The return of the winter break to the Scottish football programme is welcome. There are a couple of physiological reasons for this. Players are never truly 100% fit during the season, they always carry knocks and scrapes. Allowing them time away from competitive action will allow minor abrasions to recover with less risk of a more significant injury.
The way a player can train during the season is also limited by impending football games. Endurance training requires lots of stamina-sapping exercise. This is possible in the early weeks of preseason but its’ simply not practical to push players’ endurance limits at the start of the week and expect them to play at the weekend. Even less taxing training is possible when a player has two games a week.
A three week break from games in January will allow training programmes to be implemented which simply would not be possible otherwise. A mid-season foundation layer of fitness can be laid down which will allow legs to appear fresher in subsequent months. This foundation layer should also prevent injuries.
Can’t believe it’s been 18 years since the League Cup final was played pre-Christmas. I’ve fond memories of the last one – against Dundee United, at Ibrox. The 90s brought us a Scottish Cup win in 1995 but that League Cup win came early in a season we believed we had a genuine title chance for the first time in years.
It felt like, and proved to be, a profound moment.
It was also our first League Cup since 1982 – the Hampden in the rain final, another great memory from a period we were so far out of the picture in Europe domestic competitions were always the ambition. For those to young to know, the Celtic end at Hampden was like a 90° ash park, with three inch wooden planks standing upright, which some decades earlier held back the ash to create long-gone steps. Good job we won.
I see Aberdeen’s inspiration, Jonny Hayes, is out for a month. As we know to our cost this season, losing your top players costs points. We’ll see how it affects Aberdeen on Friday.
Mangers Premium Seat Competition
Magners have offered us two Premium Ticket seats for the Jock Stein Stand on Saturday. To win you need to answer this question:
Which town do Celtic’s opponents on Saturday come from?
Put your answer in the SUBJECT LINE of an email to celticquicknews@gmail.com
The competition closes at 16:00 TODAY, so only a few hours to enter………..
…………. After you do so, you might want to donate a £1 to our Mary’s Meals School Kitchen Appeal, you know, to buy a child a meal for a year or so…….. You can do so here.
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Coney
Sipsini, me and our 2 bhoys are 24 hour party people! Canny wait for a wee celebration in Dublin this Easter. My son is buzzing about the Irish v Swiss match on Friday. Saturday night shall go like the flow of the Liffey. :)
Neganon @ 10.44
Thank you for the polite reply.
I will address some of your points :-
“Your point about selling the stadium etc is rather silly. Those assets are employed to make money year after year . That’s the way a business works. So it’s a spurious point to show they aren’t there to make the money.”
Correct it is a spurious point to say they are ONLY interested in the money. The balance may be wrong but you overstated your case. Hyperbole does not convince- I’ve told you that a billion times :-)
“what is not normal is buying players only for what you might be able to make when you sell them and not to build a team “
There you go with that “only” again. We do not sell all the players we buy- some remain with us, usually the less sellable or those that like it here or cannot command much better remuneration elsewhere. We recognise that most of our better players will be raided and tempted by richer, often smaller, clubs. You can resist some sales, as we did with Virgil to no great effect, but eventually they will have to be sold or you take a financial bath and Celtic cannot afford to do that, except for an exceptional AND loyal servant like Henrik or Paul McStay. It is not the willingness or the reluctance to sell that defines it. It is the sensible judgement of selling at highest value and buying below peak value and nurture improvement. Every club bar the top few, suffers from predators. Man U lost Ronaldo, Bayern lost Schweinsteiger, Liverpool lost Sterling. Shakter, Porto and Benfica lose plenty and they live with it. Southampton who have been successful predators upon Celtic are, in turn,predated upon by Liverpool, less successfully but still causing harm and a need to re-build teams. Chelsea, on the slide might lose Diego Costa and/or Hazard. The list is endless and the trend cannot be bucked and it was not instigated or sustained by Celtic.
“That’s because we are using Moneyball.”
I wonder if you have the same definition of this term as others do. In its purest sense it just means using indicators of under-valued players to aid recruitment. Measurement and metrics are a good thing, if they are the right ones. So just like Rangers EBT scheme, it may not be the whole thing that is wrong, just the way it is implemented that leads to Pukki and Balde type purchases.
“The team isn’t important only the potential resale value of the player. “
There’s that unjustified “only” again. We acknowledge it is A factor but it is not THE factor. Otherwise we’d sell the lot (spurious I know)
“His reason for investing is simply to sell Celtic at some point for a profit (hopefully if we get to the EPL).”
Might be true- unprovable at present. But even if it is true and he turns a profit on his investment, it will still be chickenfeed compared to his other financial punts. We are small beer in DD’s empire. The only way to make money out of a football club is through share issues or buy outs, and you can make what we consider to be a tidy sum but it would still be chump change to the likes of DD- and that’s IF he fulfills your prediction
“Goal congruence should be about trying to improve the tam and results. As above that’s incidental to the board while its central to supporters “
Well, at last, we have dropped ONLy and now say incidental- so, at least and at last, we recognise that it is an aim. there is some concord and some congruence- maybe not enough for you but some.
“It’s also laziness to continually trot out the old can’t compete with the EPL excuse. Of course we can’t and we aren’t asking.”
So long as people labour under the impression that we can land Steven Fletcher or Aiden McGeady once they have enjoyed the richer levels of salary, this remains an unlazy point. Do not say that you have not seen such posts. A few years ago it was Michael Owen and, an out of form Wayne Rooney we were advised to go for, because “you don’t know unless you ask”, so there will always be lazy assumptions about how big we are.
‘So Malmö can compete with us but we can’t compete with the EPL? Errrr do you want your cake and eat it. “
No, I want you to acknowledge that a one-off event does not indicate a trend. We can and have beaten Barcelona and Man U just as Malmo and Morton have beaten us. But, in the long run, the richer clubs will beat us many more times than we beat them and the Malmos will lose to us more often than they win. But, of course you know this. I could state you were being spurious or making “excuses” but I think you are merely wrong.
“We have massively and disastrously underperformed. The boards so called strategy far from being safe is incredibly risky.”
Compared to what alternative. Here we are alive and functioning in a small league with 5iar in sight and 10 titles, 6 SCs and 4 LCs since 2000. We are amongst the most success rich generation of Celtic fans as far as domestic success is concerned. During the same period we have had one Euro final and 3 last 16 CL achievements. How does that compare to the 1975 to 2000 period? Far from being failures, we have just got used to a higher level and are raising our expectations. Just like Rangers fans in the 89 to 96 era, we are saying we have outgrown Scottish domestic competition and only Europe counts. We have had two years where 3 of our 4 Euro campaigns have been failures- no argument – no excuses. But is that two year period the trend or does the previous 14 years of improvement from the late 20th century not count? Who really knows?
“You my friend are making increasingly weak excuses for them.”
The views remain my own. They are designed to understand what we face not to excuse, or to blame, unfairly.
Coneybhoy
Just tell the wife that you were abducted by a bunch of madmen from Glesga :-)
gordon, lg, brown
after that I’m stuck
gms and sa ?
CELTIC40ME on 18TH FEBRUARY 2016 7:42 PM
Scratching my head trying to work out how a song with the line “eff King Billy and john Knox” isnt sectarian.
——————
i think its homophobic
Ivehadtochangemyname
Gordon
Brown Erik Boyata Tierney
Armstrong Christie Biton GMS
Griffiths Commons
The Molde players who looked so fast against us ( such as Elyoussouni ) looked completely pedestrian against Seville. Solskjaer’s team has been outclassed, with the Seville goalkeeper a spectator throughout the game.
Frankly, we need an enormous improvement just to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa Cup, far less the group stage of the Champion’s League. We are kidding ourselves if we think otherwise.
Iniquitous
My friends in Celtic,
I have been intrigued by the dominent conversation this afternoon. My insignificant thoughts.
We are a club open to all, we continually reafirm that, and I believe it to be true. We also know that our support is not just attributable to any one religion. We can also assume that about 25% of our support ( as a modest estimate ) share no affiliation to any part of the Island of Ireland.
I make no comment and have no definitive view, but wonder that in 2016, should we sing any songs about Ireland’s past history.? Should we not embrace the future as a secular, multicultural, modern club who welcomes peoples of all religions ( and of none ), all faiths and all sexual orientations. Let other sad supporters who live in the past, sing about the by-gone days of yore.
The world is changing rapidly, especially the world of football. Diversification will help encourage a new generation of Celtic supporters looking hopefully to the future, in a different environment from the Scottish league.
Is our reluctance to ditch the past and embrace the future actually detremential to our ambition. ?
Hail, Hail.
PS : To read some comments on Scotland, I think time warp back to 1560. The reformation of parliament where it was illegal to be a practising RC and where ownership of property was outlawed. Then I wake up wondering when the next mortgage payment is due.
Saint Stivs
More Homosexual lust. :)
I see there is a documentary on the Hun board and SFA on channel 4 at 10.00.
Greenpinata
Yes my friend. Eloquently put. Cheers.
sipsini
Ha ha , very good :-))
the debates on here are sometimes so base, so parochial.
sectarianism, who cares, its all so last century.
can we not concentrate on global matters, the real big issues.
like,
what about THE POPE, calling THE DONALD, a dobber.
then THE DONALD going all WASPy HUN in retort.
I am backing Franny on this one.
Neganon2
Had to bale out last night so did not see your reply till today.
I won’t reopen the entire debate, will just agree to differ. Except on your points about the board having a duty to protect and back up the support, on which I agree with you.
But… “we should get a manager who can manage…”
Somebody like Louis Van Gaal, d’ye mean? ;)
Manure quick sand on meltdown
According to BT sport – firmino is playing in the false number 9 role for Liverpool
We have had a right few of them recently
The picture about Sevco’s pen stats this year looks very suspicious.
However, last year, when their need was greater, they did not get this form of help.
I have linked 2 sites which give you some stats about pen awards
For SPFL
For Scottish Championship
For anyone on Twitter have a look at https://twitter.com/richard_conway?lang=en-gb
I don’t think LVG is taking it too well….
Scrap that, just been deleted….
ernie lynch on 18th February 2016 5:56 pm
Your take
But I keep sayin…..What did/are Labour doing about the bill ?.
Gutless & ruderless
And had huns votin NO with cos ‘rule brittania’ is important !
Until Labour get rid of the meal ticket brigade & go back to what I ( you) believed in old labour….??
& knowing the suspects in South Lanarkshire….dear oh dear…….out for themselves as usual.
They havent learned hee haw.
Anyways HH
Dog walkin time
yeah that’s about it cb – maybe biton’s more in ronnie’s mind – that’s about our best 11
Big stevie Fletcher misses a sitter for marseilles
Valencia 4-0 up after 30 mins against our old pals rapid Vienna
Surely saying f@@@ King Billy and John Knox is not sectarian! My God how pc is that!?!
Inquitosiv
Talking about Molde now and back then is pretty daft, not sure if it’s even the same team but they played us half way through their season and are now on a winter break for a few months, why not compare with Fenerbache who we should have had the better of over the two legs but are now coasting to the last 16…… Easy to pick a hole in any argument but Molde far over achieved and we were actually third seeds who finished 4th……. By the way I think Fenerbache could be a wee outside shout for this EL
Got an email mail from sevco today
Asking me to participate in the true blue fun run on behalf of the rangers foundation. …
So … who wants to sponsor me to run with the zombies wearing my hoops :)))
TTIMBHOY 6.04pm. I note your comment about you grandfather being a member of a Masonic lodge. Since it must have been some time ago ( grandfather ) how did he manage to ‘join’ as it certainly used to be against the Church laws ( not commandments ) to join a Secret Society. He may however not have been a RC in which case it would not apply and I have already said on a number of posts that ALL are welcome to support the Celtic. BTW I am not sure how they get round that law re KSC. First time I knew my Dad was in it was when they turned up at the door to say ‘.They would organise the funeral ) . It’s a funny old world!
What is the problem with some Celtic Supporters regarding John Collins
Listened to John on Celtic TV, with the media he was very good, so what is the problem.
Saint Stivs says SACK THE BOARD on 18th February 2016 7:53 pm
CELTIC40ME on 18TH FEBRUARY 2016 7:42 PM
Scratching my head trying to work out how a song with the line “eff King Billy and john Knox” isnt sectarian.
——————
i think its homophobic
_______________________________________
And the winner of tonight’s most sensible comment award is … CELTIC40ME
But the winner of tonight’s funniest comment award is … Saint Stivs
ADI_DASLER on 18TH FEBRUARY 2016 8:27 PM
Labour opposed the Bill at every stage and voted against the renewal of the Act.
A number of Labour politicians have spoken out against the legislation.
Not one nat politician has ever voiced any criticism of the legislation. Not one. Not ever. Funny that.
As for meal tickets, I assume this is the kind of thing you’re referring to.
http://www.scottishreview.net/KennethRoy40a.html
TBJ
Email fae the dark side ? Never tell anybody that
Are you a Hun ? Definitely never admit to that
Or did you use your personal email for one of those begging pledges that emanated from Govan
Gerry
I pledged £50k at their ipo
Gerryfraethe brig.
The Danes are just after their winter break and still beat Man U fairly easily. I watched the whole of the Molde game to get an idea of how we would compare today. They had 7 of the players who played us, including the 40 year old at the back.
Conclusion? They are about the same standard they were against us. They are faster and more organized than we are, yet still got well grubbed.
I’m seeing no sign of Ronnie Deila improving us. Unless we get significantly tighter at the back, with defensive midfield cover, and get fitter and faster all over the park, what is happening right now to Rapid Vienna ( down 5-0 at halftime ) is in our future in the CL. ( and that is assuming we get through three qualifying rounds!)
Tontine Tim 7:32 pm
What’s the story about us financing the Hun end at Hampden… ?
TBJ, that hun , sorry fun run sounds like title of the recently released film , pride and prejudice and zombies.
Delaney’s , Villareal beat Napoli 1 nil tonight in their Europa League tonight.
how come every last tv celebrity twit is an expert on china all of a sudden?
TBJ…
I’ll sponser you…payback for sending me up to ipox with a bucket fifteen years ago :))
Oops nineteen ;)
Possession stats at half time in Valencia v Rapid Vienna; 50% – 50%
Score at HT: Valencia 5 Rapid 0.
It ain’t what you possess, it’s the way you possess it.