Celtic v Shakter Karagandy UCL Qualifier 20th Aug, KO 4pm, Live on ITV4

This is a thread for talking about the tie like other match threads, no mentions of Borat or making fun of Kazakhstan. Suggested team line ups, where we will struggle, score predictions etc etc

 

Forster
Lustig Virgil Mouyokolo Izzy
Mathews Brown Ledley Commons
Samaras Alfie

2-0 away game over

 

Like the enthusiasm mate

 

Forster
Lustig Van Dijk Mouyokolo Izzy
Brown Ledley
Sammy Commons Boerrigter
Stokes

Or another striker if we sign one in time OR Balde.

Just want us to go for them, try and get a couple of goals over there and seal the tie.

 

Forster

Matthews Lustig Mulgrew Izaguirre

Forrest Brown Kayal Ledley Samaras

Finnbogason​

:icon_mrgreen::icon_mrgreen:

 

actually forgot all about derk

 

Forster

Lustig
Mouyokolo
Ambrose
Izzaguirre

Brown
Ledley
Boerrigter
Commons
Samaras

Balde

 

If we get a goal early we will walk over them. If not another nervy affair.

 

Don't think we will win the away tie.

 

Why Mulgrew for Ledley at home? Set pieces?

 

Nobody knows how this one will go. There are a lot of factors to consider and it sounds like it will be a physical game. A low scoring affair is on the cards, unless a striker comes in tomorrow and beats the deadline.

4-3-2-1 formation keeps the game tight, 0-0 is all we need away, but we will maybe go looking to keep possession and see where that takes us. An ideal situation would be a clean sheet and an away goal.

That would set the second leg up nicely, but it's gonna be a battle and we just have to hope the astroturf isn't as bad as elfsborgs. Me personally i wouldn't risk Boerrigter on it from the start, in the hope that Balde and Stokes could put them to the sword.

 

:bbpd:

 

Away goal is essential, a scored draw or 2-1 victory would be good. Isn't enough getting a 0-0 draw, as one goal from them at parkhead means we need two.

 

4-2-3-1 Away;

Forster

Lustig, Mouyokolo, Mulgrew, Izzy

Brown. Ledley

Commons. Samaras. Derk

Freddy Finbo

 

We should beat them comfortably.

Should being the main word there. I'm sure BATE thought the same thing. We need to be careful. They seem to be a long ball/set piece team who sit deep and ride their luck, so I think a creative midfielder might be even more necessary than a poacher in this tie in order to break down their defence.

 

Bizarrely this is our easiest tie this year!

Not sure about how we'll line up, still at least 1 signing to be made before then plus Derk and Van Dijk to come back from injury. Plus Mouyokolo and Balde did fantastically against Liverpool and can rightfully be thinking about a place in the team for this.

I'm confident we will see a return to the glory days under MON (except now we can actually win away!).
Fully expect to see a 7-0 aggregate win or something similar.

 

It is well within the realms of possibility that we could get beat in Kazakhstan. If we can avoid defeat and get an away goal that would be a fantastic result. Another artificial pitch remember.

 

To be honest I would be happy if we even got a score draw over there as I know nothing about this team.

 

Kazakhstan U21 lost 1-0 to Armenia U21 today.

With a few FC Shakhter Karagandy players playing.

 

Charting Shakhter Karagandy's rise from obscurity

UEFA.com profiles Celtic FC's Kazakhstani play-off rivals FC Shakhter Karagandy, from a scoring machine to a home-town hero via a coach savouring his finest hour.

Of the 20 teams that will vie for ten places in the UEFA Champions League group stage over the next few weeks, none are perhaps as unsung as Celtic FC's play-off opponents FC Shakhter Karagandy. UEFA.com traces the Kazakhstani outfit's rise from obscurity to the verge of a seat at European football's top table.

Out of the shadows
FC Kairat Almaty are historically Kazakhstan's strongest club, regional powerhouses who rubbed shoulders with the big boys during the Soviet era. Shakhter were always peripheral, never climbing above the bulky third tier of the league structure, but their fortunes began to change after independence in 1992. Third in 1995, 2007 and 2009, the Karagandy side made the breakthrough with their first championship in 2011, successfully defending their crown last term.

A rich seam
Ukrainian champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Belarus's FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Shakhter – if they sound similar, then that's because they are, all linked by the common heritage of mining (Shakhter translates as pitmen). It is a gruelling muscular existence, but on the pitch Karagandy is more famous for its artisans. None more so than Nikolai Igamberdiev, whose 182 goals for the club between 1972 and 1983 afford him lasting reverence.

Home-town hero
Igamberdiev's record is unlikely to be broken, even if Andrei Finonchenko is not too far behind at 116 goals and counting – though time is running out on the 31-year-old. The Karagandy-born striker has joined the team's immortals, however, as a one-club man who leads Shakhter on and off the pitch. "Like many Karagandy boys I dreamed of playing for Shakhter," he said. "I was a trainee, a ball boy, then when I got into the first team I realised I wanted to change the club. I had offers from elsewhere but money is not the most important thing in life. There have been good and bad times, but I thank destiny I'm here."

Breaking new ground
Shakhter have won back-to-back Premier League titles but a hat-trick looks unlikely as they head into the summer season's play-offs a long way adrift of leaders FC Aktobe. Yet in reaching the UEFA Champions League play-offs they have become the first Kazakh side to guarantee a place in the group stage of a UEFA competition (if they lose to Celtic they will transfer to the UEFA Europa League). Aktobe, who face FC Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Europa League play-offs, could be the second.

Days of our lives
"My work with Shakhter is the high point of my career," said coach Viktor Kumykov. "Twice we have been crowned champions and now we have qualified for the Champions League play-offs. These are my best days! But I hope we can achieve even more. I like Karagandy, a special city with an intimate feel. The people here are simple and kind and give us great support."

Home from home
Those fans will have to do a bit of travelling to get behind their team in Europe this season as Shakhter will play their home matches in Astana. However, with games like the first leg against Celtic in Scotland on 20 August, the 434km round trip does not seem so far.