whats the name of the club?
Soup Taker Gaels
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Sevco go 1-0 up and you get lads who never post on any Celtic match threads making sure everyone knows the score. “1-0. Miller. Celtic are brutal” update posts from the usual barstool blueshirt suspects. Not a peep out of them then for nearly 24-hours after Celtic’s comeback victory until the boringly inevitable “sure why are you even talking about beating them anyway” posts. It’s not about yesterday in isolation. It’s about the joy at what our manager is creating at Celtic and these west brits are seething that Brendan Rodgers heard us calling in the night. 
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Win their game in hand and Celtic have a 22 point lead at the top. 7th place Partick Thistle have amassed just 22 points so far and 6th place Ross County one more on 23. Its really hotting up in the world’s most uncompetitive domestic league…
Right on cue… 
Those of us of a more objective disposition probably feel that the Scottish league has a bit of competitiveness problem. Celtic had won the Scottish league in the five seasons before Brendan Rodgers heard you calling in the night by margins of 20 points in 2011/12, 16 points in 2012/13, 29 points in 2013/14, 17 points in 2014/15 and 15 points in 2015/16. The Scottish league has been won by the same two sides for 31 (soon to be 32) years running stretching back to the Aberdeen title win under Sir Alex in 1984/85. Even if you only have two sides contending, you still have a competition, albeit a bit of a dull one. With one of the duopoly wound up for financial irregularities in 2012, there’s now no competition. The Scottish league to use a GAA analogy is akin to the now defunct Connacht Hurling Championship.
That must disgust you.
Is it at half mast ???
Probably for Volunteer Sean South
The anger underneath in the replies is just fantastic.
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I’m not arguing about the competitiveness of the SPFL and it was clearly more difficult to win it when traditional and/or defunct clubs such as Hibernian, Dundee United, Rangers and Third Lanark were contending in the top division.
But Brendan Rodgers has engineered significant improvement at Celtic in his first half season under any objective measure. 19 points ahead with a game in hand after 19 games is a greater gap than in 3 of the 5 full seasons you mentioned. 18 wins and 1 draw in the league matches the fantastic 2003/04 season under Martin O’Neill with the draw coming against basement club Caley Thistle of all sides (no easy games in the SPFL - I jest). There was also the matter of winning the League Cup in impressive fashion to seal the first trophy of Rodgers’ reign.
But, as stated, it’s not just about yesterday and nor is it solely about domestic football. Rodgers steered us to qualification for the Champions League for the first time in 3 years via the qualification phase. This was no mean feat with the games coming thick and fast in the summer in an environment where he was naturally unfamiliar with the squad he inherited. While there was the hiccup in Gibraltar early on, he steadied the ship and it was a solid achievement to progress at the expense of Astana and Hapoel Beer Sheva (the latter subsequently emerging from their Europa League group and eliminating Southampton and Inter Milan in the process). Qualifying for the CL was something that was beyond Strachan, Lennon and Deila in their first seasons, for example. And it was beyond Deila completely.
The really chastening CL experience was the drubbing in Barcelona when he played 3 at the back against Neymar, Messi and Suarez but, that apart, Celtic played some excellent, attacking, aggressive football in an extremely difficult group against representatives from 3 of the elite coterie of European super leagues. The performances against Manchester City x2, Borussia away and Barcelona at home were very creditable.
It was a vast improvement from last season’s CL qualification round defeat to Malmo followed by a Europa League group campaign where Celtic didn’t win a game and were defeated home and away by Molde. It was also very encouraging that these displays came so early into the Rodgers’ era when players are still learning his methods and playing style. While he made some astute signings, 9 of yesterday’s starting 11 were inherited from Deila and the improvement in players like Armstrong, Brown and Forrest has been significant. These players have publicly spoken about the manager’s coaching and man management skills and tactical tweaks being crucial to this.
As stated, the Celtic support is delighted at what Rodgers is creating. Despite the gulf in finances available compared to the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga etc (and where the likes of the previously mentioned Southampton can offer £10m+ for Celtic players and double or treble their wages), there’s a feeling / hope that he’s in it for the long haul and wants to challenge himself to build up Celtic’s reputation in Europe again in the face of these constraints. But for the unusually difficult CL group, that may have even been possible in season one but he’s already established a firm platform and we should be well equipped to push on in Europe next season.
The fact that we’re dominant in the SPFL may even provide Rodgers with the breathing space to create a dynasty in terms of targeting European achievements while bringing through players from the youth academy. As he’s a Celtic supporter I hope he’s driven to stay to complete the 10-in-a-row and I also think there’s a possibility of CL last 8 and / or contesting a Europa League final. My fear is that he’ll be tempted away by one of the powerhouses from the elite coterie of European superleagues because he would be entirely at home and indeed excel at the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus.
He’s a magnificent manager and it will sicken west brits to see an Irishman leading Celtic in such a fantastic fashion.
Hail hail.
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Sevco have 2/5 of the turnover Celtic currently have. Sevco should increase because they’re back in the top league but Celtic will have money because of the Champions League this year. How are they going to close the gap?
10 in a row inevitable?
‘Coterie’ word count: 2 (two)
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I think there was complete delusion from Sevco and their supporters last summer. The Scottish Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out victory against Celtic was a false flag (is this term used correctly?) and this wasn’t tempered by losing the final. Their inherent sense of superiority, a compliant media and their own club’s PR department combined to make them think they’d win the league this season.
They’ve now been firmly put in their place and I predict that their season ticket sales and attendances will suffer next season. So 10-in-a-row looks very likely alright given the disparity in financial resources, squad strength, manager quality and level of support and backup staff.
I think it would take some combination of Rodgers leaving to join an elite league club and Celtic subsequently making a very poor managerial appointment through bad judgement or complacency, a “Rangers” man actually coming on board and pumping millions into them as a benefactor to bridge the gap (unlike Craig Whyte, Charles Green and the current chancer Dave King), some obscene shenanigans from the SFA and officials in the 10-in-a-row season or Aberdeen coming on strong.
Not a false flag mate, a false dawn.
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Utter tosh ; no one seriously fancied Rangers to win league
There was no significant money put on them. A few in the Rangers support , media who have skin in the game , and other had an interest in talking it up.
Ye mock fans need to grow up. Rangers are shit . Celtic are decent and the rest of jock soccer in shit .
“Mock fans”?
It’s strange to me that one of those Asians/Yanks buying up EPL teams wouldn’t look at a Scottish club.
Glasgow is hardly an Alpha City but it has a good history and a strong footballing history. You’ve an easy enough route to the Champions League with a bit of investment and a 90% chance of winning trophies.
I mean those Yanks that bought Swansea City, why? Yes there’s the “glamour” of the EPL but you are basically buying mid table mediocrity at best, with relegation a strong possibility within a few years. Add to that that Swansea is a complete toilet of a city.