Celtic v Rangers .

boruc

hinkel mcmanus caldwell naylor

mcgeady robson crosas mcginn

mcdonald fortune

 

Can't wait for this game. The fact that they are so confident makes me feel more confident weirdly. Ive watched their last few games to see what it is exaclty we need to look out for and theres not much to be honest. Our defense may be dodgy but theres no way their worse than what ive been watchin against them in the last few games. Every goal was so easy they hardly had any work to do. Broadfoot at the back fills me with joy, Aiden made him look silly in the cup final last year. Boyd won't have miller to do the running for him and our defense won't just let him have the ball in the box whenever he feels like it. I hate to say it but my biggest worry in this game is Boruc. Right enough hes always up for it against them but hes been looking shakey for too long now and was the cause of the disallowed goal against hamilton, i used to be so confident with him in goal but now everytime the ball gets played back to him i fear the worst lol. Their defense isn't all that good either, dundee utd had more shots than them the other day and still lost 7-1 and that was with bougherra in defense. From what ive seen and heard about the young guy wilson hes quite a good cb but hes got granda weir beside him and we should take advantage of that, run at weir and hel not have the pace to catch you. Mculloch wil probably be in midfield with davis, enough said about mculloch, hel kick and thats pretty much all hel do, davis apart from score a tap in from 3 yards against us last season has done next to nothing in every other old firm hes played in. Now for mcgreggor, this guy's dodgy and we should be testing him with a good few shots early on, a repeat of the dundee utd goal on sunday would be nice. The only other person i can think of that could pose a threat is papac who likes to go forward but with him being up against mcgeady if he's playing on the right won't get forward too much.

Im confident but not over confident as our defense could beat us again like it did in the last game. 2-1 celtic, cant see us keeping a clean sheet.

 

Ohhhh we are Celtic supporters - faithful through & through!

2-1 to the bhoys

 

I wonder what the score is with Novo & Papac, they were taken off on wednesday & are supposed to have flu.

Miller, Bougherra, Thomson, & Mendes are already out, if the 2 above are also out they'll be *.

Edu has hardly played a game in months & he's going to be a certain starter even if those other 2 make it.

We have a full strength squad, are at home & understand that if we don't win we'll be slaughtered & possibly give them 2 in a row.

I think if we take our chances (of which there will be many) & control our defensive fuckups - we'll win this at a canter.

I'm actually very, very confident & if Papac & Novo are indeed out - then we'll * skoosh it.

 

If our defence dont make a mistake we should do it, I'm more worried about boruc making a mistake though. Nailbiting stuff everytime the balls near boruc

 

Agreed this will make it much easier than before, but we struggled against hamilton,there raplcements are going to be better than hamiltons players, so I doubt we'll skoosh it. I am condifdent though.

 

Apparently they have a stomach bug going round.

Earlier in the week I was fearful going into this game but seeing the guys they have missing has eased it a little, I dont think Rangers are a better team, just think they have the better players for this game if that makes sense.

 

Hopefully lurch is up front on his todd.

 

i know what you mean. i was saying earlier in the week to let mcginn loose but that would mean dropping robson,who is the only player in our team capable of getting tough with these hatchet men.look at mcmanus last time he got wacked from that * lafferty he just got on with it too much of a mr nice guy for my liking.we used to have them beat before we started with hardmen like sutton hartson thomson lennon and our 6ft6 build like the back end of a bus centre halves.i blame wgs for bringing in too many small xavi type players

 

McGinn Over Robbo/ Fortune Over Skippy

Jokeybhoy, McGinn may be physically smaller than Robson - but he has the right aggressive attitude coupled with much more skill than Robbo. I think McGinn would be well up for a scrap -he's a tough wee nut who understands exactly what this derby is all about. Weir would be conceding fouls all over the place trying to handle him, just like he does against McGeady.

Also, Fortune and Sammy must start over McDonald. Fortune is a big guy and that's just what we need. McDonald right now is talking 45mins just to get warmed up. His attitude stinks. How many chances does he need? No, in my view, McDonald should only be considered for the last 30mins. If you let McDonald on from the start then he just wastes half the game flailing hopelessy at good balls sent in by McGeady. Skippy is just not trying in my view. Fortune is big, fast and can blast them from a distance. He deserves the start over Skippy. Knowing Mowbray, however, Skippy will get the nod and we'll spend the first 45 mins watching him shoot wide time after time.

 

if we can cut out the silly defensive errors we should * this game , gonna go for 3 - 1 to us but i'm more hopeful than confident

 

Loovens and Boruc Worry Me More Than Mick And Heid

Does anyone else get the impression that Loovens is constantly half-asleep? He just seems utterly unfocused. Loovens let Miller skin him the last OF - he can have no excuse this time. But then we have Artur who just seems to have lost the plot. Does anyone really consider him to be a world-class goalie anymore? Not only has he been at fault for numerous goals he's also done Celtic out of about 2million in potential transfer money because his stock has fallen so dramatically. Artur, if you're not interested then move on, son.

One last thing, why do the Gers start OF games like flipping greyhounds and we immediately go on the defensive? Why don't Celtic come bursting out of the blocks this time? I've noticed this pattern at so many OF games...the Gers come straight at us whether it's Ipox or Parkhead. The Celtic players need to wake up, they need to be fired up and they need to step up!

Hail hail!

 

* brillian 1st post mate Welcome to the site.

I agree that McGinn should start over Robbo & I believe Crosas should too, in fact I feel taking Crosas off instead of Robbo at Hearts cost us the game.

With McGeady on 1 wing & McGinn on the other, both capable of running at defenders & of interchanging wings with eachother, cutting inside to shoot or popping the ball into the box for Sammy & Fortune, will see Papac/Whittaker & Broadfoot * their cacks all over the place.

 

We've been setting up to confront an Orcish mentality, by playing Caldwell/Robson etc in our midfield instead of playing our natural game of fast wingers for quite a while now. WGS started it & I'm bemused that TM has continued it.

We should not be scared of their bully boy tactics & should be showing the likes of McCulloch up as what they are...* poor bully boys.

We can't burst out of the traps if Robson is on the wing, even Zheng Zhi on the wing is a waste - McGinn & McGeady are our only option if we want to attack their * poor defence, Unirea shat all over them FFS.

 

Agree with the following mate, although I am a big fan of Robson's grit, determination and attitude, this is one game where we need to flank them and control the tempo and this is why McGinn must start.

 

Boruc
Hinkel Caldwell Loovens Fox
McGinn Crosas N'Guemo McGeady
Samaras McDonald

We need to burst out the traps on Sunday and get at them from the word go. If they score early I think its curtains so we cant let that happen. I dont see any merit in dropping Crosas for Robson in the middle although I expect to see that. We need to play our own game and just outclass them. When we try to play them at their own game they beat us. Give Crosas and McGeady plenty of the ball to create chances and I think we will win easy. That being said I will be very surprised if we keep a clean sheet.

An absolute must win, lets get stuck into them early!
​

 

im here in south africa with no tv coverage will there be a link up to watch the game in here Ta harry

 

With Rangers seeing a point as a good result, which they will Wattie is not daft - he's not got Bougherra, Miller, Beasley, Thomson, Mendes out & Papac & Novo "reportedly" have flu (I bet they play). A point is a great result for them.

I bet they'll play:

McGregor

Whittaker Weir Broadfoot Papac

Edu

Lafferty Davies McCulloch Novo

Boyd

They are very weak on the wing, Whittaker is pish & Lafferty won't offer him support - Aiden will destroy them.

Papac will easily cope with Robson & although Zhi would cause him more problems, I reckon he'd really struggle with McGinn - either way he's not going to get much help from Novo & if he doesn't make it - that leaves Fleck :icon_mrgreen:.

Their central defence is really weakened if Bougherra doesn't make it, Broadfoot would be preferable to the 18 year old Wilson & he's *.

I personally don't think we should be worried about their CM 3 of McCulloch/Davies/Edu, yes they will be kicking & elbowing us, but we expect that & CP will really pressure the ref - plus if we play our high tempo passing game like in Moscow, N'Guemo & Crosas should be more than enough to handle them.

We're going to make planty of chances & if we take them, it'll be a big win & their egos will take a battering.

Boruc

Hinkle Caldwell Loovens Fox

McGinn Crosas N'Guemo McGeady

Fortune Samaras

4-1.
​

​

​

 

Check the first page of the official match thread, tim Park usually streams it.

 

I am not confident going into this one. The Uglymob are scoring for fun and we cannot defend for toffee at the minute. Mowbray has to get the defensive frailties sorted for this game or we will lose the match. No doubt about it.

I expect high balls to be fired into our defence from the wide areas - this is where we are weak and Smith isnae stupid. Mowbray is attack minded and will approach the game the way Tommy Burns did i.e. possession coupled with fast attacking. This means that Smith will probably go for the 4-5-1 formation in order to absorb pressure then hit us on the break - it worked brilliantly for him in the past and I see no reason for him to choose an alternative system.

The midfield for Celtic should be interesting. Knowing Mowbray, I cannot see past an attack-minded lineup with McGinn and McGeady switching the flanks regularly with orders to take this * out their opponents. I think Crosas will sit out in favour of the more physical and defensive minded Robson and N'Guemo.

How can we win this match? Be well organised in defence for a starter. After this, we need to press hard in every area of the park to win possession, and when we get possession, use our superior speed to run at them and create plenty of chances.

We have the better players but I think they have the more wily manager. I hope I am wrong however and we hump them hard if front of our faithful. Those * are being too lippy this weather.