They Embarrassed The Hoops
Morning, all.
Well, that was a bloody disaster last night. I wasn’t alone in thinking that the tie was far from over, even though we had a three goal advantage going into the second leg. I wasn’t alone either in thinking that if LASK can score three to wipe out our lead, they can score four just as easily. What I didn’t expect was for us to be four goals clear with less than an hour of the tie to play…
And ship five!
We knew this was a decent side who played very much on the front foot. We knew too that we needed our wingers to perform and take the heat from the defence and midfield. Nope, none of them did. We needed the middle of the pitch to be a battleground, and we barely won a skirmish. We needed to protect the defence, protect the ball, avoid giving them an opportunity. Instead, it was “After you, Claude” all bloody night.
In truth, this was a performance that’s been threatening in every game so far-even though we’ve won them all up till last night. LASK were cutting us open at will, just as they did last week. But our domestic opponents had been doing that to us earlier this month too, and we all saw it.
And yet, and yet…it could all have been so different. We started well enough, coping with the initial onslaught of the home side. We even went ahead on the night (giving us that four goal cushion) when CalMac hit one from the edge of the area. It was deflected past the despairing goalie, and even the most pessimistic of Celtic fans must have been humming Zadok The Priest. Aye, that was until Nygren took a turn at the wrong end.
Four goals and four assists so far, and last night was his best assist of all. I’ve no idea what he thought he was doing, but I do know that he passed it straight to the LASK attacker with only the goalie to beat. How we survived till half time having only lost one goal, I do not know. We barely had a shot at goal after our opener, barely strung two passes together, and if I’m honest? If I didn’t have an article to write, I’d have turned the telly off two minutes after half time.
That was all it took for them to go ahead on the night, amd it only took another ten minutes to get their third. Our chances of holding out for the remaining thirty-odd minutes were slim, as were our chances of actually scoring one and knocking the wind from their sails. Of course, they got their equaliser in the dying moments, just as we were beginning to harbour some hope again. They scored the clincher in extra time, but it was just a formality. We had collapsed like a house of cards, as shambolic and disgraceful a performance as I’ve seen in some time.
We deserved eff all, we got eff all. Apart from a damned good thrashing, which is what happens when you are completely outplayed and outfought. We can say goodbye to most of the rumoured signings too. Smashing…
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Above article by BMCUWP
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We wanted to focus again on a local charity, and this time one which is dedicated to helping those suffering from homelessness, addiction or poverty.
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It is coming up to that time of year when the betting aficionados amongst us have to get our thinking caps on again.
As usual, our site will run a NAPS COMPETITION with some healthy prize money, and once again it will start on St Leger Day in September and run through till the last day of Royal Ascot in June. There will be a short break from the end of November till the end of January.
And for those whose betting interests are mainly centred on the football, we will also run our MAGNIFICENT SEVEN accumulator, starting on the same day and finishing when we no longer have eight leagues to pick from. Usually the end of April. Let’s hope that it gives us a more magnificent return than the litany of near-misses and total failures we got last term!
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Both these initiatives are FREE TO ENTER, and will be on their own dedicated page nearer the time. I look forward to your participation.
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POTY Competition.
sencelpoty@gmail.com
Perfectly summed up. But hardly a unique situation for us to be in. At 4-0 even I thought we couldn’t get it wrong. But we are a joke now in Europe. Can we just not play in the Europa League please?
We don’t get over this easily. In my opinion, the worst ever European result, especially being 4-0 up with less than an hour to go.
We’re fair game and rightly so. Every one knows the script. Emperor’s new clothes an all that
A short term Manager, a short term CEO, senior players asking to leave or injured. Captain questioning the club ambition and, most importantly, a fan base with many of whom ( correctly ) just itching to go to war with the ownership and direction of the club…a club who’ve failed in 8/10 attempts to qualify for CL.
COVID vibes
We looked laboured and unfit. The whole night we ran like we were running through molasses. At least half of our defence struggle to complete 90mins..wtf!
Said it all summer, that defence needs an experienced CB to Marshal the whole defensive unit.
If we don’t sort out the defensive side of the team, there’s going to be a lot of games where we’ll need to score a few to win
San Luis
I totally agree. This is a new low. But never mind, think about all the transfer money we saved by not qualifying.
Witnessed several sporting debacles in the years following Celtic. However, tonight ranks along with Neuchâtel and Kait, not sure if tonight is the lowest we have strived to be, but it comes close. The squad’s lack of talent was evident, as was its lack of fitness. If CCV, Trusty and Donavan are your go-to defense, supported by a non-existent covering midfield – yer well fucked without the application of lubricant.
Tonight, Celtic forgot to apply the KY
The bizarre thing is that we have given up loads of chances in every game we have played so far but they aren’t good teams and they aren’t good enough to take them. The defensive midfielder issue is the straw that has broken the camels back for me. No one capable of playing there since Broony and how long ago was that?
LASK, although they deserved to go thru, were no more than an organised EL team at best.
We will also struggle in the EL.
HH
We always say, start with the spine of the team.
Goalkeeper is ok. CCV is injury prone and slow and Trusty is a big pussy. Defensive Midfielder is the invisible man, if Nygren walked through my door tonight I would knock him out and Hogh at least has something about him. Doesn’t look good when you see it like that
BBTB
Thing is, as with last season, this team and last seasons should have been more than good enough to beat LASK and Kairat.
That they didn’t is down purely to coaching and in play decision making by players and management.
4-0 up for goodness sake. I honestly don’t know of a worst result from that position for Celtic.
If I was totally losing interest in European football before tonight, this feels like the tin hat.
£40-50 for tickets for Europa league? …
Someone would need to explain to me why it’s taken years for us to attempt to buy a defensive midfielder. We are not a serious football club.
Bet we still end in profit at the close of play.
Yes it was another embarrassing performance again in Europe, maybe its a blessing in disguise and hopefully the Europa league will suit us better.
We have a lot of work to do to achieve success in this arena, starting with signing players who can play at this level as we have quite a few who can’t.
Most of all we require a change, a modern football philosophy from our board and if they can’t match the vision of the support they have to stand down and let others come in and face the challenge head on.
We the support deserve and demand better from our custodians to be a proper European adversary to any team.
Another disappointment but always remember you’ll still wake up a Tim and proud you are to be.
We can howl at the moon forever but while the Despot is in control tonight will be the norm.
A simple game plan of hold your position would have been more effective.
Coaches who have no relevance to modern football.
Players incapable of simple basics.
And no semblance of a team.
If we do end up bringing in a no5 and a no6, we will probably win the treble, make a few quid from the Europa and Desmond will be grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Chalmersbhoy
August 25, 2026 11:39 pm
Yes it was another embarrassing performance again in Europe, maybe its a blessing in disguise and hopefully the Europa league will suit us better
How many times have we said the same since Despot got control?
We are simply not professional enough to compete in Europe.
No coaches and few players at the European level.
Fan
Did you not read the rest of my post?
We are on the same page..
Final prediction before bed, Nygren, despite his howler tonight will be sold before the window closes and won’t be replaced.
Bored by the board
August 25, 2026 11:51 pm
Final prediction before bed, Nygren, despite his howler tonight will be sold before the window closes and won’t be replaced.
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Thing is, would anyone want him after watching that performance? How much do you bid for an enigma?
Any team given the circumstances can lose a game5_1 but to do it when your are 4 in front and just have to be professional it smacks of amateurism across the club.This will take some getting over.
Price for Nygren?
Bout 2 times a Nico Ratskin?
At the end of the day, it is just a game of football. The sun will still rise tomorrow
Mike in Toronto
August 26, 2026 12:11 am
At the end of the day, it is just a game of football. The sun will still rise tomorrow
Agreed.Though that was a poor poor performance.
HH
When we have Ralston, Montgomery, Welsh, i know he’s just away,,Murray on the books for 6 plus years,that is a symptom of the malaise in the Squad
Just as the euphoria that accompanied last week’s three goals was unjustified, so is the deep pessimism that is accompanying a five goal hammering.
Celtic are a team in transition. In consistent results are a feature of such teams.
Most of us know this Celtic team is far from the finished article.
The Board presented an incomplete package to the rigours of the CL. The major surprise was that we held a three goal advantage at this stage of development.
Now the club is faced with different challenges. Will the Board continue to build a team capable of competing in the Europa? Will the Board build a squad capable of sustaining a European challenge as well as one capable of lifting the league? We shall know shortly.
Has planning already started to replace the existing coaching staff? Clearly game management is an issue even with the mitigation of a very thin squad.
We are clearly not at a level that we deluded ourselves with, but do we have the courage to improve from a promising start? We shall know by the end of this window.
Rebus
From4 nil up on aggregate, how did we lose?
dearie me
any team. any level.
next half . do not lose three goals.
those players fecked it.
Saint stubs
100%
Saint stivs!
No other team in the Champions League has ever lost when 4-0 up on aggregate during the second leg.
Way to go, Celtic! Breaking records in Europe!
We don’t have Honda Civics, we have clapped out Yugos and Trabants.
MON and Shaun utterly clueless tonight. Why didn’t we go with a low block and 2 banks of 5? Why did we leave Forrest, Osmand and Hassan on the bench, and put on the utterly woeful McCowan, Tounekti and Hatate? What on earth were they thinking?
Watching Dundee Utd go through us like a dose of salts and hit woodwork 5 times should have galvanized us into activity. It didn’t, because we are run by a clown show who do a half assed job. We have a temporary chairman, and a temporary 74 year old manager who, God love him, has no clue at this level in 2026. If all of us on here have recognized for weeks we have a leaky sieve from middle to back, why can’t decision makers see it and rectify it? We haven’t even added to the squad – 17 out, 4 in, yet no legs in midfield or defence. CCV and KT can’t last 3 games a week – who will replace them?
Nicholson relieved he won’t have to pay out any more big money for transfers. What an utter shitshow! I am so sick of these self created embarrassments due to negligence and ineptitude every single fecking year! This is so far off from being a serious professionally run football club. “World class in everything we do”? “We aim to be competitive in Europe”? Aye, Lucan, yer havin’ a laff.
Didn’t see the game
Not really football any more.
Just a dilapidated hun symbiosis
looks like everyone has chucked it for the night.
One for Dolly … also what the Celtic defenders were saying to the LASK forwards
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x87Zx3XAIsI&list=RDx87Zx3XAIsI&start_radio=1&pp=ygUMRG9sbHkgcGFydG9uoAcB
on the positive side, the team that knocked Celtic out this season were better than the team that knocked Celtic out last season… so that’s something😆
Imagine the batterings we would be getting every midweek if we had qualified.
dubaibhoy
Imagine the beatings to come in the EL. We will be top of everyone’s Pot 2 team to get at home.
Pitiful display but not altogether unexpected as bottle crashing is not an irregular feature of Celtic’s European away experience.
Extra time saw evidence of some semblance of a semi professional football team attempting to stem the tide but the worse than limited McCowan, along with a cast list of fellow plodders, put paid to that.
Wee boys physically get mercilessly bullied and weak mentality gets overwhelmed when there is no place to run to and nowhere to hide, bar getting hooked for substandard alternatives.
Scales for KT , Hatate for Nygren, Tounetki for Yang, McCowan for Baur, Murray for Donovan, Ralston for CCV ( see you in a couple of months perhaps Cameron).
Jesus. What a dismal list of options.
It’s all rather depressing really, as at least 8 new faces are needed to replace absolute dross. We will be lucky to see 2/3 – maybe a loan or two.
MoN and coaching staff are just as culpable.
He should be demanding quality but instead makes do with a patchwork squad of SPFL triers who really aren’t very good, because he’s being managed from above. Says as much in just about every interview.
LASK are Salzburg/Strum Graz EL level and we can now expect the horsings in that competition that were normally our preserve in the CL.
Preparation for our descent into the competition all of the other Scottish clubs are struggling to get into. The Europa Conference League. No thanks.
Shambolic shit show by all concerned.
A laughing stock of an amateur organisation.
IQ4 1.33
Sorry mate have to disagree thete. PSG were 4-0 up against Barca in 2017/18 after first leg and lost 6-1 on return resulting in 6-5 aggr loss. It happpens to the very best just not as regular.
Woke up this morning from a nightmare, only to find it actually happened. Even the thought of EL football fills me with dread, after last night. Who thinks this board will pony up any more cash for new signings? Are they more likely to sell Nygren, probably our only sellable option(just), to make up for the lost millions? Out this morning to take my frustration out on a little white ball, and thankfully any football talk is kept to a minimum. Just over 24 hours until we see if any other Scottish club can surpass last night’s humiliation, or help improve the beloved coefficient. Have a good day all.
Good morning, friends. Not too sure I’ll have a bulging inbox today but maybe you’ll all feel a little better getting your thoughts off your chest. Last night wasn’t my fault! – sencelpoty@gmail.com
Morning alll
Stukl raging!
anyone watching Prime last night wouldn’t have to look too far to see where we’re going wrong.
Neil Lennon and Stan Petrov on analysis duties. Where are their abilities in this current squad? Absolutely nowhere!
Bobby you mentioned the Stuttgart game yesterday. That was a picnic by comparison eh?
Aff oot to batter a golf ball around!
😡
Despot won’t be upset about last nights result or performance!
He will move on to alternate strategy of selling anyone who can top up his cash pile.
Despot and Lackeys are not unprepared as their strategies are designed to bring in money with football being an afterthought.
MON for whatever reason has been willing to be their frontman.
A tactic Despot uses frequently targeting the emotional attachment and sentiment the fans have for the club.
Last night’s coaching fiasco won’t bother Despot and he will be relaxed as blame falls on MON and Maloney but profits still rise.
We won’t move forward until Desmond is gone. He has tied us to the Old Firm model which doesn’t accommodate us creating an unbridgeable gap. The qualification failure stats would normally trigger some action to improve, however not at Celtic.
Rebus67
August 26, 2026 12:20 am
‘Celtic are a team in transition.’
###
It’s been a very long time since Celtic were anything other than a team in transition. The buy cheap sell dear MO results in a team always being in transition, and that’s not going to change.
After last night I can’t see M.O’N lasting another season. So that’s even more upheaval and uncertainty. That won’t help with player recruitmentent.
But the rot starts further up the chain than management and I don’t see any transition likely to happen there. Not while season book renewal is all but guaranteed.
Worse ever Europe result given our position.
Awful coaching.
Dundee Utd hit the goal frame 5 times. Lask scored 4 times. All from the acres of space that you would be expecting a midfield to be protecting the defence.
2nd goal Calmac ball watching and is completely unaware of his man.
third goal they have two attackers against our back 4. One holds the ball up till a player strolls forward from midfield untracked and cracks it past Sinisalo.
I have said for years we have never replaced wanyama, Calnac who cannot defend is our defensive mid.
We didn’t look fit compared to them. We were out on our feet and holy moly, McCowan and his new extended contract comes on and gives away possession NINETEEN TIMES.
Not a week for listening to the pods.Tine to get back into my music
I mentioned earlier this week in an exchange with Ernie and others that the club has the correct financial approach, in so much that we don’t budget for CL qualification. I stand by that.
In my opinion , on every recent occasion that we’ve been eliminated at qualifying round, the players available to us , our squad costs and our overall income compared to our rivals – bar none – is vastly superior.
The reason we don’t qualify is collective failures on big match nights by “superior” players and managers. This is without exception and it points to something beyond football ability. It purely all in the head..
It is akin to Scotland being unable to reach later stages of a tournament, Hibs or Everton not winning big trophies for decades Hearts being unable to see through Title winning positions or in other sports, teams that you’d expect to win things somehow failing or bottling it at last moment, NY Nicks,Mayo were prime examples until recently.
Luckily last night will be the last time for a good while we ever need to worry about the possibility of CL football. Scottish clubs are, for the time being, 2nd and 3rd tier European teams , from a country being quickly overtaken by Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and all our Scandinavian counterparts. Our board are culpable for a good many things, but not for surrendering a 4-0 lead with less than an hour on the clock!!
This is why we don’t bank on CL income.
Felt sorry for Duran and Hogh last night. Especially Duran. Again he put in a shift whilst playing out of position.
Wonder what they thought knowing we were being overwhelmed by bigger, fitter, stronger opponents and seeing Tounekti come on to bolster us.
Total embarrassment, what was shaping up to be a great season, is now going to be a struggle, you wonder if that team will recover
San Luis
So sitting on a cash pile is preferable to putting a team with players in correct positions has no bearing on continuous European failure?
Surely spending 10% of our cash reserves wouldn’t affect our financial position.
The midfield failings have been evident since second season of BR’s first tenure and the main reason we struggle in Europe.
Yet we carefully nurture the cash pile?
A slight shift in aiding football operations would improve us and give us a chance of not embarrassing ourselves on the European stage.