Tommy Wright St Johnstone knows a bit about the game.
Moreover, he doesn’t tend to indulge in any BS when his team has lost to a better outfit.
In the aftermath of the latest defeat to Celtic he said that when you play against a side with better players two things have to happen:
The opponents have to have a seriously bad off day and your guys have to play to their best.
Last night against a very talented Valencia side neither of those things happened.
It will not have been lost on many that the right back for the Spaniards was one of Brendan’s top targets in the summer.
If there had not been a reunion tour for Heated Driveway Productions then Cristiano Piccini would have been in the Hoops for the Champions League qualifiers.
You know the rest…
As for last night, there was no case for the defence
For sure Celtic were depleted by injuries (Benković, Tierney), but so were the visitors.
Celtic’s midfield trio who regularly dominate games in the domestic sphere appeared spooked by the prescient pressing of their Iberian opponents.
Of course, it would take a huge upset for Celtic to navigate into the next round.
Consequently, the return leg in the Mestalla has the whiff of formality about it.
Kilmarnock on Sunday will be a physical challenge on that damnable surface.
Moreover, in terms of bang for buck Steve Clarke massively over performs on his budget at Rugby Park.
It will be a serious test for Rodgers’ men.
Across the Clyde, I was dismayed to learn that the chaps in the Takeover Panel are not prepared to take the world of a distinguished businessman like Mr David Cunningham King.
Apparently, they have been writing to those who have made putative declarations that they will not accept the court ordered share offer of 20p.
One could forgive this course of action by the regulatory chaps if a judge in open court had once slammed Mr King as a glib and Sha….
Oh never mind.
A trusted source said that one move behind the scenes was that the Magnificently Maned Factotum had been bought out by the Club 1872 chaps.
I trust that he can now afford to purchase an adequate receptacle for his bladder contents.
Interestingly, I am told that recently some of the more sentient fellows in Club 1872 had a sombre sit-down with an investment analyst.
My information is that it wasn’t a heart-warming experience for them.
He told them that if they were acting on financial common sense then the 20p share offer is unbelievably good.
Essentially he took them through the numbers of the published accounts and added that since then the wage bill had been increased to a significant degree.
The analyst chap also pointed them in the direction of RIFC Director John Bennett’s recent statement about loss-making and the long-term sustainability of the business.
Unfortunately, inconvenient truths are still true.
That is what is…well…inconvenient about them.
Anyone leaving Celtic Park last night will know the feeling.
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Just read a poster claiming that Rangers would make £15/20m from their European run and merchandising deals so the summer window will see a huge investment to stop 9 IAR.
Wow, best of luck with that merchandising deal and the Europa run money might, just might, cover the increased salary costs of Defoe, Davis and the continuing payments to Pena, Herrera et al.
In April the Ibrox club, Hummel and anyone else involved in the merchandising operation, will be confronted by Big Mike and his legal big hitters.
There will be blood on the walls no doubt and given the lack of clarity about the millions paid to Sports Direct as a final pay off who can be trusted to dig Rangers out of a hole of their own making?
Lets remember that Valencia went to the Nou Camp recently and built a 2 goal lead, only pulled back by the brilliance of Messi.
In the CL group they absolutely destroyed Man Unt at Old Trafford but somehow or other ended up by drawing the game.
Just like Celtic have better players than the rest of the SPFL, most of the teams in the Europa last 32 have better players than us.
To win these sort of games we need everyone to be on their game with the opposition having an off night.
Really can’t overestimate the importance of that result today. Seven games to the split. Win them all and we’re nearly there. We would need a draw at Ipox and ONE WIN against anyone else to make it EIGHT IN A ROW!!!! That is of course assuming sevco win ALL their other games. More slip ups from them and it might not take that. Come on Killie in midweek. Cut off another revenue stream.
What a great weekend. We are all grinning like cheshire cats as we await your next piece Phil
Phil, if you think Piccini had any intention of signing for Celtic then you live on another planet from the rest of us. He used Celtic to draw out the big players
Hi, Phil, jings it’s been a while since you popped up on my FB page – good to hear from you again. Aye, we were a wee bit embarrassing the other night. Picasso Boyata (he appears only to have square balls) needs to move on.
Someone in the office earlier in the day was singing Halfway to Paradise. Unfortunately, we made it the whole way there; my driver insisted on staying so we had to sit through it. Oh well, at least it was a nice mild night.
Keep em coming.
Well said Phil,for me too,the tie is over all bar the shouting.
I read an article earlier today and this gist of it was admitting defeat and moving forward positively to concentrate Our efforts on beating Our own record of 9iar.
Daniel O’Connell,new blogger to me,states that We should stick to going for the Ten and suggested playing the development squad in the return leg,I would tend to agree with him.Last nights showing wasn’t pleasant to view and the second goal ‘put the tin hat on it’ as ma dear auld Da would’ve said.Scoring like that either side of the break was a real boot in the unmentionables,basically it was game over.
I did have one contradiction with his article,where he mentioned that lot had equalled 9iar,I said that myself and plenty others don’t think he is correct in his assertion,because those titles were won during a period of court proven cheating and using illegally registered players.Thus,rendering anything won in that period null and void,a wee bit like kris voids inner cranium,although that could also be compared to a vacuum.Bit a vacuum is of far more use.
The only thing with playing the development squad in the return leg,is that there’d be a massive outcry against such a tactic and BR probably wouldn’t want to do that.I feel it’s a simple choice and the most sensible,for what would happen if We still get put out but more player injuries occur?That doesn’t bear thinking about,as We have too many on the sidelines as it is.Time to choose B.R. forget Europe atm,just get the Ten,Of We did,that lot will be seething even more than they do normally.HH✅
They can’t play the development squad. The participants needed to be registered with UEFA well before the first leg and I believe it is capped at 23/24. I don’t think Bayo made the list hence Mikey Johnston being on the bench
Correct,my mind’s gone already.Obviously the squad list has been submitted for the second half of the season.It’d still be a prudent move to take no risks on the injury front.
Let’s be honest here,this tie is over,so surly it makes sense to prioritise the league title and move on from this,lesson learned,We hope.
Seriously,can anyone honestly say that they expect Celtic to score three goals without reply from Valencia?
Naw….
That’s correct. Don’t think it’s even done on a round by round basis. I think a squad is named for the group stages and another is named for the knockout stages. Thus allowing for the January transfer window; players either in or out of participating clubs.
I’m sure this has been stated previously but due to aged related memory loss I’ve forgotten the answer, do a certain number (50%?) of shareholders need to agree to sell before King needs to buy anyone out?
If true then this seems immoral, as someone who’s been fleeced, which is the case here, won’t be able to get their money back unless others are like-minded. Mind you, they do say the law is an ass.
As I understand it, the shares sold to King under this offer must take his shareholding to 50%, so if the concert party (I keep thinking about Don Estelle and Windsor Davies whenever that phrase is mentioned!) Currently own 34%, they only have to buy up 16% to reach the magical number. That said, we constantly hear cries of “going for 55”. Maybe they are stupid enough to sell King enough shares to take him to that number?
Love the “Ain’t half hot mum” connection.
Phil, if the Panel is contacting shareholders who have declared that they won’t be accepting King’s offer, that is either a very serious turn of events or a non-issue depending on what the Panel discovers. All of those shareholders had to sign a declaration stating that they would not accept the offer, and the purpose of that declaration was to reduce the sum that King had to place in escrow at a UK bank for purposes of funding the offer. The shareholders who signed such declarations is relatively short and also public record as it was distributed, I believe, with the offer documents. If any of those signed declarations are not accurate, then that would imply that they have been forged and criminal fraud, to say nothing of willful contempt of court!, has occurred. That would be shocking indeed, but we can’t rule it out based on DK’s history and reputation.
Regardless, the deadline for accepting the offer expired today at 1:00PM GMT, so presumably we shall know by Monday how many accepted the offer, and there should be an additional disclosure at the Companies House early next week disclosing King’s new ownership stake.
Not so much an inconvenient truth , last night , as a sense of deja vu ! No real surprise that when facing a decent ( not great ) European football team we are found wanting . It has been ever so since we lost Lennon and Strachan , who appeared to be able to adjust to the different styles of play required in Europe – and were able to instil in their players some grit and determination , which is sadly lacking in the present crop ( in Europe ).
Domestically all is well , despite a few too many hiccups this season, but Europe – ah , there we are strangers in a strange land .
I was there last night…but I won’t be there next week.
I have given my ticket to my nephew…and he can witness the debacle which will ensue….I’ve had enough embarrassments abroad to last a lifetime.
Last night proved beyond all shadow of a doubt that, in “European terms”, we are not at the races.
Valencia’s coach produced a game plan which was bang on the money…and got him his just reward.
Spend the first 10 minutes sizing it up….then move players forward to a high pressing game…and we now have to play almost along our goal line at times…with passing ranging from desperation to suicidal.
Once the two goals were in the bag….revert back to a defensive formation which we never really threatened.
Superb piece of game planning…carried out to the letter.
But the big worry is the gulf of class in the players…
Some of our players last night were just technically inept…and none of theirs were.
Their movement was far better than ours…and they are just a far better team.
All in all…we were outclassed.
As for BR…
If anyone back at the pub last night, had described the game in the words that he did after the game…they would have been shown the door.
So if you read this BR…
Its OK to be angry with some players…its OK to be pissed off with some players…but its not OK to pretend that it was a close game….and that we’re still in with a shout.
It wasn’t…and we’re NOT.!!
Terence,
I don’t think our squad was as poor as some supporters seem to think. The two goals were down to self inflicted errors. Izzy being out of position on the first and playing the striker on-side. On the second, Broony’s turnover combined with Simunovic covering a lethal patch of turf rather than his man standing in the box waiting for the cross did us in. Take those mistakes out, and it’s a 0-0 game. There weren’t a lot of clear cut chances for either club, and I remain optimistic that this squad can go to Valencia and get a result (although probably not 2-0 or 3-0 that would see us through). Remember, this is the same club that drew twice against Man City two seasons ago, and our attacking options are arguably better now than they were then.
Hi Benjamin…We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.
My ” moan” wasn’t just about Thursday night…it was a reflection on our recent European record…which is awful.
But I will admit that playing against the likes of St. Johnstone every week …who let us do what we like with the ball…doesn’t remotely help when we play in European competition.
However….the Valencia coach did his homework on us…and played us accordingly.
My worry is that BR doesn’t have a plan B…If teams play a high line against us…we struggle and we don’t seem to be able to adapt…and you must admit that… due to their pressing… some of our passing at the back was of the nightmare variety.
He has to recognise this and start planning accordingly…or we go nowhere.
I also have to say that some of our players are not as technically adept as they should be…and this doesn’t help either.
Anyway…rant over as they say…bring on the Killie.
Hail hail
A damned good rant and pretty spot on. Another problem I’ve noticed over several years, even before BR arrived, is that we often lose two goals within a short space of time. Like within a five or six minute spell.
Also, the high press game we play at home, is played by teams all over the continent and against far stronger domestic opposition than we face. As a result we really struggle to cope when we come up against a team who play the same style as us, BUT play it better.
We drew against what was almost a reserve side in Manchester.
The so called Manchester City reserve side would give every club in the Premier League a run for their money.
As I suspected last night… the quality of last 32 Continental opposition exposed our weaknesses badly….
We have a squad more than capable of winning domestic trebles but take a ‘schooling’ at home in what used to be a ‘fortress’.
Hopefully we will do what usually happens the first match after a European defeat …. ie. go out and give someone a hammering. In this case Kilmarnock.
As for Mr King….
I don’t pretend to understand all the machinations and implications of share dealing and the Takeover Panel order in particular….
… but. Surely surely surely if they were seriously going after Glib Dave. Then they would have put their foot down and put a halt to his August share issue?!?
Clearly.., many of those who did not intend to sell to King this week would be the ones buying shares in August as it was open to existing shareholders only.
Consequently all the declared mates of king saying ‘we’re not selling’ ( clearly ToP wants clarification) have increased their weight/influence on the enforced share offer..
While the likes of the Easdales (who were 4th largest shareholder prior to August) have seen their overall % stake in ‘ra rainjurz’ fall massively as their shares were diluted before their eyes.
Basically… Squintys delaying tactics allowed him to engineer a situation where a few millions in cash were generated but at the same time significantly strengthened his position for when it finally came to today’s deadline regarding his concert party hostilities.
I’m presuming he’s managed to wriggle out on the % takeup …
…. but I’d love to know what the outcome would have been if King had been ordered to put his bog-roll share issue on hold until afterwards…
Everything …. everything about the man, his business, his club. It simply STINKS
Aye. The August share issue skewed the figures. Personally I think the 50% figure should only have been applied to shares held at the time of the take over. How MUCH difference that would have made I simply don’t know.