St Mirren, who Celtic play in our opening Premiership fixture two weeks on Sunday, do not have the luxury of preseason friendlies against top European opponents, but they will have four competitive League Cup games under their belt as well as three friendlies before they arrive at Celtic Park.
Celtic have one fewer game, but the considerable benefit that tomorrow, we will be tested against Newcastle United, St Mirren have to hope that Annan Athletic are suitable preparation.
Preseason is not about the results, or even the performance. Indeed, Ange Postecoglou’s memorable first season was prefaced by a 2-6 home drubbing by West Ham. The objective is to elevate player fitness and work on tactics. It is a time for risks without consequence, and gives us a chance for an early look at the new arrivals. I would take another drubbing tomorrow if it better prepared us for the challenges next month.
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B78
What a sad person ,shame really.HH
My son worked in that department and respected that it was a step up back then vs before but attributed most of that to Jack Naylor and not really
From B78….it goes a bit deeper now….where a previous manager couldn’t actually switch ok 40k worth of analysis equipment….but let’s keep nepotism ..
Not many tougher boxers than the man from Ukraine
Alexander Usyk knocks out Dubois in the 5th round at a full house at Wembley
Undefeated and once again undisputed heavy weight Champion of the World of Boxing
An all time great fighter
FAVOURITE UNCLE on 19th July 2025 4:59 pm
BELFAST JOE what happened last time CELTIC scored 4 pre season against an ENGLISH team.
FAVOURITE UNCLE, that would have been back in 1966 when we gubbed Man Ure 4 – 1 (Best, Law, Charlton, etc.) before going on a clean sweep that year ( think we won some diddy European trophy or something).
Are you suggesting an omen?
Ave Ave
Well done Celtic. Only a friendly, but played really well. Thank you, Brenda. A well coached squad, never mind team.
Good night, Belfast Joe.
HH
I assume BRRB and AT are well since tucked in their beds.
HH
Incredible drama in the Germany v France womens game.German keeper will get the keys of whatever City she wants.Great entertainment.
A right good pumping of the scum now on Tuesday would be nice.
Oh,and a couple of players,thanks.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article35584901.ece/alternates/s1023/0_Celtic-v-Newcastle-United-Pre-Season-Friendly.jpg
https://www.irishnews.com/resizer/v2/VEY7ZPYC6FILHO2PS7TMXBYXDY.jpg?auth=f36077ef9b62d7d9cd972629c5640a9f6e0542a94193e86fc221f2d3acddaaf2&width=1440&height=959
https://www.irishnews.com/resizer/v2/Q2Y7VF3NHBKFRGPTSGCBZVKQM4.jpg?auth=bc89277a4453b26341bdea21f2c18359ed774b062001d560074cbc06ba0df1d7&width=1440&height=997
https://cdn.celtsarehere.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-19T160733Z_505109136_UP1EL7J18SKPJ_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-FRIENDLY-CEL-NEW-1-1920×1181.jpg
Same old Celtic – always winning.
https://cdn.celtsarehere.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-19T143403Z_1886768915_UP1EL7J14GRIT_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-FRIENDLY-CEL-NEW-1920×1200.jpg
We will never get a manager as good as Brendan.Never.
https://www.scotsman.com/jpim-static/image/2025/07/19/16/02/21423958.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=9640&quality=65
Usyk is a monster
Shin Fein Yamada!!
A fanboy of Brendan Rodgers? You bet,someone who has achieved something in football, if we don’t keep him the guys on the waiting list will be required
BURNLEY78 on 19TH JULY 2025 5:46 PM
Bada Bing
So Brendan is strength and conditioning coach now too. Wow. No end to this man’s areas of expertise.
………….,
Why don’t you give yourself a day off from Brendan sniping?
Leave it to the elite,
Brendan Rodgers welcomed the arrival of speed demon Shin Yamada – then promised Celtic fans the Hoops are working flat out to add more firepower in quick time.
Japanese striker Yamada – dubbed quicker than Daizen Maeda – was paraded ahead of the demolition of Newcastle in the Adidas Cup showdown after clinching his £1.3m move from Kawasaki Frontale.
But Celtic, who lost Kyogo Furuhashi in January and Nicolas Kuhn in a £17m exit to Como last week, are eager to add more goals with Royal Antwerp ace Michel-Ange Balikwisha a long term target.
There’s just two weeks until the champions raise the curtain on a new season against St Mirren.
And Rodgers said: “Any coach would love to have them in at the beginning, on the first day of pre-season, but we all know how the market works.
“There’s a little period, and then there’s another period to sign, and then it ramps up at the end.
“Every coach will tell you that they want them in the first day of the season, but as long as they’re here by the end of August.
“Obviously in some areas we would like them sooner.
“By the end of August we’ll be able to see the squad that we have, and take it from there.
“I think it’s bringing goals to the squad. When you’ve just scored four goals, that always seems to be okay, but we lost an important player in January in Kyogo, who scored a lot of goals, and we’ve lost Nicolas Kuhn, a lot of goals again, and even Matt O’Riley last summer.
“Even though we scored a lot of goals last season, we still want more, and our ambition is to have more, so I think all across the front areas, we have to be active in order to give us that depth.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do but the guys that are training and working with us are doing so well. You saw that today, and they’re all developing their fitness and participating in the games for us.
“I would expect us by the end of the window to have brought in players in certain areas of the pitch that we need to go through a really long season. But it’s an exciting season for us.”
Arne Engels’ penalty opened the floodgates against Eddie Howe’s Toon before Johnny Kenny, Hjunjuun Yang and Liam Scales put the gloss on an emphatic victory.
But it was last year’s player of the year Daizen Maeda who starred, playing a big part in the first and third goals, an electric performance on the left of a front three.
The Japan ace has attracted interest from Brentford this summer and has yet to sign the new deal Celtic have tabled.
Rodgers added: “I don’t think there have been any developments on that, but he’s a professional and his focus is very much on here.”
Meanwhile Rodgers reckons new boy Yamada can leave even Duracell bunny Maeda in his wake going by his stats.
He said: “His profile suits how he plays. He’s one of the quickest players from the Japanese league – he’s even quicker than Daizen and Kyogo in terms of statistics, and that’s how we play, that speed in the top line.
“He gives that depth as well, so I’m really looking forward to seeing him come in and seeing what he can bring.
“All the Japanese players that we work with, they have intensity, they have fitness, and they have this momentum, this mentality to keep going, so we think he’ll bring that, and hopefully we can develop him like we have the other players.”
NITOL CSC
p.s . Alloa 1-0 verse Dundee
Same old Alloa always cheating 🎵
BURNLEY78 on 19TH JULY 2025 9:35 PM
Timmy 7
You take it all a wee bit too seriously.
I was just having a laugh.
Sorry if it offended you.
Much of the chat has been about BR span of control etc. For someone to suggest we are fitter vs Ange because of Brendan is just funny.
My son worked in that department and respected that it was a step up back then vs before but attributed most of that to Jack Naylor and not really BR.
Of course his fan bhoys seem to feel the need to credit him with everything good. That makes me laugh. Maybe he is responsible for improved cleanliness in the loos also.
………………………
Having read your anti-Brendan drivel throughout the close season I’ve come to the conclusion that you are a horse’s ass.
Hands up,I was boycotting the game against a small English team. Should have been on the season book after all the money we are taking in. 4-0 is a great score at this time of the season. Surely no one could have predicted that. . . . . .
Good result yesterday, but I’m not getting carried away, it’s a friendly, the team needs at least 4 quality
Players,still not convinced with Engels, idah,Trusty same,,
Readback suggests our squad and team look in very good shape.
And delighted to see the rarely praised Liam Scales powering a great header thru for our fourth.
Go Scalesy !
HH
bournesouprecipe on 19th July 2025 6:16 pm
GENE on 19TH JULY 2025 6:00 PM Celtic 0 Arsenal 5, Start of our Centenary Season, WonTheDouble 🏆
It was actually 1-5, I mentioned it yesterday in greater detail in an effort to stop all the sniping
Good Morning Celts…
Great performance and result yesterday.
The hard work put in by BR&CO and the players really delivering dividends now.
Good post match interview by Trusty, said that would be a good experience for the new bhoys, when you play for Celtic you are expected to compete with the best – no fear.
Burnley78 @ 2:41 pm,
Chairbhoy
Just because Laxalt quotes a FACT you don’t like about your idol doesn’t mean you need to make things up and claim he said them.
You and Bournesouprecipe clearly love Brendan and worship the ground he walks on and others have a wee bit more pragmatic view of things.
Let it go.
Some of us don’t really blame the board for everything and even think PL did a great job when in charge can still accept he was far from correct in all he did. It seems you can’t accept even the slightest suggestion your man Brendan has his own agenda and isn’t quite perfect.
============================
”Laxalt @ 12:19 pm,
KT would be back at Celtic if Gavin Strachan or Stephen McManus or ANYONE else was the manager.
Absolutely FA to do with any individual.
He actually says this in the interview.
Brendan has enough credit with the support without his fan boys giving him kudos for something that didn’t involve him.
So, do we believe Laxalt’s FACT when he says…
….Brendan has enough credit with the support without his fan boys giving him kudos for something that didn’t involve him.
Or do we believe Kieran Tierney when he says…
…“He [Brendan Rodgers]played a huge part…”
KT’s dream was always to come back to Celtic, he’s always said that, this week he said – “It was probably the easiest signing Celtic have made, and the easiest decision I’ve had to make.”
Yet the narrative from the agenda merchants back in 2019 was – KT did not get on with Brendan Rodgers, Brendan Rodgers was responsible for playing KT injured and causing long term damage.
Now of course you could easily see the games KT played in 2018/19 and seen that BR was using KT for mainly European fixtures and was wrapping him up in cotton wool otherwise.
Of course when Lenny became caretaker KT was put in the shop window.
We now know the truth, about both KT’s injuries and his relationship with Brendan and it is no surprise the placemen were dealing in falsehood.
You, Laxalt and you ilk – speak as if it somehow un-Celtic like to be an admirer of a very successful Celtic manager it is not, it is very normal.
Stein, O’Neil, Rodgers whoever takes Celtic to that next level are okay in my book
What is un-Celtic like, is backing your mates corporate politics games to the detriment of Celtic football club.
It would kill you to congratulate the team on a very good pre-season performance against Newcastle United, it would kill you to congratulate Trusty on a man of the match performance – yet you try to convince us you’re an uber-fan.
Burnley78 @ 9:35 pm,
”…Much of the chat has been about BR span of control etc. For someone to suggest we are fitter vs Ange because of Brendan is just funny.
My son worked in that department and respected that it was a step up back then vs before but attributed most of that to Jack Naylor and not really BR.
Of course his fan bhoys seem to feel the need to credit him with everything good. That makes me laugh. Maybe he is responsible for improved cleanliness in the loos also.”
Of course like I’ve said many, many times, you are very much from the perception is everything executive.
When it suited you Brendan Rodgers was in total control of every aspect of recruitment now his “span of control” is exaggerated by fan bhoys – total deflection
You say that the fitness and conditioning was down to Jack Naylor who left in 2019, KT also left in 2019 and stated this week “the training ground has come on massively.” Not all down to Jack Naylor then.
Often when I refer to what is achieved at Celtic it is attributed to BR&CO, that’s the manager, assistant manager and football staff.
Of course the sad part is not so much the nonsense that Laxalt, Timbhoy163 and others come out with, that could easily be attributed to Hanlon’s Razor.
No, it’s the fact that you and the placemen’s obvious and relentless agenda against our manager is coupled with you friendship and loyalty to the PLC Chairman and his coterie.
It does our erstwhile CEO’s legacy no good whatsoever.
Hail Hail
Good morning all. Another beautiful Sunday. 👍
For those who have forgotten how Celtic PLC operate, that for them recruitment is a business revenue stream and not about building an elite football team…
TIERNEY… NOT ON STRATEGY!?
“My suspicion is that paper talk about Kieran Tierney returning to Celtic is a consequence of a story from The Athletic that Arsenal have declined to extend his contract beyond summer 2025.
The player, who has made 20 league starts for Arsenal and Real Sociedad since picking up an injury in March 2022, will be 28 in the summer and will know he will not be offered a contract on his current terms anywhere.
Kieran is the best left back we have had in decades but he not a fit for our development model. You know the rules, if you want to maximise success on the football field, you need to wholly commit to a sustainable development strategy.
A place in the squad, budget and a regular starting slot are all scarce resources we have to devote to build the football club. A player in the Celtic squad should be someone we can improve and who can increase in value while here.
Exceptions are allowed: short-term stop gaps, or a truly exceptional talent who can make a disproportionate impact, but Kieran is neither of these. His talent and injury record suggests he will be offered a decent contract in the EPL as a squad player, there to cover another left back.
A great talent, though he is, if Celtic dedicate a slot in the squad and a first team wage to Kieran, it will be a sign that the sun has set on our period of improvement. Our opponents have no control over when our Generations of Domination will end, all they can do is wait for Celtic getting soft and making mistakes.”
https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/tierney-our-best-in-decades-but-not-on-strategy/
There you have it, the Celtic Board’s strategy means there was no space in the first team for a KT return.
That is why, despite Kieran’s return being a “no brainer”, that the sponsorship and support of fholk like John Kennedy and Brendan Rodgers was key to his return.
Wasn’t it great when he ran back on the field at Celtic Park – didn’t his quality standout in a field of top players plying their trade in Britain!?
Welcome Back Kieran!!
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY – Well said.
Who’s the fittest player we ever had ?
Jinky?
calmac?
See the school playtime again. ffs.
Lurking from time to time now.
Jamesie probably – 16 seasons
https://youtu.be/vDQgxEG5w6o
Unique angle