I don't think he has any designs on playing again for Manchester City but will probably be hoping Celtic have pushed him into other teams thoughts.
Beram Kayal has signed for Brighton. Good luck to him in England. Shame really as he did look like a very good player at one point but never seemed to fully recover from a shocking Lee McCulloch challenge.
It is interesting that he leaves for Brighton just on the eve of a potential reunion with Mr. McCulloch
I doubt he'd have been anywhere near a starting position. The match was a comfortable walk in the park for us. Of course, that is only if you would describe a park as a place not fit for football matches. The pitch was horrific and shameful that our national stadium playing surface is in such poor condition. The games finished in plenty of time for this not to be an issue. The winter has been extremely mild so the SFA really have no excuse for it to be in that kind of condition for show piece football matches. Goals and interview with our captain after the match.
Brooney was amazing, playing like a captain. He was all over the pitch. Rangers were playing dirty - the stamp on Guidetti, the elbow to the head. That's minor league stuff and the referee really lost control of the game.
i thought the referee was quite bad. how about when he called back the advantage after brown won a ball and played the striker through 1v1 with their keeper? i couldn't believe it.
Broony said it was the first defence splitting pass he's played in his career and it gets called back instead of playing advantage! It was a shocking decision. Makes you wonder...
reffing is always a discussion point....happened to watch the match with a Rangers mad relative.....he could, I assure you, list of as many calls for Celtic which, as he would say, show the refs "true colours". I bet the ref takes the equal hatred from both sides as an indication he did an ok job. As for Hampden.....I disagree there was enough time to get it ready after the games....there was a lot of work to re-convert it and the new pitch was only laid in mid november....don't know how "mild" the winter has been but it sure has not been very dry nor sunny.....it has been very damp and lacking in sunshine......definitely not enough time to create a solid pitch which will hold up to professional football....never mind two matches in under 24 hours. The bigger question is why they forced it....why not play the semis somewhere else....perhaps Saturday's match could have been at Ibrox and Sunday's at Murrayfield. I was very disappointed with Celtic's performance.....yes, Rangers never threatened but did Celtic look all that great? Walk in the park? Really, I have a hard time remembering a save (at either end of the park) in the second half.
I'd love him to show you any instance that stopped a clear goal scoring opportunity for Rangers. Yes, but the pitch wasn't even good enough for the Aberdeen - Dundee Utd semi-final on the Saturday. Are we to seriously believe we couldn't get our national stadium pitch surface ready for even one semi-final...? I totally agree that at least one of the semi's should have been moved to a different stadium but that would not have corrected the problem. Celtic played well within themselves in the second half on a pitch that was in a shocking condition for professional football. In the first half we scored two goals. Had a clear goal scoring chance removed due to an inept (and I'm being kind there) refereeing decision. Simonsen saved with his legs from Johansen from 6yrds out and VVD put a header over the bar inside the 6yd box that he really should have burst the net with. On another day we'd have been 3 or 4 up at HT. Craig Gordon didn't have a save to make in the whole game so yes, I'll stick by my assessment that it was a walk in the park.
Not a bad final day in the January transfer window for us. Getting in Gary Mackay-Steven now rather than waiting until the summer will speed up his integration into the squad and the set up and I like the addition of Stuart Armstrong. Always good to see us buying Scottish talent. Hope both players can cement a place in the side in the coming months.
I know it wasn't good enough on Saturday.....that is why I said both should have been moved......but it is not surprising to me that a brand new pitch laid in Glasgow in mid-November is not up to snuff. Too much moisture and not enough sunshine is not a good recipe for getting a brand new pitch to "bed". We are in agreement that there was only one team in the first half....I think as half time approached the commentator actually commented on how different the ptich looked in each half of the ground (there simply had been no action in the first half in the Celtic end).........and ifs and buts and all that, Celtic was not 3 or 4 up at half time and the second half performance was, to be very kind, pedestrian and lacking any inspiration......it was a dour half - from both sides.
I got the very distinct impression Celtic were not moving out of 2nd gear in the second half. I also got the feeling the condition of the pitch had a lot to do with that decision. I would have been delighted to see us go on to score 3 or 4 more goals but not at the expense of injury to a player over exerting themselves on that surface. Not trying to disparage Rangers but the gulf of class between the two teams allowed us to be careful (possibly over cautious) in the second half. I can't remember being so relaxed over an encounter against them. After the first two goals went in I honestly did not have any worries over the final outcome. Killing the match as a contest as early as possible was the correct way to go about business on Sunday.
"It is up to us, to everyone at Celtic Park, to build up our own legends. We don’t want to live with history, to be compared with legends from the past. We must make new legends." - Jock Stein We're a better team now than we were in the group stages of the Europa League. Lets prove it tonight. Clean sheet and one or two goals is not an impossibility tonight.
Full house tonight. Looking for a big performance to give us a fighting chance in the 2nd leg. The team has started to look like it can hold its own in matches such as this. Time to prove it.
Just been watching the highlights on German tv. Impressive comebacks after the 0:2 and 2:3 lags and spectacular result (reminds me of BMG vs Lazio two years ago) ... however, conceding 3 goals at home is always a huge handicap for the return match (even though this Inter squad is far away from being a top team).
It was just one of those nights for Craig Gordon unfortunately. Not a lot anyone can do when someone has an off day/night, and when that someone is your keeper then you're in trouble. He's been fantastic all season long and I was so pleased he got the tremendous backing from the support to help carry him through. If not for his errors on the 1st and 3rd goals we'd be going to Milan with a lead to defend. As it is we are still in with a shout as he won't play that badly again.
when inter scored the second, i thought "uh oh. here we go." but it was an impressive response from celtic to get the two back and then get the final equalizer. you all just have to beat them in italy. no sweat. it's a mancini team in europe. they'll probably roll right over for you.
Bolded part: classic response from the Celtic support. Not many other (there are some) supports around the world start chanting the name of a keeper (non-sarcastically) after he has surrendered 3 goals (2 of the soft variety) in the first half of a big match.
He must have made a killing if he had us on for a Guidetti equaliser in the 94th min for a 3-3 draw. Well played that man.
Great offensive display, but that usually means Celtic gets caught out defensively. Celtic just needs a win in Milan.