UCL: Ajax vs CELTIC,Wed 6th Nov, KO 7:45pm, Live on SS4

This must be pretty close to the worst Ajax team in your history. You are a really poor side. You also did not deserve to win in Glasgow.

As for the fans, I could hear them a few times on TV.

 

It was always going to be a tough game with so many players just coming back from injury and clearly not match fit, so a slim defeat where we were undone by a magical Ajax worked goal is not the end of the world.

We just have to regroup, we sorely missed Matthews and Brown tonight, but there is no reason we can't defeat Milan at Parkhead to get us back in the hunt.

Keep the Faith

 

Please, someone, ban that *.

 

All we hear is that Celtic cant compete in Europe because of the money we get in a backwater league. That's fine in comparison with giants like Barca, Man.Utd etc,where as we all know more fight,determination and a bit of luck can see us overcome the rich boys. However, Ajax and teams in that middle bracket are nothing special, and their players are probably on less wages than ours.Gutted tonight with our 'performance'. We dont have much from middle to front to worry many teams. Shining star again was VVD, absolute class.

 

What is it with away in Europe and Celtic though? It's always baffled me, we just seem to lose all confidence and almost forget how to play the game.

We've not been able to crack it for a LONG time, and I begin to wonder when or if that'll change.

Absolutely worn out with the "hard luck" stories we get with these games, we just don't ever look good enough away, it's almost like a mentality with the club and players when we do travel. It shouldn't be THIS difficult. We must have THE worst away record in the CL for a team with a similar home record to ours.

The team may well be young but they are now all pretty experienced at this level and the fact that our least experienced player at this level (van Dijk), show's up as our best player calls for big concern.

 

Samaras had a shocker as well, i thought Lustig was our best player

 

Maybe it's our home record that's the anomaly.

 

Rightly or wrongly there will only be a couple of teams in the groups who spend less than us. As I mentioned earlier, even Anderlecht are spending £5m on a single player. We have done a lot better than the likes of them.

 

There are not many teams with a good CL away record. Eg, when Barca beat us in Glasgow it was their first win away in 7 games. If those kind of sides cant do it then we should not expect to. Also, the seeding system means that we always get really hard draws. Just look at the teams we have faced over that time and then think about our record. How many teams would win in Turin, Camp Nou, Manchester, Lisbon and the like. Not * many. I know we have a bad away record but there has to be perspective as well.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuLugxEjUlQ"]shut the f**k up you c**t - YouTube[/ame]

 

True. I think there would be a number of mid-table EPL teams who have him on a shortlist as a potential replacement if things don't work out with the current incumbent.

It's also a dilemma for the board - not just about spending more to bring a player in, but the wage structure that allows us to reward them appropriately.

 

Maybe we should give that a try instead of four or five players at £1million+,I still believe our wages would be more than these teams, e.g. big Dykey, Pukki, Balde signing up. So frustrating watchin us unable to control or pass an easy ball, so we end up chasing teams most games and tire bigtime.

 

I thought that with the money we made we might have aimed a bit higher but it seems like the board are not willing to go that extra step.

I would have preferred if we went down that route as well. Although not guaranteed, you tend to get better players the higher their fee.

 

If you have two guys coming back from a hamstring injury and a knee knock, you can hardly expect them to make 100 meter sprints. We've got this uncanny knack of turning draws into defeats and this is what's gonna cost us.

Pukki, Boerigter, Balde and Ledley all on the bench. Forrest is good off the bench. Commons and Sammy were passengers. It was naive to underestimate the pace that Ajax have and that's what we needed to match them up with. But those guys were left on the bench.

 

Dissapointed with that tonight. Very poor performance. We look solid at the back for a change and now the problem is our attack..... feel confidence is a major issue among the forwards at the moment. Nobody seems to be prepared to try something different. Would change things for the Milan game, give Derk, Pukki and Balde a run of games now in the league and really see what theyve got and try them against Milan.

Also wish we would stop hitting long balls cause at the moment we have no one to handle them. we just give it away and pile the pressure back on.

 

We look really clueless in the final third. Samaras didn't look arsed at all tonight, Commons looked totally unfit and not up to it. Forrest had one or two moments where he looked dangerous but nowhere near enough. Stokes didn't do a whole lot either. Can barely remember Mulgrew touching the ball and Kayal's shot pretty much sums up his use in the final third.

 

Very good now away and play with yer right wing friends, loved the banner btw "Irish Warriors" but you never knew that though eh

fud

 

Big disappointment tonight. First half was so * yet we were much better in that 2nd half when we finally actually started pressing them and keeping the ball instead of punting it upfield. I hate when we start resorting to those kind of long-ball tactics. We have been absolute * from corners, free-kicks, and crosses all season long. Aye we've scored the odd few here and there but it's really lacked on that side this season.

Despite losing, I thought out defense played really well, especially van Dijk who was my Man of the Match. Everything that came his way, he dealt with excellently and rescued us a good few times with great interceptions and headers away. Since the away game at Karagandy, he's started to really look the part and has been a rock in defense. Apart from one hairy moment when Ambrose got the ball nabbed off him in that 2nd half, I thought done a really good job too. Lustig and Izzy were pretty solid as well.

Midfield and attack, well, we were nowhere. Stokes & Forrest (in the 2nd half at least) were really the only attackers with pass marks for me. Commons started to come into the game late on, but by that time he was fading fast and I think it should have been him to come off for Boerrigter - not Stokes. We were chasing the game so I think it would have been better putting Samaras up front with Stokes and Boerrigter on the left. Actually maybe keep Commons on and take Samaras off as he done nothing all night.

Don't understand the slating for Forrest either. He didn't do * all in the 1st half because, for some unknown reason, we never gave him the ball. He can't do much if he's not given the ball. We were MUCH better in the 2nd half when he came into the game a lot more and he actually got past players a good few times. My only criticism of him was that final ball to find Stokes when it was two on one. If we had passed the ball more to Forrest in that 1st half then who knows what may have happened.

Gonna be a really huge ask to get through now. We MUST beat Milan and hope that Ajax get pounded by Barcelona. Hopefully we can do it, but realistically I don't think we will. But you never know.

Ach away an' choke on yer cheese, you muppet, and don't talk pish. We'll be the last one laughing when Barcelona trounce you's lot in a few weeks time and we beat Milan :bbpd:

 

Hoped for much better than that tonight, not the result that upsets me but the manner of our play.

Really need to turn over Milan now, I am no lover of this Europa League stuff but even I will concede its going to be a long old haul until Trophy day in May with no European football after the new year.

Folk were moaning like * after Saturday about how flat the crowd were and the empty spaces and attendance irrespective of he figure the club quoted.

Imagine the predictable posts after a dull game on a cold day in March at home to St Mirren