It was good to see Jozo Simunovic return to the starting line-up on Sunday. He is every inch the player we hoped he would be when he joined from Dimano Zagreb two years ago, but that was in doubt as recently as August last year, when Celtic allowed the player to travel to Italy to secure his exit from the club.
That month he and, then injured, Dedryck Boyata were well out of the picture as Celtic played their most important games of the season. Against Hapoel Be’re Shiva in the Champions League play-off round, we played Toure and O’Connell in central defence at home, with Toure and Lustig in the middle for the crucial game in Israel.
The earlier round against Astana saw O’Connell pair with Lustig in one game and Ambrose in the other. When you consider Saidy Janko started two of those four games, you appreciate how far we’ve come defensively in six months. Would you bet on Celtic to qualify for the Champions League with a defence drawn from that pool? I wouldn’t.
Dundee’s spectacular goal on Sunday (through no fault of Jozo’s) was only the second goal we’ve conceded with the Croat on the field since Dundee last scored against us. The defender aided Celtic to six clean sheets in seven games in that time.
We’ve now conceded once in each of our last three games, if Jozo remains fit, he’ll tidy up that statistic.
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thats a 1234 TKO.
Alchemy gets me Wondering?
Don’t get me started Big Lad.
Donegal.CSC
you can’t Stop it.
The Celtic Song – WonderfULL
Sincere condolences with the Donnelly family and loved ones on their great loss.
RIP Mrs Ann Donnelly
Hey , Pete.
Can`t wait till oor lads are back on the field wearing the hoops.
Watched part of the Scotland game last night. Hugely unimpressed.
I think the Slovenia coach was present. He must be rubbing his hands in glee.
Maybe that was a tactic by WGS. :-)
Kieran and Armstrong will make a dramatic difference .
And Leigh will thrive on the improved service.
God Bless EVERy CQNer.
I Love Scotland like you do and yer Southern Hemisphere Brothers.
Chris is missed a lot.
@ the macjay1
You get angry when I Attack the Jesuits.
I’m not attacking you. macjay1,
OUI OUI/a>
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 23rd March 2017 1:47 am
Re your comment last night on widening involvement on the matter of SFA reform I see E Tims share that view.
http://etims.net/?p=11014
Stuart is defo our Capitano going forward.
Still another CL Season in Broonie, he’s out after th@t I’d reckon.
Never forget, I dinnae play Tennis. And Skiing… I am on that. ATM.
Ma knee is knackered.
If only I could
PETEC on 23RD MARCH 2017 1:59 AM
You get angry when I Attack the Jesuits.
I’m not attacking you. macjay1,
===============================================
I seriously don`t get angry about that , mate.
Some of the guys I went to school with feel exactly the sameway.
:-)
And I know its not personal .
AULDHEID on 23RD MARCH 2017 2:01 AM
There is rampant corruption in FIFA imho.
Of course they would not be in favour of shining a light into the doings of the SFA lest someone turns the light back on them.
It would be interesting to see if the hun reps. supported a push for video refs.
If not , why not ?
:-)
We wouldn`t have to wonder.
http://www.footballfancast.com/social-media/twitter/lee-wallace-mocked-on-twitter-after-horror-show-vs-canada
..
JOBO BALDIE on 22ND MARCH 2017 9:07 PM
PETEC –
Remember, you don’t have to call the old club ‘Old Rangers’. They were called Rangers. It’s the new club that aren’t called Rangers. They’re called The Rangers.
With a bit of practice and concentration this can wind up the work colleagues even more. For example – Colleague: why do you refer to Rangers and The Rangers
Me: I don’t, I refer to Rangers as Rangers. When I talk about The Rangers I use The Rangers.
Simples.
..
Hey Jobo..
Funny enough I’ve Never liked ‘The Rangers’ as it is Always the Way I remember them being referred to when I was a Kid Circa Late 60’s Early 70’s by messer’s Baxter and Henderson..
I just prefer ‘It’s Just Not the same Rangers’ cause Yir Pants..¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Summa of SubTitlesCSC
Celtics achievement being looked at in champions league magazine programme
HH
SUMMA OF SAMMI…. on 23RD MARCH 2017 3:39 AM
Dead right.
Lovers of Rangers used to call them ” The Rangers “.
That`s precisely why I don`t.
Unionism
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15169697.Celtic_chief__Nationalists_are_engaged_in__deliberate_attempt_to_sectarianise_Scottish_politics_/?ref=mr&lp=5
.
MacJay..
Cheers..
I’ve always wondered Why this hasn’t been brought up or Mentioned on hear before (Maybe it Has) as I was Typing that I was questioning my Memory.. Ha
Summa of OurHoopsDontLieCSC
SUMMA OF SAMMI…. on 23RD MARCH 2017 4:57 AM
Question your memory ?
Don`t we all. :-)
It seems that Rangers status and Rangers name have some significance for some.
Guess who I watched a couple of weeks or so ago ?
The huns. That`s who.
Doesn`t matter to me what you call them.
That`s who it was.
An Tearmann
Thanks for the heads up on CL magazine. Here it is for those interested:
Champions Matchday looks at what it took for Jock Stein’s Celtic FC to fell Helenio Herrera’s FC Internazionale Milano in the 1967 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final.
Billy McNeill (Celtic FC) 1967 European Cup final team
©Popperfoto/Getty Images
In the autumn of 1963, the notion of coaches touring Europe to swot up on the latest tactical trends was almost unheard of, but the repercussions of one particular trip would ripple across European football for years to come.
At the instigation of the Scottish Daily Express newspaper, Dunfermline Athletic FC manager Jock Stein and his Kilmarnock FC counterpart Willie Waddell visited Italy to study the methods of Helenio Herrera, the groundbreaking Argentinian coach of FC Internazionale Milano, a man who reportedly slept with a model of a football pitch beside his bed.
The visit changed the entranced Scots’ lives – and their careers. “Jock saw Herrera was a man who lived football,” said Waddell, who left Kilmarnock to become a journalist before taking over at Rangers FC in 1969, “a man with the single-mindedness and driving urge to get the best out of his players.”
On leaving Milan, both men would embrace the previously unknown concept of being a ‘tracksuit manager’. One – former winger Waddell – would use the defensive template to win Kilmarnock their first league title in 1965. The other – erstwhile centre-half Stein – would dedicate himself to discovering how to break down Europe’s finest defences.
Stein never forgot the lessons learned during his trip to Milan. In December 1965, shortly after taking over at Celtic FC, he saw Scotland lose to Italy in Naples. Afterwards, Stein took Herrera’s most articulate player, Giacinto Facchetti, to a hotel bar where, with the aid of diagrams scrawled on napkins, he picked the goalscoring left-back’s brains until the early hours.
In 1967, with a team made up of players all born within 50km of Celtic’s Parkhead ground, Stein’s Bhoys reached the European Champions Clubs’ Cup final. The Scottish side’s opponents in Lisbon? Herrera’s Inter.
The Italian champions went into the final as clear favourites, but Stein was quietly confident. “We don’t just want to win this cup, we want to do it playing good football, to make neutrals glad we won,” he said.
Under Herrera, Inter block-booked their Muxito hotel and kept themselves isolated. The players fretted about being over-trained and, as midfielder Sandro Mazzola admitted later: “We started to be frightened of losing.” Stein was more relaxed and Celtic’s Estoril base was almost an open house to media and fans alike.
Before the final, Stein put his knowledge to good use, telling his left-back Tommy Gemmell: “Your job is to play like Facchetti, to think like Facchetti, to be Facchetti.”
Helenio Herrera (FC Internazionale Milano)
Helenio Herrera
©Getty Images
The match at the Estádio Nacional began to play out as expected, with Inter going in front early through Mazzola’s well-taken penalty. Instead of subduing Stein’s men, the goal seemed to inspire them. The manager’s homework started to pay off as Celtic pinned their illustrious opponents back, passing shortly and accurately.
Inter’s Catenaccio system left gaps for full-backs Jim Craig and Gemmell to rampage forward, and the Inter defenders were drawn out to the flanks to try and stem the threat. “It felt like there were 22 Scottish players shooting at us from every direction,” said Inter centre-back Aristide Guarneri.
Gemmell was so good at playing – and thinking – like Facchetti that he equalised just after the hour mark. When Steve Chalmers put Celtic ahead with seven minutes remaining, the Inter players were almost relieved. Captain Armando Picchi later confessed: “Extra time would have brought a drubbing.”
After the final whistle, Stein was ecstatic: “I cannot find the words. These are the greatest bunch of boys I have ever met.”
Herrera, the man who had shared his thinking with Stein, was beaten. Between 1964 and 1967, ‘il Mago’ (the Wizard) had won the European Cup twice with Inter and led them to another final and semi-final. After this mauling by the Lisbon Lions, he moved on, joining AS Roma in 1968. He never won another European trophy.
Jj of Hot Smokeyness.
Just realised why you asked Q about Scotland amateur athletic yesterday. I know it’s international week but I hadn’t realised the RSFA team was playing last night until I just read back there.
So yes, any passion I once held for RSFA international has defo gone. And good ridance to it.
MWD
Summa of 001ness.
How is your dad doing?
MWD
Good morning friends from a grey and damp East Kilbride. A wee return trip to Coventry today. Which is nice-ish.
Good morning CQN from a damp, grey and cool East Devon.
.
MW..
As You probably remember I asked P67 and Mods to Delete my comment as close family have Not been told as I’m Not I have been told he is going nowhere quick..
But I know that’s bollocks..
Hey Ho..
001ness..?
Hmmm..
o1
Word of The Day (Uninspired by the Scottish National side)
Maladroit /ˌmæləˈdrɔɪt/
adjective
1. lacking in adroitness; unskilful; awkward; bungling; tactless
2. showing or characterized by clumsiness; not dexterous
3. tactless and insensitive in behaviour or speech
Derived Forms
maladroitly, adverb
maladroitness, noun
Word Origin
adj.
1670s, from mal- + adroit. Related: Maladroitly ; maladroitness.
KTF
Happy birthday Mr Celtic Bertie Auld. 79 years young. Legend.
HH
KTF
UTLR
A nice sunny 23 degrees -way down south .
Wee World Cup Qualifiers preview on the tele -ever so parochial Italian tele covering Serie A players . 4 in the Slovenia squad . Wee interview with Fiorentina’s Josef IIlic —
” Yes – I was offered a mountain of money to play in China but I turned it down -I really don’t like Chinese food ” .
Much work to do today . Shortage of time means only 1 choon —
7″ -The Birds -No Good without You Baby ( Decca ) — A good cover of a Marvin Gaye choon . Ron Wood on guitar . Pal in Glasgow tells me that what’s left of The BIrds are playing in Glasgow -early April -supporting the great PP Arnold
With still another ten days before Celtic play again, I can understand why Rangers` fans decided their Club hadn`t died !!
Therapy sessions would have to have been held in the SEC Centre if the MSSM had continued to tell the truth of their demise. Maybe the current (!) situation is a kind of Mogadon treatment preparing them for the complete withdrawal which might come with the UEFA FFP ban from Europe and after the Supreme Court decision later in the year.
JJ
That ` understanding` seems to have brought things to a halt !
Anyway, just about to go out on the bike as Radio North Angus is playing YNWA. Champions League Cycling !
Cheerio for now,
JJ
JJ
I would be very afraid if I were you, they are in superb health, they are even making a profit, just look here.
HH
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/financial-review-2/
Got my tickets for Lisbon67 @ The Hydro
Online system asks for a password. You need to enter your your Client Ref in the “password” box. Otherwise, very straightforward. Tickets will be printable at hoe at a later date via Ticketmaster account
Financials released across the City
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/financial-review-2/
SUMMARY
The net impact of these factors is that the operating result improved, from a loss of £0.5m in the comparative period, to a profit of £0.3m. The Club is well on its way to achieving a sustainable business model while continuing to invest in infrastructure and the player squad.
Reliance is still placed on shareholders to fund the shortfall that is required during the current rebuilding phase.
Whilst additional funds are available if required by the Club, no further funding from investors is anticipated in the balance of this financial year to June 2017 due to the team’s football performance and progression to the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821
Ye mean Tam Forsyth:)))