In many years of writing here I’ve never before used a piece of Charlie Nicholas wisdom; there is not too much to choose from. One of his comments stuck in my head, though. A year after Celtic won at Arsenal in the Pierce O’Leary Testimonial, but went on to lose the league, Arsenal thumped Celtic 1-5 in Glasgow.
In a rare generous mood towards his former club, after the game Nicholas said, “These matches are all about making mistakes”. What the returning Celtic manager Billy McNeill needed more than anything was information. Arsenal provided plenty that afternoon. The lesson was clear, Billy and his players had a lot of work to do.
What happened that season is now part of our folklore. Billy pursued, and within two months signed, Frank McAvennie, Celtic steamrollered their way to the league title and completed the double against Dundee Untied at Hampden. Heavy preseason defeats to Arsenal (and Stromstad) were grist to the mill, a part of an eventual successful outcome, just as the doing West Ham’s doled out last year was.
Celtic would benefit from flushing out their mistakes in their three remaining preseason games. Thus far, the build-up has been useful in putting energy into the legs, but we need better tests.
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celtic40me on 14th July 2022 12:45 pm
SCULLYBHOY on 14TH JULY 2022 12:35 PM
Thanks 🙏
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Maybe a tougher league than most people think.
HH
BRRB- Good pub,pick a few winners 👍
SFTB
Great post above.
Seems you can get Premier Sports for £4.99 for a month, if you use code CELTIC2022
Yep good post SFTB.
Replacing the current defenders/midfielders isn’t going to change how Ange wants us to play.
If identifiying weak areas and making mistakes is your thing for preseason then I think we’ve seen that already – even against fairly weak opponents. It’s the defence, Stupid as Mr Clinton would say if he was a football pundit.
Good afternoon all from Hamilton racecourse.
Bada, knowing my luck I doubt it. 🙄
An Dun,
It’s defending, not defence. Subtle difference. We lost the 2nd yesterday due to a turnover in midfield and nearly lost a goal in first half when Jota passed straight to an opponent who then tried to lob Hart from inside his half.
Ange wants bravery, pace, speed of thought and technical competence in his play. Sometimes that combo leads to us losing the ball. The 2nd goal was a simple pass through to their forward who then had a a 1 on 1 to score.
We all share the fear against decent European opposition to be punished but I think he’d rather we focus on our game than theirs.
It’s why we’ll win every Champions League match 7-6 :)
HH
@Big Wavy, is that the height or the circumference you are referring too with Mr Maguire?
As SFTB covers it in his inimitable style, if we had a midfield “enforcer” just how often would they be suspended in Scotland, he’d get booked every first tackle, in a utopian world we would have what was called “a midfielder” in my day, someone who could tackle, win aerial dual, pass incisively and of course score goals.
SFTB
You’re right of course and when Ange came we were told it was attacking and scoring more than the opponents. We’ve never had a great defence in Europe, unless I missed it and three at the back will always leak against Euro teams.
So nothing has changed or will change greatly tactically, it’s footballers first. He has signed two DM’s in Gucci and McCarthy, the latter is not exactly expected to feature in the CL.
Makes perfect sense with £17M spent and seven weeks to go, to take stock and see which players are available and on AP’s list not on an imaginative agent’s phone. A cautionary note as well, is that the door is revolving at Parkhead and it’s possible we get an offer, we can’t refuse.
We’ll have more links than McKellar Watt in the coming weeks
GO TELL THE SPARTIM on 14TH JULY 2022 2:36 PM
I’ve loads of sympathy for poor Harry’s big, genetic Irish head….still amazed Man Yoo spent a fortune on him though…
Game is full of specialists now. I think Ange has height, athleticism and a tackle in him. The ability to read the game and make interventions and tackles that even Hugh Dallas would find difficult to punish. A wee range of passing wouldn’t go amiss.
There’s an abundance of talent out there who can do this – check out Belmonte at Bernabei’s old team as an example – and confident we’ll get one in by the end of the window.
The blood n’ snotters midfielder of old is redundant.
HH
GTTS
As happened with enforcer Brown who was puny in comparison to some, but was booked to infinity and beyond.
The man from Belmonte said yes.
Tea break over back to the acting.
Following the Grauniad live transfer blog — very comprehensive with some bio on the players moving from team to team this summer.
Juve player pipeline / pathway — CB edition — spotting them young.
RD / 2002 — bought in at 16 from Romania @ EUR300K’ish.
With a lot of competition from the usual suspects.
Now on the loan route going out to Genoa.
One to watch.
They must have missed the Hertz game back in 2018.
KA was a great success for us — hopefully we look again at this type of recruitment.
LH looks to have potential but if we them lose at 18 after scouting at 16 then we are the one with the issues.
CB – Child’s breakfast ?
RD – Metal fella from star wars?
KA – Killer apps?
LH – Les Hobos ?
Back to the lack of facilities at Celtic Park.
I’ve been to quite a few stadia around Europe. The Bernebeu and Camp Nou stadium tours are excellent and attract thousands of visitors each day. Many who take the tour don’t get to see a game – for them it is a tourist attraction.
Celtic FC has a unique history and if marketed correctly, a much better stadium tour could be organised which would attract hundreds of visitors every day. I’ve been to CP on non-match days and saw many supporters view the stadium from the outside, hoping to see players and going into the Superstore.
Match days are another thing. Many fans who travel a long distance will look for somewhere convenient for breakfast, snacks, lunch, drinks & even a post match meal.
Celtic should and need to develop a better match day experience. It could also increase non match day revenue by providing better facilities for visiting fans and tourists.
The museum is a must as is the fans’ café beside the Superstore.
Build it and they will come.
SFTB @ 12.50
In less words — we play possession football looking to play fast / clinical / precision / focused attacks based on speed / movement / finishing.
When the moons align and we get everything right we can be just about unplayable.
Unfortunately our style carries risk and we have a squad that is building up its confidence / experience / capability to play this style of football.
GT @ SPL = defend and overlap.
GT @ AP style = defend and work the gaps in the MF when you are presented with them plus not just the odd overlap but also attack the channel as well.
That takes a bit of getting used to and he is still some way off a natural but he is learning.
Our biggest issue is that we do not have a MF that is resilient / defend with a bit of class / can actually tackle with the level of efficiency needed to keep us in Europe after Christmas.
Size and ninja tackling are not the issues — nous / positioning / decision making / mobility are the keys to a better balance.
SB was never the player we needed for this role but he had enough quality / talent / energy to busk it well into his 30’s but he was never a proper full on DM.
CMcG is a slow learner — still getting better at 29 — so maybe he gets will mature this season but I have my doubts so a quality buy should be on the agenda.
Anyone who, like me, scans Newsnow for Celtic snippets will be familiar with two sources that are so bad they are sometimes funny. One is ‘The Transfer Tavern’ and the other is ‘HITC’ which today has the following description of yesterday’s goals:
The movement of James Forrest and Kyogo Furuhashi for the early equaliser, a spellbinding moment from Riley McGree’s wand of a left foot for number two…
As I said, laughable.
BIG WAVY
You are right in saying, it’s defending, not the defence.
When we loose the ball in the final 3rd , the opposition are able to play through us very easily.
I still think we need someone to replace Mcgregor, so as he can be played further forward.
Thought Julien did well yesterday and is better than our other centre halfs breaking out and picking a pass.
ALM @ 3.00
Agree with your thoughts / ideas.
Only we don’t need a café we need a new landmark “interpretation centre” — bigger shop / cafe and food court / facilities.
One that would be the start of a complete development of the 1950’s style surface parking prairie around the stadium itself.
Back in the 70’s you had the programme / trinket shop next to the old ticket office — always good for a quick rummage.
It had a much wider range of stuff than the current superstore.
The lack of ambition at the club is starting to get embarrassing — DD with all his high cost golf luv at one end of the spectrum and the rabid penny-pinching of “why do we need toilets outside the ground when the Forge is up the road” at the other.
Does the Board hate the support?
GO TELL THE SPARTIM on 14TH JULY 2022 2:36 PM
@Big Wavy, is that the height or the circumference you are referring too with Mr Maguire?
As SFTB covers it in his inimitable style, if we had a midfield “enforcer” just how often would they be suspended in Scotland, he’d get booked every first tackle, in a utopian world we would have what was called “a midfielder” in my day, someone who could tackle, win aerial dual, pass incisively and of course score goals.
—-
A Paul Mcstay or John Collins type of midfielder. Both great players, who were super fit and could take care of themselves.
St Tams,
With you on that. I suspect we’ll have a CDM specialist (competing with Guchi for the slot) and allowing Callum to compete (and rest) with No. 8s O’Riley, Hatate and Turnbull. – 2 right footers, 2 left footers.
HH
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 14TH JULY 2022 3:18 PM
Anyone who, like me, scans Newsnow for Celtic snippets will be familiar with two sources that are so bad they are sometimes funny. One is ‘The Transfer Tavern’ and the other is ‘HITC’ which today has the following description of yesterday’s goals:
The movement of James Forrest and Kyogo Furuhashi for the early equaliser, a spellbinding moment from Riley McGree’s wand of a left foot for number two…
As I said, laughable.
____
I think it’s one of those two that quite often, have a negative article headline, that ends with the line “Ange will be raging”. 😂😂
Pathetic.
ZD @ 3.31
Right MF / playmaker in 3 easy steps:
BM / 1944 to PMcS / 1964.
The Maestro shades it for me as I never saw the best of BM.
The three steps in between
SM
RG
DS
I got an email from Celtic telling me to check that a 7 digit UTID number, which began with 3 leading zeros, was the same as that on my season book card. My card actually shows a 5 digit number with one leading zero so I emailed @ 3.21 to ask for confirmation that my card was valid.
I got an automated email back @ 3.21 to confirm receipt of my inquiry and a further email explaining that they were receiving high volumes.
By 3.24 I had a proper confirmation email that leading zeros can be disregarded which is very good service but an explanation in the original email that leading zeros could be ignored could have saved time for me and the ticket office staff.
Anyone else with this query can be assured that you do not need to ask the same question.
MM: any improvement in facilities would be welcome. The fans’ café beside the Superstore is a deal breaker for me😂😂😂
ZIGGYDOC1
That’s correct. I always ignore The Transfer Tavern and its sensasionalist headlines. I opened the HITC story today as it was about the Banik Ostrava manager praising the Celtic team. I didn’t get past the Riley McGree bit.
Almore- the Fan Zone outside the Etihad is excellent, and didn’t look as if it cost a fortune
Fans café vs Food court — Discuss
Who cares how many burger vans we put out of business …
Have Huns ACTUALLY sold ARIBO…if so, who to and how much ?
Cheers.
HH
Cost — The figure I have heard is £5.5mill
£5mill to the club
£500K as a signing on fee to the player.
Not sure about any add ons.
BIG JIMMY
Aribo signed for Southampton for £6m with potential add-ons taking it to £10m.
BADA BING
I experienced the Etihad fan zone ,when we played them in CL.
It was excellent
Fan zones are one thing.
But who will pay the face painter?
The egg chasers did a good Fan Zone behind the JS Stand in 2019.
Shipping containers / basic seats and cover / stage — showed what can be done.
It is expected now — part of their big game furniture.
Tom McL – You can switch off or “hide” individual news agencies like Transfer Tavern and HITC on NewsNow. Click the little cog next to the publisher’s name on any one of their news items, and it opens up a menu where you can hide them from your view. Your browser should create a cookie to remember it.
Clickbait sites I normally hide –
Transfer Tavern
Glasgow World
Football Scotland
Read Celtic
FootballFanCast
Daily Record
I often wish we had one of those little cogs on CQN.