Helsingborgs IF are sixth after 17 games in the Swedish Allsvenskan, seven points off Elfsborg and Malmo, who ended Scotland’s interest in the Champions League last season. Our opponents clearly play it tight on the road, they have lost only eight goals away from home, considerably fewer than anyone else in the league (Malmo: 19), although their home goals for and against are not unusually low (scored 14 to Malmo’s 16 at home, conceded nine to Malmo’s one).
Helsingborgs have lost only three league games, fewer than anyone else. Four draws from nine home games appears to have cost them most ground in the title race.
Celtic can expect to face a tight defence who are well versed at shutting teams out in the second leg in Glasgow where they will need the creative talents of Kris Commons with perhaps Paddy McCourt p[laying a role. A big European-night atmosphere at Celtic Park will be invaluable.
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If the sun is shining tomorrow
will venture doon the green to here
the bagpipe folk.
I take it there will be a beer tent ?
Real Madrid beat Inter Milan by 5 the other night, and changed all their team at half time.
Sleep Well CSC
bourne
That’s a belter. Looks a bit different (ie, not visible) from here on the Burnside veldt.
And after the bag pipers on the Green you can head
to the The Shipbank for a wee sing song.
You can shove your Edinburgh festival where the sun don’t shine.
Jonny the tim…. Gave the huns a doin again today.told them I only read huns sites to see how sad they are.read ours to get educated n keep me 4 steps ahead.hail hail cqn.
So we’re pulling down a building and keeping the wall, all inclusive with seperation at the core, aye very good
Is rtc jason bourne :o)
Have you seen this? Gerald Butler’s new movie, Playing for keeps. He plays for Celtic in the trailer, and wears the hoops sponsored by CR Smith and it looks so real! Well, apart from that last bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4xt09JuAnxc
There’s a great word gaining more usage these days to describe ‘journalists’ like Jabba. That word is : ‘presstitute’. Describes the beast perfectly.
HH!
“Playing for Keeps” on the FF banned list? Or the whole of the movie industry even…
Actually they might just set fire to youtube cos of that trailer. Silly billies.
YouTube is actually a good description of a hun……they,in the darkest recesses of their blackened souls know this to be true. Life is difficult for the huns these days. Long may it be so.
nah. Put them out of their misery by letting both their insolvent clubs die once and for all. :)
Sevcovian comment courtesy of an ignoramous. “Pele was Winston Churchill and Wayne Rooney rolled into one…” Thank you Radio 5 Live(ish). Your work here, is done.
MIKI67
Youchoob works better!
Aussie Tims –
Celtic v Real Madrid live on Setanta 4am est.
Celtic 2 Real Madrid 0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InUUgIvZQvQ
Real Madrid v Celtic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFs-H99-J4
Tom
Cheers.
AND , Mexico cuffing Brazil at midnight.
Ojala.
Foxy_1888 on 11 August, 2012 at 05:06 said:
Wee Jimmy with the leash off.
Bob Crampsey:”John Clark,normally a work-a-day player turns on the style.”
Thanks for the memories,Foxy.
Inter Milan v Celtic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXjlRCePvUU
Celtic have never faced a Swedish club in European competition. amazing.
TOM McLAUGHLIN 0602
That wee stat’ll bugger the statisticians on here,haha!
From e-tims….
http://www.etims.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3735
I can’t remember who complained to Advertising Standards/Trading Standards people about their new slogan,and was asked to provide them with proof,but I think the original of this should suffice.
many moons ago I would drink coffee all day and sleep all night – now I drink one cup of non-decaff and sleep evades me like the div 1 aspirations of Sevco…
morning all from a sunny (no clouds at all) Macclesfield
slabbhoy
Try some whisky in it,medicinal,of course.
Half a bottle should do the trick.
you might be right – the 4 large glasses of RIoja didn’t make any difference!!
must admit the game against RM tonight excites me – game time, CL-level experience, revenue etc. all good despite the fact that we will certainly get humped. lookin forward to the game and the season…
8:43 am and gonna be another scorcher, Tic TV today and a few cold ones i think.
slabhoy
I’m gonna watch it,but I honestly can see a doing on the cards.
BMCUW
Serious doing vs CL-level experience – would take the experience every time at this point in the season, Especially pleasing is that whilst we are in the US playimg RM, thems are in Peterhead… ahh the aroma of fresh (no huns) air…
SLABHOY
I’ve taken a great delight in making the comparison when slagging my mates,absolutely loving it!
Peterhead v Rangers (rare footage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt1keQaUIQ0
WGS continues his affection for Celtic whilst McInally disgraces himself again in the Hun sucking upto Sevco
Strachan will watch with green envy as his old side face Los Blancos
neil Lennon would not profess to be the Special One.
There is a coach, however, who would certainly dub the Celtic manager as the Lucky One. The Parkhead side will step out to face real Madrid inside the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia while Gordon Strachan will be left to content himself with a role as a television pundit for the 2012 World Football Challange match.
Despite taking Celtic to consecutive appearances in the last-16 of the Champions League there was always one achievement missing from the cv Strachan wanted to assemble.
“I always hoped to be drawn against Real Madrid,” he said. “While I was in charge of Celtic, we got AC Milan and Manchester United a couple of times, and we were also drawn against Barcelona, which was all great for everyone involved, including the supporters. But I always wanted Real Madrid.”
Strachan can at least say he got to face Mourinho as an equal, even if the Portuguese sees himself as a something of a nonpareil. The former Celtic manager watched as his side drew 1-1 with Mourinho’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2006. He enjoyed the experience and is sure Lennon will savour his chance today, even though the Parkhead manager would prefer the game to have come in the Champions League.
When asked how he thought Lennon compares with Mourinho, Strachan was typically mischievous. “Well, Lenny was a better player,” he said. Seriously, though, I am sure he will make the most of having the chance to see Jose operate at close quarters.
“Jose will be brilliant with him. He is no problem, unless he is under big pressure. It’s part of your education as a manager to see how others go about the job, especially the men at the top of the game.”
Which is where Mourinho is, his Madrid team having regained top spot from Barcelona in what is considered by many to be the top domestic league in the world. His Champions League record is even more impressive, although no Celtic supporter will need reminding that he had already announced himself on the European stage by leading Porto to victory in the 2003 Uefa Cup final, beating Celtic after extra time.
Lennon was one of the Celtic players left crushed by that disappointment in Seville, and angered by Porto’s gamesmanship. He has come a long way since then and Strachan is delighted to see the man he made his captain at Celtic – and who he later brought back to the club for his first coaching role – successfully survive the minefield of Champions League qualification in Helsinki.
It is a huge weight lifted from Lennon’s shoulders but Strachan was always confident they would get through to the knockout round. “I was up at the Aberdeen game, and you could see they would be all right,” said Strachan.
“It’s always a difficult day for players and manager alike when you have the flag being unfurled, fireworks going off, and all that sort of thing. But, they got the win and went on to make it three victories in three games when they played in Helsinki on Wednesday.”
Having got into some kind of rhythm, the competitive action is interrupted by today’s friendly. However, Strachan is in no doubt it is a worthwhile exercise, especially as generating income has never been more important.
“First of all, we have to acknowledge that it’s terrific Celtic are invited to play in these kind of games,” he said. “It shows how highly they are regarded. As for players feeling being flown across the Atlantic for a friendly when the season has already begun, and just a few days after they have played a tough Champions League qualifier, well, I’m sure if you asked any of them if they wanted to be rested, the answer would be no. If any player asks why they have to do this, the clubs just need to reply: ‘To give you the decent wage you want’.”
Strachan’s only concern about Celtic trip is the possible ramifications if they should find themselves on the end of a heavy defeat. “I remember when I was at Coventry in 1996, we played Benfica in a pre-season game, scored first – then lost 7-2,” he said. “We had a horrible start to the season after that. So, Celtic have just to make sure it’s not a daft scoreline.”
Explaining to a Hun that they are no more.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2gslpxw&s=6
NEIL LENNON moved quickly to dispel any notion that drawing Helsingborgs in the Champions League play-off round represents any kind of open route to the group stage for Celtic.
.
The Swedish champions were the lowest ranked side in the draw, and Lennon admitted that managing expectation will be every bit as tough as managing his players in the games which take place in Helsingborg on August 21 or 22 and at Celtic Park a week later.
The added spice to the tie is that it brings together the club that helped Henrik Larsson kick-start his career, and the club where he became a legend.
Out of respect for his former team-mate and close friend, the Parkhead manager will not ask Larsson for information on the side who currently lie sixth in the Swedish league and who knocked out the Polish champions Slask Wroclaw in the last round.
Lennon’s assistant, the former Sweden defender Johan Mjallby, will provide the inside line to how they will line up against Celtic.
Victor Wanyama will be suspended for the first leg after picking up a red card in Wednesday’s win over HJK Helsinki. Lennon also has concerns over the fitness of Scott Brown, James Forrest and Paddy McCourt, none of whom travelled to Philadelphia for today’s friendly against Real Madrid.
The captain’s hip problem and Forrest and McCourt’s groin issues have been treated by injection and the manager has already written them off for next weekend’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League match at Ross County. However, the hope is that they will be available for the trip to Sweden.
Lennon is confident his players will be much better prepared for these ties than for the matches against Helsinki, simply because they will have much-needed game time under their belts, but nonetheless insisted Helsinborgs will be no pushovers.
He is also mindful that another Swedish team, Malmo, beat Rangers in Champions League qualifying last season.
Lennon said: “After Wednesday, I know a lot of people will be thinking this is a gimme but it’s not. Far from it. If you look at the international teams, Sweden are far ahead of Scotland in terms of qualification for tournaments.”
However, he went on: “It’s a good draw in terms of the fact that by the time the game comes around, we will have plenty of information about Helsingborgs.
“No matter who we got, it would have been a tough draw, but at least we not going totally into the unknown in this one.
“To be fair to Henrik, he will probably have a foot in both camps, so he will probably want to keep well out of it.
“I will not be speaking to him because I would not want to put him in a difficult position. Johan will have a fair idea about them, and I think he is pretty pleased with the draw.”
Thomas Rogne will also contribute his knowledge of Helsingborgs, who have a Norwegian manager, Age Hareide, and three Norwegian players, Ardian Gashi, Thomas Sorum and Erlend Hanstveit.
The Celtic defender said: “Winning games gives us confidence, but Helsinki was a team we should have beaten. “Helsinborgs are a different proposition. They will be organised, but there are no Ronaldos or Messis. They will be tough to beat, but we have the quality.”
Rogne was dismissive of the “Larsson Factor”, reasoning: “The Larsson link is good for the media maybe, but, for us it’s just 11 against 11 and we don’t bother with anything else.”
With European football secured until mid-December, either in the Champions League or the Europa League if they lose to Helsingborgs, there may yet be some movement of players in or out of Celtic before the end of the month.
Gary Hooper, Wanyama, Beram Kayal and Ki Sung- Yueng have all been heavily linked with moves to clubs in the English Premier League. At the same time, Celtic’s the search for another central defender and a striker continues.
However, Lennon’s mind yesterday was on the heavy schedule of games coming up, starting with today’s friendly against what he describes as currently the best team in the world.
“This game will help in terms of players getting some more football,” Lennon said. “We have come here short of four or five players. We wanted to give Georgios Samaras and Mikael Lustig some time off because they have not had much rest
“In terms of McCourt, Forrest and Brown, they all had injections today in hip and groin areas. The plan is they should be OK for the first leg against Helsingborgs. They have all had scans, and there is something there with all of them.
“We could have shut them down for four weeks, but there was no guarantee the rest would have made them any better. But, with the injections, we are pretty confident things will settle down.”
Lennon was speaking after helping to launch Celtic’s International Academy in Philadelphia, where a multi- sports facility carrying their name will be built.
By ALAN PATTULLO
Published on Saturday 11 August 2012 00:30
CELTIC were handed an excellent chance of reaching the money-spinning group stages of the Champions League yesterday when they were drawn against Swedish side Helsingborg, but it was the Europa League draw which grabbed the lion’s share of excitement in Scotland.
But Alan its only small minded parochial press bigots like you who think the Europa cup is bigger than the C/L, there is a big world outside of Scotland
Hertz will be lucky to keep the aggregate score to less than six
Hearts defy the odds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCjEsN4E85s&feature=related