When Braga lined up for kick-off I thought, “Three at the back against a front three away from home in Europe, we should be OK here.” And so we should have been. Braga were average-to-poor during the opening 20 minutes, as Celtic settled into a pattern of attack, primarily down the left flank (we’ll come to that later).
There is always a temptation to scapegoat after a poor result and it would be unnecessarily harsh to single out Kasper Schmeichel for not stopping a shot from 33 yards which went directly above his frame. Kasper’s decline is clear to see, but the team in front of him last night were not any better.
Once the goal went in, Braga players seemed to grow a few inches, while Celtic’s shrunk in stature. The visitors went man-for-man when out of possession and Celtic were – yet again – unable to pass through the press. The possession horseshoe of doom was in full swing and midfielders, facing their own goal, only passed sideways or back to Cameron Carter-Vickers or Liam Scales. Or, of course, Kasper.
The entire support could not wait until halftime in the hope that Brendan Rodgers would sort things out. The change was a surprise. Celtic went three at the back to match up to Braga (note, match up to Braga, who are seventh in the Portuguese league). This created a bit more opportunity in the middle of the park, although the personnel change, which saw Marcelo Saracchi play an advanced role on the left had a lot to do with the improvement.
Changing to an untested formation was a risk. Twice Celtic rode their luck as Braga exploited the space where a right back would normally be, but the chances were not taken. Kelechi Ịheanachọ again stepped up, won a loose ball and smacked his shot below the keeper into the net. To the incredulity of the majority inside Celtic Park, the referee disallowed the goal and VAR did not see enough of an error to overrule the official.
Some sides grow with a sense of injustice, but that did not happen. One man’s thing to fight against is another’s excuse.
Braga’s second goal was a classic of the pressing genre. They pressed a poorly structured team all night and got their reward by forcing Celtic so far back a clearance took a ricochet and flew into the net. Fair play to them. A team who are midtable in Portugal, who could not afford our players or their wages, and a manager who is under severe pressure, tactically out-thought Celtic. Our left flank, with Seb, Kieran and Marcelo, were bossed by a Swedish defender Gus Lagerbielke.
We are like the kid who turns up at the board to play draughts when everyone else is playing chess. Motherwell come to Celtic Park on Sunday undefeated in all competitions this season. Whisper it, they have a good manager. Jens Berthel Askou is like the chess-playing kid and is not keen on excuses.
275 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- »
in
Laxalt on 4th October 2025 5:43 pm
Well said mate!
nil nil at poxcastle
Minis v Hibees…when we get our mojo back..those 2 are toast!. They’re no very good!
4SC….cheers
My team para mañana est a…..
Sinassoula
Engels
CCV
Scales
KT
Saracchi
Cal
Luke
Bonner
Shin
Ideagou3
Btw wits oan boyles heid???
I’m with you on the goalie laxalt – nothing wrong with moving on
come hibees do us a favour
People might think im crazy but hey/ho were on an anonymous Celtic blog so I’ll say it….
Brendan is doing in slow motion to Celtic what he done to Leicester….wake the fuk up and get this guy to fek…..NOW ….before we lose this league.
Why?…..I don’t know….I personally thinks he either
1….thinks the 100m in the bank is his
2. Is feart of the huns just like he shat it and ran away the last time.
I have been drinking all day to be fair but I’ve been drining in Riddy McCorleys and the PD club in the Falls Road and Im going to the Rock tomorrow evening……my point being Im in good company and the guys im drinking with are sick of his ‘poor me’pish.
Im watching tomorrow’s game in the PD club in Andytown and i guarantee the thoughts will be the same.
Sack him now…..or lose the league..
Bless him x 10000000…..that’s his shitey pattern….the guy is a money-daft narcissist
laxalt – because – has BR ended up with stale over the course of his career?
there’s evidence there
*stale teams
JJMC….sorry thanks
L
JMc…..who knows but I 100pc want him sacked at 450pm tomorrow when we don’t beat Motherwell.
Watching tonight’s game with same concern I have for rangers games.
I would take the score now personally. My view is Celtic will have 2 challengers for the league this season.
We have an outdated structure and manager. I am unsure why so few of our support were seeing this for a year but the manager and managing his own PR has not helped.
Frankly I believe the main shareholder made an error and should have corrected it after the cup final this year.
We are where we are and I am glad it is the club leadership problem and not mine. Rodger’s has the fans still on his side and any move would hugely destabilise and cost the club financially.
I just hope we have enough in the tank to beat the 2 challengers, neither are the finished article yet.
B78
I agree but we really ought not to concerned about Hearts at all.
They’re not great and Hibs should be ahead.
Evening all.
B78
Two challengers for the league.
Hearts and our board mibees?
Hearts score
f hell
laxalt – I got a problem with ‘moving on’ – football’s changed, the board need to move on. KS is right at the end give Sinisalo a chance. BR has got a pattern in the 3rd to 5th years! Don’t hang about.
weluvyacsc
B78…..We DO NOT have enough in the tank to beat anyone.
The players can see through his poor me pash and seem to be sick of him.
Bluntly….give the money-daft saboteour his £5m and get him to fuk before he drains the life out of the rest of us.
He’s a frkin conman who is as big a Celtic fan as s guy from Mozambique.
I honestly despise him, especially the way he has manipulated and conned Celtic fans
Wee Huns stay top. That’s 4 last minute winners and a last minute equaliser in 5 of their games. 11 points earned.
FT
Hearts stay top.
Fans singing “we shall not be moved” after 7 games of a 38 game season.
We’ll see.
JMc….I hear you
I an honestly broken hearted re this guy and I have seen it coming gor a full year.
Our 2 rivals have both won in injury time in past week to claim 3 points from 1.
We hardly had any fans in the stadium going into injury time last Saturday.
Just saying.
Anyone thinking we don’t have a title race is really deluded.
If we play as we did last Thursday then there is every chance we will be 4 or 5 behind hearts when we go there in 3 weeks after a European tie.
Also every chance the gap v the Govan lot will be just 4 points.
The ball in the Hearts V Hibs game will need to be recycled, jammy Jambos stole the game in the end
HH
BHEAVER on 4TH OCTOBER 2025 7:37 PM
Wee Huns stay top. That’s 4 last minute winners and a last minute equaliser in 5 of their games. 11 points earned.
———-
You can’t do that regularly over a 38 games season.
For the moment they are serious contenders but there’s a hugely long way to go.
I’m less afraid of what Hearts do to our chances of winning the league than I am of what we might do to those chances.
I agree the long wait is over. Just pointing out that they are lucky to be where they are.
Beaver
Agree
Hearts have passion and energy. And belief. Support and manager and team aligned.
We have a squad who have been told by their manager all summer they are not good enough and that we need more quality. Despite our squad being valued at 9 x that of Hearts.
WHEN not IF we get our shit together, we’ll rip the minis a new one!
Fourstonecoppi
I really hope you are right. For me this is our manager doing as he did destroying Leicester in his final year. And taking his money for it as he did there.
Sadly our supporters won’t wake up to his games until we are too late.
Sadly our owners and board are guilty of letting it happen. He should have been dealt with after the cup final.
dealt with how ?
I wonder how many will be in our stadium tomorrow if we are 0-0 in the final minute ?
When I asked why some guys were leaving last week they said they wanted to beat the crowd. 15 mins before the end.
St Stivs
Replaced by a more modern structure and coach who could build from a position of strength against our primary opposition.
A coach who really does develop players and plays a more effective and contemporary playing style.
One who could do more with our massive financial advantage than we were seeing the previous year.
Why people leve early…..
They are working that day/night.
They are nervous about the fnall score.
They are alcoholics/stoners
Please fek off with the criticism of football fans…..it’s moronic.
A coach like Ronnie Delia? Neil Lennon?