Celtic Banter Archive September 14 2016

14 Sep 2016 21:54:39
Used to love watching champion league but it's now just the big boys slaughtering teams working on a fraction of there budget, they should just call it the big tv money league only invite the top four teams from the top four leagues and let them fight it out because the rest of us are just p###ing in the wind.

14 Sep 2016 22:39:17
Agreed. I fell out of love with it a long time ago.

14 Sep 2016 23:30:46
They threatened to do something like this and everyone moaned but tbh they should just do it its disgusting the money certain leagues get compared to other's it's part and parcel what is wrong with the world in general.

15 Sep 2016 00:32:55
Said before, All the so called smaller leagues need to tell the top league's to do one and set up another competition at least it would be more competitive and interesting for the fans.

15 Sep 2016 08:59:42
Totally agree the comp favours the big teams and with the ffp rules they have increased the gap.

Dont agree we should say shove it because its too hard, kinda childish and that's not going to help us.

We have and will always be underdogs in Europe not just CL but all European football but we've had some great runs and memories and that will continue to happen.

If we get a result in the next game you will quickly change your tune bhoys let's not throw our toys out the pram because Barcelona showed us how its done.

HH.

15 Sep 2016 09:57:11
They're only doing what we do in Scotland but on a much larger scale. We outspend all the other teams and buy their best players and would jump at the chance to move to the PL.

15 Sep 2016 13:40:22
We all need to accept that even on our best day we are nothing more than a decent to good Europa League team. That's just the way it is. It's a pity the EL doesn't pay the big bucks of the CL. HH.

15 Sep 2016 14:34:06
@jonbhoy why set up a new competition when we already have one it's called the Europa league. If you are lucky enough in future years to make champ league you make loads of money and if you don't make it you have competitive matches in Europa league and some money. If it remains the big 4 leagues get 4 teams each guaranteed then reaching group stage will be more difficult and fans will be more sympathetic to not making it as we might have to beat a Porto or psg for example and should accept a run in Europa as a fallback.

15 Sep 2016 15:34:32
The point I was trying to make was that not only are these scores (7-0 v barca, legia get beat 6-0, rostova lose 5-0 even brugge getting beat by Leicester 3-0) getting more regular but it's just going to get worse as the gap in finances through tv money grows.

14 Sep 2016 21:40:54
Legia took six at home and BM got done by four in Manchester.

There will be more drubbings, such is the gulf.

14 Sep 2016 21:32:03
Legia warsaw bein pumped 6-0 at home to dortmund. These things happen when playin world class sides!

14 Sep 2016 21:16:52
Good to see mainly sensible posts after last nights game. We simply can't compete with the sort of wealth that the TV cash rich clubs enjoy nowadays. I predict there will be a few hammerings dished out by the Barcas, Reals Bayerns and the likes against the non tv funded clubs. What baffled me last night was that anyone thought it was a shock, you watch that mob most Saturday nights in La liga putting 5 or 6 past Valencia Seville and the likes, I put last nights drubbing as no more of a shock as us humping anyone in the Spl and that's never a shock it's expected.

14 Sep 2016 21:42:04
I watch City beat the German side four nil and City were decidedly unlucky to not win by more, Suddenly our defeat didn't look so bad.

15 Sep 2016 07:49:46
@stevie if it was Deila in charge aganist Barcelona the other night, you would be complaining that we should of won.

15 Sep 2016 17:50:35
@DN That will be you wanting Rogers sacked and calling Dembele another Fortune like you did after the Red Imps game . It was fools like you that backed Deila to the end when it was obvious after a season he was out of his depth.

14 Sep 2016 19:35:29
I think everyone agrees the club haven't spent well over the last few years certainly not built from a position of strength.

We have bought well this window for the most part, but BR has a long way to go. I'm sure he knew this well before last night.

Players use us as a stepping stone a sad fact that we must accept, and hope one or two gems settle here and fall in love with our great club. Forester wanted to go and become England no.1, vigil and vic all wanted the trappings of the EPL, shame for us, but thanks for the memories.

Pushing the boat out financially for us may not make us competitive in the CL but hopefully In time BR will make us a lot more respectable. A good group draw wouldn't go amiss next year.

Barcelona are a class apart from almost everyone on their day, but despite the hammering I'm glad we are in this competition.

We are dominating on the domestic front, let's put last nights game behind us and learn from how the very best play the game. I make no secret about my ultimate goal being ten in a row. Let's keep qualifying for the CL develop our squad and re write our own history books.

I'm confident we can take points this year in the CL and fingers crossed we sneak third. If not let's hope we continue to spend wisely and re shape the squad.

I'm still proud to be a Tim - hail hail.

14 Sep 2016 21:47:36
Island Celt to u see us in the next twenty yrs been able to buy a front three like Barcelona fielded . It appears that we will always be very long shots against the likes of Barcelona, and a few busy transfer windows will make little difference .

14 Sep 2016 21:24:18
Good post that IC.

When you say you're confident we can take points in the CL, is that the same as being confident we will? Because I'm not.

I said on here when the group was drawn, that I wasn't sure how much I was looking forwars to some of these games. I don't think that's the only humping we'll get. Barcelona are the best. City with their coaching and talent are also a class or two above us, and Monchengladbach will be favourites against us too.

But, we need to make inroads. And this season is at least already a step in the right direction. Sadly I'm still not overly convinced by our Boards ambition/ foresight.

Like you say, I think we'll get back to a stage, domestically, where every other week, it's us dishing out the humpings. And quite possibly a 10 in a row, with perhaps a couple of trebles along the way.

And that will be enough to make me a happy bhoy.

15 Sep 2016 11:44:19
I can't see us being anything other than an easy win for the big clubs, but I feel we are able to/ should be able to take points from the pots 3 and 4 sides.
I feel a home win against BM is achievable this year.

15 Sep 2016 12:17:58
I'd take the EL place now. If it comes down to head to head with BM, which I reckon it might, a home win is our big shot in the group. We'll have to see the way it pans out though too, Barcelona could play a weakened side in their last game against BM (granted, even City might! ) . In a small group, with such a gulf, even something like that can help forge the outcome.

14 Sep 2016 13:17:52
Last Nights Reality Check.
IMHO Expected - 7-0 against the best team in Europe.

Reading all the people saying we need this and we need that - Peter Grant - PMSL.

Truth is
WE HAD a great goalie who could have done better last night - Frazer Foster

We had a Solid Centre Back who would have bossed the area better - Virgil

We had a tenacious Midfielder, dogged and commanding - Wanyama

We are in the Champs League - players will come.

These three left to go to SOUTHAMPTON - who at the time were mid-bottom table strugglers - never a top 4 team - LUCKY LUCKY to maybe win a cup and get in the EL.

AND Southampton in turn had Pochie and Koeman as managers - AND they were both lured away to bigger better teams!

So That's where we are - we are a selling club dominated by our neighbours league - players from there won't come here and players from elsewhere who come here and do well want to go there!

Its catch 22.

We are the best side in our wee pond, last night = torture, but CP will be bouncing when Barcelona come and beat us there. and we live in hope of picking up some points against BMG and even Man City.

Check your reality and enjoy what we have - £30mil in the bank and top of the league.

14 Sep 2016 14:38:58
I thought that might happen last night, we were up against one of the greatest club teams that there has been in years, and there probably won't be a team like it again in my lifetime. If a team had one of those 3 strikers they would be some force, but all 3 in the one team is incredible.
On a more general point, I have enjoyed the football we have played so far this season, it's a lot more entertaining to watch, but I think that it's quite important that Rodgers also tries to make us a bit more resilient.
I may be wrong, but I think with the exception of the home matches against Lincoln red imps and Motherwell, we haven't kept a clean sheet in our matches. Losing a goal when you are scoring 4 or 5 at the other end is fine, but if the goals dry up we have to be able to grind out some results, that's what worries me about this team.
When you consider the teams that have scored against us this season, we were never realistically going to get anything else than a thumping against that Barcelona attack, we just don't have the ability to stop to stop them. We can however improve ourselves at domestic level, we really need to stop some of the sloppy goals being conceded, if we can become more disciplined at the back, and cut out the silly errors we would make life so much easier for ourselves.
I don't think that there was going to be any other result last night, they just have way too much quality for us, I do think though that if we learned to be a bit more resilient and streetwise, we might be able to at least keep the score down to a more respectable level. That at least would be a start.

14 Sep 2016 14:49:52
Much of what you say, I cannot disagree with but since I became a shareholder I haven't seen £30 m in the bank in the accounts of any year . I don't expect to see it next year or any year in the near future .

14 Sep 2016 15:08:47
I agree about our clean sheet problem as we have tried several defensive permutations since pre-season and now we have changed goalkeeper - who doesn't fill me with confidence.
Fortunately, we have several players scoring goals - domestically anyway - and at present we have plenty of forward options if one or two of them lose form or are injured.
The way the team is selected and set out it seems we have a 'score more goals than them' philosophy, but I would definitely like to see a lot more clean sheets with a confident settled back-line and GK.

14 Sep 2016 15:51:41
Sure Frazer and Virgil both played when we got beat 6-1 did they know? Either way aye we can't compete with a team like Barcelona but no way do I want a see my team losing 7 goals against teams in this group and if we do got whipped every game like a lot people are expecting then how will the players recover mentally, 7-0 is embrassing don't kid ourselves.

14 Sep 2016 16:50:09
Chris, we won't get whipped like that in every game, we came up against the best team in europe 3 days after humping the Orcs. It is still a new team and manager that is settling in.
The only thing I think we done wrong last night was we showed them to much respect and sat back to much. We tried to play the way Atletico did against them.

14 Sep 2016 20:23:10
I am sorry I did think we would get beat maybe 3,4 0 but it was the manner we got beat rather than the result we stayed at 5 at the back which meant that we were to deep IMO that just played in to Barcelona hands letting them camp in our half with no way out But saying that I have every confidence in BR and I am sure we will charge that for the other games.

14 Sep 2016 21:59:00
Jonbhoy we lacked numbers in central midfield and Briton didn't seem to play with Brown . The idea of picking the new right back back fired as we were not able to win enough ball and get it out in front of him to get him up and running . It's easy in hind sight
Unfortunately for us City are really not that far behind Batca, we mighten lose by 7 but it will be very very difficult to get anything at home .
I don't nessecary blame anyone at Celtic, when we sign a player who becomes good he can't wait to get out.

14 Sep 2016 23:33:37
Jonbhoy I agree was best front 3 we ever going to play against and I have faith in Brendan Rodgers to come good in europe but that game was tough to take and watch and after seeing a bit man city tonight they look like they could run Barcelona close, as I said I wasn't expecting to come out group but it hurts to see us take a battering like that bud.

14 Sep 2016 12:34:45
Sorry but I had to give up watching after the third goal.
Lets consider everything BR says we are still developing, and we have to fix two years of RD mistakes
It is only two months into his management and lots of teams get stuffed at the Nou Camp.
That said it was not good, Stachan said you need strong fast defenders to compete with this quality of attacker.
None of which we had in central defence so that is the first place to change Sviatchenko is to slow and Lusnig and Toure are to old. Oconnell and Simonovic to young. let's get to xmas and if we are out of europe play the youngsters with
Toure and scout an experienced quality defender for next year.
Bitton has always been poor but got away with it in scotland now he must go I would not play him ever again! Let him move along with the other RD flops and scout better. Give Henderson, Magregor or perhaps try Rogic futher back with Armstrong in the no10 role

De vries does not look any better than Gordon or Bailly give Fasan a try remember how Foster developed over a season of first team football and Marshall was agreat young keeper who only left because he was not given a chance I would not like the same thing to happen to Fasan after all the time and development we put in with him.

14 Sep 2016 13:20:42
wow all that and you only watched up to the third goal.

14 Sep 2016 14:28:40
Yeah let's drop everyone because we got skelped by barca, there all terrible and the clubs falling apart!

Madness, away and watch the last 4 goals man.

14 Sep 2016 14:59:12
Should a posters contribution be taken serious if he only watches about half the match .
Celtic were playing last night, OK they were over run but it was our Celtic,
The Celtic we walk over glass to watch& we walk away when the going gets tough.

14 Sep 2016 15:36:24
". faithful thru and thru. "

14 Sep 2016 16:02:51
its like people who leave after 80 mins to "beat the traffic"

rugby only lasts 80 minutes - just go there instead.

14 Sep 2016 16:19:00
It was agonizing to watch and I felt physically sick after the game but this is the result of over a decade of penny pinching and even complacency from the club, while we were in, as strong a position as we have ever been.
Every decent player we have brought in has been sold at a huge profit, but replaced by a 'bargain basement' and although some of them demanded their move, there were others who had no choice.
The standards have been allowed to slip for too long and we cannot expect journeymen and young potential to compete against the best.
WGS managed to attract some half decent players that held their own in the CL for a time and NL had a roller coaster experience in the same competition, while trying to build a side and I expect BR to eventually put together his own side and improve our status, but sadly we can no longer compete with the super-rich elite.

14 Sep 2016 12:05:20
What is most annoying is we know we need a playmaker and a digger in midfield we know biton is too slow but we penny pinch again on a rb who hasn't played in 18 month or more and a keeper no better if not worse than we have. and supposedly knock back 6 mill for biton well done the board again.

14 Sep 2016 12:55:48
None of which would have made any difference last night.

14 Sep 2016 16:33:39
A playmaker probably wouldn't have got a touch of the ball.
We were going to do well to score a goal at Nou Camp, we got chance, but missed pen, Barcelona very " professional" in wasting time before kick could be taken . They also fouled every time we looked at breaking with ball.
Their rolling and antics would have us playing with about 9 men if we had fouled them . The white head Neymar had Brown booked for nothing. Certainly nothing ref or his assistant seen.

14 Sep 2016 09:07:28
My only surprise is the level of shock being expressed on here. Watch it again and marvel at the other worldly genius of Barcelona.

There isn't a team, even those with hundreds of millions spent on them could have lived with them. They were terrifying.

Not only do they swarm all over you when they move forward like relentless, bewildering waves of wasps, stinging you relentlessly, when the opposition gets the ball it's the same deal. You can't move the ball.

We got taken to the cleaners, picked up, driven home and put in the wardrobe.

I thought at least a five nil
Doing. They lost at the weekend and that was like sticking your finger up a hungry tigers arse.

Not going to end well for us.

I sent a text to my brother saying if we could keep it tight for the first 30 seconds we would be doing well. That's how I felt. I had a feeling, based upon an overwhelming amount of evidence that we could suffer a terrible fate.

Missing the penalty was a blow, but in hindsight, maybe that would have been like covering yourself in seal blubber and hanging about with a polar bear. Again, not going to end in a way you hoped at the outset.

There was simply nothing we could do. They have too much, too often. It isn't the best way to watch a master class, when it's your team getting forensically dismembered but I was in awe of them.

To criticise our players for not getting close, shutting them down and every variation of that theme, is to exist in a world of denial. Worse than that, it is a signal you don't believe what your eyes are telling you.

This team is the best there has ever been in my opinion. The 'Trident' is truly a sight to behold. Not always enjoyable to be at the impaling end though but even as you endure that fate you still have to admire it's lower.

Every part of that team plays football against opponents much as a cat does with a mouse. There is no good outcome unless the cat gets bored. The cat last night was on it. Nothing the mouse ie us, could do, made a difference.

Every one of the teams in this group are better than us. That is just a fact. Can we get any results, apart from Barca, I think we can. Can we get enough to qualify, never, but we didn't really believe that anyway.

Third place is our battle. The Gladbacks are still in a different weight division, but we can hurt them. City I fear will have way too much also, but they won't reach the heights of pain infliction the Catalonian masters dish up.

The double header against them will be the play off for the Europa league. I can't see either of us doing damage elsewhere.

The result last night could have a silver lining in that the Germans might think we have nothing. That may be correct, but underestimating us could be our best hope.

So, we move on having been shown what this game we love can produce when you have geniuses combining to overwhelm all before them in this form. And I mean all. No club team on the planet past or present could. To expect us to escape without being panelled is to deny the reality of our relative abilities.

We have improved a lot and this defeat will show the board that the money made has to be spent to move us up another notch. We are moving in the right direction. This was a pertinent reminder that Barcelona are football, but not as we know it.

Let's hope the players realise this and don't lose heart. It would be pointless, sometimes you just have to dorf your cap, smile and say, that is the reason I am a hopeless addict to this beautiful game. What we saw last night was breathtaking, let's hope they mete out the same to the others in the group.

I have a feeling they just might.

14 Sep 2016 09:41:56
Sticking your finger up a hungry tiger's arse 😂. I have to be honest and say I was shocked. Never in a month of Sundays did I see a 7-0 coming. I thought we'd probably get beat by a couple. If RD had guided us to that result he would be getting absolute pelters and as much as BR and the players deserve all the plaudits they've received so far this season, they really let us down last night. The 5 at the back just did not work yet we stuck it out for 90 minutes.

14 Sep 2016 10:10:57
Before the game we never saw it coming. When we watched them in full flow we did.

They were irresistible.

14 Sep 2016 10:20:43
Totally agree kev! Like I said last nite in no way did I think we'd win, but that was horrific! That's 2 of the worse results in our history in the space of a few months! We fell apart in that 2nd half and that's a big worry. yes better teams than us will get beat there but that was scary! We looked absolutely terrified from the first to last.

14 Sep 2016 10:51:49
I was absolutely gutted when Alba scored in injury time to make it 2-1 a few years back - and way more devastated at that (final) result than I was last night.

I'm genuinely shocked at how many people are shocked by that result last night. They put six past Roma there at the sane stage last year - and HBS tore us apart in Israel.

14 Sep 2016 11:55:23
I think it's more disappointing at the manner of defeat to be honest. Moving forward I would rather play O'Connell or simunovic (if fit) than toure who hasn't helped our defence also play mcgregor over brown/ bitton who can rotate between each other if need be and play Gordon/ fasan as de vries is a step back by the look of him. It's still going to take at least 2 more transfer windows to transform the team but we can still win the treble with what we have.

14 Sep 2016 12:04:32
Toure hasn't helped? Come on now.

14 Sep 2016 12:44:32
Magic

Can you read minds? - exactly my thoughts - and i'm literally lol

funny funny.

14 Sep 2016 13:22:32
Even if we had spent £5mill on a centre back and £5mill on a keeper we would still have been humped. Having said that De Vires does not look the part. We shouldn't be losing 7-0 to anyone really and it could have been 10 but it's done now. They are a fantastic outfit. If Pogba is going for £90 mill, Messi is the worlds first £200 mill player. The big games for us are the Germans and Man City will put 3 past them tonight, so we may still be in Europa after Christmas. Just as well We didn't score the penalty, might have upset them then lol.

14 Sep 2016 13:37:12
No joking could you please tell me where toure has helped?

14 Sep 2016 13:57:47
ffs Jim - if not Toure in there it would have been Efe.
nuff said.

14 Sep 2016 14:18:28
We wouldn't have qualified if not for him. There's a start.

14 Sep 2016 14:51:14
7 starts 1sub 17 goals conceded no clean sheets would O'Connell have done any worse last night? And is there really any benefit to a 35 year old who is overweight and slow?

14 Sep 2016 15:03:29
Kolo isn't slow. He's probably our quickest CB.

14 Sep 2016 17:02:59
Magicpole a very good post and as you know I don't always agree with you . At the end of the game I was thinking 5 at the back didn't work, either Mc Gregor or Armstrong should have started making a mid field three and wee James may have played right wing better .
But then I thought that was all nonsense we could have played with our first eleven and subs on the night and still Barcelona would have been too good .
Last night they were awesome.

16 Sep 2016 10:53:38
It's all aboot opinions Old Bhoy. We share a deep love of our team but differ on how we think things should be.

That's just the way it is. :)
HH.

14 Sep 2016 00:45:13
Right troops, calm down. Getting hammered by Barcelona in our managers first year is no big deal.

7-0 though was well avoidable. How many people on here supported the board for not investing in the transfer window?

aye sure it won't make us great in Europe but tonight shown we are desperate for someone in the midfield who can tackle.

Biton is a man down when defending and De Vries is worse than Gordon.

Our board invested in attackers and guess what? we are scoring more goals. Basically we need more investment in other areas.

Also rodgers got his tactics wrong, 2 CMs against Barca? wow.

14 Sep 2016 08:46:39
Welcome back down to earth Brendan.

14 Sep 2016 09:22:39
Tesla, realistically how much would we need to spend, and don't forget we've a £5m defender sitting crocked.
Gone are the days we can maybe scrape out a draw, keep the score low against teams like Barca, realistically were a uefa cup team, not a champions league.

14 Sep 2016 09:24:24
What we need in the middle of the park is terrier type midfielder who will harass and annoy the opposition. Kind of like a Peter Grant who never stopped harassing the opposition. Also a creative midfielder who plays with his head up a pirlo type player. The end we need a big dominant center half . like a bobo balde. Then we should be sorted.

14 Sep 2016 10:37:06
Memaself - This is the same thing people say all the time and tbh it doesn't make sense.

You don't have to spend billions to get a good team, it helps aye but it's no guarantee. Look at the amount of sides who squander £200m+ and do nothing in Europe either.

Then you had the likes of Strachans side with Telfer, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor or even guys like Evander Sno and made last 16.

What I don't get is Celtic fans saying "gone are the days we can get a result without spending the same as these teams" despite the fact we have done it time and time again in the past. Short memories.

marco1888 pretty much gave the solution, we need players of different styles so we can have different tactical options for Europe. Football is like boxing in that it's about fitting attributes with styles, styles determine matches.

14 Sep 2016 10:41:46
Another Hartley or lennon in there would've helped a bit. Needed someone who can break it up n slow it down to a sprint for them. They were ****in amazing last nite.

14 Sep 2016 10:55:37
Tesla, all well and good but your examples are classic case of cognitive dissonance.

14 Sep 2016 13:06:04
I don't really think anything I've saids that contradictive.

The examples I gave were 100% true. We got to last 16 twice with Strachan and once with Lennon without spending much money at all.

Even under O'Neill we spend about £40m and gave 30-40k a week wages. This still at the time was nothing compared to what other teams in Europe spent and we made parkhead a fortress.

Football fans nowadays put too much emphasis on money, fair enough if you are spending £100m on Ronaldo but for the rest in big leagues their values are simply inflated due to the market in their league.

£35m for Andy Carroll know what I mean? it's just stretching budgets but a budget can't stretch quality.

14 Sep 2016 13:09:39
Tesla how many teams regularly make it by the group stages that don't spend a fortune?
Name one that does it every year and not just one offs?

14 Sep 2016 13:14:06
That's not what I said.

14 Sep 2016 16:15:32
Kev - clubs like Benfica, Galatasaray, CSKA Moscow, Copenhagen, Ajax or whoever the champions from this country is makes it regularly

No team makes it every single season, not even Man Utd and co so I dunno what that question is trying to achieve.

but aye, Olympiakos are right up there, making it almost every year since 2009 except one in which Panathinaikos got in. In 5 seasons out of six they got to last 16 twice and finished 3rd every other time.

No excuse for us not to be consistently at a level on par with Olympiakos, it's clear the board downgraded because the zombies died and this season they have invested minimally as the zombies are still poor. I think we will see in vestment over the next few seasons.

From what I can see the board have their eye on 10 in a row rather than Europe and fair enough but some of our fans stating we can't even get some results and might as well not be in it, while we might not win it, there is no excuse to not be at a decent level.

14 Sep 2016 17:21:29
We can all blame the board for not spending more money last summer . What we don't know is it the board's fault or is it the negative image projected by the MSSM and by the football authorities here . When do we read praise of our game in our media or by the Officiers running our game .
Can we expect 23/ 24 year olds with a good reputation as a footballer willing to play in the back water league in Scotland and probably earn less money, instead of playing in a fantastic climate in Southern Europe or the money drenched EPL .
Getting a talented player to come to Scotland is not that easy.

14 Sep 2016 21:12:15
As i pointed out though old boy their are plenty of teams in leagues not much more attractive. Like olympiakos in the greek league who consistently make it. So really there isn't an excuse.

Right now we are on par with likes of malmo and legia but we should be higher tha that without a doubt.

14 Sep 2016 00:25:24
While it is never nice getting beat, I think we can all admit that we were totally outclassed tonight by one of the best attacking lineups ever seen.

Yes we got pumped but stronger teams than us have been pumped by Barcelona in recent years:

Roma pumped 6-1
Bayern Munich pumped 4-0
Bayern Leverkusen pumped 7-1
Ajax pumped 4-0
AC Milan 4-0
Arsenal 4-1
Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1
Real Madrid 5-0.

{Ed007's Note - Rab, for the past 3 years I've been told that results in the CL don't matter, it's all about the money. Posters saying they'd rather watch us getting beat 6-1 (will it now be 7-0?) by Barca was better than watching us steamroller teams in Scotland etc etc Now it's happened again there's an uproar. I never wanted Lennon to stay on for his final season but the Barca result was a killer for me that year, that's why I could never understand the f**k the results think of the money attitude from others. Money doesn't ease the pain of Celtic getting beat.
The defeat to Red Imps was more embarrassing than tonight's result, we got into the CL by the skin of our teeth against the Israeli team and nothing else mattered - what's changed? Imagine Ronny Deila had a loss to Red Imps and a 7-0 drubbing by Barca on his CV? Remember the EL group we qualified from and that wasn't good enough because it wasn't the CL, playing Inter Milan in the latter stages of Europe wasn't good enough - remember the double standards I spoke about? I gave Lennon dogs abuse after the 6-1 game because I really didn't expect it but tonight's scoreline was a surprise but against the current Barca team - who I grudge having to praise- it wasn't totally unexpected.
I was hoping for something like 3-1 but expecting 4/5 -1 but I'm not at the smashing the bog up stage after tonight's result, we need to concentrate on domestic dominance, anything else as I've always said is a bonus.
So does anyone still think we'll be invited to the Super League?}

14 Sep 2016 06:11:56
The fan base us there to say that an invite to the super league wouldn't be out of the question completely. With such an invitation would come the finances attached to a super league which in turn attracts players of a super league standard.
I would imagine for Celtic to gain entry the super league would require a second tier and for them to work their way up from there.
There's a sound enough foundation we just require the ambitious billionaire or 2.
Now hold your breath.

14 Sep 2016 09:16:57
We are not in Barcas class or real or 100 other teams. even if we spent 30 mil
If pogba is worth 100 mil. What's m n s worth. let alone inesata and co.

14 Sep 2016 10:12:04
You must be talking well over
500 million for just their strike force last night.

14 Sep 2016 07:10:54
Ed, I don't think many will be clamouring to get into the Super League apart from the likes of Desmond and Lawwell and those with a vested self-interest. I accept people like Doncaster fighting for Scotland's place in the "elite" but that's hardly going to happen. Scottish football isn't what it used to be like and it's up to other clubs in Scotland to improve and invest with whatever they can get their hands on and improve Scotland's co-efficient. I'm talking of the likes of Aberdeen and to an extent Hearts to give a better account of themselves in the Europa League, but where they fail is to "lesser" teams and all they seem to do is defend in numbers and attack in ones and twos.

Where Celtic falls down a bit is when they are out of Europe they should be looking at arranging friendlies on European nights to a) keep the supporters interested and b) gauge their progress against other European teams.

{Ed007's Note - That would just be seen as a money making stunt by the Club imo unless the friendlies were free to ST holders and say £10 for adults/£5 for kids for non ST holders - and what quality of opposition would agree to midweek friendlies in Glasgow?}

14 Sep 2016 08:17:26
I would like to add, that neither of us are right or wrong and both have valid arguments.

On one hand there is you who would prefer not to make as much money and play in the second biggest tournament were there is more chance of being able to compete and less chance of a pumping.

On the other hand there is me, who would prefer to get into the CL and get our hands on the money, knowing that it is unlikely we can compete and there is every chance of being pumped. The reason I want CL is that I know that this gives us more to invest in the team and that we don't have to sell our best players unless they are intent on leaving. It also means we can buy a higher caliber of player and make domestic dominance a near foregone conclusion as the gulf between us and the other teams will just widen.

If we keep qualifying for CL then each year we should become stronger and increase our chances of competing at that level. Obviously, with the status quo remaining there is little to no chance of ever winning the CL.

{Ed007's Note - It's not that I would rather not play in the CL, my argument is that it isn't the be all and end all the way some fans go on about it and clamouring for managers to be sacked if they don't qualify. I'm delighted we're in it but it wouldn't have been the end of the world if we hadn't - I'd much rather see us dominating Scottish football and treating the CL or the EL as a wee bonus adventure
We qualified for the CL this year and didn't strengthen the team with the money, in fact when have we pushed the boat out on signings before when we've had CL money? So what makes you think it'll happen in future? Remember a couple of weeks ago all the talk about 'marquee signings. if we qualified.}

14 Sep 2016 09:45:22
I was expecting 5 or 6 Ed if am honest and there he haw any other team could do about goals 2, 3, 4 an 6!

This one league super league a canny get my head round it to me now its just a threat they conjure up to gain a bigger yield each time its renegotiated A mean its like finding your first porno or scud mag mate its smashing but after a while you get fed up with it because there nothing you've not seen over n over

For the avoidance of doubt I can't see us being invited other than milking our fans knowing they would attend more than others (true an games need attending) but again distancing myself further from it I would not want turned over like that every week either (y)

{Ed007's Note - I mentioned a while back that it would take £100s of millions for Celtic to even get near the standards of the elite teams in European football. We'd need to invest in the stadium, the training facilities and the infrastructure of the Club before we even looked at the playing side.}

14 Sep 2016 13:10:22
I agree, lots of our fans have unrealistic expectations. Therefore, when the team/ manager don't live up to their expectations they feel gutted and angry, then start slating players and manager. Whereas if they actually realised were our place is in the hierarchy they would have more realistic expectations and their world would not come crashing down when we got beat.

With regards to our current spending and CL money, it has always been my understanding that we don't get any of the money until the end of the season. This is why I was not annoyed that we did not get the marquee signing at end of August. That being said I do expect a signing of note or good potential in January as we will have gate money to spend. I also expect some good signings next summer, with maybe about 10-15 million being spent. If that does not happen then I will be raging with the board as we will have a massive turnover and decent profit this season, due to a big increase in season ticket, extra revenue due to Glasgow derby and CL money.

{Ed007's Note - But we know the money's coming in so why not dig into our overdraft a bit and push the boat out - wouldn't 60,000 buying the CL ticket packages help cover a fee for a player until we get the UEFA cheque? And remember that 99% of transfer fees are paid in instalments, usually over the duration of the contract, so we would only be looking for the first instalment.}

14 Sep 2016 13:51:56
Yes the CL ticket prices should cover a signing of some note but we don't get that money until the transfer window has closed. This is why I suggested that we will see a signing in January. I am sure that if Rodgers had desperately needed a player then we may have seen the board do as you suggested and dip into the overdraft.

However, no matter who we would have signed the last window, it would not have changed our CL fortunes this season and we should win the league at a canter. Based on that I can see why they did not push the boat out the last window. For once I can forgive the board but I won't be forgiving them if they don't get some good signings in the next two windows.

{Ed007's Note - I think you're going to be disappointed come the end of January, Rab. It is harder to get a deal completed in January and the prices are always a bit higher because clubs don't want the headache of looking for a replacement in the month long window, unless the player is surplus to requirements and if that's the case how bad has his season went from August to January for him to be available now - unless it's Paddy Roberts of course ;-)
Rodgers himself has admitted himself he wanted at least another midfielder brought in and they couldn't get anything done and anyone can see we aren't very strong in the striker department with really only LG and Dembele.}

14 Sep 2016 17:30:21
I think it would be manners to wait until the Super League is formed before we consider who won't be invited .
If UEFA has any balls they will throw any club and any player who joins super league out of all football in Europe incl. international and ban the players individually for life from European football.

Super League could die a death the same as the cricket died in Australia.

14 Sep 2016 19:14:11
I'm not so sure, as we seem to do decent business in January if past years are anything to go by. Here are the main players we have signed for a transfer fee in January in the last few years:

Erik Sviatchenko
Stuart Armstrong
GMS
Stefan Johansen
Leigh Griffiths
Tom Rogic.