shanksy67's Blog

Well we won at home! horay!, and we won comfortably.

It was good, as good an all round performance as we have had recently in the premier league. But of course it was a home game against a bottom end of the league team, which we have a good record against generally, and the performance of course wasn't completely infalible. In saying all of that however they were far more positives to take from the game as there were negatives, and although we havent turned a corner yet, still reason to be pleased.

We started with McCourt on the left, Samaras upfront and kept Crosas and Nguemo in the midfield. Zaluskas was again in goals, with Loovens infront of him for the suspended McManus and it was a welcome return for Fortune who managed to make the bench at least.

Things started for us well, controling the temple of the game and dictating the pace. early on as usual, our wide men were involved causing Killie problems. We managed to play much more balls into the box during the opening stages which I was please about, and came close to scoring on a few occassions. Hinkels movement up the flank was superb at times, and killie couldn't really deal with the overlaping. The opposition were trying to play good football, had quite abit of the ball, but could really penetrate us with any real conviction. We should much more determination on the ball, to come forward and get an early goal. And thats what we got, with a stroke of luck perhaps. McCourt characteristically took matters into his own hands and went on a widing run, unleashed a shot which was blocked an fell to McGeady, who shimmied past a defender and prolifically shot past the keeper into the net. Clinical maybe, but judging by McGeady recent performances he should be able to finish like that more often.

Maybe a shade lucky, but it came at a time when we were asking all the questions. Our second goal, that pleased me the most. It was a well worked attacking move, the ball came down the right flank, nice interlinking play between McGeady and Hinkel who put a superb cross into the box , Samaras flung himself on the end of it, leaving the keeper no chance and it was 2-0. Thats the sort of goal I want to see our strikers getting and team in general scoring. Composed passing, good delivery into a dangerious area, and FINALLY someone thier to get on the end of it. Simple enough, but we simply don't do that enough. After that we settled into the competition. The only scare was right before half time. A set piece  situation was played in to our box, and not properly dealt with, it was again played back in, and Kevin Kyle popped up with a free header three yards out from goal, which he somehow scuffed and put wide. It he put it in before half time  and made it 2-1, it perhaps could of been very different.

In fact out defending didn't get much better in the second half as killie tried desperately to get back into the game. Kyle AGAIN got another two free headers inside our eighteen yard line, exposing our complacent tendancies in defence. But much like the first half we continued to  press forward, as if we were aware of our own fragilities, that a two goal lead wasn't a completely safe scoreline.

Samaras was lively , as he has been in most of our games to be fair to the big man. You can't really critisise his determination too much. His runs from deep were brilliant causing them concern. The usual double change came, and McGinn entered the fray, as did Fortune. Our play rather than getting stagnant, continued at a determined pace. Fortune, done o.k picking up the ball and trying to make an impact, but in truth made little, only his first game back though.

It was McGinn who deservedly scored a third, again a great passing movement, and a finish that matched, his first for the club, and a good first at that. The third came at a killer moment for killie , just as we were getting into the latter stages of the game. We could of added further to the scoreline if it wasn't for the goalkeeper,but that wasn't to be, but a good day was still had by all, except Kilmarnock that is.

It was good, but again it was the result that was more important, three points, the performance was a significant bonus. Our movement was much better, if a little intricate at times (mainly McCourt and McGeady have that tendancy, samaras joined in on the act also), but our general play seemed to be much more cohesive. Midfield looks much better with the two sitting players, Crosas i'm sure has made an impact. Simple brisk but keeps things ticking and links up play well, without having to defend too much. He seems to have a much better partnership with nGuemo in the centre. Lets not talk too soon though because I think much more challenges could come in from midfield. Upfront we seemed livelyer than usual. Fantastic to see our strikers get into the box regularly in the first half, and manage to get on the end of things. Defensively we were o.k aswell. Our marking should have been tighter on a few occassions though, almost fatal.

Lets be realistic about things still. it was better but it was against a lower league side. We were also under pressure to get a result after midweek, we had to perform better. And also there is still a fragility about our play , we need to play like this, and get these type of RESULTS regularly at home in order to SIGNIFICANTLY improve as a team, and to stand a chance at winning the league this season. But it at least shows, that we can play well as a team, and shows the ability of some individuals that were in doubt, like Samaras and McGeady, now for abit of consistancy, and if we purposely take confidence from the game, then hopefully we can achieve that consistantcy, but i don't want to praise the team too much. It was good, but we NEED to build on it.

as for thursdays game, it will be very difficult for us to get a win, and i doubt we will. But its test, and although in my opinion we are virtually out of the competition, we can still gain from the games remaining. This will give us an opportunity to TRY and play well. To work on the things that have been troubling us, and to gain experience in big game situations away from home. I don't know if i can be bothered with it tbh, I can't help but think if we  get hammered then it might be detrimental to our mentality.Maybe but we are a big team and must deal with these sort of games, and make the best of them, and hopefully we can by playing well and getting a result over there which would be a good achievement for us in itself at this moment in time.

Thanks, and please keep in touch,

shanksy.

This blog will comment on the two games played this week. Celtic win at Hamilton and our CO-op cup defeat to hearts on wednesday night. I'll give my opinion on each game, then sum up what I think about our current situation at the end.

First off ......the week started well. Rangers drawing at home to a good Hibs side growing in confidence gave us the chance to partially redeem ourselves with a victory and a return to the top of the league. And we did just that, except redeem ourselves completely that is. It was another doubtful display from us, regarding our overall ability. Robson and Zhi started in midfield, with Mcgeady and Maloney on either side. Zaluskas was given a chance for the injured Boruc.I actually thought we played worse than we did against Hamburg. We started  sluggishly, but managed to get a foothold in the game, and through a nice bit of play managed to take the lead early on, despite not creating too much. After that we seemed to get abit of confidence and showed some momentum, but the ball still wasn't sticking, Hamilton were physical and never let us get too much posession, but we didn't do ourselves any favours either, but moving the ball too slow at times. But still it wasn't too bad, and we ended up doubling our lead minutes later. This time a stroke of luck, as a tackle on Samaras put the ball infront of McDonald who slotted it in (off the keeper). At two nil I was delighted as we were completely dominant but still had a cushioned scoreline. In the second half I thought we would be abit more relaxed and try for the killer second, which I somehow favoured us getting...but instead we made it hard for ourselves.

We started the second better creating more chances, but we couldn't kill Hamilton off, and they took confidence from this, throwing pretty much everything in the last twenty minutes desperately seeking a goal that would make us nervious, and thats exactly what they got. At two - one, it seemed more and more of our players became  anonomous , midfielders such as maloney  and Zhi, infact Robson was the only one putting a challenge in. Hamilton kept coming and we kept being sloppy giving them an impotus. Right at the death they should have made us pay for our poor play, as McManus missed judged a header , letting the ball fall into space infront of McArthur who luckily  wasn't composed enough to slot the ball home.Still good save from Zaluskas, and our blushes were truely spared. My simple enough assessment of this game is if we were playing a better team we would have not only drew but most probebly have lost. Our performance was convincing and although it was good in spells, it wasn't good enough. Essentially what was good enough for us was the result. A win and it was at a time when we really needed a win, and I was hoping that it gave us confidence for the midweek test of hearts and future games. But its not only a bad run that Celtic are going through, they have problems that won't be solved by a well timed win.

Secondly.........was Hearts, after winning our first game in five, our first chance after that to make our home record better, and to continue progress in the cup. In this game I wanted to look at individuals aswell as the team. We made few changes with Nguemo starting with Crosas, and Killen also started upfront. I think it was  a decent start from us, despite Hearts having some good chances to take the lead, we did manage to keep alot of the ball in the early stages, but still couldn't create. Hinkel and Fox had a positive presence in the team, giving us much width, and extra attacking options. My only critisism would be that they were perhaps overly committing at times, and they never had much cooperation from the two wingers playing in front of them. Mcgeady in particular for me was frustrating to say the least. Constantly slowed down play to try and beat players, aswell as almost never playing the ball into the box.(on this.(based on this display you can understand why strachan had problems with him). Maloney wasn't much better, except he was getting into better positions to pick up the ball and cause a threat. We were still sloppy of course, upfront especially, none of the front two were holding it up or getting into decent positions to pick up the ball. Killen especially was lazy and sloppy when he did have it. This is his opportunity to impress, but he didn't look up to much, not enthusiastic as some memebers of the team. One player I was pleased with was Crosas, who was really tidy on the ball in the first half. He played the simple passes which meant we kept possesion, and always tried to look forward for whoever was in space, why Mowbray hasn't taken to him considering our ball retention is awful is beyond me. The second half we possibly stepped it up a notch, and created lots more fantastic chances but somehow couldn't score. Hearts kept hitting us on the break, and you could see thier threat a mile away.When we conceded there was no arguement or excuses, they deserved it, and so did we. We weren't dealing with it particularly well. The midfielders started to lose the ball and have much less of an influence on proceedings, (as with sundays game) Samaras in particular had some guilt edged opportunities which he really should have put in. But attacks soon turned desperate and Hearts sat in and let the game tick away. We had already missed our chances and even the introduction of Paddy McCourt who overplayed himself alot of the time, could safe us. Our home record was hit another blow, and it makes me wonder how many defeats Celtic can take at home before enough is enough.

Argueably our biggest problem was that we couldn't score despite having the chances. If its not one problem its another, I remember mentioning in a previous blog. But its true, were are playing with fragile confidence, its a team of individuals thats aren't complimenting each others attributes, that aren't playing in tandum. and thats whats happens, its not one single problem with Celtic, its many problems, which is down to a lack of confidence and appropraite organisation. However I will concede one thing. We need a striker, that can create chances, and score goals for us, a good alll rounder, because right now, our strikers simply aren't good enough, and this is because nonne of them are consistant. But Mowbray had already spent on a strikers Fortune, so we'll wait and see his impact when he comes back. Heres hoping.

So a win and Defeat. The win should of gave us some confidence, but hasn't, its probebly got us out of jail as much as anything else. Because we are League leaders, theres less to complain about. But the loss at home reaffirms our fragility as a team, and continues our bad home record, a record that we can't seem to improve upon. We now firmly lack confidence, and you can see cracks starting to show all over the pitch, upfront, midfield, and the defence. All thats important right now for me, anyway, is results. Results can get us out of this. (Easier said than done of course) But a home win at the weekend will appease the feelings of anger resignating for the stand, and the press box, as will a win next week in the league and the week after. That is the stage we are at, when scorelines matter much more than performances, just like the end of the season. If we continue to fail to get results in the league, rangers poor form won't bail us out all the time, they have more resilience right now than us, if less quality.

As for my thoughts onMowbray himself, well I don't want to always reilliterate, but  this 'poor' squad he has inherited from strachan, is largely the same squad that won title a little over 18 months ago, and got to the latter stages of the champions league. What I think, is Mowbray has put too much emphasis on the way he wants Celtic too play, rather than the way they should play to win games. It perhaps unrealistic to always be capable of playing carpet football anyway. The SPL is tough, its a physical environment, with tight intimidating atmospheres. 

At the end of the day Mowbray knew what squad he would have, and how much money he would have to improve it, and to use the squad as an excuse is senseless therefor in my opinion. A really good manager makes good bad situations, he has a made a decent sitution bad in my opinion, and throwing money at it won't help. He has too prove himself, and the sooner he does that , the better or we will win nothing this year.

Please keep in touch, Shanksy.

Well another game, another disapointment. We lost 0-1, and now face going out of europe.

But thats perhaps the least of worrys. First of all the game itself....

Wasn't a bad game really, better for the nuetral of course. I wasn't surprised by the starting formation, Brown playing a free role in front of the two central midfielders, Robson and Nguemo. Celtic again started with Naylor and Wilson, and Mcdonald was prefered as the lone man upfront. We started tentatively, none of the two teams really getting a grip of the game. We as the home side should of probebly showed more composure and purpose, but that failed to materialise, instead we kept giving the ball away. This wasn't because of Hamburgs incredulious workrate, rather it was merely a lack of composure on our part. The central players in particular, and in particular Nguemo. We didn't really get going in attack, had no real rytheme, Brown was doing o.k, but our two wide players weren't in the game enough. My theory on this is wilson and naylor weren't good enough support players, and maloney and mcgeady never really got the chance to wonder inside and cause the opposition any degree of trouble. Chances still feel to us however, and they were golden. But as things are at the moment we someone had no composure to bury them. Browns in particular was an absolute sitter, which should have been scored, an element of his game that he has to improve upon. Maybe if he were to play that role more regularly he would be more capable of taking advantage of the sort of positions he was getting himself into.

We done o.k, and were competing alright, But Hamburg were always dangerious, coming forward to good effect, and rightly made us pay in the second half. I suppose i could blame caldwell for defending to tight, but in considering the whole game, that would perhaps be too harsh. After that it was the same senario, chasing the game.  A hint of desperation creeped into our already far from perfect game plan. McCourt and Sammy did alright when they came on , but couldn't make a big enough impact. And that was that.

What disapointed me about the performance, was the passing. Its been a key problem for me since Mowbray arrived, and it has to be sorted out. I see no reason why it can't be. We have to be able to retain the ball better in order to build attacks, its that simple. Giving the other team the ball like we did on thursday night is simply not good enough, at ANY level. The team looks disjointed, and perhaps its because there are regular changes to the starting eleven, or perhaps its a lack of balance, I definately think the latter has something to do with it. Bringing Nguemo back was a big mistake. All he did was show the celtic fans and anyone that knows football that he isn't good enough for that level at least. His workrate isn't good enough ( out of position too much, not tracking back effectively) he lacks any type of composure ( giving away cheap freekicks, and giving the ball away through bad passing in awful positions to many times) I don't see any qualities in him -right now- that add to the team, that justify a starting position. Just think Mowbray brought him in and got rid of Paul Hartley.

Another thing he hasn't found is any partnership upfront. It was a problem issue last season and is one again this season.

But anyway, now on to the implications of losing this game...

Well europe isn't our priority, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt though when we lose in the competition. The thing is, its another home defeat, it more pressure on the team and the manager, its turning into a home 'hoodoo', and the fans won't put up with it for long. I think results need to get better fast for the manager because Celtic and its fans are starting to lose their pride. We once had an unchallengable home record in all competitions. Now that is gone. But worse now is our season, and if results continue to go awry, then we might gain, a defeatist mentality, which can be very difficult to get out of. We will start playing even worse because we have no confidence. Thats only me speculating, but with every bad result the closer we come to crisis time. The league is still o.k, we are n't too bad in that, but we need to win on sunday, theres no doubt or the pressure will increase and increase and somethings got to give at some point. It might be europe, against a good european team lets not forget, and we never played that bad, but we still lost, and in that particular game, after a difficult run of late, its the scoreline that really matters.

I blame the manager. It him that should be installing that confidence in the players, picking the right team and strategy to suit the squad he has. I don't buy into his excuses, that its not his team, that its a poor squad he has inherited. Rubbish. He knew exactly the position when he took the job. He knew the resources, the squad he would have, and he knew the challenge, one he isn't living up to at present. A good manager gets the best out of his players. A good manager installs a confidence in his players, that gets them results, Gordan Strachan had it, Martin O'Niell had it, they were winners. Mowbray I'm not so sure.

Only time will tell,  but how much time ?

Thanks, and please keep in touch.

Shanksy.

It was a bad 0-0 draw, not because we played particularly badly but because we  conceded points at home again and conceded top spot to rangers. Two weeks and two consecutive time we have dropped points.

Any invicibility we seemed to have at home, being one part of the old firm, have disappeared this season. If you can't win at home in front of 60,000 devote supporters, theres something wrong.

First to the game, then its implications.

We started with a decent team I thought, McGinn deservedly getting the nod, after playing well mid week for northern ireland and caldwell coming in for the suspended Loovens. Wilson and Naylor started also after injuries to our first choice full backs, Hinkel and Fox.Robson also got the chance to impress ahaead of N'guemo. A desicion probebly based on N'guemo's performance on dery day. We done o.k in the opening stages, Motherwell had a real go as expected knowing we have conceded goals early in recent weeks. We done o.k, few long range efforts, McGinn playing direct as characteristic of the youngster. However we seemed to lack width  from our full backs I thought. hinkel and Fox do give us a great attacking pressence down the flanks and come forward well, Naylor and Wilson trying to play a similar way failed to have any real impact on proceedings. We weren't brilliant but we were o.k I felt in the first half, getting a few chances but failing to make any count as of yet.

The reaction at half time from the supporters was that of frustration and even to my surprise anger, at thier team.

In the second half we started well , sustaining pressure on their rearguard. Robson was coming forward and picking out a few good passes. It was difficult for robson after so long out, but he was playing in a sprited fashion so characteristic of the player. The supporters took to him throughtout the game, despite not doing too much his commitment was evident. Thats why when he was sustituted their were widespread boo's, and an angry glare from robson back to the manager. Celtic began to fall away, as motherwell had a good spell, forcing corners and making our defence have a few dodgy moments. However we did manage to deal with everything they threw at us, which is a plus considering how penetratable our defense have been in recent weeks. With motherwell coming forward,commiting players forward it meant space opened up for us to take advantage of, but despite getting into a few good situations we couldn't make that openess count. And thats the most disapointing thing I think. I don't usually bash our strikers but I am finding it difficult to stick up for them.We simply don't have a player who is consistant ENOUGH infront of goal. Samaras, McDonald, Maloney, Mcgeady, these guys score goals, but the question is ,is it enough goals each season. Are they widespread(consistant) enough? And taking last season into account and this season far, the answer simply is NO.

It seems to be if its not one thing (conceding goals) its another (scoring goals), so the problem is balance. There is no real balance in this Celtic team. Perhaps now I may concede its the personele thats lacking, but the squad we have is capable of better, it is capable of winning games. This is because it has (sometimes only in glimpses in games) shown us, the supporters, how it can play. We know the individual qualities of each of the players, but we havent seen it transcend into the team dynamics. Brown for example. Look how he played last season, how consistantly well he played. This season, they have struggled to find him a suitable midfield partner, but its also as if his heart is not in it.

However that is clearly not the only problem now. We seem to have a problem finishing games at home. The worst start at home in the league for decades. We simply can't afford to play like this infront of our home supporters, a teams home form should be the basis for their consistancy and there run of form.  In a tight league situtation the last thing you can afford is to lose or slip up at home.

The supporters , who are used to high standards, funnily enough seen some worse performance under Strachan. -especially in his second season, some of the home perfomrance we awful.- but of course the big difference was, his Celtic team won them, and won the title. When  you lose the backing of the supporters, your in trouble, and there was more than a hint of discontent from the terrances on saturday. Players no matter how professional react to this. It makes things worse rather than better, it puts them under significantly more pressure. The only way out is to win games.

But Although i'm disapointed i'm not panicking yet. Look at the league situation, its not too bad, Hibs are catching up on us sure, but we are only a point behind rangers, which is nothing and also we aren't losing too many games. I suppose if Celtic are playing badly at least in now in the season, rather than the tail end of it, when results seem to count for more.

Things have got worse maybe, but Celtic aren't in a crisis, not yet anyway In saying that, the signs are there, dropping points at home, not scoring enough, conceding too much, supporters booing, the only way Celtic are going to reduce that tension is by winning games again, and they do that by playing better. Easier said than done of course, but thats what the league is all about. You have to prove yourself, and Celtic have to prove themselves. But there isn't too much room for error before Mowbray and his management team really feel the pressure.

Next to the europa league and its a tough test  - Hamburg. This won't be a nice break for celtic, its a home game and the supporters will probebly be in the same mood as saturday. they will want to see something that they can take confidence from. So it is a pressurised game, maybe more so than usual, because a win would undoubtably appease the supporters somewhat. The europa league isn't essential, but non the less we want to see celtic doing well in all competitions, and they havent started well in the competiton so far, already slipping up at home. There is no restbite for tony mowbray, we are in a position both domestically and in europe the supporters are disapointed with  and Celtic must face the music and show what they are made of.

Its not a time of crisis, but if things get worse straight away, it could very quickly turn into one. We can only wait and see if Mowbray and his Celtic team have what it takes, and straight away there is a big test - at home against Hamburg. If we don't win then we are out of europe in my opinion. The result and the performance could be an indication to how Celtic are going to do this season.

Only time will tell, but things aren't going well right now at paradise, and we have to show character right now. Only time will tell if Mowbray  and his team are capable of doing that.

Thanks and please keep in touch,

Shanksy.

 late blog post in response to this game, but been extremely busy.

So we lost the first old firm game of the season. And i'm not really that surprised. Infact even before a ball was kicked this season , I thought we would probebly lose the first old firm game, don't know why really, maybe its because its at ibrox, maybe its because its the first time in three years rangers have played us as the champions of scotland, don't know really.

Its majorly disapointing losing an old firm game and this one of course is no different. Not only is it a defeat by our historic arch rivals, which leaves an all round bitter taste but there are also our competitive rivals. The only other team realistically challenging for the title.

What makes this game specifically disapointing is 1). the goals we lost right at the start of the game. 2).the fact we played well enough to get something from the game, but again couldn't score enough goals to get us something. These may seem like superficial problems but there serious, our DEFENDING especially is starting to turn into a trend,a rut no matter whose playing we seem to be starting games too slowly, and its costing us results.To lose two goals in the first 16 minutes in an old firm game, is a death sentence. Loovens and mcmanus were lacklustre again, with two many half hearted challenges. It was easy for Kenny Miller and a horror show from us. If rangers were an attacking team with an attacking ethos, they would of blown us away  in the first half, I have no doubt.

A regular mistake that celtic make in these derbys, is to forget about the unwritten rule of the old firm. To show passion and determination at all costs. Now that might seem abit melodramatic, but its true. If a rangers player gets by you, take him out.No player can ever be beaten and to let Kenny Miller run through on goal from 40 yards (maybe longer) out and score is shambolic. In derby day to let that happen without a foul is defeatist, lol it might seem unfair, or cheating, but its part of the game. Its better giving away a free kick and possibly gaining a yellow card than givng a goal away. Rangers were gifted thier goals.

Now thats the goals we conceded mentioned, now for our general play. It was good. Infact it was so good, we were largely better than rangers. We had more of the ball, we used it better and we created more chances, though not alot. And believe it or not thats disapointing in my opinion, because we never made that count. We had chances, maloney again had a brilliant chance that he put wide from close range, but we lacked that final third composure, which i'm starting to think might be another problem about how we are playing right now. Zheung Zhi might be our answer to that. I think as far as old firm debuts go, he had a good one. He was positive, coming forward, good skill, and played like he knew where his team were and how they play. He was difficult to deal with, and took to the pace of game well. He played slightly deeper and actually linked with the other attacking players. I was abit disapointed in mowbrays changes in the second half, bringing on McCourt and Caddis, meaning we had four wide players on the park. I was pleased with Browns performance which was largely diciplined as he was sitting in the midfield most of the time. N'guemo, wasn't much better than he was in mid week, struggled to deal with the pace of the game and was hooked rightly so. McDonald done brilliantly at times I thought, holding up the ball and linking with McGeady and Maloney who were the main threats to rangers, and they managed to deal with the two o.k in the second half, perhaps we needed something more. But all in all I can't have too many compliants about our overall attempt to get back into the game, and our overall play and movement was good.

But despite that we could muster another goal to draw the game.

There is positives of course. Our passing was alot better than its been, our movement at times was good, our determination to keep coming forward, were we urgent and persistent to get back into the game. We applied ourselves alot more than we have been doing. And another thing lets face it, we are still top of the league, we didn't get beat by much, the whole match was marginal. The main positive is the fact that we competed well with rangers, and if we got some deserved decisions our way it might have been different.(certain penalty) Rangers are no different than they were last season, nothing is new, we are the better technical team, I have no doubt about that. But we have to prove it, regularly, thats how you win titles.

So nothing to cry over, just yet, but we must improve the basics, and thats defending from start to finish. It really let us down on sunday and is definatly a big problem that has to be dealt with quickly. But theres a long way to go, lets just hope we can improve and start showing everybody what Celtic are all about. Time will tell.

thanks, and please keep in touch, Shanksy.

It was a frustrating game again at home for the celts, as they drew 1-1 in europe and find themselves bottom of the europa league.

Well it was an important enough game to clearly state that we wanted to win the game, to relieve pressure and put us in a better position in the group. After a very dissapointing defeat in game one of the campaign in israel ( see previous blogs) It was important for this competition that we bounce back and win our next two home games, and that would certainly give us a decent chance of qualifying. Now however after drawing against rapid vienna, am not too sure wiether we will qualify at all.

And even though europe isn't essential for us this season, and the that 'we are a champions league team' and the europa leaugue in some people view is beneath us, it would still nonetheless be majorly disapointing if we went out of the tournament.

Rapid we all knew were decent to say the least. They have plenty of players who are capable of scoring goals, and are a very positive team, even away from home as they showed against aston villa. They always look to come forward, yet stay organised at the back. They make lack quality but it would be stupid to underestimate them. A typical decent UEFA cup team.

I don't think celtic did underestimate them, and that is what concerns me. We couldn't raise our performance at key moments in the game or take our chances when they did come along, as if the occassion was too great for us. Of course it doesn't help when your chasing the game . It seems to be a ritual for us at the moment to concede early and make it difficult for ourselves at home - and the reason for this is pure sloppy ,slack, play, which could result from, a lack of concentration, lack of communication, or just individual match practise or fitness. Or perhaps a lack of quality, which i doubt considering mcmanus , caldwell, brown, samaras, maloney, mcgeady, etc, have a lots of experience, at different levels of football, we all know what the squad members at capable of, and they are capable of playing neater than they have been. Therefor its the managers responsibility to sort that out.

I was looking for a good performance on thursday, and although they were the re-occuring issues, such as conceding early, and perhaps not showing enough intent in the later stages of the game, it was still a marked improvement. Our passing for example, was much better. Especially in the first half, we showed real intent, and deservedly got ourselves back into the game by equalising.Some of the passing moves some times which included five or six passes, meant that we sustained pressure. Maloney in particular was lively, playing in a free role behind samaras and mcdonald, and linking up perfectly with the midfield. Brown and n'guemo looked better aswell, However in my opinion the jury is still out on n'guemo. At times he was good, but off the ball i think he has to press the opponents quicker, at times they had too much space and time threatening to open us up on the counter. As the game progressed i was disapointed to see us fall away abit, after missing some great chances which we really should of taken (caldwell, and maloney) the three substitutions was an odd one for me aswell, I could see the sense on putting robson on for n'guemo, as n'guemo was getting more space in midfield but was poor coming forward .

Overall its hard not to be disapointed dispite playing better. At the end of the day if we keep giving away goals, we will find it difficult to make any real progress -IN ANY OF THE COMPETITIONS  we are competing in this season. Another reason it is so disapointing is because celtic have a fantastic home record in europe, which is slowly diminishing in reputation. And i fear that it will take an even greater dent this season. Parkhead is perhaps no longer the fortress it once was, not so far this season anyway.

But mowbrays men are still finding thier feet, we must give them time and we must give him time.

Anyway to the old firm game on sunday at ibrox.

I am quite pesimistic about our chances. not that i'm defeatist, or trying to be defeatist at least lol, but it will be difficult, not that rangers are brilliant but i really don't think they are that bad either, not with walter smith as their manager. He simply knows whats required in these sort of games, and no offense to mowbray but he is still to learn what is required to an extent. Its just a game of football lets not forget, but with an old firm game there are a few added ingredients.These are passion, competitiveness, intent, and composure that are all essential in this fixture. A lack in any of these attributes will result in defeat, and a defeat in an old firm game hurts for everyone involved. Celtic must show that and an organisation that they havent so far showed this season. Rangers will be organised , there is little doubt in that. Smith will probebly play with five across the midfield, with the midfielders coming forward, running into the channels, such as davis, mendes, and rothen with two sitting. Or he might play a four-four-two in which kenny miller will come deep and play a free role infront of the midfield, and do the work for either boyd or novo. Celtic will have to weather a few storms for sure, but they have better attacking options than rangers and must find the opportunities to come forward and create chances, they can't afford to sit in at all. Its a difficult tatical fixture, because these games mean so much to everybody, and competitively they are important aswell.

If we lose I don't think it will make a huge difference, in our mentality or rangers mentality for the rest of the season. It might give them abit of short term confidence. If we win, we are seven points clear, which is a great lead to have at this time of the season, and there will be little doubt that the pressure will be firmly on rangers, on walter smith. But I'm not going to speculate about how important the game is on the league sitution, only that it would be great to be seven points clear at this stage and something to protect and build on, but it it doesn't mean we would be firm favourites to win the league, we were seven clear last season and look what happened.

I think rangers will probebly be more prepared than we will be on sunday. Its the same old, same old at ibrox this season as it was last season. They are playing the same way, and have the same players. We on the other hand are still getting used to the new manager, and what he requires of the team. We have some new players in key positions and players that under the new manager are being given a chance. It is a big test for Mowbrays celtic, their most important test so far this season in my opinion, and  I wouldn't be surpirsed if we lose, to be honest I don't think it will have a big impact if we do, at least we have a clear cushion at the top and will still be league leaders regardless. Most importantly what I'm looking for is a good performance that we can take clear postitives from at this stage of the season. The way we are playing now isn't to our full potential and away to rangers at ibrox perhaps may be too big a test for us, disapointingly. Win, lose or draw, the league has a long way to go and will probebly take many twists and turns it is far from won.

...if we win then brilliant!, test passed with flying colours. lol

Thanks and please stay in touch, Shanksy

Well its been a decent week, Celtic making it to the quarter finals of the co-op cup with a comfortable win over falkirk midweek, and then beating st mirren in the league with rangers slipping up at home against aberdeen,extending our lead to four points ahead of the old firm game at ibrox next week.

However the manager still isn't happy, and to be honest I can understand his point.

First of all falkirk, from what i heard it was a good game. It was a Welcome return for Barry Robson who has been out for an eternity, and he played well. It also gave us the chance to play some of the fringe players, like paddy McCourt, Nial Mcginn, caddis, flood, zaluskas and mizino all of which did reasonably well, McCourt in particular. The manaeger however was quick to point out our problems, that there were far too many shots on goal from the opposition, and that our distribution was poor. (not much different from hapoel then). There were however the obvious positives, the fact that players got the opportunity to play in the first team and impress. Its important for celtic to use competitive games like the league cup to give players the opportunity.( it is the least significant domestic competition but non the less important). And several players need games in order to improve sharpness and fitness (Robson and Zaluskas in particular.) Some of the players clearly took there chance, such as paddy mcCourt who clearly showed confidence in sundays game, when he merited a start due to his midweek exploits.

Sundays game was more difficult. It was still a team in the lower half of the table but never the less a stern test. St Mirren tend to always step it up against the old firm in their own back yard, and they had already beaten celtic at greenhill road in the scottish cup last year. I was secretly a little concerned at this fixture, because of our less than convincing form going into it.

But we started o.k, getting possesion although not doing alot with it. At times during the first half we found it difficult to come forward, to link up in an attacking fashion, despite how deep st mirren were sitting. The home did have periods of possesion largely due to our sloppyness, but they didn't know what to do in the final third and put us under little pressure. It took a moment of magic from McCourt that opened the scoring in our favour, jinking by not one player but four, maybe even five, and produced a finish to match. It wasn't good defending but he made it look worse than it was. Not only has he got a low centre of gravity, which means that he keeps the ball close, but he has the ability to quickly utilise the space in front of him, the st mirren players weren't expecting him to be as direct, and probebly thought he was going to pass at some point. McCourt performance in the first half proved that there is competition in the celtic team and judging by the way he played overall it might be a difficult desicion for mowbray in the midweek game wiether to drop him or not.

In the second half, things got worse. St mirren could smell blood perhaps, realising that they respected celtic too much in the first forty five. It felt familiar to the Hapoel game, in which the home side showed persistance and took encouragement from an increase in posession, but like the first st mirren simply didn't know what to do in the final third of the pitch, the game was slightly more open and that probebly ended up suiting us. Any time we did come forward we looked the more dangerious despite not really creating. It was when st mirren finally got a few chances, that we managed to get our second of the game, which effectively ended the game. It was perhaps fortutise , with a hint of offside, but it wasn't a clean cut desicion. After that the game seemed more open but was dead competitively.

I thought that our performance at the end of the day was good enough, not brilliant but all things taken into consideration it wasn't that bad. There were however the same familiar issues, with how we played. We were sloppy again, and i mean all over the place sloppy. Gave the ball away far too much and at times caused real problems for ourselves that perhaps on another day would have cost us. The midfield partnership of brown and n'guemo doesn't seem to be too impressive. Each of them are capable but together don't seem to compliment each other the way in which you would hope. I didn't think they were that bad on sunday but its certainly still an issue. I also thought that the midfield didn't really link up enough with the front two players, who had next to no service. It was only in the second half when fox started coming forward, and Quinn came on, were we prepared to try and play blls in from the wide areas. It looked disjointed at times from us, and the manager is right in saying that we need to improve.

But what i have an issue with is the fact, that it wasn't the easiest of games for us, and at the end of the day, we scored in each half and never conceded, so whats with all the negativity? It wasn't the easiest game because of the tight atmosphere and the physicality expressed by the st mirren players, who were generally organised throughout the game. I do agree with mowbray main point that we have to improve but to constantly emphasise this, so openly makes me question, at what stage does his own self critisism become detrimental to the teams overall mentality?, with regards to the teams confidence. If theres positives there then a manager should mention them. Its also disrespectful to other teams to expect that we can dominate in every game. Some games are surprisingly difficult taking everything into consideration and we should expect that.

But maybe I just have to get used to his managerial style........

Still domestically we have a degree of comfort going into the old firm game. Thats good. Celtic don't want to be chasing rangers as early as this in the season, with the first old firm game at ibrox. In saying that any lead right now is slender, and doesn't mean too much, however it does increase the pressure on our rivals, who'll be looking for a boost during the week at home against sevilla.

We play Rapid Vienna at the tail end of the week, meaning we have slightly less preparation time. The game is a different but none the less important for our european hopes after that awful defeat in israel. We'll see what the manager has to say about this game. Hopefully we can generate an electrifying atmosphere to which celtic park has become famous for and our performance is significantly improved.

Thanks, and please keep in touch, Shanksy.

Hi this blog will be refering to Celtics two games this week, the midweek 2-1 defeat by hapoel tel aviv in israel and the home victory against hearts (2-1).

First of all the midweek game. One word to discribe this one - awful.

 Celtic went into this game with high hopes, wanting to rid themselves of the away day hoodoo that tarnishes our champions league record, but instead they reiliterated that they are a poor side away from home in europe. Fair enough we overturned a home defeat and beat moscow in russia, but thats not to say that we are suddenly going to do well away from home. Maybe that was a freak result, nothing to lose in that game therefore not alot of pressure on the players.

But celtic didn't exactly show that determination. Mowbray changed things, playing five across the midfield and mucking about with the defense bringing in mcmanus and moving caldwell up to a sitting midfield role. This was a dicision that bemused me. Why? was it just to give mcmanus abit of game time, because to be honest I don't why he didn't want to play with two attackers. We seemed to be going into the game negatively, but still early on we had most of the posession and scored a good goal (from a caldwell ball) and i was content enough. However despite this and craig burleys comentary , the home side were still determined, and had enough chances to feel that they were still in it, even though they were deep for most of the forst half. Celtic were also very sloppy, coming forward, and generally on the ball, giving it away loosely far too much. Its becoming a charateristic of N'guemo's game, that every once in a while he gets caught in posession and then its back to the wall, even in premier league games this happens.

But everybody was poor, the defense made hard work of simple things, the wide players weren't in the game enough, there was little or no service to samaras, the list goes on. In the second half according to Burley it was only complacency that celtic should fear. But I disagree. We started slowly and refused to press the ball at all , and Hapoel took full advantage. They weren't brilliant but they were persistant, and that was enough to put us to the sword. Never before have I seen Brown play as poorly, he let everyone get by him, and never won one challenge. Our defense weren't much better leaving Boruc completely exposed, you could see them scoring a mile off, the only question was were they good enough, and contrary to the wise old owl that is Craig Burley they were good enough. Everything was poor about us, perhaps the only exceptions were mcgeady, who at least tried on occassion to come forward and Samaras who took his goal well, and ran for everything up field. It was ridiculous because for all the home sides persistance you could see clearly that celtic were much more capable, at least taking into consideration the way they normally play. We should of set out positively and played much more postively in the first Their should of been more intent and urgency to kill the game off in the second, and if the players aren't performing, get them off, therefore I think the manager played a big part in the performance and the result. I think it was complacent of him to bring in mcmanus and perhaps over intricate (in terms of tactics) of him to start with five across the middle instead of a normal 4-4-2 formation, infact I think the 4-4-2 formation was one of the reasons we eventually won against hearts. We showed a lack of resilience and determination and we were complacement when the game was no where near won. Now will that set the standards for our other two Europa league away games?, time will tell. It won't be as easy i'll predict that.

Next game was hearts. Two days later. It was important because we slipped up the previous week at home and again we had another opportunity to go ahead of rangers in points, and as I said we can't afford to ignore these opportunities when they come calling, and we can't afford to slipp up at home too much either. It was also important because of our poor result and performance during the week, we had to show something, a reaction.

And we started like we started the previous week, slow. We conceded again, an avoidable goal, that surprise surprise was due to Brown's lackluster defensive pressing, letting suso turn and drive a shot in, which went through boruc, but to be fair to the big manit took a bonce right infront of him as it went through his hands and into the net. This was significant because like the previous week it meant we were chasing the game against one of the better premier league teams who know how to get results in glasgow against the old firm. It took us a while but we did eventually reply through chris killen , getting a rare start. It didn't get hearts down too much though as they continued to press looking for a winner as the game looked like a mirror image of last week. That was until the final seconds.

One moment of complacency got us out of jail, as wallace let the ball role out, conceding a croner which was desperatly headed in by loovens to raptures from the crowd. We had turned a less than convincing performance into three points. Of course this matters enormously as we have a points advantage and it gives players confidence after a difficult week. It stops the rot.

However, despite being possibly crucial, it was still less than convincing, and I know what i prefer. A convincing determined performance, in which we show real class and resilience after a poor performance midweek. But despite some nice play in the game, and that never give up attitude, I'm still not convinced myself of tony mowbrays celtic. There is still cause for concern. Brown had another poor game, which brings into question his fitness, if he's not fit or sharp , why not bring in flood or bring robson on, maybe not starting them but at least giving them a chance. I'm also unconvinced at the Brown and N'guemo partnership, n'guemo seems too sloppy and both central midfielders don't particularly compliment each other. Nguemo and donati seemed much better suited. Brown is capable but we need to see that consistantly, and he's not had a very good week, performance wise. Also defensively, we need to improve considerably if we are going to win the league or do anything in europe. We need to communicate alot better, and be much more organised. Its the defensive unit more than any individual in particular.

So i suppose you could say i'm quite pesimistic about celtic right now. I beleive we have a good squad of players, some of which deserve a chance in the first team, such as flood, mizuno, killen mccourt etc, so I have to disagree with tony mowbray when he states that his squad and the quality of his squad was the Real problem during midweek and is one of the factors to why celtic aren't playing the way he wants them to. I have to say I think this is an excuse, and it concerns me that he's making this excuse at this time in the season.(odd, as its right after a transfer window) I understand that its a learning process for him to be at a club like celtic and it is a challenge but after seeing celtic this week, despite his appraisal after sundays win, I think we need to improve if we are going to have a successful season.

Thanks, and please keep in touch.

Shanksy.

It was a disapointing draw. Every draw is disapointing at home, but it was even more so because minutes earlier Rangers drew nil nil away to Motherwell and we had the chance to go top of the league for the first time this season, not on goal difference but on points.

So all in all not a happy cheary blog entry this time.  There are several reasons why I'm disapointed at this result.......

Firstly the obvious reason, that we never took advantage and capitalised on rangers slip up earlier in the day. It doesn't mean an awful lot at this stage of the season but its still important to take these chances, because you don't know when rangers are going to go on a good run of form and not drop any points. Its the fact that despite playing at home we couldn't find extra gears to go into, to break the deadlock when things were even. Instead the game was  far too close to be comfortable, with United looking dangerious every time they came forward.It was a home game and if we are going to win the title this season we have to make our home advantage count. It was always going to be a difficult game and we can't make the same mistake as last year and take these games for granted.

Perhaps it was the first real show of complacency from Celtic this season, or perhaps I'm being far too harsh, remember we have no define right to win all our games at home. Dundee United must be comended by the obvious part they played. They largely mathed celtic in most departments and came into the game in a positive way confident that they were going to get something from it at least. And they did.

However that being said , I still can't ignore Celtic's failings. The tactics were baffling. playing a four -three-three formation seemed odd, was it because fortune was missing? possibly but if so why? is he that important to the celtic cause that we play around him? If so i really don't know how Killen and Samaras are going to get their chance in the team. I don't know why he doesn't want to play two strikers together who are capable of linking up and scoring goals (Samaras and mcdonald). Hopefully we'll be much more considerate of the opposition next time we play Dundee United as we havent beaten them in a while - all of 2009 so far , if you discount the co-op cup win on penalties (and even then it took about sixteen penalties each).

What worries me is that we slipped up in a game that we should of wanted to win , a little bit more than other games at home, because we had the prior knowledge of rangers slipping up, we should of had that urgency and incentive to beat dundee united, and although we did some some of that it ultimately wasn't good enough, and perhaps our performance level has to be looked at. Not dreaming up excuse here - promise!, but we did have significantly less time to prepare for this game (dundee united pretty much had two full weeks). Also our players were away on international duty all over the world, and the rest of the celtic players that weren't were in canada playing a friendly against benfica on thursday, so at this stage of the season that may have taken its toll. But we have to get used to midweek games as our european campaign kicks off this thursday in israel.

All in all, at least we havent lost any ground, you can put this one down as void, as rangers dropped the same amount of points, but excuses aside I expect better from this Celtic team, which lets not forget still have it all to prove. We have to be able to raise our game if its not good enough.

Thank you, and please stay in touch.

Shanksy.

This game will be known for its entertainment, and its controversy. Two things that i will comment on seperately in this blog. First of all since this is a football blog, i may aswell talk about the entertaining football that was on show in sundays Hibs v Celtic match.

It was typical of a game at easter road for Celtic, Difficult and tight. Celtic started with Samaras instead of the injured Fortune upfront, with Brown and N'guemo making a new central midfield partnership after the departure of Massimo Donati to Bari.The game started relatively postive from our point of view, passing it around nicely and causing problems from deep crosses from the wide areas. As the first half progressed, Hibs started picking up most of the loose balls in midfield and started causing Celtic a few problems. Riordan played far forward on the left  meaning mcgeady and hinkel had to track back. At one point when Hibs were on the break, Mcgeady fouled Riordan just outside the box, but the resulting free kick went marginally wide.However despite this, Celtic were consistantly pressing Hibs from the wide areas, crossing the ball in and from corners (samaras hit the bar from a corner with a clear header), we had a few good chances before Samaras finally broke the deadlock with a smart header from a Hinkel cross from deep. The goal came out of good passing play from brown and n'guemo in central midfield, who were begining to make their pressence felt. It was a first domestic goal for Samaras , his second of the season.

In the second half Hibs started fast, trying to pile the pressure on Celtic. At this point Boruc had to be agile enough to deal with crosses played into the six yard box, as he was exposed by his defence. Fox positioning in particular was poor, sitting to narrow and allowing the balls to come into the back post. On one occassion from a free kick Fox was dragged inside by Hogg and the ball fell to Bamba who from close range blasted it wide. However dispite this pressure our defense was largely dealing with most of the threats , aerially Loovens was heading everything out of the box, and sitting tight on Hibs attacking players not letting anyone by him. Brown aswell was coming deep and intercepting passes and bringing the ball out into midfield, as Celtic managed to retain much of the posession. We were occassionally threatening aswell, even after Mcgeady got sent off for diving. Lucky because mcgeady is a winger, it didn't affect our shape too much when he got sent off, changing to one up instead of two. We reacted pretty much as if it never happened, and continued keeping possesion and coming forward when we could. Hibs were  always dangerious however. They are capable of the spectacular as wotherspoon proved with his long range strike which brought out a fantastic save from Boruc. At that moment in the game you just felt he wasn't going to be beaten. Samaras had the opportunity to seal the win in the latter stages, but went himself and hit a shot straight into the keeper, even though he had Brown to open to his right. But we defended in a diciplined manner at the end, delt with the pressure in the final moments and hung out for the win, even though they were a few scary moments at the death. Well deserved win.

So thats a summery I suppose. The game pleased me because it was competitive and entertaining. As a supporter I know that  going to easter road is no easy game. Its a tight  intimadating atmosphere, in which we have found it difficult  to get maximum points in previous fixtures there - think last season, or at anytime during the Gordan Strachan era for that matter. You know when you go to easter road that Hibs are going to have chances, that the team will have to weather a few storms and that the team have to play well to win. We did play well, its wasn't brilliant and there still is room for improvement but there are many postitives to take. Individual performances for one. Boruc in particular impressed with some fine saves especially his terrific save to deny wotherspoon the equlaliser. He took charge of his role as goalkeeper on the day, at a ground that has caused him grief in the past. I don't want to speak too soon , but Boruc has made a good start to the season and looks focused. I was also quite impressed with Loovens. It will be difficult for McManus to get his place back in the team with Loovens playing like he did on sunday. First to every ball played into the box, and didn't let players get by him. Solid, what you want from a centre half. Brown also looked abit better than he has been of recent. Maybe a sign he is getting on to some form after his return from injury. He was more energetic, and played an important role coming deep and bringing the ball out from defense. It was also good that Caldwell never made any mistakes having a relatively quiet encounter beside Loovens, playing his part in the clean sheet. In saying all of that, the main positive to take from the game is the fact Celtic won a difficult SPL match, a game that has caused us problems before. Hibs have had a good start to the season also, and a win on sunday was never to be taken for granted.

Next to the sending off of course, which has fuelled the debate about diving. Mcgeady after about an hour recieved his second yellow card for simulating and trying to gain an advantage. First of all I think the referee was right, in the sense that it wasn't a foul on mcgeady, Hanlon pulled out of the challenge and mcgeady went down, but not necessary to gain an advantage or to con the ref. He was perhaps  jumping out of the challenge because he thought there was going to be contact. That may sound like I have my green and white tinted specks on but its a possibility. It wouldn't have been much of an advantage to gain in that position of the park.

Also if the referees are going to punish that behaviour with yellow cards, then why don't they punish other acts of simulation? Such as when when central midfielders are caught on the ball and fall looking for a free kick when they get a slight barge.That happens regularly in every game of football. Maybe Arsene Wenger was right when he said UEFA have opened up a very dangerious door. Another thing to mention of course is would this desicion be made if the whole Eduardo incident never had happened? my guess is probebly not, every desicion should made to the letter of the law, through judgement not because an issue is so publically being scrutinised. Will this be the precedant for future desicions?, my guess probebly not, this will die down and soon be forgotten about. Simulation is unfortunatly part of the game, you could argue that it happens persistantly throughout a game of football, and to punish every act of simulation would be impossible.

My final thought on the matter is in agreement with John Hughes who stated that 'we'll all be playing with slippers in a few years time'. Football is a contact sport, too many times players are getting free kicks for nothing, if players want to go down and its not a free kick then thats thier perogative, the referees should do nothing wave play on and let them get back up, then maybe they won't try and look for free kicks as much.

Thank You, and please stay in touch.

Hi I'm Shanksy,

Well Celtic lost 3-1 last night, yes we were outclassed at times, chasing shadows all over the pitch, and barely created anything for ourselves when we were in posession, but its not these facts that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It was the way Arsenal won throughout the two legged tie - mainly the fashion in which they got their goals. In the first leg for all their 'class on the ball' the only goals they could muster were a deflection off a defender who was trying to get out the way, and a Caldwell own goal. And the second leg wasn't an awful lot different. Everyone knew it was crucially important for Celtic to get the first goal at the emirates to stand any chance of overturning the two goal deficit. But our luck followed us from the second leg and we conceded a penalty, a penalty that never  was a penalty, it was an  Eduardo dive.

It was Blatant enough for everybody to clearly recognise that it wasn't a penalty, everybody except the referee. Such an important lack of judgement from the referee meant that it was near impossible for us.

However as frustratingly painful as our bad luck has been in this tie, there is no doubt that the better team went through. Arsenal played better and there was nothing wrong with the other two goals that they scored on the night. Sure Arsenal were good but i actually thought they could of played better, but perhaps they would have been more urgent if they weren't in a comfortable position throughout the game.

Celtic never played well enough, they never asked enough questions of arsenal, and at times were opened up. Also the combination play just isn't there yet, not to that degree especially between fortune and mcdonald. Both played alrite, but  don't seem to be acknowledging each others existince on the football park. Fortune played well at times making good forward runs in wide postitions, but he isn't a big enough presence in the team yet. Defensively we were opened up a few times and if it wasn't for Boruc the scoreline may have been worse. Guilty of being too tight In midfield. We started good, being physical and  reading arsenals interplay well. But as the game progressed we fell away in that department, Brown again looked tired and was poor in distributing.

But all that being said there is positives of course. Boruc being one of them. Some good saves, means that he continues his good start to the season( Very little he could have done about the goals). McGeady also played well. Most of all though I think we showed character and mental strengh through this whole tie. We lost harsh goals that would make any team disheartened but we kept plugging away anyway, our heads never lowered and our professionalism never disapeared. We competed again with Arsenal last night, but again we lost, it is too early in the season as well as Tony Mowbrays managerial reign to expect any differently. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Thank you. and please stay in touch.

Hi I'm Shanksy,

Tomorrow night Celtic Football Club travel to London to face the Almighty Arsenal, in the 2nd leg, third qualifying round of the Champions league. The game is empirically important for Celtic. Qualification means millions in advertising and t.v money, an amount that will undoubtly affect the clubs financial future. Unfortunately after Celtic losing the first leg 2-0 at celtic park it now looks likely that they won't recieve the lucurative benefits of playing amounst europes elite, and go out of the tournament before it even begins. Arsenal are a premiership side after all.......

But lets not lament too much Bhoys. Now that our situtation has been put in context lets consider things further. Financially speaking its a big loss, but not a loss that will affect the stability of the club. Our prelimenary results indicate we are in the black, and progressing in reducing the debt. ' Our future doesn't depend on champions league money' Dr john Reid ensures.Sure it would be a big bonus but not essential. Furthermore it is not as if we will be completely out of europe altogether if we lose the tie. The Europa league awaits. Although less glamorious perhaps it is a more suitable and realistic setting for us at this moment in time. Progress is important for any team, most of all a new team with a new management base, a new system of play. Starting a european campaign at a lower level is maybe what the new regime needs , in order to build experience and confidence, and to progress. (mainly talking about the european away record that hangs over the team.) Thirdly there is no shame in getting beaten off Arsenal. Arsenal are experienced more than most in europe. They are consistant and have a very good away record against difficult teams. On form they play an attacking style that can unsurp the best teams in the world. In my opinion we have alot to be proud of. We competed with Arsenal, they won in a cruel way, in an opportunistic way, that is characteristic of good quality teams by grabbing two fortunate goals. It was a tough task that was placed upon us, a task that came too early. Sure we have made quite an impressive start to the season but there is still much to learn, such as on field partnerships, tatical plans,aswell as confidence and balance within the team, all of which an established Arsenal side have in abundance.

.....Anyway who cares if we are not in the premiership. who cares if we don't make £50million a year. who cares. Does football really need that much? thats another blog for another time perhaps. I would prefer Celtic to become prosperious within a prosperious Scottish Premier League, rather than moving south and becoming victim to vanity, which has swelled the english market beyond players value.

The fact that Arsenal are a premiership team and can afford to spend £40million on two players this year, is one of the main reasons why Celtic are underdogs in this tie, another reason is of course the fact we lost two goals in the first leg at home. Overturning that margin would take an Almight effort on Wednesday night. Mowbray thinks that getting the first goal is essential, and I agree with him. Getting the first on the night might frighten arsenal and their supporters and put presure on them. It may also give us the smell of blood and increase our confidence. Theres no doubt we will have to play with ambition. We can't afford to sit back for long periods and expect things to happen. We must be adventurious as it is the only way we can possibly win by two goals. I am less woried about attack than how we will fair in defense with Gary Caldwell having an unlucky time of it at the moment. I wouldn't say he is regressing as a footballer but his form recently must be affecting his confidence and therefore perhaps he is a liabilty. However Caldwell is a player with ability(think last season), a player who has come on leaps and bounds at Celtic, and he might be going through a sticky patch but that is all it is. He needs a good game maybe a string of good games, a defensive clean sheet under his belt. Easier said than done however against one of the best attacking teams in europe. So defensively as much as offensively we need to stay focused and determined, and hopeful that we will be on the end of at least a few pieces of luck.

In tomorrows game I expect little in the way of a good outcome for Celtic. But as it may disapoint me it won't dishearten me . It is too much too soon for Tony Mowbrays Celtic, and as disapointing as it is, it is fate, and it won't stop our further development as a team, or our more realistic ambitions of winning the league.

Thank you and please stay in touch.