Celtic have received some clarity concerning their first Champions League qualifying round opponents after this week’s first leg results in qualifying round two. The five matches that could provide an opponent for Celtic all produced hot favourites to progress.
Sheriff Tiraspol, who won away in Armenia, are 22 games into their league campaign and top the Moldovan table. HJK Helsinki, who won 7-0 on Tuesday night’s Champions League qualifier, are joint top in Finland after 17 games.
All other expected opponents won 3-0 at home in the first leg. Neftchi Baku are top of the Azerbaijan league after 16 games. Molde are two points off the pace in Norway after 15 games. AEL Limassol are Celtic’s only potential opponents who have yet to start their campaign.
If Celtic are to progress to the group stage they will have to overcome stiffer opposition than any of these teams in the final qualifying round, so we should look forward to a stiff test.
Loved the We are Celtic Supporters video from Celtic TV (below). Great quotes from Jimmy McGrory, Tommy Burns, Billy McNeill, Paul McStay, Jock Stein and the original “<insert name> is more than a football club” from Sir Robert Kelly, a few decades before it was picked up in Catelonia.
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May I formally extend my congratulations to the Duxess of Dukes Road.
What do you put in that soup btw?
geez linfield
wee trip tae belfast
teams that have played 10 or so games in their own league certainly do have an advantage. i dont understand why scottish football does not change to summer football, even by bringing the season forward by one month would increase our clubs chances of progressing in europe and it would also increase the chances of playing some football in goo weather.
but in scotland everything is done on a reactive basis, rather than on a pro active basis, hence the madness that is happening in scottish football right now
Does anybody know if nwco hunman canwear the same strip, badge etc? Surely not as all dubious history is with oldco hunman, no?
KINGLuBO
ps I forgot Hail Hail
The heat in Cyprus could kill us am not sure who ad fancy
Sheik Yerbouti on 19 July, 2012 at 13:09 said:
geez linfield
wee trip tae belfast
===
“Off to Windsor we go to give the Linfield a show”! It would be a great trip for me. Back to dodge city (Belfast) to watch the Celts destroy Linfield. Went there a few times with the Red Army (Cliftonville).
scottish football is at a cross road, my opinion is this, it with either died by being reactive or it will thrive by being proactive and i include celtic in this as well.
So can we get Seinfeld or not?
(thumbsup)
stephbhoy – scottish football is at a cross road, my opinion is this, it with either died by being reactive or it will thrive by being proactive and i include celtic in this as well.
Whatever you say, Bomber. (thumbsup)
I see the beeks are trying to get a tv deal to help force them in without te proper qualifications, I suppose we should expct no less than corruption from a corrupt organisaton.
canamalar – Was it Clarence Beeks?
I never liked that guy even when he was a high school principal. (thumbsup)
I also include Celtic in this as well, too. Also.
U
I can’t buy into the summer football argument. Football is traditionally a winter sport. If we had been playing through this summer loads of games would have been called off for waterlogged pitches.
Add to that a large percentage of the fan base being abroad/away on holiday in any given week through the summer and crowds would be hit.
I say keep football season as it is, leave summer for summer sports and holidays.
If we had a break in the winter and had managed to get through Europe to post christmas matches we’d be making the same argument about playing a top team who are half way through their season and we’re rusty/not fit/bedding in and all theother excuses. It’s football, how can a player get rusty in a couple of weeks off, how can a professional athlete lose so much fitness in a couple of weeks off? I don’t buy it, it’s unprofessional
Whilst we still have the deadwood at the heart of the SFA it is highly likely that they will inhibit positive decision making. Get them out ASAP before they can do any more damage.
TBB
Ha – thank you
ulysses mcghee – Opinionwise, Scottish football must be radioactive is my opinion. Never misunderestimate your enemy while he is making a milkshake. (thumbsup)
Quick 6 quid, grab a bargain before they all go lol!
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/rangers-home-away-2011-12-official-shirt-6-very-1261948
How the mighty have fallen lol!
I’ve always thought John Brown was actually the Big Man from Chewing the Fat escaped into real life. but having watched the start of TED, the new film, last night, I realised that he is just a promotional campaign for that film.
A wee boy (rangers) with no mates goes to sleep wishing his big bear would come to life.
Hey Presto, John Brown on the steps of IBrokes looking for deeds and causing mayhem.
gordybhoy64 13:00
Ive got that from @BeLuckyTipsters on twitter, their last three tips have come in with wins at 7/2, 8/1 and 11/4. Stuck some of my winnings from them on it. Good luck.
EN
glassford03 –
John Brown was inspired by his favourite film:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4175797504/tt0280590 (thumbsup)
Hiding from the heat —– post lunch torpor interrupted by this piece of Radio news ——
” President of Napoli FC —- Aurelio De Laurentis is interested in buying Rangers Glasgow If it happens he will install ex Lazio Manager -Edy Reja as the Manager ”
Mmm ——-
Googled ——- Italian newspaper La Stampa is running with the story. As is an Italian football website.
Summer football would be great. We could play in those long months of sunshine when the weather is always lovely. Like June. Well maybe July. OK August? September might have a good day or two …
Paul67 et al
Well we did quite well against better teams in the Europa League, but that was later in the year. Even so we have a few good games to play before we play the next qualifier, so our match fitness should not be too much of a problem. Let us wait and see who comes out of the hat tomorrow, I do not see any of those results being reversed, and then concentrate on qualifying. Not easy but can be done.
What an outrageous article from some idiot on a Newcastle blog…….
http://www.newcastleunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/why_didnt_shearer_kick_lennon_harder_749906/index.shtml
Does he want teams who cheat to suffer no consequences?
And what about that for a headline? Erse of the highest order……must be a fan of the now deceased club and trying to vent his anger from elsewhere.
GBNL.
HH
CTTC
Ah cannae be telling you who the people behind the bid is, because the people behind it are in front of me. An that’s youze that are in front of me and then there’s the people behind youze that in front of other youze. And don’t even ask to say what he said about the hing he said because ah canna say anything about what he said. Apart fae it being about aw yir Maws. Andy Goram, Ally McCoist, Barry Ferguson, Ipso facto. 9 in a row. Marseille. Where’s the deeds at?
Mon the Hoops and good luck to St Johnstone tonight.
HH
Estadio National,
dont suppose any of the other ones was Colliding Winds
last week in Ireland
Whoever we get in Europe will be very hard,especially as most have already started their season and we are in our usual position of looking for a centre half.
Petrie lays it on the line for Hibs fans.
The new dawn of Scottish football is
upon us. Decisions have been made. A
12-team SPL will kick off this season
with Dundee FC filling the vacancy
created by Rangers FC moving into
Division 3 of the SFL. This is what
supporters wanted. This is what the
overwhelming majority of 42 clubs
voted to make a reality. Clubs have
been enriched by making decisions
backed by their supporters.
The decisions were based on a desire to
protect our league, but they come at a
substantial financial cost. The full extent
of the shortfall will only be revealed in
the coming weeks and months – but
every club, including Hibernian, is likely
to see a significant reduction in
revenues. Scottish football and its
funding partners are working together to
assess whether and to what extent they
can support the new landscape of
league football.
Decisions have been made about
Rangers FC. Now it’s time to make
decisions about Hibernian FC.
The dynamics of football have changed.
Clubs must rely more on what can be
generated by supporters. In the new
era, the level of success enjoyed by
each club will be defined by the
contribution that its supporters can
make to help. Some clubs will struggle
to cope with the transition. A change in
the funding structure of football two
weeks before the start of the season is
not what anyone had planned.
Hibernian is no different from every
other club in the SPL. We are not
insulated from the issues that affect
every other club. We have the potential
to be better off than some because of
the historic levels of support for the
club. In some ways we are worse off.
We are starting from a lower base. Two
years of poor sporting results have hit
attendances. The Cup Final result hit
hard and deep. We need to put these
disappointments behind us. We have a
major job on our hands to build a
competitive squad for next season.
Two years of losses have eaten into our
reserves. We need to live within our
means and balance the books. If our
income is down then we need to cut our
costs or find replacement income. The
squad that Pat Fenlon assembles for
next Season will now be defined by the
financial contribution that Hibernian
supporters are able and willing to make
to replace lost central revenues.
The difficult financial economy means
that not everyone can do this year and
next year what they did last year and
the year before. There are many
reasons not to buy a Season Ticket. For
those who are able, there is one
compelling reason to buy one – your
Club needs you.
Let’s work together. Let’s march
forward into the new era of Scottish
football as one of the dominant forces
in the game. To do that we need to sell
at least another 3,000 season tickets.
That is our target. It sounds a lot – but
we know that there are over 2,000
supporters who have not renewed
season tickets from last season and
that there were lapsed season ticket
holders in the season before that.
Together we can do it.
Our priority is the next few weeks. The
start of the Season is two weeks away.
The transfer window closes in six
weeks. The prospects for sporting
success within our league have
improved, but we need a squad that is
competitive within the league. We need
to help the Manager all that we can.
Around the country, supporters are
rallying to help their clubs. Now is the
time to show how much Hibernian
means to us. We cannot sit back and
wait.
To those who have contributed already,
thank you for supporting your team. To
those who have the ability to help but
are unsure, speak to other supporters,
contact the Club. Can you find it within
yourself to rally to the cause and
contribute to the success of Hibernian
FC?
If we can get through the short term
difficulties of the weeks ahead then we
can get involved in the debate about
the structure of our league going
forward. Supporters have long
expressed a wish to see a bigger league.
Some of the barriers to that have gone.
We will continue to consult with
supporters as we move forward. A
seismic shift has occurred in our game.
Change brings opportunity. Let’s work
together to make sure we seize that
opportunity for our Club.
R M Petrie
Chairman
philvisreturns on 19 July, 2012 at 13:15 said:
not that kind of crossroads
kdc on 19 July, 2012 at 13:18 said:
tradition is all well and good, but change happens no matter how much we wish for things to stay the same. when i was young i went to football matches in all weather come rain or snow, but then i did not have an xbox etc… football was cheaper (over the gate, most weeks) the xbox will stay, the days of going over/ under the gate are gone, its as cheap to go to the cimema, bowling and in comfortable conditions etc… football will either change or die a slow death, not because rangers are deed, but because people’s expectations and demands increase, if those things are not met people drift away.
TTTT
I sent you short reply. Don’t know if you can open it and get my number from there?
there’s some banter on twitter about a ‘catholic cabal’ peter lawwell and the unseen fenian hand, papal conspiracy etc etc blah blah.
are there any links to source articles out there folks – i think ‘vanguard bears’ *spits in disgust* was mentioned….?? could do with a laugh today.
Celtic to the core
I never open ‘newc mad blog’ stories. They are always ridiculous & very anti Celtic.
Mayb he favours an ex Scottish club….hmm….hard lines mate!!!
Good to see that among all the multi million pound sponsorships in golf
Paul Lawrie is sponsored by Farmfoods,
2 loaves for £1.50,canny beat it
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon on 19 July, 2012 at 13:29 said:
Summer football would be great. We could play in those long months of sunshine when the weather is always lovely. Like June. Well maybe July. OK August? September might have a good day or two … all poor in terms of weather, but are you seriously trying to compaire these months even when they are bad to a cold sept, oct, nov, dec, jan when it can be freezing cold and you feet numb, but dont worry lets get those 5 year old kids in anyway.
it is madness
Allegedly ole Peter rigged the timer on Kirk Broadfoot’s microwave.
gordybhoy64 13:32
Dont think it was, was a few midweek ones Im sure.
Also got Aklan 8.55 Leopardstown from good KDS source, 4/1 just now.
EN
Centre Half is the new Left Back…