the gunslinger 3,366 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 celtc are having one good year in 4. let's not give them a reach around for that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 i think celtic have proved we can be competitive in europe, as have other european teams with similar or smaller turnovers than ourselves. we have also, on occassion. we just need to do our jobs right and do them well. for some strange reason, for a club our size we are not geared for competing in europe, merely making up the numbers, that annoys me because i do believe we are better than that mate. i do strongly disagree with the notion that we cannot compete because we play in scotland, i really do. i think it is very defeatest attitude. we should be more confident. Depends on how you determine competitive. Making the last 16 ? Hmmm, maybe. This is an oft-debated subject but SOME (not all admittedly) European nations make it easier to recruit that the UK does. Portugal for example has a bunch of nationalised Brazilians do they not ? It is also more difficult to get in top talent, given the 90-minute travel rule. Do we really have the money to take a kid on by giving his parents a house and a job (as clubs like Chelsea do) in the hopes he can make it ? And it seems that there is less talent in Scotland than before too. I shouldnt have said "cant be" more "unlikely to be" - and Celtic's current season success is more of an exception rather than rule is it not, much like our 2008 UEFA run ? Doesnt mean we shouldnt have ambitions to make it to the latter stages of these competitions, but it is increasingly more difficult to be so. As I said, this is an oft-debated topic which probably deserves its own thread. The ever-increasing financial gap between the bigger leagues in Europe make it ever-more difficult to compete. And the gap is only going to widen with the monies being thrown at the English game, and also given that it seems more and more players are chasing the money (which is fair enough). As I said, I think it is increasingly difficult to be competitive for many and varied reasons - but I do also agree that this should never, ever have us stifling our ambition. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And by the way having 30 percent possession and getting a jammy win against barca is not competitive. Is that 30% not if you ADD their possession in the 2 Barca games together ???? I thought they were something like 11% at the Nou Camp and 17% at Parkhead - or am I dreaming things up again ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuznetsov 0 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Celtic have had a good run this year but I don't think they've exactly shown there's any consistent competitiveness to be had. have you seen their home record in europe? they have played every big gun in europe over the last 10 years and only one has left with a victory, out of 3 or 4 attempts as well. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuznetsov 0 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And by the way having 30 percent possession and getting a jammy win against barca is not competitive. their home eurpean record is phenomenal. how many wins have we had in the last 5 years? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I dont think that being competitive is determined by y our home record, or your away record. It is, IMHO, determined by how you do in said competition. And they have had as many howlers as they have had competitive success. Again, only my opinion. I would agree that they have been more competitive than us, but we all know we have been shite in Europe. Still doesnt mean they are competitive, they are just more so than the shite we have been serving up. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuznetsov 0 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Depends on how you determine competitive. Making the last 16 ? Hmmm, maybe. This is an oft-debated subject but SOME (not all admittedly) European nations make it easier to recruit that the UK does. Portugal for example has a bunch of nationalised Brazilians do they not ? It is also more difficult to get in top talent, given the 90-minute travel rule. Do we really have the money to take a kid on by giving his parents a house and a job (as clubs like Chelsea do) in the hopes he can make it ? And it seems that there is less talent in Scotland than before too. I shouldnt have said "cant be" more "unlikely to be" - and Celtic's current season success is more of an exception rather than rule is it not, much like our 2008 UEFA run ? Doesnt mean we shouldnt have ambitions to make it to the latter stages of these competitions, but it is increasingly more difficult to be so. As I said, this is an oft-debated topic which probably deserves its own thread. The ever-increasing financial gap between the bigger leagues in Europe make it ever-more difficult to compete. And the gap is only going to widen with the monies being thrown at the English game, and also given that it seems more and more players are chasing the money (which is fair enough). As I said, I think it is increasingly difficult to be competitive for many and varied reasons - but I do also agree that this should never, ever have us stifling our ambition. absolutely craig. making the last 16 is success for clubs like us. they have done it 3 times in the last 5/6 years. nor would i call 3 last 16 runs in 6 years a one off. of course it is diffucult that goes without saying but we havnt exactly went about our business very well in europe craig. i think it definetely deserves its own thread as i can see my facts regarding celtic starting to irk certain people and i dont want to derail this thread. i agree with your last sentence mate and that is why i cannot wait to get back into our top tier, we need back on the european road! Edited January 15, 2013 by kuznetsov 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuznetsov 0 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I dont think that being competitive is determined by y our home record, or your away record. It is, IMHO, determined by how you do in said competition. And they have had as many howlers as they have had competitive success. Again, only my opinion. I would agree that they have been more competitive than us, but we all know we have been shite in Europe. Still doesnt mean they are competitive, they are just more so than the shite we have been serving up. in what way are they not competitive though craig? they clearly are. 3 last 16's in the last 6 years mate. thats an incredible achievement. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 in what way are they not competitive though craig? they clearly are. 3 last 16's in the last 6 years mate. thats an incredible achievement. especially if you ignore the 4 failures to qualify in the last 7. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuznetsov 0 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 especially if you ignore the 4 failures to qualify in the last 7. lennons first season in charge was the only real disaster out of those 4. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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