Nervous? Oh yes. Any one of a number of things can go wrong, up to and including a red card while conceding a penalty. Celtic will need to score three without reply before any of us relax tonight. It’s the kind of challenge which should be completed within 15 minutes but Brendan Rodgers is right to call for patience. Any rush to get the job done could produce fatal consequences.
18 years ago this week, in front of a packed and newly completed Celtic Park, Larsson, Lambert, Boyd, Rieper, Burley and co. faced an equally unfancied St Patrick’s Athletic but couldn’t put the ball in the net. And they guys knew a thing or two about playing the game. Football isn’t played on paper, sometimes you need reservoirs of patience to invest in this sport.
Remember to get along early to see the league title flag unfurled before kick-off. I know we’ve seen 11 of these events since 2001 but we should never take it for granted.
…………….and the game is on your season ticket.
Best wishes to Tony Watt, if he joins Hearts, and to Massimo Donati, who’s pitching his tent at Hamilton Accies this season. Both created great Champions League memories for us.
I know the Uefa response to Res 12 hasn’t been generally released but did Siri and Skybet get a copy as well as the SFA?
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1
Celtic
1
Lucky deflection…
Love
COYBIG
Looking forward to tonight.
FLAG UNFURLING TONIGHT THOUGH IS A JOKE. AGREED BY A JOKE PLC. PLC and Peter GTF.
MWD
For the night is long and full of terrors!
Game of thronesCSC
Starry
The sound of ally studs on yer ankle, now that’s a sound you don’t want to hear too often
We can all relax. Wee BR will play his strongest available centreback partnership.
Erik an’ Efe.
Ha! Intriguing comment about Siri there!
Here is my latest. All about the gutless BBC coverage of the “Siri incident”.
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/07/19/the-lie-cence-fee/
And yesterday’s other offering about a rocket…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/07/19/the-rocket-man/
ONENIGHTINLISBON on 20TH JULY 2016 11:42 AM
Reading back through some of the comments regarding our new managers’ failure to sign players I find it shocking that some on here are already criticising him. He has inherited a huge squad and surely should be allowed the time to decide with his team who should stay and who should be moved on.
*On the day of the final game of the 1964/65 season a Glasgow Cup tie against the deid team which we won 2-1, Jock, only 2 months intae the job, decided that 50 players on staff was too much so cancelled the Combined Reserve side with a raft of youngsters being released. The only one of note was Kenny Aird who went on tae have a decent career with St Mirren, St Johnstone and the jambos.
Of the side that won that night, the same one that won our first trophy in 7 ½ years, Big Billy prior to Jock’s returning was on the verge of signing for Spurs, as was Jinky who had been left out of the side, Bobby Murdoch was contemplating on moving tae Oz, Bobby Lennox was being sold to Falkirk, Big Yogi was on the way oot tae, wee Bertie would probably have no came back and the best uncapped Scottish goalie at the time (2 FA Cup Winners medals) would have remained a reserve player/coach, the position he was signed for, similar tae the Big Mhan 14 years earlier at the “tender” age of 29.
Jock had the advantage of knowing most of the players, probably signed some of them tae, from his previous role as reserve team coach so halted some of the transfers.
Sentiment however disnae win trophies and only 20 players of the over inflated squad that started the season were still there when the 1965/66 one resumed.
Fans favourites like Johnny Divers and Jim Kennedy were eventually allowed to move on while former club captain Dunky McKay and eccentric goalie Frank Haffey, both internationalists, had already left a few months prior.
Only one new player arrived that summer, man of many clubs Joe McBride who had given Billy a torrid time in the SC Semi a mere 17 days after Jock had arrived.
At the age of 27 he was not one for the future but additional firepower for this “new” Celtic side. He would make a similar move 6 years later from the same side with the acquisition of Dixie.
Right now there is cause for concern over the lack of transfer activity, but given the size of our current squad it might be feasible to allow Brendan the opportunity of trying to revitalize the career of a future Buzz Bomb and/or Jinky. It’s not as if there is a dearth of trophies in the Parkheid Board room unlike before the Big Mhan’s return.
Don’t forget tae the one of the players that Bob was so intent in getting rid of will help unveil the flag the night.
THECLUMPANY
Shameful from the BBC…
The question Brendan needs to ask himself is do we need two Centre Backs in tonights game ? they will almost certainly play with one up front and we should be capable of defending that with one Centre Back.H.H.
MASTY
Nae shinguards of course.
We should get the slackers at Celtic oot oan the rid ash..
Tontine Tim
Well said!!
26th May 1967
If we are to improve in the mid to long term, we have to buy better than what we already have, even the prospects have to be first teamers, its what we’ve been tearing our hair out about for years now.
So if we’re serious we need to be a bit more patient than jumping up and down 20 days into the two month transfer window. We’re stuck between the short term need for getting in new players who will help get us through the qualifiers and the longer term needs of rebuilding a squad that will do the business for years to come. its simply not possible to reconcile the two within the first 20 days of the window, well maybe not impossible but extremely difficult and unreasonable to demand it.
I hope we don’t end up buying for players for the sake of it again, we’d be in exactly the same position this time next year
BOURNESOUPRECIPE
The two weans have clocked the photographer in a bygone age which didnae mean a confrontation:))
Unashamedly stole from Twitter pmsl…
The Big Cup
1h
The Big Cup @lisboninthesun
Were you mis-sold an Ibrox Debenture?
Promised a seat for life, but no longer allowed in to see your beloved “Rangers”
Call 0141 1690 2012
MWD –
Celtic didn’t arrange the Inter Milan date. They were told by the International Champions Cup organisers that they were playing on that date.
And what is wrong with flying the league flag tonight? It’s a season ticket game. I don’t see the problem.
Sitting in Ile do Pico Airport waiting on a flight to Ile do Terceira. This airport makes Inverness look like an international hub. Rushed through security to hopefully get a cup of coffee before the flight to find out that there is only a waiting room. That’s it.
Hunderbirds
Surely with a monicker like yours you can cal international rescue ?
Starry
The wee guy on the right is CQN’s Battered Bunnet.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE
:))) Through and Through..
God I miss Celtic Park…
bournesouprecipe on 20th July 2016 11:52 am
Possibly, its just the old pecking order thing that may be in play that annoys me. Too many managers sticking to the old guard.
May be unfounded in this case, and O’Connell may not make the grade with us. For him and a few others, they’re nearing the end of ‘promising youngster’ time…
HH
BSR
Pure coincidence. I was up for a board meeting :¬)
TONTINE TIM on 20TH JULY 2016 12:07 PM
I really love your encyclopaedic recollection of those days and the perspective you provide.
Get a few free kicks outside the box and we will open our account…set pieces are they key to unlocking the door……
HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE on 20TH JULY 2016 12:16 PM
Azores on the list.
Not ” bucket ” , btw.
:-)
TONTINETIM
I agree with you that the squad is bloated. BR obviously thinks so too,judging by his comments.
Now that is bloated in terms of quantity,but malnutrite in terms of quality. And aye,I have used the word deliberately.
So,BR can make his plans to ship players out,figure which ones there are for keeping. But that might take time. And it doesn’t make sense to play them if he doesn’t rate them.
No,the answer is that the crap in the squad is no fault of BR. Therefore,getting rid of them does not come under his remit,nor his budget.
Give BR the players he wants. Let the club deal with the rejects. It was the club which signed them,it’s their problem.
Shoot on sight, and ffs hit the target at least, our strikers can then do what they do and finish any rebounds.
Little more frustrating that an attempt at goal flying miles over the bar/wide
HH
Eoghan O’Connell has 12 senior appearances in his career to date.
5 with Celtic
2 with Oldham
5 with Cork City
He needs around 100 to learn to play the position effectively.
Dunno what Kris Ajer’s position will be, but he has even fewer games at centre half than Eoghan.
Come back in 3 years.
Celtic have a ‘self sustaining financial model.’
“• Core Business – football operation with self sustaining
financial model, relying upon: youth academy; player
development; player recruitment; management of the
player pool; sports science and performance analysis; and
football success.”
The KPIs are then used to monitor performance.
Things like, football success, profit and cash generation, wages and other costs, match attendance,shareholder value.
So with a ‘self sustaining football model’ (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing) life becomes very difficult (financially) without CL football, a faltering recruitment policy and I hate to say the Sevco £. imo.
All of this has to be achieved against the backdrop of a money saturated transfer market in England/Wales and increased competition for players in Europe.
Celtic also play by the rules and pay our bills.
Where does the additional money come from to buy players?
Debt?
It might be no bad thing that BR is taking his time with transfers. I’ve a feeling that we have been chasing losses there. He needs to time assess if the player recruitment policy/strategy/personnel at the club, are fit for purpose.
Hopefully 3-0 tonight!
TBB how do they get experience if they don’t get games?
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 20TH JULY 2016 12:12 PM
26th May 1967
Cracking pic mate,I was there that day got taken by my mums cousin,he lived with us at the time, my wee da was in the rotten row watching my sister being born.
Big Gordon (mums cousin) was a follower of the old team that used to play out of Govan as well,at least he got to see the European cup I suppose.
Wouldn’t it have been fun to read Neganon’s comments the night we won the big cup?
Barney: Simply saying it’s a tad premature to be assessing their ability to play the position.
Relatedly, tonight’s is not a match for either.