Celtic Diary Wednesday August 16: Don’t Panic

I can get to fuck 

I know its not a real account, Lawwell isn’t on twitter, unsurprisingly, but the humorous tweet kind of summed up how some incontinent fans are viewing the Roberts scenario.

Manchester city are just being tough negotiators. Thats all. They don;t want him, we do, and they’re trying to get as much money in as they can.

You can’t blame them, but you don’t have to like them. There’s no need to criticise Celtic though, and we need to remember there’s still a fortnight until the end of the transfer window.

If , of course, Celtic do qualify for the group stages, we may find that other wingers will find Glasgow a much better stage on which to display their talents than if we don’t, which will drive the price for Roberts down again as our options increase.

Is it any wonder the two clubs are playing poker ?

However, a little bit of nerves are allowed regarding to nights game..

The biggest concern for the support appears to surround central defence, where Celtic have been a little unlucky with injuries. Erik Sviatchenko isn;t fit, neither is Dedryck Boyata, and that means Nir biton will step up alongside Jozo Simunovic and the experienced Israeli has been accused of being a little lackadaisical and perhaps a weak link at the back.

Brendan Rodgers disagrees..

“If it was a big gamble I wouldn’t do it. I have taken risks all my life. Eight 
or nine times out of 10 they pay off.

“But for me, this is not a risk as you also look at the game.

“If I am playing against a team who are totally bombarding you with high balls and direct balls and you are away from home, then maybe you think differently. 

“But you also have to think of the level of the game. You want to put in young players but you don’t want to hurt them either because these are pressure games and normally little bits of 
experience can get you though.

“Okay, it might not be perfect playing Nir there but he has a good idea of what he is doing and he has the right profile.

“He will go and attack it, he will head it and he can play football. I don’t see it as a risk.

“I will take risks but they will always be calculated. There is a certain dynamic to it and he has done it very well.” 

“You miss the number of times he does go and be aggressive.

“It could have been a penalty but on lots of occasions those moments will go for him. You could have a defender in there who doesn’t get back quick enough, there are pluses and minuses.

“Since I’ve been here all the centre halves have been 
questioned and all the midfield players have been questioned 
but the facts are simple. We’ve played seven competitive games and conceded one goal.

“We’re not perfect by any means but he’s done brilliantly since he’s been in there, in terms of how we work and how we play. 

“Nir’s gone into a game against Rosenborg away, in a pressure game against a good side and he’s coped really well with Nicklas Bendtner, a player who on his day is a very good striker.

“There will always be a risk if you are putting in a midfield player who doesn’t normally 
play there.

“But if you are a centre-half or a midfield player playing at centre-half and you make one mistake over a couple of games, I’ll take that.” 

So will I. Which makes two of us.

One of which knows his football and the other is the manager.

Note what he says about bombarding the side with high or direct balls, which may well tempt the Astana manager to change his style….

He also refers to how they will view us, not in so many words, but there’s little doubt that the Khazaks may dwell a little too much on the side they faced last year, without considering the new mental toughness of Celtic.

“I look back at the images of last year’s team 
and how we play and it’s a different animal.

“It was just a different team with a different idea. Mentally it was just trying to get them through it. But the team now plays in a different way and that will hopefully benefit us.

“We know the consequence of it. If you think too much you could have the sleepless nights and my way is always the same.

“This year has been much smoother for us and that’s down to the maturity of the group. 

“You can’t get too emotional. They’re emotive games of 
course and we want passion and aggression. But in order for us to get to the other side, you have to stay calm.

“The players have learnt that. We played enough big games last season and from what we’ve seen over this campaign so far, with that bit of maturity in knowing our ideas of the game, if we stick to them we’ll get our rewards.

“In Rosenborg we made over 700 passes. That’s away from home in what was built up as a real pressure game. I focus 
on dangerous possession. I like to have the control and domination. I’m not one who will talk about 700 passes and lose 2-0.

“Ultimately, the idea is to win. But the amount of passes is a sign of confidence. That gains control, tires out opponents, gets you into good positions. You are in attack working the space and the ball. That’s the theory. It’s a predictor of confidence and efficiency.

“The players now are clear and concise in how they want to work. Even when the team changes, players come into roles and know the function. They know their job so can go out with the confidence that if they play well, stick to their ideas, be aggressive and attack, we can have a good night.” 

He knows what he’s doing, the players know what they’re doing, so it follows that all they have to do is go out there and do it.

 

 

Astana have only lost twice since April, in the Khazak cup and the 1-0 reverse to Legia Warsaw earlier this month. That defeat didn’t help Legia, who were beaten 3-1 in Khazakstan, but whilst we may tremble at the fact they beat Legia, they struggled to overcome Spartaks Jurmala in the previous round.

In the league they are dominant, with one or two impressive results..

9 September 2017 – Kazakh Premier League
Astana		13.00		Atyrau

Ah, wait, thats the kick off time. Next month.

The club were only formed in 2009, making them the second youngest club we’ll face this season, and have already racked up three domestic titles and three domestic cups, but in Europe they have yet to assert themselves.

Thats because they have to travel so far for games. With UEFA’s moral flexibility as to the borders of Europe, their proximity to China would ordinarily have meant they wouldn’t be allowed in a European competition, and it certainly affects their performance away from home.

we could have had more difficult opponents, although we wouldn’t have got a more difficult away trip.

thats why we could do with finishing this game off tonight, but as with Rosenborg, its important to remember its just the first half, and keeping a clean sheet is important.

As we did for the Linfield game, there’s another predictascore competition for this tie. Rob O’Keefe has donated another £100 and again it will go to the person who gets both scores correct, the first game being the qualifier for the second game.

Put your predictions in the replies, and those who get it right will get the chance to win the money, for the charity if their choice, by predicting the score in the return.

My own prediction, which will be edited later to look as though i got it right, is for a 2-0 Celtic win.

I’m expecting another disciplined performance, with a couple of goals.

And i’m expecting the defence and midfield to combine to keep the opposition restricted to just a few chances.

Then again, I’m expecting Donald Trump, a man who has proved you don;t need to be skint to be white trash, to resign this week.

It’ll be another roller coaster of emotions, buts thats why we bought the ticket, right ?

Meanwhile, Chris Sutton has upset a few people, proving he does indeed have a sense of humour…

Lennon , of course, won’t be charged over his behaviour…

The lads over at Ibrox noise have given their thoughts on Eargate, which are, er, interesting..

Yes, thats right.

John Beaton evened up an error against Celtic by making one against Hibernian.

And all they want is a level playing field…

Even so, that may be entertaining for some of us, but the other lot, club 1872, the least successful of the seventies holiday package tours companies, have taken their show on the road..

They’ll never learn, but there are signs the gullibillies may be a little less gullible in future..

Not many, right enough..

Laughably, the Scottish sports media, or should that be the laughable Scottish sports media commented on a question to Leigh Griffiths from the Khazak press..