Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers must have a pain in his arse answering questions about transfers. The questions continued ahead of tonight’s Champions League qualifier against Kairat at yesterdays press conference.

We would all like if Celtic had brought in more quality ahead of tonight but he has to work with the players he has and tonight those players need to do a job. The quality that should have been brought in up front and out wide on the wings has not arrived and we are where we are.

It should also be noted that Celtic are stronger in the middle and in defence with the arrivals of Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren than we were last season.

Brendan changed the team ahead of the 4-1 win over Falkirk. Arne Engels distribution from set pieces was excellent on Friday and he may well have played himself back into the starting 11 which should have a more familiar look about it than the team who started against Falkirk.

I am looking forward to getting back to Paradise tonight. Some of the Bhoys travelled over last night and enjoyed watching the rangers getting pumped while enjoying a few cool ones. I enjoyed the game from the comfort of my sofa especially the first 20 minutes.

Rangers got beaten 3-1 at home to Club Brugge. Their fans started to leave Ibrox after 20 minutes after they went 3-0 down and they will tell you they don’t do walking away!

The fans who stayed booed the team off the park at half time and full time. Their new manager Russel Martin has called for the rangers fans to stick with him and the team. Lets see how that plays out!

As I write there is only a handful of tickets available in section 121 in the corner of the main stand for tonight’s game. They should be grabbed up quickly and the game is set for a sell out.

Kick off time is 8pm. The game will be shown live in Ireland on RTE 2 and streamed on the RTE Player. TNT and Premier Sports are also showing the game and it can also be streamed on Now TV. Celtic TV will also show the game for subscribers based outside Ireland and the UK.

The bookies are making Celtic hot favourites to win the game. Home Win 1/8 – Draw 17/2 – Away Win 25/1.

If you’re to the game, watching down the pub or at home enjoy it and lets hope that the bookies have called it right and we secure a comfortable win ahead of the second leg next Tuesday.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

We are back on the road to Glasgow again this week as Celtic take on Kairat in the first leg of the Champions League play off before SPFL duty resumes on Saturday against newly promoted Livingston. We have just about recovered here at Mt90M HQ after a great weekend of football and music and are ready to go again.

Celtic fans had a rare Friday night outing at Celtic Park and it turned out to be a successful kick off to the weekend. One of our young members Katie Lynch was mascot on the night. A very proud moment for her Dad, Niall. Brendan Rodgers made plenty of changes to the starting 11 from the win up in Aberdeen.

Celtic started the game quickly and looked comfortable for most of the night against Falkirk. Dane Murray came in the starting 11 on the day he signed a new Celtic contract and rewarded the manager for his faith with his first goal for the club and Celtic’s second of the night after Daizen Maeda scored the opener. Alistair Johnston scored the Celtic goal of the night with his left foot to make it 3 before an OG wrapped it up at 4. Falkirk did get a consolation goal when Adams scored a cracker.

Saturday saw Oasis Mania hit Dublin as the Manchester Irish brothers took over Croke Park for two sell out concerts. Celtic fans travelled home from Philadelphia and Glasgow for the gigs. Celtic Legend Paul McStay and Simon Donnelly were also spotted at the gig.

The train station in my home town Drogheda was awash with bucket hats, Oasis t-shirts, Adidas trainers and bags of cans. There was great excitement in the air ahead of the gig. I was heading the other way to Belfast to see Stiff Little Fingers and Sham 69 in Belfast at Custom House Square with Rene and Ken. We enjoyed pints in Darragh’s Bar and Nancy Mulligans before the gig.

The gig like the one down the road in Dublin did not disappoint. Sham 69 and SLF took us back to our youth and John Lydon of PIL let the music do the talking rather than his big mouth (for most of the gig anyway). All in all a fantastic night and great to bump into so many familiar faces from the Celtic support.

Sunday saw packed trains and buses pull out of Belfast bound for Dublin but we were going nowhere as Glasgow’s finest Texas were in town for their gig at Custom House Square. They brought their Scottish Soul sound to the city and banged out hit after hit to an adoring audience. Sharleen had the audience in her pocket from the first chord of “ I don’t want a lover” to the last word of “Suspicious Minds”

Thanks to Texas for the invite back stage after the gig. It was great to get a catch up with the band and chat all things Celtic with Paul McStay and get a the lowdown of the Oasis gigs in Edinburgh and Dublin from Simon and Liam. Special shout out to Mikey and Johnny and to Angela and Rene for the bed and breakfast.

What a weekend – Next Stop Paradise!

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast

 

 

The first issue of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine is out now in both print and digital format. Inside another 48 page packed edition of the fanzine we remember Celtic Legends John Clark and John Fallon. Both Lisbon Lions grace the cover of Issue 138.

CELTIC LEGENDS

The Editor looks back at John’s time as a contributor to the fanzine and their great friendship and remembers some memorable nights on and off stage. JJ Whealan contributes a fitting poem about John’s life. Paddy McMenamin pays tribute to John Clark and Henry McGarvie who recorded over 100 of John Fallon’s columns pays his personal tribute to his friend.

We also have John Fallon’s last ever column for the fanzine. We are going to miss John and his regular column on all things Celtic which he has contributed to the fanzine since 2002.

CELTIC FANS

On the road we are in Cork, Faro and Las Vegas following the Celtic fans Away Days journeys. Boston No. 1 CSC feature in our supporters club focus. Ritchie Glavin from Cork features in our fan focus and Ciaran Flynn tells us about his first, worst and best games.

CELTIC PLAYERS

Inside the issue we take a look at  pre-season and the players coming in and those moving on permanently or on loan.

REGULARS

Rachel Lynch looks back at the Scottish Cup Final defeat to Aberdeen. While Eoin Coyne tells us why Celtic need to refocus and add quality. Paddy McMenamin looks back at his Scottish Cup memories from the 1960’s to the recent defeat to Aberdeen. Tim Molloy questions why our youth players are not getting a chance?

HISTORY

Dr. David McKinstry looks back at his family connection with Lisbon. We delve into the late David Potter archives to look back at the 1965 Scottish Cup Final which both John Fallon and John Clark played in. A game that changed the fortunes of Celtic after Jock Steins arrival.

 

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Celtic’s 25-man squad for Kairat Almaty Champions League play-off

Kasper Schmeichel, Viljami Sinisalo, Ross Doohan, Alistair Johnston,
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Liam Scales, Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Dane Murray, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Kieran Tierney, Yang, Luke McCowan, Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor. James Forrest, Benjamin Nygren, Adam Idah, Shin Yamada, Callum Osmand, Johnny Kenny, Daizen Maeda

It should be noted that Celtic can make two further changes to their squad up until 24 hours before kick-off of the first leg of the tie, so 8pm on Tuesday, August 19.

After our away day trip to Aberdeen last Sunday all thoughts now turn to this evenings visit of Falkirk as Celtic start their defence of the League Cup. The game is not part of the season book package and there are still tickets available for tonight’s game.

Kick off time is 7:45pm and the game will be shown live on Premier Sports Live and streamed on Celtic TV for subscribers outside of Ireland and the UK.

We were all happy leaving Pittodrie last Sunday after a revenge mission on Aberdeen in our first meeting since the agony of losing a penalty shoot out in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden back in May. The long journey back to Glasgow was a sweet one. Thanks to the Lisbon Lions CSC for the lift back. I had a flight booked home from Aberdeen but I had to say a final farewell to John Fallon.

There was standing room only in the church on Monday as Celtic fans came together with his family and friends to pay their respects along with his old team mate and fellow Lion, Jim Craig, current Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic team led by captain Callum McGregor, Celtic chairman Peter Lawell, CEO Michael Nicholson and other board members. Former Celtic players also turned out to remember John including Paul and Willie McStay, Tosh McKinlay, Roy Aitken, Tommy Boyd and former Man United player Jim McCalliog.

Friday night football does not suit everyone but this game will give Brendan Rodgers a chance to shuffle the pack around with his starting 11 and it will also give the Celtic players some extra time to recover and prepare for Kazakh side FC Kairat who visit Celtic Park on Wednesday night for the first leg of the Champions League play off.

The newly promoted Falkirk side under John McGlynn topped their League Cup group but have lost their first two SPFL games. Brendan Rodgers spoke very highly of the Falkirk manager at the press conference and he will have the Celtic players well prepared for the game and will not underestimate the visitors.

The bookies have Celtic hot favourites and a home win is predicted by most.

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Celtic are back on the road and so are we. Our travel during pre-season took us to Cork and Faro. Two very enjoyable away trips but there was nothing at stake only the players fitness. Aberdeen is our destination this weekend and it’s the real deal with 3 points up for grabs.

Oasis mania has also hit Scotland this weekend and demand for tickets is almost as great as for Aberdeen v Celtic. Thankfully I secured one on Saturday morning and started the journey from Drogheda a few hours later.

The talk all week within the Celtic support is the lack of quality signings ahead of the Champions League qualifier. Which is a concern and Brendan Rodgers highlighted in last weeks press conference. Fans have become very critical of the boards policy on recruitment but I think it is only one problem.

Questions also need to be asked about why are we not producing any talent from the youth system ready to step up to the first team. Is there a long-term plan to increase capacity at Celtic Park? Season tickets are sold out and you can not put your name down anymore on a reserve list. Corporate hospitality is again sold out for the season and again you can’t put your on a reserve list?

Pic: Faro Away v Sporting 

Have the board a long term plan? If so it would be nice to hear it. If Brendan Rodgers moves at the end of the season is there a replacement plan in place? Why has Kyogo not been replaced? So many questions but few answers and no communication from the Celtic board.

Celtic Fans inbox’s are bombarded with new kits and merchandise offers almost on a daily basis. The latest being the Celtic Adidas Golf Wear range.

There is still time for business to be done in the transfer market but for now it looks like the board have fell asleep at the wheel once again from being in a position of strength. The Celtic cash reserves dwarfs anything in Scotland and maybe that is where the current boards ambition lies while Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic supports ambition is to continue to progress in Europe and dominate in Scotland.

Last weekend we left it late to see off St. Mirren but now all our thoughts are on Pittodrie and a revenge mission. Aberdeen fans got brought down to earth last week at Tynecastle going down 2-0 to Hearts. The Dons fans have been on cloud 9 since beating Celtic at Hampden on penalties in the Scottish Cup Final. Its time to burst their bubble.

Our last visit to Aberdeen was happy one when a second string Celtic team pumped them 5-1 on a lovely sunny evening up North. We will be looking for more of the same today as we go on a revenge mission.

Kick off time is 12:30pm and the game is live on Sky Sports from 11:30am. Celtic TV will also be showing the game for subscribers outside Ireland and the UK.

We now know the dates of The 2025/26 Champions League play-off round draw. Wednesday 20 August at Celtic Park. The away fixture will take place on Tuesday 26 August with the destination still to be decided.

Celtic will take on Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) or Kairat (Kazakhstan) who are scheduled to play on Wednesday 06 August in with the return leg in Bratislava on Tuesday 12 August.

The price is massive for the winner a place in the CL League or as we used to call it the Group Stages. We all know the financial riches that come with 4 home and 4 away games that come with qualification.

Kazakhstan is a nightmare for Celtic fans to get to both for the logistics and costs. Slovakia is much more appealing for direct flights and costs.

The partnership between Celtic FC and Nirvana, the previous official travel partner, came to an end on 30^th June 2025. Both Nirvana and the club have mutually agreed not to renew the partnership due to the rising costs of providing fan travel to European away games. Therefore there will be no official club travel option to any away European matches for the 2025/26 season.

Last season we got out of the league stage to push Bayern Munich all the way before a late goal on a freezing cold night ended our European adventure.

We got a taste for the new look tournament last season with away trips to Germany (twice) , Italy, Croatia and England. At home we had 5 nights at Celtic Park.

Many Celtic fans have been critical of the Summer transfer window with some suggesting the board are playing a waiting game to see if Brendan Rodgers team qualify for the League phase before opening the purse strings. If true it’s risky business but we hope to see more quality brought in sooner rather than later.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Celtic’s pre-season was completed on Saturday night at the Como Cup at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. The game finished 1 -1and Celtic got the victory with a 5-4 win on penalties.

Austen Trusty scored Celtic’s equaliser, which capped a good pre-season for him personally. He turned in some good performances and it will be interesting to see if Brendan Rodgers starts him or Liam Scales in the opening game of the SPFL against St. Mirren on Sunday.

Another player who impressed was Celtic goalkeeper Vil Sinisalo who is waiting in the wings should No. 1 choice Kasper Schmeichel get injured or need a rest during the season.

Johnny Kenny worked hard during pre-season and is rumoured to be on his way out of the club to make way for new signing Shin Yamada who replaced the Irishman to make his debut. He looked decent, scored a goal which was ruled off-side and stepped up to convert Celtic’s final penalty.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the last 10 minutes of game. Luke McCowan hit the woodwork to be denied.

With the match ending 1-1 after 90 minutes, the result was settled by a penalty shoot-out, which the Celts won thanks to a Vil Sinisalo save and five perfect spot-kicks, the last of which was taken by Shin Yamada.

Brendan Rodgers hinted when Inamura arrived at the club that he may go out on loan for the season but he has had a good pre-season and has given the manager food for thought if he stays and becomes reserve to Kieran Tierney at left back.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Podcast