Two honourable defeats, away to Milan and at home to Barcelona, confirm that Celtic can compete at this level, but the two points which only just eluded us could prove crucial in determining qualification for the knock out stage. Barcelona and Milan are in the driving seat.
Two home wins, against Ajax and Milan, could change all this. If Celtic can achieve this, Ajax could still be on four points after playing (and beating) Celtic in Amsterdam, but will be odds against to reach six points with a visit to Milan and a home game against Barcelona to come. Milan bloodied Barcelona’s nose last season, but are not certain to take anything against the Catalans this time, although the outrageous decision which gifted them a draw last night suggests we cannot take anything for granted.
It’s possible that Milan could finish with seven points, which is not an unsurmountable target for Celtic. For now, we can ignore all the ‘what ifs’, the only thing that matters is facing Ajax at Celtic Park in three weeks. This is our cup final.
It has been said repeatedly since last night, but deserves repetition, Georgios Samaras’ performance was nothing short of incredible and stands comparison with any individual Celtic performance in Europe over the last 20 years.
Efe Ambrose and Virgil van Dijk looked more every bit as secure as Efe and Kelvin a year ago. Efe can be particularly pleased with the way he recovered his form after shading last season.
Some months ago I heard a numpty on Radio 5 Live describe Fraser Forster as a ‘Match of the Day goalkeeper’, the implication being that he was more show than substance. Yet again Fraser demonstrated that he is by far the best goalkeeper in Britain. I couldn’t care less who in England is aware of this fact. I hear he released Neymar from his pocket late last night.
Adam Matthews and Mikal Lustig are a terrific right-side partnership but from the opening seconds they were taxed to the limit last night. The more they play at this level the better they’ll get.
Despite deserving more from Milan last night Ajax are in a state of flux at the moment. They will not travel to Glasgow with anything approaching confidence but it will still require out best performance of the season to overcome them.
Bring it on.
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empire bar toonheed????????
Still frustrated about Barca game….we have so much potential, It would be a real shame to stall our progress.
Our team is only 2 players away from being very formidable….a creative centre mid and a good striker would transform these losses in to wins imo.
I find it strange that with all the cash we raked in in the last year….we cant push the boat out a wee bit….just a wee bit ffs.
If its to be believed, PL offered a derisory sum for alfie finnbog, who may or may not have wished to join us…now, say Norwich had offered 1 million for GH, or Southampton had offered say 4 Million for VW….how would we have reacted?
The way I see it is this….if you want to see your team at the top table in Europe, in the Champions League, competing against the best….wouldn’t it be good to show a bit of ambition regards signing a few class players.
Celtic park is legendary, and the Celtic fans are the best in the world, and we deserve better from the board, who are quick to suck up the glory and bask in the plaudits, with large bonuses to boot.
A couple of clever signings could really transform what is already highly promising, don’t damn fans for having ambitions and dreams….its what being a Celtic fan is all about….Mr Lawell…get your finger out.
HH
Bobby Murdoch
Thanks for the link, I’ll sleep soundly in my bed knowing the forces of law and order are keeping the streets safe…
FLAGPOLE???? surely you are allowed to look down a pole to see if it is straight?like you do with a pool stick.oh naw pool halls will be filled with plain clothes pollis wi rolls n sausage watchin oot for TIMMYS ………….F.U.
Just heard Ralston getting savaged on snyde.
If ever an example of extreme msm fear and denial was needed, this was it. The caller new his stuff and supplied hard facts and technical detail which blew Ralston away on newco and their accounts The only response he got was more pub rant denial without any substance to back it up. Its no wonder the huns are sleepwalking into another nightmare.
HERE ye go bhoys .it’s the answer ..A TIMMY PUB.
145 reviews
Dallis M.
Glasgow
10/4/2010 1 photo
If you’ve been to the Tollbooth Bar at Glasgow Cross, then you need to stop by the Empire across the street.
It is by far the cheapest place I’ve ever been for a pint. It’s another ‘true’ Irish pub, and the chat is excellent. For example, I was welcomed by the regulars right away, chatted away with the bar staff and learned that the Empire bar is rumoured to be the meeting place for the founders of Celtic football team. Apparently, they met for a pint, and discussed starting their own team, and it was all in the Empire’s lounge.
As you might have guessed, the pub itself is a big supporter of Celtic; it’s proximity to Parkhead makes it a favourite stop for season ticket holders on game days when, I was told, the place is packed from wall to wall.
I wouldn’t miss this place again; you’ll always leave feeling as though you’ve made new friends.
As with the Tollbooth, I would not recommend visiting the Empire on game days, if you’re looking for a quiet pint.
The Empire Bar? Hmmmm. If it’s the one in the Saltmarket, it’s a right Celtic shop, or at least it used to be when I went with the supporters bus in the 60,s and 70,s.
Wonder if the Louden has also been targeted? Somehow I don’t think so.
BMCUW thats just cruel. linking a photo of rolls and square. The close up with the bite out should be censored. Good to see Billy Blue or Erchie as he is know to his close circle of fiends is doing his bit to keep blighty free and safe. Brave men, credit to the force. You can sleep safely now. Jeez luckily they can’t all be masons. Haven’t seen the game yet but sounds like it was exciting. I doubt many would have expected us to hold the Catalan giants to a single goal with ten men and have a few shots as well all those weeks ago before the kazak game. Progress definetely, playing as equals at the big table not a bad thing. We will get better incrementally just hope we don’t lose FF. Imagine if he was in gaol in Seville.
FavUnc… Photo doesn’t work. You need to upload it on summin like flickr, I think.
BMCUW…
.. still wiping the slavers off the iPad!
7 an counting down……..
just told my wife about THE GREAT ROLL N SAUSAGE CRIME.she asks “surely it’s only half a crime if one roll was served up.” makes sence tae me
still laughn.
Memo to all exiled Tims
Apologies for not thinking through the repercussions of my previous post.
If it’s any consolation,I shall once more be domiciled in foreign lands by this time the morra. Dreaming fond dreams of rolls and skwerr,with only that picture to keep me going till I’m next home.
BMCUW
Thanks for that ‘link’ – or should it be ‘square’?!
Miss Tally coming out in nine days time – she will be bringing some ‘skwerr’ with her, as well as Tunnocks snowballs, my old dad’s favourite sweet delicacy. Very healthy!
How’s the gardening coming along?
HH!!
‘The great roll ‘n’ sausage swindle’ shocker!
Heads should roll!
HH!!
Tallybhoy..
..what, no caramel logs, wafers an macaroons??
If the barman had halved the roll and gave them a half each surely this wouldn’t have contravened any regulations or laws since they would each have had food with their drink?
So this poor guy has been sacked and prosecuted ( persecuted) for not cutting a roll in two.
Only in Scoddland.
desertbhoy
Yes – caramel wafers and logs, as well as teacakes!
Nae wonder the old bhoy has diabetes!
But as he often says – ‘Ffs I’m 89, and I’ll be deid soon anyway! Gies a snowball!’
HH!!
Morning,
Now if he’d put sauce on them, that would have been crimminal!
BMCUW,
Safe journey back down the road, hope you had a belter of a break,and once again apologies for missing you last week
Lilys
Tallybhoy….
Great outlook on life…..
When missus comes to visit she always brings the teacakes… Never enuff, as they’re usually gone rapidly…
A rare moment of clarity from the daily record online:
A few hours after the roll was served, they returned and charged Allan under the Licensing Scotland Act 2005.
It’s unclear why officers are targeting early-opening bars in Glasgow at a time when police resources are stretched and when the old Strathclyde Police region has as many as 33 unsolved murders.
cv
Ok…right…ive seen it all now.
Ive just read that Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.
If that’s truly the case, anything is possible….so
Mr Lawell….can you sign Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta…..shouldn’t be too difficult, just call Mr Putin….im sure he can sort it..:)
HH
Picture the scene. You’re at a game with your kids, let’s say it’s against Hearts. You look across and see one of them making sniper actions at your kids, and it’s clearly not in ‘cowboys and indians’ jokey way. I doubt most of us would laugh it of as in game banter.
It’s an idiotic thing to do but a 12-month banning order for it is ridiculous, unless it was just one of several dubious actions which haven’t been reported.
Saw a bit on the news last night about Golden Dawn ,an extreme right wing group of violent facists in Greece. Opponents and immigrants have been viciously attacked and even killed. It seems though the police are somewhat sympathetic to them .Standing by watching them cause havoc and indeed some police are actually members.
Made me think about recent goings on here.
Morning All. Gambia Abú.
The Empire bar is a good tim shop thats more to the point i think..why were they drinking on duty anyway durty bassas,cant believe this is going through a court my god only in scotland ehh
Weeminger
I see your point, but does anyone know what part of the ground he was in, was it visible from the Sevco end and did anyone ask the police to investigate?
.
Silk Road has been Closed down..
That will be The Moonhowlers (UK Division) Stuffed..;-)
Summa of SilkCutCSC
compare the prosecution of the barman and
the lack of prosecutions in the city where
millions are lost because of criminal fraud
yet never followed up.
i may be wrong but i have not seen any reports
of charges regarding the admitted theft of v.a.t
income tax ect at oldco 2yrs ago
police scotland and the cps seem to have their
priorities all wrong
but i suppose pubs,fans, motorists are easier
targets or are there more sinister reasons
for these priorities
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy@01:23
“SFTB. Sorry but you’re turning into another Board propagandist. The converse of what you say is that the experts who act on Celtic’s behalf signed Daryll Murphy, Nouioui, the wee Nigerian who plays for Kilmarnock, Bangura and Miku and we are ridiculed for suggesting that Finnbogasson would be an asset?”
I think that’s a fairly serious mis-read of what I said, despite my obvious and rather basic distinction that I was ridiculing the fan’s certainty rather than Finbogasson’s ability. Since I admitted, he could turn out to be as good as Van Nistelroy or Huntelaar, it must be hard to stretch that into a scathing criticism of the player.
Therefore, to clarify to an even simpler level and using your own words:-
I can dispute that he would be a (major) asset but I cannot dispute that he could be an asset to us.
Your scenario is not the converse of what I wrote, strictly speaking. I do not believe that professional scouts and managers get it right every time and make no mistakes. I do know, rather than believe, that they get it wrong.
Our club’s current strategy has been outlined often enough on here that, with the Bosman, Loan and cheap option market, you can take 3 or 4 punts at “getting it right” for every one that you take in the £2.5m to £6m market, where we rarely but occasionally dip our toe. If we made Murphy/Bangura errors in that market, and we would eventually because there are no guarantees, we would lose money at a faster rate. I wish we had the money not to have to implement that strategy but I can listen to and appreciate the reasons why we are where we are. My mention of “professional” scouts and managers, as opposed to amateurs like you and me, is because these guys have a proven track record to get them into that position. If you and me had racing certainties to punt and had such a track record, we would get these jobs too. Sadly, I do not have that track record and I suspect you do not either.
As for Board propagandist, I am on record as saying life would be a lot easier, amongst Celtic fans, on here and in real life, if I just said “Aye, you’re right- shower of capitalist bassas the lot of them!”. I do , as it happens, think that our Board, in common with all Boards, are overpaid and that there are too many of them. I do not believe that if we sorted that, we would be buying two Finbogassons every transfer window. We would still be a sub-elite club in an impoverished league and that is not the Board’s fault. We waste a lot of energy attributing faults to the board and management on areas where we have too little information on which to judge. and, though I should not have to answer the criticism, I am fine in stating that I have criticised the Board for their handling of the Green Brigade, for their handling of the Sevco saga and for their handling of the Boruc transfer to Fiorentina. I try to take a discriminate view on criticism in that I will give it out when I think (not know) it is deserved and I will not when I don’t. I do not strive to criticise the Board as a default position- that would be just lazy. And that is not aimed at you.
“This blog is about giving opinions and in our opinion Alfie would do a hell of a lot better than some of the duds who have appeared in Celtic strips in recent seasons.”
Substitute could for would and I am all in agreement. I merely added that he could be just as bad or worse than them but cost us more, just as the high value transfers of Gravesen and Scheidt did. You gave your opinion and I gave mine. What was that you said about tolerating alternative opinions?
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy@01:10
We could have got Finnbogasson for £5million
“That is what the papers and some insiders stated. I happen to take that with a pinch of salt. Whichever of us is right, the fact remains that nobody from the 54 top football leagues of Europe and around 700 top division clubs bought him for £5m.
EIther he was not “judged” to be worth that much or his actual cost is much higher and he was not judged to be worth that or there is something wrong with the player, of which we are unaware. Ajax did not buy him either and they had money to burn from 2 major sales. They had seen him score against them. Does it give you not even a little pause for thought as to why they did not buy?
“– the going rate for a decent striker. We weren’t asking for Neymar or Aguerro.
There is no going rate and nobody established it at £5m. Good forwards can be obtained on a Bosman, for £650k (Larsson) or for £40m (Aguerro). It does not matter what the quoted value is- some are too rich for us or too troubled or too risky. I don’t know which he is- maybe none of the above. If you really “know” rather than merely “think”, as I do, then you will be right. But you have already told me that yours is an opinion and you cannot “know” an opinion.
“God love us. I love all you goody goody guys who have a go at Celtic supporters who actually have some ambition for the team.”
I don’t think you’re a baddy-baddy so I am puzzled as to why you think I am doubly good :-)
I never have bought the “more ambitious than you” argument. I see the main definition of the word is “an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as wealth or fame, and the willingness to strive for it.”
Now, it is neither you nor I that are really doing anything, other than bumping gums on t’internet, to strive or acheive the purchase of Finbogasson or progress in the CL. Neither you nor I are willing to pay for him. Even if we asked Celtic to use the money that you and I contribute personally or better yet, all the Celtic fans who think buying Alfie is a no-brainer, we could still not afford his wee toe.
No, your ambition seems as relevant as my ambition for Cheryl Cole to find me attractive and keep me in the style I could become accustomed to. I cannot bring myself to demand that others fulfill “my” ambition.
I want Celtic to try. I want them to improve. But I recognise that it is not always their fault when we do not get what we want.
Just read the article.
Where is the honour in being totally outplayed and beaten? Jesus wept.
Lots of comments claiming “we are comfortable at this level”. Again, the baby Jesus wept.
Ball retention and passing was woeful.
Credit goes to the defence who were solid.
We have 3 players who are “comfortable” at this level – Virgil, Efe and Mikel.
And thank you STV for missing the tifo and the CL music, by going to adverts.
Just in to say…
Mark McGhee shouldny be sitting in the TV-Gantry commentating on the Cellic
he should be in the dug-oot managing the Cellic. imo
Neil – I’ve stood by ye on many occasions in the past on various phone-ins and the like
whilst ye fought yer demons that would have crushed many a mere mortal.
But – this time you’ve crossed the line with yer defense of Broony’s sly / hunlike kick at the Barcelona theatrical star – Neymar.
If, there’s a player in the other team who goes down when the wind blows – the last thing you do is allow yerself to be tempted to leave in a sly kick for him to go down and get you dismissed. Broony looks like – plays like – and acts like a hun. imo
Broony is desperately short of street wisdom – and you(NL) aint doing too good a job of supplying him with it. Have you got it ?
Neil – If yer the man that many on here believe you to be – you’ll boot Broony’s erse oot the door. Yer team were playing above themselves the other night and yer captain f#cked it up.
Deal with it – or dig the hole deeper.
Rant over – Off oot.
Viva la Kojo – Esquire.
setting free the bears supports Celtic’s best fighter- Wee Oscar Knox
22:23 on 2 October, 2013
I make no defence of Broonie’s red but I was watching the CL games on Sky red button tonight, dipping in and out as a goal was scored, and I saw the Leverkusen goalie, Leno, grab an innocent Sociedad player round the neck and throw him to the ground after he had failed to save a penalty.
He got a Yellow Card for a more sustained and violent assault than Broonie’s but the Sociedad player showed none of the reactions that Neymar showed.
Broonie’s red was fully justified under current football rules but the football rules are a bit of a mess.
………………………………………………………………………………….
The problem for me is how diffrent referees interpret the rules.
Personally I believe “decisions” are weighted towards clubs from the bigger footballing countries. It happens far to often for me to think referees are being fair. More like just doing what they are told.
I don’t think Platini would be over enamoured if a team from Norway or Poland won the CL.
Or Scotland for that matter!
Is the refereeing fraternity just corrupt the world over?
Or am I being paranoid again?
SFTB 10.18,
Re Finnbogasson price tag, Im 100% possitive I read a quote from the H”veen manager, to the support, saying”Im glad we held on to him, there was interest, but as soon as we set the price at 10m euro, there was no more interest” So imo all this talk about getting him for 5m, is nonesense
Lilys
good morning chhaps ITS ALL ABOUT AJAX…..does this mean we have to clean up with them paul67? or am I just showing my aje?
No Bobby Does it Petta
“Where is the honour in being totally outplayed and beaten? ”
There is none.
What there is, is an appreciation of the efforts of a less skilled and less expensively assembled bunch of players to give a tough game to, and come within touching distance of achieving a fortunate draw or win, a team that is within the top 5 in Europe.
For most of our adult lives- from 1975 to 2000, the team we supported could not match teams at the lower end of the top 50 in Europe, and , at times, the top 100.
For one brief period 1966 to 1974, however, we were rated in the top 5 and Barcelona feared us. Football finance and the football ability of our nation changed and we became irrelevant, at European level, for 25 years.
The players and managers who have worked with our club for the past 13 years have made us relevant once more. Relevant but not equal and far from dominant.
There is honour in that achievement if you look hard enough
No Bobby Does it Petta
I agree.
We are out of our depth at this level.
To be competitive at this level we need to, err, score goals.
We really have’nt looked like doing that in the 2 games played.
I hope the players we have signed do come good and give us a more creditable threat up front.
However, that remains to be seen.
lilys grandpa
Whether it was £5m pounds (6m euros) or 10m euros, it was still just a press quote.
It may be accurate and it may be a smokescreen, who knows?
Philbhoy.
Must have dreamt about Charlie missing that sitter or Forrest bringing a world class save out of valdes.
Behave.