Champions League - Round of 72

Sport
1

[FONT=Georgia]After the low key first qualifying round matches played a couple of weeks ago, the Champions League really hots up this week with only 72 teams left standing. Maybe the fifth best team in England or Spain would give the likes of EB/Streymur a run for their money, but it’s probably fair to say that the remaining teams are the best 72 club sides in Europe.[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia]Celtic of course travel home to play Cliftonville tomorrow. Efe Ambrose, Adam Matthews and Joe Ledley won’t be playing (Ambrose is late back from international duty and the Welsh lads are injured). Mouyokolo hasn’t signed a contract yet so he won’t be playing either. Brown, Mulgrew, Forrest and Van Dijk were all injured at one stage or another over pre-season: Brown is the biggest concern of those given his recurring issues last season and he’s only getting back to fitness now.[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia]Team might be something like:[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]
Forster[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Lustig, Van Dijk, Wilson, Izaguirre[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Forrest, Brown, Mulgrew, Samaras[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Commons[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Hooper[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia]Bench:[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Zaluska[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Irvine[/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] K[/FONT][/SIZE][FONT=Georgia]ayal[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Rogic[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]McGeouch[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Stokes[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]Baldé[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia]There is a possibility that Hooper will be sold before tomorrow night’s match but that’s unlikely at this stage. There is a chance Stokes might get the nod to play up front given Lennon’s public questioning of Hooper’s attitude the other day. Another scenario is for Kayal to come into midfield with Mulgrew pushing wide and Samaras playing up front, or Commons going wide and we go with two strikers.[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia]Even with a few players still to join and with the absentees above that still leaves no room in the squad for the likes of Watt, which does highlight the abundance of attacking options available and supports the idea that perhaps Watt should go out on loan. I’d like to see a bit more from Baldé first before trusting we can rely on him and of course there remains the probability that Hooper will be leaving before the end of August.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia]
I expect Cliftonville to line out very much as expected.[/FONT]

2

Johan Mjallby spoke to the assembled media before Celtic’s departure from Glasgow International Airport this morning:

  • Hooper hasn’t travelled with the squad and he expects him to leave the club. Mjallby said he has a groin strain anyway (sure he does) but the club were assessing an increased bid received yesterday;

  • Virgil, Mulgrew, Matthews and Ledley are all injured but expected to be available within 2 weeks;

  • Brown is fit and available and Tony Watt is in the squad too.

3

Best of luck to the 2 Irish teams

Celtic and Clifftonville

4

[quote=“Bandage, post: 802173, member: 9”]Johan Mjallby spoke to the assembled media before Celtic’s departure from Glasgow International Airport this morning:

  • Hooper hasn’t travelled with the squad and he expects him to leave the club. Mjallby said he has a groin strain anyway (sure he does) but the club were assessing an increased bid received yesterday;

  • Virgil, Mulgrew, Matthews and Ledley are all injured but expected to be available within 2 weeks;

  • Brown is fit and available and Tony Watt is in the squad too.[/quote]
    QPR have made an improved bid for Hooper, hence his exclusion. If his holding out results in him moving to a Championship team then good riddance to him.

5

It’s a bit of a quirk in the system that allows two Irish teams to be drawn together at this stage of the competition? UEFA will surely have to look into it?

6

Are Sligo playing tonight?

7

With Ambrose, Virgil and Mulgrew all unavailable (and Wanyama and Rogne gone) does that mean we’ll be relying on Jackson Irvine to play centre back or am I forgetting about someone? Irvine isn’t even a centre back normally but was he the only other player to feature there pre-season? I guess we could move Lustig inside and play McGeouch or someone at right back but that really didn’t look great the other night.

8

Ambrose reported back yesterday and Neil said in his press conference that he looked in decent shape and is available for selection. Cliftonville are not Juventus but there’s a bit of deja vu (all over again) about this. Neil also confirmed that Mouyokolo has signed but not in time to be eligible for tomorrow evening.

9

Christ, he’ll hardly play will he? In fairness it’s a bit critical this time if our next alternative is to play a youth team midfielder at centre back.

10

I hope Bandage[/USER] and [USER=1]Rocko will now apologise to me and commend me for calling it right on Hooper a long time ago.

A lazy shit with a bad attitude, good riddance - swapping the Champions League for some to play under some dodgy cockney in the lower levels on English football?

Arsehole.

11

[quote=“Rudi, post: 802473, member: 1052”]I hope Bandage[/USER] and [USER=1]Rocko will now apologise to me and commend me for calling it right on Hooper a long time ago.

A lazy shit with a bad attitude, good riddance - swapping the Champions League for some to play under some dodgy cockney in the lower levels on English football?

Arsehole.[/quote]
I always privately agreed with you but Bandage made me maintain a public stance of support in exchange for recurring cash payments.

12

Hooper’s goals have been very important to Celtic over the past 3 seasons and he’s been an excellent signing on the whole. I have no issues if he wants to move back to England but Celtic could have commanded a larger fee for him had he been sold in the January transfer window. That said, he did score the first half brace that put us on the road to winning the cup final in May.

For better or worse we’ve adopted the model of: 1) Buy young and cheap; 2) Develop and Improve; 3) Sell at a profit; and 4) Reinvest. In this case, you could argue that we didn’t sell him when his value was highest though we’ll still make a profit on him. Loads of goals + Profitable Sale = Excellent signing. Thank you and good luck, Gary.

13

[quote=“Bandage, post: 802478, member: 9”]Hooper’s goals have been very important to Celtic over the past 3 seasons and he’s been an excellent signing on the whole. I have no issues if he wants to move back to England but Celtic could have commanded a larger fee for him had he been sold in the January transfer window. That said, he did score the first half brace that put us on the road to winning the cup final in May.

For better or worse we’ve adopted the model of: 1) Buy young and cheap; 2) Develop and Improve; 3) Sell at a profit; and 4) Reinvest. In this case, you could argue that we didn’t sell him when his value was highest though we’ll still make a profit on him. Loads of goals + Profitable Sale = Excellent signing. Thank you and good luck, Gary.[/quote]
Indeed. He was relatively cheap, we’ll be making a profit and he’s contributed very well over his time with Celtic. Lost a bit of form in 2013 and suspect that was related to his contract situation but otherwise was quite consistent.

I always thought he didn’t seem the brightest and I think QPR is a poor move for him if that’s where he ends up. But we got more than we paid for and got his goals so no complaints. I think the CL game against Juve was reason enough to take a chance on keeping him for the extra few months.

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[SIZE=5][SIZE=24px][FONT=Arial]Advice from Cliftonville to travelling Celtic supporters[/FONT][/SIZE][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]By: Newsroom Staff on 16 Jul, 2013 17:16[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]CLIFTONVILLE officials have offered safety advice to Celtic supporters travelling to Belfast for tomorrow´s UEFA Champions League qualifier at Solitude.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Thousands of Hoops fans are expected in the city for the game as the Scottish double winners aim to take a positive result back to Glasgow for the [U][U]next[/U][/U] week´s second leg.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]And with their safety in mind, Cliftonville FC director, David Begley, has urged fans not to wear their colours in the city centre.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]“Belfast city centre is a very welcoming place but people are very sensitive about colours, not just this week,” he said. "As a result, it´s probably best to avoid wearing colours into the city centre tomorrow.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]“I would say to all fans to make your way up to Cliftonville Road from the city centre,” he added. “There are lots of friendly pubs here and indeed our own bar, the Cliftonville Social Club. By doing that you can avoid difficulties. It can be tricky as 100 yards in the wrong direction and you could be in the wrong place.”[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Further important safety [U][U]information[/U][/U] for supporters:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Fans who are in West Belfast before the game should not try and walk to the ground and should leave for the game by 6pm at the latest.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]West Belfast Taxi numbers: [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Gransha Taxi - 02890602092[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Eagle Taxi- 02890300333[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]West Belfast Taxis - 02890315777 [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Able Taxi - 02890241999 [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Castle Cabs - 02890241111 [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Cedar Cabs - 02890770000 C[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Clifton street - 02890242499[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]North Belfast Taxi numbers: [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Delta - 02890 751111[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Orchard - 02890 751717[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Antrim Road Cabs - 02890 751111[/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]In the city centre, along with the black taxis, fans can also use:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Value Cabs - 02890809080[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Arial]Fona Cab - 02890333333[/FONT][/SIZE]

15

at home to Molde from Norway in the first leg tomorrow night,
its a very difficult draw for them and i hope they can at least get a result tomorrow night that ensures they have a fighting chance next week.
Please dont be spoiling this thread tho discussing the fortunes of our national champions as they enter their biggest ever game since they beat Cobh in the 1983 FAI cup semi final replay.
This thread is all about the Scottish clubs coefficient in Europe that Rocko so famously described as “ours” a few years back when he was commenting on Rangers winning a UEFA cup game…

16

[quote=“mickee321, post: 802493, member: 367”]at home to Molde from Norway in the first leg tomorrow night,
its a very difficult draw for them and i hope they can at least get a result tomorrow night that ensures they have a fighting chance next week.
Please dont be spoiling this thread tho discussing the fortunes of our national champions as they enter their biggest ever game since they beat Cobh in the 1983 FAI cup semi final replay.
This thread is all about the Scottish clubs coefficient in Europe that Rocko so famously described as “ours” a few years back when he was commenting on Rangers winning a UEFA cup game…[/quote]
That was so famous it even made it onto the Internet at one stage.

17

anyway, for what its worth here are the games

tuesday

Plzen 4-3 Zeljeznicar Sarajevo Full time

BATE Borisov 0-1 FC Shakhtyor Karaganda Full time

Dinamo Tbilisi V EB Streymur 17:00

Ekranas Panevezys V FH Hafnarfjordur 18:00

Sheriff Tiraspol V Sutjeska 18:00

Birkirkara V NK Maribor 18:30

CS Fola Esch 0-5 Din Zagreb 79’

Steaua Buch’t 3-0 Vardar Skopje 68’

wednesday

Shirak V Partizan B’grade 14:00

HJK Helsinki V Nomme Kalju 16:30

Neftchi V Skenderbeu 17:00

Elfsborg V FC Daugava 18:00

Sligo V Molde 18:00

Slovan Bratislava V Ludogorets Razgrad 19:15

The New Saints V Legia Warsaw 19:15

Gyor ETO FC V Macc Tel-Aviv 19:30

Cliftonville V celtic 19:45

18

Clubs had up to 11pm last night to add players to their squad for this round. Celtic have added Mouyokolo so we might get away without having to play Ambrose.

19

I’d certainly be happier with this. Ambrose could then be on the bench for an extra emergency. Lennon seemed to suggest he wouldn’t play in Belfast and I see those quotes today but I think they’re from before he signed and registered so who knows?

20

Forster,
Lustig, Mouyokolo*, Wilson, Izaguirre,
Forrest, Brown, Kayal, Samaras,
Commons,
Stokes.

  • or Ambrose.