My thought on looking at our potential opponents this morning was ‘Anywhere but Warsaw’. Our man Zbyszek tells me Legia were awful in the first leg in Warsaw against St Pat’s, where they drew 1-1 courtesy of a late goal, but we’ve been there. Henrik Larsson & Co. drew 0-0 against St Pat’s at Celtic Park before winning 0-2 in the return leg. St Patrick’s have a big job ahead if they are to progress.
A trip to Ireland on Champions League qualification duty for the second year running would suit Celtic, especially our Irish-based supporters, but my money is on a more testing trip to Poland; Ronny’s pulse should have quickened on the news.
Zbyszek doesn’t reckon have what it takes to eliminate Celtic. All being equal, that may be the case, but summer football will be unpredictable for both clubs.
I am, of course, being completely disrespectful to KR Reykjavik, who we annihilate next week.
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Two main reasons supporters have stopped going to games,
1) can’t afford it
2) found something better to do with their hard earned
Neil canalamar. So how would you entice them back or is that mission impossible ? H.H.
My pet hate here are the alcohol fuelled posts that seem to last from Saturday afternoon to Monday with maybe a 2 hour break on the Sunday morning.
I’m also irritated by the exchanges along the lines of
‘What time will you be in the pub, X ?’.
‘Oh about 6 or so, Y.’
‘See you there’. etc. etc.
Starry..,
Players on contracts means we don’t need to improve pay, keeping them for another year won’t make much difference to the transfer fee if the players continue to improve.
If a player chucks it because he’s not getting his own way, that is likely to have a bigger impact on admirers than being forced to play out an extra year against his will, however most of the players that have left would have been happy to stay according to their post transfer comments.
Dallas Dallas. Indeed tulips were good
Spoke on the phone to a few of the Dresden bhoys as they are heading out. Lovely city loved my 5 years there. We always had games on in the pub
Ps on Gerry White Facebook now
Was going to stay up for game tnite but too many oz wines making me tired
Ps. Looks like no signings this year
joe filippis haircut
12:57 on 19 July, 2014
They reacted to the call of their (irish immigrant) hearts ……. I know one or two who bought SBs but had no interest in football……once we were stable they returned to their normal interests etc…….how do we get them back ……. we come out of the worst recession in history…… we continue to do well in Europe …AND …. we hope that our provincial team get some assistance to develop from the SFA , instead of the SFA putting all their effort into reviving the zombies…….
CANAMALAR
I think it’s widely agreed that Joe Ledley and SAMMI were on c£25k per week.
And that the club were unwilling to renew on those terms. ie £4m each over a three year contract.
Rather than pay it for what we had and were familiar with,the usual throw mud at the wall to see what sticks approach seemed to be the outcome.
However it appears that even that was not an option. The £8m was not going anywhere.
And that,IMO,is why Neil Lennon decided he’d had enough.
Canamalar,
Gordon Strachan said on ITV`s World Cup coverage that Giorgios Samaras had been on £25,000 per week at Man City but took a 40% pay cut to join Celtic.
jfh,
Easy, three pronged approach,
1) support the supporters against vilification
2) gamble less with the funds, instead of wasting 6M on 5 potentials pay for 2x3M potentials
3) face the SFA head on and call out the corruption, it will hurt in the short term but pay dividends in the long term IMO
Cowiebhoy
Where you sitting at murrayfield on Tuesday
Stasis. Yip. Scottish football is in a period of decline, has been for a decade. The majority of clubs are in the process of managing that decline, and for most, that means youth development.
Funny thing is, it’s working for many of them, irrespective of level.
EKFC is an amateur team like all teams in the Lowland League. The players get the cost of their kit, and the club covers facilities and transport, and the squad is drawn from the best young players in the area, supplemented by the odd loan deal with more senior clubs.
Falkirk and Alloa are doing the same thing but on a bigger scale and at a higher level. Dundee Utd and Aberdeen more extensive and higher again.
Then Celtic. Same thing.
The difference for each is the talent of the players they start with, and the level they require to reach to be considered a success.
It’s possible that this strategy, designed from necessity, might in due course actually reverse the decline, or at least stop it. The better the players developed, the more valuable Scottish talent will be considered, and the more esteem the game will carry.
However, because the gap between Scotland and the top leagues is predicated upon media value, the gap can never be closed to a meaningful extent without radical restructure at the regional or European level.
For EKFC, we have a plan to progress through the pyramid as best we can, built on the player development pathway we have had in place for a few years, and hope to be a SPFL member club in due course of time, while breaking even.
For Falkirk it’s about a return to the top division while breaking even.
For Dundee Utd it’s about winning the odd cup trophy, doing respectably in Europe, and breaking even.
For Celtic it’s about… continuing to do good things off the pitch, and providing spectacle on it. We don’t have an ambition to win the Champions League, but we’d quite like to qualify out of the groups more often, and failing which, get a great run in the Europa League from time to time.
If change comes, and we continue to push for it, we’ll be ready to take advantage of it. In the meantime, the club will be run securely, we’ll win most games and most competitions in Scotland, and enjoy the odd Barcelona or Man Utd moment.
For the fans, those who are football supporters will continue to enjoy the life irrespective of the club we support. Those who have a prerequisite in following a club for something more than the game itself will find it less enjoyable I expect.
Just back from Spain, what times the KO today lads?
Anybody know what is happening with Tom Rogic? I know he went back on loan to Oz but since then nada.Hail Hail Hebcelt
tony D. 3.15 ko H.H.
15;15 CP time TD67
Thanks Joe
Better get changed for the brazen, need to go ti the bank first, lost my bank card in Spain ;) no worries not been touched, in fact I think if someone found it they’d prob. Make a wee deposit for me HH .
Just upgraded my Virgin TV package to include Premier Sports. £3.99 per month, and I can cancel anytime after 30 days.
Bargain!
HH
End London rule.YES
PeteTheBeat,
Agreed – CQN is sometimes more of a chat room than a blog.
A site I used to moderate way back had a simple suggestion – if your message is for one person only then, message them directly. Only post if it is aimed more generally.
Guys…
Received my ticket for Tuesday.. am in section West 1 row HH, anybody close??
Have a pic of Murrayfield duly marked out per CP dimensions, but no crossbar on the goalposts yet.
If somebody posts an email addy will forward on as don’t know how to import on blog…
petethebeat
13:06 on 19 July, 2014
You forgot to add……….my newest bestest buddy You have mail
“New Balls Please!”………
BMCUW,
widely acknowledged by who ?
And if that information was made public, who would benefit ?
Sorry pal, as the glorious balance sheet says he took a pay cut to come to us, we have no idea how much he was paid and there would be plenty bumping their gums if we did know.
You’ll have noticed those who support the board unquestioningly use this kind of “fact” to substantiate good reasons for getting rid of players yet if we offer a guesstimate on sums to support an alternative argument the fist thing out their gub is telling you you can’t possibly know that.
IMO the £25k per week was not denied and probably leaked to justify getting shot and calling them a drain on resources I don’t believe Sammi was on that, maybe with bonuses and euro bonuses but that’s about it IMO.
Hearts/Man.C. game live or recorded?
HH
Jonny the Tim
13:18 on 19 July, 2014
The price quoted is £7.99 a month – is there a deal on ?
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire
Aye Joe and Sammi said as much, the game is beyond repair in my opinion when journeymen like Ross McCormick command a fee of 11 million, Celtic although far from perfect seem unwilling rightly or wrongly to enter in to this madness, I know a few seriously pissed off Arsenal fans!
The transfer business is a cut throat game now with many average players becoming millionaires overnight and wee boys running around at 18 already set for life just where we as a club fit in to this I no longer know, we all want us to do well in Europe in fact that’s the main point of interest for a percentage of the fans now.
Och ma heid is birling with the whole shoite..
Javier Aquino is 5ft 5 1/2 inches tall.
neil canamalar lennon hunskelper extrordinaire
13:11 on 19 july 2014
3) face the SFA head on and call out the corruption, it will hurt in the short term but pay dividends in the long term IMO
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I could not agree more with you…….this is the one, single area our Board have let us down on IMHO…. I can understand that they may have felt the onslaught from ipox, smsm, sfa, establisment etc etc would have adversely affected or ‘progress’ as a Club, and they wanted to stay focused on US and not THEM …….. however, the pursuit of truth and justice would have united all of our community in Scotland, we would have needed a 70k stadium, and we would have done even better in Europe…….
bournesouprecipe
Naka’s replacement at last!!
bsr,
Too short, never amount to a hill of beans,
We should be looking for players at least the amount of a hill of beans
Canamalar… but he’s a Mexican of the jumping sort of bean.
canamalar
It doesn’t matter whether Sammi was on £15K or £25K. The situation remains the same. He started in 100% of Euro games, but just 25% of domestic. How does that square – in ordinary course – with a top bracket wage? An Athenian anomaly, and one to which there is no obvious answer.
I love the big guy, would have kept him, and would like to see him re-signed even now, provided the new manager thinks he can get performance from him game in, game out.
Doubt it’ll happen though.
Anyway, what’s this alternative argument you’ve got?
charles kickham
13:25 on 19 July, 2014
Jonny the Tim
13:18 on 19 July, 2014
The price quoted is £7.99 a month – is there a deal on ?
__________________________________________________________________________
While I was upgrading, there was a message on screen saying I would be charged £3.99 or part thereof, for the part of the month remaining before billing. I presumed that £3.99 would be the monthly charge. I only intend to keep it until the season starts.
HH
Sydney, I wonder if Australain wines have the same effect as old traditional wines you get here like Lanliq, EL D & Buckie.
Anyone I know who has lived and worked in Germany, has loved it. From my two very short trips there, I can underdstand why, its agreat place.
I know financially we can’t compete with EPL clubs and bigger in Europe but I would like the board to have a realistic ambition to match that of the fans, invest in the team a wee bit more. We go to see the team and its the most important part of the club.
neil canamalar lennon hunskelper extrordinaire
13:21 on 19 July, 2014
I found it interesting that Sami said he wasn’t made any offer at all, yet Neil said he was ….,!!??
TBB,
To me there’s a very obvious answer, those stats make me suspect that there was a big money saving to be made by not playing him, rather than he did not fit, personally I’d have built a team around him. When we did that we got results in Europe but I will agree
starry / canamalar
A full 1 1/2 inches shorter than Shaun Maloney
67h..,
I expect that’s easily explained by the following scenario,
Sammi how much are you on .
£15k a week sir
Right we’re offering you £10k a week, can’t say fairer than that can we ?
Sammi, sorry that’s not an offer that’s n insult.
bournesouprecipe
Does that make him Fraser’s gimp?