Kairat Almaty’s Champions League qualification campaign started five weeks ago with a draw at Olimpija Ljubljana. After eliminating the Slovenian champions they did the same to Finns KuPS Kuopio, overturning a 2-0 first leg defeat, before their epic tie against Slovan Bratislava, which they won on penalties.
Kairat are the lowest seed still in the competition, but all three of their earlier opponents were seeded higher, so they are punching above their weight this season. Brendan Rodgers biggest concern will be the fitness gap between the squads. Kairat are 19 games into their domestic league, are fully fit and tactically settled. Celtic will be three competitive games into the season when the sides meet in Glasgow on Wednesday. That is a material advantage.
Despite this, there can be no excuses. Over the last three years Kairat have signed players for money only twice, for fees totalling €350k. Kazakh football does not benefit from significant investment, the country has no player development heritage to speak of and this squad has never played anywhere like Celtic Park.
Prepare correctly and get the job done, Celtic.
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Bada – this is Jekyll & Hyde stuff.
One minute you’re able to rationally discuss hypotheticals/complete speculation about last year’s signings, the next you’re saying we’ve not signed anyone because “Lawell was critical of the 3 signings last year”.
I really hope that statement wasn’t based on anything I said or you think I’m Peter Lawell😂
Karma
Not a good draw we lose 2 days due to the travel and time differences and we then face our local rival so not ideal for preparing.
Newbies should’ve been in from the start of preseason especially the front men as they need bedded in and get going sooner than most.
DD is using us for the wrong reason clearly and we need to wake up and realise this before it is too late.
If I could have one rule change in football.
Guy goes down with cramp?
Tough. Play on.
Timbhoy163 on 13th August 2025 8:51 pm
%
And to think that we won the European cup whilst giving away 50% of home gate receipts at every home game, and 30%+ of the visible crowd got in for free with a lift over the turnstiles.
And every Celtic historian apart from, Gerry McNee, and Hugh Keevins, DON’T, insinuate that the old board made all of the money disappear!
And McNee and Keevins are painted as the anti Celts, by those who do the clubs bidding on practically every Celtic fan website?!
Although to be fair, Keevins predictions 99% of the time have been howling, and McNee’s history books give away his Celtic leanings, but he never once has kissed the boards ass when it needed kicking, and just look at the crime scene since McNee retired in 2008, the Huns even got away with kidding on they didny die, and Celtic fans went along with their own PLC’s £49 ticket cover up of Rangers dying!
A club who’s god is now money will lie their erses aff and be anything but trustworthy.
No amount of money will be enough for Rodgers cause he has been found out, low block, double up on wingers, and the playing field is level.
And they don’t have to care when only One Tim, ME, KEVJUNGLE, called out the crooked PLC’s cover up of the Rangers are Sevco, £49 same club lie tickets crookedness, whilst all of those who think of themselves as “Sentinel” tell more waffle than Craig Whyte.
There are no good guys in the OLD FIRM movie NONE!
RTÉ just advertised that they’re showing next week’s Champions League qualifier.
Saves viewers in Ireland listening to McCoist’s nonsense droning on and on and on
Bada – can you post a link to that story about PL being critical of last year’s 3 signings.
Cheers👍
Bada – hopefully nothing to worry about, but looking at your post @ 8.26 and @ 9.24: I’m no english teacher, but the vocabulary, punctuation and structure seem completely different.
It’s as if they were written by two different people.
Hope you were on the move at the time and have not been hacked 🤞🏿
Off to bed, but looking forward to reading that article about Lawell not liking those 3 signings in the morning.
Sleep well👍
Gary Gillespies Hamstring
Yup,one and the same re Glen Dalys son
HH
Am I alone in being disappointed that we have not asked for our game v Livingston to be postponed?
The importance of winning the CL playoff tie cannot be understated, imo.
The extra time to prepare for the return leg would be very beneficial. We could fly out anytime after the first leg – allowing the players extra time to get over any jet lag effects.
Whilst it would allow Sevco the opportunity to close the gap to 1 pt before we play them, they would still need to beat St Mirren away (not a gimme). Plus, a 1pt lead might actually focus our players minds on achieving a result at Ibrox.
Going to their ground with a healthy lead didn’t work out too well on our last two visits.
Irrespective of the game v Sevco, they would still CL tie is of primary importance imo. For that reason alone, I would prefer to postpone the Livvie game.
HH
HH
what is any supporters. fans . board members professional qualifications for judging a player ?
probably the same as trinity tims economic podcasts.
how to run a football club
*they would still CL tie = the CL tie
🤦♂️
HH
is the suggestion that DD – who personally over-ruled PL to court and resign BR who he saw as the No1 pick for the job – is now stymying the same BR’s transfer ambitions despite BR taking us further in Europe than in many prior years ?
I suspect what goes on in our heads is quite divorced from what goes on in the real world of Celtic operations.
————–
eratic on 13th August 2025 3:15 pm
The Rangers football team went to visit an orphanage in Kazakhstan this morning. “It’s good to put a smile on the faces of people with no hope, constantly struggling and facing the impossible”
said Anatoly, aged 6.
Big LOL.
Believe TNT Sports have rights to all playoff games, as part of their Champions league package.
The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on 13th August 2025 10:33 pm
Bada – “can you post a link to that story about PL being critical of last year’s 3 signings.”
Cheers👍
%
If Lawwell booted Rodgers erse for blowing huge amounts of Celtic fans money, when due to Rodgers limited skill set, Celtic are unlikely to recoup anything like what Rodgers, so far, seems to have mismanaged, then at least Lawwell is doing his job in safeguarding the club from Rodgers blowing any more money on over priced projects.
I said at the time of these 3 players signing, that the PLC has just called Rodgers bluff.
Ego’s will eventually find a manager out.
Can you imagine awe the European Cups Stein would have won with that kind of money. lol
Correct!
If the boardroom are allowed to throw about excuses, transfer window after transfer window then the football departmental have the same right. The board should be supplying the players requested and then no one would need an excuse. Funny how the same board that dont understand players market values can quickly dispose of an asset and strip the 1st team of quality.
We may or may not get into the CL group stage. Regardless of the outcome, the board come out looking like self serving egotistical clowns that put themselves before the club they profes to love and support.
Just about every club in the world now days is run by businessmen and women that dont give a monkeys about the clubs they own. It will be the death of the sport.
Bournesouprecipe
I get that facts are perhaps not on trend vs conjecture when making your points but compiling a list of teams who have beaten Celtic in CL qualifying
Including the likes of Bodo Glimt is just wrong.
Stephenbhoyboy
The board are not supplying anything.
Absolute garbage.
For the hard of thinking only 2 execs are actively involved and the owner takes an interest.
BR has the funds needed and can’t make it work. It’s really simple. It has been for 3 windows as we have depleted a successful treble winning squad .
ONIL
Financial benefit to the club.
Or don’t still think someone is squeezing away all your money.
Or is the insane notion that there is somehow have to the owners of NOT spending the cash.
Welcome to fantasy island. Roll up Roll up. Who needs the MSM ?
Bournesouprecipe
Thanks for sharing the pic of behind the Celtic end. I am guessing it was 1980s but weirdly my memory of that end always feel they are in black and white.
We walked around from the rangers end of the jungle round the Celtic end inside to the exit at the south west side as the game went on. So we were in pole position to head down Kinnear rd to the supporters bus at full time.
B78: You write … ‘we have depleted a successful treble winning squad…’
Who exactly is we? Is your inference that BR alone did the depleting or did players themselves help in that ?
We (under Brendan) progressed farther in Euro comps than we have in years.
Of our ‘successful players’ (if I may put it that way) whose going allegedly left us depleted many by chasing bigger dollars and (coughs) glory elsewhere…
Joe retired
O’Riley wanted away
Bernabei never fitted in and went
Kyogo wanted away
Kuhn wanted away
Taylor wanted away (with KT incoming)
Peripherals like Scotty Bain, Kwon, Lagers, Palma and Maik have gorn, with some loaners not exactly setting the Loan Club heathers on fire (esp Norway’s finest midfield prospect Odin Holm).
The ebb and flow of player ambitions naturally changes the quality of any squad. It’s quite a quality to manage such natural instability and still win trophies and make progress in bigger comps, well at least to my mind.
Dermot Desmond has the final say on any major expense. The sooner the bedwetters accept this fact, the better.
Celtic ain’t just for Rodgers.
Ave Ave
Good Morning Celts – Grand Day To Be A Tim…
Burnley78 @ 12:10 am
The board are not supplying anything.
Absolute garbage.
For the hard of thinking only 2 execs are actively involved and the owner takes an interest.
BR has the funds needed and can’t make it work. It’s really simple. It has been for 3 windows as we have depleted a successful treble winning squad .
The “hard of thinking” – Emporers New Cloths nonsense raises it’s head once again.
Celtic Supporters Are Not Stupid, dont treat them like they are stupid.
The Board has a stated strategy on recruitment.
Two prongs of that are…
Sell High Value Players (HVPs)
Recruitment of development players
Now obviously if you sell your HVPs and replace them with development players the squad is going to be depleted.
Is this Brendan Rodgers’ policy?
NO
Is this Celtic PLC’s Board policy?
YES
The idea nothing and no responsibility can ever be foisted on the poor aul Celtic Board is a ridiculous notion
It is the Celtic Board’s parsimonious implementation of the recruitment strategy that depletes the squad season after season.
Anybody buying that myth that it is nothing to do with the innocent Board, who are sitting on top of an eye watering pile of money, are definitely misjudging things.
Well how do they get away with it?
Very good question because it’s NOT the official PLC policy.
Here’s what they said about “holding reserves” in 2023.
”History tells us that we will not always qualify for the Champions League and the benefit of holding cash reserves affords us the optionality of managing through seasons where we participate in the Europa League with the ability to retain our squad as opposed to selling key players to bridge the income shortfall between both competitions.”
There you have it
Statement from the Chairman 2023
The official reason why Celtic hold on to cash reserves.
That was from our June 2023 annual report
Since then we have sold over 110 million in player sales, got dozens of players off the wage bill.
110,000,000.00
+
Season book sales
+
Merchandising sales
+
Huge cash reserves
The Board, football staff and recruitment team are transferring players out, developing players into HVPs and controlling the size and cost of the squad.
That side of the bargain has been kept.
So what about enhancing the squad?
There is relatively little inward investment in the team, certainly not enough to maintain standards – which is clearly stated to be the Board’s policy – yes, the Board are NOT following their own stated policy.
Far from spending cash reserves, the recruitment has added to the cash reserves.
The stated recruitment strategy AGAIN!!
Our successfully proven strategy has delivered stability and footballing success over many years and remains the same. We must balance the signing of players that can be developed and sold when conditions are optimal alongside the need to sign players who are able to make an immediate impact and deliver footballing success.
So the third prong of the recruitment strategy is the need to sign players that can make an immediate impact and deliver footballing success.
What does that mean in the summer of 2025 transfer window.
That means we use the money from player sales and cash reserves to sign players that can make an impact on the UCL-Qs and the UCL group stages
That’s not my policy, that’s not Brendan Rodgers’ policy, the is the Celtic Board’s stated policy.
So why did they not do that!?
Well
Follow the money
And
Don’t~Believe~The~Hype
================================
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full @ 7:11 pm,
Chairbhoy @ 2:54pm.
Interesting historical summary of our Champions League outcomes
(I assume these refer to our last 11 attempts across a 12 year period?)
If I am reading your data correctly ?
We’ve qualified 5 of 11 times (incl. the last 3 in a row)
And NOT qualified 6 of 11 times?
Yes, Spot on, it is an historical summary that gets to the heart of matter – as said several times, when possible I like to state the facts, put my interpretation on them, however if the “data” is there, fholk can form their own opinions.
There is currently a narrative among the placemen that Celtic need little inward investment in the squad to maintain standards as we should easily Qualify for the UCL group stage, reason, the opposition at this stage of the competition is poor.
However history tells us a different story, we have found it incredibly difficult to navigate these qualifiers.
My list shows that Celtic have been grossly underachieving.
Maribor – Failed to Qualify
Malmo – Failed to Qualify
Hapoel Be’er Sheva – Quailified
Astana – Qualified
AEK Athens – Failed to Qualify
CFR Cluj – Failed to Qualify
Ferencváros – Failed to Qualify
Midtjylland – Failed to Qualify
Automatic Qualification
Automatic Qualification
Automatic Qualification
Kairat – To Be Determined
On the plus side, we have currently got the only manager who managed to qualify (two out of three times) since Lenny Mk1
So it is worth going through the history of how we got here…
Back in the day, to qualify for the UCL we had to beat teams like Arsenal, the money pouring into the top tier leagues at that time was astronomical and Celtic simply could not compete with those teams.
It was decided trying to build a squad to qualify for the UCL would be a futile undertaking and was really chancing our arm.
Most agreed.
Also we had the “dream team” at Ibrox and Celtic seemed incapable of getting a manager to beat Walter Smith.
So no SP league championships and very difficult UCL qualifiers meant we were not investing money in the team.
That was all about to change, two things happened, Rangers went bust and UEFA introduced the champions route.
It gave us a real chance to be Scottish Champions without any real competition and we were going to face Champions of lower status leagues in the qualifiers.
We would be one of the favourites to qualify and we would be seeded.
After these changes, Lenny managed to get us into the UCL twice in a row, the first time we famously beat Barca’ in the group stages and qualified for the knock out phase of the competition.
However, rather than pursue a policy of investment and trying to qualify for the UCL, the Board decided that it was still too risky, and we would still be chancing our arm by investing in the team.
We actually started the policy of selling our top players and replacing them with moneyball prospects.
Victory Wanyama went, Gary Hopper went, Fraser Forster went, Virgil Van Dyke went etc etc
Over forty million worth of players out with little inward investment into the squad – rather a moneyball experiment was underway.
We then started to fail to navigate our way through the UCL qualifiers some dozen years ago.
The exception being, when we got an elite manager in, in the guise of Brendan Rodgers, like Lenny, twice Brendan managed to qualify for the UCL group stages, and like Lenny the Board sold off his HVPs.
Replacements like Timothy Castagne, Fabian Schar, John McGinn were not recruited and we failed to qualify for the UCL and the manager left.
Things would change again, our CEO the Godfather of moneyball left, we got a series of Automatic qualifications, the group stage of the UCL competition changed to one more suited to Celtic.
So, incrementally we have seen four seasons of improvement.
However this season, things are going back to the bad old days – without automatic UCL qualification, the Board aren’t going to “risk” invest in the team to qualify.
The moneyball strategy of recruitment has been re-established as the primary transfer model.
As I clearly say in my reply to BURNLEY78 above this is not following the stated Celtic PLC policy, it is a throwback to the time Celtic football club were underachieving, and a failed experiment.
The Board need to stick to their stated team investment policy and get back on track* – of course it is now too late for this season.
However I remain opTIMistic, we have a first class manager, first class staff and our “depleted” squad has great attitude and ability.
Aff ooot
*Are you paying attention Stakeholders.
Hail Hail
Our toilets are in the food courts.
We should not have mega funds ( Way, way above for a rainy day ) in the bank when we don’t have hot water available.
HH.
Good morning CQN.
Transfer strategy still a polarising topic?
I’d be surprised if there were any new signings before the Play Off.
Too much day job to take care of.
Still expect two, maybe three players before window closes.
Burnley78 @ 12:10?
“BR has the funds needed and can’t make it work. It’s really simple. It has been for 3 windows”
Point taken – wouldn’t it be more accurate to say he’s struggled to bring players in early rather than he can’t make it work?
Seven new faces this window, Jota in January, Triple-A, Luke plus Bernardo permanently last summer.
Decent enough business.
BTW – if Jota was fit and raring to go? I’m not convinced there would be nearly as much angst.
Events dear boy .. and all that
Good morning all.
Are Celtic actually contravening build8ng standards regulations by not having hot running water in the toilets. Especially near food outlets. ?
HH.
GREENPINATA
There was hot water in the Jock Stein Stand toilets during the Newcastle game. I remember being pleasantly surprised.
Tom,
I wasn’t at the Newcastle game.
Many thanks for the update. And it must be said, well done to our custodians
HH.
Match day experience:-
Mad Nicky the Mod in McChuills with Celticness and a music sub culture to die for.
The Sarry Heid with Jai and his exceptional bar staff with live music and a sing a long.
The Drover reopened again with £4 pints of Gunness.
Hot water in the Jock Stein stand.
All I need now is Wi Fi and I will be eternally happy
HH
PS : A few players would not go amiss either.
GP @ 8:25am, Lol.
Just got round to reading the tribute to Pat Woods on the Celtic FC website.
It was lovely (literally).
IMHO, all too often in modern times, online tributes have a perfunctory, “something needs to be said” feel.
This tribute was actually full of love.
Respect to those who compiled it, particularly Terry Dick.
For Rory fans,this a great story.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/641924855597926
GM- Thanks for reply last night…..i think…😀
Terry Dick was one of my English teachers at St Gregory’s many moons ago,sits in front of me at CP,a gentleman, he gifted me a Rothesay Glen Daly CSC tie a few years ago.
Fourstonecoppi 8.55
Aye indeed. Seen it yesterday, thanks for posting. 👍
And JPT has just confirmed we are changing the external banners shortly.
HH.
Weather set fair for tomorrow night’s game.
23c…..thats nearly 74f in old money
Does that count as “searing heat” in ol’ Glasgow town?