The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[lenny]

I would be quite confident in saying that he has been set a Group Stage target for this year,and rightly so..Celtic can't afford a settling in year and to wave goodbye to £10m quid.Look after this round (if they make it through) Celtic  will come up against a team of roughly the standard of Bate/Dundalk (one of which will be in the final round).Are we seriously saying Rodgers,who already has players who have been transferred for £12m at his disposal,should be excused if he fails to defeat teams like this and qualify? I don't think so.

Apart from Ambrose,who is not good enough by the way? I repeat we are not up against the cream of Europe,just obscure teams from Eastern Europe and Scandanavia,who none is us could name a single player from.

I think you're right Tony. If we lose on Wednesday we should sack rodgers before the season starts and go through the process of trying to recruit a new manager. That would make a lot of sense.

[Main Street]

It should be irrelevant,Celtic have a bigger and better squad and budget than any of their potential opponents.Competent management is now required.

If  is now being replaced by should 

it should be  but it isn't  irrelevant,  because Celtic have a poorer squad now and have performed poorly for the 3 last seasons against this standard of opponent. progressively getting worse. Progressively worse since Lennon's final season, who with a much better team barely scraped into the group stage.

[T Fearon]

Celtic should always be capable of beating the likes of Maribor and Malmo,the teams that deprived them of Group places in the last two seasons.The squad was of sufficient quality but were set up poorly.If Ronny was a gamble, and a cheap one at that,Rodgers,remunerated at £2m a year,was brought specifically  in to provide the proven proper management and tactical nous to ensure Celtic beat these opponents,to which they are tactically superior and have superior budgets (including £12m players) etc.If he cannot do this he is a vastly overpaid failure, and no better than Ronny.There is no excuse,even this season for failing, and I would say when offering him the huge salary both Desmond and Lawwell factored in Champions League group stage qualification as a means of partially financing the huge salary of the manager.

[stew]

4
Celtic should always be capable of beating the likes of Maribor and Malmo,the teams that deprived them of Group places in the last two seasons.The squad was of sufficient quality but were set up poorly.If Ronny was a gamble, and a cheap one at that,Rodgers,remunerated at £2m a year,was brought specifically  in to provide the proven proper management and tactical nous to ensure Celtic beat these opponents,to which they are tactically superior and have superior budgets (including £12m players) etc.If he cannot do this he is a vastly overpaid failure, and no better than Ronny.There is no excuse,even this season for failing, and I would say when offering him the huge salary both Desmond and Lawwell factored in Champions League group stage qualification as a means of partially financing the huge salary of the manager.

The man needs at least a year to revamp the squad and get a grip on the job, at the very least he would need to win the league and a cup, group stage CL would be tremendous but he is working with Ronnies players, Tony, you are taking the puss.

[T Fearon]

I am not.To qualify for the group stages of the Champions League you are required to beat obscure teams from Eastern European or Scandanavian countries,who not one of us could name a single player from.You don't have to beat Barcelona or Real Madrid.

If Ronny had only shut up shop against Malmo last year at 2 nil the deal would have been sealed.Major failure if Rodgers doesn't qualify and will not justify the huge salary he is being paid.

[Over the Bar]

Rodgers was a gormless idiot at Liverpool, so well matched to the club's supporters.  Complete fcukwits to a man.  Hopefully he's learned from that abject failure in his career.....

[T Fearon]

Agreed. That's exactly what worries me.Apart from moderate success at Swansea he has failed everywhere,including Reading

[ned]

Good to see such reasoned debate.
Tony, I am used to your ramblings, so easy to brush aside but I can't understand people who follow a team and are so constantly negative. We get it Rodgers isn't your favourite but let it lie and come back in a year and say 'I told you so' or admit you were wrong. Give it a rest.
As for posters who feel the need to make inane comment on particular threads and insult a whole group when they have no interest in the thread, I'm not sure what is lacking in your life but you need to reevaluate why you feel compelled to do so and what makes you so angry.

[lenny]

Agreed. That's exactly what worries me.Apart from moderate success at Swansea he has failed everywhere,including Reading

Do you make allowances for injuries. Celtic have 5 centre backs injured for this game and will have to probably start with efe ambrose and lustig (a right back) or O'Connell (a rookie). I'm not confident given that astana did very well in last years champions league and have spent a lot of money.

[southderryman]

Agreed. That's exactly what worries me.Apart from moderate success at Swansea he has failed everywhere,including Reading

Do you make allowances for injuries. Celtic have 5 centre backs injured for this game and will have to probably start with efe ambrose and lustig (a right back) or O'Connell (a rookie). I'm not confident given that astana did very well in last years champions league and have spent a lot of money.

There's no room for realism or facts in a discussion with that man. Given our injury situation and the state of the squad, this is an extremely tough tie

[Main Street]

Agreed. That's exactly what worries me.Apart from moderate success at Swansea he has failed everywhere,including Reading

Do you make allowances for injuries. Celtic have 5 centre backs injured for this game and will have to probably start with efe ambrose and lustig (a right back) or O'Connell (a rookie). I'm not confident given that astana did very well in last years champions league and have spent a lot of money.

There's no room for realism or facts in a discussion with that man. Given our injury situation and the state of the squad, this is an extremely tough tie

There is a belief which is a total  fantasy, in that the belief is not even supported by anecdotal evidence but rather the belief is a fantasy alternate reality,  littered with a plethora of  'ifs' and 'shoulds' to connect the dots. Tony's brain is held together by a load of lines going hither and thither with a seamless dexterity (probably teflon enhanced), between 'should have done'  to 'if only'.

[fearbrags]

There may be reason to believe that Tony might be A female 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS37SNYjg8w

[T Fearon]

Obviously you don't understand the club's DNA nor that of its real supporters.Dermot Desmond was really cheesed off with the gloating of Rangers Directors after last season's Scottish Cup Semi Final,so he and Peter Lawwell sat down and crunched the numbers and brought in "a top class manager" to ensure no further under achievement.Qualifying for the Group Stages of the Champions League is a must this year,it is this prospect that has sold so many season tickets.

Now name me one Astana player? Exactly.The opposition Celtic face to qualify is far inferior to Celtic in terms of history,stature,support and budget.There is no excuse,Rodgers unlike Ronny is not seen as a cheap option or a gamble.He is supposed to be the real deal with a top dollar salary.

[angermanagement]

Is the main reason for the increase in season tickets not due to the fact Rangers are back in the SPL. Well that's the reason the secretary of one of the biggest Belfast Supporters clubs told me nothing to with the CL.

[T Fearon]

No.The appointment of a "top drawer" manager means big expectations particularly in Europe,and anticipation of big (I don't mean Gibraltar teams or Astana) European nights at Celtic Park.On a more encouraging note I see the manager himself says he has every confidence in his players to get the better of Astana.Unlike some on this thread,he realises failure is not an option.