Celtic totally bossed Dundee United when the teams met there on league duty earlier in the season. It was a different story in both meetings at Celtic Park, when an added-time Liel Abada goal in January brought the league leaders their only win.
Since that dramatic game, United have lost only once in eight outings, when a late own-goal at Livingston denied them a point. They will be difficult opponents tonight, just as importantly, I expect Tannadice to resemble a ploughed field.
Years ago, I remember writing that those who expect Celtic to win a treble have a poor grasp of history. Several times we had the League Cup in the boardroom, sat top of the table and were confident of beating anyone we met. For 38 years, that aspiration only materialised once.
The world changed in season 2016-17. In the 12 domestic cup competitions since, Celtic lost only twice, trebles flooded in. This did not make cup wins less valuable, in fact their prestige rose. Everyone wanted to win a cup as Celtic had cornered the market.
We are the trophy now. Cup wins against Celtic are so rare and valuable they are rightly celebrated like trophies. Ange Postecoglou had the opportunity to spend a week preparing his players for a game. Those with a grasp of modern history will not bet against him.
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Greenpinata
Brentford’s reasons for dropping their academy do not apply, in the same way, yo us. Unfortunately, neither does their remedy for losing an Academy.
When the English FA introduced their rules for development of elite players, Brentford decided they could not compete as the other London clubs hoovered up all the best players and stole their best prospects. We only lose a few to England and Germany and get our pick of Scotland and some foreigners like Leo Hjelde. Restricting us to the East End is even more limiting than not signing Catholics.
Brentford’s B team, made up of players released by other clubs, especially other London clubs, plays against other Academies team’s so they still get the competitive testing at U-21 and, importantly, U-23 levels, important for late flourishing defenders, albeit through friendlies. Celtic, outwit Youth UEFA competitions, only get to test themselves against other Scottish youth teams, which is a poor competitive environment, and Lowland League, guaranteed only for this year, is not much better. We are faced with trying to develop Callum McGregor at League One Notts County- same with Scott Robertson at Crewe and we know some of these clubs are unwilling to give sufficient game time to temporary loan players, especially when they’re at the important end of the season.
We could do with allowing our B team the same privileges as The Netherlands, allowing to win promotion right up to the 2nd tier if they are good enough but forbidden from the top league. Scotland and the SFA show no appetite for granting us this solution so we depend on loaning players to a more competitive environment which, again, exposes them to the temptation of “tapping”.
No easy solutions here
MADMITCH
This all started when you questioned how I had a friend who was a stockbroker.
Seems I touched a nerve though why I have no idea.
Ok time to get shifted for my trip to Tannadice.
Enjoy the game and Hail Hail.
☘️
Dundee Utd will put everything into tonight. Should we play well and win comfortably as I expect us to, it’ll be another statement of our intent as we approach the end phase of the season.
Looking forward to an entertaining game without the suffocating anxiety associated with vital league games.
TOM MCLAUGHLIN
A Your posting the score doesn’t pain me one bit ,its just my preference I am not a fan of score posting . B you are correct it has no effect on the ongoing game , I bet if you had that gift it would be better served picking lottery numbers .
MadMitch
I think you are on no safer ground whether you are talking about Ground Development, IT or Youth Player Development.
The schtick of resending to be a big swinging dick with ambitious thinking way beyond the current set of cringing hidebound amateurs pretending to be professionals, is very unconvincing and smacks of insecurity.
You have Pollyanna-ish belief in the benefits of drastic change but evolving organisms always outperform revolutionising ones.
I am so glad that a resilient guy like Ange Postecoglou, who doesn’t sweat the small stuff or rage against the imposed restrictions, is in charge instead of amateurs with big ideas.
You can be damn sure Celtic aren’t briefing anyone on losing a youngster to Liverpool today.
We have a big cup tie so why is it all over Celtic online chat. Some are suckered into probably sevco or msm negative pr.
Some want us to be speaking negatively today.
We can talk about it tomorrow. Right now DU away, Scottish Cup! Weather looks p*sh, pitch sounds to be for farmers and as P67 points out they’ll take confidence from being undefeated against der hun and then the huns light at home.
Hoping for a humdinger of a Cup tie with us going through COYBIG 🍀
Confirmation from Celtic this afternoon, that Celtic B will be taking on Rangers B at Parkhead, with fans able to purchase tickets
The rescheduled Lowland League fixture will take place on Tuesday, April 12th – 7:30 PM kick-off
– T’net
TMcL @ 2.11
Please take the blinkers off.
I have had a go at systems analysis for my sins — Big Auto purchasing systems.
Allowed me to tell code monkeys like yourself what to do or at least point them in the right direction.
Strange guys Code Monkeys — my main guy was ex Rhodesian army bloke.
He might have been Selous Scouts going by the badge but I never asked for a full bio.
Wore a real Combat Jacket and understood only orders.
Looked / sounded scary but was a good bloke.
As mentioned earlier that was using a ruler on a 80×40 screen of green text to make changes — really cutting edge / high tech stuff or not as the case maybe.
We were dealing with IMS / DB2 so Cobol looks like the future when you were dealing with 60’s IBM stuff thirty years after it was cutting edge.
Consequently no Google involved.
Still think you were slumming it when you went into web design.
I expect a tough game tonight. Our players may be somewhat rested and some minor injuries recovered but so will United’s team. They are at home but we are the better team. They have dangerous big defenders who can hurt us at set plays and players like Harkes and Niskanen who are good on the break.
I don’t expect an easy win but I’ll take it if it happens.
I do think we will win but narrowly
Am I right in thinking we’ve been given fewer tickets to allow for the home support to step up and fill 3 sides of the ground ?
In others news, Dundee United are still trying to flog tickets online this afternoon, including the shed…
Seems like a lot of wee clubs cutting off their nose to spite their face this season…
HH
SFTB @ 2.27
Not quite getting your defensiveness on the youth development front.
We have issues / poor performance and now we are losing a lot of players at 16/17 before they have even finished with our Academy set up and that can’t be good.
Never used to happen but the trickle is now a flood and you have to wonder who or what will be left.
I have offered my thoughts on our failure.
This is based on feedback from my — very — extended family who have / had skin in the particular St Ninian’s Glee Club / High School Musical game.
My question then to you — have you any skin in the game / contacts in our youth system?
If you haven’t then I suggest that you engage your ears before your mouth.
Spouting excuses is never a good look.
Answers might help.
I have no answers only observations on why the academy has only produced one first team regular in the last 10 years which is a performance that is shameful in the round — would you agree?
BIG WAVY on 14TH MARCH 2022 2:15 PM
Cobol Quick News……
————————–
Made me chuckle . Would rather Cobol Quick News to and fros over Chump Quick News.
A programmer’s wife asks: “Would you go to the shop and pick up a loaf of bread? And if they have eggs, get a dozen.”
The programmer returns home with 12 loaves of bread.
“They had eggs.”
———————————————-
Programming is like sex. One mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.
SFTB,
I understand where you are coming from and as you say there are no easy answers.
However when we look at the reason for a football Academy, are we passing the criteria over the years. :-
To develop first team players :
To develop squad players :
Make money for the club :
Enhance the local community:
I am not so sure our investment is paying dividends and meeting the criteria.
Cheers and HH.
With regard to the current topic.
I would class our Academy like Pascal.
A great vehicle, still relevant but largely superceded.
HH.
lol
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 14TH MARCH 2022 12:47 PM
MADMITCH
‘I had to google ‘Kermode and Mayo’ which, upon reading the result, gave me a sense of pride.’
###
Taking pride in one’s own ignorance is very much de rigueur in today’s Scotland.
It didn’t use to be.
With regards to having players “stolen” from academies, I know that I might sound like a broken down record (that’s if anyone actually reads my posts :) ) – but if there were sensible restrictions on the number of players that clubs can loan or borrow, it would make a lot of the bigger academies think twice about who they decide to poach.
The notion that some clubs (Chelsea and Man City biggest culprits) can just hoover up talent and then decide how to disburse that talent via loans is effectively controlling the game from the bottom up and killing competition.
Football authorities could limit the loan system but choose not to – presumably because everyone at the top of the pyramid (clubs and officials alike) are on the same gravy train.
EL @ 3.16
You are a bad man — I do agree with you.
But sometime it helps to laugh.
CQN IT Crowd @ this afternoon.
Why is all this computer chat getting a response.
Nuggets from Big Auto get ignored and now we have programming language in jokes …
Linwood has a lot to answer for.
My pro bono consultancy work has called so cheerie for now …
TIM MALONE WILL TELL
Good point good sir.
MadMitch
You haven’t indicated what “skin in the game” (sic) you have apart from some gossip about Boy’s behaviour in school (and much as we’d want it to be good, it his not crucial to their player development) so I won’t reveal mine, but would set it as minor.
The loss of players didn’t use to happen (except by our own carelessness in letting Collins, Nevin, Given and Robertson go ourselves) because we didn’t have players worth stealing. Now we do- so somebody must be doing something right- No?
We work under SFA restrictions and those of our society. We cannot enslave players so we have to play the system. We steal some and we get some stolen from us. Far more important is providing a competitive game level that develops them. We have been reluctantly allowed a one year entry into the Lowland League, an allowance that is widely resented in Scotland. If we or Sevco had won the league, we would have seen this experiment end abruptly. Even now, being allowed a continuation in the Lowland League is very questionable. The Society that allowed Sevco A team direct entry into the 4th tier has no appetite for allowing Sevco B or Celtic B to do likewise, far less find their own competitive level. We have not supported our B team or our Ladies Team in sufficient numbers to make this an economically compelling argument to other clubs. Only Airdrie have benefitted from our largesse.
If we cannot provide them with this competitive environment , we are back to the lottery of sending Afolabi, to Dunfermline, Doohan and Hjelde to Ross County etc; and see them get very little game time or worse, send them to clubs which stagnate their progress through having lower league expectations.
McGeady, Tierney and Forrest had the talent to break through, without a loan spell. McGregor needed a year with Notts County but very few of our loanees have been placed with teams that can and will develop them as players able to reach SPFL standards. We produced a lot of senior pros for other Scottish clubs (O’Donnel at Motherwell, Fraser at St. Mirren, McCart at St. Johnstone and McGowan, McMullen at Dundee etc; but our 15 to 18 year olds need a better competitive pathway than playing Dundee United youngsters. This is no longer the 80s when they could source better than we were doing. We get the pick of all non-secco minded youngsters in Scotland and even get a few Sevco -minded ones. We need to develop their football better. I think sending the best of them to English League One might help
Jo Hart
Taylor
Ccv
Starfelt
Juranovic
Calmac
Nir
Jota
Abada
Gio
Hetate
Go to it Celtic
HH
Bring that cup home to rest at paradise
The main argument against closing our Academy is precedent. If we close, others may chose to save that money. So where do we get our elite-ready youngsters? Will School football develop them? No- it’s no longer the 70’s
We have tp double down on the elite academy model and learn to do it better.
And find a good league to Olay in
Got to go – zoom calls
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 14TH MARCH 2022 3:47 PM
‘And find a good league to Olay in’
###
LaLiga?
We probably ‘steal’ more young prospects than we lose. I read young Doak, several weeks ago, talking about his joy on making his debut and how his family were all Celtic mad. If he goes, he’s not much of a supporter. Hardly even kicked a ball. I’m maybe being a childish prick, but any young ‘starlet’ who claims to be a dyed in the wool fan, yet jumps at the chance of a move to a richer club, can move swiftly on without my best wishes. Celtic supporters, my arse.
How much in compensation does Celtic get for the development of these young players that have left Doak being the latest one heading to Liverpool seemingly
Tim Malone Will Tell,
check out the new rules that FIFA are introducing regarding Loan players looks like a start to solve the issue
Then we could scoop up the cream
My pro bono consultancy work has called so cheerie for now …
The wife asked you what your making for dinner ?
😁😁😜😁😁
I’m anti Bono
…peace in the valley…hope so. Weekends without a Celtic game are terrible, seems to drag on and on, how come we get lumbered with Monday night football? Anyway, really looking forward to the game tonight, we’ve had a fair old rest so the bhoys should be rarin to go..
Is an amateur bono a tribute act ? 😁
TIM MALONE/ CAMUSBHOY
Loans limited to 8 in and 8 out from 22-23.
https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/media-releases/fifa-to-introduce-new-loan-regulations
Bono fell off stage once.
He was standing too close to The Edge
https://youtu.be/zQ_giZoilkc