MJC

Nope. That outlook is part of the problem and part of the reason why Celtic get everything their own way.

Regardless of whether Watt leaves or not we as a club should be appealing this or at least stating an intention to appeal it. While Watt is still our player we should be standing up for him otherwise it will keep happening with other players or employees who speak out and upset the apple cart around Celtic and the way they’ve got everyone dancing to their tune. Start by citing that the then Celtic manager got a lesser ban for comments about the same official in March 2024 and that that ban was subsequently reduced on appeal.

He will be but that’s not the point here. The bigger picture is that Scottish football is run for the benefit of Celtic and Celtic alone and anyone who speaks up about it will be censored. Its absolutely scandalous the hold that club have over everyone in the game up here.

Welcome to MFC JGR. Yours sincerely, MJC

She wouldn’t have if she had baws though.

Great input. 👍

It’s more likely than not that next season won’t be the same as 25/26 in terms of quality of football and overall league performance and as I’ve already said that’s fine. It would be a very tall order, unrealistic even to expect it to be the same. However if we are humiliated in Europe which is a distinct possibility and start the season on the back foot from the word go and our domestic form is also poor resulting in us involved in the relegation dogfight, or worse actually being in the playoffs or relegated, then that will be hard to be looked on as anything other than a disaster of a campaign. On the other hand a solid if unremarkable season with a league finish anywhere between 6th and 10th wouldn’t be disastrous.

The omens certainly aren’t good at the moment. Last season’s squad decimated with more departures to come, a small squad riddled with injuries, a very young manager just in the door having to deal with all of the above and all this just a week before a European tie. It doesn’t look good.

Getting dumped out of Europe will likely be the least of our worries if we don’t get our recruitment absolutely spot on over the next few weeks. I’ve already written off the Euro tie because as much as I’d love to see us progress or at the very least not whimper out like we always do, our priority is the league and the domestic cups. But here we are three weeks away from our league opener and we barely have a first team to field with more departures likely. We are going to recruit in every single position which is a very tall order especially with a new manager just in the door.

It is very unlikely that we will see anywhere near the same levels of performance both by the extremely attractive football we played when at our best last season and how we finish in the table. And to be fair that is absolutely fine and reasonable to not expect a repeat because that was always going to be very difficult to repeat. If, for example, we finished bottom six after a pretty mediocre campaign but nowhere near relegation then we could probably look at that as a positive, certainly if that is what was being offered to us right now. It doesn’t work like that of course. The key thing which will determine how our season goes will hinge on who we are able to bring in between now and the end of August and at this point we still have time to get our squad sorted.

A European run was never happening, even had JBA stayed imo. We would still have lost key players and have been short of options come the tie. But as I said I’m not overly concerned about Europe, the real test comes when the league season begins and we’ve got a lot of work to do to be ready for that.

Ward gone for undisclosed fee now confirmed. Best of luck to him, he really came on leaps and bounds as last season went on after a shaky start.

I’ve seen this movie too many times before to know not to expect anything other than disappointment. We have a great season, qualify for Europe, lose several players and by the time the games come around we just aren’t ready on or off the park. Either that or we just humiliate ourselves. I am getting increasingly bad vibes about the upcoming season with us more or less having to build an entire team under a manger just in the door. It was always highly unlikely that we would get anywhere near last seasons levels but unless we get the recruitment spot on over the next month or so then we could be detached at the bottom of the league come the end of August.

As things stand we are going to be very, very short of options going into the new season, virtually having to rebuild the entire team under a new manager. Hopefully by the time the league season starts we will have got a few more on board but it’s a big ask for the new boss. And I think we can safely write off the ‘Euro adventure’ as the usual anti-climax and exit at the first hurdle. That said I’m not too bothered about that, the real stuff starts on 2nd August at Easter Road.

He missed one in a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle in 2005. I think Ged Brannan and Kevin McBride had 100% records from the spot for us and they both took a few.

Sounds Just Bloody Awful so far. Absolute Joke 🙄

Just before my time that one but yes it’s similar too.

The jersey is quite similar to the 2009/10 Canterbury effort especially with the badge and the manufacturer logo in the centre. That kit had amber shorts mind you.

And what in the name of utter fuck is that shorts sponsor??

A nice jersey but the sponsor kind of wastes it. And the white shorts ruin the entire kit as they always do. Not our worst effort with Macron but not a patch on last years cracker.

Clear vibes of “move on, move on, nothing to see here! But if you speak out about this we’re coming down on you” right here.

The Herald reporting that we are facing sanctions for social media posts about the Celtic penalty award in this match, as is Elliot Watt.

The fact that he is only 35 concerns me. That is extremely young in managerial terms and something that has failed in the past at other clubs, Ian Cather at Hearts being the obvious example. The ‘aura’ thing is on point too. Good managers have that air of authority about them, that bit that just makes players sit up and listen to them. It can’t be learned, you either have it or you don’t. JBA had it, just that “I am in charge, I am your leader” about him. AJ? I’m not seeing it yet.

I’m going nowhere. I’m Motherwell til I die as the song goes. 😊

Oh right. I’ll say again, I just think Derek McInnes is a good manager. That’s it. You got anymore anecdotes about Sir George Graham or anyone else who was involved with the SFA that was favouring Rangers 60 years ago and how that’s somehow relevant to what happens in the modern game? No? Okay, let’s move on.