Ahead of the clash on Wednesday with Manchester City, the former club of the people now rich mans plaything, there was a stark warning from Leon Britton…
( No, I don’t know either)
Warning for Celtic as Leon Britton says Manchester City
are the best team he’s ever faced.
Well, thats that then. We might as well chuck it.
Britton, who plays for Swansea, is a midfielder who has worked under Brendan Rodgers, and somehow, the Daily Record , has got an exclusive where Britton says he is going to text his former boss to point out just how good Manchester City are.
Well, Rodgers might not have noticed.
“In terms of the passing, I don’t think I’ve played against a team in the Premier Leaguewho keep the ball as well they do with the rotation and the movement.
“Look at the keeper. He’s an extra player. He drops his shoulder and beats a man.
Well, bugger I down dead. Our keeper just drops the ball. When he gets anywhere near it, that is.
“You think you have them pressed in and there was one instance in the first-half when we did it and he just clipped a ball over all of our heads to Kevin De Bruyne on the halfway line and he was the free man.
“Things like that make it so tough for any team that faces them.
“They are the best I have faced in the Premier League.
“You know they will take risks because that is the nature of the way they play, they want to pass it.
When you consider that the EPL contains teams such as Stoke, Hull, Watford and Bournemouth its clear Manchester City are a force to be reckoned with.
“So you try and nick it, but when they get the other side of you, the job is chase back 50 or 60 yards.
“You either press and try to take it off them or you drop deep and park the bus, as they say.
“We played them twice in four days and they made 10 changes for the second game, going back to the first 11 if you like.
“I thought first-half we did okay and frustrated them pretty well, but it’s very difficult to stop them.”
Bastards. you get the ball and then they try to get it back off you. Who’d have thought it ?
Britton obviously didn;t enjoy his recent tussles with Manchester City, but it makes me wonder how the Record managed to find him at such short notice.
Perhaps he’s a close friend of the Celtic manager..
“I text Brendan now and again. When he got the job at Celtic, I texted him and he did the same when I played my 500th game for Swansea.
“It’s not regular contact, but if they do well, I’ll drop a text.
“I might send him one on Monday saying Good Luck. He might need it.”
Ach, who cares.
Celtic haven’t done too badly against English sides in the past, and there are similarities between the all conquering Manchester City of this season, and the all conquering Leeds United of another era. And we all know what happened there.
In fact, had there been no more England-Scotland European ties after Shunsuke Nakamura secured a 1-0 win over Manchester United, the Scots would have been 11-9 ahead in wins. The balance has become slightly skewed since due to the influx of Sky money to the English league, with no Scots side recording even a win since.
Thats about to change…
If Celtic make the mistake of reading how much the Manchester City team cost, which is, of course, how teams apear to be judged these days, then no words of encouragement will help. Under no cirumstances should Celtic show them as much respect as they showed Barcelona. From the off, the hoops need to “Get Intae Them. ” This should make a mockery of the so called gulf between the two sides due to their relative costs.
Whilst its obvious that better players go for more money, the inflated prices paid by City for some of their players is ludicrous, and largely due to the fact that other clubs have noticed they are fairly footloose with their chequebook.
What is in store for them when their owners find a new toy to play with is unclear, and whether or not they are strictly adhering to the rules of financial fair play is another matter, but the one thing we have that they do not is a team spirit.
No egos, no one is here for the money.
And when the crowd gets behind them on Wednesday, those Celtic players will feel worth every bit as much as their opponents are supposed to be. Value as a football player is measured by the supporters, not by the guy writing their wage cheque.
The game on Wednesday is important if Celtic want to restore their name on the continent, and important for our chances of European football after Christmas. The key will be in passion, both on the pitch and off it.
City boss Pep Guardiola, who lets face it isn’t there because he grew up as a Manchester City fan, began the war of words…
“We are still far away from where we want to be, We are here to get better. You always have to keep going. It never ends in football.”
By full time on Wednesday, lets hope he wants to be as far away from Celtic Park as he possibly can be.
Back home, and Celtics win over Kilmarnock has pushed the side so far ahead at the top of the league that the title is all but won already. With 23 goals in the six games so far, there is no reason why the players can;t go on and add to the records already set, such as Demebeles first hat trick by a Celt in nearly forty years against any of the teams playing out of Ibrox, and Scott Sinclairs own six in a row.
Just over half way through the first round of matches, the league table has taken on the shape we pretty much expected it to, though the season has been more entertaining than predictable.
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtic | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 16 | ||||
| 2 |  |
Aberdeen | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 12 | |||
| 3 |  |
Hearts | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | |||
| 4 | |
St Johnstone | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 | |||
| 5 | |
Motherwell | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 9 | |||
| 6 | Ross County | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | ||||
| 7 | Rangers | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -3 | 9 | ||||
| 8 | Inverness CT | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -4 | 8 | ||||
| 9 | Dundee | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -3 | 6 | ||||
| 10 | |
Hamilton Accies | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 6 | |||
| 11 | |
Kilmarnock | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -7 | 6 | |||
| 12 | |
Partick Thistle | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -2 | 5 | |||
Updated 25/09/2016 at 16:54
TheRangersGuy@_Rangers_loyal_ been saying this. Warbs would be a great manger for Barca. The system is too good for the players.
Or this;
Right lads, who fancies a return game against Barca?
