Slovan Bratislava arrive in Kazakhstan today ahead of their Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty. Almaty started their campaign four weeks ago, eliminating Slovenian champions Ollimpija 3-1 on aggregate. They then overcame a 2-0 first leg defeat to Finns KuPS to win 3-2 on aggregate.
Those wins are the first Almaty have recorded in European competition since 2021, when they beat Luxembourgers Fola Esch to reach the Conference League group stage (finished with 2 points). We can expect to face Slovan in the playoff round later this month. The second leg is away from home on Tuesday 26th August; we are at Ibrox five days later. Almaty is 200 miles from China and an 11 hour flight time, plus a refuelling stop, away from the UK. Bratislava may suit us better.
Slovan were the fairytale side last season, starting in the Champions League first qualification round and reaching the league stage, having never previously qualified for the group stage. Fairytales do not always have happy endings and Slovan only managed to avoid bottom place on goal difference, having a balance one better than Young Boys. Their 5-1 defeat at Celtic Park will set expectations in Bratislava, even if you and I know this will be a different challenge.
Slovan’s material advantage is that they will have played eight competitive games before facing Celtic. By contrast, we will have played only three (St Mirren, Aberdeen, Falkirk). The difference in fitness eight games into a season from three is substantial.
Compared to what it could have been, this is a gift of a draw, there can be no excuses, but we need to get everything right to progress. We also have the ghost of Bratislava to exorcise.
230 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- »
Jotas wee clips, i think the bhoy might be back before 2026.
Laxalt
Anyway…im going to ask one question….would you rather sign Tommy Johnson today or wait on a maybe from Henrik Larsson for 2 weeks?
I feel my bed wetting just at the thought
Last year the bedwetters were screaming that we wasted £20 million (on 3 fecking players – and only 1 started on saturday and he was rotten)
This year that we haven’t
You just can’t win
So its much more fun to just rip the pash
SS- Your hands must be sore from clapping, had you heard of Kyogo or Maeda? It’s not important how much you pay for a player ,it’s about getting players in when we need them,and that’s not happening.
It was £26m👍
Turkeybhoy
It’s f all to do with the board ffs.
It’s all to do with a recruitment guy / team putting players to the manager and him deciding.
Like the 4 players he was offered prior to taking Idah on loan 3 windows ago.
He has the recruitment guy and obv decided these wingers were not good enough. We could obv have matched or beat what that lot offered. Manager obv didn’t fancy them so on we go.
Fair point GM re Plzen ranking above us.
Burnley…I think Btendan (in fact I know) wasn’t interested in both wingers.
I agree…they are not good enough.
Cameron…good wee player…will start like a Ferrari and end up like Conor Barron.
Laxalt,hi , I didn’t say anything about their ability I said that R2ngers were able to sign players before the end of the transfer window something that we seem to struggle with (ones that cost money).Thought to be honest they both look decent now you mention it.
GM
Thats even worse!!
26 mullions
I think a bang average hun side is making fairly short work of their CL qualifiers. That betrays the notion that these games are fraught and 50/50 encounters. They’re not. Do your work and get prepared and they are more than winnable.
I think Brugges will put an end to them in the play offs but I wouldn’t bet the house on it.
Burnley,
Just who have we brought in to replace,Jota and Kuhn ?.You can Make your snipey comments and asides regards BR.You are fooling no one.We are gambling through the Boards bloody mindedness.We had our targets and offered less than half the asking price for one.BR has been after Balikwisha since January,he wants to come,but we have not tried.
B78 – patience is a virtue.
He’s obviously waiting for “quality, pace and power”.
Just like Engels, Idah and Trusty🤔
AN DÙN , I do think Club Brugge are on a different level to the teams R2ngers have faced so far.
In all fairness, Celtic dont half make hard work of the transfer season
We keep our wick dry and we are penny pinching
We shoot our load and we buy the wrong players
Every now and again we manage to get it right
Still got a few weeks to go, the dry cleaner must be rubbing their pash stained hands in delight….
THOG….apologies…I read back and you never said that.👍
HH
The recruitment team, whatever it’s composition, identity targets, it’s the board who negotiate price and length of contract!
I think most people would prefer signings to be made in preparation for the champions league qualifying round so as to give them a chance to form an understanding of the way the team plays and to forge partnerships . We have plenty of cash to spend so is that too much to ask for?
Laxalt , no apology required but thank you.
The huns sign players while still owing the Scottish government ( I should say Scottish tax payers ) millions.
Our cash reserves ensured we didn’t require to take any Covid loans from the SG.
Not one team has paid back the loans in full, they probably never will and the debt will be written off.
Was this a good way to utilise our cash reserves. ?
Personally, I think not.
HH.
TBH i don’t think this a bang average hun side i think they will get better and be a major challenge
Hopefully we will sign some good players particularly in forward areas before deadline day but I don’t see a reason why it cannot be done earlier when the club is cash rich.
To be honest ghiys, i always think we should have taken the £8m from Fulham for Boyatra.
Hes100pcuptohissameoldtrix.
Betweenthelinescsc
Borrussia Dortmund it was.
Bet ye the huns get a lucky win tomorrow night snd Tav’s their MVP,
HH
fourstonecoppi on 5th August 2025 10:10 pm
TBH i don’t think this a bang average hun side i think they will get better and be a major challenge
————
I agree, I think as they come uip against more spl teams, and then have to juggle whatever european competition that they find themselves in, the wheels will slowly – and then very quickly – fall off
Its like watching Breaking Bad on repeat
Martin will get sacked, then they will bring in*insert an ex reangers player – and they are quickly running out of them*, the rabble will be roused
Its been a rinse and repeat move for years
And meanwhile after many pro celtic blogs (and some non pro bedwetter ones) will tell the masses that we are pish, ~
where either we have spent too much money or not enough
And we will argue and debate for weeks, months and years
And paul67 will secretly send the adsense revenue to whatever lawells driveway needs heating
Get your drones up and just watch the frost melt…
Had we signed a replacement for Boyota and planned for his exit, I’m sure BR would have sold him to Fulham. As it is, Fulham’s cash wouldn’t have made for much of a CB for the season so Brendan wisely kept Boyota.
https://ggec.org.uk/celtic/
Waste of time with some on here.I have no love or hate for our Board.Used to get called a Board lover.I can always see two sides.Not in this instance.A disgrace with their bloody mindedness.
TB 9.47pm .
Correct sir . A huge gamble is going on at celtic Park. We have the money why are we messing about, we need quality not one or two but quality for a few positions . I wouldn’t underestimate our city rivals , they weren’t clever against the well on Saturday but they have added a couple of better players who will enhance Saturdays performance ,while we soldier on with the guys who got us a late win against saint mirren . It was posted on here a few weeks ago , that the big danger to us continuing to be top dogs is not from outside the club but from within and no doubt at this moment in time it certainly looks like that is coming to pass . OK there is time left to rectify this position , but are any of us fans ,confident of that happening . HH
TB
The problem we have with the board is they have not (and cannot) come out and comment on their transfer dealings
So we take 2+2 and make up whatever number we want to
We don’t know anything that is going on behind the scenes – we don’t know who we have bid for, how much we have bid and what the response has been, neither from the player, his agent or the club
We are mis directed by the scottish media, our own media and our fans
We really should have Michael Nicholson do a wee wullie winkie style youtube analysis of each transfer window to keep us in the know
And even then, we wouldnt believe them
As a club we are fecked if we do, fecked if we dont
We are a big fish in a small pond
Running out of air due to our own success
And right now we are all struggling with that
Brendan’s team thrive in good wingers – Sinclair, Jamesie, Paddy Roberts, Kuhn and Maeda.
Looking back at our wobble in December 23 when we let go of a comfortable league lead with successive defeats to Killie and Hearts – we had Mikey Johnson and Palma playing.
If we’re not creating out wide, we’re very susceptible to being strangled in any given game – be it Aberdeen in the cup final or St Mirren in the league.
It’s all well and good P67 labelling our CL tie a gift but if we’re starting Yang in those games then we are definitely beatable.
Fear.
Terrible thing to live with.
Especially when you don’t need to.
Very enjoyable football free evening I’ve had
Goodnight CQN.
As ever with Celtic, the players we bid for are extremely noble and humble. They and their agents take an omerta with all media outlets.
An Dún
It just takes a few of our players to have an off day and we are struggling
With very little in reserve to change it
And thats the problem we have in qualifying
We need all our players firing at the same time
And we struggle to make that happen most weeks
So we look to our flair players
We only have Maeda, wee jamsie and yang (having sold khun, kyogo and having Jota injured)
If they struggle, we struggle
Tis a problem
An Dún
Media outlets (including this one) are paid by clicks
Meaning the more outlandish and nonsense the claims
The more they get paid
The other media outlets know this and watch
And then repeat the outlandish and nonsense claims
And we are left drowning in the bed wetting pash
Greenpinata on 5th August 2025 10:08 pm
%
Desmond White would have asked why ALL of the Doctors and Health Workers, Journalists, Japanese President Shinzu Abe, who disagreed with ALL of the Western Governments Covid narratives, were sacked or found floating down the River Clyde the next morning?!
CLUNKS
I think we’re waiting on the loan market opening up more in the closing days of the window to replace Kuhn, with the idea that Jota comes back in the new year.
So we’ll be starting Yang in the CL play offs imo.