Celtic News: Season 2013-14

First topic message reminder :

Results / Fixtures


July

UCL 2nd Q: Cliftonville 0-3 Celtic (Lustig, Samaras, Forrest) Assists: Commons 2, Stokes - Att: 5000
UCL 2nd Q: Celtic 2-0 Cliftonville (Ambrose, Samaras) Assists: Stokes, Commons - Att: 44,389
UCL 3rd Q: Celtic 1-0 Elfsborg (Commons) Assist: Izaguirre - Att: 40,153



August

Premiership: Celtic 2-1 Ross County (Stokes 2) Assist: Commons - Att: 45,705
UCL 3rd Q: Elfsborg 0-0 Celtic - Att: 9,040
Premiership: Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic (Commons, Forrest) Assists: Samaras, Ledley - Att: 20,017
UCL Play-Off: S.Karagandy 2-0 Celtic Att: 20,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-2 Inverness C.T (Mulgrew, Matthews) Assists: Izaguirre, Brown - Att: 45,160
UCL Play-Off: Celtic 3-0 S.Karagandy (Commons, Samaras, Forrest) Assists: Samaras, Lustig, Stokes - Att: 58,000
Premiership: Dundee Utd 0-1 Celtic (Stokes) Att: 10,586



September

Premiership: Hearts 1-3 Celtic (Commons, Stokes, Pukki) Assists: Stokes 2, Commons - Att: 15,982
Champions League: AC Milan 2-0 Celtic Att: 43,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-1 St Johnstone (Pukki, Mulgrew) Assist: Stokes 2 - Att: 45,220
League Cup: Celtic 0-1 Morton (AET) - Att- 16,998
Premiership: Kilmarnock 2-5 Celtic (Commons, Samaras 3, Baldè) Assist: Samaras Commons 2 Mulgrew Lustig - Att: 6,149



October

Champions League: Celtic 0-1 Barcelona Att: 60,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell (Stokes, Commons) Assist:  Brown - Att: 46,608
Premiership: Hibernian 1-1 Celtic (Forrest) Att: 14,220
Champions League: Celtic 2-1 Ajax (Forrest, Kayal) Assist: Stokes, Samaras Att: 60,000
Premiership: Partick Thistle 1-2 Celtic (Samaras, Baldè) Assist Izaguirre 2 Att: 7,978



November

Premiership: Celtic 1-1 Dundee Utd (Mulgrew) Assist: Izaguirre Att: 47,386
Champions League: Ajax 1-0 Celtic Att: 52,058
Premiership: Ross County 1-4 Celtic (Van Dijk 2, Ledley 2) Assist: Izaguirre 2, Mulgrew, Fisher Att: 5,982
Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Aberdeen (Commons 2, Boerrigter) Att: 49,638
Champions League: Celtic 0-3 AC Milan Att: 60,000



December

Scottish Cup: Hearts 0-7 Celtic (Commons 3, Brown 2, Ledley , Lustig) Assist: Ledley 2, Mulgrew 2, Lustig Att: 10,636
Premiership: Motherwell 0-5 Celtic (Commons 2, Ambrose, Stokes, Atajic) Assist: Stokes 2, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Pukki - Att: 9,117
Champions League: Barcelona 6-1 Celtic (Samaras) Assist: Commons
Premiership: Celtic 1-0 Hibs (Pukki) Assist: Ledley Att: 46,065
Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Hearts (Commons, Forrest) Assist: Brown, Samaras Att: 46,058
Premiership: St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic (Van Dijk) Att: 7,034
Premiership: Inverness C.T 0-1 Celtic (Commons) - Assist: Samaras Att: 6,384



January

Premiership: Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle (Ledley) - Att: 52,670
Premiership: St Mirren 0-4 Celtic (Mulgrew, Stokes, Commons 2) - Assist: Matthews, Ledley, Izaguirre, Forrest Att: 5,778
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 Motherwell (Commons 2, McManus OG) - Assist: Stokes 2 - Att: 47,489
Premiership: Hibernian 0-4 Celtic (Commons 2, Van Dijk, Pukki) - Assist: Izaguirre, Pukki - Att: 12,542
Premiership: Celtic 4-0 Kilmarnock (Ledley, Ashcroft OG, Mulgrew, Baldè) - Assist: Forrest 2, Ledley, Commons - Att: 44,271



February

Premiership: Celtic 1-0 St Mirren (Commons) - Att: 45,014
Scottish Cup: Celtic 1-2 Aberdeen (Stokes) - Assit: Samaras Att: 30,413
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 St Johnstone (Stokes 3) - Assist: - Griffiths, Brown Att: - 45,239
Premiership: Hearts 0-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Pukki) - Assist: - Stokes, Baldè Att: 15,801
Premiership: Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic (Forrest) - Assist:- Brown Att: 16,638



March
Premiership: Celtic 5-0 Inverness C.T (Griffiths 3, Mulgrew, Commons) - Assist Izaguirre, Forrest 2, Commons Att: 46,552
Premiership: Kilmarnock 0-3 Celtic (Commons 3) - Assist: Griffiths, Matthews, Mulgrew Att: 7,495
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 St Mirren (Johansen, Griffiths, Stokes) - Assits:Griffiths, Stokes, Samaras Att: 46,538
Premiership: Partick Thistle 1-5 Celtic (Stokes 2, Henderson, Johansen, Commons) - Assists: Izaguirre, Johansen, Griffiths, Samaras 2 Att: 7,549
Premiership: Celtic 1-1 Ross County (Commons) -  Assist: Griffiths - Att: 49,270



April
Premiership: Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic (Samaras, Stokes) - Assist: Commons - Att:11,033
Premiership: Motherwell 3-3 Celtic (Stokes, Samaras, Griffiths) - Assist: Brown, Stokes 2 - Att: 7,493
Premiership: Celtic 6-0 Inverness C.T (Stokes 3, Griffiths, Ambrose, Pukki) - Assist: Griffths 2, Johansen, Stokes, Commons 2 - Att: 45,712


May
Premiership: Celtic 5-2 Aberdeen (Brown 2, Stokes, Commons) - Assist: Matthews 2, Stokes, Kayal - Att: 47,468
Premiership: St Johnstone 3-3 Celtic (Commons, Pukki, Van Dijk) - Assist: Mulgrew, Brown - Att: 4,624
Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Dundee Utd (Stokes, Samaras, Commons) - Assist: Commons, Stokes - Att: 52,400




Goalscorers:

32 - Commons
21 - Stokes
20 - Griffiths (13 for Wolves)
11 - Samaras
7 - Forrest; Pukki
6 - Mulgrew
5 - Ledley; Van Dijk
4 - Ambrose; Brown
3 - Balde
2 - Lustig; Johansen
1 - Atajic; Matthews; Kayal; Boerrigter; Henderson




Assists:

18 - Stokes
15 -Commons
11 - Izaguirre
10 - Samaras
7 - Griffiths; Brown
5 - Forrest
4 - Ledley; Mulgrew
2 - Lustig; Matthews; Johansen
1 - Fisher; Pukki; Baldè






Man of the Match:

vs Cliftonville - Georgios Samaras
vs Cliftonville - Kelvin Wilson
vs Elfsborg - Kris Commons
vs Ross County - Anthony Stokes
vs Elfsborg - Mikeal Lustig
vs Aberdeen - Charlie Mulgrew
vs S.Karagandy - Kris Commoms
vs Inverness C.T - Tom Rogic
vs S.Karagandy - Kris Commons
vs Dundee Utd - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Hearts - Anthony Stokes
vs AC Milan - Adam Matthews
vs St Johnstone - Virgil Van Dyke
vs Kilmarnock - Georgios Samaras
vs Barcelona - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Motherwell - Kris Commons
vs Hibernian - James Forrest
vs Ajax - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Partick Thistle - Emilio Izaguirre
vs Dundee Utd - Anthony Stokes
vs Ajax - Mikeal Lustig
vs Ross County -Virgil Van Dijk
vs Aberdeen -Efe Ambrose
vs AC Milan -Emilio Izaguirre
vs Hearts - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Anthony Stokes
vs Barcelona - Fraser Forster
vs Hibs - Mikeal Lustig
vs Hearts - Kris Commons
vs St Johnstone - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Inverness C.T - Kris Commons
vs Partick Thistle - Joe Ledley
vs St Mirren - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Kris Commons
vs Hibernian - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Kilmarnock - Joe Ledley
vs St Mirren - Stefan Johansen
vs Aberdeen - Virgil Van Dijk
vs St Johnstone - Anthony Stokes
vs Hearts - Leigh Griffiths
vs Aberdeen - Nir Biton
vs Inverness C.T - Leigh Griffiths
vs Kilmarnock - Kris Commons
vs St Mirren - Anthony Stokes
vs Partick Thistle - Anthony Stokes
vs Ross County - Virgil Vam Dyke
vs Dundee Utd - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Anthony Stokes
vs Inverness C.T - Anthony Stokes
vs Aberdeen - Scott Brown
vs St Johnstone - Kris Commons
vs Dundee Utd - Anthony Stokes



Average League Attendance for Season 2013/14: 47,079 from 19 games (894,501)
Total Home Attendance for All Competitions in 2013/14: (1,264,454)
Average Home Attendance for the UEFA Champions League in 2013/14: 60,00 from 3 games (180,000)
Average Home Attendance for the UEFA Champions League Qualifiers in 2013/14: 47,514 from 3 games (142,542)

Appearances:

Player's Names	SPFL Premiership (Subs)/Goals	Champions League (subs)/Goals	Scottish FA Cup (Subs)/Goals	Scottish League Cup (Subs)/Goals	Total Appearances (Subs)/Goals
1. Fraser Forster	37	12	2	-	51
2. Adam Matthews	20 (2) / 1	4 (2)	(1)	1	25 (5) / 1
3. Emilio Izaguirre	34	10	2	-	46
4. Efe Ambrose	37 (1) / 3	11 / 1	2	1	51 (1) / 4
5. Virgil Van Dijk	35 (1)/ 5	7 (1)	2	1	45 (2) / 5
6. Nir Biton	9 (7)	1 (2)	1	1	12 (9)
8. Scott Brown	37 (1)/ 2	9	2 / 2	1	49 (1)/ 4
9. Georgios Samaras	10 (10) / 7	12 / 4	1	-	23 (10) / 11
10. Anthony Stokes	30 (3) / 20	8 (3)	2 / 1	(1)	40 (7) / 21
11. Derk Boerrigter	4 (10) / 1	2 (3)	(2)	1	7 (15) / 1
15. Kris Commons	32 (2) / 27	10 (1) / 2	2 / 2	(1)	44 (4) / 32
17. Amido Balde	3 (17) / 3	(3)	(1)	-	3 (21) / 3
18. Tom Rogic	1(2)	(3)	-	1	2 (5)
20. Teemu Pukki	13 (12) / 7	2 (3)	(1)	1	16 (16) / 7
21. Charlie Mulrew	27 (1) / 6	8 (2)	1	1	37 (3) / 6
22. Steven Mouyokolo	1	1	-	-	2
23. Mikeal Lustig	9 (7)	12 / 1	1 / 1	1	23 (7) / 2
24. Lukas Zaluska	1	-	-	1	2
25. Stefan Johansen	13 (3) / 2	-	1	-	14 (3) / 2
28. Leigh Griffiths	11 (2) / 7	-	(1)	-	11 (3) / 7
32. Tony Watt	1 (1)	(1)	-	-	1 (2)
33. Beram Kayal	7 (6)	6 (1) / 1	-	-	13 (7) / 1
37. Bahrudin Atajic	(3) / 1	-	-	-	(3) / 1
41. Darnel Fisher	10 (2)	-	(1)	-	10 (3)
46. Dylan McGeouch	(1)	(1)	-	1	1 (2)
49. James Forrest	10 (6) / 4	10 (1)/ 3	1	-	21 (7) / 7
53. Liam Henderson	4 (4) / 1	-	-	-	4 (4) / 1
56. Filip Twardzik	1	-	-	-	1
Players On Loan
18. Tom Rogic - Melbourne Victory	7 (1)	3	-	-	10 (1)
32. Tony Watt - Lierse	8 (8) / 8	-	(1) / 1	-	8 (9) / 9
37. Bahrudin Atajic - Shrewsbury	3 (10)	-	-	-	3 (10)
42. Callum McGregor - Notts County	32 (5) / 12	- [	-	2 / 1	34 (5) / 14
46. Dylan McGeouch - Coventry	(8)	(8)	-	-	(8)
Players Sold
Joe Ledley	18 (2) / 4	4 (4)	1 / 1	-	23 (6) / 5
Kelvin Wilson	-	4	-	-	4
Gary Hooper	-	(1)	-	-	(1)

Just got to my seat, same team as last two games

Forster
Lustig Ambrose Wilson Izaguirre
Brown Kayal
Forrest Commons Samaras
Stokes


Hopefully we can score a couple of goals tonight and a clean sheet, tough test, decent side

Many there mate?

Hopeful of a good start and it will be interesting with Bangura playing for them!

There was about 40k there by the looks of it, top tier of the Rangers end was closed, it was slightly patchy but seemed pretty decent, £20 for a ticket to a round we got for nothing last year, club making a wee bit of cash already

Thought we played alright, think we should them too much respect, Kris Commons was the best player on the park, everything good we did tonight came from him.

http://help.forumotion.com/faq?mode=bbcode

General consensus is that Samaras was Man of the Match last night but for me it was Kris Commons, anytime he had the ball he looked dangerous, whether it was shooting, creating chances for others or running at the Elfsborg defence, we looked at our most dangerous when we got Commons on the ball.

First half we didn't get him on it enough but if you look at all our closest chances Commons was in the thick of it, in the first half he put in a fantasstic ball that Forrest hit the bar with, he also played a triffic pass for Stokes to score although the flag went up, his delivery for Ambrose header from a corner was excellent too, then he started using his trickery and won Free Kicks which Stokes would have tucked in the top corner if it wasn't for a great save from a big goal keeper, then his natural instint to score goals allowed him to drift in and be in the right place at the right time for his goal.

It was good to see Adam Matthews, Charlie Mulgrew and Joe Ledley fit enough to make the match squad last night, with these European games its good to get them fit ASAP...I think all 3 will probably start on Saturday against Ross County, I'd also hope Derk Boerrigter and possibly even Amido Balde start on Saturday

............................. Forster

Matthews .. Ambrose .. Wilson .. Izaguirre

.................... Brown (c) .. Ledley

Commons ........... Stokes ......... Boerrigter

.............................. Balde

Charlie Austin signs for QPR for £3.5m

Not a player we've been linked with lately but one we've been interested in for the last 18 months or so, had hoped he'd be back on our radar after we sold Hooper, ironically enough QPR probably wouldn't have went for him if Hooper signed on.

Just sends shivers that this could be a step closer to Kevin Doyle

Finbogasson is miles better than any mentioned, that would be a great signing.

I cant see it happening to be honest, he's a million lightyears ahead of Doyle, I'm pretty certain Doyle will be a Celtic player before the window closes tho which is a big kick in the balls for the fans

Apparently Burnley are interested in replacing Austin with Doyle, so you could be saved.

Praise the lord, I heard Celtic bid £600,000 for him on Monday afternoon and it got rejected, they're looking for closer to £1.5m, Lennon has liked him for years though, he's a Celtic fan, my worry is any move for him by anyone will only ignite our interest

Up early on a Saturday,  must be the first day of the season!!!!

Love the first day of the League Season, this year it's the first day of the Scottish Premiership in the new SPFL

Celtic vs Ross County, I'm looking forward to seeing what Celtic turn up, last season we were very subdued particularly at home in the first 4 months of the season, more so when we had an up coming European match so it'll be interesting to see how they approach this game.

Apart from Virgil Van Dijk, Celtic have a full strength squad to call on although Samaras, Forrest, Lustig and Wilson are all carrying slight knocks and could be put on ice for the Elfsborg game in midweek.

It's win-win anyway because Joe Ledley,  Charlie Mulgrew,  Amido Balde and Derk Boerrigter all need game time ahead of the Elfsborg tie

I fancy us lining up something similar to this 4-4-2 formation

....................... ...... Forrest

Matthews .... Ambrose .. Mulgrew .... Izaguirre

Commons ... Brown (c) ... Ledley .... Boerrigter

......................... Stokes ..... Balde

Huge game for the Bhoys tonight, absolutely hate these early qualifiers, particularly against teams thay won decent leagues and are more than half way through their season, probably our biggest games of the season these Champions League qualifiers.

Still im hopeful we've got enough to get through tonight, I've bet 2-1 Celtic (agg 3-1) so  I guess thats my prediction, if we do get through im expecting big performances from Kris Commons, Georgios Samaras and Scott Brown.

I think the team might be this

............................ Forster

Lustig ...... Ambrose ... Wilson ...... Izaguirre

........... Brown (c) .. Ledley .. Mulgrew

Commons ..................................... Samaras
.............................. Stokes


Edit

Team for tonight was

............................ Forster

Lustig ...... Ambrose ... Wilson ...... Izaguirre

Forrest ..... Brown (c) ... Ledley ..... Mulgrew

.......................... Commons

........................... Samaras

Delighted with the result tonight, it was a crappy ugly game but the end game was about getting through, job done, don't like Mulgrew in midfield, ir comes to the stage where Lennon has to ask himself is Charlie Mulgrews worth at set-pieces worth more to the team than the shape of the side because the team is imbalanced with Charlie in the middle of the park.

Also Samaras was played up front, last week he played wide left which allowed him to drop deep and run at the Elfsborg defence, he terrorised them and 3 different players got booked for fouling him, to suddenly play him up top as your focal point played into Elfsborgs hands, hes rotten with his back to goal and struggled all night.

Kelvin Wilson also looks like he's played his last game, Forest have apparently bid £2.25m for him with it rising to £3m if Forest are promoted in next 2 seasons

Well done As much as I'm not a fan of Celtic I'll admit they keep Scottish football going and it's good to see them back in the group stages. With a little luck, who knows what will happen?

Its not the groups yet mate, we've got one more round to go, the Champions League Play-Off round, it'll be one of these 5 teams, Austria Vienna, Legia Warsaw, Maribor, Ludogorats Razgrad or Shakhtyor Karaganda

If we can strengthen our side I feel we could beat all 5 of those sides over two legs but if we could avoid Vienna and Warsaw I'd be more confident, Shakhtyor are the Kazakhstan champs and while they should be respected they should be comprehensively dealt with, same with Ludogorats who are the Bulgarian champs, they're decent but not as strong as Elfsborg, Maribor are Slovenian, I saw them 2 years ago against Rangers, they were guff then but managed to knock them out over 2 legs, I'd hope over 2 legs we'd have enough to progress

Another round? Shocking. I think Celtic should have enough for all of those teams but as you say, Warsaw and Vienna could potentially be problematic.

I don't want to tar all the Polish football fans with the same brush of course but I hope the Legia fans not as bad as that Slask bunch who caused a lot of trouble in Dundee when Utd played them a few seasons ago.

This is a case of be careful what you wish for

I said if I could hand pick a team it would be Shakhtyor Karagandy and thats who we've got, the Kazakhstan Champions are on paper tge easiest draw but its by far the worst trip to make, 11 hour flight, 4000 miles and the heat is insane.

Hopefully we've got a new striker by then

Just sold Kelvin Wilson to Nottingham Forest for £2.5m rising to £3m if Forest are promoted in the next 2 seasons

I read the temperature in Kazakhstan is around 18 degrees around this time of year.

Losing Wilson means we've lost the spine of our side. We need quite a few players in to replace them. A LB, CB, CM and striker are real priorities for me.

I'm not a fan of Wilson but thought he and Lustig were excellent on Wednesday night but even so, you're right, we've lost Wilson, Wanyama and Hooper, the spine so another £4m+ needs to be spent and another £3/4m if we get into the groups

We've made £23m from the CL last season and in the last 12 months brought in £27m in transfer fees if you include Ki

£50m in a year, not counting what these qualifiers are bringing in too

When is the registration date for players for the next round? I would prefer us to spend a bit of money before the ties. We are guaranteed European football so that should be enticing to potential targets. Heard any strong rumours recently (Kevin Doyle aside)?

Im hearing the the the registration deadline for the Play-Off round is 11pm on Monday which doesn't leave us much time at all, there is another week to sign a 'Wildcard' for that round though

Celtic are meant to be negotiating with Pascara over Italian Under 21 International Centre Half Marco Capuano, from what I've read the price tag varies from £1.7m-£2.5m

Yeah, heard about Capuano last week, but according to the papers, the deal is dead in the water. Seemed a bit cheap for a 21 yo Italian with 18 U21 caps. Finnbogason is back on the radar. Would love to sign him, he would score goals for fun. Express are also reporting interest in Doyle again, though.

You see the Liverpool game yesterday? I must admit, Balde looked a real handful. I've watched quite a few preseason games and thought he was woeful. Would happily be proven wrong.

I didn't see the game yesterday, was out with the mrs, she doesnt mind being patched when its a real game so cant complain when she wants to do something when its a friendly.

With the Capuano thing, I think I read Pascara are in a bit of trouble financially and after being relegated they might need to sell, Lazio are supposed to be interested though.

Doyle wont go away, pretty certain he'll sign, I think Lennon knows the fans dont want him though so I think we'll make token bids for guys like Fingobason so if we do end up with Doyle they can tell us they tried for others.

I'd not mind Billy Sharp, he's not ideal but he's a goalscorer, I think he'd do well but I also think Balde needs to be given a chance, he's looked horrendous so far but he's hardly played competitively for us and most of our guys have been honking in friendlies yesterday apart

Rumours about Finbogason aren't going away, Celtic have aparently bid €4m for him but Heerenveen wont budge from their €5.8m valuation but it looks like Celtic will improve their offer.

Champions League Play-Off deadline is midnight tonight so this might be a quick mover, he might be signed as a wild card which can be 24 hours befpre the actual game but we can only register 1 wild card so I'm expecting at least onr signing tonight be it a forward or a central defender

If there's a signing other than Finnbogason this evening, then Celtic are playing their cards close to their chest. I haven't heard anything other than Doyle and Capuano.

You heard anything?

Don't think theres anything doing, looks like we'll only get 1 signing if any now in time for this next European qualifier.

We can sign anyone now until 11pm the night before the game BUT since the game is in Kazakhstan and you need a Visa and its an 11 hour flight so you'd have to think if Celtic did want him or anyone to play that first leg realistically they'd need to be signed Thursday/Friday...Celtic are flying out on Saturday night you'd think anyone who might play must be on the flight

Looking forward to the game tomorrow, just got my ticket, the girl in the ticket office told me its expected to be a sell out, I love Celtic/Aberdeen games at Pittodrie, more so when they have a decent side, think we'll have a shaddow side oyt but still think we'll have enough to get a result.

Possible starting XI

................................. Forster

Matthews ... Mouyokolo .. Ambrose ... Izaguirre

.......................... Kayal .... Mulgrew (c)

....... Watt ................. Rogic ............... Stokes

................................. Baldè

I think the sheep might get a result, no McGhee to tell them to lie down for you

I wouldn't be surprised if Aberdeen did get a result, we'll definitely have one eye on the Champions League Play-Off, im hoping for a cracking game, I fancy 3-1 Celtic but if it's 2-2 or they sneek it I wouldn't be overly stunned

I would play the kids. Save every first teamer for the match on tuesday unless they need the game time. These three points wont matter come the end of the season so I rather lose and get a decent result in Kazakhstan than the reverse. Lennon has reemed of a long list of doubtful players so he may be thinking along the same lines.

I think Matthews will play because he needs games, I dont think Stokes will start against Karagandy so I fancy him to start, I also think Mulgrew will play just to keep us that bit of experience, looking at our squad we only really have 19 outfield players for the squad.

I'd like to see Boerrigter and Van Dijk get fit, I think they're both a class above what we have at the moment.

I don't expect Lustig, Brown, Ledley, Commons, Samaras or Forrest to play tomorrow, Forster could be rested too

Not impressed with the team, no Stokes, Baldè, Rogic or Watt, just got into the ground and saw the teams, shocked that Brown is playing, he's vital to how we play these days so thought he'd be wrapped in cotton wool for Tuesday

Was hoping this would be an open exciting game but Celtic look like they've set up for a battle, midfield looks like it'll be Brown Kayal Ledley Mulgrew

I was really looking forward to this game today, mainly because I thought Celtic would be utilising their squad, was hoping to see Baldè, Stokes, Watt and Forrest line up alongside Rogic in the middle, if I knew most of them were out id probably not have went, 7:30am rise on a Saturday I coulda done without plus BT Sport for me are nailing it.

As soon as I saw the team I predicted the performance, it was never going to be an open game with the midfield and lack of attack we had, we just slowly took control, good professional performance though.

Player Rating

1. Forster - 6
2. Matthews - 6
3. Izaguirre - 6
4. Ambrose - 5
22. Mouyokolo - 7
21. Mulgrew - 7
33. Kayal - 6
8. Brown - 6
16. Ledley - 7
15. Commons - 6
9. Samaras - 6

Subs

23. Lustig - 5
49. Forrest - 6
5. Van Dijk - 5

Happy with the win, but Matthews aside, everyone has come through unscathed. Mouyokolo was decent, as was Ledley, Matthews and Mulgrew. Ambrose was a bombscare yet again. A move to centre midfield might suit him more.


Really annoyed that we've flown out to Kazakhstan and we still haven't signed anyone. We have until Monday to sign a striker that will be eligible for the second leg. Doesn't look good. The board and Lennon need to have a look at themselves if we don't. Poor planning from both has left us in this position.

It's been really poor planning from our point of view, we knew Hooper was leaving in January so we should have had a target lined up ASAP, we've left purselves in a bad place, Schalke know we want Pukki, they know we have until Monday night so they're playing hard ball with us to get as much as possible, its moronic of us to be honest.

Good news is that Van Dijk is fit, Mouyokolo looks like he'll do a job and Stokes, Baldè and Boerrigter are going to Karagandy with us, so we will have options, or at least thats what Lennon said on the radio on the way back down thw road I think

Huntelaar picked up an injury so there is little chance of picking up Pukki now. If we don't get a result in Karagandy then serious questions should be asked.

I think Schalke are signing a striker from Basel although that was agreed before Huntelaar's injury so if that comes off then I can see them selling him...ideally I think they'll want to sell him near the end of the window, its whether we gamble to go without a striker, thats the question, to be honest this tie is the most crucial we'll play all season considering the cash that's at stake so its a bit of a shambles that we've not got a striker we really want in already

Exactly, if we go out, which we shouldn't, then that's almost the season over.

Been reading a bit about Karagandy and they seem to be pretty poor. Only two.current Kazakhstan internationals even though they make up the vast majority of their squad. Not super rich either. I've also read that they were pretty lucky against Bate, as they missed penalties. I watched Kazakhstan vs ROI not so long ago and if they are anything like that then we should progress with minimal fuss.

Celtic have played it smart going straight after the Aberdeen game to minimise any after effects from the travelling. Lets just hope there is no complacency within the ranks.

The 4pm kick off is an arse though. I have to go to Worcester that day from Birmingham and will be struggling to get back in time.

Christ I've been yapping about the time of the game and just realised I've a half day on Tuesday.

Really taking a big risk with having a striker in to replace Hooper as I don't think Lennon fancies Stokesy is up to the task. And in fairness I'd agree with him. Stokes is a 20 goal a season man in Scotland but not a threat in Europe.

Stokes like to drift to the Left far too much. I was at the Ross County game abd at times we had 3 guys on the wing but no one in the box. Stokes can be a dexent link up player but can't lead the line himself.

Boss, read elsewhere you live in Lincoln, is that correct? If yes I have a mate moving down and will be looking to watch the matches somewhere. Any ideas?

Ye I moved here 4 months ago but still don't know the area well I go home to Ireland every other weekend. No Irish bars about but I've heard a few things about a Celtic supporters club and have been meaning to look into it.

Yeah, there is no mention of any bars in Lincoln on Celticbars.com If you hear anything about a club could you pass it on.

Brum is similar though I've found a couple of places that show games.  They are a kick in the arse to get to though as they are all outside the City centre. My local shows all the GAA games as all the regulars are Irish or have Irish heritage.

I haven't even heard another Irish accent since getting here. Just have to stream everything. Moving into a new place for the minimum term allowed and then praying a job comes up at home haha.

I'll keep my ear to the ground.

I done a bit of digging on them too, star mans a wee Luthuanian midfielder, likesa goal, bottom line is if we met them in the group stages we'd take 4 maybe 6 points off them but because of whats at stake the game becomes a million timwa harder mentally, this time last year we got an early goal against Helsingborgs and it settled us big time, if we can leave there on Tuesday with a winner takes all at Celtic Park I'll be happy

Monumental night tonight, they're a big side, expecting a bit of a battle, no idea what the team will be, ideally id have Van Dijk and Mouyokolo at CB but they've barely played together so don't know how wise that would be.

Boerrigter is fit again which is good news but dont know if he's likely to play with it being a plastic pitch, Baldè is fit too although he doesn't get a game against Cliftonville or Ross County so im not sure he'll see game time tonight, Stokes is fit too so at least we have options

Team I think might start tonight

............................ Forrest

Lustig ... Mouyokolo .. Van Dijk ... Izaguirre

............ Brown .... Ledley .... Mulgrew
Commons ................................... Boerrigter
........................... Samaras

1-0 down...

Celtic 2 down.