Celtic in Europe - 17/18

[Greenlantern]

Even when we lose, we win.

[Romeo]

Rodgers on the radio this morning glorying in the utter failure of his team. 5 humpings out of 6 and it's somehow 'progress', and 'that was our aim'.

He's a fraud, and it's about time the Scottish media started pointing out that his record against any side that has even a smidgen of financial equality with Celtic is absolutely f*cking rank.

 

I think he meant progress on terms of qualifying for the EL.

 

But you carry on losing your mind, Rodgers obviously has you utterly rattled.

 

[kingjoey]

8 hours ago, The OP said:

You know it’s a contrived statistic when you ignore earlier rounds in one competition and incorporate group stage games in another competition. I’m sure a job at the Daily Record is yours if you want it.

Reality is never something that bothers Celtic supporters.

[Salvo Montalbano]

Would have been interesting had Anderlecht fired their old coach prior to the first Celtic game - they didn't look as totally clueless in the games since they've changed coach. Their sluggishness in making a change has effectively meant Celtic finished third. It had hee-haw to do with any acumen from Rodgers tbh.

[DanMc99]

did anderlecht think they were through when they scored the first last night?

never seen a team so laid back in my life when needing a couple more

[GordonD]

9 hours ago, The OP said:

You know it’s a contrived statistic when you ignore earlier rounds in one competition and incorporate group stage games in another competition. I’m sure a job at the Daily Record is yours if you want it.

How can he work for the Daily Record if he isn't a Celtic supporter?

[energyzone]

Rodgers on the radio this morning glorying in the utter failure of his team. 5 humpings out of 6 and it's somehow 'progress', and 'that was our aim'.
He's a fraud, and it's about time the Scottish media started pointing out that his record against any side that has even a smidgen of financial equality with Celtic is absolutely f*cking rank.

Disagree with a few things there. They got destroyed twice by PSG which is fair enough, and handsomely beaten by Bayern in Munich.

They probably deserved to at least draw with Bayern in Glasgow and pumped Anderlecht in Belgium. Last night was probably the most disappointing match. They finished third which was the aim.

The elite European clubs are much further ahead of Celtic then they were even 5 years ago. The CL group stages are a farce and have been for years but that's not the fault of Celtic and Anderlecht.

[Ross.]

Terrible first half, passable second half. Incredible how poor Stuart Armstrong was last night. Ntcham looked far better when he came on. Some amount of coupons done by Celtic also. Surprised that many had faith in them at CL level. Europa League football after Christmas and a few million more in the bank for Celtic though and despite what many will claim, that is progress. It's only a couple of years since they were finishing bottom of a EL group after all.

Massive room for improvement for Celtic in most positions, on last nights showing.

[gannonball]

Well that was sh*te.  The pressure was off a bit and we had a chance to make a statement but didnt turn up frankly. 40% posession against Anderlecht at home is pretty dire, Sinclair quite simply isnt at this level. Armstrong should only be played at this level is hes been consistent in the last few games as its too much of a risk to play him otherwise, we got overran in midfield. An interesting January transfer window awaits.

[Greenlantern]

Really glad Rodgers hooked Sinclair and Armstrong last night. Both really need to up their game.

His post match interview was very telling when he said Celtic don't have any CL players in that squad.

Perhaps a wee chap on Lawwell's door to ask for money if he's interested in going any further?

 

I think Rogers knows his squad and their limitations. You can tell he was disappointed in the manner we qualified for the Europa, but the players have to take some responsibility for that, they weren't comfortable at all, on edge and making judgment errors.

Henke was correct when he mentioned that BR stopped the bleeding at half-time.

 

Not overly optimistic about Europa, great we're in the competition, and hope to cause an unlikely upset.

 

[supermik]

There is a photo in the Sun (i know) today that sums up perfectly what was wrong with Celtic last night. It shows Ntcham, Boyata and Simunovic leaving the pitch at the end of the game. None of them will need their shorts washed. They look like walking Daz adverts. The two supposed defenders look as if they have never put a tackle in all night.

[wellwoodpar]

The absolute red faced embarrassment, of being to only Scottish team EVER, repeat EVER to lose at home to Anderlecht.

[lionel hutz]

Looking at the teams, Celtic can face in the Europa, it looks like they could sneak into the Last 16, should they avoid the big dogs:

Villarreal,
Dynamo Kyiv (or Partizan Belgrade, if they win in Ukraine)
Braga (or Ludogorets Razgrad, if the Bulgarians win and Braga lose in Istanbul)
AC Milan
(Winner of ) Atalanta vs Lyon 
Sherriff Tiraspol (or Lokomotiv Moscow, if they win and the Transnistrians draw or lose)
Steaua Bucaresti (or Viktoria Plzen, if they win and Steaua don't win)
Arsenal
RB Salzburg
Ostersunds (or Athletic Bilbao, if they win and the Sweds don't)
Lazio
Zenit St Petersburg  (or Real Socidedad, if they beat Zenit)
CSKA Moscow (guaranteed to be one of the best 4 third placed teams)

The three remaining best third placed sides will be decided tonight.

[TheCelt67]

Are the teams who drop down from the Champions League seeded?

[Mordecai]

Are the teams who drop down from the Champions League seeded?

Pretty sure it's the 4 best 3rd placed teams that are seeded. Celtic definitely aren't.

[Drew Brees]

 
Not overly optimistic about Europa, great we're in the competition, and hope to cause an unlikely upset.
 

Exactly, What right do we have to think we should be beating teams like Anderlecht, who have a bigger budget, play in a far superior league and over the past 5 seasons performed far better than us in Europe hence the reason they are a 3rd pot CL side?

We play in one of the poorest leagues in Europe from a country that hasn't produced a quality player in over 20 years. The teams around us domestically routinely get put out of Europe by teams from Malta, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Cyprus etc every season yet when we beat the Belgian Champions 3-1 over 2 games.

I’ll take a jammy draw and a bit of luck in the last 32.

[Flybhoy]

9 hours ago, supermik said:

There is a photo in the Sun (i know) today that sums up perfectly what was wrong with Celtic last night. It shows Ntcham, Boyata and Simunovic leaving the pitch at the end of the game. None of them will need their shorts washed. They look like walking Daz adverts. The two supposed defenders look as if they have never put a tackle in all night.

Ntcham was actually our best player last night even though he only came on at half time...made a few telling passes and showed a bit of dig to be fair. 

[TheCelt67]

I see Dortmund have qualified for the Europa League with a measly two points.  Nothing like the European superpowers who have qualified with three points or more. 

[List_of_Jericho]

On ‎06‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 09:47, gannonball said:

Well that was sh*te.  The pressure was off a bit and we had a chance to make a statement but didnt turn up frankly. 40% posession against Anderlecht at home is pretty dire, Sinclair quite simply isnt at this level. Armstrong should only be played at this level is hes been consistent in the last few games as its too much of a risk to play him otherwise, we got overran in midfield. An interesting January transfer window awaits.

The thing with Sinclair is he's only really had one decent season since 2012. After a couple of really positive years at Swansea under Rodgers, gets his move to City where he ends up with a couple of dire loan spells at WBA and Villa.

Brendan clearly got the best out of him again last season but seems to have gone off the boil again now, seems to have lost that confidence and possibly a yard of pace? He was never in the game against Anderlecht (although not many were to be fair).

[gannonball]

3 hours ago, List_of_Jericho said:

The thing with Sinclair is he's only really had one decent season since 2012. After a couple of really positive years at Swansea under Rodgers, gets his move to City where he ends up with a couple of dire loan spells at WBA and Villa.

Brendan clearly got the best out of him again last season but seems to have gone off the boil again now, seems to have lost that confidence and possibly a yard of pace? He was never in the game against Anderlecht (although not many were to be fair).

He had an outstanding season right enough when he came. He has been underwhelming this season but yet has chipped in with a fair few goals and assists. Regarding pace I think you may be right although that second of hesitancy he gets from lack of confidence makes him look that bit slower. I have also noticed that in Europe Brendan gets his full backs to be more defensively disciplined which leaves Sinclair isolated as he is at his best when looking for a one-two off a full back to get himself in to the box. He then is left to try and beat his man alone which he doesnt really have the ability to do at that level. I think Brendan will need to either adjust our tactics or use him as an impact player.