Before Barcelona opened the scoring with a 27th minute penalty, Ferencvaros hit the crossbar and had a goal disallowed for offside; incidents that would make it into a season review DVD around these parts. Messi & Co. eventually won 5-1, but that gap was half that until the final 8 minutes.
The Hungarians are remarkably organised, but that should not have been enough to remain in the Champions League after they left Celtic Park.
I suspect that both Celtic and Milan have bigger fish to fry this week than each other in tomorrow’s Europa League game. Milan sit atop Serie A with maximum points from four games and face Roma on Monday. Celtic’s most important game of the week is in Aberdeen on Sunday. The domestic league, as always, remains paramount.
The biggest prize on offer to Celtic tomorrow is an opportunity to win some pride back. Aberdeen will be flying after beating Hamilton last night, a result, or performance, against Milan, will go a considerable way to building confidence in a team that looked short on Saturday.
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So what about these pesky rumours of bully,falls out with everyone,nay tactics,hibs revisited,pished on duty🤔
Love a rumour 🤷♀️
Help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Cancel the remaining Champions League matches and just give Bayern the trophy now.
AN TEARMANN – yeah St Martin’s was/think still is up the back almost at the Cathkin Braes. As well as being at the cubs at St Bartholomews I also played for the Boys Guild team for a couple of years in early 80s. Great days…..
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 21ST OCTOBER 2020 6:00 PM
I read that article this morning. An utter scandal and incredibly things could well get worse.
Gundogan with superb free kick goal for Man City. I wish our players would practice these. We have had no one score them regularly since Naka. Griffiths has good technique but is rarely available, and Christie has been simply wasteful, scoring occasionally but regularly wayward.
HOT SMOKED on 21ST OCTOBER 2020 8:43 AM
HT
Very good to see you back last night…..but I would recommend you stay off the absinthe !
Off to the golf.
Cheerio for now.
PS I hope by this time tomorrow I have become interested in our game against Milan !!
——-
No alcohol for me last night simply my deeply held views. Tonight on the other hand :-)
A thoroughly professional press conference from Lenny today. Said all the right things, took responsibility for Saturday and subsequently took the pressure off of the players. Well done Neil.
Saint Stivs,
I’m with you on that, I posted a a few days OK, if this is the season that the tide turns, I will rejoice in all that we achieved over recent years rather than curse this season.
I was one of those who mentioned that I thought Lenny didn’t look well, I didn’t say that to knock the man, I love the ghuy, but I would certainly be concerned for him if he was suffering from the pressure.
Football is a cut throat business, players & Managers get huge salaries but at the other end if performances drop there is little sentiment , regardless of what you have done for a Club,
More than anything, I want Lenny to be the man to lead us to the ten but I am realistic enough to know that we are close to a tipping point.
I reckon the next few games will make it or break it.
CORNELIUS on 21ST OCTOBER 2020 8:22 PM
Good post and some decent points. However, I don’t think those leagues mentioned are as uncompetitive as our league.
Basel haven’t won the Swiss league for three years and Copenhagen aren’t the champions of Denmark. They both produce tighter races and slightly more champions than the SPFL.
I think it has hindered us to an extent. The aim seems to be “be better than Rangers”. Under Ronny Deila we just needed to be better than Aberdeen. Some on here saying Milan doesn’t matter on Thursday. Every game should matter and games like that raise our profile and the standards set at our club.
Kelvinbhoy (& Cornelius)
You were later than me in the 122nd cubs and with St, Bartholomew Guild team- I played for both from mid 60s to around 1970 before football gave up on me.
Maybe Cornelius was nearer your time or mine
Milanese not invincible. Inter down 1-2 at home to Munchengladbach.
Kelvinbhoy
i was bout 10 years before you:-) castlemilk seemed to have good school teams.were the Grays,frank and eddie not from there.Ray Houghton too.
hh
I never joined the Bhoycott back in the day. I knew we needed change and supported Fergus in any way I could, buying shares etc…but not going to games was never an option for me. If I can attend I will…just the way it is.
Hail Hail.
SFTB – loved St Bartholomew’s…..our family and my two cousins families were never away from the church. At that age it was not by choice, more following our respective mum’s orders :-) Some great priests and a vibrant social scene too with the many clubs and trips.
AN TEARMANN
Yeah, the Gray’s were from Castlemilk, think they stayed in Cavin Drive and Ray Houghton was from there too though sure he left as a youngish lad
Fred- I went to the protests in the car park, then took my spot in The Jungle….
I thought that Sky Sports took over from BT Sports and the Europa League,but I see BT Sports are still showing these games,could someone tell me what’s went wrong
!!BADA BING!!
Snap :-)
It was then, I separated the Board from the team…
TB2- BT have had CL & EL exclusively for about 4 years,and have it for the next 3-4 years
Hamilton Tim
Good to see you back on.
Hope you are doing ok.
The T- Shirts read “back the team, sack the board”
Hail Hail.
Cornelius (Do I know you then?)
I appreciate you gave a bit more detail and I agree with some of it.
Iceland and international football is a bit of a red herring, because, like Women’s football and Women’s Tennis (pre- the Williams sister) it is a “soft” sport in which to make it up the rankings. Icelandic clubs are still doing no better than they ever did.
Yes, Jock Stein too took a set of war babies and made them a world class force. But it was not an isolated Stein-led effort in Scotland. Scott Symon and Willie Waddell led Rangers to 2 Euro finals. Malky McDonald took Killie to a semi-final. Dunfermline made 2 Q-finals and one semi-final in the 60’s under Jock Stein and George Farm. Hibs made the EC semi in 1955 and a Fairs Cup semi in 1961 under Hugh Shaw. Bob Shankly took Dundee to the EC semis in 1963
The point being, that this was the best generation of footballers Scotland ever produced and we have not come close since then. It was also pre-Bosman and pre-TV money and CL distortion. Those factors are not going to be removed anytime soon.
Belgium and Hungary were producing world class players then too but when Belgium started doing it again inthe 2010’s, it did not benefit Belgian clubs as all that golden generation were snapped up as teenagers by English, Spanish, German & Italian clubs.
It is easy to have the “ambition” as a non-involved outsider to make the club better in Europe but, as an involved professional within the game, this change has to be operationalised and has to overcome all those “glass ceiling factors” which affect all clubs outwith the big 5.
Even better leagues and nations like the Dutch and Portugues clubs are losing traction too, and they have maintained a steady stream of talented players through the 80’s, 90s, noughties and 2010’s, when our standards were decreasing almost every decade.
As for the manager change:- I too heard the rumours pre-season and, though I had no inside knowledge, I trusted some of the more sober people from whom I was hearing worrying things. I am glad most of this, at the rumour level, escaped the blog because it is a matter which deserves to be resolved internally without dirty washing being paraded.
My concern , as always, is the vitriol and disrespect with which Neil has been treated. If there does need to be change, I hope it is swift, final and clean. If Neil leaves, I hope he is compensated roundly since he has sacrificed himself twice for us and subjected himself to mental strains which are intolerable when you have his restless temperament.
I am sure we can improve as a club but , as Jock did with Scotland in the post-Ally McLeod Fever, we must rid ourselves of unrealistic notions that we are anywhere close to challenging the elite from the position of top dog in a backwater league.
We are not alone- Anderlecht can’t do this. Ferencvaros cannot do this Zagreb cannot do this and Copenhagen cannot do this.
Ajax and Benfica or Porto might fluke a CL semi final every 10 to 15 years but, until the bubble bursts, we either aim to be CL cannon fodder and gain some money playing the diddy team role or we aim for Europa with a bit more credibility but no real money or attraction to other players coming to breifly better themselves with us.
Make no mistake, I am still for aiming for the CL. But with eyes wide open and with my grown up head on.
To make myself clearer……
my comments about Lenny are out of nothing but respect and concern for my clubs manager …..a decent and brave human being. If, and this is to all, any job has such a serious and detrimental effect on your health and well being, it is not worth it!.
Deniabhoy
My wife does the same thing.
“Not more of that blog thing ya eejit.”
Then she chugs away through a Merlot from Argentina.
………..
MadMitch
I ramble but I’m trying to be more concise.
I don’t really know about much of what goes on behind the scenes at the club.
My interaction is long distance usually & with lower level folk.
As a supporter I focus on outcomes – results, performances, explanations, demeanours, attitudes…
I still think I’m a glass half full person (nod to the guy on here) but things don’t seem right to me.
I just want things to improve & if possible that Neil is part of our future success.
I thought he did well in the media session today.
An Tearmann + Kelvinbhoy…I trained with Glasgow Utd for a few weeks till I got injured. Eddie Gray was the star of the team and left for Leeds. I think that was ’64. Even then he was a class above…btw as an outsider, it wasn’t always easy walking up to Castlemilk…
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-54620118
Tory scum………Rashford should now hand back his gong!!
SFTB
Regarding your reference to Scottish successes in Europe in the early 60’s , a major factor was that 99% of boys spent 99% of their spare time playing football in the streets , back courts , parks ,school playgrounds , etc.
Football is no longer the national obsession it was among the young.
Kelvinbhoy
I was at St Barts (only for the Cubs) in the very late 50s & early 60s.
I lived at the top of Castlemilk Drive.
I thought I was ok at football back then (8 to 10) but we never played football at the cubs.
I went there on a cub night only to learn that we were playing cubs from Rutherglen at Overton Park.
We all got on the bus & went there & I learned that my Akela had been persuaded to put me in the team.
I was small & he put me on the wing.
I had my cub shows on (supa dukes as I recall) & was wearing my school shorts, shirt & a short sleeved jumper.
I could hear the laughing from the folk on the touchline as I walked onto the pitch.
The other team wore jerseys & most had boots.
It was a disaster. I received one pass in the first half.
It rolled under my foot & went out for a shy.
I was hooked at HT & had to endure a merciless slagging from a man who knew nothing about football.
The only football experience I had at the 122 in 2 years.
I still have emotional scars somewhere.
AN DÚN on 21ST OCTOBER 2020 8:42 PM
We’ve a right as supporters to question the running of the club and the decisions of our manager but I personally find the questions raised regarding Neil’s health and appearance to be highly distasteful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get a grip man. The questions raised were out of pure concern for Neil’s health. Nothing more.
If you cannot see that then you are more to be pitied than scolded.
HH
One more sleep ;-)
Cornelius…you say you have emotional scars somewhere…I have the physical scars from Overtoun Park…in fact I believe there’s still a bit of black ash in my knee…
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 21ST OCTOBER 2020 10:18 PM
International & club football is different but I think that size & resources alone are not enough.
That was my main point with the examples I gave – some of which were not that great I admit.
It’s also true that a more competitive league will generally produce better performers at European level.
I don’t think the Scottish game will ever return to the days of Hibs, Rangers, Dundee, Dunfermline, Aberdeen being forces to reckon with – I mean ever.
Some clubs in relatively non competitive leagues have shown that with the right attitude & organisation they can compete – but usually not a sustained challenge for a variety of reasons.
I too want us back genuinely competing in the champions League but my own grown up head realizes that as things stand with Celtic’s lack of professionalism – it wont happen without a revolution of sorts at the club.
Cheers
Hello again all you young rebels.
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS
Memories eh ? sitting in the tin bath with a scrubbing brush
and a bottle of Dettol. 8-))
H.H. Mick
Body Language Experts, Business Analysts, Clairvoyants, Egomaniacs, Empaths, Gum-Bumpers, K-I-I’s, loyalists, Lawwellists, Ostriches, Schadenfreuders, Strategic Visionaries and Trolls.
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GUMBUMPERSCSC
Amidst all the doom and gloom a email arrives.
” The Social Celts Mornington invite all you great bhoys and ghirls
to a Luncheon in The Dubliner bar Nov 8 th ”
Yeehooo we’re back.
Can’t wait to sit and discuss all the lows and woes about Celtics
demise…no me neither.
The place will be bouncing with big Ritchie belting out the rebs.
Got a couple of problems though.
Do i have Fish and Chips for lunch or Steak and Ale pie?
And how do you sing with a mask on?
H.H. Mick
MM – up to 16 cases today.
See how quick it can change?
25k is better, but not quite the Peninsula. HH
MM…it was iodine…still wince when I remember it.😖
Melbourne Mick
“Memories eh ? sitting in the tin bath with a scrubbing brush
and a bottle of Dettol. 8-))”….
That was my early experience of romantic adventures!
Dan