Cast your mind back to earlier this month. February ended with a 100% domestic record, qualification for the League Cup Final and two merit awards for performances against Inter Milan. We then walloped nearest challengers Aberdeen 4-0. A small matter of a game against St Johnstone lay ahead before the Scottish and League Cup double-header against Dundee United. Which we lost. At home.
If a team drops even a few percentage points below its optimum the actual drop in results achieved can be enormous. Celtic have answered all the big questions over the last seven weeks, despite the reversal in Milan; there will inevitably be a drop in adrenaline when normality returns, which is tomorrow, again against United.
We have a month to prepare for the Scottish Cup semi-final but another St Johnstone-type episode would cut the gap at the top to zero points, with Celtic having one game in hand.
I’m a great believer than a manager cannot and should not ask his players to climb the mountain every time. If he does, he loses that special intensity he’ll need for the truly big occasions. The players, from captain to novice, must carry the burden.
Niggles between players happen in every game. On most occasions it will be a couple of months before you face the same opponent again, so whatever happened last time will have been replaced in the mind’s gallery of items the player feels sore about.
Since Scottish football became the Celtic-Dundee United show that’s changed. A player who elbowed you last game will be running at you next time out. This is the stuff red cards are made of.
There is a chance that we’ve beaten United into submission and that they’ll turn up in body, not mind, tomorrow, but if Jackie McNamara manages to convince them they are victims of wanton Celtic player’s face-on-United player’s elbow action, you can expect more reds.
Keep your cool, Celtic. Nothing more than wanton hair ruffling.
1,215 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- ...
- 32
- »
Muchas gracious bhoys.
The Mrs hasn’t been the may west, hence my lack of time on the blog, but she seems to be over it now.
HH
HT
No comment would have sufficed, but he played to the willing gallery to score points, and hit the anti Celtic agenda.
There is nothing he can say to the press that will make up for the gap between his club and Celtic, he’s not even got a handle on Tommy Wright at St johnstone
– and he’s suffering.
art of war
Agreed it’s bad enough that he’s being successful as a ‘foreigner’ for Celtic never mind being an Irish ‘foreigner’.
Good to see you back on here mate.
Glutaniam mining shares:
http://www.neighboursepisodes.com/index.php?year=1988&episode=0638
bournesouprecipe
Yep it’s basic avoidance and deflection. His team are out of both cups in the space of 4 days, he’s lost his two best players, his recent tactics have been questionable and his side are only heading in one direction.
Response?
Claim that the opposition are under pressure.
As I said, it’s pathetic.
Tom I think Scotlands attitude to celtic is merely a window on Scotlands soul. I have in the past given you plenty of evidence to back up my claim. I don’t mind if you don’t agree.m
Do you remember the billy McNeil story with pictures of him flicking dirt where they claimed he was showing signs of mental stress. I had forgotten about it? There are so many of these stories I have forgotten about. It’s amazing.
I could mention the whole aiden and other stories about the abuse for playing for Ireland but of course it’s okay for scots to play for NI.
Tom if I really tried I and we could recount thousands of examples. It’s amazing really.
BRTH
re: looking in the mirror
Growing up, I was always said to take after my mum’s side of the family … except I am 6’3″ and most of them are between 4′ and 5’8″. Dad’s side is slightly taller, but not by much. My brother was more like my dad … darker colouring …
but, as I have gotten older, people kept saying that I looked more and more like dad …. I knew there was a resemblance, but …
However, I was walking down the street recently, passed one of those glass towers…. I got the fright of my life … I would have sworn that, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad! Then realized it was my reflection in the glass! It only hit me then how much I now look like him!
Sitting here, getting misty eyed, missing the old guy now! Might need to put on some Luciano….
this one’s for all the dad’s (and mom’s) and anyone who we love and miss…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3EZoDr6kqM
art of war
19:26 on 20 March, 2015
Hamiltontim- imagine Ronny was Irish….now imagine the rest of this wee country getting their heads around a treble on the cards…
_______________
Spot on mate.
Not much comments coming from the huns in the work re: RD….as for Lenny, the venom on their faces was obvious.
Only one reason… thems despise Irish/catholics being successful….then again, they just despise everyone at the moment…wonder why ;))))
Tom, don’t mean to step into your discussion with Neganon, but there is a simple equation that covers it;
E=mc2
Whereby..
E= Eire, m=Mass, c=speed that they want Irish immigrants to go ‘home’, 2=the number of hands they need to calculate their IQ.
See, you don’t need to be Einstein :-)
TET,
Good to see you posting, hope your poetical goodlady is back to her best .HH
McNamara’s behaving like a hun fud. If ex players like Walker, Burley, Provan etc were coming away with the pish he has been the they would be getting pelters on here, called soup takers etc and rightly so.
And it’s not just about someone sticking up for his players. He has gone way beyond that.
So please, spare us the bleeding heart making allowances for him, used tae be wanny us magumba.
He’s no “wanny us” any more.
He has made that crystal clear.
Tom Mcloughlin…………..Did not see the the match on Wednesday night, thanks to Sky not fulfilling it’s contract but I did see the potentially career-ending challenge on Anthony Stokes in the opening minute of the cup tie in Dundee.
up_over_goal
08:42 on 20 March, 2015
Stan and Stefan @7.55
I think you’re being a tad unfair to characterize Lennon’s Celtic as ‘sideways passing’. There were lots of penetrating passes, tricks & flicks. Are you sure this isn’t all a bit ‘wanting it to be so’ rather than it actually being so?
////////////////
Of course it’s possible that my perception is different from the reality. And in fact an argument I have frequently used in my defence of zonal marking.
However, in this case I do recall that I frequently moaned (internally) at many games with regard to the sideways passing.
However thinking about it, it’s more to do with the time it took to deliver the sideways pass. Often it would take 3, 4, 5 touches before the pass would be made. And then it often resulted in a pass back to the keeper and a hoof up the park. Sure the hoof up the park still happens, but not as often.
Johansen and more so Bitton will often pass the ball first time or after one touch. And regularly the around the corner pass, or as was witnessed on Wednesday, through the defensive formation to the feet of the attackers. Yes, Bitton does have times when he shrugs of 4 opposition crowding round him before patting one on the head and then passing.
So, I stand by my assertion that I’m enjoying watching Ronnys team more than Neil’s.
Art of war nice use of mathematics. I am pretty sure we could mathematically prove our point.
And Tom here is a question for you. You concede that there is bias in Scotland against celtic.
Tell me.mwhy do you think that is?
Sipsini, I use you as my barometer for workplace hunnery :-)
On Tuesday when Sevco were playing..I think, big Uber-hun in work was spotted marching (yes marching) down the corridor with two wee Untermensch huns trailing behind him.
Overheard him saying “c’mon we need a big Northgate turnout tonight…rattle some cages and get the message out that we are gonna put a show on tonight..”
Deeeeluded does not cover it…and he is a line manager ffs!
sipsini
She has had a prob getting the medication right, seems that low blood pressure is harder to control than high, looks to be fine now.
Anyways, another episode of the “Tanking of the Tangerines” the morra, if we turn up, are no complacent, we should spank them again, some of the pish the msm and the Utd staff have been spouting has been embarresing, god they hate it when we are winning.
HH
****Last Man Standing 4 crashes through the 67 team barrier****
69 teams registered so far for Last Man Standing 4 in aid of Help Shay Along The Way. Closing date for registration is tonight.
Still time to enter.
Email us at cqnlastmanstanding@gmail.com for more details
HH
CRC/Jobo
United’s recent league form has been overshadowed by their drubbings at our hands.
I suspect that Jackie, his players and his back room staff are deliberately trying to take the focus off their consistent failures against so called lesser sides.
Losses to Partick, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock and a draw with ICT since we bought SA and MS, isn’t exactly scintillating form.
I see no reason to expect an improvement tomorrow and I predict a comfortable victory for the champions. Well I would wouldn’t I?
HT and BSR
I didn’t say that I agreed with his comments.
( I don’t )
But I don’t think he is anti Celtic or a turncoat as many are implying.
BSR
I’m unsure what is utter bollocks .
It is a matter of fact that he is the manager of DUFC .
I think it is reasonable that he is trying to get the best out of his players as is Ronnie Deila.
Try and be a little more civil if you respond.
I am not rude to you or anyone else on here.
I only ask for the same courtesy .
TT
Lasley just got cemented on BT sport there….thats nice :-)
Just sent off my application for the role of Third Pillager in the upcoming Viking production.
I hope big Nir isn’t a target tomorrow after his hair ruffling episode with Connolly
Was it a case of a condescending ‘on yer way, sonny, better luck the next time’ or was it just a sporting pat on the napper.
Surprised McNamara hasn’t mentioned it.
MSM might be keeping it for tomorrow!!
stefan /up over the goal
hope you guys dont mind me jumping in …
I would have to say that I agree with S&S on this one …. NFL’s teams played more sideways than forward ….
NB keeps the ball moving more than any player we have had in the middle the last few years … and, based on the players he has brought in so far, including SA (who I really rate), I think this will only increase as RD gets his own players in and/or the players take his style on board ….
Like S&S, I find the present style of football the most enjoyable I have seen from Celtic in a few seasons.
Hadtochangemyname
Those we love will always stay in our hearts.
Mc Namara
Greeting faced,no class wee naff.
Playing to the MSM agenda. Their team is fecked, so any story that casts us in a bad light is a victory for them. Jackie is willingly participating in their charade. Don’t give us “he was a great servant to Celtic” malarkey. Celtic looked after him when he was injured and he repaid that by going to Wolves. Glad that worked out. I never thought that I would want DU pumped as much as I wanted the filth (any of their incarnations) pumped but the way this is panning out…I do. Hopefully 6 or 7.
Neganon2 –
Mate I am not in the mood, nor do I have the time for a protracted debate on this tonight.
I merely asked what you were referring to earlier as I thought I had missed something today.
Maybe another time.
Hail Hail.
art of war,
Believe it or not, the huns in the work had a champagne party when the GSL gained supposed control two weeks ago…I hadn’t had a text for three years from any of them, but got photos sent to me…oh, how I laughed…there’s no hun like a monkey hun;)) HH
TET,
Good to here Mrs TET is feeling better, I’m sticking with 3-0 for tomorrow…it must stoat sometime.HH
mike in Toronto
That was poignant.
My father loved Pavarotti.
I told a story at his funeral of how he had seen Pavarotti at the Met in New York in 1976.
When he came home he said that “The guy Pavarotti is going to be a huge star” and years later he would say ” but I never knew just how huge!” referring to his size.
At his cremation, we enetered the crematorium to Pavarotti singing Panis Angelicus as it was one of my old man’s favourites. He had sang it as a boy and as a young man at OHR in Clydebank on many occasions.
My own favourite Pavarotti piece is Core ‘ngrato — he sings so easily an without effort with a real rich timbre to his voice.
However, I can’t end this post without referring to the piece of music we chose as the retiral piece at my dad’s funeral.
He used to sing this too, and as any funeral he attended always ended with severe laughter at the reception later we thought this was wholly appropriate albeit a little irreverent and possibly sacriligeous for the end of a religious ceremony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZAL_1rcfQ
I would like to see St. Mirren overtake Well, and see relegated… and not just because I am from Paisley …
But, in the off chance Sevco make it through the championship playoffs, I think St. M are less likely to completely roll over to Sevco …
Art of War
You make great point.
Just imagine the reaction from all and sundry if Neil Lennon was to do the Ronnie Roar after each win when he was Celtic manager.
TT
Prepare yourself Arabs…here we come again.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAcPQpKXEAA5J-d.jpg:large
unleashzigandzagCSC
BRTH –
The first time I heard Panis Angelicus was in Salzburg circa 1996 when I went to see the Vienna Boys Choir.
I’ll rephrase that. I was TAKEN to see the Vienna Boys Choir. It was an immensely spiritual experience, especially Panis Angelicus.
I now have 3 different versions of the hymn — by Pavarotti, Bocelli and the VBC.
Back to business Broony
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAMzlEAWAAAnvTW.jpg:large
trebleyellCSC
Broony doing the ‘Broony’ in front of hun wanabee Paton tomorrow would be a thing of beauty. Don’t even care if it’s just for winning a shy ! \ /
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAKtPMNWEAAhn-K.jpg:large
Celtic’s top mhan enjoyed the cup win
legendCSC
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAjrOLuXEAAckfZ.jpg:large
feedthebearCSC
Roy Croppie 20.07.
Nice one Roy.
When you said Celtic ‘s top man, I was wondering who it was going to be.
I should have known. Magic.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAVEtK0WUAAUTJV.jpg:large
Tom McAdam v Dundee ’78
HH
BRTH
How are you keeping, pal?
When I read the posts on here, I am amazed at how different many of our experiences are, but yet how much we have in common …. particularly the experiences of our families …I read some of them, and think that could be my dad someone is talking about ….
My dad’s family was mostly irish background, but his grandfather was from just outside
Palermo (I think) …. so Frank Patterson, John McCormack and Pavarotti are in my blood….
I guess the irish/italian thing sort of explains how I ended up doing the work I do!
Your dad was lucky indeed to have heard LP when he was that young. It must have been spectacular!
I hadnt listened to ngrato in a while … I’m the last one in the office tonight, so got it blaring now! Cheers.