Dinamo Zagreb dropped points for the second time in 10 league games this season on Saturday when they drew a blank against bottom of the table Slaven Koprivnica. Slaven took only one point from five league games in August, and lost heavily to Zagreb on the opening day of the season, but have tightened up at the back in recent weeks. Parking the bus on Saturday was enough to curtail the Croatian champions.
That blank score line was a rarity for Dinamo, who had scored in all but one of this season’s 18 previous outings. After losing their first leg at home to Zagreb, Aalborg shut up shop in the Champions League qualifier in Croatia and overturned the first leg deficit.
So what can we expect on Thursday? We’ve kept only one clean sheet in the last 10 outings, and that was to lower league Hearts, who missed a penalty and struck the crossbar. Looking at Celtic’s defensive record, Dinamo will fancy their chances of getting a goal. Like most teams away from home in Europe, they will plan to defend first and foremost, and take their chances on the break.
Having collected a vital point away to the top seed on match day one, the group opens up for Celtic if they can beat Zagreb this week, but how should they go about achieving this? If St Mirren, Motherwell, Dundee and Inverness can score against Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb will do so, unless Celtic protect their back line considerably better than they have so far this season. Celtic are likely to need to score two or more to win the game. Without Goals Guidetti, this sounds like a big challenge.
Going on form, it’s in Celtic interests to ensure this is a tight game, deny Dinamo space to break into, and use their own speed to attack when opportunity arises. We’ll need to hold the ball, and that means Kris Commons will have to play, no matter how fit he is, but I would be tempted to give him a deeper role than usual. Johansen and Brown have critical roles to play in protecting the defence but they will need Commons available to bring calm to proceedings.
I see The Telegraph have taken a punt on Craig Whyte, et al’s, Worthington Group being in sufficient funds to mount their threatened legal challenge to Sevco Scotland Ltd, now known as Rangers International PLC, for acquiring the legal entitlement of Sevco 5088 Ltd. Sevco 5088 had irrefutable entitlement to the assets of liquidated Rangers FC but this entitlement was assumed by Sevco Scotland, then owned and controlled by Charles Green.
Green and Craig Whyte both claimed to control Sevco 5088 when the company’s entitlement was assumed by the other company. So what does all this mean? There’s nothing in The Telegraph story that we didn’t know two years ago. Even if a journo had first-hand information from a prime source, you’d have to wonder what value you could invest in what any of these characters say.
Until Our Hero spins the roulette wheel at the Ibrox Casino, everyone’s chasing shadows on this one.
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BGX
If ex players ran around Celtic Park on Thursday night during the match trying to score political points then absolutely, they can go as well. Whatever happened before the referendum was bearable but now – it’s a Celtic match not a rally for any political group.
The GB want to do as they want, regardless. They have made this clear in the past, and the club has been punished by Uefa and embarrassed because their antics. The GB have a history with Uefa and know what they are doing, so in this context it is beyond comparison with whatever opinion any ex Celtic player has or shared.
I do not support the OB act, nor do I support any collusion from the club that helps criminalize fans, but the GB are like a spoiled child: they know that ideally we would all love to have at the ground but they exploit that to just do what they want, regardless.
HH
HT@2101
You are to me big mhan. Hahahaha.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
BGX
I don’t doubt that there are many former and current Celts who supported the Yes vote with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
There were no restrictions, that I am aware of, being put on any ex-Celt to suppress their views. Nobody told Berie Auld he was not entitled to campaign for what he believed in. I have no idea why the Yes vote did not attract any noticeable support from sports people, apart from a last minute tweet by Andy Murray.
Do you think anyone was warned off?
Ole Tony D cannot look the shaving mirror or the saltire in the face since he aligned
with ole Ernie and the unionist.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3250/5770020127_e1c2b88085.jpg
JF made a huge mistake by adding her postscript to her article and she was foolish to describe the Labour heartlands as “rebel”
There is absolutely no comparison between Ireland’s struggle for independence from the world’s biggest imperial power and WeeEck’s ragbag of populist nutters and pseudo-intellectuals who seemed to inhabit a world of their own making where they thought 65% would vote yes
The GB are welcome to wave the saltire if they so choose but as others have pointed out if they add slogans or banners with an overtly political message they risk harming our club yet again
That would be a bridge too far for me and many in the (silent) majority and the club should ban them – again!
HH
Yes, Man City model tongue and cheek.
No I’m not anti Irish blantyretim.
In fact I love Ireland.
But man with hole in two pockets not feel too cocky
Skyisland,
Lol. Man with 2 holes leaves no stone unturned:)
They may not win but Roma are a far better football team than Man City.
Not sure what that implies though :-)
croppybhoy,
so everyone who voted yes is a populist nutter or pseudo intellectual,
is that what you are suggesting
hamiltontim:
Yes, it is mighty tim’s birthday.
Mighty Tim:
Hoopy Birthday.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
SFTB….i grew up with numbers all my life…my granda was a street bookie.my dad too..i had my own bookmakers, worked the dog tracks…i know numbers(dont tell me then accept 55%45& laughing)..of course they were warned off….the numbers show it..
Pull pin ….
Throw…
So the Palestinian flag can be displayed as long as it does not have a YES on it ?
run away
HH
WeeFra
Ha never thought of that :-)
Croppybhoy….as a YES supporter i never for a moment thought Scotland would vote for Independence never mind by 65%…..you always bring it back to SNP…..laughable..
“Can a man with a beard tell a bare faced lie?”
Gordy
Not at all – many who voted yes did so because they believed that they would help create a fairer society
All along I tried to point out that they were being led up the garden path by the SNP which seems to have made a huge effort in Labour areas but couldn’t carry any of their own.
Seems to me then that at least part of the plan was to damage Labour for the next 10 years or more rather than win independence.
I stand by the pseudo-intellectual jibe to describe people like Pat Kane and Lesley Riddoch- another privately educated spokesperson for the poor and marginalised!
Don’t remember her supporting self determination in Ireland too often – or perhaps I just missed those !
HH
Yeah forget the 1.6 million, let’s move on to George Clooneys wedding.
STFB
I accept that UEFA and Celtic have banned political flags and banners and that anyone displaying them are putting the club at risk of sanctions.
I find your tone a bit patronising sometimes.
People who know me wouldn’t agree that I’m half daft; I’m completely (Celtic) daft.
Jungle Jim.
Thanks for the info.
Sorry I took so long to reply .
On night shift , went back to bed for a kip.
Off out to work again.
Night all hail hail.
croppybhoy,
cheers for the reply,
I think the labour party done a good enough job in damaging themselves
during the campaign,and I say that as someone who has voted labour all my days,but never again
Again to everyone, thanks for the thoughts.
My op being late tomorrow I will still be on here most of the day spouting my usual .
Just an observation but there isn’t one club in the SPFL where you will see loads of saltires. I’d say there are as many on big match dayso at CP as you would get anywhere else.
Never been an issue as far as I remember.
Patronising? On here! How dare they!
Get them moderated off, and barred evangelical style!
Croppboy..always bringing it back to SNP..
BT
good luck and a speedy recovery
HH
BT all the best and a speedy recuperation to you.
May the road rise to meet you and aw that….
Extra time in CL your club is 1-1 what are your going to do.
Get my car out of the car park and get home.
Well done City fans.
BT
Good to know you will be on most of tomorrow, just chill kiddo and, hopefully, all your pain will be over by Thursday. KTF. Ye know we luv ya. :-))))
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Aberdeen 2. St Mirren 2
Bgx
Perhaps I’m wrong but were those figure not in the Yes campaign game book?
I bring it back to the SNP because it was WeeEck and his crew who planned this for 10 years or more
The way he worked the RC church hierarchy and worked the Catholic schools issue over a long period show that
You may have been a late comer to the party but that’s not to say it hadn’t started long before!
I bring it back to the SNP because an independent Scotland would not be some socialist paradise
They haven’t raised council tax because they want to win elections – not help the poorest in our society
What would change? – Nothing IMHO
They needed your vote to win independence – they won’t need it once that achieved
Look at what they have done – OBA, centralised Police and Fire services, FFS they even called the new exams “Nationals”
HH
googy…
Sounds like some fans nearer to home!
So Maribor get a draw in Germany.
No games in CL no more than one goal in it.
Even St. Mirren getting a draw at Aberdeen.
How rubbish must we be?
Shortbread depressed that Aberdeen haven’t leapfrogged the Bhoys From Paradise …. bless them …
BGX
“i grew up with numbers all my life…my granda was a street bookie.my dad too..i had my own bookmakers, worked the dog tracks…i know numbers(dont tell me then accept 55%45& laughing)..of course they were warned off….the numbers show it..”
OK. Who warned off all ex-Celts from making a public declaration? What did they threaten them with? How could they exercise any power over an ex-employee? Have the numbers provided any answers to those questions?
ger57
“I find your tone a bit patronising sometimes.”
I retaliated to comments like “SFTB is the flag moderator now, is he?”
Glass houses and that.
justafan
21:38 on 30 September, 2014
googy…
Sounds like some fans nearer to home!
Aye
BT
You’ll be on most of the day spouting will ye?
That sounded like a threat I’ll be using my influence to get ye moved up the list….:-)
SFTB
Never mind the flegs, burning question of the night is who is Candice Bergen?