Experience suggests that the best tonic to recover from a disappointing result is big game. Big games set their own orbit, no one needs motivated, focus is achieved without effort. ‘Small’ games expose vulnerabilities. Just days after AEK Athens eliminated Celtic from the Champions League in 2018, Championship Dunfermline took the champions to extra time in the League Cup at Celtic Park. That was during our quadruple treble era.
Livingston at home is not a big game. The manager and players will need to bring urgency, but we have a part to play too. Add to this that Livi sit below only Hearts and Celtic, having taken a draw at Kilmarnock and comfortably beating Falkirk and you get a feeling this one will not be as straightforward as it looked a few weeks ago.
The incentive is clear. Win and go seven points ahead of Newco, who have their own mood music to overcome. There is a huge amount of work to do this month, tomorrow afternoon is an important shift.
194 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- »
All true.
true
V. True
Almost as important as a result tomorrow , is that we come through without any more injuies to further weaken an already weak squad
“Livingston at home is not a big game.”
When did we get so blithely arrogant and up our own arse?
Every game is a big game. The sheer complacency in that statement is incredible.
What a shocking attitude. That’s the kind of thing Mark Dingwall would have written.
Any slippage of points would certainly make things much worse on the cusp of a gruelling trip to the Chinese border and Ibrox days later.
Livi will of course deploy a low block and time waste from the first whistle. The referee will also play his part in making sure a football match never breaks out, so we’ll need to be prepared for plenty of free kicks.
I can see nothing only a slog tomorrow. But three points is vital.
Another 0-0 (or worse) expected. Starting ‘attack’ of Maeda (only because there is literally no cover for him), Yang and Kenny has nil written all over it.
It’s actually a disgrace to have a forward line that’s the worse than the days when Paul Byrne, Brian McLaughlin and Willie Falconer were strutting their staff.
Of course, I blame the manager. Bring back Mark Lawwell!
If I was given the choice of only one game to win in the next three ,it would be the Tuesday game . I doubt we have the firepower to beat the huns at Ibrox but with the guaranteed CL money we would strengthen sufficiently to finish on top at the end of the season .
Wouldn’t we …………?
I’d assume plenty of changes with Kairat in mind. KT, CCV and the likes of CalMac or Maeda.
It’s a risk resting too many given the squad but midfield looks strong so a game for Engles and McCowan to get a run out.
Tauranga hoy
Maybe things look better in the South Pacific but here the team is a shambles and the club divided, that is a recipe for a repeat of the 10 in a row year and is completely self inflicted, new players coming in now won’t solve it but we do need better players ,and leadership from disgrace of a Chief Exec who is hiding.
Some of the negativity surrounding the Club has been caused by P67 constantly sniping at our manager.
An Dun
I think the midfield is one of the problems with the performances, it does everything in front of the opposition midfield never mind their defence, we don’t break lines to create problems
Don’t wrestle with a pig. You’ll end up losing, covered in shite and the PIG likes it
T
RC @ 11:37 am,
“there is no way on this earth that we would pay £9m for a back up striker”
It’s odd you say that, t’was thinking the other day.
Board PLC paid that for Odsonne Edouard as back up (so the manager thought) for Mossa Dembele.
Then against the Manager’s wishes sell Moussa and not replace him.
Then the get Adam Idah as back up for Kyogo, the Board PLC then sell Kyogo, tell the manager they’ll replace him in the January window and don’t.
Seems they pulled the same stunt twice.
Brendan needs to wise up
Hail Hail
Livingston at home is not a big game.
Let’s just chalk up 3 points against the pish poor men from the east…dead easy Paul eh……
Pretty sure the context that the word “big” was used, is not the way some folk are wanting it to appear, por cierto
Por Cierto on 22nd August 2025 12:45 pm
Take your point but it is a big game in the context of the league.
We will have a game similar to St mirren at home let’s hope we are more creative.
A chance to go 7 in front of the huns is massive for me …..CL ?…..meh….8 batterings…make money and stick it next to the other 80 million …..not that interested…..now if they were to say …we’re going to spend 30-40 to revamp squad …then I might get a little excited….but I and everyone else knows that ain’t happening…….so just win tomorrow.. massive
ONENIGHTINLISBON on 22ND AUGUST 2025 12:49 PM
Por Cierto on 22nd August 2025 12:45 pm
Take your point but it is a big game in the context of the league.
Which, the way I read it, is exactly what the article is saying.
bashi-bazouks on 22nd August 2025 1:06 pm
Open to interpretation….
Before Every game we play I get a text from a mate , ( aye I’ve got wan 😉)
” massive game today “…
I think he might upgrade to ,” really massive game today ”
😁
If only Kwon was available
Actually Dunfermline was 2019 after we lost to Cluj.
And if we can’t shake off this fixation with “newco” there will be plenty more nights in Europe like Wednesday.
That awkward moment when Yang is man of the match
Looking forward to going to see Celtic tomorrow.
That particular pleasure never wanes.
Bring it on.
A quick scan of the first 25 comments is instructive.
The majority appear to focus on the game Paul mentioned in his leader.
But a sizeable minority conflate the article content with an existing beef (Paul, another poster, plc, board, some guy no longer employed by Celtic).
Where things are i suppose.
Hey ho.
BTW – anyone on here personally acquainted with Celtic40me?
He/she hasn’t posted much recently.
glasstwothirdsfull
Despite the fact that Rangers FC was liquidated on October 17 2024, after a process lasting more than a decade, (an event which went virtually unreported), there is a continuing narrative that the club somehow lives on. It is a myth of course, but one which is supported by this blog, as in Paul’s persistent use of the term ‘Newco”……ergo New Company/Same Club. It is of course, in John Major’s memorable phrase…”a bogus sham”
And so it goes
CELTIC MAC
I remember The Rainjurz what a waste of time and money that was
Any win tomorrow is fine. A deflection of someone’s bum to win it on the 90th will do me.
7 points clear would but the Huns in a lot of hot water for Sunday.
AJ out for 3 months says BR.
Before the Kairat Katastrophe (as it’s currently being profiled into legend) I imagined we’d seamlessly skoosh the following 3 games v Livi, the Kairaty Kids and the Currants.
As guff as the huns really are and given the negative nellyism swirling around our family, we will need a huge recovery of confidence and verve to get any sort of favourable oucome.
PS: Just watched the recent fillum ‘Eddington’ – eccentrically engaging and well worth the watch.
Now that things have relatively calmed down I am posting a rebuttal to the scurrilous assertion to abuse, I so hate that “p” word, within the Catholic Church, no I am NOT in denial here as it happened and was well covered up although the rationale behind that was to protect the victims, whatever, I am a practising Catholic but NOT a particularly devout one, I still have faith but NOT of the blind variety so here goes:
Child abusing priests hmmm, first of all south of the border here it has been stated that there are more main street non Catholic religious leaders who are child abusers than Catholic ones, might be because there are more of those denominations, a recent survey identifies approximately 62% of U.S. adults as Christian, with 23% being Evangelical Protestants and 19% identifying as Catholic, but lets NOT let that get in the way of Catholic bashing.
I live in a country which is at the fore front of stopping this unsavoury practice with both the Ontario Provincial (OPP) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Forces highly praised for their role in it.
For many years there was hidden abuse, especially in minor sports, until some well known sportsmen decided to blow the proverbial whistle and then steps were made to eradicate it, has it gone completely, hard to tell as those who are abused are often too ashamed to admit it.
I coached minor soccer for several years until Covid halted that but before I did I had to get police clearance as well as take a course from the Canadian Sports Association, it was all about how to deal with youngsters, for example when some lad scores the winning goal or saves the winning penalty do NOT hug them, high five mibbees but that’s as far as the touching goes.
I am also a member of an international Catholic charitable organisation with 2+ million members world wide and according to Fortune 1000 based on its annual revenue, underwrites more than two million insurance contracts, totaling more than $121 billion of life insurance in force as of 2023.
It is an adult organisation but at times uses teenagers as part of their fund raising efforts, it also has courses on dealing with them, I took them, it was an all day affair with the emphasis on SPOTTING abusers and then outing them, recertification takes place on a regular basis.
As for the Church itself, around 20 year ago I started to watch a Sunday night show on CBC, often called the BBC of Canada, far from it as successive tory governments have tried in vain tae underfund it, or even shut it down, however after it started to look like another anti Catholic slant it then turned into first class investigative reporting.
Oh the abuse was out of control and went to the highest echelons of the diocese, which I am reluctant to name, eventually parishioners and parents groups brought the whole cabal down, at the end of the programme the question was asked, “why are so many priest abusers” and the answer was “they are NOT, its abusers who become priests for easier access to kids, they are no different from baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer coaches, in fact anywhere you have adults mixing with kids” which is why I highlighted the efforts being made by the OPP and the RCMP to not just combat this distasteful situation but eradicate it.
Now the church will always get it in the neck, but the abuse was so deep that JPII struggled with it, Benedict, IMHO, resigned because of it, but that wee man Francis took it head on it looks as if Leo is carrying on in this vein, so when we read of ex priests and 80 year old ones getting done, and rightly so, these are the repercussion of all that the church has went through, it’s a long long battle but it looks as if they are winning.
Now back tae the fitba
If AJ is out until November . . .
Hi Pep – you got a right back we can loan until January?
Sorted.
bournesouprecipe
Cost the taxpayer a packet an aw….
and a knighthood or so
not sure about the ‘not a big game’ comment.
then surely you could extend that argument to say that the only big games are games against your league rivals.
in our case thats the huns because realistically no other team is going to win the league this year.
for teams at the top of the english premiership, they would have more big games if thats the discussion.
so is P67 saying that every game apart from the 4 huns games are not big games because by that argument there is no difference between playing livi, and aberdeen for example, because neither of them will finish anywhere near us at the end of the season?
not sure the need to say that
Idah & Trusty miss tomorrows game with knocks says BR.
I am still trying to get my head around what is going on at Celtic this window….
Is DD deliberately trying to teach BR a ‘lesson’ by sabotaging this season?
If so, to my mind, this would be utterly ludicrous. It is difficult to believe that a board member would do something like this.
What am I missing?
Weeeron