Midtjylland play their second league game of the season away to AaB Aalborg tomorrow evening, hoping to win their first points. Aab finished seventh last term, so it is a game Midtjylland will feel they have to win to get their domestic campaign on track.
Celtic are free of competitive pressures this weekend, facing West Ham at home tomorrow, where we can give players still working on their fitness an hour, then rest them for the trip to Denmark.
There is plenty of confidence ahead of the second leg against Midtjylland after a solid performance on Tuesday night but the name Aalborg will cause many of us to flinch. The then Danish champions travelled to Celtic Park in the 2008 Champions League group stage. It is fair to say they could be the weakest team we faced at that level, but indecisive finishing, for some of the game against 10 men, and a missed Barry Robson penalty, meant the game finished 0-0.
Celtic bossed the return leg at Aab’s tiny stadium and Robson atoned for his penalty miss by giving the visitors a second half lead.
Here’s the thing about football. You can think you are safe, then a deflected shot flies in from nowhere and a deflected cross hits a defender and allows a semi-professional outfit to beat Celtic to the Uefa Cup spot.
I hope we use every moment of our preparatory time tomorrow wisely. Nothing can be taken for granted.
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at this stage its not Rangers I’m worried about beating – its struggling for a top 4 finish!
The board just has no sense of urgency – we knew Ajer was going to be sold for 10-15m but we waited until the deal was done before closing starfelt (probably lost out on other targets during the wait). Now we are dithering for critical urgent full back positions squabbling over 1-2 million.
Eduard will leave for 20m even tho his form is only slightly better than Ajeti at 5m. We will not sign a replacement until the money is banked.
Unacceptable defeatist way to run any sports team or company for that matter!
We are in a phase where recruitment of players is paramount to the teams success – yet we don’t have a recruitment dir! who is signing shaw, urigide etc..
Ranger have hauled their way back through shrewed purchasing and bold negotiating – we have fallen dramatically from arrogance, penny pinching and lack of ambition.
Ruining Celtic!
PS Any debt rangers has will be wiped with champions league and/or euro football
“ONENIGHTINLISBON on 25TH JULY 2021 7:02 PM
HOT SMOKED on 25TH JULY 2021 6:58 PM
You don’t know me…”
Nor have I claimed to. My comment is to do with your posts, not you as a person. As I have yet to meet a CQNer whose company I didn`t enjoy, the chances are that I would find you good company as well. I do,though, find your posts a bit OTT on the negativity front.
HOT SMOKED on 25TH JULY 2021 7:19 PM
I have supported Celtic for over 40 years and have enjoyed much more ups than downs in that time.
However I find the current state of the board and football club shambolic.
The situation with Griffiths highlights this…
I welcomed Ange and think he will be a fantastic manager if given time but I fear that will not be given.
I do not intentionally set out to be negative but am really struggling to find a great deal to be positive about…
DAVID66
We are losing young players at an alarming rate.
Left my phone aside today. It was brilliant. Bit then i decided to look at my mostly Celtic related twitter.
Apart from anything else, alot of people really know very little about football or they can’t be bothered to go beyond repeating cliches.
On a much more serious note, I ask this in all sincerity, did Leigh Griffith do anything? All I have seen online is that he was accused of asking for and/ or sending indecent images. The cops and his employer investigated and he has neither been criminally charged or taken to task for misconduct in relation to his employment. Is this correct? If it is correct why is he getting grief?
Genuinely, I don’t know the entire circumstances and therefore I’m genuinely confused.
Premier Sports League Cup Round 2
Celtic v Hearts
Weekend of August 14/15
TET
Board seem to have no idea (other than their pocket).We have no football structure at our club.
TIMHORTON on 25TH JULY 2021 7:23 PM
DAVID66
We are losing young players at an alarming rate.
———–
I recall hearing a huge percentage of pro players in Scottish football came through Celtic’s development ranks.
That is great for Scottish football to some extent but there are questions about why so few then go on to be first team players for us or in England or other ‘big leagues’.
Is it a case of other clubs not doing the work on youth players knowing they will pick up the rejects from Celtic?
There are systemic flaws throughout the Scottish game. For such an important part of Scottish society and culture I find the lack of action on this bizarre.
I’ll look in for any replies later, but having checked back in for a few minutes I feel the need to put this damned device away again. They really are a curse these phones.
Celtic v Hearts
New Huns up 2-1.
Oh dear.
Bum biting.
Trust in the board is at its lowest ever and any pleasure I had at being back at Paradise yesterday was wiped out by the fragile atmosphere, it was on a knife-edge throughout. Am happy to give our new CEO a chance to reform all aspects of the Club and company and from what I hear he is already on the job with that. What we see in front of us just now is nothing to do with what our manager and CEO have had a hand in so am hoping we get some more players in, jettison the deadwood and don’t wanna be here’s and see some big green shoots of recovery. If not I fear a further decline and a genuine slide back to some of the dark old days.
Sevco beat Madrid. Although the Galacticos had many players missing ( Hazard, Bale etc ), it looks like Sevco have improved from last season, with plenty of cover for the tubby Colombian. They also have about 6 Center backs, so injuries or ( unlikely ) suspensions won’t hurt them. Dominic needs to get his ass into gear tout de suite.
Collum adds 4 minutes, Ancelotti kicks up fk….they only play 2….absolute tool
Sevco have a set way of playing and have had plenty of time under Beale to get used to this system.
Ange needs time and money to do likewise.
I would bet all the cash I have that he is a far superior coach/man manager than either Beale or Sevvy G but he needs the time and players to prove this.
We may have to endure another trophy less season but I have faith it will be worth it in the long run.
HOT SMOKED on 25TH JULY 2021 6:58 PM
Was that better?
INIQUITOUSIV on 25TH JULY 2021 7:02 PM
——
You are correct in your assessment of the Ibrox club. They now have two different teams that they could play domestically and still win every game.
We, on the other hand, have a development squad sprinkled with a few who could be considered first-team.
It is hard to fathom – at the start of last season we had a 9iar & soon to be quadruple treble squad – we had added Barkas, Bolingoli, Ajeti, Turnbull, Duffy, Laxalt, Kenny & extended Elyounoussi.
Now I know that the CEO and board are getting the blame for our disastrous state – but in all honesty there seemed no lack of backing this time last year.
How and why did we fall so far & so fast with the same set of players plus additions designed to strengthen?
In my book it can only be for two reasons:
1. Playing in an empty Celtic Park spooked and drained the players.
2. The players downed tools due to some internal strife.
Maybe a mixture of the two.
Will we ever know?
3. Covid impacted Celtic more than any other club.
4. Injury to Forrest and Julien.
5. Something called sevco got world record no penalties against and most for.
And no s ndings off.
I’m an optimist. I know that.
And so far, I like what Ange is attempting. We are cracking going forward. Great to watch.
Defensively we don’t have the players to implement the system that would keep the back door shut. Ralston and Taylor in particular. Welsh and Murray can, but not yet and certainly not together right now.
Keeper. Oh well, looks like a case of “just score more that the opposition”.
Something we are capable of in Wednesday with the players we have available.
ONIL
Thanks for the reply which supports my view that you are a decent guy who just fears the worst re Celtic,
I try to highlight the positive because I believe the Media in Scotland does more than enough of the negative.I further believe that even if people do not read,watch or listen to the MSSM ( unlikely) they will still be influenced by others who. Some CQN for instance.
ROBERTTRESSELL on 25TH JULY 2021 7:24 PM
I have wondered the same thing myself re Leigh Griffiths.
Sign off time for me.
Cheerio for now.
TimHorton
That’s it a nutshell, sadly.
HH
HOT SMOKED on 25TH JULY 2021 8:10 PM
Many thanks.
Totally agree re the Scottish media. they are simply hun apologists but it has always been so.
Keevans spouting today that Sevco will win the league by more points than they did last season etc etc…
We have a good manager in place who handles himself very well indeed and I look forward to him taking on these so called journalists in the days and months to come.
Sleep well Timland, need to sign off now, be good mind :)
HH
I like what Ange is trying to do in terms of getting and moving the ball forward quickly, and commit a lot of players to support the attacking play, but if and when we lose the ball around the eighteen yard line, then Preston, the Danes and most of all West Ham are going to counter at will, cut through a square midfield and put our centre backs on the back foot in no time flat. Especially young less experienced players not quite reading the game in front of them. Chiellini and Bonucci, different story. So need to find a balance there. On paper the midfield looks good, but is easy to run and pass through. Not sure about CalMac as Captain either, good player no doubt, but can he galvanise the team the way Broonie could in his prime. Don’t think so.
Hard to judge where we are when make ten changes or so, but we did not look too bad at 2-3, and for a moment I thought we were back in the game. Priority is to get into the next round of the CL qualifiers, not because I think we will actually reach the group stage, but rather it will pretty much guarantee our presence in the EL one, and will give us all a bit of leeway. We have plenty SPL quality players so wouldn’t worry too much there, and better in Abado, but we do need some that take us just that cut above where we are now, nearer to where we were 2-3 seasons back.
One last wondering!!
Supposing the c£19m we had in the bank in December 2020 covers our losses in the second half of the season – £5m losses for the first half having been accounted for in the Interims.
Supposing we raise around c£40m from Frimpong, Ajer, Christie, Klimala & other bits & pieces.
Supposing we only spend c£20m on the likes of Starfelt, Abada, Furuhashi and a right-back. Where does the other £20m go?
Will it be used as insurance against another season of losses?
Will it be used for a different purpose – another expense that has been hanging over the club for the last few years?
and there we go , an agenda
what “expense” is hanging over the club for years ?
if there was it would be noted in the accounts
JHB
What are you suggesting? I am unaware of an expense which is hanging over the club . Particularly one of around £20 million .
Celtic Mac- AP should be working mainly on coaching the back 4 for Wednesday right now, we will score a couple but can’t see a clean sheet from here…
Supposin…………….
Supposing…………….
Supposing……………..
Them’s the facts then.
YAWN!!!!!
Last summer when it looked as if slippy was off tae Bristol allegedly beale told him tae hang on as Lenny was a lousy manager and coach and he would have more chance of success north of the border than in Bristol. Seems tae have worked out or did he know of other nefarious situations that would arise.
JHB are you insinuating that there may be court cases concerning CBC on the horizon.
JHBFraud
Why do so many interract with this clown
Sorry for calling fellow Celtic fans “yous” there..heat of the moment beers there
Apologies
Haha..didnt even say “yous”
Goodnight
HOT SMOKED @ 10:27 AM,
….I feel this was brought about by the hope of ten in a row changing to an expectancy . An entitled expectancy.
There were many reasons why it didn`t happen — Covid,Sfa,Referees,Scottish Government et al — but the easiest way to explain our fall from grace was to blame almost everything and everyone at the Club –Board,Manager and players. It would seem that Griffiths was the available target yesterday.
People who have been hurt need to vent their anger and frustration on something or someone. As a result, our once fantastic support has begun to resemble entitled Huns.
Now with all due respect, there’s a comment that is way beyond bizarre.
HOT SMOKED – do you really believe any of this? Have you no self awareness?
Where do you start on something so wrong minded?
Well, we could go to the entitlement, arrogance and hubris coming from the CQN leads all the way from the GoD article.
Covid
The SFA
Referees
The Scottish Government
Had nothing to do with this failure, leaving Covid to the side for one moment.
We are talking about the same Government, the same Referees and the same SFA, that has been around for the last decade right?
So, if they can influence titles and Trophies in Scottish Football, surely “allowing” us to win nine Championships in a row and a world record quadruple treble run would suggest if they could wield that kind of power over results, which of course they can’t, that have been very heavily routing for the Celts for nine out of the last ten Seasons.
That is an absolute nonsense isn’t it? Makes no logical sense whatsoever!!
Now to the Covid – Every individual, Every organisation, and certainly Every Football Club in Scotland had to deal with the Covid pandemic.
It is a totally insulting slur to suggest Celtic we’re egregiously worse hit.
Celtic as an organisation had potentially the best support structures and definitely the most resources to deal with the pandemic.
In fact we have been hearing for a decade that Celtic weren’t splurging on signings for the Football Team as they needed to run a risk averse and robust organisation capable of weathering adversity, we were given the impression we were a professional and very well run organisation – that of course proved to be poppycock.
Three Seasons ago we were by far the biggest Club in Scotland, we had the best coaching staff, the best players, the biggest support, the highest turnover (equivalent to the rest of the SPL put together!?), the biggest profit, the most money in the bank (bigger than the rest of the SPL put together). How on earth can the abject failure of last season not be down to the Board, Manager and Players?
If it wasn’t down to the Board, Manager and Players who else was suppose to win the ten? They have apologised for an appalling performance last season and rightly so.
As for resembling “hun entitlement”, firstly I don’t accept this at all, secondly no Celtic forum has oozed football hubris, arrogance and entitlement anything close to CQN, in fact it was cringe worthy embarrassing at times, many contibutors of course pointed this out.
I don’t believe that “hun entitlement” exists but the closest we’ve ever got to this is the CQN Happy clapping you are so happy to support.
May sound a bit raw but of all the nonsensical revisionism and excuses made for last seasons failures this takes the biscuit.
Hail Hail
!!bada bing!!
More to defending than the back four. Look at our European adventures last season, Sparta Prague at home in particular. No, the midfield must help defend the back four, look at the contribution Italy’s did in the Euros, did not give the ball away as cheap and as often as we did against West Ham. Funnily enough I think Welsh would be more effective in midfield, in front of the defence, maybe play Shaw further back. Agree that we will probably get a couple of goals, will probably need to.
Badas right,and I am sure the temporary back 4 will be the focus.The mistake the youngster made on Saturday,was because no midfielder was busting a gut to receive a pass.Maybe Shaw will join Work to help provide some cover.One good thing,they don’t have an Antonio,in their team