We saw a thoroughly professional performance from Celtic in Stockholm last night. AIK were always a team we should have beaten, but ‘should have’ does not always happen, as our previous encounter proved.
James Forrest, Mikey Johnston and Odsonne Edouard were on fire, while Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli looked more comfortable than in previous outings.
Lazio finished eighth in Serie A last season, behind all the big names, but a decent ‘Best of the Rest’. Rennes are off to a flier, top after three wins from three games, including a win over PSG, but finished 10th in Ligue 1 last term. They will be better than anyone we have faced so far this season but this is why we want to be in European football.
Cluj are the team I wanted most of all. They are a strong pot 4 team but we were awful against them and need to put it right. This is a challenging Europa League group providing lots of opportunity to prove a point. Bring it on.
48 hours from now, we will be in action at Ibrox, where we were outplayed twice last season in games that ultimately cost nothing. Those experiences seem to have left some in our number with a bedwetting disposition ahead of Sunday. Steven Gerrard has added ten to his squad while Celtic, if you read some coverage, have done little transfer business of note. This is bollocks!
Gerrard starts from a losing position. His team have not won any major trophies. Celtic have been imperious on a level never previously known, three consecutive trebles!
Of Newco’s ten additions, two were for money (Helander, who they did not pay the reported £3m for, and Edmundson, sending £700k to the English fourth tier in return). Two are loans (Ojo and King), but the bulk are the Tried and Tested Free Transfers route to building a successful team (Hastie, Jones, Stewart, Davis, Aribo, Barker).
Bargain bucket- teams are easier to assemble than teams full of players who command transfer fees, but when the trophies are handed out, they are seldom on the receiving end.
By contrast, Celtic have so far spent £12m reassembling their disrupted defence (Jullien, Bolingoli, Elhamed), with Bauer on loan – and an option to buy him. There is also a quality left back on his way.
Fraser Forster is here on loan (he’s not cheap). We took advantage of the cross-country opportunity we exploited to sign Moussa Dembele, to capture Luca Connell for £350k, and I expect another first team addition (as well as the left back) before the window closes.
Celtic got everything wrong on one game this season but have all of the most productive, successful and valuable players in the country on the field at Ibrox on Sunday. We cannot take any game for granted, and I have seldom gone to Ibrox without concerns, but Celtic will blow Scottish football away again this season. I’m not buying the Newco threat.
582 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- »
Bullish article Paul. Hate to be a bed wetter, but I’m bracing myself for a defeat tomorrow. I expect the huns to win 2-1. I predict we’ll at least turn up this time, but there are too many factors against us.
First is the return of the sieve. Who really thinks we’ll keep a clean sheet tomorrow? We’ve conceded in 8 of our 12 games this season; our defence is already weaker than last season; we have key injuries; guys playing there for the first time; guys playing out of position; and, Lenny’s style is to out score the opposition.
We were brilliant going forward against AIK, but they could easily have scored a few goals and they are ordinary. The huns aren’t great, but they’re better than AIK.
I’m warming to Bolingoli as I like his attitude, but he’s a weak defender. The pen in Stockholm was soft, but it was his fault. He goes to sleep too often and I fear he will be found out tomorrow.
On the bright side I can’t see us not scoring. We are too good going forward. But we need our midfield guys to be present tomorrow for that to happen – I was very unhappy with their non-performances at Ibrox last season.
The other big factor is the ref. We will get nothing. Beaton’s performance there at new year set the standard. Completely one sided, letting all their hacking go and giving them everything. I expect lots of soft free kicks and bookings in their favour. Very possibly a sending off and/or penalty too.
So I’m a bet wetter. The huns are much better – we can’t control that. But have we as a club made ourselves as strong as we can be? Not for me. The recruitment to defence has been tardy and it makes us weak in that area going into tomorrow. I love watching the team going forward this season, but it’s often shambolic at the back. We’ll need big Fraz to have a blinder if we’re going to get a result.
Does anyone know what’s going on with young Arzani?
Is he fit?
Could Celtic cancel his loan?
Don’t know why all the worry. We are a much much better side then them , all we need to do is BELIEVE.
3-0 The good guys.
For those going to the game– stay safe
KINGLuBO
Coefficient watch.
Scotland will jump up one place in the rankings each time we and sevco combine to manage the following
two wins more than red star and partisan combined.
Two wins and a draw more than Zagreb.
Five wins more than Nicosia.
four wins more than olympiakos.
six wins and a draw more than kobehaven.
Nine wins more than Slavia Prague (who are unlikely to get a point in their group so might just be possible if we and/or sevco get to the knockouts).
If all points above were satisfied then we could be looking at automatic qualification for the CL in 2 years time.
QF
PS – I worked the above out eating breakfast and haven’t double check so apologies if there are errors. I have also not included bonus points gained for qualification to the knockout stages which could influence things.
It is an away game at Ibrox.
Generations of Celtic teams have lost there and it has not defined their season.
Of course I believe we can win but I will not be spitting my dummy out if we lose.
Remember the famous 6:2 side followed that up with a 5:1 reverse at Ibrox but still managed to win the league with ease.
Too much anger and reaction to a dodgy result will not help anyone.
It can happen, we need to look for a good performance and stick with the manager no matter how it goes.
We might even get a very pleasant surprise at how well we perform.
No matter what you hear about ‘laying down a marker’ and ‘biggest game in 8 years’ is nonsense.
This is only the first meeting of the season.It is not as defining as the ones later on.FACT
Rangers are yet to prove they have the abilities to sustain a credible title challenge.
That is done by winning week after week despite European football.
We have proved we can do that time after time.
They have not.
Tomorrow’s game.
I was worried before the New Year game last year. We had just gone too many undefeated games at that place and by the law of averages etc etc. My brother still blames me for the defeat due to my prediction.
The next game was meaningless to us but everything to them. We managed to win quite a few of those in the 90s against the real rangers – remember. Good fun but ultimately meaningless.
Tomorrow’s game has meaning. It’s a big one and we are due another win. I will not be wetting the bed tonight.
QF
The three match package for our games is decent imo …well done Mr Lawwell .
PHILBHOY on 31ST AUGUST 2019 9:31 AM
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 31ST AUGUST 2019 3:34 AM
D.D.
Nope.
This was who I was thinking of .
Bishop John A Mone RIP 2016.
================================
I remember Fr Mone when he was PP at St Joseph’s Tollcross.
My poor memory say’s he supported the original huns.
Emdy?
………………………………..
I was a parishioner of St. Joseph’s, Tollcross for 14 years when I lived in Mount Vernon. Fr. Mone baptised my daughter. Lovely priest. I loved that Parish. Monsignor McKinnon, Fr. Thomson and Fr. Michael Sharkey were great priests also.
Very reasonable pricing for Europa package. Should guarantee 3 full houses.
Well done PL
I would play Ntcham tomorrow instead of Mikey Johnston to stiffen up the midfield, they will double team Forrest and play a high press against us and hope to run the midfield with three against two, that’s predictable enough for me at least.
Combat that initial threat and play our forward players into the game.
Easy this management lark…………
Peter Latchford:
Good post. I’ve already replaced my mattress. Unless we get a big Vic type in by the end of the day who can boot the utter sh*t out of Jack and Arfield and a left back who can hault Tavenier’s cross balls, I might be replacing that one too
Cant for the life of me see where this “Sevco have improved out of recognition”crap.They have had 2 seasons of Europa League football,where they have had the easiest routes,I can remember anyone ever getting.Especially being unseeded.Legia,10 th in Poland,the Russians,no one had ever heard off 7th in that league,for play off places.Could not keep up wth uslast year,have struggled against Killie,St Mirren,and only got in front with Hibs a man sent off.I dont see any great improvement there,just carrying a bit of luck,which wont last.We,on the other hand,have scored 15 goals in 3 games against historically difficult opposition.Took us to October last year to score 7 goals.The only difference is the constant moaning,whingeing,running down of our players,and team,while everything is light and goodness coming from their scum.Its getting to the stage,if we score 4,and lose 1,the focus is put on rubbish defending by our fans because we lost a goal.
At the press conference the other day,they asked Lenny about the Huns being favourites,he laughed,shook his head,and answered”Just why would that be?”
CHAIRBHOY@ 6:57 AM
“Embdee think this was interesting!?
“We cannot take any game for granted, and I have seldom gone to Ibrox without concerns…
Compare and contrast…
“Many will live the rest fo their days only seeing Celtic win the league …
Guess we now know where we now stand on the Rangers newco/oldco debate, as we head to the “home” of Glasgow Rangers, Scotland’s most successful football franchise. With “CONCERNS”
At least the GoD like hubris has gone, as we welcome back the Old Firm Derby
——————————————————-
I do not see the “interesting” conclusion that you have derived.
Paul is saying quite baldly that it has always been hard to get a result at Ibrox. Both the dead club and the new Zombies play out of Ibrox and it has been hard to win there with both iterations of the club. We may have enjoyed a brief period where we had favourable results but the overall pattern of both versions of them enjoying the benefits of home advantage is well established for Rangers 1872- 2012 and is becoming more of the norm for Sevco 2012-19. That is all that I take from the post
As for Paul’s GoD statements, personally, I see his statement as a truism. 57, 883 people died in Scotland in 2017. Since the dead club last won a title in 2010/11, there have been roughly 8 times 55, 000 people who have gone to their makers only having seen Celtic win a league. That’s 440,000 souls. It will be close to half a million if we make 9iar. I think that counts as “many”
But the fact of acknowledging that there are 2 teams who have played out of Ibrox, nor the fact that we have had a GoD- ( 14 titles this millennium plus 9 SCs and 7 LCs is an unprecedented level of domestic success which beats any such 20 year period from any time in history. Yes 66-74 has a greater claim because of our Euro exploits but it was 8 seasons only) does not equate to any endorsement of O** F*** mentality.
I see more signs of O** F*** mentality in the “Rangers are coming” view and the “we need to spend bigger to bury them” argument. We have won the last 2 leagues by 9 points. There was none of this angst when we finished 9 its ahead of Aberdeen- that we needed to bury Aberdeen’s challenge. But it has been there since plucky Sevco managed to overtake Aberdeen and claim this “also ran” position.
I can live with any result tomorrow. It will not be league defining either way and it will not produce any fatal psychological blows whether it is a draw, hoe win or an away win. In fact, I will assert that the team that does best against the non-Glasgow clubs will win the league and that neither of the Glasgow clubs will earn 12 points from the 4 Glasgow Derby fixtures. I will be happy enough if we shade it 7 points to 4
but if it’s 6 apiece, I will live with that too and still expect us to have enough to land this league
I’m actually really relaxed about 2moto. Shed loads of negative comments on here. This is a game we can win.
CHAIRBHOY on 31ST AUGUST 2019 6:57 AM
OK someone has to say this…..
What are you babbling on about again?😃
Trying to pick fault with one of the best leading articles in ages…
Away and bile yer heid. You are always at the same game on here. I’ve read a few posts of yours and thought the same but allowed myself to believe you were correct as I had been drinking. I even remember one joust with you. Don’t be offended it’s just what I think.
This a generation of domination It’s not hubris it’s FACT.
Paul used that term more than 10 years ago and we still have 2 to go before the 10.
Having concerns about going to Ibrox is exactly that, it’s 2 games per season – if they make top 6😀
It in no way equates to saying we won’t win the league. Which we will.
Hail Hail 💚🍀
I’d play Ntcham over Mikey as well – Mikey will have a role to play in the second half against tiring legs.
Player for player, we’re comfortably better than them. Though that was the case last season at Ibrox.
Aim number 1 tomorrow should be to kill the tempo and take as much out of the first twenty minutes as possible. Take our time with throw ins and make the foul in their half to get everyone back. To win this game we need to withstand the hyper twenty minute opening that will come our way. Do that and we’ll win comfortably.
Their game plan is clear for all, a high press and frantic opening quarter to gain a lead and then sit in and counter as they inevitably tire. If we go in level at half time and can see us winning by two.
CORKCELT on 31ST AUGUST 2019 9:39 AM
you’re welcome mo chara. I’ll look forward to them. That was a real lol moment for me last night
LAZYDYNAMITE on 31ST AUGUST 2019 10:07 AM
Spot on. I have thought the same for years and this time we will have the perfect barometer.
Hail Hail 💚🍀
RobinBhoy on 31st August 2019 11:24 am
I would play Ntcham tomorrow instead of Mikey Johnston to stiffen up the midfield, they will double team Forrest and play a high press against us and hope to run the midfield with three against two, that’s predictable enough for me at least.
Combat that initial threat and play our forward players into the game.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I would do the same.
Also worth remembering that we’ve lost one domestic game in 2019. That’s an impressive record and is testament to our players and management. Every reason to be confident tomorrow.
SFTB
Agreed.
Ibrox has never been an easy venue for Celtic, and with the ticket allocation, the huns have a further advantage. However, we have the better players and, if they play to anywhere near their best, will win. We need to be at it from the off, neutralise the crowd and the mibs, and the job’s a goodun. Easy!!
COYBIG!!
😂😂 just catching up…
SFTB – we just tag teamed Chairbhoy and your point about ‘the rangers are coming’ is Spot on.
Lazy dynamite and Turkeybhoy
Great posts
Hail Hail 💚🍀
I’d play Mikey… they can’t double up on him and Jamsiebhoy.
Eddy, Ryan, Cal….
We are the ones who will be setting the tempo from the off and big Julien and Jozo at the back with Ajer at RB doing his raids on them… if fit
But I’ll leave picking the team to Lenny.
His presser yesterday was immense. Celtic TV have that spot on now too as the msm can’t cherry pick the parts they want to spin.
Hail Hail 💚🍀
They will come at us first 10 – 20 mins
If we can keep it tight and not concede in that time, our quality should eventually shine through as the game progresses
TOSB
My memory is not that good but I did a few readings there too.
We lived in Carmyle Avenue and my neighbour who was Polish had a caravan delivery business.
He went back to Poland for the summer and his son and me would do the deliveries at the weekend.
We got back from Ardnamurchan Point just before 6 o’clock mass one Sunday and dashed in to church.
I was manky with oil and mud and was sitting in the back seat when the priest approached me and pressed the reading into my hand. “No one else today Phil, would you mind?”
Before I could object he was away.
I got more than a few odd looks and that was probably the quickest reading I ever did.
I remember to that the story was about a tribe called the “Cushites”.
Messed that up as well!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJwDgBb00LM
The current DJ on Radio North Angus has just said that `Rangers` were lucky to have had only a 3,000 section shut. The bold DJ said he would have closed the whole ground !!
JJ
Difficult to call tomorrow-
Rangers are better than last year
They’re not great, against most of the spfl, they’ll be fine
Their confidence is off the scale.
This will go for us and against us- they’ll come at us thinking they’ll steam roller us. I think they’ll score at least one but they’ll leave space for rc to link up with jf ‘n oe.
Our squad is well able to win the spl but we’re not fully settled; any team with tactical nous can knock our balance off.
They ain’t got tactical nous
2 1 to us
Had a fantastic night at the Greenock Celtic for the annual sportsmans dinner.
Greenlions club is something special in the Celtic world, it really is, and thats from a Port bhoy.
CRC great company mate, funny tales. Enjoyed it.
On stage Gerry McDaid, very good, Peter Latchford gave us a wave, Phil Differ immense the calderpark zoo story is brilliant, but best of all Jim Leishman what a personailty, what a poet his Jock Stein homage is spine tingling and his story telling is just something else, his brother rubberheid is the butt of most thing, well him and the huns.
Remember his Pars and Livi were ok with the celts,
whatever happened to the Pars ? that last lot that visited were a disgrace.
I really wanted to ask him about calderwood and nicolls lie doon at Ibrox in the tainted title win.
anyways brilliant night.
as to tomorrow, i couldnt care a jot, if we win good, any other result, hey ho, doesnt matter, we will still win the league with musch to spare, have no fear.
bedwetters of the world unite,
https://youtu.be/6XtRoVofo8A
Bhoy I believe in you.
Wish someone could make a Celtic chant from this
What is a Caravan delivery business ?
is it a business that delivers caravans ?
or a business that delivers stuff out the window of a caravan ?
i demand to know.
-))))
Come at us? Maybe.
Coming at them is big Kris, Boli down the left, Callum, Ryan, Jamesey,, Mikey and Odsonne.
I worry about a diminsihing Scott and Neil overthinking the formation.
Play to our strengths and prove we are what we are – the much better team , despite all the phony pretences that “the Rangers are coming”….
Expecting goals. Celtic goals.
SFTB
A simpler example might be that my 17 year old daughter has, so far, lived through 13 Celtic league trophies.
In comparison to 28 in my 53 years
Food for thought
U
as a ps, then out of here/
thursday night James McFadden dropped his guard a wee bit on shortbread.
talking about Bayo, he said, his two goals from saturday were given as own goals, if they had been in europe he would be getting the credit for them himself.
wonder why that is.
https://twitter.com/Zeshankenzo/status/1167532603290923009?s=20
We all know the old rangers died. However football in all countries welcome back ghost clubs as the same.
Scotland did and Celtic did long before the dead huns. No one questions Hibernian being the same cub as Hibernians at CP – supporters, players or officials.
We signed jullien from Toulouse not Sevco Toulouse. There’s Derry City, Fiorentina and I’m sure many more. It’s the way football does it I’m afraid.
And no one at CP complained about it, as I said, until sevco huns. That smack a bit of hypocrisy to many beyond our shores.
Here’s what uefa think
https://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=50121/profile/history/index.html
QF
Not sure about the other clubs but Derry are on record as acknowledging they’re not the same Club. A Phoenix with the tradition but not the same.
I respect that.
Big day of sport to keep us preoccupied until midday tomorrow.
Mon the Hoops.
I think the game can go either way tomorrow. It is burying our head in the sand not to admit they have improved. I am still confident we are the better team but with home advantage & only a Token Celtic Support they definitely have a chance.
There is little doubt that they will make it a helter skelter match. We won’t have as much possession as we normally enjoy and will have less time to pick our passes. I expect them to be in our faces & playing at 100 miles per hour.
We need to concentrate on our own game, we can’t allow them to bully us, I’m in the camp of N’tcham ahead of Mikey.
Mikey is a star & will be a sensation in years to come but he is still young & lightweight, Overall I’m predicting a one goal victory for the Celts but I for one will not be too disappointed with a share of the points tomorrow.