Time to pair Lustig and VVD in central defence

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This afternoon’s friendly against Tottenham Hotspur gives Ronny Deila a dilemma.  Last weekend he played a second string against St Pauli, but with things going so wrong in Warsaw on Wednesday, the pressure is on to pull a game plan together which will work at Murrayfield.

Our other concern is that the squad, without Ambrose, Brown and Forrest, is already looking threadbare.  We simply can’t afford an injury to afflict Commons, Griffiths, Stokes, Johansen, van Dijk, Matthews, Lustig or Izaguirre.

The suggestion was put to me this week that we should play Lustig with van Dijk in central defence on Wednesday.  Lustig can play there, but would Ronny trust them on such an important occasion without a warm-up game?

If I was taking a risk with first-team players this afternoon it would be to pair these two.  If we’re going to get the required result on Wednesday the most important area of the team to get right is the defence.

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2,168 Comments

  1. delaneys dunky

     

     

    No I don’t trust PL make funds available for our team before his bonus

     

     

    Yes I know gerry white. Wouldn’t call him a mate , have shared a few beers with him many years ago and he lived round the corner from me in Bearsden. Good all round guy tho. On my Facebook now

  2. eddieinkirkmichael on

    Good morning CQN, not looking to summerly this morn. Oh we’ll that’s Scotland’s weather for you.

  3. Everything, I say and mention, well it is for a reason,

     

     

    There are so many that, Think it is Treason.

     

     

    I’m not one to mess with, I’m absolutely nothing,

     

     

    And I keep using the Treble Cleftness.

     

     

    Groupies, well they set me off, big time.

     

     

    I never care if they are friends or foes,

     

     

    wee bell ends, or Big Time Joes,

     

     

    Who knows.

     

     

    One thing is certain, not many can ascertain,

     

     

    Danny McGrain, perhaps, and a few other chaps.

     

     

    When the Truth is wielding, many are yielding.

     

     

    How many Poets of influence were Theosophists?

     

     

    Definitely off oot.

  4. eddieinkirkmichael

     

     

    06:48 on 4 August, 2014

     

    Hearing Celtic are to repay our fee for Saturdays friendly v Spurs

     

     

    ———-

     

     

    Obviously we don’t know the facts of the situation for sure, but IF what the Icelanders say is true- IF there was an agreement to bring a strong side and IF the hosts did pay for or contribute to our expenses, then I’m glad to see the club pay up. Of course, the decision was the correct footballing one as regards this Wednesday night, however it’s no excuse to say that the agreement was under a different manager.

  5. Morning all. Dreich once again down here.

     

     

    I thought last night’s closing Ceremony was poor fare. If it had been a party in “oor hoose”, it would have been a case to start off with “wan singer, wan song”, which would develop into a sing song. If someone was going off to foreign parts, like Edinburgh, it would have ended with “Yer no awa tae bide awa”.

     

     

    GrumpyauldsodCSC.

  6. Returned from Lourdes on Wednesday via Manchester. Prayed for Weefra and all others who lost dear ones this year. I also put up a candle for all CQNers (believers or otherwise). On reflection I should have put up one for the team on Wednesday before I left.

     

     

    Arrived in Manchester to discover via my Kindle Fire that it was 2-1. At that point I was at ease with things. Got to my friends house to discover it was 3-1. Lost contact then because of poor reception and only discovered on Friday the reality of the situation. Poor though I felt on Wednesday, Friday was a bad day. I was even afraid to tell my friend the result, and he supports Stockport County.

     

     

    That said, I will be there on Wednesday. Faithful through and through.

  7. Zbyszek

     

     

    Your two Legia fans could stay at my brothers in the southside of Edinburgh if they havnt found anything else yet. Contact me by e-mail today if your interested.

  8. Morning all.

     

     

    Heading to Silverburn shortly – groan!

     

     

    BMCUW

     

     

    What’s the name of the T shirt shop? Ta!

     

     

    HH!!

  9. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    TALLYBHOY

     

     

    They’re sold from a stall near to the centre of the mall.

     

     

    Have a fun dayooooot!

  10. Bamboo That would be really wonderful. I will keep trying. If nothing lands I will take your email address off Paul. You won’t talk about politics with two guys :-)

  11. Speaking from an anarchist point of view as, someone who canny see Celtic FC anymore, but only a ‘plastic’ imitation of the legendary Celtic Football Club that I was brought up to, love and adore, sometimes more than was healthy, yes only a ‘plastic’ imitation created by McCann and Desmond and their like, ye know the kind who – rob the poor to feed the rich – I feel that, if karma is true then, Celtic PLC won’t get any sort of european income this season. The Celtic PLC-‘bored’ are BA#TARD’s of the most, unpalatable sort, if yer a Celtic supporter who has become a, Celtic fan.

     

     

    I’ve gone on record as saying that, Celtic’s players will put on a magical contribution to what will be a, magical Celtic night – I stand by that.

     

     

    I will add….if it all goes erse up….’THAT’ is what the ‘bored’ need rapped right roon them. imho

     

     

    And, who knows….maybe the brainwashed Hahahahahappy-clappers and their, carefully planted lackeys will start to see what is there to be seen?

     

     

    Lifes too short, bye.

  12. Morning, so we’re being criticised for fielding a team of bhoys for a friendly, media picking up on that point, weren’t interested in the fact we had fielded a team of bhoys, just the demolition.

     

     

    Wednesday, last week I was raging saying it’s over we’re oot, today I’m back to my normal, Celtic can turn any score around and do the business. So come on bhoys, do the business for us, we deserve it, you know we do.

     

     

    Ayrshire is Green and White

  13. Joe Filippis Haircut on

    Mick TT. Hope is a great thing especially when you support Celtic we are all living with the hope we can trounce Legia Warsaw on Wednesday night.Also we all hope that if we dont there is not a fire sale of Celtic players on Thursday. H.H.

  14. Joe Filippis Haircut on

    Probably a strange thing to mention on Saturday during the game I noticed CraigGordon has the skinniest legs I have ever seen on a goalkeeper they are like two Swan Vestas. H.H.

  15. Marrakesh Express on

    Two English punters, up for games, wandered into the Brazen Head on Saturday afternoon.

     

    They were kitted out head to toe in Union Jack waterproofs. It raised a few laughs from the locals as they stood open mouthed gazing at the Celtic adorned walls. On turning towards the door somebody shouted ‘get yerselves a drink and sit doon’. The English couple did just that and sat for over an hour. Thats the way it should be.

  16. 67Heaven ... I am Neil Lennon ....The angels are with Wee Oscar in Heaven.. Ibrox belongs to the creditors on

    kevjungle is a celtic fan…not a supporter.

     

     

    09:13 on 4 August, 2014

     

     

    Doooooooooooooooohhhhh

  17. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    BAMBOO

     

     

    Amazing offer,mate.

     

     

    Well done.

     

     

    PS-have you mentioned it to your brother yet?

  18. 67Heaven ... I am Neil Lennon ....The angels are with Wee Oscar in Heaven.. Ibrox belongs to the creditors on

    marrakesh express

     

     

    09:37 on 4 August, 2014

     

     

    Excellent ……. Picture (even) 2 Australian fans walking into a zombie pub wearing green white and gold ………. That’s the difference between them and us………PEOPLE make Glasgow, not (deed) peepul…….

     

     

    Well, now that the Games are over, the spivs will be allowed to sell ipox….

  19. Had enough of all this football talk. Let’s get back to the Gaza or a good old-fashioned songs debate.

  20. 67Heaven ... I am Neil Lennon ....The angels are with Wee Oscar in Heaven.. Ibrox belongs to the creditors on

    joe filippis haircut

     

     

    09:33 on 4 August, 2014

     

     

    …..and whit’s wrang way skinny legs..?

  21. Joe Filippis Haircut on

    67Heaven. It just looked strange on a goalkeeper they usually have musular large legs not two match sticks.I had never notice it before maybe with his 2 year lay off from football he has lost muscle and definition who knows. H.H.

  22. KevJungle – while I don’t always agree with your opinions (like not supporting Celtic financially for example), there is something in your post there that has made me think.

     

     

    First of all though the things I disagree with – that this Celtic is not the same Celtic as you (and me and everyone else) grew up with. You could argue that once Celtic went pro way way back in th day we had walked away from Bro Walfrid’s beautiful vision. But I’m not sure that is what anyone is arguing. Celtic’s history is littered with great successes but it is also punctuated by long eras of what we might regard as failure.

     

     

    Through the late 40’s, the 50’s and in to the early 60’s Celtic, despite some great players and some very good teams gracing the hallowed turf, won very little and players were often sold off to pay for things like new floodlights or just the running of the club. The families who had established Celtic as a pro club were more or less still in charge and all making a nice living out of Celtic Football Club. Our greatest period of success happened in a time which looks unlikely to be replicated – the perfect storm if you like – a visionary manager, an exceptionally talented generation of players (across Scottish football, not just at Celtic) and a superb crop of youngsters coming through the ranks. Never at any stage did Celtic FC go crazy with the spending and if you listen to the stories our playing legends have to tell, when Celtic FC were finished with them, they were moved on with a certain degree of ruthlessness.

     

     

    So, you could argue that Celts for Change and the transition to PLC status was the first time Celtic supporters had an actual stake in running the club (I agree with you here that it is something of an illusion – the shareholding support made up of tens of thousands of Celtic people has very little power compared to the minority of wealthy shareholders – I’ll come back to this). A first class stadium was built, the team took a bit longer to get right, we all enjoyed the MON days, some of us enjoyed the times since.

     

     

    But perhaps we’re at a point when there is a need for change. I’ll qualify this by saying clearly that whoever was running the club now would be faced with huge challenges on getting the right team on the park and working within the financial constraints that we inevitably face. However, I do have doubts.

     

     

    We have financial constraints, yes, but we do seem to do less with the resources we have than comparable clubs in comparable situations. There may be some reasons for this, our proximity to the ridiculous financial rewards average players can earn in the English game being the primary one. The last spending spree we went on saw us splash out £6 Million each or thereabouts for the like of Lenny, Sutton and Hartson – can you imagine what their transfer fee would be now, not to mention wages? So, we could go all out, run up the debt again and try to get in to the CL to compete that way – it might work, but it is no guarantee and the brutal truth is this – if we did go and spend,say £50 Million, we’d have to follow it up with another period like this one to pay for it. Maybe that is OK. Maybe at some point we will have to do it. We are in a position I suppose where we could. But it brings no guarantee of success. For £6 Million doesn’t even get you a Ross McCormack these days, let alone a Chris Sutton.

     

     

    That said, I would like to see the end of the PLC model. I would like Celtic to be fully suppporter owned and run along the lines of many German clubs. I would see a membership scheme as the start of such a process, along with the current ordinary share holders there should be some vehicle to communal ownership of Celtic FC.

     

     

    BUT – even in this situation Celtic would face challenges to get the playing department right all of the time.

     

     

    I am an old fashioned and unreconstructed Socialist, with some sympathy for anarchism (a very attractive idea I think). So I think of most things in life from that point of view. I am aware of the contradictions in me paying to watch a bunch of highly paid sports people at a club owned at present by a billionaire who is no friend of the worker, BUT I am also of the opinion that babies should not be thrown out with bath water. The technological advances that have come about under capitalism for example, are not something that the normal left winger wants to do away with, and as with Celtic, I would like to see the club in the hands of the ordinary Celtic supporter, but I don’t want to see it structurally wrecked by massive debt.

     

     

    We’ll have to still take defeat, sometimes calamitous defeat, it happens to every club. Man City humiliated Man United at Old Trafford not too long ago. Liverpool have done the same – Liverpool, a club a wee bit like ours, have taken their fair share of mediocrity too. That is fitba. It’s a beautiful and sometimes painful game. I’d like to see root and branch change of the whole thing – clubs returned to the communities from whence they came, taken out of the hands of the Oil rich and the mega wealthy (although you could also argue that it was ever thus – Brewery owner, factory owner, local business men first owned all these clubs – or at least got their hands on them once they saw the crowds that were turning up!).

     

     

    Communally owned football clubs. That’s my vision. It will have to be worked toward. You can do it two ways I think. Change what is already there or kill what is already there and start again from scratch. You know where I’m going with this…… it will be much easier to make a success of a financially sound club with a good infrastructure in place already. We have that. We shouldn’t wilfully damage it. But we should look at ways to change it and return it to the community that built it, stood by it and made it what it is.

     

     

    Have a good day.

  23. Marrakesh Express on

    67heaven

     

     

    Correct mate. Their hatred is so deep that anything resembling green and white would never be allowed.

  24. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    JOEFILIPPISHAIRCUT

     

     

    All Luddites are old-fashioned.

     

     

    By definition.

     

     

    SmartarsesareusCSC

  25. Bamboo Two guys are 20+ years old, both very kind. They will be going to write about the game for legia.net website. One of them called me in the morning and said the cheapest place they found was priced £140 per night and the owner could not guarantee free room. When I considered me going I saw the flights prices were £ 400 and I have given it up. Your offer is something that can happen only in this place. Very, very kind of you.

  26. roberttressell

     

     

    09:56 on 4 August, 2014

     

     

    You make a few interesting points in your post. IF the main shareholders were willing to sell do you know how much it would cost to buy their shares?