Celtic’s preparations for the new season kick up a gear this week when they face Sporting at Estadio Algarve tonight, before facing Middlesborough at Celtic Park on Saturday. With so many players involved in the World Cup, work for the official kick-off has been restricted. There is only a friendly against Milan to come before Dundee’s visit a week on Monday.
My general rule of thumb is that good ‘results’ in preseason are unwelcome. Ange Postecoglou’s 2-6 hammering by West Ham five years ago was a welcome tonic in this respect. Kyogo, Jota, Carter-Vickers, Starfelt, Juranovic and Joe Hart would soon arrive to kick-start our current five-in-a-row run. I expect my rule of thumb will be facilitated by Sporting later. Maybe for the best.
271 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- »
Absholutely shenshational
The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on 14th July 2026 9:59 pm
What a strange game.
I can’t decide if Spain have been very good or France have been appallingly bad.
—–
Both
Spain were superb
France got into the right positions and made a poor final ball or finished badly
Poor decisions from France
DeniaBhoy
Absholutely
Trump will try his best to make sure Spain don’t win
i got my anti mccoist vaccine at the dumbarton covid clinic
Do it for the General Belgrano and for Gary.
Well done Spain.
A team should be greater than the sum of their parts.
Spain were.
France wurnae.
“We are trying to come to an agreement with Iheanacho. We are definitely making moves. I am in constant touch with Michael Nicholson. Shin Yamada has gone out on loan today and Michael is in the background working away.
I don’t know about numbers but I am definitely optimistic about getting players in.
To balance things up, we would probably have to let a few players leave but I’m hoping to be in a position to do that with others coming in.
I’m very optimistic on Kelechi.
Julian Araujo did very well for us. I’m not sure if Bournemouth would want to loan him again, they would probably want to sell. I would keep that open.”
– Martin O’Neill.
Rinse and repeat every pre season
BB, said same a few days ago – passive and a let’s see what happens approach. Seen and heard it all before. I hope I’m wrong but I have no confidence that lessons have been learned.
Extended highlights
https://youtu.be/y5ZbMNEA8Fk?is=ry1CrBtZo6ovi3Nw
HH
Super Neil Lennon vs Super Ally McCoist in the Shame Game showdown 2011.
And Celtic PLC stood back and watched Neil Lennon being stitched up by the Alex Salmond SNP ‘Summit.
And 53,000 yellow bellies soulled out the season tickets to thank the wonderful PLC Board.
15 years later and not one of the 53,000 have learned a single lesson.
Well done Spain.
I was at the game in Faro earlier. No pressure, watching the Celts in a pre-season warm up game in the sunshine.
However, Sporting were faster and physically more aggressive than us, big time.
Engles really put in the effort, top marks, as did Bernardo. Scales was left back, not so great. Midfield were totally over run in tge second half. Has Luke McCowan improved at all since we signed him ? Balikwisha ? No thanks.
One really positive from the game was Duran. He is a player, the real deal. Worth the trip to see a future stars debut.
you got hit with a few cars….
Good night you old duffers.
Goals Zone
@TheGoalsZoneHQ
🚨🗣️ Roy Keane: “If Argentina gets supported by the referees again in the semifinal, honestly, that would be the end of Argentina and Messi. No one would view their trophies as legitimate, and the English media is already very good at spreading that agenda.”
https://x.com/TheGoalsZoneHQ/status/2076791241602371691
^^
No doubt the dim Tims will be cheering for the new genocide land over England the morra night.
So small minded, so goldfish bowl, so pathetic.
Much better if Spain defeat England in the final.
Dim Tims are the biggest drawback in Celtic history.
Switched-on Spain.
4-4-2 is how real teams play.
4-4-2 in Seville 2003 would have won us the Uefa Cup Trophy.
And the Sunday after we would have won the league at Rugby park as the Hun heids would have exploded after Celts heroics in Seville.
We would have won the CL the next season not Porto.
So why is MO’N copying Maloney/Martinez 4-3-3 tucked-in fullbacks busted flush and not 4-4-2 like Spain?
Because 4-4-2 with a flat back 4 will make Spain the World Champions.
Get rid of Maloney and get Neil Lennon in tonight.
What a time to be alive!
Maybe all our new super signings will come on the same day …. like Christmas day when you were a kid …or your birthday .
Or maybe Dermot thinks we’ve all been very naughty children and we’ll be getting nothing .
A loan is not a signing
Re-signing last years loans, again, is no a signing
Who have we scouted, and bought???
At this rate we will have dicanio and cadette resigning and hailing them as a board masterpiece of business
Can’t see past Spain in the final. They don’t concede. They owned France tonight.
As for us, all the evidence is of shambles. Other than selling our best players, which to be fair we are decent at. That is part of a successful model, so it’s a good thing… provided you know how to recruit. Instead we’re being invited to chase rainbows like Araujo.
P67’s kremlinology signalling is becoming more openly stressed with each passing week…
“when my agent told me Bournemouth were interested, I could not believe it”
🤣🤣🤣
Anyway, cracked crests and white flags at the ready.
Celtic lost a preseason friendly.
🥱🥱🥱
justshatered on 14th July 2026 2:20 pm
I think this “strategy”, whatever it is, is now running out of road.
The buy later, or even later than that, or not buy at all, while selling your best assets has now been shown for what it is: a contrived strategy to make our league appear competitive.
+++++++++++++
Imagine how uncompetitive the league would be if we won CL money season after season and spent on higher and higher wages.
Just imagine Bayern Munich wondering how uncompetitive their league is.
You may say I’m a dreamer.
spikeysauldman on 15th July 2026 1:50 am
Just imagine Bayern Munich wondering how uncompetitive their league is.
You may say I’m a dreamer.
*and your NOT the only one
Is it really an even playing field (or a ‘fair game’) to covertly hobble yersel’ just to let the others catch up?
Specially while rapaciously marketing ‘world class’ merch and tat, to thoosan’s of hope-filled devotees?
Imagine if we really had world (or even Euro-) class ambition and enablers, and only keeping our noses ahead of the home hun pack was not our aspirational yardstick ?
CommercialCodependencyCSC
NewFirmAuldUnderstanding CSC
quadrophenian on 15th July 2026 2:06 am
^^
The ‘World Class’ labels are just a small window into how easily the board view the fans as mugging material.
And to be fair to the board the 53,000 season ticket subscribers at an almost majority of fans paying in the region of £1,000 for these tickets to get this shafting at 9 out of every 10 Transfer Windows, and there is simply no meeting of minds to end this annual pantomime.
Someone posted earlier about a Rangers trophy haul being the only way that requisite anger levels will raise to force fans to get rid of the PLC.
I agree 100% with that.
LikeADogChasingCars… yep.
Seeing Hun ascendancy would just be an unpleasantly amped-up version of Paul’s prediction of a Sporting Lisboa pre-season wake-up call.
The club imagines itself to rank among the football elites and us fans so want to believe it true; aside from local honours, on the field internationally, aren’t we just a cutesy, big fish in small, still waters !
Wow. anti Argentina rhetoric reaching fever pitch as MSM re write Falklands history to a new audience.
Results/winning of pre season friendlies are of no importance
We all knew this summer with the W/C in play that some of of our best would be in the shop window it was also the end of the Ange/Rodgers cycle, those players the best of the last 4/5 years would likely be heading for richer more demanding leagues, it was important to say the least that the planning for this summer started early, strategy, personnel and a structure for recruitment should have been constructed from January 2026, its fair and accurate comment to say nothing happened DD and Execs sleeping at the wheel with recruitment, all the planning clearly was being done on selling merchandise, DD and the execs concentrating on their priorities.
Given we had no recruitment plan after that glorious afternoon on the 16th of May the low hanging fruit needed collected, on the Monday 18th MO’N should have been offered another year out of respect due to the superb achievement in taking the title and a C/L qualifier £40 Mill on the table, I would have given him till the Friday before Hampden YES/NO sorted out Shaun and Fozzy and announced our management team last week in May. if Mon understandably so wanted Ian Archer (Goal scorer) that should have been done and dusted early June and Ian Archer spending the summer at Lennoxtown developing the six pack on a training regime with the fitness coaches at Lennoxtown, we have resigned the OX (to my surprise) and very late as he has a long road to travel in terms of fitness, speed and stamina, hopefully whomever is doing recruitment have identified obtainable targets in key areas to obtain either key requirements or talent leaving
Congratulations to Espana on reaching the W/C final
Tippy tippy possession makes you very hard to beat
Brain over brawn, skill, technique, intelligence and fitness
Winning the beautiful football way
I hope they go on to deservedly take the crown
Vamos Argentina
A comment on recent predictions.
Brian Wilson predicted a busy few weeks in the transfer market. Increasingly it seems clear that will relate to sales of our best players.
P67 predicted a 33% probability of 8s winning the league. I fear this is optimistic.
A prediction if my own. By the end of the window Square Jaw will have successfully delivered a significantly reduced wage bill; and, our squad will be markedly weaker than the one that finished last season,
Oh and we customers will be spoiled for choice on new Celtic branded Adidas gear.
MON 🗣️ “I am in constant touch with Michael [Nicholson]. Shin Yamada has gone on loan and Michael is in the background working away.
“I don’t know about numbers but I am definitely optimistic we will get players in.
“I think to balance things up we’d have to let a few players go but I’m hoping to be in a position to do that with others coming in.
Michael in the background working away………………Celtics one man recruitment team, its world class
Look like this has slipped under the radar………………🤔
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/czx5xkr1y4do
if Arg get to final they will attempt to boot Spain off the pitch – Rodri especiallyhttps://x.com/mehulg10/status/2077152704670081094?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
if Arg get to final they will attempt to boot Spain off the pitch – Rodri especially https://x.com/mehulg10/status/2077152704670081094?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1uwt5f7/10_players_have_won_the_ballon_dor_the_uefa/
The Blogger GM…
That doesn’t surprise me. Why would Callum jeopardise his potential legendary status for a few extra quid in Saudi Arabia? He is already a wealthy young man and will continue to earn a good living until and beyond retirement from playing. The only benefit I can see from ending his playing days in the desert is perhaps gaining more coaching experience from Brendan, if indeed that is what he plans after his retirement. Moving his family to such a different environment and culture may not be as rewarding as remaining in Glasgow.
“Imagine how uncompetitive the league would be if we won CL money season after season and spent on higher and higher wages.”
A symptom of how economically dysfunctional football has become. Inherently uncompetitive at domestic and European levels. There are risks attached to potentially pulling our (financial) punches too:
– The competition has an element of sham for the 53,000 SB holders buying into it because we self-impose a handicap to even things up.
– Those fans are getting less bang for their buck in terms of the quality of product and there is increasing rumblings about being mis-sold.
– By levelling down to domestic competition we become even less competitive in Europe and increase the risk of real embarrassment.
– By failing in Europe we compete ever earlier (July) in ever more obscure competitions against European minnows who hold no attraction for the club’s ‘customers’.
– In the worst case scenario we wrongly calibrate the levelling down and end up gifting the league to Sevco, who are not bound by the same concerns about domestic competitiveness and use resulting income to overtake us. This scenario was close to materialising in the season past.
So I accept it’s a dilemma. No-one’s interested in a one-sided procession week after week but they’d take it ahead of the worst case scenario above. Which I fear is where this season might take us based on current trajectories.
Good morning all from Govanhill. Overcast in the south side of old Glasgow Town.
‘Michael is working away in the background….’ ffs we’ve seen this movie before, why is this incompetent clown still in post, and what does he know about the ability and worth of a football player?
He’s a stooge for the gangster, been told to sit there and say nothing, as he’s a heatshield for the one who is killing the heart of this Club from the inside.