Queen breaks minute's silence

me

Disband the bbc.

Paul67

Article deleted, yellow card.

An asterisk doesn't change the content of the word used. :-)

Mort

Ah Paul

Just when we were getting over it.
Now we will have another day of calling each other,drunken morons or pro imperialst fascist bigots

Yahoo

LOL great article Paul.

Hail hail

what is the stars

or perhaps both :-)

Mort

Paul,
Well said, the media can't wait to stick the boot in.
I'm away down to give some support to BTM, my God he needs it. Celtic fans, Oh how times are changing.

Desperate post Paul. Very surprised to see such a weak defence of deliberate, disrespectful, rude behaviour on CQN.

mickexiledinnottingham (FTLT),

RE the St Pauli benefit match. I don't know how far it has progressed, but i do know that at last year's agm, this was brought up and both John Reid and more so Peter Lawwell said that it was being actively looked into and that Celtic would, if possible, be delighted to help St Pauli out.

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

Mort, :-)

What is the stars, is that what I’ve missed? Perhaps we should have a rule that anyone who repeats the same sentiment more than twice should refrain from doing to a third time on grounds of poor literature.

Shane, cheers.

Viewfaethewindae, he sure does.

ItaliaBhoy, Desperate CSC.

Careful now Paul.

Any more of this sort of thing and a Peter Lawell head shake will be directed towards you.

Michael Collins, the Peter Lawwell head shake was directed against the Falkirk fan. Refer anyone who tells you different to me.

viewfaethewindae

I don't think times are changing very much. It wasn't long ago that another manager was getting as much, if not more abuse from a large number of Celtic supporters who wanted rid of him.

The adage I used then was "be careful what you wish for".

The same could be said now. I will continue to support Tony for the time being as he is our manager but he needs to start showing us that he is worthy of this honour.

Mort

Didnae even wipe her erse BTW !!!

Italiabhoy,

disagree strongly with you !!

Yesterday an Ex Rangers director was trying his best to get a racist thug who slashed the throat of a man for the colour of his skin reduced from murder to manslaughter.

Yet it was well below the laptop loyal news agenda. They chose to publicise Celtic fans who chose not to participate in the minutes silence had been singing songs that they are entitled to sing anywhere they want.

Hail Hail

I have to publicly admit that during the minutes silence I was not in the park and was snoring in my bed in Australia. I'm sorry for any offence I have committed to the memory of those who have died during times of conflict around the world.

I meant to say....who was it on here who said a couple of days ago that the 'young team' in the away support would not embarrass us?

Paul

"What is the stars, is that what I’ve missed? Perhaps we should have a rule that anyone who repeats the same sentiment more than twice should refrain from doing to a third time on grounds of poor literature"

I am afraid you lost me there.

Anyway Drunken Moron or Pro Imperialist Fascist whats it gonna be.
Of course the Drunken Morons might just be proud rebels standing up for what they beleive in and the Pro Imperialist Fascists might just be people who beleive in respect and tolerance and of course the Drunken Morons/Pround Young Rebels might be people who beleive in respect and tolerance and the Pro Imerialist Facsist bigots might be drunken morons

Lets move on

Viewfaethewindae

If possible I would be very interested in a wee summary of what they do at training. How much time is spent purely on fitness, how much on technical stuff etc.

EN

Good post Paul,I also commented yesterday that the arrangement of Westfield allowed ALL noises to be heard.The new mechanised bar code entry was also acting up and that was 45 mins before KO,it was also the reason for the delayed entry,not all people in the Q were conducting a protest.
However if those singing were doing so to cause dis-ruption then as previously stated I personally do not condone but can understand if they were personally? effected by the circumstances they were singing of.

I posted this just as the last thread changed!

Removing Tony now would cost a lot of money, but as others have said, a lot less than the CL money we'll miss out on if (when, in my judgement) we don't win the SPL this year under his leadership, even against a near bankrupt, severely struggling Rangers team, & totally demotivateed (understandably) manager at ibrox.

Also, does anyone have confidence that he'll deal wisely in the next transfer window? I certainly do not.

The board have to grasp this issue. They cannot afford to let any consideration of personal embarrassment about appointing him in the first place prevent them doing what is right for the club.

If they don't, then they risk the financial health of the club. I don't just mean lost CL revenue, or even the poor ticket sales for the rest of the year.

Many of the support, myself definitely included, are completely scunnered with the direction that the club has taken, of which the appointment of a man who had none of the qualifications, or it seems abilities, needed to be the Celtic manager is a major part, amongst many others.

They need to act fast, get in someone who knows what he is doing, & back him in the transfer market.

Failure to do so will i suspect mean that many of us will withdraw our financial backing from the club, & once thats done, whilst we'll remain for evermore fans, most will find other things to do on a saturday afternoon, & the revenue that the club will lose might prove impossible to replace, even if they eventually are required to do what they should have done a long time ago.

Its getting very close to crunch time for the board. They should act quickly & decisively, & get the new man in place before the transfer window, & allow him to assess which players he wants to keep, & which we should try & move on, as well as consider options to bring in.

If we do this, back the new manager, & get it right (or even just not so spectacularly wrong as they did with Tony), we'll walk the rest of the season, & dampen the rebellious noises coming from many fans.

Will the board act? Well, they did with Barnes, having backed him with significant transfer funds, so past history suggests we can be bold, & act decisively if need be.

We need to be.

Delighted to hear it Paul. I certainly will but what exactly did the Falkirk fan say to illicit the said cranial movement from our beloved leader.

excathedra44

So there were problems with turnstiles. Our fans should then be commended that all they did was a bit of signing rather than breaking chairs and fighting with stewards.

Mort

Italiabhoy

For the record, I would have preferred that Celtic fans had not sung outside the ground on Sunday during the minute's silence. It did not serve any positive purpose in my view.

I disagree with your post however. Pauls' article is manifestly not a defence of disrespectful behaviour. It seeks to demonstrate the agenda that was held by those reporting on the incident by focusing on the non racist noise outside (and seemingly doctoring the reporting of it) rather than the racist shout made inside the stadium where the minute's silence was actually taking place. Indeed, they covered up that comment by saying the silence was impeccably observed inside the ground. Clearly it was not. Okay, this is not of Watergate proportions but it is still an example of one thing being covered up and another magnified. The aim is clearly to make a case against the Celtic supporters without the inconvenient intrusion of bad behaviour from a Falkirk fan.

Very good article Paul,

Very interesting to listen to talksport radio yesterday evening on the subject. Although it is not the best reception here in Ireland it was very clear when 2 seperate Flakirk supporters rang in to defend the celtic support regarding the minutes silence.
Both callers made it perfectly clear that the minutes silence was impeccably observed by the celtic support within the ground and that the chanting was obviously outside of the ground by a number of fans waiting to get in through the turnstiles.
Another point was the reception given by both of the presenters on talksport. They were both clearly very animated and could not countenance any defence of the celtic support at all.
As was muted here over the past week or so the knives were obviously out and waiting to be stuck into the celtic support.
The last point to make is that when a sizeable number of celtic supporters missed a kick off because of turnstiles not being open the worst thing that happens is a song being sung by a small group of them.
I don't need to mention the reaction given to the same situation in romania!!!!

Michael Collins i think he said "f@@@ off home", nite nite

Michael Collins

From Paul's leader:

"The broadcaster was perhaps forced to edit-out the audio from the video tape as it included a profane and racist chant, "F*** off back home", hurled from the Falkirk end, to the clear disgust of dignitaries at the game."

perhaps this was it?

Mort

Bankiebhoy1

You would think that some of these 'journalists' who are going out their way to investigate singing would maybe ask the question. It would appear that they are still scared of him.

EN

ST

Aahh now I get it.

Paul67

Any idea what is happening in the ki sung-yong tranfer? were we not told after the past disappointing transfer window that this was a done deal?

Quote from the official site shortly after the recent agm:

"....... the Chief Executive, who admitted that Celtic are extremely hopeful of securing the transfer of South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-Yong in the coming months"

Strange goings on, looks like were being set-up for another let down, either he wont come or we get him in a glorious swoop spending or entire budget on him, when we were led to believe he was part of the past windows spending.

Politicians, who would trust them?

Mort 10:43
Yes,for your info I tried to go in at 12 noon for a bovril etc,turnstile would not read the ticket resulting in a scramble to actually man all of the turnstiles.Apparently this was an electrical problem which was also the cause of the metal shutters on all of the kiosks to remain closed until approx 12:15 until manually activated by a stressed Catering Manager.
As you say no riots ,no breakages,and no comment about the patience shown by those waiting.

Paul67

Is it safe to assume that this time that PL and JR will be making our voice heard in this latest media driven assault on all things CELTIC?

Obviously the media have to keep us in the public eye now that the scum have had all their problems rectified and their fans don't sing any bigoted songs week after week.

Hail Hail

Stephen with a "ph"

Paul - If this was the case, any idea why the club don't come out in support of the fans ? We're being battered from pillar to post in the media and no-one outwith the support seems to care.

GUARDS! Seize him!

Dont worry Paul, Ill come and visit you in the tower.

excathedra44

I'm sure we have all been involved in situations where turnstiles aren't working or for one reason or another a large number of people arrive at the same time for entry thus causing queues and missing the start of games.

People react differently to these situations and I have only ever read about one set of fans rioting in the stadium because of it.

Mort

NavanBhoy

You should be able to listen to talksport online if your reception is poor.

As to the presenters taking an aggressive attitude towards the Celtic support that's more to do with their desperation to stir up a some controversy and generate calls from listeners than anything else. It's all part of the shock jock, 'let's have a heated debate' style of presenting that they go in for.

It can be entertaining if your in the mood for it, but it's not particularly informative.

What is the Stars? What are the chances of joining the Naps table?

On the theme of 'oor meeja' and their agenda over many things Celtic, I've just finished reading 'Celtic Minded 3' and in the first essay Dr. Joseph Bradley does a demolishing act on the institutinalised sectarianism of our media in Scotland, both written written and broadcast, over the issue of the Famine Song. An excellent read, well worth the pennies!

Paul67
You are awful, but I like you.

seabea - wasn't even aware there was a 3. I've read the updated version of the original book. Is this a completely new one or just another updated version of the original ?

Paul67,
Great article, glad to see someone with a balanced perspective tell it like it is.

let the people sing

Paul,

must be the weirdest post you have ever written. Dont want to go into detail about Sunday, the only point I would question is why the people who wanted to protest against the silence choose outside Falkirk stadium to do so. Their gripe is with the Government or Military, so why not George Square or the Cenotaph, much more appropraite locations for the rebels to make their point. But I think we all know why they chose Falkirk.............

On another point, heard the SFA are under a lot of pressure from UEFA to sort out our freinds with the debt, you also heard this?

Henrik,

It's a new one.

navanbhoy,

I didn't listen to talksport last night, but I assume it was the Adrian Durham/Darren Gough show?

Now I don't particularly like Durham and he has made his affections for the huns fairly well known over the years - albeit his true footballing love is Peterborough - but to be fair he got stuck right into the huns over the Bucharest issue.

It was no surprise to hear that we got it last night.

The English are a jingoistic nation and are proud of "their" forces on the whole, therefore why should we be surprised at getting abused for what they see as mindless disrespect?

What's done is done, lets move on and look forward to the football.......oh wait it's international week.....again.

Aaargh!!!

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

PS - In saying that Good luck to the Irish on Sat night. Tough one, but hope you can do it!

Irving Washington on November 10, 2009 10:48 AM

Just read an article in the Evening Times:

JAPANESE full-back Yuto Nagatomo is back on Celtic's radar, increasing the possibility of a January bid for the man recommended by international team-mate Shunsuke Nakamura.

Reports in Japan claim FC Tokyo and Celtic have been in discussions within the last few days, and that the 23-year-old right-back was the topic of conversation.

With the J-League season coming to a close in three weeks, the January transfer window is an important time for clubs in Japan to revamp their squads.

Nagatomo is valued by FC Tokyo in the £1.5-2million bracket. Having established himself in the national team which is heading to next summer's World Cup Finals, that price tag is set to rise if he can perform well in South Africa.

Celtic boss Tony Mowbray is very keen to strengthen his squad in the next transfer window, and the board have confirmed they will do all they can to ensure funds are available for him to continue the rebuilding job he began in the summer.

Chief executive Peter Lawwell confirmed a deal - understood to be worth around £2m - to bring South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yong to Celtic at the turn of the year has been agreed with the player and his club, FC Seoul.

All that is required is a work permit, but the Parkhead club are confident this can be obtained as the 20-year-old is now a regular member of the South Korean national side.

Mowbray is continuing to use his world-wide network of coaches, plus state-of-the-art satellite technology, to search for more potential signings all over the world.

Nagatomo was brought to their attention several weeks ago, and a clutch of other European clubs are also monitoring him.

Current Celtic right-back Andreas Hinkel has been one of Celtic's most consistent performers this season, while Mark Wilson proved a capable deputy when the German was sidelined last month with a thigh injury.

However, having just turned 23 last month, Nagatomo is the kind of youngster who can be brought in for a reasonable fee, and who can be developed into a player worth more.

Although more comfortable on the right, the pacy Nagatomo is two-footed and can also play on the left.

He is only 5ft 7ins, but has a flair for attacking play and strong tackling. He scored for Japan in the recent Asian Cup rout of Hong Kong.

His capture would help further boost Celtic's profile in the Far East, adding to the interest from China in midfielder Zheng Zi.

Work Permit is all that is needed according to this...

C_H

I was disappointed with the lack of respect from the supporters outside the ground on Sunday. I am not interested what a falkirk fan said or done.
My only concern was the way our club was represented on Sunday. Our club famous for it's fans and heritage has been tarnished by the ignorant and uneducated morons who don't understand what the minute's silence was for.

Poor show and I don't think it was just the youngsters either I have seen men my age singing political songs which have nothing to do with Celtic.

In this case I cant see the board doing anything, the wee free meeja would obviously twist and distort any meaning to be anti rememberance and unpatriotic.

to auldheid from previous thread

Auldheid, do you agree that our turnover is sufficient to change our wage strucutre to take into account changes in wages in the last 2 or 3 years? and concentrate on a smaller but higher quality squad?

what is the stars, being lost by my reply is perfectly understandable.

excathedra44, cheers.

Michael Collins, the offensive matter is noted in my article above.

NavanBhoy, cheers.

Irving Washington, nothing formal will be announced until the player is here but I understand it is all in order.

Stephen with a "ph", I would expect so.

Henriks Sombrero, the club has responded to support fans against inaccurate broadcast reports in the past. No info on what is planned yet.

Corrib, I’m standing up for her Maj.

Bournesouprecipe, :-)

Canamalar, thank you.

Bhoydell, did not hear that one, will try to find out.

C_H

Only 5'7"? Please no!! No more small defenders please.

TheDon

Yesterday I asked the question why do Celtic fans sing a certain song as I could not see any connection with the song to our football club. Although I received some choice responses I didn't actually get an answer to the question. I wonder why.

To protect the club from adverse publicity from the media might I suggest we stop flying the tricolour. Also we could stop playing in green and white hoops and I know why dont we change our name to Hibernian.

There I feel much better now.

From the Evening Times article:

"Current Celtic right-back Andreas Hinkel has been one of Celtic's most consistent performers this season, while Mark Wilson proved a capable deputy when the German was sidelined last month with a thigh injury."

Do they actually send any reporters to watch the games?

Does anyone have a link to the youtube vid which doesnt splice from outside the ground. It can be seen/heard on this vid that there was no sound inside the ground.

I was golfing on sunday with 2 blue noses , we talked unwittingly all thro the minutes silence at brockville:
surprised the Prime Minister hasnt condemned me

Paul67

Great article, highlighting just how the situation has been manipulated to bring discredit on Celtic and Celtic fans.

were you watching Police Squad at the weekend by any chance?

DarnTheHairWeCare!

EdinburghCelt

Unless you have been living in a cocoon since your birth and have only started supporting Celtic in the past week, you know fine well why Celtic supporters sing that song and many others that have no connection to Celtic like You'll Never Walk Alone, The Fields of Athenrye, The Boys of the Old brigade, Roll of honour etc...

It's because they are Irish folk (and rebel) songs that many in our support like to sing and do so in great numbers at Celtic matches.

There are many who don't sing these because they may not like them or prefer to sing just Celtic songs at matches.

Mort

So howmany right backs will that be, are we collecting them again?
Got to wonder if the manager has any input to signing any of the far east players ?

Michael Collins 11:11
Did you notice Falkirk have a tricolour,kind of contradicts the outburst at the start!!

Just got a reply from STV re last week's article:

Dear Mr Johnston

Thank you for your email to STV.

We are sorry you felt offended by our article; the article in question was an opinion piece drawing attention to the fact that different levels of trouble continue to occur across Europe's football stadiums.

Rangers F.C and Celtic F.C are mentioned in the same breath as they were both involved in controversial incidents in European action this week. However, it was not the writer's intention to equate what happened in Hamburg with what happened in Bucharest and the article has been adjusted to clarify this.

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch; viewer contact is always welcome at STV.

Kind Regards

Paul67,

thanks for the information you have provided in the new post. I will endeavour to inform everyone i know of this incident.

I, like many other Celtic fans, would have been oblivious to the fact that Falkirk fans broke the minutes silence before Sundays game. I'm just gobsmacked it wasn't headlining news on all media outlets. NOT !!!

As Henriks Sombrero pointed out, i hope those in charge of our club come out fighting on this one.

The media are happy to bracket us with that lot from Govan because it deflects attention away from them & their filthy, moronic rioters. Falkirk fans should be shown in their true light.

Come on John Reid. Let's see that Rottweiler attitude that you're so famous for. Get tore into anyone who thinks Celtic & their support are there for target practice for others.

Hail Hail

Darren Ferguson "leaves" Peterborough Utd with the team currently bottom of the Championship. It isn't too much of a surprise given that they have had back to back promotions. Who'd be a football manager?

Mort

The song I was referring to yesterday is one about Aiden McAnespie. I simply asked what this had to do with our football club. Something you seem to address by stating that "many in our support like to sing" these songs.

Having not lived in a cocoon since birth or started supporting Celtic in the past week I am well aware of what songs are sung although this is more prevalent at away matches. My question yesterday arose as I could not see any connection to the football club.

The song debate is not one I wish to re-ignite as I have seen and read the drivel written on here many times so, for that reason, I'm out.

Sorry Paul,
I think your valid point about the innovative way that BBC used their technology to provide the media with their pre-arranged story, would have been better without the royal toilet analogy.
Something very sinister happened on Sunday.
I hope our club is investigating what was an escalation of the media abuse we have come to expect. God knows, very little that they would stoop to was a surprise in any case.
They are now in the music hall illusionist business.

canamalar

i'm beginning to wonder if it is in fact Mr Lawell who is picking the side based upon win bonus avoidance.

Disillusionedcompletely.CSC

Caldwells_Heid, paul67

If it's just a work permit I can't see any problem with him joining, seems to be touted as a top player in Korea and with 16 caps it should be no problem. Lets hope he can make a difference then.

Edinburgh Celt, As far as I have heard they were singing Aidan McAnespie. In case you haven't heard through in Edinburgh, there are a large number of actual real Irish people who follow our club. Theres also a portion who are second third and fourth generation Irish. Thye have Irish blood. If someone did a test on their genes they'd be Irish.
It's a vicious irony that Irish men and women came to live in the country who caused her most harm.
We can never all be Jock Tamsons bairns. Some folk are willig to accept this and move on some folk want us to got back to Ireland.

Morning. Sorry Paul, I realise you are trying to bring some humour into this situation, but maybe the timing could have been a wee bit better.

More importantly is how what has. or has not, depending on your viewpoint, happend in light of recent events. I have been saying for a couple of weeks now that we can be dragged into the mire by Rangers, so any disruptions, or even suggestion of disruptions could have us tarred with the same brush. Making flippant comments doesn't solve the issue, it could well make things worse.

There is an article on Newsnow from the Birmingham Mail. It's a tawdry, and not very well researched article to put it mildly, written by a yokel called Chris Lepkowski. It has all the hallmarks of arrogance that only the English press can summon up. Basically it is an arguement why neither Celtic, or Rangers should be allowed into the EPL. In the article, he talks about the clubs at the lower end of the EPL shouldn't overspend. Bit like bolting the stable door after the horse is already over the hills and far away. In fact if he were to look at the top end of the EPL, the spending really is out of control. Man Utd's debts are now in excess of £700 Million. However, this prat makes one sentence that some down here will grasp onto as the main arguement against it happening.

He wrote 'And, frankly, having seen the behaviour of Rangers fans in Romania last week, I have no wish to see them soil English stadia with their presence'.

The implication of THEM in the context of this article means both Celtic and Rangers. If we are serious about joining the EPL, and you Paul have suggested on more than one occassion that this is the direction we should be following, then rather than Celtic fans getting involved in controversy (rightly, or wrongly), we should concentrate on distancing ourselves from Rangers, and keeping our house in order. I would imagine that Chris Lepkowwski would gladly have you sent to the Tower of London for this article :-).

Unfortunatley this eejit has used selective memory regarding the behaviour of English fans, and players, in recent months. West Ham as supporters, and Adebayor of Man City spring to mind. But that is what we could be up against. The fact that Celtic have in the last few years, played in Manchester, Liverpool, London, and Newcastle with nothing to report against our supporters will be swept under the carpet.

Hail Hail

Modern royal toilet analogies is rubbish.

Mort
It's because they are Irish folk (and rebel) songs that many in our support like to sing and do so in great numbers at Celtic matches.

There are many who don't sing these because they may not like them or prefer to sing just Celtic songs at matches

I have the same ethos as EdinburghCelt.
There is no need to sing political songs at paradise, yes we sing Irish folk songs as some of them define our club but what doesn't is chants about the IRA and others.

BhoyinEngland,

Why would expect a journalist to let the truth get in the way of a good (or not so good in this case) story?

DBBIA

I saw modern toilet analogies are rubbish at the burns howff...

I sent an email to STV to complain regarding an article slating BITH Celtic and the OTHER mob for their behaviour in recent european games. this is the reply i got -

Thank you for your email to STV.

We are sorry you felt offended by our article; the article in question was an opinion piece drawing attention to the fact that different levels of trouble continue to occur across Europe's football stadiums.

Rangers F.C and Celtic F.C are mentioned in the same breath as they were both involved in controversial incidents in European action this week. However, it was not the writer's intention to equate what happened in Hamburg with what happened in Bucharest and the article has been adjusted to clarify this.

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch; viewer contact is always welcome at STV.

Kind Regards

WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH, how can we be involved in a controversial incident when it was Hamburg who put up the Union Jack and the No Su**ender messsage??

HAIL HAIL
BB

Morning all.
Came on expecting to discuss football matters.
While I understans the sentiments behind the lead article, I really hoped that we had moved on from Sunday's minor irritation.
Ah well....Think I'll be flitting in and out of this site today.

Paul67,

I understand clearly the point of the article, but don't understand the need to use a "sitcom" scenario involving the Queen on the throne.

I feel that a less offensive parody could have been used...the image I conjured up while reading the article of Lizzie farting on the toilet made me physically sick! :-)

ItaliaBhoy

Going to the crux of the matter here, Paul is saying that BBC Scotland have adulterated their footage of what happened on Sunday deliberately to show Celtic in a bad light.

It would be very interesting to know your views on how and why this has happened. After all, we have been hearing for a long time that there are plenty of Tims at BBC Scotland, just that not very many of them ever get near the business end of a microphone.

If you know people on the inside, it would be great to find out more about this.

Is Scott McDonald still the 2nd heaviest player at Parkhead? Auld Erchie 'Woooofff!' MacPherson's no' been oan the moving pictures box for a while to keep us informed with these sage snippets.

Anton Rogan Josh. Can't argue with that. But it shows what we might have to face. The Scottish press are as smart as a cheap suit, but the English press are just as bad in their own way.

Hail Hail

THE LEFT BACK

How do "actual real Irish people" differ from other people from Ireland?

I suggest you re-read what I said earlier then try re-typing your post (and maybe run it through a spellchecker).

Paul,

WTF? Scraping the barrell methinks. Obviously everything is hunky dory with the playing staff, management, board, balance sheet, projected incomes, Owen Coyle's auntie...

BhoyinEngland,

I was reading on the Sporting Life website that 'Onest 'Arry Redknapp is keen on the OF moving Sarf. The English journos may start doing a 180 if more established managers expressed the same desire.

.

Harry Redknapp: Celtic and Rangers should join the Premier League

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp wants Rangers and Celtic to be allowed to join the Premier League.

The Scottish giants' bid to quit the SPL and move south has already been backed by Everton boss David Moyes, a former Celtic player, and ex-Parkead boss Martin O'Neill

And now Redknapp has backed the growing campaign for England's top-flight to welcome the two biggest clubs in Scotland.

The Spurs boss said: "I would welcome Celtic and Rangers to English football - no doubt about it. I'm sure they would be good for the English game.

"We are talking about two huge football clubs and if they were to join our league you would be looking at great games in great stadiums.

"I was up in Scotland only a couple of months ago to watch Celtic play Arsenal in the Champions League qualifiers and the atmosphere was out of this world.

"It was incredible and I'd love to see games like that on a more regular basis.

"The one worry I would have is what happens to the rest of Scottish football if the two of them are allowed to leave. But only the people up there know the answer to that.

"If you're asking me if it would be good for the English game, then the answer is yes."

**This Article has Been Altered to Name Scotland's Top Team first....**
001

Bemused by this leader. Your point is? We should be big enough to condemn lack of respect for others whenever it comes and wherever it comes. We cannot selectively take the moral high ground. Its hypocrisy. Simply because the vast majority indulge themselves in it is no excuse to join them.

Optimus Solator in.... Orbis Terrarum est Non Satis.... 001,

**This Article has Been Altered to Name Scotland's Top Team first....**

You missed a bit!

By mountain_bhoy on November 10, 2009 11:02 AM

Yes and perhaps that is the way we are going. The squad size overall is down on last years. The real life problem we face is the length of players contracts. Once signed they are reluctant to move, paying them off can negates the reason for doing so.

A list of our current players and estimated wages (that were chewed over by a couple of CQNrs) is at

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aq2m3ggkEX2RdFBJY2Z6amU2WG5zUU9LTUw5SWdDemc&hl=en

From that you will see the main squad (excluding loans) numbers 24 and costs around £17m

Remove Kennedy, Killen,Flood and Minzuno and you save £1.4M and have a pool of 20. £1.4M is not going to go far so how small does the pool have to be? Reducing it to 15 just based on keeping the highest paid would save £3M which would allow signing 3 players in the £40k a week bracket and 1 at £30K to keep within curent costs.

If you go for just say 2 at say £50K or higher then if both get injuries the risk of losing the quality is higher.

I'm not saying this to suggest we should not go this way, just pointing out it is not straight forward to acheive and carries risks.

Ghuys, the point is not really what one Falkirk fan shouted out. An anti-Celtic agenda at the national broadcaster is more in evidence than ever.

Which is more important?

What have we done to deserve this?

Are Media House controlling the entire Scottish media agenda now at the behest of David Murray?

Paul 67

Ordinarily I'd "poo poo", this type of debate!

But can I caution you -careful bringing up the "Flowers" thing on here now matey, some of the more "Po Faced" ( pardon the contextual pun)

and "sourpuss" posters wont want you talking any flippant nonsense here!

;)

(Them's dead serious fitba types doncha know?)

Bankiebhoy1 FlushOutTheHunsInTheBBCPlease CSC

auldheid, thanks for your reasoned and articulate post. some work can be done with the main squad, but what about the non main squad?

derbyshire...,
hypocracy is limiting free speech to only the views you want heard.
hypocracy is demanding politics has no place in sport except when it suits you.

let the people sing

I thought hippocracy was government by hippopotamuses?

could someone on here who is far more eloquent than me please contact bbc regarding this.
These new microphones are fantastic, where have they been the last 20 years. Can someone please ask if they can be used at rangers games now as i am very interested in the outcome.
Quite frankly i am staggered at how impartial the bbc are. they have ignored sectarian singing for decades by rangers fans and now that it is illegal they ignore it even more. were it not for uefa they would still ignore it.
Having heard about the trouble and rioting in romania i turned on the half ten news to find not 1 single report or mention of it. The game itself barely got 2 sentences with no footage of the game (the ten o clock showed the goals again with no mention of violence so how do english have footage when scottsh bbc doesnt?)
Imagine the shock to see that something that happened 34hrs ago took up about 60% of the news last nigght at the same half ten slot and was 2nd lead story. they even went and interviewed someone from british legion!!!!!
Just because you are paranoid doesnt mean they arent out to get us and by god they clearly are.
A number of neds singing outside the game is hardly something to write home about however distasteful it was. I remember years ago at tannadice being caught outside in congestion and everyone having a singalong. on entry we found out there had been a silence we hadnt realised we had broke it.
Granted that wasnt the case yesterday but really is the reaction from the press reasonable and proportionate.
I really wish someone could put in a letter to bbc as personally i dont want to fund this corrupt and bigoted organisation with my license fee but i am forced by law to do it. You used to be able to rely on bbc as being impartial, not any more.
this is a ramble so i am not the best person to write to bbc but surely someone (paul67, james forrest, p*ddy, etc) could eloquently put our feelings of being let down and mistrust down and without doing it in a childish way ask their position on reporting the continual singing by thousands of illegal songs and also question them on their steadfast refusal to comment on this sectarian behaviour for decades plus.

Bhoydell on November 10, 2009 11:02 AM

i'm pretty sure the reason is Celtic shouldnt ever HAVE to wear the poppy on our fitba shirt. . . it has no place on the hoops (or any fitba teams top) also what has a minutes silence for SOLDIERS really got to do with a Game?

hail hail,

get off the celtic supporters backs who sang in the Q. . . . .
get over it, they didnt do Anything wrong

tiocfaidh ar la

By Paul67 on November 10, 2009 10:34 AM

A the head shake. As soon as I saw it referred to yesterday I spotted another rod to break the back in the making. To be fair to the poster he aknowledged his interpretation was just an opinion. But later on it was being treated as fact that PL was shaking his head at the noise from outside.

Now that additional information has been provided (which some will choose to believe is made up) a VERY different picture emerges.

My point is NOT to make any defense of PL but to say to posters what I try to remind myself - If I do not have all the information (and who has) always leave room for doubt about what it means in any conclusion reached.

Gordon_J, BundoranBhoy

I also got the same generic reply. The part in the reply that stated: "However, it was not the writer's intention to equate what happened in Hamburg with what happened in Bucharest and the article has been adjusted to clarify this." is incredibly disingenuous. That was entirely the writer's intention and we know that because he had to change the article to reflect this.

Hail Hail

Mort

Paul 67,

on a different tack, if the headshake was in response to the "FO Home" chant, are you at liberty to reaasure us that there will be some follow up here from our Club.

To be clear the issue is not primarily around racism bit more significantly around the issue of factual news distortion.

the green white & golden eagle

The minute silence isn't just for war heroes past and present, it was for all of those who lost their lives due to war.
Those who sang in the queue had an agenda which has nothing to do with our club.

this was also the same bbc who had a summariser on saturday compare the rioting by rangers fans in barcelona villareal, manchester and romania to one eejit running by dida.
Really they had it on the same scale.
The lack of intelligence astounds me. He then went on (i think it was dodds)to say at hamburg game there was a lot of bother in glasgow but as it was out of ground uefa dont get involved but rangers got in bother because inside ground but trouble not as bad as that at celtic hamburg game.
Not one of the "qualified" journalists pointed out that the rioting in manchester(to name but 1)did not happen inside the ground (stabbing aside) and nobody countered his point.
They really are out to get us and as someone who feels the board at the moment get a bit of a hard time on the financial side i really wish they would come out all guns blazing with some sort of dossier.
In the letter to bbc ask how any highlight package online can fail to show the contentious offside at the end of the game, it is blatant dishonesty and underhand not to do so. that act alone proves an agenda but anyone with an ounce of savvy had their eyes well and truly opened on the half ten news last night.

As i have said in the previous thread. . . The good fans whom observed the minute silence out there have been tarred and feathered and hung out by a media so corrupt its unbelievable. Over the last month or so TFOD have pulled the criminally racist songs from their sectarian slumber namely the famine song and the billy boys. What have the sfa the spl the mp's the government the police rangers or the anti racism bodies done ? Nothing! Do you really want your kids growing up being called the names that we are called today! Lets stop ignoring it and do something collectively for our kids. For every time they sing their bile we all should send video evidence with an e mail to the above who clearly should have gone to earsavers and demand a reply..if any thing we owe this to our children should we allow them to be called t@=g,bead rattler or whatever else! Lets make a difference together

Mort,

Either it was the writer's intent or he is an incredibly poor writer!

Conspiracy or cock up?

.

Celtic's New Center Half....?

001

Cadizzy, Celtic_First

Thank you for your considered comments about Paul67's article. We can do with a few cool heads around here after the last few days.

If I understand the article correctly, there has been a deliberate attempt by our national broadcaster to edit coverage of the minute's silence in such a way as to place our club in a bad light. By a curious coincidence, there was a not disimilar incident involving the editing of trailer for a documentary on HMQ on the BBC a few years ago. I seem to recall a senior member of the BBC had to resign when it became apparent that the trailer had suggested that Liz had stormed out of a photo session, which was factually incorrect. Will heads roll this time? As a wise old blogmeister would say:
"Hhmmmmmmmmmmmm.........."

scotlands shame - it's a waste of time writing to BBC Scotland regarding any agenda against our club. The complaints will be ignored.

The best approach is to compile examples of BBC Scotland's misdemeanours and send them with an articulate letter to London, and more specifically, to someone who can demand an explanation for the editorial stance at BBC Scotland.

001,

Saw that on Sky Sports News last night. Surely she is more in the tradition of the Hurlocks, Stevens, Forsyths, Griegs, etc?

The head of BBC Sport Scotland is a Rangers FC supporter, this was proven in the recent BBC expenses scandal when he used OUR money to watch his team at the UEFA cup final in Manchester. Do we really expect coverage of events to be impartial if he is at the helm? We are legally obliged to pay for his wages and his jollies, surely he is legally obliged to apply impartiality to his coverage?

001

She is quite fit though :-)

Some of the challenges were worse than you would see on a man's field but credit to the girls on the receiving end of them, they didn't go down like a bag of spuds that you would see the men doing in similar situations.

Mort

Without exposing myself as a namby pamby liberal. The Guardian's editorial on Saturday exposed the general hipocrisy of the poppy debate.

Editorial The Guardian, Saturday 7 November 2009 Article historyIt has been another bad week in Afghanistan. Seven British soldiers have died, as well as uncounted civilians, some unintended casualties of the Nato effort. Support for the war has fallen from just under half in September to a third. Gordon Brown's attempt yesterday to shore up support by laying out a renewed set of objectives by which success could be measured were undermined even as he spoke by the former chief of the defence staff Lord Guthrie, who criticised his conduct of the war. An observer from another planet might suppose tomorrow's Remembrance Day ceremonies would at the least be tinged with anger, and might provoke bitter protest.

They will not, of course, despite the growing protests of some soldiers' families. That is no thanks to the dubious new interpretation of remembrance that is evident in the stridency with which poppy-wearing by celebrities and newsreaders and X-factor judges is policed, and by campaigns in some newspapers to make leading football clubs wear embroidered poppies on their shirts. The appetite for public emotion is threatening to turn the act of remembrance into a symbol of conformity, a kind of alternative national flag. The obvious argument against this is that conformity robs it of its real meaning. But it is also a corruption of the original intention of those who commissioned the first, temporary, Cenotaph and put it in the heart of Whitehall.

Their ambitious purpose was to impose on the very centre of imperial power the memory of the millions who had died in order to end war. It was to be a daily warning to the politicians who sent them to fight of the awful cost of war, an ambition whose futility was exposed in 1939. Instead, the dead were recast as soldiers in a just war, defenders of a free world. At the same time, however, the fallen became distanced from the politics that brought war about. Perhaps that is why the last survivor of the first world war, Harry Patch, dismissed Remembrance Sunday as "just show business", a charge uncomfortably supported by its very success. This year's poppy appeal is on course to break last year's record take of £30m. There are queues around poppy sellers, and already more have been distributed than in the whole of last year's campaign. One recent poll found that four-fifths of the population think the two-minute silence is "relevant to them". It is a huge, largely volunteer, locally organised effort.

And yet 40 years ago, Remembrance Day was almost abandoned. First world war survivors were dying, second world war veterans were ageing, and the increase in proceeds of the poppy appeal barely kept pace with inflation. The British Legion might have imagined itself ageing with it. Instead, war came back.

In 1968, no British soldier died on active service. But that turned out to be not just the first but the only year since 1945 when the claim could be made. The uncomfortable question is whether our way of remembering war, or at least war's casualties, has contributed to making that possible. The pacifist White Poppy movement, and some Christian thinkers, would argue that it has, that there is a hypocrisy about it that is reflected in the way the dead are honoured while the last military hospital is shut and those who survive with physical or mental damage have to fight for adequate care. They detect a whiff of militarism in the way civilian dead are ignored, and jingoism in the refusal to recognise that many of the enemy died believing they were fighting for freedom too. But above all, they are offended by the sight of politicians who have embroiled us in war laying wreathes at the Cenotaph in memory of the young men and women who have died fighting it. This is the final corruption of the original intention of remembrance: it has not prevented war happening again. Worse, it can be seen as a balm to the consciences of all of us who have failed to stop it.

By mountain_bhoy on November 10, 2009 11:54 AM

Aye. I was going to comment on that. I think there are names in there who are not worth holding on to. I will not name them as I have not seen too many that often but I would not have as many. 2 years and its pastures new. (see below)

The money saved of course is small, although every penny helps and if an Islam Feruz emerges every year and is old enough to have on a long contract you are quids in.

I do not know the contracting arrangements but I think that a "coached by Celtic" badge on a players CV will help his future earnings. Before taking any lads on board I would have a "sell on" clause on a student loan basis that if he subsequently goes on to make it at another club, Celtic get pay back in some form or other.
If you think Celtic University rather than Celtic Developement you get the idea.

Funny how these microphones can pick up any noises made by Celtic fans but seem unable to hear the "party" tunes of the Ibroxites !

This was always a set up and sadly we had some who fell right into it. Merely deflecting the neddish behaviour in Romania and the ongoing financial plight that is Rankers FC.

anton rogan josh

I think its clear you spend your afternoons not at the game either

TheDon on November 10, 2009 12:06 PM

what WAS their secret agenda then?

they were entitled to make as much noise as they wanted were they not? they were'nt even in the stadium, talk about blowing things out of proportion

the hamburg huns & the glasgow huns midweek behaviour is the only thing that should have been discussed by the media,

get off the Celtic supporters backs, thats the job of the red rag tops and the bbc

hail hail!

tooheysnew, outstanding guardian article, documents what many on here have argued

I was on here on Sunday slating PL for shaking his head in disgust.

I wish to withdraw my outburst and offer my apologies as I was obviously not aware of the facts..

BT

Paul67...

Whilst I may disagree with parts of your lead piece, I'd like to say - Welcome back!

An article with teeth, with relevance and fearless too. Articles like this are what makes CQN. And you are a much better writer when writing with conviction.

Maybe there are a number of positives that will come out of this debacle. Hopefully also this article will help break the association some fans have with basing the "standing" of the club on the opinion of the media.

People may disagree with you, but no one can take issue with the content or power of the article. Thanks again. :-)

/p

Celtic_First

A chap called Ewan Angus is commissioning editor of TV and head of sport for BBC Scotland. If complaints are to be made regarding BBC Scotland's coverage of any sporting event then this is the person who should be contacted. I would expect Celtic to be approaching this chap or his boss Ken MacQuarrie for an explanation.

Re your comments about Media House, it would not surprise me. I have cause to deal with some of these guys through my work and the person at the top is a powerful, intimidating individual with many strong political connections. I have no doubt (nor evidence) as to their ability to influence all the media in Scotland when it comes to any particular story.

No longer should ibrox be allowed to be a safe haven for the racists to spread their bile without retribution. Collectively we can make a difference but only together.

All complaints about BBC Scotland should be sent to the top man in London (love the irony, BBC Scotland fiercely protect their autonomy yet are unionists to their core) Im sure someone on here will have every misdemeanour documented

Its seems some people are looking for a scapegoat to thier problems.

Next year I want Celic to bring out "Dont blame us" Poppy scarfs. With the cash going to the poppy appeal.

A very worthy cause is being hijacked in an effort to divert the news away from thugs and debt problems elsewhere.

UEFA wont be listen to all this kicking of the cat on Thursday.

By tooheys_new on November 10, 2009 12:16 PM

" Their ambitious purpose was to impose on the very centre of imperial power the memory of the millions who had died in order to end war. "

This is absolutely key but instead of ending war the poppy has become a symbol OF war.

Paying Respect – Speaking for The Dead

From the land of beyond
I watch and shake my head
At those fighting to pay respect to my sacrifice
In the way that they think respect should be paid to the dead.

I’m an unknown soldier killed in a trench somewhere
Bled to death as I watched rats drink from my ebbing earth life.

I died in the hope that all fighting would stop
NO MORE WAR.

But war takes many forms
It is not all bullets and shells
It’s not always fought in trenches either
Its most common battlefield is in the heart and minds of men.

In the last few days I have witnessed a battlefield
I have watched the team I support dragged through the mud
By the mistaken, who have turned what was intended as a show of respect
Into yet another battlefield.

You do not respect me when you wear a poppy
You do not respect me when you have a minute’s silence
You do not respect me when you have a minute’s applause
You do not respect me when you walk out

You especially do not respect me when you try to divide a community
Then a country
With spurious arguments of what constitutes respect
And then broadcast those views to the nation
In radio and newspapers
In a manner and tone that encourages division
Division that becomes a cause of
MORE WAR.

If you think that all these are respect
You are among the mistaken.

The Poppy, the minute’s silence, the minute’s applause
These are all SYMBOLS
They have become empty symbols
Ditch them in the trench in which I died.

If you want to truly respect me
Remember why I died

LEST YOU FORGET

It was so that there would be
NO MORE WAR

And let NO MORE WAR break out
In the only battlefield that counts
In each heart and in each mind

If a symbol is needed at all
Find a symbol that unites
Use a symbol for eternity
(For eternity is where I am)
Or even the white poppy for peace
And do not war over which one!

But the best way to remember my sacrifice
Is not through symbols
It's to cultivate peace in your heart
Your mind and your soul
So that no matter the symbol
No matter how much anyone may turn it to their particular cause
You always and truly respect the sacrifice I made.

So that there will be
NO MORE WAR

(The sooner the white poppy (for peace) idea gathers momentum in the public at large, not just the Celtic suport, the better.

canamalar

Hypocrisy is rife.

I do not know of any answer but it has always seemed to me to be an insoluble dilemma regarding freedom of speech or action that there are always those who will condemn as offensive what others may say or do whilst holding fast to their own right to say or do anything that concurs with their own beliefs.

Respect for others seems to me to be the only possible path. That insists of course that respect is a two way thing.

Poppies, songs, Irishness... yawn, anyonwe want to talk about a football team?

By blantyretim on November 10, 2009 12:23 PM

Good man.

None of us are aware of all the facts.

We just think we are :0)

Can anyone smell "coffee"???

Auldheid, re that spreadsheet, are any of those figures got any factual backing to them?
Cervi over from America on £500 a week? Kilmarnock matching all of Brown's wages?

Would be interesting to know if there are any facts to back any of the figures quoted (not criticising, just curious)

war is wrong - dont forget

there should be no soldier out in iraq or afghanistan.
i do not care about any of them - and i'm sure MOST celtic fans feel the same way, at least 99% of celtic fans i have met in life. we all have friends or family or at least know someone in the armed forces, but that was their choice to join an organisation that kills innocent people every day. i for 1 despise the american and british troops murdering people in the middle east.

poppies have no place or connection with celtic,
REMOVE THE POPPY - free your mind

(watch zeitgeist 1 & 2 on you tube)

peace to all,

hail hail!

the speed of some to post on here and other Celtic football forums how outraged they where has concerned me.

although a lot of the same login names have never been friends of the away support there seems to be a lot more have decided that 30 or so fans singing outside a football ground waiting to get in has shamed the club? the BBC and the red tops have an agenda and it has always been clear, why do so many fall for it.

UC

sorry to drag this minute silence debate on but I need to share this ( apologies also if someone else has posted it).

I caught Adrian Durham on Talksport last night and he was taking calls re the silence. One Falkirk supporter who was at the game phoned to say that the Celtic supporters inside the ground kept the silence impeccably. Celtic supporters were phoning in to say the same.

When Durham was calling for more calls on the subject he stated that he didn't believe that all the singing came from outside the ground! Even though a Falkirk supporter (ie an eye-witness) confirmed that was the case!

What chance have we got?

.........definately "coffee".

Whatever Celtic do, fans or PLC 'they' will always find an angle, no matter how innocent we are. Hamburg fans try to wind up Celtic support? 'Celtic Fans in Controversial Incident'. It has always been so.

The fact remains we are one of the best regarded away supports outside of our 'ain midden' so to speak. Invited to endless friendlies and testimonials because (a) we bring numbers and (b) we're easily policed because we don't have a hooligan element.

to paraphrase their song of hate 'Everyone Likes Us - and they Care, they care very much'

'They' cannot bare us to be so popular while 'they' are so reviled.

Until that changes then those who wield pens and keyboards and have the 'power' to write their lies and distort the truth will continue to use the slightest excuse to damn us on false evidence.

We cannot change that. If we sit in silence we are terrible supporters. If we sing folk songs we are terrorist lovers.

I am quite happy to take our plaudits from where we get them - the residents, clubs, supporters and authorities of every place the magnificent and humane Celtic support travel. Those people have no agenda, they say what they see (Copyrite Roy Walker).

For every riot they have in a foreign city we have a party.
For every police force that condemns them we have a letter of commendation.
For every new club we strike up a rapport with they leave behind a new grudge.

To hell with them and their media. We know the truth and we know that they won't tell it.

CelticFirst @11:39

I think Paul67 is confused. There was no doctoring of footage or audio by the BBC. In fact, the people who altered the footage (or at least the audio) were Sky, whose microphones inside the ground clearly picked up singing during the minute's silence. Sky have admitted to fading out the singing as they felt it would be offensive to their viewers (and in doing so did us a favour).

You can see the unaltered Sky footage on Youtube (carried on an Arab channel). Singing is clearly audible (as it was no doubt intended to be).

BBC microphones also picked up this singing. The stadium at Falkirk is small, and open, therefore pitchside mikes would I imagine have been only a matter of metres from the turnstyles.

It is innaccurate to suggest that audio and footage from two completely different locations were spliced together, as Paul's rather juvenile comparison with the Queen implies.

Both BBC and Sky's mikes in the ground clearly picked up the singing outside the ground. There is no conspiracy here, and indeed by muting the singing Sky almost certainly saved us from nationwide embarrassment.

I fear the BBC the Daily Ranger ect have completed their objective and a lot of neutrals now see Celtic Supporters in a bad light.A old guy I know (he will be in his eighties)accused me of being scum for supporting Celtic as he put it "after the terrible show of disrespect at the Falkirk game by your supporters".How many other decent people are thinking this?I really think there must be some comment from Parkhead about this stich up

Just thought i'd let you know that Nagatomo is a attacking LEFT full back!

An ashley cole type - he's got a bit of devilment about him though!

Against Australia in the WC qualifiers he was trying to square go a hulk of a midfielder after he got booted up in the air... 5 mins later he got his retribution & a yellow.

In fact I think I commented on these pages at the time that he be great for us if he was 5 inches taller...

tbdJ

A hummdinger of a piece, Paul.

Well done.

You realise, of course, you can say cheerio to any mention on future honours lists!

FF

Incidentally, for all the further conspiracy theorists, Ewan Angus, head of television at BBC Scotland, is a Tim...

arranmore on November 10, 2009 12:33 PM

well said - it is all too easy to come on here with an open mind, then when you see some of the posts on here you just have to respond sometimes, its too hard not too.

back to the team - STILL TOP, but only because the huns are worse than us, we really need to get behind BTM, i remember pre season and most celtic fans were really happy we finally had a celtic minded man in charge again (as if wee gordon strachan was'nt).
now a few months in and the same people are sharpening the knifes, ready to get rid off already.

keep the faith - win,lose or draw

hail hail!

Going back to team matters, if TM wants rid of a few players in the transfer window, does he try and play them to the detriment of the team?

If Brown is to go, I can see him back soon which I think will be wrong for the team.

But what do we do up front - we run a serious risk of mirroring last years escapades, going in to transfer window with out of form strikers and coming out the other side even worse. Much as I think Skippy is poor, fat, and no first touch, he really is our only penalty box striker as GS and MAF are not. This is unheard of at a club like Celtic.

But what striker could we get in the window? Who would come to Celtic who could score us goals? That is the reality of our current situation. Now I am most certainly not advocating signing a Nish, a Kevin Kyle etc but what realistic level are we going to be at? No chance of a Premiership striker. Doubtful getting a Championship striker. Maybe get a fringe Premiership striker on a loan? But they do not need to loan out players to free up money so would really need to be someone who is needing 6 months playing week in week out.

O'dea can't get a game for Reading, that needs to be a wake up call for us all that a player who we think is good enough for us, is not good enough to get into Reading.

On another note, with no reserve league, what are all these fringe players doing? Your Mizunos, Floods etc etc, are they getting bounce games week in week out? Do they have anything to aim for, fight for?

Paul67:

I had to create a new account to be able to comment from work (the old IE problem) but it was well worth the effort.

Your best article yet in my book and a very, very welcome bit of perspective (I personally had completly misunderstood the significance of PLs headshake so thanks for throwing a bit of light on that).

It also made me spit my tea all across my desk!
Priceless sir, priceless...

Welcome to the horde of drunken, hate-fuelled, wife-beating scum and morons!!!

;-)

Bankiebhoy1 11:53 Would I be right in assuming your 'sourpuss' comment was aimed at me?

Having lived down here for well over 20 years, I am aware of the predjudices that exist down here towards Scotland. Most English people don't give a damn one way or the other. There are others though who still believe the sun never sets on her majesty's empire, and that the Scots, Welsh, and Irish are there merely to serve their English masters.

At a time when the subject of Celtic potentially joining the EPL is cropping up more than ever, we need more headlines like Honest 'Arry welcoming us. Controversy about a minutes silence, or (God forbid), the taking of the Lizzie's name in vain, might not do us any favours. I made a comment many years ago at work about not being keen on the royal family. I think I said something ot the effect that I would gladly get rid of royalty, period. I couldn't believe the treatment I got over the next few weeks. By some reactions, you would have thought I had used her toilet :-)

Hail Hail

Courage

Standing at the bottom of the steps,
it seemed they had a mountain to climb,
courage, please don't desert me now,
I know everything will work out just fine.

Holding hands, we took that first step,
up through each tenement floor,
movement so difficult and yet,
eventually reaching the door.

Rang the bell and then it was answered,
into the house, no turning back,
at the end of a dark lobby,
a slither of light, seen through a crack.

The sitting room door, it sprang open,
a voice could be heard inside,
"hope this is no another Catholic"
I looked around for somewhere to hide.

A squeeze of my hand in the pale darkness,
a pull, led me into the light,
"can't you find a good Scotsman"
the speaker, he came into sight.

I swallowed and took a deep breath,
she smiled and kept her cool,
"hello Dad, meet my new boyfriend",
stood there, feeling a fool.

Now such a fond, distant memory,
so many years ago, all in the past,
I smile, when my mind wanders back to it,
that girl, she's still my lass.

William Topaz Serenity

Inspired by SydneyTim

timjim on November 10, 2009 12:42 PM

well jim, i wouldnt exactly call the 80 year old man who abused you a 'DECENT' sort, would you.

he is obviously a bigot (and prob one of them)

It's a valid point that patching together different audio and pictures is slightly under hand. But that's not the main issue. The problem is that the singing took place. I don't think that's in the best interests of the club or the fans, we all come out of it as losers. We'll face the same issue again next year and there has to be some discussion between the club and fans groups to come up with a solution (e.g. white poppies).

ItaliaBhoy - you claimed "Sky admitted to fading out the singing as they felt it would be offensive". Where did you hear this?

That is not the information I have.

sooner that 80 year old and guys like him (sons brothers etc) bite the dust the better this country will be.
I wonder if once in his 80 years he has called any rangers "acquaintance" scum for supporting a team that.... was going to list midemeanors but whats the point.

Place sumbdy on the "Grassy Knoll" and find out where the "shooter", sorry BBC microphone was...................

By bobbycfc on November 10, 2009 12:38 PM

Some of the figures came from newspaper reports from which others were extrapolated. Then they were "published" on CQN with invites to comment. The figures reflect the results.

I wish we had something absolutley solid to go on but hapy to take on any comments. Small adjustments have little effect of course.

italiabhoy, strange that, from the herald story

"For example, Mr Angus, head of sport, claims for £190 for the price of two tickets to the 2008 Uefa Cup final between Zenit St Petersburg and Glasgow Rangers"

GWG eagle
Thats the problem he is not bigot and he not one of them .(he is not a Hun)If he was I would have expected the comment and it would not have bothered me

As you are all aware on Saturday the 14th of November 2009 ‘Bringing Martin Home’ will be holding its close-out fund raising event in the form of a ‘Race Night’ to be held in the Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park. Tickets Cost £5. Doors open 7pm sharp. There are still tickets remaining so if you would like to come along please email

Email - info@bringingmartinhome.com

On the night there will be 8 horse races, each race having 8 runners, to be shown on screens in the Kerrydale Suite. You will have the chance to bet on a horse in each race with a minimum bet of £1 if you so wish to do so. You can however bet any multiple of £1 on any number of horses in all races. Like normal horse race betting each horse will have racing odds against them. Once you have bet on a horse you can then sit back and shout your horse onto victory before picking up any winnings due to you if your horse romps home first.

As well as the Horse Racing there will be 2 separate raffles and an auction on the evening.

Note :- unfortunately due to logistics and committee having too much to do with too little time available to do it all in, between now and the race night, the raffle is only open to those who will be attending on the night.
The star prize on the night '2 weeks use of a Florida Villa (accommodation only)' will be raffled off in a tenner raffle were you write your name on a £10 note and it is placed in a tombola before being drawn at random. This prize would normally cost £1200 in high season. The accommodation is located 10 miles from Disney and sleeps up to 12 people. Prize must be used by May 2011 subject to availability.

Raffle Prizes
=============

1 week 'accommodation only' at a Spanish Golf resort.
Framed Celtic Top signed by Current Team.
Celtic v Inter Milan 2-1 Canvas Print.
Tommy Burns Canvas Print.
Henrik Larsson Canvas Print.
Double framed Simon Ferry Top.
John Hartson Top & Book Signed.
Signed Billy McNeill autobiography.
Champions Bar tickets * 2 (one prize).
His & Her Manchester United Watches (worth £100).
Framed and signed Billy McNeill caricature.
Framed and signed Billy McNeill Lisbon Lion print.
Signed Billy McNeill picture.
Various bottles of alcohol.
+ much more.

Auction Items
=============

Tommy Burns Pop Art Oil Painting (Original).
Round of Golf for 3 people at Royal Troon's Portland Course (includes lunch and drinks).
Glass Encased Ball signed by Seville Team.
Double Framed John Hartson Top.
Neil Lennon takes on the Huns signed Canvas Print
Signed Artur Boruc Goalkeepers Top.

Note: Prize allocation may be subject to change if\when we receive donations that can be used in either auction or raffle.

Bringing Martin Home Slide Show as Shown at Celtic Park 31102009.

We look forward to seeing you all there on the night.

Let's get Kano home for Christmas.

Thanks

MWD (on behalf of the 'Bringing Martin Home' committee).

www.bringingmartinhome.com.

.

Gordon J....

Re;CH....Thought it would be More Topical as a Celt....Sydney Tim has Been Calling for her Like since the 80s....:O(

Mort....

Re;CH....

As Curly would say....'Fit' Like....

001

Steinreignedsupreme

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/11/09/we-muted-sound-of-celtic-fans-chanting-during-minute-s-silence-admit-sky-86908-21808124/

The fading down was obvious- there was no sound at all during the minute, including even the referee's whistle ending it, which is entirely unheard.

As soon as the sound is faded up, booing is heard.

Sky routinely fade out swearing etc (also a feature of our "political" protest on Sunday). You can sometimes hear the start of a curse from a fan before it vanishes...

No one want to talk football here?

can you not all see that the press thrive on controversy? You are all playing into their hands?

Day one - print a negative story. Get lots of phone calls
day two - carry on with story as proved to be much interest in it.
Day three - maybe interview some fans, witnesses
Day four - maybe print a bit of history (cos folk are still talking about it)

etc etc

Don't play into their hands!!!!

If anyone can't see this - then look at X Factor. Its owned by Simon Cowell. he has got everyone talking about two contestants as they are so bad in his eyes. But when it was in his power to get rid on sat night, he chose not to cos he knows its in his best interests to keep stories going in the press!!

And no matter where an employees loyalties lie, there are thousands of journalists being made redundant. So they will first of all want to keep their job and if that means writing a controversial article about Celtic or Rangers then so be it. Cos they know fans will bite and thats what they want!

So anyone want to talk football?

the green white & golden eagle on November 10, 2009 12:21 PM
what WAS their secret agenda then?
they were entitled to make as much noise as they wanted were they not? talk about blowing things out of proportion
get off the Celtic supporters backs, thats the job of the red rag tops and the bbc

You know and I know the agenda was political and nothing to do with our football club, they exercised their right of free speech but in the process they have tarnished our clubs great reputation.
I am not blowing this out of proportion it made national news which is embarrassing our club.
I am not on anyone's back I am just saddened that after all the talk that went on here last week i.e. the media would be doing everything in their power to highlight this event.

Nice wind up Paul.

Just one thing though.

What is the club doing to force Media Mogules to stop representing our club in a bad light.

OK if the minutes silence had been broken in the ground then fair enough. But the club needs to start fighting fire with fire and thunder.

Stamp on these malcontents.

I four king hate the media and all it represents.

MWD

Mountainbhoy,

Not at all. In the BBC there is no petty cash, and freebies to big events like the UEFA cup final are limited.

EA was [perfectly within his rights to attend in a work capacity, but instead of paying with that on a float he has to buy the tickets and claim back.

Which, as head of sport, is fair enough.

Definite Tim, take it from me.

roberttressell on November 10, 2009 12:41 PM

perfectly said mate

hail hail!

BobyCFC

If I my be so bold

"It is out of our hands, and has been for a long, long time"

It is probably everyones desire to get this issue INTO our own hands, but to do so first ( pardon the strangled analogy) we need to get our hands on the facts and the truth.

Hail Hail

This is all very dispiriting.

The constant drip drip of anti Celtic stuff is having an effect, and was last year too.

I remember posting after the game at Kilmarnock in February that there was vile abuse from some ordinary looking Killie fans to the effect that all Celtic supporters were paedo's, everyone knows that. And again, after beating St Mirren 7 zip at Celtic Park, a guy , WITH HIS WEE SON IN TOW, saying we ought all f off back to Ireland. The point being that the Hun agenda was feeding through.

But we dignify this rubbish if we dwell on it.

And, n=more to the point, if the team were any good,performing at a consistently high level, this stuff would be relegated to the fringes, where it deserves to be.

Now, if we're talking about anti Celtic bias in the Media, what about the calling of wildact strikes, unannounced,and with no notice , resulting in no television coverage at all on the days when we beat the Huns in the '57 final (7 -1!!!!!) and, more recently, in 1979, (4 -2!!!!) to win the league in a thrilling climax?

That's what I call dodgy.

WE ought to move on.

Bhoydell

'why the people who wanted to protest against the silence choose outside Falkirk stadium to do so. Their gripe is with the Government or Military, so why not George Square or the Cenotaph, much more appropraite locations for the rebels to make their point.'

Maybe because the issue people find objectionable is not people honouring the war dead but, sixty years after the end of the second war, making it compulsory to have a minute's silence and for the players to wear poppies.

You don't have to be the sharpest knife in the box to realise that this has nothing to do with remembering the fallen. It's about bringing the Armed Forces from the margins to the centre of public consciousness.

You can draw your own conclusions about why this should be happening now, with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the prospect of another in Iran.

So Falkirk was exactly the sort of place for a protest whereas a traditional memorial ceremony, of the kind that have taken place since the end of the First World War, was not.

ItaliaBhoy on November 10, 2009 1:04 PM

Do you think there would be many "tims" attending shame final?
Why would any Tim want to go to THAT final?

ItaliaBhoy on November 10, 2009 12:41 PM

you seem to be the juvenille here,
nationwide embaressment? you havin' a laugh?

as if any1 cares that much, what about the numerous times we hear the rest of the spl break silences, i for 1 do not lose any sleep over it, get down of your high horse

Timjim posted the following earlier.
I fear the BBC the Daily Ranger ect have completed their objective and a lot of neutrals now see Celtic Supporters in a bad light.A old guy I know (he will be in his eighties)accused me of being scum for supporting Celtic as he put it "after the terrible show of disrespect at the Falkirk game by your supporters".How many other decent people are thinking this?I really think there must be some comment from Parkhead about this stich up

And in response he gets this from a poster called "Scotlands shame"

sooner that 80 year old and guys like him (sons brothers etc) bite the dust the better this country will be.
I wonder if once in his 80 years he has called any rangers "acquaintance" scum for supporting a team that.... was going to list midemeanors but whats the point.

Jesus when is this nonsense going to end

pheersy,

He is head of TV and sport at BBc Scotland and there was a scottish team playing.

of course he should be there...

Bhoy in England

"There are others though who still believe the sun never sets on her majesty's empire, and that the Scots, Welsh, and Irish are there merely to serve their English masters."

I don't doubt that those people exist (the same ones who interchange Britain/UK/England) but, maybe I have just been luckier than you. In 25 years working in London, I have never met with any anti Scottish sentiment, in fact, generally the opposite is true. Ironically, Scots and Scotland gets more grief on here(Scotland being referred to as Hunland, most bigoted country in the world etc).

Look what you made me do!Sticking up for the English....not including the Tory party or Jimmy Hill!

bobbycfc on November 10, 2009 12:45 PM

have to disagree - o'dea is good enough for reading,

ItaliaBhoy - you have to trust me on this. Apparently Sky received a number of emails on Monday on this topic, and I was told by someone at SSN that the sound was not altered.

An ex-colleague of mine works with SSN and he said: "We are a 24 hour sports news channel. People disrupting a silence inside the ground would have given us a lead story for two days."

The other thing I take issue with in the DR article is the use of "A Sky insider said". They could have spoken to anyone at Sky and they would happily have given the DR permission to use their name ... had the DR even bothered to speak to anyone that is.

Sky runs football. Why would anyone at that company wish to remain anonymous when given a quote?

Incidentally, you can hear the referee's whistle before and after the silence.

timjim on November 10, 2009 12:57 PM

well im sorry, but if he judges you and calls you scum, just for supporting celtic, then he is at the least an ignorant sad old man. anyone who judges some1 by the team they support isnt right in the head - true?

hail hail!

Stein...

so presumably they'll be suing the DR then?

The sound was clearly muted. You can't hear anything- including the offending Falkirk fan.

Go to Youtube and watch the Sky pics carried on an Arab channel- unfaded. Singing etc is there for all to hear.

Look, it's VERY simple. Don't buy or read these papers and they'll go away. That's a fact.

timjim on November 10, 2009 12:57 PM

well im sorry, but if he judges you and calls you scum, just for supporting celtic, then he is at the least an ignorant sad old man. he didnt think twice about hurling an insult at you, when you most probably did nothing to deserve it. . . . .

and to blame the people singing at falkirk is just a poor excuse

hail hail!

blantyretim on November 10, 2009 12:23 PM

Cheers BT I knew you had a few, but just dinnae let it happen again.

:¬)

Its hilarious, here we still have people who don't go to games (some by thier own admission for years)slagging off those that do.

Football is a participation sport lads and ladetts

It was daft wee laddies not scum etc.

Why not try and go along and then call the bhoys scum/disgrace/so called celtic fans etc to their face

Be a lovely sight to see. You lot would not have the bottle. Oh for the protection of the cyber hardmen.

As big mick once said (or a fine actor anyway) traitors, traitors all. Shame on some of you for the abuse towards our support.

Are you really celtic fans?

Hail Hail

EdinburghCelt

'Yesterday I asked the question why do Celtic fans sing a certain song as I could not see any connection with the song to our football club. Although I received some choice responses I didn't actually get an answer to the question. I wonder why.'

Perhaps for the same reason that Brother Walfrid invited a convicted terrorist to lay the first turf at the new Celtic Park and had him appointed as a patron of the Club.

Hibs used to respect their Irish roots until Swann decided it would be commercially expedient to ditch them. Unfortunately there are more than a few of his like among the Celtic support.

'What do they know of football, who only football know?'

PL

thanks,
can I get a ticket for the directors box now?

Intolerant Celtic fans looking for ways to defend the wee free meeja, what next ?
Comparing the legitimate right of protest to rioting, oh thats right they done that too.

roll over and let them tickle yer belly, makes me copulating sick, some are very happy to deny their identity/history/culture, go ahead and deny it coward, but dont try and drag the rest of us down to your level of subservience.

let the people sing

MOUNTAIN BHOY

MAYBE HE WAS WANTING TO WATCH THE FECKERS GET STUFFED

GWGeagle
I don't think your getting the point I am not saying he is right to say what he said or to call me what he did.But this is someone I have known for years and it does bother me what he thinks of me.How many other people are thinking along the same lines who have nothing to do with the huns

Ernie Lynch

Thanks, just so as I understand you correctly, are you saying that Celtic fans sing about Aiden McAnespie because Brother Walfrid invited a convicted terrorist to lay the first turf at the new Celtic Park and had him appointed as a patron of the Club?

PF Ayr,

did you get your coupon up last night - the goals galore one?

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

FYI Eustace P Merryweather:

Current Positioning of Celtic Football Club
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club with proud Irish links. The primary business of Celtic is as a football club. It is run on a professional business basis with no political agenda. However, the Club has a wider role and the responsibility of being a major Scottish social institution promoting health, well-being and social integration.

Who is Celtic Football Club for?
Celtic Football Club is for people who want to support a football club that strives for excellence in Scotland and in Europe, is proud of its history, supportive of its local community and seeks to support the following aims: “To maximise all opportunities to disassociate the Club from sectarianism and bigotry of any kind. To promote Celtic as a Club for all people, regardless of gender, age, religion, race or ability.”

Summary
Celtic is a club for everyone who believes in football as a medium for healthy pleasure, entertainment and social integration. The Club always has been and always will simply aim to be the team of the people.

TheDon on November 10, 2009 1:03 PM

i disagree entirely, our reputation is still good, no1 except the scottish media cares. over her in ireland it didnt get mentioned ONCE. and im sure it would BARELY get much coverage in england & wales. ignore the daily ranger and the daily hun. they would have us believe a lot of things wouldnt they?

they hate us, they hate celtic - nothing new and nothing has changed

timjim,
looks to me more like his mask slipped, simple as that. I've known plenty of hun who kept up decent charade, but the mask always slips, he simply condemned every Celtic supporter as scum, sounds like a hun to me. Best rid off.

I give up

PF ayr on November 10, 2009 1:25 PM

Is it just me... why would anyone want to be anywhere near Scotland's shame,its bad enough watching them 5 or 6 times a season when we have to,there is no way I would want to go and watch them and have to listen to their bile...as i said maybe its just me ...

There is no point in just pointing the finger at the media. There is a rotten core which runs right through this community, whether it's journalists, civil servants or whoever.

It's always been there and always will be. There is nothing that can be done about it. There is no point in walking on eggs all the time. They will say (and make up) what they want, when they want, to try and put you down.

Just live your life, don't apologise, stand proud and just get on with it. They are the sad ones, not you.

ItaliaBhoy – I can only tell you my mate told me yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure why anyone at Sky would sue the DR over the use of "A Sky insider". That’s not exactly enough to go to court with.

But you have to consider what my mate said. An exclusive for SSN five days of the week amounts to; ‘manager says he wants to win game’. This would have been a real story for them.

As I said though, that is the info I got and he is a reliable source. The guy who provided it is English, supports a London club and has no interest in Scottish football.

I would have thought Sky provides the sound as well as the pictures, and that only the commentary is different? But I’m no expert on technology.

Eustace

Was that the same Mick who's legacy left a divided country? I have no wish to get into a debate about the treaty and subsequent civil war but it goes to show that not everything is black and white.

For the record, I don't think anyone should have protested but it was their right to do so and I definately don't agree with Celtic having poppies on their jerseys.

Mort

Canalmar

Try this scenario and see how you feel.

The SPL have a minutes silence in all football grounds for he victims of the potato famine (very unlikely scenario but)

At ibrox the silence is observed except outside where a group of Rangers fans are clearly heard singing the Famine Song.
Would your opinion on that be

(A)Its a free country and they have their right to protest,free speech etc.

Or (B)They are a bunch of intolerant drunk sectarians

Now you may of course come back and say the victims of the potato famine were all innocent civilians and the poppy day commeration is about the military machine
However an awful of people dont see it like that.They simply see it as a remembrance of all those who died in wars without any hierarchy of victimhood.

i tried to get through to clyde last night got answered and asked for my point

MY POINT WAS THAT AT 12 45 THE MINUTE SILENCE WAS IN THE STADIUM
i asked them if shops closed buses stopped golfers didnt hit there shots church/chapel services didnt have silence at 12 45 so what did people shouting outside ground have to do with the game and the ONLY thing that should have been of interest to the reporters/tv pundits was what happened INSIDE the stadium unless people had a agenda

they told me they would get me on STILL WAITING

BT short answer is, no shorty, not even the holy goalie gets in there.

PL

TheDon

Summary
Celtic is a club for everyone who believes in football as a medium for healthy pleasure, entertainment and social integration. The Club always has been and always will simply aim to be the team of the people.

As a season ticket holder for about 20 years and and going for 35 years i think i know who celtic is for. My point is the outraged of armchair seem to be going a bit ott. Calling fellow celts scum is petty and unceltic like.

Also Edinburgh celt are you for real? I go by car but used to go on the brother Walfrid and the leith bus for many years and have never met anyone with your views.

Hail Hail

ItaliaBhoy:

Fact:
The Celtic support in the ground were exemplary in their cooperation with a dubious commemeration.

Fact:
Those outside the ground were singing.

We don't know the motivation for the singing.
We don't know that it was a concious attempt to protest.

We do know that sections of the media have been quick to whip up a frenzy (ably assisted by some on here) and we can speculate on the motives of an establishment so determined to foister this political issue on our club.

The important lesson is to refuse to prostrate ourselves next year:
white poppies or no poppies.

patnevinspen,
hail hail

Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 1:24 PM

a convicted terrorist?

shame on you ernie lynch

Bobbycfc @ 12.45

What about a potential loan deal for one of these two strikers..?? Either one would be head & shoulders above what we've got in the team at the moment (although I do rate Skippy as a GOALSCORER....)

Potential January EPL Loan Deals..??

I'm sure we could afford the wages without any major problem, & with McCarthy especially desparate to get first team matches/goals under his belt to put himself in the frame for next years World Cup in his home country. I'm positive he'd bust a gut to ensure he's on that plane home & in South Africa's starting 11, as I'm sure he'd tell you himself it's probably his last chance to show off his talents in THE biggest tournament....

Hail, hail
LB

Mort

Always been anti treaty and so whilst i loved the legend of big mick I would have been with the long fellow.

Agree re the poppy.

Hail Hail

the green white & golden eagle:
I don't buy the papers. I read and watched what happened via the internet and made my own mind up.
I am not saying our rep is up in smoke I am merely pointing out this kind of spectacle is not good for our club.

timjim on November 10, 2009 1:26 PM

think your missing my point, i didnt call any1 a hun

and ' I DONT CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE OR PEOPLE LIKE HIM ' think about me, i am a man. . .

TheDon...

You know and I know the agenda was political and nothing to do with our football club, they exercised their right of free speech but in the process they have tarnished our clubs great reputation.
I am not blowing this out of proportion it made national news which is embarrassing our club.

Tarnished our clubs reputation? In whose eyes? The BBC's? The wider media's? There are two strands of journalist - the objective and the subjective. In the subjective's eyes it's academic, we can't and won't win because these guys are repoting the events specifically to cast us in a negative light. The objective journalists? They will see the protest for what it is. There is nothing newsworthy or indeed wrong with people protesting something.

So, how has our clubs reputation been tarnished? And in whose eyes? If a neutral chooses to read and believe trash, then leave them too it. The same people will believe that Jean Charles De Menezes was an Al Quaida operative - why is it important that these people approve of us?

Is it worth compromising the club simply to curry favour with people who don't care about us anyway? Our European reputation is high because people have met us, experienced the fans coming into a different culture and respecting it. This is what drives the good reputation of Celtic - not winalot journalism in this country.

As regards the agenda being political...What do you expect? You say it has nothing to do with football? Newsflash, neither does world war one, two, Vietnam or any other conflict. The only reason the protest is political is because the action that spawned the protest is political.

And so far it appears that most of us are unaware of the specific reason of the protest.

I am not on anyone's back I am just saddened that after all the talk that went on here last week i.e. the media would be doing everything in their power to highlight this event.

Of course you are! You are on the back of the people who protested. A perfectly legal protest. Why would you be saddened by the protests any more than you'd be saddened that there was a political act in the offing at Falkirk?

/p

Eustace P

Not sure what I have done to merit your question. I simply asked why Celtic fans sing about Aiden McAnespie. Ernie Lynch has answered it for me. What's the problem?

what is the stars,
I think people's perspective on this is largely governed by where they live. Down here in England I have (thankfully) seen little or no mention made of this incident. From where I sit that is good as it heightens our chances of getting into the EPL and the wealth and riches that a club of our statute need to take our proper place in the game. For those still based in the goldfish bowl of west of Scotland it is perhaps not quite the same view and they seem inclined to have much more of a siege mentality about the bias in the press and meeja up there. Not saying that I can't understand why that is, just trying to highlight why people can view this incident with rather differing opinions.

EdinburghCelt

Celtic isn't just another football Club.

It represents a vehicle for, among other things, the expression of a cultural identity.

If you truly understood that you wouldn't be asking the question.

But let me try to clarify the point.

Fans of a football Club whose founding father invited a convicted terrorist to be a patron of the Club don't require to explain or justify singing Aiden MaCanespie. It's not them who are out of step with the Club's heritage, it's you.

Edinburgh celt and others,

What if you found out Aiden McAnespie supported Celtic - would you then think it ok to sing about a Celtic supporter murdered by the British army?

The Britney response:

http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/2009/11/old-firm-bigots-show-true-colours-on-remembrance-day.html

Couple of questions:

Where is the bigotry?
When is poppy day? and
This line -

'Increasingly, Celtic boasts a multi-dominational fanbase, in which some estimate that up 25 per cent of the club's support is now Protestant'

Really? Who estimates? and why?

For Danny Gall 12.40

I also had the misfortune of listening to Durham not surprised they must have put his arm up his bank to do the phone in on Orc behaviuor last week. His leanings are well documented but he surpassed himself last night 2 Falkirk fans a bbc match report and still the bold Durham refuses to believe even though he never watched it! He let his mask slip last transfer window when proclaiming that Rothen would be the best bit of transfer business of the window and "they" would now see what a real winger was instaed of McGeady that "they" all go on about. So I am afraid the negative nonesense connected with this non issue went further than just the west coast of Scotland.

what is the stars

Shameful. How dare you bring drink into this. Many sober people are also intolerant sectarians. :)

Mort

TheDon on November 10, 2009 1:38 PM

'I read and watched what happened via the internet and made my own mind up.'

Therein lies the problem with the greatest respect. You weren't at the game. I was.

A group of around 20 or so fans singing songs that, had we been at a half decent stadium that doesn't resemble a pile of breeze blocks next to gazeebo, would never have been heard. Turnstile 11-12 in case you want to get into detail.

Any game you go to has people singing outside the ground.

As far as I could see there WAS NO ORGANISED PROTEST BY ANYONE. If anyone else was at the game and did see an organised protest I'd love to hear the details of where it was, the numbers involved, any fliers or literature??

Singing outside the stadium happens wherever you go its nothing unusual.

But all those on here with their 'scum' and 'organised protests' etc have their own agendas so why let the truth get in the way.

DD

TOKEN

oh yes

2 lines up at the first time of asking ...beginners luck

both £10 ...5 team acc`s ..no bad @17-1

Celtic Football Club is for people who want to support a football club that strives for excellence in Scotland and in Europe, is proud of its history, supportive of its local community and seeks to support the following aims: “To maximise all opportunities to disassociate the Club from sectarianism and bigotry of any kind

I have been a season ticket holder at parkhead for around the same time as you and calling people scum for mocking a minute silence with sectarian chants is scum in my book, they are not my fellow supporters they are uneducated morons.

shimmies33Author Profile Page on November 10, 2009 1:35 PM

that what i dont understand mate, all these so called supporters slagging of the celtic support outside the stadium, would they rather they were in the stadium when it happened?

outside the stadium - no1 can control that, and i think they were perfectly entitled to sing during the silence, all the fake fans talking aboot - our reputation - c'mon.
as quoted earlier we come in our thousands and we behave werever we go. we have a great reputation and the only people that try to tarnish it is people who do not support celtic.

like it or not CELTIC & the huns ARE political, its been that way for 100years. and i'm sure most people realise this.

GGW eagle
We'll agree to disagree Bye Man

F.GREEN

Good point and he was. Part of why we sing to protest about his murder as murder it was.

Edinburgh Celt

No problem just I was raised in edinburgh and know most of the hard core and no one I have known or met following celtic would say that about Aiden McAnespie or the first sod etc.
Still each to their own.

Hail Hail

Eustace P Merryweather

It bears repeating that those who condemn the singing (and I didn't support it) should also recognise the cogent and reasoned arguments put forward on this blog by those opposed to the minute's silence and the poppies on the shirt.

At no time did anyone on this blog advocate disrupting the minute (some said they'd wait outside, some said they wouldn't go to the game etc). I doubt very much if any of the singers have heard of CQN never mind post on it, so cyber punches thrown at opponents of the poppies/silence are punches thrown at the wrong targets.

Thankfully, that has been kept to a minimum....which makes your post at 1.23 all the more unnecessary and ill considered.

If you do have a point to make that casts personal aspersions perhaps you should direct your comments specifically to the cause of your anger and back it up with supporting evidence instead of resorting to random and gratuitous insults that, for all I know, could be directed at me and everybody else who has not wholeheartedly endorsed the singing on Sunday.

Also, it is apparent that nobody was slagging of the "daft wee laddies" because they go to games.

Mort

thanks you are right

I am going down to my local lodge (oops mask slipped) to get blootered.

Cadizzy
If you do have a point to make that casts personal aspersions perhaps you should direct your comments specifically to the cause of your anger and back it up with supporting evidence instead of resorting to random and gratuitous insults that, for all I know, could be directed at me and everybody else who has not wholeheartedly endorsed the singing on Sunday.

A load of bull and you know it.

Hail Hail

the green white & golden eagle

Fifteen years for gun running.

Plus two subsequent prison sentences.

That's a convicted terrorist.

It's part of the Club's heritage we should be proud of.

P*ddy
experienced the fans coming into a different culture and respecting it

are you taling about the folk outside the ground?

thismancraig - I think GS has hit the nail firmly on the head with that article.

Afternoon comrades

Iam completely at a loss as to the lead article from Paul, was this written after a night of excessive libation ? A peeing Monarch has to be a first for CQN surely !

Am glad to see the more positive amongst us focussing on the problem at hand, i.e we are sh1te and we know we are, how do we fix it ?

On the basis that we are likely to lose many of our so called first team, Caldwell, McManus, Brown x2, McGeady, Samaras, Mcdonald etc etc in January, the focus has to be on who will replace them

Our new Korean puppy looks promising, but its at center back and center forward that we are weakest, I'd go for the Bougieman at anything up to 2M, but I doubt his desire to say this far north, and on the basis that Vermaelen and Vidic are probably not ambitious enough to journey to paradise I'd love to know who is available and possible

Up front we had the chance of Beckford in the summer, it now looks like he is Toon bound for a damn sight more than we would pay, and even if the Robbie Keane story is true ( which I doubt ) we would still need at least one more, probably two

I'm not in favour of loan players as they seldom add long term value, so come on lads n Lassies, name some names !

Ming

Ulster-Celt@ 12.39.

Well said. The speed with which some people got stuck into our supporters is maybe more sinister than we think.

Roberttressell@12.41.

Well said also. There were people on here virtually begging our supporters not to give the media a headline. Why? Had they not read articles such as Thugs and Thieves.

Note to said posters-Ursine mammals do defecate in forested areas.

Apologies to Peter Lawell. I mistakenly thought he was shaking his head at our supporters.

Árd Macha

Ernie

If you feel you don't need to "explain or justify singing Aiden MaCanespie" that's fine - you should have said so earlier or just ignored the question, it was, after all, an open question.

F.GREEN - I've never written that Celtic fans should not sing this song, I've only asked why they do as I could not see the connection between an innocent man being murdered by the British Army and Celtic Football Club. Apparently it's to do with the club's heritage, something Ernie tells me I am out of step with, so maybe that explains why I had to ask. I feel so much more educated now.

Italiabhoy,

the singing that the BBC mikes picked up are from fans who are outside the ground and chose not to participate in the minutes silence.

The BBC even commented on this last night on reporting Scotland.

I fail to see where your problem is apart from using the BBC and Daily Record as a factual source of information. You should know better.

So Celtic are getting bad PR for what they believe to be insulting behaviour.

A question to you . Why the discrepancy and outrage from the BBC over this but not at any other time when MORE offensive chants are heard every week ?

They chose when and whom to be offended by and when to publicise it and how to present it. See my earlier post about an ex Rangers director attempting to get a cold blooded racist killer 15 years less time in jail ?

You are clearly running with their agenda. Why ?

HAil HAil

I remember being in the ole Burns Howff the night Gong played the entire Radio Gnome Trilogy [twice].

That was less self indulgently tedious than this.

I have kept out of this ridiculous poppy debate but since it is Tuesday and still going on I will pass my comments.

Like DD I too was at the game. I too was stuck outside. I too heard the very normal singing that was going on in the turnstile queue. I knew there would be a minutes silence and for my own personal reasons kept an eye on my watch and decided to observe it. Many didn't. Not through an organised protest but from what I heard around me it was normal guys talking about the game and Celtic and not realising the silence was happening.

Several eye witness accounts have given this version of events. All read by posters on here who are coming on and slating fellow fans as they have chosen to believe the media version over the eye witness reports of people who were there. There was no protest. No group singing Aiden McAnespie as a "protest
". There is no story here.

To the posters perpetuating this and criticising Celtic fans for a well spun BBC story I would say you are one of the following things. Somebody looking to be offended about something. An idiot. Or Huns attempting to stir things up. Which is it?

(That last bit was a rhetorical question by the way as you are likely all three)

"A load of bull and you know it."

So who was your post addressed to?

Paul67,I pointed out last night,arund 8.20ish,that the whole sound presentation at Falkirk had been manipulated.I suppose we should be grateful the BBC didnt employ a troupe of mime artistes to give it further creedence.At a time when Rangers players are assaulting players from other teams with impunity,what else do you expect from the establishment?They do not reply to emails,they run the talkshows,ex-Celtic players seem all too ready to run with the mob,and Celtic supporters,in face of all of that,still keep their dignity.What really should be happening is that Reid and the rest of the board should be squeezing baws and kicking up stink.In this sort of one-sidedness,being meek does not work.Let a bully bully you and he will keep on doing it.I wouldn't mind giving up £1 million of the transfer budget to take some of these guys to court.If the SFA will not do the job fairly,then,by force of law,make them do it.

Dontbrattbackinanger - You know what's more entertaining than the blog today?

Those two boys with the "There's Something About Mary" hairstyles on the X-Factor.

This is why we can't have nice things. (facepalm)

ItaliaBhoy on November 10, 2009 1:19 PM

some of your problems-
1-you read the daily record to start with
2-you believe the rubbish that they print

a lot of celtic fans do not buy that garbage, i suggest you do the same, unless you like reading lies and "rangers are innocent" headlines

Lloyds Bank must be dreading us signing a Korean player.

How long till the huns come out with offensive and racist chants with a nice big fine to follow?

Maybe this is all part of a master plan to send them over the cliff.

TheDon
Why have the poppy day minutes silence inflicted on people at a football game?
This is a captive audience and many may not be happy to be coerced into particapating.
Any individiual whi dies connected to the footrball club or some major disaster ok .
This poppy day nonsense is being manipulated by the war-mongers.

Edinburgh celt -

can you see the connection if he supported Celtic?

On this simmering Poppy Day coverage …

To paraphrase an old saying: we are where we are and we need to make the best of it.

We have a fairly small but vocal minority which chooses to express its views on this topic in a manner many of us find questionable, even objectionable. No laws are being broken, however, and no lives are being lost.

I read Paul’s piece today as no more that a slightly edgy dig at the sheer hypocrisy of the way our club continues to be represented in large sections of the national media. Not least from the vastly resourced and influential, not to mention publicly-funded, BBC.

At least to those of us based in Scotland, none of this should come as any surprise.

We are right to defend our club (for many of us, a fairly significant part of our heritage, to many others a symbol of the Irish in Scotland) and not to let some of the tripe being passed off as journalism escape without comment.

But would this matter so much to us if we were running away with the league – as we really ought to be?

FF

To paraphrase a post from yesterday

I respect the service and sacrifice that our armed services give, whether they agree with the cause they fight for or not

I respect and support the desire to see Ireland, a country I lived and worked in for almost 10 years, re-united as its 32 county self

I respect those who would see Scotland, the country of my birth, wholly independant and as a republic

I know that many in the broader Celtic family will both agree and isagree with some or all of these points, thats the beauty of being in the Celtic family, its open to all beliefs

And in respecting and understanding all of the above, I still dont know who's going to be scoring goalsfor us after Jan 1 and who's going to be stopping them at the other end, at the moment these problems are uppermost in my mind

M

Another question for the ones getting stuck in about the fans outside the stadium...

Why are Celtic held responsible for the actions of their fans outside of the stadium and with a certain other club in Glasgow the self same reporters one sunny May in the city of Manchester did their damndest to ensure all and sundry knew that a football club should not be held responsible for the actions of a "tiny minority" of fans who are outside the stadium?

Chew that one over....

By ExiledBhoy on November 10, 2009 1:52 PM

She may not have been peeing

Aw Naw, you're point on the Beeb and why they chose to report on Celtic's fans and havent on the Huns usual weekly criminal filth is well made.

They are to an extent all in it together.

the green white & golden eagle on November 10, 2009 1:13 PM

Re O'Dea - he is not getting a game for Reading and he is not injured??

Lazy Bhoy - agree, could be a good target, I think its this type of short term player we will realistically be going for

But I don't think there is going to be much football debate on here today!

Shocking that after a 3.3 draw away to Falkirk, the true diehard Celtic fans, green and white through and through etc, have got more important matters to discuss than their team's inability to win against the bottom team in the league!

I remember being in the ole Burns Howff when Yes played all four sides of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans', with add-ons.

That was less tediously self indulgent than this.

It's going to be a very, very long week.

Cadizzy 1:11

Unfortunately those people do exist. They are the minority, but they are out there. When I first moved down here, I had to go to London with work. One of the first managers I met down there told me in no uncertain terms that us 'Northern Serfs' were merely subservient to London. Thankfully, I don't work for that company anymore.

Around these parts in Manchester, there is quite a few BNP scum, and English Defence League numpties. The English Defence League in particular appear to hate anything that is not English. Sometimes I swear they even hate themsleves. It's not that they are great supporters of their own establishment, but they are quick to vilify any outsiders who might make a comment that doesn't fit in with their very blinkered view of the world. The majority of English don't give a damn one way, or the other (Well, I have to say that since my wife is English). However, there is this small number who have a chip on their shoulder. When they see the possibility of Celtic and Rangers coming into their little world, not to say the posssibility of some of the Championship teams having their noses out out of joint, the hackles can get raised. This jingoism might explain the article in the Birmingham Mail this morning.

Hail Hail

cadizzy

Good one

Can we at least agree that to call fellow celts scum is a bit ott

if the people who say it did not go to the game even more so?

Hail Hail

Anyway,

Gordon "Duffield" Smith walks into a barbers.

The barber says "Aye, right! Beat it!".

True story. (thumbsup)

PF Ayr,

Nice 1!

That coupon will now be one of my staples every week.

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

EdinburghCelt on November 10, 2009 1:52 PM

the reason you have failed to see the connection is because your head seems to be lodged up your own @rse.
take it out and you might see what we are talking about

P.C gone too far - get over it already (start supporting hibs from your own town if you dont like the Celtic way)

BT

I've been outed, on behalf of CFC please accept my sincere..ah to hell wae it GIRUY .

:¬)

the green white & golden eagle

Your response to me is as embarassing as many of your other posts. Having read your nonsense I am quite pleased that you disagree with me.

As an aside, I am not from Edinburgh, I happen to live here.

bobbycfc on November 10, 2009 2:04 PM

you know yourself bobby, plenty of players who are not injured or suspended do not get a game when they should be getting one.

i can name hundreds throughout the years who i believe if they were playing week in week out then they would have and could have produced the goods.

even every celtic manager has been guilty of NOT playing some1 when the support wants them to play a certain player...

the green white & golden eagle

My maternal grandfather before he went back to ireland supported hibs until the arch mason harry swan got his hands on them.

Thankfully my paternal grandfather was a celt as is me dad.

Hibs are my second club (well third really after Gweedore Unt) but thank god i'm a celt

Hail Hail

what is the stars...

Try this scenario and see how you feel.

The SPL have a minutes silence in all football grounds for he victims of the potato famine (very unlikely scenario but)

At ibrox the silence is observed except outside where a group of Rangers fans are clearly heard singing the Famine Song.
Would your opinion on that be

For starters, your example is loaded and isn't equal. You are implying that the songs the Celtic fans were singing were sectarian. They were not. If Rangers fans were to protest by singing the famine song they would be breaking the law.

However, if the Rangers fans were to protest in a legal manner, I for one would have no problem with that. As long as the protest wasn't about impinging on the rights of others, they are perfectly entitled to hold a protest if they feel there is a problem.

Why would you have a problem with that? Why would you have a problem with people exercising their rights in a legitimate manner?

(A)Its a free country and they have their right to protest,free speech etc.

Or (B)They are a bunch of intolerant drunk sectarians

Despite peoples best attempts, at the moment, it's almost a free country. And people have the right to protest. As a principle, that right should be upheld regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the philosophy of the protesters.

Of course, if they were singing the Famine Song, then they would be bigots, no debate needed. Drunk? I don't know. You haven't fleshed out your hypothetical sufficiently for me to make that call.

Now you may of course come back and say the victims of the potato famine were all innocent civilians and the poppy day commeration is about the military machine
However an awful of people dont see it like that.They simply see it as a remembrance of all those who died in wars without any hierarchy of victimhood.

Ahhhhh....The appeal to numbers. It doesn't matter how many people see something in a particular way. If 60% of the world thinks the earth is flat it doesn't make it so. And we shouldn't base our conduct on that flawed premise.

And the supposed culpability of the people the silence is for is utterly irrelevant in this case.

/p

A minority of undesirables outside the ground let our club down; a minority also threw their scarves onto the Falkirk pitch.
I accept scum is a bit ott and I apologise to anyone offended. I am a Celtic supporter fed up with political nonsense being sung in and around the terraces

Do none of these posters who have only recently felt the need to post on CQN regarding Celtic fans impeccably observing the minutes silence have no opinion about an Ex Rangers director trying to get a racist murder and Rangers season ticket holder off with a charge of murder ?

HAil Hail

Edinburgh celt -

can you see a connection if Aiden McAnespie supported Celtic?

EdinburghCelt on November 10, 2009 2:13 PM

well as long as you are the one that is embarassed i do not mind, i sure aint.
my posts represent ME, and many of my fellow celtic supporters, you on the other hand seem to be a lonely sole.

p.s. i dont care were you live, i just thought hibs or hearts might be more up your street as you obviously dont understand a lot of what us celtic supporters do, believe or care about. . .

hail hail!

stars,
were you up all night thinking that one up :o)
you answered it yourself, there is a world of difference in comemorating victims of genocide and professional soldiers/killers dying in action, for me anyway. How you differentiate is your burden, I will however add a little, the famine song is illegal
I will give you this, if it was another song, then I'd have no choice but to accept it is their right to express their view, regardless of how distasteful that view is to me, but even at that I expect any such demonstration would be racist.

Edinburghbhoy,
could you give us an example of the sectarian chants from Celtic supporters you heard disturbing the minutes silence ?

Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo

That's nothing to do with our football club so no need to comment on it

Eustace P Merryweather on November 10, 2009 2:15 PM

i have nothing against hibs, my mate lives up in gweedore, small world

hail hail!

the don

I am a Celtic supporter fed up with political nonsense being sung in and around the terraces

We have been singing songs of irish rebellion for decades it's part of some bhoys dna.

It may make some people fed up but its not going away.

Go with the flow join in

Hail Hail

It wasn't the noise from outside the ground that was the problem on Sunday

IT WAS THE LAMENTABLE PERFORMANCE ON THE PARK

somw young boys in our support are not mature enough to play the media game get over it.

However the Bhoys on the park are meant to be talented enough to beat a bottom of the league side and they couldn't now thats worth discussing

I have it on good athourity that Louis Walsh has been at Celtic Park today to negotiate John and Edward as our new CB duo - problem solved.
Apparently they have cancelled their pantomime shows but luckily the promoters have managed to get ready replacements in Heid and Mick.
TM would not comment on the story or whether Susan Boyle would be signed as our new midfield enforcer.

I wonder how many of those who are so up in arms about the minute's silence supposedly being disrupted have ever taken the time and made the effort to go to a proper remembrance day ceremony?

Awe Naw...

Right is Right, Wrong is Wrong, my mammy taught me that, now

Can we please discuss how the feck we turn this second rate collection of overpaid over-rated pile of sh1te thats masquerading as a Celtic team into one we feel comfortable with ?

Ming

TheDon on November 10, 2009 2:24 PM

I assume you have evidence that those singing outside were also the ones who threw their scarves on the pitch?

Will you actively canvass Celtic PLC to ask them to stop playing Let the People Sing before matches?

DD

Awe Naw - where did you see the murderer was a rangers season ticket holder ? Didn't mention that on the BBC report last night (I was listening for that very piece of info). How many Rangers supporting murderers has the ex rangers director defended in court now ?

the green white & golden eagle

Where in gweedore? I have a house build in glassagh and a wreck to renovate in brinalack.

Hail Hail

TheDon...

A minority of undesirables outside the ground let our club down; a minority also threw their scarves onto the Falkirk pitch.
I accept scum is a bit ott and I apologise to anyone offended. I am a Celtic supporter fed up with political nonsense being sung in and around the terraces

If you are fed up with the "political nonsense" maybe you should have been protesting outside the ground about it along with the other Celtic fans?

Or can you please, please, show me the link between the first world war and football?

/p

TheDon,
so your fed up with political nonsense being sung on our terraces, but your happy to see our club being used as a political football ? hmm curiouser and curiouser. Is this denmark ? cause I'm smelling something rotten.

F.GREEN on November 10, 2009 2:19 PM

i dont think their is any helping edinbugh celt - he seems to be know nothing of the celtic support . . . . .strange one he

hail hail!

F GREEN - what a sad, ridiculous question

TGW&GE - thanks, but I suggest I am not a lonely soul (I assume you meant soul and not sole) and that many fans question the need to sing such songs at a football match. From the comments aimed at me today I can see now why they don't post their thoughts on this site.

p*ddy - "Or can you please, please, show me the link between the first world war and football?"

Christmas Truce Football Match in no mans land...1914

:)

edinburghcelt
TGW&GE - thanks, but I suggest I am not a lonely soul (I assume you meant soul and not sole) and that many fans question the need to sing such songs at a football match. From the comments aimed at me today I can see now why they don't post their thoughts on this site.

We sing because our country is occupied by a foreign power

Hail Hail

RogueLeader on November 10, 2009 2:31 PM

Blackadder was never offside - he could not believe that decision - apparently...

DD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_F.C._and_World_War_I

Estadio Nacional on November 10, 2009 10:39 AM

No problem, just give me a couple of weeks.
Recently I’ve been mainly on days which stop me from viewing our favourites. Initially when Mowbray arrived it was all ball work with an emphasis on passing and using the width of the pitch, training sounded great, they all seemed to be enjoying Bhoystown. I don’t know if it’s the change in weather or something else however today was very downbeat. Skippy, Paddy and Flood walked out as if they were headed for a shift down the Pit. I could only watch for 20mins or so but after an initial warm up they moved again to simple ball work. I’ll keep you updated.

Eustace P Merryweather on November 10, 2009 2:27 PM

not sure exactly, he is from connemarra but he is up there doin' a course for TG4. said its in the middle of no-where.

but he said all the wee local pubs have all the games shown, unlike gaillimh and luimneach. all part timers down here on the west coast.
apart from a few hardcore tims most are english fitba glory hunters.

hail hail!

My Christmas Present to the Green White and Gold Eagle

EdinburghCelt...

The song I was referring to yesterday is one about Aiden McAnespie. I simply asked what this had to do with our football club. Something you seem to address by stating that "many in our support like to sing" these songs.

Having not lived in a cocoon since birth or started supporting Celtic in the past week I am well aware of what songs are sung although this is more prevalent at away matches. My question yesterday arose as I could not see any connection to the football club.

OK...You can't see a connection with Aiden McAnespie. And therefore you think the song shouldn't have any place in the Celtic fans lexicon.

What link does Rodgers and Hammerstein enjoy with Celtic? I take it you want that one turfed out too?

What link does Monty Python's Life of Brian have with Celtic? Except maybe raising the ire of the Uber-Catholics amongst us? No more "Always look on the bright side of life" then.

Shall I continue?

Can we sing any song that has the words Celtic in it? What about songs by the band Celtic Frost? Will they be ok?

The "what does that have to do with football" argument is as stupid as it is irrelevant. I take it there is no place at Celtic park for me, after all, I asked the guy sitting next to me if he'd had a busy week! Nothing to do with Celtic there. Ban me!

The song debate is not one I wish to re-ignite as I have seen and read the drivel written on here many times so, for that reason, I'm out.

The song debate isn't one you wish to ignite, after igniting it. What you mean is that you wish a uni directional diatribe against those you disagree with or who you disapprove of.

/p

GW&GE,
the "Celtic Way" is explained further up the article. You most certainly do not exemplify it. You and some of the other plastic weekend republicans ought to take note and stop hurling abuse at people that have probably been following the Hoops since before you were even thought of.

the green white & golden eagle

Yeah sean ogs does the home games through C67 and jacks does most away games. Prefer the heights myself.

Middle of no where is good description

Hail Hail

the green white & golden eagle on November 10, 2009 2:36 PM

There used to be a pub on Eyre Square in Galway City that showed all our games, I watched the CIS Semi against the huns in 2004 in there, not sure of the name though, opposite side to the Skeffington if you know it.

DD

EdinburghCelt on November 10, 2009 2:30 PM

o.k. - fair point, you are not a lonely sole (lol) you are just a sad one i take it. fr. green asked you a valid question - all he was wanting was an answer - which you didnt or couldnt give him

hail hail!

I see Kevin Thompson and Steven Whittaker have withdrawn from the Scotland squad for this weekends friendly.

Shock.

Horror.

Nae.

C_H

Anyway enough banter whos got any transfer gossip

Hail Hail

Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo - is that not his job?

I'm not sure anyone in the legal profession turns down the chance of making their living.

RogueLeader...

p*ddy - "Or can you please, please, show me the link between the first world war and football?"

Christmas Truce Football Match in no mans land...1914

:)

Are we having the silence because the Huns won? ;-)

/p

Eustace,

Robbie Keane to Celtic in January!

:-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

aw right here is one for you

word around edinburgh is O'connor is coming home to the celts.

Anyone in the know confirm or deny?

Hail Hail

The Token Tim on November 10, 2009 2:45 PM

I've heard some very worrying back up of the rumour O'Conner is a stick on in January.

DD

token tim

If only carling did signings like that

Would be a good one in my view but unless Scrooge mcdermott funds it can't see it, but would be delighted.

Hail Hail

Heard about O'Connor coming to Celtic, word was it was as some sort of swap deal with AMcG. Apparently if we also throw in Caldwell, McManus, and Naylor, we will only have to pay £1.5M!!

:-)

DD - I too have heard that very worrying rumour. It made a little bit of sick come up into my mouth.

Strachan seemed to have liliputians as the prime chracteristic looked for when scouting a player. Mowbray's main criteria seems to be buy somebody with bogging tattoos.....

donegaldanny on November 10, 2009 2:39 PM

aye mate, its called fibbers, now its a man-u pub.
they also had a csc (of sorts) next door in richardsons, but that got took over and every1 has now moved to Monroes to watch the games. last thursday against hamburg i was the ONLY celtic fan in the pub watching the game, then when we play barca, ac-milan or the huns, all the part timers crawl out.

as soon as MON left us a lot of glory hunting (fake) fans left us and started supporting man-u, liverpool and even chelsea believe it or not. . .

the joys of it.

hail hail!

Would Gary O'Connor do any worse than the current encumbents up front (Skippy aside) ?

Not what I want but he is better than what we currently have.

One thing in his favour he's got a good irish name

timjim

Gary?

Eustace/DD

have you heard if its an O'Connor + cash for 1 of ours, or just O'Connor for our cash???

Hope its neither to be honest!

As for Robbie, obviously I was at the wind up but we've all heard plenty, but as he is on a roll just now with Spurs - starting and scoring, esp at "The Lane" - I just cannot see it.

Like you I would love to see it, but just canny.

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

are the Huns away yet?

UC

No his middle one O

Eustace

I agree the use of the word "scum" is over the top. I think that "daft wee lasddies" may be more accurate.

One of the joys of working from home is you get to go to the supermarket for stuff other than booze for yourself. On my way, I pass a house with two giant union jacks hanging out the bedroom windows and an English flag on a great big flag pole out front. (I am in England right enough). There is also a white van parked outside, which means that this particular Chelsea fan has not made it back from Romania yet.
I suspect that this guy may be like the people BhoyinEngland was referring to.

There is also huge subsidence crack right down the front wall but unfortunately it's on the house next door...but it could spread

timjim

good one

timjim

What gary?

Seriously would hope if we did get o'connor it was along with a predator.

To me our spine is weak.

I have no faith in Caldwell loovens or mcmanus

Skippy misses to many vital efforts and could not trap wind.

Sammy well i don't know what to make of him. A true enigma

Fortune worries me but early days.

I do not want to lose aiden but who else would anyone pay real money for?

Hail Hail

timjim

His middle name is Lawrence ;)

The Token Tim on November 10, 2009 2:53 PM

I've not heard anything about the deal but apparently (stress apparently) he's let it slip he's on his way back and its to Celtic.

DD

ItaliaBhoy

Thanks for answering my question earlier.

Your view and Paul’s seem at odds. As I respect you both, I'll now retire into the background and hope that you both continue the debate.

Perhaps Paul is in possession of information that hasn't been put into the public domain. It wouldn't be the first time and it would be unlike him to post so boldly with conjecture as his only basis for argument.

Gary O'Connor. My God. We really would hit rock bottom if we start signing players like that.

When would we start paying season book prices that would reflect supporting a team with Gary O'Connor, Chris Killen, and Willo Flood in it ?

The Token Tim

DD may know better but all i know is the hibbees in here saying he is coming home. Suspect would be a swap.

As krakow bhoy says not great but better than we have.

Hail Hail

Shaunbhoy on November 10, 2009 2:39 PM

plastic weekend republicans? shame on you shaun,
i am no such thing.
have PROBABLY been supporting the hoops since before i was even thought off? you really dont have a clue do you shaun.

p.s. shaun : i didnt hurl abuse at anyone, check it out

keep quiet about thing's you know nothing off. . .
back to sleep now little boy

Henriks Sombrero

Very true, well they charge £370 at easter road !

If the money is right sell ANY first team player apart from the only one who is genuinely good - Boruc.

He has had his moments but he has let us down in very few big games unlike many others who make the team with regularity simply because there is no one else.

I think we will be lucky to get good money for ANY of that team but whatever money we do get (and we will get some) needs to be used properly.

If the Korean lad gets his work permit and we add another japanese player at fullback fine and well. Does this Japanses player mean a fullback is being sold? Hinkel? Possibly, we can only speculate.

It still isn't a striker, a central midfielder and 2 centre halfs which is what is really needed.

O'Connor might do a job at a cut priced deal. He won't set the heather alight in europe but our next major play in that area is a while away.

Talking of transfers,

Ive just received an email from Mr Samusi Lamido, the Governor of the Central Bank of Uganda telling me he wants to transfer 22.5m US Dollars into my account, for me to spend in any way I wish.
All I have to do is give him my personal details including my bank account and pin number and its mine.

Ya Beauty!

Give me 5 mins and then I'll buy Robbie myself :-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

Serenity 12.50,

Smashing wee piece.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Keep them coming.

Cadizzy

heres hoping the crack will spread.

Hail Hail

Steinreignedsupreme

Do you reckon this Rangers scumbag that slit the throat of a man due to the colour of his skin can afford the services of the former Rangers vice chairman ?

Or does the former Rangers Chairman regularly take cases on legal aid ?

Or does he cherry pick his legal aid cases and if so whats the criteria for him accepting the job ?

Hail Hail

If O'Connor is a replacement for Killen, i.e. back up, and we are also in the market for a McDonald replacement then that is strengthening the squad. If O'Connor is coming in as a first pick then he's no better than what we have.

Token
too late i gave my details about an hour ago - but one of the side effects is that they have to empty my account first - somethiing to do wth laundry

Shaunbhoy on November 10, 2009 2:39 PM

p.p.s shaun - i LIVE the celtic way every day, i do not need an article to tell me what it means to be a celtic supporter

hail hail bhoys n ghirls!

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED

EdinburghCelt on November 10, 2009 2:37 PM

thank you for the early chrimbo present,
i didnt get you anything, i feel so foolish now

no hard feeling's eh? lol

hail hail!

I blame Craig Paterson.

TGW&GE - no hard feelings at all.

Moonbeams wet dream on November 10, 2009 1:04 PM

I four king hate the media and all it represents.

*************************************************

MWD, four kings require 4 crowns and that my dear chap is the devils own tipple, there ye have it the media are all from the dark side.

Viewfaethewindae 2:35

Cheers, much appreciated, sounds like a similar change to the attitude they show on the pitch, compare Aberdeen away to the Falkirk game for example. You would expect things to be getting better...

Thanks again.

EN

DD/Eustace,

Cheers for the info lads.

Guess we can but wait and see.

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

I remember being in the Earl's Court Arena when Led Zeppelin performed a 58 minute version of "Dazed and Confused" and a 45 minute drum solo in the middle of "Moby Dick"

That was just less tediously self indulgent than this.

It's going to be a very, very long week.

the green white & golden eagle @ 2:50 PM

last thursday against hamburg i was the ONLY celtic fan in the pub watching the game, then when we play barca, ac-milan or the huns, all the part timers crawl out.

That's symptomatic of a number of bars across Ireland. I quite regularly go down to some bars in Belfast (in what you would expect to be Celtic areas) to watch games that are on Sky and like you, unless it's against a big team, there are few others watching. Even on CL nights (well last season) when another English team was playing the majority were watching it instead.

In fact during the games against Man U last season this one fella was supporting Man U quite vociferously, not alone I might add but during the Arsenal games this season he was out in the hoops berating the few Arsenal fans who turned up. I don't think he knows what irony means.

Mort

Blantyretim

Apologies if I came over a bit ballsy the other day.

Transfers.....

I heard we have Liam Miller and Stokes lined up with Broony going the other way....

DumDum
If Broony goes anywhere it will be down south

The Token Tim on November 10, 2009 2:45 PM

Robbie Keane to Celtic in January!

****************************************
Aye he's booked a ticket in amongst the Green Brigade fur the hun game.

HH

Awe Naw

all QC's who do criminal law regularly do legal aid work. Almost all serious criminal defence work is funded that way.

There still exists a "cab-rank" rule amongst advocates, that they accept instructions from whoever wants to use them.

Its not particularly surprising that any Rangers fan may want the bold Donald to represent him, but its really neither here nor there. Its his job.

Mort
I have cousins &second cousins who live in Limerick and some in County Claire .Only two support the tic most are Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal,There's even one of them support Aston Villa

p%ddy:

Good to have you back and bolding my man. You're having one of those days too, when you are as sure-footed as a mountain line on a rock face. Superb mate.

timjim on November 10, 2009 1:50 PM

o.k. we can leave it at that. no hard feelings -
none intended in the 1st place

hail hail!

Damn p*ddy. I spelled your name wrong!!

Does this mean I can expect to be on the front-page of The Sun for gross insensitivity?

If I call to apologise, please promise not to record it ......

Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 1:51 PM

my point was - i dont consider him to be a terrorist
just my view

I blame Craig Paterson's Mother and Father!

(sorry forgot, the bold Craig is indeed faitherless)

Estadio Nacional on November 10, 2009 3:10 PM

No worries, seemed very down today.

There

Howdy all.

See Charlie and the Bhoys will be playing in Manchester on the 20th December in O'Shea's pub where I've watched a good few games.

Should be a good evening. £10 a ticket.

Lots of daft weird Huns about, dont they know that Halla'een's over for another year?

vmhan,

:-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

PS - Will you be up for the St Mirren game???

There,s A kind of hush Who sung that No it was not David Murray

TTT

Aye, think so.

BigSwee on November 10, 2009 3:33 PM
where can I get tickets for the gig ?

HH

vmhan,

you will have mail winging its way to you shortly!

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

TTT, I'm at work mind.

HH

Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo - I reckon Sideburns takes his share of Legal Aid cases, as he reportedly defends many undesirables. (Not that you need to be skint to qualify as an undesirable).

If Sideburns wasn’t defending them then someone else in his profession would be.

Hail hail

MortAuthor Profile Page on November 10, 2009 3:12 PM

true, i also noticed that when chelsea won the league for the 1st time in 50 years under 'the special one' that loads of chelsea 'SUPPORTERS' popped up, wonder were they were hiding prevoiusly

hail hail!

Everbody is innocent until proven guilty except Celtic there guilty even before they do it

Canalmar
Glad to see your spelling has improved.

Anyhow here is one for you and p*ddy and all the other republican heroes

O would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:

This link below invites you to click on their facebook page to view the whats on gig guide, I can't connect to face book at work, can anybody do the honours and provide some detail about the gig on the 20th Dec please?

http://www.osheasirishbar.co.uk/index.html

ps do Charlie & the Bhoys do the Aiden song?

Just wondering.

HH

the green white & golden eagle on November 10, 2009 3:47 PM

I've seen Chelsea tops in Mayo, Dublin and Donegal - thats what annoys me about the glory hunter nature of some people in Ireland although in fairness its usually the younger ones.

I had hoped us getting back on Sky would help but seeing as most of the games are on ESPN and we're rotten I don't think so.

I'll be in Mayo for the new year game and I really have my work cut out finding a place to watch the match! Unbelieveable!

DD

Did any one of these 40 (estimated, apparently) people think the repercussion of their actions would be anything other than an adverse reaction (and no, not just from the press, but from Joe Public who find such disrespect abhorrent as well)?

I don't believe so - not unless they were of below average intelligence.

As such, any support of their actions is never going to be in the best interests of CFC.

These guys KNEW what the results would be - once again, Celtic in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. As such, i cannot for the life of me acknowledge how anyone who supports Celtic would condone what they did.

Putting political debate to one side - as, frankly, i think it is prudent to do at a FOOTBALL match - the reputation of the club has been dented. Anyone who disagrees with that needs their head examined.

Points are always worth making, if there exists a fundamental belief behind them. As a democracy, we are all in the fortunate position that we can air such beliefs. But without reproach?

Please. That's an idealistic notion of life that borders on the incredulous. I say again - Sunday's actions harm the football club, and as such, cannot be condoned. Blaming sensationalism or bias in the press is a poor excuse. They are reporting an action that happened, with end results that the village idiot could have foressen prior, in no way with the interests of the club in consideration.

"Celtic and its supporters will remember, in particular, the men who served Celtic Football Club and who lost their lives in wartime including a number of players who fought and died during the Great War of 1914-18.

All aspects of life changed after war was declared in 1914 and as the brave headed off to the Front, the Great War was to have its affect on Celtic and a number of its players.

Willie Angus, John McLaughlin, Archie McMillan, Leigh Roose, Donnie McLeod, Robert Craig and Peter Johnstone all played on the field of Celtic Park and fought in the Great War and for their lives in the fields of France and Belgium."

From Celtic FC themselves - clearly establishing what the club's thoughts with regard to November commemorations were, ahead of the match itself. What a shame it was that these 40 didn't step back, and make their "point" in a different location than one which was only ever going to have one repercussion: Celtic being viewed in an adverse fashion.

penang_bhoy,

I've never understood why they do though.

Mr Finlay always loses as far as I can tell.

B

Seein as its commented on I thought this article may interest some......

sorry for the length of post.

Donegal Sod at Celtic Park
1892 & 1995

1892

The first sod of real Irish shamrocks, of the new ground of 1892 was laid by the famous Irish Patriot and the clubs first patron Michael Davitt. To commerate the occasion, a poem appeared in one of the Catholic papers of the day.

On alien soil like yourself I am here;
I'll take root and flourish, of that never fear,
And though I'll be crossed sore and oft by the foes
You'll find me as hardy as a Thistle or a Rose.
If model is needed on your own pitch you will have it,
Let your play honour me and my friend Michael Davitt.

A souvenir hunter or vandal carried off that Donegal sod, so its shamrocks never bloomed, but what befell the one who removed the turf no man knoweth.

He carried however, for ever the weight of poets wrath, as when it became known the following verse was published:

The curse of Cromwell blast the hand that stole the sod that Michael cut;
May all his praties turn to sand-the crawling, thieving scut.
That precious site of Irish soil with verdant shamrocks overgrown
Was token of a glorious soil more fitting far than fretted stone.
Again I say, may Heaven blight that envious, souless knave;
May all his sunshine be like night and the sod rest heavy on his grave.

Michael Davitt, as one of the most popular of the nationalist leaders, duly appeared, to be received by a speech of welcome from two young lads dressed in Robert Emmet costumes.

T.D. Sullivan sang his own composition at the event 'God Save Ireland'.

Later, Davitt is said to have commented, that if he saw too many Celtic games 'he would forswear politics for football so much had it impressed him.'

T.D.Sullivan, MP and composer of the ballad to Manchester Martyrs,God Save Ireland, saw his first Celtic game in November 1892. He was feted by the club, cheered by the players, and in his turn sang a verse of his own song which was effectively Ireland's national anthem for fifty years.

In 1909 Captain Edward O'Meagher Condon visited Glasgow. He would have been one of the Manchester Martyrs of 1867 had not his American nationality won him a reprieve.At the meeting he addressed, he was joined on the platform by the Chairman of Celtic Football Club, James Kelly.

1995

On the evening of April 10th 1995 hundreds of people gathered at a field in Mullachdubh, in the Rosses, to witness the cutting of the sod by members of the Rosses CSC.

In true West Donegal Tradition, the local Fife and drum bands came out and played a few tunes, with RTE News carrying the story on the 9 o’clock news.

The local priest blessed the sod which was then placed on board the bus with 50 supporters which headed off to Glasgow.

The sod was carefully watched over and indeed watered in Larne; for fear that it might get to Parkhead with the grass faded.

Fergus McCann graciously met the group at the front door of Celtic Park along with Donegal’s Packie Bonner and several Celtic Officials together with TV cameras and the press.

The Sod was carried inside the famous main doors and the sense of importance of the day began to hit home.

Here were 50 Celtic supporters from the Rosses and Gweedore carrying 100 years of a Celtic and Irish Connection forward for another 100 years.

The Ceremony itself was quite simple with the sod placed in the Centre Circle.

Fergus McCann thanked the group for keeping the great Irish tradition alive

The above is originated from Charlie Boyle 1995.

And for what its worth heres my tuppence worth....

I am very very proud of Celtic Football Club. As Im sure all on here are. And rightly so.

Dont let them dilute our heritage, dispute our traditions or dictate our future.

WE ARE CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB.

penang_bhoy on November 10, 2009 3:19 PM

If I called up a certain QC and told him I was Rangers fan and would he represent me. What you think would happen ?

I would be told to look elsewhere.

Now if it was a HIGH PROFILE case with lots of publicity then I might get his attention.

Hail Hail

donegaldanny on November 10, 2009 3:50 PM

thats a shame, i remember watchin a game in castlebar 1 time, it apparently had a csc, but for the life of me i cant remember the name. depending on what part of mayo you are in it might be advisable to go down to gaillimh for the game, Monroes will be packed for the new year game.

Awe_Naw/Steinreigned,

I can't say for definite, but I am pretty sure that The sideburned mustachioed hun was listed as being the defence lawyer received the largest fees under the Legal Aid scheme for last year.

I would google it for confirmation, but to be honest I canny be bothered :-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

Che's 1 on November 10, 2009 3:58 PM

Absoultely superb! Sadly I don't think we'll see that kind of thing again.

DD

Halla'een!

vmhan,

Have dropped a text to the club chairman asking or you could go direct to the clubs website.

http://www.mtbcsc.co.uk/home.ikml

Cheers

BigSwee

TTT,

A certain QC with an affiliation for Rangers earns over 500k a year from HIGH PROFILE cases.

I think the one I am talking about sees it as his duty to be seen to protect like minded peeple. Two birds with one stone.etc.

Hail hail

I suppose that it is not too difficult to see why the more extreme elements amongst both sets of Old Firm fans are those who come from the 6 counties. They are faced every day with a more polarised community than many of the rest of us, and as a result attach different importance and relevance to their team choices than perhaps those of us that are fortunate enough to live in less divided and more cosmopolitan environments. I suppose that might come across as a little patronising but I don't mean it to.
Now if I am to follow my own advice, and try and stick to the Club's Mission statement regarding inclusivity, then I have to be a bit more flexible and tolerant of others and how they view Celtic. Frustrating as it may be at times for me to tolerate the clear bias that exists for us in the parochial SPHell, I can at least avoid lots of the other baggage that accompanies it once the final whistle goes. The Celtic Family is far too wide and diverse for any one of us ever to be in universal agreement with all the other branches about all aspects of it. However, we must all try and stay in harmony and support this team at the present time, for if ever a group of Celtic players needed the "twelfth man", it is now.

Hail hail!

BromleyBhoy

Fair point, but then again, most of his clients ain't that bright ;-)

Awe Naw,

It would be your lawyer who would contact him, via his Clerk, & if it was a high profile murder case, then he'd take you on.

The man who assaulted and murdered the Indian sailor has just been found guilty and given 18 years.

Depressingly the photo of the killer shows him wearing a greenandwhite hooped top.

TTT

Legal Aid payments to a certain QC from 2004/05 on:

2008/09 - £370,900
2007/08 - £369,300
2006/07 - £358,400
2005/06 - £361,800
2004/05 - £321,300

Not bad work if you can get it, and that doesn't include what he gets from external work.

Mort

penang_bhoy on November 10, 2009 4:14 PM

If I had slit a rangers fans throat - No he wouldn´t

HAil Hail

Daver
'Did any one of these 40 (estimated, apparently) people think the repercussion of their actions would be anything other than an adverse reaction (and no, not just from the press, but from Joe Public who find such disrespect abhorrent as well)?'

Do you think Bob Kelly considered the repercussions for Celtic would be when he refused to remove the tricolour?

By Henry Winter - Daily Telegraph
Published: 7:30AM GMT 10 Nov 2009

Manchester City supporters demand investigation into Jonny Evans challenge
Manchester City supporters have contacted the Football Association demanding an investigation into whether United’s Jonny Evans was guilty of violent conduct after allegations that he raised his boot into Didier Drogba’s chest at Chelsea on Sunday.

Fans often send the FA switchboard into meltdown on Mondays, trying to land their rivals in trouble, but this is different.

Monday's complaint forms part of an orchestrated campaign called FA Watch launched in the wake of the FA punishing Emmanuel Adebayor for his stamp on Robin van Persie.

Organisers have set up a website, are monitoring all matches and inviting fans from other clubs to join them, although Stretford Enders will probably not rush to sign up.

In their missive to the FA, City fans spell out their desire for “the Laws of the game to be applied in an even-handed and consistent manner and to see whether you intend to intervene in other cases of violent conduct that may not have been seen by officials’’.

The referee at the Bridge, Martin Atkinson, believed Evans had been fouled by Drogba and awarded United a free-kick.

Given that the referee booked Drogba it is quite possible he did not see the full extent of the incident,’’ added Mark Tipton, the founder of FA Watch and self-proclaimed Manchester City supporter. “Had he seen the incident, one would normally expect a red card to have been issued by Mr Atkinson.

“As it would seem he did not clearly see the incident from the angle he was coming from, one would normally expect the FA to follow the matter up.’’

Poor FA; if it’s not the United manager lecturing them, it’s the City fans.

"The man who assaulted and murdered the Indian sailor has just been found guilty and given 18 years.

Depressingly the photo of the killer shows him wearing a greenandwhite hooped top."

And nae chuffing Poppy either!!!!!!

IGMC

;-)

D-------anger
Celtic will get the blame for not controlling their fans

DBBIA,

murderer and murdered both wearing hooped green tops

HAil Hail

There were thirteen wearing hooped tops on sunday that were murder.

Love

Awenaw- I'm not auditioning for CSI-Gorbals but it looks like Miller is wearing a Celtic top.

His unfortunate victim, God rest his soul, is just wearing a polo shirt.

Jamsie at 3.13

a malt drinking Celtic man would never upset me..:0)

forget it...

BT

TSOAL
TM will get the blame for that

P*ddy, I have to say you have played out of your skin the last few days! OUTSTANDING!! :-)

canamalar on November 10, 2009 2:28 PM
TheDon,
so your fed up with political nonsense being sung on our terraces, but your happy to see our club being used as a political football ? hmm curiouser and curiouser. Is this denmark ? cause I'm smelling something rotten.

What you smelling..? no telescope here either.
Every other club done the minute silence did they not. Anyway I had an opinion on this which I think might have upset a few people so they in turn regard me as a rangers fan aye right pull the other one.

By Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 4:17 PM

Much as anyone will try, i will choose in this thread to comment on this one instance alone, and what i perceive to be the damage that it has inevitably caused to Celtic Football Club. If anyone has a legitimate cause of disagreement with the points that i have raised ABOUT THIS INSTANCE, and the ensuing effects on the reputation of the club, then i will be delighted to respond.

Not trying in any way to anger anyone, and have no intention of getting involved in a history debate - especially with those who have a far greater / expansive knowledge on the subject. I am merely wishing to put to one side any fanciful notions that Sunday's actions were anything other than harmful to the football club and that - as a supporter all my (relatively short) life - this is something i do not condone.

Cheers for your response though mate.

Shaunbhoy

I suppose that it is not too difficult to see why the more extreme elements amongst both sets of Old Firm fans are those who come from the 6 counties.

Oh come on, are you just trying to rile people this afternoon. First yesterday you slagged off those who go to GAA matches and now this.

I am from the six counties and in all my time travelling over to games have I not seen this extreme element you mention. In fact, not very many supporters from the six counties or indeed the other 26 go to the away games and were unlikely to have been involved in anything on Sunday.

Mort

DBBIA,

you sound like STV while I am trying to convey the impression of the BBC ;-)

Nay fire without smoke and mirrors CSC

Awe-Naw,

Hmmmmm

Mort,

not bad at all is it????
Thanks for the breakdown. Knew I had read something along those lines previously.

Wonder what his success rate is on the high profile cases??

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

TTT,

a few books to write from those cases too ! Nice little earner.

Can he afford Rangers FC ?

Hail Hail

Che's 1 - excellent, informative post.

Daver - your post is sensible but, as I have found out today, you are in danger of being rounded upon by making such a point.

I stated earlier I didn't wish to get into a discussion re songs but, as one of my many weaknesses is not being able to walk away from an argument, I found myself embroiled in a ridiculous quarrel over a particular song which then resulted in me being accused of being a hun, not understanding the club's heritage etc etc.

For the record, I have followed Celtic home and away for almost 25 years.

Is it tomorrow UEFA decide what punishment the huns will receive

timjim

Thursday

Hail Hail

Ahhh the "reputation of our club has been dented" argument.

I always love it when that arguement comes out of the hat. I said myself that the silence should have been observed, that the people who wanted to protest should have done it in a way which would have left no comeback ..... inside the ground itself, during the game, where the song Aiden McAnespie would have been the PERFECT counterweight to all the nonsense Poppy Day has become.

(Notice I call it Poppy Day .... NOT Rememberance Day.)

Now, as more details come to light, after the initial hysteria has died down, when rumour and counter rumour flew, a couple of things HAVE become clearer.

1st) Protest. WHAT protest? It now appears there WAS no protest, just some guys arriving late and singing.

2nd) If there WAS a protest ...... SO WHAT? The minute's silence was INSIDE the ground, NOT outside it. This wasn't guys rioting, or engaging in sectarianism, this was guys singing a bloody song, as last I checked they were perfectly entitled to do.

Comparisons between those boys and Huns in Manchester and elsewhere .... so wide of the mark they could have come out the tabloids.

The fact is, we were stitched up good and proper. The BBC, it turns out, had sound techies OUTSIDE the stadium, to capture anything. If a guy had dropped his keys and asked someone to help him pick them up, we'd have been hounded.

Faced with something like this, there is no way in Hell I am going to condemn anyone. I thought, if this was a conscious, organised event that the guys who did it should have considered it beforehand and would have wanted them not to do it ..... in my view doing it under those circumstances would have been an extremist act, a little out of proportion and foolish.

But worthy of vile, hate filled condemnation? Never. To say it has "damaged our reputation" is ridiculous.

I am not interested - not in the SLIGHTEST BIT - in the mock outrage of people who hate us ANYWAY, who would trawl through the bins of our directors to find a pay-per-view porn receipt if they thought it would embarras us in some way.

I find myself coming more and more to politics and political analogy to understand the things I see and hear at Celtic. And I look at the present tribulations of our Prime Minister and I am appalled - simply appalled - at the misapropriation of grief, of the memories of the dead, at the shameless howling hysteria out there, all of it doing nothing more than distracted us from REAL THINGS, from the things which SHOULD command attention.

We have a man who, take it or leave it, like him or loathe him, is trying to steady the ship of state through a recession and a war, leader of a party which embraced him and now can't stand him, a public which growingly detests him - to all intents a DECENT MAN, being vilified for a GENEROUS AND HEARTFELT act simply because it will allow him to be beaten further into a hole. We have seen a mother use her dead son - yes, I believe that THOROUGHLY, she is an appalling human being - for a few minutes of tawdry publicity and more than willing to allow herself to be used by a rag I wouldn't wipe my backside with ..........

........ THIS is the standard of "politics" and that is the standard of "journalism." A thoroughly counterfeit issue, one which leaves none of the participants with a SHRED of credit or with a SHRED of dignity. It is wretched and even writing about it makes me want to take a long, hot shower.

The same drums are banging here, the undercurrents are identical. Issues of MONUMENTAL importance are being IGNORED COMPLETELY to fuel phony debates fueled by hacks who love writing sensationalist garbage, by huns furthering agendas, by politicians chasing votes and by large chunks of an ignorant uneducated general public which gets easily bored between X Factor Saturday's.

Gordon Brown and Celtic have made a similar mistake here, and he will almost certainly be punished for it harshly in the next election, and we HAVE to prepare a strategy for next year and the year after or we will FOREVER be beaten with this stick and whatever other ones they find ...... both need to understand that it is madness to chase the approval of implaccable enemies who hate what we are and what we stand for.

In Gordon's case, if I were in his shoes I would be torn between two conflicting emotions, pulling me first one way and then the other. I would want to stand my ground - and FIGHT HARD - against the gutter scum press and the ignorant public which is being whipped into frenzy against me ...... or calling together my advisors and saying "PLEASE ..... CONVICE ME someone else could turn this around ... " and then let that someone else take the reigns and then, as a private citizen but one with a BIG microphone, give the Tories and the right wing press a daily hiding from now until election day.

I don't know how he's hanging on, or what he's hanging on to. But I admire him on a personal level for it, because he is known to have a fearsome temper ..... and quite how he is holding onto it proof that there's an awe-inspiring will there.

Celtic, thankfully, are in a much easier fight, and one we can definitely win. Websites like this one are pounding away at the lies and those who tell them. Our reputation as a club is unimpeachable outside of this country, with the people who matter most, and no phony fabricated argument can deflect it.

Our club COULD enhance that reputation further next year, AND do a massive public service at the same time, sparking a BRAND NEW national debate ....... one we would definitely win.

Poppies ..... red or WHITE ..... for any player who WANTS to wear one, and freedom to choose for the rest.

ANNAOAN
Thanks I'am away to make the tea
God Bless Pope

Shaunboy, I have had the pleasure of meeting Mort, he is from the 6 counties and a nicer more laid back guy you couldnt meet, so please stop posting your utter drivel

whatisthestars, re your scenario about singing during silence for potato famine.
if it happened EXACTLY how it happened on Sunday what do you think the media reaction would be?
That is the thing that p1sses me off about it.
Personally i would never wear a poppy, it has been politicised - fact - however i will gladly stand for a minutes silence which i think it is only right and proper to be respected, what is a minute in our lives.
However i have no qualm with those with no wish to acknowledge it. Knowing how the media would report it i wish they had simply refrained. However the facts were that a handful of people unable to get into game at time sang at an inopportune time. It was a handful, even 1 person talking when a whole stadium is quiet would be amplified yet amongst that eerily quiet stadium handful of voices could be heard outside.
Is the media reaction representative and proportionate to what happened considering how many thousand actually in the stadium respected it.
That is the crux of the matter that everyone seems to be missing, how it was reported and handled. Whether you sympathise or are outraged at the individuals actions on sunday what surely must perplex many is how differently we are treated comparatively to misdemeanors committed by rangers fans.
We are not second rate citizens, we are not lowlife "scum" we do not deserve to be treated so and we are being victimised and biased against, virtually criminally so.
I have wittered on enough, the quote below is the best this year on this site and sums up everything.

"Just live your life, don't apologise, stand proud and just get on with it. They are the sad ones, not you."

hail hail

Missed out "The"

stars,
my spelling is improving whilst your arguments are still stupid and juvinile, the philosophy of the whole discussion appears to be a trapeze for you, stick to the horses son, the tried and trusted hun arguments you use dont put you in a good light.

By EdinburghCelt on November 10, 2009 4:31 PM

Put it this way mate, it will in no way compare to the way i have been "rounded upon" by people in all walks of life - from football fans, to non, from men to women, from Dons, to Hibees, to Jambos, Accies and - yes indeed - from the Queen's 11 in the last 48 hours.

Sadly, the vast majority of these people have not given me or any other Hoop i am friends with the opportunity to counteract their point by being vitriolic. Instead, they have debated a point that i found myself agreeing with at the time, and still agreeing with now.

I won't be drawn into any form of slanging match - as i have stated before, i in no way intend to anger or please in any or equal measure. Rather i am keen, nay eager, to state my ardent belief that Sunday damaged the football club and as such i am baffled at any support that it is gaining from the aftermath, from loyal supporters of Celtic Football Club.

CFC made their stance very clear before the game, and i think it would be a case of "kidding ourselves on" were anyone to suggest it has changed in any way. I'll stick to supporting the club as i always have, and refusing to agree with any actions that bring these effects upon us in the aftermath.

Cheers also for your post.

Thanks mountain_bhoy

I honestly think some people are just on to get a reaction. More fool me for rising to the baiting.

Mort

Mort - Re: Sideburns - no mention of any goats in that breakdown ... are they on expenses or what?

Che's 1

great history of the people of the rosses I had the pleasure of meeting and drinking with Colm Duffy in the lovely town of annagray who was part of that delegation also as all Lanarkshire people will know BT included a certain publican with a famous eating house in Hamilton was also involved

EdinburghCelt

I reiterate that anyone who has to ask for an explanation as to why some Celtic fans sing the Aiden MaCanespie song at Celtic matches doesn't properly understand or appreciate the Club's heritage and traditions.

Lloyds made the announcement today that they are to shed a further 1000 Scottish jobs. They can´t be seen to favour anyone. Any business they will be doing in the foreseeable future in Scotland will be of the hard nosed business type variety. Well I certainly hope so for the sake of those that have lost their jobs.

Hail Hail

HAWD THE BUS !!!!!

Are you telling me that the people of Scotland have paid Findlay £1.78 MILLION !!! of tax payers money since 2004 ??

How can a man forced to resign a Company directorship in disgrace possibly be considered a "fit and proper" person under the Scottish Law Society's rules ?????

Surely somebody must have reffered his sectarian singing and abuse to them ??

Ming

James Forrest on November 10, 2009 4:35 PM

well said

By Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 4:43 PM

To give him an element of credit, he did - however - spell McAnespie correctly.

ExiledBhoy on November 10, 2009 4:44 PM

They did twice and he was found guilty by his colleagues and peers and fined under their society rules.

Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 4:43 PM

I left Britain in 1985.

Never heard of Aiden Mac/Mc Anespie until recently.

Can you do me a favour and fill me in in what I am failing to appreciate and understand about Celtic´s heritage and traditions.

Much appreciated and thanks in advance.

Hail Hail

There is a film out now called something like "The men who stared at goats". However,rather surprisingly it is not set in the West of Scotland and they used the verb "stare" rather than "ogle" Too much artistic licence perhaps?

Benny McCarthy announces he'll probably leave Blackburn in january surely hes worth a shout??

DD

By Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 4:43 PM

Apologies by the way - my prior post was meant in good-natured fashion, but i realise that it may not have come across in such a way. Should have justified it in the aftermath; sorry for that.

Celtic eye Japan's Nagatomo

James Forrest

Don’t blame that poor woman. She and her life-changing, soul-tearing grief are being manipulated by The Sun who will drop her very soon and move on to a new tactic for winning the election for the people they have chosen (for they think they have the right to decide who forms a government).

You can’t ask a parent who has lost a child to handle things calmly, rationally and in a dignified way. The amazing thing is that a few, somehow, do manage that. There is a living example on this hallowed blog and it brings me close to tears and makes the hairs on my neck stand up trying to imagine what he went through and how in the name of heaven he managed to conduct himself the way he did. Trying to imagine how it would affect me and what I would do if anything similar happened to me makes me shrivel up inside.

He is a very exceptional person.

James Forrest

I read the transcript of that phone call about an hour ago. I have to say that my reaction is the same as yours. The woman should have been better advised by those close to her. I can't help but see it as a nasty thing for her to do (releasing the transcript of the call and the letter in the first place). I wish her no ill (she has it in spades right now) but my sympathy level has dropped markedly. If I were mourning a son, the last thing I would want is to be on tv and all over the media having a rammy with the Prime Minister. I wonder if Max Clifford is involved in any way...and if she was paid by the Sun.

I see Paul67 is dragging out the poppy debate, I'd like to ask.....why did ye do it etc?

:¬)

If I see another poppy post I swear I won't be able to haud my wheesht.

HH

James Forrest, superb post. Actually in recent days if you filter through the same names who repeat the same guff over and over like robots you can find absolute intellectual gems on here, yourself and P*ddy are two of them.

Your analysis of the 21st century society in the UK is spot on, dumbed down, propoganda through our media 24x7, collective hysteria and grief etc etc etc George Orwell is a prophet, poppy hysteria is only one of many examples of the Thought Police which are now an every day part of our society.

By Celtic Bob on November 10, 2009 4:51 PM

Preferred my version......!

http://www.talkceltic.net/forum/talkceltic-news/73143-celtic-s-interest-nagamoto-sung-yong-transfer-clarified.html

Ernie Lynch - I have to confess I'm not sure who Aiden McAnespie/McCanespie is either. I'm guessing he's an Irish Republican though!

Hail hail

BigSwee on November 10, 2009 4:05 PM

Thanks for the info, my son will defo want to go and maybe some more of the Blackpool Shammy, I'll go to make sure they sing the right songs.

Hail Hail

Awe Naw/Stein

Get out the tin hats.

By mountain_bhoy on November 10, 2009 4:57 PM

Agree for the most part about your "Thought Police" notion, but DON'T agree that the perception of CFC in this propoganda machine, following on from Sunday, can endorse our reputation in any way. Frankly, i find the notion to be absurd.

Indeed, and I agree with you wholeheartedly Celtic_First.

Her response appalls me though. I think she over-reacted to the initial letter, but sending it to a low-down disgusting tabloid was a political act. Tape recording a call from the Prime Minister - doubtless with every intention of wringing every bit of publicity out of it - was a political act.

I agree that she's been used and manipulated though. But she's a willing accomplise in it.

James, aye, but there is greatly diminished responsibility.

donegaldanny - Re: Benni McCarthy - I hear he's another Tommy Gravesen character ... bad attitude, thinks he's bigger than the club and likes his nightlife a wee bit too much.

Steinreignedsupreme on November 10, 2009 4:57 PM

aiden was an innocent irish man who was murdered by the british army, i think thats the same army a lot of celtic fans have no respect for

Canalmar

We better put this to bed.This will be my last post (no pun intended) on this poppygate nonsense.
I am not a hun and I am not trying to use hun arguments against you.
The quote from Robbie Burns was simply to make the point "To see ourselves as others see us"
What harm is their in that,to try and see the other point of view.
To show our tolerance and respect for the traditions of others what is wrong with that.
And if they wont show us that respect in return well that is their problem not ours.
We should be able to rise above all this.
After week of bad publicity for Rangers what happened?
A trap was set for Celtic supporters to walk into and they did.
People have come on and have been critical of those supporters and insults have been traded.
Its all pointless now.I am not going to change your opinion nor you change mine.
Lets agree to differ,Maybe someday if we meet for a pint we can have a frank exchange of views.We might even have more in common than we think.
I am not going to post anymore on this but feel free to have the last word if you like.
To anyone else who may have been offended by my "hun arguments" offer sincere apologies and the hand of friendship.
I would love to know exactly when I posted these "hun arguments" but will leave it now.

Che's 1

For some on here to describe Michael Davitt as a "terrorist" is an insult to the man and his memory. It is true that he was convicted of attempted gunrunning, after being arrested in London, 1870 or therabouts, and served half that sentence before returning to his native Ireland. He was returned to jail under the original sentence for his political activities and in particular his opposition to the landlords of the day. He was well known and respected in Scotland some years before his appearance at the new Celtic Park in 1892, no stranger to Glasgow and a campaigner for land reform throughout Scotland, and in particular the Highlands and Islands. For example, in April 1887 the Highland Land Reform Association invited Davitt to address their supporters in Portree, in the Isle of Skye, which he did the following month. Many on here will recollect a recent commemoration of that historic visit in November 2006, when our own Brian Wilson unveiled a plaque at the original venue in Portree. It was covered by both the Celtic View and the West Highland Free Press, and cross-reported through various media. Michael Davitt is a major historical figure, not only in Ireland, but in Great Britain and beyond. A Nationalist to be sure, but also a great International Socialist who took the message of both land and political reform beyond these shores, and it is message which still resounds. If you ever want a link from County Mayo to Celtic FC to the Isle of Skye, Michael Davitt is your man.

sheesh I knew there's be one.

:¬)

Cadizzy,
Max Clifford is pro labour. Most of the sleaze that was flung at the tory govt in 1997 came from him.
Though he has had his hands in some anti labour stuff I can't believe even he would stoop this low.

Though I think in terms of ridiculous assertions and complete quackery the bbc beats the sun, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8351883.stm

This is not the journalism of a public broadcaster.

patnmick

Molly Malone from last night

When I said that the squad despised each other, I was only really basing this statement on things I've read here.

There are people in the know but I'm not one of them so don't worry.

Just before I go, but has anyone actually taken the time to commend Gordon Brown for taking the time to write a personal private letter of condolences to this woman and I assume, the families of every other service person who has died in these recent conflicts.

It would have been far easier if he had someone draft him a typed letter and all he did was sign it.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Mort

vmhan,

keep yir wheesht my good mhan, it aint worth it IMHO!
It won't matter what you say or how persuasive your argument is.....it won't make a difference.
That's basically why I have not got dragged in......esp as we went through it all last year and no doubt will next year too!

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

I think we know what we need transfer wise.

First team Centre Back and Striker are imperative. They need to be bought in to start for certain and be an improvement and different to what we have.

As an aside, the Japanese Full Back and South Korean Midfielder look to be excellent players. They key is whether they adapt.

AS an aside, i would like a wide midfielder who is not a winger. All of our wide players (Aiden, Shaun, Paddy, Niall) are "wingers". I would like a player who can play there and offer something different - NOT Barry Robson. I do not rate the guy i am afraid. The name i have been punting about is Joe Ledly of Cardiff. Out of contract in the summer.

With that we should be fine in teh SPL and we can take stock in the summer. The club needs a kick start. The board's conservative leadership seems to have started a "vicious cycle". We need a kick up the jacksie - 2000 MON style to re invigorate the club.

We will need to sell one or two players for big cash within the next 12-18 months. Tough decicions will have to be made.

James Forrest

I have to say I agree with you 100%.
All sympathy I had for that dispicable woman went right out the window when I saw that this morning. No doubt she has been paid well for all of this.

GB has his faults but he doesn't deserve any of this after trying to do the right thing.

She should have accepted his apology and not started this media circus about some hand-writing.

For those of you purporting not to have heard of Aidan McAnespie and apparently unable to use a search engine.

Aidan McAnespie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aidan McAnespie (1965–21 February, 1988) was an Irish Catholic who was killed in contested circumstances by a bullet from a heavy machine-gun held by a soldier at Aughnacloy border checkpoint in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland during The Troubles.[1]
Contents

* 1 Death
* 2 Investigations
* 3 Tributes
* 4 References

Death

McAnespie, a member of Aghaloo gaelic football club, was travelling to a match when he was killed by a gunshot wound to the back. He had just walked past a British army checkpoint.[2][3] The army said that McAnespie had been hit when the weapon had discharged accidentally as a soldier was moving the gun with wet hands. Forensic evidence suggested the fatal shot was one of three that had ricocheted off the road two metres behind McAnespie. [4][5] Charges were initially brought against Grenadier Guard Jonathan Holden for manslaughter but were dropped prior to prosecution.[3] He was fined for negligent discharge of the weapon and in 1990 was given a medical discharge.[6]

McAnespie was an election worker for Sinn Féin, but both the Irish Republican Army and his priest said he was not involved in paramilitary activity.[7] He had previously said that he had been threatened by the security forces,[8] and, according to his sister, British soldiers had threatened to kill him on several occasions.[9] McAnespie's family allege a cover-up by the British state and question the likelihood of accidental discharge killing their son from a distance of 300 metres.[10] His father, in an article printed in the Observer Magazine, said that a soldier had stopped him some fifteen months before the shooting and told him I've a bullet here in the gun for your son Aidan [6]
Tablet erected at spot where McAnespie was killed.
[edit] Investigations

The day after the killing, the Irish Government appointed Garda Deputy Commissioner Eugene Crowley to investigate the incident.[8] The results of the investigation were received by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Gerry Collins on 8 April 1988, but have never been published.[11][12] A Royal Ulster Constabulary investigation also took place which concluded that the killing was accidental.[13]

In June 2008, the Police Service of Northern Ireland Historical Enquiries Team published its findings on the case. The report called the soldier's explanation for the killing the "least likely version" of what happened. The Ministry of Defence said it had co-operated with the inquiry and understood that this did not uncover any new evidence that would warrant further investigation.[5] In October 2008, a Police Service of Northern Ireland investigation concluded that Jonathan Holden's gun required 9 lbs of pressure to pull the trigger, and that the soldier's account of the events were highly unlikely. It described the chances of this occurring, combined with hitting McAnespie by accident as, "so remote as to be virtually disregarded".[14]

The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shaun Woodward expressed "deep regret" at the incident in a statement made in July 2009, which was welcomed by McAnespie's family.[4]
[edit] Tributes

The largest Gaelic football club in Boston, Massachusetts is named in his memory.[15] Aghaloo O'Neills Gaelic Athletic Association club hosted a weekend of Gaelic football and cultural events to mark the 20th anniversary of his death.[16]
[edit] References

1. ^ Thornton, Chris (1998-09-30). "Border posts next to go". Belfast Telegraph (Independent News and Media). http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/article827923.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
2. ^ Kelly, Ned (1998-04-30). "Groundswell against GAA rule change". An Phoblacht (IRLNet/Sinn Féin). http://republican-news.org/archive/1998/April30/30gaa.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
3. ^ a b "British soldier accused of killing back on duty". Philadelphia Inquirer. 1998-06-26.
4. ^ a b 'Regret' over NI checkpoint death, 09-07-27, http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0727/mcanespiea.html, retrieved 09-07-27
5. ^ a b "Checkpoint death report welcomed". BBC News NI. 24 June 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7471825.stm. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
6. ^ a b McKittrick, David (2007). Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died Through the Northern Ireland Troubles. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-504-1.
7. ^ Newspaper story about his death
8. ^ a b Bell, Robert; Robert Johnstone, Robin Wilson (1991). Troubled Times: Fortnight Magazine and the Troubles in Northern Ireland 1970 - 1991. Belfast: The Blackstaff Press. p. 210. ISBN 0-85640-462-4.
9. ^ "Submission to The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, Dublin Castle". Dublin: The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. April 1995.
10. ^ Murray, Raymond (1998). State Violence: Northern Ireland 1969-1997. Cork: Mercier Press. ISBN 1 85635 235 8. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/violence/murray.htm.
11. ^ The Houses of the Oireachtas (1988-04-19). "Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Death of Aidan McAnespie". Dáil Éireann Parliamentary Debates 379. http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0379/D.0379.198804190012.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
12. ^ MacDonncha, Michael (1999-08-12). "Dublin/Monaghan and Ludlow inquiries must be public: Report of the Victims Commission". An Phoblacht (IRLNet/Sinn Féin). http://republican-news.org/archive/1999/August12/12dubm.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
13. ^ House of Commons (1989-07-20). "Oral Answers to Questions: Northern Ireland". Hansard (the Official Report) 502. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-07-20/Orals-1.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
14. ^ http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhidkfojmhey/
15. ^ "Aidan McAnespie G.F.C. Boston". http://www.aidanmcanespiegfcboston.com/. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
16. ^ "Family of Aidan McAnespie continue their quest for truth". Ulster Herald (21 February 2008). http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/UH/free/299844007726054.php. Retrieved 2008-06-24.

Steinreigned,

Blackburn and nightlife????

Surely they are mutually exclusive :-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

Vinibhoy

The woman is on medication to help her cope with her grief.

You can't measure what she has done by an everyday yardstick.

"Freedom to Fart" brilliant sounds like a campaign to me.

Paul, I can't help but wonder, with all those musings about the Queen, is this blog not in danger of being boycotted by the "Hunposters"?

thought not

gsu

Mort/Mountain_Bhoy,
please do not take everything so personally. I was generalising. Answer me this though, what is there specific to the Old Firm teams that would coax people to travel across the water when they have plenty of football teams in NI? Many from over there, as has been pointed out, choose to opt for the top EPL teams? I guess in the Hunz case it is self-evident, Ibrox is a mecca for sectarian bigots. However Celtic do not work on that principle, so I was just curious? Serious question.

what is the stars -

the trap wasnt needed

they would have written about something else

that will be the way of things whilst the huns are in ruins

a tabloid from page had celtic star in affair type sh*t on its front page at the weekend

more will follow

The right to protest cannot be argued against. Which is maybe why it has been deployed.

However surely no rational person would argue that with rights comes responsibility?

Was the singing outside the ground simply a bunch of drunks acting irresponsibly because they were drunk? If so no story other than that Celtioc supporters got drunk made fools of themselves and in the process provided the media with an opportunity to besmirch the very good name of Celtic. This is a distinct possibility.

Supporters who value Celtic's good name ABOVE ALL ELSE are naturally peeved at what happened not because of why it happened but because it took away from something they hold dear.

Further if it was a bunch of drunks was it actually a protest? I always thought a protest was designed to acheive some purpose.

What exactly was the purpose?

If there was none it was not a protest as I understand it, only noisy drunks acting in a manner that embarassed others and reflected badly on Celtic.
All clubs have that element in their support and we shake our heads and move on.

If it WAS a protest in the organised sense who organised it and what was the objective and how much of that objective did it acheive? Did the the objective, whatever it was, merit besmirching Celtic's good name in its pursuit?

Was the protest, if it was one, likely to cause Celtic not to take part in Rememberance Day in a similar way next year? Highly unlikely.If you want someone to agree with you then antagonising them is plain stupid.

Or was it simply to punish Celtic for not agreeing with the protestors view?

Whatever the answer, IF it was a protest, in exercising their right to protest those who took part forgot their responsibility to the good name of Celtic, without which their protest would have been invisible. Only those taking part, (who were they anyway?) can answer the questions.

Defend the right to protest by all means but accept that all rights carry the responsibility to use them wisely.

Either it was a bunch of drunks or an irresponsible and foolish protest that can only claim success if its aim was to besmirch the good name of Celtic and our support.

Otherwise it was an empty, thoughtless - as in no one thought it through - gesture.

One other possibility does remain of course - it was a set up.

whats the betting on a catholic priest type scandal this weekend in the usual rags ?

Shaunbhoy on November 10, 2009 5:16 PM

family traditions for a start, grandad, dad, uncle, brothers supporting celtic, then the youngs one learn about our great club and realise that GLASGOW CELTIC are number 1, that we are MUCH more than a fitba team, we are the celtic family and all it incorporates

Paul 67

Re an earlier post of mine listing the teams in the EPL. What are the chances Liverpool, Aston Villa or Spurs will side with the 13 teams below them that the Gartside proposal will help?

I'd be keeping an eye on the share price.

I also think that a vote in favour, followed by an invite to us and Rangers to join will save Ranger's bacon and hasten the day of change.

Vinibhoy- that poor woman is not 'despicable', she is heartbroken.

She needs compassion and understanding, not rebuke.

I hadn’t intended on posting on this until I read Paul’s lead article. I was in amongst the Falkirk support on Sunday, in the main stand. I was in the walkway under the stand as the silence started so stayed there at the foot of the stairs leading up to the seated area. I didn’t hear a sound. When I took my seat nobody commented on any noise (they knew I was a Celtic fan) I watched the news article last night and couldn’t believe what the beeb had done.

To read today that a Falkirk fan had disrupted the silence yet the national broadcaster had manufactured a clip seemingly showing Celtic fans doing so, without mentioning the real culprit is disgusting.

I’ve also read back and some genuine guys on here seem to have been duped too (no interest in the opinions of hunposters)

Paul67 will Celtic be making an issue of this with BBC? Nothing less than a full apology from them at the head of their ‘news’ bulletins will do.

Celtic Mac

'For some on here to describe Michael Davitt as a "terrorist" is an insult to the man and his memory'

Only if you think that being described as a terrorist is an insult.

He was sentenced to 15 years for gun running by a British court.

Given the circumstances in which the offence was committed that should be a source of pride, not of shame.

'Let cowards mock and tyrants frown, ah little do we care,
A Felon`s cap is the noblest crown an Irish head can wear'

GW&GE,
fair enough. I have relations in Dublin and have worked there also. I was amazed at how few Tims there actually were over there in general although I should point out it was in 1998, so we were not having the greatest of times until we finally stopped the Hunz doing TIAR. Did the Conga across O'Connell Bridge that today with a fair few others. Happy days!! I would have imagined Ireland to be a huge hotbed of Celtic support bearing in mind the history surrounding our club, but too many people seem to have us bracketed as their "second club", usually behind Liverpool and Man Utd.
My own sons are all Tims despite not having been born in Scotland.
Totally agree, we will always be number 1, and hopefully we can escape the pokey little league we are saddled with sooner rather than later and spread the word to a bigger audience!

Ernie

Thanks for that detail, whilst I had heard the song, I had no knowledge of the facts behind it

Not unlike the venom being pured in GB's direction (A PM I'd gladly see the back of BTW) I think the truth has been twisted and manipulated to suit an agenda

Sadly in both cases a young life has been lost for no good reason

may they both Rest in Peace

Spikeysauldman

You are quite right. If the rags can turn a story about a divorced Darren Jackson taking up with a woman (also divorced) into a "celtic star scandal" story, they are capable of anything. If no Celtic fan bought these rags they would probably go to the wall.

Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 5:30 PM

just he wasnt a terrorist, just a freedom fighter,
was roger casement a terrorist?

hail hail!

stars,
the hun argument I refer too, is the fact that as far as is known (and no one has stated any differen) there was no organised protest, you like quite a few on here ignored this and continued with the condemnation of most likely innocent Celtic supporters, my "hun argument" charge to you and the rest is that you continued to condemn without ascertaining all the facts, you were happy to take the wee free meejas spin on it and went with that, like them, there was singing therefore it was a protest QED eh. As far as I'm concerned, this is disgraceful behaviour for so called Celtic supporters.
Last word is not the issue, clarity is my motive for this post.

By James Forrest on November 10, 2009 5:00 PM

She is in grief and angry, not herself. When I saw the news item I was appalled the event had made national news but thought it might actualy backfire on those using her.

Donegaldanny

Believe it or not, and I am a shameless namedropper here, I bumped into Benni McCarthy and his team-mate Steven Pienaar coming off a plane in South Africa in the summer of 2003. The two guys were playing in a WC qualifyer and couldn't have been nicer.

I joshed with Benni (my mate Benni)about the near heart attack he gave me in the UEFA game he played in for Celta Vigo. He replied saying Celtic were a fine team and "Sutton and Larsson are some players". I asked him if he'd sign for us and he said "absolutely......if the money is right!"

We could do a lot worse. And have done!

Ernie Lynch on November 10, 2009 5:13 PM

Thanks for the information.

I now know about Aiden Mac Anespie.

I wonder how many other peoples name that I am not aware of who have innocently been killed by the British army, the Irish army, The Irish Republican Army, The INLA, the American army etc etc.

Now that I know who he is and what happened to him I still fail to understand how it affects my ability to appreciate and understand Celtic´s heritage and traditions.

I think if you were to supply me with all of those names it still wouldn´t sufficiently explain my failure to understand Celtic´s heritage and traditions.

Can you be less obtuse and more precise please as it´s causing me a lot of anxiety. As I thought I did understand them and I dont want to be left out.

Thanks again in advance.

HAil Hail

The Token Tim - I was thinking more of his antics in Amsterdam.

the green white & golden eagle

Sad stuff indeed. There was a hell of a lot of that went on.

Ernie Lynch

I’m not sure why you would assume we had heard of him. But thank’s for the link anyway.

Celtic was formed as a charitable organisation to help feed and shelter the poor and hungry. Celtic do not discriminate against any race or religion.

Celtic does not associate itself to any war or fighting organistation.

Celtic also respects the rights and religions of others and conducts itself properly as we live side by side.

Celtic is a football club - anyone using the name of Celtic to promote politcal ideals is not welcome to paradise.

the green white & golden eagle

'was roger casement a terrorist?'

By the standards of the day, and by the standards of those whom we are being told we must not offend, in order to protect the good name of Celtic, he was without doubt a terrorist.

As of course were the Manchester Martyrs.

The point is that at one time those who ran Celtic weren't concerned about the establishment or public opinion.They had principles and they stood by those principles.

Veno's Fact Syrup - #16

Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on November 10, 2009 5:40 PM

now ur just takin' the P. . .

stir it up,

hail hail! all proper celtic supporters

The big debate...

In the classic dish of mince and tatties, should the potoato be mashed or boiled?

Personally Im thinking mashed.

With Rangers in disarray it is inevitable that Celtic Football Club will come into focus from those forces,particularly in Scotland,who absolutely despise the club and all those associated with it.

James Forrest wrote an admirable piece but my disappointment around this whole affair ( I don't live in Scotland so may have missed some of the debate )is with the Celtic Board.

Rememberance Day/Poppy day,call it what you will,has clearly been hijacked and for Celtic simply to go along with it and hope for the best is simply not good enough.We need to get on the front foot with this issue and change the agenda.It can be done.Hiding and hoping for the best is not a strategy.

The Celtic support is a very broad church and quite aside from the Irish issue there are many who are uncomfortable with how this day of rememberance is being used.There is enough talent around Celtic to galvanise a proper debate about how we deal with this uncomfortable issue.Let's stop sweeping it under the carpet.Recognise that it is an issue and stop trying to marginalise people who have every right to express their views.

The Club itself has nothing to be ashamed of.Many of it's players and employees

Canalmar
Fair enough (I know I said it was the last post but just for clarity)

I was at the game.I was in the Falkirk main stand.
The silence started with the usual coughing and shuffling of feet for a few seconds as is normal.Then silence
Then the singing started outside.It was not as loud as it appears on the you tube video which has obviously been doctored but it was very clear nevertheless.
The only sound made inside the ground was the Falkirk fan shouting "F..k off home".No Celtic fan inside the ground made any noise.
To me and this is just my humble opinion the singing was planned to coincide with the start of the minutes silence and the choice of song was also to portray the British Army in a bad light.
Fair enough perhaps the British army deserve to be portrayed in a bad light.
But around me the look on peoples faces was more of disappointment than anger.One man beside me just shook his head and said "why does it always have to be about them"
Now you can say,and you may be right that all those Falkirk fans are bigoted hun masons orangemen etc and therefore you are not interested in their opinions.
Indeed maybe you are right.I dont know and I dont care.
I never wore a poppy in my life and will never wear a poppy but those Celtic fans who sang outside the ground did nobody any favours
I really am just fed up with this.

Cognitive Dissonance,

Loving the new series.

A highlight in an otherwise dull and very repetitive blog.

Estadio Nacional, I like them normal wee jackets on, but then mash them up when Im eating

will the thought police accuse me of thinking outside the box?