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contents

Not The View Celtic Fanzine PO Box 306 Glasgow G21 2EA

peter lawwell’s moneyball... 8 don’t mention the wee tax case.................................. 12 a propotional response ... 16

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subscriber issue 228 september 2014

punditry without substance ........................................ 22 farewell then ................... 24 letters ............................. 43 match reports ................. 50 page 24

page 16

pag

farewell then ......................

match reports ...................

amnesia lane .....................

the three stooges ...............

112

scottish football armageddon

116

john divers ...........................

126

hugh docherty .....................

129

tales from the crypt ............. 130 page 91 ge 80

page 129 7

has peter lawwell’s moneyball lost its lustre?

There was an irritating trend doing the rounds on social media last month concerning Celtic’s bad signings – or “clangers”.

reaching the group stage at the expense of Maribor, there was also a groundswell of ill-feeling towards the current transfer policy.

Following the embarrassing defeat to Legia in the European qualifiers, and the subsequent failure to capitalise on our Champions League reprieve by

In short, too much quality has left, and not enough has come in. A very valid question is: where has all the money gone? Gary

Hooper, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama raked in roughly £28m of transfer fees to go along with the exorbiant income from Champions League football. In return, this summer Celtic have spent £2.3 million on new signings – one player bought, four loanees and a free transfer

Bring on the next contestants please... John Guidetti (left) and Stefan Scepovic.

goalkeeper. signings since 2010 Celtic’s most expensive signing since 2010 is Virgil Van Dijk at a mere £2.6m and in this time Celtic have spent just shy of £33m compared with taking in over £61m. Economics aside, the greatest concern is the ratio of quality to quantity, hence the list of clangers doing the rounds.

Subscriber Issue 228 October 2014

Before we address this, it’s worth considering Peter Lawwell’s so-called “moneyball” principles of late. Sign players with growth potential, recruit from under-appreciated areas and focus on a larger number of low-risk high-reward players as opposed to high-cost high-risk.

All credit to... The Grand Old team: JB Banal, Andy Murdoch, George of the Jungle, Average Joe Miller, Davie Jarvie, Paul Shiels Grand old contributions: Auldheid, Stephen Murray, Manfred Lurker, Marmaduke Baglehole, Tony Bananas, James Cormack, Chris McComb, Paul Craig, Gerry Brown, Ricky Rae, Striking Imagery, the Bhoy Kevin

The table on the next page shows many such examples. There have barely been any over 30s – certainly not at a cost. There’s been a focus on the 19-23 age bracket, allowing for development and profit. The nature of this business model is a relatively high number of “failures”.

Grand old other stuff: Tam McGeary, Derek Knox, Kevin Duggan, Tom Parkhill, Liam Trainor, Garibaldi, Fraser Currie, M McColgan, Stephen O’Hare, Denis Lenihan

It’s testament to the scouting setup that there has been such a high number of young internationals. Berget, Griffiths, Johansen, Pukki, Bitton for example, have been snapped up for low fees yet are full internationals.

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So in many respects, the policy has been a roaring success – on and off the park. The spend low, development policy has yielded frequent European football and regular league titles (though the quality of football has suffered at times).

This blat is put together by Celtic supporters who are not big and not clever either. It has absolutely no connection with Celtic FC or any supporters club.

Valid concern – a catch-22 Undoubtedly the greatest failure has been in attack. Number 9s 10s and wingers – something Neil Lennon arguably never addressed in his 4 seasons, aside from the initial signings of Kris Commons and Gary Hooper.

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This sorry situation has been looked at here before – looking for goldilocks (see NTV 224 January 2014). To generalise: if a Champions League level striker were to become available, why would he choose to play in Scotland? Financially OR competitively there is simply no reason. Though Celtic have managed admirably to generate hefty transfer fees in other areas, it’s impossible to translate to wage-power. When a 2nd tier English side can spend £11m on a single attacker, it shows the difficulties that Celtic face, with lower Premiership teams with no hope of Europe frequently spending over the £10m on strikers. It’s true that the forward positions have not been addressed (though every chance will be offered to Tonev and Berget - and now Guidetti and Scepovic) but not through want of trying. Some 19 attackers have been purchased since 2010, ranging from young potential (Rabiu Ibrahim, Amido Balde), seasoned top level pros (Miku, Teemu Pukki) to wily old veterans like Freddy Ljungberg or Olivier Kapo. So the golden question remains unanswered by Celtic and the critics alike – are the right strikers out there, and if so where?

DON’T MENTION THE WEE TAX CASE!

Thanks to Catch Up TV, box sets of DVDs and You Tube nearly everyone is familiar with Fawlty Towers and the episode where Basil Fawlty tries hard not to mention the war to the German guests at his hotel. Well the SPFL/SFA and Scottish mainstream media have adopted Basil’s stance - in a very literal way - in respect of not reporting or commenting on anything that would enlighten the football paying pubic and the hard-pressed taxpayer on the details of the wee tax case EBTs as operated by Rangers FC between 1999 and 2002/03.

Some of you who frequent on line blogs will be aware of the facts, but for those Celtic supporters who are not so familiar, here is what the wee tax case is all about, as well as what the consequences are of not mentioning it for Celtic, all Scottish clubs and Scottish football as a whole. It is written in the pursuit of the truth through the blanket of silence surrounding the wee tax case that protects the guilty, in the hope that the truth will set our game free. The devil is always in the detail of facts and history and that can put readers off, but to encourage you to stay the course,

the consequences of the attempts not only to not mention The Wee Tax Case but to bury it alive, are set out first. The detail and facts of history, like the devil’s tail, are at the end. The Consequences For the SP(F)L The Lord Nimmo Smith (LNS) Commission, supposedly set up to investigate Rangers use of EBTs with side letters, was seriously misled as a result of the failure by Rangers’ administrators Duff and Phelps to provide the documents explaining the nature and genesis of the

wee tax case EBTs to SPL lawyers Harper MacLeod. Not acknowledging and addressing this deception seriously questions the honesty and integrity of the SPFL and therefore the integrity of the very competition its clubs play in. For Lord Nimmo Smith As a result of the evidence being buried his decision that all EBTs with side letter were “not irregular” when two with side letters clearly are, is simply wrong. However the corollary of his ruling that regular EBTs provided no sporting advantage has to be that irregular EBTs did provide such an advantage and that even although Craig Moore did not have a side letter, as he was still paid by an irregular means that no other clubs could use, then along with De Boer and Flo, Rangers had to have gained a sporting advantage in the games in which all three played individually from 1999 to 2003. For the SP(F)L The burying of the wee tax case obviously creates a problem in that the titles of 1999 and 2003 that Rangers won should be forfeit as a result of paying players by irregular means that using Lord Nimmo Smith’s own logic did provide sporting advantage. Additionally redistribution

of prize money to other clubs one step down the SPL ladder in those years should have been part of the infamous 5 way agreement and in its absence from the agreement those clubs have lost out. In spite of letters and reminders to the SPFL, who have all the paperwork see The Scottish Football Monitor blogs “An Honest Game? Convince Us” and “It Takes Two to Tangle” - and with another blog to come about how the same burial of evidence inevitably led to the SPL Board being incorrectly advised to accept the LNS decision, (something they have never officially done in the form of a Board statement by the way), nothing is being done to correct a clear miscarriage of the justice that the LNS Commission was supposed to provide. For the SFA President Campbell Ogilvie made no distinction between the original DOS EBTs that produced the wee tax case and the later “loan” Big Tax Case EBTs in his testimony to Lord Nimmo Smith during the Commission hearings. This in spite of the fact he sat on the remuneration policy committee in 1999 that agreed to use DOS EBTs to remunerate employees of Rangers and authorised the first DOS EBT to Craig Moore and was himself a recipient

of a the later The Murray Group Management Remuneration Trust EBT of Big Tax Case fame. He was either disingenuous in his testimony or forgetfully incompetent, not to mention weak and lacking integrity in not questioning the morality of the decision by Rangers to use EBTs in 1999 to keep up with Celtic. For the SFA Licensing Committee (LC) In 2011 Andrew Dickson, a long term administrator at Rangers going back to when EBTs were introduced, sat on three LC meetings that year that dealt with the granting and monitoring of a UEFA licence with unpaid social tax arising at 30th June and 30th September 2011 as a result of the Wee Tax Case. What if any role did he play in advising that Committee on Rangers UEFA Licence? For the SFA President (again) who was elected to office on 7th June 2011 just 12 or 13 days before the Wee Tax Case bill became overdue and 23 days before overdue payables at 30th June had to be declared to UEFA under Article 66 of UEFA Financial Fair Play 2010. What part, if any, did he play in what was submitted to UEFA by Rangers in July 2011 to prevent UEFA questioning the licence and asking for financial

forecasts as required by the rules? Why did he, along with Stewart Regan, meet Rangers to discuss the licence issue in December 2011? The role of the SFA is something that Resolution 12 to the Celtic AGM of 2013 is trying to establish. For Scottish Football Governance Unfortunately, the greatest consequence of all of the above is to remove any semblance of honesty and trust in those running Scottish football who remain in post. One can only imagine that the clubs who make up the SFA and SPFL either do not care about

or are unaware of what has taken place. Are they not concerned about the potential consequent long term lingering damage the lack of integrity will do to our game if the duplicity at play from 1999 right through to 2012, when the LNS Commission was set up (and it was a set up), is not recognised and if those responsible for such duplicity are not brought to account and changes made to faulty processes to stop any possibility of a repeat? The Wee Tax Case History In September 1999. Rangers agreed as a matter of policy to use employee benefit trusts as a matter of remuneration policy. That is they took a deliberate decision to pay

players more than they could otherwise afford, in order to attract them then to sign for Rangers and so offset the wage advantage accruing to Celtic as a result of Fergus McCannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision became reality of a 60,000 seat stadium with the extra revenue that would provide Celtic, to make them at least wage competitive with Rangers. You could say the Celtic supporters, through Fergus, invested in Celtic; Rangers, however. decided to let the taxpayer bear the cost of remaining wage competitive, which, being Her Majestyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s club, probably made sense to them. The then secretary of Rangers, now SFA President, Campbell Ogilvie, was present at that policy

making meeting and actually set up the first EBT under the Rangers Employee Benefit Trust (REBT) using a Discount Option Scheme (DOS) for Craig Moore when he rejoined Rangers from Crystal Palace, who had defaulted on his transfer payments. It was a one off golden “Hello Again” payment with no side letter, although it is not known if the payment was included in the registration details provided to the SFA in 1999. (This DOS EBT should not be confused with the better recognised Big Tax Case EBT with a side letter that Moore later received in 2004/05 tax year). However there were another two recipients of DOS EBTs where the payments were part of their regular remuneration package. In August and November 2000 Ronald De Boer and Tor Andre Flo respectively signed for Rangers and were given side letters that were an attempt to indemnify or reassure them against having to pay tax should HMRC come calling. Hardly confidence in the regularity of EBTs as a legitimate form of payment is it? But that is why footballers have agents. In 2002-03 Rangers switched to the now more widely recognised (because Phil MacGiollaBhain did mention them) EBTs of “Big Tax Case” fame made

under The Murray Group Management Remuneration Trust (MGMRT). To all intents and purposes the wee tax DOS EBTs faded into history, only to resurface in public consciousness in April 2011 supposedly as a result of due diligence in the lead up to Craig Whyte taking over Rangers FC for £1. They were however quickly re-buried and conflated in the public’s mind by the SFA and media with the Big Tax Case EBTs until Sherriff Officers called to collect the tax due on them in August 2011. So the question is why was tax due on the “Wee Tax Case” and not the Big Tax Case EBTs, why were they different? The determining factor at its simplest was players did not have direct access to the money paid to family in the form of a loan, even although that loan would probably never be repaid. (HMRC have not given up on the appeal process which may continue, but the concern here is the wee tax case). What applied with the Wee Tax Case was something completely different as the following shows. In October 2010 a First Tier Tribunal ruled that payments made to their staff by the Aberdeen Asset Management company via a Discount Option Scheme - the same as or similar to that used by

Rangers - were taxable for reasons set out in full in an understandable document. This, from the end of page 17 into 18, just about sums it up: “It was also observed that being the sole owner of the entire share capital of a company (as Moore, De Boer and Flo were in the Rangers case) which had a sole asset consisting of cash was not dissimilar to having funds in a bank account and needing to write a cheque or take other relevant action to extract the money from that bank account.” Aberdeen Asset Management did not use side letters - they simply used a scheme that was blocked as illegal of itself. However the side letters had an important role to play in the case of Rangers as will be explained. AAM appealed to a Upper Tier Tribunal (UTT) in 2012 and the UTT decision narrowed the scope of the FTT decision, but the UTT ruling was itself overturned finally at the Court of Sessions in October 2013 to restore that of the FTT of October 2010 on which HMRC first acted to pursue payment. So we have a very definite irregular/illegal/unlawful ebt being used by Rangers from 1999 to season 2002/03 to pay Moore, Flo and De Boer. A method of payment not open to any other club which conferred an unfair wage advantage

they had no means of matching. It was the finding of the AAM FTT in October 2010 that prompted HMRC to first pursue Rangers solely on the basis that the EBTs used by AAM (and so Rangers) were illegal, but in February 2011 HMRC took a more aggressive stance for reasons that can be deduced from the correspondence of that date. The time limits for recovering unpaid tax is normally six years but there are rules for extending the limits beyond the norm. Two reasons for extending limits are if HMRC can prove negligence or fraudulent intent which is set out in their correspondence of Feb 2011 with

Rangers. Thus HMRC sought payment of tax owed for De Boer and Flo because they had evidence that Rangers had concealed the existence of side letters from HMRC when HMRC specifically enquired in 2005 if any such letters existed. It appears HMRC also thought this evidence was withheld from visiting inspectors but there are no details of when. It was the concealment of these side letters which was the main deciding factor for Thornhill QC when advising Rangers to settle. It was the concealment of the same letters and HMRC correspondence by Duff and Phelps acting as Rangers administrators in 2012 that led to the LNS

Commission being misled in what can be seen as a discernible pattern of behaviour of concealment and deceit. As mentioned before there was no evidence of a side letter to Craig Moore As a result, the £219K that he would have owed, had it not gone outside the time limit, was not pursued, although the £2.8M tax owed for De Boer and Flo (plus a £1.3M penalty) most definitely was, with unfortunate consequence for an SFA and SPFL who seem determined to diminish the full extent and consequences of the breach of rules that actually took place over a period of 13 years from 1999 to 2012 during the lifetime of the current SFA President.

a proportional response

A Proportional Response is the title of the third episode of The West Wing, one of the very best TV shows ever created. In this episode, President Bartlett meets his physician, a military doctor with a young family. They go through the effortlessly charming Bartlett small talk. Just after this, Syrian operatives blow up a plane in whih this physician is a passenger. Too emotionally invested to see things

clearly, when presented with plans for a proportionate response, Bartlett rails against the military asking for a disproportionate response to show

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those who would cause harm that America is not to be trifled with. Eventually, he is talked down, admitting that he let his emotions get the best of him and also his unease of the military in general, having never served in it. It is a parable, like most of The West Wing, to show that reason should rule passion. Emotional investment is how we suffer, rationality is how we survive. It takes us through the feelings that any person would feel when put in this situation and then resolves itself by ending with the most responsible path being taken. What relation does this have to Celtic? A recent piece, affectionately calling the boss “Wrongy Deila” due to his tactical misfires, led to some comments that surprised me a bit. Taken from the Celtic News Now Facebook page: “He does not have a Scooby” “Another John Barnes” “He’s pish”

“He should pack his bags and f*ck off to Norway” “Even McCoist is better than him”

actually get the team playing how he wants them to.

Ronny Deila has an unenviable task - he has to build a team from scratch to play in a totally different manner and he hasn’t had the backing of the board to do it. It is understandable that he should try to change the team - after all, his way of playing football is how Celtic fans want to see football played… when it works.

In that, he is quite similar to his cross-city counterpart Ally McCoist, albeit for different reasons. Both are likely to be given as much time as needed to get things working and would only be dispensed with were it looking likely that the league status was in jeopardy and, at 4 games into the season, it is hard to say that it is. An away win against a still good St Johnstone side, a thrashing of Dundee United - that is what Deila wants to see and, at this embryonic stage of his footballing evolution at Celtic, only flashes of brilliance will be shown because he still doesn’t have the right personnel. The team will evolve also in that time.

When it doesn’t work, you get things like we have seen over the past few weeks - failure against the likes of Maribor, Inverness and Dundee. People are quick to jump on the manager, but there is little point making a change when Deila hasn’t had time to

But that is something where the team should be turning around in 3 months. Deila may have a job on his hands, but he is not a Paul Le Guen type figure who is not just battling on the pitch and fighting off it. Deila has come into a set up where the youth

That sound you can hear is the sound of a minority of fans’ knees jerking. I can’t say I’ve actually given my opinion on Deila but it doesn’t chime with those comments (particularly the one saying he’s worse than McCoist - what was that commenter thinking!?).

coaches appreciate his involvement and interest. Deila has come into a set up where players aren’t embedded in the establishment. Scott Brown is no Barry Ferguson and the Celtic board would never consider a player to be above the manager. Still, his underwhelming has a time limit, one that will not just be decided by on the pitch performances, but also with the votes of punters in the stands - empty stands will warrant changes being made. If the PLC is losing money, they will turn to the football head first of all. And the thing is, the more I think about it, the more I see the disproportionate response as not a bad thing. Remember as I say this that the alternative to the following scenario is that Deila is a success. It’s November, and Celtic are struggling 5 points behind Inverness. While they aren’t losing games, they aren’t winning and early defeats in the Europa league have hit attendances hard.

The board have to do something - they sack Ronny Deila. What do they do to arrest the decline in attendances? What do they do to get fans back? They do the only thing they can do. Spend. You see, Ronny Deila becoming Ronny Faila would have that impact - fans would be turned off and the board would have to do something to get them back in and back excited. There are big names in management who could be available for the right price - not a Malky Mackay or even aHenrik Larsson. Proper managers like Thomas Tuchel or Roberto Di Matteo (he did win a Champions League, after all!) among others available or even, dare I say, grab someone who we have to pay compensation for would have to be tapped up and backed in the transfer market big. It is not fanciful to say that, if Celtic flounder and Deila goes, Celtic would not only get a high class manager in, they would give him

£15-20 million to play with - an amount that Ronny Deila will never be given. Deila failing would prove not that he was the wrong man for the job, but that the model of austerity to get prosperity just doesn’t work when it is practiced to this magnitude. That’s not a joke. That is what it would take to get the fans back in the ground - a reputable manager with exciting players. All of that costs money. But we would all argue that this is not what should be happening as a reaction to Deila, more what should have happened anyway. In this scenario, the madness and the spending would just be very condensed. In that respect, what do we want - do we want the proportionate response, the one that says wait and see, give him a chance, and then find out that, once the requisite time to build that side and style has been given, Deila is no closer to unlocking the side’s potential. Or do we want the disproportionate response? A response

that ups the pressure, that reverberates through the media, that forces a man who never really got a chance out of a job, but a response that will mean the board have no choice but to spend the money that needs to be spent and actu-

ally to drag to the club to the level it should be at anyway. If Deila fails, Celtic thrive because the board have to spend to get the fans back onside. If Deila thrives, Celtic thrive with him.

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Celtic are in a no-lose situation. Deila is, personally, in a no win one - Celtic arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to improve his reputation by him getting the team to perform as fans expect them to. Regardless, we, as fans, have to accept

that Ronny Deila deserves our patience. He recognises the problems in the squad. We have to judge him not on the failings he inherited from Neil Lennon falling asleep at the wheel during last season, but his reaction and his curing of those failings.

That is the proportional response. And while we are all emotionally attached to Celtic, we all must recognise that the proportional response is the right one. TIMOMOUSE thefootballlife.co.uk

punditry without substance has no value

Getting a good pundit for football can be a tricky job for a tv producer and as Sportscene makes way for MOTD2 on a Sunday evening we can often see the stark contrast between those ex-pros able to be provide insight and forthright opinions with those who can’t. BBC Scotland’s propensity to chose their pundits from

a pool of current players and coaches compounds this problem due to their inability to say anything controversial which may fall foul of SFA rules and the simple fact that they will be facing any player they criticse very shortly (indeed the necessity to comment on their own team’s game) makes their ability to contribute nil.

In American sports broadcasting the pundit is referred to as the “Color commentator”, their role to provide added insight for the casual sports fan and therefore enhancing the viewing experience – adding colour to the coverage. In all sports it can be a difficult job, especially for the newly retired pro – potentially criticising former colleagues who

may still be friends. Cricket relies heavily on former players and we have recently seen England captain Alistair Cook fall out with friend Graeme Swann over comments about his captaincy. While there is no value to the Mark Hately style of punditry where every incident at Ibrox must have a positive spin (the new signing phenomenon) equally a pundit who only criticises may get attention but is rarely listened to. And so on to the Dundee v Celtic match. I recall hearing at the time that Gordon Strachan arrived at Celtic Park with a new broom strategy that he players had become stale and unfit. He was going to shake things up and people would either change or move on. Alan Thompson and Chris Sutton were two who decided that moving on was the best option. It was no surprise therefore that during the BT coverage of the Dundee v Celtic game if WGS said Black Chris Sutton said white. However the recent criticism of Ronny Deila by some pundits – and Sutton on the afternoon of the aforementioned game has really surprised me. Don’t get me wrong - I get it. I understand that in the modern world pundits and the press are under pressure to say something controversial, grab attention. As I state

above, however, if it adds no value and has no merit it is worthless. I mentioned cricket and perhaps the most famous pundit there is Geoff Boycott. He loves making references about how is mum could have done better, hit a better shot with a stick of rhubarb and so on, but behind the bluster there is always an understanding, always a constructive element to the criticism. Boycott will make the controversial critical comment, but immediately follow up with a comment about having been in that situation. He will then offer up what the player could or should have done, even offer a reason for the mistake. Despite first impressions he does not criticise and slaughter the player for effect or due to personal dislike and his comments have merit because he’s been there and done it. Sutton on that Sunday (and over the recent weeks) along with other former players appears to be criticising with no construction. Granted the lack of support the board have so far shown deserves criticism, but the speed with which they have slaughtered the manager has really taken me aback. Indeed Sutton in particular should know better as he has given management a try. It didn’t go well and eventually Sutton stepped away but he gave it

a shot for more than 3 or 4 competitive games. Sutton was manager of Lincoln City for 50 games, winning 14. He had a win rate of 28%. I therefore find it peculiar that Chris Sutton, who did not succeed as a manager but was given time to do so, should be so severe with the new Celtic manager who is patently trying to implement something new. Deila hopefully will - but possibly won’t - succeed as Celtic manager. It is to all of our benefits if he does. The team wins and the team will win with an attacking brand of football. Either way I want to know the manager was given sufficient time. Of all the people who should know that managers need time it should be Chris with his 28%. I just hope that Chris, big John Hartson and others aren’t letting personal feelings over the departure of Neil Lennon cloud their judgment. As I say, punditry without substance has no value.

Harry Brady celticunderground.net

So Farewell Then

neil lennon

So Farewell then Neil Lennon You put up with a lot here Bullets, threats and violence All we had to tolerate was the likes Bangura and Murphy You got the rough end. Thanks for everything

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So Farewell Then Ronny Deila is almost unique in that he doesn’t join Celtic at a time of crisis. Almost always a manager joins us with wreckage all around; O’Neill had the advantage of the likes of Larsson, Lambert and Mjallby but he also had to sieve through the wreckage of the Barnes/Dalglish debacle. Strachan had to pick up the bits after O’Neill’s Fir Park implosion, while Lenny had to sort out the Mowbray shambles - and make no mistake about it, a true shambles it most certainly was.

and a group of prostitutes didn’t help) and Murphy never found his feet at all despite scoring two important penalties - but Forster, Hooper and Ledley all settled in well. The fact that we even got Ledley was a surprise given that he was being linked with a variety of clubs including Roma. His arrival in Glasgow suggested that Lennon could make a good case for joining us and that he still had a good reputation in England.

Take a look at who we had in or around the first team in early 2010: Edson Braffheid, Joos Hoojveld, Landry N’Guemo to name but three. We were a complete mess.

The finance for all this had been raised by the sale of Aiden McGeady for £10m, a symptom of the new model we would be following; build them up to sell them on. Part of the new reality for Celtic.

The speed with which Neil Lennon turned things around was fairly remarkable given that he was a novice manager. Not all his signings worked out - Suarez for example was a bit of a washout (the incident with the Mexican national side

It wasn’t all smooth, of course. His first foray into Europe was a disaster when we had a bad experience with Braga before suffering a complete disaster against Utrecht. Celtic won the home leg 2-0, but we could have had more had it not been,

apparently, for the manager urging a more cautious approach to the last 20 minutes, being more concerned with preventing an away goal rather than adding to our advantage. In the return leg we were demolished 4-0, although even that score failed to truly reflect the dominance of the Dutch team. But crucially he learned from that and that was one of the key aspects of Lennon as manager, he did tend to learn his lessons. Before a ball was kicked our new manager went on a tour of supporters clubs to speak to the fans and let them know his plans. Before each meeting he would ask that all mobile phones be switched off so that there were no tabloid headlines. After that he would launch into a speech that left no one in any doubt as to where he wanted to take the club and who he would be leaving in his wake! His first season took a

So Farewell Then while to take off. We had a couple of decent results through the autumn, but we also had a couple of howlers, the main one being our surrender of a two goal lead to Inverness. Those 2 points dropped would come back to haunt us at the end of the season.

missed penalty at Ibrox and a freakish night in Inverness when basically everything Caley hit went in the Celtic net and we couldn’t catch a break. Hell, Kayal took a shot, was taken out way after the ball had gone, broke his arm in the fall and didn’t even get a foul.

But a Ne’erday win at Ibrox and the return of Scott Brown from injury pushed the team on to a fabulous run.

But we won the Scottish Cup and in his address to the fans Lenny made sure that we knew he was up for the challenge with the words, “This isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning”.

It must be said that no player benefitted more than Scott Brown from Neil Lennon’s time in charge. He retained the captaincy given to him by Mowbray, but more than that he had a fierce champion and a guy who could guide him as a player. Brown has gone from a player who was seen as aimless to the fulcrum of the team and the anchor of the squad. Obviously Brown has done his own work on that but Lennon has been vital in that development. The end of that first season saw the league drift away after a

It didn’t look that way at the start of the following season. Celtic went into the halftime break at Ibrox 2-1 ahead, but contrived to finish with 10 men and 4-2 down. Other careless points were dropped and in the Europa League we had been comfortably beaten by Atletico Madrid and managed to draw 1-1 at home to Udinese having been 1-0 up and awarded a penalty - which we missed. It all seemed to be unravelling as we wound up 15 points

behind RFC(IL), albeit with a game in hand, and 3-0 down at halftime to Kilmarnock. But the team rallied, and spurred on by two goals from Anthony Stokes we salvaged a 3-3 draw. The following week we went a goal down at Fir Park, but again Stokes scored to pull us level. In the second half Paddy McCourt took the Motherwell defence apart for Stokes to play in Hooper. That 2-1 win saw the start of a remarkable run of victories during which we overhauled the 15 point deficit. The jewel in the crown of that run was obviously the 1-0 New Year win over our then extant city rivals that allowed us to draw level with them. During this time the whole demeanour of the team changed as their confidence grew thanks in no small way to the Europa League, specifically the away game in Rennes. Celtic had controlled the majority of the game but had gone a goal down

So Farewell Then thanks to the most ridiculous o.g. you ever did see, Cha knocking the ball past his own keeper from something like 25 yards without a forward in sight. Instead of the usual collapse we came out for the second half and continued to control the game, got level and probably should have won it. Although we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t qualify from the group our remaining games saw us win at home to Rennes and draw in Italy. Both of these games boosted the confidence hugely.

The title was won with a degree of comfort that season. Our superior squad and manager had already made the league safe before the long awaited financial meteor landed on Edmiston Drive, but the treble died with a League Cup final defeat to Killie. We should have been ahead early in the game but Hooper fluffed his lines and we lost a breakaway goal late on before Stokes made a mess of a solid gold chance in the last minute.

The Scottish Cup bid also made it to Hampden, but the semi against Hearts was another flat performance. We equalised with 5 minutes to go (although Hooper was offside) only to concede a penalty 2 minutes later. The following season was the first in which Celtic were the single dominant team. No one was quite sure how it would turn out. What happened in the event was that the other teams in Scotland

So Farewell Then

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So Farewell Then decided to have a go, perhaps realising that the league, outside of Celtic, would now be more competitive in terms of European spots. Whatever the reason the fact is that the football on show in Scotland is now far superior to that which was served up in 2011. More young players have come through, more teams are attempting to play the ball on the ground and we have a new generation of managers coming through as well. Meanwhile we qualified for the group stages of the Champions League, drawn with Barcelona, Benfica and Spartak Moscow. History would be made in this campaign. For a start we managed an away win after 10 years of trying and many heartaches, Hooper, Forrest and Samaras scoring as we won 3-2 in Moscow. Our other away performances were an anaemic display in Portugal contrasted with a superbly disciplined match in the Nou Camp

that deserved more than the last minute defeat it got. But the revenge for that was sweet and would raise the reputation of our young manager. In the return game against Barca we followed the basic game plan we had used out there - compact in the middle, allow them the wings because they don’t have much of a threat in the air from any crosses, close anything 30 yards from goal and crucially make the most of any set piece. Celtic had taken the lead from a set piece in Spain and we managed to repeat the trick at home as Wanyama arrived at the back post to meet a Mulgrew corner, a perfect training ground move. Obviously the second goal wasn’t but it slotted into to the game plan insofar as you have to take any chance which comes your way. Those 3 points qualified us for the last 16, but there we found that final rule used against us time and time again; we

missed chances, Juventus didn’t. The treble failed again at Hampden, this time with a dreadful display in the semi against St Mirren. The scoreline in a 3-2 loss flattered us. But the season ended with the double as Hibs were brushed off 3-0 in the Scottish Cup final. That was the beginning of the end really as Gary Hooper was soon packing his bags for Norwich. Hooper had been a stalwart for Lennon a player he would hang his hat on. Hooper was never really replaced and it must be said that if there was one major flaw in Neil Lennon the manager it was identifying a forward. Hooper was good, Stokes runs hot and cold and the jury is still out on Griffiths. The majority of the rest were poor: Murphy, Bangura, Miku, Lassad, Pukki and so on and so on. In transfer and loan fees we’ve spent the better part of £6m on that lot. Every manager

So Farewell Then has transfers that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work out, but to have so many in the one position is a worry. Last season we again cruised the league, but the cups once more proved to be disappointing. For the first time during his managerial tenure Neil Len-

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 30

non failed to make it to a semi never mind the final. Worse yet, we lost both games at home. The Champions League was a disappointment. After the boost of the win over Karagandy we collapsed after Scott Brown picked up a

So Farewell Then lengthy suspension in the opening game. There were rumours that Lennon would leave at the end of the season. Ledley leaving in January didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help, another Lennon stalwart sold, but his announcement was still a surprise when it came.

Gordon Strachan said that he felt someone could only do this job for about five years. After that you would be burnt out. There might be some logic in that. If 5 years was his plan he came out a year early, but if Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest and brokest club reach the top flight for the first time next summer he would have been almost duty bound to stay and accept the challenge so he has probably saved himself all that hassle by getting out now. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve intentionally left out all the horrendous pressure he was put under in his private life, distractions that no

other manager in the UK has to face, not to diminish the events, but simply because they have no place in the game. In the summer he was one of the main names in the frame for the Crystal Palace job, which would have reunited him with Ledley. Palace could probably have done with a manager experienced with fire fighting shambolic situations and they certainly have one right now. Neil Lennon; the Red Adaire of football. Whatever it has in store for him, we wish him all the best for his future and hope to see him in the Celtic Park stands at some point. AB MURDOCH

So Farewell Then

giorgios samaras

So Farewell then Georgios Samaras My God you are a frustrating player But unlike some players who left us this summer You at least respected, and made the most of, your talent Also your hair was lovely!

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So Farewell Then Question; how do you replace a player like this? Samaras was a player capable of things that no other player in our league - hell in any league - could even dream of let alone execute. And by that I obviously mean bad things as well as good things. For example, in November 2009 we played Aberdeen at Celtic Park. Tony Mowbray was the manager and naturally he was under pressure. We won 2-0 and Sammy scored, but the defining moment of that game wasn’t a goal it was a moment of genius/slapstick in the second half. Sammy was standing on the touchline directly in front of the Celtic bench with the hopeless Ricky Foster marking him. The ball was played to Sammy far too fast and at throat height. He controlled it on his chest, turned and flicked the ball over his and Foster’s head with his heel. He then controlled it perfectly in his stride with his left foot as he sped off. A moment of sheer football excellence. He then trod on the ball with his right foot, fell over and watched it squirt out for an Aberdeen throw in. His football career summed up quite beautifully in a matter of seconds.

He arrived at Celtic Park carrying the baggage of being a flop at Manchester City (where his nickname was Tragedy - very witty, what with him being Greek and all), but on his debut at Kilmarnock, coming on in the second half, he scored after a run that took him from the right touchline at halfway all the way to the penalty spot leaving a trail of beaten opponents in his wake. He looked unstoppable, but we soon discovered he was very stoppable. In fact no one could stop him quite as well as he could. His biggest problem seemed to be himself, specifically his decision making which verged on the suicidal and his apparent lack of dig. 50/50 balls were certainly not his thing. But as season 2007-8 drew in to a close he scored a vital winner at Fir Park and certainly played his part in the league win. He was signed on a full contract that summer and started the season reasonably well but by midautumn he was a squad player, more likely to be used from the bench. He came on during the League Cup final win but was quickly withdrawn injured. It simply reinforced the idea that he wasn’t

built for the rigours of the game here. Mowbray did no one any favours so it’s almost pointless to even look at that period, but even he saw something in Sammy and played him whenever he could. When that shambles imploded and Lenny took over Sammy was still there. In fact he was seen as one of the main culprits during the Ross County semi-final debacle. The next season was the last on his contract and at that stage most supporters would have been quite happy to see him move on. He wasn’t being played from the start, his impact was minimal when he did come on and to be honest most of the crowd had lost patience with him. To all intents it looked like he was simply playing out his contract. Then came Ibrox at New Year and a striking crisis, with both Stokes and Hooper out Lenny was forced to consider playing Sammy up front on his own, no without good reason he had his doubts, in search of an opinion he could rely on he phoned Gordon Strachan, he assured Lenny that Sammy would be fine, so he started with Samaras up front with Paddy McCourt backing him up. The hun coped quite well in the

So Farewell Then first half, but at half time Lenny told the front two to play closer to each other and after the break they tore them up. Samaras went round McGregor for the first before winning and scoring a penalty to wrap the game up. It changed everything for him - suddenly he went for someone who couldn’t handle the physical nature and the pressure of these games to a guy who was Kryptonite for the hun. They didn’t know what to do with him. The next game against them was a cup tie at Ibrox, we recovered from twice going behind and going a man down to level it at 2-2. With two minutes to go Sammy was put clean through but was wrongly (very, very obviously wrongly) pulled up for offside. It didn’t matter, he had found himself at last. He signed a new contract and became a real asset to the club. Oh he was still capable of frustrating even the most Zen of supporters, but even his harshest critics could see the power and skill he brought to the team. There was a time where the first thing we would do in a game was give the ball to him on the left wing. He would put his head down and simply charge at the full back. It

was almost as if we had decided that we needed to find out as soon as possible who was on the pitch; Dr Georgios or Mr Samaras and that was the most reliable litmus test. Of course it must be pointed out that he also made a decision that could possibly be described as a crucial moment in deciding the league when he elected to take a penalty at Ibrox. In a tense match and with the score standing at 0-0 with less than 10 minutes to go, a goal would almost certainly have won us the match and given us a huge advantage in the league race. He put it in the same spot that he had placed his New Year kick, but this time McGregor got a hand to it and kept it out. He never really caught hell for it, possibly because most people realised that without his intervention we would never have been in a position to challenge for the title in the first place. His contribution to Lenny’s three in a row was considerable. His scoring record was decent and his assist rate was impressive but the main thing was his general attitude and application, the very things that damned him in his first couple of seasons. And of course in Europe

his ability to act as an effective out ball became almost legendary. During the Champions League campaign of 201213 he managed to score in one of the away qualifiers and in all 3 away games of the group stage, including the famous headed goal in Moscow that gave us our first away group stage win. Mind you, last minute in Moscow was a time that seemed to agree with him. The highlight of the Mowbray era (yes the Mowbray era did have a highlight - just the one, but a highlight nonetheless) was undoubtedly his late goal that sent us through against Dynamo Moscow. Typically it looked as though he had taken the ball too far before slotting it past the keeper. Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a true Samaras moment if you weren’t screaming in exasperation at some stage. When we sealed the league in 2013 he scored a typical goal, beating several men, winding up at a difficult angle tight to the goal line but still finding the net via the underside of the bar. Typical Sammy. Last season was decent for him. He scored a superb hat-trick at Rugby Park (he always did like scoring there, once round-

So Farewell Then ing off a move that saw every Celtic players touch the ball at least once), but since the new year it looked odds on that he would move on. I would be surprised if Celtic havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t gotten the best out of him.

As I said at the start we now have the task of replacing the unexpected dimension as well as the power and strength that he brought to the forward line. It wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be easy.

He leaves us with 4 league badges, 2 Scottish Cup medals and one League Cup medal. We wish him all the best with the Baggies.

So Farewell Then

tony watt

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So Farewell Then I suppose only time will tell whether or not we’ve just watched a potential superstar waltz out the door but right now all I can say is that several managers have attempted to coach Tony Watt; one sent him out on loan, one declined to select him for the squad, one sold him on and one was moved to attempt physical violence. Can it all be their problem and not Tony’s?

our first team so quickly suggested that he was a major talent.

The thing is the guy can play. He is most certainly a natural goal scorer. We saw that from minute 1 when he came on at Fir Park and scored twice.

It wasn’t just the fact that he scored against one the best defences in the world, it was the confidence he showed; one touch, take a look and the shot perfectly slotted in. It was his first goal at Celtic Park.

We had signed him from Airdrie on the strength of a dozen or so first team games and a few goals. The fact that he made

All seemed to go well at first. He was brought into the Scotland U21 team and found goals there too. At the start of the next season he scored 2 at Inverness. Not only that he made it all look so ridiculously easy, and obviously he then scored THAT goal against Barca.

He scored his second the following Saturday but

that was pretty much the beginning of the end, whether that goal against Barca went to his head or not I can’t say but following that there were stories of a lax attitude and the manager not being impressed with how his young prodigy was applying himself. He played another 14 times that season, mostly from the bench but he didn’t score again. The following season he seemed completely out of the picture and Neil Lennon took the decision to loan him out to the Belgian league with Lierse, which seemed a decent decision, but soon trouble appeared in the shape of not one but two managers.

First, Stanley Menzo declared that despite 90 seconds after coming on for his debut Watt was “lazy and unfit”. Watt’s reaction to this was to score in his next game but intentionally get yellow carded for taking off his shirt to show the world “that I am not fat”. He could have waited for the final whistle but then again that would require some thought. Next up was Billy Stark, not a man known for his hostility to Celtic, he wouldn’t put Watt in the Scotland U21 squad because of similar doubts over his fitness levels. His remaining time with Lierse was a mix of goals against big teams and mega bust ups with Menzo, culminating in Menzo being accused of hitting Watt. His first team career there crashed to an end

when Watt told the Belgian press that “Whenever we lose, Menzo blames me. Actually, it’s his fault.” Cue demotion from the first team to the B team. He returned to Celtic in the summer apparently determined to prove his worth and with a new manager in charge (the rumours about Watt and Lennon not getting on were legion). With Deila and Collins in charge Watt would have to be fit and focused. They sold him. Quickly. Against St Pauli he had tried to take a penalty despite precise instructions about who had the right to take spot kicks. It’s all very well saying that strikers want to score goals and so on, but if you can’t follow a simple instruction in a preseason friendly then what chance do you

have of carrying out your orders in a tight European game? The pity is that Tony Watt could be anything he wants to be, the guy has talent to burn. Unfortunately that might be exactly what he is doing. It was heart breaking to watch the match highlights the night we drew in Maribor to see Watt playing for Liege, especially when we are crying out for a strong forward player, with a decent turn of pace, can hit it with both feet, capable of holding the ball up and decent in the air. Sound familiar? It was once said of Peter Cook that he had a great future behind him. I can only hope we aren’t saying the same of Tony Watt in 5 years.

So Farewell Then So Farewell then Fraser Forster La Gran Muralla You weren’t all that good in your first season You improved Ker ching!!

fraser forster So our best goalkeeper since Ronnie Simpson moves on, which would normally be a disaster, except Craig Gordon has come in and performed superbly, so we can afford to be sanguine about his departure. £10m helps as well, although I wonder what we actually got because Newcastle will be due a sell on fee of about 20% and presumably some of that fee will

depend on appearance numbers and achievements. I suppose we could say we got about £6m in our hand. Forster arrived at Celtic in 2010, one of Lenny’s early signings, and was presented with the not inconsiderable task of replacing Artur Boruc, easily our best keeper since Ronnie Simpson.

It would be fair to say that his first season wasn’t brilliant. His concentration was dodgy, his distribution was the same and on cross balls he was… well he was that same as every other Celtic keeper, which is to say he was poor. But at the same time he must be one of the only Celtic keepers to keep two league clean sheets on both visits to Ibrox during his debut

season and he was always a great shot stopper. During the summer of 2011 he went back to Newcastle and made a couple of starts in their pre-season, but a horror show at Elland Road where he was literally throwing them into the

net pushed him back down the pecking order and Lenny made the move to bring him back. Another loan was the deal at first but the move soon became permanent. Initially it looked like a bad one. We had started the season with Zaluska

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in goals and he had been pretty solid. Forster came back and almost immediately we began to leak goals. This was season 2011-12, when we found ourselves 15 points behind and famously 3-0 down at Killie. The recovery that day

So Farewell Then

sparked a run of victories that required the talents of the whole squad. Fraser Forsterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moment arrived at home to Hearts with a minute left on the clock. Celtic were a goal up thanks to a Wanyama wonder strike. Hearts were awarded a corner.

The ball came into the Celtic box and there was a bit of head tennis. From nowhere the ref conjured a penalty. Outrage in the stands, group hug in the press area and Scott Brown noising up the taker.

Fraser Forster had faced a fair number of penalties as a Celtic player at this point and failed to get close to any of them. This time he stayed tall, waited for the kicker and parried the ball away. He had arrived. We saw the game out,

So Farewell Then gained more ground on RFC (IL) and the rest was history. His most celebrated performances came the following season in the Champions League. For me the home game against Barca simply has no equal, but by that time his performance level was such that even in a 1 on 1 situation you felt he had a better than fighting chance. He was still well dodgy on cross balls though. As has been said in other places the story of Fraser Forster at Celtic is also the story of the coaching methods of Stevie Woods and of Forster’s exemplary attitude to training and being a professional

athlete. The difference between his first season with us and his last is night and day. He still isn’t the best with a cross ball, but his distribution is vastly improved (bizarrely it was discovered that despite kicking solely with his right foot when he arrived he was in fact naturally left footed, the upshot of that is that he is remarkable two footed for a keeper) and his concentration is superb. I think this is the factor that makes him more suited to be the number 1 for his country. England tend to dominate a lot of games and need a keeper accustomed to that, exactly the situation Forster struggled

to cope with in his first season. But his concentration was worked on, coached and he’s now a keeper to rely on. So he moves on to Southampton, which probably isn’t the level he hoped to be at having left us, but the EPL does have a surfeit of quality keepers right now and he gets to team up with a number of former Celts, so at least he will have some company if he wants to watch us in Europe this season on the TV. He leaves us with 3 league badges and 2 Scottish Cup medals. We wish him well for the future. He’ll need it if Joos Hooveld is in front of him.

LETTERS The views expressed in the letters pages are those of the individual correspondents and not necessarily the views of the editors of NTV.

no way back Dear NTV, Was there ever a bigger misjudgement of the mood of our support than Peter Lawwell’s recent PR puff piece in the tabloids?

We extend the right of reply to anyone who feels hard done by.

If big Pete is truly hankering for the team in blue (whatever they are) doing their tribute act in the Premiership as a means of restoring Celtic to rude financial health then I fear he might have a shock in store. Personally Idon’t know one solitary

e-mail: letters@ntvcelticfanzine. com

LOOKALIKES

Buckett

Pukki Dear NTV,

I wonder if any of your readers have noticed the remarkable resemblance between our out-on-loan Finnish striker Teemu Pukki and Charlie Buckett, winner of one of the golden tickets to Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. Dare I suggest that either Charlie or Teemu could well be a Celtic striker but that it would have to be, in the words of the great Mister Wonka himself, in a world of pure imagination.

Yours in confectionery appreciation, Augustus Gloop Germany

LETTERS Celtic fan (that’s the ones who actually go to the games) who hasn’t enjoyed not having our stadium polluted by sectarian filth twice a season. Whatever tribute act eventually finds its way into the top division - assuming the whole thing doesn’t finally implode once and for all - will be a pale shadow of the deceased RFC. Lawwell might discover that few of us actually have the need to pretend that they are now what they once were and that there will be no desire to see the price of our season tickets upped by £100 to include matches against them.

at the zoo then walked to the stadium. On the way I had a close encounter with several of the shaven-headed, tuneless, right-wing boneheads that drag their knuckles around following Legia. The dreary dregs of Warsaw - the ones that hadn’t already been loaded into the back of meat wagons - were proudly proclaiming their hooligan credentials while (thankfully) being kettled by dozens of

So much for our stand alone policy. Yours in a zombie-free Celtic Park, JEROME K by email no love lost Dear NTV, Having seen the Legia Warsaw supporters up close last month you’ll forgive me if I don’t shed any tears at their remarkably stupid exit from this season’s Champions League. Forced to take the car to Murrayfield I parked up

Graham Wallace and Gromit

LETTERS Lothian and Borders finest. Given the chance I would have tazered three-quarters of them right there and then. (the boneheads, not the cops).

JOHNSTONEBALLS

To make matters worse the ticket office had planted me in the section nearest to them inside the ground so that I spent most of the 90 minutes with the distinctly uncomfortable feeling that 500 or so Eastern European Nazis (the ones in the front section that were being choreographed by a fat skinhead sturmbahnfuhrer) were singling me out for their hostility. Luckily I couldn’t make out what their they were howling about, apart from when they spotted an anti-Nazi flag near us and started wailing “Fuck Antifa” while performing their own version of the - ahem - ‘red hand salute’. Not the best night I’ve ever spent in Auld Reekie, although I have to say the food stalls inside Murrayfield took me aback with the range of culinary delights on offer - “Kick Ass Fajitas” for example, a snip at £38.50. I settled for a plastic tumbler of water and a warm Irn Bru for the bhoy. 10p change from a fiver.

That’s absolutely right Jim, there’s no doubt whatsoever about that, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day it has to be said... “He (Ronny Deila)’s like a duck out of water.” GORDON DALZIEL Clyde Superscoreboard “All we are hearing from them are things that never come out.” GORDON DALZIEL Clyde “I’m not buying a season ticket because I’m not giving this board any more money. I was over at Ibrox yesterday and bought tickets for tomorrow’s match for me, my son and my friend...” SEVCO CALLER Clyde Superscoreboard “Question marks have got to be asked.” MARK BURCHILL Clyde Superscoreboard

Believe me, that was the highlight of my night. Afterwards it was clear that disaffection is growing and gathering pace. The mood was as ugly as the old Hun forward line at an ugly footballers convention. I had to buy the kids a cat so I could kick it.

“That striker couldn’t hit a barn door with a coo’s banjo.” STUART COSGROVE Radio Shortbread “The caller’s made up his mind. He’s not renewing his season ticket holder.” MARK GUIDI Clyde Superscoreboard

Hail Hail G. GARDNER by email

LETTERS Ra Peepul.

flashback Dear NTV, Brilliant to read the interview with Fegus McCann in NTV 227. thanks for the flashbacks...I’m off to have a beer to celebrate again. Great to reflect on how far the club have come and we should never forget. HH John by email

Dear NTV, Yet again another Celtic player is doing the press conference (Anthony Stokes) talking about player of the year etc is asked about dead club by the media. Instead of sticking to what he’s there to do he’s falls into the trap & comments on it and don’t the media love it.

Again if Stokes misses them that’s fine but imagine if he said “They died and I don’t miss them.” It would, as we have seen with others who air this view, result in the usual death threats and all the rest of it from

I would like to express my disappointment at the crass stupidity of former Celt Joe Miller in spoiling the launch of the Celtic Former Players Association by taking the opportunity to act as a front-man for those in the media and elsewhere who maintain the fiction that a ‘Rangers’ is needed in Scottish Football. A number of current Celtic players have in recent times been forced (I would imagine) to tack on some similar message to their public pronouncements.

resurrectionists

Now if Stokes misses them that’s his opinion but don’t be saying that some Celtic supporters don’t want to admit it. I certainly don’t miss being cheated by them or the hate filled sectarian bile when we used to play them.

Bela Logosi CSC by email

What is needed in Scottish Football is Integrity at every level. And the first move in acquiring that is to rid the SFA and SPFL administrations of the men who sold their souls to the devils that occupied the top step of the marble staircase. The last thing that is needed are fifth columnists in the ranks of other SPFL clubs helping the 4th column propagandists in their defence of corruption. if the CelticFPA is simply going to be among those who swim with the tide of corruption, I wish it anything but well. Yours etc. Long Time Subscriber by email

LETTERS and the Isle of Man, and the 4 Irish regions put forward a team each. The Irish regions that have proved so popular with rugby fans would put forward 4 regional representative sides, made up of players from the League of Ireland and Irish League. If this is not possible then 2 Irish league and 2 League of Ireland sides would take part. There would then be 24 teams in 6 groups of 4 group stage trophy. The top sides from each group qualify for the quarter final. The 4 best runner ups qualify for a qualifying round for the quarter final. The winners of the qualifying round qualify for the quarter final.

The more cup games, less league games strategy Dear NTV, OK now here is an original radical idea for the Scottish league. I know a lot of people will instinctively hate this idea because it is radical and new, but I ask you to open your minds to a new radical strategy to allow us to play new types of teams every year. League football. It is boring and repetitive. You get stuck playing the same teams every year, not doing anything while some other teams win the league. I would say the same as an Aberdeen fan if we were in a British league, as we would find our level and get stuck playing British teams of the same level. My view is league football is boring and monotonous. The same teams playing over and over again, with teams battling it out to avoid failure, or mid table mediocrity. I say the same about the Scottish and English Premier. I would like to radically cut the number of league games in the Scottish league and replace them with cross border cups, where home group games are counted as part of the home season ticket attendances. Here is my radical idea STEP ONE Increase the Premier to 16 teams, with teams playing home and away. 30 games a year for the league title. This means a cut in the number of games, each team in the premier play by 8 games. This frees up 8 weeks for new cup competitions. STEP TWO Introduce a Celtic Cup made up of the 16 Scottish Premier sides, 2 Welsh league sides, one team each from Cornwall,

Scottish teams would be forced to play their first team or face 3 points deducted in the Premier league. I would also include home group stage games as part of the season ticket sales sold with the premier league games. Also the Scottish teams would subsidise travel costs for the poorer Celtic nations. STEP THREE An Anglo Scottish cup returns. My idea is the Scottish Premier sides, that did not qualify for Europe and teams from the English League One play in a group stage cross border cup. Then in the knockout stages the Scottish teams that qualified for Europe and the winners of the group stage play in a straight knockout trophy with an annual final played at Wembley Stadium. Imagiine how great it would be for Scottish sides to play a final at the famous Wembley stadium every year. Scottish clubs that reached the final would talk of the great time they played at Wembley, in the same way Aberdeen fans talk of Gothenburg and Celtic fans talk of

LETTERS Lisbon. My reply to critics of my idea? Every year we here people suggesting that the Scottish and English leagues merge. Well look if that happened then most Scottish Premier sides of the likes of Inverness, and St Johnstone would be lucky to reach the level of the Tier 5 division the non league Conference, based on the attendances they get. So my idea would be best of both Worlds scenario where they get to keep playing in a Scottish Premier have a chance of winning national cups and get to play high standard English league one sides. Some will argue that this will not satisfy Celtic, but I disagree. An annual final at Wembley stadium would satisfy their desire to achieve something in England without giving up their competitive chances of winning the league, and qualifying for the champions league. I do not want the Scottish and English leagues to merge as my team Aberdeen would never get anywhere and it would render more than 100 years of Scottish football meaningless as the rating of a non league trophy for a league that woukd not exist anymore. Also Aberdeen would do nothing in a British league we could go 200 years without winning a national cup. I think there is no ‘Scotland only’ solution to the problems of Scottish football, we need to work together with other leagues, to play big teams from other countries and to market the Scottish league to new territories, but keep the bread and butter of league football but just have slightly less of it. Some will say there is no point in playing Irish and Welsh sides, but I totally disagree. We have a firm connection with

the Celtic nations and this would increase our audiences in the Celtic nations. I have contacted Welsh and Irish clubs and they would love a Celtic Cup. The attendances for Scottish v Irish games are big. And Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Man are beautiful countries that away fans would enjoy visiting. The fans would get something different to see and Scotland could expand its TV market to other countries that know about Scotland. I would love my team Aberdeen to get to play English League One sides every year and have a realistic chance of playing in a cup final every year. Some will say that 30 games is not enough league games, but that is rubbish. In Portugal they have a 30 game league season. In the first years of the Scottish league they played as few as 22 league games a season, but no one would argue that those league titles are meaningless. I would be willing for any cross border cup maybe Scottish Premier, English League one, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Ireland and Wales together or a cup with Belgian, Dutch and Danish teams. Just anything to change the boredom of only playing Scottish sides. How is Scottish football going to expand its audience if it is just Scottish v Scottish matches all the time? We need a change to the system now. Some people will say that some Welsh league side v Dundee is not going to bring in the crowds. But that is not what this is about. If home games are included as part of the season ticket then fans will

LETTERS Imagine the fun of a Scottish club winning a cross border trophy, for the first time since Aberdeen did in 1983.

watch the games as much as they watch present Scottish league games. What this is about is giving 1) something different to the fans 2) allowing Scottish clubs to win a cross border trophy and 3) helping the other Celtic countries, and that would be a generous thing from Scottish football and 4) There is more potential in the other Celtic nations for growth in football than there is in Scotland which is at saturation level.

Some will say that travelling to the other Cetic nations would be boring but that is rubbish. The fans in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia have far bigger travelling issues. How weak are we when we cannot even travel in our own little islands. It is not too expensive to travel around the British and Irish Isles, look how many English fans are going to Brazil. If fans can got to Brazil surely it is not too much to ask for fans to travel to the Isle of Man.

My view is of course it would be a gamble to have a Celtic Cup. It might only bring in crowds of a few hundred for the home games for the Welsh teams, but there is potential for the Irish, and Welsh to get more interested in Scottish football.

Rory Fyfe Smith by email

That could increase the TV revenue for the Scottish league and increase the chances of big clubs developing in Wales and Ireland that would be fun to play. The Irish sides are sleeping giants and the Isle of Man could be a Celtic Monaco. Imagine the fun for travelling fans to travel to other beautiful Celtic nations.

Dear NTV, I was thinking of taking the Zombies up on their offer and hiring their super EPL standard team bus for a family function. Do you think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airconditioned? I hate stuffy coaches. Yours etc. Blakey Luxton

Ed replies: By the look of things it should be a breeze.

match reports

since our last issue CLQ

KR Reykjavik

1:0

CLQ

KR Reykjavik

4:0

CLQ

Legia Warsaw

1:4

CLQ

Legia Warsaw

0:2

SPr

St Johnstone

3:0

SPr

Dundee United

6:1

CLQ

NK Maribor

1:1

SPr

Inverness CT

0:1

CLQ

NK Maribor

0:1

SPr

Dundee

1:1

Champions League Qualifying Rnd 2 Tuesday July 15th KR REYKJAVIK CELTIC 0:1 McGregor

0 1

att: 1,520 Ref: Andreas Pappas (GRE) Celtic

spr 2014-2015

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

Yellow

Home

Away

Total

spr 2013-2014

Red

Fouls

Home

Corners

Away

Offside

Total

home attendances 2014-15 (last season in brackets) Games Total Average

4 (22) 173,998 (1,097,501) 43,499 (49,886) (season 12-13 avge: 44,064)

Highest

55,415 v Maribor (58,619 v AC Milan)

Lowest

35,000 v Legia Warsaw (14,900 v Morton LC)

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 52

Atlason Saeversson

Griffiths Stokes (Pukki 74) (Boerrigter 74) Commons Mulgrew Johansen McGregor Lustig

Izaguirre Ambrose

van Dijk

Forster

Celtic took a small step towards Champions League qualification with a comfortable victory over Icelandic geysers KR Reykjavik in the Vollur Stadium, as the Ronnie Deila era got off to a winning start with the impressive Callum McGregor scoring on his debut. The 1-0 score line flattered the home side and Celtic should really have had a more emphatic victory against a team in the middle of their domestic

season. Captained by Mulgrew in the absence of Broony, Celtic dominated and Commons and Griffith showed signs of a developing partnership, with both striking the bar in either half. Commons tested the keeper repeatedly, but failed to net. At the other end Forster was rarely threatened. Even Pukki made an appearance as a sub in the new Deila team and managed a decent display, hitting the post and looking lively. However, he still looks out of place in the Hoops and not nearly sharp enough. The goal, when it eventually came, was late in the day and courtesy of a deflected shot from McGregor. It was just reward for an excellent performance. Barring a volcanic eruption, the return leg at Murrayfield looks a formality, though Celtic will have to sharpen up to meet serious opposition. A striker, even at this early juncture looks an essential requirement if we are to make any serious progress.

Champions League Qualifying Rnd 2 Wednesday July 12th CELTIC KR REYKJAVIK agg 5:0 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:0

van Dijk van Dijk Pukki Pukki

4 0

13 20 27 71

att: 39,099 Ref: Andris Treimanis (LAT) Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

Yellow

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

Pukki (Henderson 72) Griffiths (Kayal 61) McGregor Commons Mulgrew Johansen Izaguirre (Matthews 61) Ambrose

Lustig van Dijk

Forster

The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Celtic Park meant a trip to the far east for the return leg of this Champions League qualifier. KR’s best chance of a result (another eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano cancelling everything) failed to materialise and so their closing ceremony duly took place at the home of the Scottish rugby establishment.

This one was effectively over after 20 minutes and it was no re-run of the Cod War. Instead, the Icelanders were floundering when goalie Magnusson proved to be a bit of a haddie when it came to dealing with crosses. No Billy the Fish was he and he was left reeling as van Dijk had two in the back of his net to scupper the KR trawler. In front of a sizeable crowd who were appreciating the good football on offer and belting out the odd tuna two that only the hard of herring could miss, Kris Commons was having a brill opening to the game â&#x20AC;&#x201C; reminiscent of Steve Guppy at his best - and was unlucky not to make the night even more a hake of a lot worse for the Icelandic team. Van Dijk wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t to be our sole scorer on the night. Whatever ray of hope KR had was extinguished just before the half hour when Teemu Pukki piked home a Callum McGregor cross from close range. The turbotcharged Finn scored another with twenty minutes to go in the second half to make it 4:0. Eel not get an easier chance this season. At the end of the night the Celts went through, KR went trout and it was just a pity that with the Scottish Parliament just down the road neither Nicola Sturgeon nor Alex Salmon made the short trip to Murrayfield to see the game. On a very pleasant night the rest of us left the stadium to go to the barracuda for a beer and a smokie and listen to Kylie Minnow on the juke box.

Champions League Qualifying Rnd 3 Wednesday July 30th LEGIA WARSAW CELTIC 0:1 1:1 2:1 3:1 4:1

Mcgregor Radovic Radovic Zyro Kosecki

4 1

8 10 36 84 90+1

att: 22,265 Ref: Pol v. Boekel (NED) Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

3 Mulgrew Kayal Griffiths

Yellow

2 Astiz Kosecki

1 Ambrose

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

Pukki Berget (Kayal 46) McGregor (Izaguirre 63) Commons (Griffiths 75) Mulgrew Johansen

What looked as if it could be a decent night for Celtic became a nightmare, as the Hoops suffered a faster collapse than the RBS. The teams were literally poles apart (geddit), as a 10 man Celtic seemed to give up the ghost. For Deila and Collins this was a serious wake up call.

McGregor, as in the last round, opened the scoring on 8 minutes, with another slightly deflected goal. The Hoops were looking composed and McGregor tested the keeper on a number of occasions and could have put the Hoops two or three up by the break. HowMatthews ever, rank defending, a perennial favourite of Celtic in

Lustig van Dijk

Ambrose

Forster

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 62

Europe, and a soft red card for Ambrose, let Legia go in with a 2-1 lead. Amazingly, the Poles even missed twice from the penalty spot, before scoring two more in the last 10 minutes, when Celtic had seemed comfortable enough with a 2-1 score line to return to Scotland with. Only Forster, ensured this was not a cricket score, with an outstanding display between the sticks.

suitable quality. They were simply detached, played as if they were not a unit and not understanding the managers tactics. However, Legia were no great shakes either, and their defensc was as shaky as Celtic’s, but they made Celtic look like they were playing in the Ramsdens’ Cup along with the Orcs and not the Champions league. Klaxons must be sounding in the boardroom already. Failure to spend may hamstring Deila before the league season begins.

While overturning this with a 3-0 win at Murrayfield is possible, it looks unlikely. The team were tactically ‘all at sea’, had no leader on the park, or a striker of

Champions League Qualifying Rnd 3 Wednesday August 6th CELTIC LEGIA WARSAW Celtic awarded 3:0 agg 4:4 0:1 Zyro 0:2 Kucharczyk

0 2

36 61

att: 35,000 Ref: Mazzoleni (ITA) Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

2 van Dijk Johansen

Yellow

1 Radovic

Fouls

Corners

Offside

Stokes (Forrest 70) Commons (Pukki 71)

McGregor

Mulgrew

Bitton Johansen

Izaguirre Lustig van Dijk (Griffiths 57)

Matthews

Forster

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 64

pity sake just see the last 5 minutes out, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t chase the game, 2-1 is a decent target to hit!) set the tone a bit, we were always up against it, especially with suspensions and injuries robbing us of several key players, but from minute 1 we were flat, their keeper had nothing of note to deal with, even our set plays were poor.

I missed the first Murrayfield game and

wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be in any raging panic to return after this evening of misery. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not blaming the venue for our insipid and directionless performance, but atmosphere wise this evening was as poor as I can remember. Obviously the fact of our ridiculous collapse in the first leg (for

The first goal was a break away that caught out Izaguirre, basically that ended the tie, it also significantly impacted the atmosphere in the ground, the two main targets for the ire were Polish fans who were sitting in the home end and of course Peter Lawell. The main complaints against Lawell were that either he had failed to support the manager financially (which simply cannot be backed up with facts; last season Lennon wasted a total of £6m on Pukki, Balde and Boerigter, he trusted the football dept that these guys were worth the outlay and guess what? They weren’t, but if he didn’t sign them off then that would be failing to back his manager). The other was that gets paid too much. The second half amounted to nothing, they scored a second, literally walking around of defence to do so and that appeared to be that.

unspectacular change which turned out to be our saving grace because on the face of this performance you wouldn’t want to spend too much betting on us to survive a Europa League qualifier. Incredibly they put on a player who was still serving a suspension, better yet the player knew it and had told his manager and several club officials about this before the game. Stupid doesn’t do this justice. So we have a reprieve, European football guaranteed until December, in Warsaw we are the bad guys, even though it was nothing to do with us, it’s up to us to make the most of it. Peter Lawell has a reprieve thanks to the quality of his paper work, a new signing before the next qualifier would help rebuild his reputation as well.

With a couple of minutes to go they made an

A flattering 3-0 win to open the league campaign with, couldn’t help disguise the early failings in Celtic under Ronny Deila, especially in the aftermath of the Warsaw debacle.

Scottish Premiership Match 1 wednesday August 13th st johnstone celtic 0:1 stokes 0:2 biton 0:3 mcgregor

The team look disjointed, though the introduction of Craig Gordon in the starting XI, after the departure of Forster, may be a real shrewd piece of business if he can stay fit. His performance was exemplary and he did well to save from McLean in an opening period that Celtic had dominated without scoring.

0 3

55 76 pen 84

The nearest the Hoops came to scoring was at the death of the first half when Stokes fired a free kick narrowly wide. It was Stokes who broke the deadlock, however, in the second 45, when Anderson was robbed of the ball by Commons, who sent Stokes through to finish from a tight angle.

att: 44,484 MIB: C Thomson Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

1 Johansen

Yellow

2 W’spoon Mackay

Red

1 Mackay

Fouls

Corners

Mackay then had a claim for a penalty as the Saints pressed for an equaliser, but MIB Beaton rightly judged that van Dijk ‘s tackle was legal. Shortly after, Mackay was red carded for a trip on substitute Boerrigter, which was a travesty, as the Dutchman swan-dived with minimal contact. Bitton netted the spot kick to make it 2-0. A Boerrigter free kick came close to making it 3-0, but for a fine save from Manus, before the keeper spilled a McGregor drive into his own net.

Offside

This was a welcome win, but Celtic need a rocket up the Khyber and a striker quickly, if we are to get a European lifeline and progress as a team.

Stokes (Kayal 73) Commons (Berget 66) Forrest McGregor (Boerrigter 58) Bitton Johansen Izaguirre Matthews Lustig van Dijk

Refwatch:

Gordon

Ah, is this what the new manager has in mind? High tempo pressing opponents high up the pitch, forcing them into errors and so on.

Scottish Premiership Match 2 Saturday August 16th CELTIC DUNDEE UNITED 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:0 5:0 5:1 6:1

Denayer Commons Johansen Stokes Berget Rankin Berget

Great if the opponent falls for it, but without wishing to pull down the tent there are a couple of obvious observations that can be made even after such an emphatic win.

6 1

4 27 34 54 62 71 90+1

The first is that we won’t get away with playing without a forward line very often. Stokes was pretty much nowhere today. He simply didn’t really fit in to what was being tried. The second is that we really have to look at the situation with Charlie Mulgrew. He was a catastrophic presence in Warsaw, directly responsible for a couple of the goals and today he was caught in possession, rescued only by a superb Gordon save. He’s not quick enough for the central midfield, not secure enough for central defence, not fast enough for full back... hell he doesn’t even take many set pieces now,. But he’s got the captain’s arm band which almost makes him undroppable, not good.

att: 44,484 MIB: C Thomson Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

Yellow

3 Paton Morris Fojut

Red

Fouls

Corners

A third is that cannier teams than United will draw us out and hit us on the counter with relative ease until we can settle into the new formation. Recently Louis Van Gaal was asked about how he thought things would go for him this year. His reply was that both in Spain and in Germany it took him 3 months before the squad fully understood his ideas. Both times the teams were in 7th place in November, but both times he won the Championship.

Stokes (Griffiths 70) Commons Berget

McGregor (Forrest 69)

Mulgrew Johansen (Kayal 46) Izaguirre Ambrose Denayer van Dijk Gordon

Our new manager is bringing in a completely different style of play to the club and inevitably that will result in a certain disjointedness in some games and as we saw today it can even surface during emphatic wins because we could/ should have been a goal down before we took the lead.

The second half was largely a re-run. United again had an early chance, but new ‘keeper Craig Gordon produced a great save. I’m still not fully adjusted to seeing him in a Celtic top, but I’ll get there.

But for now let’s just enjoy the fact that this was a welcome example of what Deila wants to do at Celtic Park. Prior to the game we had the most welcome sight of Fergus McCann performing the league flag duties to a great reception. It was nice to have given him a full stadium of appreciation.

Stokes got a goal from a free kick cross that was dummied in although Mulgrew claimed he got a touch.

Meanwhile on the pitch new bhoy Denayer picked up his first Celtic goal after some comedy defending, although prior to that, bright young thing McGregor had rattled the post as the team started with some real urgency.

The largely ineffectual Berget got the fifth a well worked corner. United pulled one back thanks to a deflection and to round things off Berget grabbed another. But in the build up to that Forrest pulled up injured having injured his hamstring yet again. Most frustrating because he had looked pretty good when he came on and his kind of player is a natural in this formation.

The second goal arrived when United fell for a near post set piece and allowed Commons to head in. Stephan Johansen netted the third having pressurised the United backline in giving up possession. At this stage we were barely out of the first half hour and before half time Berget nearly uprooted the posts and had hit a shot off the bar (although he was clear through and should have scored).

So it was a very welcome win with a few decent performances, but it would not be wise to read too much into this. We are still very much a work in progress and certain problems will not be solved with the current playing staff - specifically the forward line needs serious work.

restored some pride with a composed draw in Slovenia. This at least masked what must be red faces from the performance in the last round and the get out of jail free provided with hugs and kisses by Marta Ostrowska.

Champions League Play Off Round Wednesday August 20th NK MARIBOR CELTIC 0:1 McGregor 1:1 Bohar

1 1

Yet another goal from young Callum McGregor, his third of this qualifying campaign saw Celtic take an early lead. Berget had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Handanovic, only for it to fall to the lurking McGregor to drive the ball into the net.

6 14

At this point Celtic were looking solid and much less frail in the face of counter-attacks than against Legia, but it didn’t take Maribor long to shit in the Sieve’s swimming pool.

att: 11,400 Ref: Kralovec (CZE) Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

2 Mcgregor Lustig

Yellow

1 Filipovic

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

The Celtic back four, as jittery as Boy George at a Ku Klux Klan convention, were easily panicked. While Denayer and van Dijk look

Stokes (Griffiths 80) Kayal (Bitton 87) McGregor Berget (Ambrose 73) Mulgrew Johansen Izaguirre Denayer van Dijk

Lustig

Gordon

After the embarrassment of the Legia Warsaw debacle and the near annual humiliation of Celtic away from home in Europe, the Hoops

a promising partnership, they parted in a fashion that Moses would have recognised instantly when faced with a simple through ball on the ground, allowing Maribor to equallise. Amazingly, the Hoops didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fold and should have been in front at the close of the half. First Mulgrew had a header cleared off the line, then a Van Dijk header bounced off Johansenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face, stopping a certain goal. A real bonus from this game was the form of

Craig Gordon in goal. If we can keep him fit he is a real bargain. Time and again he denied Stojanovic and Ibraimi and in the dying minutes he made a spectacular stop from a 30 yard pile driver from Ibraimi that looked certain to burst the net. Celtic will be pleased with this draw, but they missed so many chances. Van Dijk was unlucky with a long range effort that tested Handanovic, while Johnasen stumbled with the ball when clean through on goal. Kayal

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 72

though, was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, but the Czech ref turned down a good claim. This result puts Celtic in the driving seat for qualification, but they will need more teeth up front, where the strikers look less than capable at this level and the defensce looks like a bunch of giggling school girls flirting with the school football team.

Celtic were profligate in front of goal. Time and again carving out openings, only to see Dean Brill save. Commons and Griffith, who seem to have some understanding were left frustrated by the keeper every time they cut through the home defense, though poor finishing added to this. Ambrose and Bitton were unlucky with rasping drives, that Brill either tipped over or was rescued by the wood work.

Scottish Premiership Match 3 Saturday August 23rd INVERNESS CT CELTIC 1:0 O’Connell

1 0

65 o.g.

Pukki was miserable yet again in the first 45, bungling an easy double chance and was replaced at half time. He is bereft of confidence and looks likely not to regain it anytime soon. Inverness were denied a good penalty claim on 27 minutes as Christie was tumbled by Mulgrew in the box. MIB Bobby Madden dismissed the claim and the Hoops broke upfield for Commons to force a save from Brill.

att: 5,862 MIB: Madden Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

Yellow

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

The second 45 was a stale affair, with Celtic failing to net a string of chances. Thistle then broke and forced Zaluska into a brave stop, only to see the ball rebound off the recovering O’Connell and into the net. It could have been 2-0, but for a magnificent one-handed stop by Zaluska, as Ross thought he had scored after the Sieve were posted missing.

Pukki Griffiths (McGregor 46) (Stokes 68) Commons

Twardzik McGeouch (Johansen 46) Henderson Bitton Mulgrew

O’Connell Ambrose Zaluska

A Celtic team fielding 10 changes in line up from the starting 11 against Maribor in midweek, fell to an O’Connell own goal against a spirited Inverness. This was Thistle’s their first win at home over Celtic since May 2011, and a little cruel.

Deila must be as bemused as the travelling support. Too many changes and too little cutting edge up front. Resting the first 11 was wise in advance of the Champions League, but Celtic should always have enough in reserve to cope comfortably with the SPL. Hopefully this is just a bedding in period for Deila and Collins and things will get better.

Champions League Play Off Round Tuesday August 26th CELTIC NK MARIBOR 0:1 Tavares

0 1 6

att: 55,415 Ref: Kassai (HUN) Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

3 Commons v Dijk B’rigter

Yellow

4 Suler Raijcevic Stojanovic Tavares

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

There’s a lot you could say about this situation but the most obvious thing is we should have won the first game 3-1. It was our failure to do that which has cost us and of course can you imagine what would have happened it had we got through and pulled the group Maribor got?

Stokes Kayal McGregor Berget (Commons 46) (Matthews 66) Mulgrew Johansen

However that doesn’t mean there aren’t other factors. Of the new players, only playing Berget was a baffling decision from the manager. What did Denayer do to deserve a place on the bench? Why are we still playing without a

Lustig (Boerrigter 72) Ambrose van Dijk

Izaguirre

Gordon

forward line? What’s the story with Tonev? And of course WTF if Deila felt that Boerritger was the best option towards the end when we were chasing the tie! We looked nervous from the first whistle. McGregor was the only one with any real

confidence to him. Berget was chosen in preference to Commons and was frankly a disaster. Any time he got the ball he simply stood still. I know it’s early days but this guy is simply not a player. We were a man down with him on the pitch.

player. Prior to that McGregor had hit the bar. After that they withdrew and looked pretty comfortable until Virgil was sent forward, which was a tactic that might have paid off had the big Dutchman taken the chance that fell to him. Unfortunately he fluffed his lines and hit the ball straight at the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;keeper.

We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as poor as we were against Warsaw, but the lack of forward line means we have no out ball, no one holding the ball up and bringing the midfield into the game and of course no cutting edge. The goal was a result of a missed clearance by Izaguirre which fell nicely for the Maribor

Afterwards all the press could say was that Virgil would be looking to leave now that there was no Champions League. Was it just me that couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help thinking; yeah thanks to his miss!! The post mortem for this will go for some time. The end of the transfer window will also dictate the mood for the season ahead, some of it will

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 80

be ugly, some of it will be insane and there will be knees jerking all over the place, as evidence of that there was a demonstration outside the ground after this, which to me sounds incredible. With the current state of European football, the money involved and the timing of these games there was always a good chance that we would be facing these games with the squad that finished last season minus Sammy. If that

squad didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough depth then there is indeed only one man to blame. And he resigned a few months ago.

On the back of a Champions League elimination the last thing you want to do is lose an early goal. The one we conceded at Dens was the fastest in the SPFL this season and it set the tone for a very uncomfortable afternoon at the home of jute, jam and journalism. Hope the jam’s still nice.

the net.

It came about as a result of corner kick awarded just after the kick-off. James McPake won the header and we looked on in disbelief as McGregor made a hash of the clearance on the post and the ball ended up in

Roberts, in particular, was making a real nuisance of himself and came close to doubling Dundee’s lead when he hit the post after 20 minutes.

After that shaky start things went downhill for most of the first half. The Celtic defence looked shambolic and Dundee were creating havoc every time they launched an assault down the left wing.

Scottish Premiership Match 4 Sunday August 31st DUNDEE CELTIC 1:0 1:1

McPake Griffiths

1 1

1 55

att: 9,276 MIB: Thomson Celtic

Opp

Poss %

On Target

Off Target

2 Izaguirre Kayal

Yellow

1 Irvine

Red

Fouls

Corners

Offside

Stokes Commons McGregor Berget (Griffiths 41) Kayal Johansen (Bitton 71) Izaguirre Matthews (Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell 46) Denayer Ambrose Gordon

Ron the Manager’s response to the mayhem was to replace Berget (which came as a surprise since few realised he was actually on the pitch he was so ineffectual) with Leigh Griffiths just before half-time. It would turn out to be a very prescient substitution as it turned out.

moved to right back.

The Hoops reappeared for the second period with Eioghan O’Connell on for Matthews and Ambrose

But for all we were trying everything to get the winner – and came close a couple of times – Dundee were

At least there was a bit more attacking intent from Celtic in the second half and they got their reward when a Griffiths shot was deflected into the home side’s net for the equaliser.

still a real threat on the break. When the dust settled it looked as if Paul Hartley had predicted how Ronny Deila would set up and simply matched up and made sure his players went at things aggressively. The home side, having been presented with an absolute gift of a goal, then proceeded to counterattack as Celticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high pressing game became increasingly frantic towards the end. And so to a timely two week break: a chance to regroup after a torrid start to the season and bed in a few new players. It has come at the right moment.

amnesia lane

UEFA Cup 2003

amnesia lane

UEFA Cup 2003

Season 2002-03 featured a European campaign that started out with the disappointment of a Champions League failure against FC Basel but end as one the most memorable in Celticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history. All together now... Was it really ten years ago? (More like eleven now - speed things up a bit. ed)

amnesia lane

UEFA Cup 2003

â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 92

amnesia lane

UEFA Cup 2003 stadio do bessa

boavista celtic larsson

0 1

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celtic win 1:0 on aggregate

This was probably the worst game most of us have ever sat through in all our years of watching Celtic, yet arguably the best result weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to celebrate since Lisbon. A truly magnificent achievement as Celtic, a team from the much-

derided Scottish League, reached a European final after an absence of over thirty years. The silence from the Death Star was deafening and the smiles on our faces were as broad as Belfast Lough.

No doubt about it, this result enshrined Martin O’Neill and Henrik Larsson as Titans in the Celtic Pantheon and immortality beckoned for the rest of the squad as the silverware lay tantalisingly in wait. As for the SPL trophy – did we really care? We just asked ourselves when the last time was that a Scottish team was in a European final.

As a football spectacle it was shoddy fare. Boavista looked content to hold Celtic to a nil-nil draw and go through on away goals. They offered nothing, they threatened the Celtic goal rarely and they displayed most of the worst aspects of European gamesmanship: spare match balls disappeared in order to waste a few seconds of precious time and their players were diving around as if they were

auditioning for the role of Greg Luganis in the forthcoming movie “Diving Miss Divers”. Cynical fouls and an assortment of spoiling tactics were the order of the evening. Celtic, for their part, looked as if they had stage fright, but at least the players manfully tried to carry the game to the home side.

Chances, though, were as rare as hens’ teeth, with Henrik Larsson fluffing Celtic’s only appreciable scoring opportunity of the first half. One of the more worrying aspects of how the game was developing was the early loss of Lambert after half an hour. Nevertheless, his replacement, Chris Sutton, with wrist still

strapped up, plugged the gap superbly.

Postscript

The second period saw much of the same, with Boavista content to let Celtic come forward, which they did in waves (after wave after wave etc.) but without showing enough creativity to breach the home defence.

Only two days after the triumph in Oporto Celtic had to face a rested Rangers (they still existed back then) smug in the knowledge that they had lobbied for the game to go ahead after such a short interval. the Hoops had dropped points at Dens Park and Tynecastle during the month of April having taken the lead in both games. The latter was an especially hard one to take with Neil McCann scoring the winner in the last minute to send us home pointless and leaving us with no option but a win at Ibrox if the league flag was to be retained.TFOD were looking forward to a relatively easy game against what would inevitably be a tired Celtic team. Hacks were in overdrive, salivating at the thought of their beloved Orcs pulling further ahead in the title race.

Martin Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill then made a switch, taking off the toiling Valgaeren and replacing him with Jamie Smith. It worked. Come the 78 minute mark the Celtic world erupted. A Sutton knock-on found Hartson who drew three defenders, leaving Larsson free near the penalty box. The ball was slipped to Henke who evaded a posse of onrushing opponents to wrong-foot the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;keeper and shoot home. The Stadio Do Bessa exploded. The joy cascaded from the precipitous slopes of the stands as thirty years of Ibrox-induced repression, tabloid put-downs and SFA chicanery were kicked into touch. The remaining fifteen minutes stretched nerves as tight as banjo strings as heart-rates soared and Celts everywhere sobered up in an instant. Boavista immediately changed their tune. Spare match balls were appearing from all corners of the pitch in such abundance that it looked as if a branch of JD Sports had just opened on the building site behind the Boavista stadium and were giving them away for free. Chequered clad players who had hitherto been rolling around in agonised spasms at the merest hint of a touch snapped back to life after crunching tackles that would have felled Jonah Lomu. Even Billy Graham would have been impressed at this moving display of mass healing.

But the Hoops had other ideas. The Seville party had started early. Passports, lilos, comedy sunglasses, beachballs, sombreros and some outlandish beachwear had all made their way to Govan, all lashed down with copious amounts of Monklands Sangria. The players, still on a high from the Thursday night game, stood around waiting to kick-off for the live TV cameras as the stewards grimly set about their task of clearing the party detritus looking like the proverbial bulldogs chewing on wasps; then they set about blowing the Cat in the Hatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s litter tray XI with a controlled display of mature football. The signs of tiredness were still there, though, with Larsson constantly fumbling and sticking the ball under his feet and Rab Douglas clearly feeling the effects of a midweek thigh strain. But even the replacement of Douglas with Sanchez Broto early in the game made no difference to the performance. Celtic had the cloven hooves in their collective back pocket.

All to no avail. Celtic were in control and heading for Seville. On the final whistle the passports were being double-checked and the shades were being polished as Party Time 2003 got into full swing.

No one was more immense than Bobo Balde, who left de Boer flailing like one of those old

Dutch rag dolls with every meaty challenge. The goals were a dream. The first came from the penalty spot after Lorenzo Amadiddy did what he did best â&#x20AC;&#x201C; make a diddy of himself with a body check on John Hartson inside the box when it was easier to foul him outside it. Alan

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Thompson duly sent Klos the wrong way as Amadiddy gaped on inanely drooling saliva from his open maw. The second saw Agathe skin Academy Award nominee Peter Lovelypants then deliver

watching Klos fumble for a ball that had come off the post. He hadn’t a clue – and he was the most composed of the Rangers players on the pitch that afternoon.

a cutback which Henke backheeled towards Hartson with a sublime touch. The little trick was enough to bewilder the brawny brutes in the Broxy box giving Big Bad John the space to score number two.

The second half was just as entertaining, even though de Boer pulled one back. Broto was rarely troubled and spent a leisurely hour listening to the Celtic karaoke as O’Neill’s men happily marauded upfield on their frequent counter-attacks. Larsson could easily have made it three but for a spawny save by Klos.

TFOD were in disarray. The Hoops partied and the Kinning Park Scurvey Crew were in despair. It was a joy to behold. A personal highlight was

The Gers just couldn’t raise their game high enough. Celtic seemed to have discovered a new source of oxygen as the match wore on and they found renewed energy for their tired legs. The Cat’s Litter Tray XI had simply spluttered their way through the 90 minutes. As 2:1 wins against them went, this was one of the easier ones. Seville beckoned.

amnesia league 2001 amnesia lane lane champs UEFA Cup 2003

Larsson has the Guardian 25 April 2003

By Jon Brodkin

goals.

There cannot have been a drop of port left in Oporto last night as Celtic supporters celebrated a victory which has taken their team to their first European final since 1970. Not for the first time Henrik Larsson was the toast after the Swede ended the frustration for Martin O’Neill’s side by scoring an unlikely winner which has set up a meeting with Porto in Seville on May 21.

That sole, early opportunity fell to Larsson, who looked certain to be cast in a rare role as villain after also missing a penalty in the first leg. He more than compensated by striking with a timeliness which will heighten his already legendary status among the fans at Parkhead. In Portugal, where Celtic won the 1967 European Cup, the club had another famous win to enjoy.

Until Larsson’s 80thminute goal it seemed Celtic would suffer for the lack of creativity which had prevented them creating more than a single chance, faced by an unadventurous Boavista, who had known a 0-0 draw would see them through on away

If Celtic had not shown enough spark to merit victory fully, there could be no sympathy for Boavista, whose negative gameplan unravelled at a point at which they had too little time to respond. Advertisement One moment of opportunism by Larsson ensured Celtic’s ordi-

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nary performance will be forgotten. O’Neill’s players had lacked invention but Larsson can compensate for this. There was an element of luck in his goal because the chance fell after an attempted Boavista interception, but the striker had made his own fortune by driving at the defence and hitting the pass towards John Hartson which fell back into his path. His finish from 10 yards was unerring. “He’s scored a number of crucial goals for us without a doubt,” O’Neill said, “but you can’t get any more crucial than getting us into the final. I’m delighted for him but I’m delighted for the whole team and the club itself. “Obviously I was concerned because I was hoping that we would create more chances and

amnesia lane

UEFA Cup 2003

e final word we spurned one in the first half. I always felt we could get a goal, but time was running out.” Celtic, of course, have made a habit during this cup run of prevailing away when many expected them to fall down. If the result lives long in the memory of Celtic followers, this untidy match will not. It was a poor spectacle as Boavista showed little inclination to support their strikers and Celtic laboured to break down opponents who pulled plenty of bodies behind the ball. Boavista had the physical capacity to harry in midfield and deal with the aerial threat of Hartson and the substitute Chris Sutton, and Celtic were short of ideas and penetration in their passing. The wing-backs, Didier Agathe and Alan Thompson,

offered little going forward down the flanks and Stilian Petrov could not find the spark Celtic might have wanted from him on such a night. Though Celtic were hardly under intense pressure they were occasionally threatened by breaks down the flanks and twice might have fallen behind. Robert Douglas saved well from Silva’s header as half-time approached and the goalkeeper was happy to see the same player head wide of almost open net near the hour after palming a cross into the Brazilian’s path. Reprieved by that, Celtic still looked unlikely to score until Larsson struck and they survived the inevitable late onslaught. O’Neill, who played in the European Cup final for Nottingham Forest, was as close as he is ever likely to get to being lost for words.

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“It genuinely has not sunk in,” he said. “I’m not myself at the moment.” But he could look forward to the final against Porto, who came through after a 0-0 draw at Lazio. “Over the two legs I think we deserved to win,” he said. “Porto are different. We played them last year in the Champions League. We won at Celtic and lost heavily to them here. I think Porto, having beaten Lazio, will be favourites. But we have been written off a few times in the past.”

Minute by Minute Relive the Boavista game as reported by Barry Glendinning in the Guardian live as it happened that night

Preamble The teams emerge from the tunnel. Boavista are dressed in a sort of black and white check chessboard number, while Celtic have opted for their mustard and green away ensemble. Chris Sutton is on the bench for Celtic, having returned from injury after breaking his wrist in mid-March. Celtic have made it difficult for themselves tonight, what with Joos Valgaeren’s own goal and Henrik Larsson’s missed penalty in the first leg at Celtic Park. However, Boavista are no great shakes (they’ve won seven out of 28 league games so far this season) so the Scottish champions should be well capable of beating them out the gate. A scoreless draw will see Boavista through to the final, while a 1-1 draw would result in extra time and possibly penalties. Any other score will produce a winner. 1 min: Valentin Ivanov from Russia blows his shiny whistle and Boavista kick off playing from right to left. Almost immediately, Alan Thompson gets a knock on the leg. He’s okay. 3 mins: The early exchanges suggest that Manchester United v Real Madrid this is not. Both teams are fannying around in midfield, probing like ... eh, something that probes a lot. A probe, perhaps. Very dull so far, but it is early doors. 5 mins: Hartson does his trademark chest-the-ball-down-hold-it-up-and-then-lay-it-offto-someone on the edge of the box. By the time I’ve inserted all those hyphens, the ball has been cleared and I’ve forgotten who he laid it off to. 7 mins: Celtic are having the better of things so far, but judging by the quality of play that’s like saying they’re the tallest Pygmies in the village. 8 mins: A long ball into the big Boavista box finds its way to Larsson on the edge of the small Boavista box. (Hope that technical terminology isn’t too complex for you. Try to

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keep up.) He wriggles his hips like a superfly pimp at a 70s disco and snakes his way between Messrs Avalos and Silveira, but doesn’t get decent contact on the ball. Wide. 10 mins: Mjallby wellies a long ball from the edge of his own box to that of the Boavista box. Hartson leaps to attempt a knock-down but it’s too high. 11 mins: Hartson wins a free-kick after a Boavista defender, identity unknown, attempts to rip the shirt off his back. Doesn’t the Boavista player realise that that shirt is the only thing standing between the Welshman’s enormous gut and an unsuspecting public? It’s before the watershed after all, so there could be children watching. The free-kick is taken just inside the Boavista half and floated into the box. Ricardo rushes from his goal and holds it well. 14 mins: “I don’t consider myself lazy but do you think the Guardian could make it so this page refreshes automatically for future matches? Okay, maybe I’m lazy,” says Emmett Williams in New York City. Yes you are Emmett. You’re lazy as sin. You could have refreshed the page 10 times in the time it took you to wrtie that whiney email. Shame on you. 16 mins: There’s a couple of minutes of nothingness after Paul Lambert and Elpidio Silva go down in a heap after clattering into each other. After treatment, they both seem okay.

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Celtic win a free-kick which Thompson wellies into the box. Balde wins the header and nods it down to Petrov, who attempts a shot from the edge of the area. It’s blocked down. 18 mins: Luis Pedrosa concedes a free-kick about 40 yards out from the Boavista goal for trying to - there’s really no other way of describing this - mount John Hartson. And I don’t mean in the taxidermy sense of the word. Thompson’s delivery into the box is poor and another free-kick in a good position goes to waste. A goal for either side would really give this match the kick up the backside it’s crying out for at the moment. 21 mins: Boavista win a free-kick a similar distance out at the far end. Pedrosa goes for goal and hits the ball ridiculously wide. On BBC, Mark Lawrenson correctly describes his effort as “a bit Hollywood”. 22 mins: An ignorant Yank writes: “As an ignorant Yank, I may sound hopelessly naive, but do Celtic actually have any Scotsmen in their side?” enquires Tracey Mohr. Don’t worry Tracey, you’re not ignorant or naive. Well, at least not compared to the queries of some of our other American correspondents (An example from last night: “Why isn’t soccer better than the NFL Draft?”). Anyway, to answer your question: there are two Scotsman on the Celtic team: Rab Douglas (goalkeeper) and Paul Lambert (midfielder). Also Neil Lennon (Northern Ireland) has red hair, which sort of makes him Scottish. John Hartson (Wales), on the other hand, doesn’t have any hair, but the stuff that used to grow out of his head was red. That lends him a certain air of Scottishness too. Luis Poedrosa shoots from distance for Boavista. Wide as a ditch. This game is very, very dull. 29 mins: Celtic are definitely having the better of this all over the field, but still don’t look like scoring anytime soon. You get the impression that if they could just get one then the floodgates would open. Why don’t they just pretend they’re playing Dunfermline? 31 mins: Paul Lambert goes off injured and is replaced by Chris Sutton. Meanwhile, a man called Daithi has sent me a very long-winded email voicing his irritation over a misplaced apostrophe (now corrected) on my part. A literary abberation, I know, but I am trying to type at 100mph here. That must be why I love it so much when pedantic spods write in to point out my typographical errors. Get a life man. Go out and meet some girls. And not ones that live inside your computer monitor! This game is excruciating. It’s like watching myself play Pro Evolution Soccer II on PlayStation: I win the ball ... I give it away ... I run like an eejit and eventually win it back ... then I give it away again. Incidentally, if there’s anyone at Nintendo reading this, I’d appreciate lots of free stuff for that blatant bit of product placement. 38 mins: Chris Sutton appeals for a penalty after being clambered all over in the Boavista box. The referee is having none of it. 40 mins: Erivan goes down like a sack of potatoes under a challenge from Chris Sutton

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just outside the Boavista box. Free-kick for the Portuguese. Celtic’s delivery into the final third is really letting them down tonight. 41 mins: In an effort to alleviate the tedium, Danel Reilly has very kindly sent in this. Apparently it’s a picture of a monkey riding a dog at a rodeo. I haven’t had time to check it, so I hope that’s all he’s doing. Otherwise I’ll be sacked for disseminating animal porn. Boavista almost score after Martelinho pelts down the right wing and crosses. Pedrosa gets his head to it and brings a smart save out of Rab Douglas. 45 mins: Well, hats off to Daniel Reilly, whose dog/monkey maybe-porn present contrived to freeze my computer for three minutes. Never mind, you missed nothing. This is a dreadful game. Celtic are by far and away the better team and will only have themselves to blame if they don’t nick a goal in the second half and proceed to the final. They should be tonking this swarthy continental rabble. Half-time Half-time pedantry: “’Hartson leaps to attempt a knock-down’ Barry, I am very disappointed that you were not more descriptive of Hartson’s leap. It is not like you to miss an opportunity like that. Did he leap like a salmon? Like a beached whale? I think we should be told,” writes Seamus Darby from Tewksbury Massachusetts. Yerra, I’m tired Seamus. But I’m also intrigued. Are you by any chance the same Seamus Darby who came on as a substitute in the 1982 All Ireland Gaelic Football final and scored the injury-time winning goal that won the Sam Maguire Cup for Offaly, in the process stopping Kerry winning an unprecedented five-in-a-row? If you are, you’re a prince amongst men. Even if you’re not, rest assured that you’ll always be welcome in Offaly with a name like that. 46 mins: Celtic get the second half underway. Or was it Boavista? I could scroll down and check by seeing who got the first half under way, but does anyone really care? 47 mins: Hartson attempts to release Larsson with a header into the box, but it’s too close to the goalkeeper and Ricardo gets down to smother it. 48 mins: Celtic’s players must have something better to do on the night of the Uefa Cup final, because they’re making no huge effort to win this match. “Barry, how come there is no picture today?” enquires Paul McDevitt, in Toronto. Okay Paul, just for you, here’s a nice picture of a Mountie. Never let it be said that there’s no place for lazy national stereotypes on this site. 51 mins: A through-ball from a Boavista midfielder finds it’s way to Valgaeren who beats Santos to the ball just outside the Celtic box. He passes to Thompson who makes a hash of his clearance. Like a wedding where too much drink has been taken and the bride’s just

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found out that the groom’s been sleeping with her sister, this is getting very messy. 53 mins: Valgaeren gives the ball away in midfield, wins it back and then gives it away again. Throw another couple of sisters, a drunk uncle and a bridesmaid or two into the scenario above and you’ll have some idea of what this match is like. John Hartson is going berserk with his team-mates over the poor quality of delivery he’s getting. it’s fair to say that he’s one beast you don’t want to rile. 56 mins: “Barry, your text commentary always amuses me: perhaps we can be friends and share some really good times together. Just let me know,” writes a man we will call Joe M, for that is his name. Eh, Joe, it’s very kind of you to say that, but I’m afraid I have enough friends. I’ll put you on my waiting list and get back to you if any of them die. Now, will somebody PLEASE score a goal. 58 mins: Elpidio Silvo misses the best chance of the match by far. After Rab Douglas had tipped away a cross from the right, he dived and connected with the ball, but his header went wide of Johan Mjallby’s leg. A dreadful miss and a big, big let-off for Celtic. 61 mins: Joos Valgaeren gets booked. As is customary in such situations, I have no idea why. After 60 minutes, Celtic have had one shot on goal. One! And you can take it from me, Boavista are no Real Madrid. 63 mins: Kerryman Philip Healey writes, while I hang my head in shame at a shocking error (now corrected) in my half-time pedantry section: “The Sam McCarthy Cup? What about the Jules Ryan Cup or the prestigious Charity Badge? I suppose being from Offaly you wouldn’t have much contact with the ole Sam Maguire, so don’t worry about it.” What can I tell ya Philip - it was a typographical error.! It is, of course, the Sam Maguire Cup. Now come on Celtic - let’s see if you can’t win this semi-final and book your berth in the 2003 Worthington Cup final. 67 mins: Petrov pelts down the right flank and attempts a cross. There’s nobody in a Celtic shirt anywhere near him. Hopeless. Luiz Claudio comes on for Boavista, replacing Elpidio Silva. That’s a great idea. Take off the only player on the field that’s given the impression he knows what a goal is. 69 mins: Martelinho crosses from the right, but Rab Douglas claims well. He throws it out and Sutton is fouled by Anunciacao. The delivery into the box is good and Boavista’s defenders panic. After pinging around the box briefly, the ball rolls in the direction of Thompson who shoots well. His effort is deflected over the bar for a corner which Boavista clear. 72 mins: “Why do you give John Hartson such a hard time always?” enquires Tony Gib-

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son. “It’s not his fault that he is a horizontally, facially and folically challenged.” I’ll have to beg to differ with you there Tony. I think Mr Hartson’s pretty good ... for a horizontally, facially and folically challenged bloke. He’s certainly some man to trap a ball on his chest. Larsson is fouled on the left wing and Petrov’s free-kick is woeful. Celtic have 15 minutes to redeem themselves, but the way they’re playing at the moment I’d say they could keep going until midnight and still not get a sniff of a goal.

76 mins: Duda ambles up the left wing for Boavista. He gives the ball away. Celtic counter. They give the ball away. Usually when you type things in short sentences like that, it makes them sound exciting. But this. Is. The exception. To the. Rule. 80 mins: GOAL! Boavista 0 - 1 Celtic (Agg:1-2) My anti-Nostradamus qualities come to Celtic’s rescue. Having given up on his team-mates, Henrik Larsson - who else? - makes and scores one himself. A surge into the Boavista box took him between two statuesque defenders and he thumped the ball past Ricardo, who flapped at it as it went past him into the net. A good strike, but a soft goal from a Boavista point of view. One of the defenders should have put a stop to Larsson’s gallop, and the goalkeeper should have kept it out if he didn’t have rubber wrists. 81 mins: As things stand, Celtic will be meeting Porto in the final in Seville in May. They are holding Lazio in Rome after tonking them in the first leg. Yuri replaces Pedrosa on the Boavista team. 85 mins: Johan Mjallby concedes a free on the left hand side of the Celtic box. It’s swung in and Rab Douglas punches clear instead of catching it. Meanwhile, Brian Potter, who may or may not be the same Brian Potter who owns the Phoenix Club in Peter Kay’s excellent Phoenix Nights has written in to tell me that he “often cycles down Glendenning Ave on my way to work these days.” By way of evidence, he includes a map. Once again, I hope it isn’t porn - bestial or otherwise. 89 mins: Agathe hoofs a clearance into the stand. With a minute to go, both teams have finally woken up. There will be four minutes of injury time. 91 mins: Boavista launch an aeriel assault on the Celtic box, but their long balls are meat and drink to the big men that comprise the Scottish side’s defence. 93 mins: Thompson thumps the ball the length of the field to nobody in particular and wastes a few extra seconds. Boavista counter. Luiz Claudio wastes Boavista’s last chance by scuffing the ball over the bar.

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Full time: Celtic have made their first European final for 33 years by the skin of their teeth. they will face Porto in Seville in May. Meanwhile, this from a disgruntled reader: “I’ve been fired from work and strongly suspect that my internet/email abuse may have a lot to do with it,” writes Ian Edgar, getting in one last bit of email and Internet abuse before he clears his desk. Boavista fan Evanio Colberto has a question: “I’m confused,” he says, seemingly oblivious to the fact that so is everyone else who reads these match reports. “I can undestand why a Celtic play football in Scotland, but who are these Rangers? I’ve never heard of them. Are they like the Scottish equivalent of the Mounties? Forgive me.” Well Evanio, how long have you got? Rangers are not like the Mounties, although a lot of their fans wear hats. Bowler hats, to be precise. They are in fact a football team from Glasgow, just like Celtic. Except with less trophies. Actually, now that I think of it, the light-sabre wielding business man in the ad at the top of this report looks like a thin Rangers fan. Right, that’s me done. Thanks for your time and your mails - a few more of which may find their way onto this report by close of business tonight. all the best - BG

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More reader ramblings I have been brainwashed into being a Celtic fan but can someone please tell me why Rangers fans are called “huns” and should I hate them as I do the Green Bay Packers?” - Kathleen Higgins, Chicago. (I’ll answer that privately when I’ve got a spare couple of hours, Kathleen! - BG) “Do us a favour and make a gag up, something about how Ronaldo was alway going to destroy Man United as he is used to running around Rio with a ball anyway” - Ian Edgar “You should have got a shot of a mountie with a mask. They are all over the streets of Toronto now because of SARS. Their horses are making a frightful mess and are picking fights with the bears and moose. I am afraid to go home tonight.” - Niall O’Keefe This is Patrick in Montreal. I’m following the match while reading up on Vygosty’s views on Cognitive Development. I’m wondering if Celtic’s earlier inability to score might not have been due to some sort of developmental lapsus Henrik Larsson might have experienced in his early childhood.” - Patrick Culhane “I think a picture of John Hartson standing on a scale eating a meat pie would be more amusing than the mountie. Surely you have one on file” - Mick Morrall. “Hate to be accused of being pedantic, but isn’t PlayStation actually a Sony product? Or is the intent to get Nintendo to send free stuff so you’ll use their wares instead of the PlayStation? On a completely unrelated topic, I’m thinking of returning to Blighty to open an all-you-can-eat establishment called Stuffed and Chuffed. Think it would have any chance of succeeding?” - Dan in DC “I enjoy these broadcasts. The other day I learned what the term ‘nutmeg’ means, so now could you tell us about ‘wellies’ - Charlie Troxel “The reason Celtic can’t score as easily against non-Scottish teams can be summed up in one word. Goalkeepers.” - Paul McDevitt “Rubbish game. Nice to see the monkey though. It reminds me of the photo I have at home of a Indonesian monkeys wearing jockey silks and strapped on to to greyhounds in a real race. The trial was performed in Sydney just after the war to see if the monkeys could steer their mounts from crashing out of races at the first bend. Several monkeys were killed and the trial was discontinued” - Rozzer.

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All the best for the rest of the season from the Bhoys at the Rat Pack CSC.

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scottish football armageddon? Martybhoyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s odyssey around the pleasuredomes of Scottish football continues with a visits to Falkirk and Hamilton.

The first weekend in October saw us head to Falkirk for their home game with Dunfermline Athletic. This fixture is something of a Derby match and

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a decent crowd was expected. The stadium is situated just off the motorway and although it was busy on the approach, we did eventually find reasonable parking in space next to an industrial area five minutes walk away from the main stand. In terms of atmosphere and entertainment it didn’t disappoint, it was just a pity that our pre-match experience

was soured by events in the ticket office. Having arrived a good twenty minutes before kick off, we weren’t sure if there was a pay at the gate option so we asked a steward who told us to “try the next stand”. We asked the same question to the next steward and he said he didn’t know! Going for third time lucky, we eventually got a straight answer from

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a member of staff with some courtesy who said we required a ticket to get in. He said that we would have to go back round to the club shop which is situated next to the main stand as the ticket office is also in there. As we waited in the queue we heard the staff telling someone it was “sold out” and thought for a minute the game was a sell out.

When it was our turn to be served it transpired that the Family Section was allegedly sold out. I explained that we weren’t locals, that we were just here to see the game and asked if any discretion could be used. Our only alternative apparently, was to buy individual match tickets at £19 for adults and £9 concessions. This meant that it would personally set me back £37 to watch a Scottish First Division game! Is it any wonder football crowds in this country are in rapid decline? It is somewhat ironic that the admission prices of the current top two clubs in this league are less than half of that figure, while Falkirk linger in the lower reaches. So having bitten the bullet with the admission prices and come to terms with the financial shafting, we then set about finding whereabouts in the main stand we would be seated. Both teams have had mixed fortunes on the park with Dunfermline starting the season in fine winning form in what is Manager, Jim Jeffries’ first full season in charge. He would be up against his former Captain at Hearts, Steven Pressley who led his young Falkirk side to the League Cup Semi Final and a respectable finish in Division One the previous season.

The home side had former Celtic Reserve keeper, Michael McGovern as their number one, the experienced Darren Dods at centre half and young Lyle Taylor up front who has grabbed a few headlines with his goals so far this term. Also in the Falkirk line up was the much travelled defender, Robbie Neilson turning out as a Trialist at right back. For Dunfermline, they had the experienced Paul Gallagher in goal along with former Manchester City and Burnley defender, Stephen Jordan at left back. They can also count on the goals from Andy Barrowman, not to mention Craig Dargo and Andy Kirk who were on the bench. It was Falkirk though who dominated the early proceedings and had the ‘Pars’ defence under pressure from a couple of long throw-ins into the box. The home side had a half chance just before a quarter of an hour was played when Lyle Taylor nearly took advantage of a poor Andy Dowie header back to his ‘keeper, Gallagher but the situation was cleared up by defender, Callum Morris. The away side did get more of a foot hold in the game and after a nice exchange of play just on the half hour mark, Jordan McMillan shot just over from a Joe Cardle cross. A

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minute later though it was Falkirk who took the lead. It wasn’t quite route one stuff but a stunning low through ball from Kieran Duffie midway through his own half found Lyle Taylor. He took it in his stride and outpaced two Dunfermline defenders before going on to slip it past Gallagher’s left hand post and make it 1-0. The visitors only reply after going behind was a Barrowman header that went over the bar, meaning they went into the half time break a goal down. They did however start the second period better than they had started the first and ‘Bairns’ goalkeeper, McGovern held firmly from a dangerous Ryan Wallace cross. Ten minutes after the restart, Falkirk doubled their lead and again it was Lyle Taylor who did the damage. A clearance out of the Dunfermline half by Jordan was immediately headed back and controlled fortuitously by Blair Alston I think it was, who back heeled it into the path of Sean Higgins. He then lifted a superb weighted ball over the Dunfermline defence for Taylor to smash a shot low into the net past the helpless Gallagher. Dunfermline hit back and had a couple of set pieces from Stephen Husband and Joe Cardle that kept the Falkirk defence on heir toes. The ‘Pars’ Manager,

Jim Jeffries made his first change in order to salvage something from the game replacing Josh Falkingham with Ryan Thomson. The experienced Stephen Jordan found himself in the refreee’s book when he took his protest too far following a penalty claim for handball that wasn’t given from a Cardle corner. Alston nearly made it three for Falkirk when a long distance shot was well held by Gallagher. Dunfermline then threw on Andy Kirk for Cardle to try and get a goal and his introduction did make a difference with him linking

up better with Barrowman. In the opposite dug out, the bearded and brown brogued Steven Pressley made a couple of changes to try and close the game out and preserve the potential three points. His antics on the sideline were very amusing as he gestured to his players, with note pad in hand like he was taking an aerobics class! The Falkirk coaching staff have an interesting routine for when the player being replaced comes off the pitch. Each one is embraced with a ‘man hug’

by Pressley before Alex Smith, Stevie Crawford and Neil MacFarlane all follow suit! With twelve minutes left, Dunfermline were back in the game. A long ball played down the right hand side was picked up by Ryan Wallace who tangled with the full back. The ball broke free and he managed to put a low cross into the box where it looked to have taken a slight deflection off a Falkirk defender. It merely fell to Andy Barrowman who swept a left foot volley high into the net to reduce the deficit. Game on.

The old Brockville hosts a visit from Celtic back in the 90s: a charming death trap it was back in the day, as well as being - to use the architectural expression - a shithole. The sectarian abuse hurled by the locals was an added attraction.

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Dunfermline were shooting into the end which housed their large traveling support for the second half and they were a source of inspiration to the players. Ryan Wallace was pivotal in everything they created and having got themselves back into the game, three minutes later they were level at 2-2. A Wallace corner from the left was floated to the front post, nobody tracked the run of substitute Ryan Thomson and his bullet header left McGovern with no chance to level things up. Falkirk were on the back foot and were in danger of not even taking a point from this game as Dunfermline went all out for a winner. Another Wallace corner had the home side in a panic as McGovern saved from Thomson, and Barrowman maybe should have done better from a header six yards out. There were no more chances after that and both sides shared the spoils. You could argue that Falkirk threw it away but it was a resilient display from Dunfermline as they remained top of the pile after the weekend’s fixtures. Exiting the stadium is by going down the steps of the main stand and onto the track then out the right hand corner gate. It was busy getting out onto the main routes but as

you are next to the motorway we were on the road home not long after. Falkirk moved to this ground in 2004 having previously played at Brockville for many years prior to that. It was originally known as The Westfield Stadium but over the last few seasons it seems to be commonly referred to as The Falkirk Stadium. It has three impressive stands though one side, opposite the main stand is currently vacant land. During the recent seasons in the Premier League this area had a temporary enclosure. Outside the main stand it has a similar facade to that of Hampden Park, it is very modern looking and the facilities inside are clean and well maintained. Around the perimeter of the ground it has well kept paths and walkways with a club shop that caters well for home supporters. With the exception of one steward the rest were not very helpful, but the rest of the other staff we encountered were pleasant enough. Where we were situated in the main stand the fans were vocal and supportive of the team. On contacting the club the following Monday about the pricing for this game the response received was unfortunately pompous

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and arrogant. The whole episode was especially disappointing as we were a group of strangers going to the Falkirk stadium to experience a home game for the first time. It wasn’t exactly the best display of good public relations but the club were clearly keen to exert as much money as possible from this particular fixture and sometimes greed knows no bounds. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask! An impressive stadium certainly, but we’ll not be back to visit again in a hurry.

Got To Do The 42 No need to brave the likes of Ice Station Broadwood in order to get the true Scottish Football experience when Martybhoy has lived the dream on your behalf. Buy â&#x20AC;&#x153;Got To Do the 42â&#x20AC;? from the usual places or use the link on our website.

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Hamilton v Livingston

The good weather on the road continued as we visited South Lanarakshire for Hamilton Accies’ hosting of Livingston at New Douglas Park in the First Division. Everything had

gone to plan up until the last part of our journey there, for although we could see the floodlights we were going round the town centre in circles on the one way system for about ten

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minutes trying to find decent street parking away from the retail areas surrounding the ground! Before setting off for the game I’d given my

daughter money to go out with her friends, however on arriving I realised that in doing so I’d actually left myself short of money to get into the game. I went to the main office to see about buying tickets from there and possibly switching the payment, but they no longer had this facility, so it meant a long and unfortunate walk round to the Morrison’s cash machine.

As it happened, the inconvenient detour worked out in our favour as while we went to enter the ground I was talking to a steward and the turnstile operator, when a guy behind shouted on me to ask if I was paying my son in. Confused, I said I was intending to, and before I could say anything else, he shook his head and said “don’t, here, use this and give it back

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to us once yer in.” It was a concession season ticket which wasn’t being used for this game and which saved me £8 so I was well chuffed. I offered to buy him and the young girl with him a programme or something from the food kiosk as a gesture but he politely declined saying he only wanted to save us some money.

Even in a time when people normally only think of themselves, mainly through the current economic strife and austerity, it was reassuring almost to know there are still decent people in society. It was a genuinely thoughtful gesture and very much appreciated having recently had the very opposite experience at Falkirk FC. We sat in the right hand corner of the main stand and got a section of seating pretty much to ourselves. If you werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in early enough for this one you risked missing one or all of the goals as they were all scored in the first ten minutes of the game.

Both sides had a mixed start to that season and had been predominantly depending on youth having sold or released the higher earners within their respective playing staff over the last few years. There are of course pros and cons to this. On the one hand you are giving promising young players an opportunity in the first team, and Hamilton have had a lot of success with this. On the other the team tends to have a lack of consistency due to not having experience or leaders on the pitch.

Still, each side did have a couple of players who I recognised and who had played in the SPL in recent seasons. Seconds into the game, Accies on loan striker Stevie May found himself out on the left hand side. With little support around him and with Livi looking like they had adequate cover defensively, May cut inside a couple of players and got to the byline, before squeezing the ball from a very tight angle under the keeper Andy McNeill into the far corner of the net. Minutes later Livingston were level and it was completely avoidable. Accies keeper, Kevin Cuth-

Old Douglas Park - not to be confused with New Douglas Park. Nor indeed, Douglas Park himself.

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bert rolled the ball out to the edge of the box, full back Grant Gillespie tried to then play a short pass across ‘the D’ to Alex Neill which was intercepted by Stefan Scougall and from 18 yards he curled a shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net to equalise. Again, merely five minutes after that catastrophic defending, Accies were at it again when they lost possession near the half way line. A couple of passes later the ball found it’s way through to Marc McNulty and from a relatively tight angle, calmly lifted the ball over Cuthbert to put the visitors ahead. The home crowd were beginning to get on the backs of the players and their Manager, Billy Reid. Livingston had a couple of good chances to extend their lead but maybe over passed the ball when the better option was to get shots away. It wasn’t all one way traffic though as Accies forced Andy McNeill into a couple of saves before the break. Whatever was said at the break by the home Manager it seemed to work as Hamilton Accies looked the hungrier side in the early stages of the second half. For all their endeavour they couldn’t break down Livingston’s defence and despite hitting the side netting and making two positive substitutions on the hour mark it just

looked like it wasn’t going to be their day. What they didn’t need was to lose Alex Neill to a straight red card with twenty minutes left following a full blooded challenge on the Spaniard, Garcia Tena. From our position it looked like a 50/50 challenge but judging by the reaction of the players it was clearly more than that! Livingston lost their extra man advantage only minutes later when full back Kevin McCann received a second yellow for a cynical tackle on the half way line. The visitors then survived a penalty claim very near the end when Stevie May appeared to be caught by the defender but the referee waved play on. Again from our position it looked like a penalty and the home players and fans were rightly aggrieved at the decision. In the end Livingston held on to claim all three points in what was a very open and attacking game of football. New Douglas Park is quite smart and the staff we spoke to were helpful and friendly. It comprises of the main stand which contains all the home fans and a stand behind one of the goals which houses the away support. Behind the other goal is a small fence and an astro 5 a side pitch with a warm up area which the substitutes can use. Opposite the main stand there is a very small seated en-

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closure with a television gantry which is dwarfed by the back of the local Morrison’s food store and is only used on occasion though not likely to be used regularly in the First Division. We left the ground right on the final whistle and headed up the road to get the car thinking that was a decent game and venture out when I ended up in the wrong lane and was forced to go south heading for Carlisle! I don’t think there were many negative things of note, though would suggest the club look at considering a parent an child gate. If i had taken both my boys it would have set me back £32 and don’t think that represents value for money. Without linking the crowd with the prices, todays attendance of just under 1,000 was disappointing for what I would consider two of the better sides in this league.

1940 2014

obituary

John Divers

October saw the passing of Celtic legend of the early 1960s Bobby Collins. John’s entry in The Alphabet of the Celts (McBride, sheridan and O’Connor) reads as follows:

John Divers, son of John Divers 1938, grandnephew of Patsy Gallagher, supplanted Sammy Wilson of the 1957 side and became one of John McPhail’s three ‘wonder boys’ - Jackson, Colraine and Divers. He oozed class but also worked hard and was at his best when the going was heavy. His stamina was affected by a blood

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flow problem throughout 1959-60 yet by August of 1960 he had gained a yard after massage treatment. He had a magnificent season 1961-62: “Divers would not disgrace a Scotland jersey... he could even make us forget about Denis Law. He has skill, enthusiasm and the discipline to benefit any team. Not only is he scor-

ing goals, he is chiselling the openings so beautifully.â&#x20AC;? (March 1962) So much so that John found himself in the Scotland squad for the so-called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;revenge matchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; against uruguay at Hampden(May 2nd 1962) and came on as a second half substitute for the Scottish League against the Italian League in Rome (November 14th 1962). Besides his skill as a goalmaker he also had a thunderous shot that might change a match. Bobby Murdoch got his

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first chance with Celtic when John turned up at Parkhead for the start of the season against Hearts on Saturday August 11th without his boots (size 8 and a half) used at Hampden with the Glasgow XI in midweek. He was dropped on the spot. Charlie Gallagher was ordered to strip snd the fabulous Bobby given his debut. When Jock Stein took over John was largely a forgotten man but “proved still a handy reserve to have around” with a brilliant goal against Motherwell on August 18th 1965 and showing “a speed of turn and shot that astounded the Celtic support” against

Dundee three days later. He was, by that time, studying physiotherapy and his mind was no longer wholly on the game. But he could still bang in the goals, for example a glory of a free kick high into the postage stamp corner of the net for Partick Thistle against Hibs on January 11th 1969 from fully 30 yards! Rest in Peace John.

John Divers b. Clydebank 8th March 1940 Pos. Inside left 1957-66 5ft 11”, 12st 8lbs Career: St. Pat’s High School Dumbarton Glentyan Thistle 1955 Celtic, 7 July 1956- free transfer 30 Apr 1966 Partick Th. 1966-1969 Celtic debut v St. Mirren (h) 2-2 scored one goal. Celtic Thistle

Celtic team group from the early 60s. John Divers is back row left beside Billy McNeill.

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ap 171 30

gls 80 5

obituary

Hugh Doherty 1921 2014

October also saw the passing of Hugh Doherty st the venerable age of 93, Celtic’s oldest ex-player before his death. Hugh ‘Dickie’ Doherty was spotted at Dundalk by Tommy Bogan and gave Celtic his signature as an amateur. He displaced Bobby Evans at outside-right, sustained a cut temple on his debut but played on with the blood pouring down his face. The wound took five stitches and he turned out against Queens Park the following Saturday in a scrum cap.

He played for Celtic (Division A) in the Scottish Cup against Dundee at Dens Park (Division B) on January 25th 1947. Celtic were a goal down when Hugh received the ball in the penalty area on half-time but hit a traundler into the arms of the astonished Rueben Bennett. Throughout the interval, “Doherty’s miss was talk of the town.” Despite the club’s attempts to persuade him to accept money, Hugh remained obdurate for better terms and went home to Buncrana in May 1947.

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With Blackpool he consented to turn professional but his prospects as a right-winger were not great; the Seasiders had just signed another outside-right, the legendary Stanley Matthews. Injuries forced Hugh’s retirement from the game during a later spell with Raith Rovers. During his time at Celtic Park he made four appearances in the Hoops. Rest in Peace Hugh.

TERRY BUTCHER

Don’t read alone as we present another of our terrifying...

The curator of the crypt hereby announces the internment of the remains of Terry Butcher. For services to the Own Goal, Stupid Hats and Door Opening Industries his claim has become too strong to ignore.

The curator told me that there had been one very strong contender for internment who emerged very late this summer. Legia Warsaw’s melon headed, Mekon lookalike manager Henning Berg, whose introduction of Barosz Beresyznski with two minutes to go in the match against Celtic led directly to his team’s elimination, deserved consideration for what was almost certainly the most catastrophic substitution in football history - and because he played 30 times for Rangers during their 2003/4 campaign. You remember that one? It was the one we played Rangers 5 times and won all five.

Left: Butcher in his days as a Tractor Boy before being adored by the Village Idiots at Ibrox.

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But Terry Butcher’s claim has been longer lasting than most and after his impressive stewardship of Hibernian last season his claim could no longer be ignored. Butcher was far from the worst player to have stepped onto a football field - he did win 77 England caps and played in three World Cups after all - but there was always something a bit ludicrous about him. His height and weight gave him a somewhat awkward look when facing fast, skilful opponents who were not fazed by his size and who forced him to turn. Famously Diego Maradona made him look like a complete pudding when scoring the second of his two goals in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final but I also remember George McCluskey - who was no Bobby Lennox when it came to pace - waltzing past him to score a goal in the Allan Hunter Testimonial match of November 1981 and in the process making Butcher look as immobile as Boris Karloff before Frankenstein fired 20000 volts into him. A classic moment of Butcher idiocy came early on in his Rangers career when he was playing a European Championship qualifier and

picked up a bad head knock. Refusing to be substituted he played on with a large bandage wrapped round his head through which blood seeped for the remainder of the game. Undeniably courageous he contrived to also look ridiculous as he was photographed looking demonically wide-eyed and possibly even a bit spaced out wearing this headgear while leaving the pitch. Rangers’ fans idolised him for this. But then they thought John Greig was great so they would. Butcher also had a strange way of expressing his disappointment when if he, for example, ballooned a clearance out the park or fluffed a scoring chance - he’d slap his thighs angrily. For some reason this made me think he was going to burst into a chorus of Bless Your Beautiful Hide though I suspect it would have been more Howard Keech than Howard Keel. Mind you when we beat them 1-0 in the 1989 Cup Final to deny them a treble he burst into tears a la Gascoigne a full year before the chubby one lost the plot in Turin so he was not quite The Iron Man.

Classic idiocy... and Rab C Nesbitt. Rab is the one on the right. No, left. No... wait...

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Earlier that season he’d scored the second of his two goals for Celtic. The first had come a year earlier when he’d lobbed his own goalie to deprive Peter Grant of a rare goal [Butcher was also convicted as a result of his behaviour in this match. Fact.] while the second was an absolute gem when, after what Archie McPherson described as a bit of ‘pushing and shovelling’ in the box, he dived headlong to divert a cross into his own net. Celtic had been losing up to that point but went on to win 3-1 as McGhee and McAvennie roasted Butcher and Gough- himself no stranger to the masterly own goalwith superb displays of the forwards’ craft. Thighs were slapped regularly and the air filled with out of tune version of songs from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. 18 months or so later Rangers came

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to Celtic for a Scottish Cup tie. Rangers were well ahead in the league as Celtic were in the midst of what was a terrible run during which only two league matches were won in the last four months of the season. The fans were threatening revolt and Celtic were massive underdogs. But Celtic won 1-0 with their forwards- Coyne, Dziekanoswki and Miller - proving far too nimble for Big Tel and co. After the match, as Billy MacNeill was being interviewed on live TV, a door suddenly flew open so hard that it battered against the adjacent wall with a loud crash. The door had been opened by a seething Butcher. It was a hilarious moment showing the Rangers man at his most childish, unable to cope with the celebrating victors.

He didn’t last long after that embarking on a long and mostly unsuccessful career as a manager which briefly took him to Australia and defending A-League Champions Sydney FC where the brand of football he introduced was so dreary and unsuccessful that one of the club’s major shareholders, actor Anthony LaPaglia threatened to take his money if Butcher wasn’t punted. The Englishman ‘was resigned’ shortly afterwards. And then there was Hibs last season. Taking over from Pat Fenlon mid-season and in midtable he presided over a spectacular collapse that saw the Hi-bees sink to eleventh place and the ignominy of a play-off with Hamilton Accies to stay up. Despite winning the first leg 2-0 in Hamilton the Edinburgh side lost by the same score at their own park before losing

on penalties. Hibs’ performance was seeringly bad that day – this was not the football of Neanderthals this was something amoebas would have come up with and it was a monument to the ineptitude of the man who masterminded it. Right now Big Tel is out of football and long it may it stay that way. For the time being the crypt is filled with the eerie sounds of pushing, shovelling, doors being slammed and songs from 1950s Hollywood Musicals about raising barns and unruly siblings.

JIM PAYNE

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gohan becomes villareal player for a day

Forget all the multi-million euro transfers, the heated rivalries and petty arguments, the mismanagement of the game at the top level...football also produces stories like this. In September, cancer patient Gohan was a Villarreal player for a day, leading the team out against Celtic and scoring a goal to begin proceedings.

The friendly between Celtic and Villarreal was a great success, with somewhere around 12,000 people attending El Madrigal and bringing in €60k for the United In Hope project. In addition, the Villarreal players (A and B teams and staff) donated another €50k,

Celtic came for free, and even the match officials donated their time. If that wasn’t heartwarming enough, Villarreal made the evening even more special by choosing a young cancer patient to be a Submarine player for a day. Gohan starting the match by scoring a goal before being

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villarrealusa.com

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substituted, but remaining on the bench throughout as part of the team. Club President Sr. Roig Negueroles said Villarreal got the idea from Seattle -I guess the Sounders did something similar, though I don’t remember what exactly. As for the match itself, after falling behind 2-0 by halftime

courtesy of a nicely worked free-kick sequence and a golazo screamer, Villarreal ran out 4-2 winners with Gerard Moreno scoring all four goals. Both teams used a mixture of first-string and youth players-Jose Naranjo, a B teamer, set up the last two goals with fine runs down the left, and Cristian Galas started at left back for us.

Regardless of your loyalties, everyone can feel good about the money raised and the success of the Celtic Submari penya’s 10th anniversary project. All of us supporting Villarreal should feel really good about this effort. I expect all our players had a little extra spring in their step as they returned to training the morning after. Endavant!

The Celtic Submari penya (supporters’ group) is running the campaign called “United by Hope”, raising funds to be used for research into treatments for pediatric cancer. This is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Celtic Submari - it began when Celtic visited Villarreal in 2004 in a UEFA cup tie, and the town was full of happy Scotsmen (at least until the game started) gorging themselves on paella. The clubs met again in 2008, and a good time was had by all.

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gohanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream

Gohan is 13 years old. He is Colombian and has lived in Valencia since he was six. His parents, Luis Eduardo and Ayda, came to Spain, as many compatriots, in the hope of a better future for their little one when he was still a baby. Years later,

the family was reunited once again. Last night, Gohan fulfilled the dream of millions of children and became a Major League player. He was captain of the Villarreal squad, he shared a dressing room with them and

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started the match. On the first play of the game, he ripped down the middle, and after impressing the crowd with a Zidane roulette in true style, he marked one of the most thrilling goals in the history of Villarreal. It will surely go

down in history and the memory of El Madrigal along with Craioveanu, or Arruabarrena’s against Inter Milan. Because this was the goal of the hope of many others. Gohan belongs to the association ASPANION, and earlier this year was his second cancer diagnosis. This time, the cold water came in the form of a Ewing’s sarcoma in his cheekbone. Five years ago, he had to go through treatment for a lymphatic cancer. “Everything

that has transpired over the last few days has been very important to him,” says the family: “We have said that, despite all that he has had to suffer, life has also given him the opportunity to live all this. “ The last few weeks in the life of Gohan have been different. Since he was awarded his place with the Villarreal players, he has been counting the minutes until the big day arrived. “I dreamed every night that I left the field and was a player.

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I had a hard time sleeping. I was thinking all night about it. I know it’s going to be trippy and sure to score a goal,” he said confidently before the match started. After his interviews with the media he had the opportunity to meet the players and, in particular, Giovani dos Santos, one of his idols. He was told how the players live and how it is to be in a locker room. Like any kid his age he is passionate about sports

cars, and the Mexican striker was able to talk about it: “He has a Ferrari and he was telling me things about him. He is amazing.” Since that day, and after being on the images on the Villareal website, Gohan is now much more comfortable with a common side effect of treatment for the disease. “He has taken off his hat again! Before it was harder to do because of his hair loss,” said his parents, with

great joy. Gohan will forever remember that night in which he was a player of Villarreal, and thanks to the project United for Hope, with the Celtic Submarines, with its president Ernesto Boixader the lead, and Villarreal, he will tell his children and grandchildren that the supporters chanted his name and that he left the pitch amid a standing ovation. Gohan left El Madrigal last night like a star. His party, his

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struggle and his goal was to thousands of children. . “For a child has been a dream all that has happened to us live this has given us a lot of energy to keep fighting every day and continue on,” assured his parents: “I hope many other football clubs take the example of Villarreal has done. “ Gohan fulfilled his dream.

story from Marca.com

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Mario Balotelli speaks up about racism Italy striker Mario Balotelli believes the presence of overt racism in his homeland means he is the target for more criticism and abuse because of his skin colour. The 23-year-old former Manchester City forward said if he was white he would be treated more sympathetically by his compatriots. Balotelli, whose name was never far from the headlines during his stay in England, was racially abused by fans at a national team training camp last week. Last year he was targeted by Roma fans while

playing for AC Milan and said afterwards he would walk off the pitch if he encountered it again. “They aren’t used to seeing people who are different, not white, who act not as rebels but normally,” he told the July edition of GQ magazine. “I think what the ignorant people don’t like is that people who are different are allowed to act that way. “These stupid people, they get angry with me, they say horrible things, but I haven’t done

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anything different from other people. “I have made mistakes, like everyone does, and I have always paid for my mistakes. “I think that if I was white maybe some people would still find me irritating or annoying but it wouldn’t be the same. Absolutely not. “Jealousy is a horrible thing, but when this jealousy is towards people who are different from the majority, and who maybe also have more than you, then it becomes anger, it becomes rage, and that’s the overt racism.”

“I know people are fighting this thing, and it’s important, but in the media every time I have talked about this subject people talk about it for three or four days but then everything goes back to normal,” he said. “So, either there is something really strong for all of us to do, some real movement or real action, and in that case I will be the first guy to participate, but if it’s just talk, I’d rather not. “We can talk about it as much as we want but things don’t change that way.

Balotelli said while racism was not restricted just to Italy and Spain, he accepted it was more publicly prevalent.

“When there will be something real and strong to really help people and society, and really help people who have less than me, then I will help.”

Asked whether he had experienced overt racism while playing for City he added: “Not open, no. At City, just after I joined, we were on a plane going on tour somewhere and I looked around and I realised there were more black players than white players on the team.

Were Balotelli’s goals to fire Italy to victory at the World Cup this summer he would become a national hero, but the striker thinks that would miss the point.

“That was a big difference. That was kind of amazing. In Italy I was often the only one. “Racism is everywhere. Maybe it is more open here, or in Spain. There are racists in England but I think they hide it more.”

“It’s really sad to think that we can change Italy only by winning the World Cup. I hope we can change things even if we don’t win it,” he added. From PFA

Balotelli felt much more could be done in the battle against racism but did not want to be the one seen to be leading the fight on his own without the formation of a sustainable campaign.

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FIFA and UEFA demand associations get tougher on racism sanctions Thursday 15 May 2014 FIFA and UEFA have reacted with dismay at the weak sanctions employed by national Football Associations in the recent cases of racist incidents, demanding the sanctions regime which they have been put in place is applied. The Spanish football federation fined La Liga club Villarreal just €12,000 after a banana was thrown at Barcelona’s Dani Alves and this was followed by Italian club Atalanta being fined €40,000 following a similar incident during a Serie A match in May. Jeffrey Webb, the chairman of FIFA’s Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force, said: “You saw the incident that happened in La Liga and of course you’ve seen the punishment, which is very, very unfortunate, I thought it was very disrespectful, to be honest with you.” Webb insisted that the footballing authorities “have passed new regulations which give opportunities for relegation, point reductions and much harsher fines than monetary,” and insisted these sanctions should be implemented as they would be far more effective than the fines imposed which represented little more than a “slap on the wrist.”

On Monday FIFA President Sepp Blatter turned to social media to express his views, tweeting “Racism, and games stopped/abandoned due to acts of hooliganism. Each Federation needs to act. Sanctions are available & HAVE to be applied.” Further support for strict sanctions came from both the UEFA Executive Committee and the Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC) which comprises representatives from UEFA’s member associations, clubs (ECA), leagues (EPFL) and players (FIFPro). The two bodies issued a joint call for “the responsible bodies to implement the strong measures that were approved by all UEFA member associations at the 2013 Ordinary UEFA Congress in London), whereby incidents of a racist nature must be punished by partial stadium closure for a first such occurrence, and by full stadium closure and a fine of €50,000 for a second such offence by supporters.” The two bodies also stressed the importance of a strict application of the so-called ‘three-step procedure’, which empowers referees to abandon a match in case of racist behaviour by supporters. UEFA President Michel Platini also expressed his outrage, saying: “It is unacceptable for

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anyone to be racially insulted or abused inside our stadiums, and we simply cannot tolerate it. We call on all our member associations and stakeholders to apply a zero tolerance policy against all forms of discrimination and to follow the UEFA guidelines in sanctioning all guilty

parties. Our statutes were recently amended to ensure all UEFA member associations adopt effective policies to eradicate racism.” From Inside World Football

Croatia defender Josip Simunic loses ban appeal A statement released by The Court of Arbitration read (CAS): “The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected the appeal filed by the Croatian football player Josip Simunic against the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee issued on 21 February 2014.

Croatia defender Josip Simunic will miss the World Cup after losing his appeal against a 10match ban imposed by FIFA. The 36-year-old appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport following the announcement of his lengthy suspension, which was accompanied by a fine of £20,700. He was punished by world football’s governing body after being captured on video using a microphone to lead chants which were found to have associations with Croatia’s former pro-Nazi Ustase regime following his country’s World Cup qualifying play-off victory over Iceland in Zagreb on November 19. Croatia face hosts Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon in Group A at the finals, but Dinamo Zagreb captain Simunic is banned from entering the stadium for any of those games – or for any further games should the nation progress.

“The CAS confirmed the sanction imposed by FIFA against the player, who remains suspended for 10 official matches, the first of which has to be served during the final competition of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, banned from entering the confines of the stadiums for those 10 matches and also fined 30,000 Swiss francs.” FIFA welcomed the CAS ruling, saying in a statement: “With this decision, FIFA considers that CAS gives a clear and strong support to FIFA’s efforts in stamping out racism in football. “FIFA’s firm zero-tolerance stance against any form of discrimination and racism is enshrined

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in its statutes in article 3 and further developed, among other Regulations, in the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

Congress in May 2013, advocates the need for strict punishments to send out a strong message that discrimination has no place in the game.”

“The resolution on the fight against racism and discrimination, which was approved at the FIFA

From Sky Sports

French Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot name female boss Portugal’s Helena Costa is to be the highest-profile female manager of a European men’s team after being named head coach of Clermont Foot in France. Costa, a former scout for Celtic, has coached the Iran women’s team since 2012. The 36-yearold, who has also coached Benfica’s male youth teams and the Qatar women’s side, will join Clermont at the end of the season. “It should help the club enter a new era,” said the Ligue 2 club. Prior to Costa’s appointment, the highest-profile female coach of a men’s team in Europe was Carolina Morace, who took charge of Italian Serie C1 team Viterbese for two matches in 1999. Costa, who scouted for Celtic between 2008 and 2011, has also managed Portuguese lowerleague men’s team Cheleirense, where she won the Lisbon regional championship in 2006. A Celtic spokesperson said: “She did an excel-

lent job for us and we know she will give her new position the same high level of commitment and dedication which she gave to Celtic.” Najat Belkacem, France’s Women’s Minister, responded to the appointment by posting on Twitter: “Bravo Clermont Foot for understanding that giving a place to women is the future of professional football.” Veronique Soulier, president of Clermont Foot’s supporters’ club, said: “It surprised us when we read the club statement. But once we got over it, we all believe that it is a good thing. “The boys in the team can be difficult to manage. They can be quite sensitive, that is what the other coaches have told us. With a woman in charge, maybe they will be less demanding.” Costa spent 13 years as a youth coach with Benfica from 1997, in addition to winning two Portuguese national women’s league titles with Sociedade Uniao 1 Dezembro in 2007 and 2008, leading the club into the Women’s Cham-

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pions League.

Women’s World Cup finals.

She also guided Odivelas to promotion from the Portuguese women’s second tier as champions in 2009.

At Clermont, she will replace former Montpellier midfielder Regis Brouard, whose contract as head coach expires at the end of the season. The club are 14th in the French second-tier with two matches to play.

Costa led Qatar’s women to their first international victory, a 4-1 win over Maldives in 2012, but was unsuccessful in her attempt to guide Iran to a debut appearance at the 2015

From BBC Sport

Sepp Blatter claims punishing racist behaviour is “unduly excessive” FIFA president Sepp Blatter has claimed punishing fans’ racist behaviour by closing stadiums is “extremely dubious” and “unduly excessive”. Blatter said sporting sanctions such as points deductions that “cause real hurt to” clubs are a better punishment than closing part or all of a stadium for matches. FIFA has itself ordered games to be played behind closed doors – Ukraine were ordered to play a World Cup qualifier against Poland in an empty stadium after fans made monkey chants and performed Nazi salutes. UEFA has also issued a number of similar sanctions after racist behaviour by fans. But Blatter, in a column in FIFA Weekly, said that while he wants “drastic and severe” sanctions for racism, that “football without a crowd is like a concert without sound”. He added: “Games behind closed doors are also included in the (FIFA) code but I regard this penalty as an extremely dubious instrument.

They represent a disproportionately collective punishment. “Furthermore it involves excluding innocent fans of the opposing team. In the final analysis matches played behind closed doors penalise football. The punishment is unduly excessive. Instead it is the troublemakers who must be punished. And it is clear to me that the clubs are responsible for the hooligans. To my mind there remains only one solution to the problem: sporting sanctions are the only effective punishment. It has to cause the clubs real hurt otherwise nothing will change.” FIFA’s disciplinary code punishes racism by a warning for a first offence and then more serious sanctions such as stadium closures, points deductions or even expulsion from the competition for further offences. From The Independent

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Partial stadium closure for Real Madrid

Paris St-Germain charged over abuse of disabled Chelsea fans Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Paris St-Germain over allegations that their supporters threw bottles and spat at disabled Chelsea fans. The Chelsea fans sat below the home supporters during the Champions League quarter-final first leg on 2 April in Paris, which PSG won 3-1. Uefa has never before charged a team with abusing disabled fans. Its disciplinary commission will decide on any punishment on 17 July. The French champions have been charged under article 14 of Uefa’s disciplinary regulations for “racism, other discriminatory conduct and propaganda”. If the allegations are proven, PSG face a fine and partial stadium closure at their first home match of next season’s Champions League.

The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has handed down sanctions to Real Madrid CF following incidents during their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against FC Bayern München in the Spanish capital on 23 April. Following the charge of racist behaviour by Real Madrid supporters during the match (Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations), the Control and Disciplinary Body has ordered the partial closure of the Santiago Bernabéu for one match. More specifically, sectors 120 and 122 of the stadium will be closed for the club’s next UEFA competition home game. Real Madrid are obliged to display a banner with the wording ‘No to Racism’ in those sectors. The fight against racism is a high priority for UEFA. European football’s governing body has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and discrimination, both on the pitch and in the stands. All forms of racist behaviour are considered serious offences against the disciplinary regulations and are severely punished.

Chelsea won the second leg of this season’s quarterfinal tie at Stamford Bridge to knock PSG out on away goals. Earlier this month, PSG were fined almost £50m by Uefa and had the size of their squad capped for next season’s Champions League for breaching financial fair play rules.

Following the entry into force of the new disciplinary regulations on 1 June 2013, the fight against racist conduct has been stepped up – resulting in tougher sanctions to deter any such behaviour.

From BBC Sport

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Atletico Madrid fans accused of racist chants by Levante’s Diop Levante midfielder Papakouly Diop said he was responding to monkey chants from the crowd when he danced in front of Atletico Madrid fans after his side’s 2-0 win over the La Liga leaders in May. Diop provoked outrage among Atletico players by dancing in front of travelling fans after a game that threatened the Madrid side’s title bid. “I was going to take a corner and some of the Atletico fans started making monkey chants,” said the Senegalese.

during a La Liga game against Villareal. Alves’s action prompted an international antiracism campaign across social media, apparently planned in advance by Brazil and Barca teammate Neymar. Diop, who has played in Spain since 2008, said his dance was not intended to goad Atletico fans after their unexpected defeat, but that he was responding to monkey chants aimed at him as he took a corner in stoppage time. “I have nothing against the Atletico fans because it was only a section who chanted,” he said.

“To defuse the situation I danced.” The incident comes a week after Barcelona’s Dani Alves ate a banana thrown at him by a fan

“It’s a lack of respect you get at all stadiums. It’s a provocation. I don’t know if you can call it racism but these monkey chants have to stop.”

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Fan Banner causes a stir at German Cup Final At the last German cup final fans of Bayern Munich were seen mocking a section of the Borussia Dortmund support with a spicy banner following their 3-0 victory. ‘If only your Fuhrer knew, you lost against the Bayern - Jews, “ appearedd on two banners that were held aloft at the end of the game in the away section . The ultras group Schickeria

were apparently behind the banners . The verbal attack by the Bayern fans was aimed at the ultra - grouping “ Desperados BVB” whose members maintain contacts with the right - autonomous movement. Also, at the match was a less subtle banner from the Bayern Ultras “Inferno Bavaria’01“

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who held aloft: “ Desperados - Nazi Shit flavoured Ultras - IB’01 “ . FC Bayern itself is regarded by the right wing scene as a “Jewish” club because of its history. Kurt Landauer , the Jewish ex-President of Bavaria and one of the great forefathers of today’s success, was recently appointed as Honorary President of FC Bayern.

At the home game against Augsburg last season the “ Schickeria” remembered the events of Kristallnacht - and for that they got a lot of praise all over Germany.

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No NT Wee Green Book this season but stat junkies can get their anorak’s looked out for a good read at our two part season review. Days In Europa covers the Champions League - 222 pages, PDF only £2. Order from our website. Not The Big Green PDF will hopefully be available by the end of the month. Free to subscribers.

celts around the world If you remember the old Celts Around The World feature fondly from your dusty old archive of NTVs then you should drop by our Pinterest boards now and again. Mont St Michel never looked better than the day The Planner stood in front of it resplendent in his Hoops. More being added every month, so if you’d like to see yourself immortalised by NTV then send your pictures to us via letters@ntvcelticfanzine.com. Click the logo on our website to visit our other NTV boards. NTV 228 subscriber issue Free to subscribers and now available to purchase from our website. Over a hundred pages of extra content we couldn’t squeeze into this issue including contributions from the earwig and timomouse as well as amnesia lane, glory nights and floodlights, euro preview, this year’s cloggers and lots more. Click through the link on our site or visit the NTV shop pages at www.ntvcelticfanzine.com

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WWW.GLASGOWPROGRAMMES.COM £’s £’s £’s paid for your programmes, ticket stubbs , books badges pennants anything old or new related to Celtic we will value for free. Please visit our outlet on matchday’s on Janefield Street outside the Lisbon Lions Stand before kick off were you will find a massive selection of both current and back issue programmes and NTV fanzines. Email us sales@glasgowprogrammes.com or contact us on 07888 533 669 / 0141 571 7590 WANTED: Celtic press photos. Contact murraystephenc@aol.com The Celtic Shorts small ads section, containing details of dozens of CSCs all over the world as well as adverts from individuals, is now available in its entirity either on our website or as part of the subscriber PDF edition. Remember, this is free for all ads that don’t involve private selling, so please check it out and let us know if anything needs updated.

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in the back of the net

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SUPPORTERS CLUBS

CELTIC COLLECTORS CLUB: Over 2,500 images and 900 pages devoted to Celtic memorabilia at www. celticcollectorsclub.co.uk

ALICANTE (GUARDAMAR) CSC: Steve and Maureen welcomes all residing and visiting Celtic fans to the Costa Blanca. The club meet regularly at the Hoops Bar, c/Garcia Lorca, Guardamar del Segura, Alicante. Celtic games televised live, club newsletter and Spanish classes available for members. ‘Hoops Tours’ minibus available for pick-ups to the bar and airport transfers for all visiting Hoops fans! For all other info contact Steve on 0034 699 340 528 or Maureen on 0034 618 180 290 or email us at hoopsbarguardamar@hotmail. com. Club pin badges now available for sale. Hoops Bar is also the meeting place for local team Alone CF Guardamar.

CASH PAID FOR FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES, FOOTBALL BOOKS, TICKETS AND OTHER FOOTBALL MEMOROBILIA Tel 0141 571 7590 or 07588533669 anytime for further details. WANTED: Any tickets, handbooks, cards, stickers, brochures, Corinthian figures, programmes or other memorabilia. Will buy or swap from many items. I also help to run a programme shop across from the Squirrel Bar, the square yard, top right hand side, in the Barras. If any Celtic fans are over on a visit then get in touch and I’ll let you know what’s available. Contact David Croty, 44 Zena Crescent, Glasgow, G33 7HZ.

AOH CSC : have badges for sale. Price £3 each or two for £5.P/P £1. Contact Tony Carroll, AOH CSC, AOH Club, 42 The Mall, Newry, Co Down, N.Ireland

AN SCEAL An sceal is the monthly newsletter of the Irish community in Scotland. Keep abreast of Irish events all over the country. Our free monthly newsletter ‘an sceal’ is posted on the website during the first week of each month. It is also available in all Glasgow libraries at www.irishinscotland.co. Why not pay a visit and sign the guest book. Slan, agus go raibh maith agat.

ARBROATH EMERALD CSC: Badge out now. £3 each including UK 1st class post and Mail Lite envelope or £3.50 or 5 Euro note for Rest of the World. UK Cheques made payable to William Hancock. Available from me from: Bill Hancock, 33 Ethie Terrace, Arbroath, Angus, DD11 1UA, Scotland.

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BARCELONA CSC: Irish/Celtic cultural centre shows all Celtic games. If you’re in Barcelona why not drop in? www.dubliner-bcn. com. For CSC info Contact Steve skb191171@hotmail. com

BLACKBURN SHAMROCK CSC: Weekly meetings and transport from Blackburn/ east Lancs to most home games. Club badges available £3 for 1 or £5 for two.Contact Sean Hammett, 7a Hollin Street, Blackburn, BB2 4AW seanhammett@ hotmail.co.uk

BELFAST - LIAM Mc SHANE MIDFALLS C.S.C: Badges available £2.50.each & p+p. Contact liam_ mc_shane_midfalls_csc@hotmail.com BELFAST SHAMROCK CSC: Badges available. Designed and made by Tony Hickey, these are limited in number and retail at £2.50 each. Any interested collectors can contact me via e-mail at michael.kelly@ aicsc.com and we can take things from there. I do accept PayPal as well as cheques or postal orders made payable to Belfast Shamrock CSC. BENIDORM No 1 CSC: Offers all Celtic minded people a BIG Celtic welcome. We meet in The Celtic Tavern on Calle Ibiza in the new town. All Celtic games are shown live on 6 Big Screens. Live Irish Music Nightly with The Rogues. Come join us for the craic. HAIL!! HAIL!! Contact: celtictavern3@gmail. com BETHLEHEM BHOYS: Supporters Club for ex-pats and Palestinian Hoops. Contact: bethlehembhoy@ hotmail.co.uk NORTH BIRMINGHAM CSC: North Birmingham CSC hold meetings on the first Thursday of every month at St.Theresa’s Social Centre, Perry Barr. BIRMINGHAM SONS OF ERIN CSC: We are a newly established and so far successful CSC running in Birmingham based at Ruskin Hall, Victoria Road, Aston. we would like to let everyone know that they are more than welcome to come down to the club and see what it’s like. Any info just e-mail, staceyryan1888@googlemail.com

BLACKPOOL SHAMROCK CSC: Now on the web at http://www.blackpoolshamrockcsc.co.uk. The Blackpool Shamrock CSC has now relocated to the Trades Club in Blackpool. ALL live Celtic matches will be shown in the Trades Club to a Celtic only audience. Details of what the club can offer the resident and visitor to Blackpool can be found on the website. BONNYRIGG CSC: Enamel badges for sale. Contact bonnyriggcsc@dsl.pipex.com BOSTON No. 1 CSC: Meet in P.J.Quinn’s, 1236 Dorchester Ave, Boston, Mass 02125 USA tel: 001 / 617 436 0600 Home of the Boston #1 CSC BRISTOL CSC: Bristol’s first CSC is up and running from the Forester’s Arms 94 Ashley Down Road Bristol. Email info@bristolcsc.co.uk. CAITHNESS CSC: Badges for sale. For details contact stephen.king@tiscali.co.uk CAMBERLEY TOWN FC: Camberley Town Football Club, Camberley in Surrey will be hosting a new Celtic Supporters Club at Krooner Park. All available Celtic Matches will be shown. Facilities include, Licensed Bar,Large and small screens and smoking/no smoking areas. The club will be members only with limited guests permitted. To enquire about joining, contact Mick on 07810 100175 or Camberley Town on 01276 65392. www.camberleytownfc.co.uk CARDONALD ANTON ROGAN CSC: Bus leaves 1hr 15 minutes before home games. Families welcome with family rates available. New members welcome. Contact Mick for details on 07956510364.

BIRMINGHAM REBEL TRAVEL: are now running a 17 seater mini-bus from Birmingham for all Celtic home games. Tickets can be supplied,so come on and support the bhoys. Contact Paul on 07916287908

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CHARLEVILLE & DISCTRICT CSC CORK: Badges for sale at 5 euros each including post and packaging. Contact John O’Halloran, Railway Road, Charleville, Co. Cork, Eire.

Heriot-Watt & Edinburgh Universities CSC: All new and existing students at all colleges in Edinburgh are welcome to join the Club. Please call club hotline 07771 782 639 or see www. hweucsc.net for details. ISLE OF SKYE CSC: We now have badges for sale price £3.00 to members and £4.00 to non-members.Contact Davie Beaton, Chairman Isle of Skye CSC., 16 Urquhart Place,Portree,Isle of Skye,IV51 9HJ : isleofskyecsc@yahoo.co.uk

CLADDAGH CSC GALWAY: Details of meetings, news, badges on the website: www.galwayguide.net/ claddagh.html

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA CSC: Visit www.jaxcsc.com for information on game times and location.

CLEATOR MOOR EMERALD CSC: Pin badges £2 each plus £1.50 postage. For details phone 07739567209 or contact smurphy53@aol.com. COVENTRY HAY CSC: New pin badge for sale, £3 each or 2 for £5 ( postage included), if interested please contact: cammyc200@aol.com

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA CSC: Located at the Irish Club, Johannesburg, the Jo’burg CSC welcomes all travelling Tims. Club meetings on the last Thursday of the month, but the Irish Club’s open every night except Monday so if you’re in town and you fancy the best Guinness in Africa give us a call. We’re at cnr 5th Avenue / 4thStreet and Salerno, Linden, Johanessburg. Contact Chairman Sparky on (+27) 82 828 9625 or El-Presidente Bill on (+27) 84 403 4446.

DUBAI CSC: Hail Hail The Celts are in Dubai! We have recently formed the Dubai Hoops CSC based at Dubliners bar in Dubai (Meridien Airport Hotel). Contact us at DubaiCSC@hotmail.com mailto: DubaiCSC@hotmail.com. FUENGIROLA SPAIN: A warm invitation is extended to all Celtic Fans to visit my bar in Fuengirola Spain. It’s called Goodfellas and is now the area’s only Celtic Bar. We are in the Port Marina next to the Minaret Towers.You can email me at william@ ritchie777.freeserve.co.uk GOSPORT JIMMY JOHNSTONE CSC: New design pin badges available. Contact james.connolly67@ ntlworld.com or phone James on 02392780031 GRIMSBY EMERALD CSC: Meet on the first Tuesday of the month at the Stamford Club, Clee Road, Grimsby at 7-30pm. New members welcome. Ask for Paul Read (paulread2@hotmail.com). HAWICK SHAMROCK CSC: Badge costs £3 or 5 euros each this includes postage, cheques payable to “Hawick Shamrock CSC” and send payment to: Scott Richardson, 19 Ettrick Terrace, Hawick, SCOTLAND, TD9 9LJ, or contact via email: hawickshamrock@dsl.pipex.com

JOHNNY CASH (MAN IN BLACK) CCSC: The Johnny Cash (Man in Black CSC) is based in the Braemar Bar, London Road (down from the Barras). New members always welcome. We are dedicated to all things Celtic and Johnny Cash. Embossed club badges now on sale. Send £3 and an sae to J. Gallagher enclosing s.a.e. to the Braemar Bar, London Road, Glasgow G1. Shirts £10 M-XXL. KEIGHLEY CSC: We are based in “The Engineers” Club on Russell Street in the centre of Keighley, a one or two minute walk from the bus station and about 5 from the train station. The Club has a warm friendly atmosphere with good sensible priced drinks. New members and visitors welcome. We have been going since 2003. All televised Celtic games shown. There are 3 TV’s in the club with one large screen in the lounge dedicated to Celtic Games. Tickets and travel to various games arranged. Contact us on Keighleycelticsc@hotmail.co.uk or follow us on Facebook. Our normal monthly meetings are on

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the first Friday of every month. All bhoys & ghirls welcome. Just come along and and ask for one of us if we are not obvious !! KUALA LUMPUR CSC Malaysia: We show the games live every week all celts are welcome at the Carnegies Bar, Ground Floor, Central Plaza, 34 Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur malaysia. Contact Dougie or Gordon gordon.ford@fitch.com douglas.mooney@heidelberg.com ISLE OF SKYE CSC: Badges for sale £3.00 to members and £4.00 to non-members. Hail Hail. Contact: Davie Beaton, Chairman, Isle of Skye CSC. isleofskyecsc@yahoo.co.uk or 16 Urquhart Place,Portree,Isle of Skye,IV51 9HJ ITALIAN BHOYS: http://groups.msn.com/memocelts is a new Celtic FC Italian website created by Massimiliano Troiani. Come on the Hoops! Hail Hail from the Italian Bhoys. LEICESTER NEIL LENNON No. 1 CSC: Leicester’s newest CSC. Meetings held regularly. All Bhoys games shown live on TV. For more info call in to the New Town Arms, Pocklington Walk. LEIGH CSC: Any fans in the area wanting to join contact Leigh CSC c/o 244 Upholland Road, Billinge, Wigan, WN5 7DH or sajfraser@btinternet.com. Club badges for sale £3 0r 5 euro including p&p. LIMERICK HARTLEY MULLINS CSC: New badges available. 5 Euro including postage from Martin Power, 68 The Fairways, Monaleen, Castletroy, Co. Limerick. Republic of Ireland LIVINGSTON JOCK STEIN CSC: Club badges for sale. £3 for UK, 5 Euro for Eire and Europe (please inc. S.A.E.). Make UK cheques payable to Livi Jock Stein C.S.C. Contact Jamie Bowie, 2 Gleneagles Way, Deans, Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 8EW. Email: jamiebowie07@aol.com LONDON No1 CSC: Meetings every 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 20 Pheonix Road , Euston, London. Website londonno1csc.com

LOS ANGELES CSC: For all Celts in the greater Los Angeles area. Regular meetings are held at Joxer Daly’s, 11168 Washington Blvd, Culver City, Ca90232 (tel: 310 838 3745) to watch the Bhoys live on satellite TV. In addition we meet on the last Thursday of each month at the Elks Club (8025 West Manchester, Playa Del Rey) and further details are available by calling our regularly updated newsline on 310-915-1888. MANCHESTER SHAMROCK CSC: Bus leaves for every home game from the Who’d A Thowt It, Wood Street, Middleton. Contact John O’Donnell on 07763022221. We now have various pick-up points in the Manchester area. MADRID EMERALD CSC: Any Tims in Madrid? Meet in Finbar’s Irish Pub, C/Marques de Urquijo 10, Metro Arguelles. E-mail: madrid_emerald_csc@ hotmail.com. ¡Nuestra dia vendrá! MARMARIS: TURKEY CSC: Looking for fellow tims out here in Turkey Marmaris area to fly the flag. Email me at jackycampbell@msn.com MEDWAY EMERALD CSC: Meets the first Saturday of every month 3pm in O’Connell’s Bar, Chatham (opposite Chatham Train Station) For further details email MedwayEmeraldCSC@yahoo.com or visit our new website at www.medwayemerald.com for regular updates. MICHAEL DAVITT CSC LIVERPOOL: For details write to Tommy Mac, c/o Marybone Youth and Community Association, Holy Cross School, Fontonoy Street, Liverpool, L3 2AP. Meetings will continue to be held at the Pogue Mahone pub (junction of Seel Street and Berry Street Liverpool city centre) on Thursdays. MONTROSE CSC: New design metal badges now available £3.00 to UK residents plus stamped self addressed envelope 5.00 euros for Ireland and Europe. Cheques or PO,s made out to Montrose CSC . Contact Yvonne Whitworth , secretary, Montrose CSC, 1 Chapel Place, Montrose,Angus, Scotland , DD108HB

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www.cscn.no, or phone Seamus on: (+47) 9927 4801.

MUNICH SHAMROCK CSC: Games now being shown in Ned Kelly’s/ Killian’s Pub beside the Frauenkirche. For contact phone Gunter on: +089-8112173. New members welcome of course. Any Celts in Munich on holidays or business, why not come along and watch the game with us?

NORWICH AND DISTRICT CSC: Are you visiting or living in Norwich? Do you want to watch the games with fellow tims? Well come visit the Norwich and District CSC at their new location, The Temple Bar, on the corner of Earlham and Unthank Road in front of the Catholic Cathedral. Monthly meetings held 1st Monday of the month at 7pm We hope to see you there. For further info contact theghirlsuz@btinternet.com

NAAS NA RI CSC: Now up and running , all matches showen live big screen Manor Inn NAAS . New members welcome more info contact pat.hfamily@eircom.net NEW ZEALAND CSC: The NZCSC meet on a regular basis. Based in Auckland but also with groups of supporters throughout the main centres of NZ we offer an invite to all Celtic supporters either holidaying or planning to move out here. We also have a football side participating in the local football leagues and proud to wear the green & white hoops. If you want to catch up with the KiwiBhoys for a few beers and watch our team on this side of the world, or you feel you could be our new Ronaldo in our own football team, then contact Scott Morland on Phone No: 09 416 4155 or email Scott: scottmorland@xtra. co.nz or Kevin Everett on Phone No: 09 833 9149 or email Kevin: nzceltic@ihug.co.nz Looking forward to welcoming you! NORTHAMPTON SHAMROCK CSC: Meetings are now held every second Sunday as from June at 1pm in the Eastern District (North) Social Club, Lodge Farm, Crestwood Road, Northampton. New members welcome. For Sale: Northampton Shamrock CSC enamel badges, £3.50 including p&p. Cheques and POs made payable to Northampton Shamrock CSC. Contact Ian M.Smith, 2 Gallery Close, Foxhollows, Southfields, Northampton, NN3 5NT. NORWAY CSC: Celts in the Oslo area can watch all Celtic games in Oslo Sportsbar; address: Schweigaardsgate 50 (just 800m from the Oslo Central Station). Celts in the Bergen area can watch Celtic games on TV in the pub “British Lion”, addr: Veiten 3, in the city centre of Bergen. Celts in the Trondheim area can watch Celtic games in the pub “Three Lions”, addr: Brattørgt 10, in the city centre of Trondhim. For further information, please check our net site:

The N.U.I.G.(Claddagh) CSC: meet regularly in Richardson’s Bar, 1 Eyre Square, Galway City, Ireland. All televised games are shown live in the bar. This is a new society and is very active. We hold five a-side tournaments, quizzes etc. All new members can contact Patrick Harte at patrickdharte@hotmail.com. ODENSE HOOPS DENMARK: There Is Nothing Like A Dane! CSC in Denmark.now meet in Ryans on the Square, Frederica (not Odense) Irish Pub for Setanta, RTE games and Celtic TV. Telephone Contact Pat Smith 0045 234 842 66. OXON SHAMROCK CSC: Club badges now available price £2.50p each (plus p&p). Contact address is conlon@holmway.fsnet.co.uk PEEBLES CSC: We are a club serving Peebles and the surrounding area. We meet on the last Monday of every month in the Crown Hotel, Peebles at 7.30. PLYMOUTH CSC: contact Gerry Crawford on 01752 772182, email gezcrawford1888@hotmail.com All Celtic matches now shown at ‘The Patna’ on Patna Place, off North Road West (City Centre, 5min walk from train station) tel 01752 297058, all visitors welcome. Two new enamel pin badges on sale now £3.50 each (includes p&p) will send worldwide. Payment by cheque or postal order to Plymouth Celtic Supporters Club, 17 Meavy Ave, Crownhill, Plymouth PL5 3AH

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club meets at Dempsey’s Bar in Cardiff. The club can be contacted on 07811 828439

POLSKA CSC: Contact Greg Karwowski, polskano1-csc@hotmail.com RAMSGATE EMERALD CSC: Any Celtic fans in the East Kent area interested in meeting up for all televised games please contact Jim McGarry (0784 125 3019), or Phil Coll (0781 649 8198), or email at joeletaxi7@hotmail.com .

SOUTHAMPTON CHRIS SUTTON CSC: Contact Brian: parkhead@ mclellan7.fsnet.co.uk or club website www.southamptoncsc.com

RENTON CSC: Official website at www.rentoncsc. com. Club pin badges now available. £3 per badge (UK)5 euros per badge (Ireland & Europe) 6 dollars per badge (USA/Rest of World) Prices include postage & packing. Cheques in Sterling (by UK bank only) made out to: Renton Celtic Supporters Club. Send to Damien Kane, 7 Beaton Road, Balloch, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire G83 8QQ. email webmaster@ rentoncsc.com ROME CELTS: The new address in Rome for a warm Celtic welcome is The Finnegan Pub, Via Leonina 66, now being run by the guy who used to run the Druid’s Den. See you there. The Italian Bhoys. SAN FRANCISCO CSC: San Francisco CSC meet at the Abbey Tavern 4100 Geary Street, San Francisco, Ca, 94121. Contact names: Emmet Hinagh, Tom Coll and James Gray. All Bhoys games shown live on satellite. SAN DIEGO CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB: The San Diego CSC invites all Celtic supporters in San Diego County to the Blarney Stone pub located at 5617 Balboa Avenue to watch the Bhoys live on satellite TV. Further information is available by calling our information line on (619) 269-9729 or e-mailing ecrisa@home.com SCOBY’S BAR CSC: New batch of pin badges available. Costing £3.50 or 5 each, they can be obtained from Brian O’Callaghan, Scoby’s Bar CSC, Hospital, Co.Limerick, Ireland. scobysbar@oceanfree.net SHAWLANDS SHAMROCK CSC: Website moved to a new address. Check it out at www.shawlandscsc. netfirms.com SOUTH WALES CSC: New members welcome. The

STAFFORDSHIRE - THE LENNON CSC: Will be running a bus to every home and away game this season. If you live in the North Staffs or South Cheshire region and want a lift then phone Kevin on 01782 502762 or 07904397888 or leave a message on the club website at www.lennoncsc.co.uk SWINDON SHAMROCK CSC: All live games and monthly meetings in the Tap & Barrel, Manchester Rd (only 5 min walk from bus and train stations). For more information call club phone 07933405134 or visit our website: swindonshamrockcsc.co.uk SUNDERLAND CSC: Celtic matches are shown at TJ Doyle’s Irish Pub, Deptford, Sunderland. www. tjdoyles.com Tel. Dermot Nulty 07538 652680 and for travel to games contact Kevin on 0778 813 1871. St ALBANS CSC: O’Neil’s bar in Hatfield Road. New members always welcome. Anyone passing through St. Albans should pop in. T-shirts and badges available. For more details see the club website: www. stalbansceltic.com ST. PATS CSC GREENFORD: Meetings held 1st Tuesday of the month, bar-2-b, Ruislip Rd, Greenford. Meet for all live TV games in Henneseys Bar, Greenford Broadway. Contact Paul 07707 175056, Tony 07967 200845. ST. WERBURGH’S CSC CHESTER: Meetings are held in the Catholic Club, Brook Street, Chester first Thursday of every month at 8pm. Anyone in the area interested in joining is very welcome. Contact either John Kenyon (01244 321218) or Raymond Coyle (07932 066501). regular buses

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to Parkhead and all Setanta games shown. TAMESIDE EMERALD CSC: Tameside Emerald CSC run a bus to every home game. Pick-ups all over the North of Manchester including Bolton and Penrith. See www.TamesideEmeraldCSC. org.uk for more details. Always seats and usually tickets available for nonmembers. TEESSIDE AND DARLINGGTON HOOPS CSC: Running buses to home games picking up from Redcar, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Thornaby, Darlington and Scotch Corner. For ticket and transport details contact Frank on club phone 0791 3381916.Meetings held first thursday of the month at hopetown & whessoe WMC @ 7pm all welcome. THRINGSTONE BHOYS CSC: We’re based at the Queen’s Head pub, The Green, Thringstone. Meetings held regularly and all live games screened at the Queens Head. Trips to games and social events organised throughout the season. Open to all Celts in the NW Leicester area. For info please e-mail a.watson11@talk21.com TOKYO CSC JAPAN: Attention any fans who find themselves out in Tokyo during the season Tokyo CSC meets at Paddy Foleys in Roppongi and will be able to watch all the Champions League games live. For further details, including joining Japan’s only CSC, contact Andy Lawson at andy1888@cba.att.ne.jp TYNESIDE NO 1 CSC : Meetings every Tuesday at 8.15pm in Tyneside Irish Centre, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne. New Members welcome.All live games shown. For all club information contact Iain 0777 9346883 or Jack 0798 1214291. Log onto club website www.tynesideceltic.com or email us info@tynesideceltic.com Limited edition Pin badges available and other merchandise.Club newsletter available on request.

Alan Curran, 19 Craigford Avenue, Artane, Dublin 5, Ireland. Cheques or money orders to be made payable to ‘United Irishmen CSC’. WIGAN AND LEIGH CSC: Contact Kevin Devine 01942-684506, 07891518786 or Matty MacAvoy 01942-886207 Email: kevindevine1888@yahoo.com WIGAN ST.PATRICK’S CSC: Due to popular demand the Wigan St.Patrick’s CSC have now brought out the away version of the badge in groovy, yellow and green for the same £2.50 inc p&p, payable to P. Gallagher at 24 Roach Green, Wigan, WN1 3YG. WIM THE TIM CSC LEEDS: We meet on the 1st Thursday of the month at 8pm in the only Celtic pub in Leeds, Maguires, Regent St. All TV games shown. Bus to all home games. Pick ups: Leeds, Wetherby, Scotch Corner. New members welcome. wimzine@hotmail.com WINDSOR CSC: Jinky Johnstone Windsor CSC badges for sale £3.inc.post and packing. Cheques sent to Mark O’Donnell., flat 1, 88 osborne Road, Windsor, Sl4 3EN, Berks WOLVERHAMPTON SHAMROCK CSC: Emerald Club, Cross Street North, Wolverhampton. All live Celtic and Ireland games shown on big screen, Family friendly club, all very welcome. For more information contact us or check out our website on www.wscsc.co.uk YORK - O’NEILL’S CSC: Games shown at O’Neills Irish bar at 10 Low Ousegate York . Tel 01904 686901 . Bus or cars travel to most SPL home games .

UNITED IRISHMEN CSC: New badge available for sale priced £3.50/ 5 euros (incl.p&p)from

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2013-14 season’s ntvs NTV 219 August 24th 2013 featuring:

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hail hargreaves hale farewell then... victor wanyama gary hooper paddy mccourt thomas rogne match reports earwig bugle hotline tribute to neil lennon shakhtaer match report europe update seeing the light happy birthday dear celtic view farewell then rami gershon, kelvin wilson, miku and lassad govan bugle extra earwig match pictures cup final report and pictures hackwatching amnesia lane - stuttgart stuttgart’s one-armed legend robert schlienz scottish football armageddon? union berlin derby day in east berlin the james dean allure of borussia moenchengladbach glory nights and pre-season friendlies tales from the crypt celtic shorts news from kick it out

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2013-14 season’s ntvs NTV 220 September 21st 2013 featuring:

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mission improbable - champions league 2013 thoughts of jock stein letters match reports paradise road reviewed tales from the crypt - souness never mind the bundesliga... no pyro - no problem wit and wisdom of jock stein glory nights and... big jock colour picture spreads from the games barca and milan tic tactics champions league stats pre-history of ajax stadiamsterdam group H squads armageddon - livingston, stirling and east fife hackwatching - mccoist pay-cut, charlotte fakes, missing director? amnesia lane - liverpool 2003 paradise road extract news from furth, villareal and athletic bilbao celtic shorts news from kick it out

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2013-14 season’s ntvs NTV 221 October 22nd 2013 featuring: • • • • • • •

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Samaras: “Memories matter more than money; that’s why I want to stay.”

crystal myth - the untold story of the wee tax case celtic preliminary results 2013 europe update ac milan, st johnstone, kilmarnock and barcelona match reports phil chevron escape to the country with charles green great honest mistakes of our time - the warren commission’s magic bullet ball

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a living wage the death of rangers fc hibs, ajax, partick thistle, dundee united and ross county match reports sean fallon book faithful through and through sunny jim young the brain from planet sevco tales from the crypt earwig

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2013-14 season’s ntvs NTV 223 December 2013 featuring:

north pole csc agm shocker!

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euro campaign 2013 opening the biscuit tin what if there’s no santa? aberdeen, milan, hearts and motherwell match reports letters christmas catlogue 2013 quality street gang review tales from the crypt it’s a wonderful undead life

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Pukki New Year! www.ntvcelticfanzine.com

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never happy - the quest for perfection goes on mid-term report looking for goldilocks cloggers crime count table strong rangers the twilight zone barcelona, hibs, hearts, st johnstone, inverness, partick thistle, st mirren match reports tales from the crypt bobby collins Subscribers receive colour pdf by email before mag goes on sale

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2013-14 season’s ntvs

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issue 225 feb. 16th 2014

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“Sing ho! for the dauntless Goalie, Brave Brave old old Goalie! Goalie! For shots shots galore galore will will never never score, score, For Sing Sing ho! ho! for for the the dauntless dauntless Goalie! Goalie! Rushing Rushing out out to to meet meet his his man, man, Greek Greek to to Greek! Greek! Showing Showing judgement’s judgement’s reason’d reason’d plan plan -Never Never weak!” weak!” S. S. Henry Henry Eachus Eachus 1910 1910

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NTV 225 February 2014 featuring: • • • • • • • • • •

some things have to be said leigh griffiths - the new 999 is stephan johansen the new joe ledley? motherwell, hibs, kilmarnock, st mirren, aberdeen match reports charlie shaw the good, the bad and the ugly - celtic goalkeepers the strange tale of dick beattie scottish football armageddon - doin’ the 42 how much money do they have left? i am a zombie

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2013-14 season’s ntvs

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issue 226 mar 22nd 2014

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NTV 226 April 2014 featuring: • • • • • •

when the ball’s up yer juke and it’s not teemu pukk(i) it’s leigh grifﬁths..! grifﬁths...

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for the good of our game fergus mccann - his part in their downfall the greatest celtic team that never was joe ledley mo bangura st johnstone, hearts, aberdeen, inverness, kilmarnock match reports letters tales from the crypt appreciating the good times paradise regained - the story of season 199394 mccann was the man - interview from 1994 glory nights and quality street on the buses amnesia lane - boavista at Celtic Park doin’ the 42 - alloa athletic anti-zombie laughing crew pages match pictures tales from the crypt celtic shorts news from kick it out

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2013-14 season’s ntvs NTV 227 May 2014 featuring: • • • • • • • • • • •

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the armageddon chronicles - ntv’s end of season review who was who season 2013-14 europe update johan mjallby mo bangura st mirren, thistle, ross county, dundee united and motherwell match reports we hear that bugle hotline tales from the crypt tribute to neil lennon

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2013-14 season’s ntvs Days in Europa 2013-14 June 2014 featuring:

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euro round-up cliftonville elfsborg shakhter karagandy qualifying round stats group h squads milan - matchday 1 barcelona - matchday 2 ajax -matchday 3 ajax - matchday 4 milan - matchday 5 barcelona - matchday 6 celtic squad cl stats group H a-z celtic in europe - history champions league records

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