The bottom half of the league table gives an early feel of who is likely to compete against relegation this season. Newco have moved two points clear of the relegation playoff spot and are surely likely to consolidate their midtable position. Aberdeen are bottom, with five defeats in seven games, but a 4-0 routing of Dundee last time out saw their first win of the league campaign. Expect them to climb up the table.
That leaves Livingston, Falkirk and Dundee all on six points and likely relegation candidates. The latter will do well to take a point against Celtic on Sunday.
Steven Pressley was out of management for six years before getting the Dens Park job in the summer. League Cup defeats to Airdrie and Alloa in his first two games, which saw Dundee eliminated from the competition, put the pressure on, before a draw at Ibrox delivered their first point of the Premiership season.
A 97th minute penalty at home to Livingston produced their only win of the campaign so far. Even then, Livi enjoyed the majority of possession and the home side putting men behind the ball and relying on counter attacks. That’s quite a gameplan at home to a newly promoted minnow.
Brendan Rodgers will know to expect the same defensive approach on Sunday and will hope the 3-2 win over Motherwell last time out has greased the blunt attacking wheels enough to cope against a side short on just about everything.
275 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- »
Podium ?
I’m less concerned st the minute about how we play – 3 points is all that counts.
Muscat Love.
Americacsc.
Ek
At least I read the article..!
;-)
If the huns appoint Muskrat , will he be allowed his backroom team of Vincent van gopher and deputy dawg ?
All about the Ws over the next few weeks. It won’t be pretty but we’ll get the job done.
Paul’s previews of upcoming opponents are routinely cautionary …
… perhaps to remind people of facts and guard against complacency.
No harm in either.
For my own part, I barely pay attention to other results any more – There once was a time I was riveted – so, always useful to get that context.
This is probably the most bullish version I can recall Paul posting.
Hopefully we win.
I imagine we will find Hearts and Rangers there or thereabouts in 2nd and 3rd place by the time January comes around. Remember last season Aberdeen were miles ahead of rangers for the 2nd place spot before they imploded. A not very good rangers side is still likely to be our closest competitor. Much depends on whether they continue to drop points before Muscat has a chance to improve them.
The guy seems to have something about him, it would be churlish to argue otherwise when he has pretty much done everything (and more) that Ange did in Australia and Japan and also doing it in China.
Thank you to Bada Bing for posting the latest statement from the collective in previous thread.
First, credit where it is due.
Picking up on an observation recently posted on here – these people have got up off their asses and attempted to organise themselves to drive change.
IMHO, that should be acknowledged ungrudgingly.
The statement?
Again, just IMHO …. bit of a curate’s egg.
Don’t know how reliable information coming from Fabrizio Romano is , but he’s claiming that Rodgers will be offered a new contract as the board are keen to keep him .
Seems totally at odds with events this season .
DB
Agree re Muscat – I’d much rather it had been Gerrard.
I can only assume Gerrard was the preferred option initially as he would have been cheaper to land than Muscat.
LIONSROAR67 – from previous article.
Spot on that the Champs League is beyond Celtic under the current financial realities – and that gulf is only going to get larger as time goes on unless the Champs League itself morphs into a proper league structure at some point.
I get irritated by people glibly saying that they measure Celtic by “progress in Europe” without much thought or suggestion as to what progress actually means and how it can be achieved.
In the current situation – buy low, hope-to-sell high – we are at best fodder if we qualify for the Champs League proper (increasingly unlikely with more qualifiers to play), but we might compete at Europa League level in a good season.
To those measuring success by European progress, would a Europa League campaign (similar to Sevco in recent seasons) be “progress” – or is it Champs League only and nothing else counts?
For all our respectability in last years CL, if Young Boys didn’t concede that 89th minute own goal, we would have failed to qualify for the play off round. Trying to buy our way to CL level is simply not feasible.
That said, this seasons failure against Karait Almaty was a dismal reflection on both team management and transfer window execution.
This seasons failure to get into the CL is already having an effect on the EL performances, we didnt have the players or the squad and it looks like for this season at least the EL is a standard we cannot get to.
TIM MALONE WILL TELL
For all our respectability in last years CL, if Young Boys didn’t concede that 89th minute own goal, we would have failed to qualify for the play off round. Trying to buy our way to CL level is simply not feasible.
A ridiculous, nonsensical comment completely lacking in logic and common sense.
How many IFs could we conjure up for Celtic’s terrible luck in the first half?
Tim Malone Will Tell @ 1:03 pm,
Totally disagree with that.
Celtic are a huge, well resourced Club and are more than capable of competing in the UCL.
Last season proved that, for every last minute Young Boys goal, there is a CCV own goal, or failure to score in Zargreb.
We qualified after seven of the eight games.
We were equally a minute away from taking Bayern to extra time.
The Young Boys argument is a nonsense argument.
Also in the January window, we had record money coming in, we had huge savings in the Bank and we clearly needed to strengthen.
The decision to weaken the team at that point was a strategic one by the PLC.
They could equally have spent money and strengthened the team.
So, the decision to pull the team back from UCL level was a business decision and was not reflective of the football Club’s potential to improve from the end of 2024 high watermark.
It is clear from Celtic’s peers in the UCL last season that Celtic belong there.
If you look at our equivalents Brugge – their Biard decided to improve their team while our Board decided to weaken our team.
Consequently, Brugge are a much better side than we are this season.
It is not science for rocketeers – as I’ve said for a decade now, if you don’t to succeed, prepare to fail.
Dessybhoy @ 1:18 pm,
Yes, sports organisations and business organisations are two entirely separate beasts – you simply can’t say in sport, we won’t give it the 90% we need to compete in the UCL we will give it the 75% we need to compete at Europa level.
Elite sport doesn’t work like that.
The fact is over the last dozen years we’ve done almost as badly in the Europa as we have in the UCL.
Hail Hail
Dessybhoy – as has been said on CQN in recent articles, our team lacks balance and we are left pinning our hopes on Iheanacho getting fit and finding redemption.
No doubt the transfer window was a shambles and has repercussions for any competition we play in this season.
Had we won the qualifier (as we should have), we might have secured one or two signings to improve the balance of our squad – but don’t see another couple of players making us CL calibre.
The Long Wait is Over – Gerard, I imagine, was pursued to try and get their fans back onside, it would have been a popular appointment made for short term gains. Muscat has won much more than Gerard as a manager and has an identifiable style of play even though it is not a style that will be familiar to their players or fans. Angeball or Muskatball, same philosophy.
As we know, Rangers are traditionally a hard team to beat with a solid, well organised defence. The Walter Smith book of play. All out attack when you have the likes of Tavernier and Souttar in defence will be an interesting watch. I would imagine Muscat will try to bring in players from Asia in January, as Ange did before him.
He will know first hand without Mr Bloom’s software who is ripping it up in the Chinese Super League.
If he is as good as his CV suggests, we could have a genuine rival next season. We have the advantage for now, hopefully we build on it rather than let it be eroded.
https://x.com/CFC_Collective/status/1979087970297692646/photo/1
Not another Penny Campaign
(poor choice of words imho, given our history but as they continually say, not everybody will agree with everything)
So in that spirit
Positives – at least there is a joined up objective and strategy, that is easy to follow or not.
Negative – Kids in the part time catering jobs and those in the retail shops will see hours reduced and possibly jobs cut.
Pondering – how do the hospitality and big spender corporates with boxes and lounges take part or do they not ?
Chairbhoy on 17th October 2025 1:29 pm
Tim Malone Will Tell @ 1:03 pm,
Totally disagree with that.
Celtic are a huge, well resourced Club and are more than capable of competing in the UCL.
——————-
I am revertin back to my own type regarding European Participation, last season was the outlier, we actually won matches,
It wont be repeated this year, the team was flat against Braga, the atmosphere lacking, the event itself over priced and under attended,
I dont know what actual metric or benchmark makes us a “big club”.
Chairbhoy – anyone who thinks Celtic can buy their way to CL level is severely deluded in my opinion.
There may be other longer term ways to improve our prospects, but buying “CL ready players” isn’t one of them.
I don’t get any argument that says that “the board” deliberately weakened the team – that is absurd. Poor execution in the transfer window definitely did weaken the team, but I don’t think failure was a strategic objective.
You seem to be keen on this binary argument of “the board” Vs Brendan Rodgers.
I think that both parties screwed up.
I dont think we should have won against Kairat, we were terrible , Forrest had a shot turned onto the post and Maeda missed when clean through over there, to me that is nowhere near good enough.
Dessybhoy – I agree that we didn’t deserve to win the game.
However, we should have had enough capability within the current squad to at least beat Karat in Glasgow – that failure is arguably more down to Brendan Rodgers than anyone else.
Ironically, being drawn to play against the weakest side left in the qualifiers seemed to lead to complacency all round.
If our SEB can maybe play on the right then we could start with him there, Daizen and big Bally on the left
What do ya think
kingLUBO
Mission Statement
The Celtic Fans Collective exists to unite supporters through a representative body that advocates for the interests of Celtic fans. We strive to ensure that Celtic Football Club operates with transparency, accountability, and ambition, aligned with the values and aspirations of its supporters.
Overarching Aim
To modernise the governance and strategic direction of Celtic Football Club by ensuring:
A clear vision that reflects the ambitions of the support.
A transparent and respectful relationship between the Club and its supporters.
Corporate governance standards befitting an organisation of Celtic’s scale and reputation.
Values
The Collective is guided by the following principles:
Democracy. Decisions are driven by the voices and mandate of supporters.
Integrity. The collective will act with transparency, evidence, and accountability.
Ambition. The collective will demand the highest standards on and off the pitch.
Independence. The collective will operate free from undue influence, representing only the interests of Celtic fans.
saint stivs
With a mission statement like that maybe they should er start their own football club….
Not convinced that their campaign slogan ‘Not a Penny More’ will get them very far though
saint stivs
October 17, 2025 2:37 pm
In my old manufacturing days at the IBM plant, the “plant manager” was the most senior person for the site.
In reality they were a member of the IBM board, a Company Director and responsible for hundred of millions of dollars spend in a fiscal year, and customer satisfaction for millions of computer orders.
But, the plant manager suited and booted would often turn up on the manufacturing floor early mornings, late nights, a few nightshifts, would come around ask what we were working on, took an interest, he was not over bearing, agitated or interfering, coolness personified and a brilliant communicator, and would always leave with a “is there anything I can help you with, is there something you need ?
Some would say this is a level of micro-management, but he would also make a point with his managers in the morning briefing where he had been, what he had seen, and again, how can we collectively get what the workers need to make that shift a success, he was brilliant at all these things.
Very connected. He never got grief from any disgruntled workers, and managers expected the workies to call out anything that they needed it worked.
Why say that, well in all the places I managed, if I was responsible for physical places and processes I carried out the same behaviours,
Tranparent, honest, open but ultimately responsible for success or failure.
Jock Brown, love him or loath him spoke about Fergus constantly having meetings out walk9ng on the rebuilding celtic park, didnt matter who was with him, he had to see what was going on, a man with a plan right enough.
I was struck by a number of Podcasts claiming MN has never walked around the stadium, never been in the Lisbon Lions, everything is done in the office, people come to him and Chris.
I wonder how Celtic empolyees are actually feeling today, if you work in the store, look after the pitch, responsible for repairs, how do they feel about the invisible executives.
World class ?
Back to Basics @ 10.45
Passed on your regards to Jobo on a different site. He expressed his thanks.
Hail Hail☘️
Just back from the Celtic Superstore buying from the new winter leisure wear range. Delighted to note how busy it was.
Ave Ave
Tim Malone Will Tell @ 1:41 pm, Saint Stivs @ 1:41 pm,
No one is asking Celtic to buy their way to the UCL.
We did perfectly fine last season in the UCL, hitting our targets, while making a profit from player sales, increasing our revenues and making a huge profit.
We were working well within our margins and had no need for retrenchment in January.
We got over 40 mn in UCL payments with an extra 8 mn in bonus payments.
It does not take a strategic genius to work out a transfer window when you have the financial resources Celtic have.
The transfer window finishes at the end of September but there is nothing other than business dogma stopping Celtic from saying 90% of our key transfer business must be done by the end of August.
That gives the Club the best part of three weeks to prepare for the qualifiers, not ideal but good enough.
You say it’s the coaches rather than the Board that are to blame for UCL failure, yet consider this.
After the summer break when we started the pre-season, Brendan Rodgers was praising the staff that had organised the preseason, the team were gelling, we beat Newcastle United at Celtic Park, it was all going swimmingly until Como.
The football club were working hard on the seasons preparations, did they do well enough? Of course a legitimate question.
What is not in question is the Board’s preparations, they did nothing to support the football club, they just run their transfer revenue model, ignoring the requirements of the football team and simply trying to maximise the player trading profits.
If that meant players were negotiating contracts with other Clubs during the qualifiers it didn’t matter to the Board.
If that meant players weren’t signed in a timely manner for the qualifiers that didnt matter to the Board.
Making the maximum amount of money for the PLC was the only target, if this was detrimental to the team it didn’t matter.
Even the replacements for Kyogo who went in January and the replacement for Kuhn who went in July, two key players in key positions were not in place by the end of the transfer window.
Absolute madness, the Executive have apologised yet we are still no wiser whether this was, strategic malefunction, incompetence or wilfull sabotage.
What we do know that it is a systematic problem at Board level that’s where the blame lies, that’s where the apology came from.
Our only hope is that BR&CO can make the best of a bad job until January and that the Boardroom personel and strategic changes have taken place by January.
Hail Hail
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 17TH OCTOBER 2025 12:58 PM
Don’t know how reliable information coming from Fabrizio Romano is , but he’s claiming that Rodgers will be offered a new contract as the board are keen to keep him .
Seems totally at odds with events this season .
—-
Romano’s update on Celtic keen to keep BR comes off yesterday’s news of Clark for £6million from Salzburg in January.
There’s a PR offensive in operation but January will tell the tale.
With a mission statement like that maybe they should er start their own football club….
Many are descendants from those that did 137 years ago
Chairbhoy
I have no doubt that many people acted incompetently during the summer to the detriment of Celtic.
Do you think that the core of the Celtic squad that did so well in last seasons CL should have had enough capability to beat Kairat Almaty at Parkhead?
Daizen Maeda out injured
Full Brendan Presser
Do you want to start with injuries then, Brendan? How is everyone ahead of this weekend
Daizen Maeda will be out. He felt his hamstring a little bit towards the end of the last game against Motherwell. He went away internationally to see if it would get better, but he obviously didn’t play when he was away.
So, he will miss this weekend, and we’ll assess it after that. Paulo Bernardo’s been ill, so we’ll see how he recovers in the next 24 hours. Apart from that, everyone’s okay.
Alistair Johnston?
Yes, Ali’s back in training, which is great news for us. Hopefully, all being well, we’ll finalise the squad tomorrow, but hopefully he’s good to go.
How do you assess the start to the season? What needs to improve for you over the coming months?
I think it’s always a challenge, the European aspect of everything. There’s a lot made of the past and what has happened. But really, it’s addressing now the future going forward.
We’ve shown glimpses of our game in a lot of our domestic games. We just need to find a more consistent level and, of course, that’s something I’m really looking forward to doing. The players are working very, very hard.
We had a really good victory in the last game against a good team that were unbeaten in the league so far. So, we knew we had to really work for that, and we showed our spirit and our quality by the end of that game. So, we want to continue in that vein.
Now, the focus is very much on the seven games in 21 days, and that’s my only focus.
What do you expect from Dundee? It can be a difficult trip up the Dens.
Yes, always. Our record there is very, very good as a club over numbers of years, but it still doesn’t make it an easy place to go.
I think Steven Preslley will have them really well organised. He’ll have them competitive. They’ve shown already this season that they can get good results and performances.
So, we know coming back after the international game, we need to get our fluency and get our tempo into the game as quickly as we can and look to make it really difficult for them, hopefully.
Brendan, I don’t know if you’re aware, but the Celtic Fans Collective have put out another statement today, ‘not another penny’ into the club. Is there a concern that the divide between the supporters and the club is getting deeper?
Well, one, I haven’t seen that.
Two, I would say, listen, the Celtic supporters are at the heart of this club. That is what Celtic is synonymous with, and hopefully going forward, we can find that balance that allows that great support to spill onto the field and obviously, we have that harmony throughout the club.
But until then, I’m sure both parties will continue discussing. In the meantime, it’s really about affecting what we can, and that’s on the pitch.
Just on that, do you think it can have any impact on the team in any way?
Well, we have to control that or try and influence that as much as we possibly can. I think on a day-to-day basis up here on the training field, of course, it doesn’t. Our focus is very much on training, developing, preparing the team and then obviously bringing that out onto the matchday.
Then from that, we get the great support, and they can hopefully push the team and that’s all you can hope for.
Brendan, do you almost feel that yourself and the team can be caught between the two because you can see both sides of the debate almost? You see what the fans want, and you can also see what the board might be getting at and where they come from as well. Do you feel that sometimes you and the team can be stuck between the two?
No, I just think that I can really only affect going forward and affect the future of the team and influence as best I can. You can’t control everything in terms of as a manager, but you can certainly influence. The biggest influence is for the players and the training and the team and that’s what we have to focus on.
In terms of the meeting, Brendan, that took place last week between some figures from the club’s board and fan representatives, as manager, were you given any feedback to what was discussed or do you try and separate yourself from that as much as you can?
I get to understand and get to hear a little bit, but of course, that remains closed, what we’ll speak about.
How difficult has it been and how frustrating is it when you’ve still got all these things bubbling on in the background? Look at the moment you guys had in the last game where there was a real togetherness in that last minute, because then you might think that’s been put to the back burner and then it’s the international break and it starts to bubble up again?
Like I said, I think that with my experience, you tend to try to focus on what you actually can do. I think if you go too deep into it, and of course, we want the synergy throughout the whole club. That’s what we all want, we all want what’s best for Celtic.
Control what you can, which is the football element and look to do that on the pitch and on the training pitch every single day. That’s really where my focus is.
I try not to get too involved, of course I’m involved. I love Celtic, I love managing Celtic, I want Celtic to be the very best every single season. Of course, there’s a focus there on the general health of the club, but like I said, it’s for me to focus on the performance level of the team and that won’t be clouded at all. I need to make sure that we perform and we make results.
Still a while before the transfer window opens again, you’re linked with Bobby Clark. Is there anything you can tell us about that?
It’s one that’s come from a long way out. I wouldn’t normally say anything on anything, but I really don’t know where that has come from at all. Especially in October. I’m really not sure where that’s come from.
Is it like what happened in the last window, Brendan? Is there a real urgency when you’re doing business, if you’re doing business, it’s early doors come January?
Listen, for the overall health of the club, like I say, it’s not just about one window. The club is about progressing each time you go through each window. That’s the whole idea.
Obviously, when January comes, the squad, if it needs strengthening, then that’s what hopefully can be done. But we’re quite away from that yet, so if you can just park that for a few more weeks, then we can focus on the football here and now.
You mentioned there’s seven games in 21 days. Does this feel at the start of a kind of intensive spell for the club?
I think it’s a really exciting spell for the club. I think that early part of the season, where sometimes you are playing one game a week, and obviously, we’ve had some of the European games as well. But I think when you come into this period, and especially after the break in November, you’re really starting to get into the thick of it then.
But there’s no doubt this period now, between now and the next break, is some big games in there, some really important games. But it’s for us to really embrace and really take on the challenge, and let’s just do it. It’s exciting, seven days as well, we begin next Sunday.
It’s going to be something like Dens Park on Sunday. Does that put extra pressure on you, somewhere where you haven’t lost for so long? As you mentioned earlier, I think it’s 1988 since Celtic last lost there?
I haven’t really thought of it, I don’t know the date, but I now know. It never comes into the consideration really. I think that we go into the games, I’ve always enjoyed going to there. It’s a nice big open pitch and we always get a great support there.
We know it’ll be a difficult game. Steven will ensure that. He’ll have his team really, really well organised. They’ll work very hard, but the onus will be on us to bring our game to hopefully make the result.
How have you found the international breaks? Obviously, you’ve got these seven games now, you’re trying to get a bit of rhythm up. It’s been quite difficult to do that when you’ve had these stoppages.
Yes, I think the preference would have been, ideally, was that you’d lose one of these and put them in, whether you had a break in January would have been the ideal scenario.
It is that little bit challenging, of course, to find that rhythm, but there’s still enough games in there. We all know it’s there before the start of the season. We all know.
You just want to make sure that you can find your performance level whilst you’re playing and get to the next international break in a good place.
I think this is the first time I’ve had the chance to speak to you since Russell Martin left Rangers. What was your reaction to the news and the surprise that he was given such a short period of time, albeit there was fans protesting?
From previous article.
the Bada Bing on 17th October 2025 11:07 am
https://x.com/CFC_Collective/status/1979087970297692646
……
All of this has been the case since MON left.
The fans are trapped in a mind game of Rodgers making to deflect from himself.
He who says he’s happy with the TW dealings, to then change his tune to it wasn’t him who bought the players, AFTER EVERY TW, when will fans wake the fk up to this guy Rodgers?
The board already have this seasons money in the bank.
Lawwell was pictured on videocelts.com article distraught after Maeda’s equalliser vs Motherwell?!?!?!
They are trying to throw games.
Rodgers tried to and succerded in throwing the SCF to Abereen, check his face as he congratulates Jimmy Thelin at final whistle, I saw no disappointment at losing a Treble on his face, he is a Tory rich boy plant, only following orders.
Like he almost pulled off the season before, until Bernardo went off-script when he came on as a sub, against the tippy tappy possesion pisstake, and grabbed the ball and ran straight up the pitch, shot at goals and keeper parried out for Idah tap in.
Agreed tactics with big Philipe Clemente, agreed for Celtic kick tackers to go to one side, Huns to the other, but Bernardo was the bad guy for taking Celtic’s first shot at goals in the SCF in 90+ minutes, Bernardo and Idah were in the Rodgers doghouse ever since.
What has happened to conspiracy theory Celtic fans who would have seen this a hundred miles away up the road?
Has Rodgers utterly brainwashed the Celtic support from being able to think straight, never mind see straight.
When the only truth speaker in Timdom is cast as a troll then what about the majority who just believe a endless coneyor belt of guff, about poor wee Brendan the one trick pony?
HH
Minus Sevco question ☝️
Just watched Brendan’s Media Conference.
I counted 13 questions asked.
Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, … about the Collective.
BR handled them well enough but clearly not particularly comfortable.
Teuchter ár lá @ 2:45 pm
Thank you.