There was an unusual reaction at full time last night. Some attempted to boo, but the applause from the majority in the crowd soon drowned them out. Not all defeats are the same, this one came after one of our best performances of the season, against an undoubtedly better team.
It was important to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Bereft of domestic competition, Celtic need to test their abilities against top teams, they need to be stretched, forced to defend for long periods, parts of the game which simply never happen in Scotland.
It’s also important to see tangible signs of improvement. Those four weeks of summer, which saw defeats twice to Legia, to Maribor and Inverness, were signs of a team in crisis. They cost us Champions League football, and revenue, but finishing our Europa League group in second place behind Salzburg is the top end of where we expected to be three months ago.
I’m not happy with this morning’s line that we qualified thanks to the result in Romania; we qualified because we collected eight points from our opening four games, including a highly respectable draw in Salzburg. Win, lose or draw last night, the qualification work had been done. We can now start planning for the second half of the season.
Those three months since the summer crisis passed with only one defeat, an ultimately costless, if embarrassing, reversal at home to Hamilton. We can afford a similar episode on the next three months, but not this Sunday. The visit to Tynecastle is our most important game in the next two months, considerably more so than last night’s.
Commons and Forrest return to full fitness will be closer, while it would be good to see Denayer and Lustig available again.
It was kind of Rangers International to publish their accounts as a pick-me-up for us when we got home last night. More tomorrow, if we have time.
Shocked and stunned at the news Roy Keane has chucked it at Aston Villa. No way did I ever see his appointment as assistant to Paul Lambert looking like a pointless distraction so quickly. Next time we appoint a manager, cut the lines to Barbados and keep Martin’s mobile engaged!
Pre-orders are being accepted for the 2015 CQN Annual, which will be posted week commencing 8 December. Get your orders in now…
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Proudbhoy, Celtic have had cash in the bank for the last two seasons. It’s in the accounts. There for all to see. This season we will be down the on income due to Champions League participation but should still break even or make a small profit if we sell Virgil in January.
Two games at £300k from the SFA for recent internationals lead me to think the 6m income from GCC for the commonwealth games could be true. I expect that to hit this years income along with Forster income.
The Forster income alone won’t fill the Champions league hole but the income from the SFA and the commonwealth games might get us half way there. Therefore it will be Virgil away soonest and a wee spend in January to further protect the cash at the bank.
I also expect squad players and semi regulars in to be on a list of possible sales. Commons, Kayal, Matthews, mulgrew, those on loan, Efe, Griffiths. High wages out and a low millions in.
How we spend it is key. I have no confidence there has been a change of heart in how we scout and sign players despite serial failure.
Rangers currently have a 10 million pound hole in their financial strategy. We have that as well allegedly but manage to create a cash surplus in each of the years we have sold Iut best players. i can see that Rangers have a 10 minute lion pound budget gap but I can’t see how we do if we generate a profit leading to more cash in the bank each year.
If Rangers somehow scrape into our division this year we need to ensure they never bridge that 10 million gap. We need to spend now. What we are seeing is asset striping with no transparent plan to reinvest. There’s no point in stock pilling cash for the rainy Rangers day if the point we need to recover from is close to Rangers. Mind you maybe that is the plan!
A wee chuckle for ewes.
2 mins to go last night and Mark Hill took the ball into the corner. So 2 were sent to sort him out. Mark did a double shuffle one landed in the bushes and the other on the moon.
Unlucky for Mark he hit the bar with his shot!!
Oh the joy!!! H H
Just saw a big white van heading for the B -L with a sombrero hanging out the window.
Surely not???
mullet and co 2
a 10 minute lion pound budget gap
——————————————–
Haha, that is the best auto correct error i have seen in a long time.
Jobo
Btw, how did minijobo do in the SSB quiz?
“Celtic need to test their abilities against top teams, they need to be stretched, forced to defend for long periods, parts of the game which simply never happen in Scotland.”
Yes indeed and every time we do we fail.
Last night was a good benchmark as to how far we have come since September when the last of the new signings arrived. And it give us very disappointing answers.
Stokes is a very good forward but a rubbish winger.
Sunday is huge for Ronny’s Rockets.
winning captains
Thanks!
Swapped emails with BRTH so up to date with current position.
Thanks again!
Jobo
Goldstar will fill in the details.
Who is this club called ‘Rangers’ that some people keep referring to?
Are they new?
Are they any good?
Are we likely to play them anytime soon?
HH!!
David
Cheers mate.No probs!!
Jude2005…
“Mark did a double shuffle one landed in the bushes and the other on the moon.”
Ha ha …brilliant!
HH
Tallybhoy
Yes
No
Maybe
Moonbeams WD. Wee Oscar’s our Bhoy and Kano’s our mhan. The Vow – Critically Rebuked by 45% of this fine nation.
12:15 on
28 November, 2014
Auldheid
Expectation management is soley the reason why the team is performing in fromt of a half full Celtic park in European football.
I see no positive you, anyone else or I can take from that!
MWD said AYE
==============================
I would argue that it is quite the reverse. Had expectations been better managed then crowds might not have dropped by as much after if a more accurate picture of reality had been painted.
However I can also recognise the rock and the hard place that being more forthcoming about reality would put Celtic.
Tell the support that football is interdependent by nature and all clubs, not just Celtic, cannot afford to lose the income that the presence of Rangers/TRFC/TRIFC brings to the game.
Celtic would have been well aware of that loss, as did other clubs, but did not speak out on interdependency and vote for an SPL place for TRFC or try to influence other clubs so to vote as to do so would be to undermine long term the sporting integrity that underpins the game.
However any statement to that effect i.e. interdependency, would be meat and drink to those who think its all about saving TRFC. Much as we, and Celtic for that matter, despise what TRFC etc stand for they are forced to do business with them. That does not mean they welcome it, it is just how it is.
Interdependency is the reality of things. All things.
On the CL. What would the reaction be if Celtic had said “we are at best a Europa League standard club and will aim to be as successful as possible at that standard?
The CL is beyond our finances to achieve” (with some figures to support).
Would it have taken 3 seasons for crowds to drop if they said that? A Ratner type announcement methinks.
So they leave expectation management to reality and experience and say nothing because the reality produced by any attempts at expectation management might be worse and speed rather than stop decline.
Its not a question of taking positives, its a question of accepting that is how things are and it is from that baseline we can look for positives.
From such a baseline it is very possible to take a positive of being in the EL after Xmas.
It would be nice if it were the CL but watching Celtic get pumped 6-1 by Barcelona in the same pub I watched the game last night (I nearly left after 25 minutes thinking it must be the pub) is anything but positive to me.
As it happened there was a Rangers supporter at the bar watching the game. Nice chap. We both sighed for the return of the days of the Lisbon Lions (and it was he who said it) but our sighs and inner expectation management stopped us descending into despair, and that is a positive.
Mighty Tim
I do hope all goes well today for your lad and family.
hh
============
jude 2005 is niel lennon
any clips from the 17s game available?
hh
TTT
change of moniker required
The token Old Firm Green Hun Tim. :-)
TT/OFGH/T
MWD said AYE
clashcitybhoy
13:04 on 28 November, 2014
Justafan,
I think Adam is a good player, who just needs a few more games and a wee bit of luck.
The fact that he is in and out the team, and has to adapt his style to having Forrest / McGregor / Wakaso and even Griffiths in front, doesn’t help.
I think we are good for him & he is good for us.
~~~~~~~~~~++~~~~~~~~~~
I think he is a tremendous talent.
He is a young lad with a tremendous CV with us,Wales,Cardiff.
He is also clearly fed up wi getting kicked to …. wi no protection from the refs.
I canny blame him,and when he leaves he goes with my gratitude and best wishes.
jude2005 is neil lennon \o/
13:29 on 28 November, 2014
—
He a good player ? Hill ..
Think iv heard him mentioned before as a good prospect.
What team is young calvin miller playing in … Surely he is tipped for first team action
MWD
with that reasoning your excused EVERY TIME.
You are by far and away the most perceptive poster on this blog. No debate.
HH
Ger57, I was in ES1 row K last night and if its the same guy he was arguing with everyone round about him. Guy in the row in front stuck one on him and he then got up and carried on arguing with the folk behind him. A steward huckled him and he was giving him a load of abuse as well. I’m pretty sure him and his boy did come back in for the second half.
I don’t know what it was all about but the guy was angry about something and making an utter tool of himself.
An Tear
I dont know. There was a camera there last night. It might have been ours or thems. Ill ask Josh.
FREE AS A BIRD
HH
ger57
13:27 on 28 November, 2014
—
Reading on facebook there about the incident.. Claim seems to be the stewards asked them to leave for singing too loud ?
Load of bull then…
Mighty Tim
Best wishes today!
I’ll say a wee prayer.
I’m afraid I don’t share Paul’s optimism. 3rd home defeat in Europe this season. We’re going backwards.
The evidence of this is when a 1-3 defeat to Austrians at CP is described as our best performance of the season.
Whoa-I, whoa-I
I got a whole lot of things to tell her
When I get home
Come on, out of my way
Cos I’m gonna see my baby today
I’ve got a whole lot of things I’ve gotta say
To her
Whoa-I, whoa-I
I got a whole lot of things to tell her
When I get home
Come on if you please
I’ve got no time for trivialities
I’ve got a girl who’s waiting home for me tonight
Whoa-I, whoa-I
I got a whole lot of things to tell her
When I get home
When I’m getting home tonight
I’m gonna hold her tight
I’m gonna love her till the cows come home
I bet I’ll love her more
Till I walk out that door
Again
Come on, let me through
I’ve got so many things I’ve got to do
I’ve got no business being here with you
This way
Whoa-I, whoa-I
I’ve got a whole lot of things to tell her
When I get home, yeah
I’ve got a whole lot of things to tell her
When I get home
Auldheid
unfortunately, you and i are miles apart on this.
Expectation management, half closed stadia, crap quality on park…
keep going and the thing will be in the grubber.
the expectations should have been managed within the PLC to live without the manifestation of the metamorphisis for ever. the marketing and PR should have been focused better to entice the supporter rather drive a rod between them (ok, slowly that side is being looked at I admit), the match day experience should be enhanced for all attending in some degree. The imagination within the board room and those employed by those in the board room to come up with ideas and enticements to help keep attendances up has failed. It’s has not just been about lack of an Orc that has seen the decline no matter how many times that drum is thumped or the smoke signal is sdent sailing into the air.
For a start, closing the top tier for EL games was an immediate management of expectations of all supporters who may have been swaying with regards attendance. It placed the EL in the same category as the LC. that alone was a decision taken by the club. I amy be wrong but I believe the attendance would have exceeded last nights by close on 10K if the top tier expectation management closure programme had not been put in place.
bad Marketing of the EL by Celtic PLC from the off.
MWD said AYE
proudbhoy
Marks a great prospect. Quick feet good shot a full of confidence too. Ps and cheeky with it as well.
Calvin played well last night Took a few thumps like the rest of the Bhoys.
weeminger
12:32 on 28 November, 2014
Looking at attendances last night and we have the highest :0)
Awe Naw
I use a braille keyboard!
My imagination does run away with itself at times. ;-)
MWD said AYE
DavidO..,
I suggest you have another look at last nights game, Stoksey’s corners were excellent, he hit the first defender only once when he played a near post corner every other corner was put right into the danger area and he almost scored from one.
However you don’t like stoksey so no surprise you only see what you want to see to confirm your criticism.
an dun….
Until last night undefeated in Europa league, still undefeated away from home in EL.
Not saying all is well and I have sympathy with your post but not all backward steps!
HH
Intrepid FFin’ court reporters:
“It’s going to be late as he is refusing to answer question
But he must go before the Sherriff first
So looks like being a wee but later but don’t think he is going to get bailed ?
But it will be in court 3 ( closed ) if not 4”
——
“If he is not co-operating then it’s extra years on his sentence.”
——
“If he gets bail then the only possible conclusion is that he has decided to tell all and become Crown witness.”
——
“He won’t answer questions
That’s why he gas to go before the Sherriff and if he dosnt answer then he may be done for contempt”
Glasgow Sheriff Court appears to be sticking with the Mexican procedure.
Kevtic
You and I can see that why cant Ronnie D??
Hey! I’ve just woke up from a 3 month kip. When I went to sleep, we’d just been knocked out the Champions League by Legia Warsaw, I woke up this morning, and we’re through to the last 32 of the Europa League, with a game to spare! Things must be going great for us eh?
What’s to complain about?
HH
Afternoon bhoys n ghirls
Im doing Movember for Downs & Proud this year so if anyone fancies donating to me please do so at the following link :-)
https://www.justgiving.com/Tommy-Melly/
Cheers for reading (and hopefully a wee donation)
HH
Jude,
good to hear that. and loved the story about Mark and his double shuffle!
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Davidopolous,
Turgid – Torpid
Tomayto – Tomato
:-)
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Wee choon for Craigy!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z16jVKrk2s