Celtic Banter Archive July 31 2013

31 Jul 2013 23:13:07
Hard to analyse our performance tonight given the ultra defensive tactics of Elfsborg. Samaras and Wilson stood out for me. what's blatantly obvious is that Stokes is simply not good enough at that level. Next week I would have Samaras leading the line with Mulgrew or Boerigtter on the left

LM67

Got to agree about Stokes, he ain't a team player, more of a glory hunter, really need's to play for the team
Tambhoy

31 Jul 2013 22:27:51
I have to admit that Mo bangura is finished at Paradise, that collapse was shocking. He never was fit to wear the jersey and tonight, he disgusted me with that fall. I appreciated hos position but his antics took it to another level. I would also like to ask what James Forest was doing tonight, the last time he was moved inside was the Juve game and he was posted missing that night too! hail hail Kip Emerald

Well mate I'm going to disagree with you on both count's, I am usually moaning about Forrest but I thought he had a good game tonight. As for Bangura's collapse, Wilson caught him full on the face with his hand and was indeed lucky not to get sent off. The incident happened right in front of where I sit. As for the abuse he was given, way over the top, if Celtic did not want him to play against us, they should have put it in black and white at the time, my opinion.
Tambhoy

Forrest, good game? you watching the same match. dreadful end product, poor touch and in 2nd half went missing. time after time pretending to be looking for the ball.
NL pet project ain't no kid anymore, 21 now and going backwards

01 Aug 2013 01:30:26
Was going to post about forrest myself glad someone beat me to it thought he was dreadful he seems to play 1 outstanding game then 6 or 7 terrible as for stokes I think the majority of us are in agreement that he ain't the answer to lead our frontline in my opinion far too selfish lennon didn't play him in big games for a reason and I think its been proven why think we should have enough to scrape through this round but wel defo need someone in for playoff round imo

I'm glad its Neil Lennon who is the Celtic manager and not some of the posters on here. I hope he continues with his pet project and okay last night was not Forrest's best game but it was not that bad either ~ Mrs E

Mrs E, not sure where in the ground you were sitting to see something different about Forrest but from where I was there many many disapproving the part he "played".
End of the day he is in a position that is meant to unlock defences, create chances etc etc and time and time again he disappoints.
I guess we should all just pretend he played a blinder yet again!
Stevo Dundee

31 Jul 2013 22:16:14
Happy with 1-0, goal scored and clean sheet kept which must've been the plan. We might've won tonight, but being completely honest we're seriously lacking a creative midfielder to bring our disjointed midfield and attack together, as well as a goalscorer to put away the chances that come to us. PL needs to stop dragging his heels every transfer window trying to keep every penny he can prisoner, tight fisted corporate barsteward. GET THE EFFING CHEQUE BOOK OPENED and SOME CASH SPLASHED PRONTO! And while we're at it. Kevin Doyle is not the answer! We'd be as well signing Mrs effing Doyle fi Father Ted!

HamiltonBhoy your attack on peter lawwell is a disgrace.Its bad enough when the media so often have a go at celtic, but for a fan to post what you did
is imo totally unacceptable.Yes you are entitled to your opinion, but what you posted beggars belief.jimbhoy

Hamiltonbhoy, tight fisted corporate barsteward, away and take your face for a $hit, you obviously don't have a clue what your talking about, if that's how you talk about one of the best men ever to work for Celtic
Tambhoy

I agree with jimbhoy. How many signings have we made. 4 by my count. 2cbs a striker and a winger that's good business. Honestly we sign no one pl gets moans about. We sign players he gets moaned about. Hamiltonbhoy do you know how to run a team?. I thought not

My frustration is the quality of signings. we have been robbed of Virgil and Derk through injury but Balde has been fit for all 3 games and played a total of 10 minutes. Mouyokolo won't be a first pick either.

If we had signed 4 guys good enough to go straight into the first 11 I would be doing cartwheels about the signings but that is never the case with us. Look at the team last night and only lustig and ambrose have been signed in the last 2 years. I would rather have quality than quantity.

I agree with HamiltonBhoy. Its his opinion anyway, and as a paying fan your entitled to it. We DO need better players, especially a striker. Kevin Doyle in my opinion isn't the answer

Well 1, 2 and 3. I posted the exact same status on Facebook last night which ended up wi close to 50 likes and God knows how many comments sayings phrases like "gospel" so I don't think I'm the only fan disgruntled by the lack of activity replacing FIRST TEAM players, and not bringing in SQUAD PLAYERS.

@6 It's calling one of OUR own a tight fisted barsteward that made me angry, I don't really care how many like's you got on facebook, just goe's to show there are clown's on there too.
Tambhoy

@7 When we the fans are paying good money to watch the team and PL is let's face it, scrimping on a replacements such as Doyle, when as a club that has good finances we should be going out there and spending money on quality players. That is where the frustration and anger comes from. Its also showing passion for the team by the way. You put good money into the club and in return you want to see the best brought in

31 Jul 2013 22:10:09
alright chaps

pretty pleased overall with tonight's score and performance. would have been nice to have scored another but keeping the clean sheet was very satisfying. some of the swede's tackling was shocking (the ref was a bit of a twit aswell, how commons and sami got booked i'll never know). thought ambrose and wilson looked good and sami seems to revel in the big games. commons and izzy played well too. unfortunately I don't think stokes can play in europe, he's more an instinctive player and a cerebral approach is required when playing in the champions league - it's just not in his locker. also thought kayal looks like a player very low on confidence. if he can get back to his form in his first season here, that would be great - but I just can't see it happening. there was a noticeable change in our play when ledley came on in place of him, we were that bit more expansive and the ball was shifted about a lot quicker. overall though, a lot of reasons to be cheerful - we'll score over there (and they won't score 3), the bench looked quite strong, a clean sheet, and we are still to see the impact the new signings are going to make.

hail hail

I must have been at another game. Wilson and ambrose were awful,

Ska bhoy

Celtic can only get stronger the more games we play. With the new guys getting into training and beginning to gel with the veterans as well.
Nine shots on target from 15 shots and only one goal tells me we need a striker i'm afraid.
Hope the new guys got a sense of the size of the club and are looking forward to putting on the shirt and running out for us.
I'm sure Gary hooper was keeping an eye on the result. Good luck lad, you're a Celtic alumni now, you distinguished yourself here and the manager said the best striker since Larsson.

You must have been at another game as I also thought ambrose and wilson played well . One shaky moment when they ran into each other in the first half in the box and wilsons back heel but apart from that very strong. And as much as we all know we need another striker that department was not our maib problem tonight . We had no creativity in thw middle of the park its all ling diagonal balls or little passes backwards or sideways we didn't have any real cutting edge passes through the middle . We have all running in the middle bur no real spark that can open up defences. But in all i'm happy with the win

31 Jul 2013 22:00:40
Does anyone know if we sign a player before next weeks away leg are they eligible to play? Jimbo {Ed007's Note - No.}

But will they be eligible for the next round if we go through? {Ed007's Note- As long as he is signed by 23.00 on 12 August 2013 he will be eligible for the Play-Off round.}

31 Jul 2013 21:40:05
Decent result tonight and a clean sheet was hoping for 2/3-0 but clean sheet in europe is all we can ask ffor

Will take 1-0 was hoping for 2 or 3. But 2 things we can take from it another clean sheet and another step closer to full fitness.

I listened to the game on the radio and by all accounts they were rather dirty. Sammi getting hammered every time he touched the ball. 5 yellows says it all. Commentators saying at least 2 should have been off.

Roll on next week if we can pinch an early goal and stay strong at the back and don't give away an early goal like we are prone to do it will be game over.

Ian

31 Jul 2013 20:31:32
I want to play for Elfsborg so I can pick up an injury.Did you see the physios?

Jungle Bhoy.

You got a picture mate

@1 agree, need pictures to verify OP's statement please ;-)

EPIC response from celtic fans when they came on the pitch. Brilliant.

@jockdj83

OP is spot on lads, two tidy blonde things. I think there will be a lot of groin strains in the Swedish league. don't have a picture i'm afraid.

Haha as soon as my dad saw them he was like "no wonder they keep faining injurys, I would to" they were stunning though

31 Jul 2013 19:03:27
Is the game on tv tonight? Or is it a stream? Can you watch them on iPad? On holiday at the moment but keen to see the game.

31 Jul 2013 17:59:45
Genuine question, who was the last English Manager to win England's top flight league? ~ Mrs E {Ed007's Note - Howard Wilkinson in 1991-92 with Leeds Utd. The season before the EPL started, no English manager has won the EPL.}

Cheers Ed, you're a star :-) ~ Mrs E

And you can't really see one winning it in the foreseeable future . Off the top of my head I couldn't even think of an English manager that the top 6 would appoint . DH

They keep trying those English managers in the SPL as well, mostly ex RFC. They never quite get there.

31 Jul 2013 16:46:15
Not seen balde yet but have heard a lot of improvement is needed but if any one watched Forrest in the cup final they would have said the same.pre season games are only for fitness let's judge him at the end of the season, with this one we need to give time or we will end up with a Bangura and Rasmussen scenario

31 Jul 2013 15:26:08
I hope to God the Hoops fans do not boo Bangura tonight! He was sent out on loan and Celtic received £1m fee from Elfsborg to take him - money they spent to try and get to the CL. The guy is in a horrible position. I've read our players say he should show loyalty to the Celtic as we pay his wages. Not technically true as they pay his wages and also paid a fee to have him for the year. Think our fans should show a bit of class and welcome the guy - if we don't have enough within the squad to win this game over 2 legs that's hardly his fault he was sent out on loan to gain more confidence and experience.

Maceybhoy

I think through no fault of his own the boy is in a difficult situation. I would expect him as a professional player to do his very best for the team he is playing for.

Show him the respect he deserves, he is still officially a Celtic player, but during the game he will get the treatment any visiting player gets.Nothing wrong with that. green jhedi

This is unfortunately a problem of Celtic's own making. Surely a clause should have been inserted in the loan contract to avoid this situation, ( however unlikely it might have seemed that the teams would ever meet at the time. ) Hopefully we will have learned a lesson here.

BobbyLennoxBhoy

100% agree with this maceybhoy. It's an awful position for him to be in. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He will naturally have a point to prove to Lennon. I fear if he makes his point his position as a Celtic employee will become untenable in the eyes of the fans. That said, we should have enough to take care of the swedes over two legs

I was initially furious about the Bangura situation and admitedly I was a bit over the top with my opinion with the regards to the situation. In the cold light of the day it's a terrible position he is in and I geniunely feel he wishes the decision was being made for him. I won't be booing him. I might be a bit angry if he scores tonight but what can we do? And what can he do? He has to be professional about it.

My position, and newly formed diplomatic approach to this fiasco may have been enhanced by watching him for 60 mins the other day in Elfsborgs Swedish league tie against Atvidabergs. Lol

Lets hope if a big change is to fall to him tonight it's from the penalty spot lol.

Stevensee88

I wouldn't think the loan fee would be 1 million, that would be enough for them to sign him permanently given how he played for us.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lennon tells one of the centre halves to make sure the first tackle is "hard but fair" to make sure he doesn't make it out for the second half.

Not saying for a second this is the case but in the modern era with all the atention on match fixing and the like surely uefa would have a rule in place to prevent players with conflicting intrest playing against parent clubs this would also save players commiting career suicide when all their trying to do is be proffesional feel sorry for the boy to be honest damned if he does damned if he doesn't
HH thommyj

31 Jul 2013 13:08:59
I don't know if anybody on here reads the daily mirror but I had a look today and their bookies tipster Derek McGovern wrote a bit about Celtic which is an absolute disgrace. He stated that tonight's game is a chance for us to stop embarrassing ourselves in Europe and that it's hard for us to shine in European competition because we're "crap". I know it's an English paper and they don't have a very high opinion of our game in Scotland but I can't believe they would print such an unprofessional pile of garbage
A very unhappy Kevbhoy

Part of the group that owns the daily ranger I think. Pretty poor considering the impression, or lack of, the English clubs made last year. green jhedi

With a name with origins to Ireland you might think he would have heard about celtics recent European success which not many EPL teams matched last season. Perhaps he should do research before printing unfactual stories but then again maybe he's more of a horse breeder than a football expert.

Just part of the general attacks on celtic. Now who do we know in a position to influence the lowliest of gutter press? I would suggest to anyone in the press looking for embarrassments in Europe to go to north Manchester. For crap, take your pick of the dozen or so epl teams who are relegation candidates. For a truly awful atmosphere and poor and overpriced matchday experience and the chance to watch overpaid foreign nonentities going through the motions, see above.

31 Jul 2013 12:37:48
Home early getting some lunch then girls and I heading for Celtic Park.
My thoughts on tonight's game are similar to most fans, it will be tough, Elsborg a typical strong Swedish team whose match fitness will be better than ours. As for Bangura? sods law if he plays he will score against us, but he will have to do something he seldom does have a good game AND score.
We will need a lead as I heard we will be playing on yet another plastic pitch. Also good old Scottish officialdom have set us up with 2 hard away games in between our CL qualifiers Aberdeen at Pittodrie and Dundee United at Tannadice.
I am hoping for a 2-0 victory and Bangura to play his usual rubbish game. hail hail Timalloy

My thoughts are similar to yours mate. I think this might be a bit of a sticky game for us.They are well into their season and will try and run us off I would think. Our defensive players need to be switched on and our attackers on it from the start.

Lenny has some problems in selection, will Joe Deadly start? Will he play his favourite son Mulgrew? Maybe it's just starting so early but I have a bad feeling about this game. Still I seem to recall having the same thing last season! COYBIG!. green jhedi

Think we should cruise this one - it's the next round I'm worried about. I reckon the whole Bangura thing is just Lenny trying to galvanise his troops and get them up for the match. 2-0 Celtic (Samaras, Commons).

TomTheTim

Nearly right. :-( Where were you, Sammy?

Still think we'll cruise the away leg - they'll have to come out to attack and leave space behind them.

TomTheTim

31 Jul 2013 09:27:15
with the European games taking on more importance and foreign players, managers and coaches in our game why do we have no foreign referees? is this a rule? surely it would help our euro chances to include them. what your take on it ED? {Ed007's Note - Poor and incompetent refereeing isn't exclusive to Scotland. It is the tinkering with the basic rules of the game that are confusing to both refs and players.}

31 Jul 2013 10:36:40
Hey everybody,
I'm over from Australia, going to the Ross county game this weekend but am in belfast at the moment. Could anyone tell me if the elfsborg game is on free to air tv tonight? And if not where would be the best place for me to watch the game?
Cheers
Aussie liam

I don't think it's on tv mate if you're in Belfast I'm sure a celtic pub will have celtic tv I think it's only shown on Celtic tv m8

31 Jul 2013 15:57:24
the rock bar on the falls road in belfast is showing it tonight. ill be there wif a few mates get urself up. belfastbhoy!

31 Jul 2013 09:12:45
Who is our Wanyama replacement?
And who is our Hooper replacement?
Cheers.
We've just bought a left winger, but Sammi and Ledley play there and Izzy makes his runs up left wing.

Ledley was a natural CM for Cardiff and Wales. Not a LM. Lennon played him there for balance. And sometimes at LB Out of necessity. Sammy can play left of CF. we don't need a Wanyama replacement Ledley and brown are already here. And better distributors than Wanyama. We do need a striker but the Dutch lad purchase makes total sense

Who's wanyama? . I'm sure our dcm is a capable lad called Kayal? TTTS

@1 yup totally agree mate. Except the part about us not needing a striker, we need a poacher but apart from that I'm very very happy with this window. The defender we bought is going to be an excellent player and the new winger is one of the best crossers in Holland, the bhoy will be our next naka if he keeps fit he can also play both sides so I wouldn't be Suprised to see him and Sammy starting most of our cl group matchs. If we get that far right enough.

Darrenbhoy

@3 I didn't say we didn't need I said we did need a striker

31 Jul 2013 08:32:18
Celtic games not even on the telle tonight that's terrible not happy!

Try Wiziwig on the net. Got all the big games on
Welwyn