Football is overwhelmingly a results business and results in football drive emotions to a level seldom seen in other areas of sport or business. All that emotion makes perspective elusively difficult. For example, how do you muster anything other than an emotional response to the 1-3 home defeat to Bodo/Glimt, coming, as it did, on the same day Newco won 2-4 in Dortmund.
The result was humiliating, another comfortable defeat in the return leg offered no consolation. Perspective was difficult to find. We laughed earlier in the season when Bodo battered Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1. After a poor qualifying campaign that saw them lose home and away to Legia Warsaw, before edging Kosovan and Lithuanian opponents by a single goal to reach the Conference League, Bodo found form. But still, they were preseason when they faced Celtic.
They reached the quarter finals and again got the better of Roma at home, before a collapse at the Olympic Stadium. Roma disposed of Leicester City and are favourites to win the trophy in Tirana tonight, although Feyenoord have form overturning favourites in European finals.
The trauma of our European exit seems a distant memory; a league title win and the sun is shining on Celtic Park. Just as defeat makes perspective difficult, try telling an elated fan that they had better not get too carried away….. Don’t get too carried away, we face existential risks next season.
Considering how Bodo/Glimt pushed Roma so hard, a win for Mourinho’s side would make me feel better about our season. Maybe I’m still trying to find some perspective for that awful 5-1 aggregate defeat in February. Not sure any result tonight will help. Some end of season perspective has me shaken.
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CELTIC40ME on 26TH MAY 2022 10:16 AM.
Many thanks for your reply.
I can agree in part, however it can be argued the lack of ambition comes from within.
How many times over the years have you read on here on the eve of a crucial, winnable and prestigious euro tie :- Drop players and save them for the league game at the weekend ”
To move forward and realise our full potential this is the mindset we need to change.
Cheers and HH.
Guys,
Put simplistically:
The huns were a penalty away from lifting the Europa cup. They are not a great team and even played the oldest player to appear in a Europa cup final. But nevertheless they nearly won the thing.
We have better players, a better manager, better infrastructure, bigger crowds and a much bigger revenue. ( We anticipate a record breaking revenue this season of circa £110m )
In that context I look forward to a sustained European run on the Ange journey.
HH to all.
So
Anyway guys nice chatting
Our ferocious dog ( Cupcake) needs a walk to the pub.
borgo67 -st tams
One of the encouraging signs that we saw under Ange, in our EL group, is that we scored against our opponents away from home. Three against Betis, two against Leverkusen, and two I think offhand against Ferencevaros. That has to be a plus. Keeping Jota, or rather persuading him to sign for us, would be a vote winner, but, as with CCV, not only will he have options, he also has an agent, who will have his own agenda. And that will feature £,$ or Euro notes in the highest nominations available.
“SLÁINTE ANGE on 26TH MAY 2022 12:36 AM
Aston Villa are ready to step up their pursuit of 22-year-old Rangers and Nigeria defender Calvin Bassey.”
How does one get `ready` to do the above?
PS
No criticism of you,Slainte, just of the `journalists` who pen that kind of nonsense.
I want to get better at getting better.
Best Celtic FC Comebacks Ever- Top 5
December 3, 2019
Some clubs in world sport are famous for their never say die attitude, from Manchester United’s Fergie time to Gordon Strachan’s Celtic, a team that would run harder and faster than the opposition all the way until the final whistle. In this article, we will have a look at some of the best Celtic FC comebacks ever.
Here are the 5 best Celtic FC comebacks ever-
5. Aberdeen 1-2 Celtic [May, 2017]
Celtic completed a domestic treble without losing a game as Tom Rogic fired in a stoppage-time goal against Aberdeen to win the Scottish Cup.
A beautifully controlled half-volley from Jonny Hayes after nine minutes was reward for a fine Dons start.
But Celtic were level within two minutes as Stuart Armstrong was given too much time to pick out the far corner from the edge of the box.
Late Celtic pressure paid off as Rogic fired low past goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
4. Motherwell 3-4 Celtic [Dec, 2016]
Tom Rogic’s last-minute goal gave Celtic victory over Motherwell in a thrilling Premiership match.
Louis Moult scored twice – a first-time lob and a close-range volley – to put the hosts in charge.
However, Callum McGregor’s strike brought Celtic back into contention and Patrick Roberts headed them level.
Lionel Ainsworth quickly volleyed Well ahead again but that lead did not last long as Stuart Armstrong fired home to make it 3-3.
A minute from time, Rogic moved forward, picked his spot and smashed a shot past Samson to win this most gob-smacking game. It is undoubtedly one of the best Celtic FC comebacks ever.
Celtic’s character and quality in adversity was huge. Motherwell gave so much and did so many superb things, but, sickeningly for Mark McGhee and his team, they were denied the consolation of a point.
3. Celtic 4-3 Aberdeen [Mar, 2013]
A remarkable late comeback from Celtic saw them snatch a 4-3 victory over Aberdeen. There looked to be no sign of the drama to come when Kris Commons put Celtic ahead after just 12 seconds, firing a low shot past Jamie Langfield after good work from Hooper and Anthony Stokes.
But Aberdeen weathered the storm and Celtic were made to pay for their profligacy when Scott Vernon levelled on the stroke of half-time after being fed by Josh Magennis.
Eight minutes after the break, the leaders found themselves behind after poor defending by Kelvin Wilson let in Gavin Rae and he fed Magennis (53) who tucked the ball home.
Magennis struck again on the hour to double Aberdeen’s advantage, after getting a touch on Rae’s drive, and Craig Brown’s side looked on course for a famous win in the week the 72-year-old manager announced he would be standing down at the end of the season.
But Celtic refused to lie down and Mulgrew (68) pulled one back with a deflected shot after a goalmouth scramble to give the home supporters hope.
With three minutes left, Hooper levelled after Efe Ambrose’s shot was blocked on the line and Samaras grabbed a dramatic winner in the fourth minute of injury time with an overhead kick.
2. Kilmarnock 3-3 Celtic [Oct, 2011]
Celtic stormed back from a three-goal deficit against Kilmarnock to grab a share of the spoils in a remarkable Clydesdale Bank Premier League encounter at Rugby Park.
The Hoops looked down and out as Killie raced to an astonishing interval lead through Dean Shiels, Paul Heffernan and James Fowler.
However, the second half, if anything, was even more dramatic. Celtic striker Anthony Stokes scored twice in three minutes, the first from a free-kick in the 73rd minute, before stand-in skipper Charlie Mulgrew headed an equaliser from close range and save the visitors’ blushes.
The final moments could not have been more tense and with two minutes remaining Heffernan missed a sitter with his head after he had been set up by Harkins six yards out, the Killie striker lifting the ball over the bar.
1. Hearts 2 – 3 Celtic [Jan, 2006]
The Celtic centre-half Stephen McManus scored twice in the dying minutes of this astonishing match to send his side seven points clear at the top of league and break thousands of hearts.
Celtic came from 2-0 down to snatch a last-gasp win after Hearts’ Takis Fyssas was sent off. Hearts were 2-1 ahead at that time, with 13 minutes remaining. This compelling afternoon also saw nine yellow cards, one disallowed goal and an arrest at pitchside at the final whistle.
At half-time the Edinburgh side were 2-0 up. Calum Elliot was eye-catching time and again. He started the move for the opener, collecting the ball on halfway, losing a marker and threading a pass to Paul Hartley. Hartley crossed into the path of Edgar Jankauskas. He did not need a great contact because Ross Wallace turned the ball into his own net.
After conceding an apparent consolation goal to Stephen Pearson, Hearts were reduced to 10 men when Fyssas received a straight red for bringing down Shaun Maloney outside the box. Celtic’s manager Gordon Strachan said: “It might be that we were lucky in terms of a decision today.”
Hearts held their lead for nine minutes, until conceding a free-kick near the right-hand corner. Shunsuke Nakamura floated it in and McManus headed home. An almost identical free-kick a few minutes later fell to McManus, who turned on the six-yard box and smashed the winner.
GREENPINATA on 26TH MAY 2022 10:47 AM
If we want to plan to win something in europe then ambition isn’t enough. Putting exceptionalism aside, all the evidence when it comes to the lesser European trophies points to the need for two things to change if we are to get close to winning one:
1. Priorities
2. Money
1. The Europa league is always won by a cup team. Porto were the last team to win their league and the Europa 11 years ago. I don’t know about Feyenoord, but Frankfurt and Roma, teams from big 5 leagues concentrated on winning their tournaments a while ago. Frankfurt finished in 11th, they haven’t won a game in Germany in 9. Roma have won 1 in 6 in serie a. They are in the final of the Italian cup, but checked out of the league a while ago. Serial winners of the Europa, Sevilla, never challenge in Spain.
They are are cup teams, their style, like the Huns, lends itself unto knockout football, getting results over two legs. The Huns dropped points in 11 games in the league, that doesn’t win you a league, even when your rivals start the season with half a team.
If we were to seriously, consistently challenge for either European trophy we’d need to prioritize them over the league. The gap in funding between the teams we’d be likely to face in a long run would mean a change in playing style would be a necessity. But the new style would not only mean a break from our traditions, it would also, likely, mean the sort of football that’s unlikely to win you the league as often. So, realistically, it’s a gamble.
2. Unless we spend a load of money to try and make “our” style more winning in Europe. Dreaming aside, we aren’t going all the way playing our way with the players we can currently afford. Which leaves the alternative of spending big to make up the difference between us and teams with more money, who we will definitely face at some point. The financial rewards for winning the Europa or even going deep would have to be pretty substantial if they were to make up the significant increase in spending we’d need
Either way it’s a gamble.
More of a cup team, with the danger of failing in the league, more spending with the danger of finding ourselves in big debt if we don’t succeed. Or even if we do, like 2003
HOT SMOKED on 26TH MAY 2022 11:31 AM
I want to get better at getting better.
Better at what?
How do we do that?
GP @ 10.47
Put even more simplistically …
They will have a higher T/O for the season just past.
They will have a higher wage bill..
They have better facilities.
They have better coaching..
At the moment we are relying on our better manager to deliver success.
He is at the moment a one man band with good contacts to his last league.
We are in a good position going forward with our CL ticket.
However we need to work / work / work over the summer.
Converting two loans to permanent transfers does not make us any better on the field.
Losing TR and NB means we have less creativity and a weaker squad.
At least our issues in the MF are now getting discussed.
The issue is that CMcG as the captain means that improvement is more complicated.
What will be our starting MF next season?
1) CMcG / RH / MO’R?
2) CMcG / RH / New Guy?
3) RH / New Guy / New Guy?
Get the MF right and we will make huge steps forward.
Get in a starter CB and a starter LB and we will be a much more complete team.
Get in better coaches and then we will see the shadow of PL lift over P/head.
Sorry — fat finger / grey hair syndrome.
new article posted.
Celtic 40 Me,@11.43,
Yep,I agree.Basically,although,better put,what I said a bit earlier..
Ah,Ernie,you never fail.Not a word about the behaviour of Boris,just some dredged up news from your SNP archives.Which I might add,seem extensive on first reading,until you discover it’s just same news re-hashed.
Pip Pip.