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.
231 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- »
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 30TH JULY 2019 3:34 AM
JAMESGANG on 30TH JULY 2019 2:49 AM
“If it wasn’t for ‘immigrants’ uk 2019 would grind to a halt. There would be no functioning nhs.”
“Opinion expressed as fact.”
Really? 10% of doctors and 7% of nurses. What do you propose? Expat immigrants like yourself returning en masse with first aid kits?
https://theconversation.com/nhs-reliance-on-eu-staff-in-numbers-full-scale-of-brexit-risk-revealed-105326
As for the wider economy, don’t take my word for it. Read what the London School of Economics has to say:
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/to-be-less-dependent-on-immigration-britain-must-change-its-model-of-capitalism/
Irony being that as the authors point out, unfettered capitalism requires still more migrant labour as its cannon fodder…..
‘Immigration per se is fine as long as it is carried out legally……’ said the Brits to the majority of the map as they sailed in and took over …..
‘I believe in the rule of law. How about you ?’
That depends. Are the laws just? Apartheid was legal. Would you have respected that?
To paraphrase Jack Nicolson, ‘you can’t handle the……facts and data….’
HH jg
In other news…..there is no 22-26 year old, battle-hardened right back to be found in the whole of world football for £3-8M who will ‘migrate’ to Scotland with his family to be laid £1M+ per annum?
Really?
🤷🏼♂️
HH jg
Paid!!!! 🙈
What he does in his spare time is largely up to him…..
HENRY JOY on 30TH JULY 2019 12:59 AM
jimtim on 30th July 2019 12:38 am
—————————————————
You’re aff yer heid if you think that last game in Govan meant anything. As for the former we were missing half a team and had Brendan Rodgers greetin face as a motivator.
@@@@@@@
Never seen a game against them that didn’t mean anything . But if that’s your take on it , it’s up to you . Like many others on here , I would like to see us with a more combative midfield . No doubt we have some skilful players but players of slight build , not so handy when your being bullied . A bruiser of an enforcer would give our young lads the protection they need .
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 29TH JULY 2019 8:52 PM
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?
==========================
In any other league, probably, but this is Scotland, and there are other factors… and as alluded to by previous Celtic managers we can’t rely on just being slightly better than the opposition to lift the prize.
HH
JAMESGANG on 30TH JULY 2019 8:18 AM
You said ” No functioning NHS “.
Which means that the NHS would cease to function.
Is that really what you think ?
As I said ” Opinion expressed as fact.
Why would immigrants leave , when , as Boris said , EU citizens legally in UK are entitled to remain ?
My issue is with illegal immigration.
My issue is with illegal immigration , seldom , I would have thought , the source of NHS employees.
James.
L.S.E.
Another left wing think tank.
Trad…………………
I think you’ve expressed a view better than I was trying to get at…..
The huns just need to go a wee bit further improvements- wise to get closer to us….hence the recruitment, of the Fat Charlies, the Tavs, Waggy’s and Kents of this wurld. This usually ensures they beat the chasing pack of League also-rans………but the deciding kicker is still the litany of ” Waghorn – Penalty” type decisions and the heid scratchin’ off sides and goals disallowed that the huns get and which provides enough of a boost and komforting kushion to the hun ” progress” and journey message.
I don’t think there’s a reasonable investment amount out there that would obviate the hun cheatin’.
Then you factor things like the impending failure of what will be called ” The Kilmarnock Experiment” then theres another team neutralised that might’ve nicked points at Asbestox…..
In the circumstances, I think what we’ve achieved thus far is miraculous
HH.
James.
Just laws?
Completely agree.
We are speaking about UK , not Pretoria or Caracas or Havana.
You may see a comparison. I don`t.
Fix Fitba’. Empty Hampden.
Talking about Apartheid , LSE and left wing think tanks.
Berkeley Uni no whites day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxVTO5ifIbM
BANKIEBHOY1 on 30TH JULY 2019 8:37 AM
Agreed – Sevco also spend significantly more than the chasing pack and so would be expected to pick up a lot of wins. The 4 fixtures against them become more important and a bit of bad luck with injuries or a few dodgy decisions in the huns favour can easily tip the 51:49 (or whatever the numbers may be) balance.
I think we are justifiably favourites but there is no room for complacency and I’m sure that or manager knows that.
HH
Jamesgang 2.46am
I certainly hope I don’t have car insurance as I don’t have a car :-)
Sid 4.50am
Don’t believe everything I post, I certainly don’t but I suppose it’s a bit of a compliment if you remember rubbish I wrote last season… by the way if the Sevs actually has to live within their means am pretty sure they would struggle around mid table but while trading insolvent and paying guys like Defoe astronomical wages they should be top 6 as they are outspending everybody apart from the champions …. again, I don’t hang on any of your posts so I would suggest you don’t take mine too seriously :-)
There are a many myths being accepted without question
e.g. The gap has narrowed.
The gap was 9 points last year as it was in 2017/18. The only difference was in the fear generated in some posters by the name of the team that finished 9 points behind.
There are no extra points or money for winning a league by 1 point or 20 points. Those who fear “the Rangers are coming” will continue to have that fear. We have had dire warnings every pre-season about our lack of “succession planning” during our 8iar run. We have had the same dire warnings about the tactical superiority of McInnes, Gerrard or even, Mark McGhee over whichever Celtic manager was about to get found out too. And, despite our lack of planning, we did “success plan” (or we must have flukey them) every league title for 8 years and a wheen o’ cups, including the last 6 or 7, despite our failures.
You would have to believe that, with the perspicacity of our malcontents in charge, we would have landed the CL title , the Grand National, Eurovision and University Challenge too.
When we won our original 9iar, when the old Rangers won theirs, and when we have done 8 currently, there was no linear progression from an initial narrow league win, through successive larger margins to a mid-point landslide, to be followed by a tapering gap until the gap disappeared. The gap of the previous year is no reliable indicator of how the next season will go.
We enjoyed a wee spell of hunskelping but it was never a spell that could last, anymore than you can always beat Accies or Livingston by 5 or 6 goals. Life isn’t and never was like that.
I was wrong in predicting, at the end of last season, that our angst would be “turned up to 11” this year. It is already past 13 by my my reckoning before a league ball has been kicked. The only thing that can influence this is results on the field. In the unlikely event that we win our first 3 games and Sevco drop points in all of theirs, it might be dialled back to 11, but, at this rate, I expect us to hit 20 before September is out.
Buy shares in Pampers & Huggies and you’ll be a richer, nervous person.
SFTB………..
:))))))
That’s my share “portfolio” just doubled and trebled………..although my hedge-fund manger will undoubtedly be questioning the spread of investments and my long-term strategy!
I hope them share certificates are extra-absorbent!
;)
HH
….as expected, my man in the City has just poo-pooed the proposed portfolio restructuring………
SFTB
Good stuff. Panty wetters of the world unite.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX
But still, having the better team in this country is no guarantee, particularly if its only 51:49! (I get that was for illustrative purposes only in response to another post you used those figures btw)
HH
It is certainly not 51:49……….However it is a FACT that it is 87:78
So not far off…
I will not for a minute dismiss the challenge from Ibrox.
I hope it all goes terribly wrong for them again this season but I smell a decent title challenge and a strong start.
We need to be a few notches better than last season but the good news is that our manager knows this and he is the man for the job.
We were dreadful for parts of last year – sounds weird to say it about the year we did the 3×3 but we were – dropped points all over the place. For me , this happens with BR – maintaining great runs is very difficult.
lazydynamite on 30th July 2019 9:32 am
————————————————————
You couldn’t wish for a manager better suited than NFL anywhere in the world to keep our foot on der huns filthy squirming throat. Let’s pray. May the scum suffer slowly and more painfully this season than last. Amen.
Really enjoyed the read back, it’s great when the chat is about the fitbaw, I tend to agree with SFTB, There seems an acceptance that if they bring in players like the Swedish Centre Half who Lustig didn’t rate, & the mouthy winger plus Aribo, then they have secured 3 top aces and are a lot stronger than last year, whist we being in Julien. Boli,Shved, Elhamed & Luca but the jury is out on our signings.
The fact that Griff, Bayo, Morgan, Arzani, Christie & Mikey are all available is also ignored.
I’m certainly not complacent, it’s football and any team can get lucky, all their players could gel & they could become a serious threat, but MxcShagger, Davis & Defoe are all a year older their best player from last year, Kent is missing plus Candy Ass & they are likely to flog El Buffalo & Tav if they get any decent offer.
As I say not complacent but my money is on Celtic for 9 in a row.
Some folk need to chill.
We won’t spend again in a serious way until Tierney or an other goes or we reach the Champions League.
For whatever reason we are protecting the cash in the bank and we start from a base of zero regardless of how much is stockpiled.
mullet and co 2 on 30th July 2019 9:59 am
————————————————-
There’s another relative biggie coming next week that will dispel that myth.
Good point Corky on the aging Govan Galacticos….
Odsonne Edouard could literally be Jermain Defoe’s 16 year old son…..
Hoping that we’ll also be in good shape by the end of the window…enough in the squad to get by this and the next round of ECL methinks.
INIQUITOUS1V
Last night you mentioned a whole host of players,we were allegedly interested in.A bit of a complaint we never proceeded with any.Just how many players have the media linked us with?A point in case,Arribo.Yes,we looked,but never made any bid,proving the Media,liars.As for the rest,Celtic know what the value of these players are,we made our offer,but were outbid,in a market that rates Ollie Mc Burnie at £20 million.The targets we really wanted,we got,even the Motherwell boy.Lenny has been on saying he hopes for another player by the weekend,and will also be pursuing a new RB,as the ongoing search has stalled.No one even knew who it was we were inquiring about.Too many fans being led by the Media.A Media desperately trying to sell KT,making up nonsense from the start,and who also today,kept the feelgood factor going across the City,with the “Kent could still be loaned to them”.A day after his manager said”No chance.You want him,buy him”.
Corky @9:57
Well said agree 100%, I would add there is too much fear placed on the dross that Garrard has bought.
HENRY JOY
Hope your right about another big signing , any clues ??
Henry Joy.
Thanks. Interesting
“Murdoch won us the European Cup”
– Jock Stein
Can’t even spell the clowns name now😵😱
SDI allegedly, set to put some Newco staff on Zero Hours contract
MichaelYouHaveTakenThemAway CSC
Eurochamps67
It’s the mad close season
Truths nowhere to be seen
As you say, speculation,
People guessing
Worst still we have professional people writing what they are guessing about.
People read take that as truth add their own bias and put that out there as their guess lol
Speculation I guess
And if guess is wrong it’s down to Celtic for not funding the haver.:-)
Looking forward to tonight’s game,real signings starting real games.julian,Luca,Marion hopefully the start of something special
Glad your good
HH
As much as I hate Tom English,I liked his take on Seethins comments on Morelos.Saying”He has to make a decision on wether he wants to go,or stay at Ibrox”.English wrote,”Very strange comments,as no one has bid for him,theres only one place he can play at next season,Ibrox”
Oh,and I see some scum faction are calling again for a SDI,boycott.The rag trumpets”In the continuing war against Mike Ashley””Continuing”?Really?.I thought I read last week that Ashley had won,and the Huns now owed him”Many millions”.Oh well,must have dreamt it.
If anyone on here thinks Rangers have a better squad or first 11 or even manager they need a reality check…
There may be individuals who could get a game for us occasionally but who do they have (give me more than 3) that you would pick before Bain, Tierney, Ajer, Simunovic, Brown, McGregor, Edouard, Ntcham, Sinclair, Johnstone, Christie, Griffiths, Forrest!
Don’t give me Tavernier as we don’t know how good Hatem is yet and Tavernier was one of our best players in games against them last season.
Note my list doesn’t include Jullien who cost more than any of their players combined transfer fees.
Add in Dembele, Arzani, Shved and serial skelper Mr Rogic…
Wee question
Does anybody know if your Celtic TV subscription (bought within the UK) picks up live matches when you log in overseas on your holidays?
Same as last season, I like to look back on the 90s 9IAR to see if there are similarities or lessons to be learned.
Last season was 1995/96 and had similarities in that the challenger had finally got a decent team together after financial crises. The difference was that last season the challengers did not perform anywhere near as well as in 95/96 and did not get as close
This season is 96/97 and similarly, the challengers spent some money (di Canio, Stubbs, Johnson), had loads of goals in them but ultimately the defence (inc def mid) and the pressure told.
I think the situation is similar this year with sevco banging in the goals but ultimately don’t have a great defence
in 96/97, we lost all 4 games against Rangers and that lost us the title (5 point gap in the end but about 10 I think after they beat us at home)
The Ibrox game in September is massive in my opinion, as is the requirement for us to be direct and batter the lower teams away. We need to be ahead in the league by the end of Sep such that the expected early run for them is de-railed
Pavlovic