Champions League: AC Milan vs CELTIC, 18th September 19:45 kick off, live on SS2

I think tonight showed as well that we have found a back four that we can stick to!

Lustig Ambrose Van Dijk Izaguirre

No let downs there tonight, solid performances from everyone, Matthews can cover either full back when injured or be deployed as a RM but for the first time under Lennon I think we have found a back four which will play when fit!

 

Cheers for the humbleness mate, agree with everything you've said

 

Why is everybody angry? We played beautiful football, big Jock would have been proud of until the 83 min, that is football and that is the Italians..

I * hate the one step forward two steps back anty * italians, but I know I am proud and that their supporters only made a noise when they where??!!!??

 

Spot on, we just lacked some spark in the final third while you got a bit of luck, that's football, a draw was a fair result but looking forward to the return game!

 

You're an uber-realist and I get that but I still think you're selling the club short. You mentioned the German clubs, but to throw that back at you, why did Pukki just leave a German CL club for us? Dutch players are infinitely better than their Scottish counterparts, so why did Derk leave Ajax, a huge European club in their own right, for us?

It sure isn't for the 100k a week pay packets, which should tell you all you need to know about Celtic.

We are still able to attract good players, from good clubs in good leagues, despite having pitiful TV and sponorship money. We can still buy a player who scored in the Bernabeu in the Champions League last season, we are still watched by millions across the globe. If we just, at board level, showed that little more amibiton by, say keeping our star performers from last term and adding to them, well then who knows?

And I wouldn't say Spurs are that well run anyway. They have a far smaller stadium, fanbase and merchandising power than us and if it wasn't for Florentino Perez's ego they would be severely in debt this summer.

I agree with you about the fictional European super league, I actually think that's not as unrealistic a proposal as many might think. Money talks and sooner or later (if not already) the big clubs are going to realise that their vast revenues are infact tiny compared to what they could be if they fully exploited their global appeal. FIFA make literally billions from World Cups and the CEOs of Man U and Real Madrid are gonna be asking themselves, "wait a minute, we can be huge brands not just sports teams, and turnovers of 200-300 million pounds can be massivly enhanced by tapping into our new fanbases and the expaning middle classes in traditionally 2nd and 3rd world countries"

 

Which he will. Oh, wait... he was signed from Schalke, not Scunthorpe, so he's not fit to fill Hooper's boots - some people had decided that before he'd kicked a ball.

I like Stokesy but he's not the type of player we need at this level. No player played badly tonight but Pukki and Boerrigter should have started alongside Sammy - they're the kind of players who will take us to that next level.

I don't know how people can be so * disappointed in our new players, having never seen them play. It's really * boring, actually. We have a ceiling, with regards to the quality of player we can sign, due to the league we play in. That's why Arnautović turned us down. The club showed real ambition this summer in the players they went after, we just couldn't get all the deals done.

 

Thanks man, can I ask. Are you a Glaswegian Milan fan? You use a lot of Glasgow colloquialisms.

 

Is there such a thing? :icon_mrgreen:

Nope, I'm Irish

 

Wow I think I need to go to bed! Milan supporters who can speak better Anglo-Saxon than I can type...!!

Only jocking

 

Irish Glaswegian, potato potato. :smiley-laughing002:

 

Very fair summary.

The draw would have been the fair result although Milan did have the best and only chance really before the opening lucky goal.

 

I agree with this mate but my complaint is why didn't we sign them in the Summer?

 

Celtic remind me of my Sunday League team a few years back..

We were a good side with a few good players, we were hardworking and had lots of potential but we would never really get anywhere in the cup and would finish 4/5th in the league behind the usual great teams.

A season or two later, we got 1 midfielder 1 winger and 1 striker. They were all great players and fitted nicely right into our system. In that season, we won the league and got to two finals. One of them we lost, and one we won.

If Celtic had got these KEY players in the last windows * knows what we could have achieved..

 

I do try! :smiley-laughing002:

Hahahaha

Out of curiosity, were yous missing many players tonight that would be considered first team starters? I know there was talk of Pukki starting ahead of Stokes and Boerrigter possibly getting a start, but did yous have many injuries? Would Mouyokolo or Forrest have started?

 

For playing time. For them (not for us), it was a move down.

It sure isn't for the 100k a week pay packets, which should tell you all you need to know about Celtic.

They wouldn't have made those purchases without Bale leaving. It was obvious Florentino was going to get Bale, they made their deals before selling so as to avoid inflation. It was masterful.

I think FIFA will become more combative with UEFA, and I also think in about 20 years that MLS will be enormous. If you look at the growth of wages and attendances and project it forward, it's pretty huge. Europe won't want to play second fiddle (especially to the US), so the alternative will be larger supra-national leagues.

 

I am Celtic-Celtic, Sligo patato, but Gaswegian potato and a Peter snacks Posso Fleetoooooo

 

I was pleased with the players we did bring in btw. Biton comes highly rated. We've still not really seen much of Rogic but i'm incredibly positive about his future. Pukki and Boerrigter come from good clubs and Balde was another relatively cheap gamble who may or may not pay off and make us a big profit in 3 years time.

But how much better would we be if we had just kept any one of Wilson, Wanyama and Hooper? The mental boost delivered to the players and fans would have been far more important than the significant on-pitch capabilities of these players.
We have a very good team now and absolutely do not look out of place in the CL. Matthews and Lustig have blossomed into brilliant players. Brown has finally fulfilled his potential and is a true leader.

But Wanyama is very nearly world class - though i'm afraid his development may stall at Southampton - and I felt confident that Hooper would score in EVERY game.
Keeping them would have been amibition, the kind of realistic and achieveable ambition i'm looking for. We don't actually have to spend 200 million pounds or sell our soul to a Qatari devil to attain European success.

 

The main one was Ledley who would have played CM with Brown. We dont really have a first 11 so to speak as we have quite a few players who rotate positions at times. We were also missing Forrest but I dont think he would have started as it would have meant Samaras or Matthews not playing.

Surprised you said earlier you though your full back's were good as I though the lad on the left was your weak link.

 

Yes, but still the fact remains we signed two players from clubs with at least as much European pedigree as ourselves. Hardly an indication of the "woe is me" perennial underdogs some seem to want to paint us as. You presumably think I over-rate Celtic's status and capability but I certainly think some underrate us.

Masterful only because - and only when - it worked. Hindsight smiles kindly on Mr Levy but the entire North London district of Tottenham would have been filled with bagel-scented * had Perez pulled out at the last minute, or had Bale failed a medical or a personal contract.

Well, we agree on summit
Though I do bow to your superior knowledge on American footy. Only time i'll be bowing so treasure it * :icon_mrgreen: