At his presidential inauguration in 1963, Lydon B. Johnson said, “I would give anything not to be standing here today”. It is with a similar sense of mourning that we look at tonight’s Europa League qualifier between two Baltic sides, Spartaks Jurmala and Suduva, to discover who we face in the play-off round. I wouldn’t give anything to be in the Champions League qualifier, but I’d happily concede a few league defeats.
Europa League group stage qualification can be worth up to £10m to Celtic, but even winning the trophy will not come near to closing the financial gap between this tournament and Champions League group stage money. Still, it is an important tournament for reasons other than money.
Accumulating Uefa coefficient points in the Champions League has proven very difficult for Celtic. Winning games in the Europa will be easier; we have to deliver on this target. It is also important to qualify from the group into the knockout stages. We have not faced genuine domestic competition in a very long time, and I see little change this year. As a consequence, we need European action after Christmas. Better teams that Celtic have licked their wounds and got on with life in the Europa League, we need to do the same and prepare for the tournament in a professional manner.
I don’t know if the intervening 16 years have been kind to Suduva since we last met 16 years ago, but they hold a special place in our folklore, so I hope they progress tonight. I also have a great wee story of one man pitching up in the North Stand for a few minutes at the home game, just to be there.
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PETERLATCHFORDSBELLY on 17TH AUGUST 2018 12:22 AM
Given Brendan’s A list of transfer targets has been torn up, do we have a credible plan B based on quality, extensively scouted players for key positions?
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Yeah it’s a piece of piss mhate. There’s another 2 McGinn brothers. Cheaper too
Fan-a-tic…Elba Escobar and Miguel Angel Landa I know and Ruben Blades is a big favourite of mine…cool sir!
Dare I ask your role in said movie?
WBC
I was not in the movie.
I was on the publicity side.
I hung around the set and as it was quite a violent film helped with USA publicity.
Copyright BSR
Who would win the Willo Flood v John McGinn transfer windae (not forgetting John McGinn actually had a bigger say than anybody else, and quite right too since it was about his future :-)
We can tell you more definitively come the end of the season Gerry.
But in terms of landing yourself back into a paddling pool of old firm shoite when you had the chance to flying high at another level….on those terms the last few weeks do take some matching.
HH jg
Fan-a-tic…I was involved in the movie business too…my wife’s movie has just been selected for the Venice Film Festival…very proud of her…
Jamesgang 12.42am
Correct at the end of this transfer window we should have a clearer picture of where Brendan & the bhoys are …
What I have saw of John McGinn (not very much) he would be booked every week up here if wearing the Hoops, would prefer to concentrate on players who want and do wear the hoops … I think Willo Flood gets a hard time on here, unlike John McGinn, he got the chance to don the hoops and took it :-)
Willo Flood will never get a hard time from me.
A 100% genuine pro who in another time may have enjoyed some success in the Hoops.
And I think reference to the ‘Flood Window’ is not about the Bhoy per se, rather it’s shorthsnd to flagrant poor planning and inappropriate recruitment at board level that cost us title(s). That’s the concern.
HH jg
PS get in the watter ya wee shitebag!! ??
Jamesgang….agree re Willo Flood. Don’t think any of it was his fault. He jumped at the chance any of us would have taken. An honest pro, unlike so many (DB)…
Gerry…how many lengths today? :-)
Jamesgang 12.54am
:-)
Nae mair pool for me back to the Brig the morra …. maybe Celtic will get back on track once am back where I belong
I agree with your sentiments fur Will but canny be great for Willo always been referred too as a transfer window and not as a Celtic player
Anyhow fellow Celts good night and trust me things are never bad as they seem
WBC
willo flood – I really have seen mare fat on a butcher’s dug. Slip of a Bhoy who was a standout in an ordinary united team but didn’t quite have it/make it with us.
Not unlike wee GMS.
As you say, A very honest pro. Gave his all for every team. That I respect hugely.
HH jg
Night Gerry.
I’m sure wee willo never reads cqn.
If he does at least he knows 3 of us respect him properly!!
HH jg
Weebobbycollins
not long in and hadn’t read back hope all is well with the family
Am a total woose when it comes to holidays & the pool… done it all early so my wee girl wasn’t too let down, last day of the holidays first thing she said this morning was she didn’t want to go in the pool as we had been in all week (first couple of days :-) always make them think it’s their decision then there are no disagreements
JAMESGANG
Plan A worked to perfection .
We hummed and hawed then cheered the balance sheet when we didnae have to spend money.
Plan B will be about we tried but time ran out.
laptop playing up-getting very warm…so, i’ll bid you all goodnight…
cheers gerry. safe journey home…
WBC- scary stuff, hope all ok,got bullet point sruff for fire brigade years, mostly in the station, Kevin Bridges is earmarked to play me :))
RON BACARDI on 16TH AUGUST 2018 7:49 PM
BOBBY MURDOCH etc,
Pish answer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why,thank you! A penny for your thoughts on the subject?
I’m feeling kinda generous…
Good morning CQN from a damp underfoot but dry at the moment Garngad
Come on Celtic add to our first team, which in turn bolsters our squad.
Bring on the Harry Rags
HH
D. :)
Reading that French Eddie could be out for Europa league games wtf
What is it with us and injuries?
D. :)
Good morning all from Govanhill Pier. Bride’s out.
Ffs tide’s out. ?
If people keep saying Sevco are dreadful then Sevco get a result against us ( which is a definite possibility),the anger amongst our support will be even greater. We are the best side in Scotland but they are probably our closest rivals and they get little favours (compliant Media and Refs) that can help bridge the gap.
Cheerio for now.
JJ
My point being that we will then blame The Board,the players,the refs etc but forget that we set ourselves up to be angry.
Anyway, we will gub them :-)
Deff off.
JJ
My third post on this and I have thought this since Edouard pulled his hamstring at Tynecastle last season.
In addition to needing to strengthen our defence.
It is important that we sign another goal scorer.
Dembele and Griffiths are perennially unfit and Edouard is developing into a player with the same problems.
We didn’t score enough goals last season and dropped far too many points at home to SPFL fodder.
We need another striker signed.
TT
Tinytim I agree about a striker, our list of players/positions is ever growing as well.
If there are no players brought in this windy, we will make it easier for Scotland’s shame to get closer to us. Do we really want these scum bar stewards to be up there with us?
COYBIG
D. :)
Gents,
The hun game was on in the boozer and I caught glimpses of it.
Credit where credit is due, they achieved what they set out to do without losing a goal in the process.
Unless you actually watch them I cannot understand the ” bravado ” from fellow posters stating they are absolute sh@ite and we will hammer them.
What are they basing this on. ? Hard work, planning and playing to pur potential will be required to put them back in their box.
I hope the sense of entitlement and complacency from a section of our support is not replicated in our team.
We need to be wary, forget what has gone previously and face what is actually happening now.
If we do that we will prevail, the alternative is unthinkable.
HH
Heartbroken to have my dream of Paddy Roberts signing for Celtic ended.
Good Luck in Gironda Paddy.
TT
morning bhoys from another cloudy day in Cheshire. have not seen any sevco games, the only time id watch them if playing us. but must admit some posters saying on here they have improved, got me slightly worried.hh.
Tiny Tim,
Agreed. With the move towards 2 up front at times and the pro longed absence of one striker at a time through injury it makes sense. I would also like to see us go for someone who can head the ball and perhaps score from a corner.
I see the papers this morning have Celtic saying they won’t sell Dembele or Ntcham but will let Boyata go. There are so many volunteers to drive Boyata to the airport that Glasgow Aiport are banking on a profit based solely on parking charges. A veritable Celtic leaving motorcade to wave him away.
Anyway, I probably disagree with hanging on to Dembele. It may sound strange but I believe that if we don’t sell we will not sign anyone of note that generally improves the side. I’m not saying sell at any price but I’d consider a transfer that would guarantee Celtic money to buy two centre backs a striker and a right back. We also clearly require a further midfield player. Yip 5 players. If you sell Dembele you need two strikers. 6 players.
You could drop to the need for one centre half if you can keep Simunovic fit. Personally I’d punt him on loan and give a European side the option to buy if they are worried about his injury. We need to work with guys that want to be there.
I can hear the keyboards getting hammered by the moneyballist movement now. Where do 5 or 6 players play? They play for Celtic and the evidence is we need them.
Sticking with what we have and not reacting now just pushes the problem to January and then the same debacle as always next summer. There is a distinct possibility of a panic January as per Mowbray.
We have a fundamental problem with scoring from set pieces. Can anyone tell me when the last time we scored from a corner or free kick?
There is no aggression to win a high ball in the opposition penalty box.
Any movement on Arzani?
HH
A Man City account I follow hinted Arzani deal was subject to Champions League qualification.
I think Louis Moult would compliment our striking options. He isn’t getting game time as Preston. Would be ideal for the final 30 minutes against a packed defence.
Final word on the Huns for now, look at the team they have, sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. There is no real quality. They are overachieving too early and as such setting a benchmark they won’t sustain. We’ve seen it before and will see it again.
https://twitter.com/bbcsportscot/status/1030353534703697921?s=21
DAVID17 on 17TH AUGUST 2018 8:29 AM
Remarkably going into Brendans 3rd year we are discussing the possibility that their defence is stronger than ours. Debatable but the fact we are in the market for 2 or more defenders after the season has started tells it own story. Then theres the fact they scored more goals in the league than us last season. All too easy to dismiss them because we’ve hammered them a couple of times but we’d want to be careful or the last week will look like handbags by comparison.
HH
Mullet & Co
In general I agree with all that you have said .
I think there are any buyers for Dembele at present because of his injury record.
It was my thought that if McGinn had been signed we may also have allowed Ntcham to go.
The problem now is we are more susceptible to panic buys.
Players will be brought in ( most likely loans)but
they are now likely to be players who are inferior to the ones that they are replacing.
EG.
Boyata is much better in the air than Denayer.
Who flopped at Sunderland.Who our reserves hammered 1-5 away last pre season.
The gloom surrounding us (after back to back trebles) is palpable.
All self inflicted .
The board , Brendan and our scouting have created this.
Kamikaze stuff.
TT