Celtic 5 Dundee Utd 1

A pretty good display yesterday although the defence still worries me. Mark Wilson lets too many crosses come in unchallenged which Zaluska doesn't want to deal with. Majstorovic is too hesitant with balls played over his head. It's as if he can't judge the flight of the ball. Kelvin Wilson looks a good player but doesn't seem to have the dominant personality we need or I expected. I think Charlie Mulgrew does well, but he is liable to think that he is better than he is and will get caught out as the season goes on.

Midfield is good. Ki is getting better with each game and was my man of the match. Brown, Ledley and Commons were all good. It is great to see a midfield that scores goals. I thought Hooper looked off the pace most of the game, although he did well with his goal. I like him scoring from 9 inches. Stokes is doing well at the moment.

All in all a good display for so early in the season. Hope we can keep it up on Thursday.

Does anyone read this anymore or are we supposed to move to that new fangled "social media" stuff?

Nils Lofgren on Bob Harris show tonight from 2am

..............for those interested

Rangers - I need something to make me feel better

Will they get away with this?

Keep focussed

It's best not to lose sight of what is important. The recent form of Kris Commons is becoming a bit of a worry The team would benefit if he was rested for the next match. His contributions of late seem to be to stand beside Ki and tell him how far to hit it over the bar.

I'm not convinced that we will win the league. Rangers are looking a spent force which started with the loss of McCulloch. But if Jelavic comes back and with the continuation of the kind of jamminess that sticks to them like jam they could still do it.

We sometimes think that society has changed but the blinkered assessments of Wednesday night are beggaring belief. MB committed a common assault on Hooper when he raked the back of his leg - he never even tried for the ball - it was very nasty and a straight red.

However on a brighter note it is looking obvious that McCoist will never make it as a manager. He would have a big enough job even with a good squad but they will need to bring in some new players - and what can they afford. Next year should be a good one for us if we can offload, bring in some new people and keep Kayal and Hooper.

Lennon would get one over on McCoist next year but will he be there? At the end of the match Thompson dragged him away and looked to Mjallby to escort him once Neil was on his own. To me they recognised that he was a bit of a loose cannon. I can't see that as the type of behaviour the club would want. I like Lennon and I would want him to stay but not if he continues like that.

For tomorrow rest Commons and get Forrest back in. Six or seven nil. Then bring Commons back for the cup final as he would probably score, just don't let him talk to Ki.

Kris Commons

I've watched Kris Commons for Scotland a few times and reckon I've never seen a worse player (ever) at that level. I hope I'm wrong as usual.

Am I paranoid?

How come the BBC have chosen this as a live game. Oh! yes I forgot, Rangers need the money. I'm getting sick of this route of the public subsidising Rangers. Enough is enough.

Rangers 0 Celtic 2

Bhoy was that good today. I'm trying not to get carried away and I might be kidding myself, but we really should kick on from this.

Referee saga - Celtic have gone too far

The behaviour of Lennon is juvenile and embarrassing but this only this reflected his lack of maturity and unveiled the slow revelation that he is not up to the job. What was worse was the unwise announcement by John Reid who forgot that he was representing a great club and instead took us down into the mire of the long dead sectarianism of a previous Scottish society. He failed to see that attacking and libelling a long standing referee of good account and the whole upstanding fabric of the Scottish game would only paint the club in a poor light. We simply can't handle defeat and this type of blaming others to camouflage our own faults can only further ruin our reputation.

What was worse though was the giving of encouragement to those within our support (probably the majority thereof) who would seek to do harm to those referees and their families who have the temerity to give a decision against Celtic. But then of course we just like to stone referees like Mr Dallas - did we not do a good enough job the first time? This is probably one of the most disgraceful episodes in the club's history. It ranks up there with the injudicious removal of Tony Mowbray when the man was just bringing the team to greatness.

Or have I got this all wrong?

Celtic 1 Rangers 3

Another disappointment but there is not much between the teams. Celtic lacked creativity so did Rangers. I thought the game could have gone either way. Watching on tv the commentator made great play of Rangers ability to make comebacks. I didn't see it that way. After the first ten minutes Celtic had as much pressure. The Celtic goal you could say came after a short period of sustained pressure.

The Rangers goal came from a good free kick, the second a poor clearance they didn't mount a comeback. They weren't pinning Celtic back they weren't even really pushing forward. The league is not yet lost. I can't see why Celtic can't go on another winning run.

Rangers are without doubt the hardest team in the SPL to break down but I think if we had held on to the lead for another 15 minutes it would have been different. What was disappointing was our response to losing the goals. We looked more than a bit rattled and I couldn't see us scoring

The Stokes tackle was a shocker. There's something about his tackling that reminds me of that Leeds, Man U player Alan Smith. But Rangers are truly an embarrassment with their diving. I would include every player without exception although Lafferty and McCulloch are stand outs. As usual some bad refereeing. The non penalty may have been a turning point but I am not so sure. I though a more crucial refereeing decision was when McCulloch fouled Samaras in the first half - he should have been off. And he knew it and so started to roll around holding his head. Laughable, childish and embararssing but he got away with it. I don't think they would have won with 10 men.

Celtic 6 Inverness Caledonia Thistle 0

6 weeks on from the first match of the season and things are looking quite good. I know ICT aren't a severe test but some of the football last night was excellent. I like the looks of Emilio, Big Danny, Juarrez, Ledley and Hooper. On top of that the others, excluding Glenda, all played well last night.

I think I can see why Lennon is sticking with Loovens. A settled central defence is key to a winning team. Lennon thinks that Loovens has something (what?) and just needs the confidence that comes from winning and losing few goals. I think he is right as far as the SPL is concerned.

I had a great seat last night in the front row of the Upper Main Stand and could watch Lennon going mental at Loovens, and turning to Mjallby as if to say "get this sorted". I think the fact that he didn't bring Rogne on for the last 15 minutes is all about building Loovens' confidence.

Danny was a good captain last night, shouting, bullying and organising. It's a real pity that Brown was given the captaincy by Lennon; a hasty decision for 2 reasons. One, it makes it hard to drop Brown (the football is better when he isn't playing) and two, he isn't captain material.

Come on Juventas, you know you need Brown.

Inverness CT 0-1 Celtic

BBC Sport - Football - Inverness CT 0-1 Celtic

Mostly squad men

Amplify’d from sport.scotsman.com

Quick fix is a big risk for Celtic Published Date: 01 August 2010 By ANDREW SMITH A MERE seven signings into the summer, Celtic manager Neil Lennon knows what he wants. "I need another goalkeeper, no doubt about that. We're also looking for a left-back, a centre-half and maybe also a centre forward as well," the Irishman says. That'll be practically the spine of the team, then. Which might explain why squad numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 have yet to be given homes

Celtic remain a team in flux. Half the side that featured in the hideously careless 3-0 defeat that ends any realistic hopes of a place in the Champion League play-offs will be eased out of first-choice positions.Read more at sport.scotsman.com

Braga v Celtic

It's a tough game and the team seem evenly matched in many respects so it's very hard to call. But given our crap European away record, I don't expect a great result tonight but hope we can keep it tight for the second leg in Glasgow. Prediction: Braga 1 Celtic 0.

Amplify’d from news.bbc.co.uk

BRAGA v CELTIC - Champions League third qualifying round, first leg Venue: Estadio AXA, Braga Date: Wednesday, 28 July Kick-off: 2000 BSTRead more at news.bbc.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/84qy

New Season Ticket Arrived Yesterday

Here's hoping for better season than last. I know it won't be hard.

Celtic Viewer

This really is good and it is free. You just need to register but that is easy. I've just watched the Larsson video under biographies and whilst it's great to see how good he was it also shows us how we've fallen in such a short time.

End of Season

Big John, Denis and I are having an afternoon/night out to "celebrate" the past season. We are thinking that May 22 (blog) would be appropriate. We can watch the European Cup Final in a pub somewhere. It will be interesting to compare and contrast it with what we've watched this season. It will also give us a chance to shout abuse at Mourinho.

If you are going to come then get in touch. If any of you in foreign lands (Gerry, Billy, Griff, Denis) need somewhere to stay then I've got plenty of floor space.

Brown and McGeady "One of Us" - Not for long?

"Aiden McGeady, who has been described in a recent post as the one player you'd pay money to go and see, is very much "one of us" if you take that to mean what some have suggested. Yet I would dispute that I'd pay money to go and see him. Frankly, I'd never know whether I was getting enough bang for my bucks. McGeady is not an enigma as some have suggested, a player who can dazzle one minute and frustrate the next. That's not an "enigma". I've seen players like that all my time watching football. He is inconsistent. A luxury player. We can't afford those."    More.

Was today's result the worst in our lifetime?

Last year I said I wanted Boruc and McGeady out because of their egos. I think the fact that they are still there, and Strachan has gone, is symptomatic of our decline.

McGeady's (non-)performance today is the last straw for me. He is a fairly talented player who offers us very little, but might get us some cash if we transfer him which we can spend on a someone who cares about Celtic.

The fact that John Reid (War Criminal) is our chairman just adds insult to injury. I'm ashamed that he is our chairman and hope that the drop in crowds ends with his departure.

Mowbray had to go

I was pleased at the speed at which the Board removed Mowbray. The stats speak for themselves. He was worse than Barnes. St Mirren hadn't scored four goals in a match since 1956. The muted reaction of Rangers fans tells its own story. The comedy is over.

I recall that no-one on this blog wanted Mowbray (he came last or second last in our poll) and our collective wisdom appears to be better than the Board's, so in that sense they are culpable.

I liked what Mowbray was trying to do. He seems like a nice guy too. Pity he was an awful manager. Right to the end, he seemed deluded that what he was trying to do "was right". I wonder how low we would have to sink for him to accept the reality of the team he had assembled?

Someone on this blog (I think it was Big John) wanted him sacked in January and I remember thinking that he needed more time. Big John - 1 Bobby - 0.

A few weeks ago, when the gap was 10 points, people were asking if we could catch up and I said that the gap would grow before the league was effectively over. It's effectively over. And the gap is potentially 16 points. Goal for Elliott. 1-1.

Georgios Samaras is the player equivalent of Tony Mowbray. The Herald described him as: "A genius and an imbecile. In the same move." Like Tony's tactics, he's a luxury we can't afford.

I'm happy to see Neil Lennon take the reigns since we have nothing to lose. Had Mowbray stayed I considered Celtic to be the weakest team of the four in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup (I'm not kidding). That's how low we had sunk. The only way is up.

So, who would you like to take the job?

Tomorrow's game

It's hard to call tomorrow's game. Our away form is awful, having one of the worst goals-against records in the SPL (it's in St Mirren and Hamilton territory). So we can expect to lose a couple of goals tomorrow. If we win, it will be 3-2 or something. Or we might just lose 2-0.

There are other bad signs. Mowbray has a bad "big game" record, having won only one (the game in Moscow) since he arrived. This contrasts badly with MON and wee Gordon's records in these sorts of games. There is a mentality about winning big games that Tony might not have. It's also his first Ibrox match since he arrived so be prepared for a defeat and him talking about "a learning process" after the game.

There are positive signs too. The Club took Billy's advice and complained about the standard of referreeing. Keane is the best player in Scotland by a mile. Celtic are the best team in Scotland.

Having said all that, I predict 0-0. ;-)