After being schooled at Celtic Park two weeks ago, Ferencvaros returned to Hungary to draw 0-0 at home to eighth place MTK Budapest, before getting some shooting practice by scoring seven in a cup game against a regional league struggler. Last weekend they won 0-2 at 11th Gyirmot, relying on two second half goals.
They have not been taxed since leaving Glasgow and scarcely had to defend a chance. They will be fresher than ‘our heroes who battled for a home draw against Livingston’, but this is not a team who are accustomed to questions being asked of them.
Wait for it: my biggest concern about tonight is the absence of Carl Starfelt – a phrase you didn’t expect to read a couple of months ago. Defending is all about strong systems and strong systems are built by custom and practice. The perpetual change in our back line and goalkeeper last season, brought about by so many abject performances, solved nothing and prevented play from looking remotely practiced.
Stephen Welsh has played against better opponents this season and will not be out of place in Budapest. Still, consistency of selection is worth a few percentage points.
A draw should be enough to qualify for the Europa Conference League. A win would make that secure and provide Ange with some midweek relief options in the critical weeks ahead. So win it, please, Celtic.
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Happy Friday eve all! The frost has arrived over here.
Jota has played a part in 25 open-play sequences that have ended with a shot attempt, the most of any player in the Europa League this season.
I have no concerns about Welsh playing at all👍
On the ball today Aipple, well done. Hope our Bhoys are similarly sharp this evening.
HH from a beautiful sunny afternoon on the silvery Tay. Gym class at 2.15 8n preparation for the match.
Welsh is a far better player than the uncomfortable and accident prone starfelt the only reason he’s been playing is because he got signed for good money.mon welshy bhoy.take your chance son🍀🍀🇮🇪
FRIESDORFER
Early start in Kentucky. Up before the birdies.
As above, no worries about Welsh.
HH
I also expect Welsh to do well. The key to our recent improved defensive performances is Joe’s leadership and ability to get the simple stuff right.
Barkas’ performances last season are still an enigma for me – good presence and ability to play out but he (literally) couldn’t catch the ball. That’s kinda prerequisite for a goalie…?
I am worried about tonight, After our crap performance against Livi, I have lost bit of faith with our 2 shots on target. We showed no game management, no intelligence, no on-field tactical awareness.
I fear our confidence has been affected and I am not confident of a result
I see Victor Wanyama is angling for a refurn to Celtic. He’s younger than James McCarthy, so maybe worth taking a chance on the big Kenyan.
Celtic away in Europe means a fraught night. We did school these guys a couple of weeks ago and should be going for a win tonight. A draw is not a disaster. A defeat would represent a significant failure for our management team.
Celtic away in Europe? Could be an epic win or an unmitigated failure.
Who knows?
We’re still too fragile to expect the former and previous bosses have delivered their fair share of the latter.
As per, I’ll be behind the sofa, hoping for the best.
HH
Im stil la bit raw about Livy away to give Weslh the thumbs up
Good afternoon all.
A good result no injuries and on to Sunday.
OptimisticCSC
Tom,
Wanyama had an option to return to Celtic a couple of years ago, and passed. His time is past and so should we now, imo of course.
HH
AZ a far better team than Ferencvaros and we seen that out. Hopefully we can play our game and put them to bed, however still have the fear of a doing due to our history from home.
Thems being in Europe’s third tier and us not has its plus points, but I always hope that Celtic get a result.
BIG JIMMY
Sorry to here about your pet cat Rocky it’s sure like a death in the family.
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 4TH NOVEMBER 2021 12:46 PM
I see Victor Wanyama is angling for a refurn to Celtic. He’s younger than James McCarthy, so maybe worth taking a chance on the big Kenyan.
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Normally I would say no chance. Celtic are not a club of last resort for aging players who ” have always loved playing for us, or always wanted to play for us”
However there is always a case that bucks this theory.
Victor is only 30 and playing regular football again. I remember him fondly and would welcome him back.
I’m sure he would be an asset to Ange.
HH.
Victor Wanyama is no longer the player who left Parkhead, how could he be, he’s toiling in the MLS a graveyard for players beyond their best.
We already have free agent James McCarthy drawing a wage.
No thanks CSC
Paul67
We needed warm bodies to fill empty trainings tops when we signed Carl Starfelt, Shaw, Urhohide, etc.
Stephen Welsh was a bit unlucky to drop out, and Starfelt took an age to ‘settle’. Bigger concern is that we had two shots on target against Livi and were bereft of midfield creativity in a home game.
Plus side is that Ferencvaros will try to play football, instead of the Livi parked bus.
@Big J….Sorry to hear wee Rockstars gone mate ….
Your posts always showed you thought the world of him….
H.H
Some responses to Paul’s observation about Carl are, IMHO, slightly harsh.
I’ve been impressed by him in the last couple of games.
He’s no Ronaldo but he looks much more assured.
Think we need to be careful not to become clichéd about players based on early performances.
When it comes to positions on the pitch and no hiding places ….
…. Centre back is second most prominent (behind goalkeeper).
Carl came in to a new environment and simply had to work his way through his struggles.
Not dissimilarly to Julienne, Caldwell, Mowbray and even Paul Elliott.
Takes time.
Performance against Livi not really valid re tonight’s game.
Livi were ultra defensive. These guys are 4 games without a point, they will have to go all out against us, it will be a totally different style of game.
I don’t see a downgrade from Starfelt to Welsh , in fact I actually think Welsh is better. But you pay £4m for someone , you’ve got to play him.
Hopefully Mccarthy gets a run in midfield.
Just came across this in the Record’s Hotline;
Paul McArdle, Gourock, pitched in with: “I’ve just heard there will be no Rangers fan allowed in at Parkhead for the Glasgow Derby. Which begs the question: how are we going to have a referee and linesmen for the game then?”
CORKCELT on 4TH NOVEMBER 2021 2:44 PM
Performance against Livi not really valid re tonight’s game.
Livi were ultra defensive. These guys are 4 games without a point, they will have to go all out against us, it will be a totally different style of game.
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100% in agreement.
BIG JIMMY
I was sorry to read about your wee feline Fenian, and I empathize with how you feel today. Many years ago, my wife and I rescued two moggie littermates from Death Row. They were christened Max and Henry and were inseparable for 22 years, usually the best of mates, but occasionally sparring ( much like CQN 😊 ). Both had to be put to sleep within weeks of each other, when they were almost deaf and had renal failure. Fortunately, we found a vet who did it at our home, and they went peacefully to sleep on their own cat blanket. I couldn’t believe just how bad I felt.
HH
Can anyone confirm what time kick off is? I’m seeing 20:00 everywhere but is that our time? Do we not normally play away games earlier?
Life confuses me these days!
I say our time – I mean celtic Park time. I appreciate we have folk in different time zones on here!
Back in the early 1990s my father was driving with my brother – both now passed – along Motherwell Road in Bellshill of a Sunday morning when a cat raced from between parked cars right across the road, hotly pursued by a slavering dog. Unfortunately my dad couldn’t avoid the dog. They got out and found the dog fatally injured in front of the car.
My brother sat with the dog as my dad chapped on a couple of doors but nobody knew the poor thing. They then noticed the dog had a name tag with a phone number. No mobile phones in those days, so they put the dog in the boot and drove to the police station. They went into the station with the dog collar and explained what had happened.
The officer started jotting down the relevant details. My brother had an extremely dry sense of humour and generally wasn’t too enamoured with cops, so when my dad was asked, “So did you knock the dog down?” my brother immediately replied, “Naw he fuckin stabbed it!”
Big Jimmy.
I’m really sorry to hear about Rocky.
Anyone who has suffered the loss of a pet/companion for all those years, will have an idea of how you feel.
He was one lucky cat to have you as an owner.
Look after yourself, Big J.
See the Livingston result, we are dwelling way too much of it. Way too much. It was a peculiar one. It was sore. We missed a chance to go top and apply more pressure but we need to get it in perspective.
Teams have always done that to us. We should have ground it out and had two brilliant chances for that in added time. Most will try it. Most will fail. That type of football I’d very high risk for the defending team.
At the start of the October run of games Most of us would gave settled for closing the gap. We maybe expected to drop points on the road. We have a comparatively better run of fixtures in November and December than them uns. We will be neck and neck going into Jan 2nd in my opinion.
Tonight is a free hit to build some confidence. Sunday is far more important.
Qualify for the Euro Conference? No, win our three remaining games and qualify for the knock-out stage of the Europa League. Why not?
ROBERTTRESSELL
Agree 100%. Too much being made of the draw with Livingston. A bad day at the office. It happens and doesn’t mean we’re a bad team all of a sudden. We’ll take care of Ferencvaros tonight.
3-1 to the Bhoys in Green.
Mmmmm…
Livi home and away and St Johnstone at home (where we followed the same pattern for a long time in the game) are providing us with evidence that suggests we can’t break teams that sit in against us and are a bit predictable (side, side, cross and repeat)
That might be personnel, gelling, bad luck or whatever but until we start breaking out of it then those games are more than just a bad day at the office.
Just a thought..
HHH
ROBERTTRESSELL on 4TH NOVEMBER 2021 3:33 PM
See the Livingston result, we are dwelling way too much of it. Teams have always done that to us.
ROBERT, too true they have. I remember one crappy winter’s midweek night in the late 60’s the mighty Stirling Albion, playing that evening in their ‘new’ Orange away strip, played with nine guys behind the ball and a lone forward running around like a madman. Even over in the Jungle we could hear big Jock going ballistic as attacks broke down on the ‘Orange wall’ and a friendly referee refused to apply the rules rigorously in the face of some robust challenges.
After the 0 – 0 draw big Jock pulled no punches about teams setting up against us in a way they didn’t do everywhere else (hint, hint – nudge, nudge).
Big Jimmy
Sorry to hear about wee Rocky.
All the best.enjoy yer beer mate
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 4TH NOVEMBER 2021 1:42 PM
Victor Wanyama is no longer the player who left Parkhead, how could he be, he’s toiling in the MLS a graveyard for players beyond their best.
We already have free agent James McCarthy drawing a wage.
No thanks CSC
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That is certainly a valid opinion. I would still take a punt on Victor if the price was right.
What do you think about our second highest transfer acquisition,Christopher Jullien ?
Chris will be 29 in March and it will be almost a year since he played due to his most recent injury.
Who would be the better prospect for Ange.?
I realise that Chris is our ” player” and Victor is not.
Cheers and HH.
Big Jimmy
Very sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved cat ‘ wee Rocky’ take care big fella.hh