Take advantage of playing in a weak league

117

Having established a three point lead in the league, Neil Lennon will not want to allow the chasing pack daylight when Celtic face Hamilton Accies on Saturday, but the manager will surely rest players ahead of the game in Rennes on Thursday.  There are few enough benefits of playing in a league with clubs with the resource levels of Hamilton, so we have to take the advantages when they arrive.

The major area of concern is in central defence.  Jozo Simunovic’s knee continues to keep him out of the team.  Nir Bitton pulled his hamstring at Ibrox and is likely to miss another couple of weeks.  Kris Ajer missed the Ibrox game after suffering a groin strain against AIK, we could do with his ability on the ball in France.

If Celtic can take all three points they will extend their lead on one or both of their nearest challengers, as Livingston play Newco later that day.  Those two sit within a point of each other ahead of the chasing pack.  Which would be nice.

Happy 80th birthday to our own Connaire12, from all your pals on CQN.  Paint Greenock green tonight!

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  1. Bada Bing – 3.25

     

     

    Is this leftfield? Never seen that coming and if the narrative is right a massive game changer for us – no bloody summertime cup finals and automatically banking the dosh in June to spend.

     

     

    Of course the MSM will tell us terms and conditions will also apply to Sevco.

  2. For Saturday, I’d expect the following :

     

     

     

    ——————Forster——————-

     

     

    Bauer ElHamed Jullien Holy Boli

     

     

    ————Brown McGregor————-

     

     

    Shved Christie Elyonoussi

     

     

    ————-King Edward—————–

     

     

     

    Forrest looks to be moving at 70%. Give the bhoy a rest.

     

    Hopefully see Griffiths at some point.

     

    Maybe even the young lad from Southampton, off the bench.

  3. Ruggyman – I believe Schved is injured and Callum needs a wee rest.

     

     

    Get Ntcham and Forrest in or even hotshot Hayes…

  4. Many Happy Returns to Connaire. Hope you’re having a fabulous day. I don’t know of many CQN’ers held in such high regard, universally. That’s saying something. 🍀

     

     

    Congratulations also to Granpa’ Bunnet and family on the birth of a family treasure. 👍

  5. My preferred line up for Sat would be;-

     

     

    Forster

     

    Bauer Jullien Elhamed Boli

     

    Brown Ntcham

     

    Morgan Christie Sinclair

     

    Griffiths

     

     

    More than enough to beat Hamilton and rests a few players.

  6. Gene- agree, I think we will play strongest team possible, we can’t waste the points we won at Poundland

  7. Key to saturday’s game for me will be getting a lead or two goal lead, it means they will have to change from sitting deep and 10 behind the ball.

  8. Coneybhoy

     

     

    I know it’s all about opinions but I don’t get the Morgan thing – looks every inch an SPFL level player.

  9. We have 3 loan players added for this season – Forster, Bauer and Elyounoussi.

     

    Forster will likely be No 1 GK and, who knows, may stay on next season permanently.

     

    Bauer has an option to buy, so we need to play him often enough to make that evaluation.

     

    Elyounoussi was a £16m Southhampton purchase last season so there may be a need to play him especially if we consider him as a possible future purchase.

     

    In addition, Arzani is on his final year on loan from Man City. Once fit we may ned to see if he is at our level.

     

    Future team selections may take the above into consideration.

  10. Hoooooopy Birthday Connaire!

     

     

     

     

    Congratulations TheBatteredBunnet

     

     

     

     

    Hooooooopy Birthday MrsB67

  11. Celticrollercoaster......Hail, Hail Cesar on

    Congrats Grandpa Battered Bunnet, a very proud moment for you and the family

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

  12. Thems 3 points need to be banked. No messin’ with our advantage over the Huns.

     

     

    Let’s see how the scouse ned reacts to some unambiguous pressure in the points department!

  13. Ooft. The Grand master of the Orange lodge is a dobber, discrimination against the ludge aye? I heard there were some pesky black folks discriminating against the kkk.

     

     

    HH

  14. A day of travelling

     

    But

     

    Huge Congrats Granpa Bunnet 👍 Hope your wee Ghirl and her wee Ghirl are all Tic-e-te-boo

     

    (One of my mhates, also became a granpa on Tues, to baby Flynn)

     

     

    frannyB67, wish your misses a very h88py birthday as well

     

     

    Hail Hail

  15. Hello again all you young rebels.

     

     

    BANKIEBHOY

     

    i’m with you, get those points banked safely and as CONEYBHOY

     

    has already posted ” we’ve seen too many years when we’ve let

     

    silly points slip away due to complacency”

     

    Getting hyper here now on an expected sunny Melbourne Friday

     

    morning, all my Celtic tops are washed and pristine for a hurtin

     

    hun huntin weekend.

     

    My United Irishmen one for today.

     

    My Celtic all green away top for Sat.

     

    My Mornington social Celts for Sun.

     

    And just in case there’s a Mon. club my hoops are on standby.

     

    Think i’m wasting my time, huntin i mean, think they’re still all

     

    broodin in their wee dark caves.

     

    H.H Mick

  16. The BGFC’S

     

    Didny want yous to break the blog, so i’ll do it, as i’m used to it lol.

     

    Congrats to

     

    THE BATTERED BUNNET.

     

    h.h mICK

  17. Celticrollercoaster......Hail, Hail Cesar on

    ………LMS13 coming soon

     

     

    ………T-2 jobo sleeps

     

     

    ………79 teams entered so far ( Can we make 88?)

     

     

    ……..An Gorta Mor is our amazing Lisbon beneficiary

     

     

    …….Come and join the fun!

     

     

    …….email cqnpredictor@gmail.com

  18. BROGAN ROGAN TREVINO AND HOGAN on

    Good Evening.

     

     

    Have you ever been asked to sum up your life in the title of a book?

     

     

    Naw, me neither!

     

     

    But if I were asked then the answer would be dead simple. LUCKY JIM!

     

     

    I have always been lucky.

     

     

    About two and a half years ago, I was lucky enough to get an inspired message from Connaire12 which suggested that whilst a good number of us were in Lisbon celebrating the 50th anniversary of some football game or other, it might be an idea to organise a celebratory mass in Lisbon.

     

     

    I say, without any hesitation, that being asked to organise things in Lisbon in 2017 for so many friends and acquaintances was a real honour and a privilege and having been blessed with a good memory for such events, I brought home experiences and memories which will stick with me forever.

     

     

    The street party was phenomenal, the dinner for four hundred and eighty was a challenge and the visit to the stadium was a thing of wonder.

     

     

    However, if I am asked for a highlight — for just one moment that you would swap for all others on that trip — it would be the mass at The Basilica dos Martires on Lisbon’s Rua Garret and in particular Connaire12’s sermon which had me, and everyone else in the absolutely packed church, in tears.

     

     

    To even stage this Mass involved immense planning and an almost military operation. First of all Connaire12 had to get permission to say such a mass from his local Bishop. Similar permission had to be obtained in Portugal – but that could only be asked for once permission in Scotland had been granted.

     

     

    Once the Bishops had agreed, the Parish Priest for the Basilica had to consent and agree a time for the mass. As it turned out, this meant moving the normal morning Mass out of the main basilica and into another chapel altogether and it meant changing the time Mass was due to begin.

     

     

    Once all that was done all we had to do was get the word out to the two and a half thousand or so Celtic fans who were coming to Lisbon.

     

     

    This was done by e-mail, telephone calls, social media, word of mouth and via both STV and the BBC.

     

     

    Monsignor Charlie (I am fed up calling him Connaire12) and I then had to get readers (Malorbhoy and An Tearmann), Eucharistic Ministers, and organise hymns and so on. I agreed to write and say the bidding prayers.

     

     

    All well and good, and water off a duck’s back except for the huge numbers who turned up and the awestruck Portuguese public who were mystified as to how their church had been overran and commandeered by a set of football fans.

     

     

    And then there was that sermon!

     

     

    I have never been in a church or any other kind of religious service or other gathering where a sermon is met with the entire congregation getting to its feet, bursting into enthusiastic, proud and heartfelt spontaneous applause whilst at the same time openly wiping floods of tears away from faces.

     

     

    That is a moment that will live with me forever.

     

     

    And the cause of this emotion?

     

     

    None other than Monsignor Charlie simply talking about how his family were originally from The Calton and how it might just have been possible for his grandmother (I think) to have been baptised by Brother Walfrid.

     

     

    He talked about how that family, like so many others, had come from Ireland and settled in Glasgow to start a new life and about Scotland in general and the role of Catholics and religion in Scotland and elsewhere.

     

     

    About Columba and his mission through to St Mungo and the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and about St Margaret of Scotland, St John Ogilvie and others who did missionary work and then the work of Walfrid and Brother Dorotheus in Glasgow’s east end.

     

     

    That work, which sought to relieve the poor and bring hope and education to the poorest of families living in the poorest conditions with dreadful infant mortality rates, was a continuation of and a natural consequence of the work of all the others who had gone before.

     

     

    And at the very heart of their work was the notion that they should put on football matches and even start a football club for good purposes, for the betterment of others, to help strangers, to feed the poor and the sick — and the football team would be called Celtic.

     

     

    Monsignor Charlie said that he thought Walfrid would have been amazed that this football team would be crowned Footballing Kings of all Europe in a foreign city within a hundred years of being founded, and even more amazed that a further 50 years after that so many people would return to that same city to celebrate the club, its ethos, its roots, its victory and perhaps his vision.

     

     

    He finished by saying that every one of us in that church should be grateful for our roots and our sense of community and that it is only right that we should come together and celebrate and give thanks for what Walfrid’s club has achieved and what it stands for – and most importantly that we carry that same message going forward – always be willing to lend a hand, do something for others less fortunate and who need a wee hand now and then and do it in the name of Celtic.

     

     

    I couldn’t read my own handwritten bidding prayers such were the tears of pride in that sermon.

     

     

    Many who follow our club are not religious at all, and there are fans of many different religions who were the Green and White.

     

     

    Charlie’s sermon that day would have appealed to all.

     

     

    The mass had some beautiful hymns not least of which was Mick Ward playing And you’ll never walk alone on the flute at communion.

     

     

    After the mass, Monsignor Charlie was presented with a couple of commemorative medals from the Basilica dos Martires and he gave one of these to me.

     

     

    It is a prized possession and one which helps bring back the amazing feeling that was in that church on that day.

     

     

    So, on his Birthday here is to Connaire12 who gave me and many others a Celtic experience that ranks along side anything that was provided by wee Jimmy, Henrik, Cheeky Charlie or Paul McStay.

     

     

    He is a lovely man and he has the spirit of Walfrid running through him.

     

     

    BRTH – AKA – LUCKY JIM.

     

     

    PS Congrats to the Battered Bunnett and family.

  19. BRTH- I regret not going on that trip even more now,wonderful description of a famous day,from guys I know who were there, C12 HH

  20. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    BROGAN ROGAN TREVINO AND HOGAN on 13TH SEPTEMBER 2019 12:19 AM

     

     

    Thanks.

     

     

    Now that I know who I am speaking to , I can join with others in wishing Connaire 12 many congratulations in achieving four score.

     

    Ten more than the traditional three score and ten.

     

     

    Many happy returns to Connaire 12.

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