UEFA Champions League 05/06, this is the thread for

Actually, I don't know yet whether to be proud of them for the effort they put in tonight (Lennon and Hartson in particular were immense) or still angry that they fucked it up so badly that they had to put in that superhuman effort in the first place.

Perhaps Gogs should be kidding them on they are five goals down before the start of every game. They might make a bit of an effort. Except the opposition won't actually really have the luxury of defending a skooshy easy big lead so might actually have a bit of a go at us. Hmmm. This may be why I'm not a manager.

What is worrying me is a quote in the Celtic fanzine attributed to Strachan "Forget this nonsense about tactics - good players make good teams so the more I have around me, the more chance me and the club will have of success".

I googled that quote and found it. I also found this from a post-match press conference when he was with Coventry. "I pointed out one or two things because mostly football - despite all this nonsense about tactics - is about whether players can pass the ball to each other. Tactics come into it when you are playing well and passing well."

I am ever so slightly afraid for the season now.

It is a Cloughism, Martin O'Neill said similar things many times "Formations don't win games, players do". Of course you give them a system to play and tell them their roles within that, but the system means shit if your players can't play. (and I know O'Neill was exposed as tactically naive on many European excursions)

As for last night:
It was a much more entertaining game than I expected and they nearly had me believing they could do it when they scored the 3rd. I was amazed the ref added only 3 minutes when there had been 6 substitutions and numerous gunshot wounds to attend to. If the board had said 5 or 6 minutes instead 3 I think the Art Media Brats might have flapped a bit.
Good to see the team playing with a bit of pride and spirit, though in the end all they really proved was that we lost 5-0 to a pub team last week.
Gogs still has me baffled. Ross Wallace on the right? Next he'll have Petrov at full back! If he doesn't start the next game with Beattie up front and Maloney on the right then he hasn't been watching his team play.

Mo Camara almost got pass marks last night. Almost.

If all goes well, there's FC Brügge in the next round. Not an impossible task, they being out of season and all.

"Valerenga? Bring'em on..."

Ailsa, tonight will be a breathtaking comeback, 4-0 with 15 minutes to go, Artmedia clinging on with every sinew, wave after wave of, erm, John Hartson attacking their goal, keeper does that-polish-bloke heroics and doesn't get broken till the 94th minute - but it's disallowed! Celtic go out of Europe like heroes, everyone loves them, they gain the confidence to beat Dundee United 13-0 next Saturday, Strachan beatified, etc.

Haha Mark, I should have guessed the Haka dance would show up :)

Then I woke up, turned on BREAKFAST, and found Rob Bonnett saying that it had happened!

It's a bit like the moment when Hugh Kenner says, 'The night before the Titanic sank, W.B. Yeats's wife [*] saw a ship in a dream'. On close inspection, though, that one is less impressive than mine.

[* not sure who it was - a female relative of WBY, of some kind, anyway]

I look in W.J. McCormack's FOOL OF THE FAMILY: A LIFE OF J.M. SYNGE, which I like to keep handy, and get the answer. It was WBY's sister... which was who I thought it was in the first place, before I changed it to wife!

At least we didn't have to escape for the mid-match pint I was fearing. Glad you didn't run out of the taxi queue and go back to the pub now?

I still don't care if Strachan is trying to kid on he's Clough - he has bought rubbish players, last week they looked like a bunch of kids on a Sunday school outings who'd met each other five minutes before kick-off (and were the ones left over once the good ones had been picked already). To suggest that they don't need told what to do when they are haemorrhaging goals is not the kind of thing that inspires confidence.

Aye, I suppose, grudgingly (and it was your idea!).

To suggest that they don't need told what to do when they are haemorrhaging goals is not the kind of thing that inspires confidence.

True, but we did keep a clean sheet, and score goals, IN THE SAME GAME, for the first time since the cup final.

I am quite happy to be proved wrong, by the way.

when chelsea played valeranga a few years back the brilliant bonkers valeranga fans pretended to milk a cow every time flo got the ball because apparantly they think he's a bit of a bumpkin. it was great! the action (both arms outstretched pulling up and down) caught on at the bridge for a while but has since faded, but valerange are still very fondly remembered.

they also jumped up and down together really well.

"tell all the huns you know, that they'll never sell Ricksen or Flo"

Oh, happy days. Except both Ricksen and Flo are still in the Champions League. And someone *was* stupid enough to buy him, therefore ruining our song.

Good effort by Celtic. There were some great photos of Hartson's Motherwell goals in the NOTW this weekend. Typical Hartson goals; i.e an ugly bald head surrounded by defenders' boots and a grimace that could make a child cack with fright.

Bring on Brügge! Our coach Rekdal played a number of seasons in Belgium, and should know his Belgian football. Quite tempted to go to the away game...

Pete W: That cow-milking thing is still current, though obv not at Flo anymore, now he's on Our Side. Mikey G: Indeed, Siena.

We've covered Celtic upthread (to put it mildly); other faves who were knocked out:
Dynamo Kyiv, 2-3 on aggregate vs Thun of Switzerland
Trabzonspor, 2-3 on aggregate vs Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus

Hyypia's awful passing needs to be sorted out, how many times does he just feck the ball up the pitch to nobody? It's really irritating. Sissoko looks very good but there's still nobody creative enough in the team, they need a flair player really badly.

Momo was good though.

Artmedia Bratislava have made it to the group stage after a penalty shoot-out in Belgrade.

COME ON THUN

Well done Liverpool. You look just like the sort of team that will fluke your way to a Champions League title again.

(XPOST Artmedia Bratislava are the BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD!)

My dad is obsessed with sudoku.

(a-and is his hair less red than it used to be?!)

And, to be less girlie and actually talk about the football, Riise hasn't been playing at all recently though, has he?

http://club2810.fc2web.com/images/young/malon_20030701.jpg

oof nevermind