Brendan Rodgers’ comments about Moussa Dembele, “It’s something you have to deal with”, suggests it is likely we will be without him tonight, meaning we go into one of the biggest games of the season without (currently) our best striker.
As it stands right now, it is likely, but not certain, that Moussa will leave this week. For a start, those delicate muscles would need to pass a fitness test. One week ago, Celtic expected the player to remain at the club until January, when they believed his value would be no less than it was then. That possibility remains, and it should be noted, Moussa has behaved professionally.
The situation is far from ideal. Only yesterday, I wrote about the need to concentrate on the important job to be done tonight. Under any reasonable circumstances, we should see Suduva out of the competition comfortably, but this is football and we both know anything can happen if one team is even 10% off peak form.
The Europa League is a poor relation to the Champions League but it remains hugely important, not least of all in attracting one or two players, who will want European as well as domestic exposure. I don’t know how motivated the squad are, but they should be at peak preparedness; tonight is significantly the most important game of the week.
One positive is that Leigh Griffiths was made for days like these. He has the experience and aptitude to lead the line.
Let’s get this job done.
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think its time for maximum time restriction placed on the taking or should that be non taking of goal kicks throw-ins etc. to reduce the dreadful amount of time wasting , ‘thems’ goalie takes at least 30 seconds at every goal kick. and kick out .
I’m glad we’ve bought Mulumbu. He was universally admired on here last season. He’ll be a great guy to have in the trenches alongside Scott Brown. If we can get a season or two out of him it’ll be great. Does anyone know if he’s fit enough to play on Sunday. Has he been training with any other team to keep up his fitness levels. I feel better about Sunday already.
So far we have beaten the mighty livingston 3-1 and the mighty hamilton 1-0. Both at home. A 1-0 loss away to hearts.
Some people on here rubbishing sevco results.
Get a grip.
Timmy7_noted,
In London, so out from that perspective. however decision was made that none of us would take our tickets for tonite or the group stages.
Happy to buy season tickets and lick and choose games. Emotional attachment to Celtic has decreased dramatically over last weeks.
dont want team to fail but would welcome a 10k crowd to show the Board the damage they have done.
we will pick and choose games from now on. Its a l carte Celtic from now on just like Lawwell with Brendans transfer targets.
The Original – Mulumbu will need a few weeks of training as he hasn’t played a game since last May (I assume).
The Huns are pish. McGregor has been a revelation for them and holding together a run of draws it seems.
They are due a damn good humping if we are in the mood.
TOSB Mulumbu ht the ground running when he came in at Kilmarnock; I suspect he’s “naturally fit” and won’t be too long before he’s ready. Brown and Mulumbu with Ntcham pushed further forward is definitely an option.
KTF
What sickens me most is we have given them hope
I know it’s the hope that kills u but the stress disnae do anything for you either…
Youssouf Mulumbu is 1.77M
ST. DBBIA
Head Spinning I need to calm myself
Dangerous Momentum
Huns achieve their first target – EL worth about £8m to them they will be doing cartwheels
Expect them to sign the guy that been hanging around Glasgow waiting for the result
They will come to us on Sunday with a swager
Running Uphill
Meanwhile we are scunnered on numerous fronts ranging from Athens to McGinn to Boyata to Dembele to Brendan himself Tonight is critical for obvious reasons
Peter the Great
I would love half an hour with him there must be some logic to our predicament – surely he is not incompetent
What’s the story Peter, what’s the strategy
Brendan – Penny for your thoughts
My big concern amongst all of this is our Managers thinking He must be as scunnered as we are
I hope PL is not playing the same poker with BR as he did with Petrie for McGinn
We all know how that worked out
CQN
For so long the number 1 go to place to understand all things Celtic But recently my heart has questioned the site as a message board for PL to shape the agenda Fake News or Payroll Journalism Paul67 your work and dedication is brilliant but the lack of column inches covering our current transfer window issues is very noticable
Sunday
If we sell Boyata and Dembele tomorrow and get nobody in I still think we are better than them
But Momentum is a difficult thing to overcome
I still believe we will pull through this “blip” but I need motivating
Any good news welcome
67ECW
There’s currently a first team squad of 33 players – can we really criticise Brendan, Peter Lawwell and the board for being unwilling to sign any more?
This is my latest list – have I missed anyone?
Goalkeepers (4) – Craig Gordon, Scott Bain, Doris de Vries, Conor Hazard.
Right back (3) – Mikael Lustig, Christian Gamboa, Tony Ralston.
Right Centre Back (2) – Dedryck Boyata, Jack Hendry.
Left Centre Back (3) – Kristofer Ajer, Jozo Simunovic, Marvin Compper.
Left back (3) – Kieran Tierney, Emilio Izzagiurre, Calvin Miller.
Central midfield A (3) – Scott Brown, Eboue Kouassi, Yousuf Mulumbu.
Central midfield B (3) – Olivier Ntcham, Scott Allan, Nir Bitton.
Right wing (3) – James Forrest, Mikey Johnston, Lewis Morgan.
Attacking midfield (3) – Callum McGregor, Tom Rogic, K Benyu.
Left wing (3) – Scott Sinclair, Johnny Hayes, Daniel Armani.
Strikers (3) – Odsonne Eduoard, Leigh Griffiths, Ryan Christie.
Jimmy Bones – In the last day or so, BR has mentioned he wants to reduce the size of the squad (heard that before plenty of times . . .), primarily by putting youngsters out on loan. Seems we take just as long getting our players out on loan as in on loan.
Jimmy B…
Moussa
So Sevco speculate to accumulate and it pays massive dividends.
We have all the money and do nothing with it. You would think we are skint. What a successful strategy.
Oh and how many more results will Sevco need to get before people on here start taking them seriously? Would RD’s team have reached the group stages of the EL had they played the same games as Sevco?
This is going to be an extremely uncomfortable season.
Generation of domination? 10IAR?
Blown it.
JIMMY BONES
There’s a guy on here posts every day saying that we never get deals over the line
it always take ages, and miss too many signing targets ?
Sheesh CSC
JIMMY BONES:
Love how you slipped Brendan into that first paragraph as if he’s not been telling the media for months that we do need more players.
And in answer to your question, yes we can blame Lawwell and the board because far from making us stronger we’re weaker now than before the window opened. This is what they call “strengthening the squad.”
Some of the intellectual gymnastics required on this site, to defend this pish … it is incredible to me. Some of you should be working for the PR team at the Department For Exiting The EU. They too are selling nail shavings and pretending its fairy dust.
I read last night that in the latest act of self-harm we’re going it alone in building a satellite in anticipation of being locked out of the Galileo satnav system. The amount of money we’re going to spend to be worse off makes you wonder if any of the people who voted for this have a brain cell between them.
The parallels with our brand new floodlight system are obvious.
They’re going to look really good on those Europa League nights in front of empty stands.
We get what we deserve.
Didn’t think I could be more deflated than I already was.
If we don’t beat them on Sunday, after them travelling thousands of miles and playing large parts of the game with 10 and then 9 men then serious questions have to be asked about all levels of management.
Tonight should be an absolute demolition of the Lithuanians but I can see it being a flat, edgy affair.
What I want to hear on Sunday.
Sevco manager: “We had a long flight home after playing a tough match……….but I’m not going to use that as an excuse.” (I just did.)
Celtic manager: “It’s been a tough week, but we’ve come through well. We need to build on this now for the rest of the season.”
JIMMY BONES on 30TH AUGUST 2018 5:20 PM
There’s currently a first team squad of 33 players – can we really criticise Brendan, Peter Lawwell and the board for being unwilling to sign any more?
=======================================================
Appreciate the effort of pulling that list together, but squad size is – as I’m sure you well know – a distant second in importance in comparison to squad quality – we can’t play all 33 at the same time.
Brendan wants / wanted to improve quality – it hasn’t happened, and in fact we have become weaker.
We should be looking to move on around eight of the above.
HH
BGFC
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 30TH AUGUST 2018 5:30 PM
So Sevco speculate to accumulate and it pays massive dividends.
Good grief
Temp lights still on Dalmarnock Rd near Tesco
Benkovic in and Boyata out is good.
Mulumbu in is good.
What worries me still is the Dembele replacement. We can’t go on with just two strikers. Who’s available?
Celtic continue to block Moussa Dembélé’s departure, having turned down another offer from Lyon – will he be one of a number of French football related Celtic talents blocked from moving on to Champions League destinations? http://bit.ly/MoussaStuck
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on 30th August 2018 5:17 pm
They always get their hopes up.
https://www.snsgroup.co.uk/p/167/30-08-18-celtic-park-glasgow-youssouf-mulumbu-15340095.jpg
Big Youssouf getting in early to get a good seats for tonight
From ShaunyCeltic.
Youssouf Mulumbu leaving Celtic Park after agreeing a 2 year contract!! ?? https://twitter.com/ShaunyCeltic/status/1035197250849398784/photo/1
The Killie reject Sevco arrived.
Celtic fans getting as desperate as the Sevco fans now and accepting any old sh**e A man of Brendan’s stature won’t put up with this nonsense.
From ShaunyCeltic.
Youssouf Mulumbu leaving Celtic Park after agreeing a 2 year contract!! ?? https://twitter.com/ShaunyCeltic/status/1035197250849398784/photo/1
The Killie reject has arrived.
Celtic fans getting as desperate as the Sevco fans now and accepting any old sh**e A man of Brendan’s stature won’t put up with this nonsense.
From MCNallyMirror.
Anything Lawwell has ever achieved at #CelticFC has been totally negated by the omnishambles his complacent incompetence has unleashed on a club that won the Double Treble 3 months ago.
Time for Desmond to show him the door before it’s too late.
Fans being sold down the river. https://twitter.com/lubohenke1967/status/1035154194724990976
Will Moussa play tonight, even on the bench?
I was informed by someone ? that BR refuses to sanction Moussa’s departure unless he is replaced by someone of similar ability even if it’s just a loan.
As regards Ufa – finished 6th in the Russian league scored 34 conceded 30. So not prolific up front and sieve-like at the back. Marginally better than Progrès but sevco are a fair bit better than Pedro’s sevco.
Why Benkovic? Yes he is a good player, he is a player we were linked with in at least the last 2 transfer windows but didn’t stump up the cash to even get to the negotiation stage.
We now need an experienced centre half to help our own young centre half’s so why is a 21 year old with about 80 first team appearances the answer to our problem? It’s not going to be loan to buy so it’s pointless. Keep Boyata till January and in the meantime scout a long term replacement and buy him!
The Killie “reject”. FFS.
No wonder some players want to head to places elsewhere with that shite.
The ‘We deserve better’ mentality is strong among some of our support.
Sadly.
From Benthetim
If Celtic wanted Mulumbu, they could have signed him before the Champions League qualifiers. Moving for a free agent 48 hours before the window shuts doesn’t make the recruitment team look brilliant.
CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 5:35 PM
Is that wrong? Sevco’s net spend this summer will be more than ours and a hell of a lot more if Dembele goes.
Checking BBC. Sevco’s back 5 included 4 new signings and I would guess that they played the majority of the campaign. They got through on defending. Do you think Sevco’s defence last year would have managed that? Nope. New signings have got them where they wanted to be.
But put your head in the sand.
What a difference a glass of red makes (ok 2 glasses)
After my post earlier today depressing myself about the state of our club – here’s a thought
Mulumbais a replacement for ………. Ntcham who will replace Armstrong
Boyata will stay for another year
We will get the guy from Leicester no idea if he is any good with a view DB going next year and we sign this guy
Dembele stays for another year
We sign another striker before tomorrow (no idea who)
We thump this mob tonight and hump the huns good and proper Sunday
Normal service resumed
67ECW
Overview of the squad
Keepers – ok, some weaknesses but certainly not of high priority to improve.
Right back – two internationalists but with some glaring deficiencies against decent opposition. Would be willing to go with Gamboa as an attacking force for the short term but definite work needs done to improve in the near future.
Centre back – we should have sold Boyata when we had the chance. He’ll go, possibly for nothing. Commper’s contract should be terminated. Simonovic has regressed. Ajer has the potential to be quality but how will he ever get their with nobody to show him the ropes. Hendry is no more than decent. Shouldn’t have let Svietkencko go. We need someone for the youngsters to learn from and ideally someone of quality of Boyata leaves. This looks like a major weakness in coaching as well.
Left back – people may scorn the Izzy signing but it makes a lot of sense. Decent cover here now.
Centre mid – assuming we have made the signing we have good cover in all areas of the centre. Need more out of the attacking/creative side.
Wide men – we have a decent number although it is a mix of hot and cold players and those with potential. A bit of a wait and see scenario.
Strikers – if Dembele goes we are dangerously short. Could be going with an option that’s good in the air. If Dembele stays we don’t need anyone… But we do need someone in the pipeline for when he does.
HEN1RIK,
With all due respect we’ve got the message. It’s time to support the team tonight.
You’re rapidly turning into NegaKev2.
Hands
I’d be raging if we bought what the Hun bought in defence bar McGregor, who is carrying them.
By your logic Hearts should be envied too.
And the full recruitment team need replaced.