When we drew Maribor I wrote about their performance in last season’s Europa League, when they were eliminated by eventual winners, Sevilla. Our man, Blaz, in Slovenia, also warned me that this was a settled team who had improved since ending Rangers’ interest in European football three years ago.
I watched Red Bull Salzburg destroy Ajax in Amsterdam last season with some sublime football, and my pal in Austria tells me not to put too much store in their 3-0 humbling by Malmo, who, apparently, rode their luck to an incredible degree. Having said that, on the balance of probabilities, they are by far the top seed we would have chosen.
As Croatia Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb bossed Celtic out of the Champions League play-off round in 1998, our first attempt at the tournament. Zagreb’s stock has fallen since, so while you could make a good case to suggest we are far from ready to tackle any European team right now, this is a good draw. They are also not Legia Warsaw, which would have been an unwelcome confrontation at this time.
So far, so good. Then we draw a complete unknown from pot 4, who happened to eliminate Lyon in the last round.
Between now and the middle of next month Celtic have to be ready for these challenges. We have an opportunity to progress in the Europa League, earn some badly needed coefficient points, and revenue in the second half of the season.
Bring it on.
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Ernie- Do you regard yourself as British or Scottish?
It’s clear that PL cannot wait till Sevco “return”. He must be bricking himself at the latest news from Ibrox.
Sadly, I agree with posters who predict they will be welcomed with open arms at CP (should they live that long)…
Sickening, but that’s life.
Very disappointed with the scepovic situation……… niggling me for a while……..he was meant to be signing last Mon ffs ………..I would be astonished if he signed now…….BUT……if we really really wanted him……..maybe we should have ..just maybe paid him a visit…..personally…… sold him the club….made him feel really wanted……….but then again maybe we don’t really really want him !!!
The peter law well article made me a tad angry this morning………… We don’t need rangers has become ….we desperately need them……oh how the huns will love that !!!
Another nonsense…. a 4 or 5 million pound player would cost 30 or 40 k a week utter utter garbage…….Finnbogasson for instance would have been a 18 k a week player…..which would have doubled his wages……….
We also got the old prem or championship wages guff………..sure we can’t afford Russell or Brysons wages now……what garbage………while wasting thousands per week on pukki and Dutch sick note !!!!!!
Am starting to really shift into the Neg anon camp……
A Spanish second division player is holding us to ransom , Sevco is losing us £10m pounds a season and our CEO is taking £1 m pound a year in salary plus bonus,what mugs we are putting up with this sh-t.
If we put a decent team on the park our support would not drop,if we treated our support with respect ,our support would not drop,
Lawwell wants Sevco and their scum to come and visit us then charge us £100 pounds for the privilege
Lawwell F off.
proud to be part of the celtic family
Mate I understand your point entirely, it’s galling when we are being held with such disdain.
But the guy kicks a ball to make as much he can. He has no affiliation to Celtic whatsoever. All he will see is the dosh. Harsh but true.
It’s killing the game of course. But Celtic are players in this too. Remember wee Jackie’s fall out ?
goldstar10
09:25 on 31 August, 2014
‘Ernie- Do you regard yourself as British or Scottish?’
###
No.
Do you?
Where’s Robbie Keane these days?
(Only kidding)
Ernie:
Presumed that was your meaning and largely agree.
Scotland isn’t a colony and the entire ‘independence’ debate is predicated on the relative prospects within the western ‘democratic’ model.
Were I a Scot I’d be asking myself which of these options offers the prospect of reduced social and economic disparities, neither will offer genuine social and economic justice…
On the referendum, anyone who believes a Yes vote will move Scotland to the left is living in cloud-cuckoo land.
There is a reason Margaret Thatcher’s favourite think-tank, the Adam Smith Institute, are the only ones apart from Salmond supporting sterlingisation (ie using the pound with no formal currency union).
It’s because sterlingisation is a the quickest route to a small-state fiscally conservative flat-tax nation. And one which would by definition not meet entry requirements for the EU.
It’s a loony right-winger’s wet dream.
For a country like Scotland, which runs a deficit and has an aging population plus a large welfare bill, the effects on the provision of public services would be armageddon.
But, hey, at least “we’ll have the government we voted for” or some such guff.
I’ll say again: those on the Left who are voting Yes are about to endorse the kind of free-market shock therapy that destroyed Chile and much of Eastern Europe in the 1990s.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/salmonds-plan-use-pound-without-permission-would-be-dangerous-scotland
WARNING
Quality post well worth reading.
Not from me, naturally!
Saw a few folk mentioning this from during the night. Read back. Quite right they were too.
HH jamesgang
the glorious balance sheet
02:06 on 31 August, 2014
So Ronny Deila has said that we sign players that he has never actually seen play football in the flesh. Presumably players were signed that the previous manager had never seen play in the flesh either – Amido Balde, Mo Bangura and Hombert Fridjohnsen come to mind.
Yet yesterday Peter Lawwell said that:- “We are recognised wherever you go in Europe as one of the best run clubs on and off the park in Europe, if not the world.”
I think this is fanciful nonsense. Over the last 10 years Celtic have gone from 22 to 56 in the UEFA co-efficient rankings. There are a number of smaller clubs from countries similar to Scotland hugely outperforming Celtic in Europe. Basel are currently ranked 18, Ajax 26, Olympiacos 27, PSV Eindhoven 29, Braga 30, AZ Alkmaar 37, Viktoria Plzen 41, Anderlecht 43, and the likes of FC Copenhagen, PAOK Salonika, Genk, APOEL, Steaua Bucharest, BATE Borisov and Salzburg are also ahead of us in the UEFA co-efficient rankings.
Over the last 10 years Celtic have been eliminated from European competitions at the qualification stage on 6 out of 9 attempts, with 4 out of these 6 eliminations occurring at the hands of lower ranked teams. During this time Celtic have lost to teams who at the time were ranked as low as:-
– 219 : Artmedia Bratislava;
– 127: Utrecht;
– 156: Sion;
– 246: Shakhter Karagandy;
– 108: Legia Warsaw
Yes, we have had success in reaching the CL last 16 on 3 occasions over the last 10 years but such successes are fleeting and quickly followed up with catastrophic results and are more than offset by the number of times we have been eliminated from Europe at the qualifying stage.
This overall European performance, coupled with a player recruitment policy that permits players to be signed that the manager has never seen and a 30% reduction in season ticket numbers over the last 5 years does not indicate that the club is well run, far less an exemplar model admired by clubs all over the world as claimed by Mr Lawwell.
The first step in fixing a problem is to acknowledge that the problem exists. Judging by Mr Lawwell`s comments, he either cannot see or does not wish to admit that a problem exists. He must think that it is of no concern to fail in European qualifiers in 6 out of 9 attempts; that there is no issue with the manager not being allowed to actually watch and evaluate a prospective signing; and that it is perfectly normal to lose 30% of the season ticket base in 5 years.
We cannot learn from mistakes if those in charge do not acknowledge and accept that mistakes have been made.
The current stewardship of Celtic FC reeks of hubris, complacency and a chronic lack of ambition. Mr Lawwell`s complacent response in his state of the nation address on Friday has sadly convinced me that things will only get worse.
I can put up with lots of things- CL exit, players not signing, players with petted lips wanting to leave, but the prospect of +£100 on the SB for the pleasure of watching a zombie team is pushing my patience too far.
PL and the Board better be very careful here.
Should also be considered in context of the contradiction of fid’d absence supposedly citing us £10m pa versus our much vaunted ‘stand alone’ policy.
HH jamesgang
Fid’d = FOD’s
Support for the status quo -UK is support for war-mongering politics.
That is support for the forces of darkness that are instigating wars ,death and destruction and turmoil ,from Iraq-Isis ,Libya , Ukraine ,Syria etc. That is the reality of a no vote.
Ernie- I’m Scottish and proud.
What do you regard yourself then?
Oh I see….if you vote yes…..you are daft and gullible.
If you vote no….you are a coward.
Dearie me
If this is the extent of political debate from unionists and nationalist, I think im right in saying….you haven’t got a clue about politics.
So why bother the blog with this crap.
Pointless nonsense.
Grow up ffs
HH
Hope VVD has a great last game for us… If he is selected..
ernie lynch
09:22 on
31 August, 2014
Ernie this is about democracy first and foremost, Scotland as a country on the 18th of September will be taking a democratic vote in regards to remain as part of the Union of 1707, i and many others like Scotlands foremost academic historian believe it is time for Scotland to break away
Tom Devine on positive reasons why he is voting yes, historically social and economic
He had been persuaded by what he believes has been a flowering of the Scottish economy in a more confident political and cultural landscape.
“The Scottish parliament has demonstrated competent government and it represents a Scottish people who are wedded to a social democratic agenda and the kind of political values which sustained and were embedded in the welfare state of the late 1940s and 1950s.
“It is the Scots who have succeeded most in preserving the British idea of fairness and compassion in terms of state support and intervention. Ironically, it is England, since the 1980s, which has embarked on a separate journey.”
He also analysed the progress of the Union since its birth in 1707 and the reasons why it had worked for both countries, but why he believes it is coming to a natural end. “The union of England and Scotland was not a marriage based on love. It was a marriage of convenience. It was pragmatic. From the 1750s down to the 1980s there was stability in the relationship. Now, all the primary foundations of that stability have gone or been massively diluted.”
Devine also points to what he calls the “silent transformation of the Scottish economy”, based on the metamorphosis in manufacturing from heavy industry through de-industrialisation to a more diversified model. “Our economy is now based on some heavy industry, light manufacturing, electronics, tourism, financial services and a vibrant public sector which provides sustainable jobs.
“We have a resilient economic system and reserves of one of the most important things for an independent estate: power, power through the assets of oil and also through the potential of wind energy. In this, Scotland is disproportionately endowed compared to almost all other European countries.”
He also cites the enhanced reputation of Scottish higher education and research, with four Scottish universities among the world’s top 200. “We get 16% of the UK’s competitive funding despite having only 10% of its population. If we can apply this research to industry and the economy, Scotland will have a head start in the future which will all be about brain-intensive industry. That adds to the potential resilience of the economy.”
Devine believes the union served an important purpose and has now simply run its course. He believed it united citizens on either side of the border from the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 until the dawn of Thatcherism and that the cornerstone of the union and its main pillars have either crumbled or become rotten.
He cited the loss of empire and the dilution of Protestantism as a unionist ideology and the primacy of European markets over English and imperial ones. The loss of 12 Scottish regiments since 1957 had loosened military ties,” he said.
“There’s also the weakening influence of the monarch and the absence of an external and potentially hostile force which once would have induced internal collective solidarity, such as fascism and the Soviet empire.
“When you put all of these together, there’s very little left in the union except sentiment, history and family.”
I don’t care about grasping politicians.
But I do care about the ineptitude of the Celtic board.
PL begging for sympathy….while he strings the fans along.
The vote can wait….what about our team ffs.
We are going backwards.
Lawell out.
HH
Angry about things that have happened…
Angry about what the msm is reporting…..
Angry about what hasn’t happened yet….
Just perennially angry.
Your choice fellas but what a bloody waste of an existence.
Looking forward to he Celts today bouncing back, Getting a glimpse at Wakuso and then seeing if there will be an upset when Donegal take on Dublin
Ernie
That’s it ain’t it, you are a Nat ?
FFS it’s so obvious now: your insults, mock superiority, deriding others intelligence etc whilst droning on about voting NO. It’s all designed to alienate and put people firmly in the YES camp.
Well done !
Have s great day bhoys n ghirls.
mass,breakie and Celtic…cmon the hoops.
Identity politics is the ultimate dead end.
Scottish or British? Who cares?
You are what you do in life. The mark you leave on others and the good you do is your calling card, not your passport.
Personally, I’d call myself both Scottish and British. Plus a wee bit Italian and a wee bit Irish.
But none of these identities define me, nor would I ever maintain that being “Scottish” means I have more in common with the Hun in Ibrox as opposed to the fan on the Kop (as Billy Connolly put it, more or less).
Nationalists think of such things all the time. When people all over this country were building the NHS, the Nats were working out how to break up the country.
Truly, Nationalism and its obsession with identity is the most baleful and unintelligent of all the political philosophies.
Ronny saying he trust JP judgement on potential signings , does he not see the dross on the training pitch every day, JP should be kicked out the door.
I would make every player sit down and watch Donegal vDublin today then ask them for the same commitment that these amateurs make,can you imagine the likes of Pukki and Derk playing GAA.
BIG-CUP-WINNERS
09:24 on 31 August, 2014
Firstly let me just apologise for having had the temerity to go to bed without first seeking your consent and therefore not being available to reply to your post at 18 minutes past midnight.
Secondly do you think maybe that the policies you mention, all of which are what are known as populist (look it up), might just perhaps, might possibly have been implemented in order to win people over to vote yes. Naive, gullible people, who can’t or won’t apply any degree of critical analysis. Won’t perhaps wonder if those policies are sustainable or have been thought through. The truth is they haven’t been, but that doesn’t matter. The purpose of the policies is to get people to vote yes. If that works that’s all that matters. The consequences are irrelevant.
Thirdly. You think freezing the council tax is a progressive measure? That’s not naive or gullible. That’s just stupid.
Lastly. Don’t get to het up if I don’t respond to you within the time-scale you consider acceptable. The world does not revolve round you.
Ernie
From me to you on thus night.
I haven’t swallowed any ‘Nat propaganda’. I’m a sentient being who has reached his own conclusions as a grown adult.
jamesgang
20:50 on 28 August, 2014
Ernie
I’m not a nationalist. Not a fan of nationalism.
I’m more of a quiet patriot. 100% Scottish as far as I know. See my country for its natural beauty, occasional greatness in history and much more prevalent darkness at home and abroad.
Love the English to bits.
I’m quite international in my perspective. I look fwd to being a citizen of a wee sustainable country as part of Europe and the world.
Home rule from Edinburgh offers the best chance of achieving that IMHO.
I detect no phalanx of tartan jackbooted nationalists among yes voters.
Come home and you’ll see!
;-)))
HH jamesgang
And there was me thinking we beat Karagandy last season.
Ach well, what do I know?
Did anyone hear Alec Salmond on Radio Scotland the other morning?
He was asked about possible welfare policy under independence. He confirmed that the welfare cap was fair and would stay and that the overall welfare bill should fall.
Not so far from what Cameron and IDS are saying really.
goldstar10
09:35 on 31 August, 2014
‘Ernie- I’m Scottish and proud. ‘
##
I’m perplexed that someone can be proud of an accident of birth.
Not at all happy at the headlines.
Even if its partly true, and thats all it is Peter, why do you play into the hands of the LL and the Hun with that one statement. To even insinuate that we need them, after telling us at the 2012 agm that we are a ‘stand alone club’ is another faux pas. You’ve made it hotter for yourself at the next agm.
Personally I’ll never see the club that cheated us out of millions, in the flesh, ever again.
Gordon J
Good point Gordon….maybe I was right
It doesn’t matter who wins the vote.
Because in reality, there isn’t much difference between Unionists and Nationalists.
Same old faces, same old policies…..same old BS
HH
BIGCUPWINNERS
I’m not gonna fight BB05’s corner,he can do that himself.
But his absence from the blog is due to location and circumstances. Not fear if a right good argument.
He kinda likes them!
At this rate RD WILL likely get a chance to view all potential transfer targets at first hand.
If the Serb striker’s deal fails to be consummated by the SSM and Dundee play pretty well, what’s the odds of someone seeing Gary Harkins arriving at Ross Hall at half 10 on Monday night?!?!
YikesCSC
HH jamesgang
Ernie- just answer the question.
Ernie Lynch
Ernie…you were half convincing, until you started calling people daft and gullible.
I always read your posts, but you are definitely at the wind up:)
HH
setting free the bears for res. 12 & oscar knox but saying no to cqn racists
01:34 on 31 August, 2014
Doc
“The point about Scotland not being a left leaning country is a big contradiction for you, given it’s fifty years since Scotland didn’t vote that way! Evidence and all that.
I didn’t say the Yes campaign was optimistic, Isaid I am.
Your argument that the a Tartan Army and Scotland changed in response to what it’s English counterpart did is an argument for, not against Independence,
We want to be different.”
Yes, I am all for evidence and it is all there. Scotland has voted against The Tories as they are perceived to be English, in the same way that the Tartan Army evolved from the pitch invading and violent group it was into the cuddly Do-re-Mi singing modern version. It was a reaction against the English not an expression of our true identity. The farmers in Banff and Perthshire that vote SNP are not going to be brandishing any hammer & sickle anytime soon.
As for “we want to be different”, that begs the question, “from whom?”. I was not being frivolous when I said that I saw Glasgow identity as different from Embra. I have more in common with some Lancastrians than I do with some from Scotland.
——————————————————————————————–
First thing, “different from whom” different from the people in a England who vote who vote Tory. I work in England often, the mindset is entirely different from what I per sieve the Scots one to be.
Second, I have more in common with some Vietnamese(insert any nation you like here) than some In Scotland, but I don’t want a political union with them either.
Scotland votes against the Tories because we don’t like their politics, not because of some perception they are English.
When was the Tartan Army violent? Ever? Pitch invading, true, twice in history from memory, 40 years ago.
This season ticket thing is another nonsense…………… with the huns back and same prices………I would guess at a 5 to 6 thousand increase………with a £100 added to price…….I would envisage no real increase in take up….
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon
09:47 on
31 August, 2014
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9348/8
This is the SNP white paper on welfare, that is their position
The Scottish people will vote in a new government after a yes vote, Salmond and the SNP may not be the Government
Salmond is mortal he will not live for ever