Celtic banter 10

26 Aug 2026 06:41:24
Total embarrassment they're a good side but we should not be losing a 4 goal lead our bench is so weak when your bringing on Murray Ralston and mccowan who was they're best player then you know your in bother, Europa is our level but is that the spending over, probably.

26 Aug 2026 06:29:06
I would say that’s the worst result in our recent History since WW2 if not in our entire History after losing 5 goals with a 4 goal lead.

Celtic were 1/ 6 Odds On favourites to lift the 1970 European Cup Final against Feyenoord but the players had a bonus dispute with the Celtic Board before the match and Feyenoord ran out deserved winners.

The only other time Celtic were knocked out of Europe after a 3-0 lead was 62 years ago in the Cup Winners Cup Semi Final against MTK Budapest.

Losing 4-1 in the 1971 League Cup Final against Partick Thistle was a humiliating defeat.
Celtic went to Firhill the following month and won 5-1 in the league.

Bratislava 5-0 and Neuchatel Xamax 5-1 were poor results along with plenty of hammerings to Barcelona, PSG and Dortmund.

Also the helicopter Sunday defeat was a sore one losing to a weakened Motherwell side although that was more unlucky because Celtic missed about 10 good chances to be out of sight.

That’s several very poor domestic and European results mentioned above but last night’s result and what was at stake is probably the worst ever.
There’s a good chance it will hinder our chances of a better team this season because the brakes will get put on with the signing of players and the spending of money that’s in the Bank.

That’s now twice in the last 12 months clubs have reached the CL Groups for the first time ever after luckily getting Celtic in the playoff Draw and winning.

It will be interesting to see if the Celtic players respond better than last season’s humiliating playoff defeat because it took us several months to put any kind of winning run together.

26 Aug 2026 06:04:21
For me that result is the worst I've witnessed in Europe and by God we've had a good few gubbings over the years, but to be 4 up and just to see out 70 mins and lose is unacceptable and unforgivable. the warning signs have been there fae the first game of the season. yes we're scoring, but we're so so open its unreal. the chances were giving up is the worst I've seen in a long long time. to be 4 up and still have full backs bombing forward constantly caught out of position is simply bad management fae us.

you get the message on the close up and see that game out and hit on the break when required. and for another year looking at the likes of tounetki mccowan ralston donovan scales etc what is the ambition of this club when were turning to guys like this to bail us out at that level And to even have Balikwisha of all people on the bench, was that a ****in wind up or what.

26 Aug 2026 09:59:39
Sore one. Like last year against kairat to a man they were fitter sharper stronger. How many of our players would get into the LASK team? We were overan. The desperate wait for a physical ball winning defensive midfielder goes on. Think Martin got it wrong with tactics and subs. Nygrens gaffe mccowan dilly dallying sinisalo should have done better with 5th Høgh chances.

It’s hard to accept but we looked like a Europa league team. Another transfer window in profit. What actually noises me up the most is that I bet we go and sign a couple of players after the horse has bolted as per. So frustrating.

26 Aug 2026 07:39:12
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 1 - Quick Round Up

26 Aug 2026 09:23:02
We totally lacked enough quality last night.

We all knew where we needed improvements but for some reason only brought in 3 up front and 1 midfielder.

We were totally unprepared at this level. Now the issue will be trying to get the players in we really need while in the Europa.

Will Gineitis come now, will Sigur and even the left and right backs we are linked to.

We might find it very difficult to get the quality we want and need and will we now spend the money needed.

This could be a pivitol week for our club.

25 Aug 2026 23:49:31
How is it every supporter can see things before our incompetent board can, everyone could see after our first 3 league games that we rode our luck defensively, Killie and Dundee United had around 36 attempts at goal against us between them, that's unheard of. There was plenty time to rectify this before CL qualifier but we chose not to.

Last weeks 3-0 flattered us hugely but we buried our heads in the sand and thought we're fine despite another 18 attempts on goal by Lask. To be honest tonights result isn't a huge surprise, many of us said last week this is not over, we have a massive rebuild from back to middle before deadline day.

26 Aug 2026 00:15:30
Never going to happen but i would genuinely sack the manager after that.

26 Aug 2026 00:59:33
The LASK player who scored in the 90th minute with Tounekti on the wrong side sleeping was his first goal in 16 months.
Yet he only played 14 minutes tonight,
( 86 mins - 100 mins )

Tounekti causes more harm than good when he’s anywhere near his won box trying to defend.
Tounekti is only there in body because he can’t mark properly, he doesn’t challenge properly and he definitely can’t tackle.

But is frustrating watching it unfold with Tounekti defending a big space at the back post.
In the 89th minute a cross to the back post obviously goes unchallenged by Tounekti and gets headed back across the goals.

One minute later I said to my Son that Tounekti is still a liability at that back post and this time no challenge again on his heels and he’s on the wrong side of a player who scores his first goal in 16 months.

It’s on Martin tonight though for the crazy decision to bring Tounekti on 5 minutes after they had it 3-1 in the middle of a battle.
There’s only going to be one winner and it won’t be Tounekti.

26 Aug 2026 08:29:21
I had a gut feeling the gift that Nygren served up in the first half would come back to haunt us.

There's so many things that are wrong at the club right now, and although we look like we've brought in a couple of good additions, you really can't get away with not strengthening the whole squad before these ties.

We are in dire need of athletic midfielders and defenders. 3 out of 4 of our back line are injury risks or can't finish 90 mins (KT, CCV and AJ) and the defence get no protection from midfield.

LASK looked fitter, stronger and better technically and tactically over the 2 legs, but we should not be collapsing like that. Subs and tactics were shocking. We've got away with surrending possession against spl clubs in the past year in the second half of games, but that was pathetic last night.

The squad depth is dire, but so was the pressing, the passing, the hold up play and defending.

I can't see Celtic qualifying for the champions league for a long time, I think it's more likely the quality is diluted further until Europa league qualification is seen as the benchmark. I think the board already see that as a success anyway.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Losing out on £80 million in two seasons should see heads roll.

Sorry for the rant guys, a hard one to take after building a bit of optimism.

26 Aug 2026 08:51:07
Buzz you are 100% correct the Tounekti sub was horrendous. He was worse than a man down when he came on. Lost the ball constantly going forward and is honking defending. He is not good enough to wear the Celtic jersey, it is too heavy for him.

26 Aug 2026 08:52:46
There were so many things wrong last night I really don’t know where to start! The Defence is brutal and midfield not much better. All but one of their goals was down to Individual errors. Nygren for first, Trusty for second, Donovan for third and McCowan for fourth. So that is on the players

Tactics, I don’t think we knew whether we should attack or defend. We had a few breaks on and didn’t get enough players forward. That and the substitutions are one the management team.

Quality on the park and bench. Well we don’t have any. I don’t think any one of the players that came one made our team stronger or more solid. I know McCowan is getting a hard time on here but no wonder. I don’t think he won a tackle or had a successful pass! We had to replace our entire defence, with the exception of Trusty, and everyone of them was worse than who they replaced! Tierney can’t finish a game and neither can Donovan and he is only 19. He ha no bottle. Another Welsh. Can’t handle the pressure. The quality of player available is down to the board as we could all see that defence and midfield was weak and poor.

Interesting week ahead and lots of pressure on everyone at the club because that team is not fit for purpose!

26 Aug 2026 09:30:12
Thoughts.

Wrong formation - wrong tactics. Should have gone with the same as last week. Instead we had a huge gaping hole between midfield and defence and they played in it.

26 Aug 2026 09:38:55
Im shocked by our fitness, players looked so of the pace, LASK players seemed so much more sharper and quicker we have too many who look like robots when they run, just look stiff and unfit.
Thought we should of had enough with the lead we had but nygren giving ball away first half just gave them something abit of hope.

25 Aug 2026 23:26:23
That's on the players and the manager.
Not the board.
4 up with 65 to go.
And yes let me be the first to say.
KH don't be fooled by the 3 at killie. Don't think he held it up or won a header all game. had 3 chances an again fluffed them. needs to do better.

26 Aug 2026 00:01:48
They all have to take a part of the blame.

We can get away with a couple of subs but our team becomes much weaker when we use our 5 or 6 subs like tonight and that’s on the Board.

Martin had a howler with his first couple of subs although he was unlucky with injuries after that.
But Tounekti is the last player I want in a battle with 30 minutes to go and that was a poor call from our Manager.

The Celtic players also definitely share the blame considering they had a 4 goal advantage plus a 3 goal advantage at halftime.
Unprofessional and they basically bottled it with poor game management.
We almost got away with it but justice prevailed in the end because Celtic didn’t deserve to Qualify.

26 Aug 2026 00:18:56
The fact that the squad has been so poorly prepared and managed we’ve seen unfit ccv, pussy trusty, inexperienced Donovan, not good enough Murray, Les’s said about Ralston the better, wrong movie McCowan, gutless tounetki, brainless Yang and others of limited ability all play tonight is clearly down to the board.

25 Aug 2026 23:18:14
There's so much hate out there for McCowan tonight (a lot from posters that I've never heard of before) that I feel I need to offer balance. Don't get me wrong, he was utter shecht, but (1) his short cameo isn't the reason we lost this game tonight and (2) it was MON who put him on.

Almost none of the team showed up.

The captain might have scored, but the best thing he did tonight was give an emotional and heartfelt interview about how shecht we were.

25 Aug 2026 23:56:20
What do you mean it was MON that put him on? Was he meant to be an ornament on the bench? He's utter gash and should be thrown out the Club for shear lack of ability and effort when he came on.

26 Aug 2026 00:12:10
Celtic went into the game having won 13 games in a row and then we collapsed again in Europe.

The same happened before the 7-1 Dortmund when we won 19 out of our previous 20 games with the 3-3 Ibrox Draw being the only exception.

It’s okay when everything is rosy but we can’t handle it in Europe when the going gets tough.

26 Aug 2026 00:22:00
I'm not an expert, but as I understand things the manager chooses his side and which subs to introduce.

Ah, your point is that he should have been nowhere near the bench either?

McCowan is a decent squad player who has done us a turn in the last couple of seasons. He had a really poor game tonight and I was screaming at the tv as well at his play, but your comments (and some other posters) are a disgrace.

The point I was making, if you had the intellect to understand it, is that he wasn't singlehandedly responsible for the result tonight, despite what many posters are suggesting.

26 Aug 2026 00:33:13
Donegalpol

McCowan gave the ball away 19 times when he was on the park, he was subbed on about the 70th minute I think.

Now that is embarrassing for a professional footballer.

25 Aug 2026 23:16:55
Celtic got what we deserved.
LASK were by far the better team over the 2 legs with 61 shots at goal.

Our level is the Europa League and it will be for the next 10 years at least because Celtic are not good at Qualifiers and we can’t win a knockout tie either.
Celtic don’t spend money anyway with our constant annual profit in the transfer market.

The first 2 subs made tonight were so damaging with Hatate and Tounekti being the weakest players in the squad.
How those 2 subs were made only a few minutes after it going 3-1 was baffling because weak is an understatement.

26 Aug 2026 00:07:44
61 shots on goal! If that doesn't show what's needed then I despair, that's not including the 36 that Killie and Dundee United mustered between them.
Our luck ran out tonight and this huge problem needs addressed before the window closes, but our incompetent board will be asleep as usual.

25 Aug 2026 23:00:26
Horsed again at the qualification stage and it shows us just how unprepared we are every year for Europe. It's like this board are just closing their eyes and hoping we get through, then they can offer a few more quid to the manager.
So, to give them some credit, they have sorted out our forward positions with Duran and Høgh. That's like buying fancy new headlights and tyres for your car but leaving the engine wrecked and the boot open!
To build a team, every position needs strengthening but our defence is going backwards.

CCV and Trusty are just not good enough now and our midfield is horrendously missing when it comes to the basics.
Maybe Europa is our level but we absolutely blew that game tonight by our own making!
Sick of watching this crap.

25 Aug 2026 22:58:52
Celtic snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

I thought Dane done well when he came onto to that ramshackle of a performance.
Why he put Tounetki or McGowan on when you had Forrest and Hassan?

Facing better teams it's vkear we are still a million miles away. Last weeks result flattered us.

Their first goal totally flipped our composure and control. The second we gave up and started trying to hang on. Not defensively good enough. No excuses however that ref and his tea were absolutely terrible officials. How that no7 was still on the park yellow at least for challenge on Donovan but he smashed into another tackle wasn't even booked. Then he scores. Regardless that was worse than Kairait can you believe it?

25 Aug 2026 23:50:27
Nothing to do with the officals. just wer poor on the night. All over the park. plus mon subs wer horrific.

25 Aug 2026 22:58:51
The board got a perfect excuse for keeping the biscuit tin slammed shut now.
To be honest Lask deserved it over the 2 games, the first leg result flattered us.
We need to sack McCowan for impersonating a football player, Ralston needs to go to his level (Partick) .

We need to sign the players we've been linked with regardless of tonight (but we wont) On a positive note we won't have to suffer CL humiliation.

26 Aug 2026 01:10:59
Again stevie?