The most pleasing aspect about last night was the manager’s reaction afterwards: “Yet another soft goal”. “We don’t defend a basic ball into the box”. But, before Cristian Gamboa and Craig Gordon pick up the tab for a bad night in Lithuania, more went wrong. Much more.
Goals change games and you can be sure games will change when Celtic are defending the way they are right now. Gamboa losing his man for the goal was in keeping with what we should expect. Cristian is good going forward but is not the most diligent at the back. We need a backup, backup, right back. Right?
Despite all that’s going wrong in defence, I am just as concerned about how the midfield is operating. Our passing was again poor. Olivier Ntcham opened the scoring after two minutes and opened the Suduva defence late in the game for Moussa Dembele to shoot wide, but for the rest of the game his passing was as inaccurate as it was against AEK and Rosenborg away.
Callum McGregor, so often a key to unlock packed defences, was ineffective. I would like to see him play the deep lying playmaker roll over our next three games. There he can dictate the pace and accuracy of our passing, leaving space for Rogic to play in front of him.
Moussa Dembele is our best striker, but the shape of the team left him isolated and looking just as out of sorts as Odsonne Edouard did at home to AEK. We have potent strikers who see little of the ball.
On the positive side, Suduva were as poor a team as I can remember playing in recent seasons – and I include the Gibraltareños (as they will be known after March) in that. We will reach the Europa League group stage. How effectively we compete there will be determined by the arrivals over the next seven days.
Dinner for four at the Walfrid at Hamilton game on Sunday!
Courtesy of Intelligent Car Leasing, we are raffling a table for four at Sunday’s game against Hamilton Accies in aid of your Foundation. If like me, you watch football in the bitter cold and wind, even in July and August, this will be a fantastic day our for you and three friends!
It’s a free bar. And you get the chance to support the Celtic FC Foundation.
To win, contribute to this MyDonate page. Suggest a minimum of £5 donation, but donate less if you cannot afford that. Your money does straight to the Foundation as they prepare for the difficult winter period ahead.
Then, please forward your confirmation email to celticquicknews@gmail.com with the words “Central defender” in the SUBJECT line. Competition closes at 11.00 Saturday. Winner will be informed on Saturday afternoon – so include a phone number if there’s any chance of missing your email (it’s happened).
Good luck, and remember: Central defender.
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So the manager said that he got 1 of his 3 main transfer targets, Edouard, and missed out on the other 2, McGinn and Piccini. He wants a minimum of 3 in by Friday, you would have to assume a right back and midfielder since that’s the position of the 2 that he didn’t get. You would have to assume the third is a centre half, and if Boyata and/or Dembele (linked in France again with Marseille) leave replacements for them. Add in a game tomorrow and another on Thursday and it’s going to be a busy, and interesting week.
I see the share price is up again. The club will earn less but it’s worth more.
What dividend has been paid to shareholders I. Cash over the last 2 years?
How much money have those earning below an average salary of say £25k put in to help the shareholders earn that money?
As auldheid and others have said, the plc is at odds with the potential success of the club.
The general ethos and raisin d’etre of sport should be about a level playing field for competition and for a paying public to watch. Football is relatively young, a relatively new past time. 150 or 160 years of recognised playing of the game as it is today.
The spectacle has extended beyond just rolling up on a Saturday and supporting your team. Folk get excited about the latest sponsorship or the interest from a rich Arab who may buy the club and put in heated seats and a few Guiness taps. There’s a cult around vintage football tops that include sponsors.
Sky tv have ruined what was a fair game. They pay more for the EPL than tv rights deal for the Champions League.
If you want a fair game don’t expect shareholders to take any action that will see them hit in the pocket.
Southside….
Na multiple choice eh?
Ok I will go for, zilch, nada, non, zero.
?
Well are Celtic and Brendan beginning to panic over the lack of transfer business ? It was said we would not go back to Aberden for Mc Kenna when our last bid was turned down however,it looks as if we are going to increase our offer for the player who I believe is on the injury list at present. For me it looks like we have no prepared plan for incoming transfers we appear to have a hit and miss scatter gun approach and for me that is poor for a club of Celtics stature.I see Chris Sutton saying this morning that Brendan needs to take his share of the blame for our current problems I concur if we take of our rose tinted specs and have a good look we will see he is not superman as some of our support would have us believe but a mere human like the rest of us and he has his ups and downs.H.H.
Has Brendan actually said we are going back in forMcKenna or is this pish from the SMSM?
Gary 67,
My guess would be 2 loans and a failed bid for McKenna. Aberdeen can wait until January. He won’t be fit till October. Celtic push his asking price up and we won’t pay the salary clubs down south will pay. Why sell now at a reduced price unless they need the money for their own replacements. If that is a reason for Aberdeen selling now they will need a few days to get replacements. Not Lawwells style.
Waiting until 6 days before the end of the transfer window means a lot of players are now Europa league cup tied.
Personally I would look at two centre backs – 1 who would hopefully become a first team regular and the other who could coach his colleagues. Darren ODea … I know I know … may not play every game but if the club won’t spend the money we need short term guys who can get us to the next point of stability.
I would have said Charlie Mulgrew but he would probably cost £5m now!
Desperate times.
Bournemouth have spent 50 million this month
If Dembele goes then it would be player X on loan from Man City or Liverpool. Ridiculous loan to buy fee. Or Lawrence Shankland or the lad Hibs signed.
MULLET AND CO 2 on 25TH AUGUST 2018 10:19 AM
Rules have changed re. being cup tied in Europe. A player can sign and play for a team in the group stages even if he’s already played for another team in qualifiers.
I would say that we are looking to bring in another Man City youngster, why else was BR at Etihad last week, and if Moussa leaves then his replacement will be another young Edouard type signing.
Sorry to bring this up but it defines the scuzzbucket in my mind – just as Healy’s assault tackle on JF did : who was our right back (German?) lafferty lunged at ; would have taken his leg off if he connected ? Can’t find it on youtube.
Andreas Henkel, game was in Mowbray season at CP, early in season so probably 2009
*Hinkel
Darren O’ Dea and Charlie Mulgrew, I need mair mushrooms in ma tea:))
Brill G67 – we’ve got that to look forward to
The Pope arrives in Dublin, on the telly now
Darren O’ Dea and Charlie Mulgrew whoever suggested that pair needs to go and lay down in darkened room , i’ve heard it all now.
Good mid-morning all… fresh morning here in the Chillederns…
Malone Bhoy @ 8:53 am – Don’t believe the HYPE!!
David17 @ 9:53 pm,
Last night i was quite critical of Brendan after the game, on reflection it was maybe a bit harsh. Taking into account the past two years overall BR has done a brilliant job, not flawless but brilliant. There is much talk of some of his signings not making an impact however on balance we need to look at how much value Brendan has added to Celtic. The stadium is full every week and season tickets are sold out. The playing squad is worth millions more than what he inherited and overall standards have been lifted across all aspects of the Club. There is more corporate and commercial interest too. And the small matter of two years UCL money banked. He had no right to get us to the UCL two years ago but he delivered.
He has got some things wrong in recruitment and perhaps needs to look at some aspects of the football methodology as well as how he is managing the media. But he also needs backing from the support and the Board. My worry is the Board wont back him and hang him out to dry to the extent that we fail on the pitch and/or he walks away. That would be a very bad thing for Celtic. Personally i will back him to the hilt and hope others do likewise. If we do not recruit and invest properly in the next 7 days the Board need to be called out. I hope the Board realise from their comfortable seats how much pressure they are under to deliver. They may think they can sit back and watch as Brendan crashes, but it wont work. Failure to invest from the position we are in now will never be forgotten.
Excellent post. After your (our) knee jerk criticisms Thursday evening you seem to have put things excellently in perspective and highlighted some important issues.
It’s interesting that we have become so harsh on Brendan so quickly, of course he is not flawless, who is? He took Liverpool to within a whisper of winning the EPL. There is only what? A dozen! Football managers capable of performing at that level – none likely to be coming to Celtic any time soon.
The troubling thing with the criticism of “none-flawless” Brendan is where these “suggestions” are coming from, not so much dog whistles, though that was certainly going on last season, but the menacing snarls.
Let’s take recruitment for example, Brendan’s (supposed) achilles heel, the recruitment since Brendan arrived has been poor it’s been suggested. Patently not true, now we can analysis things that have went wrong in player recruitment in the last two seasons, we can suggest where we might have done better in the last two seasons – sure.
Yet where’s the shining example of recruitment that BR should be emulating? Maybe Martin, you have to go that far back to find a fully constructed first team, yet even Martin was criticised – his squad management was poor and the team he gave Gordon Strachan was said to be past it’s best. The thing is, in relative terms the recruitment during BR’s tenure hasn’t been particularly bad, in fact you can point out some great aquisitions during this time.
As you suggest the value add to the squad is amazing, (in the main) Ronny’s team giving up a double treble and back to back UCL qualification. Then in monetary terms the value of the first team has rocketed.
We could use the example of Bad Boy Boyata to dispel a few myths. We bought him for £1.5M reportedly, when he came into Celtic his performances were panned and the only reason he got game time was due to Simunovic’s injuries, he was certainly well behind Erik and Jozo in the pecking order. Since Brendan’s time he has improved markedly as a defender got into contention in the excellent Belgium national team and has seen his market value soar to £10M.
This maybe gets to the heart of the matter, for me finger pointing is futile but one things very clear, at Celtic there are folk whose job it is to maximize the money we get for players. Selling players for profit is an income stream for Celtic. Which is of course no bad thing.
Yet surely this must be done through prioritizing the football team – have people on the commercial side got greedy, thinking they, rather than the Manager should have first dibs at the players?
Celtic could have sold a handful of players for £50M + in this transfer window and still had a squad capable of winning the SPL for minimum outlay.
Now is this what the snarling is all about? Brendan getting too possessive about his best players. Is the snarling going to become growling or even barking?
’ My worry is the Board wont back him and hang him out to dry to the extent that we fail on the pitch and/or he walks away…
…They may think they can sit back and watch as Brendan crashes, but it wont work. Failure to invest from the position we are in now will never be forgotten.’
Wouldn’t that be tragic – it seems unthinkable but is this what we are seeing unfolding during the summer debacle? Maybe they haven’t factored in the Celtic support… their bite is definitely worse than their bark.
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY
A Celtic supporter getting off his arse and doing something about those who run/ruin his club is a rare sight. In full flow,a worry. But,tbh,as rare as hen’s teeth.
The PLC know that. Keep the heid down,it will blow over.
Watch. It will. It always does.
Darren Mulgrew and Charlie O’Dea would be more welcome?
Time to look forward, not back.
It is a big 7 days coming up. Let’s just hope the club gets the results and recruitment right in the next few days.
Time to steady the ship for me, feels like we have been a wee bit rudderless this summer.
Still time for the corrective actions needed, a CB,RB and middlefielder minimum.
A mobile goalie with passing ability as a bonus.
Also two convincing wins, then we will all feel a little better.
Not asking for too much am I?
And no exits.
@CelticGossip
A bid will be made for FC Groningen CH Samir Memisevic HH
BMCUW @ 10:59 am,
Thanks for pointing me (us) to David17’s post this morning…
Well, while that is very true and you only have to see the demand for aul’ firm tickets at the moment to see where priorities lie…
The Celtic support are no mugs…
My prediction, at a minimum if we lose Brendan there will be a scalp from the Board.
We’ll see…
Hail Hail
We’re gonna need a bigger list
…
I wasn’t suggesting ODea or Mulgrew as long term signings just if we couldn’t get a 25 year old proven centre back then get an experienced pro who could at least lead the youngsters.
Is the football coupon still on the go ? Thanks in advance.
Chris Sutton saying this morning what I have been banging on about all week.Yes he is an outstanding coach,but he has a blind spot when it comes to defence.Two years in charge,and we are in a real shambles at the back.
Lets hope early next week we can sort it out.We need players in for next Sunday.
Gary 67,
I would like us to try for both Gronigen CHs.Both are highly rated,already play together,and would be match ready.According to reports,around £ 4 million for both.
Dallas
Carrier bags at the ready
HH
Let’s take recruitment for example, Brendan’s (supposed) achilles heel, the recruitment since Brendan arrived has been poor it’s been suggested. Patently not true,
have to beg to differ.
Mullet and Co 2 on 25th August 2018 10:07AM
Morning. Generally, I stay away from Celtic’s financials because in my experience posters stick to their misconceptions whatever facts are typed and it’s not always clear to me if questions asked are genuine.
The share price is moving up just now because the market is anticipating a fantastic annual report for the yearending 30 June 2018 in a couple of weeks. Professionals will have extrapolated from the interims and be satisfied that no adverse information appeared Jan-Jun to deflate the results. Share price simply reflects the perceived value of the business and it will already have done when the actual numbers are published.
Dividends paid haven’t changed for more than 20 years, roughly £460,000 per year, from the 6% cumulative preference shares only. Some shareholders reinvest the dividend into ordinary shares. DD’s share is about one third of the total, £180,000.
There’s no dividend paid on the ordinary shares.
It’s high time the club showed some ambition for our club and no one else’s.
Buy players for us and not some blue chip cluster conglomerate.
The only development pathway should be the accelerated dawning of what this club means as a player goes up the Celtic way.
This isn’t any normal club this isn’t Etihad, Qatar or Emirates or Fenway this is a club for all people subservient to none.
I didn’t stand on the slopes of Celtic Park watching hero’s like McStay martyr their careers for the club to get to this point as a faux pawn in a rich mans game.
Get out there and show something.
Brendan Rodgers (May 2016 – present)
14 Daniel Arzani, (loan) from Manchester City, Aug 2018 [BBC]
03 Emilio Izaguirre, free from Al-Fayha, Aug 2018 [BBC]
22 Odsonne Edouard,£9m from Paris Saint-Germain, Jun 2018 [BBC]
29Scott Bain, free from Dundee, May 2018 [BBC]
29 Scott Bain, (loan) from Dundee, Jan 2018 [BBC]
04 Jack Hendry, £1.2m from Dundee, Jan 2018 [BBC]
67 Charly Musonda, (loan) from Chelsea, Jan 2018 [BBC]
33 Marvin Compper, £1m from Red Bull Leipzig, Dec 2017 [BBC]
22 Odsonne Edouard, (loan) from Paris Saint-Germain, Aug 2017 [BBC]
07 Patrick Roberts, (loan) from Manchester City, Aug 2017 [BBC]
21 Olivier Ntcham, £4.5m from Manchester City, Jul 2017 [BBC]
26 Kundai Benyu, undisclosed from Ipswich Town, Jun 2017 [BBC]
15 Jonny Hayes, £1.3m plus Ryan Christie (loan) from Aberdeen, Jun 2017 [BBC]
88 Kouassi Eboue, £2.8m from FC Krasnodar, Jan 2017 [BBC]
12 Cristian Gamboa, £1m from West Bromwich Albion, Aug 2016 [BBC]
24 Dorus de Vries, undisclosed from Nottingham Forest, Aug 2016 [BBC]
11 Scott Sinclair, £3.5m from Aston Villa, Aug 2016 [BBC]
02 Kolo Toure, free from Liverpool, Jul 2016 [BBC]
10 Moussa Dembele, £500,000 from Fulham, Jun 2016 [BBC]
HH from Puerto Del Carmen where it’s 33.C already ! Sitting watching Pope’s visit to WITS’ estate at the moment and then horses to pick for York and cold beer to consume ?
Gary 67,
Your post at 10.05 sums it all up in a nutshell.Brendan got 1 out of 3 of his main targets.A striker a full back,and another midfielder.He also got Morgan.Is it just me or does anyone else on here notice the glaring omission from his wish list.
Still on about we have not replaced Paddy or Armstrong.Are Morgan,Arzani,not replacements.Is Christie not a midfield replacement for Armstrong,who like Christie would not be considered a definite starter.
celtic wiki is fascinating
jock steinbrought in 35 players in 13 seasons,
nfl brought in 42 in 4 seasons.
now no googling one for most of the demographic on here,
in billy mcneills first time in charge, 5 seasons, he brought in ONLY 10 players,
name them.
so may 78 till may 83.
BMCUW
10th November sounds like a plan.
My old man doesn’t drink but might fancy a wee day out. Like you I’d love to listen to a group of guys that age sharing their memories.
TURKEYBHOY on 25TH AUGUST 2018 11:44 AM
Christie is not a midfield replacement for Armstrong. Christie is more a forward and a midfielder and has no future at Celtic. We’re still waiting on Armstrong replacement since the McGinn transfer was botched.
I’ve said all summer that we wouldn’t sign a CH until one or more of the current half dozen leave. Boyata will go this week so there will be a replacement brought in by Friday.
Turkeybhoy,
Naw just Naw.
Christie was on loan at Aberdeen – he isn’t good enough and didn’t play 40 games for Celtic last season Armstrong did and was sold at a reduced £7m fee to Southampton before he could do a Boyata.
Arzani played as a sub for Oz. 10 mins a game us 19 and not match fit. Someone else’s project.
Morgan was playing 1st division last season.
Naw.