I’m reliably informed Legia will not ‘park the bus’ on Wednesday. Instead, with a three goal lead, they have enough legroom to play their normal game, attempt to compete in the middle of the park, and expose holes at the back, as they did last week. What’s more, they’re unsure they would be able to park the bus successfully for an extended period.
Set aside the debacle what was our defensive performance for a moment. The period of last week’s match Ronny Deila should initially concern himself with is the opening 25 minutes, when Celtic largely bossed the game. We then have to consider the 40 minutes we looked comfortable with 10 men; not an insignificant achievement away from home in Europe.
In short, Legia are a team which for large periods of the game we looked to have the measure of, despite the anomalies of playing a debutant, an inexperienced youth and with a left back who was left out. We should do far better at Murrayfield.
Legia believe they are going through. They unquestionably have the upper hand but the Celtic collapse in the final minutes, when we appeared to be too busy picking fights than sticking to plan, distorted the perceived difference between the teams. Celtic didn’t just underachieve, they did so on an epic scale. What Legia don’t know, is what a highly-functional Celtic team looks like.
We need to transform that epic failure into the kind of performance we are capable of in Europe. The defence needs to find the form which broke so many records last season. Ronny needs to find some of his awesomeness.
The reality is, despite last week’s debacle, we’re still in this tie – and should plan to go through.
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Weird that rangers with a protesting support might well have more at their challenge cup game tomorrow night than Celtic will at our champs league qualifier. Faithful thro and thro ???
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox but saying no to CQN racists
12.41
Yup, pretty much agree with all you say.
Good evening CQN
Still in the land of milk and honey
DD
How are you did you have a good holiday?
I was reading back and see you mention Donny C
Is that the Donny C that works for the council with the roads dept?
Hail Hail
MT
RPMcMurphy
Correct once seen Big Roy win the 90 yard sprint at Balloch Highland Games against some good athletes.
Big Roy was quick off his mark when he found out Jackie was on 2 grand a week :)
Burnley78
20:21 on
4 August, 2014
Weird that rangers with a protesting support might well have more at their challenge cup game tomorrow night than Celtic will at our champs league qualifier. Faithful thro and thro ???
Might help if DD and PL reciprocated the faithful thro and thro bit.
Celtic are reaping what they have sown for years.
Bournes I don’t think we know what we paid for them or their wages but NL did say the fees were much less than mentioned. And in any case we took in far much more than we spent, we have no debt and have money in the bank but we still refuse to strengthen ahead of these vital games. Not to mention we have offloaded samaras salary too……
Gordon
19:02 on
4 August, 2014
Thanks for that. Insight and sense. It’ll never catch on.
Delaney’s, comfortable white boys doing reggae sounds and a rap in one of their other songs sounds very safe and not risky to me.
Bobby Murdoch, just caught up with last night’s & this morning’s posts. You mentioned the t shirt stall at Silverburn. Its called Boca 10. They also have stalls at Braehead & the Buchanan galleries. They have a website where you can peruse or buy their wares if you wish .
If you like Steve McQueen, they have two t shirts with his image on them with Celtic related backgrounds.
Their stall at Silverburn is across from sevco direct sports and don’t be put off by defunct club stuff on display.
When I bought my Lisbon Calling t shirt, the guy at the counter said around 60% of their sales are the Celtic related ones.
It might be ironic a week on Saturday, wee Fergus getting cheered from the rafters, and PL getting pelters…..
NegAnon2
20:45 on
4 August, 2014
Bournes I don’t think we know what we paid for them or their wages but NL did say the fees were much less than mentioned. And in any case we took in far much more than we spent, we have no debt and have money in the bank but we still refuse to strengthen ahead of these vital games. Not to mention we have offloaded samaras salary too…
And isn’t that dosh in the bank all that matters.
!!Bada Bing!!
20:48 on
4 August, 2014
It might be ironic a week on Saturday, wee Fergus getting cheered from the rafters, and PL getting pelters…..
Pelters. It’s his P45 he should be getting.
rpmcmurphy & kevtic
I agree with your comment regarding Roy Aitken being fast
I also agree with the original poster’s overall assessment of Roy Aitken’s ability and would argue that for every 1979 4-2 game and 1985 Scottish Cup Final there were several more games he cost us big time
I know I always seem to have it in for PL.
However how many CEOs would survive the shrinkage in customer base that he has presided over?
DD
just typed in ,website currently being developed
RPMcMurphy
20:21 on
4 August, 2014
@tictaewin 19:34
Big Roy was NOT slow! He was quicker than anybody we have now.
Cowiebhpy
Apologies I missed your earlier question.
The short answer is I don’t know.
I certainly thought and said so that Russell seemed a good buy at the price but I had no idea if he would prove to be a Goodwillie or a McCarthy.
As for an opinion on Amido Balde.what can I say? I knew nothing about him till he came so I was in no position to judge relative merits. From the minute he came I felt AMido was a player that did not suit the Celtic style. He was a solo runner, a spearhead striker but he was not a good enough header of a ball to throw crosses into him. It looked like Neil and Celtic had been searching for this type of player for a while. I remember the rumours that we were going to pay £1m for a Liverpool reserve at Hearts who was just as clumsy and unpredictable.
An even shorter answer would be to give some game time to Fridjohnson or Denny Johnstone last year and we could bank the £1.2 m until we knew whether a player was good enough. I like the loan system with a pre-agreed option to buy. It allows you to dump the Brozeks, Lassads or Mikus who cannot adapt to Scotland (Though Lassad, at least, tried) whilst keeping the successes.
Tallybhoy 18:59
Hi mate, did you get the stall at silverburn with the T-shirts.got a couple myself
HH
100 years on and our Elected Governments have learned the square root of feck all….
Light a candle?…..Forget it…..the poor bassas ,who took part in it and survived, didn’t even want to talk about it far less remember it.My grandfather was one of these unfortunates and never spoke about it until the day he died.
Buy a poppy?……Don’t even go there.
Instead……listen to this…..the greatest song ever to depict the futility of a shameful war…..
The Green Fields Of France – YouTube
► 5:58► 5:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntt3wy-L8Ok
4 May 2007 – Uploaded by anarchynotchaos
Song by The Fureys and Davey Arthur. Written By Eric Bogle.
squire danaher
20:51 on
4 August, 2014
That’s harsh.
The Maestro gets (warranted) appreciation for sticking with us through thin and thin, but Big Roy seems to be passing into legend as a carthorse.
He was nobody’s carthorse. He was the heart of the team during a time when we were hanging on to the top of the cliff.
He was also blessed with pace, and a fair old bit of skill.
SFTB – much-maligned player, our Lassad, in my opinion. He deserved a longer chance to settle. just seemed to be breaking through, when he caught an injury, if I remember correctly.
Just another tim. I registered on site but where do I put in cqn code?
the glorious balance sheet
18:58 on 4 August, 2014
Enjoyed that! :-)
HH
CRC
Feed the bear
Roy Aitken won a first team pitch length race at Barrowfield in the early 80s.
Read it in the View at the time. I think Provan was second.
I never understood Roy leaving…He could have been a Danny without the world class ability… A celtic great in the making ..but I will always love him for his commiment to the cause. Feed the bear
Gordon 19.02
Thanks for your informed response.
I was in Dubai on holiday and therefore could not make the match.
I had heard from someone else who was also in Warsaw that there had been Celtic fans attacked.
There seems to be an upsurge in football violence in Europe in recent times.
We are known for taking a travelling support .
It seems we are an easy target.
Travelling abroad to see us is not as safe as it once was .
It won’t deter me , but I might think twice about wearing colours.
I don’t share your optimism of overturning the result , but I do share your hope .
Take care.
You are one of the very best Celtic supporters I have ever come across .
Very similar in nature to great Fife Tim from Glenrothes called Mark Cameron.
Hail ! Hail!
TT
blantyretim
No solution to my problem yet.
Celticrollercoaster 21:08
Cheers. Glad you enjoyed! Hail hail!
Oldtim
have they replied to email?
Big Roy would be preferable to many we have in our team at present …notwithstanding his limitations
Aitken might have been fast on his feet but his football brain was dead slow.
greeninbingley 21.04
“He was nobody’s carthorse. He was the heart of the team during a time when we were hanging on to the top of the cliff.
He was also blessed with pace, and a fair old bit of skill.”
—–
I give you all of the above except the last bit.
I never get this bit where we praise footballers to the hilt for being full of heart, committed etc, etc. For me that should go with the territory. I loved Mo Camara for that. He was very limited as a footballer but never hid and gave 110% every game. It didn’t make him a good footballer though.
I particularly agree that RA was whole-hearted and would on occasion inspire a flagging Celtic, the two occasions mentioned at 20.51 being the prime examples.
However I vividly recall him costing several cup finals where his wholehearted-ness verged into recklessness and, frankly, brainlessness in terms of making challenges where he either didn’t need to, or he should have known better. He was regularly found wanting in the big games of the first half of the 80s v Aberdeen & DU. He had a particularly good Centenary Season.
In our setup of the 1980s he would rarely have got a game at CMid and maybe in the modern game that’s where he would’ve found a niche, protecting two CBs.
IMO he didn’t have the self discipline or tactical awareness to play CB. You could argue he might have developed this along with a better CB partner.
A true Celt but not one who should be regarded as an all time great.
Hope that explains where I’m coming from.
Tippbhoy, one of Kevj’s favourites, McNee, was one of the reasons the Bear left.
In McNee’s articles, he kept on having potshots at Roy for some reason.
I’m not sure but it was just after this when McNee was getting grief from us, he produced one of Jimmy McGrory’s medals given to him the great man, on STV’s sport in question show.
Loved Roy aitken – epitomised the heart that was always a huge part of being a Celt at that time and should be now.
blantyretim.
Yes they’re just passing the buck.,I may go into Edinburgh tomorrow and try and fix it.
Big Roy wasn’t slow in taking the infamous shy at Hampdump against the currants.
dallas dallas – the McNee stuff was a smokescreen IMO, have you ever heard of a player leaving a club because of a 2 bit journalist ? He spat the dummy out when he found out Jacki was getting 2 grand a week HH