With two more convincing wins under our belts since the diary last appeared, there is probably a temptation for us to forget just how bad things were a few months ago, and start to take things for granted again.
Jablonec were dismissed farily easily, but they still had their moments later in the game, but then again, maybe they were a better side than we allowed them to be.
The game against Hearts was also won long before the end, not once, at 2-0, but twice when Celts went 3-1 ahead. The ingrained mentality of professional footballers is to ease of..also called managing the game… when comfortably ahead, sensible to an extent as it avoids injuries, bookings and even catastrophic failures such as the Partizan Belgrade fiasco of days gone by.
Ange Postecoglou wants his players to keep going, to win games by larger margins, though time will tell if he gets that message through to his charges.
After all, they’re still getting used to such novelties as supervised training and not beng allowed to go to the pub for a session after a session at Lennoxtown.
As one completely made up source told us ;
“It’s different now. It’s like the gaffer takes it seriously”
The improvement in some of the players, such as Ralston, Christie and the reborn Calum MacGregor has been astonishing. In a matter of weeks they’ve not only rediscovered their own enthusiasm and ability, but have passed it on to others as well.
The new additions have slotted in better than could have been reasonably expected, Abede and Fuhruhashi have become heroes, and although Starfelt has yet to make the same impact, surely any criticisms have been based on the success of the other two rather than his own failings ?
Which brings me to the support.
Rather than enjoy what is being played out in front of them, some are still finding a reason to have a moan. Yes, we could do with a bit more strength in depth where the defence is concerned, and probably another striker, but just becuase something must be done, finding something and doing it is not the answer.
Postecoglou has hinted that it’s he and he alone who makes the decisions regarding players, and if those the fans are clamouring for us to sign aren;t signed, then it’s down to him.
He’d rather wait for the right guy than just sign someone who might be alright.
the case of thomas Henry is interesting, as it’s seen some Celtic fans turn into experts on previously unknown strikers, as he is just what we need and Celtic should pay the money.
Usually, the case for the prosecution cites statistics and other types of data, which are usually promoted by agents, but ange seems more old school, and is concerned more with what a player will do rather than what he has done.
That makes a lot of sense, and if backed up by a proper scouting network and the right kind of background research, then it is better to wait.
Celtic have squandered more than a few quid on duds, and it’s unfair to call them duds because for a player to shine he needs to be in the right environment.
What Billy McNeill called Celtic minded is exactly what I’m referring to, and if they weren’t Celtic minded he had to be sure that would soon become it.
Looking at Kyogi Fuhruhashi, and listening to ange when he said he had been watching him mature for a while in Japan, there could have been little doubt that the manager knew what he was getting would be exactly what he was looking for.
Whereas the media, both mainstream and social, hadn’t got a clue.
Based on that acquisition alone, we should accept that Postecoglou knows not only what he wants, but who he wants, and he certainly knows enough not to tell anyone in the media anything that would give them even the slightest of clues.
So far, he’s turned things around to a degree we wouldn’t have dared hope for even six weeks ago. And there’s more to come, so let’s just enjoy it.
Instead of highlighting the negatives let’s try to look at the positives.
Same with Dominic McKay, and before you criticise the board, remember it was this board that found, tempted and hired Postecoglou.
They have backed him with the signings he has wanted, and apart from a terrified press doing their usual angle, there is no evidence to suggest they have blocked him on anything, even subconsciously by refusing to pay what other clubs want.
This idea of just paying what clubs want for their assets is nonsense….if Morelos expressed a desire to join Celtic would you pay what the Iborx club /company value him at ?
Or would you pay what you think he’s worth ?
The media seem to have latched onto a story that Ionas Hagi will raise £9m for them….would anyone pay that for a bloke who isn;t even a first team regular ?
Celtic will pay what they think a player is worth at the time of asking.
Some will go on to greater things, it happens, others will fail. Those that fail are forgotten, as there is little demand for articles that praise that kind of judgement.
With the fare on offer on the field, and the prospect of more to come, let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Next up are AZ 67 Alkmaar, who haven;t done a great deal since Ipswich beat them in the UEFA cup final many years ago. come to think of it, neither have Ipswich.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of coming up against sides like Alkmaar is the way commentators pronounce them. Ah Zee seems to be a common enough abbreviation, which is actually their name, Alkmaar Zaanstreek, so to call them Alkmaar Zaanstreek 67 Alkmaar is just silly.
And its pronounced ah zet.
They’ve sold a few of their players, and some of the ones still there aren;t happy. That may be the case, but it sounds more like reporters have looked at their squad list, googled a few stories and concluded they are falling apart at the seams, largely so they can have a go at Celtic should the hoops fail to progress.
Which, as we know, won’t be the case. they’ll be a decent side, most Dutch teams are.
However, we are also a decent side, and as long as we keep doing what we have been doing , keeping the ball for as long as we can and fighting tooth and nail to get it back, it won;t matter how good they are.
Our forward line is more than capable of scoring against anyone, and it’s goals that win games, so as long as we keep scoring more than the opposition, we’ll be fine.
after a break of over a year, fans are getting back into the ground, and there’s a damn good product on offer.
So please, look at what we have got, and not what we haven’t got.
And go out there and enjoy yourselves…as I’m certain the manager says to the players before the games.
Football is entertainment, after all, so allow yourself to be entertained.
Great to have Etims back. I not had it for ages, oh er missus!
The first 45 mins on Sunday were as enjoyable a Celtic performance as I’ve seen in a long time. The 2nd 45 mins…not so much. How we let the jam farts back into is worrying. I’m hoping that it was merely the team getting their fitness levels up. It’s not feasible for us to expect the team to play for that level of intensity for 90 mins…yet.
It’s why the need for reinforcements is glaring. The substitutions on Sunday disrupted the team, the injection of fresh legs didn’t correlate with a return to the intensity of the first half. Playing this way means we need to have a squad we can rotate, perhaps against the teams in the lower half of the league.
Moving McGregor to accomodate McCarthy didn’t work on Sunday. McGregor had another fantastic game, always making himself available to take a pass off the defence in tight areas. We lost that when McCarthy came on. But we need to give him time to get up to speed.
Starfelt allowed himself to be bullied by Ginnelly when he came on, too many times waiting for the bounce instead of attacking the ball in the air. But I think we have yet to see the best of him yet. The Celtic defence wasn’t affectionately (?) known as the sieve for nothing. Maybe we just need to settle for scoring more than the opposition. Works for me.
And whatever work Ange has done with Rogic, it’s clearly paying dividends, he’s like the player from 2 – 3 years ago.
A promising start, a few more reinforcements and my glass might even be half full.
Im not sure it was that worrying. It reminded me of a runner letting someone catch up with them before they kick on again and wait for them to catch up again. The last second goal paints it as a contest but it was a heavyweight facing a pennyweight in reality,
Well it worried me. We gave Hearts a glimmer of hope when we should have been well out of sight. And heaven forbid the MIB decided to give Hearts a helping hand at 3 – 2.At half time I was confidently predicting to my son that we were going to give Hearts a helluva beating. In the end up we didn’t. But we move on, certainly more optimistic than after the last Hearts game.
H,H!
This site is beginning to sound more like CQN every day
Hold on…we dont have adverts 🙂
In last nights Podcast you will hear Dom Mackay getting scored 2 out of 10 so not quite full CQN yet
The football we are playing is a breath of fresh air, we are winning games and scoring goals. However, I think we have been a tad fortunate that a series of games at Celtic Park has allowed us to find our feet and get things together. Sterner tests are ahead………..
I watched the AZ game on Saturday, they lost 1-0 away to a newly promoted team, RKC. (RKC got in about them as any newly promoted teams would) AZ have have lost 2 or 3 big players and Koopmeiners’ head (he is their star player now) has apparently been turned by interest from Atalanta. AZ look a decent side but it was their first league game and they don’t look totally match sharp. We need to punish them on Wednesday as they have a strong home record.
The period between now and the end of August will be important. Home and away v AZ and a trip to Ibrox. If we come out the other end unscathed, we will be motoring.
The fact we’re a couple of weeks further along in match fitness is something we need to capitalize on.
Some AZ fans I’ve spoken to have hinted they’re a bit worried that last season’s league showing was a bit of a flash in the pan: They tend to have a good run every few years – but as a small club have trouble maintaining a level which would allow them to compete regularly with the bigger clubs and – as seen elsewhere – the pandemic impacted different clubs in different ways.
If Celtic play at the same level we’ve seen in the last few games – and don’t give too many silly goals away (we will need an in form Joe Hart) – then I reckon we have a really good chance of progressing.
Joe Hart made some great saves in the last European match…but there were heart stopping moments when he appeared to have studied at the Craig Gordon school of “how to over-elaborate and make suicidal passes from defense”. My heart was in my mouth every time he tried one. Hopefully Ange will have told him to play safe and kick it upfield when the opposition players are closing in near the box.
Apart from that, Hart looks like a keeper, not like Barkas the ball boy.
Alkmaar is my local Eredivisie team, though my preference is to go to Telstar in the Eerste Divisie, mainly due to the horror of exiting the parking at the Alkmaar stadium, and playing at quarter to nine on a Saturday night.
My take on the tie has changed dramatically. 2 weeks ago I was shitting myself and preparing for months of getting the piss taken. AZ had a good preseason winning against Torino and Real Sociedad despite losing Stengs, Boadu and later on Bizot. Now Wijndal is injured, Larsson is suspended and Koopmeiners is in similar transfer place to Eddy. That’s the list of their best players from last season. On paper much weaker than last year. They’ve recruited as usual in Scandinavia and cherry-picking lesser Eredivisie teams. Celtic fans would call them ‘projects’ except for Pavlidis, 22 goals for Willem II last season. Their manager thinks it’s a good idea to play a midfielder at left back, replacing the injured Wijndal. He might change this for Wednesday playing the ‘invisible’ James Forrest.
As a team they are always very good with the ball and their aim is to have the ball most of the time. Good in the transition where they will look to move the ball forward very quickly. High press when they lose the ball but this is also their weakness. Their players are defensively less strong than for instance at Ajax and PSV which is why they finish 3rd or 4th most years. The team holds its structure and has good routine. They’ve played this way for years, have high player turnover but new players fit in quickly as they are scouted for this type of football.
Celtic will need to go out and win the game with positive football. If they let AZ play, they will. Very capable of the the classic European sucker punch that puts us out of Europe every year.
If you’re planning to visit, Alkmaar is a lovely wee town – old city centre, canals, bars – also an easy train ride from Amsterdam. My AZ friends are sick that they don’t get the chance to visit Paradise, are as nervous as me about the game but really looking forward to it. They were surprised by how well Scotland played against the Netherlands in the pre-Euros friendly.
Lovely stuff, cheers!
Spys everywhere! Many thanks and please pass this onto Ange! HH!
“Postecoglou has hinted that it’s he and he alone who makes the decisions regarding players, and if those the fans are clamouring for us to sign aren;t signed, then it’s down to him.”
Not quite. Ange has said he has the final say on signings, but that doesn’t mean that if no signings are incoming it is because Ange has decided so.
Ange can confirm the target he wants but it is then up to the executives to do the deal. We have well known issues in this area historically.
The fact we are two weeks away from the end of the transfer window without further defensive recruitments is another shocking indictment on our board – I get the distinct impression that Old Peter may be ‘lending a helping hand’ and utilising ‘his skills’ for us in this department yet.
All the positivity to date stems from Ange. The Board still have a huge amount of convincing to do.
Articles like this (whether intentionally or otherwise) seem to blur the lines between supporting Celtic/the manager & players/the Board and treat any criticism of one as an attack on the other. It is clearly not the case and it’s unhelpful in the extreme to give our board one inch, as they will take a mile.
If they think Sevco need to sell, they may well wait and see how weakened they are before thinking about strengthening us. Remember, we lost TIAR with £20m in the bank and an amateur of a manager in Neil Lennon. Profits before performance.
The pressure must be kept on them.
So please, look at what we have got, and not what we haven’t got.
bravo Ralph!
Wrong, we should be looking at both else how do you improve?
Ralph, I came to Scotland in 1980 Though Celtic were big in Belfast, not where I lived, the football diet was the English First Division with Liverpool replacing Man Utd. I could not get used to the negativity towards Celtic and Rangers, they existed then, from their own supporters. Then I began to realise the ’ moaners’ actually enjoy complaining about Celtic more than supporting them. It is in their nature filled with negativity about their boss, colleagues, neighbours even their own family. It is a sad attitude that afflicts them. The first time Ange’s team stumbles they will be out in force to call for his head. McGregor lost form last season, has had a new lease of life coming from under Brown’s shadow. Same with Christie.The Board recruited, Dom, Ange, Hart, Kyogo, Albada and I agree Starfield will get better especially when Julien becomes an option. I was bemused at the suddenness of our fall last season, almost as if the Taliban organised it but the resurrection has been even quicker. I suspect the ‘ fall’ started sooner and the rise will take longer but loving it right now.
The fall started the day Neil Lennon was bought back as a manager. It took a while for it to be really noticed but by the beginning of last season the writing was on the wall.
Agreed but, worryingly, lawwell and desmond culpable and the latter still around and not sure the former has ‘left the building’.
I was a Lennon fan but his appointment was not thought through. It is clear he stayed too long snd yet a quadruple treble masks a lot.
“… cites statistics and other types of data, which are usually promoted by agents, but ange seems more old school, and is concerned more with what a player will do”
Not sure where that comes from. Arthur Papas was a coach with Ange for 2 years in Japan:
“Ange is the type that scours through every bit of information. If you’re a staff member there, you need to be on top of everything because you’ll get questioned at times about ‘what was the data on this?’, ‘what were the statistics on this player?’ He is obsessed with his work,”
Yeah, the lazy ‘old style’ manager who doesn’t bother with modern methods was the execrable lennon.
Luckily he’s gone and Ange seems a polar opposite.
I’m quite relaxed (for a change) about this set of fixtures.
If we qualify (I think we are 3 or 4 players off it just now) for the Europa League proper then I believe we are pot 2 team. Pot 3 may have West Ham , Marseille and Real Sociedad , so its not to be sniffed at. Final is in Seville , so who knows ?
However the conference league, which in Britain at least has negative sounding connotations as an inferior tournament has Spurs, Roma , Anderlecht(maybe) and Feyenoord to name but a few , so not too shabby.
I say play without fear , enjoy it and see where we end up, either way we are in for some good games between now and December.
How refreshingly positive. When you dip in to the forum comment it’s like the plunge pool in a sauna. My question is does the post conceal a golden ticket to the next fans forum presser? Will you give up the secret of the eternal gobstopper? Do they pay expenses? Oompa loompa dippidy doo…
Kasper Hjulmand the Danish football manager encouraged his players to ‘play without fear’, the philosophy of the legendary Dutch player Johan Cruyff. I think that this is the “Ange” philosophy too.
To play without fear, surely means, to play with confidence to release the fear and to express yourself on the park. How refreshing. It has to be a confidence booster for the players knowing that the coach believes in you, never to mind that if you lose a goal, then you can attack as often as you can to score goals more than you lose. It must be said that it was a big Jock philosophy too, it’s the Celtic way, to play attacking football and I love it.
Adverts are sore on the eyes, while podcast’s make your ears bleed.
Liam scales the Shamrock player is a left footer, it seems that he is destined to sign for Celtic and Ange is on record as saying that he expects him to go straight into the first team, that would allow Starfelt a right footed player to move to his natural position on the right side, competing with Julien when he comes back. Let’s hope that Liam cuts the mustard. Tony Ralston has done brilliantly, who knew there was such a good player inside that brusque exterior. If/when a new right back appears, then no doubt there will be clubs looking at Tony for a loan move.
When I was young in the Hillfoot’s, at the old bus terminal there was an old mans howf, it smelt great mostly, apart from the smell of dribbling pish. But the smell of the puffing pipes was terrific, glasses on and wearing bunnet’s playing dominos, they were great company to a young lad. That’s what i sense – smell coming from the podcast, dribbling pish.
I was saying the very thing re Starfelt. More at home on the right side of defence, so any type of judgement of the guy is unfair until we see him operating in his natural position.
Absolutely, I still remember big Joos Valgaeren MON centre back that was right footed and was played at left back sometimes. A great player but who got horsed in Europe being played in the wrong position and on the wrong side. Same thing. We must give Starfelt time to settle and to play in his natural right sided position.
Mike the old men’s howf is gone but a Celtic bus still leaves from the Hillfoots.
Were you one of the ‘old yins’ BJF, still drawing in the pipe, still chap, chap, chapping?
Singing the Celtic song, happy days.
I listen to it at Easter, it’s my Celtic Penance, for Lent. There’s the gravel voiced Jimmy Boyle, the murderer turned Arteest, menacing. Switches to Cleethorpe’s the liquorice factory, where his dug eats onions, lets one rip and they have to vacate the whole street, misses comes out shouting “yer teas oot”. Switches to West Belfast and just call me Gerry, mural on his wall of Bobby God Bless Yeh Sands. Canny say to much or he will send out the nutting squad. Goes to the tax man.. If yer looking doon the wire Hector, it’s no an original Monet, its cough the grandweans pencil sketch.
Can’t wait for the match. With the forward and defensive lines in the shape they’re in, we could see lots of goals at both ends all season long.
Anyway, maybe I need to reread this after my acid trip has worn off. Surely I hallucinated the part where Ralph spelled some people’s names correctly and then defended the board! Maybe someone could check up on him to make sure he isn’t tied up in a compromising position somewhere…?
I’m not sure he’s defending the board as such but he does share their philosophy of just do enough to improve and then stop.
Things can be good but still capable of improving and saying so and agitating for it isn’t moaning, it’s wanting the best and not settling for less.
I have no fear watching us now, I feel a bit like when MON first come in n we destroyed the Huns 3 nil at Ibrox,I’m that confident in Ange that I’m certain the treble is ours,Ange will be a better manager than Rodgers and with all things considered I believe history will have him in 2nd place behind Jock Stein,better than MON,Rodgers and McNeill, we’re in for some ride with this guy,mark my words.
Welcome back
Agree to a certain extent, but Ange requires 100% effort from all. The issue with the games played in Scotland is the Hun in the middle. If you look at both Hertz games, Beathun and Madhun did us no favours, Muir likewise against Dundee. My concern is a serious injury from the Celtic haters in other teams.
As for signings we have signed a few donkeys, would rather have Ange run his eyes over any incomings. Concerns are still there about the back room comedians JPK and Strachan. As forSevco, they lumber on with the media getting more hysterical with a sold called queue of European clubs waiting to sign their journeymen. Hope we do well in Europe, but the league and other trophies could lead to the demise of the Orcs.
Only when we sign three quality defenders, nail Christie on a new contract & sign a more than adequate replacement for Edouard will i start to get excited.
A lot of work still to be done.
I’ve been completely sickened by the ‘new’ eTims, a name that I pointed out was wrong,
ETims vs eTims.
Anyway, the main point is this: LOVE is the core of humanity.
I can’t get myself to fully trust this, yet I know it’s correct.
I have/will take(n) on ‘hard’ men and left curled up remnants.
It is not who I am.
I hope that those who read this will be enlightened by it.
There is no ‘god’, just exploiters of humanity, many of whom are yids.
Ask yourself, to whom is the ‘national debt’ paid?
And for what ’cause’?
And who actually pays it?
I understand, really as I always did, Celtic is just another part of ther con.
LOVE is concentric and absolute.
Have a laugh here, fuck the pope and ALL the other kings on Earth.
AND ONCE AGAIN…………”Awaiting for approval” F U C K OFF
Getting the same and yet thumb thumpers can post non Celtic guff all day.
Thank fukk there is someone intelligent on here, Woof,Woof! I’ve just about had enoof……
BTW, the brightest stars on here, IMHO, were ‘charlie’ and The Cha…..perhaps include your self here, and all decided to look elsewhere?
Improvement????? NAWW……………….
PS Much as I want to, love (in my heart) is missing, for now……
Whae gi’s a fuckk?
ETims by nature. Emailing Tims.
Unwrap the post Ralphy! It’s the golden ticket Grandad! I get to go to a press conference in Dommy Wonka’s factory. Dippidy doo!
The basis for judgement is in how we win, lose or draw.
Celts – a draw.
Enjoy.