They may have ejected Celtic from the Champions League, but Cluj did not have the look of genuine contenders for the group stage. They lost 0-1 at home to Slavia Prague last night, with Masopust (no relation) getting the goal. The Romanians will almost certainly drop to the Europa League.
AIK arrive in Glasgow today smarting from their home defeat on Sunday. Scouts from both Celtic and AIK will have taken in each other’s games at the weekend, but it is unlikely much of consequence was learned, or at least, I hope AIK learned little about Celtic.
Whatever reasons lay behind Neil Lennon’s team selections at home to Cluj, Boli Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien both have an additional 90 minutes under their belts, so are more likely to make the line-up, especially if concerns remain about Kristofer Ajer’s shoulder injury. I know this is not a universal feeling, but I want Jullien to be given a run in the team. We have scouted this player, there is more to come than we have seen.
Ian Holloway’s comments, where he blamed the EU for football’s new handball rule is a perfect metaphor for our time and the entire Brexit debate. The world is full of clowns who believe simple answers exist to complex problems. No weight of logic will shift them, and they are not limited to the Brexit loons, football problems are easy to solve, just ask anyone with no experience.
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CORKCELT on 21ST AUGUST 2019 5:49 P
HI there my bhoy was in CORK and loved it.much much cheaper than DUBLIN.his love for it might come from fact his great great grandad who was great came from CORK.loved the pubs and CRAIC.wee bhoy in pub going round the tables asking if anyone wanted a bet and then set off top speed for the bookies.he said the bhoy did not look 18 then he said he did not even look 8.
Seems a little over reaction on here to the current situation. All is due to the loss against Cluj. That 1 game has upset our financial plan for the season and it’s really messed up our recruitment plan. Decent players who we have talked with will have been waiting to see if we got the the CL. Some players won’t come because we failed to qualify. The board are not going to invest heavily for the SPL. We already have enough to win that. If we qualify for the EL, we’ll likely see a couple new quality faces, otherwise it’s likely to be just squad players in the main.
I’m still struggling with the Cluj loss but I’m nearly over it and I don’t blame the board or Lenny. It’s all down to the players that were selected. Hopefully a good performance and result tomorrow will calm the rest of you down and bring you back to reality.
More luck-
JF , SB stayed.
Diagnosis 9iaritiscsc
Favourite Uncle. I don’t live in Cork anymore but still love the place. I might be biased but I do think we are a friendly lot and yes we do like the craic.
.
MNCELT on 21ST AUGUST 2019 6:05 PM
The result should not have had any bearing on what we do next. We should have been prepared to beat a bang average European side but yet again , we were not. With regards to not blaming Lennon or the board? C’mon…….
The board treat Celtic F.C as a brand, the fans as clients.
What we see as markers of history, as badges of honour handed down from generation to generation the board see as no more than ‘signature’ brand motifs enabling sales.
They are 80’s corporates sat on the velvet cushions provided by Celtic F.C
The annual turnover needed for their salary needs and brand development is easily reached via SPL success and intermittent engagement with Europa/ CL games. And that is enough.
Enough for this board.
Us ‘clients’ are a nuisance to the board because we see Celtic F.C as, indeed, ‘much more than a club’.
We have the audacity to demand more than ‘just enough’ to dog paddle in Europe whilst collecting the annual SPL awards.
We, the support, have this strange notion of progress, of meaningful, planned, investment on the park – of having a current club that merits its own history, that merits the global support that it has. For now.
We need real change in the board. They are disconnected from the support. The board’s Celtic is the company that pays their salary, a brand that has twinkly lights and a great P.A system… and a mass of clients guaranteed to buy the brand.
They had better be careful. Things are changing – more of us can see through the plastic brand ‘tic that they’re happy with – and we the fans are not.
We need board members who reflect the fans commitment and passion – and demand progress on the park – not simply annual profits.
Until we see that very real change then it’s the same old same old every year – as long as we stand around happy clapping – the board will continue to operate in this way. We need change from the top down. H.H
@ SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 21ST AUGUST 2019 5:53 PM
“This club has provided 8 titles in a row”
True, we have won 8 titles. But that doesn’t necessarily dispel the fact that we are not particularly well run in the boardroom. In the same vein, the banks were making record profits right up to the crash; there was an underlying, systemic issue but they were still fantastically successful…for a time.
Of our 8 titles, you would expect the first five to be won comfortably, between Oldco’s financial implosion and a dearth of quality and competition in Scottish football in the other years: Sevco, Hearts, Hibs all existing outside of the top flight (for some of those years).
In the last 3 years we have had a fantastic manager, although he did seem constrained by, and eventually fed up with dealing with, the executives. No matter how much I dislike the manner in which BR left, he was and remains a great manager (hence why we received £9m in compensation for him). Of course, he was not without fault (but neither are Mourinho or Guardiola).
I would also argue that it is not just one game; the other leg in Cluj was unconvincing as well. We were poor for large periods of last year (under both Brendan and Neil) and the year before. We lost twice at Ibrox last year. We have been losing quality players without replacing them. We continue to hoard cash and, by all accounts, we will not sign anyone until we know about EL qualification.
It’s the same old faults year after year. And as Sevco get better (which they seem to have done), they may just catch us out one year, particularly with the stacked deck in Scotland.
why should a corrupt cup define our season champions league is a joke only for the corrupt what the board happy clappers don’t get is we wont spend till we know we are in the corrupt league there in lies the problem its beyond us now at this rate of get before we spend.
Imagine if we win comfortably tomorrow night, then again on sunday, go through in Stockholm before rounding it all off with a hun skelping in their ain midden, all watched by our 4 new top notch aquisitions, what then? Them new guys will struggle to get a game.
MannerwingCSC
Birger Meling lining up for Rosenborg tonight away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia in CL Play Off 1st leg.
Hope they get well beaten putting the tie out of Rosenborg’s reach. If Rosenborg were to get through to the CL group stage, can’t see why he would opt for a team (hopefully) playing in the Europa League.
Mncelt. Are you PL?
Ocluj. Result upset our spending plan? It’s the other way round!!
NL Media. Conference. Now impossible to listen to. .claiming everything is OK..he is happy with recruitment….only lost ibe gAme..
To be fair on the manager, what else can he actually say at a press conference before an important game? However the position we are in is of our own making and we await the next few matches in hope rather than expectation.
” We hope to bring in three or four new players ”
Neil Lennon in June before the CL
Neil Lennon in July before the CL
Neil Lennon in August before the CL
Neil Lennon in August after the CL
Lennon speaks with forked tongue.
Lawwell does not speak.
Are wagons circled?
It should be to keep those two OUT!
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 21ST AUGUST 2019 6:24 PM
Spot on. Your comments about BR especially resonate with me.
I was gutted when BR left. ( Still am to tell the truth).
How many times did I post on here that we were the most entertaining team in these Islands. His first season in particular was an absolute joy to watch.
For away games, His after match comments were a joy to behold, as the packed pub went absolutely quiet to listen to his every word.
He brought us to a new level of badly needed professionalism both on and of the park.
Such was his hold over us we didn’t even blink about some calamitous Euro results.
The Man City 3-3 game was the best game and atmosphere I have experienced in modern times.
While his manner in leaving was extremely undesirable , i cannot change my view of his three years in charge.
In fact I think NFL is a wee bit unfortunate to follow the” best fit manager “since MON, most managers would too.
HH to all, the journey must continue.
GREENPINATA
Great post!
Maybe just me but I found the football we played under BR in seasons 2 and 3 to be very dull, certainly not the most entertaining in the UK.
Season 1 was very good though in the league.
In Europe we were not very good.
GREENPINATA on 21ST AUGUST 2019 7:15 PM
I’ve said a thousand times BR should not have left when he did but he was smart enough to know that what was going on behind the scenes was a shambles and that the Board would contrive to make a complete mess of it. It’s true that seasons 2 and 3 under BR were not the best but he is being made to look better by the day. If he was a genuine Celtic man his emotion would probably compel him to loan us a good player or two to help us along. But he isn’t a Celtic man and his ego will probably want us and the Board to fail so that he will feel some kind of vindication.
THE_HUDDLE
Some CQN’rs need to move on, and take down their BR posters from the bedroom wall
Season 1 great
Season 2 getting found out
Season 3 well dodgy
They cherry pick European results till they find a draw.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 21ST AUGUST 2019 7:42 PM
His record in Europe was very por, some really big defeats….
It’s time to circle the prams.
Watch out for flying toys. 😉
C’mon the Celtic
Ps. his attempt to unsettle Callum McGregor after we had just sold KT and loaning a player to the Huns (i don’t believe that he didn’t have a veto) gives an insight into what BR is all about.
DAVID17 on 21ST AUGUST 2019 7:40 PM
Great for us but….
He was after the money.
He let us down.
End of
IMO
James Forrest.
What happened to ” sevco will get nowhere near us this season”.
You seem to have very quickly changed your views.
On a different matter. For those who think we need to appoint a director of football. We already have a director of football. He was appointed by Peter lawwell.
His name is Peter lawwell.
David 17
Is it certain tha BR tried to sign Calum? Not seen that confirmed anywhere.
He has loaned the huns a good player.
We will have to find some fortitude when we go to Ibrox. Not confident.
As I have told my friends who are overseas and support a variety of clubs, including Celtic but other Scottish and English teams, we have only ever had a side that is “just” better than the other SPFL teams.
That’s enough to have got 8 in a row and a triple treble,
European games have shown that as our level,
And I’m fine with that. More of the same please.
Melling and Rosenborg down 1-0 in 8 minutes.
Rosenburg 1 down.
Rosenborg even.
Off topic – watching Preston v Stoke, now 2 nil to the home team, another howler from the Stoke keeper Butland.
They really know how to pick English international keepers, guy’s been garbage for years yet the commenter still comes out with the line one of the best keepers in the league.
Dinamo 1-0 up v rosenborg with an 8th min pen.
Commentator mentioned Celtic several times as us fans are watching game as club are watching Meling as a replacement and he’s a ‘very good player attracting interest’ – plus we find it tough and we’ve been knocked already.
Wish they’d shut up on both fronts !
Is this where we are at? Hanging on for a team to lose in Europe in order that we “may” make a bid for their left back. Amateur hour has nothing on this. Total embarrassment.
The Huddle
My Stoke supporting son-in-law would agree that he’s been poor for at least the last 2 seasons. The defending overall has been poor.
I’ve been offered a ticket for their game on Saturday against Leeds – might just go
UpthevaleCSC
Meanwhile back on Follow Follow excerpts from CQN are being circulated to continue the feel good factor after their successful coronation as champions of the close season cup.
IMO, helluva gamble to think that what we have is more than enough to win the 9, especially in Scotland.
Does make a for a better product though having the OF back in contention for TV revenue.
We would be better signing Turnbull, every player we sign is injured, or ‘ not up to speed’,i.e signed too late
2 – 0 Dinamo v Rosenborg 28 mins