How many of you remember Leighton, Rougvie, Miller, McLeish, McMaster? That was the back line of Aberdeen in the early 80s. It is so memorable, that even 36 years after its most famous win, the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Gothenburg, it still rolls off some Celtic fans’ tongues.
We remember it because it was always there. Squads change more quickly these days, but managers are still reluctant to vary their back line. This is the area of the team where regularity produces ever-higher returns. Defenders learn where their team-mates are and what their goalkeeper is likely to do.
In three weeks since facing Cluj, Celtic have had three play at right back (Elhamed, Ajer, Bauer), two at left back (McGregor, Bolingoli), five in central defence (Jullien, Simunovic, Bitton, Ajer, Elhamed) and three goalkeepers (Bain, Gordon, Forster). That’s not counting late substitutions.
Sunday was a defensive masterclass that belied the makeshift nature of the backline. We will have to wait at least two weeks before Greg Taylor makes his debut but it will be longer still before a settled and intuitive defence emerges.
Selection for the next game, away to Hamilton Accies, will reflect fitness requirements, but who gets the shirts for the following game, away to Rennes, is very much a First World Problem. Get it right and we will be in good shape.
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Turkeybhoy
“the food is crap,overpriced,have to queue.” Yip, all true.
“My thoughts are,why would you?” ’cause you’re hungry/thirsty/cold etc. We’re at the bottom tier of Maslow here.
Just watched the second half on You Tube.
I thought they were better than us and the only` brilliant` aspect of the game, for me, was the scoreline.
Re Jones. If he is injured, is his ban enforced whilst he is out anyway?
With Turkeybhoy re the `need ` to eat during a game but I liked this line from TBB:
`The sheer stats tell you the crap will be food.`
TBB
What`s to stop anyone in the scenario you describe taking a sandwich from home in the morning? Or a pie and a macaroon bar if they feel a piece is unsuitable sustenance whilst at Celtic park?
JJ
Hot Smoked on 4th September 2019 2:04 pm
Just watched the second half on You Tube. I thought they were better than us.
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Jesus wept.
Big Georges Fan Club – Hail, Hail, Wee Oscar on 4th September 2019 1:15 pm
If he’s 15 would this not go down the children’s panel route rather than the crimminal court route?
When we were playing at Murrayfield, the food available was more varied of higher quality and with much better service. It was as pricey as Celtic park if not more. However, fans were willing to pay the prices for the better quality.
Celtic catering has always been of poor quality.
order food from seat
pay for food from seat
walk round & pickup, or have delivered
stick a few of these type thingy’s around the ground
decent margins in takeaway food
https://www.pizzaself24.com/en
Ernie Lynch
Though a few MSM outlets are saying he has been ‘charged’, reading on he has been ‘referred to the early and effective intervention coordinator,’ which of course is a very different thing.
HH
The Battered Bunnet on 4th September 2019 1:07 pm
Ernie, from earlier
‘it is striking how so many appear to have voted Leave because they were simply and chronically pissed off.’
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True. But in a climate where virtually everyone assumed that remain would win convincingly, so a lot of people thought they could have a free protest vote that wouldn’t affect the outcome. My impression was that a lot of older people voted to leave simply because their recollection of life before joining the EU was of their relative youth when everything was better.
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‘I’d suggest if folk want to reverse the result, they need to give these folk a better future to believe in. Waiting for Alf and Else to kick the bucket isn’t likely to deliver success.’
No. But it is a valid reason to want an up to date referendum before making a final commitment to leave. It would be crazy to leave if that is no longer what the extant population want.
“It would be crazy to leave if that is no longer what the extant population want.”
Yip,
I wouldn’t feed my dog the food inside and around the stadium, the only time I’m hungry at the game is after a few bevvies, so every game then!
Here’s a thought, give M&S, subway, Costa or some other franchise a few different stalls around the stadium, then I might go by a prawn sandwich! ;)
Maradominic
Better technology now to deal with that. That includes the types of grass produced now.
On the question of food concessions in the stadium I’ve often wondered why Celtic don’t invite Gregg’s, McDonald’s, BK etc to set up stall on a cost profit share basis. These organisations know how to handle long queues, have innovative payment technologies, and while maybe not hote cuisine, you know what your getting at a reasonable price.
BANKIEBHOY 1 at 12.18pm
I heard the same rumour about The Glaziers last Thursday and the figure mentioned was 28 million.
Whowouldhavethatmanyshares CSC
Sometimes The Battered Bunnet skips breakfast getting in for Sunday midday kick offs, gets to the stadium footprint then the foraging begins.
BSR
gorse is plentiful just now, not news I’m sure though to well seasoned foragers
and the hand picked staff of the Celtic kitchens.
I seen the architect’s plans for Fergus’s CP,and it had a new 2 tier Main Stand back in the day.
TURKEYBHOY on 4TH SEPTEMBER 2019 1:55 PM
How is that ban enforced?Impossible.
__
As far as I can tell, his account will be blocked and he will be unable to get tickets direct from Rangers. Does not prevent him from getting tickets from his supporters’ bus or pals.
It’s a nice headline for them. I also saw the post online from “Grado” condemning the post.
A guy who is starring in the bigotfest “Rally Roon the Rangers” trying to salvage his reputation
What happened to the Morelos money?
WDH
Surf and Turf
Lobster n Sirloin
BSR
here is the franchise for that very fella
http://boparanrestaurantgroup.co.uk/fish-works/
“Sargassosea”
Clearly……..pre-Big Game Guff, designed to spread fear and disharmony among Celtica.
The main stand is nearly 50 years old.
Celtic can continue to put it off but seriously they have to do the work at some point in the next decade.
Might as well get on with it.
Plenty of serious capacity around the stadium to not have such a huge loss in revenue whilst it is rebuilt.
I guarantee that the stand will be rebuilt in 10 years from now.
Might as well get on with it whilst we have the cash.
Huge commercial adventure but I am sure many huge companies would like to be involved in a commercial way.
Far more important than the hotel nonsense.
Celtic
A stadium sponsorship, could be the way ahead ,re any refurb of main stand.
Good to see the defence getting assembled.
A c r o n y m C S C
A question for TurkeyBhoy – do you really live in Turkey and if so how come?
cheers
Seen on Twitter a suggestion that the 15 year old should be made to do community work in a hospice for a year – what a great idea.
Mikey Johnston withdraws from U21 squad through injury, no details…
What’s the story on Rees Mogg?
Ho looks like his dead grandmother dresses him every morning before he leaves for work.
Good interview with big Christopher Jullien. He speaks well and just look at those shoulders!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEEoQ7Ore5Y
If there are to be any improvements in and around Celtic Park, surely a Fans’ café beside the Superstore should be on the agenda?
quite excellent TBB.
I would recommend we take off the roof completely. leaving it opened up, allowing more light and wind on to the grass.
take away all and any food stalls, the people in that stand dont like having to walk to them, so why bother having them.
and dont spend any money on it at all, all the inhabitants do is moan anyway.
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THE BATTERED BUNNET on 4TH SEPTEMBER 2019 10:48 AM
The costs of building a sports stadium accelerate with the scale of it. At the bottom end, a simple 500 seat single tier covered stand costs around £500 per seat.
As the scale of the structure increases, so the strength of the structural materials increases, and therefore the costs. Structural design also plays a part, particularly as regards the roof – the greater the span of the roof, the stronger its support structure requires to be.
Fergus built the north stand in 1996 for around £1000 per seat, but there are some shortcomings in terms of restricted views at the back (roof supports) and the roof itself does not provide shelter for those in the lower rows of seats in the bottom tier. This was a design-cost compromise.
Similarly, the internal spaces of the stand impact on costs; it’s greatly cheaper to provide only basic concourse catering etc than it is to install higher end facilities, meeting spaces, function rooms, exec boxes and so on.
Likewise the design itself – curves are expensive, facades too, and of course, the great unknown; ground works and remediation.
Twenty years on from Fergus (it is, actually, 20 years since he skyed it back to Canada) it’s unlikely that the north stand could be now constructed for less than £3000 per seat, and that’s bargain basement.
Arsenal’s stadium cost over £6,000 per seat and that was over 10 years ago. Wembley, considered hugely expensive, cost £9000 per seat in 2007, now great value when you consider that Tottenham’s new gaff, completed this year, cost £16,000 per seat (although this includes a wider project on an extended stadium footprint including land acquisition).
For the folk looking at replacing the (now 50 years old) south stand at Celtic Park, there are myriad constraints and compromises. Who knows what lies beneath – old mine workings, contaminated soil, goodness knows – while the design itself needs to both fit with the remaining structure, and provide for enhanced facilities such as changing rooms, medical, media, executive, corporate and – apparently – team buses.
15,000 seats plus all of those facilities is unlikely – even on a tight budget – to cost less than £6000 per seat, say £90 Million. Let’s allow the sharp suited man to sharpen his pencil and find cost savings. It’s doubtful it could be done for less than £4000 per seat, £60 Million.
Let’s take that £60 Million and run some projections.
First up, the enhanced (by 7000 seats) capacity would allow more tickets to be sold; 7000 tickets at say £28 a pop times 30 home matches per year = £6 million approx per annum.
But… would the stadium be sold out for all 30 home matches? On how many occasions would the new capacity be sold? Big Euro matches, important league fixtures, maybe 10 times? That’s just £2M additional revenue, plus pies and bovril.
Then we look at enhanced corporate and hospitality provisions. What’s the local market for corporate hospitality in Scottish Football? It’s pretty weak, as far as I can see. For example, while the top hospitality tickets for the recent Celtic-Hearts cup final were sold out, the lesser tickets were still on sale at £90 a head on match day. If Glasgow can’t sell out the top tickets for a cup final, what hope the premium tickets for a SPFL match versus Livingston?
On balance, I’d expect better facilities to attract higher prices, but only to a point. Let’s allow an additional £2M per year just for argument’s sake.
Then we have the matter of additional revenue from the facility, major sports events, concerts and the likes. How many Pro14 finals and Commonwealth Games might we expect each year?…
Tottenham added a synthetic pitch below the grass park at their new stadium to allow for NFL matches and other events while protecting the pitch, but floating pitches come at a cost! Back to the top.
And why Celtic Park for the next Pink concert and not Hampden, which provides virtually the same capacity for lower cost? (Mind, the capacity includes the pitch area, not just the seats).
I’d suggest the market for major events is relatively small, and the provision in Glasgow (and Edinburgh) is pretty big, but let’s allow 20% of the gate money on 2 such events per year, giving around £1M revenue.
Let’s allow £2M in additional tickets, £2M in additional corporate, and £1M in events. That’s an increase in revenue of £5M per year, set against the £60-90M cost of construction plus loss of ticket sales during the build phase (8000 tickets at £28 x 30 matches) of over £6M.
On an optimistic outlook, the new ‘budget’ stand would pay for itself after around 15 years. A grander (but not class-leading) stand would pay back over 20 years (plus the time-value of cash).
On the one hand, the old stand will need to be replaced sooner or later. It’ll be expensive, and will (of course) require to be funded. On the other hand, it doesn’t need to be replaced right now.
You’re a director of the club, assuming no change in the football landscape in the next 15 years (there hasn’t been in the last 100 years) what’s your advice to the board?
Will be good to get the new Bhoys on the training field for a few days,help them get bedded in.
The Hun that abused Broonie?
He’s a symptom, the real issue is what causes them to feel entitled to abuse people.
IMO It’s a hate crime perpetrated by brain-washed hun morons who are schooled to believe they are entitled to march up and doon the Queen’s Highway or any where they want proklaiming thur racial supremacy.
That’s the story Scotland needs to get active on.
If we wait long enough we’ll see the huns praised for banning the wee cabbage and the bullet will be again deflekted.
BANKIEBHOY1 on 4TH SEPTEMBER 2019 6:00 PM – very well said / completely agree.
Rally Roon The Rangers
Celtic will need to upgrade the main stand. The longer Celtic wait the more it will cost.
Get a stadium sponsor, look for investors and/ or get a loan/ mortgage to build like every other business/ individual.
Done right an upgraded south stand, hotel, museum, cafe and bars etc… Would more than pay for itself over time. all those that attend and visit The stadium Would benefit and The team Would benefit too.
Such projects could help take Celtic fc into The new world of football where stadiums are operational 24/7 and are multipurpose.
i like The idea of a 67,000 capacity stadium by adding a tier to each corner of the new stands. keep south stand as single tier for seats but expand the stand footprint outward and upwards to create more space and scope for development inside.
Raise roof to same size as the rest of the stadium and the added space above the single tier can be corporate, executive boxes, bars, restuarants, media room, sensory room etc..
It would be great but i dont think i will see It in my life time.
HH
Hijacking still good on here👍