Rangers v Celtic 20th October

Real injury crisis developing for Celtic before this game.

There’s a real problem at right back where Wilson and Doumb are injured. Reserve right back Caddis is also out. Then Hartley (emergency right back) got injured as did the ultra emergency replacement - Caldwell. Still think Caldwell will be fit by then so that would leave a back 4 of:
Caldwell Kennedy McManus Naylor

I don’t like that setup because Caldwell isn’t a full back and is weak there. Kennedy and McManus didn’t work brilliantly as a partnership earlier this season but at least they’ve played a bit together.

In midfield Scotty Brown is a big doubt. He’s out for Scotland’s game on Wednesday according to Sky Sports News which must put a huge question mark over his fitness for Sunday. His natural replacement in the middle would be Hartley but obviously he’s out too. So we might be left with:
Naka Jarosik Donati McGeady

Again that’s far from ideal. Donati and Jarosik haven’t played together in the centre before and they’re not the most disciplined players in terms of keeping a static formation.

I presume big Jan is still out - haven’t heard otherwise. So Scott McDonald would start up front alongside Killen most likely. That would be Killen’s second start for Celtic. He hasn’t looked brilliant so far by any means but he improved as the Gretna game went on.

Still think Celtic should and will win.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

From the reports I’m hearing I think Caldwell will be fit. Don’t think he’ll be risked in Georgia but he could probably play if pushed. Hartley’s probably struggling alright so it looks like the back four you mention.

Scotty Brown’s the big worry now, not just for the huns game but the huge game in Lisbon in 10 days. When he came off he mouthed ‘it’s my hamstring’ to McLeish. Hopefully he was substituted the second he felt it and it’s a precautionary thing, otherwise there wouldn’t appear to be any hope of him being fit.

I don’t think Killen’s ready yet. He’s still not fully fit and he looked awfully cumbersome last week. I’d play Sno and then Jarosik in an advanced role behind McDonald.

Game’s on Saturday lunchtime by the way.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Is it on Setanta Ireland? Rangers are hot(Lyon) and cold(Hibs) at the moment. I would say a draw most likely. The Internationals really have fecked up what could have been a great match.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Bandage wrote:

From the reports I’m hearing I think Caldwell will be fit. Don’t think he’ll be risked in Georgia but he could probably play if pushed. Hartley’s probably struggling alright so it looks like the back four you mention.

Scotty Brown’s the big worry now, not just for the huns game but the huge game in Lisbon in 10 days. When he came off he mouthed ‘it’s my hamstring’ to McLeish. Hopefully he was substituted the second he felt it and it’s a precautionary thing, otherwise there wouldn’t appear to be any hope of him being fit.

I don’t think Killen’s ready yet. He’s still not fully fit and he looked awfully cumbersome last week. I’d play Sno and then Jarosik in an advanced role behind McDonald.

Game’s on Saturday lunchtime by the way.

Sorry it’s Saturday alright.

Reading a bit more about that Dutch game on Friday and Sno actually played up front for Holland. Strange. Not an option there for Celtic though - not at this stage anyway.

I’d be tempted by the team you picked but Strachan clearly rates Killen and I think he’d have faith in him. I like the idea of playing him up there too. I don’t think he needs to win every ball in the air but he’ll be a focal point and Cuellar and Weir will both want to mark him - leaving McDonald as the real threat.

Similar to when we played Hartson up front with Magic against Kyrgiakos and Marvin Andrews. One punt up the park, two centre halves both want to compete in the air instead of marking Zurawski. Ball breaks to Magic and it’s 1-0.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Not sure if this is on Setanta Ireland or just Setanta Sports 1 shan. Most spl games were shown on Setanta Ireland in previous years but the rugby world cup has clouded things this season and they’ve all been shunted over to Setanta Sports 1. With the rugby nearly over then it might be on Setanta Ireland - it’s a lunchtime kick-off too.

I think Killen will have a role to play over the season but I wouldn’t play him on Saturday based on what I’ve seen of him so far. He snapped his achilles in December and was only doing light training in pre-season. He’s stepped it up lately with a few substitute appearances and the start vs Gretna but I wasn’t all that impressed with him. There’s still a possibility Brown might be fit too of course and Jan’s trying to get back for it.

Re shan’s international point; I said on here last week that all international football should be played in the summer and I’m coming more and more around to that point of view. I believe the team who plays their first CL game at home has a distinct advantage because of the international double header that precedes it in September.

Take last month, Scotland had two gruelling games against Lithuania and France back-to-back and then Celtic had to travel over to Donetsk. Our away record is gash in any case but it’s a big ask to be at 100% in a hostile atmosphere after breaking your balls against France a few days previously. And that’s not to mention how annoying it is when players pick up injuries playing for their country, like Scott Brown on Saturday.

This time Scotland are heading to Georgia after playing a strong Ukraine side ahead of the derby on Saturday but at least the huns players are in the same boat. It’s the away game in Lisbon next midweek where fatigue might set in. Again, if we were at home where we’d be able to set the tempo and where we’d have the crowd behind us I’d be more confident but it’ll be a tough ask for us.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

At least Portugal are in Kazhakhstan on Wednesday. Are many Benfica players in that squad though?

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

the game is on Setanta Sports 1…not that it bothers me as I’m going to the game !!!

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

big game dob

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Brown might have a chance for Saturday - it’s tough call as there’s plenty of big games after the derby and the risk is he could do more damage if he plays and breaks down and will end up missing a number of these matches.

From some Scottish rag:

He said: "I knew my hamstring was tight on Saturday night but I was sure it would ease off after a good sleep.

"But when I woke up on Sunday it felt ever tighter and I knew then I was in trouble.

"When the Scotland physio took a look at it he shook his head and said, ‘You can’t go on a five-hour flight with a hamstring as tight as that’.

"I think the worry was that I could go to the game then pull up after five minutes of the match. There would have been no point in that.

"I’m obviously gutted about it and now I just want to get to the bottom of the injury and get myself fit as quickly as possible. I’ve some massive games ahead for club and country.

"I’ll be going for a scan in the morning and then I’ll know the full extent of it.

"I don’t think the hamstring is torn and as long as the scan shows that it’s not seriously damaged then I’ll be in with a chance of playing on Saturday.

“Hopefully this is something that will clear up in three or four days.”

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Don’t see him making it from reading that. As we’ve often said on here Strachan tends not to play guys carrying knocks and strains - the polar opposite of O’Neill who picked his first XI unless they had broken bones.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

FingalRaven wrote:

big game dob

yeah i suppose it is Fr…not quite a top of the table clash but a big 3 points at stake all the same

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

I dont like foreigners.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Mike McCurry is referee.

Not too bad an appointment. There’s plenty worse.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

McCurry is that a new McDonalds product. I’ve been put off curry, especially the Kingsley special

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

I’m feeling extremely confident ahead of this one. It promises to be a very enjoyable occasion for the neutrals given it’s a battle of the two best club sides in Europe on current form, with the huns having brushed aside the French and German champions and Celtic defeating the European champions in recent weeks. But to me it’s a game that can’t be enjoyed until the last couple of minutes when you know the result is no longer in doubt and Celtic are cruising.

My confidence stems from the fact that we’re a considerably better team than them. Like any Walter Smith team they’ll be physical and direct and they’ve been quite effective using these tactics under him but our players have the physical and mental stature to cope with their tactics and then it comes down to who has the better footballers, which Celtic clearly have.

Though these blatantly irrelevant and annoying international fixtures are a complete curse I think tiredness will be balanced out given that they had the likes of Ferguson and Weir playing the Scottish double header too. In fact, Weir at 37 years old is someone we need to get at. He has particularly struggled lately off the back of international and champions league games given the lack of recovery time and was shocking when they got humped by the diet huns at Tynecastle post the Scotland win in Paris and also at home to Hibs the weekend after they won in Lyon.

Our injury problems are a slight concern and the main ones I’m worried about are the right back position and Scotty Brown. Wilson and Doumb are out for the long term. Hartley filled in at Gretna and had to come off injured after straining his hamstring and then Caldwell moved out there from centre back and hurt his knee. Though both of them pulled out of the Scottish squad the vibes I’m hearing are that Hartley is out but Caldwell will be fit and will play right back.

John Kennedy also picked up an injury in training while everyone else was away on international duty so Darren O’Dea is likely to resume his partnership with McManus. I have no qualms about him coming in as he’s proven to be very capable when called upon particularly in the last 16 games against Milan last season. Bar the first goal in Donetsk the skipper has continued to improve and develop - he’s becoming a defender of real quality so that’ll be a solid partnership.

I hope Scotty Brown’s fit, primarily for his supreme footballing ability but also for the ‘get it right up ya’ factor to the huns seeing how they were sure he was going to join them. The youtube video of their game at Hibs last season where thousands of huns in the away end are baiting the home crowd with a non-stop ‘Scott Brown. We’re gonna sign Scott Brown’ chant for about 5 minutes is quality. I’ve said on here before though that Strachan doesn’t take risks with players’ fitness. We saw that when he left Naka on the bench for the Milan game and it’s the polar opposite of O’Neill, who played Sutton and Larsson with broken arms and cheekbones respectively, and selected the likes of Agathe and Petrov when they had muscle strains. 1 week is too short a recovery period for a hamstring strain so unfortunately I can’t see Brown featuring.

Naka’s back in full training now and Big Jan has been working towards returning for this game too but I don’t know how close he’ll be. In any case I wouldn’t necessarily mind a 4-4-1-1 given how well Jarosik did against Milan (I vowed to no longer call him Jiri Jarosh*t in the aftermath) and also due to the phenomenon that is Scott McDonald, who can play equally well on his own upfront or in a two. Evander Sno got a few goals for the Dutch U-21s against Scotland the other night and he can come in to give the midfield protection.

I’d go with the following (assuming the injury situation is as I anticipate):
Boruc;
Caldwell; McManus; O’Dea; Naylor;
Nakamura; Donati; Sno; McGeady;
Jarosik;
McDonald;

Prediction: Rangers 0-3 Celtic

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Good preview Bandage.

I tend to agree that Davie Weir is the key. Along with the games you mentioned he got a roasting against Motherwell from young Chris Porter. He’s not comfortable with guys running at him and Scott McDonald is the man to do that. In that sense we’re nearly better off with Jan not starting. If Jan plays then Weir will pick him up and McDonald will be left to Cuellar. If we’ve McDonald alone up front then McDonald can drift around Weir more and get in behind him.

Hard to disagree with your selection in the anticipated injury circumstances. I hear rumours that Brown is supposed to be back but all the talk before the Milan game was how Naka had been fine in training but Strachan left him out anyway. Anyway central midfield is no place to be nursing a hamstring strain. Jarosik has earned another chance (and he’s always a goal threat wherever he plays) and no qualms at all about putting Sno in there if needs be.

Big game for Darren too if selected. The right full back situation shows no signs of being solved anytime soon which might create a vacancy at centre half. If he performs well in the SPL and in the Champions League there’s every chance he’ll overtake Sean St Ledger and Alex Bruce in the Irish pecking order too. Dizzy heights.

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Is Mrs Rock letting you out to watch this one, rocko?

Anyone planning on heading to Frazer’s?

I’m up for it but I need company.

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I’ll be watching alright, not sure where yet but I should be in a position to make an announcement this evening or tomorrow morning.

There are a number of factors at play - not least a stomach ailment I haven’t been able to shake for 2/3 weeks now (since the Milan game).

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

Celtic training at Lennoxtown today.

Brown didn’t train. No chance he’ll play so I’d say.

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1015/15920551ka3.jpg

Re:Rangers v Celtic 21st October

An appropriate video ahead of the game tomorrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDRgLUyYHLg
R