Dateline 14 May 1988, Happy Birthday Celtic win a Centenary Double

First?

Only one King Billy

The first time I watched Celtic lift a trophy, little did I know it would be 13 years before I got to do so again!

the turnover in the playing squad was the amazing part of this teams success. the quality of the players who had left in the previous two seasons was quite high.

being celtic minded was not a hinderence

Hail, hail

Last year of school then. In The Vogue with my mate before it, nae tickets.

Our Maths teacher Joe Sweeney clocked us, but he didny have any spares.

Steaming later.

STANDING UP

Great day, remember sitting on my own in my Grans watching the game then getting a row twice when the goals went in for making too much noise from my Mum and Gran (they were out the back enjoying the sun as they always thought they were a jinx if they watched!). My dad didn't take me to any 'big' games back then, I suppose being only 8 he was right. Missed the Dundee title-clinching win as well!

2001 was my first Cup Final after missing the 1994 LC and 95 SC final, and losing my ticket for the LC of 2000. Found out that day I was to become a Dad for the first time so it really was a special day.

I was at the title clinching game against Dundee and it was an amazing atmosphere. I was only 9 at the time and like TMC just said, little did I know that I would be 19 before we'd win it again. I was also at the Cup Final a few weeks later to watch us drag victory from the jaws of defeat in the final 15 minutes. I was in the terracing across from the main stand and I was too wee to see the McAvennie goals. All I could see was the top of the net shaking and the fans going mental. What a day.

Not exactly the ideal 20th anniversary though it has to be said. Thanks for trying to raise the spirits though Paul.

Craiginho

Today is already a great day. Congratulations to Kevin and Angela on the birth of Bhoy Brennan a couple of hours ago.

Which means I have the pleasure of Uncle duties and hospitals this evening; ideal.

What a great day that was! Hampden in the sun once more.

One of the best title wins ever, up there with Love St 86 and stopping the 10.

Today's BIG MATCH takes place this evening at Dalkeith Juniors' ground, and kicks off at 6.30pm.

Then it's an even BIGGER match at 3.15pm on Saturday, with the Scottish Cup Final at McDiarmid Park in Perth. The festivities actually begin at 11am with an Under-15 girls' international match between Scotland and Holland. Entry to the event is FREE.

If you can make it on Saturday why not go along and support our Ghirls. They can make history by winning the Scottish Cup in their inaugural season and you can help make history by ensuring a record attendance for a ladies' club match in Scotland.

And does anyone remember the first time a Glasgow team reached the UEFA Cup Final? It was just like Manchester this week... NOT!!!

Paul,

Congratulations to you and yours!

Paul best wishes to Angela, Kevin, and the Bhoy- to say nothing of the beaming Uncle and Grandfather!

By EdwardUrsus on May 14, 2008 10:10 AM

Personally I no longer do it and haven't since being informed,

By EdwardUrsus on May 14, 2008 10:29 AM

I'm bouncing between being convinced we will win and convinced we will lose.

Make your mind up Ed, do you do the bouncy or not?

Congratulations Paul on the new arrival to the family. The timing could not have been more perfect!

When should we expect the wee fellas first post?

Congratulations on the birth of the new Bhoy Brennan.

Are they waiting to see who scores first tonight before deciding on a name........LOL :)

Congratulations Paul on the addition to your family

Paul, please pass on my congratulations to Kevin and Angela. Will he being called after Kirk Broadfoot or Barry Ferguson....or maybe Sir Walter?

There hasn't been a Walter Brennan for a long while

Congratulations Paul on the new arrival to the family. The timing could not have been more perfect! Hope all are doing well.

When should we expect the wee fellas first post? :)

Paul 67,
congratulations

Now for double delight today c,mon Zenit.

Hail HAIL TO 3 IN A ROW ROCCOBHOY

p.s. I hope you did not mind me posting a quiz on the last thread that wasnt related to anything remotely to do with Cletic?

Congrats again Roccobhoy.

Anatoly Brennan.....

Good luck to the ghirls on Saturday

By Mikbhoy at MTH

McCurry on Ibrox Payroll Shock!!!!

http://www.gooogie.co.uk/?gid=206475&hl=en&meta=o&q=Mike%20McCurry%20and%20Gordon%20Smith

Come on, Kevin. It makes sense!

Walter Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was a three-time Academy Award winning American actor. He is remembered as one of the premier character actors in motion picture history

Paul,
congratulations to the Clan.

Darcheville Brennan .. it does have that certain ring to it. ;-)

Better get that kid named quickly

Thanks for your best wishes guys, I'll pass them on to Kevin and Angela.

Harry's Hood, excellent idea.

Paul67,

Another Celtic fan...good stuff

Aanother one to add to the best family in the world.

Don't get big headed Paul I mean the CELTIC FAMILY

congratulations

What odds on Celtic making a cheeky punt for Sidwell at Chelsea. He's available at £2m and we'd have to be creative to maeet his salary expectations, but I'm sure we were linked to him before Chelsea signed him.

He doesn't meet the Kojo criteria (he isn't wanted by his club), but the last Chelsea reject we signed didn't do too badly.

Mikeybhoy,

Jarosik ???

Congratulations Paul.

I think you should recommend naming him Fatih. I have him for 1st goalscorer tonight.
Failing that, whoever scores the winning goal (or the 4th in my predicted 4-0 win) should be considered.

mikeybhoy

Jarosik wasn't up to much though was he? ;)

Congrats to all the Brennans, particularly Kevin & Angela.

Could not celebrate the Centenary Cup Final with my mates because my own wee bhoy was a few days from being born.

Now he's nearly 20 - and I feel old.

last but one then :)

Ah, the criteria of the coterie.

Sutton, Thompson and Moravcik, for starters.

Aye, right!

We are going to have to be very creative when it comes to looking for players, such is the financial disadvantage we face compared to the EPL,and even div 2 in England.

Sidwell and Bentley were both released by Arsenal, yet clearly both can play. The big 4 in England will be releasing young players every year who we should be having a serious look at.

Paul67 :- Congratulations on the birth of your nephew, congratulations to Kevin and Angela to. With a bit of luck the young boy will always be able to claim he was born on the day a European trophy was brought to Scotland ;-)

Hoopsididitagain :- That was childish.

Actually I'm a liar it was funny :-)

Congratulations Paul67.

Always nice to have another addition to the family.

It may be a bit of a mouthful but Aleksandr, with a middle name of Anyukov, would go down a treat after he scores first tonight.

Mikeybhoy, I posted a couple of days ago that I was told that Sidwell is happy to see out his contract at Chelsea (reported to be 65K a week) and turned down first team football at Newcastle when he left Reading. He also wants to stay close to home. Obviously this is more hearsay than gospel but the 65K could well be near the mark.

First, my apologies to Chris Sutton is a legend. When I said last night that there is no concrete information about Vukojevic move to Celtic I said truth.
Untill yesterday night there was only Daily Mail article of April 24th. One of you have pasted it on the previous article. It’s mentioned there , that Celtic is interested in Ognjen. Nothing concrete, only rumors.
After about ten minutes from my yesterday’s post, news about Vukojevic broke Croatian sites. I had to check the news elsewhere.

I don’t know to much how the transfer processes go, but Vukojevic story is very interesting. From the very beginning I see interesting play on that, especially from Dinamo Zagreb and their agents. Yes, I have few more interesting news from Croatian sites. I don’t want to deliver speech, but I think some of the fresh news are not for reliable and wise blog.
Today I thought, that intelligent agents must read fans forums. There is a lot of information in them that are very useful for the agents.
I think it was enough good to say today in the morning: Celtic target Croatian international midfielder.
From what I see everything is on it’s good way to end in place that people call Paradise.

On the other topic.

My friend who lives in Glasgow, a jounalists and the Polish student would like to go with you to Dundee to see the champions gale.
If one of you have one spare ticket, my friend will be very, very happy.

I'm not even supposed to be lurking never mind posting.

Paul - congrats to your brother and sister in law - a cousin for your wee fellas! Why not Cesar?

Tully57 - I did not know that about Tully Jnr. Many happy returns to the bhoy and what a bhoy he is. You should be (and I know that you are) very proud of such a fine young man. No surprise of course he is after all a Tully. I really enjoyed the wee drink I had with him after the hun game and was in awe of all the Tullys - some team.

I have so many memories of that match I shall have to find some time tonight to post.

In the meantime, forget about that lot!

mcgrain - swinging the lead

Congratulations, Paul.

Is young Brennan bhoy going to join BB's clique on May 22nd for the champions gale?

Zbyszek,

No need for the apology. I only posted the rough translation that I'd received. Even then, as you pointed out, it didn't say anything about a deal being in place.

Your translation of it was more thorough and I was more than happy for you to point me and everyone else in the right direction regarding it.

Congratulation Paul Ignacio Brennan...Has a certain ring to it?

I remember standing on the steps of Hampden scorching day,fantastic feeling when McAvennie scored the winner.

Mind you if anyone watches the game he says the same when he equalised,just read his lips!

We walked back to the town then home,too tired and exhausted to celebrate. We were only Bhoys then.

congratulations Paul on becoming an uncle,bye the way hows your other to men getting on ie david mc callum and robert vaughn,showing my age with that 1

Walter Brennan brilliant actor,was in a lot of john wayne films.rio bravo being my personal favourite,thought his character Stumpy was brilliant

Ilya kurayakin csc

At the time this was my favourite cup final win, even having to watch half of it with only one contact lens. I was 100% convinced that this was 'written in the stars', being our centenary and especially after the semi-final win against the jambos.

I was explaining to anynidy that would listen in the Jock Stein Stand that we would score with 15mins to go and get the winner at the death for most of the match. I even shouted very loudly as the ball was in the air from the corner, "this is the winner".

I remember missing the semi final against Hearts as I was at the Grand National that day. Didn't back the winner though. That was the famous "Henry, Henry drop the ball" game, wasn't it?

MORT

Great story re: O'Neill and the Red Hand. I know my fair share of Irish stories, myths and legends etc but strangely never heard that one before ..... EXCELLENT.

Go raibh mile maith agat

Panda Hands

Paul you know its has to be Peter Brennan
was going to say Zian St John Peter brennan but even you wouldnt do that

Fantastic news all round today. All we need is for the Russians to do the business in Manchester.

Remember how good Spartak were? Well Zenit beat them in the league, admittedly when Spartak were sulking after their humping by Celtic!

Central Midfielder? Done (so it seems)
Left Back? Taiwo (alledgedly done)
Striker(s) - god i hope we spend big and signal our intent here
Centre back - ditto

Some young promise... McCarthy and K.McDonald - we can hope.

What better than to kick them when they are down with some big signings.

No doubt life will be made easier if the SSM can remove from the wage bill (and hopefully get some cash in) the likes of Bobo, Tommy G, Deek, Killen, Vennegoor, Donati, Naylor - as well as the likes of Elvis and Virgo having their contracts expiering.

Congratualtion Paul67 on the birth of another fine hoopee in your family and the wider Celtic family.

He could be called Peter after the team that humped the Rearangers in the UEFA and put them in a downward spiral in the ESPEEL. Or Dick, hmmmm :-).

I remember the centenery season soo well. Hearts in the semi ahead with 15 to go and then the same again with dundee utd. That season was the season of last minute winners, never say die, this title and cup are ours. Glorious sunshine. Happy Hoopees and plenty ale to celebrate.

Hail Hail.

3-in-a-row-its-gonny-be-a-show

Today Murray's Whores (copyright Paul67), Yesterday's Man and The Sorceror's Apprentice get their minute in the sun.
They have every chance of winning in a 1 off game. If they do, it will be a sad day for football. Its RFC style football that will eventually kill off the beautiful game. Yes there's a time to win ugly, but in the long run its not sustainable.
Celtic fans sing "there's going to be a show and the Glasgow Celtic will be there".
Without "show" in football there is no future for the game.
Anti-footballers, have your day in the sun, but the day of reckoning will not be far off.

Congratulations Uncle Paul

Find you Russian Name:

I am Dimitrios Moriz Popov

http://www.blogthings.com/russiannamegenerator/

Firstly Paul67 Congratulations on the birth of your nephew. Maybe in the future you can give him the nick name "Zenit"

roughly this time klast year I was privillaged to attend the UEFA cup final at Hampden park. The game was very entertaining and the atmosphere was immense comparable to CP on CL nights IMHO. We were in with the Sevilla fans in the BT stand towards the r****** end. To this day I am still humming some of the songs i Learned that day .....excellent.

The match as we all know now finished 2-2 after et with Sevilla winning on pens. It was quite simply one of the best games I have been to in my life up there with Celtic V Valencia at CP and the 6-2 game.

I should be looking forward to a similar spectacle tonight, but I am dreading it not only because of the team involved but because I know that what we watch if we choose to watch it will be dire, defensive ,and labelled as "the Scottish way". If this match gets to penalties as so many r****** games have this season I garuntee that it will not be anywhere near as enjoyable to watch for the spectating public.

I am counting heavily on wee dic to have his team wise to the ways of his opponents. I know that both teams like to counter attack but tonight Zenit must take the initiative using the skill and craftmanship they have at their disposal, but they must also be wary because their opponents have a knack of getting a break and making it count.

I dob't belive they will win tonight but I am still undecided weather or not to watch the game, because simply I dont think it will be a game worthy of all the hype surrounding it. It will be spoiled and if they win it will definately be to the detrement of the Scottish game. If they loose they will not even get the "Glourious defeat" tag that follows many Scottish teams encounters in major competitions. Tonight Bhoys and Ghirls it's Lose lose for Scottish football.

WD

ONWARD FOR 3-IN-A-ROW!!!

This game was also my personal favourite. 20 years ago.......... where did the time go?

I remember standing at the Celtic end with about 20 minutes to go in the sunshine and turning to my mate with a comment like 'hope we score soon'. I must have sounded agitated because a guy standing in front of me turned around and said very gently to me 'Don't worry son, its made for us'. Wish I knew his name - I often think about him. He was right. Great day, great memory.

Paul,

Please pass on congratulations and best wishes to the family.

Lennondinho18: fun link

Bigswee or Rurik Vanyusha Morozov in the mother land

Kevin McCarra's blog in the Guardian//opening statement

"Rangers should take great pride in sending out the most humdrum line-up ever to represent a Scottish club in a European final. There is no sarcasm in such a statement...."

No sarcasm in such a statement, Kevin? Aye right!

Cheers BigSwee Shun

I passed on your congratulations to Kevin, thanks, he’ll look in later to catch up (much later).

Blantyretim :-)

Zbyszek, an excellent idea.

Belfastbhoy, no, but Oor Kevin might.

Thanks Panda Hands

It is a great story.

Hail Hail

Zory Sanya Ivanov
(mort in russian from Lennondihno's russian name generator)

Congrtulations Paul and family for the new addition to the CQN family.

Alan Brazil was at his sharpest this morning when asked by his co-host this morning on talkSPORT "Surely Alan most of Scotland is behind R*****s tonight" which Brazil replied "aye - the linesmans, the referees" classic.

On the 10th anniversary of Francis Albert Sinatra's death who was my late dad's favourite singer (toss up between him and Tony)and my dad gave me my middle name after him (not the Saint as any cat will tell you)

Here is "Old Blues Eyes" singing a Celtic Classic and here is a Frankie Classic that I will be singing if the huns do the unthinkable tonight.

Just in case people don't know there's a big game on tonight, Hull City Vs Watford, play off game.

Paul congrats to you and your family on the new arrival!

Walfrid?

I read a story this morning that we had agreed terms with Dianmo Zagreb for a midfielder, any truth to this ?

gsu

Congratulations on the new arrival Paul.

Off-topic.....Great news about Larsson, allways a pleasure to see him in action, legend!

Isnt this country beautiful when you take the huns out of it? Happy no huns day.

Hail Hail.

I haven't read any recent posts yet, but a point re the Croatian lad.

Zetabhoy,

You listed the current midfielders at our disposal. Ten in all, I think.

However, not one of them is a genuine holding midfielder and that has been our weakness all season.

The absence of such a player leaves us vulnerable to the counter attack,hence the one chance- one goal ratio of late.

A purpose made CM, will stiffen our defence and be a launch pad for our own attacks.

Isnt this country of ours beautiful when you takes the huns out of it?

Happy no huns day.

Hail Hail.

Tell all the Huns you know

Its gonna be 3 in a row

They’ll be shagging Gail Platt

In Roy Cropper’s flat

When we’re lifting our 3 in a row

Congratulations to Kevin, Angela and all the family. Nice timing. Now I know why Kevin was making a mad dash along the back of the North Stand on Sunday. ;-)

Little Subterranean is named after St Peter. He (and his mother!)allowed me to see Celtic dispatch Shaktar on 2 November 2004 before entering the world in the early hours of the next day.

Chris

Whatever happens tonight, someone will end up getting fired.
The Apprentice, BBC One 9 pm.

A wee warning for anyone on the south side of Glasgow tomorrow.

According to the Evening Times there's going to be an open topped bus running from Paisley Road Toll down to the Bigitdrome, win or lose.

The traffic is bound to be murder, so stay well away from the area if you can.

billy boys live on lunchtime bbc news, they really cant help themselves..

Indeed BazzaBhoy67, I guess it looks a bit like this.

Guys, tin helmet on for this one, but I remember Strachan saying he was building a defense for the future. Caldwell, IMHO has been fantastic over the last few weeks although prone to silly mistakes (Barca !) how can these guys develop if we don't go with them and change them out all the time? I would imagine if we bit the bullet and stuck with them in 4 years when they are in their late 20's McManus and Caldwell could well be excellent.

Paul, Peter would be a good name due to the soon to be UEFA cup champions (4-1)...not to mention it's agreat name!

Pete.

The return of the Billy Boys, Manchester style.

Take it onwards into the stadium boys. Please.

Forgot to say paul, congrat's Nacho Brennan , lovely

As this Croatian guy looks (in a playing sense) like he could be the new Paul Hartley, does that mean GS will be asking Paul HArtley to return to his Hearts role and become the new Massimo Donati?

Sun is shining in Aberdeen.Huns are no where to be seen.
Ah this is the life.

Just of to the bookies even though every round I bet against them(first goalscorer,scorecasts etc) the resulting 0-0 stuff's me up!
Maybe to be on the safe side I should back
Darchville 1-0?....nah I couldn't bring myself to it.

Mr Andriey Arshavin(Brennan) it shall be.

Keep the Faith.

Ilya Pashenka Popov CSC

Agreed Bhoydell,

Every player is prone to silly mistakes now and again and I think since Barcelona GC has been great. His mistake against Barcelona was simply an error of judgement. He tried to pass the ball out to keep possesion instead of hoofing it up the field. He was unlucky that it was Henry who pounced and it took a fantastic finish to score.

Given time and a good holding midfielder in front of them, I think both can improve and be the mainstay of our defence for years to come.

thomthethim @ 1.31

Fair comment thom, what I find interesting is though is the fact that we are recruiting at all, this would suggest Gordon is staying, and of course we wont go into next season with 11 midfielders, so who is going?

If you assume that Aiden and Naka are staying plus we bring in a new guy, that leaves 1 position up for grabs with candidates such as Scott Brown, Barry Robson, Paul Hartley, Evander Sno, etc.

I think that Barry has proved himself since he came in, he's got us playing again, however cant see Scott Brown being happy on the bench.

Does his inclusion in the Swedish team mean that the KOK will not be at the POD benefit match. My nephews will be very unhappy about that.

bhoydell

i`m a G Caldwell convert

he has been magnificent over the last few months and particularly in the hun games

i still feel that he is prone to stupid errors but to be fair to him his errors usually have drastic results ...he doesn`t seem to make mistake without it becoming a real clanger

IMO Robson/Hartley combo in midfield has been instrumental in our strong finish ...both have fight, drive and application ...which had been missing

those two together with GC are carrying us at this time

throw in Wee Scott`s goals of late and we`re finishing fine

Sorry to say that I have such a bad feeling about this I put on a consolation/traitor's bet.

Ouch!

Martin Samuel

It is not hard to see why Dick Advocaat ran into a little local difficulty during his time in Scotland as manager of Rangers. Not exactly Braveheart, is he? Advocaat is now the coach of Zenit St Petersburg, who are favourites to defeat his former employers in the Uefa Cup final in Manchester this evening, but it is the transfer policy of his club, not their football, that has attracted most attention in the build-up to the game.

Advocaat said in an interview conducted with Yuri Doud, an English-speaking journalist working for Pro Sport magazine in Russia, that he could not sign black players as coach of Zenit. The fans would not allow it, he claimed. In 83 years Zenit have never found use for a black player and Advocaat’s chosen path is not to confront this standard, but to work with it. “I don’t want to sign a player who won’t be accepted by the fans,” he told Doud, who has the interview on tape.

He need only look at his opponents this evening to spy the flaw in that argument. The Rangers team with which Advocaat won the treble in 1999 and retained the title a year later would have had a remarkably different complexion had former incumbents at Ibrox been as tremulous in confronting prejudice. When Graeme Souness arrived at the club in 1986, and inherited a 116-year tradition of not signing known Roman Catholics*, he demonstrated how to tackle bigotry: head on. It took him a while to find the right man, but in 1989 Souness signed the biggest, most high-profile Scottish Catholic footballer of all. Maurice Johnston, a Celtic hero, had been sent off in the League Cup final against Rangers in 1986 and crossed himself as he left the pitch. A month before signing for Rangers, he flew in from France to attend the Scottish Cup final as a Celtic supporter.

Rangers had signed Catholics before, but nobody like Johnston. It was a deliberately challenging measure that, ten years later, Souness explained. “My children were Catholic and my wife was Catholic,” he said. “My supporters were singing songs about killing Catholics and the opposition sang about killing Protestants. They were glorifying murderers. That never sat comfortably. In my first week at Ibrox I was asked if I would sign a Catholic and I said yes. Did people expect me to come to work and be a bigot and become a normal person with my children at home? I said if a good Catholic came along, one I thought was right for this club, then I would do it.”
Related Links

* Friends in high places fuel Advocaat's dream

* Rich backers to put Zenit on the map

It went deeper than that, though. Souness knew that Rangers could not compete if they had a restrictive transfer policy and was determined to smash the sectarian influence. Terry Butcher, his first significant signing, from Ipswich Town for £750,000, said Souness was privately hoping that he had been raised a Catholic when the transfer negotiations took place. “He was desperate for me to be a Catholic,” Butcher wrote in his autobiography. “Graeme was particularly anxious to break the mould. He had played in Italy and with Liverpool and knew the only way to be successful was to encompass everyone.”

According to Advocaat, Zenit encompass no one, unless white. “The fans are the most important thing that Zenit have and that is why I have to ask them outright how they will react if we sign a dark-skinned player,” he said, in the conversation with Pro Sport. “The only players who can make Zenit stronger are dark skinned. Look at the Brazilians who play for CSKA Moscow. For us, it would be impossible. I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don’t like black players. I do not understand how they could pay so much attention to skin colour. For me, there is no difference; but they care.”

There are two ways of considering this. It could be argued that Advocaat, who has worked with black players throughout his career, is attempting an ill-judged kindness by not exposing an alien individual to sustained hostility. It would be hard enough for many black players to adapt to life in Russia, anyway, without giving a new arrival this extra load and it is significant that CSKA provided their black Brazilians with an in-built support system by signing them in such great numbers, and never leaving a man alone. Vágner Love and Daniel Carvalho arrived together on July 1, 2004, to be joined by Dudu (2005), Jo (2006), Ramón and Ricardo Jesus (2007).

Advocaat could break Zenit’s taboo this way, but his team are not in need of drastic surgery, as victory in the 2007 Russian championship and this season’s progress in Europe indicate. After a slow start, Zenit have demolished Bayern Munich, the German champions, and Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout stages, and eliminated Marseilles and Villarreal, second in Spain, on away goals. They are near the bottom of the Russian league but this is largely because of European fixture commitments and, by winning games in hand, Zenit could go third. So Advocaat is not a manager who is looking to Africa or South America for multiple signings, not least because the nucleus of his team is young and Russian and he will not wish to see it disrupted. Advocaat is talking of one or two players, as a finishing touch, and may fear their isolation, although he does not suggest this in the interview.

More worrying, then, is the thought that Advocaat is not bold enough to confront his problem in the way Souness did at Rangers. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing,” Edmund Burke wrote, and Advocaat could be accused of not only inertia, but tacit, albeit inadvertent, disregard for the racism in his midst. With the movement of labour and the rise of football on the African continent, and of black players in Europe and South America, it is not only surprising but unnatural that a club should never have had a black player on their books. Zenit display anti-racist banners at home matches, have condemned racial abuse at their ground, and claim that Advocaat’s comments in the magazine were mistranslated — an unconvincing explanation, but one swallowed whole by Uefa — yet it is as if the multiracial evolution of football in Europe in the modern era has been airbrushed from the picture at Russia’s wealthiest club.

This can happen in other fields, too. Last year, at No 4 in the British pop charts, was what is termed a mash-up track from Italy called Destination Calabria. It was a reworking of two pieces of music, the wonderful Calabria by Rune Reilly Kolsch, a Danish producer, and Destination Unknown by Alex Gaudino, an Italian DJ, with vocals by Crystal Waters, a 43-year-old singer from Washington DC, mostly popular in dance music circles. Destination Calabria took Rune’s tune — most particularly, an infectious saxophone break — and Waters’s vocal and created one of the most memorable sounds of the summer.

In this, it was helped by a male fantasy video, featuring eight strikingly pretty women underdressed as a marching band in short green tunics, the length of a crop top, and shorter black miniskirts that, at the back, exposed a green G-string and quite a lot else. The backdrop was white and so were they; the skirts aside, the only thing black about the song was the voice, but that didn’t matter because a white girl mimed the words anyway. On video at least, Waters was airbrushed from her own recording, because teenage white fluff sells more units than a well-groomed, handsome, fortysomething black woman, with a soul voice handed down from her Aunt Ethel. At one stage, using computer trickery, the eight-girl band expanded to form a legion of hundreds, all marching, all playing, all white. In the circumstances, it is appropriate. And while Destination Calabria may help to pay the rent, it will not have given the career of Crystal Waters the lift it should. Google her name and the first entry that comes up is a carp fishery in north Burgundy.

So, just as not one of the white guys involved in the production of the video appears to have fought hard enough against the market to get the black woman her due, so those in positions of power at Zenit do not feel sufficiently guilty about what they see on the pitch to stand against the right-wing boneheads in their crowd and act on it. Advocaat, for instance, may care to wonder how successful his time in Glasgow would have been without Lorenzo Amoruso, Sergio Porrini and Rino Gattuso. Indeed, he may care to wonder who tonight’s opponents would have been without a manager that stood tall against the bigots; because it would certainly not have been Rangers.

* And, yes, I know there is a short list of Catholic players that turned out for Rangers in that time, but I would counter that if, in more than a century of football, you can name the specific individuals who were Catholic and playing for the club, that is pretty damning evidence of intolerance. It is, as Chris Rock, the comedian, pointed out, like knowing the number of black people who have been guests in your house (as in “how can I be racist when I’ve had three black people over to dinner?”).

Smashin news about Henrik's return to the Sweden national side. We can look forward to seeing him during the 2008 finals. By the way a belter of a limited edtion print for sale on e bay just now. The one with the Sweden strip.

Hail Hail.

Seeing as we are talking football again, what would people think about a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation such as this:

Artur Boruc

LB (Lee Naylor or new aquisition)
CB (Mick)
CB (Gary Caldwell)
RB (Andreas Hinkel, Mark Wilson or Paul Caddis)

Holding Mid (Ognjen Vukojević)

Centre Mid (Barry Robson)
Centre Mid (Scott Brown)

Left side of Midfield/Left of a front 3 (Aiden McGeady)
Centre (take your pick from Scott McDonald, JVOH, Georgios Samaras or A.N. Other)
Right side of Midfield/Right of a front 3 (Naka)

Naka could be given much more of a free role in this sort of formation like Ronaldo for Man U.

I'm not sure if there are enough goals in the forwards but with a stronger midfield Aiden should get more protection and with a good holding midfielder, Scott and Barry could get into the box more often.

Not sure if this would work but just putting it out there.

Zetabhoy - if we are to compete in 4 competitions next season then we will need 4 capable central midfielders. Just now we have 3, its pretty simple. You will need to rotate and our bound to be affected by injuries and loss of form. Why restrict ourselves.

I do not class eith Sno or Donati as being good enough to play for our club again. Grit and determination are now pre-requisites for any CM.

This is the area of the park that has arguably lost us the league so why not strengthen it. Given that Brown can cover right mid as well that's fine by me.

A left back is high on the priority list, very high. So is a dyanmic centre forward with euopean pedigree and an uncomprimising centre half.

Just received this ditty by email from an avid shhep sha***r, which i thought i'd share to the CQN faithfully. APologies for the ditties throughout i've tried to edit them all.

They really despise them as much as us

The Red Avenger is back! But he's talking about the blue meanies.


It's a question you'll get asked quite a lot tomorrow…

"So why aren't you supporting Rangers against Zenit?"

I think you can safely assume that anyone asking you this isnae a fitba fan or even worse one of those f***wits who thinks Rupert Murdoch invented fitba in 1992. A genuine fitba fan would never ask or even contemplate asking why, because they'd know and understand that fitba is a partisan sport and supporting another team just cos they happen to come from the same country (or, as is invariably asked every two years when England make it to a major championship, the same freaking island - thankfully not an issue this summer…cheers Steve, knew we could rely on you ya useless brolly-toting chunt) isn't automatically done.

Which is why when Gordon Brown came out with his "I support England and Gazza's goal in Euro 96 was my favourite goal ever" bollocks, the reaction amongst Scottish fitba fans was "what the f***?" and down south it was "Aye that'll be right!".

Supporting or hell even being ambivalent to your rivals is an unforgivable heresy of the highest order for genuine fans the world over. Simon Kuper tells the story of going to watch the 1999 Champions League Final in a German Bar, he discovered all the Germans were supporting Man U and all the British Squaddies were supporting Bayern.

Yes, it's small minded, petty and irrational and, yes, given the UEFA co-efficient, a case of cutting yer nose off to spite your face but as any genuine fan will tell you that's precisely what fitba is all about and what makes it the greatest sport on the planet…f***'s sake, if we wanted a sporting atmosphere where 'the game' is the important thing we'd go and watch the egg chasing and - lets face it - rugby is more a homoerotic pursuit than a real sport.

I'll openly admit that I loath Rangers, I despise them 365 days a year, so why in the name of f*** would I support them for a couple of hours?

"Because they're Scottish!" will come the reply.

Really??? Is this the same Rangers we're talking about?

Ok I grant ye they play in the SPL and, as much as I wish it wisnae so, Glasgow is in Scotland, but this is a club who's fans sing about the adventures of a hunchbacked homosexual Dutch Prince fichtin an English King in some feckin Irish bog 300 years ago, a club whose main fanzine regularily refers to Scotland fans as 'Jacobite scum' and whose Chairman (prior to O'Neill and Strachan turning the tables in the Bigotfest) made no secret of his desire to get the f*** out of Scotland for the English leagues and even some half-baked Atlantic league bollocks (not to mention that they poached the national team manager in the middle of a qualifying campaign).

We may all be Jock Tamson's bairns but clearly the Huns are the retarded anti-social ones that a hundred years ago would have been boarded up in a room and left to rot.

Does that make me a bitter and beelin' sheepshagger…guilty as charged m'lud!

Am I just a little bitty jealous? Aye ok, a little bit but I do have two genuine reasons for not wanting them to win.

Firstly, I'm proud as f*** we're the only Scottish side with two European baubles and quite frankly I want it to stay that way until the day we're ready to win our third.

Also a Rangers win would elevate the likes of Kirk Clubfoot (who cannae even take a throw in for f***'s sake) and Nacho Homo onto the same pedestal as God, Peter Weir, Dingus et al. I'm sorry that's just f***ed up and cannot be allowed to happen…the Laudrup, Albertz, hell even their Advocaat era team I could just about accept on the ground that loathsome as they were they could actually play fitba but this negative shower of pish and donkeys….get to f***.

Secondly, it's them.

It's kinda like when England get to a major championship, them winning it wouldnae be that bad in itself it's the accompanying bollocks you know is coming afterwards in the media and from them. The Huns are a deluded arrogant bunch of bastards to begin with, give them a Euro Bauble to boast about and I'm telling ye emigrating to Helmand Province will seem very frigging attractive come Friday morning should the worst come to the worst.

Still not convinced? Imagine Chick Young's (St Mirren fan) verbal masturbation if they do it …then imagine it continuing until, well the end of time really…frightening stuff! That one-way ticket to Kabul is looking more attractive now eh?

So don't be ashamed if they call you petty and small minded, you're doing the right thing tomorrow night…supporting Zenit.

Any genuine football fan (I suspect even the Huns) will understand…those that don't and seek to condemn you for feeling and thinking the way you do….well F*** 'EM - they're nae real fitba fans anyway.

Oh and afore some chunt starts, I felt exactly the same way about the hooped minks five years ago.

Now, what's the Russian for "F***'s sake! Get into these Hun c*nts!"?

The Red Avenger

If Browns not happy bench warming then maybe he'll be making an exit....Newcastle possibly, I think Robson has well earned his spot in our starting 11. Possible armband contender!

Does anyone agree that Mac isn't the answer for our captain?

ITV News at 1.45 went over to a square in Manchester for live coverage and right on cue the sectarian bigots were belting out their proscribed "up to our knees in Fenian blood" line.

It came over loud and clear although there was no comment either from the reporter or the studio presenters.

I have sent a copy of the ITV video to all the main media organisations in Scotland as well as William Gaillard at UEFA.

Having been castigated and fined by UEFA for singing this shameful sectarian song you wonder about the sort of collective mindset that then belts it out before UEFA's own Cup Final live on national television!

I have a strong feeling we will be hearing this bigotry repeated in the stadium tonight and- even if we think it will be largely ignored- we should make sure that complaints are lodged to all the appropriate organisations including UEFA.

Sean, can u stick it on youtube?

My strategy for tonight is very simple. I am basing my thesis on the fact that the only way the huns can win is on penalties. Boylesports have this at 9/1 and i've stuck €20 on it. If they lose, what a great way to waste €20! If they win i'll go to the ATM tonight, withdraw €200 and spend it on porter! I may need a few days to sink 40 pints but it will numb the horror of the triumph of wattennachio.
BTW, congrats to the parents of wee man Brennan. May he live long and prosper!

KTF

PC1888 i agree with your feelings about Big Mick, nice fella but not a leader.

On the Brown front i reckon he'll stay the piece and fight for his jersey, he strikes me as that being type of character.

Fabrizio, that sound like a win-win situation to me. :o)

Unless Rangers win 4-0 in normal time...

Nah. The drinks are on you then!

PC18888 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrU9Edo7SyQ&eurl=http://www.celticminded.com/forums/showthread.php?t=557206

Hi (Uncle) Paul, Martin & Kevin,

congratulations on the birth of the nhephew. Just saw the good news. May his birthday be remembered for nothing other than this!

What's the wee mhans's blog-name?

Dave.

I'm truly a glutton for punishment but was just browsing the BBC coverage of the match tonight and came across this question from their Live Updates Page

1146: What P-word best describes Rangers this season? I'll get back to you in just one minute.

I'm sure we could all come up with a better answer than the one provided.

Sean South, no use doing anything today, let int continue throughout the night,

With any luck they will get drunk at let it loose inside the stadium. When that happens, UAFA will come down on them like never before.

Unfortunately work has gotten in the way of my Quick News day!!

Edward - Thanks for your reply, whilst I would not under any circumtances refer to it as harmless, I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion, today especially!

Dobbo - Wholeheartedly agree that we should be targetting Kev McD and McCarthy in the midfield area. I remain convinced though our number one priority signing this summer though should be the left-back area. Although I maybe disagree with others in that I would keep Naylor as good cover in that position.

Paul - Congratulations on the new arrival!

Sean South, no use doing anything today, let int continue throughout the night,

With any luck they will get drunk at let it loose inside the stadium. When that happens, UEFA will come down on them like never before.

Mmmmm. No, I hope the drinks won't be on Fabrizio, coz we don't want that to happen, do we? I hope you lose all your money Fabrizio!

But if we were told that Rangers would win all but one of their remaining games this season, which one would we have them fail to win?

BigChipsUK

Was thinking that myself this morning and I can say categorically I would prefer to see them fail to win any one of their last three SPL matches.

I know they will gain kudos for winning tonight but I'm more concerned with Celtic winning.

Nightmare scenario would be they could draw tonight and still win on pens.

True Tim

You talk as though ("why restrict ourselves") we're immune from the harsh economic realities of the football world, which of course we're not.

We need to spend wisely, so would think it only logical to question the signing of another mid fielder when we already have 10. A bottom less pot of money we dont have, unfortunately.

BigChips, I agree, there is a huge "what if" in my thesis. But it's a chance i'm happy to take. I just hope to God that runty rughead and his Zenitphobics lose me my money.
Any time you're over here, i'll gladly buy you a pint. Might even start my own version of the BB's clique ;-)

BigchipsUK

In answer to your question, Motherwell on Saturday on the basis of the sooner they drop points the better. I want them to lose tonight but I want us to win the league more.

Posted this on the previous thread but realise I was talking to myself - and awe naw for whom there is a reply below.

I wasn't able to read much on the blog the past few days but reading the last thread I noticed the referee appointments for the closing matches. The Kenny Clark appointment on the last day Aberdeen v Rangers I find interesting as that will make 3 times at least this season that he has handled this match. Is that normal?
The reason I'm interested is that funnily enough he figures in a letter of support that I sent to Craig Levein and a letter to Gordon Smith regarding his comments. The letters are quite similar so I'll just show the Gordon Smith one below for anyone who's interested.

Dear Mr Smith,

I am writing with regard to your comments following the match between Rangers on Saturday. Most particularly I wish to address your quoted comments below :

"Michael McCurry has been a top-class referee for a number of years and has handled many a high-profile, high-pressure game. He has shown his own strength of character by being willing to be upfront with his explanation of why he made these crucial decisions during the game.

"To suggest that there was any kind of agenda behind the decisions made on the day does a massive disservice to the game and, quite frankly, is completely unfair."

I am a Celtic supporter so clearly I could be regarded as having a vested interest in Dundee United receiving a square deal from Mr Mc Curry and having the likelihood of a distorted view of decisions which favour Rangers.

I can say, however, that for many, many years I was more than pleased with my lack of paranoia. I was always inclined to be of a “ these things balance out “ nature. Perhaps it was easier for me since, having left Scotland in 1963, I saw few matches live. With the advent of Satellite TV and access to Scottish matches I began to watch any and every Scottish game available but still, despite some moments of doubt, I maintained my view.

The events of this season, however, have caused me to alter my viewpoint. I have seen so many inexplicable decisions and inconsistencies, many of which simply could not be explained away by mere chance whilst the unseemly attempts at the manipulation of fixtures to the benefit of only a certain club has been Kafkaesque in the extreme.

A number of these peculiar decisions I have witnessed involved Mike Mc Curry and Kenny Clark, particularly, adversely affecting Dundee United, Hearts and Aberdeen respectively at different times. I understand that this is the last season these referees will officiate. If we allow incompetence to be the conclusion as opposed to dishonesty what I find most strange is that all of these incompetent decisions seem to benefit only one side.

Of course I know that on the balance of probabilities a club like Celtic are more likely to benefit from crowd influence than a Dundee Utd. but it was refreshing to see that Mr Levein was not drawn into agreeing that Saturday’s decisions were part of this supposed “Old Firm” phenomenon that the media propagate. He said what appears in this season at least to be patently true. The phenomenon has benefited Rangers and Rangers solely, despite the efforts of the media to cloud the issue with a variety of red herrings.

Note the list below which you may find of interest. It would certainly make an interesting DVD compilation. May I suggest you speak with your friends at Setanta and the BBC and obtain copies of the incidents, then consider whether
“ to suggest that there was any kind of agenda behind the decisions does a massive disservice to the game and, quite frankly, is completely unfair.” I would suggest that what would be unfair would be to ignore the obvious simply because to do otherwise would offend those whom you and your colleagues have a leaning towards.

Hearts v Rangers Tynecastle Mike Mc Curry Mc Gregor assaults Calum Elliot bring his leg down into Elliott’s midriff. No foul. No booking Mr Mc Curry is looking directly at the incident.
Hearts v Rangers CIS semi Mr Mc Curry once more. Handball by Ferguson. Mr Mc Curry is directly in line. No foul. Goal for Rangers
Hearts V Rangers CIS semi Mr Mc Curry. Charlie Adam knocks ball from the Hearts goalkeeper’s hands preventing a quick clearance. Just a quiet word from the ref and no booking.
Aberdeen v Rangers Kenny Clark. Barry Ferguson grabs Mc Guire by the throat. No action taken. Not even a quiet word.
Rangers v Aberdeen Kenny Clark. Whittaker pulls back Aberdeen player breaking free. – no booking
Dundee Utd v Rangers Cuellar wrestles Kalvenes to ground. No penalty.
Boyd scores. Leaves pitch to celebrate – no booking.
Rangers v Gretna Cousin scores and celebrates with crowd. No booking. Indeed I would suggest that no Rangers player has been booked in this regard this season despite numerous instances of leaving the pitch to celebrate a goal. Compare that treatment with other SPL clubs.
Rangers v Dundee Utd. Saturday. You know all about those incidents. The referee and his assistant’s performance was a disgrace. His incompetence favoured only one team – as usual.
I will not bore you with the many other instances of strange decisions I have witnessed that have seemed to apply to all but one club. It is probably sufficient to say that after 50 years of watching football they cumulatively have been so marked this season as to have me signed up now as a fully fledged member of the paranoia club.

Craig Levein appears to have offended you and no doubt will have offended many of your colleagues by his outspokenness but you can be sure that for me at least it was refreshing to find so many of the media and the authorities with no place to hide this weekend. The evidence of nepotism and corruption within your ranks is mounting day by day. The evidence is displayed on our television screens with each and every match, whilst the machinations of the SPL and the Scottish Football Association to help their friends is patently more and more obvious. You will know the phrase “ You can fool some of the people etc” I suggest you read the comments of the various fans websites of other SPL clubs to confirm that the sense is developing of unwillingness to accept blatant dishonesty.
Hence I am writing to you as Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association and asking that you act as one, that you show real leadership by representing all Scottish sides and not solely the one that you played for. When something is patently wrong it is the responsibility of the leader to weed out the cancer. Do you have the courage?
I look