If you are a distance runner, you will know that a three-week ‘taper’, when you gradually reduce training, is recommended before an event. This will allow muscles to rest after their most fatigued period. Three weeks is within the period that muscles do not deteriorate, so you should be both strong and rested.
It has been three weeks since the Scottish Cup Final, so the Celtic players who arrived back at Lennoxtown this morning to start preseason training will be ready for the strength training ahead. Champions League qualifiers are a further three weeks away. All other things being equal, that will be enough time to ensure Celtic are ready, but even the first round could present a serious challenge, so there is serious work to do this week.
What you gain in summer fitness costs you later. Three weeks is not a proper rest period, the body needs more time to recover from the exertions of a long season. Celtic players are not unique in this respect, but they carry a burden not shared by many others in Scotland. We need to find fresh energy, not to mention motivation, for the challenges ahead.
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COYBIG
And we’re back ! HH !
Goal!!!!!!
The referee checks the VAR…
Just as well we don’t have players playing in the Copa America or there would be no break whatsover. Football has passed saturation point for both players and spectators.
I’ve had a 52 week taper from last years CQN Golf Day so I should be extremely rested for tee off on Friday!
“Three!!!!”
What happened to the Dembele money?
Incentive to wrap the league up by end of March is there for all to see :)
Get an insurmountable lead, then play the reserves and youths. Matters not a jot if the history books say we only won by one point or by 20.
People on here often say we have to play our strongest team every time without realising the toll that is taken on players like Brown, McGregor, Forrest and Tierney.
With the treble treble done and dusted, we could/should also excuse a number of the first team from league cup games. Who knows, we could still win it but if we don’t we know there is a good reason as to why not. Young players get games and top players get rested thus avoiding the November/December madness of games every 3 days or so.
Paul67
We need to find fresh energy, not to mention motivation, for the challenges ahead.
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1. Nine titles in a Row
2. Quadruple Treble achieved.
3. Last 16 in ECL.
Easy this old lark….
This might sound a bit weird but shouldn’t Celtic just give some key players a bye for the first qualifying round depending on who we get?
If we get part-timers from Gibraltar or something like that, give Calmac a couple more weeks to recover.
Just finished reading the Ollie ntcham snippet that he could leave . Would he be a huge miss . I posted after we lost moussa that I thought Ollie had lost notion of playing here ,that his attitude didn’t seem right , his sending off at love street seemed to second that , he put in no effort that night . I got dogs abuse from some fellow posters ,but I’m sticking by what I posted . Ollie has ability ,no doubt about that , and is far more capable of performing better than he has over the back end of last season . If he wants away I would sell him , he would command a high fee . With which to get someone else in . Just my opinion mind you . H H
Our main priority will be to win the League next season and if we do, our season will be considered a success but the League Cup (the Diddy Cup) will take on unusual significance. It’s only value is that it forms part of the Treble. However, it will be used as a barometer by the media to gauge if we are on the decline or not and also as a stick to beat Lenny with if we slip up. The Huns will celebrate and see it as evidence to support their misplaced joy at the appointment of Lenny as our new manager.
It comes around early in the season so if we win it, we become the only team who can win the treble. It puts pressure on Sevco because they have failed to stop us winning the first piece of silverware up for grabs. It also gives our players an injection of confidence that they are still winners.
If we lose the media will present it as universal evidence that we are on the slide. If we lose it to Sevco then we will have to endure 6 months of how they will be favourites to stop us winning the League and Cup and Stevie G will be the greatest manager of all time.
So, in my opinion, it becomes crucial that we win it especially as far as Lenny is concerned. It will be less important to do so in the following season. If we do win it then I honestly think we can go on and to the quadruple treble.
JimTim
Think we need to be careful. Ollie had an long term injury and sometime our confirmation bias kicks in that he’s not interested. I thought Kieran was out of sorts but it seemed obvious he was carrying an injury but we wouldn’t give it the ‘he’s not trying’ label.
It’s another problem I hoped we wouldn’t have this summer. Ntcham is a class act when on form and we now have to replace him. Our model will dictate it’s a £4-7m punt and that’s close to what we are offering Turnball. Holding those 2 up on day one I think we’re weaker.
TIMALOY29 on 17TH JUNE 2019 12:32 PM
This might sound a bit weird but shouldn’t Celtic just give some key players a bye for the first qualifying round depending on who we get?
If we get part-timers from Gibraltar or something like that, give Calmac a couple more weeks to recover.
=====
Unfortunately, its too risky not to play our best team. It was only 3-1 on aggregate last time and look at Irelands recent struggles vs Gibraltar. 2-0 at home with an own goal and a 93rd minute clincher.
We just have to give players sufficient recovery afterwards and light training sessions where required.
HH
Paul 67,
Hmmmmmm.
If our players don’t have motivation for the challenges ahead then we really do have a problem.
Are you trying to tell us something ?
Cheers and HH.
TRADITIONALIST88 on 17TH JUNE 2019 12:51 PM
For central midfield we currently have Henderson, Brown, Bitton, Kouassi, Ntcham & Mulumbu all available to play.
If they couldn’t get the job done against a bunch of part-timers we should just fold as a club.
I wouldn’t advocate resting everybody and throwing a reserve side out there but maybe the guy who’s just played a 69 game season. I’d say the same for James Forrest.
French Eddy probably would have to play as we only have unproven talent to work with otherwise.
TIMALOY29 on 17TH JUNE 2019 1:14 PM
For central midfield we currently have Henderson, Brown, Bitton, Kouassi, Ntcham & Mulumbu all available to play.
========================
This is precisely the main reason McGregor would feature!
HH
Anyone else read the story in the BBC regarding the beggar raping the woman in Glasgow?
Why would they say he had no top on, then further down highlight he wears Celtic merchandise and draped himself in a tri colour? FFS
JIMTIM on 17TH JUNE 2019 12:41 PM
In the first game against them last season a couple of days after Moussa left he was a clear man of the match. New Years game he was a clear worst man on the pitch on a day when that was quite an achievement
Who knows if Lenny can get some consistency in his game.
TRADITIONALIST88 on 17TH JUNE 2019 1:22 PM
This is precisely the main reason McGregor would feature!
HH
___
To clarify, you don’t think Henderson, Brown, Bitton, Kouassi, Ntcham & Mulumbu are capable of beating postmen and policemen? Pretty damning.
I guess we won’t ever be able to rotate our squad as the team we play in the first qualifying round is likely to be the poorest we play all season.
I might be in the minority but i’m enjoying having a break from the football
TIMALOY29 on 17TH JUNE 2019 2:00 PM
No, thats not what I said, funnily enough.
I am talking about maximising our chances of going through.
I cited the example of Ireland as well as our last meeting with the champions of Gibraltar.
Many of the Gibraltar team are pulled from Lincoln RI.
Easy to dismiss them as a bunch of postmen etc but they beat us under Rodgers and at 2-0 missed a glorious chance at CP.
Win the first leg 5-0, then rest whoever you like when the job is done.
And in any case, your list of our CM’s includes 3 guys who are anything but established at CP (Henderson, Kouassi, Mulumbu) so yep, I’d err on the side of caution and make no assumptions about what our reserves and deadwood may or may not be able to do to them.
HH
Paul67 et al
Is that just a shorthand way of saying that;
The Bhoys are Back……..in Lennoxtown
aw naw no Ojo oan a loan anaw noooo……….
:)
TRADITIONALIST88 on 17TH JUNE 2019 2:12 PM
“I am talking about maximising our chances of going through.
Easy to dismiss them as a bunch of postmen etc but they beat us under Rodgers and at 2-0 missed a glorious chance at CP.”
You can package it that way sure. The first leg was embarrassing but I never felt as if the tie was in the balance. Celtic should have won the first game and the second game was no contest.
There has to be a balance between maximising our chances for every single game and trying to plan for the whole season.
Valencia rotated their squad against Celtic in the champions league.
“And in any case, your list of our CM’s includes 3 guys who are anything but established at CP (Henderson, Kouassi, Mulumbu) so yep, I’d err on the side of caution and make no assumptions about what our reserves and deadwood may or may not be able to do to them.”
They aren’t complete unknowns to Celtic. Henderson started games in the SPFL this season and did well. Mulumbu has started nearly 200 games in the EPL and has started for Celtic in Europe (he did fine)
Maybe it’s arrogance on my part but I think you could start with a midfield of Brown, Bitton & Henderson (with Mulumbu & Kouassi on bench) and win against a team like Lincoln Red Imps
CELTIC40ME on 17TH JUNE 2019 1:33 PM
JIMTIM on 17TH JUNE 2019 12:41 PM
In the first game against them last season a couple of days after Moussa left he was a clear man of the match. New Years game he was a clear worst man on the pitch on a day when that was quite an achievement
*mibbees because by that time the moose had told him what a mendacious effer fraudgers really was.
PC Lustig’s legs have gone but has the rest of him went to Belgium too?
TIMALOY29 on 17TH JUNE 2019 2:57 PM
Its not a case of ‘packaging’ it that way, the ties against their national teams and league champions have not been the cakewalk many expect all the time. Yes they are poor quality but well drilled.
We are simply not good enough to make any assumptions that our reserves and deadwood will get the job done, regardless of a bit of game time when the league was all but done or EPL appearances for West Brom.
Do the necessary, then rest players.
These are highly important matches not glorified pre-season games.
And one further point, on paper the first round should be the easiest of the season but you are often playing a team in the middle of their league season. Another complication this season is that the way the draw has gone we could face a team of significantly higher quality than Lincoln RI in our first qualifier.
So we need to be ready to go and not be thinking we can do this with Mulumbu and Henderson.
HH
TRADITIONALIST88 on 17TH JUNE 2019 3:16 PM
Its not a case of ‘packaging’ it that way, the ties against their national teams and league champions have not been the cakewalk many expect all the time. Yes they are poor quality but well drilled.
____
Is that the same national side that lost 6-0 and 6-1 to Scotland?
It was embarrassing to lose the first tie to Lincoln Red Imps but it was never really in the balance.
__
“Another complication this season is that the way the draw has gone we could face a team of significantly higher quality than Lincoln RI in our first qualifier.”
My original comment:
“If we get part-timers from Gibraltar or something like that, give Calmac a couple more weeks to recover.”
So yes, if we get a team significantly better than Lincoln RI that changes the decision making process. But Lincoln RI are a possibility along with Linfield, a team from the Faroe Islands, a team from Iceland etc.
“So we need to be ready to go and not be thinking we can do this with Mulumbu and Henderson.”
My original point was simply to rest Calmac which would still leave us with Brown, Bitton & Ntcham.
That said, we would beat Lincoln Red Imps with Henderson and Mulumbu. They are that bad..
Even if they are “well-drilled” and we don’t pump them. They would never win across 2 legs.
THEWEEGREENMAN on 17TH JUNE 2019 1:31 PM
Anyone else read the story in the BBC regarding the beggar raping the woman in Glasgow?
Why would they say he had no top on, then further down highlight he wears Celtic merchandise and draped himself in a tri colour? FFS
——————-
Many of us saw this scumbag draped like thisin Glasgow. Doesn’t matter what he wore or didn’t wear he is a scumbag.
Think of the poor victim not the perpetrator.
TIMALOY29 on 17TH JUNE 2019 3:43 PM
Well the Scotland-Gibraltar ties were in 2015, so good chance a fair few personnel have changed, and most recent evidence is that Celtic and the Irish national team have struggled against them.
We beat them 3-1 on aggregate with our strongest available team – we wouldnt want to be getting too complacent!
My view is get the best available team out there, get the job done first, and let the manager rest players when they need it as the season progresses.
By the time of the first qualifier, they will be rested and ready to go.
When the winter kicks in and with the heavy pitches, then we can start strategically to think about resting the odd player here and there.
HH
Just spoke to, and shook hands with Bertie Auld! He was late for an appointment at Vision Express so no photo opportunity. Made my day!
Separate subject I know but,the CQN magazine describes John Collins as a hoops legend?, not for me,left for club where we got nothing, far too self centered,he once came to the Vegas convention,all expenses paid,and proceeded to do absolutely nothing by way of gratitude,he’s the only guest we gave ever had who was told not to expect another invitation,calling him a legend devalues the honour.
Arribo to sign for the Zombies.
Not sure he will be worth £20k a week but alongside Kamara they will be physically imposing.
Possible opponents in tomorrows 1st rd CL draw
Group 2 (seeded sides )
Celtic (SCO)
Qarabağ (AZE)
Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA)
F91 Dudelange (LUX)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
(unseeded sides )
Valletta (MLT)
Sarajevo (BIH)
Sutjeska (MNE)
Partizani (ALB)
Saburtalo (GEO)
Again we are moved away from ‘local’ teams geographically to avoid possibility of Linfied in mid July ?
Let’s hope for a trip to Malta rather than Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania or Georgia
Greenpinata said:
“Think of the poor victim not the perpetrator.”
I think The Wee Green Man was thinking of the anti-Celtic media in Scotland rather than the pepetrator.
Sympathy for the victim goes without saying ( outside the MSSM, of course).
JJ
Embramike
Do the seeded team play Away first?
JJ
Breaking News Celtic sign a new cleaner ?? HH
HOT SMOKED on 17TH JUNE 2019 4:33 PM
“For each group, the balls containing the names of the seeded teams will be placed in one bowl and the balls containing the names of the unseeded teams will be put into another bowl.
One ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in a large empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled.
The first team drawn will play its first match at home against the second team drawn.”