It has been a slow news weekend with no Celtic game. But there’s always something that is reportable as far as Celtic are concerned. The recent bid by Arsenal for Kieran Tierney was rejected and nothing much more has happened on that. However this evening one aspect of their second bid has been discussed in the media. Apparently Celtic regarded the add ons surrounding Arsenal reaching the Champions League as being unrealistic.
Supporters have a wee song here, that is appropriate, “Champions League? You’re having a laugh?” A sore one for the Gunners!
Dedryck Boyata today played his in his first match since limping off with his hamstring pull in Celtic’s 2-1 win over the Rangers at the end of March.
“Happy to make my debut for Hertha and my first 45 mins in 4 months,” Boyata wrote on his Instagram page. His former Celtic teammate Nir Bitton was one of the first to applaud Boyata’s post.
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Happy to make my debut for @herthabsc and my first 45″ in 4months ????⚪️ #Herthabsc #DB20
The Belgian moved to Hertha Berlin in the summer on a free transfer after completing his contract at Celtic. He could have gone to Fulham for around £10million last summer but that move got caught up in the politics going on behind the scenes between Peter Lawwell and Brendan Rodgers – and all three mentioned here played their part in Celtic failing to reach the Group stages of the Champions League.
Still, few Celtic Supporters have any real lingering bad feeling for Dedryck and most will wish him well for his time in the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin. His debut finished in a 1-1 draw incidentally.
Mikael Lustig new club Gent could meet the new club in Glasgow in the third round of qualifiers for the Europa League, if founding father Charles Green’s club can see off Progres’ who knocked them out the last time they played. Progres were the fifth best side in Luxembourg at the time, hopefully they have improved since. Many Celtic Supporters had signed up for the month on Premier Sports so had access to that funny night in Luxembourg when Pedro ended up standing in a hedge arguing with their travelling support.
The Rangers are unseeded in the third round and could face Gent, Wolves or even our old foes Legia Warsaw. Lustig will relish the chance to knock them out of Europe if he’s given the chance. Good luck to him too!
Former Celtic manager Tony Mowbray reckons that the Rangers are the real deal after his Blackburn Rovers side drew 1-1 with Steven Gerrard’s World Beaters this afternoon. Tony’s decision to ‘take it on the chin’ gave the whistlers a licence to cheat and his team’s performance at St Mirren in his last game – a 4-0 defeat was as bad as I have ever seen Celtic play. A complete shambles.
Earlier today on Twitter we posted a recent article from David Potter about Black Sunday. Mowbray’s role that day, when he played out a low scoring defeat for his Hibs side at Easter Road should also be remembered.
“In the first half especially they had good possession of the ball,” Mowbray said. “They are a very well coached team, so for us it was the perfect game. You can see already what Stevie has done.
“He is putting together a team which has an identity I would suggest. I can say hand on heart I have never watched a moment of Rangers play this season but we played Liverpool this time last season and they play the same 4-3-3 formation.
