Celtic have point to prove in Europe

940

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.

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

940 Comments

  1. Neil Lennon is ainm dom (nohunlover) on

    Tweets in twitterdom saying DR saying we might be getting our stolen 5 titles back, some Scottish Cups and £…. We should invite the managers and players who were robbed back to celebrate

  2. Allan Rennie‏@AllanRennie1

     

     

    SPL, SFA, SFL and Rangers Newco legal draft sanctions included stripping club of 5 league titles and 4 Scottish Cups over EBTs

  3. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    miki

     

     

    Did ye catch Tommy and wee [Sir] Davie….?

     

    The boul yin is eatin thum for brekkie.

     

     

    Erse hingin oot thurr troosers SFC

  4. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    The bhould….,

     

    the very fabric of Scotland is running about with its arse hingin out:oD)))))))

  5. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    Canamalar

     

     

    …….And their aw trying to sew the patchwork back up to hide it…… but seemingly jabbing that walloper of a haemorroid with their handywork…

     

     

    ha ha hahaha

  6. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    keep furgettin….

     

     

    Stupit huns…… ha ha ha ahaaha ahahahahahahahahaahahah Hahahaha

  7. Miki67 – Victor may go… I’m just hoping he’s here for some time.. Rough diamond,,, but still a diamond :-)

  8. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    books :o)

     

     

    name that book

     

     

    MORT

     

     

    :)

  9. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    I warn ye….

     

     

    Paul67…………………

     

    Next time I see you,…I’m gonna plant a big Kisser oan ye !

     

     

    Jist so’s ye know…..Don’t say I didnae warn ye !!!

  10. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    Victor is going no where

     

    buckle up pheople this is the ride of a life time

     

     

    scream if you want to go faster

  11. i have been posting on the vile fithy filthy about possible stripping of titles and its

     

    really enjoyable seeing their world falling apart, but its hard not to burst their bubble

     

    about cheating, i find it amusing as they say things like we won them on the pitch

     

    and this has been their plan because they are jealous, but i am waiting for the day this comes to pass before outing myself, yes i know i am a bad person wallowing

     

    in their misery but there ya go.

  12. Aye……you could stand in Geo. Sq. with a megaphone and say everything and anything about them with no fear of legal challenge (not too sure about random passing wounded berrs)…..it’s got to that stage : any financial wrongdoing that is possible can be laid at iPox’s door and it’ll probably be proveable. And Ra Bommur’s ,”Ah cannae tell yez whit he sed…” is just one of the ‘unknown unknowns’.

     

    The big players in all this (and I don’t mean the likes of Souness….he’s relative small fry) are staying very quiet right now…..legal advice,no doubt.

     

    There have been enough small drops of info that,taken together,indicate a deluge of misdemeanours to be exposed. There must be so many fingers tryin’ to hold the dam in place……sooner or later it’ll give, and the wettest summer in history will give us all one more downpour.

     

    Wellies on…..because all the sewage’ll be risin’ with it all,too.

  13. stevietar - putting the turd back into the turd division on

    Hey Bhoys, just about to head to bed & then just saw a few tweets regarding the supposed DR story (tomorrow?) – thought I’d pop on here but I think you guys already have wind of it : SPL, SFA, SFL and Newco legal draft sanctions included stripping club of 5 league titles and 4 Scottish Cups over the EBT years. Repayments to Celtic, Hearts, Dundee Utd, Arsenel & St. Etienne among others.

     

     

    Just passing it on…! I thought the sanctions were all about the transfer ban?

  14. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    danso…,

     

    its only a problem when its over.

     

    As yet nothing is won

     

    I will be disappointed if I hear gloating in 10 years

  15. An absolute gem from Sevco minded

     

     

    Additionally, I still have absolutely no idea what the problem is with EBT’s from a football perspective, and I as far as I am aware, the payments were declared in our accounts, etc, and were used by other clubs, both in Scotland and outside, so seriously, if this is all over some administrative error about how we ran the scheme, then people need to get a grip.

  16. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    miki

     

     

    Its no unknown…..He Blabberred it later on that very same night…!

     

     

    Chuck told him….” Bumboy……Have you heard of a place called Hiroshima ? !”

  17. Larrybhoy on 18 July, 2012 at 01:36 said:

     

    >>>>>>

     

    VWs go on forever! So long as we keep this big fella while he’s still runnin’ in!

     

    MetaphorsRus CSC

  18. The bould bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 July, 2012 at 01:52 said:

     

    >>>>>>>

     

    : > ))

  19. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire,

     

    very true but we live in hope and if it comes to pass that they are indeed stripped of

     

    titles that they cheated to win nothing will hurt them more than being stained forever

     

    with this, i would not bet on it happening but i hope it does, but its hard not to burst in

     

    and post how i really feel because i would derive so much pleasure in letting them

     

    know i enjoy their pain, well i cannot help feeling like this but there ya go.

  20. Dead and Loving it on

    Meanwhile back at the ever so diplomatic website that is FF

     

    If their titles are taken off them

     

     

    they will cloven hoof the doors in at the SFA, and wreck the place

     

    wee souls

  21. danso_1888 on 18 July, 2012 at 01:45 said:

     

    >>>>>

     

    Go on then,gie us a flavour of the loonatix ravings….always good for a laugh.

     

    You might as well get something from your candestine activities. We’ll chip in and buy you the white bicycle from their ‘trophy room’ when it’s all gettin’ flogged down the barras.

     

    HH!

     

    p.s. keep winding them up. they’ve only got Meccano for brains….

  22. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    danso..,

     

    and they will know, if we take it more than 1 generation we are no better, the baby jesus die for nothing.

  23. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    danso

     

     

     

    Even Jesus had a bit of Schadenfreud when he telt the 12 apostles ole Judas was talkin oot his poopshoot.

     

     

    SlapitintaeRumCSC

  24. I see it’s gonna be dark skies and lashing rain over Glasgow tomorrow….perfect for the blue meanies gettin’ told. Stripped…stripped….stripped….aye,an’ that one,too……stripped…..stripped……right,you know the drill now : keep goin’. Right,that’s today’s business over. Next?

  25. The bould bhoys..... Tá ár lá anois on

    Ragin that there’s not one Frank Zappa tune I can correlate with this sorry mess.

     

     

    Well apart from ‘Johnny Brown’

  26. The bould bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 July, 2012 at 02:01 said:

     

    >>>>>>>

     

    lol

     

    a lot!

  27. they have loons talking of causing mayhem at scotland matches and even our

     

    european matches, burning hampden blood on the streets, just being themselves basically.