articles: April 2008 Archives

Congratulations to Celtic and Motherwell for arranging the forthcoming Phil O'Donnell Tribute Match on Sunday 25 May, already a sentimental date for all Celtic fans.

It will be great to see players from the 1998 league winning side like Paul Lambert and Tom Boyd in the hoops again, though the sight of the greatest living Swede will put most bums on seats.  Do we have any plans to close the airports after the game?

The 1998 league win is second only to the 1966 league in importance to Celtic.  Future generations will probably not appreciate how significant it was to those who lived through this 90s, but the win against St Johnstone ranks above any subsequent European or domestic victory in my book.

It is the touchstone for the post-Lisbon generation.

The big management decision of the week, perhaps of the season, was Gordon Strachan playing Paul Hartley and Barry Robson in central midfield on Sunday; it's not an easy decision to put your two most expensive summer signings, Brown and Donati, on the bench and replaced them with less heralded names.

For months I've lamented the various central midfield pairings, which failed in every combination and seemed to afflict every other area of the team.

The forthcoming games are every bit as important as the Rangers game on Sunday, each against opposition with everything to play for.  We have no margin for error, Robson and Hartley again please.

The double jeopardy of signing expensive players who can take a season to acclimatise, but playing them ahead of a more productive signing should be avoided.

Welcome to the all new Celtic Quick News!

As well as a new design we have (at long last) moved away from the Blogger comment engine, which has caused us so many problems in recent months.  If you commented previously using a Blogger account, you will need to register again with our super new blog engine that I am hosting along with the rest of the site.

I would like to offer a big thank you on behalf of all Celtic Quick News users to Martin, Andy, Bob and Hodgers, who have all worked on the move in recent weeks (and in some cases months).

Thanks also for the kind comments left on the previous article.  We still have lots of new features to come on the new site, and we'll get the archive of old articles and comments linked in shortly.

Aiden McGeady is the victim of more racial crime than any other individual in Scotland.

He is regularly the subject of assault and racial abuse and at 22-years-old, cannot walk the streets of Glasgow alone.

I have sympathy for the police, who are seldom aware or involved in Aiden's problems, I have sympathy too for the football authorities, who are charged with the responsibility of protecting young players from hoards of profane Neanderthals, but at a time of significant immigration, Scotland cannot be allowed to turn into a ghetto of racial hate.

I have been reluctant to write about the truly awful, 'go back home' chants heard from the visiting support at Celtic Park on Sunday, as I am a Scot, and feel the image of my country has been violated by such racial intolerance, but the slide must be stopped.

Football has been hijacked as a breeding ground for racial intolerance all over the world and difficult though it is to combat, Fifa and Uefa have found ways.

Whether it is a Polish goalkeeper celebrating a Polish Pope (and goalkeeper) or a Scottish born winger playing for Ireland, which he is entitled to do, Scotland's institutions; the police, football authorities, education authorities, the media, even you and I, must continue to repeat the mantra; One Scotland, many cultures, until its resonance penetrates the thickest of skulls.

Aiden in particular needs all our support; he is not here to become a poster boy for protest, he just wants to play for Celtic and enjoy a normal life.