Celtic Banter Archive July 26 2018

26 Jul 2018 21:49:31
Good week for Scottish teams in Europe. Just a pity Aberdeen couldn't hang on or take one of they chances they had.

{Ed007's Note - Aberdeen just drew with a Pub League team that got £120 million for finishing 7th in the league with a CB pairing that just over a year ago were playing for Ayr United and Hamilton Accies while the goalscorer got fished out a river.}

26 Jul 2018 22:32:01
Do they still have pub leagues? That would be a comforting thought.

{Ed007's Note - Just the one SKY throw money at.}

26 Jul 2018 23:01:46
If sky gave the Spfl a fair deal we'd see a lot more of these so called battles of Britain I watched the aberdeen game if you didn't know either team you wouldn't have known who had the mega bucks.

26 Jul 2018 23:13:29
Was a good effort fae Aberdeen but if they had grab another (and they had chances) they could have went down there and held on for dear life.
I'd love to see them put burnly out, though I do like Sean dyche.

26 Jul 2018 20:53:11
Can anyone say for sure there's not a bit of swedish in our eddy. That second goal was a finish the king would've been proud of, in today's market he was an absolute bargain. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the game last nite am just gutted I never went, feeling a bit light in the wallet the now so had to settle for a bottle of tonic n the telly, still a great nite and a superb comeback, nearly forgot ntchams goal, what a hit son what a hit. All round great performance from the bhoys.

{Ed007's Note - Edouard was actually born in French Guiana down by Brazil.}

26 Jul 2018 21:39:05
There u have it.

27 Jul 2018 01:03:08
there you have what?

27 Jul 2018 06:18:48
His da must've been Brazilian then on a wee day trip to Guyana. Just cos a joked that he had a bit of sweedish in him that's all mate.

26 Jul 2018 18:12:17
Cheers Tim! rooting for Aberdeen and hibs tonight myself, reckon Aberdeen will give Burnley a match!

26 Jul 2018 18:27:15
I fancy hibs win and Aberdeen draw.

26 Jul 2018 18:51:29
And the people get pumped!

26 Jul 2018 19:13:24
Any team that wee rat Logans playing with cannot bring myself to root for them.

26 Jul 2018 19:30:44
That go’s without saying VT may they henceforth be pumped by all for evermore. Scotland’s Shame.

26 Jul 2018 21:39:36
Good prediction daz!

26 Jul 2018 21:43:13
Big Daz - are you mystic meg - good shout on them results.

26 Jul 2018 21:48:34
Big Daz hope you had couple quid on that.

26 Jul 2018 16:56:15
Tim you got any accumulators for tonight? been doing the MLS for a while and won last week but any tips are appreciated!

26 Jul 2018 17:38:39
Brendan my football tips are usually better than my horse ones (famous last words lol)
Here are 6 favourites who appear on a fairly regular basis in europe so most have some kind of pedigree
CSKA Sofia 6/ 10, Djurgarden 4/ 9, Honved evens (they are playing Progres Niederkorn in Hungary) Maccabi Tel Aviv 1/ 3,
Zrinski Mostar 4/ 7 and Lask Linz 2/ 5
Do an accumulator or perm 5 from 6 as a safety buffer
Sadly I fancy Burnley 10/ 11 and Larnaca 2/ 1 (playing Hibs) Sevco I think will get beat also at 6/ 4
Hope I am wrong as that would mean Scotland's coefficient would plummet again.

26 Jul 2018 18:52:58
I'm backing Hibs, Dundalk and Burnley at 8/ 1.

26 Jul 2018 18:55:46
Yes my football knowledge knows no bounds lol
Dundalk are playing Larnaca while Hibernian are playing
Asteris Tripola.

26 Jul 2018 14:25:30
It was a master stroke BR switch THAT is the difference between a good manager and a Sevco one.

26 Jul 2018 15:04:19
Though to balance that it was him that made the strangle decision to start with McGregor and Forrest out of position.

26 Jul 2018 17:58:52
Maybe the masterstroke was to play them where they started lure rosenburg into a sense of false security . reverse it then pounce.

26 Jul 2018 18:14:10
I am not so sure, I think it was a master-stroke to start with McGregor and Forrest in unaccustomed positions . The Rosenborg defence was getting use to combating that formation and when B R gave the nod to change Rosenborg team were left floundering and never got use to the width and speed of attacks from that on .
I am certain last night B R had his best tactical performance in Europe yet with Celtic

The fact that in post match interviews he said he got it wrong, is further prove to me that it was purposely done, as it means future opponents won't be expecting similar type switches should he choose to do them.

26 Jul 2018 19:35:24
Maybe he knew you would think that chris therefore he said the opposite of the opposite thus luring you into a false sense of security, but then again maybe he knew I would be onto him and therefore he actually tricked me.?

26 Jul 2018 13:31:56
Just read if Celtic beat Rosenborg
- Rangers beat Niederkorn
- Aberdeen beat Fola Esch
- Hibs beat Birkirkara
We would have less qualifiers to play.
Just shows how daft one off results can harm us eh.

26 Jul 2018 21:43:25
The first qualifier was a training match anyway mate, am not so sure it's a bad thing, it gave us a head start going into last nite, ma problem is we shouldn't need to qualify at all.

{Ed007's Note - Considering the level of opponents playing the earlier qualifying round is better than playing a meaningless pre-season friendly at a snail's pace.}

27 Jul 2018 06:24:02
That was the point a was trying to make ed but somehow u managed to make it better, u old wise owl u.

{Ed007's Note - :-D

26 Jul 2018 10:08:50
After last years finish and start to this year Is Eddy now our No1 striker? I would say yes as MD is good when he is on it, but seems OE is a more consistent performer? As for LG, down to No3 for sure. Still can't believe we haven't got a new RB. Lustig, Ralston and Gamboa are not even close to being good enough for CL. And neither is Simo, Hendry and Ajer has yet to tested at that level.

26 Jul 2018 10:50:27
Widny liked to have heard u if we'd got pumped last night chink.

26 Jul 2018 11:34:47
The only negative I felt from last night was the worry that on that form how long will we be able to hold on to Ntcham and Edouarde.
These two lads are improving all the time and look genuine quality.
In the second half we ran the legs off Rosenborg, they couldn't keep up with us. It was great to watch.

26 Jul 2018 12:33:04
I've said before that I consider OE the better prospect than MD and is well worth the 9m. Not sure who I could say was out no.1 though as when availabe, they'll both play. It's a great problem to have.

26 Jul 2018 13:32:18
Dembelle still the main man for me, but they complement each other so well that it would be daft not to play both when fit. Griff is a world class striker too, and an able deputy.

26 Jul 2018 13:47:39
I thought Gamboa had a great game last night if he keeps that standard up I would be happy to see him at RB.

{Ed007's Note - I said the same on the live chat, if Gamboa can keep up that kind of performance I'd be happy to see him used to let us keep Lustig fit(ter?) throughout the season, he could easily handle the SPFL on last night's showing.}

26 Jul 2018 15:14:44
Gamboa looked more like the player he was in the Germany World Cup. He was excellent last night and hopefully improve with his confidence getting a lift from his performance and the reaction to it from the support.

We all love big Lustig but time is his enemy a
with him definitely losing a yard of pace recently. Gamboa is like a greyhound and showed up last night both as a threat going forward but also in defence.

I could never work out what happened to the player he was. Last night showed he still has it and Brendan can only improve on that. Maybe the boy has finally turned up. If he has, then for me he keeps the RB slot.

26 Jul 2018 15:25:53
I think that we will see much more games with two up top probably the moose and big Ed the preferred combo.
I think after years relative struggle (in comparison to BRs first season) to break down tightly packed defences BR will utilise both strikers more often.
As for Griff I would like to see how he pairs up with eddy
You’ve got to feel for griff he has done nothing apart from improve his game and score goals yet he still
In my eyes our no.3 striker.
Remember he only needs a couple to be a 100 plus Celtic goal scorer and not many can say that, notably big chris Sutton.

26 Jul 2018 18:30:29
How anyone could write about needing a right back after Gamboa's performance last night is beyond my understanding . Gamboa isn't brilliant but in first start for Celtic for ages he proved himself more than capable . I can see him a bit like Izzy, on the right, attacking with so much pace the left flank of the opposition will spend more time watching him than attacking us .
Opponents wouldn't know until an hour before match whether we play the attacking Gamboa or the more defensive but very capable Lustig.

26 Jul 2018 09:35:16
Like the rest of posts pleased about last nights performance after switching Forrest and McGregor a few with room to improve Sinclair, Hendry and Gamboa but for me even these 3 showed up well.

I wanted to ask a really stupid and irrelevant question if I may. Why wasn't bendnar flagged offside from a lot of their kick outs? He stood about 5 yards off side when the keeper kicked it to him, is it because he is running back and away from goal?

Sorry for being dumbed just got me and a few fans roundabout me shouting,

Of course it could be the ref was incompetent which he was, thought Ntcham booking was a disgrace!

26 Jul 2018 10:03:55
If you’re talking about goal kicks then you cannot be offside. Any other kick out from the keeper then he should have been flagged if that was the case.

26 Jul 2018 10:12:52
The good thing for me is Brendan knew the formation was wrong and rectified it fairly quickly.

26 Jul 2018 10:22:47
Thanks ice, no it was from the goalies hands.

26 Jul 2018 10:27:28
Thought Gamboa looked sharp, with some smart crosses. Granted one game, but on that performance I would keep him.

Hendry made a mistake and got punished, but there was plenty of players that missed a trick for the goal. Big man was solid the rest of the game and looks to have good pace.

The French boys are definitely adding serious class to this team! What a performance,

My only thought was without moussa we missed a poacher/ target man for crosses flashing across the box. If the big man played I reckon that could have been a much heavier shoreline.

For all the people in crisis about signings, handful of key men out and this has been the best start to a qualifying campaign in my opinion considering the opposition. The team look fit, hungry and full of talent.

HH.

26 Jul 2018 10:42:24
Agreed Mally, he saw it wasn’t working and from the switch we were much improved.

26 Jul 2018 06:30:23
Ed, have you heard of any rumblings behind the scene at the minute? A couple of Brendan’s comments lately seem like we aren’t singing of the same hymn sheet or do you think he’s just trying to put pressure on the board regarding signings? Said last night he didn’t know anything about Arzani and he had nothing to do with transfers, surely he has input along with the man he brought in (Glenn Driscoll ) . Maybe it’s nothing but we normally hear the club are backing him and so on . ( before people say we have been backed on eddy I know my point is I feel Brendan is not happy with other frustrations )

{Ed007's Note - Rodgers is trying to get the point across that we simply cannot go out and spend the kind of money it takes to buy a ready made, in his prime CL quality player.

"I’m not sure. The problem is that if you are going to bring in a top, top centre-half then that is going to cost you money. It is as simple as that. And big money. That is out of my control.

“We can’t do it. The club works in a specific way. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that if you are going to improve drastically from where this group is at and where it has got to over the last couple of years and make the improvements that people want to make, it costs money. But that is out of my control.
You have to do what the club has always done. You bring in players who fit the model of the club and you develop them and improve them and then probably eventually they move on. Somewhere along the line you’ll need that level of experience to come in and try and support and then you hope that can work out for you.”

People are too busy looking for hidden meanings in things people say rather than just take their words at face value.
And at least some people might finally get it into their thick skulls that, like at most modern well run clubs, the manager isn't solely in control of transfers.}

26 Jul 2018 09:14:01
I’m over in turkey, and Internet is terrible, but when I get it all the stories I’m getting about Celtic are negative, I read a few last night before the game, and thought we were in meltdown.

26 Jul 2018 10:41:56
You hear that all the time from Rodgers but really it's just an excuse. Then you get Celtic fans on board with this excuse.

Talking about buying top CB going to cost money we can't afford?

Yet nobody asked us to buy Chiellini, we are asking for better than Boyata, Hendry, Simunovic which to do this isn't going to cost you £10 million.

Seeing as we got Van Dijk for about £2.5m then we have already proven this to be the case.

we have had two years to scout replacements as well and we have the money to buy a CB better than what we have, simple as that.

26 Jul 2018 12:31:38
I agree with your last point Tesla. BR mentioning a top class defender is a red herring because we don’t need that, we need an improvement on what we’ve got already. Édouard was between £6-9M probably, Ntcham was about £4M, Dembele was £500k so it seems we can bring in excellent players in other positions for varying amounts that wouldn’t necessarily break the bank but haven’t been able to find a right good CB. yet!

{Ed007's Note - And everyone of those players is seen as a prospect, like Ajer, Hendry, Tierney and Ralston - I thought people wanted the finished article to be signed and no more projects?}

26 Jul 2018 15:32:23
what even does that mean? prospect? finished article?

it's like an 18 year old at Alloa could be a prospect, as could an 18 year old at Man City

but their current ability and potential may vary. Their "prospect" tag is different depending where they play.

the likes of Ntcham and Odsonne were "prospects" at Man City and PSG, just like Roberts. However they were clearly first team ready at our level.

Funnily enough the only time we made effort to get a higher rated prospect and paid a bit more money or wages - Odsonne, Edouard and Ntcham, these are the ones that make an impact.

not Jonny Hayes, Hendry, Compper etc.

It's just excuses from fans who can't see a bad word said, while the board refuse to invest in key positions.

{Ed007's Note -A project means players that we hope to sell on at a profit:

project: NOUN

Pronunciation /ˈprɒdʒɛkt/

1. An individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.

The finished article is a player that is already playing at a higher, is more experienced and will aid the development of the project players:

the finished article: PHRASE

Something that is complete and ready for use.

I hope that clears it up.}

26 Jul 2018 15:34:55
If you want the finished article that's instantly going to improve our defence your talking well over 10 million.

26 Jul 2018 16:50:00
Like I said Kev. The 3 French boys cost varying amounts, all of which Celtic can afford, and have made us far better than we were. Prospects or not, they have improved us massively.

26 Jul 2018 19:00:14
We still have too many people either heeding main stream Scottish media or heeding people that are churning out the MSSM nonsense . Fans that should know better are believing the anti Celtic bias that are put on stories . We need just to use our eyes, over 90 mins last night, with nearly half a team missing I didn't see much wrong, the players all seemed prepared to work for each other and enjoy it .

There can be funny transfers around, Chelsea have signed a 38 year old goalkeeper ( forgive me I forgot his name ) but I know he was loaned out for the whole of last season to a Non -EPL club and didn't play a match . If that is the market Chelsea are shopping in, maybe Celtic are trying to shop in too high a std.

26 Jul 2018 05:46:38
Excellent performance last night after sticky first 20mins thought the young defence did well against an experienced international.

26 Jul 2018 08:55:35
After the early set-back and Forrest/ McGregor switch, it's possibly the best performance I have seen in recent years from a 'pre-season' Celtic team. We looked good all over the pitch and a lot fitter, sharper and faster than a team half-way through their season.
A great recovery, well deserved victory and unfortunate not to have scored six or seven. Edouarde, Ntcham, KT, Forrest and McGregor gave them all sorts of problems; the defense got their act together, with Ajer and Hendry gaining confidence aided and protected by Broony - who was half-fit and still more than a match for the Norwegians.

26 Jul 2018 19:02:54
It seems to take our captain S Brown longer and longer to find his form every season . The head is working better than body and legs, but he will get there.

25 Jul 2018 23:59:21
Superb performance tonight once we got going after half an hour. Rosenberg couldn't live with us when we started to play. Ollie and Eddy what a couple of players we have here. It's like night and day the way we play the game compared to anything else in Scotland. Many skelpings will be handed out domestically this season and fancy Eddy if he stays fit to hit 40 or 50 goals, think we got a steal here whatever we paid for him. 😁.