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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The game against deidco where the Tic fan got the banning order. “Offensive behavior”!! Against that shower? Jesus, they are the most offensive mob I have ever had the misfortune to witness. They should be locked up for their looks alone. Vile evil reprobates. The law is a complete ass.
SFTB,
I totally understand,but what Im saying is at some point over the course of the transfer window, interest disappeared like snow off the proverbial
lilys
Excuse my ignorance but who’s this Ralston chappie??
I totally agree SFTB. Of course there is honour in fighting the good fight against superior opposition. Life is full of inequalities, and sport is another part of life. If you follow a team or believe in a cause what do you do when faced with overwhelming opposition. You either fight or run away. If you fight, you pick the tactics that reduces your opponents ability to maximise their strengths and one that gives you a chance to sucker punch them. That is what Celtic did last Tuesday and did it extremely well. Could they have done better, yes of course they could, they could have retained the ball better and Chico could have got his header on target and Broonie could have not got himself sent off. If some want to dwell on the shortcomings thats their prerogative, however I prefer to dwell on the positives and I feel both our team and supporters did us proud last Tuesday.
Philbhoy
“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.”
In the AC game we “looked like” scoring on 4 occasions:-
Charlie’s free kick in the area
Sammi’s 25 yard shot skimming the post
The slip pass to Broonie where he failed to get his shot off early enough
And the Stokes free kick off the bar.
Against Barca, there were 3 times I got off my seat because we looked like scoring
Sammi’s clip off the keeper early in the game
James Forrest’s shot and the great Valdez save
Charlie’s header, just after this.
Now, we did not score on any of these occasions but we did look like scoring. Unfortunately, so did they and they did.
THM
We failed to score.
Did you dream we had scored?
1. Brown is an idiot plain and simple. Could have been sent off against Shakter and Milan as well. None of the three sending off’s would have served a purpose other than to play to his hard-man act. Brown has always had hunnish traits.
2. Lennon embarrassed me when pointing the finger at Neymar. He is a fud for sure but Brown was an idiot. Lennon should be telling the lad to get some discipline.
3. Roy Keane is an utter wanker. Everybody I have spoken to in football agrees. Such a lack of respect.
4. We probably need 6 or 7 points to qualify for the Europa. I think this would be the best thing for us this year. We simply need to beat Ajax.
SFTB
Why do we miss all these chances?
7 good scoring opportunities, none converted.
2 games lost, no points in the bag.
Despite the glorious failure we are bottom of our section.
Conspiracy theory – are Benfica deliberately targeting 3rd place each year in Champs League group stages?
They came 3rd last year and in season 2010-11. The year in between they were in a very tight group going into the last game – Benfica were at home against an unknown Romanian outfit who had lost all of their group games; if Benfica had lost it would have looked very suspicious.
The result has been that they have had good income from the CL group stages and then good opportunity to strengthen their co-efficient in the Europa League; so much so that they were in Pot 1 this year.
I’ll be watching their final game this year with interest.
timaloy29 –
you sure you’ve come to the right place?
Oh Dear ! @ 10:18
Never Mind….SadiesBhoy…
I Expect Your Still Reeling From SFTB’s Vicious Accusation…..
That We All Failed To Land A Current Position In Football Management…..
Or The Football Scouting Network…..
And So We Have No Valid Opinion…
On The Quality Of Possible Transfer Targets…
I….For One…..Have No Recollection Of Ever Having Applied For Such A Position..
And I Can Make This Claim With A Great Degree Of Certitude….
As I Have ALWAYS Eschewed Drugs Of Abuse…..
And Only Rarely Indulge In A Modest Tipple…
Most Certainly Not Of The ‘Dirty Blonde’ Heidbanger Lager Variety…..
Which Is Apparently “All The Rage”…
On The Mean Streets Of Cambuslang….
No…….Some Of Us Occupy Such Vital Roles In Society…
That The Very Idea Of Giving Them Up To Manage Even An Outfit Such As Brother Walfrid’s Legacy……
Would Seem Frivolous…..
Besides….I Would Be Averse To Having Any Personal Tattoos……
And Being Required To Use ‘Anglo-Saxon Terminology’….
In My Everyday Speech….
Still….Laughin’
Up The Hoops !
timaloy29. Are you Roy Keane.
The green man @ 8.49
Totally agree, said to my son on Tuesday after the match that we are two players short from fully competing at this level. A centre mid, creative playmaker and a penalty box predator. We just do not create enough chances, nor convert enough, of the ones we do.
I missed it, what did Roy Keane say?
lilys
Timaloy29
mind your language
Philbhoy
Don’t know why we missed but I am sure it was not deliberate.
The only people talking of “glorious failure” are those who want to have a dig. Much like the phrase “political correctness’ is only used by those who want more freedom to express their prejudice. Both terms are rarely used by anyone advocating them. There is no glorious failure.
I just wanted to counter your revision of the game and point out that we had “looked like” scoring.
Timaloy29
Mind your P’s and Q’s please. Minors read this blog.
Delaneys dunky
agree with you there m8, i felt our midfield wernt quick enough to support sammy at times..late on before jamsie came on we needed some one with pace an direction to assist in any breakaways..derk could be this guy ?we missed joe also in the middle he was a huge loss as he is our best at breaking up play and thats why our pass rate %was also low hh
TSD
” That We All Failed To Land A Current Position In Football Management…..
Or The Football Scouting Network…..
And So We Have No Valid Opinion””
I really hope that the vital role in society that you occupy does not require the ability to read for meaning.
I suppose that Press Secretary for the BNP would qualify as not requiring such abilities.
How’s your colouring in? You allowed to use the darker tones?
ROBERTRUSSELL
Ironically,it was for behaviour liable to incite a breach of the peace.
I remember a Rangers fan being found not guilty of offensive behaviour,etc,for singing the billy boys at a game,as it was ruled that no-one around would have found it offensive.
Does that mean that all rangers fans are bigots? It certainly implies it.
Question is,would a nearby rangers fan who asked him to kindly refrain from his,erm,refrain,be charged with behaviour liable to incite a BOP?
Again,by implication,the answer is yes.
Truly,the law is an ass.
The flagstick rifle case does make one wonder about what sort of judges we have, just the same way as the Neil Lennon assault case makes one wonder about the sort of jurors we have.
Maybe we should know more about them?
If you agree please consider signing this petition or circulating it if you have signed.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/judgesmasonregister
BTW,a wee footnote to the story about The Empire Bar.
IIRC,it disnae even charge for the pre-11am rolls!!!!!!
Meeting place for the AGM,fellas?
sftb
Not having a dig!
Just stating the obvious.
We don’t win games by looking like we are going to score.
We actually need to put the ball in the net. Now and again.
Still, we’ve got the 2 games against Ajax to sort things out.
Will Balde get a run? His goals per minutes on the park for us must be at least as good as Pukki, if not better.
And do we play someone in the Broony role, to his possible exclusion, so that he is up to speed for these games as Brown is banned?
Or will Neilly just cobble an 11 together on the night.
philbhoy
“We don’t win games by looking like we are going to score.”
But that was your original phrase and point and that was all I countered.
“We actually need to put the ball in the net. Now and again.”
If you had said precisely that, there would have been no reply and no disagreement from me.
I have an appointment to start now-catch you later
Bobby m
they 2 polis obviously knew that an stuck the guy in it cause they were one short..probably eat in there every other day,they like their free stuff…chippys and the like hh
Tommysbhoy
Another concern I have is the amount of offensive minded centre mids we sign, and then coach them into being defensive, holding mids. Nir Biton against Morton, being the latest example.
.
Timaloy29(and a wee bit)..
Everybody I have spoken to in football agrees. Such a lack of respect.
You’re Mick McCarthy Yes..?
Summa
THere’s a good picture of Mick Mccarthy on the new Bob Dylan album
I didn’t know the Zim was a Tim.
Good to see Big Fraser Fis world class again…couple of weeks ago he was a dud,
should be sold/dropped,hung from a lamppost.
Welcome back big man ,please do not read CQN too many guys n ere who know nought.
BMCUW
The poor doos about the Saltmarket will be going hungry now in the morning.
Kieron Prior has been busy this week the man with” intelligence of the radar” & investor in sevco popped up on Snyde last night seemingly he is friendly with one of the programmes panelist’s Gary Ralston here is what barcabhoy has to say about Mr Prior
Barcabhoy says:
October 3, 2013 at 9:53 am
48 0 Rate This
Here’s a little insight into how a no name , no reputation “investment professional” manages to get on the front pages of a tabloid that doesn’t have a business editor, or even a business section.
1 Claim to have an IQ of 220. Now it wasn’t difficult to fool the brainpower of journalists and editor at The Record, given their collective IQ’s may not reach 220. However even they stopped repeating this claim after a while when they were told this would make Pryor the most intelligent individual who ever lived. They may also have read this quote from Stephen Hawking ” – “I don’t know what my IQ is. People who gloat about their IQ’s are losers”
2 Throw out a big number and throw in a highly credible financial institution. So something like ” I managed £100 million for Goldman Sachs” The only problem with that is that places you just above Tea Boy at Goldmans. Serious and capable investment managers wouldn’t brag about that number, they would seek anonymity to avoid ridicule
3 Throw in a world famous name , and sound like you might even know them personally, and how they operate. The only problem with this is Bill Gates never ran Microsoft. He hired Steve Ballmer to do that.
4 Having now “Duped” the readership set phasers to full BS mode ( That could equally stand for Brian Stockbridge, but in this case it’s for Bull Sh*t)
5 Throw out some big claims now you have that glazed look in the eyes of Journo’s and readers
6 Claim #1 Rangers “This club is naturally six or seven times bigger than it is right now.” Really !! 6 or 7 times larger than its current £19 million turnover. So between £114 million and £133 million ! Note, not potentially but naturally. The only problem with that is the Oldco never got the turnover above £65 million, and the last audited accounts of Oldco showed turnover of £56 million with European CL Football and an SPL title winning season. Note : BS deflectors need to be on Max any time this guy talks
Claim #2 He added: “There is no danger, in my opinion as a professional investor, of Rangers going under.” Followed a few lines later by this “If we’re still struggling financially next year, then we can act.”
Now i don’t think you need an IQ of 220 ( even a kiddy on made up one) to see the idiocy and contradiction in these 2 statements. Receiving financial advice comes with a warning, when it comes from this guy you should also be wearing a Hazmat suit and a blindfold and noise canceling headphones
Claim #3 “One-off debts such as certain legal fees, oldco football debts, acquisition and IPO costs and pay-offs to individuals such as Charles Green amount to several million and won’t be recurring.” Now this is even more amateurish than the previous nonsense. You do know Kieron that the £14 million loss DID NOT INCLUDE ANY NON RECURRING ITEMS ? Surely you know that ? After all you are an Investment Professional.
Just when you think there are no more ridiculous characters to populate this story, another pops up to continue the fine old Ibrox tradition of spouting nonsense.
Delaneys Dunky
I think its obvious, that our hard man in the centre mid type plan…is not working.
We need creativity in midfield…we have Joe and Charlie to break up play and mop up, we don’t need three defensive midfielders.
Why don’t we give Biton or Rogic a run in centre mid….or why did we buy them in the first place.
As for a Centre Forward who can score goals…didn’t we have one…ah that’s right, wasn’t his name Gary Hooper….would have really helped on Tues, that’s if we could have held on to him of course.
HH
TSD
Betcha you would be swearing like a trooper at Ibrox if you ever met me.
“Help,call the f…..g polis,this madman is being nice to me! And an ambulance!Matron has clearly spiked my hot milk!”
You really bring nothing to this site,but a supercilious manner,and personal abuse. Yet it seems your life has no time for such frivolity,full as it is with keeping the country free from undesirables.
Can I suggest you spend more time concentrating on yer day job,as yer not very good at it.
Love and manly kisses from yer pal.
Good ole Barca bhoy, one of my favourite clever clogs to post on here.
Delaneys dunkey
yeh thats true but hopefully joe can be used in a more forward role as he knows his way to goal..brooney done that at hibs and cant seem to do it here same was with paul hartley..we should hammering teams in our league most weeks..hope it starts on saturday v murderwell hh
The green man
You think it is obvious. I think it is obvious, but does Lenny?
Summa
Mick mcCarthy has manners not like that eejit.
…………..
Why would anyone want to see our manager castigate one of his players in public.
Do they get some sort of buzz out of it.
Should it only happen to players that they dont like
What about their favourite players
We deserve better!
Wo
Wo ?????