CM03/04: You CAN Teach an Old Firm New Tricks

[Calis]

Well reading through Chief Rum's outstanding Boro dynasty, I've got the itch to start one myself. I'm not going to be doing it in his style as I would just butcher it all to hell, instead will do it in the style of my incoherent ramblings which I think I can do. General rules apply, if there's anything you'd like to know or see changed in the format just let me know. I'm still working through how this is going to play out. I get annoyed very quickly with formatting and spending time trying to get all the stats beautified. So this will mostly just be my thoughts on how things are going and where I want them to go.

A Little Overview

Two big pieces of news are announced today, the first being that the move has finally happened. Celtic and Rangers will be moving from the Scottish Premiere league South of the border to join the English Premiere League.

Leeds United were moved to the Scottish league to join along with all the other clubs that are fighting tooth and nail to not go bankrupt. Leicester City have also made the move North also, in their case as punishment for their team sexually assaulting half the country of Spain.

We had no choice but to bring Rangers with us unfortunately. We’ll look at the bright side though that we get to stick it to them at least twice a year still.

Second bit ‘o news for the day is that Martin O’Neill has been sacked for really no discernible reason. You never know what those Scots are thinking. The good news is they’ve brought in a man with absolutely no experience in the EPL or any league at all for that matter.

You might’ve heard of him from his timing coaching the University of New Hampshire Men’s Basketball team or more recently as leader of the Ermorian hordes as he raised an army of undead to attempt to take over the world. That’s right, the man Celtic has hired to replace O’Neill is none other than Gertbeef Roe, or Gertbeef the Destroyer. Whichever you prefer.

Gert was ready for a new challenge and he’s always had a thing for Celtic. Who are they to turn down the man formerly known as Gertbeef the Adversary? That’s right, no one.

At a Glance…

So lets take a quick survey of our situation right now to see where we stand. The board tells me that they expect us to restock the team and rebuild for the future. That’s quite a relief to me actually as I expected them to have much higher expecations. We aren’t in Scotland anymore though.

We aren’t given squat for money though as the board allows us an extravagant transfer budget of 1.6 million pounds which might be enough to upgrade our towel boy.

I’m setting up two goals going into our first season of EPL play. Number one goal is to beat Rangers. Number two goal is..you guessed it. Beating Rangers again.

Alright, that sets the stage, up next I’ll be going through an overview of the squad and then we’ll decide how we’re going to run things this season.

[GoldenEagle]

Sweet, a Celtic dynasty with a twist! Good luck.

[Calis]

http://home.no.net/scotland/images/Bilder%20galleri%204/badge.gif

2003-04 Celtic Starting XI

Goalkeeper
Well the first thing I notice is we have one Keeper on the starting squad and that’s Robert Douglas so by default he’ll be the starter. I’ll have to check out the reserves later to see whom I can bring up to play backup. He’s overall not a bad guy, but not outstanding in any aspect.

Defender Left
Ulrik Laursen will be the starter on the left side. He’s a pretty decent defender, but for the style of Defense I want to run I really would like fullbacks with more speed. So this is a position we’re definitely looking at upgrading.

Central Defender
Dianbobo(Bobo) Balde is the cornerstone of our defense. This guy is a mini-tank. He’s got great strength and jumping ability, and is lightning quick. We hope to keep him around for years to come.

Central Defender
Joos Valgaeran is another speedy and strong center back who is a definite starter this season. He’s no Bobo, but he’ll do.

Defender Right
Jackie McNamara is the starter on this side and also doesn’t fit the mold. So our two fullback positions are really our weaknesses right now and I’ll be looking to upgrade both of them. Jackie Mac is worth some cash also, so I’m hoping I can convince someone to put out a couple million for him. We’ll see how that plan goes.

Left Midfielder
Alan Thompson is a pretty good crosser of the ball and has an excellent workrate which I’m quickly noticing is one of the key strengths of my squad here at Celtic. He’s also lacking in speed though, which means he’s got to go at some point. We’ll definitely give him a try though.

Central Mid
Paul Lambert is going to get the nod here but will be having some competition for that spot. Neil Lennon and Johan Mjallby will both be fighting for starts at this position, so Lambert will have to be giving his all. Lambert is old and wise, and will be the Captain of our squad. He’s a great leader and still has some firepower left in him to play a Defensive Mid for us.

Central Mid
Stilian Petrov is one of our big three. He’ll be the guy in our midfield. We’ll expect him to be the creator. He’s got no real weaknesses and no standout stats. He’s young though which gives him a one up on our other mids. He’s the future of this midfield I think, and we expect big things out of him.

Right Midfielder
Didier Agathe is a guy I like! He’s got GOBS of speed and acceleration. This boy can flat out move. He’s not the crosser and passer in general that Thompson is, but this guy is explosive. This is someone we can work with.

Striker
Chris Sutton is the frontrunner so far, but that could easily change as the season goes on. I’m not a fan of the guy, and will be hoping to offload him soon. He does have some nice stats though, so we’ll use him while he’s here. John Hartson will be fighting for that spot also, and young gun Shaun Maloney will be a factor at some point.

Striker
Henrik Larsson. Do I honestly have to say anything about this guy? He not only defines Celtic, but he defined the Scottish Premiere League as a whole for years. He’s the leader of this team, and easily our most recognizable face. He’s aging and worth some cash though, so if a good offer arises….lets not think about that yet though.

[Calis]

Sweet, a Celtic dynasty with a twist! Good luck.

I've been wanting to do the Celtic/Rangers move to the EPL forever but I've just never got around to it. I think it should be very interesting. I'm a Celtic supporter, but it's a lot like watching paint dry to play Celtic in the SPL. This is going to make things a heckuva lot tougher and I still have Rangers to kick around, so it's win-win. My only fear is that Rangers gets relegated this first season..or me for that matter, although I think this team is definitely good enough to finish in the upper half of the table.

I did have a tough time deciding between doing this for a dynasty or going with a National team as I have a few ideas for that. So we'll see how this goes. Wish I had some frigging money to work with. I think I'm going to end up focusing heavily on youngsters as that's what I'm inclined to do anyway. I think we've got the squad to keep us afloat for now, and we don't nor will we have the cash to make it a whole lot better with big buys any time soon.

I don't have any house rules setup for my little blackbook of players though, so I'll be making some purchases I've had success with in the past, as well as looking for new names to add to the list. Win at all costs.

[atatange1]

I hope you started this/used the editor after DLing the newest patch 4.1.5 since it's supposed to fix the problems you get when you use the editor.

[Chief Rum]

Good luck, Calis. I like the switch. It should be fun to see Celtic and the Ranegrs in the EPL. Got a kick out of the Leicester sexual assault reference, too. Funny stuff.

Beware the Boro! :)

CR

[Calis]

Lets give a real quick look at our reserves. I tend to leave these guys alone at the start and start looking at them if they have a series of good games or if I bring in some younger guys who I’m interested in.

The pressing need though is for a backup Keeper. The first thing that jumps out at me is David Marshall, a kid of 17 who already has a 20 in Command of Area and reflexes. This kid is shaping up to be something special. I don’t want to move him up yet, not at that young. So he’ll stay in the reserves for now.

Keepers

Magnus Hedman is our best reservist but he’s on loan to Ancona in Sweden until next year, and is already transfer listed and told we don’t need him. Ok then. That leaves Aussie Danny Milosevic as our choice for backup, so I go ahead and promote him to the senior squad. He’s an adequate keeper and shouldn’t hurt us too much when called upon.

Defenders

Stephen Jack is a 20 year old English Centreback that has attracted some attention, and really doesn’t look to be worth a crap at all. I think this might be a quick and easy way to make a few hundred thousand. He’s not needed. Sadly he’s the best defensive prospect we have on the reserves as the other boys are even worse. That’s something that needs addressed.

Midfielders

Bobby Petta is on loan to Fulham right now and worth a decent amount. Would be great if we could find a buyer for him. We’ll have to see what we can do. He’s decent, but not good enough to warrant a spot on the senior squad.

Kevin McBride is another young Scottish kid who already has garnered some interest from some English squads. We’ll be happy to sell him and bring in some players that will fit my scheme.

Mohammed Sylla is actually not a half bad midfielder either, but we can get a lot better for the money. He’ll be shopped around as well.

You know as I keep on looking, basically my whole reserve team is pretty worthless, either young players with little to nothing going for them, or old players that are merely adequate. Everyone is already transfer listed. We’re going to have to gut the reserves basically and start anew. That’s fine by me.

Strikers

Finally we find a hot prospect in Craig Beattie. The 19 year old Scot is already fighting for a spot in the senior squad, and in a year or two I think he’ll easily have it. We have to put our hopes on him right now as a replacement for Larsson when he heads off. We have a lot riding on him.


Not a pretty sight overall for us. The good news is some of these guys are worth some cash, the bad news is I can't imagine paying what they're listed for. Hopefully we can get some cash from these guys though, maybe enough to bring in one semi-"big" name player. Lets hope our Under 19 Squad looks a little better.

[Calis]

I hope you started this/used the editor after DLing the newest patch 4.1.5 since it's supposed to fix the problems you get when you use the editor.

Hmm, I'm using 4.1.4 right now, but I didn't use the editor. Hope I'm ok.

[Calis]

We’re getting things rolling by first off telling Jackie Mac that his services are no longer needed. I put him up for transfer and of course shortly after he writes in complaining to The Daily Star about my lack of support. Suck it up Jack and move on! I have my eye on Mike Duff of 3rd Division Cheltenham in my sights to replace him. This guy has the speed and acceleration that gets me all excited and can be had very cheaply. West Ham quickly puts in a bid for him as well, call your boys off GoldenEagle! Aston Villa also swoops in with a bid of their own. These people are trying my patience.

I set my scouts to searching all across the UK. One is told to search out youth players, one sent to scour England, Scotland, Ireland, and finally Wales. We’re bound to turn something up.

http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/Tactics.jpg

There’s a glance at the general tactic I plan to employ with the Celtic squad. It’s not too far from your standardish 4-4-2. I plan to mix up attacks down the flanks and up the middle, but I rely heavily on speedy fullbacks and wingers. I have one DMC(Lambert) set as our hold up guy. He’s going to be the guy that gets the offense rolling, and then Petrov will be allowed to roam a bit more and attack. I will probably move Petrov to a more defensive position during away games and try to focus more on the wings, but we’ll see how that goes.

I try to stagger my central defenders as well, with Balde being the much faster and overall better defender I give him a little more leeway to go for the ball, so Valgaeren ends up being our last line of Defense. The Fullbacks will also through their mentality be slightly in front of our central defenders. This works out well because it really gets rid of the free space that I used to run into all the time in the midfield there.

Sutton is put as more of setup man to Larsson, who we expect to be the guy banging in the goals for us.

There’s bound to be a lot of changes to this, as I’ve taken the tactic I used in my last Wolves career and redid a very large portion of it. So we’ll be doing some tweaking during these pre-season matches for sure.

As an aside, I’m sitting here watching FSW and seeing highlights of Arjen Robben. This kid can frigging play. I can’t wait to catch some more of him in action. Makes some outstanding moves.

Alright, it's game time next! We get things rolling by heading to Queen's Park for the first of 6 away friendlies in a row. Who scheduled these things? Sheesh, rough way to start the season.

[daedalus]

Nice twist, Calis. It'll be interesting to follow. I can see Celtics being able to hang onto mid-table while you're reshaping the team to your liking.

[3ric]

I'll make sure to put on my no. 7 Celtic shirt when I read this thread! Go Bhoys!

BTW, Hedman sucks irl. He has totally lost his confidence but still pretends he's contending for the starter role as GK in the Swedish national team. Didn't help his cause that he conceded a clunker after 20 seconds in the first game with Ancona, and then got injured for three weeks...

[Calis]

Friendly
Celtic
vs.
Queens Park
Hampden Park
Attendance: 20511

All right lets get this season started off with a trip to Hampden Park to take on Queens Park.

Since I’m trying out an almost brand new tactic I’m going to go ahead and watch the full game unfold in 2D. Well, at least the first half, as I’m more concerned about how it’s working with my starters.

Kickoff!

Bobo Balde strikes first for us off a beautiful header from a corner kick in the 15th minute. That’s the kind of play we expected from him!

As we reach the 20th minute so far I’m very pleased with how the team is playing overall. I’ve seen some excellent passing, and people are really finding open space. We’re of course playing a much weaker side, but I like what I see so far. An exclamation mark is put on this seconds later as Henrik Larsson, who has barely touched the ball as of yet breaks free from the midline and slinks in between two defenders and easily kicks it by the keeper to make it 2-0. An outstanding run by Henrik there.

It only took two minutes for the next strike. Didier Agathe made a great run down the right flank for us and crossed it in to a waiting Chris Sutton who outjumped his man and headed it in for the 3-0 lead.

3 minutes later Chris Sutton nearly does it again this time off a long ball from Paul Lambert, but unfortunately Sutton was judged to be offside.

Balde is just all over the pitch right now, this guy came to play today. He’s definitely the early favorite for man of the match in my books, as he’s been chasing down Queens Park boys all over the place and making some great long passes. Any time Queens Park brings it up to the midline Balde is there to dispossess them and clear it back down to our attackers.

At the half we make full-scale changes to the team. Everyone of our starters gets replaced by a backup except for Jackie Mac who I unfortunately forgot to field a replacement for. That’s all right though. Maybe he’ll do something to warrant a purchase by someone.

The 2nd Half was very quiet for both sides. No one really showed me anything in the 2nd team. No one looked completely inept though, so everyone still has a shot. We’ll start mixing it up more soon when our main guys get fit, as there are some positions I know won’t be changed. Overall this was a pretty good game, we never allowed Queens Park to get a shot off.


Final Score
Celtic- 3
Queens Park- 0

Post-Game Report

Biggest surprise of this game was the work of Balde. He not only manhandled Queens Park any time they had the ball on the attack, he was our go to guy for creating as well. That’s not something we want to have to rely on against big teams though, so we might need some changes. Petrov needs to step it up as I saw nothing from him this game.

[Calis]

News
16 Jul 03


A young Icelandic Striker playing for Keflavik, Porarinn Brynjar Kristjansson has agreed to terms with us. This is a guy who will most assuredly need a nickname if he ever sees the field, so get the ideas rolling readers! He’s set to come here when his contract ends, which is Oct. 10, 2003.

Cheltenham have rejected our 250k offer for defender Mike Duff. I’m going to try this again, as this kid really looks like he’d fit into this squad. I up it to 300k, and hope that between the raise and the fact that Duff appears very happy at not being allowed to move will change their minds.

We didn’t get the offers we had hoped for our reserve players, but I think getting rid of them is good enough. Stephen Jack is the first to go being transferred to Swansea for nothing, with a clause that we get 50% of his next sale. Good riddance.

17 Jul 03

We receive a news report that Mike Duff was in meetings with management at Cheltenham yesterday presumably to bitch about his transfer offer being rejected. Tell ‘em off Mikey! The Bhoys need ya!

We make a 600k bid for River Plate’s 19 year old DM Carlos Diogo. This kid looks great, and with the aging group of DM’s we have now, we’re in need of some fresh blood to liven it up. He’s listed as worth a cool million, but I’m just giving it a shot. No big loss if he turns it down.

18 Jul 03

Ok, now I’m getting annoyed. Cheltenham rejected another offer from us. I don’t think they realize who they’re dealing with. We raise our bid up to 350k, and I think this will be the last attempt. I’d like to have him, but I don’t feel like paying THAT much more than he’s worth.

Kevin McBride is the 2nd of our crap reservists to leave, heading off to Shrewsbury. Same deal with him, he’s going on a free with a clause for 50% of his next sale. Buh Bye Kev.

Oops, gotta head out, took a long lunch but now have to go for a gas mask fitting appointment! Fun, fun, fun! More updates to come tonight.

[Calis]

19 Jul 03

Real Madrid and Manchester United appear to be in a bidding war for Auxerre’s Central Defender Phillipe Mexes who is a great young defender. I’d really like to see Real win out on this one. We keep hearing talk that Chelsea Defender Marcel Desailly wants out as well, and he finally comes out and denies it today. I’m not sure anyone is buying it though.

Game time!

Friendly
Celtic
vs.
Stoke
Britannia Stadium
Attendance: 18957

Now we start mixing some things up. First off we put Larsson on the bench and replace him with Maloney. I want to get the kid as much playing time in friendlies as I can. We’ll keep Sutton with him for now, as Sutton is the frontrunner in the race for second striker, but Hartson will be getting a shot. Lambert will be on the bench as well so we can have an opportunity to try out Neil Lennon as our Defensive Mid. Petrov is going to start again because I’m a little concerned after his last outing. I think he needs the playing time right now. Agathe gets a breather also and is replaced with Stephen Pearson who I’m hoping for some good play out of because he can play anywhere in the midfield which is nice to have as a backup. Agathe is pretty much a lock to start and we’re still testing out Thompson. Bobo will not even bother suiting up this game. He earned a day off. Stephen McManus a former Celtic Reservist will be replacing him. Ok, enough of this. Lets get to the frigging game.

Kickoff!

This game isn’t going quite as smoothly for the Bhoys. 24 minutes into the game and we’re the team without a shot, and Stoke has two, one of which just blasted by our keeper for a goal. Can’t really fault the keeper though, it was off a freekick dead in front of the goal and just inches outside of the box.

The half ends without a whole lot more happening. Not a pretty game for us so far. We make 5 subs at the half, still leaving our stars on the bench. We still haven’t got a shot on goal, which is a bit appalling even in a friendly.

We run into a close one early in the 2nd half when Ade Akinbiyi sneaks past our defense and fires a clear shot on goal, but luckily he blasted it high.

Minutes later we’re teased as Chris Sutton blasts in a goal off of a beautiful John Hartson cross, but the ref says that Sutton was offside. Maybe he should call it a little quicker next time!

Three minutes later Stoke earns another free kick from just outside the box, and once again they blast it through for a goal. Our Aussie back-up keeper Milosevic is not looking too hot right now.

With a half hour left we go ahead and pull Milosevic and put Douglas back in, and we let Chris Sutton take a seat to bring in Henrik Larsson. We also bring on Mohammed Sylla to repliace Neil Lennon who appears to have sustained a slight injury.

The game finishes without much more happening. Ugly ugly game from our perspective though. Poor passing just killed us. We had tons of interceptions, and we just couldn’t mount any serious offensive. This result doesn’t sit well with me, and makes me realize how important my key players actually are. We don’t have much depth.

Lets hope things look a little better when the real action starts.

Final Score
Celtic- 0
Stoke- 2

[Calis]

20 Jul 03

Valencia join into the Mexes bidding war and toss in a bid to Auxerre’s prolific strike Djibril Cisse. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more offers soon for the young French striker. I’d probably be one of them if I had the cash.

We receive word that our bid for Carlos Diogo has been rejected. I decide the kid would really fit in here and raise the bid up to a million. This might be our buy for the season.

21 Jul 03

Cheltenham rejects another bid for Mike Duff. Grr.. I really need this guy. We have absolutely no one to back up McNamara right now. We go up to 400k. Now I’m just pissed, and it appears Duff is also.

Man Utd have signed star defender Phillip Mexes from Auxerre. Isn’t that just great. That’s a great start for Man Utd to hole up a somewhat suspect defense.

22 Jul 03

Blackburn make the biggest headlines of the day offering 9 million for Leverkusen’s Lucio who is one of the best defenders in the game. Great guy to have on your side, and another defender I don’t want in the Premiereship with us.

Chelsea decide to come over the top of them later in the afternoon with a bid of 10.5 million.

Some other interesting news is that Man Utd have loaned Diego Forlan out to Charlton. Didn’t expect to see that happen.

Ok, we’re going to fly through the rest of the friendlies a little quicker, as I’m anxious to get the season underway, and I’m pretty sure who will be starting for us when the season begins.

Coventry is up next, and I'll just go over that very quickly in a moment.

[Calis]

Friendly
Celtic
Vs.
Coventry
Highfield Road
Attendance: 9983

Bad news early in this one as Didier Agathe had to be taken off in the 12th minute due to injury. We’ll have a closer look at that in a minute, and lets hope it’s not serious.

Stanislav Varga scored the lone goal of the game. He put home a rebound from a John Hartson shot in the 56th minute to give us the 1-0 edge and we rode that to the end of the match.

Better game for us overall, but still nothing amazing. Varga earns Man of the Match honors for his goal and pretty solid defensive play.

We receive news after the match that Didier Agathe has broken his collarbone and will be out for roughly a month. Isn’t that just grand news. Craig Beattie also picked up a slight knock to his ankle and will be out about a week.

We make an 80k bid for Tijani Babangida to hopefully help alleviate the loss of Agathe. Babangida is a guy who I’ve really grown fond of due to his being quite the gem in the Winning Eleven games. I hope the same goes for CM.

[Calis]

23 Jul 03

Our 1 million pound bid for Carlos Diogo has been rejected. I’m not going any higher than that, so we’ll just move on.

24 Jul 03

Happy days are here at last! Glasgow is rioting! The Dead walk the streets! Cheltenham have accepted our transfer offer for Mike Duff! I tell him he’ll be a part of a rotation and offer him 675 per week.

Ajax makes a bid for Santos Wonderkid Robinho in the range of 3.2 million.

We receive word later in the day that Man City’s Kasper Schmeichel has agreed to terms with us. He’s the son of legendary keeper Peter Schmeichel and has gobs of potential. I’ll place him in the youth team for now and hopefully in a couple years he’ll be a star.

25 Jul 03

Our offer to buy Toledo has been turned down, but I’ll keep on trying.

Changchun tells us they want 80k to let lose of Babangida, and I have no problem with this at all. I gladly send them that offer. Looks like this might be our easiest set of negotaions so far.

26 Jul 03

Lucio has now signed with Newcastle, he’ll await a work permit which I can’t imagine him not getting. Add another world-class defender to the opposition we’ll be facing here. Great.

Friendly
Celtic
Vs.
Schoten
Gemeentpark
Attendance- 3103

We held Schoten to just one shot on goal in this match and dominated throughout. Shaun Maloney scored off a rebound from a John Hartson shot in the 34th minute. Paul Lambert scored only 7 minutes after from a snazzy little dribbling move through a couple of Schoten defenders.

We backed off then and let our reserves play a bit more and the rest of the game was pretty dull.

Schoten’s goalie Michel Bourgeois wins Man of the Match and deservedly so. Without some fantastic saves by him we’d have scored several more goals. John Hartson specifically looked to be in fine form this game, making several very nice attempts at goal.

Final Score
Celtic-2
Schoten-0

[Calis]

28 Jul 03

We receive news that Mike Duff is ectstatic to have agreed to terms with Celtic! That’s finally done with! Welcome aboard Mike!

More good news arrives later in the afternoon in the form of Changchun accepting our transfer bid for Tijjani Babangida. We offer him a contract for 3,900 per week as a backup and a 2k signing bonus.

Our bid for Toledo is rejected again, and I up it to 500k. This is a guy who I think we can easily convert to a left winger and will be just what we need to replace Alan Thompson over there.

29th Jul 03

Arsenal loyal veteran Dennis Bergkamp has announced his retirement at the end of this season. What a career this guy had! He will definitely be missed.

Friendly
Celtic
Vs
KV Kortrijk
Guldensporenstadion
Attendance- 11668

KV is a team very much outclassed in this match up, so this went pretty easy for us. We were up 2-0 within the first 10 minutes after goals by Shaun Maloney and Liam Miller. Maloney struck again in the 23rd minute to make it 3-0. Henrik Larsson made it 4-0 just 10 minutes later and we decided to back off after that.

Shaun Maloney gets MotM, and our whole team looked to really be clicking. Nice game for us, and a good confidence booster.

Final
Celtic- 4
KV Kortrijk- 0

Good week for us. We finally get our boy Mike Duff and Tijjani Babangida isn't far behind. If only we could find a way to get Toledo we'd be set I think.

[Calis]

30 Jul 03

Djibril Cisse has agreed to terms with Atletico Madrid, which luckily for us means we won’t be facing off against him. We finally catch a break with a big name going somewhere else.

Tijjani Babangida has agreed to terms with us and will be joining us up at Glasgow shortly. This takes a big load off due to the injury to Agathe. We’ll have to wait on a work permit for him though, but I don’t think it should be too much of a problem.

Ok, we’re going to speed things along as this friendly thing is becoming a yawner for me, and I want to get into the swing of things. I'm becoming impatient in this case I think because I'm pretty familiar with all my players and don't really need the friendlies to make starting decisions. So lets just skip ahead a bit

….......

5 Aug 03

Henrik Larsson has signed a new two year contract for the club. Good to have him locked up for now.

The odds are out for the Premier Division Title race.

Man Utd 6-4
Arsenal 7-4
Chelsea 12-1
Liverpool 12-1
Newcastle 12-1
Rangers 25-1

We’re conspicuously absent from this list. Where are we at then? 150-1! What the hell? I’m a wee bit confused by this. They seem to think we’re going to be in trouble even staying up.

Now I’m worried.

The season is getting ready to start and we’ll be up against Blackburn first off. Time to get back down to the nitty gritty. I’ll give a quick preview of what we expect from Blackburn and what we plan on doing and then we’ll kick things off!

Next Up: A Look at Celtic vs. Blackburn!

[korme]

screens = immersion

[Barkeep49]

This looks to have the makings of a quality dynasty in all respects.

[daedalus]

That reminds me, I still need to snag a Bergkamp no. 10 kit before he leaves. 'Xcept the bloody things are so expensive to have shipped over here. Grrrrrr. Too bad he won't stay on to be a coach.

Kinda weird to have Lucio end up at NUFC in this game as well as Chief's.

I have a feeling Auxerre will be having all four of their young stars leave in the game. (Well, it's going to happen in real life too, just that, unlike in the game, it won't all happen at once.)

Congrats on finally getting a hold of a reserve keeper. Sounds like you got someone to work with. :)

Good luck with the season! I think y'all should still have a chance to at least sneak into the UEFA slots.

[3ric]

Great format! So easy to read, yet entertaining. I like the quick flow.

[Calis]

9 Aug 03

Wimbledon has made an offer to loan Craig Beattie from us for 3 months, and take care of 100% of his wages. We’re all for this and I quickly accept.

10 Aug 03

Man Utd face off against Arsenal in the English Community Shield. Louis Saha strikes early with a goal at the 15 minute mark, but Arsenal’s young French striker and a kid who Chief Rum had his eye on, Jeremie Aladiere equalized for them in the 27th minute. It remained scoreless the rest of the way through and through extra time. In an odd end to the game, Man Utd missed 4 of their kicks, and Arsenal pulled off the win by only missing 3.

In the Dutch league, PSV beat Ajax 3-2 in their Super Cup. Boy wonder Arjen Robben found the net twice giving PSV the edge. What I wouldn’t give for the money to pick up that kid!

13 Aug 03

Wales manager Mark Hughes has called up our boy John Hartson to face Serbia & Montenegro in the Euro Championship Qualifiers.

Craig Beattie has also agreed to go on loan to Wimbledon. This should be great for him. He’ll get a chance to see some first team action, and we’ll get to see how he fairs against some decent competition. We’ll have to remember to keep an eye on his progress there.

14 Aug 03

Tijjani Babangida has been granted a conditional British work permit and will be joining us here in Glasgow! Woohoo! Now we can shore up the hole caused by Agathe’s injury.

16 Aug 03

Didier Agathe has resumed full training following his neck injury. Phew!Thank God we brought in Babangida to replace him, we dodged a bullet there!At times like this I wonder what the hell I’m thinking. We’ll still try and figure out a way to get Babangida some game time. I’m just not exactly sure right now.

The opening game of the EPL season was today as well, with Chelsea edging out Bolton 3-2 at Stamford Bridge. Damien Duff knocked home the clincher in the 61st minute.

Later in the afternoon things got into full swing.
Aston Villa 3, Newcastle 2
Charlton 2, Liverpool 0
Everton 0, Rangers 2
Middlesbrough 2, Man City 1
Portsmouth 3, Fulham 4
Wolves 0, Birmingham 4

As you can see the Gers pulled off a 2-0 win courtesy of 11th and 36th minute goals by Georgian Striker Shota Arveladze.

Birmingham’s Robbie Savage had the best game of the day though, getting two goals and just in complete control of the midfield as Birmingham manhandled Wolves 4-0.

[Calis]

English Premier League
Fixture 1
http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/blackburn.jpg VS http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/CelticBadgeSmall.jpgLive from Parkhead

It all starts here baby! We welcome Blackburn to Glasgow and hope to open up our stint in the EPL with a bang. I think this is a team we can handle as well. Blackburn looks to be running a standard 4-3-3 formation with an attacking bent. We'll hope to control the midfield with our extra man up there, and I think our defenders are good enough to match up with their strikers. I like our odds, especially at home. Blackburn does have on their squad one Barry Ferguson, a man who I have a very high level of disdain for, as he was the long time face on Rangers. Unfortunately for us he's already injured so we won't get a chance to show him up.

Not many big names on Blackburn's squad, but Brad Friedel will be manning the net for them.

Our first test is just minutes from kicking off.

Next Up: Our EPL Campaign Kicks Off!

[3ric]

Good luck! And I'm keeping the hopes up for Celtic as they go up against Barcelona tonight, in about two hours... should be a great game.

[Calis]

Good luck! And I'm keeping the hopes up for Celtic as they go up against Barcelona tonight, in about two hours... should be a great game.

Thanks!

I'm going crazy waiting for the game. That's going to be a huge one against Barca. I'm unfortunately stuck at work with no means to watch it! Grrr... been trying to hunt down a way to listen to a webcast of it, but having no luck. It's going to be a LOOONNNG afternoon.

I've actually watched the first 7 minutes of the Blackburn/Celtic game, and might squeeze in a few more before I have to head back to work. Things are looking pretty decent early for us though!

[3ric]

YES!!! 1-0 Celtic, Henrik assisting Thompson!

[Calis]

YES!!! 1-0 Celtic, Henrik assisting Thompson!

Heh, I was in meetings all afternoon, but I managed to sneak out every few minutes to run back to my desk and check out UEFA's website to get the updates. It was a very stressful afternoon.

What a crazy game though! Did you get to watch it 3ric? 3 red cards, and just all sorts of shenanigans. I'm glad we won, but I'm actually dissapointed overall. I really think we needed a two goal lead going into Barca. I just don't trust us away, especially with our severe striker shortage right now. I think Balde being out for the next leg could be the biggest factor in the match, as from what I read and heard he was the key to stopping Barca's attacks. We'll miss him for sure.

I guess I'm a pessimistic fan. I'll celebrate after the trip to Barcelona. ;)

If nothing else, the streak is still alive!

Also what was the deal with Motta? I know he and Douglas both got sent off at the half, but I heard Motta was back on the sidelines in the 2nd half with about 20 police surrounding him. What's up with that? I can't believe they let him back on the sidelines. Didn't hear exactly what went on there.

Anyhow, I'm back home now and should have the results of the Blackburn game up in the next couple hours. Be thankful Celtic won though. If they'd of lost I wouldn't have had the motivation to continue on with this dynasty for a while as I'd be in mourning.

[Calis]

6’ We have our first excitement of the game when Henrik Larsson is tripped up right outside the penalty box by Blackburn defender Lorenzo Amouroso who is also I might add an ex-Ger. Petrov lines up to take the free kick and blasts it right into the wall, it bounces off then and directly on to the waiting foot of one Alan Thompson who nails it by a completely stunned Brad Friedel. 1-0 BABY!

10’ A few more minutes pass and my boy Babangida is starting to concern me. He’s got amazing speed, but he’s running much faster than he can dribble and has given up possession numerous times already.

17’ Mike Duff gets burnt on the wing by Matt Jansen who crosses it in for a waiting Steven Reid, but fortunately Bobo Balde manages to save the day.

20’ I’m questioning what Larsson is trying right now as he’s been apparently somewhat clear only to blast the ball out of bounds for no discernible reason. It’s Larsson though so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he seems to be just a little too antsy with clearing the ball.

24’ My patience with Babangida is dwindling more and more as he keeps losing possession. I think Agathe will be back in the game any moment now.

25’ Petrov takes a free kick from about 25 yards out and curls it in towards goal, but Brad Friedel is there to make the easy grab.

31’ Chris Sutton makes a nice cross into the box towards Henrik Larsson who is marked by two men. Nils-Eric Johansson manages to head it out for a corner kick.

32’ Small spat between Amouroso and the referee after the ref calls a foul on him. Book him ref! Book him! No such luck unfortunately

33’ Well, Tijjani Babangida just shut me up as he completely juked out two defenders down the flank and put a nice pass through to Paul Lambert who promptly shot it about 50 feet above the bar. Way to go Paul.

Half

Henrik Larsson is actually having a pretty horrible game overall, so I think I’m going to go ahead and bring on John Hartson to replace him. It keeps him rested and stops the risk of injury, and I don’t really think we’re going to need him. He’s also the only player on our team with a 5, so I think something is up. Everything else stays the same for now.

46’ Right out of the gates Petrov makes a beautiful pass to Sutton who races down field and rockets one towards Friedel who just manages to deflect it.

50’ Babangida has a perfect opportunity at goal but prances around just too long in the box and gets dispossessed.

54’ Ulrik Laursen receives the first booking of the match for a questionable tackle, which results in a free kick just a few yards outside of the box for Blackburn.

57’ Blackburn begins attacking with some ferocity and manage a very nice shot on goal which somehow Douglas manages to deflect. Great move by the keeper there, because I think that should’ve been the equalizer.

65’ Ulrik Laursen sends it WAY deep and Chris Sutton races to catch up with it before Blackburn. He succeeds and puts in a nice chip shot past the keeper. 2-0 Celtic. Blackburn quickly make a couple of subs after the goal, and I think I probably should as well. Stephen Pearson comes on for Alan Thompson, and Jackie Mac replaces Babangida.

82’ Andrew Cole manages to sneak past Balde and get a clean shot on goal, but somehow sends it high. We caught a lucky one there as he was one on one with Douglas.

Final Whistle

Final
Celtic- 2
Blackburn- 0

Not a bad start to our campaign. We'll take the three points gladly as I think we're going to need every single one we can manage! Pretty decent game overall for us, Chris Sutton earns MotM honors in the end. I was a bit dissapointed with some poor decisions made by Larsson, and Babangida lost the ball on the attack way more than is acceptable.

[Calis]

18 Aug 03

Newcastle have made a bid of 12.5 million pounds for Nicolas Anelka.

Manchester United up the bid to 13 million just hours later.

Barcelona and Betis both swoop in with 13 million pound bids. Hopefully one of them wins the race. Wish we had 13 million to throw around.


English Premier League
Fixture 2
http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/Liverpool.jpg VS http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/CelticBadgeSmall.jpgLive from Anfield

Liverpool is coming off a rather painful 2-0 loss to Charlton. This doesn't stop them from being 6-4 favorites to walk away with a win. This is an early test for us to be sure as Liverpool is probably the 5th or 6th best squad in England. Steven Gerrard and Harry Kewell are both major threats in the midfield, and they have a number of strikers they can call upon, the most prolific of course being Michael Owen. He didn't play in the Charlton game oddly enough, and we can hope that he sits out now as well. We'll have to make some slight modifications to our game plan, as Liverpool will be attacking us much more than Blackburn could manage. Overall I think we’ll be lucky to walk out of Anfield with a draw.

It's time!

[Calis]

Kickoff!

9’ Ulrik Laursen makes a horrible backpass, which is intercepted by Michael Owen who nearly turns into a Liverpool goal.

12’ Danny Murphy takes a beautiful corner kick, which finds John Arne Riise on the edge of the box who promptly knocks it past Douglas for the goal. 1-0 Liverpool.

24’ Harry Kewell crosses it far post to Michael Owen who finds Robert Douglas horribly out of position and scores an easy goal. 2-0 Liverpool.

36’ Didier Agathe races past all Liverpool defenders to find himself 1 on 1 with the Keeper. He finished it with a shot that is WAY over the post.

Half

As we reach the half, Henrik Larsson has a 3. A frigging 3! Ok, we’ve obviously got him set up in a way that is not beneficial to his style of play. I make a few adjustments to him and we move on. We don’t make any substitutions yet as everyone is playing equally horrific. We’ll give it some time.

46’ Henrik Larsson perks up early and smokes Luzi for a goal which of course is called back for offsides. Good to see him showing some signs of life though.

48’ Didier Agathe crosses it in to Chris Sutton who made a nice run ahead of Liverpool’s defense. Only a beautiful save from Luzi stopped it from being 2-1.

58’ Chris Sutton makes yet another nice run deep into the box and draws two Liverpool defenders to him. He then calmly tosses it over to one Henrik Larsson who heads it past the keeper for a goal! 2-1, and we’re back in this sucker! Larsson is up to a 7 rating now. I think the adjustments agreed with him.

60’ Paul Lambert receives a yellow card for tripping Gerrard.

62’ We call it a day for Paul Lambert and Alan Thompson and replace them with Johan Mjallby and Stephen Pearson respectively.

82’ Sutton has a great opportunity to score from a Mjallby free kick but the shot is directly at Luzi.

88’ Johan Mjallby receives a yellow card of his own for a tackle on Gerrard.

Final Whistle


Final
Celtic- 1
Liverpool- 2

Well, we couldn’t quite draw even, but I’m actually really pleased with the 2nd half. We looked very sharp out there and if we’d of played like that from the beginning we’d of easily won this one. John Arne Riise ends up with MotM and Henrik Larsson finished with an 8, which gives me great hope that we might’ve solved his problems.

[Calis]

English Premier League
Fixture 3
http://www.footballgroundsofengland.co.uk/images/badge-fulham.jpg VS http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/CelticBadgeSmall.jpgLive from Parkhead

Fulham come to Glasgow next and are on somewhat of a roll. They have won their first two league matches, albeit against Portsmouth and Charlton. We are however 4-5 favorites going into this game, and I'd be pretty annoyed if we didn't walk away with a win.

A couple of Yank stars are in place for Fulham though with Carlos Bocanegra at left back and Brian McBride as the lone man up front as Fulham seem to run a 4-5-1. I think they'll find they have a tough time scoring on us with that setup, especially at Celtic Park.

A few quick changes for us in lineups as well. Tijjani Babangida will be starting in place of Agathe this go round, and Neil Lennon will get an opportunity to start in place of Paul Lambert. Bobo Balde will also start this match on the bench, as we hope to get our guys as fresh as possible. I'm a little nervous about this though, so don't be surprised to see him come in quickly. We can't afford to drop points to a team like Fulham at home. I put Johann Mjallby in to replace Balde, and I think we're pretty safe with that.

[Calis]

Kick Off!

2’ Babangida makes a nice cross to the near post and Chris Sutton blasts one towards goal that Edwin van der Sar does an excellent job stopping.

21’ Fulham have quite a mix up at the back and Chris Sutton takes advantage of that and thieves away the ball and takes a clear shot on goal only to have it once again rejected by van der Sar.

31’ Henrik Larsson receives a beautiful pass from Stilian Petrov and finds himself at the edge of the box with only the keeper to beat. Larsson fired away and sent it way over the bar. We expect him to knock home opportunities like that.

43’ Babangida had an opportunity on goal but lost the chance by once again losing control if his dribble. C’mon Baba!

Halftime

Ok going into the half I think it’s time to make some changes. Fulham basically has not developed any sort of attack, but they’re stifling us in the midfield right now. I think I’m going to move to a 3-5-2 for the 2nd half and see how that fairs. We need a goal. I’m not looking for a draw here. No subs, but Mike Duff is looking at getting pulled soon as he’s playing very poorly this match.

45’ Chris Sutton breaks free and receives a nice through ball from Petrov, but once again van der Sar makes an amazing save to deny us a goal.

47’ Joos Valgaeran gets a yellow card for shoving Bocanegra.

53’ Paul Lambert comes on to replace Neil Lennon, and we bring on Jackie Mac for Mike Duff.

59’ FINALLY! After a nice long clearance from Babangida, Henrik Larsson jukes by Fulham’s Goma and finds himself two on one with Chris Sutton and van der Sar. Larsson does a nice shot fake and kicks it over to Sutton who nails it into the upper right corner to break the tie and give us the 1-0 advantage.

59’ Brian McBride is replaced by Barry Hales.

66’ Petrov makes a nice pass to Larsson who gives it back to him for the ‘ole 1-2. Beautiful looking play and Petrov with a clean shot on goal but he missed high.

73’ Boa Morte on for Bocanegra

74’ Volz of Fulham is shown a yellow card for an elbow to Alan Thompson.

Final Whistle

Final
Celtic- 1
Fulham- 0

Aghh, that was a frustrating game. Fulham from the outset was playing not to lose, and they were making it a pain for us to get any decent looks at the goal. We had a huge advantage in possession, but we couldn’t turn that into good opportunities. Chris Sutton gets MotM honors and is playing surprisingly well for us all around. Once our young Icelandic sniper hits town I think Sutton might find himself on the transfer block. Of course with what we’ve seen so far, we’re better off selling Larsson and keeping Sutton, but that’s a bit hard for me to swallow.

Well we notched up another 3 points which is the key. I’m feeling more and more confident about our ability to stay afloat this season. I’ll admit I got a little spooked after the odds came out and thought we’d be getting hammered, and we will be soon enough when we face the big four. I think we’re safe though.

I’m seriously considering switching to a 3-5-2 at least for home games. I think we have the personnel to pull it off, and would make better use of our strengths. We’ll see how it goes though. I don’t like the idea of running two different formations all season, but I like even less the idea of running a 3-5-2 against the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd, etc…

[3ric]

Also what was the deal with Motta? I know he and Douglas both got sent off at the half, but I heard Motta was back on the sidelines in the 2nd half with about 20 police surrounding him. What's up with that? I can't believe they let him back on the sidelines. Didn't hear exactly what went on there.

Yeah, I watched it... good game. Balde was all over the place, even shouldering Ronaldinho out of possession once before bringing it up himself, and finishing after linking up with Henrik. Motta refused to sit in the locker room but wasn't allowed to go further than the player's tunnel where the 20 police blocked his way. I don't think he actually got to the sidelines, but according to the rules he shouldn't have been allowed in the tunnel either. He might get a 2-game suspension. Pearson was one of the best players in the game, a very pleasant surprise to see him do so well.

[Calis]

Awesome 3ric, thanks for sharing the info. I'm extremely happy right now as I just heard Fox Sports World will be airing the 2nd leg! I've got to put in for a day off work on that day for sure.

24 Aug 03

Arjen Robben just signed a new 5 year contract for PSV for reportedly around 5 million pounds.

27 Aug 03

Betis have made a bid of 25 million pounds for Barca’s Patrick Kluivert. They ain’t joking around!

29 Aug 03

Nicolas Anelka has agreed to terms with Manchester United.

Sporting offer us Evandro Roncatto for 875k. This will kill the rest of our transfer cash, but I think it might be worth it for the 17 year old Brazilian. I think he’s going to be something special.

The draw for the UEFA Cup First Round was made today, and we were slotted to play against Czech side Slavia Prague. The first leg will be away on September 24th.

Porto beat Milan on penalties to win the European Super Cup which has to be considered quite the upset.

We have just signed a 15 year old Danish Midfielder by the name of Jakob Rasmussen from OB. I saw Real Madrid going after the kid so I thought it might be worth looking into. Looks like he’ll be a nice addition to our youth squad.

English Premier League
Fixture 4
http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/mancitybadge.jpg VS http://www.xmission.com/~barnabyj/CelticBadgeSmall.jpgLive from City of Manchester Stadium

We head to Manchester with the good news that Nicolas Anelka is no longer on the team. That's one star we won't have to worry about facing off with. Man City has one win, one loss, and a draw to start off the season. So not a grand start for them. Claudio Reyna of the U.S. will be roaming the midfield for them, and they have quality players in Robbie Fowler and Chinese Fullback Sun Jihai. This won't be an easy game, but it's one we're 5-4 favorites to win. I think we can walk out of here with 3 points.

I put our best starting 11 out there for this game, and stick with the 4-4-2 for now at least. We've had a nice break, and everyone is at 100% and ready to roll with for this match.

[Calis]

Kickoff!

2’ We strike early as Chris Sutton slips past two Man City defenders and tosses it to Henrik Larsson who promptly puts it in the net for a very early 1-0 lead.

8’ Stilian Petrov finds himself with a clear run on goal after a nice long ball from Paul Lambert. David James comes out to stop him, but he coolly passes it off to Henrik Larsson who notches his 2nd goal of the game. What a start for us!

11’ this is getting ridiculous. We’re 11 minutes into the game and Henrik Larsson just got his hat trick. Man City’s defenders are playing way too far up and time and time again we’ve burnt them with long balls. You’d think they’d of learned.

39’ Bobo Balde receives a yellow card for holding back Jon Macken of Man City.

Half

We replace Balde who is having a rather sub par game by his standards with Johan Mjallby. We leave everything else as is for right now, but this one is in the bag so expect a couple changes pretty soon into the 2nd half.

63’ Larsson comes so close to notching number four, but hits the bar and David James manages to snatch it up after that.

66’ Babangida replaces Chris Sutton, and Pearson does the same for Petrov.

Final Whistle

Final
Celtic- 3
Man City- 0

What an explosive start by Larsson! We had this game wrapped up within the first quarter of an hour. I can deal with that. Man City’s defense just looked pathetic out there today, and we had several more chances to score we should’ve converted. Great game by Larsson though and Petrov made some outstanding passes as well. Very pleased with the result, and even more pleased to see Petrov and Larsson stepping it up a notch.

This win actually puts us temporarily in 1st place in the EPL. This is of course due to the fact that we've played one more game than Arsenal and Man Utd, but lets not ruin this moment.

[Calis]

Hmm, bad news.

I think as a precautionary measure I'm going to go ahead and kill this dynasty now. After reading up a bit more on the issues with editing data and not running the latest patch I don't want to go a few years down the road and have those problems arise, so better to start over now so I don't have to get pissed. ;)

I think this might be the perfect opportunity to raise an old dynasty from the grave for a REAL second run. I'm pretty confidant I have the time and the inclination now, so the Celtic dynasty may or may not be in waiting for a while.