Kairat arrive in Glasgow today after a disruptive trip across the globe. Unlike Celtic when they travel in the opposite direction next week, Kairat cannot keep to their usual body clock routine. It will be midnight in Almaty when tomorrow’s game kicks off – 2am by fulltime. For professional athletes, that’s a challenge.
There are seven Champions League playoff ties this week: five in the champions section, two non-champions. I watched Bodo/Glimt eliminate Lazio from the Europa League quarterfinal in April. Ange Postecoglou (eventually) got the better of them in the semifinal, but I expect them to make the cut against Sturm Graz.
Benfica are likely to progress against Fenerbahce, while I fancy Copenhagen against Basel. Red Star should have enough to overcome Cypriots Pafos. Ferencvaros are not the side they were five years ago, they could fall to Qarabag. As for Brugge? They have traded big this summer, spent €36m and sold €82m of talent. That’s a lot of change to pull together for their trip to Ibrox tonight. The Belgians should still edge it.
With what I am assuming is mischievous ‘paper talk going round, a friend suggested if we are looking for an older striker, it’s a pity Gerd Muller passed away a few years ago. Otherwise, he would have been ideal.
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Feeling like a Brugey Tuesday.
Afternoon Aipple
HH
Morning LeftClickTic
Kentucky state fair going on right now. Quite the sight and occasion.
Another dig at Brendan Paul.
You’ve got me thinking that there may be truth in the rumour.
Previously, I thought it was just lazy journalism.
TT
We are linked with few strikers and the one we are linked with is 38 or 39. I’d take him in a minute over the options we currently have.
That’s the problem, Paul. We have too many st Celtic not doing their jobs to the maximum. Picking up pensions for part time work.
Once again the stadium will be almost full but once again it will be mainly full of people bored by people like Michael Nicholson who seems to misunderstand that it is 2025 and you can’t keep paying £1.5m for a player and hope once again it will work out.
🎵And they gave us Jamie Vardy and Paul McStay 🎵
This transfer thing is try keep away from
But here goes
I believe we are trying to get folk in,
I think we have offered players deals
However
Our league is not appealing so with the ball in the players court I think deals will be made CL pending
Those deals in today feral market can be taken and used to get a better deal in a better league.
I feel there is a brinkmanship by the clock/window.
I don’t think PL is a deeply involved as previous years.advisory role,I think tho Dermot is on a learning curve.
HH
The fact Vardy is being mentioned is indicative of what a clusterduck this window has become – the idea that there’s a grand plan at play here does not withstand much scrutiny.
I think the Huns will give Brugges a good run for their money. The tie will be in the melting pot for well into the second leg.
As for us, I think we’ll play Kairat off the pitch. But we still need to score and that’s where I worry. We’re light upfront and goals win games.Hopefully we put it to bed tomorrow night but it could get sticky for us if they’re as well organised as a St Mirren…
An Tearmann on 19th August 2025 12:13 pm
I think you sit where I do too on the current situation, though waiting for a player to sign, dependent on CL qualification, is high risk. One caveat is that BR thinks the players should be there now, what coach doesn’t, so the level of player we do buy must appease BR and the fans given the time waited.
We all hope we didn’t wait this long to end up signing Joe Nobody from Clachnacuddin Stanklifters!!!!
“With what I am assuming is mischievous ‘paper talk going round, a friend suggested if we are looking for an older striker, it’s a pity Gerd Muller passed away a few years ago. Otherwise, he would have been ideal.”
Now that is funny…
It’s also a wee bit tragic.
The strikers we have brought in in the last five years…
2020 – Albian Ajeti
2021 – Kyogo Furuhashi
2021 – Giakoumakis
2024 – Adam Idah
If the Celtic Board think they can run a UCL level football team with theit moneyball recruitment strategy they are very wrong.
No where has their “model” proved more lacking that in the centre forward position.
Hail Hail
I think most supporters have got a good idea of why we’re reduced to ‘free agents’, given that Ange had James McCarthy foisted on him, it certainly isn’t Brendan Rodgers that’s the problem.
BSR @12:30 pm,
If it hasn’t been glaringly obvious to fholk for the last decade that the Celtic Board aren’t fit for purpose over the last dozen years it has to be now.
These people need to be run out of our football club pronto…
Hail Hail
Tom McLaughlin on 19th August 2025 11:25 am
A few weeks ago the Chairman of Go Ahead Eagles said Celtic would have to get the finger out if they want to sign Jakob Breum as several top clubs were keen.
Breum is still an Eagle and is desperate for a move. Maybe 7m Euros was a bit of a stretch after all.
—————————–
Could Someone Please Tell Me The Point Of Peter Lawwell?
Before he came our club was skint, we are now very rich.
That’s the good news…
The bad news is before he came in our strike force was.
Larrson, Sutton and Hartson….
Hail Hail
Paul67 et al
I could be wrong but I think there is a real difference between travelling west as opposed to east. As in ‘gaining’ five hours against ‘losing’ five hours. Flying west to Boston or NYC eg is not the same as flying east from the same cities. Dont know if there is any scientific basis to it, flying the same distance after all, might be to do with the earth’s rotation, might be physiological, could be psychological, may well be a combination of both. BRRB and others might see the trip west as an extra five drinking hours, time lost heading east. Fact is you still feel good when you hit the Big Apple, and you get hit with jet lag when you arrive in the Big Smoke. Ergo wouldn’t place too much emphasis on the impact of Glasgow time on the Kazaks.
TimeWasCSC
From a financial perspective, Celtic are incredibly well run. We are peerless in Scotland, few can compare across Europe, I’d suggest.
Domestically, we are dominant on the pitch.
Notwithstanding these 2 points, our end to end recruitment process appears to be badly flawed.
I believe it’s wrong to blame one man – and opinions on here vary as to who that one man is anyway!
However, something is not working.
We go into this massive tie, with an under strength frontine. It shouldn’t be this way
Hopefully, the current team are able to do enough, especially in the first leg.
18TH AUGUST 2025 11:14 PM
Turkeybhoy from last thread
Bollox being spoken.Balikwisha, Breame, Orjasetter. ,all were willing to come to Celtic.We would not pay the money. Liked the cut of two of those lads as well TB
I feel we missed the boat with Orjasetter some player that lad , Bream another wonderful player . Who undoubtedly would have helped make us a proper team again . Wasn’t too impressed by Balikwisha who I felt wasn’t as good as the other two .
I can’t understand that board of ours hindering the teams improvement. Unfortunately ,we fans loyalty towards the club permits them to do as they like ,small shareholders included with no say either . This can’t go on surely . HH
Chairbhoy
There’s a buzz about the place, but not in a Paul McStay way, if the internet is anything to go by, we’re a few games away from the car park all pitch for key.CQN always has a few last men standing dewey eyed ubers.
The worry is that when they try to redress the window they’ll make a bigger mess of it around deadline day. The alternative if it’s parsimony and refusal to enter the transfer market properly, is unthinkable and not looking great for Elite Coaching.
Deja Vu CSC
*pitch forky
Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel?
Unfortunately it now appears as if modern football is passing us by.
Every good club have stats on all players up to the ying yang (and that’s why we bought Yang).
Seriously though, it is the level of player that you target within those stats where we are letting ourselves down. Sure we may find an O’Riley or Kuhn in one in five but we are losing a hell of a lot of cash on the other four both in wages and transfer fees.
Regardless of that aspect the forward planning at Celtic is non-existent. Players should be identified and signed before the current player is allowed to leave. The latest theory that players don’t want to play in Scotland might be true for some but it cannot be the case for all players. We are still next door to the richest league in the world and, if they don’t get a move there other leagues like France and Italy are now interested in players from Scotland.
Another debating point is players are waiting to see if we qualify for the Champions League. If that is the case I would be questioning the player’s attitude. If he isn’t willing to join a club with the opportunity to qualify, and assist in that qualification, is that really the type of player you want to be in the trenches with?
Hmmmm. A World Cup and three-time European Cup winner pitching up at a club that can’t see beyond its own city? Hard to see that one having came off…..
How are tickets selling for tomorrow night ? I notice expectations are for 45,000 at ibrox tonight despite Brugge bringing a healthy support.
Curious if we think we will get 55,000 or so as Almaty likely wont bring more than 2 bus loads.
BSR @ 12:48 pm,
Yes, what would we give for that “Buzz”
Well heeled uber~fans making their own entertainment out of taking the pi$$ out real Celtic supporters might seem funny to the “Gerd Muller” lot.
Yet when the real supporters turn up with their pitch forks to get big Pedro and the other incompetents out of the Club for the second time, they’ll soon change their tune.
Hail Hail
Just Shattered
Who have we lost money on ?
Most of the so called flops have delivered a return. Or at worst the outlets are modest. Hence the club has a strong trading surplus.
The issue is we have manager who doesn’t seem to want to work with this model. None of the signings under his remit apart from the Finnish goalie currently look like showing value growth on exit.
Burnley78 on 19th August 2025 1:13 pm
How are tickets selling for tomorrow night ? I notice expectations are for 45,000 at ibrox tonight despite Brugge bringing a healthy support.
Curious if we think we will get 55,000 or so as Almaty likely wont bring more than 2 bus loads.
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Geez I wouldn’t like to be the bus convener for that trip!
‘Right is everybody on the bus?!’ repeated 35 times across the entire length of Europe!
Chairbhoy 12.41
Before he came to the club we had won 7 league titles in 23 years a 30% success rate. We had played post Xmas European football just once. We beat Liverpool, Blackburn and Stuttgart in UEFA cup and Sporting Lisbon in UEFA cup almost no one else of note in that time.
Since he came to the club we have won 18 league titles in 23 years a 72% success rate. We have played post Xmas European football 13 times. We have beaten Man U, Benfica, Milan, Barcelona, Leipzig, Ajax, Lyon, Feyenoord and others in the Champions League plus Barcelona, Lazio, Leipzig, Salzburg in UEFA / Europa.
Hopefully that helps you understand.
Simple really.
Maybe you need therapy as you have shown your bitter jealous resentment on here for nearly 20 years perhaps you just have to look at the simple numbers above. Not hard is it.
MCPHAIL BHOY
Lol ..By the time those buses got here , we’d be in Almaty for the return leg !
Chairbhoy
Funny you talking about real Celtic fans.
When did you last ever buy a ticket ?
When did you last ever even go to a game ?
Maybe you are like that fraud James Forrest who hasn’t even bought a ticket for over a decade and spouts on about how badly ‘we fans’ are treated.
Burnley78 @ 1:17 pm,
“The issue is we have manager who doesn’t seem to want to work with this model. None of the signings under his remit apart from the Finnish goalie currently look like showing value growth on exit.”
Brendan Rodgers developed Matt O’Riley into a player that made him Celtic’s record transfer.
He sold Kuhn for five times as much as he bought him for.
BR&CO don’t have to work to CQN’s model, but they do a much better job of it than the last two managers did.
Hail Hail
Bitter jealousy,, ffs Opinions are now bitter jealousy, I’ll need to remember that.
Burnley78 @ 1:38 pm,
See that’s your main problem…
A season ticket can make you an Arsenal fan
A season ticket can make you a Spurs fan.
A season ticket does not make you a Celtic supporter.
You maybe a sports fan, I’ll give you that, with the golf, the rugby, the cricket etc but you will never know what it takes to be a real Celtic supporter.
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY
If only we’d a manager that would just knuckle down and coach every player that swings in from nowhere. Imagine picking and choosing the ones he thinks might make it into the Celtic team? Brassbaws he must have, wants the best we can afford, and to work with ‘a board ‘ that try and match supporters, and major shareholders ambitions.
Wee Shaun CSC
Sure we will win tomorrow, big score too.
BUT, what will happen if we do actually lose the match, interesting who will foot the blame though.
kingLUBO
I do not for the life of me understand why Brendan has not been offered a new contract, even a one year rolling one.
Maybe he has more ambition than the board, ahh, that’s it
kingLUBO
BR78…
“Curious if we think we will get 55,000 or so as Almaty likely wont bring more than 2 bus loads.”
Those buses must have left Almaty two or three weeks ago…
I’m guessing Vardy is the “Plan A” (both teams making it through)? Any hints if there’s a B list if we qualify and they don’t? Or is it just stick with what we’ve got?