THE HUDDLE BREAKDOWN EXTRA TIME: Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava | Falkirk analyst joins pod

Celtic score 5 in the Champions League! Alan and James look back at a stunning night of European football for Celtic. They guys are then joined by John McInally of Falkirk Daft as he gives us the lowdown on Celtic's next high-flying opponents.
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[@Krzyshtoph]

As an Aussie that followed Ange to Celtic. I 'm so pleased to see Celtic performing so well. 5-1! Congratulations! Bravo!

[@frankbrennan1619]

Are you still with us, or have you followed Ange to Wee Spursy in the words of Roy Keane?

[@Krzyshtoph]

@@frankbrennan1619 haha. I'll always be with you. But now i admire you from afar. :)

[@Goboholder]

So refreshing to hear this type of discussion between fans pre-match. Thanks.

[@CS-mv2ty]

Wow, just wow, Celtic! We scored from a corner, am I dreaming?

[@beingthebastard]

We scored an absolute pearler from a corner. Get it right, dude!😂🎉

[@thomasbradley4833]

Enjoyed the chat with John, Enjoyed the podcast. We'll done lads.

[@johnoneill8211]

Just had to say how much I'm looking forward to and enjoying your podcasts. I'm nearly 10 years retired but was very involved in performance data when working. It's an absolute joy to hear "fact" based analysis. Thank you and please keep it up. Have you thought of inviting Gavin Strachan on to comment on your analysis and share his thinking too?

[@jucojames]

Thank you John - club have generally not been proactive in making people at the club (outside of BR and media-contracted player) available to any form of media, let alone fan media or our little niche within it. Would certainly welcome any such opportunity and think the club would be smart to be more engaging (generally and not with Huddlebreakdown necessarily) but not holding my breath!

[@johnoneill8211]

@@jucojames It's free to ask.

[@jordaneasson3910]

That’s my bus ride to work sorted 👌🏼🍀 🎧

[@willielarsson9651]

Alan giving you a lift?

[@graciegherkin88]

Falkirk is gonna be my 2nd team noo! Great listening to that Falkirk guy - really enjoyed his passion & analysis of his team - great fun!😂 gonna look for his podcast.🍀💚🍀

[@symbolicdoom]

4am - I take it juco uploaded this? 😂 Looking forward to watching

[@alexcraig1921]

love this podcast

[@williamotoole1210]

Hail Hail 🍀🍀, It is going to be interesting just how much of a statiscal outlier this game will be ,in relation to all of the rest of the Champions League games. IMO. I believe the Hoops will accumulate decent numbers in the home games ,the hope is a points return in them all. It's going to be brilliant to watch ,sometimes through the gaps in your fingers, but it will be enjoyable.

[@Lupi33z]

Bayern Munich had 3 penalties...that blows up XG. It was 3-2 at one point around 50 something minutes Dinamo were still in that game, and they took their two goals well. I think they'll be tougher than Slovan.

[@DavyBhoy12G]

Lads this is great content. I'm watching Celtic games in a different way now because of this podcast. I'm also digging the more regular videos. Keep them coming. Hail hail.

[@DMin1888]

Remember CCV left the hearts game with a boot on. Maybe still carrying an injury

[@DavidByrne85]

Lets hope he gets a rest on sunday. Resting AJs hamstring might not be the worst idea too

[@frankbrennan1619]

@@DavidByrne85 Indeed & although I totally agree with you & so you just know there's a but coming & here it is, but when I read of supporters talking aboot players ''needing a rest' or they should be ''getting a rest'' I'm always reminded of Alan Hansen talking aboot his time in the great, all conquering, Liverpool Team of the 1970s & 1980s & the fact that NOBODY wanted to get injured, because if the guy replacing you from the 15/16 man squad at most did well, then you wouldn't get your place back on those awful pitches of the day & where you had to almost commit murder or attempted murder to get booked, never mind a ''straight'' red & similarly in the penalty box to get a penalty, but now in 2024....

[@graememackenzie4553]

Great to get in the Falkirk podcast guy. Loved his passion for the game and you should do more of this.

[@henrikmclarsson]

When did the elephant become the gorilla in the metaphor?

[@derekktf]

Great insight as usual guys , lots of interesting information.

[@ChrisM_1129]

I love this fucking guy. Falkirk has replaced Dundee United as my #2 team in Scotland.

[@Mantis_Toboggan_MD.]

I agree with James’ point about making changes for Sunday. I’d go further though and make wholesale changes. We have to give players game time so that if we do have to call on them in bigger games, they’re not coming in totally cold. Sinassalo Ralston Welsh Trusty Valle Holm Bernardo Engels Forrest Idah Palma Something along those lines. (McCowan is cup-tied I believe)

[@Anthony-w2z5z]

Holm for McGregor? MADNESS . Bernardo, sure, let the midfield get bedded in a wee bit more. I think BR will make changes (3-4 ?), but your suggestion is waay too many. Remember, the season is young.

[@paddycairns1972]

Great pod as ever guys

[@nicholasmcdade1022]

Loving the new segments bhoys especially cosy corner poems, Dr Zeus on a Celtic pod, wow. Just fantastic. 😂 Great result for the hoops. Let’s hope we can raise our game to the next level against Dortmund. Falkirk will be tricky too though. Is our bench good enough to step up? Let’s hope so 🍀👍🏻 HH

[@frankbrennan1619]

We just can't be talking aboot ''raising our game to the next level against Dortmund'' which of course, we just MUST do, to have ANY chance of getting oot of there with something, whilst ALSO in the same breath, talking aboot the likes of wee Falkirk being ''tricky'' & that's NOT me being disparaging or disrespectful to them or indeed Clubs like them & speaking aboot oor Scottish endeavours, I have said previously Rodgers should ONLY be ensuring us yet another Treble & I would argue that he should be delivering us another Invincible Season to emulate the joyful memories of season 2016 -2017, but if we're in the mindset of seeing the likes of wee Falkirk being a ''tricky'' encounter......

[@nicholasmcdade1022]

@@frankbrennan1619 not a mind set, they most likely will be tricky. Judging by Alan’s assessment of them.

[@frankbrennan1619]

@@nicholasmcdade1022 Winning yet another domestic Treble is ''tricky'' & achieving it in another Invincible Season ''tricky'' too, to say the least & emerging from Dortmund & Atalanta in the coming weeks with ANYTHING, almost near miraculously ''tricky'' but playing the likes of wee Falkirk in a League Cup tie at Celtic Park on the last official day of summer, is just never ever ''tricky'' & no matter what dear old Alan's ''assessment'' of them is.....

[@mark2038]

Arne Engels is 21. His DOB is 08/09/2003.

[@AndyD72]

Praising Taylor and criticising CCV in the same podcast? Must be a full moon.

[@jonmul1278]

Keep up alan and joco

[@frankbrennan1619]

Joco????

[@mart6788]

I thought SB moved the ball well at the back and were defensively strong in the first half, it broke down at moving the ball forward, it was like watching Celtic a few years ago in the UCL, their forward line was very poor apart from how the goal was taken with the outside of the foot. Celtic tired them out in the first half and pressed amazingly well

[@mahaishraja5449]

alans " lost to worse teams than this" kind of encapsulates my quandary re this game, question is are bratislava worse than the data on them, or are celtic better than we think , and the results against man c and chelsie pre season are a realistic benchmark or was this a one off outlier . i think its more of the man c chelsie scenario , but we wont know until a few more games in . my game simulation had celtic winning by 2 ish and funnily enough the underlying attack contribution data had celtic at 6 goals to .5 for bratislava in a pefect game , so 30% efficiency gets you a 2 nil , celtic outperformed xg. celtic had a speed advantage on the flanks , which they didnt have against hearts, so the big question is , how fast are dortmunds backs re pressing-- only 3 slovan players whos average field position was behind the average field position of celtic forward line and mids, tactical suicide, or slovan arrogance . celtic for all their full court pressing , all 10 players average field position in the middle third of the field , so very compact in midfield to stop transition through the middle third.. could this be a the portent of things to come tactically against dortmund etc i know its early doors , but my assessment of dortmunds xg generating capacity this season so far , adjusted for league strength , would suggest that celtic at 14% win probability against them by the bookies, is way to low , and celtic are within striking distance . well worth putting a tenner on them

[@frankbrennan1619]

I know exactly what you mean, as I fell COMPLETELY into the trap of when in the Euros, Germany thumped & basically humiliated Scotland with another 5-1, thereafter I almost immediately then took the view that Germany were certain Finalists, if not actually going on to win Euros 2024 & look how that all turned out for them & so for us, there is obviously STILL a very real clear & present danger of us yet again being on the completely wrong end of serious thumpings from Dortmund & Atalanta & all totally in keeping with our beyond horrific away record in Europe established over decades & if then too aided & abetted by Rodgers in the way he sets us up in these two gargantuan games & who with....

[@Lupi33z]

I think its fair game to take more risks against a team that are less likely to hurt you to ensure enough chances are created to score. But I would expect Brendan may employ more risk averse tactics against Dortmund. CCV seems off it though. Probably should be rested on the weekend.

[@frankbrennan1619]

If we had lost to, or had a draw, which would have been the same as a defeat, against Bratislava, then for sure ALL of us, apart from the ideological brainwashed ''Sack The Board'' happy clappers, would have been most furiously & most forensically, assessing & analysing how our current Manager set us up & who with, against Bratislava, that stopped us from beating them, but since we won & most emphatically so, it truly doesn't matter because it wis all aboot the ''outcome'', so you & I & ALL the rest of us knows, apart from the cohort I've mentioned, that Dortmund & Atalanta is ALL aboot how our current Manager sets us up & who with & he just MUST get it right if we're to take ANYTHING from these two fixtures.....

[@Michael19841]

I noticed Carter-Vickers hobbled off. Perhaps he shouldn’t have started as playing players with muscular restrictions can exacerbate the problem.

[@Anthony-w2z5z]

In the fourth qualifiying round, Slovan beat the Danish Champions Midtyylland over 2 legs. They might have a bad night (by their standards), but they are not a bunch of diddies. I live in Denmark, I know Midtylland.

[@jnnymtchll]

How would Falkirk go against Slovan?

[@marknugent9851]

Is it telling when Juco said "800-pound gorilla", I thought 'Aw naw, what has Kris Boyd said now?' The guest from the Falkirk podcast was good, eh? What I'd like to see: Sinasalo Ralston Nawrocki Trusty Valle Bernardo McCowan Holm [Celtic AM just informed me McCowan is cup tied) Forrest Idah Palma Subs: Bain, AJ, Scales, Taylor, Engels, Yang, Maeda, Kyogo Rested: Schmeichel, CCV, McGregor, Hatate, Kuhn Really highlights how thin we are on numbers though, right? Want more numbers and quality on the wings if Yang and Palma don't improve, exponentially (!), before January. Like you said though, not shocked if there are fewer changes. Falkirk is a lovely town. My parents rented a caravan there a couple of summers when I was growing up. Calvin Miller, what a blast from the past! Interesting to hear they are having a really good spell coming to meet us in the wee cup. HH [Made a booboo and put Bernardo in twice and didn't mention Kuhn, fixed it]

[@jordaneasson3910]

Falkirk are no mugs. Sadly too many changes against them. I’d say Trusty, Valle, Idah and Bernardo in. Rest leave as is, 3-4 changes max to not interrupt the team too much

[@marknugent9851]

@@jordaneasson3910 Aye, you're probably right Jordan, I even think that you will be proven right but I worry we need to keep the fringes game ready too and if not in the wee cup against lower league opposition, when?

[@jordaneasson3910]

@@marknugent9851totally agree. Something we should be doing but the fall out if we loose after wholesale changes isn’t worth it 😂. Hopefully Rodger has instilled the game enough got the fringe players to not matter who plays

[@ajsctech8249]

Bratisalava were like one of those classic CL qualifier teams that we have flopped against so it was a worry only being 1-0 up at HT and Weiss had a 1-v-1 that he should have scored. We stated the second half very strong which has not been the case in many recent CL games. I watch Dortmund as i live in Germany and they have an Olympian level of athlete from midfield and in attack and they are rapid and powerful with big 6ft2 wingers who are like 100 metre sprinters. But Dortmumd defence is slow and horrible and on a par with a mid table Bundesliga team. Therefore we have to start Kyogo against Dortmund. Hedenheim FC scored 2 against them at the Westphalen stadium and so i think we will score but i fear a 3-2 or 4-2 loss. Atalanta have a big strong athletic defence and Starting Idah would be a better option in Bergamo. I fear Atalanta nore than Dortmund because they dont have a weak department in their team and they are a big powerful Athletic team. Dortmund is a better match up but we need to stop their stellar Athletes.

[@frankbrennan1619]

I said repeatedly before the Bratislava game that this fixture was ONLY ever ALL about the ''outcome'' & it just had to be a winning ''outcome'' & so it took place in dramatic style, with our biggest ever victory in the Champions League & it's NOW that ALL the hard work starts when it comes to Dortmund & Atalanta away from Celtic Park & even after Wednesday night's euphoria under the lights, it will STILL be near miraculous for us to come away with ANYTHING in these two games & just as there was no hiding place for Rodgers in our Champions League opener, there will be similarly be no hiding place for him against Dortmund & Atalanta when it comes to how he sets us up & who he does it with.....

[@ajsctech8249]

​@@frankbrennan1619yes agree. We need a good performance and some kind of big break in Dortmund or Bergamo Like Schmeichel pulling off amazing saves or an opponent sending off or a favourable referee. I would take 1 point right now from those 2 games. But look at it this way if we win in Dortmund WE then only need 4 points from 3 remaining home games. In other words getting 3 points in those 2 games basically means we will qualify. It is that simple.

[@frankbrennan1619]

@@ajsctech8249 I just love the way you say ''if we win in Dortmund'' as if we're going to Fir Park in January....

[@Lupi33z]

I fully expect to lose the next two games in the CL, but that won't be the end of the world...plenty of opportunities after that to pick up 7 points. If we pick up 1 point total from those two games it would be a bonus and very useful.

[@frankbrennan1619]

@@Lupi33z Absolutely, but oor current Manager should NEVER EVER be countenancing such a notion & of course won't be & the players too won't be as daunted going to the likes of Dortmund & Atalanta after our history making ''opener'' against Bratislava & so as I often now say, these games & the likes of Aston Villa too in oor last Champions League fixture, these are huge, gargantuan games to take ANYTHING from & we just can't have oor very slim chances of doing so with oor current Manager NOT being ruthlessly pragmatic as to how he sets up in these fixtures & with who & no, I don't mean two ranks of five.....

[@benclifford9909]

With all due respect to what Falkirk have been doing under John McGlynn, if they come to Celtic Park and really are naive enough to try play through the lines they will get a very severe doing. No matter the progress of this Falkirk team, they're playing a side that's just scored 5 goals in the Champions League and about to encounter an almost different sport to what they're used to.

[@rickd9969]

Too early for a true judgement but Engels looks very similar to Stan Petrov. Maybe even a bit stronger build Vs Stan at that age. Hard running style, good set play delivery. Will be interesting to see how they compare profile wise over the next few months.

[@Lupi33z]

I've noticed every Championship team that just narrowly failed to get promoted fall to pieces the following season for the past few years. A lot of these teams must bet the farm one season to try to go up and when they fail they liquidate their assets.

[@tunnakeech1702]

great game tonight,,,hail hail

[@JohnCl]

Not sure, but is McCowan maybe Cup tied with Dundee?

[@Lupi33z]

yes

[@alanmorrison5981]

Yes - well spotted

[@jamesmcmullan1306]

Did you know that Nicolas Kuhn is one of the first humans to be born in this millennium. Just another interesting statistic.😅

[@Justashambles]

Your extreme criticism of Slovan Bratislava doesn't cast Midtylland (the great exponents of Data Analysis!!) in a very good light.

[@misterc5783]

*Alan: Anyone who thinks Lawwell is involved in transfers is naive. (Not verbatim but accurate) Alan: we lost in previous qualifiers thanks to Lawwell not buying players. *I realise there’s a distinction between his positions at respective times.

[@alanmorrison5981]

I stated both of those things - ie when Lawwell was CEO it was Lawwellball, when he left that role it was not

[@greg4629]

felt like any time we lost the ball it was just players getting to know engels play style and then later on tiredness

[@shanedonovan7093]

I saw enda on Hamish podcast - is that legal ?

[@frankbrennan1619]

Has Wee Enda yet again ''broke free'' from his Witness Protection Programme?

[@alanmorrison5981]

Aussie Bhoys United

[@jnnymtchll]

Can we be giddy yet?

[@frankbrennan1619]

Time to stop being giddy, as we've got a game against wee Falkirk at Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon....

[@alanmorrison5981]

Always with one eye on the risks. :)

[@denismccann]

👌

[@stephenhunter4037]

Embarrassing and frustrating to hear Alan go through the list of previous failures at the start. When you see what a little investment can do its really outrageous the way we have been run in the past

[@Lupi33z]

I thought Slovan were about Hearts level by my estimation.

[@keynoteFlyer]

Really? With players like Robert Mak and Weiss? I though they were way better than Hearts and would finish second in the SPL.

[@alanmorrison5981]

Technically miles better. Scottish teams are used to Celtic and set up accordingly - they have plenty of practice. This was "must-win" for Slovan given their fixtures. No Scottish team would be as passive without being highly compact.

[@gezobel]

Alan sums up the Slovan game perfectly and succinctly. They were bad, very bad but even so we have lost to even worse teams than SB. Our occasional complacency and sloppiness still worries me though and will be punished by much better teams. Btw, I have been told by some that teams get a bonus for every goal scored.. £750k, £300k, £250k depending on the source. I can see nothing about a goal bonus on any authoritative website. Can anyone enlighten me whether any goal bonus exists or not?

[@alanmorrison5981]

i have no idea where this goal bonus bobbins has come from - ignore it

[@keynoteFlyer]

@@gezobel same question came up on SSB last night and Gordon Duncan confirmed that there is no cash for goals. The goal difference could be helpful though.

[@gezobel]

​@@alanmorrison5981Thank you!

[@gezobel]

​@@keynoteFlyerThank you!

[@George-n2r]

Are you less stressed about where! Engles will fit in the Celtic (system) now?

[@jucojames]

Not yet for me - solely from an evidence-based perspective, I am hoping to see his performance levels persist when confronted with the nexus of a higher quality opponent who are well organized. But that is not specific to Engle, rather for the entire team and stress testing how the squad has been assembled.

[@greg4629]

69 how can you forget 69 LOL