The worst way to end a bad week was for a loose-mouthed agent to pitch up at Lennoxtown on Friday before setting off on a rant because Brendan Rodgers was not available to him at a time he wanted. We had a remarkable week of distractions in and around the dressing room. These things often correlate with a poor result.
Brendan would be pleased to get his players out of the country yesterday, giving him two days to focus the squad on the matter in hand – tomorrow night’s Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens. This is where the manager earns his money.
Only a unified squad will have a chance of getting the required result against AEK. The better players in the first leg against AEK were these settled at Celtic for the long-term – McGregor, Brown, Tierney, Ntcham, Forrest. Tactical conversations will be needed, but the first thing Brendan needs to infuse into the squad is a laser-like focus.
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Big shout out for Celtic Season Ticket holders who’ve snapped up all the extra
Sevco tickets for Sept 2.
At least the Boyatas agent confirmed he is refusing to play.Get him out ASAP.
hello
whits happenin
Tap 5
I will settle for a tutu tomorrow night HH
It’s evident that Boyata will leave this window and, in all likelihood, we won’t better Fulham’s offer of £9m.
Now, if we receive substantially less for Boyata than £9m people will lay that at Brendan’s door. I can understand that (to an extent).
However, in the circumstances, I can understand Brendan’s decision to dig in his heels. The offer for Boyata followed a summer of transfer inertia in which players were not replaced and, on the face of it, the team is weaker now that at the beginning of the window. In addition to that, we had just missed out on John McGinn and from Brendan’s comments, no replacement had been lined up for Boyata.
From Brendan’s perspective, what is the incentive for him to sell Boyata if he can look at the example of Armstrong and realise that he won’t be replaced?
Loose lips sink ships
Sometimes we forget where we came from
Sometimes we forget who we are
Sometimes we forget what’s important
We are more than a Club – We are collectively Celtic
Read on –
https://thecelticstar.com/everyone-celtic-supporter-read-club/
Maybe the best plan to qualify for this year’s CL would have been to give Brendan the reinforcements he required all over the park but especially in defence. The manager has been let down by the people above him. The scouting dept of our club has fallen away badly if Dundee is the new feeder club for our back 4.
Shameless repost:
I wouldn’t like to play poker against Brendan. I have a feeling he would be pretty good.
His gamble is there are a lot of clubs in Europe that are looking to strengthen before the window closes, especially in defence as we are. We have a World Cup 3rd place winner on our books who wants away. He can go, if the price is right.
DB can of course gamble too. Gamble he will still be sharp after a year trying to keep himself fit with no match fitness. Gamble there will still be the interest in him as the WC will be just a memory.
I think BR has the better hand, we will see. HH.
Paul67
Football agents are the lowest form of life.
If Dembele starts, I think we have a good chance tomorrow night. McGregor, Dembele, Edouard and Rogic will cause them a lot of trouble.
Their home record isn’t great – they failed to win a single home game in Europe last season after 5 attempts.
The defence is our obvious worry. I can’t see us keeping a clean sheet so we’ll need to score two.
An amusing read.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/13/christmas-and-poppies-premier-league-guide-for-new-arrivals
When’s Steven Caulker signing?
That awkward moment when you’ve got to trust somebody called Jacques Lichtenstein.
Gary67
We’re already paying his wages dont you know
Tomorrow we need unification on all fronts, those brave enough to speak out have spoken, those too scared to have had their say too. Move on, we’ve a champions league to win
Gordon
ajer simunovic Hendry
brown ntcham teirney
forrest rogic edouard
dembele
At times I find some of the logic displayed on here at times quite baffling.
If a player wants to leave and feigns injury/refuses to play, does it matter if there’s a replacement??
marspapa
5-0 to the Celtic.
Moussa to score them all.
I can assure you that such predictions are easy when you are safely ensconced behind the sofa more than 24 hours in advance…
Marspapa
America is suspended for tomorrow.
America??? So is Ajer ?
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on 13th August 2018 12:43 pm
Marspapa
America is suspended for tomorrow.
————————————————-
Harsh…
About time someone did something about Trump.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
————————————–
Thanks chief.
The Willo Flood transfer window another debacle.
What’s occurring now isn’t new.
Same incompetence being repeated all these years later.
HH. ?
Marsapa sorry.
Problems with CQN using Microsoft Edge.Ajer suspended as Iam sure you know now
AULDHEID on 13TH AUGUST 2018 12:41 PM
16 ROADS. on 13TH AUGUST 2018 11:35 AM
PL should have been sacked immediately after the 2007/8 season.
Inexplicable that the old dead club were allowed to win 3 titles in a row, during Mitty’s second spell at the dead club.
Kept the life support machine going.
he dead club probably should have won it season 2006/7 as well, when they reached the UEFA Cup final.
Shocking levels of incompetence.
==============================
I’ve often wondered about that season when after looking like the only title winners after a 2-1 LC victory over Rangers, we went into reverse.
However what did fuel the three Rangers titles from 2009 to 2011 was the decision taken by SDM and WS to increase their bank debt from £6m to £36m in order to build the team that won those titles and brought in enough UEFA income to reduce that to the £18m that the bank called in in 2012.
Between 2007 and 2008 Rangers spent £30m purchasing players but brought in £20m in sales for a net spend of £10m (Ive done a bit of rounding).
What makes that spending decision reckless to the point of producing a wreck, was that in the spring of 2008, when most of the spend occurred, the big tax case determinations (of what HMRC thought they were owed) arrived at Ibrox. So they pushed up the debt 6 fold whilst at the same time facing an additional potential liability around £24m before penalties etc.
It was so stoopid a decision I don’t blame Celtic for not realising then what they were up against.
However they face the same mindset now and if we let the same thing happen again knowing that mindset, which to me is so untrustworthy as to border on the criminal, we deserve everything we get.
Time we stopped being Mr Nice Guy.
I’d be demanding UEFA Licence applications are vetted independently by a firm of auditors trained in UEFA FFP and if they have any doubts about the veracity of the information, they have UEFA CFCB type powers to investigate further.
As this would benefit all clubs it should have SPFL backing. Take the job away from the SFA. UEFA rules allow for that. Because there is no new deterrent to dysfunctional behavior it will continue, as is evident.
Where the funding of TRFC is coming from is a bit of a mystery and if there is money going in that is not reflected in their accounts, then that is a reason to reject an application on a “fair presentation” basis. That principle could have applied to every licence granted to Rangers during the ebt/side letter regime based on CFCB investigations into Giannina FC.
One hope I have for Res12 is that the above change of Club Licensing responsibilities will become a reality because both the SFA and TRFC/RIFC are untrustworthy and how much would fill a book.
Celtic have been passive on criminal behavior for far too long and its time the inner lion that led to Lisbon roared again.
So, Scott Brown & Naismith cited for incidents on Saturday.
If Brown found guilty could miss Huns game.
I know that answer to that one.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45172031
Paul 67
A favourable result in Greece will relegate all the distractions to virtual insignificance.
However I wonder who would win in a fight between the Peter Lawwell haters on CQN and the Peter Lawwell haters on Follow Follow.
HH & COYBIG.
haha lol
forgot about that , I was hoping to get a wee reaction to no Mcgregor in the team ( my fave btw )
McKenna and Caulker in and simunovic and Boyata out…….there maybe trouble ahead ;)))
anyhoo off to pick the missus up from Wishy General
Wait a minute: let me get this right: this guy ‘Jim McCaffery’ worked with Celtic ‘more than 20 years ago’ abused someone between 3 and 6 years ago, but is headlined as ‘Ex-Celtic coach’, even though he is also reported as working with Hibs and Falkirk?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-45170358
‘Ex-Celtic coach McCafferty jailed for child sex abuse
By Mark Simpson
BBC News NI
20 minutes ago
Jim McCafferty worked at Celtic more than 20 years ago
A former Celtic Football Club youth coach has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for sexually abusing a boy in Belfast.
Jim McCafferty, 72, was found guilty of a series of sexual offences against the same teenage boy over a three-year period between 2012 and 2015.
He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
McCafferty’s links with Celtic were more than 20 years ago. He also worked at Hibernian FC.
He was arrested in 2016 and later charged with eight sexual offences.
McCafferty moved to Northern Ireland after spending most of his working life in Scotland.
Serious health issues
McCafferty, who was living in south Belfast, initially pleaded not guilty but changed his mind on the morning of his trial in May 2018..
At a sentencing hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Monday, Judge Patricia Smyth said the impact on his victim had been “significant”.
McCafferty first confessed to abusing the boy after being approached by Daily Mirror journalist Jilly Beattie and photographer Alan Lewis in December 2016.
The court was told McCafferty had a number of serious health issues. He entered the dock with the aid of a walking frame.’
I think we will win in Greece.
I think our players are struggling under the weight of a system that is not natural to them (don’t lose possession, so don’t take risks), plus the weight/pressure of their own domestic success over the last two seasons. It seems like players are afraid to to take risks because risks can lead to mistakes. But, risks also lead to chances. We have to be a bit less risk averse, particularly going forward.
In Greece, we are now the clear underdogs, so I am hoping that, if that pressure is removed, the players will not be passive, but will give it a real go. If they do, and particularly if MD is healthy, we have the skill to win by a few goals, even over there.
Broonie cited for allegedly elbowing naeclass, but I thought they awe just stood back and let naeclass bully them, must be true I read it on here. ???
Interesting comments on our shirt /main sponsor deal.
£10mill pa would be a good figure if the number is correct.
They only seem to have Fulham in the EPL so we must be their main club in the UK.
Only figure for their deal is a industry source pointing to £3mill pa.
Then there is the historical angle where our previous deals have been in the region of £2.8mill pa and £3.6mill pa — from memory and an old memory at that — however they have lost a few sponsorships so maybe they were a distressed purchaser in the UK market.
Main thing is that with any commercial deal the primary driver is the team on the pitch.
The exec level can add a bit of gloss / a bit of chat but the team are the main drivers.
Interesting to speculate on how much extra will be brought in this season compared to the previous deal and what will we use the money for?
Remarkable work by SMSM to have sleuthed Scott Brown ‘elbowing’ Steven Naismith when SKY
only highlighted Naismith’s disgraceful repeated offending.
Ironic, that CQN was awash with posts on the lack of protection or help from our players.
Good old BBC to the rescue with a report to the compliance officer to boot.
AULDHEID – Thanks for the considered response.
Nothing there that I don’t agree with.
HH. ?