Second gear Celtic

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Yesterday was the fourth time in four games this season Celtic have won without having to leave second gear.  Kilmarnock and St Mirren were both stretched by European qualification ties, while Hibs have had a humiliating start to the season, even for them.  Still, there could hardly be a starker illustration of the chasm between our domestic and Champions League challenges.

Scotland’s other leading club made it eight wins on the bounce this season, as Aberdeen continue to provide the main competition to the champions.  The first showdown between the clubs does not happen for another seven weeks, a game that could go a long way to determining the title.

Credit to St Mirren for dominating the first 140 seconds of the tie; unfortunately for them, Celtic scored the first time they got forward with the ball.  A trademark Celtic passing move opened space for Callum McGregor 24 yards out, who fired low into the net.  St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson’s plans to get stuck in early became unstuck before many fans had got to their seat.

Reo Hatate doubled the advantage 33 minutes in with the goal of the game.  Alistair Johnston pitched a high ball into the box for Daizen Maeda to run onto.  The Japanese winger headed back and down into space for Reo, who struck the ball on the drop-volley, clipping the inside of the post on the way in.  Johnston removed any doubt about the result with a goal midway through the second half.

Paulo Bernardo showed lots of tidy work in the central midfield role normally occupied by Matt O’Riley, who travelled south for a medical over the weekend and should compete his move to Brighton today.  More on Matt at a later date.

As the deadline looms, players and clubs across the continent have sharpened their options.  Barcelona agreed to a new-contract-and-loan-to-Celtic deal with 20-year-old left back Alex Valle.  The player is expected in Glasgow today for a medical.  At the end of this season, he will have one year remaining on is Barcelona deal, with a buy-out figure which is greatly reduced from where it was a week ago.

Goalkeeper is the only area of the field we are not looking to add to this week.  This is not your first transfer window, so usual caveats, but it should be an interesting few days.

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329 Comments

  1. bournesouprecipe on

    Orville: I wish I could fly

     

    way up to the sky but I can’t,

     

    Keith: You can,

     

    Orville: I can’t!

  2. Some of the names that made the top 100 to annoy you

     

     

    100- Bjorn & Benny

     

    99- Tom T Hall

     

    98- Otis Blackwell

     

    96- Timbaland & Missy Elliot

     

    92- Paul Westerberg

     

    90- Babyface

     

    86- Sam Cooke- a top tenner for me

     

    81- Bjork

     

    80- R Kelly

     

    74- Patti Smith

     

    65- George Harrison- 1 passable song

     

    61- Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman

     

    51- Willie Dixon

     

    41- Max Martin- who?

     

    36- Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter

     

    35- Bono & The Edge

     

    33- Merle Haggard

     

    26- James Brown

     

    21- Lou Reed

     

    19- Greenwich & Barry

  3. Sunday was a dark, wet and miserable day. There was no Matt O’R, even all the Sky pundits were dressed in black, just what is it about black today everyone seems to dress in black ? However Celtic in that attractive yellow top and playing some nice football helped brighten the gloom of the day.

     

     

    Just as the Hoops survived when Calmac was missing with a long term injury, it was business as usual without any drop in tempo or performance ………Matt was not really missed although it has to be said, the Saints were poor.

     

     

    Reo, Calmac , Maeda and Wicklow man Scales were the standout players for the Hoops, good three points.

  4. SFTB told the story of big Billy granting a dying man’s wish by appearing at his bedside before his last breath. Billy had no idea that he’d been brought to the hospital expressly to get a dressing down from someone about to shuffle off his mortal coil.

     

     

    The old boy’s rage focused on the ease with which Prati dispossessed Billy to score the only goal of the game. Now here’s something which may be interesting: a Gourock cafe owner told me that his father had played for AC after WW2 and kept in touch with the club. Before the Celtic game he told anyone in Milan who was listening that Craig took the throw-ins on the right. Invariably, he would feign to play the ball to a midfielder but then throw it to McNeil. The Cafe proprietor swears that this is the unvarnished truth and also swears that a director of AC wrote a letter of thanks to that Gourock cafe owner.

  5. bigrailroadblues on

    Good evening all from Govanhill. I hope ye are all hale and hearty. Ya bunch of rascals

  6. “Goalkeeper is the only area of the field we are not looking to add to this week. This is not your first transfer window, so usual caveats, but it should be an interesting few days

     

     

    Why does that sound like the old Chinese jeopardy proverb…

     

     

    …May you live in interesting times!?

     

     

    Ten outfield players in five days!??

     

     

    NO THANK YOU

     

     

    If the Board are planning to swamp our well trimmed, we’ll coached, well motivated first team squad with projects, it would turn this futile transfer window into another debacle…

     

     

    Hail Hail

  7. £6.5 million offer !!!!.Are we having a laugh?.Get away with that a month ago,not with 5 days.😥

     

    Anyone thinking BR had no say in the LB coming in,well,you want to make your mind up.

  8. I often wonder why Celtic never use the long throw into the opposition goalmouth as a tactic ? All the SPFL teams use it against us.

  9. DARWIN @ 1:10 PM,

     

     

    “IF

     

     

    If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

     

     

    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

     

     

    But make allowance for their doubting too;

     

     

    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

     

     

    or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

     

     

    Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,

     

     

    If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;

     

     

    If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;

     

     

    If you can meet with triumph and disaster

     

     

    And treat those two impostors just the same;

     

     

    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

     

     

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

     

     

    If you can turn Glasgow Celtic into the most successful Scottish football club on the field of play,

     

     

    And the most financially successful entity ever in Scottish sporting history

     

     

    You’ll do for me, Peter Lawwell.

     

     

    What a phenomenal poem…

     

     

    It’s about the enlightened man, I’m sure you know…

     

     

    You know it was written by a Top Freemason…

     

     

    As was Rabbie Burns and Charles Darwin, oddly enough a Scottish Masons…

     

     

    Glad To See Your Fraternal Good Wishes To Big Pedro…

     

     

    Hail Hail

  10. STEPHBHOY67 on @7:49pm

     

    ordinary joe on 26th August 2024 7:43 pm

     

     GENE on @6:53pm

     

     It was not football related, was it not a misidentification of addresses or something?

     

    ……………………………………

     

     

    Gene said “at least he uses his real name” on CQN….if I used my real name everybody would know where I live so like 99.9% of CQN I don’t use my real name….although a former poster on here tried to post my real address but he didn’t make the cut through that he hoped for…so he started his own blog at a later date.

  11. Turkeybhoy – Works both ways. If the sellers don’t have another offer, then they’ll be willing to negotiate. If we’ve made an offer at this point, then it’s pretty certain we will get the player. It’s just a matter of how much we can knock off the asking price.

  12. OJ

     

    I don’t care who you are or where you live – this is just a blog , it isnt life or death

     

    PL is in the public eye and is open to scrutiny and deserves respect for that.

     

    You on the other hand just snipe from behind your anonymity.

     

    Criticise by all means but stop being such a tit

  13. I have to admit that I’m really enjoying the recent proliferation of the word “tit” being used as a condescending term of abuse. It’s one of my favourites and I hope it continues, particularly for the multi moniker “tit” 😀

  14. bournesouprecipe on

    Chairbhoy

     

     

    Enjoyed that, all star version ‘nailed it ‘

     

     

    My Sweet Lord was the song I thought SFTB was referring to in his music quiz – one passable song, subject as you obviously know to a plagiarism ruling.

     

     

    HH

  15. BOURNESOUPRECIPE @ 9:10 PM,

     

     

    Yes, probably his greatest Beatles song is “Here comes the sun”.

     

     

    Though “My Guitar Gently Werps” is much more original.

     

     

    Yes, the plagiarism is an odd ruling here is what Leonard Cohen said when Bob Dylan got the Nobel Prize…

     

     

    “To me,” he said, “[the award] is like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain.”…

     

     

    …“I think that Bob Dylan knows this more than all of us: you don’t write the songs anyhow,”

     

     

    Hail Hail

  16. ORDINARY JOE on 26TH AUGUST 2024 8:29 PM

     

    STEPHBHOY67 on @7:49pm

     

     

    ordinary joe on 26th August 2024 7:43 pm

     

     

    GENE on @6:53pm

     

     

    It was not football related, was it not a misidentification of addresses or something?

     

     

    ……………………………………

     

     

     

    Gene said “at least he uses his real name” on CQN….if I used my real name everybody would know where I live so like 99.9% of CQN I don’t use my real name….although a former poster on here tried to post my real address but he didn’t make the cut through that he hoped for…so he started his own blog at a later date.

     

    ———————————————————

     

     

    TIT

  17. Gene on 26th August 2024 8:45 pm

     

     

    The guy who challenged lawell was not hiding. Lawell and Co. Take we the supporters give. 100 million in the bank is a clear example of the club not doing the job correctly. They take the bonuses, money wealth but hate anyone pointing out the obvious all our success has been inspite of guys like lawell not because of him

  18. Stephbhoy

     

     

    Cowardly and pathetic though. Whether hiding or not.

     

     

    Still he can tell his grandkids about it just as those who booed Fergus and jeered Brian Quinn and similar to Gordon Strachan probably do.

     

     

    Small insignificant folks.

  19. Stephbhoy67

     

     

    Yes. Maybe David Murray method more to your liking.

     

     

    Celtic is as transparent a club as you would ever wish to see. Unlike David’s lot whose approach you seem to prefer.

     

     

    Our finances are clear. Theirs are opaque to be polite.

     

     

    I would love to know where anyone who is executive or even non executive is taking anything significant out of the club vs the scrutiny and critique and intrusion on their lives. ?

     

     

    Even more so as they have navigated our financial basket case of a club post Seville vs an over spending rival and come out miles on top. More so than anytime in our history.

  20. Stephbhoy67

     

     

    I think I trust our board and the transparency x 1000 vs the non board and complete chaos our rivals have got into by repeatedly following their entitled egos and throwing the dice.

  21. Burnley78,

     

     

    You just reminded me of the most disgraceful day I have ever experienced at Celtic Park: the day Fergus was booed. It’s the only occasion I have felt it right to write to him to make him aware that they didn’t represent me.

     

     

    Added to that, I know the bhoy who was the mascot that day.

  22. bournesouprecipe on

    Chairbhoy

     

     

    The answer is blowing in the wind, a bit like our transfer window.

     

     

    HH