While Maribor were clearly second best at home to Celtic last week they remain a potent threat to our season. You can be sure they’ve watched every minute of every game Celtic have played this season and will have dissected each defensive lapse. Our acknowledged weaknesses – primarily a defence which has yet to find cohesion – will be well-known to each of them.
The vast acreage of Celtic Park should suit the mobile, pressing, game Ronny Deila has brought to our play. It will be difficult for Maribor to cover all defensive zones, so with Celtic certain to play without a target-man, I expect the visitors to concede territory on the wings, defend their penalty area and force Celtic to play through them.
We will inevitably leave space at the back, in particular down the wings. How attentive we deal with this risk could determine the outcome of the tie.
Maribor’s schedule since facing Celtic on Wednesday suggests their biggest challenge will be to maintain energy levels late in the game. Thursday will have been a rest day, only light training would have taken place Friday and the bulk of the first team had a league game on Saturday evening. Yesterday would be another rest day, and they will travel today before a light job on Celtic Park this evening.
By contrast, the bulk of those who will start for Celtic tomorrow will have had normal preparatory training Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with some light work tomorrow. Those who made substitute appearances on Saturday will not have made a significant debit on energy levels.
We need to keep the ball moving early on, curtail rest times and have Maribor accessing their reserve tanks as early as possible.
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Looks like out new mhan will be getting unveiled at CP tomorrow night according to twitter. :-)))
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Ok so it appears Scepovic is the man. Can’t say I know much about him, seeing as he is another former F.C. Ashdod player I suspect we have been tracking him for some time, though if we rated him then why didn’t we make a move before when he would have been significantly cheaper? Did we think Balde was a better player?
Was hoping for someone with a bit more pedigree. Nonetheless, you’ve got to put your trust in the scouting team, but it annoys me when people say we need a target man. Chris Killen was a target man. Daryl Murphy was a target man. John Daly is a target man. What we need is a quality striker, it doesn’t matter if he’s 5ft 5 or 6ft 4. To play up front for Celtic, against packed defences, you need to have technical ability.
People write off YouTube videos, saying anyone can look good, but I dare say the boy Messi has quite the highlight reel, and you can definitely get at least an idea of what type of player someone is.
So there’s not much out on Scepovic, but the first video I watched, I think based on last season, was a little underwhelming. Decent in the air, will poach a few goals, and takes a good penalty is what I took from it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D0Yuj7CufI
The second video, which looks like something his agent may have put together, is a bit more encouraging, and shows flashes of technical ability, good finishing and being a general all round player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlYQihEAatc&list=WL&index=26
I hope he is a Serbian Chris Sutton, my fear is he is a Serbian Daryl Murphy. I guess the days of making signings that instantly excite the support are over. Too many mediocre strikers have walked through the doors in the last few years. We can’t afford to get this wrong.
WeefratheTim –
That’s a well-known urban myth.
Funny though.
Tom
I thought so to. You going ra morra?
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Evening all.
I have my reservations about our Serb. Didn’t Lassad score lots in the same division? Moreover he has had a lot of clubs. Why wasn’t he bought sooner?
Anyway, we have millions left to acquire more players. Let’s spend.
WeefratheTim –
Yes I am. Driving through from Edinburgh with one son and meeting other son at the park. He works in Glasgow.
We are in front row of FS3 main stand front.
Can’t wait.
3-1 the Bhoys.
Johnnyrambo
ffs the guy is not even in the door yet, give him a chance eh?
CC from B,
We played 2 rounds of Ballycastle on the Thursday but didn’t go into the town.
was a great golf trip but I’d not rush back.
HH
and Weefra ….you shot them with yer wee camera ….
thinklikeaceltcfc….
braw
I would prefer not to see Berget starting as he hasn’t impressed much.
Bewildering debate about fitness. Maribor are mediocre. We are fit. It comes down to ability. We are superior in every position.
Frank ryans whiskey
Scotland has left you behind mate.i
Your confusion about Scotlands history is highlighted when like bawsman you play the Carsonian card of shetland /orkney independencs.my how the union has your thinking.it has. but carry on blaming ‘indigineous’ types and omitting blame from the westminster powerbrokers.
HH :-)
JohnnyRambo –
Dear oh dear. I am glad I am not suicidal because that post would have had me swinging from a rope.
—-
An Independent Scotland? Please, God, Let it Happen!
by Milo Yiannopoulos
25 Aug 2014, 4:52 AM
In polite society, the correct opinion to hold about Scottish independence is that the Union must stay together. But I’ve been wondering: might not England thrive, freed from the yoke of those whining, kilted leeches? The more you think about it, the more persuasive the argument seems to be.
I’ve been invited to debate this question – whether or not we long-suffering Sassenachs would be better off without our sponging Caledonian neighbours – in early September, at a debate held by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
How might I begin? Well, there are of course the immediate political consequences. A break-up of the Union would be indelible on David Cameron’s record, and absolutely devastating to his reputation and legacy. Never mind anything else the Tories have achieved in government: Cameron would go down in history as the PM who lost Scotland.
But, as joyful as the prospect of Dave’s humiliation will be to some Breitbart London readers, there are even more spectacular potential effects. Not only will the West Lothian Question be settled in the only satisfactory manner possible, but the structural bias in our constituency boundaries that favours the Labour Party will be blown apart.
Now, you might not think much of the Conservatives – and you would not be alone in the comment section, I suspect – but I think we can all agree that, given the choice, we’d rather the Tories had the electoral upper hand. Not only can we send Cameron off into retirement in disgrace, but we can safeguard our own country against Ed Miliband.
Let’s consider for a moment how Scotland herself might fare. In my view, she would be well served by some time alone to consider who she really is. Historically, Scotland was renowned across the world for entrepreneurial spirit and engineering genius. Both reputations have been lost after a century of Labour government and the overweening arrogance and control freakery of the trades unions.
These days, Scotland is more commonly associated with work-shy dole scroungers and skag-addled prostitutes than with the industriousness of Adam Smith or with its glorious pre-Reformation spirituality. Sorry, no offence, but it’s true.
Absent subsidies from the British taxpayer, supposedly “Scottish” institutions might be forced to rediscover their zeal for enterprise. They’re Scottish in name only, you understand, paid for by the English. So you see, independence might be a way for this once-great nation to shine again.
A country that loses no opportunity to paint itself as independent, despite being the recipient of largesse from elsewhere, and which drones on and on and on about its “rich heritage” and “distinct identity” – almost to the point of psychosis – should really be given the chance to prove how exceptional it is. Don’t you think?
It’s true that after independence Scotland would have to take some hard decisions. They won’t get the pound, and any new Scottish currency would be so quickly devalued the country would be forced to start exporting to the Congo. So it’s the euro. And I think we all know how that would end for a country whose net contribution to the Union would be wholly negative.
But, although the Scots have an unparalleled national genius for misery, they also have an innate national resourcefulness and cunning. Just look at Alex Salmond’s ducking and diving, and his crude, disingenuous populism. Give Scots something to be really miserable about – say, the need to slash government spending to within an inch of its life – and that entrepreneurial vigour we were just talking about might reappear.
A newly independent Scotland, with a revived sense of national pride, would be an attractive place for the current generation of Scottish broadcasters, every one of whom seems to be ensconced in London at the BBC. “Aural torture” is perhaps putting it too strongly, but can anyone deny the benefit to Radio 4 of the repatriation of James Naughtie? Jeremy Hunt, for one, is sure to be relieved.
Returning to England, then, let us imagine a Kingdom relieved of burdensome Scottish misanthropy. Surely it would experience an almost immediate burst of post-divorce gaiety. Think of our city centres, free of garrulous Glaswegian drunks slurping Buckfast tonic wine, or English literary festivals liberated from sour, spiky-haired Caledonian lesbians hawking grim thrillers about child abuse.
And here’s one last, even more delicious prospect: right-on Scottish stand-up comedians permanently banished to Edinburgh, where their ancient jokes about Thatcher or the Pope will make their equally ossified Stalinist audiences laugh so bitterly that Scotland’s famously dedicated healthcare workers will be left mopping up the leakage.
It makes you wonder whether we shouldn’t offer up Liverpool as well, to sweeten the deal. After all, the north of England is in a similarly bad state. What do you reckon of my modest proposal? Would a taste of the Calvinist lash persuade that feckless and conceited community to get off its behind and look for work? Why not let Holyrood underwrite their disability benefits bill for a while, and see what happens?
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/08/25/Scottish-Independence-Must-Happen
W-H-O-O-O-O-O-O-S-H….!
MWD says AYE…!
Tae Compulsory Lobotomies For All…
In A Vibrant Independent ScotchLand..
——
Started already the Bhoy’s no even in the door…
I blame shopping malls…
Johnny Rambo67:-
Scepovic is an eye-raising signing.
We would definitely have known about his exploits at Ashdod in season 2012/13. We regularly deal with Israeli agent Dudu Dahan who brokered the deals that brought Gershon, Kayal, Ambrose and Biton to Celtic. In fact the Biton transfer to Celtic went through not long after Scepovic had completed his loan spell at Ashdod.
Scepovic joined Gijon on loan from Partizan Belgrade in summer 2013. The loan deal had an option for Gijon to buy the player for 1 Million Euros.
Gijon exercised this right to buy in February 2014.
It seems they have now turned a handsome profit of 2 Million Euros on the player in the space of 6 months.
gearoid1998
19:15 on 25 August, 2014
Don’t like portrush at all – a fella I knew was kicked to death in it for simply being a Catholic hated it ever since full of DOB’s
Always a place I’ve been uncomfortable in even when I was a kid
Love Ballycastle though
Right off for a run be back later
Tom
I’m in the main stand rear. Hopefully meet you at the ole CQN corner. I’ll be there at approx. 7.00 pm. See ya. :-)))
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
I haven’t driven to Celtic Park for a good few years. What are car parking arrangements like nowadays? Coming from the east via M8. Will arrive about 5:30 to 6pm.
Thanks in advance.
WeefratheTim –
What and where is CQN corner?
braw
Naw, I’ve got a blunderbuss. Hahahaha
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Bawface v Darling?!
HANDBAGS!
HH!!
Murray drops 3rd set. 2-1
Tom
Outside the Pools Office next to the Superstore. Hope you can make it. :-))) COYBIG.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
WeefratheTim –
Ok I’ll give it a try. Is it just a bunch of CQNers standing chatting?
I expect us to pick up from where we left off at Celtic Park.
Gordon
Lustig Kayal VD Izzy
Mc Gregor Johnson Kayal Berget
Commons Stokes
4.1 to the bhoys as we always let one in
HH
How’s the ticket sales for the morra? Can we expect a full house?
WeefratheTim –
Sorry, that didn’t sound right. I meant in the context of recognizing the CQNers.
:-)
Guy on Sky News just now.
Richard Walker, editor of the Sunday Herald and a YES campaigner.
Was in my year at school a hunner years ago.
HH!!
Good Evening Timland.
I thought I would share a tale of my day,I was talking to a
blue nose won’t call him a hun because he is a decent bloke.
He had his phone out and was showing me a photo of the R#####s
team at the start of the 64/65 season, do you recognize any of
them he asked.
The only three I knew were Henderson, Baxter, and Greig, what
a side he said,I replied they don’t have a clue
about the on coming storm which is about to hit them.
67heaven … i am neil lennon ….the angels are with wee oscar in heaven.. ibrox belongs to the creditors
19:20 on 25 August, 2014
https://twitter.com/mattmcglone9/status/503666398229712896
____________
Liked that, I’ve still got a fake note that the bhoys from NTV were handing out at ipox years ago glued on to a workbench in work…it had a photo of minty saying for every fiver you spend we will spend 10p.
I must have replaced it at least it fifty times…hurting huns….;)
JonnyRambo67
the second video shows him to be 2 footed, can score lots of different types of goals from different areas, has a good header and can link and pass well. he seems to have a bit of grit about him as well. i hope this works out because we really don’t need another dud but anyone who scores 23 goals in a season knows where the back of the net is.
What time is the Kerrydale Bar open tomorrow guys?
tallybhoy,
Are you in the town tomorrow before the game?
Could’ve been worse. He could’ve been called Sevcovitch.
Nye Bevans’ rebel soldier –
I remember that team well.
Ritchie, Shearer, Caldow, Greig, McKinnon and Baxter, Henderson, Forrest, Millar, Brand and Wilson.
They were a formidable side and won a lot of silverware, but 1964/65 was the start of their demise. They won the League Cup, but Celtic won the Scottish Cup and Kilmarnock the League Championship. Jock Stein arrived in March 1965 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Spanish 2nd div will be better quality than SPFL
It’s ok just found out it’s 5pm
Murray in trouble ….no sae braw … :(