Well, when I said I wasn’t sure if I was going to watch the match, you didn’t really believe me, did you? Of course I was going to watch it.
Although not one new face was in the starting line-up – a damnable indictment on a board of directors which is not so much dragging its feet at this point is it appears to be blatantly taking the piss out of fans and the manager both – the whole performance had an up-tempo feel to it that was sorely missing for much of the last campaign.
We played, from the start this morning, like the team that came out of the traps for those final matches in the home stretch of last season when we put together our best runs of wins and powered our way to the double.
If this is the kind of football we can expect I think we’re in for a good time which might be a great one if the directors break away from their self-congratulatory bean-counting for long enough to get some transfer deals over the line.
Let me tell you; a handful of performances stood out a mile for me. O’Riley, of course, was superb and took his two goals very well. Palma was brilliant in the first half. We saw a lot more from Kuhn. Iwata, I thought was tremendous. But we had two young kids at the back – Anderson and Donovan –who in that first half almost stole the show. I thought both of them looked superb; they were aggressive, direct, they ran with the ball and passed it very well.
The second half was the James Forrest show to an extent; he was excellent when he came on with a goal and an assist picking up directly where he left off at the end of the last campaign. Those who think he’s not got a role to play, I tell them, guess again.
A word too about Kyogo. Until he went off, he was sharp and agile and gave their defence nothing but trouble. It was a dynamic, buzzing performance from him too. We need to wrap this bhoy in cotton wool, at least as long as it takes us to get a backup for him into the building, and it’s a flat-out disgrace that this hasn’t happened yet.
The boss put out a team this morning, playing in a fast paced style, which was a total joy to watch from the start to the finish. Johnston missed a penalty – don’t even get me started; this better not continue into the season – and Yang should have made it five right at the death, and had we ended up with six or seven it would not have flattered us a bit.
It ended with four, but that in no way fully conveyed the scale of the supremacy we enjoyed over a very decent side. Bigger tests will come in the next two matches, but we showed our American fans something in this one, and restored a little feel-good.
But you know, and I make no apology for saying this, the high praise is reserved strictly for those in the football department and those above Rodgers better be under no illusions that their own job performance this summer has been in any way acceptable.
Whatever childish, arrogant tosser bollocks is going on behind the scenes, whether this is people trying to send a subliminal message about “this is what happens when you force the head of recruitment out of his job” or whatever it is, these people better get their act together pronto. It’s absolutely deplorable for us to be in deep July with a weaker team than finished the last campaign. It’s a shocking state of affairs and makes those above the manager look amateur hour at best and at worst like arsonists loose with the matches.
Shame on them for it.
Good all round performance 4 going on 10.Johnston still a waste of space absolute garbage.The sooner he is shipped off to West Beom the better.
Shame on them indeed…they are taking us for mugs…. BR too after what he did for us last season
Holm probably deserves a mention too, he played well when he came on. In fact, the only sub-par performances in my opinion were McGregor and Lawal. We played much better than I expected and that was my first time seeing Anderson, he looks good. Hopefully he gets some more minutes on this tour.
Yang and Johnston the Celtic strip is to heavy for them .
You made a salient point there James that I hadn’t considered but could be a distinct possibility.Daddys r vengeance for junior being relieved of his duties back at start of March.,given that this family aopears to believe our club is its personal property.
We play the huns on Sunday September 1. If we go into that game in the same boat then fair enough. However we need to know 2 other things before Sep 1. 1) Is Matt O’Riley still a Celtic player? 2) Have the huns qualified for the Champions League group stages?
If the huns do make it then they will, no doubt, invest in the team. Everyone on here seems to think that the sum of the Celtic board’s ambition amounts to keeping that lot at arm’s length and no more. If that is the case then the huns investing in their squad will be good for us. Personally I want them to die again but I know that will most likely mean that Brendan would be off and the upper tier of the Lisbon Lions Stand would be wearing a big banner to cover the seats like last time.
When Celtic take to the field on the afternoon Sunday September 1st, I am sure it will be with a field that is more than capable of winning the game. And I certainly don’t think what’s going on just now (or lack of what’s going on) is a shocking state of affairs at all.
The board are a disgrace and as fans we need to hound them out, or bhoycott, or stop buying merch or something… its ok saying this but never happens…. and they will continue to act the bollocks until something happens… also, why dont we offer Johnston to Norwich for Idah?
Selective Boycotts? Is that what You mean?
It’s all about the money with this board, always has been. It really is a disgrace. Maybe there’s something going on behind the scenes as far as transfers go but I wouldn’t bet on it.
EVERY SINGLE BOARD MEMBER MUST BE HOUNDED OUT OF CELTIC PARK BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE, AND I MEAN ANY MEANS.GET THESE CHARLATANS TAE FCUK OUT OUR CLUB.
Exactly the way I think. Great comment Frankie.
I didn’t see the game but I’m very encouraged by James’ report and delighted we ‘looked the part’. Trouble is Lawwell, the director of everything at CP, will claim that’s why we don’t need to waste money in the transfer market but need to keep funding that fat scumbag.
Well, I’ve an ‘iron in the fire’ in that regard and will report on its progress in due course.
The old saying “where there’s a will there’s a way” comes to mind, but we need more of us to be active in chasing that shower, aye, chasing them right out the fucking door!
Hail! Hail!
Great to hear that report indeed especially about Anderson and Donavan…
However the next games might be a wee tad tougher all the same !
Squad depth investment and have ambitions to go further , quality and standards and not to be the whipping boys during champions league campaign.
Injuries to key players who can fill in step up so we are not depleted in terms of quality.
The Board wants the new club to do well.
If you understand that then nothing they do will surprise you.
Never been one tae put much intae pre-season games tbh. We’ll see when our own starts. They might have played well against this team, tho when we go intae Europe that’s gonnae be an entirely different situation altogether. And just tae mention, the new kit ! The jersey’s ok, tho the shorts and socks are naff. They always have tae mess wi it in some shape or form. Wtf’s wrang with stickin as close as possible tae the hooped shirt, white shorts, plain white socks. The kit we’re most famous for. Simple, iconic, unique ! Just sayin. Moan over.
Anything better than a couple of skelpings in the next two games will give our Board a plausible excuse not to spend.