Who do want in the last 32

If we can sneak a goal advantage at home in the first leg we will have a really good chance

 

Inter Milian clear favorites but given how we started the season and not having had too many big games to really get pumped up for I could see us causing an upset in this one especially given we have nothing to lose given very few people give us a chance. We will for sure though need to produce one of those magical Celtic Park European nights and get a lead to take to Milan with us from the first leg.

 

Basically I'm that guy who signs up on an opposition-team forum never ever having in mind to discuss said team, but I saw some things that needed clearing up, as as most opinions range from "these guys couldn't beat Inverness" to "nope, we're out, no bother even trying". The first opinion seemed to be based on 90 minutes of football against Chievo yesterday, and the second seemed to be based on reputation only.
The truth is definitely somewhere in between.

I probably wouldn't be going out on a limb saying that I see us as favorites, but then again, I know nada about Celtic - as much as some of you seem to know about Inter, which is fair enough seeing the lack of coverage of Italian football basically anywhere. Point being, giving an estimate percentage-wise of who's going through would be naught.

So in short, I'm here if you have some questions regarding the club, the players, Mancini, playing style, the cleaning lady or anything else, ask away - might give you a better idea of what you're going up against and what to expect.

 

Can you compare inter to an EPL team in terms of form this season. It's hard to gauge as we know little of the teams who sit above inter in their league at the moment

 

Also, what do fans think of the performances etc. why is it all going wrong? Do you think inter will be a different team come February

 

Probably Liverpool.

 

What's your administration staff like :smiley-laughing002:

 

The obvious comparison would be Liverpool, but the two situations are completely different, seeing as we're just coming off a sacking of the coach who led us to our worst start to the league in 20 years, whilst Liverpool as of now are still holding on to Rodgers.
Maybe a bit of Arsenal as well?

Mancini has brought some renewed optimism, although the results haven't really followed (1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses, albeit re-starting his career at Inter against Milan, Roma and Udinese was never going to be easy).

 

What are Inter's expectations of the January transfer window? Do you need to sell for financial reasons?

 

My guess will be it will come down to brown vs medal inter still have a really good midfield if brown can throw a few tackles in at the start we definitely have a chance but we need an other midfielder to help him and nobody other than Kayal look's up to that job

 

The short answer would be money and a lack of foresight by Moratti when he was in charge (but that's a general problem in Italy).
We have the biggest deficit in European football, and the new owner, Thohir (who's by no means an Abramovich or Mansour although British media seems to think otherwise with some of the ridiculous rumors they throw around) is doing his very best to bring our debts down.
That shows on the pitch, as off-the-field changes in administration and marketing have been the main focus. Spending on players and wages is at a minimum, and we have to rely on free transfers (Vidic), loanees (Dodo) and yearly-payment transfers (Medel)

This being said, we should absolutely be doing better. In my opinion, this team could be challenging for top 3, but Mazzarri (the former coach) completely ruined that with his tactics and his * football.
Now we're at a point where Mancini's saying that's still the objective (which is completely absurd given our current position and the next couple of opponents), but realistically, our best bet of getting CHL football next year is through the Europa League.

I say realistically - it's really not at this point, but if Mancini can get his ideas through the player's heads and get them to play some decent football, we shouldn't have to fear anyone bar Roma, Sevilla and maybe Tottenham if they take it seriously.
Of course, we've been fearing the likes of Novara and Bari the last couple of years, so the above might seem like gash to you.

Definitely. In short, we aren't buying anyone worth anything unless we manage to offload deadwood (Guarin would be my best bet).

 

Welcome, mate. It should be a great experience for both teams and both sets of supporters.

 

I only asked if u want to do a wee jig. McGuire m8 i need you to calm down - just like me. I can feel you foaming at the mouth with bitterness m8.....

Skeedely dum auldy

 

Thanks for the info mate.. Had to laugh at this though. When Guarin is considered deadwood you must be doing something right :smiley-laughing002:

 

I see the self loathing is alive and well on TC as per...

* bring on the Inter ya *!

 

Going to be a cracking tie, this is a CL level game imo.

Shame the way Italian football has fallen so badly, great for us though, hopefully.

Really really rrreeeaaalllyyy need to sign a strong centre half in January. Denayer will be too inexperienced for this and well Ambrose.

 

I think Denayer will be better than any CB we're likely to get a hold of in January. He plays like he's been around for years.

 

Their squad is old and, no offense meant OC, a lot of their players are either very inexperienced or seem past their best by date.

Palacio will be 33 in February and hasn't scored this year. Vidic is also 33 and doesn't even start. Guerin has been disappointing for Inter. Icardi, Kovacic and Jesus are talented, but young and inexperienced. Medel, Hernanes, Handanovic M'vili are great players, but their back four looks shaky, particularly their full backs and they have no. real wingers. Izzy/Stokes on the left and Lustig/Forrest in form on the right would have a field day on their flanks. Their centre looks good though, and Handanovic is a solid keeper.

All in all, I think we could take them, but it won't be easy and we need a bit of luck as well as much better organisation in defence to do it.

 

Well it's true the owner's not got that much money, he's apparently worth $25billion. So we can knock that one on the head straight away.

Then Inter Milan have a squad worth £202million. Somehow raising money shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Getting the team up the league shouldn't be too much of a problem either, they're only six points off 3rd place and Mancini's only been in the job a month.

We've got the spine of the team we need, just need to strengthen up down the sides and we'll be ok. Guidetti can win penalties and so can Scepovic, but we need to go out and keep possession better in Europe or we just tire out eventually. For that we'll need to add some power to the midfield and the addition of another top defender would give us another option of sticking one of the defensive guys in midfield away from home.

We need a good win at home, but the trick is not to concede. That's the problem if we go out and play the way we have. The good thing is Deila is starting to know who he can trust and who's not gonna make it, so some will go and some will come in and he's had more time to analayze everything. So it should be a good game. I just think in these games we need to deal with the pressing better. That's been the big problem, that and a lack of height in the midfield/defense, right and left when Lustig's out injured.

It'd be a huge scalp for us and going in as underdogs i think we have players who can be dangerous on the counter attack.

But their is good history between the clubs, which makes it that bit more special and Celtic Park will be intense. Especially if we can get get the first goal and build on it.

 

Pearls of wisdom youngster, thank * we have you to keep us updated on tally football