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Alistair Johnston

lazlo_80

By lazlo_80
in Men's National Teams

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Markoaleks
Markoaleks

Encountered his mother, cousin and another friend leaving the stadium They were wearing some of his game worn kits - so I asked if they are related and they were Told her  what a great playe

JamboAl
JamboAl

I had Alistair come over to say hi at HT and he spent the entire interval talking to the supporters and signing stuff for the kids; even joked with him about his time at Celtic so far.  Absolutely top

narduch
narduch

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InglewoodJack Grand Master

InglewoodJack

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2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

For non-twitter users like myself...what are the replies saying? All I see is the tweet saying send him back to Canada. Sounds negative. 

An American fan saying AJ needs to go back to Canada, he sucks, and the replies are many very Scottish insults. My favourite is ”Your a sausage who's never kicked a ball in your life”

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Obinna Grand Master

Obinna

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Just now, InglewoodJack said:

An American fan saying AJ needs to go back to Canada, he sucks, and the replies are many very Scottish insults. My favourite is ”Your a sausage who's never kicked a ball in your life”

Brilliant insult. Thanks for that man. I was under the impression he had a decent game in challenging circumstances, so that makes sense. Maybe just a salty USMNT fan who feels threatened by Johnston's popularity during CCV's extended absence. 

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Cheeta Grand Master

Cheeta

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Thought he had a heck of a 1st half and did as much as he could be asked of in the 2nd, even after the legs left the team.  Great tackles, great awareness and just playing with confidence.  Passing has been better but then that could be said for just about everyone else on the pitch there yesterday. 

So many of these matches are won and loss on the slightest of mistakes and then there was yesterday.  Won and lost on the most bone-headed of mistakes in the worst possible momment.  I mean bloody hell, what grade are you in when you take a cross-run decoy to abandon your bookend in the wall? 

I understand that if Maeda and Kyogo are on the pitch Celtic always have a puncher's chance but damn, that scoreline might yet come back to haunt them.  Took way too long for Rodgers to get things sorted in that 2nd half (did they?) and he's the one that'll be wearing the result as much as any player. 

Tough night.  Kids got a stern lesson.  A very stern lesson.  

Sure it got mentioned on the broadcast but can't remember the last time Celtic won a group stage match in Champions League.      

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InglewoodJack Grand Master

InglewoodJack

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Celtic hasn't really brought anyone in over the last year other than AJ that is ready to contribute to the team right away. They're sliding into place in the soccer hierarchy as a selling club, focusing on projects that they can turn a profit on over players who can actually win. Their fans expect a champion, but they just don't have the players to hang in Europe. I do wonder how long Scotland's league coefficient will allow them to get that CL group stage spot- these teams that run through the domestic league and then get completely washed in Europe speak to the overall quality of their league.

I wonder if there's a way Celtic can get Jota back on loan. I think he's out of his squad in Saudi- I think his club bought another international player and needed to shed another to abide by the foreign player cap and he was the odd man out. Maybe SA wants to show some goodwill to Europe and show players can move back and forth between their leagues. He could've helped yesterday.

 

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Obinna Grand Master

Obinna

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56 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Celtic hasn't really brought anyone in over the last year other than AJ that is ready to contribute to the team right away. They're sliding into place in the soccer hierarchy as a selling club, focusing on projects that they can turn a profit on over players who can actually win. Their fans expect a champion, but they just don't have the players to hang in Europe. I do wonder how long Scotland's league coefficient will allow them to get that CL group stage spot- these teams that run through the domestic league and then get completely washed in Europe speak to the overall quality of their league.

I wonder if there's a way Celtic can get Jota back on loan. I think he's out of his squad in Saudi- I think his club bought another international player and needed to shed another to abide by the foreign player cap and he was the odd man out. Maybe SA wants to show some goodwill to Europe and show players can move back and forth between their leagues. He could've helped yesterday.

 

This sounds to me as old news rather than something to keep an eye out for. Celtic (and Rangers) will continue to get into the CL group stage and will continue to do as they do: mostly finish 4th, sometimes finish 3rd, rarely get out the group. I don't see any signs of a widening gap in a way that changes their fortunes in Europe - especially from one away match with two red cards in it. I wouldn't be surprised for Celtic to come out on top on the reverse match, plus stealing points from Lazio doesn't seem like mission impossible. 

One thing we may want to consider is the format change, but that affects everyone not just Celtic. Haven't looked into it enough to know if Scotland will hold on to their group stage pass or not. 

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Obinna Grand Master

Obinna

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2 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

The emergence of the Conference League might be problematic for Scotland's coefficient if it makes it more difficult to stay competitive with only two clubs capable of generating draws and victories.

Good point. It may also give those Scottish clubs a chance that they grab.

Hearts for example knocked out Rosenborg, but unfortunately couldn't get passed PAOK. Maybe that's proving your point, but maybe they were just unlucky to draw a team better than them this time around? It could have been worse with Aston Villa (breezed by Hibs), Fiorentina, Club Brugge, or Eintract Frankfurt - but they also could have drawn Brann, Celje, APOEL, Rijeka (who gave Lille a scare actually). 

Going to keep your point in mind though and watch with interest how the Scottish teams do next year. 

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InglewoodJack Grand Master

InglewoodJack

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31 minutes ago, Obinna said:

This sounds to me as old news rather than something to keep an eye out for. Celtic (and Rangers) will continue to get into the CL group stage and will continue to do as they do: mostly finish 4th, sometimes finish 3rd, rarely get out the group. I don't see any signs of a widening gap in a way that changes their fortunes in Europe - especially from one away match with two red cards in it. I wouldn't be surprised for Celtic to come out on top on the reverse match, plus stealing points from Lazio doesn't seem like mission impossible. 

One thing we may want to consider is the format change, but that affects everyone not just Celtic. Haven't looked into it enough to know if Scotland will hold on to their group stage pass or not. 

Yes, but there was a time not too long ago when Scottish teams could at least win a game or compete rather than be a scheduled victory. Yesterday was a close game, but even without the reds, Celtic likely lose 1-0 still. Point being that they struggle to bring in players that can keep them competitive in Europe. It sounds like their situation is not too different from Montreal's. Sell all these players, make this nice profit but no incoming transfers to show for it. They sold their striker for like 35M and don't really have a replacement.

Totally forgot about the new format for next year- not sure how Scotland factors into that, but I would like a world in which such a historically massive club like Celtic can give a few excellent teams a bloody nose at the very least. Maybe that will happen when they take on Feyenoord at home.

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Obinna Grand Master

Obinna

Posted
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8 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yes, but there was a time not too long ago when Scottish teams could at least win a game or compete rather than be a scheduled victory. Yesterday was a close game, but even without the reds, Celtic likely lose 1-0 still. Point being that they struggle to bring in players that can keep them competitive in Europe. It sounds like their situation is not too different from Montreal's. Sell all these players, make this nice profit but no incoming transfers to show for it. They sold their striker for like 35M and don't really have a replacement.

Totally forgot about the new format for next year- not sure how Scotland factors into that, but I would like a world in which such a historically massive club like Celtic can give a few excellent teams a bloody nose at the very least. Maybe that will happen when they take on Feyenoord at home.

I guess I am just not that down on Celtic's chances as you are. They seem to have a lot of good players on paper, including several Japanese internationals and as we know Japan haven been making a name for themselves recently. I guess I am just not ready to call them an easy out yet until I see more.

You could be right though and you are very correct they are a selling club and I suspect there is something to what you are saying. Lille is a selling club but it feels to me they have no problem bringing in replacements. Maybe that's because going to Ligue 1 is a better situation than going to the SPL. 

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WestHamCanadianinOxford Grand Master

WestHamCanadianinOxford

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Interesting times at the Tony Macaroni Arena (that's really it).

Joe Hart got sent off for Johnston's Celtic in the 28th minute after a penalty put them  0-1 up earlier. 

But such is the competition in the SPL, Celtic just made it 0-2 while down to ten men. 

Johnston also on a yellow from early on.

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Kent Grand Master

Kent

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I mean, Scottish teams aren't going to be a threat to win the Champions League, but I wouldn't go all doom and gloom that they are destined to eternally finish bottom either. I mean it was just 2 years ago that Rangers made it to the Europa League final.

On 9/20/2023 at 8:01 AM, Cheeta said:

Sure it got mentioned on the broadcast but can't remember the last time Celtic won a group stage match in Champions League.   

2017-18, they beat Anderlecht and finished 3rd in the group on 3 points.

2016-17 they didn't win any games, but they tied Manchester City twice and Borussia Moenchengladbach once.

Now trying to find the last time a Scottish team advanced out of the group stages...
2012-13 - Celtic beat Barcelona once, Spartak Moscow twice, and finished second in the group with 10 points. They then lost 3-0 and 2-0 to Juventus, 5-0 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

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