Kilmarnock vs Celtic – Matchday 2
Sunday afternoon brings our second competitive outing of the 26/27 campaign as the Hoops hope to once again take all three points on offer to stay in or around the SPL.
This is a strange match to preview as its shrouded in uncertainty. Shaun has been this weeks temporary manager and he may or may not have Martin beside him in the dugout for the tie. In a normal week one imagines they would have analyzed our opening performance and made decisions based on their conclusion after watching the game back, but thats been thrown on the scrap heap by the unexpected illness which forced Martin into hospital and under the scapel. Given this unexpected turn of events our ex winger has been left to his own devices and presumably will try and put his own imprint into our style of play, he may even have picked the team himself.
I haven’t a clue what to expect. I’m unsure how exactly the shoehorn the two strikers into the team without Duran being wasted out wide unless we rip up 4-3-3 for either 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 which both have their own pitfalls. 3-5-2 sees KT and AJ not playing or not playing to their strengths, 4-4-2 would weaken the middle of the park and leave last years top scorer Nygren in limbo, and losing his goals just to play the two strikers together would be an act of folly in my opinion. Fixing our dilemma was surely setback by the unexpected illness, now its Shauns turn to try, or heads could just mind the shop and change nothing hoping the 6 days training together helps everyone gel and improve.
Who plays as our right winger best enjoy it while they can as they will soon be second fiddle to the incoming Hasseim Hassan and if it is Duran again he can breathe a sigh of relief that he’s unlikely to play that flank again.
Kasper Hogh admitted he’s getting used to real grass and theres a dollop of irony in realizing that last seasons pitch would probably suit him better, but the images I’ve seen show a quality playing surface and I’m glad Killie have finally joined the 21st century in forking out for grass. The weatherman says it will rain before and after the match with a two hour break coinciding with play, so it will be a beautiful but slick surface come Sunday afternoon which should in theory benefit the better footballers, and thats clearly us.
We all await the clash with eager anticipation and we all want to be watching when Hogh scores his first for his new club, lets hope its this weekend. I’m confident we have enough in the tank to win and next week shall see reinforcements arrive.
3 points please and another clean sheet would be nice.
Up The Hoops!
By Mahe
sentinelcelts@gmail.com
POTY competition sencelpoty@gmail.com
Some thoughts on our soon to be announced Egyptian.
Its good to target Spain as its a good market we tend to ignore and believe it or not the lesser lights don’t pay that much so we can be financially attractive.
Its good to see an Egyptian which should help with exposure to a good footballer producing nation.
In saying that buying one comes at more than a financial price as you must take onboard the African Cup of Nations and Ramadan.
Its great to see someone who can dribble and beat a man, something we really need imo, and I’m thinking Scott Sinclair might have been the last winger who could do that.
It was clearly him or Ghedjemis which when you think about is wise business, get the proper details on your two first choice selections and select the option that suits you best. We weren’t putting ten down for Ghedjemis so Hassan on installments gets the nod. For once we had two options which is good. Part of me wonders if that is a major behind the scenes problem. Clubs saying no youre rich, pay it all and we want the player on installments.
All in all 6m is a good price for an “impressed at the world cup player” who still has his best years ahead of him. Looks like a good investment.
As MIT mentioned his numbers arent great but he passed the eye test and there might have been tactical reasons for instance instructions to play on the left and provide crosses. Left footers playing wide left to supply the striker dont score much. Those who are allowed freedom to attack do better and I would reckon thats the case.
Final thought, I wonder if his agent shall see more action from us? Looks like we successfully went outside the box on this one and now Michael can deal with him chances are high we return.
Hail Hail
Jota could dribble and beat a man… and score.
Haste ye back.
Mahe
Why soon to be announced?
We have been crying out for reinforcements.
Will only believe when I see him standing on our field with a Celtic top on.
Biggest headline would be the invisible man actually completed a deal.
I would not be surprised if we still haven’t signed this guy before CL playoff.
FAN
Very much in agreement there, I won’t be celebrating a signing till the deal is official. Too many false dawns.
As for the Ghedjemis option, I think the club were right to turn their back on this one. I said at the time that I didn’t believe the reported £8m offer from Ibrox. If the selling club want to play silly buggers, that’s up to them. They clearly hadn’t done their homework on our likely reaction.
3-5-2
with AJ and KT as the wingbacks.
They can both get up and down the wing, can cross a ball and we have no wingers anyway. It’s a nobrainer
Fan
Not even that… wasn’t Mo Johnston standing
on our field with a Celtic top on !
I wonder who will be replacing KT on the 70th minute tomorrow
St Tams- Scales
St. Tams
Austin Trusty said yesterday that he can play anywhere across the back line yesterday. So Murray for KT?
Triple H,
I’ve said similar about using AJ and KT as wing -backs, as I think both would thrive in that role. The only reservation I have about how we use our defenders (or set-up) is, what happens when we get an injury to one of our key CBs? Are we then onto playing Murray as permanent fixture? I hope those that see potential there are correct, but they’re seeing something I’m not.
I was hoping that was an area we were going to add to this summer, and was a bit shocked when we announced that wasn’t something we were looking at doing. Hope that doesn’t come back to bite us when we get a couple of injuries between windows.
Looking at what’s left to choose from the current squad, I’d say 3-5-2 or 5-3-2, whichever way you look at it, I can really see that working. If these guys we’re after, guys like Hassan, are out-and-out wingers though, Martin may not even be thinking along those lines, especially when you consider we are on a great run of results because we didn’t rip it up and start again, so no need for the players to spend weeks on the training ground adapting to a whole new system.
If it isn’t broken …
Any idea what Killie’s new pitch is like?
BADABING
Scales is still suspended.
Marseilles still interested in Hassan,as we are fking about again
https://videocelts.com/2026/08/features/celtic-fans-plan-catch-up-with-dermot-desmond-at-the-dunhill-cup/
And this is why you never get ahead of yourself when relying on us to do the right things.
I’ll ask again ..
Are we serious about spending the money it takes to buy this “Quality” we keep hearing about, or are we just trying to give the impression that’s what we’re doing??
Have we actually spent a penny yet?
Let’s be honest, nothing should surprise you about what we do!
“Hold off Michael, the Huns are terrible so we won’t need him”
Paul Heaton night on BBC 2
Gordon64
There were plans to do the same last year.
The club got wind of this and arranged ameeting with fans groups , who temporarily cancelled all protests.
They were conned. I hope the same doesn’t happen this year.
I’m not saying contract negotiations are really simple, but what in the name of Christ can we be talking about for weeks on end?? Once you’ve agreed a deal with their club, how many details can there be that takes months?
You interested in coming?
How much do you want a week/month/year?
Erm …
Bad
negotiation is the most important sport to our board. It’s what gives them their kicks.
BAD@11:58
🎯 I agree, do they play this along to save paying wages 🙄
https://www.andymuirhead.com/p/scottish-football-doesnt-need-another
Scottish Football Doesn’t Need Another SFA-led Summit. It Needs a Reckoning.
GORDON64
See my comment last night at around 930pm. As well as others on a similar vein from various posters. Scottish football is FUBAR’d.
GORDON64
I thought this the most damning part of that article is this.
“The findings discussed in recent Scottish football reviews have been damning. Scotland has qualified for only one of 39 possible UEFA Under-19 and Under-21 European Championships since 2000, while the number of Scottish players receiving opportunities at the highest levels of European football has declined. The transition from academy football to senior football is not functioning properly.”
Thats a disgrace.
£80m can be found and counting for the malicious prosecutions associated with the Sevco switcherooni. The judicial review that was officially commissioned 7 years ago has never been started. So the money can be found. Ditto the COVID-19 grants so the money can be found when it is necessary.
The £80m from the public purse happened because there is no financial governance within Scottish football.
£80m was lost to the public purse through tax evasion. Proven in a Scottish court of law. Yet no punishment was deemed necessary.
LNS conducted his inquiry on behalf of the SFA and again there was no reckoning. No football punishment and a measly £200k fine was accepted by the SFA basically to cover the costs of the sham inquiry.
Celtic PLC were in lockstep with the SNP and SFA every step of the way.
Yet attendances due to clubs increasing their spend on more foreign players wages to 80% of their entire income, unheard of in Europe helped to increase the aging audience.
Yet look at the state of the dilapidated stadia and how these customers are treated like absolute dog shit.
Nothing will change for the better in Scottish football until it’s very elderly and addicted/conflicted audience passes away. They would not accept this treatment for any other product they are buying. They are incapable of rational thought. Every spiv and political careerist can see it from mars. Lambs to the slaughter. Cattle
Scottish football will die out to the level of being a semi professional league before any significant changes will be made.
Until then there is a damn good overpaid living to be made and secret profits to be funneled away and votes to be promised.
As I have said many many times. The off field corruption and political chicanery is far more interesting to me and many other disillusioned fans than the actual football and you don’t need to pay for that. The football is migraine inducing.
This Hassan will he wont he .is beginning to be another hang on . you could get payed out for your car finance scam quicker
JIMTIM
Haw, ye’ve taken that too faur!
My post above is exactly the reason why we have what my posts explained yesterday.
Very light touch financial governance and oversight. That no other European league. Basically to allow Sevco to be masonically handshaked into Europe. Anyone thinking UEFA is not taking what the SFA are presenting for a license at face value is one of those poor conflicted chaps.
£160m lost to the public purse. That doesn’t include how much the actual court cases cost to deliver the whitewash. Let’s round it up to £200m
If that had been invested in youth development. I think we would have produced more and better players.
AWENAW
Incredible to think how much money was wasted on pursuing those prosecutions. Incredible to think on how much money was lost on NOT pursuing those responsible in the first place.
Absolutely beyond belief though that Murray was allowed to cherrypick the assets for a pittance and walk away a rich man with a knighthood instead of a jail sentence and bankruptcy.
Only in Scotland. The greatest wee country in the world.
BAD,
Couldn’t agree more. The Huns seem to pull signings out the bag and have them playing in Europe , all within a three day period. Whether their Japanese is any good or not, time will tell. We in the other hand only pull out potential signings, enquiries. Closing the deals must go to some other arbitrator then all falls to feck. 16 out and 2 in tells us that we numero uno at move some on to pastures new.
BMCUWP,
That’s exactly it.
How much money have the spivs siphoned off the hun support since 2012. Tens of millions. For a covid league and a cup.
How many millions have we wasted on the 16 players we have just got rid off ? Yet seemingly Donavon is on 900 quid a month and Murray on 2k
How much of those losses could be saved if we had proper financial governance like every other comparable league in Europe and the money channeled into the right places.
That’s why they are producing players and climbing the coefficient table. That’s why they can attract a younger audience. That’s why their stadia are magnificent and not toilets. That’s why they attract better broadcast deals.
All for 1 league and 1 cup and 1 Uefa Cup final appearance! It doesn’t look like they are getting sick of it yet after 15 years of achieving very little.
Any region within any region in Europe in comparison to the Scottish nation would embarrass our football facilities. That’s because Scottish football is ran for the benefit of one team. Our PLC knows this benefits them also. They get bog paper soap and warm water at Celtic Park at every game.
AWENAW
Celtic have been run on a pennywise and pound foolish since 2003, with the intention of maximising boardroom bonuses instead of footballing excellence. It really is as simple as that.
Think back to Henrik being replaced-to coin a phrase-by on loan Kamara. Or WGS allowing Lawell to dictate who was allied to play in defence. McManus and Heid instead of Bobo? WTF, a firing offence right away.
The fans complained because we loved the big fella, and rightly so. But there was never a chance of making a difference. We lost a huge influence on our team because of one man’s ego. And still had to pay him £7m to sit on his arse!
Fuxake, it beggars belief.
Lads I apologize for the ranting recently.
Due to having the German football experience also and btw not always at elite level and thoroughly enjoying it ( not saying you guys don’t enjoy your football experience) it does my fucking nut in how badly exploited the Scottish football fan is.
Sorry it’s just me.
I’m returning to the football now.
Tomorrow will be a tough game.
I’m going for a narrow 2.3 win
MON take absolute care of yourself.
BMCUWP
They have to be the first domino to fall
https://x.com/CelticFCB/status/2086074960338952410
Awe Naw
August 8, 2026 2:36 pm
Lads I apologize for the ranting recently.
Due to having the German football experience also and btw not always at elite level and thoroughly enjoying it ( not saying you guys don’t enjoy your football experience) it does my fucking nut in how badly exploited the Scottish football fan is.
——————–
is there a german football executive that celtic plc should hire as CEO or Chair person ?
Since it’s raining here in the Trossachs, will pass time watching Dundee v 🐑
Saint Stivs
There are many and they would be much cheaper than Michael Nicholson. He would currently be in the top 5 on his yearly wage not including bonus. It’s something I’ve posted in here before what does he bring to the table to justify his top 5 C.E.O salary.
One of the best in my opinion is Eintracht’s Markus Krosche he has done a fine job in bringing in youth and selling them on at an enormous level
E.g
Kolo Muani €95m
Marmoush €75m
Brown €50m
Pacho €40m
Lindstrøm €30m
André Silva €23m
Kostić €14.7m
Sow €10m
That’s roughly €338m from just those eight players
And why he is one of the top earning C.E.O’s in Germany
He is an S.C Paderborn legend having spent most of his playing career with them before becoming their C.E so the pursuit of Mika Baur be rest assured they are well advised.
However I am of the belief that a Celtic C.E.O has to be Celtic minded and that’s why it’s difficult to replace MN. Somebody with both experiences in my opinion is a necessity and very difficult to find as DD is currently experiencing.
However I am of the belief that a Celtic C.E.O has to be Celtic minded and that’s why it’s difficult to replace MN. Somebody with both experiences in my opinion is a necessity and very difficult to find as DD is currently experiencing.
————-
for me it is the cektic minded criteria that fails the hiring test.
go get a german, and on the football structure.
they do the business of football brilliantly.
Awe Naw,
Regarding my partial post being erased…thank you for the advice.
I only had safari open on a single window plus Copilot. Maybe Copilot is a hungry beast?
Anyway, nobody misses my posts including me.
Rebus
Saint Stivs on 8th August 2026 3:19 pm
Renfrew v Celtic II
Match Summary Highland / Lowland – Lowland League West
Renfrew 1 , Celtic II 0
O. Smith (17′)Goal 17 minutes
Assists
Renfrew,B. Harwood (17′)
Saint Stivs,
I know where you are coming from but until there is a legitimate professional framework within Scottish football ( see all my posts these last two days) I believe that even Markus Krosche would flounder
Rebus67,
I miss them bud. I might not reply. I’m verbose enough😄
FYI the Apple IOS is aggressive in reclaiming back memory when under stress. So anything not cached would be gobbled up if it feels it needs it. I’m not saying this was what happened to you but could have
1-11-1
Renfrew
Renfrew
Key EventsRenfrew
Celtic II
Looks cold and wet in Scotland. So much for summer football
For the new Celtic pie , see the old pie,
Don’t think there’s anything the present Chair, CEO or CFO can do to recover a situation that has gotten steadily worse with any number of recent landmarks along the way , The bank balance grows higher, so does high anxiety.
Four years of turmoil, coinciding with welded on default doubles, but Peter Lawwell stepping down as CEO, not Chairman — was probably a big one. Twenty-plus years as Siamese twin to Dermot Desmond was surely enough for any man. PL out of office or not, time has caught up with “good value” and the successful structure. They’ve dealt with communication by not communicating, and somehow managed to make ‘executive presence’ totally absent.
As Stephen McGowan, an ex-employee, put it the other day,
“Nothing will change at Celtic until everything changes. The ownership and the executive. It should be a surprise to no one that the same behaviour comes from the same people year after year.”
Hard to argue with that, success on the pitch comes by natural course, and at bare minimum PLC expense.
The intransigents are sitting back, while the playing squad burns a hole in the balance sheet and three or four of the better players look likely to be moved on. If the figures are accurate, there’s another £40M to add to the stash. A guaranteed shrug of the shoulders and why are we so good, look at us! They dance to Dermot’s budget, dare not, cannot challenge it. Come in on spec, collect £200 and pass Go.
Meanwhile the Celtic supporter is Adidas’d out, working their way through multi seasonal merchandise continuing to keep the lights on, for the team and the PLC. PAYG friendlies are treated with appropriate contempt, ST price rises, never miss.53,000 renew they say, a waiting list so big, maybe it’s unbuilt seats are in the bank too.
A lawyer, ‘a leader’ on the face of it anyway, who isn’t empowered to get a Tesco meal deal over the line. He’s playing keepy-uppy in the boardroom with an accountant who scowls in Parkhead, and appears to have stolen ‘not a penny more’ as a personal motto. And here we are, resin floors don’t lay themselves, you know, busy executives working the whole day through, busy doing nothing, but at a higher level.
Onwards went the Charge of the Green and White Brigade
Collect £200.
Pass Go
Hail Hail
🇮🇪 🇮🇪 🇮🇪 🇮🇪 🇮🇪
why dont you celtic supporters watch some grainy footage of the run up to final in 67 I dont need to watch some grainy footage, I watched it in glorious Technicolor, watched neily mochan with his green tracksuit on and his bowlegs running on to treat wee jinky or whoever else got injured, mostly wee jinky of course, and bob rooney right beside him,,aagh those were the days,another true story👍
Awe Naw
Trossachs is 16° wind speed 35mph and rain expectation 95%. However my caravan is all inclusive 🍺🍸🥃
Saint Stivs on 8th August 2026 3:43 pm
Renfrew 2 – 4 Celtic II
Renfrew
O. Smith (17′)Goal 17 minutes
S. Fyfe (32′)Goal 32 minutes
Celtic II
C. Daly (23′)Goal 23 minutes
L. Clearie (26′ pen)Penalty 26 minutes
R. Dargie (36′)Goal 36 minutes
C. Daly (39′)