With the departure of Jozo Simunovic we are short of a central defender, so hearing Brighton’s Shane Duffy has held talks with Neil Lennon is no surprise. Whereas Jozo was mostly a fringe player, it is unlikely we would bring a 28-year-old on what will be high wages into the squad to sit on the bench. He is not a ‘project’.
Celtic played some of their best football last season when they had three at the back. Performance in the defeat that still causes alarm, at home to Newco in December, improved significantly when BItton came on midway through the second half to form a back three with Ajer and Jullien.
The game was still lost, but from that point Celtic’s midfield got a grip on the game. An extra body in the middle of the park changed everything. We kicked on and bossed away games at Kilmarnock, Hamilton, Motherwell and St Johnstone with three central defenders, scoring 14 for 1 conceded. There are lots of reasons we won the league last season but this tactical switch was the most important. History would be different if we persisted with a four.
I reckon we have enough for Reykjavik at home with any formation, but I would not be happy playing our current back four against Djurgardens. Duffy, or anyone ready to slot in, asap, please.
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Why we must fear dropping multiple points and games behind Sevco this season.
Sturgeon used the punishment against Celtic, and Aberdeen to a lesser extent, to deflect attention from the latest SNP farce, i e. the further denigration of education standards and administration in Scotland.
The Alex Salmond enquiry presents another example of dictatorial rule and misconduct in public office about to be uncovered.
So don’t be surprised if Sturgeon & Leitch (fresh from his Off the Ball ramblings with Cowan) resort to some similar tactics as the Salmond’s shit starts to hit the fan. Curtailing the season around October/November could be a real possibility – it could force Celtic out of Europe.
By banning us this week the SNP have laid down a marker …a yellow card. The red card may be pulled out if the going gets tough with Salmond – a precedence has been set.
Leipzig into semis.
Guillem Ballague says Ronaldo has been offered to Barcelona….how good would that be
RB Leipzig and PSG into the semis. City will probably join them.
UEFA’s FFP rules seem to be going well..
some roasters posting political rubbish, unfortunately guided by our host, Ernie must be loving it
!!BADA BING!!
AN DÚN
What exactly are Celtic going to be charged with ?
Which regulation(s) have they breached for sanctions to be considered ?
Will the club ask for a detailed explanation for the rationale behind any charges ?
As I see it Celtic are guilty of nothing. How many other company / business employees have breached Covid regulations recently – probably hundreds or even thousands.We are being singled out.
We should challenge any sanctions regardless – or am I missing something ?
An Dun, nail on the head, SNP still got a problem with the OBAF Act and taking it out on Football our of spite
To An Tearman
There are six million people of Irish descent in the UK (claiming at least one Irish grandparent), & around 1m+ in Scotland. So we have more than five times the number of friends in the UK. More importantly, our UK friends outweigh our enemies in Scotland – to lose them would be catastrophic.
Remember, the only people to call out the Ibrox farce were from UK media. Not one Scottish newspaper, or, TV station would tell the true story – that shows the clout we (don’t) have in Scotland.
The quotes about rather having independence than 10iar, was on Sentinel Celts and emanated from Clydebank. Shows how deep the SNP poison has penetrated our so-called Celtic family.
Reykjavik last played on July 30 in the Iceland Cup last 16, when they defeated the bottom, winless team in their 12 team league by the score 2-0. They are lying second to Valur in the league after 9 games and have had 2 games postponed because of a Covid19 spike.
They will be as rusty as us on Tuesday. No excuses.
I don’t see the SPFL going down the road of some form of strict liability regarding players private lives.
It’s been roundly rejected in the past when it came to fan behaviour.
Today we made a good signing and are on the hunt for more so I’m putting these sanction rumours down to hun friendly media trying to ruin a good day.
Game slipping away from Anthony 10-13 down, 1 frame left tonight. An absolute must win frame.
Regardless of overall result, a brilliant performance from a rank outsider.
Shane Duffy would be a good signing. An organiser, a huge unit, great in the air and a proper defender. He would be a monster at set pieces as well.
Well done Anthony last frame in the bag, 11-13 down, still in with chance if he gets a good start tomorrow.
EMBRAMIKE- the guy who kept Aston Villa in the league, was caught twice..
embramike
where do we stand ‘re champions league? It’s that I am worried bout,esp after linfields bye.
UEFA can be tight when they wish and loose like they were with Atletico(2 positive tests) tonight.
hope we will be ok, but in these times we just never know. can you shed any light on the codes they are issuing at UEFA ‘re this year
as I type Mike France and Netherlands have been added to the 14 day quarantine list!
hope your well Mike
hh
Terry, what is your point JHB is not someone I would recognise as a Celtic supporter based on what I read on here and neither are you
SID on 13TH AUGUST 2020 9:18 PM
Celtic Coaches (no names) and ex-celtic player (no name) say he is no very good, but highly rated by Bolton staff and ireland set up too. Clearly they cant all be correct about the bhoy. He is a 19 years old making his way in the game, clearly he is not the finished produce and he may not be ready, in fact he may not make it here at all and I am not saying he should simply be in the team based on 30 minutes against hibs.
I simply pointed out some of the qualities he has and highlighted those qualities being missing against killie. I saw some of these qualities in a friendly and when we signed him i read about these qualities. My judgement is taking into consideration everything not hearsay.
HH
Were we not told 3 weeks ago that the SPFL did not have any facility for punishing Clubs who broke Covid-19 rules when sevco played Dundee Utd without awaiting the tests? You cannot retrospectively punish a Club when the facility to do so did not exist. The players can certainly be punished under a disrepute charge by the SFA.
The SPFL can now introduce punishments going forward as a result of what happened with Celtic and Aberdeen as a warning to all Clubs for future transgressions but not retrospectively.
I asked on here, the other night, who was responsible for ‘WAGs’ and their adherence to the Covid-19 rules – it certainly isn’t the clubs so this “football bubble” is very difficult to ensure without moving all the players away from their families into a centralised facility until Covid-19 is no longer a threat. The whole system is built on trust but unfortunately some players have proved to be untrustworthy.
STV, partner of sevco, stirring the sh!t in my opinion.
Watch out, infiltrators about…
CAMUSBHOY on 13TH AUGUST 2020 11:07
It seems some people cant get their head around the fact that people have the right to private family life under the human rights act. players hold the same rights as every other person. Celtic can instruct players and request but they cannot monitor and intrude into players family life’s without breaching their human rights. If celtic were to do that the same folk would be moaning, they just follow the negative story.
HH
Surely the SPFL would have to get agreement of Clubs to implement any proposed sanctions? They also serve who only stand and wait…
Oh for retrospective punishment….
https://postimg.cc/WDQZykhQ
Well that’s my trip to Bordeaux on Monday scuppered…
AN TEARMANN on 13TH AUGUST 2020 11:03 PM
UEFA recently issued special Covid regulations for qualifying.
https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0260-100c6fba8eba-9422fa7320b1-1000/annex_i_to_2020-21_ucl-uel_regs_covid19_en_20200804093248.pdf
UEFA will only issue a forfeit if all other avenues are exhausted. I think we will be ok if you read the details. Linfield are through by default because Drita had 2 +ve cases and so all players in isolation. There was no time to reschedule the tie before the cut off as next round in next week
Happy reading
!!BADA BING!! on 13TH AUGUST 2020 10:07 PM
Guillem Ballague says Ronaldo has been offered to Barcelona….how good would that be
=====
was he not the author of a book about him? in a positive way I mean,would be a cracker as you say.
:-)
Figo vac
hh
PÓGMATHONYAHUN AKA LAIRD OF THE SMILES on 13TH AUGUST 2020 11:15 PM
It’s crazy to think the spfl can retrospectively punish clubs with rules not already in place if the clubs have done everything they can regards keeping to the rules. The biggest losers to date regards the players actions are the clubs, ironically the only club that acted with complete disregard for public safety i.e Sevco by playing a game without having test results confirmed have come out without any public damage.
Also the fact that celtic’s game was cancelled yesterday while killie’s game went ahead would suggest the club was punished for boli being a tit. If it were a public health issue killie would not have been allowed to play their midweek game having shared a pitch will boli.
It seems the political classes make the rules up as they go along for themselves and their friends when it cant make the rules up it simply applies undue pressure to other bodies I.e. sfa/ spfl to do its dirty work. The establishment is a disgrace. The scottish government tried to distract the public away from the education marking fiasco which showed them up for what they are a bunch of elitists that look after their own while screwing the little man all the while smiling and telling us they are one of us, we are all in it together 🤬 p.s this is not party political broadcast, they are all the bloody same
HH
Barry Douglas rumour.
BIG WAVY on 13TH AUGUST 2020 4:13 PM
TheOriginalSadiesbhoy,
The idea that ‘dig’ makes us less prone to being run over is a fallacy. Our best defensive stats come when we have Callum, Ntcham, Christie and Rogic (2 6s, an 8 and a 10) playing, moving, hustling, etc. Broonie, beyond some great interceptions and reading of play, gets bypassed against the better teams.
Love us to get a 10 (would play Callum there or Moi), rotate Dembele / Forrest, purchase a LW of Sinclair ilk and rotate with Mikey.
Let Eddie roam in his LHS space, darting in and Ajeti the link, goalscorer, feed off him.
Not sure I answered your question though :)
…………………….
So sorry I got dragged away today and I’m now catching up with the blog. I’m going to follow the ideas you’ve listed for team personnel and team shape with interest. I’m getting really excited about the season ahead and hope we get some more quality players in that will give us a chance in Europe.
Hail! Hail!
BIG WAVY on 13TH AUGUST 2020 4:27 PM
TOSB – Here you go…I’ve dropped Christie !!!
Barkas
Julien Duffy Ajer
Forrest Ntcham Soro McGregor Moi
Ajeti Edouard
Subs : Bain, El Hamed, Christie, Taylor, Frimpong, Klimala, Dembele,, Brown, Rogic
…………………….
Aargh! Did you just post that you’d drop Christie?! 😱😱😱
Hail! Hail! 😄
embramike 11.41
I should have read that in the morning!
:-)
hh
Rumour 2 in from PSG. One name doing rounds is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchel_Bakker
MADMITCH on 13TH AUGUST 2020 8:58 PM
JHB @ 8.33
Sturgeon is known as Not-Jacinda in certain parts of West Central Scotland.
She talks well but does not deliver at any level on any given subject.
Her performance in the pandemic has been shocking.
Lazy / low energy / shifty — all at once.
Yet still they clap — or at least that was the plan.
……………………………..
MadMitch
Welcome back. Don’t always agree with you but you always have something worthwhile and thought-provoking to say. Look forward to catching up with your posts.
BakCommentators impressed with him.ker looked very good last two CL games.Strong,and quick.
No idea what happened there.
back in the day,
that was something special as a read back.
actually was chuckling sometimes.
rockets/
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ACGR
Nice ! hh