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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jude 2005
no worries mate.can only find a wee report on squintmedia.good to see your josh was in team:-)
hh
Siesta time zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Moonbeams…
Accept some of your comments regarding marketing and the whole body language from the Celtic hierarchy following ‘the demise’.
However there have been ST price reductions and significant fall in prices for good deal on home cup ties and EL.
I think the closing of the upper tier has worked…much better atmosphere IMO. Sounds as if your argument is closing the tier was off putting to potential ticket buyers whereas my take is upper section closed because there was not enough demand in the first place. Therefore a good decision.
THE TOKEN TIM 1323
Yer on form today,mate!
I agree entirely with yer point about the downsizing as we now have players-and far too many of them-who aren’t fit to wear the shirt.
Problem is,who is?
There are players on that park who are way below what we are used to but the alternatives aren’t there.
Players have been signed for Celtic who clearly aren’t good enough. Time and again. Yet we sit back and take it,cos that’s just the way it is.
It’s not on,mate. A dayoooooot to watch Celtic,the highlight is watching The Hooooooops. Second is the pleasure of discussing it afterwards.
How many times has been discussing the game afterwards been a pleasure recently? We spend that time looking for the positives instead.
The positives should be staring us in the face,ffs!
It’s a waste of time going to confession these days,because my penance is already served by having to watch this.
Mullet-add 2 Cup Finals from last season to the balance sheet too mate.
Neil canamA,
Fair enough, maybe my recollection of his early second half corners is wrong.
Happy to be corrected by your good self.
CANAMALAR 1353
Stokes didnae get his corners past the near post,and they were all about two yards out.
Total waste of time any Celtic player going up for them.
Just spotted on the Sevco share website, that some dafty has sneakily bought 2 lots of 1,000,000 shares the other day at an average price of 25.9p each. Curr(a)nt price 24p.
Sevco business acumen hasn’t changed much.
HH
Hello guys, sittin in Edinburgh airport headin to Madrid…..and the burning question is : does anyone know of any Celtic friendly bars we’ll be able to catch the game on Sunday?
jude2005 is neil lennon \o/
13:52 on 28 November, 2014
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Happy days,
Thought calvin might have been in an older group.
Be another couple of seasons before any the bhoys make the breakthrough i would imagine.
Keep the updates going, enjoy reading about the future first teamers.
BMCUW,
Like I suggested to DavidO, go watch it again, how many corners did he take ?
Moonbeams Wet Dream
The club used the precedent of our previous Europa League attendances and clearly decided that closing the top tier would reduce costs and (probably) create a better atmosphere.
I repeat against Atletico Madrid, we pulled in 33,257 only 843 more than last night.
I think our attendances are affected far more by the competition they are for than anything else.
CANAMALAR
All of them on our left. None productive.
MWD,
GIRFUY ;-)
COYOFGH….
:-)
Hows you anyway mate?
Hope all is well.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
My main whine about last night was when the team imposed themselves and looked like getting a result the manager made too many changes.
Now Leigh Griffiths is missing them too.
From BBC website:
“The [top flight] misses them all – Hearts, Rangers, Hibs, it’s not really the same without them, but the circumstances are what they are,” Griffiths told BBC Scotland.
And he added: “They’re in that league for a reason but hopefully two of them come back up this season and it will be great for Scottish football.”
Meanwhile Pope Francis also hopes Hearts and Rangers go up.
I give up.
BMCUW,
As I said go watch it again, if no one is going to attack the ball then of course we won’t get anything from them.
Pearl
Oconnels off plaza del sol. There is also a celtic supporters club a bit further out and can’t remember bar. Probably on celticbars.com
Just had a quick scan today but a couple of things….
The attendance last night was 5k higher than some games previous in el.
So I’d say the tournament is as big a factor as any downsizing theory.
Also stokes hit only one corner that didn’t clear the front man.
Red Bull were good rather than great and last night was a fair reflection of how much we have deteriorated in European terms.
Walloped 3-1 at fortress Parkhead by a team who, themselves, were unable to qualify for CL football.
Yet we did dominate the bulk of the game after an unacceptable start and might have drawn, or even won, if our finishing had been half decent.
Maybe with Denayer ,Lustig and Guidetti in the team we will give a better account of ourselves post-Christmas.
Weeminger…. Putting it better than me:)
28k v rennes.
Don’t know where “”pearl” came from. Sorry pedro.
Take metro to city centre from airport. 3 euros. Airport is huge though and miles to walk
Also try museo de jamon. Like a Spanish Greggs
CANAMALAR
How can you attack a ball which is two yards from the touchline?
Our best bet would have been one of The Green Brigade invading the pitch and flicking it on-they were well positioned to do it.
No-one else was.
His corners were a disgrace. Every one of them.
BMCUW,
DID YOU SEE MUCH OF THE GAME LAST NIGHT .
geordie munro
14:20 on 28 November, 2014
Just had a quick scan today but a couple of things…..
…………
G’day CQNer friend, are you pregnant (see above), is it twins?
Get well soon :>)
Wee Craigy Bhoy might not get bail,might be seen as a flight risk?
CANAMALAR
Saw it all.
Bada…,
I expect it would be for his own safety
On the hot topic of Stokes’ corners, I’m with the curly toed fella (as opposed to that toad Curly)
Right ok guys, let’s not argue over corners…
especially not really crap ones that don’t clear the first man taken by Stokes, of which there were 24 last night, which in its self is quite amazing as Celtic only had 6 corners ;)
Chill out guys.
BMCUW,
Was it through a drunken haze :)
!BADA BING!
If so,he’s gonna find out how a turkey feels at this time of year.
Vmhan,
Vg :)
Gave me a wee chuckle there
BMCUW @1403,
Cheers mate.
I agree re post match discussions, nowadays there is far more arguing – as per me and my mates last night – generally around guys saying we are crap etc and the rest of us looking for positives as you say.
last time i was out watching a game was with T4 and Kinhog of this parish, when we watched the 2-1 victory away against St Mirren. I think we spent no more than 10 minutes discussing the game afterwards before moving onto other more enjoyable topics. like the econcomy, welfare state etc ;-)
As i said earlier I find it hard to be critical of players whose ability is lesser than we would like it to be. Its not their fault. Thats just the way it is. And its the market we are in just now.
Football, as a Celtic supporter IMO is a cyclical thing. I grew up in the 80s with a good team and players and the joys of winning regularly. I then had the misfortune to travel all over Scotland and various parts of the UK and Europe as we were routinely humiliated in most of the 90’s. The 00’s were a mixed bag of trememdous victory’s and gut wrenching defeats, but we had good players all along the way and could hold our own with the so-called big boys.
Now, in the 10’s?? or whatever this decade is called, we are on a downwards spiral once more – in European and expectation-level terms. For how long, remains to be seen.
Hopefully not too long.
Of course the money aspect is a far bigger influence than in previous 20th Century decades, but will it remain that way or will that particular bubble burst too?
I can live with it, but dont expect me to get too excited or upset about it at the moment.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
CANAMALAR
Unbecoming of you.
I drive for a living. I still go to the pub,but watch my intake via a stopwatch and an abacus.
And I never ever drink on Thursday,as I don’t have the time to do so.
You are way out of order on that.
Davidopolous,
Better things to argue over :)
But as I said I only remember one honking one and I’m positive it was right as his replacement was stripped waiting to come one.
BMCUW
He did add a smiley buddy!
Hope you are well!
Geordie Munro
Better things to argue over :)
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Exactly, like why does Canamalar call me DavidO?
Does he think O’Polous is my timmy surname? :)