The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[illdecide]

We're all getting our knickers in a twist over something we don't need to worry about, players come and go and managers too. Thats a fact and it will always be the case, people thought after H Larrson moved on that it was the end of days but life went on and if BR decides to move on i'll wish him all the best as he's been one of our better managers. If he stays we'll support him all the way, no one man is bigger than our club and thats the way it should be.

I can't wait for this Sevco v Celtic game coming up, it's actually perfect for Celtic as we're not playing that great and they seem to have improved so sets it up perfect for us as they're at home and now only 6pts behind a lot more is expected from them whereas before they were under no pressure to perform as nothing was expected. Celtic will be targeting this game and will be ready to hand out anothetr lesson as they've done every now and then whe the second place team thinks they're catching us up...This will be a 2-0 or 3-0 game for us...COYBIG

[illdecide]

TEN Things Only A Celtic Fan Will Understand

For most of us, we support Celtic from a young age and follow the team year after year.
Throughout the highs and lows, we experience it all and here are just TEN things you're likely to identify with/know/experience if you're a Celtic fan.

1. You ALWAYS look at the linesman/Ref immediately after Celtic score an important goal because you're used to 'honest mistakes.'
2. You don't fancy our chances against Rosenborg in a qualifier but EXPECT us to beat Bayern Munich by at least two clear goals in the group stage.
3. You're used to being lumped in with sectarianism when you've never sung an anti-religious song in your life.
4. If you wear your Hoops abroad you're getting at least one comment from a foreign bar/cafe owner saying "mon the hoops" or something to that effect.
5. On that same holiday, you'll see a wee growler at the poolside with a union jack towel.
6. That moment when the music fades out and a full Celtic Park sings You'll Never Walk Alone makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
7. You're polite as f**k when you have Celtic colours on because you're representing the club and our supporters.
8. In a game of football down the park, you've tried to emulate wee Jimmy Johnstone or Henrik Larsson at some point in your life.
9.Doesn't matter what age you are, you can rhyme off the Lisbon Lion team that won the European Cup.
10. You chant SEBO when someone makes a complete a*** of themselves trying to shoot.

[stew]

We're all getting our knickers in a twist over something we don't need to worry about, players come and go and managers too. Thats a fact and it will always be the case, people thought after H Larrson moved on that it was the end of days but life went on and if BR decides to move on i'll wish him all the best as he's been one of our better managers. If he stays we'll support him all the way, no one man is bigger than our club and thats the way it should be.

I can't wait for this Sevco v Celtic game coming up, it's actually perfect for Celtic as we're not playing that great and they seem to have improved so sets it up perfect for us as they're at home and now only 6pts behind a lot more is expected from them whereas before they were under no pressure to perform as nothing was expected. Celtic will be targeting this game and will be ready to hand out anothetr lesson as they've done every now and then whe the second place team thinks they're catching us up...This will be a 2-0 or 3-0 game for us...COYBIG

I dont see sevco not scoring against Celtic, of course the problem for them is their defence leaks goals, a lot of goals, that said they are scoring but the step up in class will undo them and I would expect Celtic to beat them 3/4-1.

[ned]

TEN Things Only A Celtic Fan Will Understand

For most of us, we support Celtic from a young age and follow the team year after year.
Throughout the highs and lows, we experience it all and here are just TEN things you're likely to identify with/know/experience if you're a Celtic fan.

1. You ALWAYS look at the linesman/Ref immediately after Celtic score an important goal because you're used to 'honest mistakes.'
2. You don't fancy our chances against Rosenborg in a qualifier but EXPECT us to beat Bayern Munich by at least two clear goals in the group stage.
3. You're used to being lumped in with sectarianism when you've never sung an anti-religious song in your life.
4. If you wear your Hoops abroad you're getting at least one comment from a foreign bar/cafe owner saying "mon the hoops" or something to that effect.
5. On that same holiday, you'll see a wee growler at the poolside with a union jack towel.
6. That moment when the music fades out and a full Celtic Park sings You'll Never Walk Alone makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
7. You're polite as f**k when you have Celtic colours on because you're representing the club and our supporters.
8. In a game of football down the park, you've tried to emulate wee Jimmy Johnstone or Henrik Larsson at some point in your life.
9.Doesn't matter what age you are, you can rhyme off the Lisbon Lion team that won the European Cup.
10. You chant SEBO when someone makes a complete a*** of themselves trying to shoot.

[ned]

I hate the endless requote shit on here!
In response to mo chara.

I'm not speculating, I'm going by what BR has said over the past 18 months or so. So either he's bullshitting or he's genuine. I'll go with the latter.

Article from the Herald (Scottish paper);

ON the face of it, the challenges facing Glasgow Celtic and the neighbouring Glasgow Rocks, who play out of the Emirates Arena, may seem poles apart.

But an inspirational afternoon that senior figures from the city's basketball side spent in the company of Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers this week blew them away to such an extent, that they are ready to apply the principles from his approach to the beautiful game onto the court.

Rodgers gave up four hours on Tuesday afternoon, in the midst of preparing his side for the game against Dundee that ultimately fell victim to the weather last night, to give an insight into how his approach to football management can translate not only across different sports, but equally to multiple walks of life.

Duncan Smillie, co-owner of the Rocks and not one to be easily impressed by the sort of glib motivational speeches he was no stranger to hearing in his time in the business world, was taken aback by the experience. What he thought would amount to little more than a cup of tea and a nosey about Lennoxtown, turned into an afternoon that may alter his whole approach to how he runs his organisation.

"We've got a reasonably close relationship with Celtic," Smillie explained when asked how the meeting came about. "We're neighbours, for one, and David Low my business partner was the guy who brokered the Fergus McCann deal when he bought Celtic back in the 90's.

"It was way, way more than I thought it would be. We were told that we would meet Brendan and his assistant Chris Davies, who has been at a few of our games. We thought we would get a look around, maybe watch some training and that would be it. But when we got up there, we couldn't believe the time we got with Brendan. He really put himself out.

"He brought us into his office and spent a good half hour chatting to the players just getting to know who they were, and was genuinely interested in them. It turns out that his first sport was basketball, and he had played at a good level as a point guard back in Ireland when he was younger.

"He then invited us out to watch training. He came over to chat with us during the session, and then insisted afterwards that we have lunch with him, the players and the coaching staff.

"We then went back into his office, and he made a presentation to us on leadership, coaching, tactics and mentoring. The guys were completely blown away, as was I, both in terms of how much time this guy was giving up, and just how inspirational he was.

"He's a born leader, and someone with a passion for developing and nurturing talent. I've got a business background, and I was thinking that this guy could go and run Microsoft. It's the same ethos, what he was saying about developing people and getting the best out of people.

"He was very intense, but in a good way, as he was sharing his philosophy on coaching. It sounds really twee, but it was really quite inspirational. His passion, his drive and his interest in what we were trying to do was very impressive."

Smillie is hoping that the messages Rodgers was trying to get across during the meeting absorbed into the Rocks players present as much as they resonated with him.

"He told the players that they were professional athletes, and they owed it to themselves to be the best version of themselves that they could be," said Smillie.

"It was really motivational. We've got some really senior guys in our team like our captain Kieron Achara who has been to the Olympics, he's the Team GB captain and the Scotland captain, and he was sitting there saying that it was mind-blowing.

"You don't think that level of intellect and psychology is prevalent in Scottish sport right now, but that's a guy who is absolutely at the top of his game."

While Smillie will be implementing some of the lessons from the afternoon in the near future, it will be during the traditional summer recruitment process that he feels the words of Rodgers will be uppermost in his mind.

"It reinforced to me that during that time you have individuals, you have a care of duty and a responsibility to develop them," he said.

"I'm less than a year at the Rocks, so I'm still very much enthused, but it has only enthused me more about what lies ahead.

"It's made me think about the individual, how we set expectations of what we want them to achieve when they arrive and what they want to achieve.

"I took away so much about how I want to put that same philosophy and focus on development into the Rocks that he has at Celtic. He didn't say that he had copyrighted it, so we'll certainly be stealing more than a few of his ideas."


And now I will speculate. I get the feeling that BR enjoys influencing, nurturing and advising people. He has those opportunities in his present job which would probably not be afforded him elsewhere. However, I'm not in the know and he could be plotting right now to be the Bayern Munich manager next year.

[illdecide]

'Skelp them! This injury-list Celtic side could inflict more pain and suffering at Ibrox

THE PAPERS are full of excited chat about the gap closing, the great job the caretaker is doing and the fact that our lead could be down to just 3 points should Brendan Rodgers' side suffer a third league loss of the season next weekend at Ibrox.

While Celtic have NOT been as impressive domestically this time around as they were in the Invincible season, they do have the Betfred Cup back in the trophy cabinet, have a six point lead with a game in hand over the Ibrox 'title challengers' and have Morton to play at Celtic Park tomorrow – weather permitting – as they go about defending the Scottish Cup.

So a back to back Treble is ON and that is remarkable given

a) It has NEVER been done before and

b) When you consider the huge injury problems that Celtic have had to cope with this season.

CELTIC have had an injury plagued this season.

Congested fixtures across four tournaments, internationals and vigorous standards have seen a large number of players in the treatment room at Lennoxtown. Little has been said about the extent of the injuries on the squad by the Celtic manager, but let's look at it this way.

Let's put together a team from the injury list at Lennoxtown and consider how it would get in if was selected to play at Ibrox next weekend. Would you be confident if these player were fit and selected to play?

In goals, we have the club's number one, Craig Gordon.

Since signing on a free transfer in 2014, Gordon has impressed on the whole with is shot stopping and reflex saves. This season, there have been some groans from the support related to his distribution but crucial saves versus Rangers, Hibs and St Johnstone have helped the points tally as it stands.. Unfortunately for Gordon and Celtic, the 35-year-old was floored by Efe Ambrose in an attempt to clear the ball from a Hibs corner.

At right wing-back, Anthony Ralston. The 19-year-old made his debut in a 2-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park against St Johnstone in May 2016. However, the arrival of Brendan Rodgers saw Ralston's involvement limited in his first season with just one appearance coming against the Saints. Ralston was expected to make more of an impact this season after coming up against Neymar in the Champions League defeat, although suffered a knee injury a few weeks later and is only returning to fitness now.

In the three centre back berths, we have Marvin Compper, Kristoffer Ajer and Dedryck Boyata.

Compper hasn't been seen since signing in January from RB Leipzig and Celtic fans were left questioning whether they'd ever see the German Internationalist in the Hoops after a calf injury suffered in Dubai; albeit, Brendan Rodgers suggested that the 32-year-old would make his debut in the ill-fated clash with Dundee.

Ajer's inclusion is a result of the head-clash with Jozo Simunovic at Pittodrie which would have kept him out of the game on Wednesday against Dundee had it gone ahead. Scandalously enough, Bobby Madden decided that the clash of heads wasn't enough to merit a stopping of the play and the Dons were allowed to proceed in attack.

Boyata was signed by Ronny Deila from Manchester City in 2015 but failed to live up to the hype around a Belgium internationalist in his first year. It took a second half of the season resurgence under Brendan Rodgers to make the defender an integral part of the side that became Invincibles. However, this season has been much more stop-start for the Belgian as an injury in pre-season versus Sparta Prague and then versus Kilmarnock have halted his progression.

At left wing-back, Irish internationalist Jonny Hayes. A constant thorn when facing Celtic for the Dons, Rodgers moved to sign the attacker up for the Champions. Hayes was signed by Celtic from Aberdeen having previously worked with the manager at Reading. The 30-year-old was just forcing himself into the Celtic team and was becoming more of a presence when a heavy challenge from Josh Meekings saw Hayes suffer a broken tibia which has ruled him out for the season.

In the right winger position, Paddy Roberts. An eccentric player with skills, composure and talent in abundance, the player has become endeared by the Celtic support. Currently in his second loan spell at Celtic, the player looked to make more of an impact and progress even further than he had down in the first spell. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury at Fir Park at the end of last year has kept the attacker out until now and is only just returning to action, in time for a visit to Ibrox.

Stuart Armstrong is the next player in the the Injury XI. The centre-midfielder was signed from Dundee United in January 2014 and became a resurged figure under the management of Brendan Rodgers playing in the midfield beside Scott Brown. With his own song, fine hair and ability to score important goals for the team, Armstrong is a big loss to the club as he recovers from a hernia operation. Armstrong was suffering from the injury in the weeks before it was operated on, affecting his ability to perform. Although, the return of Armstrong is expected to be at the end of March.

The versatile Nir Bitton is the next central midfielder in the crocked-XI. The 26 year-old has been at Celtic since 2013 and this season has been an answer to the defensive woes of the Champions slotting in at centre-back when he's been needed. However, a knee injury has ended his season after it was revealed he had to go to Belgium for an operation.

Next up is Mikey Johnston in the left winger's role. We haven't seen much of the 18-year-old this season as he's suffered from a couple of injuries, although glimpses of his talent have shone through in matches versus Dundee and in the UEFA Youth league. You can bet that Brendan Rodgers has big plans for the attacker and that the club have him tipped as a star in the future. Sadly, Johnston suffered a muscle injury and is a doubt for the remainder of the season.

Up front, Celtic's goal machine, Leigh Griffiths. A clinical finisher that has amassed 97 goals for Celtic in 172 appearances since joining from Wolves in January 2014. Having played 51 games in season 2015-16 and accumulating 40 goals, Griffiths would look to become a mainstay in the Celtic XI under Brendan Rodgers; however, a recurring calf injury and the emergence of Moussa Dembele has created a scrap for the place as Celtic's first choice striker. The calf injury that has blighted him over the last 18 months is the reason that Griffiths makes this XI as he looks to find a specialist that will sort the issue for him.

So the injury hit Celtic side would be ...Gordon, Ralston, Compper, Boyata, Ajer, Bitton, Hayes, Roberts, Armstrong, Johnston and Griffiths. Not bad eh? How would that side do at Ibrox? 'Skelp them no doubt!

[ned]

Unreal level of injuries. Roberts and Compper back today.

[stew]

So far this is awful stuff from Celtic, half hour plus in and still 0-0.

Nobody at this, atmosphere subdued to say the least.

[ned]

So far this is awful stuff from Celtic, half hour plus in and still 0-0.

Nobody at this, atmosphere subdued to say the least.

3-0 in the end. Edouard apparently made a difference coming on. They have the second best defence in Scotland (I know it's the second teir). Probably 4 big matches left this season - hopefully two cup games, sevco next week and Aberdeen at home. Win all those and mission accomplished.

[From the Bunker]

Scottish Cup is the most volatile of the two left. You can always get a Wigan/Man City result in the Cup! That to happen 3 to 4 times in the League would be freakish!

[tonto1888]

Well tbh Brendan didn't exactly tell me this himself. But I stand by what I say having spoken to him on numerous occasions in the not too distant past. And more recently to a couple of his brothers. Is that a bit better for you?

If he is at CP next season I will be pleasantly surprised. And if so the three years will do him because make no mistake he hankers to be back in EPL.

I guess we shall wait and see

If he wins the treble again and wants to leave because he believes he needs a new challenge I would be fine with that and understand it, I would say that I hope he is honest about his reasons for leaving, he is capable of talking awful shite at times but if it comes to that I would hope he ould be genuine.

If I were him and my stock was high given what he has accomplished at Celtic I would probably want a new challenge to if, and only if, the board was not giving me the money to compete at the next level, i.e European football, Celtic should never pay one penny more than they can afford but if I am BR I am upset that I cannot sign better players because of financial constraints when the club is loaded.

I'd understand that too mate and wouldn't blame him

[tonto1888]

TEN Things Only A Celtic Fan Will Understand

For most of us, we support Celtic from a young age and follow the team year after year.
Throughout the highs and lows, we experience it all and here are just TEN things you're likely to identify with/know/experience if you're a Celtic fan.

1. You ALWAYS look at the linesman/Ref immediately after Celtic score an important goal because you're used to 'honest mistakes.'
2. You don't fancy our chances against Rosenborg in a qualifier but EXPECT us to beat Bayern Munich by at least two clear goals in the group stage.
3. You're used to being lumped in with sectarianism when you've never sung an anti-religious song in your life.
4. If you wear your Hoops abroad you're getting at least one comment from a foreign bar/cafe owner saying "mon the hoops" or something to that effect.
5. On that same holiday, you'll see a wee growler at the poolside with a union jack towel.
6. That moment when the music fades out and a full Celtic Park sings You'll Never Walk Alone makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
7. You're polite as f**k when you have Celtic colours on because you're representing the club and our supporters.
8. In a game of football down the park, you've tried to emulate wee Jimmy Johnstone or Henrik Larsson at some point in your life.
9.Doesn't matter what age you are, you can rhyme off the Lisbon Lion team that won the European Cup.
10. You chant SEBO when someone makes a complete a*** of themselves trying to shoot.

Brilliant

[stew]

So far this is awful stuff from Celtic, half hour plus in and still 0-0.

Nobody at this, atmosphere subdued to say the least.

3-0 in the end. Edouard apparently made a difference coming on. They have the second best defence in Scotland (I know it's the second teir). Probably 4 big matches left this season - hopefully two cup games, sevco next week and Aberdeen at home. Win all those and mission accomplished.

I want to see what they have in Commper and hope to see him, Charly and young Odsonne all start against the huns, Commper is an excellent back, Charly will give the team that bit of creativity it needs and the Frenchman will give Celtic power and speed up front that will frustrate the huns.

[illdecide]

Celtic v Sevco in semi final of Scottish Cup

[stew]

Celtic v Sevco in semi final of Scottish Cup

Sevco cant stop a nosebleed and always concede these days, they are beating up on dog food, the true test awaits next Sunday at high noon, Celtic 3-1 winners.