A 2-0 lead from the first leg at home is a reliable indicator that you will progress to the next round in Europe. But make no mistake, AIK believe they have a chance of overhauling Celtic tonight.
Towards the end of last week’s first leg, AIK and Celtic both were content to settle on what they had. AIK were worried they would lose another goal and give themselves an impossible task, Celtic worried they would lose that crucial two-goal advantage.
On BBC news last night, James McFadden explained that Celtic were stronger than AIK in every department and should therefore go through. You and I have watched more of Celtic in Europe than the optimistic McFadden. We have schooled teams at Celtic Park before but looked like innocents abroad in the return leg. There is a lot of work to do tonight; we will need leaders throughout the team. There will be goals.
I see some of the dying media digging up Celtic for signing Moritz Bauer on loan, without mention of the fact that we have an option to buy the player. Celtic try to get this arrangement with every new signing. If they get a deal they are happy with, they will ask for a loan option, as they did with Odsonne Edouard.
There generally needs to be extenuating circumstances before the selling club agrees, in this case, Stoke City are financially motivated to get his significant wages off their books before Premiership parachute payments decline further.
By all accounts, he was a star at Rubin Kazan and during his six months in the Premiership with Stoke. We had a false start at right back with Jeremy Toljan, there are no guarantees in life, but on paper, I’m happy with this.
The Newco statement on their second citation from Uefa for sectarian offenses was clear. No equivocation on the nature of the offense, or whataboutery, just straightforward, “You are endangering your club” sentiment. The problem is, the perpetrators are not endangered. This is a free hit to them. That their club may sufferer is inconsequential.
The thin blue line may hold tonight, but there’s no chance of that being the case on Sunday. Scottish football may yet be shamed into action by Uefa, but you can count on a whole lot of whataboutery before then.
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Cmon the Hoops !
Mon the Celtic !!!
2 1 good guys
AIK 0-2 Celtic
We should be refusing tickets for the biggotdome and I think they will strike first and say they are refusing for December game.
!!BADA BING!! on 29TH AUGUST 2019 12:54 PM
Timaloy-do we need another striker? Eddie, LG,Bayo….if we bring Cluj striker in,alarm bells will be ringing
____
I don’t see Celtic signing Cosgrove. JohnJames is a known liar.
As for the Cluj guy, he can and does often play on the wing. We have been looking at LW’s like Ibe & Diabate
The Hun claim we have no interest in Omrani
Trad- hopefully
Whatever happens tonight PL should be voted down , at least by non major shareholders at AGM. We are a shambles in recruitment of manager /Players. Alll other income depends on success on the park. How can he jsustify picking up £”M bonus but refusing to budge 250/5000 k to secure players.. There is NO scouting network whatsoever! Incredible. Lets hope the few fit defendrers play out their skins tonight as a unit.. we will need to score at some point so make it early… ease defence’s nerves!. Get the ball to Jamsie!!!
Antonio Luna, left back for Levante, another name being mentioned.
we need a LB, CM to take overfromSB and a CF in before deadlie. Or give jack Aitchison some time.. He looks a natural CF. but not sure if he is physical enough for first team..
Interesting to note the age grouping of recent signings:
Elhamed – 28
Jullien – 26
Bauer – 27
Then add
Forster – 31
Boli – 24
Average 27 years old, and entering the peak years of performance. The sense is that Lenny is building a team of experienced pros to win in the here and now, and is being permitted to do so with players who, once the contract is ended (excl Boli), will have little sell-on value.
A team for whom the only game that matters is the next game.
Good.
HENRIK1967 12-19PM
Wullie Young is a dyed in the wool hun fae Girvan
ADI_DASSLER on 29TH AUGUST 2019 1:01 PM
We should be refusing tickets for the biggotdome and I think they will strike first and say they are refusing for December game.
———————
Totally agree, I would tell them to ram their desirory tickets and tell them right now their racist / sectarian followers will not be allowed into Paradise.
It is only common sense, with huge benefits.
HH to all and COYBIG.
Can anyone remember when the last time we had all our buiness done before deadline day HH
Cosgrove ? Ormani ? Most transfer ‘stories’ are pure urination . Don’t know how good Bauer will be , but what I do like , is Celtic getting back to signings which are off the radar . Must annoy the MSM like hell.
Huns red card 6/1
Both Teams Tae Score 6/5
Sectarian Singing 1/100
Jimtim 12.46
I for one am saddened at your post. :-((
Take care. All should be welcome,free to say their bit to other Celts.lurk a bit :-)
HH
Bears_Back
Remember record the CFC game tonight. Listen for any chants thst may be deemed racist or sectarian & the new @farenet member here will pass on to them.
Linked with lots of wingers while SS gets frozen out.
I’m fully aware that Sinclair hasn’t hit the heights of his first season and can be inconsistent but he weighs in with plenty of goals and my question would be, are these players we’re being linked with any better?
PL didnt travel with team, rumour hes in Norway negotiating for Meling. FWIW.
HH
Aye Jimtim, just because everyone else’s opinion is that Cosgrove is pish, doesn’t make them right 😉
Keep posting pal.
HH
From the Celtic supporters association.
We must not walk into a Trap.
Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:40 pm
It didn’t come as any surprise to anyone who watches Scottish Football that The Rangers have been charged again by UEFA for Racist behaviour by their fans during last week’s match versus Legia Warsaw. I suppose it’s hard to change the habits of over 100 years, during which they have ingrained themselves in Racist and Sectarian beliefs.
This should come as a warning to all football supporters, including our own. We have seen in the past that UEFA act as and when they want to, they have in the past tried to even things up between opposing teams in different countries, and it would not come as any shock if they were now pointing their guns in our direction.
When we play in Stockholm tonight it would not surprise me if the viewing television audience included more Sevconians than Celtic Supporters. We all have seen them in the past running to the Police to report anything that they deemed offensive to themselves or their Kulture, I know, I’ve been part of it.
I don’t suggest for one minute that the Celtic support are Racist or Sectarian, but we have had plenty of charges in the past few seasons, the vast majority of which were avoidable. I don’t like the song about Derek McInnes sang by some of our fans, there is no need for that type of song, whether it’s directed at him or anyone else, or to make some sort of warped hero out of a two bob kit man.
We should cut this type of song out, not simply because we might incur a charge from UEFA, but because it’s the right thing to do. We have built up a tremendous reputation over many years, we have been praised by the best Football Players and Mangers in World Football, we need to protect that reputation, it’s something we should all be very proud of.
If Sevco and their fans wish to continue to the walk through the Dark Ages, then let them get on with it. I believe our Club and our Supporters are made of different material. I don’t believe that we have a major problem, but its little things that make the difference. Let’s support our team in the manner in which we have rightly became Famous, I don’t believe any other set of supporters have won an Award on three different occasions from the Football Authorities, let’s go for 4 as well as 9.
Every signing is a risk, I wouldn’t go over the top celebrating or down in the dumps complaining until I’ve seen them play 3 or 4 games.
However I do like the age pattern in what we have got, seems like we are buying to bulk up and win the ten in a row. I think this year’s League will be even more physical then usual. We do not need projects or shrinking violets.
The Huns have tooled up, we need to meet fire with fire, match them physically and beat them with our quality.
Park rd
Was Mr young not filmed on the ‘after dinner speaker’ circuit filmed talkin of “geein thum nuhhin ” when talking of reffin one of our games?
Another bigot in black
Meant to ask you bout your trip to Ailsa Craig? Defo on the to do thjing:-)
Hope your good
HH
TRADITIONALIST88 on 29TH AUGUST 2019 1:09 PM
The Hun claim we have no interest in Omrani
sincerely hope that is the case we have better on our books currently.
Celtic doing the sensible thing,taking the boy Bauer on loan for the season.Last year,ifvwe had paid £ 7 million for Toljan,the ones now moaning would have been dancing in the streets.You see,its not about talent with these fans,its about how much we have spent.So many seem desperate to see the money we have ,spent.Looking for value,is a thing of the past.Players needing time to settle and adjust to everything alien to them,the same.Everything we have done in the past 8 seasons does not count,we are rubbish run,have a rubbish team,rubbish manager.Tell you what we do have,a load of rubbish fans.TGFITW,gie me a break.
If the rumours about Young are true, it just tells us that strict liability should never be allowed in Scotland.
I have a bit of a fascination for the business of buying a selling footballers
I am under no illusion that it is a complex world probably beyond my intelligence levels
I am also aware that you never really know what you are buying
This does not prevent me from being critical of PL – only on the buying of footballers – everything else PL does including selling footballers, is good work
I accept that some will not be happy with the selling of KT but admiration must be given to PL for his £25m or foxtrot oscar stance and he stuck to his guns and got us £25m (we lost a hero but thats business)
But this is my confusion
Why are we so active and possibly successful (time will tell) in the last 2 or 3 days of the transfer window
After we have effectively given up £40m revenue from the CL
Why can PL acquire footballers now when he could not 3 or 4 weeks ago
My view
The people/clubs that PL has been trying to buy footballers from have given him a price
PL does not want to pay the price, and thinks they will reduce the price
PL thinks – they will buckle and sell at my price
But they do not (McGinn) and God knows how many more
So these clubs are doing to PL what PL done to Arsenal
What a surprise
Except Arsenal wanted the player so paid for him
In the meantime while PL waits for the price to reduce – we get knocked out the CL
Costing shareholders millions (I am deliberately ignoring fans to make my point)
So as a CEO he has lost us £40m in an attempt to save, in McGinns case £250k – we ended up with Mulumba
I do not want PL spending money we do not have
But if we want a player that cost x and we can afford him then penny pinching is costing the club CL revenue
Its a poor buying performance from PL
I do not know if Greg Taylor is worth what Kilmarnock are asking, he is their player they decide to accept or decline any offer for him
So PL pay for him if we really want him as opposed to going for option 2 who may not be as good
PL is playing poker with shareholders money (I know I’m making a point again) and he is not doing very well lately
As I write I continue to be disappointed in PLs performance regarding strengthening our team
Lustig Boyata Benkovic Tierney had its moments
Pick any 4 from what we have today and I’m not sure we are any better (OK £15m better off)
Midfield and upfront we are as we were
Overall we are not stronger today than we were when we won the Scottish Cup in May
And I cannot get my head round that
We have approx £50m available
I am looking forward to Tuesday next week when all the speculation is over
We will also know a bit more about our team given the next 2 games
But we have a fight on our hands this year The Hun will die for the scouser and they are stronger today than they were last year (I did not say stronger than us)
Bt the gap is less
10 in a Row has never been done
It would seem The Hun will spend all he has and a lot he does not have to prevent it
But we will not spend what we do have to ensure it
Oh Peter I hope you get this right
A win tonight a win on Sunday and life will look greener
Hail Hail
67ECW
Jimtim
Laughing here as I only came on and read your post without reading back on your Cosgrove. suggestion..
Keep posting mate:-) or take the ban lol
HH
JimTim, I’d like to add my voice to those asking you to reconsider quitting. We are all Celts, we are all brothers & sisters in Celtic.
Like every Family we rub each other up the wrong way now & then & sometimes the written word comes across much harder than the spoken word. I don’t think anyone meant to be rude but a blog is a bit rough & tumble. Just give yourself a bit of time & hopefully come back stronger. I always find your posts interesting & relevant.
Young was pictured sitting next to Traynor at a game at Poundland last season
GeeBee1978
Scott Sinclair’s fall from grace looks a poor state of affairs. A much better player than Morgan and in the Cluj ties was an experienced head we could have done with. His goalscoring and assists are trmendous. Strange affair in a starnge close season.
JimTim
Had a wee look back there and seen my rather robust challenge on your Cosgrove view may have contributed to your exit so it’s an apology from me. I was taking the ball (Cosgrove) in my mind and not you but a summer of transfer woe has left me frazzled.
To echo others, hang around fella. Still a great wee blog and we all have the team we love at our heart.
p.s Will probably self-combust if we do sign Cosgrove :)
Not that it is relevant or in any way important.
But feel I need to dispel this myth, that gets quoted by virtually everybody.
This belief that Toljan would of cost us £6 million +
Typical paper talk.
He joined Liam Henderson’s Verona team I am sure, for the poltry sum of £2 million.
But we’ll not let facts get in the way.
RUGGYGMAN on 29TH AUGUST 2019 2:23 PM
He’s on loan at Sassuolo, according to TransferMrkt. The loan fee was £2.25m!
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jeremy-toljan/profil/spieler/129674
HH
Ruggyman, as far as I know Jeremy is on Loan to Italian Club FC Sassuelo.
Reading statements from so-called ‘decent’ Sevconians, “if we stop singing these songs it will make the whole match day experience much better.”
No it won’t. You need to expunge the deep seated, generational attitude towards Catholics, Irish Catholics in particular. Ditching the songs is only step 1 on a very long journey.