Hurrah..finally!….the international break is over and we can all get back to some real fitbaw.
This weekend sees The Hoops at home to face their big Title rivals, Aberdeen.
With both teams unbeaten after 7 games each this season, this football feast couldn’t get any more savoury, even if you lathered it in BBQ sauce and left it in the slow cooker overnight.
The latest news suggest that Cameron Carter Vickers could return at the heart of the defence. This would probably mean a demotion back to the bench for new signing Auston Trusty, it would be hard to justify dropping Liam Scales on current form, plus his established relationship with CCV could be pivotal for this encounter. Its true that CCV’s form hadn’t been the best recently but that may have been caused by him playing through the Pain barrier and nursing the injury to his toe. Hopefully we see him back in the line up come the 3pm kick-off.
Speaking of which, the actual game and kick-off time and TV coverage has been capturing the headlines recently. After Sky and Premier had already committed to their choice of games, the cry suddenly went up for this game to be catered for when people actually began to appreciate the start both teams had made this season. Celtic simply laughed and said “Fuck off” when asked to move the game to accommodate any late and cheap requests by the TV companies. Quite right too, and nice to see the formerly sacrosanct Saturday 3pm game-time get some protection. It should be a cracker and Brendan wasn’t slow in highlighting the important part the fans can play on Saturday.
its expected that Celtic will line up with Kaspar in goal. The great Dane has been getting some soft abuse lately for his international gaffe but he’s done well for us and his distribution could come in very handy against the Dons. Hopefully he sticks at least one boot on the line should he need to face a penalty from the men in red. At left back, Greg Taylor has been injured and Alex Valle has another chance to stake his claim for the position. The young man has impressed in flashes and his drives into the final 3rd could be vital against a stubborn Dons defence. Scales and CCV should hold the centre and on the right we should see Alastair Johnston who like Valle, can expect to busy helping out the attacks as well as guarding his own goal.
In midfield its not quite a case of any 3 from 5 just yet as it will still take a while before Luke McGowan is challenging CalMac for his place. Top signing Arne Engels will start after being away with Belgium this last week and next to him and our captain will either be Reo or Bernardo. The jury is still out slightly on this but with each game, Bernardo seems to be strengthening his case versus Hatate. Whoever starts will be expected to replaced, along with Engels around the 70 minute mark, by the other along with McGowan, whose determination and love for the club devotion could really help keep the fires burning in games such as these.
Up front it should be quite straightforward, providing no injuries or jet-lag from recent International endeavours. Kyogo will likely start through the middle, after his nice wee holiday trip to the Scottish Isles last week, and either side of him should be The Human Dynamo in Daizen Maeda and Celtics current star man, Nicolas Kuhn.
The wingers have been in great form and hopefully it can continue. Maeda and Kyogo’s pressing instincts could also come to the fore against a Dons team who may not have experienced the intensity from such pressing so far this season. Again its likely the subs will come out on 70 mins and Adam Idah should get some game time with Yang or possibly Mr Hat Trick in Sligo, Luis Palma getting on to try and work his way back into contention.
The recent fightback at Ross County showed that class should win out in the end but we have to be at the top of our game.
Aberdeen are on a run of 13 wins and have not been scraping by in a few games here or there. They have been steady, composed, organised and clinical when needed and the team, players and especially the new Manager Jimmy Thelin have really impressed.
“He has brought a style of football that you can easily get involved with, you can easily applaud, you can easily support.” said Dons legend Willie Miller.
Aberdeen seem very well balanced and also have managed to show they can dig deep when required, a very late winner at Ross County ( ahem!) and a good comeback victory against Hearts in the last game for example. While they may not have faced a Celtic or Rangers yet ( they have quite a few weeks ahead of them), Their Swedish Manager has their defence playing very well with only 6 goals conceded in the league this year, and up front they have former Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet and current Pittodrie hero Pape Habib Guèye looking to take their chances in front of goal and throughout the team, pressure is constantly focused upon the opponent so it could be a big day for players keeping their composure and concentration.
It really is set up to be quite an afternoon at Celtic Park. The top 2 in the league, undefeated facing off…something has to give!
If we play to our strengths, we should win, hopefully with at least a 2 goal cushion. Hopefully no cobwebs after the International break and we can really start brightly and take firm control. Whether Aberdeen and the officials Nick Walsh and his VAR buddy Greig Aitken allow us to do that, well only time will tell.
Etims Prediction…Kyogo to grab our first and Kuhn and Idah to finish the job after Aberdeen get a dubious penalty award. Here’s to 3-1 the good guys.
Sure looking forward to this game and a Saturday 3 o’clock KO. It seems such a long time ago that we had one of those. I won’t be able to attend unfortunately but I’ll certainly be there in spirit, I’m sure the fans will love it.
Good summary Desi☘️
Pape not out with a quad injury until January? Good article hopefully no ring rust after the pointless international break.
We should be suitably refreshed, as the only ones that had significant International minutes were Ralston, Scales and Maeda, who are all pretty fit guys and the rest were pretty much rested.
In 2 minds on CCV, do we trust his hammys, toes and knees to be up to 2 big games in 5 games?
If not then we might be better sticking with Trusty to continue developing a partnership with Scales. Sure, he was mince in Dortmund but who wasn’t?
Personally, I’d rather the game was brought forward to be shown on TV for those of us not in attendance and, if you think Celtic have not done so because of the fans, a reminder that Santa’s not due for a couple of months.
A bit of a mouthful, how about Benbulbin, as he scaled the heights, such as they were.
Depends what you mean but most of their games seem to have been tight, until a couple of Red Cards and they remind me of Hearts last season, who were edging these games, largely through Shankland.
I would expect the Dons performances to improve, as time goes on, although paradoxically their results will probably get worse.
Pape Habib Guèye is out long term, which will be a big miss, so threats on the break should be diminished.
After the, perhaps understandable, drop in performance in Dingwall, post-Dortmund, I hope we put in another top class performance and, if we do, I’m sure the result will follow.
Do you never shut up, ya stupid pain in the arse ye?
You’re the Clachnacuddin and the Hoops of ETims, every time a new blog comes up you’re there with yer blah blah fvckin blah …
Will ye never give it a rest, man?
“…expected that Celtic will line up with Kaspar in gaol.”
Free the Parkhead 1…
Not sure why Kaspar Schmeichel should be imprisoned but could be a typo.
Looking forward to this, it will be tough and will be a test. I am quietly confident
We run the risk of dropping plenty more league points and falling flat in Europe if we continue defending like that. Valle is useful going forward but defensively suspect and he hits the deck far too easily. Trusty tends to stand off attackers driving forward in possession far too much and clearly looks uncomfortable on the right hand side. We really need an in-form CCV back on Wednesday evening to have any chance of giving the Italians a decent game. These international breaks are starting to take their toll as well. Keep up your excellent contributions Cha!
Don’t tell Michael that!!!
Hahaha!
Let’s hear it for Cha Cha Cha!
And his blah blah blah
Yeah, Trusty does tend to back off, which doesn’t lead to a good outcome.
Also, didn’t understand why Scales didn’t try to cut out the through ball for the first goal when he must’ve known it would lead to them being through on goal.
Weird decisions all round, Johnston clattering our player and given them a dangerous opportunity and was it him that gave it away before the equaliser?
Seemed brainless at the free-kick at the end to simply give it to Idah to have a ‘batter’, as the Dons were defensively solid and something more inventive was required.
We’ve still got more than enough to win big domestically but, unless we sharpen up, Europe will be a lot more challenging.
Yep, Wednesday evening could be a tough watch. Don’t think it’ll be as bad as the Dortmund game though.
I largely agree with this, Cha, as I generally do with your incisive post match analysis, though it was Maeda who gave it away and not Scales, who’s a far more trusty lieutenant than Trusty himself.
But you can’t just call folk ‘a pain in the arse’ just for expressing their opinion.
At least you didn’t go all ‘Woe is me!’ like some do.
So we’ll call it quits at that.
HH
0 points for the huns today. They’re gonna have a real bad time up at Pittodrie at the end of the month. 🙂
Reasons to be cheerful, Parts 1, 2 and 3 🙂
Scored 1 goal away from home this season. Champion form. 🙂
They’re Simply a Mess
🙂
Whenever they’re presented with an opportunity to narrow the gap on us they seem to soil their pants. Clement to be gone by xmas anyone?
I think it was Maeda who delivered that atrocious pass that led to their equaliser.
So it was.
I’m sure Johnston had another couple of sloppy moments; did he foul a Dons player when the ball was going out for our throw-in?
I can’t remember that one tbh but it wouldn’t surprise me. Re Scalesy, I thought he put in a pretty decent shift overall but yeah, he was clearly at fault for their first goal. The defence line was far too high up the park and Scalesy knew only too well that Sokler would skin him for pace so he should have anticipated the through ball much better and made a far greater physical effort to cut it out
Easy for us to say from the comfort of our sitting room …
Scalesy’s alright, potential legend in the making once he tidies his game up, if not a demi legend already.
Not many Celtic players can boast MOTM two Champions League games in a row, with another MOTM against the Ibrox mob sandwiched in between.
Some of the vision in his passing is breathtaking at times, even when it doesn’t come off.
I said he was a player two years ago and all he’s done is prove us right since.
Go on, Scalesy!
Agreed. His awkward style often makes him look worse than he really is. The bhoy’s done well for us for the main part.
After a pretty languid first half and a comfy 2-0 lead I cycled to the shop for a can of beer, some bread and wine, and couldn’t believe the nigh on impossible change when I got back …
It was like watching two entirely different teams that I’d only left some 20 minutes earlier, the Dons looking sharp, alert, sturdy and dangerous, while Celtic looked frightened out their pants, only waking up when Walsh gave that last 10 minutes of injury time, and by then it was too late, but might not have been.
But that timid second half, with all that feart side to side passing, was concerning and needs addressed asap, as I’ve not seen us so scared at Parkheid domestically for years, not since the Co … bid fiasco against the bluenoses.
Coulda lost it, coulda won it but it was too tight either way to be let happen again.
‘Awaiting For Approval’?
Again?
What was the ‘bad word’ this time ..?
‘Languid’ ..?
Sturdy ..?
Pants ..?
I bet it’s pants …
Co … Vid …
Yeah!
Ffs!
It’s Co .. vid!
We’re not allowed to write the word ‘Co ..vid’ despite it being the buzzword/crush word of the entire world media over these past 5 years!
Now we can’t even write it on a football blog!
Beyond ridiculous censorship here now there now !
This damn site!
What is wrong with a fitba blog that doesn’t allow comments?!
Ffs, Ralph, Desi, anyone, grow the fvck up and sort this fvckin idiocy out now, we’re all grown men here for a chat and all we get is censored fir the silliest most innocuous words on Earth!
Get a grip …
You’ll never crack the secret of the etims filter. Many have tried and none have succeeded. It’s just one of life’s mysteries.
Infuriating it is.
And it wasn’t ‘Co .. vid’ as the post still didn’t get through.
Now the post came through …
Wonderful result and superb defending, especially from Trusty. Who’d have thought it? Well done lads.
Trusty was a revelation tonight but I remain unconvinced by Idah and not that impressed by Engels either considering the 20 million we spent on them.
Their form has been a bit up and down so far and both were disappointing tonight but it’s early days. Hopefully both get their sht together soon. I’d start Bernardo on Sunday and bench Engels. A wee bit of bench time would do him no harm.
I definitely think Bernardo is a better option than Engels on current form. And why is Engels taking all the set pieces? I’ve yet to see him deliver a decent corner for example.