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Hail Hail
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Fingers crossed
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Second ?
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What time is the draw?
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11 o'clock
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From 11am on Sky Sports News
Believe in a G.O.D
bdb
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The draw takes place in Paris at 12CET.
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or a M.O.D © Martybhoy!!
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Paul
I think the eventual winner will come from Barca, Milan or Juventus with Lyon being a good outside bet. Any of these four will do for us.
But as I've said before we've still got to do our bit!
Still cant believe the Herald this morning. I have to keep looking at it to check they've printed these articles.
Time for Moonbeam Murray to launch another attack on "unbalanced" (i.e. truthful) reporting in the Scottish media.
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How about an Epoch!
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We can debate the merits or otherwise of the Rangers-JJB deal and who financially will get the most benefit.
But I'm sure the main reason Murray did the deal was to get the 18 Million up front.
Murray has been quoted as saying he wants Rangers 'to trade' their way out of their current financial problems.
By trade he means gamble and he see the 18 Million as his stake.
I also think the main reason Murray wants Le Guen is that he sees Le Guen as being able to access the French market.
I reckon Murray considers the French market as offering the best value where he can pick up players for nothing or next to nothing.
They can be showcased at Ibrox then sold on for a profit as Boumsong was.
Anyway that's my theory.
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While it doesn't suit our purposes don't count out Arsenal.This could be their year,just like Gretna in the SC and Carlisle in the LDV.
If Mr Murray needs cash why doesn't he try writing a book?
I mean if Wayne Rooney can get £5M..
for 5[five]books!
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Frankiebhoy,
Looks like DM could be starring in the next Havanah Cigars advert then since the French market will have inflated to the types of values seen in the English Premiership after they signed their new TV Deal :)
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http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/UCL/index.html - is usually the best for the draw live, if your PC at work can handle flash & audio(mine can't)
I've just had a two hour meeting, due to be on from 10:30 cancelled so I'll be on soccernet.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=361186&cc=5739
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Paul,
The odds must be stacked in our favour, Barca and AC Milan are the inform teams and Juve are still going stong. However how often is it the lucky team that wins these competitions watch out for Benfica and Arsenal!
Celticlover,
Thanks for the response - didn't get to catch up on CQN last night.
The 10 year deal - while having little experience of retail – This time frame seems ridiculous, in most industries, it’s is usual to review contracts at say three to five year - max! I just think ten years smacks of desperation and as I posted yesterday would expect that Rangers hope to be in a position to ‘BUY’ themselves out of the deal well before the expiration.
It was great to see the Uefa prosecution, this is not before time
The timing couldn’t be better, as the MINT is trying to spin the NEW ERA and PLG considers his future, however the lesson for Celtic is we must make further strides to put our house in order. Uefa was able to take this action because it was against a Spanish club (Inter @ the San Siro was probably a bit too political because the SUPPORTERS there were guests of the club). The SFA have shown no desire to punish Rangers and the Ones as bad as the other argument means that despite the abuse hurled at Celtic, Uefa could never take action against them in relation to us.
We will defiantly come under the microscope – guilt by association – we shouldn’t give them any excuses!
Graeme Spiers – possible punishment – no fans at Ibrox for European fixtures next season – haven’t Eck and MINT manage to achieve this already???
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Marzepans
I was thinking more of the younger players that the likes of Arsenal pick up for next to nothing. Of course I could be talking out of my aforementioned Arse-nal.
Arsenal are my worry for the CL.
I read yesterday about the remaining Romanian teams in the UEFA cup being a danger ?
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FrankieBhoy RE the French market do you mean like Hemcanny and Fandan?
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Terry O'Neill
Hope so. My hope is that as Murray won once with Boumsong then like all gamblers he'll keep going back for more.
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Final comment on the JJB deal because I would rather focus on what we are going to do on and off the pitch going forward. I believe our prospects are excelent but this is the future and no-one has a crystal ball.
Surely the point of the JJB deal is that as things stand today no-one can say whether this is a fantastic or disastrous, with all points between, contarct for Rangers. The key will be the triggers for extra payments. What these are and what will be paid for high sales are commercially confidential and no one in the pub or anywhere else will be able to shed any authortative light on this. This of course onlymakes the ravings of the laptop loyal seem even more preposterous,. Its almost enough to make you phone in to a radio programme, or even atke a blind bit of notice.
Anyway enough of them lets get on with our campaigns and try to make them successful
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frankiebhoy
You raise an interesting point regarding Boumsong.
However, at the momment, there is no Souness to give them inflated transfer fees, for over-rated players!
And, given his record, there is little prospect of that being the case again
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ARSENAL v JUVE
LYON v AC MILAN
INTER/AJAX v VILLARREAL
BARCA v BENFICA
bdb
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gooners v Juve (good)
Lyon V AC Milan (Damn)
Inter/Ajax v villareal (damn)
Barca v benfica (good)
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tried taking part on the bbc scotland website survey and was told to piss off because i dont live in the uk.
from todays herald
But Donald Gorrie, LibDem MSP for Central Scotland, said it highlighted a culture clash between Scottish and European expectations. "In Scotland, people have become accustomed to fans misbehaving, while on the continent it is found unacceptable . . . An incident like this can help the club to get more of a grip on those supporters who sing really damaging songs."
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Lyon v Milan is not good for The Bhoys.
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Good CL draw from our point of view.
If Juve beat Arsenal then beat say Inter in the semis then we're OK.
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From that draw I think the eventual winner will be whomever wins the Lyon v Barcelona semi ;)
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Looks like a good draw for us.
On the JJB stuff. Look at any debt recovery deal and you get an idea of how this works and what win/lose is. The basic is the buyer (JJB) purchases something for LESS than it is worth in total but gives the seller (Hun Central) immediate access to a reduced level of cash. The buyer then goes onto get that back and more over time.
In this scenario it IS a win:win deal. Murray wants a warchest for Le Guen. This he has got, so he, in his mind, has won. JJB put up the cash but over a longer term business startegy recover greater sums and make greater profits and so JJB consider they have won. Both parties are happy with the deal.
What we, as nice outsiders, are really speculating on is not the immediacy of this deal, but what benefit/damage it is to the LONG TERM prospects for RFC.
The LONG TERM damage is that RFC have written off significant potential future income for cash today. It's the credit card mentality and WILL hinder longer term.
However, in the short term it WILL be enough to tempt Le Guen to sign on. Let's hope he has to sign on a little differently in 2 years time.
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BdB
We are the M.O.D's,
we are the M.O.D's,
we are the, we are the,
we are the M.O.D's!
Paul,
I think that it would only be fair and right if Barca win the Champions League this year. Not only are they a joy to watch but a certain chap who plays for them deserves a European medal to his name.
Pggtips,
Still no reason behind your "dying high street" comment.....you sure that wasn't vody in your tea last night?
Martyhboy
Millenium of Domination
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Lyon v Milan. My friend in Milano, called this a bad draw. Hey, at least his team is there!
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NO SIGN OF RFC
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Murray may have SAID there is no place for the FTP Brigade (is that an oxymoron), however, the reality is that there appears to be about 45,000 seats available every week for just such.
The best example of this recently was the web-posted video from one of the aforementioned, whose purpose was to record the (pretty impressive) colour/card display at the start of the Villareal game. However, the audio is superb with full reditions of "up to your knees...." and "FTP and TV" at full volume. There is absolutely no discernable difference in volume between the standard phrases and the lovely bigot lines, suggesting that, far from being a small minority, the FTP division constitute the vast majority.
Bring it on UEFA (soon to be known as something something Fenian something down Govan way)
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The semi-final isn't great, unless Juve get through, the chances are that a team struggling to qualify domestically will be in the Final:
ARSENAL or Juventus v Inter Milan/Ajax or Villarreal
Lyon or AC Milan v Benfica or Barcelona.
I haven't liked Juve since we played them last - however with Davids gone, can jist aboot p@@ off my Gooners chums and support them.
Has anyone heard the rumour that Le Guen was in Turin and is being lined up to replace Fabio Capello when he goes to Real in the summer?
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Unrepentant European Fenian Apologists?
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dumbhoy
It already does!
Union(?) of European FENIAN Associations!!
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I like Brattbacks' better!!
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McManus has signed on until 2008, with an option for another year.
Is this news or did it happen yesterday and I missed it whilst laughing uncontrollably at the revelation of Murray's moonbeam?
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Check this article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4788324.stm
Basically FIFA are clamping down on "hooligan" behaviour during the world cup - including arrests for those singing The Dambusters theme.
I wonder if the UEFA observers at the Villareal game at Snake Mountain too note of that too.
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I don't think people realise that the 2nd placed teams in Italy and Spain also qualify automatically for the CL group stage, so it is actually a pretty good draw for Celtic.
Arsenal v Juventus
Lyon v AC Milan
Inter Milan or Ajax v Villarreal
Benfica v Barcelona
The only tie we would have preferred to change is Lyon v AC Milan, as both are primed to qualify automatically from their leagues, so it would have suited us to keep them apart and pitch them against Inter/Ajax and Villarreal respectively.
Given the performances in the previous round, and considering current domestic form, we would expect the semi finals to look like this:
Juventus v Inter Milan
AC Milan v Barcelona
...with a Juventus v Barcelona final looking most likely. Obviously this is all assuming that there are no big upsets or massive changes in form, which recent history dictates that there probably will be.
We would expect Juventus (clear 1st in Italy) to overcome a struggling Arsenal side, who will not secure automatic qualification for next season.
Lyon have more or less wrapped up the French title, so it would actually best suit us for them to beat AC Milan, and for Inter to overtake AC in Serie A, to clinch the second automatic qualification spot. But after Milan's emphatic drubbing of Bayern Munich I can't see Lyon progressing, evan after their own thrashing of PSV. So we should probably hope for AC to retain 2nd place...
We would prefer Inter Milan to come through the next tie, IF they can secure 2nd in Serie A, but if they finish 3rd in the league then this tie will probably yield a non-automatic qualifier whoever progresses from the three teams potentially involved. But they will find themselves up against Juventus in the SF, which hopefully (for us) will see Juventus qualifying for the final.
I don't think anyone will expect Benfica to beat Barcelona, and as Benfica are unlikely to qualify automatically, while Barca are clear leaders in La Liga, this suits our agenda.
So all in all things are looking pretty good for our own cause, with QF tie 3 appearing to form the only real risk to "our" group stage spot.
The last thing we want is Arsenal, Villarreal and Benfica to all reach the semis!
So roll on April 5th, and the semi final line up of our choice... and maybe we can have a huge double celebration that night: Champions of the SPL (by beating Hearts at CP that night) and guaranteed automatic entry to next season's CL group stage.
Hail! Hail!
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Senor Pablo Diablo,
As someone who has criticised McManus in the past, I would like to say this is good news. A more improved player I haven't seen this season (six goals for a defender, not slouching either!)
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i'm stuck to give any kind of opinion on the JJB deal as i'm no wizard of the financial world. However from what i can gather from the financial experts in this morning's broadsheets - it seems that they are a bit more weary than the tabloids about this short term money injection. Plus we've heard this a million times before from Greyskull - remember the NTL media rights deal?...ZZZZzzzzzzz
Le Guen may well be on his way & with him some quality signings, but to be honest there are no guarantees in Football especially when players move to a new culture. Look at Morientes. What a magnificent player, yet at Liverpool he looks really ordinary.
We are on the right road with Strachan building a team of fit players playing the Celtic way & Peter Lawell is doing everything in his power to make sure we are taken seriously in the business world.
I would much rather see us go the long term sensible route like Ajax/Lyon/Porto/Rosenberg/Panathanaikos, than go chasing Tabloid exclusives & gambling with the club's very existence.
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Senor Pablo. This was announced on the official Celtic site today.
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Chairbhoy
I agree that this is good news, I've been largely impressed with him this season and he's in the team on merit.
The McManus deal seems to have got lost among the other stories that are dominating just now.
I wonder if Maloney's any closer to extending his contract?
Hope so!
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bigchipsuk
I'd say your analysis of the CL draw is spot on.
The other point I'd make is that the CL is on tight schedule. The finalists will play 5 games in a month and a half. This will hamper teams fighting hard on the domestic front as well as the CL.
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Chairbhoy:
Le Guen was only in Turin as part of the Canal+ TV coverage team....allegedly
For those with interest in what the JJb deal really means,check out the Herald on line. Spiers article is excellent also re: the bigoted chanting during the Villareal matches,home and away. Im looking forward to the investigation already....
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Regarding the EUFA investigation on the rangers game - I really think the huns have little problem (di canio 97).
Going by comments made by various supporters orgs i.e What have we done wrong??
And that is the problem - The majority and i mean majority - old and young, rich and poor,of their fans - cant see it - like the KKK in USA and the Afrikans in South Africa they are totally blind - they are supremists - so no matter what anybody says - they will always deny any wrong doing!
Even the most respectable decent rangers fan will think they are superior to us......................and that breeds........well ........David Murray, Donald Findlay, etc.
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Over the past 5 years'surprise'teams like Leverkusen,Monaco,Porto and even Liverpool have reached the CL final,making accurate prediction difficult as the competition has the happy habit of throwing up unlikely successes.
For footballing and sentimental reasons it would be great if Barca were to win it but 1 title in their history suggests a tendency to underachievement.
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I'm delighted that UEFA have decided to launch disciplinary procedures against Rangers but why haven't the SFA done anything about it for the past God only knows how many years.
The fact that the SFA have turned a deaf ear has allowed Rangers fans to believe they are doing nothing wrong with some of their songs.
That is why there is genuine surprise from their fans representatives in today's Herald. One representative said that he had "no idea what a discriminatory song is or which part of the Rangers repertoire could possibly be viewed as such" while another stated that he didn't think UEFA should be judging Rangers fans.
This is arrogance on an incredible level and fits right in with the "We are the people" mentality.
If UEFA find them guilty of this charge of "discriminatory chants" the focus has to turn immediately on the SFA with the question "This has been going on for years in your own country. Why have you not done anything about it?"
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After all the "ifs & buts" with the CL draw, what's the betting we end up with Arsenal winning it, finishing 5th in the league, and thereby demoting Tottenham to the UEFA Cup (and Celtic to the 3rd qualifying round)?!
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Martinobhoy, it was also stated by a fan rep:-
"For over 20 years, the behaviour of Rangers fans home and away has been second to none and Ibrox Stadium has a wonderful reputation as a safe place to watch football in a family atmosphere"
You couldn't make it up !
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Interesting take on the CL thing.
UEFA only offer the opportunity to use this facility, it is up to the Association to implement it. That would mean the EFA proposing Arsenal over Spurs. Wonder how Spurs might react?
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dumbhoy
Is it not automatic after last years farce?
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The fan rep in question is Mr Dingwall,the eminence orange behind the Follow,Follow website and clearly someone whose grasp on reality is a tad precarious.
Anyway,it seems like over the past few days about 70% of the posts have been on the subject of the Urukhai.I intend to restore my internal balance by spending a few moments contemplating Pierce O'leary.
I think we'll start with the same XI on Sunday,with Nakamura being used to swing the game in the latter stages.
If I were Mogga I would have a wee word with Sproule
about the likely outcome in a footrace between him and Paul'Zico'Telfer.
And on the subject of capital sprinters-do they still hold a footballers'race at Powderhall at the New Year?
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Shammy
A neutral's view on Celtic Park and Ibrox for away fans is available here
Scottish Football Grounds
Celtic Park is described as a great stadium to watch football in with a superb atmosphere while Ibrox is found to be "quite intimidating" with the advise to "exercise caution around the ground and to keep club colours covered."
Yep, sounds like a real family atmosphere to me.
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Dumbhoy,
I think martybhoy is correct, last year UEFA gave the option to the EFA to choose either Liverpool or Everton for the CL, this ended in complete chaos EFA refused to make the decision, this led to fudge, Liverpool entering the first qualifiers and a rule change that effects us as Champions elect of the SPL.
Celtic_Gucks,
Interesting article, the experts seem to agree that only if Rangers can capitalise by brining European success will the deal be deemed a success – seems like a massive gamble on a new manager and set-up.
Wonder what ECK would have managed next year with a few boab to spend!!
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see Neil Lennons speach from last weeks csa rally.
click here
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Hi guys,
some terrible pictures of the huns in the el madrigal esp no.19 see www.forogroguet.com/viewtopic.php?=4754 do you think uefa might be
like a look at that one ?
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Is anyone else having trouble getting into CQN?
It attempts to load up google-analytics.com and just hangs there for ages...even with broadband.
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new article posted.
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On the BBC list of celebrity fans it says John Cleese is a Bhoy.
Is there any evidence of this?
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Bobbyshop,
NICE ONE!!!!
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Ahhhh to be in the CL quarter finals....
Although I wouldn´t be too upset to see Arsenal get through and actually win the thing I don´t see them getting by Juventus. Their victory over Real Madrid will be the highpoint of their season. The difference between them and Liverpool is Liverpool´s record in Europe. People forget about Liverpool's success against Alaves in the UEFA cup final which shows that they have a much better recent track record in Europe than Arsenal. People forget because the media slant in England is heavily anti-Liverpool and strongly anti-Man U. Arsenal always come up smelling of roses. But since there are no English guys in their team they are becoming more likeable, funny that!! If the English media became full of foreigners I would prefer that as well. Arsenal couldn´t beat Galatasaray or Zaragoza in recent European finals which shows they are not going to find it easy to get past a win at all costs mean machine such as Juventus. Besides, unlike recent years, Juventus also have some brilliant players, Nedvev, Trezeguet and Ibramovich.
Although Milan are absolutely obsessed with winning the trophy, since last year´s collapse against Liverpool, Lyon could surprise them. Lyon are now in their third year of final stages matches and they will not be favourites. This worked against them last year when they lost to PSV Eindhoven after running up a cricket score in some of their earlier matches. Look how they beat PSV this time around, very convincingly. Having said that Milan is a huge obstacle. Just a hunch.
Benfica is a good draw for Barça. Although Rijkaard said he wanted a difficult opponent at this stage, this trip across the Iberian peninsula, rather than into Italy will suit them. After the fantastic result against Chelsea and the way they are going about things they will not be complacent.
But you still need to play these games and Benfica have done well so far.
I also have a good feeling about Villareal in my heart and in my head. I´m sorry if it goes against our co-efficient but how do you think our hermanos y hermanas in Spain would feel if they heard we were hoping that they lose!! After what their players suffered it is only right that we should want them more than ever to go all the way. My head also tells me they have a chance. Firstly they don´t have such a difficult draw because neither Inter nor Ajax has as good a record in recent European competition. Secondly they were favourites to beat Rangers and they managed to pass that test. Now they will be comfortable again reverting to their role of underdogs. In the UEFA cup two years ago they put Roma out so they know how to beat a big Italian club. If it is Ajax it will a good football tie.
Looking forward to the Hibs game. Best two footballing sides in Scotland at the moment and at other times in the past too.
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thanks dumbhoy but I don't get the excitement about first posts...it's just tedious.
However, my problem is still occurring when trying to refresh even with this new post. It stalls for ages at Google-analytics.com. Argggg!!
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I'm still having trouble. When I refresh CQN it sticks at google-analytics.com for 4 or 5 mins before loading!!!!
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I'm still having trouble. When I refresh CQN it sticks at google-analytics.com for 4 or 5 mins before loading!!!!
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Paul67,
The QF draw and some convincing form from the right teams makes Celtic's entry to the group stages a lot more likely than not (once we have the SPL flag in our possession).
On the previous related thread, I reviewed some of the remaining threats to our Pot2 status. By way of an update, there were two exceptional results this week which must be reported. Firstly, and very obviously, Schalke (remember they are only 2 points away from a CL spot in the Bundesliga) getting beaten last night was a big one as they can no longer pass Celtic in the UEFA ranking unless they get through to the next round and win at least one game at the QF stage. This changed slightly, because Celtic's coefficient improved fractionally this week - bizarre you are saying since we didn't play in Europe since last summer!! Well, courtesy of Ranger's exceptional performance (painful to say) at the El Madrigal, the points that they accrued improved Scotland’s ranking and the fractional country component of Celtic. Tough to follow, boring and ironic - but important!! I’m probably spending way too much time on this, but it means that unless Schalke now qualify for the QF, even them finishing in a CL place in the Bundesliga does not hurt Celtic. Had Celtic not earned the 0.0825 points courtesy of Rangers, then two draws in the last 16 and making the QF could have been enough for the Germans to pass us. On a related note, Bayern and Hamburg being beaten hurt Schalke in a similar way to which Ranger’s draw helped Celtic (but the effect on their coefficient is watered down due to the higher number of German teams in Europe).
There is a new name on the horizon, as Lille won the first leg of their tie with Sevilla. They are in a CL position in Ligue 1, and although 8 places behind Celtic in the UEFA team ranking, could overtake us if they accumulate a further 5.391 points. There are several permutations that can deliver the points for them, but basically they must get to the QF stage (which they can ironically achieve by losing the next leg and winning on penalties). Based on further advancement, their Ligue 1 counterparts can help also their cause, though Strasbourg and Marseille look unlikely to do this, but Lyon..? Similar to Schalke the value will be watered down due the number of French teams participating.
Basically, in their next three matches (assuming that they do enough to make the QF in the second leg), they need a minimum of 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss – not unimaginable.
This could go on endlessly, but I think that this is enough for now.
