Celtic Diary Wednesday August 28

Celtic will unleash their deadliest weapon on Khazak opponents tonight as they attempt to overcome a two goal deficit and qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

You.

The thunder should return to the east end of Glasgow and the following storm is expected to blow the hoops through the last stage of a long qualifying campaign, so we can all finally relax and look forward to top class football until Christmas at least, and we can worry about those games when they happen.

Beram Kayal won’t play, Kris Commons won’t train before the game, but might play, while Stokes, Samaras , Boerrigter and Forrest will all train, but will face a last minute decision if they play.

Heres hint number one for Lennon. Don’t pick anyone who isn’t 100% fit. Tonights game needs to be at a high tempo, and all fourteen players should be used, and they all have to be in tip top condition.

Fraser Forster has been picked for the latest England squad, which must make great reading for Gary Hooper, and consequently should up his game. Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izzaguerre at full back, with Efe Ambrose and Charlie Mulgrew at the back. That leaves Adam Matthews, Scott Brown, Joe Ledley ,  Tom Rogic and Georgios Samaras in the middle, reading right to left across the pitch, with Anthony Stokes , if fit, up front, and Amido Balde if he isn’t.

Matthews in the middle should keep the midfield stronger, and he’s more than capable of playing the forward role as well.

Ambrose was much improved against Inverness, and Mulgrew is best used at the back, covering Izzaguerres forays and using his height and strength to combat the aeriel threat. Both players are capable of bringing the ball out as well, which saves on losing possession with the punt clear.

All of the five midfielders can tackle and spring forward, whilst Stokes, along with Rogic and Ledley, will both shoot on sight, which is the main alteration to the tactics needed for this game.

Dump the sidieways shuffle. Go for goal.

Thats what it looks like , complete with the ball in an acceptable position.

Neil Lennon has spoken of the need for patience, and an early goal isn’t overly crucial. In a sense he is right, it doesn’t matter when the goals come, as long as there are three more Celtic goals than Shakhter goals. The worry though, is that any nervousness in the crowd will be passed to the players should it remain at 0-0 for longer than say, six minutes.

Fortunately, beer will be available at the usual outlets , and it can be a marvellous sedative if consumed in the right amounts. At most games, the guys who travel with me tend to get the volume correct, as they have usually nodded off by half time.

Speaking ahead of tonights match, when asked if victory would be sweet, Neil Lennon was surprisingly calm;

‘It would be, considering  everything that has gone on in the last six or seven weeks,’ he mused. ‘The amount of qualification games we have had to play, and off the back of what  happened last week as well.

‘The squad is really stretched, so we are trying to do the best  patch-up job we possibly can. These things happen. I am not putting my excuses forward before the end. We are a bit stretched, but I think we will prevail.’

He did, however, sound a little bit down when asked about the exits of Wilson, Hooper and Wanyama;

‘We could have asked Kelvin to stay longer,but I don’t think that would have happened.

‘I didn’t really want to sell Hooper, but we had no alternative in the end.

‘It’s just one of those things where, within a month, we lost three valuable assets. I don’t think there is a lot more we could have done.’

‘I don’t feel short-changed, but I think the squad is short. We have tried to bring players in and that has not been forthcoming.

‘But we still have a game to retrieve it all. I’m not saying it’s over, it’s not. I think we are still very much in this tie.’

Perhaps it might be an idea to get someone else to do the team talk. Someone a bit more cheerful.

Against probably better judgement, he continued;

‘The fans will have to be patient. We might not score until the 75th minute, but that still gives us 15 minutes to get another one. It’s a long time in football, that.

‘The team is very disciplined. We don’t need to be gung-ho at the start. There’s 90 minutes to score two goals, or possibly three.

‘If we concede, we’ve just got to score four or five, so they are well versed in what they have to do.

‘They’ve given themselves a lead. But we want to take the game to them as often as we can. Are they going to come and defend? We want to make them defend.’

Okay Neil. You can stop now.

Georgios Samaras was a bit more optimistic, but then again, he was speaking on the official website, where they have their own way of controlling output.

“The early goal would be perfect but we don’t need to panic,” he said.

“We need to keep playing our game, keep moving the ball really well and the chances will come.

“I don’t care if the goals come in the last 10 minutes or the first 10 minutes, it is 90 minutes, there is plenty of time.

“The main thing it to be clinical with the chances we create.

“We believe in our team, our talent and we fully respect Shakhter but at Celtic Park with a full house anything can happen.

“It is a big game. We want to be back in the Champions League group stages and hopefully everything will be okay.

“I expect it to be like the first game, they will try to defend and keep a clean sheet.

“We need to be more clever and more patient, to find a better way through their defence and create more chances, and the chances we create, we have to put them in the back of the net.

“They are a good team but it is a team we can beat.

“They are not Barcelona, whom we played last year, they are not a top European club.

“We respect them but we think we can do it.”

We played Barcelona ? How did we get on ?

Shakhter have indicated that may want to sacrifice a lamb pre match again, but thats unlikely to be allowed. Not now that word has got out.

Tonights game is what football is all about. Tension, excitement, atmosphere. Triumph or tragedy ? Agony or ecstasy ?

I’ve got no idea.

But when the crowd asks to Let The People Sing, and announce that You’ll Never Walk Alone, thats an incredible feeling.

And its why I can’t wait.

Nacho Sheepmuppet was the answer to yesterdays puzzle, well, it wasn’t, but it should have been. It was Paul Lambert, ( Paul, the alien from the film Paul, Shaun the Sheep and Bert from the muppets. )

  
An astonishingly cryptic one here, which should keep your mind of the game for a while.