It is a measure of how far we have come during this Champions League campaign that a 2-1 defeat away to Benfica, leaving us favourites to qualify in second place for the Champions League knockout stage and assured of European football after Christmas, is a disappointment.
Unlike previous defeats in this competition, this one has not limited our ambitions.
Around this time of previous Champions League campaigns I’ve opined that Uefa Cup/Europa League qualification would be preferable to finishing second in the group stage, leading to inevitable elimination to a group winner. Teams who drop out of the Champions League have the prospect of a decent run in the Europa League, earning more coefficient points and potentially more cash, whereas Celtic never convinced me they could reach the last eight of the Champions League.
This time is different. We got it wrong last night and as a result lost the head-to-head against Benfica but this was not the case against Barcelona. Most of the current group leaders are better than Celtic, all would create more chances and have more possession against us, but here’s the rub, Celtic can score goals against anyone and can defend remarkably well.
Georgios Samaras has now scored in three consecutive group stage away games; he scored in all of Celtic’s five away games in Europe this season, surely a record. This is beyond a mere statistical oddity, it’s a result of a strategy which Benfica, Barcelona and Spartak have been unable to cope with (last night’s block-and-free-header routine was a thing of technical brilliance).
We’ve scored five goals in total in our three away group stage games. In the eight away games in the competition proper before this season, since losing in Copenhagen, we scored only once (remember against whom?)! In short, we can go anywhere and play effective counter-attacking football which even the best team in history had trouble dealing with.
That doesn’t mean we are champions-elect, of course. Benfica, who are a worthy team but are not tier-one material, got the better of us. They played to form last night and Celtic dipped. Scott Brown was clearly unfit, Charlie Mulgrew may-or-may-not have declared himself ill before kick-off but his condition did not help (stunning corner aside).
Neil also left out Kris Commons. Kris’s form has shaded since The Beating of Barca, so I was not surprised to see him on the bench, but did you notice we started to get balls into the Benfica box after he came on? More of this and I fancy Benfica would have yielded. In his post-match comments Neil Lennon reminded us his players are young and will learn from the experience.
It’s easy to overlook the fact that the manager is also young and learning as he goes along. His tactical decisions have been the real revelation of this group, even if he did leave Kris out and his gamble with Scott Brown didn’t work. His progress as a manager has been, as our old friend might say, astonishing.
Fraser Forster provided more evidence of his outstanding ability. Mikael Lustig and Kelvin Wilson looked perfectly at ease with under frenetic pressure but Efe Ambrose particularly impressed. I’ve watched Celtic defences for decades and we always seem to have a ‘junior partner’ but not now.
The defence made two mistakes last night but in all their games together they have yet to conjure up a Big Dan Moment.
My objectives for this Champions League campaign have already been surpassed but expectation levels are never level, so let’s take care of Spartak and see where the adventure goes next.
Orders are now open for the very first CQN Annual, get it here!
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philvisreturns/Big Smoke Bhoy
Like I said…”some on here…”
Summa
Sammi seems to go on a good run of games and then gets injured.
It then takes him about 10 more matches to get back to the level he was at.
Estadio -are you hypnogogoc, or hypnopompic?
I thought the ref was pretty poor last night, not surprised by the Benfica tactics of going down very easily but the yellow cards that Samaras and Ledley got were ridiculous.
Estadio – Enjoying the streams of unconsciousness…..
Gordon J
From earlier. Well, whatever we might think of it, there is a 145 page document that is full of evidence, possibly relating to “employees” of the former Rangers FC. If they were not employed to play, administer or manage football, (fill in own joke here) what were they supposed to be doing?
I have to disagree slightly about Ambrose.
I don’t think he looked convincing all night, while Wilson was outstanding again.
I actually think we should swap Ambrose and Wanyama around.
Vic is more solid in the tackle and better in the air, while Ambrose I feel has a better range of passing and is a bit more creative than Vic.
Estadio
Genius.
You should get paid for writing these things. You should have your own two pages in the Celtic View every week to fill with whatever you like. Lots of people try to do what you do and cannot manage it.
KevJungle “I can’t wait to see us when the board start to get ambitious !”
“when” Kev? Do you know something we don’t?
Hypnagogic .
Has to be The Skaters or Ariel Pink ..
The mighty Sammi scores in 5 successive away games in the top European competition –
Has anyone ever achieved that – never in Hoops – maybe Messi or Raul….embdy?
Keeps good company in the oul’ kwality stakes does oor Sammi – I was discussing this with some eejits last night ” ah but he is just soooo frustrating ….” Was the response
Jeezo !!
One day his achievements will be recognised unreservedly
Celtic Mac,
Indeed. It’s hard enough to get your head round a loan that doesn’t have to be paid back – but to be told that these moneys paid to footballers had nothing at all to do with their playing football lacks any credibility at all.
gordon_j,
If a ‘loan’ doesn’t have to be paid back, it’s not a loan. It’s a gift, or a wage.
jimthetim53,
Well you would have thought so …
Headline ‘Rangers died for nothing’ – I saw it in supermarket did not buy it,never would – in today’s Daily Ranger as well as being not strictly true, must surely qualify as weepie of the year.
Posting from the balcony Billy McNeil lifted The European Cup from.
Had to.
This is beautiful.
Gordon,
It’s just the usual, lawyers QCs Judges making a fortune pouring over legal points of law and coming out with decisions which astound us all. Like prisoners getting a vote!
I remember someone from 2,000 years ago who hated ‘Legalism’ He called them ‘Whitened Sep….’ Pharisees?
As far as I can see Charles Green had two options when he bought oldco
1. He could present a miserable 2p in the £ type offer, half heartedly hoping for a CVA
2. They could actually pay the debt that was actually due and continue unabated as the team, despised by so many and wait for the result of the big tax case.
Charlie chose option 1 in an attempt to ditch the debt.
He chose this option ahead of saving his own clubs name and history
But Charlie thought he saw the taxmans shadow coming for him with the big tax case bill and he decided to fold the oldco before the big bill arrived on the doormat. He folded oldco in attempt to avoid the potential consequences of the big tax case. He blinked. He pooped his pants. He had options. He could have sold the likes of mcgregor, steve davis, Naismith and maybe one or two others, to pay the debt due at administration time, he gambled.
When the big tax case largely went their way, they soon realised that the consequences of not paying the due debt was:
1. His players were given freedom of contract and walked away for nothing
2. Possibly the Stadium is owned by other (show us ra deeds)
3. The new sevco dropped 4 divisions
4. Etc
It’s no one else’s fault that rangers went into administration for unpaid PAYE and NI except rangers
It’s no one else’s fault that Charles Green chose not to pay the due debt when he had the opportunity except Charles Green
Charles Green had the option to pay
Charles Green gambled, believing the big tax case bill was due
Charles Green lost that gamble
Charles Green needlessly folded the oldco for pennies, he is indeed a financial genius, a messiah.
It’s somewhat bizarre that the sevco fans are now allegedly queueing up to hand over cash to the very same man who personally had a starring role in folding their club in the first place. Stupid, stupid huns, but I guess that’s up to them. I reckon that the next step in the saga, that is sevco, will be watching the oldco senior figures, turning on each other, folks like King who had a 20 million quid investment turned into zero might not be too happy for example.
Sit back, light up a ceeegar and watch the zombies, its still got a long way to run.
that’s one thing about zombies, you should never let them gamble!
that’s one thing about zombies, you should never let them gamble!
-Zombies should also not play ‘Twister’.
Taken from The Oxford Dictionary
Definition of loan
noun
a thing that is borrowed, especially a sum of money that is expected to be paid back with interest:
Backhander
British informal
a secret and illegal payment
Ntass Oolla
15:28 on
21 November, 2012
KevJungle “I can’t wait to see us when the board start to get ambitious !”
“when” Kev? Do you know something we don’t?
The Board’s ambition or lack of it will be well tested come January.
Five gets you ten that Hooper or someone else will be off hire for a reasonably substantial fee. Additionally, last night guarantees European income into the New Year.
Will the supposedly ambitious Board convert this money into Neil Lennon’s much desired physically imposing striker or, for a third successive transfer window, adopt the traditional cautious as we go boys strategy? Answers on the head of a pin.
jimthetim53,
“I remember someone from 2,000 years ago”
You’re much older than I thought you were …
We should graciously concede that rangers have now gained yet another one of those british world 3rd division record thingies, for being the stupidest people ever to fold their own fitba club.
These kind of records easily eclipse winning the big cup, down ibrox way
Such Fun !!!
estadio nacional
15:44 on
21 November, 2012
Enjoy the moment mate.
jimthetim53
15:49 on
21 November, 2012
Gordon,
It’s just the usual, lawyers QCs Judges making a fortune pouring over legal points of law and coming out with decisions which astound us all. Like prisoners getting a vote!
Pouring over legal points were they. Little wonder they came to a decion many regard as a load of p*@%h.
Gordon,
Ha Ha the clue is in my ‘Moniker’
Am no that old!
Maybe twas pouring legal pints they were quono , that might explain their decion sorry decision.
I see the MSM have wasted no time in rubbishing the need to strip titles. Every man and his dog with a blue persuasion being rolled out to tell us winning the big tax case means the independent commission doesn’t need to happen now. Clowns like Dingwall being allowed a say, court cases ahead for people who leaked info etc. Even a quote that the anonymity of the report means Orc fans will never know the names of the hmrc investigators (I kid you not)
corkcelt
aye, and it took them about 10 months to agree to disagree. What a session that must have been! Hangovers all over the place. A legal pint can lead to ruin methinks. Except for a very learned lady, who spoke the truth.
All right minded people know they fleeced the taxman.Even some of the huns know,but poor old Jabba Traynor is spouting they are due an apoligy.What a sad excuse for jorno that man is.Most Tims don’t buy his rag so he has to keep in with the zombies.
I played poker with a zombie once..it was rubbish..kept throwing his hand in!
There was a belter from Swivel-eyed Davie Leggit yesterday, but I think a lot of the anger has been drained out of today’s dispatch from the outer reaches:
http://swivel-eyeddavieleggat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/tax-case-what-tax-case.html
got an email from Amazon ( another non-taxpayer) – giving this link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908005483/ref=pe_26761_32988681_pe_vfe_dt1
Timjim
The MSM are crying about hmrc costing the public purse 3 mill as well and asking for an investigation, makes me puke to be honest but none of us should be surprised. Xmas has come early for these fannies and if papers were untouchable for us before you can times that by 10 now.
P.S Any Celtic fan going near SSB after this you deserve everything you get
I blame the board – it is obvious that we should have piled into the EBT (loan scam) – we could have signed Messi
David Murray claims that oldco were willing to enter into an out of court settlement with HMRC.
Whywould you do that if you knew that everything was above board?
Nimmo’s enquiry is not about whether the EBT schemes were tax compliant or not, its about whether dual contracts existed. Yesterdays ruling has no effect whatever on Nimmo’s deliberations. In reality yesterday’s decision means nothing or changes nothing. Old Co akready owe HMRC for Craigy’s Tax & owe Ticketus and a load of smaller Creditors, all yesterday was about was how much MORE they owed HMRC. It is likely to be several million more but well short of 75 million more which was worst case scenario. However the total is entirely academic , they were not going to pay it anyway. They are Dead, whether you are dead with 4 bullets in your gut or dead with 40 bullets in your gut, makes no difference, you are still dead. So is the case of Rangers, they are still dead and whichever way yesterday’s decision went would have had no impact at all on Sevco.
Damo,
I’m astonished that this poster has even heard of St. Thomas Aquinus (spelling?) Thomism is a great theology and his posting should be ignored just for mentioning his name with them.