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Not long in from the game after a couple of celebratory refreshments.
Let's see now, we had:
A 30 yard screamer from Maloney
An own goal by Klos
Kyrgiakos sent off for criminal stupidity
Celtic not even having to approach their best to win due to the feckless, gutless display by TFOD
And about 1,000 extra fiends inside the ground on fake tickets get to witness it all!
All in all, a very satisfying evening!
Eck must stay - has he won a trophy that we didn't hand him on a plate? Em...no.
Hail Hail
Senor Pablo Diablo
p.s. Mooooo Mooooo Super Mo!
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Is it me?
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Paul
As usual you have capyured the essence of what happenned.
Well said
And by the way did you capture a few minutes with Fargo before he went underground again?
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Ooops
Sorry JohnBhoy, Noel et al..
That was enirely unintentional.
Senor Pablo
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Thanks Shamrock Diary. No, I must have missed Fargo, unfortunately. I trust he enjoyed his evening.
There have been 350 comments since I left the house and I have not read one of them.
Fourth in the SPL
your Fourth in the SPL
your Fourth in the SPL
your Fourth in the S.P.L.
To bed with a smile.
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Senor Pablo
Do not apologise - enjoy this along with a superb victory tonight.
We are all with each other on CQN (well I think we are) but never more so than when we put TFOD in their place as we did tonight.
Good on you mate!
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Paul
A good summation of tonight but would rather this was how it was on the 19th in the SPL
Long live Big Eck for me. The longer he lasts the better for us even if he manages to get worst Ran*ers team to 2nd Phase CL it will do us some good for next year's groups
But again dont write them off till May as they will still be sniping around the fringes
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Oh yer no laughing noo
But we are at YOU!
The worst MURRAY XI ever assembled!
Big Eck has now created two of the worst gers teams in history with this one even worst than Capucho and Egil something of two years ago.
Lets not get too carried away we were far from great tonight.
Early on we were being pushed off the ball all over the park.
Telfer got into four or five great crossing positions but failed to deliver every time. And up front we never really got the best out of Hartson and goal hero Maloney.
However if we continue to improve there will be no stopping us.
McManus and Lennon were excellent.
And Gordon Strachan is due a lot of credit also.
Hail Hail
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Paul67, agree with just about everything you said after the game. The next game can't come fast enough now!
I didn't hear the Ferguson interview so interested to read those comments.
Would disagree with you on the "two bad goalkeepers" though. Klos has rarely made a mistake against us...let's enjoy the exception. On that topic, isn't it great to see crosses being pumped into our box without having our hearts in our mouths!!
As soon as anyone has a link to the goals, i'd love to see them again!
Northy
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LLF
I agree that the game on the 19th has always been the important one but after watching how poor TFOD are I am more confident about Saturday week.
I am not complacent - a wounded animal can always be a mighty adversary but they showed little or nothing tonight that suggests they have a masterplan for the game in 10 days time.
I only regret these bloody international games are getting in the way this weekend - it would be fantastic to be playing them on Saturday with our confidence sky high.
Still I am more looking forward to the game on the 19th than ever before and many of Paul's words here tonight have a strong resonance within that.
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"Boogah!" as Unlucky Alf would say. Childish little game anyway. Good to see a noble Senor lead the way this time.
Paul,
Well said as regards Wee Gordon Strachan. He was brave tonight but, as military strategists will tell you, the greatest of tactical plans never survive the first contact with the enemy. The Rangers pressing (and blatant intimidation and fouling) plus the windy conditions made it hard for Celtic to settle into a silky pass-and-move routine. But we persevered, and were dominating the game before the first incredible goal.
We totally dominated the second half and would have won by more but for the usual flag-happy linesmen and BBJ's errant shooting.
The Kyrgiakos sending off and Klos's aberration at the second goal merely added to the merriment of millions and illustrated the total lack of concentration and morale in the Rangers camp.
It is quite clear McLeish is off to France to collect his P45. But will their new manager be able to believe the pile of absolute dross he has left behind?
As for Celtic, as I pointed out in graphic terms on the previous thread, we will gain confidence from this and be better next time. It will be tough on the 19th but we will prevail.
We will get better.
They can only get worse.
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Shamorck
Our best chance of running away from them in the league is if Big Eck keeps on plodding along till at least Christmas or longer if he keeps thme in the CL. Sureley DM cant sack a man who sends the team thru to second phase of CL????
SO they finish 4th in SPL and give everyomne else a better chance at CL next year.
Cmon the Huns......
Ok CL games only
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sorry cant sepll Shamrock
Obviously I mean
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JohnBhoy
You nearly stole my theory on the last thread. I believe I have uncovered the mystery behind the identify of FARGO
Fargo is:
wait for it...
The one and only
Rod Stewart!
I took a few pictures with my mobile but to contest it I'd have to wait more than 14 days and pay the £60 if I lost would I not rather than pay just the £30... Talk about a money making scheme.
Forgot to say before that I heard the:
"You're forth, in the s.p.l" chant but it only lasted a few seconds and turned into "Stand up if you hate the huns!" was dissapointed.
How much would Maloney be worth if he was a young Brazilian who had just signed? That would be interesting. Congratulations to WGS, even Lenny is playing good passing football!
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Hello, all.
Great win tonight but Rangers were truly awful and so we weren't quite as great as we looked. McGeady frustrated me just as much as he did WGS. And John Hartson looked even more immobile than ever. I think we missed Beattie in particular. £5 million for him in January? Break their arm for it.
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£5m for BBJ, i wouldn't sell him for 5,6 or 7. He is a one off. He will never be Linford Christie, he never has been, and that should be accepted, but his goals per game ratio is excellent. Would £5m guarantee us a minimum 25 goals per season striker? No.
Ask Paolo Maldini, ask Alessandro Nesta, ask them if he is a dud, and they will tell you he is one of the most awkward players they have ever had to try to handle.
Look beyond the big frame and see the striker within.
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Todays moment of Zen -
Hindsight can be a very an unforgiving prism when your predictions are based only on hope and prayer. Don’t want to start any agnostic chat either!!! ;) Read on McDuff.
ALEX McLEISH last night lit the blue-touch paper on tonight's explosive Old Firm CIS Cup clash by insisting Rangers are as good as Celtic.
The under-fire Ibrox boss ignored the fact his shot-shy side side trail Gordon Strachan's team by 12 points in the SPL and are languishing in fourth place
But ahead of the Parkhead clash, McLeish said: "Why should we be going to Celtic Park with any trepidation at all?
"We are every bit as good as them. We have just got to start proving that by turning results into a positive sense
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Malone 19. 1.23
Re the identity of Fargo... I think not.
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thanks for taking the time to write a very good summation Paul.
It did take the team time to find thier feet but I think the way they now communicate, cover for each other step the tempo up and down, shows patience and belief.
This has been instilled from Gordon and from where I sit with my feet up I don't fret. I just enjoy the journey we are on and I'm the learning curve with this team.
I think the onus was on winning tonight and that coupled with the fact that it was rangers may have affected the fluidity of our game. However we got what we needed and were mature throughot the game and the team.
thanks Mr S
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Anyone know if Zurawski and/or Sutton will be back in the frame for the 19th.
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Just got into my hotel to settle down and watch the game on C67 and the server is down :( What a bummer.
Cheered myself up by reading all the comments posted during the game. Thanks to all.
Great result although it sounds like an average performance was enough to beat a bad team. Looking forward to seeing Shaun's goal.
Hail Hail
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Have finally caught up with all the posts after coming back from the game.
Even though I am still on a high I agree with those posters who felt that, despite our complete & utter domination, we didn't actually have to play all that well; I have no doubt that we can & will play better in the weeks & months to come.
Rangers on the other are quite simply appalling. In over 30 years of watching Old Firm games I'm not sure if I have ever seen a more gutless, insipid, performance.
Very pleased to see Naka's resolve after what I thought was a pretty poor first-half performance. He worked his way into the game in the second half & became increasingly influential as the game wore on. Contrast this with his appearances early in the season when he was invariably hooked after around an hour or so.
For me, however, the shining lights were our midfield duo of Lennon & Petrov. If Lenny has had a finer game in a Celtic jersey I can't remember it. I also thought that we saw a different side to Stan Petrov tonight - dare I say that he put on a magnificent display of "ugly" football? I was one of those who was worried that we might be out-muscled tonight & I think that Stan was one of the main reasons why that didn't happen. He was involved in several meaty challenges including one memorable occassion when he completely bowled over big Kyrgiakos.
Finally, great to hear "Fourth In The SPL" being sung, even if it was only for a short spell. Something tells me it will get bigger licks when we're back at Paradise on the 19th for the league match - well done to everyone concerned.
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Malone I'll wait till I see the pic's but.... with a face like that you got nothin’ to laugh about
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stay with me on that one
stay with me
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mncelt
Thait is my fault as I am watching the CH67 feed for the second time;)
I will close it down as I need to go to bed butif you styill cant see the action then ask hotel for refund on their superfast broadband
system....
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http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/50544.html
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copyright laws anyone for the link ?
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Can anyone confirm if there's any truth in the rumour that alex mcleish has been appointed manager of crawley town after they were rejected by mr rix to go to the 2nd best team in the spl?????
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What happened to my GOALS post? Here it is again. So good I posted them twice.
Savour
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The repercusions for Rangers.
1 Klos' sell on price seriously diminished.
2 A downturn in attendances and catering revenue.
3 A fall in replica gear revenue and just before Christmas too.
4 A bill for 800k from Big Eck?
5 An expensive clear out bargain basement sale when Eck's replacement shows up.
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Gavil
With you 1-5. The upside is it will allow them to sell Klos now without the same backlash, also not play him in Europe without the too many eyebrows being raised.
I managed to see the 2nd half on C67 (when it worked) in the office......gonna watc the first half now.
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Lads,
A first time poster here on CQN - just settled down to watch the highlights with a nice bottle of vino and reflect on a most enjoyable result.
Delighted for WGS - whilst I think we maybe normally dismissive of the CIS Cup, this is a great opportunity for our manager to get some silverware in the trophy room early in the season. Hopefully this will have the same galvanising effect akin to that of the Killie victory in MON's first season.
Biggest highlight for me tonight was the performance of Shaunaldo and demonstrating that he is now very much an integral player in our starting 11 - how much money have we saved ourselves there?
On a sidenote - a big Hail Hail to my good mate Northy down in Oz and a very good evening to SanFran Tic.
Cheers!
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Just to follow-up on the last post...SanFran_Tic - I assume you're up in the city and get the games in the Abbey?
Cheers
Kevin
(San Francisco CSC)
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Gavil
another knock-on is no Euro spot therefore no CL cash - must affect their plan for next yr. The bargain basement sale will raise peanuts.
No quality manager will take a position with poor resources on the field and no facility to replace them. Youth could be an option - are their 5-6 playesr close to breaking through at Ibrox?
I think they have to hold on and hope they can get through to the next stage in the CL or at least get a run in the UEFA. I have said it before they have to rely on Eck to fund the conditions that will allow them to sack him and attract another manager.
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SanMateoTim
Not today, I watch it on C67. back in the day before we had a club in the city I used to travel down to The Fiddlers in Millbrae. Is that where you watch the games?
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SanFran_Tic,
Good to hear from you pal - yeah, I get the games @ Fiddler's.
Good crowd today with the amusing sight of folks in for lunch wondering what all the fuss was about :-)
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I don't envy you guys your rise a week on Saturday. It's bad enough on the east coast. No doubt it will be worth it.
Check out an alternative view of the game. (I'm trolling the net as the server on the Celtic site seems to be down. Hacked perhaps?)
Rangers Blog View
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Gavil its 7am every week for us WC so no sympathy. 4am is tough though you are right. Been a while since I did this but I may just stay out and hit the Bar for the game at 4.
At least when it is this early you can always go back to your scratcher.
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C67 still out of service.
Error An error has occured on this server, and the administrator of the site has been notified.
Fantastic
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Watch it in full on saturday I guess. Anyone Stateside watching the Scotland game on Saturday? It is showing 8am PST on FSC (Fox Soccer Chanel)
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My views on the game.
Rangers were Feckless.
I can't believe how poor they are, having only seen them in the previous game with us at Ibrox.
Celtic were only as good as they had to be.
Defence was untroubled.
NL and SP in midfield were strong and dominating.
Nakamura san provided the guile, drawing Rangers players to him like moths to a flame when he got the ball. Note the number of free and running Celts there were whenever we surged forward.
BBJ was effective first half but missed a sitter 2nd half and faded somewhat. Was it the white boots?
Great goal from Maloney.
The ref was poor, but the North Stand linesman was terrible. Why was Stan's goal ruled offside when he was clearly on? OK stupid question I know.
Ricksen assaulted Nakamura san and Kyrgiakos proved that football is not only a contact sport, but encompasses the best from ballroom dancing and the WWF.
The blue figures in your mirror are even further behind than you think.
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Gavil - an excellent summary of tonight's proceedings.
Our midfield was absolutely superb this evening - I especially thought Lenny played a magnificent game and certainly emphasises the need to have that type of player in the team.
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What a satisfying result. Our total dominating play would have been even more obvious if we had sunk a few of the missed sitters. Our pace on the breakaway is improving all the time and the quick passing game is a delight to watch.
Discipline and focus are core skills Wee Gordo is tattooing on the players.
The highlight for me was the robustness of Naka's play. He stood up to the rough stuff well, including Ricksen's fore arm smash to the head.
Lets roll Celtic!
P.S. Sorry to disappoint young Malone, but just because Rod Stewart was at the game doesnt make him Fargo.
The unmasking of the Great One will not come to pass, not should it be attempted.
Hail, hail.
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Gavil'guy-
thanks for the goals link-
you have just made me late for work !
Another brilliant night at Celtic Park.....I,m a happy man ...
hail ! hai l!
noel.
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Noel90
Do you think you could drop past CP and sort out the server issue?
General absolution for those buying the DR today to check on the broken crest progress.
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Just back from celebrating the Bhoys splendid victory at BBKings club in Nashville - Tab Benoit was playing- worth looking out for if you are into the Blues (music-wise of course!)
Roll on the 19th when I hope I can witness a repeat performance
Lets go forth in the SPL
Forth in the SPL
Forth in the SPL
and (next year) in the Cl too
VertWolf
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Absolutely delighted. Was slightly uneasy going into the game as strong favourites but with 3 (THREE) strikers out injured. Now lets do the 2nd part of the job at least as well. Rangers were awful, and seemed to completely lack any team spirit.
Probably 50-50 whether McLeish is still in charge on the 19th. It would be a little unusual to sack a manager after a League Cup defeat. Ultimately their delightful fans will probably determine his immediate fate. He hasn't completely lost them up until now but last night could be the final straw for many. Murray also has 9 days before the next game. If he's got a potential replacement in mind he may move now and give the new man a bit of time to settle in.
I have no dislike of McLeish. I spent half an hour in his and Willie Miller's company in 1988 at the Garden Festival and thought he was a good bloke. I did choke on my cornflakes reading the '132 years of dignity' story, but he's not come out with very much else that could be seen as inflammatory, and we should remember it's not his job to be popular amongst the Celtic fans. After all, while I totally supported and agreed with MON when he stated that Neil Lennon had been subjected to sectarian and racist abuse, he wasn't going to win any popularity contests at Ipox after that one. My main gripe with McLeish is that he's been a right jammy bugger since becoming Rangers manager.
'We shall not be moved' has never been my favourite Celtic song, but it has taken on a whole new lease of life in the last couple of weeks. I particularly like the way we name our challengers in the correct order of merit as stated in the league table. In a couple of weeks time we might have to change the words to 'By the Hearts, the Hibs or the Killie'. Just a nice wee thought.
A couple of unrelated questions. I'm trying to complete my proxy forms for the EGM. I bought CPO shares in the 2001 issue, and recently opted to reinvest my dividends and receive further shares. Am I right that these further shares are Ordinary Shares (rather than CPO Shares) and I should complete parts 2 AND 3. Secondly why does part 1 offer you the opportunity to vote for the resolutions on an individual basis, but then in parts 2-4 you have to approve them all as a group? Thirdly I was considering attending the EGM as I have never been to any of the AGMs or EGMs before. Are they interesting?
Finally an unrelated question. Somebody made the 'succulent lamb' reference to Mr Murray on here recently. I've read that one a few times now. What's the basis for this story? Thanks for any help.
bryce
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Few points about last night.
Referee and linesmen were terrible. Rangers were getting away with some bad tackles and forearm smashes. Petrovs goal disallowed why?, shocking decision.
But for some poor finishing it could have been 5-0.
Sitting watching the game I thought if we had a full squad available and were able to bring on the likes of Majic, Sutty or Beattie then we could murder this mob.
Expected nothing less from the forces of darkness they gave their all but came up against a better team with more skill, pace and guile.
Atmosphere fantastic the look on Borucs and Nakas faces as they came out was just a sight to behold.
What a goal wee man.
Well done the bhoys well done the fans well done WGS and the coaching staff.
More of the same on the 19th please.
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ps Kloss bottled it, well you would with Bobo coming at you like that lol.
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Bryce,
Here's a link to the Murray story you asked about (thanks to CQN's senor pablo diablo);
http://senorpablodiablo.blogspot.com/
Would normally have advised you to have the sickbag ready but after last night's miserable Rangers performance you might have to try to stifle some giggles.
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Bryce
McLeish is quoted in July this year, trying to push Michael Ball out the door:
'Michael had a good season and finished it a champion. But the bottom line is that his wages are still hurting the club.'
Now that even the Rangers sycophants (the Scottish press corps) are asking when McLeish will go, I wonder if feels that he is now honour bound to practice what he preaches and resign, so that Rangers will not have to pay his redundancy package? I wonder if he feels his £800,000 would be 'hurting the club'?
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Gavil Guy...
Meant to say - thanks for posting the goals - superb
1. What a peach from Shaun
2. Klos was so worried about Bobo that he completely lost the flight of the ball, and was surprised to find it almost behind him. Much to admire from Naka
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well done to one and all,but it should have been a bit more comfortable.how many times does sir stan petrov run into the box to be missed/ignored by his teammates?he could easily get 100 goals a season[o.k.exaggeration]
and well done to supermo kamara.he got pelters when he started,but instead of taking the hump he has worked pretty hard at his game.
the tackle on him by fanny jeffers deserved more than a booking.
allez les verts!
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Having just digested the laptop loyals take on the game this morning I think we are being wrong in referring to it as "lazy journalism". It must be very hard work to put such a positive spin on such a desperately poor outfit (The Scotsman excepted). It is instinctive and innate dare I say genetic and long may it continue. Looking so much forward to the meltdown.
1. Both goals Klos errors - false
2. Prso headed against the bar - false
3. Kyriagkos red card was unwarranted - false
4. No mention of the Hartson and Petrov offides; one a legit goal and one flagged before the ball was even played (watch the video)
5. No mention of the career threatening tackles on Mo Camara
6. No mention of Celtic having only one fit striker
7. No comparison between Rangers CL superstars against Celtics Lhaddies (scottish ones to boot)
8. No mention of Psycho Sissies elbow to Naka's head
9. No mention or accolades for Lenny´s sterling performance
10. No mention that all Gers attacking play resulted from Celtic errors
11. No mention that the worst player ever to play for the hoops was not substitued at half time for being Olivier Bernard.I mean if Celtic are not as good as they used to be then enjoy your Rangers career in their reserves or is he training for a job in the Scottish media as an independednt pundit
12. Possession stats not even mentioned.
13 No mention that the only player that the wee narrow minded peeeple gave an accolade for is a Motherwell player.
14. NO SPECULATION AT ALL ABOUT WHO THE NEXT INCUMBMENT might be except for Paul Jewel and Sam Allardyce ... keep taking the pills
.. Looking forward to the seeing two Jimmies jousting with this seasons favourite to get the sack first. 1.0 to WGS
Hail Hail
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Good win, our effective football should have brought more goals. Now on to the league game.
Only disappointment for me was the amount of anti Rangers songs from the crowd, I much prefer the pro Celtic stuff. :-)
Of course that`s what drink does.
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By the way... Do I win the prediction league 2-0 and greater than 60% possession?
Not bad if I say so myself ;->
B
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Just wanted to share my delight after last night. I can never remember being so relaxed during an Old Firm game as I was last night. Not even in the 6-2 game was I so relaxed. We totally outclassed them in every respect. I was laughing at all the guys with their 4-0 and 5-2 predictions earlier in the week, but it could easily have been 3,4 or 5-0 if we'd taken just some of our chances. The 5-2 guess was plain stupid - as if they'd score 2!
Going through the team, the defence was solid and Boruc could have had a picnic on his goal line and wouldn't have been missed. Naka, Lenny and Petrov were simply brilliant, while Aiden showed glimpses of what he's capable of, but took a few wrong options. I certainly think he deserves a chance for the next game. BBJ and Maloney played great. BBJ missed some great chances but it was great to hear the support cheering him rather than groaning.
On 810MW in the car on the way home, Gordon Smith said "Gordon Strachan goes on about this fast passing game. Well I didn't see much evidence of that. Certainly not in any prolonged spells." Well if that's not us playing nice fast pass and move football, I can't wait to see us when it's implemented! We may not have played as well as we can, but teh calmness throughout the team and the willingness to play passes even in tight situations was a joy to watch for me.
Also wanted to say give yourselves a pat on the back, the atmosphere was simply brilliant tonight. I'm still totally hoarse today - my throat is killing me! The only downside was area 438's unwillingness to join in me and my brother's shouts of you're fourth, in the SPL! All of you from 438 - let's get it going on the 19th!
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Oh What a Beautiful Morning
Oh What a Beautiful Day
I've got a Beautiful Feeling Everything's Going My Way!
Great night last night we should have won by far more, (hurry Zurawski back for the League game).
Only black spot was my prediction yesterday that Maloney would be first goal scorer, and did I put any money on it? NO!! I'll never get rich if I don't trust my gut.
Has anyone got the goals in a Zip file? My work firewall will let me download Zip files but nothing else, so if anyone can help I'd appreciate it.
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Meant to add, did anyone watch this on TV? If so, was Petrov's goal offside? What about the other times we were ruled off in the first half? Did Ricksen elbow Naka? How bad were the challenges from behind on Stan and Super Mo?
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D'oh, meant other offsides in the second half!
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SanFran_Tic.
One of the polish newspapers wrote yesterday that Zurawski will be fit for the 19th.Happy with the yesterday's score.
Lawlerm are you there?Need any help re. your visit or it's OK
Cracow-Life.com
Krakow-Tours.com
Zbyszek Legia fan
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agree with most of your comments paul, particulary on Barry Ferguson's comments. He has really impressed on this front since he came back to Scotland.
I thought Mo Camara was excellent, although I struggled to find any end product from McGeady or Nakamura.
I thought overall, it was a poor quality of game - by Old Firm standards.
Neil Lennon has improved immensely since Gordon took over, even although he was magic before hand. Young McManus is in line for Player of The Year.
On the singing front, it was a shame to hear that nonsene about "Cheer up Alex ..." last night. By the same token it was great to hear the real Celtic fans attempt to drown those bigoted chants out with the "Walk on".
TERNAR
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Sorry Lawlerm
See another two:
Krakow-Hotel-Guide.com and
Krakow-Apartments.com
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Agree with Ternar and others re the singing of "cheer up Alex McLeish etc...", although it's probably a bit unrealistic to expect the crowd not to get carried away in the heat of an OF game.
I've always had this idea that Celtic and Rangers fans can be differentiated in their singing as follows:
· Celtic fans tend to sing in support or celebration of all the rich things that go into the mix to make us Celtic.
· Rangers fans tend to sing ‘anti’ songs - in opposition or to decry things they don't like / understand in others.
As Celtic fans I think we are at our best when we stick to singing songs of celebration and avoid songs that decry others - especially when personalised.
On another note - one of the high points for me last night was just before half time, when we were playing them off the park after the confidence of Maloney’s goal, and the fans gave a great rendition of the Willie Maley song. “To play football the Glasgow Celtic Way” was given even more impetus than usual and was a real sign of how much the fans were enjoying the manner in which we were outplaying Rangers.
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All,
What a performance, what a night. Truly wonderful goal from Maloney and a Celtic performance I would rank as the most dominating I have ever witnessed against TFOD. When we won 6-2 at CP we never performed as well as we did last night. We beat TFOD that day by taking every chance and half chance, but could have lost as many as we scored on another day. However, last night we taught them a footbaling lesson- we moved the ball about with grace, kept possession and most importantly, we kept our heads. We played football the Glasgow Celtic way!!!
Anyway, fianl note- does anyone know where I can get a media clip of the goals from the game last night? There are a few International Bhoys who would love to see them.
Hail Hail
GingerAvenger
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I enjoyed that!
Excellent result and 2nd half performance. I thought the back 4, the midfield 2 and John Hartson built a strong foundation for our creative players.
I didn't realise Rangers were that bad - comedy in the herald that mcleish has found a left back slower than ball and more wasteful than vignal.
Good old Santa Klos.
On the fans front - the bbc's opening scan of the crowd contained at least 2 nazi salutes as they sang Rule Brittania. What a lovely bunch.
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Glenn Gibbons in the Scotsman writes;
IT WAS hardly the widely anticipated humiliation, but Rangers, as expected, were put through the mincer at Celtic Park last night, losing the CIS Insurance Cup as well as the match.
On a night when Gordon Strachan had at his disposal basically better players than his besieged friend, Alex McLeish, Shaun Maloney's exceptional first-half strike appeared likely to be decisive even before the foolishness which had the Ibrox defender, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, ordered off for two yellow cards midway through the second half.
But Stefan Klos's own goal, the ball coming off his arm and over the line as Bobo Balde challenged for a long and deep cross from Shunsuke Nakamura on the right, merely confirmed the pronounced disparity in ability between the Old Firm rivals.
That astonishing goal from Maloney was a dressing that the general standard of play did not quite deserve. In this regard, Rangers were the more culpable , the Ibrox side having appeared to place the emphasis on preventing Celtic from settling into the rhythmic, passing game that has been a feature of much of their recent unbeaten run.
This was an entirely understandable tactic from McLeish, whose primary concern, given the unconvincing form of his own side over the past three months, would have been the danger of surrendering the initiative to hungry and ambitious opponents, in the process possibly undermining the morale of his own team.
Despite the close attention of the visitors, however, Strachan's players contrived the bulk of the fluent moves that were in evidence before Maloney's strike. With Stilian Petrov typically forceful in midfield and Aiden McGeady pushing forward on the left, John Hartson troubling the Rangers defence through the middle and Maloney often picking up the loose ball, there was a sense of looming trouble for Rangers.
This was strengthened when McGeady was supplied on the left by Maloney and he drove inside before releasing a right-foot shot which Klos held comfortably. That may have been a "sighter" for McGeady, who repeated the move soon after, this time beating the goalkeeper, but sending the ball marginally wide of the far post.
Those moments may have been interpreted as a caution to Rangers, but nobody could have been prepared for the manner in which Maloney produced his goal. Petrov played the ball forward to the little striker in what appeared to be merely the foundation stone of a move yet to be built.
Maloney, however, took a stride forward, jinked to the left of Julien Rodriguez and, from a range of at least 30 yards, sent the right-foot drive hurtling high to the left of Klos. Even the Rangers players may have felt like applauding. On second thoughts, probably not. They would be pre-occupied with the problem of constructing telling moves of their own that would bring some unaccustomed bother to the Celtic defence. But they managed to complete the entire first half without forcing Artur Boruc in the home goal to so much as a stroke of work.
But for a couple of questionable decisions by the stand-side linesman, Celtic might have visited even more trouble on their great rivals. The flag seemed to be raised before Neil Lennon's pass was made to Hartson, who appeared to have come onside by the time the Irishman released the ball in his direction. Without the arresting flag, he would have had only Klos to beat.
The second decision was clearly an error, as Petrov played the ball to the onside McGeady on the left. Hartson was in an offside position in the middle, but had no involvement. The linesman gave the impression he was as puzzled by the modern intricacies of the offside law as the majority of spectators.
These were little breaks for Rangers, who needed relief from somewhere as they toiled in vain to put together any kind of coherent movement from middle to front.
In search of a much-needed resurgence, McLeish took off Olivier Bernard at half-time and sent on Peter Lovenkrands, the Dane going to the left of the midfield four and Ian Murray retreating into the left-back position.
It would not have been a difficult decision, since Bernard had looked uncertain and untidy, a defender vulnerable to the probing of Paul Telfer and Nakamura on Celtic's right. Nor would the Rangers manager have to dwell too long on the question of replacing Steven Thompson with Francis Jeffers.
The big striker had struggled from the start to make an impact, although he was obviously handicapped by a notable lack of service from his midfield. But his own lack of mobility was a serious weakness in such a match and his departure in the 56th minute would surprise nobody.
It was, indeed, no surprise that Rangers' first semi-serious threat should come about as a result of a mistake by a Celtic player. McGeady's pass back to Balde was a little short, but the towering defender could have made a first-time clearance, rather than try to control the ball and simply allow it to run to Dado Prso. The big Croat, however, snatched at his shot and the ball went weakly wide. In stark contrast, Celtic's next moment of menace came from a series of smooth and accurate passes, Nakamura to Hartson to Petrov and, finally to McGeady on the left side of the penalty area.
With reinforcements arriving in the goal mouth, McGeady's chip might have caused serious alarm but for the alert and crucial intervention of Alan Hutton, who conceded the corner kick.
Given this disparity in the respective danger of the two teams, Rangers could have done without the stupidity that brought the ordering-off of Kyrgiakos in the 66th minute. Having been the first player booked, for a foul on Petrov in the first half, the big Greek defender incurred his second caution with sarcastic applause of the far-side linesman when the latter ordered a free kick against the defender for a foul on Maloney.
Being reduced to ten men when already a goal behind rather typified the troubles Rangers have, in the main, brought on themselves and their manager through this trying season.
...anyone see a pattern?
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wonderful stuff ..just got back to my desk in london tired and bleary eyed but very very happy. I think we r underestimating ourselves we dominated last night.
I am beginning to start to think like Noel90...the best crop since the quality street kids..could be on the dawn of a GREAT team??
Dickbyrne ..I think nakamura makes Lennon a much better player. Now we have two players who are always available with Petrov bossing anyone who tries it on..fantastic .
Jeromek67 must be Rod Stewart then
BryceCyrdy
Hopefully we'll be singing your song soon
"Bring on the Hearts the Hibs The Killie "...I like that
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Bryce Curdy - during "We shall not be moved" I was singing "By the Hearts, the Hibs or the Killie" but unfortunately no-one was picking up on it around me. It would have been great to have heard that sung by 53,000 people! Any chance we can get the word round to get it sung on the 19th to let them really see how much of a challenge they are to us?
Paul - An interview with Brian Quinn and now getting one of your songs sung by the Celtic Park choir! Well done. Also you're spot on about young Bazza's interview last night. A very dignified response to events at Ibrox - credit where credit's due.
To everyone else - I don't know why we're surprised by the media's response. I was coming out of the ground last night with my brother and we were both elated but I said, "What's the bets it was 2 goalkeeping errors and the Kyrgiakos sending off that won us the match?"
Oh and does anyone still think we should have went for Oliver Bernard?
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Malone, Fargo has been ‘outed’ more times than that big Greek guy who used to be in Wham; I’ll add Rod to the long list of possibilities.
Whitedog, I was ‘with you’ on that one. Excellent.
Welcome Kevin.
Cheers Martinobhoy.
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Living in the USA as i do,i obviously don't get to Celtic Park as often as i would like,having said that, i will be back for the upcoming league game against the current custodians of FOURTH position in the SPL,after todays show i am even more excited than normal,Celtic looked as though they were playing well within themselves while Rangers were simply awful,bearing in mind we have several top quality players coming back from injury i don't,for the life of me see how they can live with us,on a lighter note,can anyone tell me what happened to Lovenkrands after he came on?,he managed to pull off the near impossible feat of contributing ABSOLUTELY nothin,nada,zero,zilch,to think this guy used to induce heart failure in us,now it's his own fans who are heard to moan at his appearance,want to bet he is playing next week?.
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Rosio
Recorded the game last night and analysed it later. Petrov's goal was clearly onside, shocking decision. Naka was deliberately elbowed by psycho ricksen, the tackle on Stan that resulted in the big geek getting carded wasn't that bad, but Jeffers was lucky only to get a yellow for the assualt on MC.
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I am getting the feeling from some of the bloggers that they truly believe that we won last night, only because Rangers were poor. That is absolute nonsense. This will be the spin the hacks come up with. You can only beat what is put in front of you. So far this was the first big test that Strchan's men faced and won this season.
I say well done to them, and over the piece an excellent solid performance. Rangers barely had a strike on goal. We were comfortable throughout. Credit where credit's due.
My man of the match would be Lennon, who's passing and pressing were unsurpassed. However, Shaun's goal was great, and overall work rate was top notch. In addition, Nakamura was splendid. He looked ungainly in the tackle, but his work-rate in pressing married with his skills on the ball – fantastic. Definitely a work in progress, however it's shaping up rather nicely.
Let's bask in the sunshine of a hugely enjoyable victory.....but not get complacent. The job against the downfall of Rangers is only half complete.
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"They have no defence and we now know have not one, but two bad goalkeepers – the second Celtic goal tonight was the worst piece of play I can remember see
