They come and go, some kiss the badge, they all talk about how great the fans are. Of all those who played with Celtic in recent years, it was Christopher Jullien, in a private moment, who asked, “Why would anyone want to leave Celtic?” At the age of 26, he found his paradise.
We rated him not for what he said in private, but for his performances on the field. He was the most dominant central defender Celtic had since Virgil van Dijk departed four years earlier. It was his head, chest, leg, on the ball, when we were under pressure. He could then pass the ball out of defence with both feet.
Of all the glories during our second nine-in-a-row years and the Quadruple Treble, the 2019 League Cup Final holds a special place. Celtic were on the rack throughout; with an inspired keeper, Christopher holding the defensive line and scoring the winning goal, the win felt so much sweeter.
His 89th minute winner against Lazio was a perfect example of his aerial dominance. Celtic were a shambles a year later, when he collided with a post at an empty Celtic Park, but they were not yet out of touch. Had he remained fit, who knows? As it was, the shambles continued.
Chirstopher’s exclusion from action on return from injury was down to team tactics. Ange wants his central defenders wide, leaving them plenty of ground to cover, in the event of a breakaway attack. This is not Chris’ forte, it wouldn’t work.
Best of luck, Chris, don’t be a stranger.
Ignore it all you like, but the most important game of the season in Scottish football takes place tonight. It will determine the competitive balance, perhaps beyond even this season. Football in Glasgow is a zero-sum game.
509 Comments- Pages:
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ZBYSZEK on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:38 AM
Thanks. We’re due a flop in our recruitment, hopefully we’re covered by a loan with an option if he doesn’t come good.
BURNLEY78 on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:42 AM
I do wish everyone would stop acknowledging the multi monikered fellow. It only encourages.
He is what he is. Ignoring him if you want to is easy.
Every now and then he says something interesting and relevant but for me it was lost in the garbage a long time ago and so I ignore them all.
BURNLEY, I would not know if he has ever said anything interesting because from the first day/post when I deduced he was from the multi-monickered stable I have just ignored him (and his other personas). I agree with you that ignoring him/her/it/them is the way to go, but enough posters engage and keep the fud(s) animated so it/they will keep infecting the blog!
I try not to let myself get too worked up about Sevco.
Do I enjoy it when they lose and get narked when they win a biggie?
Of course I do.
Them’s the breaks.
I’d hoped for a second year without CL income for them.
Hasn’t happened – direct impact to us is just over €3m euros.
Huge shot in the arm for them.
Over to us.
BTW – I think Madmitch makes a good point about Malmö.
Jon Dahl Tomasson was humble and smart.
He didn’t try to overthink it.
He saw the financial weakness, socialised it and used it to apply pressure before 2nd leg.
Van Nistelrooy wasn’t so smart or humble.
If I was playing a team I actually wanted to beat?
First thing I’d do is watch their defeats or poor performances (including those in SPFL) to see how other teams do it.
“Blue”print for facing them is simple.
Play it slow, steady, tactical?
They cope
Play fast, apply pressure, take it to them?
They fold
Bring it on.
ERNIE LYNCH on 25TH AUGUST 2022 10:04 AM
DENIABHOY on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:30 AM
‘Both us and them will be underdogs in every game’
##
Which is why I think their more rudimentary, down and dirty style of football might be more effective. It’s rotten to watch but it’s more difficult for skilful teams to deal with.
—————
agreed. Last night (and some games last season) reminded me of the hun run in 2008. Naive teams like Sporting just ran at them and crossed to a packed box until they gave up and got suckered.
the 1992/3 hun team had more about them and did well; although they had some luck too e.g., Nisbet mis hit and Lukic OG
Z
Good to see your perspective re the Montenegrin Swede. Hope you are well ?
Champions League Group Prediction
We have seen variations of this so many times
https://twitter.com/seanzolio/status/1562543023929835520?s=20&t=51la4tb1-ZKBQ3_8Gq-8Vw
Surely Celtic can offer Champions League,Europa Cup ,Titles ,Medals etc than what Sunderland can offer to the young PSG player or is it in his more money that they can give him than Celtic can ,also see the pro Newco fans on here telling what they will spend the cash on new players well let them ,and I thought under Stoke Exchange rules that individuals weren’t allowed to put money into Sevco .Celtic for me ,
The Huns are faced with a dilemma. Do they do the sensible thing, bank some money, build up their cash pile and make their balance sheet more attractive to the buyers they might be hoping to attract. After their summer sales and now the cl money they will never have a better opportunity to look like a viable business. They could even pay a dividend to the shareholders
Or do they carry on chasing the snake. They might be in the champions league now and have some cash to splash but they still face the perennial problem of getting real proven talent to come to Scotland. Their expensive summer signings aren’t getting a game at the moment, they face the same problems we have since we’ve had money to spend – we’ve just let our second most expensive player go for £1m
A wise move would be to use the cl money to buy several players at the right stage of their development with a view to them making serious contributions in a year or more and then sell them to the epl before they’re too old.
Or they could carry on living from one season to the next while hoping that another Bassey or Patterson falls into their laps.
I think a lot comes down to the desire to look for a buyer and the ego of Parks. We’ve already seen them price their main assets out of deals, it’s not impossible that their hubris and exceptionalism does for them again
Tom sad to see you are getting fed up
Scullybhoy take care mate.pop on odd time.
Burnley 78
It’s not a scroll by issue,you have outright racism posted by a multi moniker on these pages.
Racist dirge,
It’s a troll.
It does not go near our team.if at all
Have a word with your friend.
Snip the ip or carry on with the racism
As Emily said of Trump it knows it’s error,in the media age repitition of errors layers uncertainty,in his case fake news.it serves ìts purpose.
:-)
HH
Our Group
PSG
Barcelona
Shaktar
Their Group
Any 3 teams with a transitional team, manager on a shoogily peg/ about to be sacked
You heard it here first
MCPHAIL BHOY – funny but true :)
FWIW
I have made a wee list of four teams from each Pot any one of which would be my choice for our group..
I do this now so as to remove any `fear bias` in my assessment of difficulty when the draw is actually made.
Using this, I will be able to deduce which of us or them, IMO, has had the more favorable draw .
PS I have also put the favoured four in the order I would prefer them so I have an ideal group in mind !!
Sad to say, I also have an ideal group for them.
I want a group of teams we have not played before in group stages.
Sevco have inherited all the Rangers fans from the dead club so they’ll still follow the same path as Rangers did, maybe even to liquidation again, who knows……
When they had Aribo and Bassey, not that i rate either of them highly, they went all in with a Loan signing from Juventus and an loan from Man Utd, how did that work out for them? Theyve lost their two best players, made some signings but noone stands out. Their strength, as per Ernie et al, is theyre a pragmatic dogged team any impact flare they recruit for the Champions league is unlikely to make a whole lot of difference to the top two seeds, depending on the draw it may not make any difference to the pot 3 team either, so they either recruit and give up their “style” or they add a few similar type players to who they already have, i dont see either making them any more dangerous.
ZBYSZEK on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:38 AM
Sead Haksabanovic was a flop singing at Rubin Kazan. He is not a good signing for Celtic either. One of the reasons of that he disappears in close contact game.
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Cheers for input ZBYSZEK,welcome as always.:-)
I was listening to a Swedish reporter on him,saying
His trip to west ham failed,back to Sweden then off to Russia,where its not turned out well.his take was a little more optimistic in that he was suggesting a fresh start here at Celtic
Good to have your perspective ZBYSZEK
Hail Hail
CORKCELT on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:34 AM
“Re the Football, I can’t pretend that the Huns don’t bother me, of course they do,
I will watch their CL matches and enjoy it when they do get gubbed and will be disappointed big time if they don’t,”
Put a Euro win on the Huns every game. They win your a few Euro’s up to ease the pain, they lose, well, you have are a happy Celt.
We dismiss sevcos euro form ar our peril.
Excuses for their progress was repeated, here and elsewhere, all the way to the final.
Support Ange. Expect improved euro performances of our own.
The £40M chat was alive until January, then when Celtic took over at the top of the SPL the outright entry to the group stages and previously referred to £40M like the original Rainjurz disappeared. Sevco qualify and hey presto they’re getting £40M again.
Most Celtic supporters know differently of course, however there is irony that because of the way the coefficient works over the last ten year period, Celtic in Europe actually created the coefficient that allowed the second placed SPL the chance to qualify for the CL. Celtic will receive in the region of £8M more than Sevco’s first qualification for the tournament not including ticket sales which will be less expensive and more plentiful.
The only dilution of payments will be TV revenue and Celtic will receive £3M less than we would have had Sevco not qualified. Demand for Celtic tickets has never been higher, there were supporters ticketless outside the ground on Sunday verse Hearts, CL packages are priceless.
On a serious note, I hope we are physically up for the challenge of the Champions league.
Far to many times we have been knocked of the ball too easily. We need physical strength, exceptional fitness and above all a game plan that includes defending for long periods of time.
The huns have been successful by sticking rigidly to a game plan. Not that we want to start playing “Anti-football”, but we certainly need to play with more guile.
Going forward, I have no doubts we will be effective, but we need a solid defensive midfield to compete against the big clubs of Europe.
UNCLE JIMMY on 25TH AUGUST 2022 10:51 AM
‘Support Ange. Expect improved euro performances of our own.’
###
Fine. But…..
The degree of improvement required when playing Angelball style football in order to make an impact against top European sides is very very considerable.
And the lack of killer touch in converting chances to goals in domestic games doesn’t augur well for Europe, when chances will by comparison be few and far between.
funny how football has changed ; paul67’s right – money gets you long term success
Ernie
Good reply as always.
I was tempted to suggest we ‘demand’ improved euro performances, though I’d surely receive a negative tirade of replies
Emily Maitlis CSC
We are still two starters away from being the team AP2 needs to be with the CL coming up.
The MF is still nowhere near being settled / effective as it needs to be.
DM = needs more time to settle down.
He is getting up to speed regarding making chances.
His finishing just lacks a bit of confidence.
LA = Hoping he kicks on again.
Some of his play is incredible just a case he needs to think about a Plan B.
RH = If he fires we come 2nd in the group.
Needs support / energy around him and we currently don’t have enough.
CMcG = Slow start to the season / currently not good enough to start.
I was hoping his slow climb to the top was going to continue this season.
Unfortunately he seems to have stalled and AM is looking a better bet.
MoJ = nowhere near CL quality / ready at the moment.
We need another CL quality CB — loan will do.
All in — squad is still settling down.
The final ball is all too often fired in with little thought for the recipient.
JPNF vs DM — not linking well.
dea rie dearie dearie me
P67 — you could not be more wrong regarding football in Glasgow as a zero sum game.
AP has proven that viewpoint to be a complete fallacy.
You build your own markets — if you have a growth agenda.
Flogging stuff to Japan / Aus / Greece — that grows our market.
Selling more does not mean TFOD2.1 sell less.
Plus watch out for the Fridge Magnet.
AN TEARMANN
If there are posters ‘ready’ to quit because of issues from an undesirable,then if more follow suit,will the mod then take action.I enjoy the site with posters sharing their love of the greatest team on the planet,those who leave is a matter for themselves,but no way will I give in to anyone who would try to spoil my enjoyment with their,let’s just call it nonsense,others may put a stronger label on what is being posted.Anyhow I bid all a good morning,and to Scully the Celtic books I promised you,keep in touch,for delivery from me to you.
I SHALL NOT BE MOVED CSC.
Pavlov is looking for a dog — should he try CQN?
good luck to anyone with khids getting GCSE results today 🤞
Seems the huns qualifying has spooked a lot of the support.
Seems there’s a flouncing jamoboree. Nothing better than announcing it too, which always adds to the drama.
Scroll by multi-monikers, bores and any input that doesn’t tickle your fancy. We have them all here. I’m sure I’m one.
When scribing, be nice if you can.
Up da Celts
HH
The huns remind me of Michael O’Neils Northern Ireland team – on paper not very impressive but their system is very efficient and very hard to play against. NI under Michael O’Neill got to last 16 of euros and gave the likes of Italy and Spain hard games despite being an eyesore for football fans.
As for huns signing players, yes they will but they will remain very much a system team. That’s the problem we need to overcome.
I think two weeks from now we’ll be 5 points clear. That will be significant.
AN DUN @11.11
Last paragraph so true…roll on the Celtic steamroller.
ZBYSZEK on 25TH AUGUST 2022 9:38 AM
Sead Haksabanovic was a flop singing at Rubin Kazan. He is not a good signing for Celtic either. One of the reasons of that he disappears in close contact game.
########
If that’s the case do we need him , as we have others of that ilk in the team already . Still disappointed by that as I thought he was a player . With regards that mob across the city , they will spend that’s for sure , soon we will see how our suits react to that . HH
An Dun
Is that the same Michael O’Neil who has just been sacked by Stoke City?
Our ole Polish friend’s view is purely his view. It’s not a fact.
Similar to MM’s view on Callum, who will get better as the season goes on and we settle down post-transfer window.
I think both players will contribute to the unique environment created by Ange.
HH
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 25TH AUGUST 2022 11:02 AM
Emily Maitlis CSC
Thumbs up. Although being a Jewish female bbc news presenter I’m sure she’s coped with worse.
Ernie
“The degree of improvement required when playing Angelball style football in order to make an impact against top European sides is very very considerable.”
Once the players were used to the new system we performed well against teams that were in champions league spots in La Liga and the Bundesliga at the time – ten minutes from a victory in Leverkusen and a home win against Betis. We’d also lost narrowly at home to Betis with half a team
`AN DÚN on 25TH AUGUST 2022 11:11 AM
As for huns signing players, yes they will but they will remain very much a system team. That’s the problem we need to overcome.`
An excellent point. If it is their system that gets results, new players would only be required as replacements for injured players.