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Isnt it great to be back talking only about the fooball , lol , onwards and upwards troops

I'm sure very few bears will care about this. I will no longer give any money to these other teams, especially them.

Sorry guys, not been on much. Made a slight change to something server side just now, will keep monitoring it for next few days folks see if I can get to bottom of it.

A good nights work - a very solid & professional performance. Sure, it wasn't flashy, but they did what was needed. As SG said, the tie couldn't be won last night, but it could have been lost - they team made sure the latter didn't happen. Was impressed by Coulibally...looks a very physical presence & moved the ball pretty well. Tav caused come scares - not his best game....but still supplied some good balls & the cross for the goal. Shagger - great game. totally unphased, and pulled off a couple of good saves. Kent - Tended to be quite wasteful in possession, but was always active & keen to run at the opposition. Could be a very exciting player. Murphy - felt he was largely invisible. Jack & Ejaria - Played well over all. Flannigan - decent game Fredo - His usual busy self. Not too much to do in front of goal, but still got a goal. Goldson & Katic - Solid pairing....think they are gonna work well together. Not overly troubled, but cleared the lines well when they had to. Kept Osijek to a few 1/2 chances. The thing that has struck me over the last couple of games, is that we appear to be setting up "hard to beat" - content keeping the ball in defense/midfield then burst forward. Tidy at the back & hopefully frustrate the opposition into making rash mistakes etc. So far, it seems to be working. Possible that SG is thinking that since we scored plenty goals last season, that's not much of a concern....but if we focus more on not shipping goals, we are more likely to still win 1 or 2 nil, Passing was a bit loose at times, but shouldn't take much to bring that back into line. Osijek had a few opportunities & probably had more shots at goal than us.....but most of them were 1/2 chances or split second, snap shots. The defense in general wasn't particularly concerning - they did look a bit lost at one long throw-in where the bounce took out a couple, then a mistimed jump, resulted in a decent opportunity. Roll on the next leg.....

Cheers thats a goid record to break. Since 2000 In Europe Thu 28/09/00 UEL Osijek 0 - 0 Brøndby More info Thu 26/10/00 UEL Osijek 2 - 1 Rapid Wien More info Thu 23/11/00 UEL Osijek 2 - 0 Slavia Praha More info Thu 23/08/01 UEL Osijek 1 - 0 Dinaburg More info Thu 27/09/01 UEL Osijek 1 - 0 Gorica More info Thu 18/10/01 UEL Osijek 1 - 2 AEK Athens More info Thu 12/07/12 UEL Osijek 3 - 1 FC Santa Coloma View events More info Thu 19/07/12 UEL Osijek 1 - 3 Kalmar View events More info Thu 06/07/17 UEL Osijek 4 - 0 UE Santa Coloma View events More info Thu 13/07/17 UEL Osijek 2 - 0 Luzern View events More info Thu 03/08/17 UEL Osijek 1 - 0 PSV View events More info Thu 17/08/17 UEL Osijek 1 - 2 Austria Wien View events More info Thu 19/07/18 UEL Osijek 2 - 1 Petrocub View events More info Thu 26/07/18 UEL Osijek 0 - 1 Rangers

I would have a scout watching the left-back of Schkupi as well. He was really good until he got injured.

First away win in Europe for many a year well done but we would be silly to think the tie is over .

I'm really pleased at that tonight. They were clearly a step up from Shkupi but we managed the game well. We've never been able to manage games when required and yet that's three games where we've shown that we know how to win. Already I think it's obvious that Gerrard is having a huge effect on the players' mentality. Most of the players are starting the game looking like they know they can win it. The body language is different. The midfield pairing of Coulibaly and Jack looks very promising if we can keep them both fit. Both looked really comfortable tonight and I can't see us being bullied in there now. Teams will know they've been in a game after they've played us. There's no midfield that will fancy their chances of winning many tackles against those two. I was delighted that Morelos scored too. He needs a few more to hopefully help him turn the corner. He showed last season what he's capable of and we really need him to get back to that again, if not improve. Kent looks like he's going to tear defences apart in the SPL. He's a nightmare for defenders, and our playmakers should have been trying to find him more often. That will come through playing together so it's something for us all to look forward to. He wasn't a player I was excited about, but after tonight I can't wait to see him run at Boyata in the Celtic defence. Once again we are looking solid at the back and what a difference Goldson and MacGregor have made. You can see them organising things at the back during transitions and at set pieces. Its difficult to compare standards against the SPL, but I've seen enough to be optimistic. We seem to know how to win a game of football and as we all know, that's an important habit to develop. I can't wait for the next game now.

Couldn’t care less what they think.

I only have enough room for a couple of the housekeeping staff on the jet though coop - Not all of them could come so some will have to stay behind and keep things ticking over...

Oh come on..... “I’m just nipping to Paris on holiday from Bermuda” Not without your “housekeeping staff” your not Enjoy the sights of Paris (shades on and take in “the scenery” if you catch my drift).

It's me that is clueless He actually said on commentary that they went out on PK's. My previous post was clearly posted in haste.... probably as I am getting ready to fly to Paris on holiday....

I have had a few sausage suppers ruined by those flying vermin bassas!

Note that they lost the first leg at home and won in Austria. Thu 17/08/17 UEL Osijek 1 - 2 Austria Wien View events More info Thu 24/08/17 UEL Austria Wien 0 - 1 Osijek

There was a point in the second half last night when Tav looked more like Captain Chaos than a fullback. He’s about the last of Warburton’s men and needs to up his defensive game big time if he’s to have a future at Ibrox

This was probably tactical. Some teams at Osijek’s level will have a far higher chance of getting a goal from winning possession high up the pitch than from breaking us down with the ball. I think Gerrard deserves the benefit of the doubt on that one, a clever move that naive managers before him like Warburton and Caixinha didn’t understand.

Tav put a superb ball in for the goal. His delivery is excellent at times, something we’d miss if he was dropped.

We should have done better when we got 3 on 2 but Murphy seemed to get illusions of grandeur and tried to go it alone. The chance that they had when the winger crossed the ball and the striker put it past the post was a full chance for me and not a half chance. Frankie said the striker was half decent well thankfully this was on his half crap side,

Rousseau , my biggest gripe was our inability to swop play to the wide areas quickly , especially in the first half , Kent had acres of room but was never found . This is very encouraging from a team this early in its development , hopefully big Sadiq can add something up top as ironically thats where our problems lie , I can also see Windass moving on this window .

Tav looks shaky again without candeias watching his back. Overall a great performance and result.

He was a midfielder but moved back to centre-back for most of last season and excelled in that position. He won the YPOTY. I think he will be brought in as a centre-back given that is the position that Gerrard has been looking to fill.

Goan explain that one to me? Osijek had scored at home in every game they played since 2000 I have read.

If you think that kind of trolling is going to be tolerated, think again. Have the night off,

Elements of the Yahoo support will be fulminating at their club's statement referring to our club as, 'Rangers'; times thrice.

Dancing to our tune.

Great news in that so many of them will be able to see their team get pumped.

Are you flying KT out separately, or...

CELTIC Football Club has confirmed that it will issue approximately 800 tickets to visiting supporters for the fixture against Rangers at Celtic Park on September 2. This mirrors the decision announced recently by Rangers. This is not a development we welcome and it is unfortunate that the initial decision came without any form of discussion. The previous arrangements worked well for both sets of supporters as well as contributing to the status of the fixture as a sporting occasion. Following the unilateral action by Rangers, we cannot allow our own supporters to be doubly penalised, by having access to the away fixture reduced so dramatically, while not being offered the opportunity to maximise our own support at Celtic Park. The rules of the SPFL call for ‘reasonable’ provision to be made for visiting supporters, without being specific on numbers. Within that context, we would welcome further discussions involving the two clubs and the SPFL. Celtic’s decision relates, at this stage, to the match on September 2, 2018. Meanwhile, Celtic will closely monitor the implications for crowd management and other factors surrounding these fixtures. We will at all times be guided by the interests of our own supporters and the reputation of Scottish football.

I’m happy to do St Mirren at Ibrox if available? I’m at Uni in Paisley so it’s a nice link.

Blueflag is on the case.

To be fair, if we can get Lafferty for a decent price, then that's not bad business.

I said similar over in the match threat...I get the impression that SG is setting up to be solid in Mid & Def - difficult & frustrating for the opposition, but with the ability to break quickly when the opportunity arises.

In fairness, pigeons are bastards though...

A according to Tom Miller they only went out on away goals last year

I would make sure Sir Barristan Selby knows that!

I agree with that, but felt when we did have possession at the back there was no player occupying the half-space, or channel in between the lines, meaning we couldn't progress the ball forward to create chances. Murphy should've been coming off the wing to provide a pass, or a central-wide midfield player needed to push up, or even Morelos peeling off to offer a pass -- which happened a couple of times to good effect, to be fair. Hopefully it will come with time. Another annoyance was the long balls from McGregor. I appreciate it was probably needed in this game but I felt like we were just giving away possession, and would prefer us to build out from the back.

Goan explain that one to me? last night was the first time since the year 2000 that the home side failed to score a goal at home in Europe , lol , its not difficult bud

Quite satisfied with that result. Coulibaly looks very good, although a bit sluggish still. He was playing as an 8, so it's not a double pivot we have, although he, Jack and Ejaria changed position several times. We were comfortable; although we conceded several chances, they were restricted to half-chances that I'd expect McGregor to clear up -- I have missed having a 'keeper that can take the pressure off; I love how he takes his time at the back to give the team time. Defensively, we were pretty solid, although our Full-backs had to be bailed out a few times, by Goldson -- who was immense, positionally -- and Kent on the other side. Perhaps our Full-backs were put under more pressure, as it looked like we set-up to block off the centre, allowing them wide. Risky, but it was perhaps more risky to be sloppy in the centre. There were a few things that annoyed me: I was frustrated with Kent. Yes, he covered very well -- which is excellent -- but his attacking play was naive; perhaps it's just because it was his first game. I felt he was too eager to take players on, and I lost count of the number of times he was robbed. I though Ejaria was sloppy in possession.That's fine in the final-third, but not when he's swapped position with Jack at the base of the midfield-three. We conceded a very dangerous break when he failed to shield the ball. He looks like a youngster, but he also looks to have the talent. Hopefully he improves. (We looked more solid when McCorie replaced him, but I doubt that will be needed in most matches.) I was annoyed with Murphy; his positioning is poor. We were comfortable with the ball at the back, but we couldn't progress the ball. We needed someone in the half-space. I recall Coulibaly waiting ages to thread a ball into the half-space, to progress the ball forward between the lines, and the chance had passed when Murphy finally moved. Our lack of chance-creation in open play is a worry. But, perhaps it's just early season rustiness, which will be ironed-out. progress made; still plenty more to be improved upon. And away goal and a clean sheet. I'm satisfied.

Not only that but things can change in a second like the McInnes decision.

ITK stuff should be treated like any information - it might be accurate, it might not and things change quickly, especially with regard to transfers. There are a few people online who have a better record than others. Some have close relationships to journalists, some to players and some to the regime itself. These can affect the quality of the info and the intention of the leak as well. One should take that into account when absorbing information. In general take any inside info with a pinch of salt and you won't be disappointed. For the most part it's usually offered in good faith and, at the very least, it keeps us talking.

Over the years there have been only half a handful who have been reliable and whom I (sic!) would term ITK. Whether a deal mentioned by a ITK chap actually goes through is another matter though, since they only have the info they got and obviously, not from all parties involved.

As we know they beat PSV home and away last season in the third qualifying round then narrowly lost on away goals to Austria Vienna after a 2-2 aggregate in the play off round. They're no pushovers regardless of what some may seem to think.

Happening to me too.

Delighted with the result but I think we may need to score more than once at home next week to go through. We’re still giving the ball away too much needlessly when under no real pressure for my liking

Professional half with a couple of slack moments but looking decent, calm, professional. Pitch is huge btw.

Doh. I had a quick look on Google earlier and spied an article from the end of April mentioning the first fixtures of the season. Only noticed that it says the fixtures will be announced on the 15th June. That'll teach me.

Bang on the money about Ryan Jack. After last week he would be first name on the team sheet for me.