Thereās no TV or radio coverage tomorrow night. Celtic have decided not to sell the broadcasting rights as they want to pack out the stadium. Itās getting quite a lot of criticism given the dispersed nature of our support but the club argue that people can subscribe to Celticās online channel to view the game.
Some big decisions for Lennon to make. Iād be tempted to play Milan Misun left back; Iād also leave Scott Brown out though heāll obviously get the nod being club captain and all that. Thereās also decisions to make with the strikers.
I donāt know yet, Rocko. Iām doing some research at present.
Gary Hooper:
āI think weāve got every chance of getting through. If we attack them and press really high, I think weāll have no problem. If we get one weāll get a few and win 4-0 I reckon.ā
He didnāt mention anything about Channel 67 being available in Ireland did he?
If I was picking the team Iād go for:
Zaluska______
Cha Du Ri_Rogne_Hooiveld__Hinkel
Maloney_Ledley_Juarez___McCourt
Samaras_Hooper_____
Not sure about McCourtās fitness/availability though so might start Forrest instead of him.
I donāt think Hinkel will start anyway so Mulgrew is likely to play there. Defensive nightmare but at least weāll have good setpieces.
Ki or Brown is also likely to figure with, Iād imagine, Ledley going wide and neither Forrest nor McCourt starting. Hard to see how you fit Brown in there if Ki is starting also so imagine the Korean will drop out, though Lennon has seemed to like him in preseason anyway.
I reckon weāll press them very high up the park and look to win the ball back in their half. Iām hoping weāll get away with Mulgrew playing on that basis and his set piece delivery may be important.
I donāt think Maloney looks fit and Iād be tempted to start Forrest after his display against Lyon. I doubt heāll play though and it may be too much to expect him to make a difference from the start.
Ledley passed the ball excellently from a central position on Saturday and I hope he plays infield after being ineffective when started out wide in the first leg.
I think Loovens is a complete liability and Iād give Rogne the start. Hooiveld needs to up his performance level also. Weāll need both full backs bombing on so itāll be up to one of the midfield three playing in a disciplined enough manner to protect the centre backs.
I like Hooperās touch and movement at the weekend. Samaras has been our best striker in pre-season and I think they could combine well.
A pun for punās sake. A good pun needs proper context also. Thatās a terrible effort - 2/10.
The oppurtunity presented itself and I went for it. Context was firmly in place. It wasnāt quite as good as my Gerard Cavlan pun but on a different planet to my admittedly very poor John Tennyson one. Now if you had pulled me up on that I would have considered it constructive criticism but this is just nit-picking for nit-pickingās sake.
I think you go for quantity at the expense of quality and context generally. Quite grating on the World Cup threads, I felt. I havenāt seen the Tennyson one so wonāt comment on that.
Bandage, the World Cup is a once in four years punmakerās goldmine, or diamond mines as they have in Johannesburg. The more you dig, the more diamonds you find.
I hope our players back up their talk tomorrow night. Following Hooperās 4-0 comment, Kiās on goal.com talking about smashing Braga. Wilson, OāDea and McGinn are out. McCourt trained today after missing the games in London with a tight hamstring. Forrest has a bug and didnāt train today. McGeadyās away in Moscow and there was actually reports that Hinkel wasnāt registered in the 25 man Champions League squad due to the expectation that heāll leave.
im backing Celtic to win 4-0 & I am very very confident we can do it
never underestimate the spirit of the Gael & the fighting spirit of the Irish - the people of Dublin brought down the british empire- no reason why the Irish diaspora cant beat some diddy portugese team 4-0