Celtic were thrashed 6-1 in the last qualifying round of the Champions League, but got through because their opposition Polish club Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player in the last few minutes of the second leg – how stupid can you get?
Virgil van Dijk – Newcastle target
Celtic got through to the next round because of that ineligible player and had a good result last Wednesday when they drew 1-1 at Slovenian club Maribor, but tonight in Scotland they were beaten 1-0 in the second leg, and things were not good in the first half when the Scottish players were booed off at half time.
Things improved a bit in the second half for Celtic, but then after 75 minutes Maribor skipper Tavares grabbed the crucial goal and the Slovenian club got through to the groups stage with a 2-1 aggregate win.
A 0-0 draw would have seen Celtic go though on their away goal last Wednesday.
Celtic will now lose at least £25M by all accounts by failing to qualify for the group stages of the competition, and maybe they will cash in and sell their top center-back Virgil van Dijk, whom Newcastle have been interested in for some time.
Virgil played the whole game tonight, after being rested along with most of the Celtic first team in the 1-0 defeat at Inverness on Saturday.
The price for the former Dutch U21 center-back is said to be £8M, and that is certainly within the budget of Newcastle this summer, after we received £79.5M from the Premier League in May for finishing in 10th place, and then a combined £22M for the sale of Yohan Cabaye in January and Mathieu Debuchy last month.
The summer transfer window slams shut next Monday night, and the Magpies need a good center-back and a good striker brought in by that time – we hope we are successful in doing just that.
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8 comments so far
Average_Contents
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:32 PM
Comment #1I think you mean a combined £32m ed not £22m…unless you’ve been brainwashed too
mattyNUFC
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:41 PM
Comment #2Much different view of the game than Ed’s take. Well, then again, this guys was actually there and none of us saw anything…..
http://www.espnfc.us/capital-one-cup/match/405435/gillingham-newcastle-united/report
Bullet points:
– Riviere and De Jong incapable of leading the line
– De Jong and Abeid extremely wasteful in possession
– No attacking threat
– Aarons, Haidara and Colo the only highlights from what should have been a much easier win
Great. More of the same it sounds like.
optimistic prime
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:45 PM
Comment #3I didn’t know Gillingham have scored 4 own goals in 6 games!
Jeez we think we’ve got it bad.
On the other hand maybe Pardew took that into account and decided we didn’t need to attack much.
Never seen Dik Van Dyke play so can’t comment, can’t be as poor as Boumsong.
Average_Contents
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:46 PM
Comment #4Sounds riveting doesn’t it? I’m absolutely gutted there wasn’t a stream at the time 😉
The Jamaican-born winger made an immediate impact as he and Gabriel Obertan attacked the space behind Gillingham’s wing-backs: the Gills are another team to play three at the back this season, though it is not just because it is fashionable, manager Peter Taylor has long been a fan.
Newcastle may have a reputation as cup failures in recent years but it is more than a decade since they lost to lower league opposition in this competition. There was not much likelihood of that changing once they survived an early, and optimistic penalty shout from Cody MacDonald after a Fabricio Coloccini challenge.
With Obertan enjoying facing youthful League One defenders Newcastle pushed the home team back and their opening goal was no surprise. Obertan wriggled his way through on the right and his cross was turned into his own net by John Egan who, until this summer, was on Sunderland’s books.
Stephen Bywater denied Riviere and Aarons before watching in awe and relief as Massadio Haidara’s 35-yard fizzer rattled the crossbar. Thus Gills were still in the game in the 70th minute when Krul was finally forced into action, and had to make a very good save from substitute Luke Norris. That, though, was it and the second meeting between the teams ended like the first, in the same competition, at the same stage, in 1977, with Newcastle a goal to the good, albeit an own goal.
optimistic prime
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:51 PM
Comment #5Ac
Wouldn’t have minded seeing hair dryers 35yard effort off the bar 🙂
Him an Janmatt up front against Palace?
Average_Contents
Aug 26, 2014 at 11:52 PM
Comment #6That was the entirety of a match report for a prem side against a league one team….how truly pathetic we really are!
Really does sadden me and I know I go on about parsnip but I know the real problem is far more sinister and vile and has now attached itself to our boardroom so won’t be giving that away anytime soon….fat kunt!
NEWEXPATMAGPIE
Aug 27, 2014 at 5:33 AM
Comment #7@3 :
Virgil van Dyck should be signed, before Manure dtsrt sniffing around up north !
Believe me he is that Good !
Szarka
Aug 27, 2014 at 6:31 AM
Comment #8Celtic was weak in CL. Legia trased them and they were weak vs Maribor too. Didnt really watched Dijk, but full Celtic back four wasnt quite well. They would drop out of PL for sure. Dont think we need this guy. We need a striker and a good tactic.