You and I are old enough to remember when a home cup draw for Celtic was a rarity, so we’ll take Dunfermline at Celtic Park in the last 16 of the League Cup with good grace. I know this trophy is our fourth priority of the season, but it will not feel like that come the latter stages, should we get there, or even if we don’t.
Get past Dunfermline and there is a maximum of one away game before the neutral venue semi-finals. This competition co-exists in the calendar with European group stage games, so it takes careful squad management to chart a successful course through them.
The League Cup represents every other teams’ best chance of getting a trophy off Celtic this season, especially so, if Celtic are the only side still in Europe. As such, it takes on an importance it has seldom held since its inauguration in 1946.
This exceptional domination of Scottish football by Celtic has made every trophy, every game, more important. This is why Brendan Rodgers was right to rest players for a Europa League game in Leipzig ahead of a League Cup semi-final against Hearts. Conventional wisdom held that domination by a single team was bad for a sport, but there is a timeless truism: sport needs great champions for others to aspire to beat. This is where Scottish football is right now. Dunfermline have their chance in a few weeks.
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Scaniel 6.57pm
:-)
Don’t encourage me … really gutted to read about what happened on your holiday but smiled when I read your good lady chased the bam away … hope you both enjoyed your large vodka & gins 👍
Vakoun Issouf Bayo and Eboue Kouassi will again be missing from tomorrow’s team , just what exactly is going on with these players , is it personal or tactical due to lack of game time due to injuries or are they falling into the not fancied group after spending millions to get them.
Ron67 7.25pm
Pretty sure both recovering from long term injuries … although don’t let that influence your moan :-)
In fact I think you answered your own question …. “lack of game time due to injuries”
Eurochamps67
Is that your close season over? :-)) Good to see you on.
HH
Glasgowdave
Good to see you post my friend,hope all’s well
:-)
HH
GFTB @ 1037 & Turkeybhoy @ 1039
It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom for people to be critical. Yes we can reevaluate after the window closes, but we are also playing season defining games now. I think fans have a right to be concerned about the direction we are heading in.
We signed Jullien on 28th June. He hasn’t started any of our 3 competitive games. If he starts tomorrow, that’s over a month to get him up to speed. So say we sign a right back tomorrow, and there is no indication that we are close, then realistically it would be a struggle to get him integrated for a CL play off round. No one needs reminding that we went out in the 3rd round last year, so he may not get the opportunity to even affect our CL chances. Bolingoli showed some nice flashes but also some concerning moments, right now no-one can predict how he will turn out, and if he could even fill 50% of the Kieran Tierney shaped hole should we sell, which until Arsenal sign an alternative, is still odds on to happen. I don’t think we have a history of signing £3m back up full backs. Like Dembele last year we have signed his replacement early with the expectation we will sell. We may have spent £13m on the defence but is it better than last year without KT, Benkovic and our 3 ‘best’ right backs? That remains to be seen.
The manager appears to want to build a team around Brown in midfield, even though we played significantly better last year when he was injured and McGregor dropped back. So as we stand on the 29th July, I don’t think anyone can say we are stronger than the team that laboured with dire football for much of last season(and indeed the last 6 months of the season before it).
So – GFTB – those defeats at ibrox are more meaningful, because it was the manner of those defeats, we didn’t just lose, we were played off the park. We were awful. Just as we were at our 1st visits to Tynecastle, Easter Road and Rugby Park. The book is out on this team away from home. Press us and we fall apart. Sit back and we are completely devoid of creativity to break you down. Can Lennon change that? Maybe, but we haven’t seen it since he rejoined, unless you’re reading too much into a win over an Estonian team where our 1st 3 goals came from set plays(welcome given how few we do score from though we still didn’t create many good chances from open play)
If you are watching every game as I do and I presume most of us do, given the performances I fail to see where the arrogance and dismissive nature of our nearest challengers comes from. But I have seen it before. From the huns in the 90s. Yes we even won a game or 2 against them when they were dominant back then. We also stopped them doing 10 in a row. And whilst they may have only won 2 games in 90 minutes against us since they were liquidated and had to start again, that also equates to having won 2 of the last 3. Convincingly.
Right now I’d rate our chances of winning the league at 50/50, unless we make 2 or 3 significant additions to the 1st 11, or the huns implode, which is possible if they go out of Europe before the group stages and have to sell. Do we have a better team? I think so. But we had a much better team than them in 02 / 03 and they won a treble. They do not need to be better than us to win the league, just more consistent. They have a goalscorer who may disappear against us, but he rattles them in against the rest. Still 5 weeks left in the window you might say, yep but what have Celtic ever done to inspire confidence that we’ll be happy when it closes? Important players(Tierney / McGregor) can leave as well as join. Lawwell cannot survive blowing the next 2 titles with our financial advantage. A lot of fans may be in for a wake up call on 1st Sept. By then with the window closed it may be too late.
BUDDY MORRISEY on 29TH JULY 2019 3:28 PM
GFTB
Wikipedia – Billy McNeill
His five years in charge saw Celtic win three League championships, in 1978-79, 1980–81 and 1981–82, the Scottish Cup in 1979-80 and the League Cup in 1982–83. This period saw Celtic’s greatest competition come from the New Firm clubs – Aberdeen, who won the League championship in 1979–80, and Dundee United, who won the title in 1982–83.
Davie Hay
Scottish Cup 1985
League 1986
League Cup with Livingston 2004
Buddy Morrisey Wikipedia needs to update Caesars Managerial Success
Cause their is no mention of the Hoops famous Centenary Year Season
1987 – 1988 when Caesar was @ the helm we done the the double that
Season ( The SPL & Scottish Cup) so wikipedia footy history needs Edited
Reggie,
3 trophies out of 3 aint bad for a team that cant handle being pressed,
and have no ideas when teams sit back.
Reggie 8.14pm
The ibrox defeats mean heehaw to me
I would let them win every home game against us if the trophies end up at paradise
They have won 2 games against us in their whole history 2012-2019
That’s the facts mate :-)
Two wins in 7years 👍👍👍👍
Reggie- agree with 90% of your excellent post
My god there’s a few getting the claws into KT😉
Fairhill Bhoy 8.31pm
The silent majority are on KTs side :-)
Bada 8.28pm
Can I ask what 10% of Reggies post you disagree with ?
Asking for a friend who likes his sums
REGGIE on 29TH JULY 2019 8:14 PM
GFTB @ 1037 & Turkeybhoy @ 1039
It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom for people to be critical. Yes we can reevaluate after the window closes, but we are also playing season defining games now. I think fans have a right to be concerned about the direction we are heading in.
We signed Jullien on 28th June. He hasn’t started any of our 3 competitive games. If he starts tomorrow, that’s over a month to get him up to speed. So say we sign a right back tomorrow, and there is no indication that we are close, then realistically it would be a struggle to get him integrated for a CL play off round. No one needs reminding that we went out in the 3rd round last year, so he may not get the opportunity to even affect our CL chances. Bolingoli showed some nice flashes but also some concerning moments, right now no-one can predict how he will turn out, and if he could even fill 50% of the Kieran Tierney shaped hole should we sell, which until Arsenal sign an alternative, is still odds on to happen. I don’t think we have a history of signing £3m back up full backs. Like Dembele last year we have signed his replacement early with the expectation we will sell. We may have spent £13m on the defence but is it better than last year without KT, Benkovic and our 3 ‘best’ right backs? That remains to be seen.
The manager appears to want to build a team around Brown in midfield, even though we played significantly better last year when he was injured and McGregor dropped back. So as we stand on the 29th July, I don’t think anyone can say we are stronger than the team that laboured with dire football for much of last season(and indeed the last 6 months of the season before it).
So – GFTB – those defeats at ibrox are more meaningful, because it was the manner of those defeats, we didn’t just lose, we were played off the park. We were awful. Just as we were at our 1st visits to Tynecastle, Easter Road and Rugby Park. The book is out on this team away from home. Press us and we fall apart. Sit back and we are completely devoid of creativity to break you down. Can Lennon change that? Maybe, but we haven’t seen it since he rejoined, unless you’re reading too much into a win over an Estonian team where our 1st 3 goals came from set plays(welcome given how few we do score from though we still didn’t create many good chances from open play)
If you are watching every game as I do and I presume most of us do, given the performances I fail to see where the arrogance and dismissive nature of our nearest challengers comes from. But I have seen it before. From the huns in the 90s. Yes we even won a game or 2 against them when they were dominant back then. We also stopped them doing 10 in a row. And whilst they may have only won 2 games in 90 minutes against us since they were liquidated and had to start again, that also equates to having won 2 of the last 3. Convincingly.
Right now I’d rate our chances of winning the league at 50/50, unless we make 2 or 3 significant additions to the 1st 11, or the huns implode, which is possible if they go out of Europe before the group stages and have to sell. Do we have a better team? I think so. But we had a much better team than them in 02 / 03 and they won a treble. They do not need to be better than us to win the league, just more consistent. They have a goalscorer who may disappear against us, but he rattles them in against the rest. Still 5 weeks left in the window you might say, yep but what have Celtic ever done to inspire confidence that we’ll be happy when it closes? Important players(Tierney / McGregor) can leave as well as join. Lawwell cannot survive blowing the next 2 titles with our financial advantage. A lot of fans may be in for a wake up call on 1st Sept. By then with the window closed it may be too late.
& It’s D&G From Reggie
Yes Reggie Sevco did beet us in the last two matches @ rent a midden however with 49,300 Zombies
cheering them on in the matches which you are referring too then that is not surprising & put it another way they will not get positive results against us @ CP in the foreseeable future that’s for
sure & your other points about when they where using EBT’s in other words cheating is now
insignificant news in fact they should have been stripped of their cheating years title wins oh
the Astrix years those titles where a bogey & they where found out end of & they seam to be
very confident this up & coming Season of stopping us doing two nine in a rows time will tell
although in my opinion cheats never prosper end of
GFTB- Like Dembele last year we have signed his replacement early….who? HH
The two Sevco victories against us were down to Brendan fielding a crazy team selection on the 29th of December and their 2nd victory once the league was won ….. can’t fathom why any Celtic fan would worry or dwell on these games …
Remember 2 wins in 7 years :-)
Worry when it’s the other way round
KnickersInatwistCSC
GFTB on 29TH JULY 2019 8:45 PM
The two Sevco victories against us were down to Brendan fielding a crazy team selection on the 29th of December and their 2nd victory once the league was won ….. can’t fathom why any Celtic fan would worry or dwell on these games …
Remember 2 wins in 7 years :-)
Worry when it’s the other way round
KnickersInatwistCSC
You Are Damn Tooting GFTB
REGGIE @ 8:14
Very insightful post. Hard to argue with any of it.
IniquitousIV
Bada 8.42pm
Maybe if we make the CL group stages we might get a new striker .. for now we have
Edouard
Griffiths
Bayo
Was that your 10% reply ?
By the way I don’t like one up front but hey ho what do I know … if Sinky & Jamesy chip in with another 30+ goals maybe Neil doesn’t think he needs another striker
Reggie
“Right now I’d rate our chances of winning the league at 50/50, unless we make 2 or 3 significant additions to the 1st 11, or the huns implode, which is possible if they go out of Europe before the group stages and have to sell. Do we have a better team? I think so.”
If you think we have a better team then we should be rated as, at least, 51:49, no?
You have the right to rate our chances at whatever level you want to suit your point but it is not arrogance to acknowledge that the neutral bookies strongly disagree.
Currently, we are 5/11 with them to win the SPFL. You can get Sevco at 9/4. That’s as short as the odds have been since Sevco got themselves into the SPFL, but it still ain’t 50:50.
This might be the year they topple us.
It also might not be.
Both those propositions are not equally likely, despite the Hun winning the pre-Season Cup yet again.
Last season’s results don’t matter (much). It will be 2 different squads facing off. Older players in both squads will be a little nearer to losing some effectiveness (they have more of them than we do). Younger talent will be one season nearer to full maturity and effectiveness (we have more of them than they do).
The proof will become clear after the first 8 to 10 weeks of the season. That period will show us how hard it will be to win 9iar. But, even then it will not have established a clear winner or loser. It is usually the Jan to March period that sees the better team with the deeper depth of talent storm clear.
Last season’s closing of the gap to a mere 9 points could be their D-day, the important foothold in our psyche that makes the winning of the 2019/20 title inevitable, or it could be their Gettysburg, their high-water mark before they fall away again.
Fans feeling fearful or feeling confident before the season starts has little impact. The teams that visit CP or Ibrox tell us often enough that they know how to silence the crowd and make them work against the home teams. But they have to have the talent to see that strategy through and, so far, they have not been good enough to stop us winning often enough.
The Sevco fans will be ebullient just now, because they have not lost or drawn an SPFL match. Our fans are worried too, because we have not yet won an SPFL match.
But worries or confidence amongst the fans will not be the decisive factor. As always it will be the mental strength and talent of the best team that will prevail. Players win trophies and titles; our job is to cheer them on and get vicarious pleasure from their efforts.
GFTB on 29TH JULY 2019 8:49 PM
Bada 8.42pm
Maybe if we make the CL group stages we might get a new striker .. for now we have
Edouard
Griffiths
Bayo
Was that your 10% reply ?
By the way I don’t like one up front but hey ho what do I know … if Sinky & Jamesy chip in with another 30+ goals maybe Neil doesn’t think he needs another striker
& Don’t Forget Cal McGregor GFTB he can chip in as well & is good with his passes as well
Gone their wee CM
AKBW1888 8.48pm
One day we will lose a cup, we might even lose a league … that’s when we, Celtic fans, should worry about the Sevs beating us :-)
AKBW 1888 8.53pm
I have a really bad feeling that Callum might be strutting his stuff with the Foxes come 9/8/2019… hope am wrong
GFTB on 29TH JULY 2019 8:55 PM
AKBW1888 8.48pm
One day we will lose a cup, we might even lose a league … that’s when we, Celtic fans, should worry about the Sevs beating us :-)
I know GFTB however & thank the Lord that is not in the foreseeable future they will probably go
bust again what a laugh & come back as the sevco international version two
GORDYBHOY64 on 29TH JULY 2019 8:26 PM
I’m not wanting to play down those achievements, but you cannot deny we have a huge financial advantage, we have been huge favourites in every domestic competition we enter. Still have to go out and win those games, and we all celebrate them wildly, but the warning signs are there in neon lights, and I’m concerned that we are letting that advantage erode through poor management decisions starting with the CEO.
We also won 3 trophies out of 3 in Rodgers 1st season, but compare them side by side with last year and the difference is night and day. Not because the 1st season we were invincible but because our football that year was sensational and we were ripping teams apart. We scored 106 goals in the league that season. We scored 77 last year. We beat newly promoted Livingston 3-1 on opening day last season, then scored 4 goals in our next 6 league games. Read that again. And let me assure you we weren’t up against Peter Schmeichel reincarnated in those games, we were creating nothing. Then Brown gets injured and we score 6, 4, 5 and 5 in our next 4 league matches.
Of course it was impossible not to be trending downwards from those lofty heights in 16/17, and the huns had to start trending upwards given how dismal they were, but if those trajectories continue as they have been, at some point logic tells you they meet in the middle. Unless we are very careful we are approaching that stage, and sections of the support seem to be sleepwalking into it. I only hope that Lawwell and Lenny are not amongst them.
*FYI Edouard signing for £9m was a replacement for Dembele in the same way Bolingoli at £3m is the replacement for KT. We expected Dembele to leave, we expect KT to leave. No-one apart from Lenny will be as happy as me if he stays. Credit IS due to Lawwell for sanctioning these moves instead of being left trying to see what’s available in the last few hours of the window.
Been good chatting … MissGFTB has ordered me off CQN as the final of Island of Love is on …
Remember this last thing
There is plenty of time to worry about things… these Celtic times are certainly not that time
Hail Hail
Good night n god bless 🍀
GFTB on 29TH JULY 2019 8:57 PM
AKBW 1888 8.53pm
I have a really bad feeling that Callum might be strutting his stuff with the Foxes come 9/8/2019… hope am wrong
nah I think Callum will stay
Good Night & God Bless GFTB
REGGIE,
You do know that we have a couple of weeks to sign players for the Qualifiers.At a time when nearly every player has finished for the season,are on holiday,leaving everything with agents.How would you suggest we sign ready to go players in that time.Never met their teamates,moving to another country,upheaval for their families,and them.How long do you actually think it takes to sign a sought after player?We could chase 5 players for weeks and get none for one reason or another.Start over again.
Everything seems so easy in the world of Celtic,you seem to inhabit.I wish it was.
Sadly,most of us have to live in a world where Celtic are not the be and end all to players,wether we like it or not.Not a word of optimism in any of your post.You come to expect that from many on here.Just another doom and gloom merchant to me,of which we have our fair share.
TURKEYBHOY on 29TH JULY 2019 9:07 PM
REGGIE,
You do know that we have a couple of weeks to sign players for the Qualifiers.At a time when nearly every player has finished for the season,are on holiday,leaving everything with agents.How would you suggest we sign ready to go players in that time.Never met their teamates,moving to another country,upheaval for their families,and them.How long do you actually think it takes to sign a sought after player?We could chase 5 players for weeks and get none for one reason or another.Start over again.
Everything seems so easy in the world of Celtic,you seem to inhabit.I wish it was.
Sadly,most of us have to live in a world where Celtic are not the be and end all to players,wether we like it or not.Not a word of optimism in any of your post.You come to expect that from many on here.Just another doom and gloom merchant to me,of which we have our fair share.
You are right Turkey-Bhoy anyway what is all the panic about the English Transfer Window closes
a week on Thursday the window we are in does not close until Monday The 2nd of September 2019
It takes time for players to get their fitness level up to speed & also for them to bed in there will be
players out there who are out of contract & also if need be loan options as well to weigh their
potential ability up in other words if they fit our requirements & are @ a fair & reasonable wage
packet price also if we can make inroads in Europe that can also be to our advantage as well
REGGIE- kinda disagree that Eddie was MD’s replacement, we still needed another striker last summer, and a CB to replace Boyata IMO HH
Reggie,
i get your point about the standard of football.
i dont think the other mob are any stronger than last year,
i also dont see us being as inconsistent as we were last season,
i might change my mind on all this depending on how the transfer window pans out ;-)))
TURKEYBHOY @ 9:07
I’m not trying to start an argument, and I am not a doom and gloom merchant. You make valid points about the inherent difficulties of signing players. But that is exactly why we should be signing them earlier than we do. I took a look at our alleged transfer targets (From the leaked minutes, with the exception of the 2 Ecuadorians and Sawyers) and compared them to Paul 67’s headlines since June. Observe how many of them have signed with other teams and not us.
Aribo. No record of us bidding. Went to Sevco.
7/6 Cifuentes. “Celtic in 2-way transfer tussle.” No record of us bidding.
7/6 Harper. “Harper deal setback.” Stayed at West Bromwich. He was out of contract, so no transfer fee, but we appear to have made an unsuccessful offer.
7/7 Sawyers and Stacey. “Hoops double transfer blow.” £1.5M bid for Sawyers rejected, and Stacey moves to Bournemouth for £4M.
7/9 “Quintero in talks?” No further info.
7/16 Smith. “Lenny search continues.” Goes to Stoke for £4M.
7/16 Perraud. “French target blow for Celts.” Two undisclosed bids. Goes to Brest.
7/18 Simpson. “Celtic double deal move.” 32-year old to receive trial. Later cancelled.
7/27. Sawyers. “Celtic target agrees £3M move.” Goes to West Bromwich.
No mention of previous alleged targets Justin (Luton to Bournemouth), Jørgensen, Tomori, Maupay, Mousset and Barker (all Championship players). No midfield or upfront additions.
So what are we to make of all this? It may be that the focus on these players may be because Neal is familiar with them, but his recent assertion that we can compete with Championship clubs, both in transfer fees and salaries, just doesn’t hold up. It’s hard to understand why we keep spinning our wheels and persisting with that market. What is galling is that Aribo and Harper were comparable players, yet Sevco get Aribo and we are unsuccessful in getting Harper.
We have three confirmed transfers, one each from France, Austria and Israel. We haven’t seen Elhamed play, Jullien has had a cameo, and Mbombo hasn’t finished the 2 games he started. Unfortunately, he doesn’t look a patch on a fit Kieran Tierney. The deadline for the Cluj/Maccabi tie is this Friday and we are still all over the place with our back line. With £30M at stake, we are again taking a high-risk gamble. To unsettle things even further, Simunovic and Jullien are both banned for Saturday, and Jozo for the week after that.
I really hope that Neal’s “contingency planning for KT’s departure” is not Ralston and Hayes. But what could it be? If it consists of buying one or two fullbacks, why wait until KT leaves, when we have been largely unsuccessful up until now? It has taken Jullien 3 weeks to get up to speed, Mbombo was thrown in right away, and didn’t last 90 minutes, so anyone we sign may have to wait. Like one poster articulated (!!BADA BING!!?), I am tired of hearing, “We have people manning the phones” or “We had a 4 hour recruitment meeting.” It sounds like an excuse for lack of action and one unsuccessful bid after another, until we are down to our seventh or eighth choice. I mean, losing out to French giants, Brest? C’mon!
Posters here argue that Sevco have only beaten us twice, but they are ignoring a trend. We have gone from drubbing them 5-1 at the Bigotdome to being trounced 2-0. They have got stronger. We, to date, have not. All their signings are playing. Ours are not. We have not strengthened midfield or up front. We may by September 1, but unless we get the finger out, we may already have exited the Champions League. If the worst happens, and we lose at the Bigotdome, who will be comforted by saying, “They’ve only beaten us three times in their whole history?”
IniquitousIV
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 29TH JULY 2019 8:52 PM
I take your point but I think we’re dealing in semantics. 50/50, 51/49, 55/45 are all too close given our financial advantage. Now of course these are opinions not facts and someone could easily argue 70/30, 80/20 etc It would be up to you to whether you believed their argument.
There are reasons for optimism, mainly the development of Ajer & Christie, possible breakthroughs into 1st team regulars of Johnston and Henderson with some snippets of Dembele / Okoflex and 1 or 2 others. But these are unknowns. I am basing my opinion on how the team performed last season as it is the best sample size to judge. And I do not think the way that team was playing for the majority of last season will be good enough to win the league this year. Now will our winning mentality be enough to see us through? Maybe. Maybe it’s balanced out by them being the hungrier, more desperate team. They could also bottle it if they see the finish line. I’m not proclaiming them world beaters by any stretch. Just concerned about how things are going in performances and recruitment.
I watched our New Year win over them in 98 a few weeks ago (link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvDxSA2w1ZM&list=PLH2KtUZyHBlMGT14CxgN50pwy4OSDmodH&index=3&t=0s ) That was really the moment we started to believe. Check out their line up. Goram, McCall, Gough, Ferguson, Laudrup etc You might say their team was full of mental strength, winners who had been over the course before. But they kept them 1 year too many and it cost them. Sometimes teams need refreshed not just on the field but in personality as well. I’m not sure we’ve done either.
& It’s more D&G this time from INIQUITOUSIV
That’s if Arsenal Installments can make us a fair offer however they are now in the
process of buying Lille’s 72 Million Winger so I can’t see them also snapping up
KT considering they also have a transfer budget to operate within not unless
you believe the rubbish rumours being said on sly sports news put it this way
Installments Arsenal are not exactly known as big spenders compared to the
likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd & Liverpool now are they? No. So it’s the
usual negative Celtic Rumours being suggested is like take it with a pinch of
salt in other words BS end of
!!BADA BING!! on 29TH JULY 2019 9:20 PM
I agree we needed another striker last summer, I just don’t think that Celtic believed that too :-)
And Boyata was a fiasco. I would imagine the blame for that lies with Rodgers, but it is a collective failing. You either sign a new deal with 2 years to go or we sell. To not have a replacement lined up and sell with 1 year to go is negligent.
Reggie, Every Footy Season is not the exact same.
In my opinion Boyata was over rated a bit of a bomb scare like Tebily remember him?
BILLYBEAR on 29TH JULY 2019 4:56 PM
Do you mean that Walt and Bing suffered some kind of ‘Financial Meltdown’?
Restinpeace CSC
🍀⚽️