For you and me, it was a dead rubber, an opportunity to watch Celtic without the pressure of winning or losing. For the players and coaches, not so much. The entirely-changed 11 who took the field played like they wanted to make an impact, as did an almost-as-changed Real Betis side.
The game was competitive, the nine added minutes at the end of the second half passed excruciatingly slowly; by that stage of the evening, no one’s head was in dead rubber territory.
When Albian Ajeti pulled up lame in the first half, Ange Postecoglou had plenty to ponder. At that moment, he was left with only one fit striker, Kyogo Furuhashi, the most valuable asset in Scottish football, who was resting on the bench.
Of course Kyogo came on. Ange did not set his team out to pull their punches, he wanted and got a performance. He gave fringe players their opportunity. Would it have been right for him to pull his own punches, 30 minutes into the game, by leaving his only striker on the bench? If he expects the players to commit, he has to commit and play the game competitively.
Management is so subtle. Selecting the right players and tactics is not nearly enough. If you want players to follow you, you have to live the role. Ange knew this when he told Kyogo to get stripped.
So what did we learn? James McCarthy looks more than comfortable in a Celtic shirt every time I see him. The player he was is slowly emerging. Liam Scales can feel aggrieved he has not had a sniff of proper action before this week. Stephen Welsh continues to grow into the role of Celtic central defender, a year after breaking into the team.
We finished third in a group against the third placed teams in Germany and Spain. Collecting six points from Ferencvaros was an objective delivered, although so much more could have been achieved as we allowed comfortable positions slip in Spain and Germany.
If you are old enough, you will remember being told Celtic win trophies when they first emerge. Perhaps the Europa Conference League will have its compensations.
Motherwell on Sunday afternoon is anything but a dead rubber. The Celtic FC Foundation Bucket Collection returns for the first time in two years, those in need remain numerous. The work of the Foundation does is remarkable and literally life changing at this time of year. It is our greatest boast.
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Norriem
Hopefully it will get a reaction
Naw Ernie it was the Big Mhan who said it first.
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Eta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda & now Omicron. Seven identified Covid variants since September 2020. That works out as one new variant every 55 days.
The influenza virus that caused the 1918 pandemic with 50m/100m deaths, also mutated into variants and later waves were worse than the first.
We now have vaccination which was not the case in 1918, however football talk may be the least of our worries in the months & years to come.
Chairbhoy
“Celtic seeded, biggest Club, higher co-efficent were not 50/50 to get through, they were favourites.
That’s what I meant by weighting the odds. ”
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You have admitted that you are not well versed in the statistics of probability and citing the Monty Hall problem does not shine any light on this issue as the host tries to influence your perception there.
The Ganbler’s fallacy or Monte Carlo problem is what you should ahve cited but it too does not alter the fundamental fact, which was acknowledged in the original post
i.e Celtic may be favourites in all 4 of the qualifying ties but the overall odds of winning 1 then 2 then 3 and then 4 are not independent of each other and, even when you have one to play it does not reduce to 60:40 or 50:50. even though Common Sense tells you it must be.
There’s a reason bookies are rich and punters, relying on Common Sense, are poor.
P.S. Can someone post a Superbru reminder on Sentinels and Whats App group for me? I’m oot for a couple of hours
I just had another thought,
would it be such a hardship to have a circuit breaker restrictions during the football shutdown ?
3 weeks in january/
and are the team going anywhere for hot weather training ?
ERNIE LYNCH on 10TH DECEMBER 2021 12:33 PM
DEXTER P. BAMPOT on 10TH DECEMBER 2021 12:27 PM
Get real. Celtic aren’t going to sign a second choice keeper who is of a standard to challenge Hart
Ernie, point is Celtic could sign a keeper better than Bain to challenge Hart
must have been business travellers or maybe a couple having a barney, maybe just nervous flyers. or perhaps priests over indulging while in transit to the festival of light,
——————
EasyJet passengers arrested on Lyon flight by cops after bad behaviour on board
The pair boarded the 10.30am on Wednesday December 9 from Belfast International airport, scheduled directly to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport.
When the aircraft landed, the two badly behaved passengers were arrested by French police
A couple of easyJet passengers have been lifted by authorities in France after “behaving disruptively” whilst flying from Belfast to Lyon.
The pair boarded the 10.30am on Wednesday December 9 from Belfast International airport, scheduled directly to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport.
However, at around 1.30pm local time, when the aircraft landed, the two passengers were arrested by French police.
easyJet have issued a statement confirming the behaviour of both passengers and said that although incidents such as this were “rare”, they do not tolerate “abusive or threatening behaviour towards staff”.
At this point it is unknown if the travellers have made it back to Northern Ireland, according to Belfast Live.
The best thing about yesterday’s match is that Ange now knows he can rotate the team in the busy December schedule. If that young team can beat Real Betis then they can be trusted in the SPL.
Saint Stivs
We are supposed to be going to Portugal on a winter training camp
Do we have moderators on CQN anymore? Some of the language and abuse recently has been appalling.
SFtBs @ 6:33 PM,
With all due respect you have missed the point.
For Celtic to go through as one of the five Clubs to succeed from the Champions route the odds are not always 50/50, they are dependent variables.
By stating the odds are 50/50, so Celtic investing in the team before the qualification rounds for UCL would be too risky, as TBB stated was incorrect imo.
There were a number of factors not taken into consideration.
The main one was that we play football.
Yes, I get Celtic PLC of that time were not run as an elite sporting organisation but a risk averse business.
Yet that’s was the whole point wasn’t it!?
If Celtic invest more money to qualify for the UCL group stages, they obviously have a greater chance of qualifying, right.
So how can the odds always be 50/50, regardless of how many rounds we play, how many Clubs qualify from the champions route and how much money we invest in the team?
It can’t can it?
Brendan Rodgers era proved that by investing more in Players, Managers, Coaches and support staff, the greater chance you have of qualifying for the UCL group stages.
Peter Lawwell’s risk averse approach, by looking at the possibility of getting knocked out of the UCL competition during the qualification process by an inferior team, therefore not investing in the team to qualify is a self fulfilling prophecy is it not!?
An elite sports Club should look to be the best you possibly can, the resources of the Club should be focused on achieving the highest success available, surely.
Yet even more than that, it makes business sense. Investing money and resources that we have and can build on, to produce a better team that can qualify for the UCL group stage makes business sense for an elite football club.
The 50/50 argument is bogus.
Hail Hail
I just had one of those out the box thoughts.
why not get a link up with some japanese club and send some of ours over there for development.
corkcelt- my point earlier, was the guys in Japan have finished their season, IF deals are agreed, they can travel over now as ‘tourists ‘,do the quarantine, and sign in the 1st January.
79CAPS @ 7:02
The best thing about yesterday’s match is that Ange now knows he can rotate the team in the busy December schedule. If that young team can beat Real Betis then they can be trusted in the SPL.
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I know what you are driving at and it could be good, however “trusted” is maybe a tad premature, don’t you think?
JHB
I don’t mean he should play the same team but he can rotate by using some of those players.
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD @ 7:17
Do we have moderators on CQN anymore? Some of the language and abuse recently has been appalling.
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Perhaps the formation of an anti-abuse/anti- foul language clique, is the answer – we could latch on to/back-up each others posts and shout for “handers” when necessary. It seems to work for the aggressors- compliments of the season(football).
79CAPS @ 7:41
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Yes 100% agree – looked to me that Uroghide, Scales & Shaw could be in that category.
Perhaps the formation of an anti-abuse/anti- foul language clique, is the answer
—
can we call it a cult?
Don’t be surprised if something obscure comes out of the sfa register for non eu signings. I am telling yeese.
Simply like
We are shut until 5th January
Would be astounded if we are allowed fans in for huns game. The projected omicron numbers are terrifying those running the hospitals. I expect some form of lockdown before 2 January. Public Health bods are lobbying the politicians hard. The politicians are offering a degree of resistance, but I can’t see it lasting. NHS staff absence levels about to rocket due to self-isolation rules. No way Nicola will prioritise football crowds. Can’t see it.
BADA BING
10TH DECEMBER 2021 7:28 PM
corkcelt- my point earlier, was the guys in Japan have finished their season, IF deals are agreed, they can travel over now as ‘tourists ‘,do the quarantine, and sign in the 1st January.
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No need, currently, to quarantine when traveling for Japan. Yep, get them in as quickly as possible. It might be optimistic to hope any new signing will integrate as quickly as Kyogo, Jota et al. Here’s hoping.
From Japan
PETERLATCHFORDSBELLY
I fear you will be right and it may be earlier than that LCF perhaps.
Closed door games may result in another excuse to ignore FFP
CHAIRBHOY on 10TH DECEMBER 2021 7:18 PM
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Celtic as a club aren’t streetwise enough for European football.
Celtic are financed by a supporter base who aren’t streetwise.
Celtic’s supporters aren’t streetwise, or they wouldn’t give all of their finance to a bunch the worst kind of Tories, Irish Tories, who’d sell their grannies then deny it!
Celtic supporters of the generation since 1994, haven’t been dragged through the schools of hard knocks, in societal terms, or in their experience of following Celtic.
Celtic supporters watched, Irish Tories, sitting in the directors box, oblivious to 3 solid years of brutal, honest mistakes, 2009, 2010, 2011, where Celtic’s directors box performed a fake concern about cheating, with a performance that would’ve / should’ve won an Oscar, or looked similar to a fake news script from, BBC, CNN, ITV, Ch4, Ch5, Sky News, when Celtic chairman John Reid came out with a performance befitting a, Paul Daniels sketch on his shifty magic show.
Reid said something along the lines of….
“We have a dossier!”
“We’re taking notes of all the honest mistakes inflicted upon this club!”
“We won’t be treated differently!”
“The holy Willies…”
And then, the performer, John Reid, had gone! With a golden pension plan. Eye.
A blowhard, “Hoo, Hah” that amounted to, zero!
Another handsomely paid performer had disappeared, and zero, got done!
As soon as this performer had gone, the honest mistakes got worse.
But, what is the point in paying money to folk who’ll sell you, as soon as look at you?
If it is love that makes you weak, then your weak!
If the do f all about anything, PLC board, know that your not capable of making them suffer consequences for their invisible performances, because your weak, then the malaise will fester and grow.
The manager is incapable of reigning in his gung ho bullshit because he, like PLC, know that your money is already banked, and if Ange’s wrecking ball stoicism continues, what will supporters do? Hold up bits of cardboard in the car park for six months like last season, and the PLC took you all to school, again, with their bullsh*t about Lawwell leaving, then when your money was banked, it was announced that Lawwell wasn’t away! The PLC are trolling you, because you don’t have a pair of consequences in your troosers.
Nae consequences in yer troosers, nae street wisdom in yer heids.
What a darn old mess to see!
Eye so it is.
Wake t f up CSC
LETS ALL DO THE HUDDLE @ 7:47
Perhaps the formation of an anti-abuse/anti- foul language clique, is the answer.
—-
—can we call it a cult?
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No, because differing views & even dissent will be encouraged, and there will be no stockpiling of Buckfast as an alternative to Kool Aid.
Brendan Rodgers record against teams with lesser resources is the worst argument for spending to ensure CL qualification
We cannot lock down forever. New variants are inevitable.
Greenpinata
You’re correct – It’s about the NHS and trying to avoid them being overwhelmed. The waiting list for other treatments and the missed diagnosis will only get worse.
GREENPINATA on 10TH DECEMBER 2021 8:16 PM
We cannot lock down forever. New variants are inevitable.
____________
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGQojwAXMAI7Qy8?format=jpg&name=small
PARK>THE>BUS>LONG>BALL>GOAL @ 8:06 PM,
Well, the truth is making money out of the “old firm” model was what Celtic PLC are all about.
The easy life.
They are saving a seven figure salary and yet it makes little difference to the way we are run, actually we are probably running better for lack of his interference.
Hail Hail
GREENPINATA 8:16
We cannot lock down forever. New variants are inevitable.
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No we can’t, but if and when, hospitals are choc a bloc with Covid patients even though the virus itself is not killing so many – the knock-on effect on those with other serious heath problems and who cannot access treatment from hospitals/GPs will be horrendous.
There is now unprecedented levels of real fear among the sick & the elderly – they feel abandoned & are being left to die.
Covid is now a convenient ‘catch all’ excuse for everything.
CELTIC40ME @ 8:14 PM,
Good to see you posting.
But another who doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a good debate.
Brendan Rodgers played ten qualifying rounds and lost one.
That is a statistic that we could all live with.
Hail Hail
Let me try one more time:
HAS THERE BEEN ANY OFFICIAL NEWS RE KYOGO`S INJURY?
Someone earlier, with very selective quoting, had a go at the Tom English piece on the BBC Sport website. I’ve just read it – it is a perfectly fair & balanced appraisal of where we are at the moment – I urge others to read it.
GREENPINATA on 10TH DECEMBER 2021 8:16 PM
We cannot lock down forever. New variants are inevitable.
###
I reckon occasional intermittent lockdowns will be a feature of life for a while as science plays catch up as mutations and variants occur. It will get easier as more people worldwide are vaccinated.
Just how the voluntary unvaccinated who contract covid are dealt with will be interesting.
Hot Smoked
That’s a no from me – would expect something in the next couple of days after a scan
JHB
I ` had a go` at the Tom English piece but, if I recall, I didn`t quote anything.
I`ll have another look and see if I agree with your ` fair & balanced` assessment.
Test