparently was even worse.

     

     

    Is it a victory of sorts? Maybe. We retain the Champions path. As you say we are an anomaly and by virtue the first two rounds should always be straightforward (point taken, this is Celtic, but still, in these ties we are heavy, heavy favourites).

     

     

    This leaves us with two rounds to negotiate where there is a considerable step up in class. This time we got probably the draw we didnt want, agonisingly the next tie was looking less difficult..again, we’ll never know.

     

     

    Yes its unfair given its the ‘Champions League’ but far from game over. They can argue we have access. Only a few years ago we had a qualifier against Arsenal. Of course, now those clubs just waltz straight in but I’d rather the potential route we have now.

     

     

    HH

  26. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    JIMTIM

     

     

    Aye. Very little wrong with that,but the cheerleaders seem to have been energised a tad this morning.

     

     

    Who should we sign,how do you know they’d come here to the 26th league in the world,utter f…..g garbage.

     

     

    Aye,I’ll just tug my forelock on the way past to the soup kitchen. Shameless,the lot of them.

  27. Go tell the Spartim on

    REasoned thought and analysis is always welcome and appreciated, however, it generally if not always focusses on why we CANT do things, surely given our intellectual resources (obv not mine) we could come up with reasons on how we could do things

     

     

    Discuss

  29. kevinjohn on

    @ RT REV DAVID HAY

     

     

    That’s a real kindness. thank you

     

     

    @ BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS

     

     

    I wouldn’t do that yet. Just accept the reality of where we are (26th league in Europe).

     

     

    Look in the short term UEFA’s decisions are awful for us. In the long term, it’s good. UEFA’s decisions are being made to prop up it’s income generation, which is exclusively from TV. Like traditional TV. you know the thing that’s absolutely dying on it’s arse.

     

     

    When both Man U and AC Milan (?) didnt make Europe a few years ago, they instead played a mini tournament/friendly on European nights. you’re allowed as long as you dont show it on “TV”. Old Trafford was packed, ghighlight were on ManU’s streaming service. A client of mine at the time, who is a well known broadcaster of sport into Pubs, received so many complaints from their clients in Manchester about lower turnout for the expensive CL football, that the broadcaster complained to UEFA. Within 2 weeks a meeting of the G8 (at the time) was called, and this new format for the CL with guaranteed placed for teams in the top leagues was formed – also they wanted double the money.

     

     

    Without it, they’ve just go off and form their own mini league, like the ICC competition you see in the summer (that we can’t be in any more, thanks to having to play in 4 bloody qualifiers!).

     

     

    Add into that the death of traditional television, the rise of streaming, the rise of in play betting, and the fact that teams with a global brand, or at least a brand bigger than the league they are in – can make more money and have more control over selling their own games rather than being part of a package deal…

     

     

    This shocking carve up and removal of competition from a sporting event is the death knell of UEFA’s Tv stranglehold. In the short term its horrible for us. In the long term, it’s a good thing. This is UEFA’s last roll of the dice.

     

     

    What clubs like ours need to do is simple, but hard. Diversify (hello Hotels!), and change our business model to taking young talented players from the continent that are being lost in the systemic greed of the clubs with money (man city), and give them a platform to move to a league with an inflated transfer market being propped by the dying TV industry (England basically).

     

     

    The next 10-15 years are going to be the most claustrophobic as a Celtic fan. But we’ll also be celebrating 10, 15 and 20 in a row. So I’d not chuck it yet BMCUW, just manage expectations :)

  30. Gary67 on

    When’s the daily squirrel due?

     

    No doubt it’ll be to do with Sevco and their proposed share issue, news of which sneaked out last night. Certainly wont be about the complacency and arrogance that seeps from our club.

  32. ron67 on

    i have asked many times on here who is coaching the defence on how to set-up and defend because it aint working, get rid of who they are and get the best we can into our coaching staff, fed up continually hearing that we will learn from all the mistakes our defence makes that they will be all the better for it , bollocks.

  34. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    KEVINJOHN

     

     

    Unaware of that,do you have any details? I know the big countries have held a gun to the head of UEFA. We all do,but where does that impact on the argument here,which is a CEO refusing to action the signing requests,within budget,of his manager?

  35. kevinjohn on

    @ DESSYBHOY

     

     

    That’s where co-efficient points become a challenging metric.

     

     

    Given how poor the Scottish league is, and how the teams fare when playing in Europe (again not a straight comparison due to the league start dates etc) – only Celtic have picked up significant coefficient points in the last 5 years.

     

     

    In Greece, where is the league is far more competitive (no-one is winning 9 in a row!) AEK are not alone in picking up coefficient points. As well as AEK there is PAOK, Panathanaikos, Olympiakos, Atromitos and Asteras Tripolis who have all picked up similar coefficient points in the last 5 years. Because of this, and the limited number of European places, none of these teams have played in Europe for the whole 5 years.

     

     

    So while Celtic have amassed 30 points and are champions of our league. Our league consists of teams in 2nd , 3rd and 4th place who have a coefficient of less than 2 each. AEK won their league, which UEFA rank 12 places higher than Scotland, and they beat 4 other teams who have a co-efficient ranking of 9 or above.

     

     

    I think we’re a much better team than AEK. But we are also very quick to fall into the “we’re Celtic, we should have beaten them” trap. With coefficient points spread over 5 years, it’s sadly not a reflection on a teams current (last 18 months) ability. They are us there to stop tams from buying their way into competitions with quick success, and to keep the status quo as much as possible.

  36. fleagle1888 on

    CQN Saturday Naps Competition 2018-19 – just a wee heads-up

     

     

    Lads, is anyone interested in taking part in our CQN Naps competition this season?

     

     

    Planning to start on Sat 25th August and continue until Saturday 25th May (40 weeks in total) – hopefully finish on the same day as an historic TREBLE-TREBLE

     

     

    :)

     

    Cheers, fleagle1888

  38. fleagle1888 on

    CQN Napsters:

     

     

    2017-18 leftclicktic +39.75

     

    2016-17 Gweedore Celt +27.00

     

    2015-16 16 roads +19.75

     

    2014-15 twists n turns +46.88

     

    2013-14 PF ayr +12.60

     

    2012-13 green T +21.35

     

    2011-12 voguepunter +21.00

     

     

    …and I think Twists ran it for at least a couple of years before I started.

     

     

    fleagle1888

  40. fleagle1888 on

    21-5-79 on 14th August 2018 9:58 am

     

    Count me in…

     

     

    Gerryfaethebrig on 14th August 2018 11:01 am

     

    Fleagle

     

    Count me in

     

    Appreciate the work you put in

     

    Hail Hail

     

     

    Cathal on 14th August 2018 11:05 am

     

    CQN Naps:

     

    I’ll have a shot again Fleagle.

     

    Thank you,

     

     

    OneMalloy on 14th August 2018 1:30 pm

     

    Count me in Fleagle, thank you

     

    HH

     

     

    voguepunter on 14th August 2018 5:47 pm

     

    Amin Fleags…..cheers hh.

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