Celtic are two games into their preseason preparations and have another four friendlies before their first competitive game, Flag Day against Aberdeen on 31 July. That is six games to get an entire squad fit and ready for 90 minutes football. As you know, players are rotated during these games, with large numbers of substitutes used. An exerting 90 minutes will only happen after a gradual build-up.
On paper, this should be enough preparation to face Aberdeen, who are going through a transformational summer that will under Jim Goodwin that will hopefully see them compete more effectively next season.
Newco are a puzzle. They were unfortunate to have a game against Sunderland abandoned, that left them only three games before they travel to Livingston on league duty. Even if the Sunderland game had finished as planned, they booked only four preseason games before travelling to Livingston. This is more surprising when you consider that just days after facing Livi, they have a Champions League qualifier that could devastate their financial prospects.
There, they could face Monaco, who have already played three friendlies, Midtjylland, who also have three friendlies in the bag, Fenerbahce, who have played five, Sturm Graz, who have had an impressive seven outings this summer, or Belgian runners-up, Union Saint-Gilloise, who drew with Brighton in their fourth game in a fortnight.
By comparison, 45 minutes in the tank against Sunderland looks ill-prepared. You and I have been there recently. Celtic played four friendlies last summer before the visit of Midtjylland. There were mitigating circumstances; most notably the late arrival and then isolation of our new manager. This makes no sense. Newco’s lack of game-time makes no sense, it cannot surely be just an oversight?
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CONEYBHOY
Condolences on the loss of your dad 💚
Coneybhoy- condolences on your loss HH
St Tams,
No matter what we spend trying to compete in the CL,which will still be a pittance,comparatively.We will need a favourable draw.No use speaking all bravado..We will need all the help we can get.
Can’t be arsed with our usual Group of Death nonsense.
CONEYBHOY
Sad news about your Dad.
May George rest in peace.
Prayers said for those who remain.
CONEYBHOY
Condolences to you and your family
CONEYBHOY
Condolences
R.I.P.George
ERNIE LYNCH on 11TH JULY 2022 8:18 AM
I agree with your comment and found the `evolution` finale amusing:-))
From last thread
TURKEYBHOY
We don’t need a favourable draw.
We need a squad that is prepared for CL football,. quality wise and tactically, so as we can at least compete.
We don’t have that at this present time.
BW 12.58
:-)))
HH
TURKEYBHOY
Sorry, just read back
Stx2 @ last week
Numbers of visitors to football attractions?
Trying to look at some numbers but CoViD19 has totally mucked up a google level trawl.
Well for me anyway.
One thing — £17 for a tour would appear to be expensive.
I think that the upper bound has been broken.
Too dear so it does not sell out.
A bit like Wimbledon.
43K visitors — how does that compare to capacity?
Would appear to be low compared to other similar attractions.
We need to deliver a must do / must see attraction for anyone visiting Glesga.
Not fleece the committed.
It would be one way of getting the brand out there.
SFA / Hampden = sweetie rustling central.
TFOD2.1 / Govan = the KKK links are an issue.
PT / Hipster Ville = modern art students only
Consequently we should be aiming to be a category killer on the Glasga football front.
Interpretation centre with shop / Museum / Image Gallery / stadium tours / East End Tours.
We might need to build a new Main Stand to fit it all in.
What we need is processional boulevard from the Cross / McChuils to Springfield Cross.
We need to get it onto “100 best Pilgrimages ” — do it on your hands and knees and win a t shirt.
CONEYBHOY on 11TH JULY 2022 12:41 PM
……………..
My sincere condolences mate on the passing of your Dad.
YNWA.
I have tried to buy a single Ticket for Celtic Park for one or both Pre Season friendlies.
Sadly, it appears that ONLY the UPPER Decks of The North Stand, Jock Stein Stand and Lisbon Lions Stand remain available.
Apparently NO Seats left in the Main Stand either.
There is no way I could try and climb all those stairs to any part of the Upper Desks.
Disappointed.
HH.
Is there no lift to the upper levels of the JS / LL stands?
If not then a big miss.
BIG JIMMY on 11TH JULY 2022 1:37 PM
Contact JPT via this e-mail and explain your situation. I am sure he will help:
jptaylor@celticfc.co.uk
Good to see your daft Charlie Chan stuff this morning. Always makes me smile :-)
Cheerio for now.
In the past, some years ago, if I found myself in an Upper deck at Celtic Park ( when I was healthier), I was NOT too fond of being so far away from the action, although it can be a great view with the movement and the passing of the ball by Celtic players.
HH.
ConeyBhoy
So sorry to hear about your Dad. May he Rest In Peace.
🙏🙏🙏
HOT SMOKED on 11TH JULY 2022 1:47 PM
………….
Cheers mate. I will Email John Paul today and explain my situation.
HH, I hope that you are healthy and well.
Was going post something lengthy but Roberttressel’s earlier pretty much nailed it for me.
Some historical talk of Sevco inheriting chunks of the Liverpool ‘model’?
Who knows … perhaps Sevco have the same ridiculously high proportion of registered asthmatics in their squad as Liverpool …
… who continue to pop their TUE drugs during off season and pre season …
…. so don’t need as much fitness prep as we do?
B2B @ 1.55
Many strands to the chemical research angle of sporting fitness.
I would expect the TFOD2.1 to be looking at them all.
If you are “hungry” you get desperate.
They are financially “starving”.
coneybhoy
Condolences to you and your family and to friends.
Always interested in how the name George arrives in a family, as indeed it did ours in the past, given its’ lets say royal connections.
RIP George
MJ bus — seats still available.
Still believing — it has been tough but he has it all.
The difficulty is finding any of it on a regular basis playing competitive football.
He is too good to punt this season — we still need his potential.
Wild KDS rumour — ArM is seemingly going spare.
This years JMcC — hopefully not but he can tackle.
Plus he has connections to WCS.
And AP knows him.
Tory leadership election — beyond parody.
A dozen ego trippers / attention seekers howling at the moon.
Funny how the Magic Money Tree is absent from the debate.
The media really need to own up to the monsters they have created.
Sipsini
On reading back one of the blogs at the weekend, I read that your father has passed away. My sincere condolences to you and the family. Please pass on my sympathies to your sister G. May you Dad Rest In Peace.
🙏🙏🙏
Celtic Mac
My dad’s side are a mix. My granda was Scottish CoS , Rangers hence the name of his first born
My grannie was from Irish, Catholic family who has a kid out of wedlock. Fair play to my granda taking them on in 30s. My dad idolised his big brother so went Celtic. He went Catholic to marry my mam
In my mam’s Catholic family , my granda was Edward; sons George and Edward.
The old ploy to get work in those days; granda was shipyards, George in council and Edward in a whiskey company. Seemed to work
CONEYBHOY – sad news about your Dad. Peace in all your hearts, bud.
——
INIQUITOUSIV on 11TH JULY 2022 11:38 AM
‘I am actually contemplating retiring from the blog…’
Tis a pity if you do. We need good diverse voices on here. Don’t expect too much and you may not get disappointed is a motto of merit for me. Relax, reconsider – but ultimately do what’s right for you. HH
———-
MM – I think CCV is great value at 6M and up: Ajer cost 13M and he ain;t twice the player Cam is. Hickey cost 18Mill and he ain’t half as accomplished as CCV. KT cost 25M and CCV is more valuable to us on the pitch than KT ever was.
Coneybhoy
Condolences on the loss of your dad.
Memories last forever.
RIP George.☘
Coneybhoy, You are one of life’s good ghuys, Always enjoy your posts,
Your Dad will never die as long as he lives in your heart,
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílís.
Quad @ 2.26
Interesting calculus.
The three you mention are good enough to make the EPL.
CCV at the moment is not good enough for the EPL.
That is not my view — it is the view of the EPL marketplace.
That step is the multiplier and more of the number you give and CCV’s value.
CCV is a very useful player to use — true defender at a time when we have none.
I would look upon him as a youthful EA of late nineties cult adoration fame.
My thoughts are that we need a class CB to make the most of either CCV’s or CS’s talent / ability.
We need to upgrade the defence from last season — I don’t think AB is enough.
Going into a champions league season – Celtic have not yet strengthened the 1st team. Sure, we are in better shape than start of last season but our weaknesses are well documented and we consistently lost goals thorough lack of defensive quality and physicality.
Targets are leaked and after weeks of negotiations, we lose out.
Rangers seem to execute their business with less fuss.
They are stronger in defence with the additions and have now significant attacking options.
Time to step up Celtic and support this great manager – but I fear another Rodgers scenario!
Regarding Newco Player’s on here ,maybe we should have the courage to say they have good football players,personally I dislike Newco being discussed on here ,Concentrate on Celtic what is happening in all things Celtic Football Club ☘️☘️☘️
CB @ 2.20
The complexities of Glesga / WCS life.
And the complexities of how people deal with that set of scenarios.
If there was an Olympic sport of “Dyke jumping” we would be contenders every time.
Main difference between the 6 counties and WCS / Glesga.
Physicals won out over bloodlines in most circumstances.
A quality burd / bloke is well worth a Mass …
As usual the French got there first — although he did make sure it was outdoors so he didn’t have to cross the threshold.
MM
The three you mention are good enough to make the EPL.
CCV at the moment is not good enough for the EPL.
That is not my view — it is the view of the EPL marketplace.
Yer point seems true….
If we believe any EPL team had any clue about what any players true value or worth is, I’d take that as a damning indictment of CCV.
BUT, look at debt-ridden Everton, Man U etc splurging unproductively on fees for underwhelmers like Buendia (E40M) Grealish (E120M) Lukaku (E95M) Sancho (E85M) Varane (E40M) – city slickers playing monopoly madness!!
Clubs intoxicated on big bucks and FOMO;
Compared to that insanity, Cam is a solid investment. Again, only IMO.
Coneybhoy
Condolences on the passing of your Father – RIP George. YNWA HH
coneybhoy
That pretty much explains it! Of course we had George Connelly and George McCluskey playing for us in the not too distant past. The Stewarts liked the name Edward too, though not so much as a first name, and of course it was Jimmy McGrory’s middle name. Davie Cattenach’s young brother Eddie, who was terrific as a young player, was once on Celtic’s books, but doubt he ever played for the first team.
Be nice if you told the story of your Dad’s name at his funeral, (was he ever called Georgy or Geordie), Granda’s too.
RIP George
Quad @ 2.50
The EPL have money and it is competitive.
12 teams are a bad start to the season away from a relegation fight.
They are looking for talent on a global basis.
Cottage industry developing on scouting talent / Moneyball sweeps.
Consequently I think that they are now becoming very good at a particular level — although you still get the WTF moments with some of their transfers.
However there is a level above that where media hype / club ego / fan pressure / expectancy deliver the spectacular fails that you highlight.
I think that CCV is a very good defender.
He needs to work on his positioning so that he doesn’t get rolled by a more mobile player.
Very fixable and I think that he is a good learner — he has been in the past as he has worked out his weaknesses.
However he is a very basic player — he has at 24 what many have at 28/30.
A case of we can only spend the money once — so that is where my VFM issues come from.
CCV @ £6mill = better than CS @ £4.5mill — both to me are poor.
Our DF is SPL competent — good against the lower half / can be stretched by the top teams — and it has a bit of work to do before the CL.
Paul , telling us how poor a shape the huns are in fo CL qualifiers.
How about some thoughts on Celtic improving the starting 11 for CL.
Or is ML still being briefed by his old man.
Celtic Mac
You forgot about George Cadete.