If you are wondering, Kilmarnock are in far better form than Livingston, the only team below them in the league table. They enjoyed a remarkable 4-3 win over St Mirren on Wednesday and battered Aberdeen 3-0 10 days earlier. Between those two home wins was a 5-1 reversal at Ibrox, where despite conceding an early red card and penalty goal, they remained in the game until near the hour mark. Neil McCann has turned fortunes around since his appointment last month and he will be motivated to make a mark against Celtic.
Our run of debutants coming on to score a crucial added time goal started on our first visit to Rugby Park this season. Kelechi Iheanacho showed Junior Adamu and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain how it’s done by converting a 96th minute penalty.
Injury to Arne Engels leaves Celtic short of midfield options. Reo Hatate looks low on confidence and form, Oxlade-Chamberlain is not fit for 90 minutes, which leaves Martin O’Neill to choose from Paulo Bernardo or Luke McCowan, neither of whom even made the bench on Wednesday.
Watch out for Sebastian Tounekti. He dazzled in that drab win at Kilmarnock earlier this season and his persistent work has recently paid off, scoring or assisting three of our last four goals, each one absolutely crucial. Rugby Park’s plastic suits a player who prefers to pick up the ball and run with it, rather than those who are better chasing a forward pass.
We have seven away games to play this season: Kilmarnock, Newco, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Dundee, and probably Hibs and Falkirk. We have a great opportunity to record a statement win by picking up three points at Killie. These players have shown they will dig deep when necessary. A similar effort will be needed on Sunday.
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Thought KT and Ox were superb on Celtic TV.
Happy Friday!
HH!
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full @ 11:05 am,
Yes, well it’s true that many want credit for re-inventing the wheel…
Analytics seems one element of that in sports – no doubts it has it’s uses.
Back in the day do you know where “English” longball football came from?
Well at Lilleshall they analysed goals – and goals win games;)
They found a significant percentage of goals scored, came from Defenders losing possession in their defensive third of the field.
They came up with a mechanism that would increase the likely hood of that happening – namely, the long ball into the final third of the pitch…
So, it gives you an edge for a bit until football teams bring in fast, athletic centre halves – the size of rugby second row forwards.
So, it’s a matter of being ahead of tge game and evolving.
Where I think Tony Bloom has the edge over many owners, is he is a gambler and a sports fanatic who loves winning.
Hearts has more potential for trophies and roi, than those other teams imo…
Hail Hail
This one will be considerably more difficult than the league table suggests.
I think we need to up our finishing game. Been an issue for months.
Clear heads, please.
Yes, with Seb Tounekti’s goals and assists dial beginning to move, maybe a great opportunity for him to shine.
There are certainly more options in the box…
Hail Hail
This is exactly the type of game Luke McCowan should be thriving in.
CHairbhoy
The story of Charles Reep and his latter-day debunking should serve as a salient lesson in the difference between data and analysis in football.
Formidable team ready assembled,
Greg Aitken
John Beaton
Steven McLean
David Dickinson
Andrew Dallas
Nick Walsh
Calum Scott
Don Robertson
Chris Graham
Ross Hardie
Lloyd Wilson
Sub Kevin Clancy ( Token Tim ) ‘banned’ at Rainjurz request from IBrokes, most of last season.
As we face the run in here’s the team now with the ‘benefits’ of VAR Andrew Dallas failed the medical for pitch referee, but gets a VAR gig every week. He seen the penalty TV showed on Cvancara!, but adapted the rules to suit.
Calum Scott versus Livingston had a dreadful game, at Parkhead, continually stopped play and patched fouls on Celtic players ( Adamu in stoppage time was blatant ) .
Confirmed Rainjurz fan Greg Aitken fan on VAR at Kilmarnock on Sunday. Not required to declare what team you support it would leave the SFA well short.
Celtic’s Auston Trusty red card grievance follow up?
Interim Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has urged the club to buy 27-year-old on-loan Boca Juniors left-back Marcelo Saracchi, who scored in Wednesday’s win over Livingston, at the end of the season. (Glasgow Times), external
Former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored Celtic’s winner in his debut against Livingston on Wednesday, has revealed his former footballer father, Mark, had urged him to sign for the Scottish champions when the opportunity arose to end his spell without a club last month. (The Herald), external
Livingston are closing in on a deal to sign Barrie McKay for the rest of the season, with the 31-year-old former Heart of Midlothian and Rangers winger having trained with the Scottish Premiership strugglers as he looks to end six months without a club. (Daily Record), external
Motherwell forward Tawanda Maswanhise says he is keeping his head down and ignoring speculation linking him with Celtic and Rangers, but the 23-year-old admits his ambition is to play Champions League football. (Scottish Sun)
The Battered Bunnet @ 12:26 pm,
Cheers – I’ll check it out…
Hail Hail
This will be Martin O’Neill’s 300th game in charge of Celtic in all competitions, the sixth manager to hit that milestone with the club. His 227 wins in 299 games to date is already the most within a manager’s first 300 matches in charge (Jock Stein second with 224).
Official Celtic Podcast:
https://youtu.be/IZ–DorxIRo?si=FZZwdqlUIPBlhVZS
If p67 is correct,
Last 6 fixtures are…. St Mirren, Newco, Hearts and Motherwell at home, with only Hibs and Falkirk away.
Just hang in there till Mid April.
TBB – cheers
Remind me if you can – I think there’s been some challenge many years retrospectively to Reep’s work?
Can’t recall if it was the underlying data or his analytical interpretation that was latterly perceived as flawed?
Seems Yang,Muvka,Ineacho trained today
Sunday will be tough.
Agree Paul – ANY kind of win will be a statement
Depending on your lens
Celtic are grimly hanging on but with little evidence of sufficient quality to see teams off. Every game is a slog
OR
Worryingly for Hearts and Hibs, MON has (for the second time) stabilised the champions and they are inexorably closing in on their more lauded challengers neither of whom have the necessary experience of winning titles.
Paul67
Says…”rather than those who are better chasing a forward pass.”
Who in our team chases a forward pass?…..
Who in our team makes a forward pass?
All I see are attempted passes to feet…
I can’t remember the last time I saw a ball played ahead of a player to chase….
Squeaking past bottom side Livingston thanks to an injury-time winner isn’t how Martin O’Neill would have expected to mark his 200th league game as Celtic manager.
In fact, the 73-year-old probably never expected to take charge of any more Celtic games when he left in 2005.
But a debut winner from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, scored in the 91st minute, had all the hallmarks of an O’Neill team this season.
During his 10 league games in charge across two interim spells, Celtic have scored 23 goals – four of those have come in the final 10 minutes and three were scored in the 90th minute or later.
O’Neill, though, would rather get the job done earlier. “If those late goals did prove resilience and a bit of character, that’s great,” he said.
“But I don’t think you can live on your nerves for the rest of the time like that, expecting or hoping that you’re going to dig out a winner very late on. It’s not plausible.”
Another intriguing point is Oxlade-Chamberlain’s winner was the third time this season a Celtic player has scored a vital goal on their debut.
The first was Kelechi Iheanacho, who scored a 96th-minute penalty to secure a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in September, under Brendan Rodgers.
Then it was Junior Adamu in Saturday’s Scottish Cup win over Dundee – his 97th-minute goal took the tie to extra time where Celtic won 2-1 – before Oxlade-Chamberlain rescued three points on Wednesday night.
That victory was O’Neill’s 165th in 200 top-flight games with Celtic. He has drawn 20 and lost just 15. In fact, the Northern Irishman’s win rate of 82.5% is the best any Celtic manager.
Ange Postecoglou is the closest to O’Neill with an 80% win rate over his 188 Premiership games. Neil Lennon comes next with 75.3% from 231 matches, followed by Rodgers with 75% from 76 games.
This season, O’Neill’s win rate is at 90% for 10 games – the best of any current Scottish Premiership boss by some margin.
Rangers head coach Danny Rohl is second with 72.2% from 18 matches, while Hearts boss Derek McInnes is third with 65.4% from 26.
With that kind of record Celtic fans would surely be happy to have O’Neill in charge for another 200 league games.
And he notches another milestone this weekend against Kilmarnock – his 300th match in all competitions as Celtic boss.
https://x.com/JamesDunsmuir3/status/2022061572554907777
Although the Livvy goalie made several stops on Wednesday ,none of them were of the gravity defying , last gasp, fingertip , wonder variety. A least two of them should have bulged the net . Let’s hope any chances we make at Rugby park are more clinically finished .
The Battered Bunnet @ 12:26 pm,
Yes, looks like Reep’s work has indeed been debunked, yet his long-ball tactics were promoted by Charles Hughes at Liilleshall for aometime and seems to have made an impact.
Pretty much debunked as well, though maybe better tactics and young player development had a lot to do with that.
Hail Hail
31003,
Aurajo has played few beautiful over the top balls up the wing,as has KT on the opposite side.
GDT,
Been doing it all season,especially a run of games by Kenny when he could not hit the proverbial Coo,with the proverbial,Banjo,on the not so proverbial Arse.
Luke McCowan’s omission under MON/Maloney is a bit of a baffler. Not even a gritty cameo.
Think he had some decent games at the eclipse of the Nancy (with the laughing face) Era.
He was an energetic influence for Dundee afore we signed him.
I’d rather he got the nod than Bernardo the Blasé Benfican.
PS: Agree P67 – Seb is still an excitement machine in the making.
And don’t forget Kasper deserves great credit for some wunnerful reflux saves of late too.
Says everything about where we are now that beating the second bottom team would be a statement win.
Performances have to start improving. You can get away with playing badly and winning for a while, but it’s not sustainable in the longer term.
Kasper the fat shamed Goalie
TURKEYBHOY on 13TH FEBRUARY 2026 1:00 PM
31003,
Aurajo has played few beautiful over the top balls up the wing,as has KT on the opposite side.
In fairness…I forgot two excellent over the top passes from Scales to Maeda…who unbelievably controlled them perfectly….
i think the interim report will drop today
Venue:
Celtic Park
Attendance:
58,292
CELTIC V VFB STUTTGART TICKETS
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE | CELTIC PARK | FEB 19 | KO 8PM
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Tickets purchased online will be digital match tickets and distributed a minimum of 48 hours prior to the fixture.
No tickets will be posted for this fixture.
General sale tickets are available to print at home.
Home Cup Ticket Scheme payment was collected on Monday, February 9.
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back to basics@11.53
Your idea, of Mary’s Meals becoming Celtic FC’s shirt sponsor for a year @ £3.65pa is a worthy one….
Unfortunately it would go against the grain of one of the current mantras of the self styled Celtic Fan Collective namely…..
“Not a Penny More”
SadbutTrueCSC
“Not A Penny More”
Until season ticket renewal day.
Ireland has disappeared off of the face the map waiting all of these years for Celtic fans to set it free like they say they’ll do at every Celtic game.
If Celtic fans can’t get over themselves to sack the PLC Board, then Ireland has no chance of being freed.
If Celtic fans can’t see that THEY’RE failure to drop the conflict song book, like Irish Volunteer combatants asked them to do on CQN, back in the day, has caused Ireland’s majority of folk to turn their backs on dinosaur song book Celtic FC, then these fans are wilfully blind and they proved that by being useful idiots for the SNP for 17 years, AND, supporting Scottish national team, SFA junkits etc.
The all talk and no troosers brigade will solve NOTHING!
I don’t support any team who plays in red white and blue CSC
https://x.com/SeanMcCarthyCom/status/2021077156017689077#m
flynn on 13th February 2026 2:40 pm
“Not A Penny More” Until season ticket renewal day. Ireland has disappeared off of the face the map waiting all of these years for Celtic fans to set it free like they say they’ll do at every Celtic game. If Celtic fans can’t get over themselves to sack the PLC Board, then Ireland has no chance of being freed.
*I was back in the bonnie bonnie banks and over the black hill to helensburgh in the summer and then flew over to Dublin were I crossed Ireland from the Irish Sea to the Atlantic, and back again, including country lanes, roads, motorways and the Wild Atlantic Way.
While sitting below a memorial tae the potato genocide one sunny day in Ballyconneely I realised that those at one time as the song says living in “the most distressful country that you have ever seen” were a lot happier now than we are, oh and while they were hanging men and women for the wearing of the green they were doing the same to the natives of the country of my birth for wearing tartan.
And yet we still have imbeciles there want tae be “brutush” wtf as long as they are around we’ll still be subservient to a nation that if they didnae need us would have cast us aside a long time ago like they did to India, South Africa etc and even the Republic of Ireland, although they did hold on to the wealth of that island at the time, just like they are doing to the wealthiest country as far as natural resources are concerned in the uk.
There’s people out in the World who despise us Tims.
Seems odd folk spend so much energy & time having digs at other Celtic supporters.
Each to their own I suppose.
AloofCSC
Does anyone know which of our loanees do we have an option to buy please
kingLUBO
Cvancara and Mvuka
The EU are going to destroy Ireland.
Tontine Tim on 13th February 2026 3:16 pm
Watch this….
https://x.com/thelaymanstake/status/2021917080367641010#m
Bournesoupe
Thanks for that.Bout right.
Incidentally, your list of officials, they are ALL huns, never forget
kingLUBO