I was chastised by a pal last week when I suggested the Europa League was an irrelevance right now. “We are Celtic,” he said, “We have to be competing in every competition.” Indeed.
Earlier in the season Bologna were riding high in Serie A and the Europa League. A run of 12 games unbeaten put them in contention for a Champions League spot and qualification for the next round of the Europa. The latter is still a nailed-on certainty, but only one Serie A win since November has seen them slip to 8th. Form has pivoted south so abruptly you might be tempted to check if they recruited a management team from the MLS.
A win at bottom side Verona last Thursday provided respite, but (then) third from last Fiorentina took all three points when the teams met on Sunday. This is not a happy time for football fans from the ancient city.
While form may be poor, Bologna are significantly stronger than any side Celtic will face domestically. To leave with as much as a point will take our best performance since our last Europa League away game, in Rotterdam. Some of the players’ confidence will be fortified by recent performances at Atalanta and Lazio – both better sides that the one we face tonight. An interesting test lies ahead.
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“The Battered Bunnet on 22nd January 2026 11:57 am
Quieter on here today ”
Why is that do you think ?
Happy St Vincent Day! Ave Ave
Petition:
One Celtic. Back our Board, our Players, and Martin O’Neill.
https://c.org/Z2h9XxwJyx
Id be happy with us competing for the entire match and getting home with no injuries.
If we see a repeat of Roma and the game is dead at HT, then some sore days lie ahead of us with this squad.
Mon must learn from the mistakes in Denmark. Ralston should be absolutely nowhere near the team tonight.
Look no further than your big pal Lawwell to find the main reason why Celtic can’t compete in Europe these days.
Shameful.
“Form has pivoted south so abruptly you might be tempted to check if they recruited a management team from the MLS.” 😂Funny. 🙁Not funny.
Of course I want a CELTIC win, but Hearts game is of greater importance ny a country mile.
No injuries please
kingLUBO
JJ – I think everyone’s said their piece lately and we’re all just waiting to see what happens next.
What to do? A good performance against better opposition than we’ll face on Sunday will give us a lot of confidence. A doing really won’t help anyone.
Being asked to avoid injuries at the same time as demanding certain second string players dont play shows the problems any Celtic manager faces, not just the best ones.
Welcome Cvancara.
You clearly share our contempt for the Nancy appointment but where is the accountability? Rodgers was routinely speared on here for much less but for the Aloysian rugger boys it’s a wee joke? Lamentable double standards.
Meantime it’ll be a miracle if we’re not easily dismissed tonight by a shite Bologna team. That’s to Micky the wimp building a team in his own image. Weak with zero personality.
Good afternoon you absolute shower.
One Celtic. Remove the dullards running the club, replace with competent leadership and bring back the fan groups.
Lave, lave.
Welcome Tomas
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/january/22/tomas-cvancara-joins-celtic-on-loan/
HH
Aye, everyone’s said their piece lately, but some have said their (same) piece every day for months 🥱
New forward confirmed. Thank heavens. Let’s hope he hits the ground running and helps us with our goals scored column. Will need assists from our midfield and wide men though. More signings required. Get it done Celtic.
HH
Fofana deal being finalised, announcement close, apparently.
Pity they don’t have BR, Eh ?.
David Fofana not Wesley
European football is absolutely vital to a club with the stature of Celtic.
Tonight is massive.
Without any European aspiration we can forget the high wages we pay in comparison to other clubs.
We can forget decent players from overseas.
We won’t require world class training facilities. ( Including the Academy )
We won’t require any manager of renowned stature to only compete domestically.
We won’t require any upgrade to our stadium for domestic football only.
We pay high prices for tickets as we want to be the best we can be.
If we turn our noses up at the prizes for domestic sucess, then all we have left is ” Old Firmism”
Without European stature and participation we just become another Scottish team with a mindset of managed decline.
HH.
Paul
I don’t think Bologna would be so stupid as to appoint an untested and unsuitable manager from the MLS.
There’s only one major club badly run enough to do that .
Welcome to Celtic Tomas , the club with world class fans . Great to see us sign some height and strength , and apparently chasing more of the same .
‘
We’ve been more ‘Hi Ho , Hi Ho’ than ‘ Hail Hail in recent times .
As I’ve not heard anyone say our new signings name I looked up the pronunciation.
Apparently it’s , Van-cha-ra as in, ooh ah Van-cha-ra ooh ah Van-cha-ra.
Welcome to Celtic Tomas, may your days with us be blessed and trophy laden.
Greenpinata
Well said.
borgo67 on 22nd January 2026 1:42 pm
“As I’ve not heard anyone say our new signings name I looked up the pronunciation.
Apparently it’s , Van-cha-ra as in, ooh ah Van-cha-ra ooh ah Van-cha-ra.”
In Ireland it’s “Mo Chara”, :)) por cierto
Word on the street is that Michael has already offered his resignation but that it was refused. At present, the club needs some sort of stability , expecting a board clear out in the summer with a restructure.
Football tactics are changing and the team are struggling to adapt from Brendanball ( pass to the free man) , we are having real problems when being man marked or subject to a heavy press. This is due to having a small midfield of ball players, we can’t take the ball to feet whilst marked and our movement is poor to support.
This happened under Brendan , Wilfried it was crazy due to fewer defenders and so far under MON mixed , depends on how the opposition set out their tactics. If Bologna go full metal jacket we could be in trouble , for me we need to set up defensively and play a waiting game until the match opens up.
Really worried as my lunch at Silverburn came to £16.90 ( a worrying signal) , off to find my grey wooly Celtic socks to counteract aforementioned event.
Parallel universecfc.
Thomas Cvancara….7 goals in 53 games over the last 2 seasons. I dunno what metrics we use when signing a striker, but it seems it’s not scoring. I am full of apathy on this
H.H.
EKBHOY
Don’t worry, I haven’t drunk out of the blue handled coffee cup this year, so we should be ok.
Celtic – and MON in particular – have seen ourselves as Resurrection Men in the past – bringing out the best in proven players looking to revive a faltering career.
Sutton, Hartson and Thompson were all seen as “damaged goods” – but MON worked his magic with all of them.
Fingers crossed….
Two players,surname ending …ch played together v Dundee United 68/69 season.One is Bobby Murdoch….other scored his only goal for the club in this fixture,who is the player?
Joe
Cattenach.
bigrailroadblues on 22nd January 2026 2:10 pm
Joe
Cattenach.
Lightning fast.Is he a relative.
PS I think it was DAVID
BRRB
On the ball,John.Take care.🍾🍺
Ach a don’t know…….
FU
Relatively speaking….no.C’mon the HOOPS.
Bhoyjoebelfast on 22nd January 2026 2:21 pm
BRRB
On the ball,John.Take care.🍾🍺0
Bhoyjoebelfast o
On the ball,John.Take care.🍾🍺
On the ball my ass .Full question to F U.