Celtic will face their first Champions League qualifying opponents on either 31 July or 1 August but heartbeats among the scouting staff will quicken tonight and tomorrow when every potential opponent will play in the second qualifying round.
A number of potential opponents from eastern and northern Europe are mid-season but all will benefit from successfully coming through two qualifying games before tackling seeded opponents two weeks from now.
It is crucially important that Celtic are ready for this tie.
The final qualifying round, scheduled to take place during the last two weeks in August, will offer a greater challenge on paper but European qualifying games in July are notorious for catching better teams unprepared.
After a credibly, though ultimately unsuccessful, Europa League group campaign last season Celtic’s domestic form clicked into place and we looked like a team capable of becoming champions. There was some regret that we didn’t hit form early enough to make the most of our European adventure. Neil Lennon will also be keen to avoid the anaemic performance against Sion, who beat Celtic on aggregate but were subsequently awarded two 3-0 defeats for failing to observe rules.
These Celtic players found hidden depths last season but they have a point to prove in Europe. There is also the nagging suspicion that this Celtic team is more talented that the two Gordon Strachan took to the later stages of the Champions League.
Bring it on.
Get your season ticket and saddle up for the ride.
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Saint stivs,
the advice i got was all good,
there is just no accounting for stupidity once
copious amounts of drink had been taken,
must say i thought Edinburgh was cracking for a couple of nights out
hen1rik on 17 July, 2012 at 23:45 said:
“Apple does have some ties with Freemasonry.”
Much as I like your suggestion that this points to Apple, I think we need to look closer to home. Waracle the developers of “SCOTIFY” are a Scottish based company: Waracle
I’m sure it is just a coincidence and that I am indeed paranoid.
I too was a fan of N’Guemo, thought that him and Marc Crosas made a good central mid partnership
We dont get the chance to watch silky football, so when we get a “how the **** did he do that” moment we appreciate it, Landry produced a lot of those, for the time he appeared.
tbf
Am no biting ok??? Put the bottle down ffs
jude 2005
It was his own fault Jude….It wasn’t my idea to make them Doubles !
A younger team certainly, but more talented than Strachan´s teams? Such a do or die drama these qualifiers. Strachan could never fully triumph after the reverse he suffered in his first qualifying match, caught on the hop, as you say Paul, in the middle of the summer. He did have some decent talent in his first three glorious seasons; Nakamura, Maloney ,McGeady and some good Polish signings . With little cash to spend he had to be imaginative in his purchases and he did carry it off with signings like Scott McDonald and Barry Robson who reminded you of when big Jock brought in Ronnie Glavin or Dixie Deans. But the inconsistency of strikers like Misser and JVOH meant we lost our attacking flair and were actually converting or degenerating into a Cattenachio style team by the time the wee admiral had to move on.
That mind set continued with big Tony, but like Strachan he would enjoy a qualifying success in summer against Russian rivals.
Neil Lennon has had to build a team which had sunk to a 4-0 loss at Paisley, although he had his Ross County hiccup on the way. Neil´s call for thunder has led to us puffing out our chests on the field more and we have more of a club focus, which Strachan probably had less of, though his connection with Tommy Burns would have been special. The team looks more versatile to me now, lots of Indians and not so many chiefs which generates a great team spirit. The boost of putting Rangers to sleep on the pitch, coming from behind from a sizeable points difference will still be running through the players veins as they try to see out these qualifying matches and gain access to the Champions League.
It might not be possible, I was shocked a few years back when we had to play Arsenal in a qualifier!! If that is the standard of team we have to face then the stakes are against us.
Nevertheless let´s not forget the big picture, if Ki brings in some money, amortization aside, we are finally showing signs of competing in the transfer markets again. Although I haven´t been able to watch Celtic regularly he didn´t seem to me such an integral part of the essence of this team as say Hooper, Commons, Mulgrew and latterly Ledley. Not like Petrov or McGeady or Nakamura who the teams seemed built around and whose departures I lamented
Let´s take this opportunity to continue to build in a sustainable way, Brian Quinn had his day at Celtic too! A league without Rangers in Scotland will be sadly one with a hole in it for a few months but we would all have fallen down the hole if things hadn´t been sorted out in the way that they have.
As Paul has rightly said the opportunities for fan power are greater than ever now. Celtic supporters, as the leading club in terms of numbers need to exert responsibility. That sense of responsiblity needs to mature. If fans are looking forward to sniggering as news comes through that Rangers are losing at Glebe Park, we will all end up as relics like the Broons in Glebe Street!! We have slain the beast but we also need to free ourselves of the beast.
Our support is massive and varied, living all over Scotland and Ireland and afar. We SHOULD be in the Champions League but we should also be proud to lead a renaissance in Scottish football. Maybe we have passed through the dark ages since the swinging sixties and the time is right for a new feeling for the game in Scotland.
Even if we don´t get into the Champions this time, the Europa League will give the team much needed European experience.
One from the Lennon/McCartney songbook,
sung by duo Peter and Gordon,
“A world without Rangers”.
Goodnight Vienna
tbb
Ah the old doubles thingy. The Catholic club in Blackpool was famous for it. £1.20 a half £2 for a doulbe magic!!!
Bundoran Bhoy – RAISING AWARENESS OF NEUROBLASTOMA (GOD BLESS WEE OSCAR) on 18 July, 2012 at 00:06 said:
>>>>>>>>>
Got the email re. badges. Ta. Will sort out payment & postage tomorrow p.m. if that’s okay. Good on yez all!
Change pot growing daily!
HH!
Where is n’gwemo now? Id like to send him a ferwell card.
I trust that no-one minds this repeat; I think its getting better with recent events;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMyh1cGUUBs
See newco played airdrie ay Murray Park, got this wee gem from an online paper story on game –
The referee had to warn an Airdrie player for a comment about Rangers being a ‘Third Division team’ but they held on to win.
hahahahhahaha
HH
EXCLUSIVE: A Secret Plot Against Timdom.
This whole sorry saga of the demise of TFOD is actually a cunningly devised plan by TFOD themselves to finally get rid of the evil fenian forces.
Their secret weapon is laughter.
Yes, they plan to continue hitting us with punchline after punchline until we literally cannot take any more side-splitting jokes.
What else could possibly explain it all?
jude 2005
Landry Joel Tsafack N’Guémo (born 28 November 1985 in Yaoundé, Cameroon) is a Cameroonian footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Bordeaux.
from Wiki..
On further exploration I see Zheng Zhi is plying his trade back in China !!!!
Peter,…We demand an Explanation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hen1rik on 17 July, 2012 at 23:45 said:
I see what you mean. This is the Apple symbol for an App. I never realised that. Thanks for the info.
I am paranoid and looking for issues where they don’t exist :-)
jude..,
some french 3rd div team and I’d welcome him back in a minute.
We had Frankie “whereze the burdz” MacAvennie
I said too many tmes “how the **** did he do that”
I want Landry “whereze the burdz” N’Guemo that bhoy showed magic.
Sorry, lucky boots are lucky boots, I’m a dandy highwaymhan :o)
We need to go back and get him
Bundoran Bhoy
I abhor triumphalism in all it’s forms…I hope that that particular Airdrieonian was taken to task for such undignified, ungentlemanly conduct.
Where’s the burds…!
Now I know yer at it… ya swine.
Hail hail
lochgoilhead bhoy on 17 July, 2012 at 23:26 said:
>>>>>>
When you start seeing symbolism in nearly everything there are 3 explanations.
1 : you have created a ‘neural net’ in your thought processes.
2 : you are paranoid.
3 : your thinking is just fine,and you are definitely not paranoid.
After all that has gone on with the shenanigans surrounding rfc(defunct) in the mason riddled country of Scotland I’d be opting for no. 3.
HH!
Bundoran Bhoy,
was it a game of fives that they were playing?
When I phone my old man back home, ironically to give him the news of what is happening. Odd that, here I am 1000s of miles away and I know more about what is going on than he does and he lives in Scotland.
Of course it’s easy to explain, he isn’t IT savvy and so relies on MSM. Say no more…
Anyway, the greatest joy he takes from “The Great Demise” is that it is all entirely self inflicted and the fact that the hole they have dug for themselves has dead-end after dead-end, no matter how they try to get out.
Time and again it has been said, not even the most cunning, die-hard, rangers hating Celtic fan could possibly have come up with this plot. It’s going to make one helluva book & movie one day.
Larrybhoy on 18 July, 2012 at 00:30 said:
>>>>>>>
HH! Larrybhoy!
Billy No’Well’s finest moment!
mik…,
OR
yer sick of it, and try to make sure they dont have enough power over your destiny to make a difference.
Disarming them is a strategy they cant concieve :o)
mea Culpa
Hehe. Look at the damage ‘Coisty’ has managed to reek all by his lonesome [and he is lonely]
“we don’t do Walkin Away”
“who are thes people?”
“Don’t buy a SB aff Chuck,…. furrgoonesssake”
….And that’s not including Maribor, Malmo, and good aul Falkirk
Hahahaha
N c
Put the feckin bottle down or ill tazer you!!
it’ll be reet
Ha haa…
and the winner [so far]
#IWasAtTheCelticGameWhen…..
Lubo Moravcik brought the ball under control usng his arse! #legend
jude….,
reet p teet :o)
stand away from the tazer, listen to your parents
think
why wont they think about the children
think about the children
:oD)))))
N c
Speard emm and put ur hands behide ur back!!
Di Stefano talks like he’s got a bubbling chip pan in his brain! He takes ‘azzuri’ into a whole new palette.
His ‘aeronautical militare’ shirt had my jaw dropping…..is he trying to signify his solidarity with the ‘flying picket’ wing of Bomber’s commandos?
Ah….it’s parallel universe hilarious…..the great undefined secret plot to annihilate rfc.
Jeezo…..and here I thought everybody knew how they managed it….i.e Minty Moonbeam’s magic millions from the nudge & a wink banco del murray that got rumbled in the crash….then all the mess that got discovered and the rest that got created to cover up the dodgy Dave King criminal empire etc.,etc.,.
If this is the kinda joker the blue crazies are now relyin’ on,then they have trully lost their trollies and are heading into the twilight zone at the speed of light!
Larrybhoy on 18 July, 2012 at 00:16 said:
>>>>>
Aye…..I keep beggin’ on here for big V.W. to stay…a potential legend!
HH!
Canamalar
A critical point in their downfall has been their WATP cognisance….and thereby their reliance on a shining white Knight who will come to wipe their troubles away so they can rrrrrrrrrise again ……
We beat thum [so far]….wi their Hauners an’ aw….
Good luck with Bummer, Gorehun, and Wee bawwy
Creme de la Creme SFC
N c
ngwemo was one of the worst players that ever set foot in C P!! Ability nil, nil nil nil
Heart for the game?? Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
Good night.
The bhould….,
that was one of those “how the **** did he do that”
Out of all the silky football I’ve seen in my life watching Celtic and football.
Jinky banging the ball up by the jungle, then, following through slidding on his arse for about 20-30 yards, opposition player allowed jinky nutmeg, the greatest nutmeg and the best 15-20 seconds entertainment this wee bhoy has ever seen, hooked, addicted, any more dependency cliche’s I’ve missed are welcome :o)
Dont Sell Big Vic….
Dont be a ****
I jus’ dont think you Understand….
jude are you telling me big sammi, paddy mc and kelvin wilson are all better than Landry N’ Guemo
I imagine the orcs in sleepless convocation, shufflin’ and haverin’ round a bonfire of broken dreams and egos,wonderin’ in their rank abandonment by every ersatz saviour how their bastion of bigotry got so smashed,and why the fires of Mt. Doom have been extinguished and Sauron has made of with everything they hold precious.