Ally McCoist has admitted that Celtic are by far and away the best side in the country.
The former Rangers player and manager was previewing this week’s Champions League fixtures which sees Celtic in action away to Dinamo Zagreb at 5.45 tonight.
Despite a horrific overall record away from home in the competition there are grounds for hope in tonight’s match with Dinamo out of form and Celtic’s last away fixture resulting in a 0-0 draw away to Atalanta.
That match changed the whole perception of Celtic on the continent and represents probably the most significant result of the season to date.
Following that up with four points from two matches is the form to advance in the competition with no let up in the domestic form.
There are two huge fixtures coming up over the next five days but going into them Brendan Rodgers could hardly ask for more with 16 players primed for their role against Dinamo Zagreb.
3 minutes 40 seconds
Asked about risking a punch over Celtic representing Scotland and doing all right in the Champions League, McCoist replied:
Only if you weren’t telling the truth. The results have been great. The performance at home to Leipzig was as good as anything I have seen from Celtic in Europe in a long, long time.
They are a good team. Very good team, by far and away, at this moment in time. Breaks my heart to say it, but you have got to be honest. By far and away the best team in the country.
They had a good performance in Atalanta. They came away with a draw. Good result. After a really shocking result in Dortmund where they got taken to the cleaners. But they haven’t half recovered well.
There were question marks over Celtic. Could Brendan or would Brendan change the way Celtic played against teams who would technically perhaps be better than them and more fancied than them?
And he did it, went over to Italy and got a great result. The game against Brugge was probably a little reminder. I wouldn’t say it was a wake-up call, but a reminder, at that level, you have to be at the top of your game all the time. They got a point at home against Brugge, which isn’t a disaster. Celtic have been very, very impressive this season, especially in Europe.
The next five days will go a long way to defining Celtic’s season. A win or draw in Zagreb alongside lifting the League Cup on Sunday will give the squad a massive confidence boost as they face an unrelenting schedule of eight SPFL matches, more than 20% of the campaign between December 22 and January 15.
Rodgers appears to have put everything in place to deliver the required results but by tea-time on Saturday we will discover if he has delivered more heart-break to McCoist.
Got a good feeling about the game tonight and 3 more points,that will be the perfect boost for the cup final.
I see over in ibrox noise again one of the Chuckle brothers Deek again all excited about Alex Ferguson buy a flat I’m Govan and screaming for him to get involved in some capacity at ibrox,the same FUD is also shouting from the rooftops for SOURNESS as well to follow Ferguson,both Ferguson and SOURNESS are past their sell buy date,nobody is interested in them anymore,even Man United had known he was of no use or value to him ,as did Sky Sports did with SOURNESS.
Second time Ally has had a broken heart this season. The Scott and Wolfe song
popularized by Bonnie Tyler, “It’s a heartache”; could be sang to Ally and RIFC Fans
(Real Ibrox Football Club) by Celtic’s own, Sir Rod; to soothe their pain. Only a few
words to change. It’s a favorite of Rods. Could be unkind though.
The Dinamo Zagreb Fans (Bad Blue Boys) must be contenders for the loudest and longest chanters in European football. They go into a hypnotic trance. I hope our men can communicate with themselves. I have often thought if lightweight headphones plus mics could be worn. Our key communicators would be CalMac, Kasper, Alistair, Kyogo and Greg Taylor. I doubt FIFA would allow this. Up the mighty Hoops.
Would take a draw tonight.
Not particularly interested in grudging recognition from Sleekit:
he should stick to talking nonsense about sevco. 🙂
And has the new CEO changed his mind yet…?