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.
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Hun sum total ?
Anything bad abooot ra berrz is just made-up……
Racist / bigotry label, muddied……evaded, softened……………………………………..
bullet avoided withoooot tooooo much kollateral damage?
WATP – soartit.
Big Koverage given to the “Apology” in konvenient titles and oootlets.
Aye.
BANKIEBHOY1 on 30TH AUGUST 2019 1:07 PM
I repent.
Pot 3 is always going to be the key draw, for us in terms of qualification.
I think Rennes are as tough as we could expect.
Lazio from pot 1, is decent. They are certainly not the side of yester year.
Cluj I expect a minimum of 4 points from.
Hrvatski………………..you are absolved ma Bhoy!
;)
No worries matey.
HH
@ AN DUN on 30TH AUGUST 2019 1:05 PM
A realistic chance of topping the group? Rennes have beaten PSG this season and also defeated them in the French cup final last year.
Neil Lennon says Jozo is fit and was rested. Expect to see him line up with Julien at CB.
That makes me feel a lot better.
Maybe he gives Ralston a go at RB. Honestly think its too early for Bauer.
quality left back rules out Taylor, despite his fan club on here
we need LB and CF in now and replacement in midfield… SB needs rested..Turnbull in January too. whereis Kouassi?
Brendan knew whit he was doing putting young Mikey in @ the hate factory.
Mikey has it. That something else.
SHOWTIME SUNDAY.
Aclimatising.CsC
OE – ridiculous how good he is.
I though lawrnece Shankland would have been a good buy.. natural finisher and cost nothing! great for bringing on with 20 mins to go
Timaloy29
Did Lenny not also say that AJer says he’ll be fit for sunday (or am i making that up :-( )
***CQN PLAYER OF THE YEAR UPDATE***
No longer ‘delighted, and now ‘overwhelmed’ by the level o. A huge thanks to the 41 posters and lurkers that have already taken the time to vote their 3 best performers from last night’s fantastic win against AIK.
Remember, you only have until 10.00pm TONIGHT to cast your votes. So,still loads of hours (but no more sleeps) to send a brief email to me at CQNPOTY@GMAIL.COM with the names of the 3 players who you were most pleased with last night. Not in any order, just 3 names.
Votes cast so far have already been spread across 11 different players, so it is indeed all about opinions!
https://celtsarehere.com/neil-lennon-delivers-major-ajer-update-player-confident/
Ajer
The warrior wants to play.
Obviously cautious of causing any long term damage.
However if it is just a groin strain, they might just play him.
BT.
I’ll be in the Blane Valley around 3.15pm.
Did anyone watch the Aston Villa vs Everton game.
The big centre half at Villa (just called up by England).
He had a groin strain prior to the game. Took a pain killing injection. Played and got m.o.t.m
So it is a realistic risk to take with Ajer.
GO TELL THE SPARTIM on 30TH AUGUST 2019 1:32 PM
Did Lenny not also say that AJer says he’ll be fit for sunday (or am i making that up :-( )
____
You are right. Sounds like we won’t know who’s playing til the teams announced. I bet that’s been done on purpose.
Keep them guessing.
Timaloy29
Here’s hoping the team leaks stop this year
Didn’t look like 3000 empty seats at snake mountain last night ? BBC Shortbread still not using the racism word on lunchtime news report of latest hun charge !
Good article! Sunday should silence a lot of critics.
KTF
RUGGYMAN
I watched that Villa game and as you say Tyrone Mings was motm after having pain killing injection before start of game, hope Ajer is made of the same stuff !
Reasonably happy with the draw the only downside is that sevco have the easier/better places to travel to. The Eternal City will be glad there is no visitation from Attila and his wrecking crew.
Rennes could very well be the French equivalent of last seasons Jambos, started off on fire, beat the reigning, and future, champions early on and finished the season like a wet fart.
I won’t be returning to Cluj but will be hoping we give them a battering home and away. Hoping that Rome can be fitted into my schedule.
‘this is bollocks’ – brilliant Paul67. 2-1 to us. Shady g will target boli, think he can run broonie ragged and will stick two on jf and OE leaving rc free. We could concede 2 early on in the tumult – we gave AIKnobs far too many crosses- a good team would have s ored 3 against us. They are not a good team but our defense needs game time.
GTTS,
The team leaks have stopped.
The squad is announced at the Time its meant to be.
Park Road 67
Tyrone Mings
Thanks, that’s the very fella
Bolton Wanderers will need to have a busy window. They have to sign 20 odd players. Think we should see if they want to take somebody like Conor Hazard or Tony Ralston on loan.
I’m hearing that Boruc has been sacked by Bournemouth for going AWOL to Ibrox last night. Can anyone confirm?
Belfastcelt
Last i heard Eddie Howe was going to speak to him, as it wasnt ideal, i hardly think its grounds for dismissal, its not like he had flares and was solely responsible for the big banner
Re team leaks , Mulumbu’s name was mentioned and now he’s gone……….but who knows.
Re Ajer , if Tyrone mings can do it , then surely a viking warlord who loots and pillages for a hobby can do it.
TIMALOY29 on 30TH AUGUST 2019 2:01 PM
Good shout, but can they sign players except free agents until reopening of window in Jan?
HH
The EFL has moved to clarify the split approach for Clubs in the Championship, and those in League One and League Two in respect of the summer transfer window.
The deadline for Championship Clubs for all incoming permanent and loan registrations is 5pm on Thursday 8 August, 2019.
League One and League Two Clubs will have until 5pm on Monday 2 September, 2019, due to August 31 falling on a Saturday.
Confirmation of the split approach followed a consultation process with Clubs and was voted for in May 2019.
GlenD,
Leaks were happening way before Mulumbu.
Dinnae Believe the Press.
The leaks have hopefully been Shutdown.
TRADITIONALIST88 on 30TH AUGUST 2019 2:06 PM
Good shout, but can they sign players except free agents until reopening of window in Jan?
HH
___
Yeah they can.
I imagine they will try to secure 3/4 loan deals from top EPL teams who don’t mind paying the players wages for experience.
PETEC
I think I might have picked that up on here although it probably originated in the press . Main thing is we no longer hand our opponents as advantage through these leaks.
TIMALOY29 on 30TH AUGUST 2019 2:15 PM
Interesting to see what they can do in a short time before the deadline. Think they’re currently on -11 points. Avoiding relegation will be the main aim.
HH
For all you Roman Rebels out there:
https://youtu.be/55yCQOioTyY
I agree with poster who said we should sacrifice Johnston for Ntcham on Sunday.Jamesy and Eddy backed up by Christie,Calmac,best 4 in Scotland.Broony helped out by Ntcham.Huns will try and boss midfield.I would chance Bauer if fit.Why not?Not the most difficult position to fit into.Look at El Hamedy.I would also play Jozo alongside Ajer,if fit,been there ,done it,help Bauer out early stages.
We have to be solid early stages.If we play well,we win.We are better,much better.
At least drawing Lazio casts some further doubt on us selling Edouard to them.
If Eddy keeps playing the way he is I can see him at Liverpool or Man U next season.
Bed wetting aside, if we come away from Sunday 3 points short of Rangers it will have been our 3rd defeat in a row there. They only finished 9 behind us last season. Their results so far in Europe indicate they should be taken seriously.
The Swede they did pay money for isn’t getting a look in because of the form of Barisic. Look for him getting punted before Morelos btw.
Sunday’s game will be all about the midfield. How many more games will Scott Brown emerge from without getting run over by a younger more eager competitor?
The main issue I have with the accusation of pushing the bed is that Cluj and AEK Athens, Malmo etc spent less than Celtic and we were forced to lie in our pish stained duvet for the rest of those seasons.
The margins for error have been made smaller with the quality of signings and the penchant for taking an eternity over accepting offers for our players.
The mistakes on the missing out on incoming transfer fees and the ongoing wages costs have resulted in us treading water.
We are treading water again as we did last season. Signing Izzy as a stop gap when we could have had the lad from Rosenberg then. Could have punted Sinclair for nothing but delayed and ended up with his wages for the year. Could have offered Boyata the same as hi Hertha Berlin wage or sold him but would up with no transfer fee and having to bed in Jullien.
The bottom of the midfield and the defence is seriously flawed. A quality midfielder or two would see a huge step up in confidence.