YOU were there to see it. When you look back on the great teams, the great seasons, the team who established a new British record of 69 games in domestic competition unbeaten, will fill your heart with joy. This team, The 69’ers, eclipsed the Centenary Team by some distance and will measure alongside the Seville Team in our annuls, second only to the Lions.
They are that good.
There is more than just being good. They have been incessant. They suffocate the life out of opponents. They played fast, attractive, football and when they sensed a vulnerability, they went goal crazy. They never gave up.
Eclipsing the club’s 100-year-old unbeaten British record last month took an emotional toll. After this, a late winner against Ross County, an industrial Cup Final win and that unforgettable late show at Fir Park suggested the players needed a new chapter. You and I discussed getting through December after a near thing at Easter Road, but the players just couldn’t climb another mountain.
It ended emphatically, amid two defensive slips and a stonewall penalty. Despite being three, then four, goals down, the players had the hunger, but not the imagination, to overcome the odds one more time.
The run has been a joy. Scott Sinclair announcing himself at Tynecastle in August 2016, then Moussa doing the same with a hat-trick a month later. In a little over four months of starting his first league campaign, Brendan watched his team score four or more against seven Premiership opponents. These were not just victories, they destroyed opponents desire to be on the field. 14 of 38 league games during that campaign saw four, five or six Celtic goals.
In 69 games across two seasons, one moment unquestionably towers above all others. Celtic were on the verge of a truly unique achievement: an Invincible treble, but the 2017 Scottish Cup final hung in the balance with two minutes remaining. One slip, and the most impossible of achievements, then in touching distance, would disappear.
Tom Rogic carved Aberdeen open and dinked the ball over the keeper in a delicious finish to a magnificent season. They did it! League Cup, League and Scottish Cup winners without losing a game. That Final could have been won as easily as the 3-0 League Cup win over Aberdeen earlier in the season, but fate would gift us a dramatic conclusion. Grown men cried.
Celtic winning the Premiership this season is the surest thing in sports betting. Their odds, 1/33, reflect how the betting companies can invest your money for the time they hold it, rather than any prospects of Celtic not delivering. A bet on Celtic winning the league is not actually a bet, it is a savings account.
We have planned to address the short-term issue of remaining unbeaten for too long. Now we can focus on being ready to defend the Scottish Cup, our trip to Russia and perhaps more European adventures. We will overcome Brechin City at home in the Cup next month, leaving four games for a second treble, while the January transfer window will bring the opportunity to add depth to the team.
Brendan, in the words of another great Celtic manager, you and your players have been utterly brilliant! Thank you.
*There’s still time to get a signed copy of Jim Craig’s new Lisbon Lion Diary, Right Back to 67, in time for Christmas. And we will also give you a free copy of That Season in Paradise, signed by fellow Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace. Just order Right Back to 67 today at www.cqnbookstore.co.uk
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Me again!
2nd ?
The last time I got a PODIUM we got pumped 4-0!!
“Grown Men Cried”
Yes they did:)))
Hail Hail to Brendan and his Bhoys…
Philbhoy are you the new Philvis :))))) with aww these podiums..
Thank you for all the good wishes on the arrival of Daniel into the Celtic family.
LEFTCLICKTIC
Just (un)lucky yesterday!
Great summary on why we are fortunate to be living through this period as a Celtic fan.
Note of caution, lets take nothing for granted, we have learned that we need to fight for everything we achieve as a community and importantly when we do lift the trophies let’s celebrate it with passion as Celtic supporters !
The Banter –
Home and away Hertz pal ( who has spent this bemoaning how crap Hertz are ) sent me a wee 4-0 SMS accompanied by a sound clip of Hertz fans singing -” Oh -the wee Hibs are shite ” -Hey Ho !!!
18 degrees and sunny -way down south .Post lunch Nap soon – Thru the night cricket is hard work for us old codgers – . Quite an achievement by England -from 368 /4 an hour into day 2 to an innings defeat is quite something –
Wee lunchtime choon — Mrs S of T’s choice –
https://youtu.be/1NO24DwfF7g
Those of us who attended against Hamilton on Wednesday night and stayed to the end, saw the final momemts of the 69ers’ run.
Good quiz answers for future:
1) Olivier Ntcham score the last goal of the 69 run that ensured we did did not lose
2) James Forrest scored the last winning goal of the 69 run
3) Scott Sinclair scored the last goal of the 69 run
I know, cause I was there.
Yesterday, once it was evident that it was not going to be our day, I did not want us to get a goal as it would have meant that Lafferty would have been the person who scored the winner against us. That honour goes to a young lad of 16 years with my congratulations.
PAUL67
Yer only as good as your last game-and we are much better than that!
Yesterday was coming,we went to the well once too often. Teams wanted our scalp,someone was bound to claim it.
So what?
Europe post-Christmas,one trophy in the bag. A decent lead in the league. A great and young squad,and an outstanding manager,one who has supported us since his formative years.
Oh,and another thirty-odd million in the bank.
Aye,crisis what crisis?
German media saying that Marvin Compper travelling to Glasgow today to sign 2 1/2 year deal, with 1 year option.
Another centre half, a goalkeeper and an attacking midfield playmaker to follow (fingers crossed)??
There you have it folks, The team when we suffered our last domestic defeat.
Logan Bailly
Saidy Janko
Efe Ambrose
Erik Sviatchenko (c)
Emilio Izaguirre
Stefan Johansen
Callum McGregor
Patrick Roberts
Scott Allan
Ryan Christie
Leigh Griffiths
Subs
Nir Bitton
Stuart Armstrong
Tomas Rogic
Leonardo Fasan
James Forrest
Kieran Tierney
Anthony Ralston
A few miles ago……Eh!
Roll on Wednesday
Hello again all you young rebels.
Not had much time to post lately, it’s been a hectic weekend
with visitors over from the U.K ,planning our Easter Celtic
Academy week and our Celtic christmas lunch followed by a
session of the rebs for afters.
Not got much to say about the Hearts game thats not already
been said by others, i’ve agreed with some and not with other
posters but thats fine i’d rather think about all those great
games that achieved a wonderful record that wont be beat in
my lifetime, also, i think about what the Celtic ethos means to
the bhoys and ghirls of our CSC who spent their weekend
buying, wrapping, and putting Santa Celtic stickers on toys etc.
for underprivillaged and sick kids, and wee prezzies for those
amazing nurses who look after them so a sore defeat wont
get much space in my thoughts. i’ll be too busy getting our
Celtic Santa looking splendid for his visit to the hospital :-))
H H Mick
…☘️.☘️………. ☘️.☘️.☘️.
☘️. …………….. ☘️……… ☘️.
☘️………………..☘️.……….☘️.
☘️. ………………..☘️………☘️.
☘️ ………………… ☘️.☘️☘️
☘️.☘️.☘️…….…………..☘️.
☘️.……….☘️……………..☘️
☘️……….. ☘️. ……….. ☘️
☘️………..☘️. ……….. ☘️
…☘️…☘️.…………..☘️
Perspective is important. Especially the loonies who “want rid” or Simo and Boyata. Both guys were part of this amazing run and a dreadful performance on a cabbage patch didn’t help.
Time for Brendan to rest some tired legs. Ajer, Miller, Hayes, Edouard & Kouassi should all get some minutes against Thistle.
The runs over and it was a hell of a ride. Rotate some more to prevent key players getting injured. We’re in the business of winning trophies and playing in Europe again.
It still feels wonderful :-)
bournesouprecipe, exactly!
And one for the 69th minute on Wednesday night:
“…it’s enough to make your heart go 69 in a row!”
My tuppence worth- Brendan camw in with the promise of a big budget for players.He decided to hang off spending, and looked at the squad he inherited.He improved guys beyond all recognition, but IMO a lot of these guys have hit the ceiling, and can’t take the team forward in Europe.It was interesting he said ‘physically’ 3 or 4 times in his post match interview on Sky yesterday, it is a problem for us when teams put it in against us, we need guys ,apart from Broonie, who can man up and stand up to a challenge, and impose themselves on their opponent..I think there is good money there to be spent on the right types we need to move us to another level.In Brendan we trust.
Roll on 7.45pm Wednesday, it will not be easy. Let’s see how the players respond. Up the work rate and get the pressing game working for a start and let’s have some variation in the playing style. Edouard looks to get in behind, down the sides and into the mix when the ball comes in. His movement is good and it gives us another dimension. I think Griff and Moussa want to see the game in front of them too much although there are some mitigating reasons for that. Fill the team with legs and those with something to prove,
De Vries
Ralston Ajer Bitton Tierney
Brown Kouassi
Ntcham
Hayes Edouard Sinclair
And if they play well, keep them in the team for Saturday. It’s only Aberdeen, in the grand scheme of things, they’re mince.
Leftclicktic, congratulations on the birth of young Daniel. I guess it will not be too long before granda is telling him about 69 in a row.
Re. the absence of KT in the second half on Sunday, has anyone heard anything about this? Was he considered out of form or had the thug who caught him across the throat in one of the Collum’s non seeing moments caused real damage that meant KT could not continue in the second half?
On the question of saluting the crowd in a suspicious manner, has the Compliant (sic) Officer been asked to view and comment on the offence?
Afternoon all
Still in some shock after yesterday I must admit.
The 69 game unbeten run was a fantastic achievement and in sone ways I am sorry I was not there to see it in the flesh as I was at McDiarmid Park in May 16 and at Celtic Park three days later when the run started. I also have to admit to some relief that the run is over as I have a fair amount of sympathy with the view that it has become a distraction- especially since we broke our own record with most teams playing out their skins in an attempt to be first to beat us.
But I also have to admit to a fair amount of concern not just for the next four pre-break games but the season as a whole. We are not stronger than one year ago and in recent games have not looked any better than under Ronny two years ago. As I say things may return to some sort of normality after we lost and it may be that those teams who think that by coming out to play gives them a chance may well be in for some severe maulings instead. We shall just have to wait and see.
A year ago I did not just expect us to win the games we had in the last fortnight of the year – I knew we would . I do not feel the same way this year.
Last season was great – no queston one of the great seasons post our 9-in-a-row. This season could turn out to be an anti-climax. We have the most money, the best players in the league by a street, an excellent style of play and we won our league last year by the second widest margin ever by a European team. The record was set by PSG two seasons ago and they enjoyed all the advantages over their compatriot teams as we do over our ours. Monaco won le Championnat last season. We have to wise up or the same will happen to us. Getting a defence that does not concede goals in clumps would be a start.
Jimbo67
Martin Compper ?—Scouting report
My addled Ole bonce knows that I have seen him on the tele ( playing for Fiorentina ) I don’t remember a thing . Can’t decide if thats a good thing or a bad thing –
Second lunch time choon -courtesy of Mrs S of T
https://youtu.be/emNoFvJoxbw
“It’s only Aberdeen, in the grand scheme of things, they’re mince.”
That’s one of the daftest things I’ve read on here, we were unable to beat Hibs and got tanked yesterday by
Hearts who were without a few of their best players!
I’m positive that Brendan won’t be thinking it’s only Aberdeen they’re mince..
HH
Beat Brechin and we are 4 games away from back to back domestic trebles. Hopefully this will be the case, but play the way we did yesterday away from home in the Scottish Cup and that wont be a given. But for a result against a very poor Anderlecht side in Belgium I dont see any progress or improvement from last season. I even would go as far to say that that the team are no way near to playing to the same high standards they set themselves last year. As for the pitch yesterday, well Celtic had the same amount of warm up time on the surface as Hearts did before the game. Hearts adapted to the surface but it appeared to me that the Celtic players were unwilling to give up their slippers and cigars and roll up their sleeves for an early Sunday afternoon shift either that or the kit man was negligent in packing the appropriate footwear for the surface.
I remember after Man Utd lost 5-0 to Newcastle, Alex Ferguson said it’s better to lose one game 5-0 than five games 1-0. They won the league that year.
So no need to panic about one result, but a defeat had been creeping up on us for a while. Let’s learn some lessons.
Defending has been sub-standard for most of the season. Our play has been predictable – both in playing out from the back and in the final third.
It’s one thing playing out with short balls to draw out teams sitting back. But when the other team is flying into your faces you have to find a different way.
When Bitton played he gave us the option of longer passes dropping the ball in behind the opposition midfield. Doesn’t have to be all the time – just enough to get them to catch them out or think twice about how they are pressing us.
Would like to see the front three a bit more fluid at times. Get McGregor dropping deeper to develop attacks quicker. Forrest whipping in an early cross now and again.
Just need a bit more variety in our play. And more organised defensively!
Winter break, bit of rest, bit of sun, a couple of signings, some new targets and we’ll be flying again. Just don’t lose again before the break.
if we don’t sort out our defensive frailties including the woeful kicking from our goalie with the ball at his feet and roll our sleeves up in games that require it then this might not be as easy as some predict.
Glass- when tring to pass the ball from the back it must be high tempo passing, a couple of touches and you are closed down.Yesterday’s pitch was not up to passing from the back IMO, no discrace in missing out the midfield when the pitch is as poor as it was .HH
Watched the game again this morning ( glutton for punishment). We were poor, we looked knackered. No wonder young Kieran did not come out for the second half. I lost count the number of times he was fouled and not once was there a booking. Big Laughable commited umpteen fouls before wee Willie decided to book him. Everything came off for them, nothing for us. However they deserved their win and good luck to them. I had a restless night but now I think there are people worse of than me in the football sense.(You know who I mean). Let’s get the next four games won, bring in some quality players in the window and thank goodness I am a Tim. Hail Hail.
Hi Paul67,
Great Article…
Really proud of the 69ers to a man. We seen our squad utilised to the max, so credit to all the playerz, the Manager and all the Coaches and backroom staff.
History has been made, like all great endeavours, nerve and sinew we’re stretched, it has taken its toll. And you say a new chapter with new challenges lie ahead.
However, far from the “heavy lifting” being done, the challenges that face us are more daunting. To achieve back to back trebles, have a decent run in Europe and Qualify for our third UCL in a row, is a huge ask.
We need to take stock, consolidate and strengthen during the winter break. In the meantime the squad and coaches must dig deep. Talent and pride will see us through to year end.
Hail Hail
Leftclicktic,
Congrats to one of the best CQNers on a new addition to the Celtic family. Welcome Daniel (too much to ask for a second name of Fergus???)
Bankiebhoy HH
Bobby
I was in Burnley as well (oh what a lark)
Obama in the Whitehouse, Cameron as PM and Britain in Europe( much like Celtic) the last time we were beat. I love this site……facts to quote to huns part 1.
HH
Ps
I would play the same team against our Glasgow rivals on Wednesday (atonement is a wonderful thing).
Paul67 et al
Pre Lisbon the greatest standards of Celtic FC were set by Willy Maley, 1904-10 and during 1914-1918. Jock Stein’s Celtic eclipsed Willie Maley in 1972 and Brendan Rodgers Celtic eclipsed Willie in 2017. They can’t take that away from me. We are in a good position to beat Willie Maley’s League record once again by winning seven in a row. But time won’t stand still, forever changes, as must we. Time for the club to move up a gear while we are still in the driving seat.
otheridiomsareavailablecfc
Some interesting thoughts and some right idiotic advice about on here today and last night.
Me……
I will do as I always do and Trust in Brendan.
H.H
50 Shades
Agree with you pal. You should see some of the crap over on The Celtic Blog.
BADA BING
The passing from the back is a good tactic but we are to predictable and teams have learned to counter.
Brown seems our only outlet and teams are closing him down leaving a backwards or sideways pass as our outlet leading with eventual return of ball to Gordon who the often concedes possession in our own half.
Our off the ball movement is poor this season and exacerbating the difficulty of passing out from the back.
I also think we look to rigid and our flair players seem a little stifled by our strict adherence to the coaching system.In short i think we are overcoached and this has reduced the strengths of individual players KT being an example.
The undefeated tag was holding back our evolution as a team so hopefully with that now irrelevant we can rediscover a more free flowing game.
In ink this team’s achievements will live on longer than the Seville team. It could be another 100 years before they are equalled. Given the weight of fixtures and all the opportunities for any little thing to trip us up, it is a tremendous achievement. That being said, I recently came across my DVD of our first season with Martin in charge. This team against that one? I know where my money would go.
Timjim.
I can imagine, always wonder what these blogs would have been like in the 80’s n 90’s.
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Leftclick —-
Congratulations to you and your family mate , welcome to young Daniel.
H.H
P.S. one good thing about the run coming to an end. Should we win the League with a good number of games in hand, this year we can give our hardest workers an early holiday.
50 SHADES TIMJIM
No-one is saying they do not trust Brendan.
It’s a blog for Celtic fans to post and discuss differing viewpoints and opinion.
Not one of us is silly or vain enough to think that what we post on tactic’s, players and coaches has any impact or influence at Celtic.
Yesterday’s gubbing was an excuse for many to vent frustration and blow off steam with fellow supporters.
SILVERCITY1888
I remember Bertie Auld and,I think,Jimmy Johnstone being chauffeured round Glasgow by Sky as we approached Seville.
Bertie was asked how the current team would have fared against The Lions.
He reckoned they would probably win 2-1.
“But then,some of us are in our fifties!”
Well,most of our Seville team will never see forty again. But that wouldn’t have happened yesterday with those players. Even now.