CIS Insurance Cup, Third Round
Tuesday 21st September 2004
Celtic Park
Kick Off 7.45pm
The League Cup is a funny old competition. While part of me is willing Celtic to field eleven fringe players and rest our first team, another part of me is hoping we progress as far as possible. At the end of the day, any Cup Final day at Hampden is fantastic, we should be aiming to get to as many as possible.
Last season, in the same competition, Celtic fielded a second string side against Hibs at Easter Road. Despite going 1-0 up, we lost the game to a stupid penalty conceded. But the bottom line that night was our squad players are not good enough. And they simple fact is, the squad hasn't improved much since then.
Ideally, no one who played agaisnt Barca last week should play tomorrow. Yesterday showed that our team is tired and overstretched, so Tuesday's game should be a rest case for most players.
I expect to see Magnus Hedman getting a shot in goal. Hopefully he plays a blinder and someone buys him. Stephen McManus, Jackie McNamara and John Kennedy are all inured, so we could be looking at Valgaeren and Laursen starting in defence. Aiden McGeady, Ross Wallace, Momo Sylla and Stephen Pearson will all probably feature, while Craig Beattie is out through injury.
Although it doesn't really matter, we run the risk of a defeat or, worse, a draw. As I said before, our fringe players together are nothing better than average.
Falkirk knocked us out of the Scottish Cup several years ago, in a Semi-Final replay tie. We were in the pits then, and things are looking slightly better now. However, they sit second in the First Division and are the league's top goalscorers so far this season. They will be no pushover, and will bring a fairly decent crowd along. It will also be nice to see John 'Yogi' Hughes back at Paradise.
Tickets are still available from Celtic Park, but the match is included in the season ticket package.
Tomorrow is out second of four matches in a ten day period. Let's throw on the youngsters and see how they get on.
Come On The Hoops!
Prediction: Celtic 2-0 Falkirk