Ahead of tonight’s (excuse the cliché) Battle of Britain between Celtic and Arsenal (the first time these sides have met), and in the absence of any in depth review of the game, here’s three reasons why Celtic not only have to win tonight, but will win tonight!
1: They have to restore pride in Scottish football…
Scottish football has taken something of a battering of late.
The much-maligned Scottish game has suffered a series of damaging fiasco’s. The list includes TV stations going bust, the kit provider to the national side, several teams on the verge of bankruptcy, not to mention complete howlers of results for both our domestic sides (Aberdeen’s and Falkirk’s disgraceful exit from European competition) as well as our national side (Scotland getting rode 4-0 by otherwise shite Norway).
So, no pressure Tony, but to restore a little bit of pride, not mention credibility to our game north of the border, it’d really help if you gave Arsenal a thorough going over.
2: They will prove that super-rich, multi-million pound teams don’t always win the big games…
A wise man once said that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In the case of Scottish football, it’s more a question of the very rich man being king. That’s true everywhere these days, but never more so than in Scotland.
In a league dominated by two giants – two very rich giants – Celtic and Rangers rule the roost, with the rest of the league inconvenient fodder on the way to another year of total Old Firm domination.
The combined spending of both Celtic and Rangers during this off season, or, for that matter the combined cost of both Celtic and Rangers first teams is probably no more than the Arsenal team taking the field tonight.
The Celtic side which faced Aberdeen on Saturday and which won so easily cost less to put together, around £20m, than the cost of either Andrey Arshavin or Thomas Vermaelen, two of Arsene Wengers more recent acquisitions.
Of course, this is all relative.
The amount of money that Arsenal needs to spend to compete with Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and new kids on the block Manchester City is simply vast. To even have a hope staying in the top 4, never mind breaking into the top 4 of the English league would require investment on the scale that would make even Bernard Madoff think twice.
Celtic on the other hand only have Rangers to compete with, so bringing in Marco-Antoine Fortune and Danny Fox for a combined total of £5m represents considerable investment from the Glasgow side. Investment which will once again ensure they’re streaks ahead of the rest of the league.
On ledger paper alone, Arsenal will walk this game. But stranger things happen at sea, which you’ll understand once we explain why Celtic will win tonight …
3: Celtic will win because they have a great record at Parkhead against English sides…
So yes, Arsenal are good and they trashed Everton (the English equivalent of mid-table fodder and perennial also-rans Hibernian) and they once went a season without losing and they have a lot of good players who cost trillions, not to mention a rather swanky stadium, but there’s something about Celtic that Arsene Wenger and his millonarios needs to bear in mind.
There’s a story going around, a belief if you will, that because Celtic play in a diddy league against diddy teams, that any serious challenge from teams across Hadrian’s Wall (i.e., the other part of Britain) has Scottish fans and pundits shrugging their shoulders, ready to accept the inevitable drubbing the Hoops will get.
But a close look at the record books shows a different story. While Celtic’s away record in European competition against English sides is not exactly tremendous, at home in Parkhead, it’s quite a different story:
Since Celtic first took part in European competition, they’ve faced English opposition on several occasions and have, somewhat surprisingly, done rather well:
2008 Champions League Celtic 1-1 Manchester United 2006 Champions League Celtic 1-0 Manchester United 2002 UEFA Cup Celtic 1-0 Blackburn Rovers 2003 UEFA Cup Celtic 1-1 Liverpool 1997 UEFA Cup Celtic 2-2 Liverpool 1970 European Cup Celtic 2-1 Leeds United 1966 Cup Winners Cup Celtic 1-0 Liverpool
On only one occasion, the 1983 game against Nottingham Forest, did Celtic lose a home game against English opposition.
And not just that: consider that AC Milan and Juventus also lost at Parkhead. In fact, Dinamo Moscow where the last European team to win at Parkhead, and looked what happened to them in the second-leg. So, Celtic have history on their side when it comes to English opposition at Parkhead.
Given all that, we’re backing Celtic to win tonight and do Scotland – and Scottish football – proud. We confidently predict they’ll win 2-1 tonight.
Just don’t ask about the return leg at the Emirates..
Celtic (from): Boruc, Hinkel, Naylor, Caldwell, Fox, O’Dea, Loovens, Scott Brown, N’Guemo, Donati, McGeady, McDonald, Samaras, Fortune, Killen, Maloney, Zaluska, Crosas, Caddis, Ferry.
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Arshavin, van Persie, Eduardo, Mannone, Bendtner, Denilson, Ramsey, Wilshere, Gibbs, Silvestre.
Related posts:
- The Ballbag – Arsenal v Celtic
- The great Celtic gamble
- If You Know Your History: Celtic 6-2 Rangers
- Hearts lose 4-0. What is going wrong with football in Scotland?
- The “it’s about the performance” Friendly Previews
Tags: Arsenal, Celtic, Champions League
I see you are very enthusiastic, and er… optimistic? And not updated.
Dont see any reason why you are enthusiastic. You are playing The Arsenal , are you aware of that? Celtic have lost 3 out of their last 5 matches, including losses to Dinamo Moscow, Manchester City, and worst of all, Sunderland. With performances like this, sorry, but I really dont see Celtic with much of a chance in this tie.
Optimistic you are very much,I see no way how Arsenal will get beaten today. By the way, Arsenal plays at the Emirates now, not at Highbury.
Last thing, the statistics are not very convincing. You are talking about Celtic having a good record against the English in Europe, is Arsenal included in that list, I dont think so. And, you are talking about things which happened in 1966 and 1970 and all the rest. We need to talk about form, not in the past year, but in the past few weeks. Arsenal just thumped in 6 against at the ground of a team that finished just 1 place below them last season. Today, maybe Celtic gets a goal or two, but the second leg will be different. See my preview on my blog arsenalians.blogspot.com, and look at the recent form section. My prediction: Today, Celtic 1-2 Arsenal, Return leg at the Emirates, Arsenal 2-0 Celtic.
Otherwise, good website.
Cheers and good luck!
Hi Karum, thanks for spotting that deliberate error! I’ve updated the article.
As for optimistic, as a Scottish football fan you have to be – there’s been so much misery of late. Arsenal are a great side, and over the two legs they’ll probably win, hence the Highbury/Emirates comment, but I genuinely believe Celtic might get a result tonight. Home crowd, good start to their league campaign (against my team Aberdeen) and that away win in Moscow, not to mention a good manager will do their confidence a lot of good.
I’ll add your site to our link list!
Two lucky goals for Arsenal have all but ended Celtic’s chances of progressing. At least Wenger noticed that both were lucky.
Ref protected Arsenal players to a tee, four handballs by Song and one blatantly deliberate just in fron of the ref. Not booked at all. Tackles made by Celtic players were pulled up and player booked. Same tackle perpetrated by Arsenal players or worse were played on and not given to Celtic not even a talking too.
Certainly not the white wash that many were expecting and at least restored some pride in our game, despite the defeat. Also great to see that the multi millionaires of ARsenal decide to die and cheat through the game as they were frustrated at Celtic during the first half. I guess thats wht SKy Sports millions does for a team….
I completely understand that you have to be optimistic, but to some limit, you also have to be sensible and realistic. For example, I am optimistic that Wolves will win the Premier League this season, but I have to be realistic. There has to be a balance between the two things, optimism nad realism.
Anyway, Scottish football has a long way to go. I dont know much about it, but what I do know is that it is not very popular globally. I think star players need to come in, who attract fans from around the globe. More advertising would be effective, something like what the Premier League has done. I cant watch television for half an hour here in India, without being made aware of the matches coming up. Another reason would be that the SPL is known mostly for two teams, Rangers and Celtic. If you ask any football fan who does not follow Scottish football, what is impression is of Scottish football, he would simply say, ” Oh Scotland, it is all about those two clubs Rangers and umm Celtic right? Ya, and they keep fighting, all the time, and err also that Celtic is always drawn against Man United in the Champions League Group Stage” No one really knows about the Dundees and the Aberdeens.
As for yesterday’s match, Arsenal had dominated, and did deserve those two goals. You might call the first goal luck, as Gallas was not even trying to strike the ball, but he wanted to dodge it, so that was luck, but the second I think was a good cross by Clichy, and Caldwell was under a lot of pressure there, so he messed up. You cannot say that they were lucky, what you can say, is that Celtic’s captain did not handle the situation properly.
And thanks for adding my sit e to your Links page. I have not seen it yet, so just tell me when you put it.
Thanks and Good Luck for the future of Scottish Football!
Hi Karun, I was wondering when you’d be back
. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see the game, so I can’t comment on the goals etc, but the result is probably not that much of a surprise.
As for Scottish football, yes, it’s not in great shape – financially or even sportingly. Our national side is not doing too well and our club sides have been disappointing for a long time in Europe. There’s a lot that needs to be changed, and a lot of money is needed.
It’s easy to be down on Scottish football, to criticize it and make it out as a crap league, but at the same time, while my team (aberdeen) is playing, while there’s a competition to play for, I can live without the star players, or the money or the advertising – as long as the team exists, i’m happy.
This article was an attempt at being upbeat and positive, not just about Celtic, for whom I care little, but also about Scotland and Scottish football in general, for which I care a great deal more.
I’ve added you to the links page, under ‘Others’.. you’re amongst other Arsenal sites!