16 Feb 2026 07:45:08
I see a lot of fans are completely writing off our European fixtures but for me we should still be taking it dead serious.
We have a massive squad, if anything too massive, so every player needs to step up and put in a shift whatever the competition.
While i do agree rotation is key, i'm not having playing a full reserve team against stuttgart. That Europa league is there to be won and we have every right to challange for it.
My 11 for stuttgart is
Schmeichel
donovan murray scales sarrachi
hatate bernardo engels
yang adamu tounetki
Finally just touching on Tounetki, much credit to him the last few weeks. His contribution last few matches have been immense, capped off with a stunner yesterday.
Theres talk of fotheringham working with him on his final product so if that's the case, well done all involved. Keep it up.
16 Feb 2026 08:05:49
Normally I would agree with that Derry Tim but at the moment we have so many issues that make that extremely difficult. My own preference is to ignore Europa and focus on league, as we cannot afford to give Sevco a leg up by winning the league.
Here are the reasons I don't think we are strong enough to compete on multiple fronts at the moment.
1. We have a lot of injuries to key players, i. e. Engels, Johnston, CCV and Jota.
2. Too many players are under performing so it is difficult to rotate and keep the same level of performance.
3. We have more games to play than the two we are competing against for the league and our squad is tiny if you only factor in players who are performing at an acceptable level.
4. Having our fans banned from stadium and the civil war going on has ensured our stadium either has no atmosphere or a toxic one.
I personally think it was stupid to qualify for the group stage as it has given our opponents an extra advantage.
16 Feb 2026 08:24:50
DT Engels is out for 9 matches going by the BBC and they have never been known to get anything wrong.
16 Feb 2026 08:32:31
Great goal against Talbot as well, the penny has dropped he can make a yard but previously didn't pull the trigger now he is,
16 Feb 2026 08:41:51
Engels is injured. Hatate shouldn’t play another game for Celtic. Yang flatters do deceive once again. Cvancara played a blinder yesterday and knows the opposition can’t we play him out wide?
16 Feb 2026 08:47:39
DerryTim, I notice you haven't our captain in your team and I'll agree with that. I think he's a major cause of where we are just now. He's far too casual and there's no bite from him in any games I've watched. Not sure of Hatate - he's clearly not interested. I'd give the armband to Nygren based on his recent performances.
16 Feb 2026 08:50:57
Didn't I read engles was out for 6 weeks.
16 Feb 2026 09:57:49
Unless something dramatic happens we are not winning anything this season. O'Neill shouldn't escape criticism, he has to stop starting Hatate and Maeda. Cvancara and Tounekti have to start and Ox as soon as he is fit enough. MO has a great record since he came back but we have gotten lucky in so many of those games, there seems to be no easy games for us anymore, we are struggling against every team so much so that I can't see us keeping up our current run of luck.
16 Feb 2026 10:12:57
Doohan ahead of fatboy.
16 Feb 2026 10:41:41
There was 4 imposters on the park yesterday Maeda Hatate Yang Kasper we won't keep scraping games with that.
16 Feb 2026 10:50:08
For the remainder of this season I believe it's a case of 'pick your poison'.
Our squad is simply nowhere good enough to compete for the two remaining domestic trophies and a European competition.
Not only does this current side not have the talent or ability, it doesn't have the desire or mental toughness to do that and that's before we look at the lack of strength and depth in this current squad of players.
In midfield alone we had real problems before Engels injury, zero dig and little end product.
In recent weeks we've been getting by in the league by nicking games by the odd goal well into added on time.
I don't see how we have any chance whatsoever of winning the Europa and getting past the Germans could put an end to our league title challenge.
If we attempt to compete for all 3 trophies, I believe we'll end up with nothing.
16 Feb 2026 11:09:21
While Trusty was a shambles for the first goal and most of yesterday, he wasn't helped by his team mates. Both Calmac and KT stood watching, marking no one, rather than going to help Trusty by "doubling up" and covering the Killie boy cutting inside, exactly what he did to score. Similar to Tounetki's
We're not pressing as a team anymore, like we did in the Angeball days, scoring for fun and conceding few chances. We badly need a solid DM and as a team start marking/ tracking the opposition rather than ball-watching and marking space. It's poor stuff but fixable.
16 Feb 2026 11:53:11
I agree for both their goals. When Tounekti plays there are sometimes 2 or 3 players on him when he gets the ball, when wingers get the ball against us, the defender has to deal with them by themselves, we just don't double up.
If we did it would prevent players, like yesterday, coming back inside to get a shot off.
I put it down to laziness by midfielders, they should be helping the defenders when teams attack us out wide.
When we luse the ball in midfield there is no urgency to get it back, they leave it to the defenders to try and get it back.
We used to be a nightmare for the opposition closing the ball down from the forwards to the back but that does not happen anymore.
We are very easy to play through and get balls into the box.
16 Feb 2026 12:02:07
drop the captain and we're in right bother he's the only natural playmaker we have, and if we do play who in that position we've no-one left.
16 Feb 2026 13:21:54
We have limited options but maybe start Bernardo in the deeper role. I know his form has fell off a cliff but he seems to be another one that performs better in Europe. Maybe having more time of the ball to be effective.
Have Calmac in the box to box role and link midfield to attack. Been saying most of the season maybe this small tweak could give us a bit more energy and make the midfield click better.
16 Feb 2026 13:52:00
O'Neill will play his strongest team.
16 Feb 2026 18:31:02
MTT - Captain finger pointer is a problem.
He has been nothing short of abysmal - especially this season. 1 winning goal against St Mirren and that’s his contribution.
McGregor can’t run, can’t tackle, is terrified to pass forward or can’t, and doesn't or can no longer press.
I can’t wait till he’s dropped, along with Hatate and we will see an improvement in our midfield.