Atletico Madrid v Celtic, September 15th

3-1 Atletico with Celtic having created some chances and leaving with their heads held high. We'll then give them * at Celtic park!

 

must be honest cant see anything other than a madrid win, but they have been struggling for goals apparently; just as well they up against our defence

all we can do is hope for the best and dont get too critical if we do lose

i think the team will be in a 4-5-1 with:

Forster
Matthews
Wilson
Loovens
Mulgrew
Forrest
Kayal
Ki
Ledley
Commons
Samaras

 

3 min interview with Mulgrew at the airport:

http://sport.stv.tv/football/scotti...ew-sees-europa-league-involvement-as-a-bonus/

 

that makes sense to me. i would rather see bangura given a chance up front himself than samaras, he has had plenty of chances.

 

Atletico Madrid aren't invincible - they're in the Europa League for the reason.

They've sold their two best players in Aguero and Forlan, obviously they've signed Falcao and Diego as replacements but they're not as good as the afore-mentioned departees IMO. Diego in particular has been off the boil for a couple of years now.

They were knocked out at the group stages of the Europa league last year and finished a distant 7th in the La Liga last year.

If our better players like Kelvin Wilson, Kayal, Ledley and Ki show their qualities and step up to the mark then there's no reason we can't get a result here.

Samaras infuriates me but he has to play tonight IMO. He is an outball and has genuine blistering pace. ( when he wants to )

With Brown and Stokes both being out, who i'd be inclined not play anyway in this game as i feel both are limited at this level. Ball retention is key at this level IMO.

Forster
M.Wilson K.Wilson Loovens Mulgrew
Forrest Kayal Ki-SungYung Ledley
Commons
Samaras

Subs. Zaluska, Matthews, Wanyama, McCourt, Keatings, Hooper, Bangura.

- Loovens starts in CB for me , for some of his concentration lapses - he has pace. Something we're not blessed with.

- I hear Mark Wilson could be out, Matthews comes in then. Inexperienced but you can only pish with the * you've got.

- Commons has been off the boil this year so far but has a cutting edge and on his day can be a match winner. Him playing off Samaras could be positive.

- Samaras infuriates me but he's our only striker who is an out ball and has blistering pace when he's in the mood. He plays IMO.

Fairly even game with them edging chances, possession and getting a 1 or 2 nil victory.

I'd be delighted with a draw.

 

how many time's does he say eh/emmm

 

ehhhhhhhhhh ehhmmmmmmmmm
I didnae count

 

Fingers crossed we put in a good performance but if I am honest I can see us losing this by a couple.

Hope I am wrong but I am looking forward to this game, see how it goes.

 

Brown ruled out of the game. On SSN.

 

It'll be a shame for hooper if he doesn't get a game . It's this type of game that can attract players that would otherwise not come to the spl . Sundays game is big enough for every one to cope with both games in my opinion .

 

I was going to say that. He was the form defender before is injury (annoyingly) Seems to have upped his game. SO aye I'd not be bothered if he does start tomorrow.

Ps. I'd also drop Hooper and play Bangura (as opposed to samaras) sure he isn't tested or even settled but he is strong and pacy and imo from what I've seen i'd say he has more composure.

Hooper on second half.

 

What strip do you think we'll be wearing?

 

Yellow one.

 

<table class="boxestext" border="0" width="290"><tbody><tr><td>15/09/2011</td><td>Atletico Madrid</td><td>20:05</td><td>A
</td></tr><tr><td>18/09/2011</td><td>Rangers</td><td>12:30</td><td>A
</td></tr><tr><td>21/09/2011</td><td>Ross County</td><td>19:15</td><td>A
</td></tr><tr><td>24/09/2011</td><td>Inverness CT</td><td>15:00</td><td>H
</td></tr><tr><td>29/09/2011</td><td>Udinese</td><td>18:00</td><td>H

</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

alot if games hopefully a few of our young players can come in and do a job against ross county

 

Thread's awfully negative lol. Sure, they're favorites, but half of you don't think we belong in the same building, and others don't care if we actually try to compete at all.

It seems like the obvious compromise would be to just forfeit. That way we cut our losses on goals conceded (3 instead of 15) and our players can get 18 hours of sleep a night before Sunday.

Count me out of either camps. Compete to the standard the Celtic jersey demands. C'mon the Hoops!

 

If we can keep it tight at the back we can hurt them we have good players so try be positive bhoys

 

Hopefully they play a weakened side.

 

I heard some of the locals are mental...BBC radio Scotland were warning Celtic fans to be vigilant.....apparently there's an area there that the polis don't even go into!


Have a great time Bhoys & Ghirls but be very careful

C'mon the Hoops