This is the way to start the season. A competitive match, albeit one which is no longer puts us in direct jeopardy, to open what will be a lush green Celtic Park for the first game of the season. Neil Lennon will correctly press his team hard tonight, Elfsborg are reportedly the fittest team in Sweden and are only a week away. That prospect, is enough to get the blood pumping.
Kris Commons and Georgios Samaras took the plaudits in Belfast last week, just as they did in the European qualifiers last season. They are players who can be relied upon to deliver for the team, but it’s the new guys who always attract the most attention in front of the Celtic Park crowd, and tonight, that is likely to mean Amido Balde.
I’m not going to waste your time listing the considerable number of great Celtic players who have taken more than a few games to settle into life at the club. If we see him tonight give him your support. There will be plenty time to judge next month.
I’m delighted to hear John Keane has been asked to unfurl the league flag this season. John was one of the ‘rebels’ who stepped in when the old board collapsed but few in the Celtic support know him, he declined to be photographed on the steps with the others. In many respects he was merely one of the many Celtic supporters who stepped forward when we needed them, but in one respect, John did a whole lot more.
In 1994 the Bank of Scotland informed Celtic that they had to bring their account back under the agreed overdraft limit that same day, or the bank would call-in the overdraft and appoint an administrator. We’re not talking Duff and Phelps-type administration either, the bank’s men would have shredded the playing staff in an immediate attempt to bring costs in line with income.
The old board had no money but John Keane stepped forward. Without any security from Celtic, or from the Bank of Scotland, he paid £1m of his own money into Celtic’s account, bringing the account back inside agreed terms. The bank could still have called in the overdraft and John would have lost his money. We covered it here last year, when aghast at the lack of anyone stepping forward elsewhere.
Within hours Fergus was on his way to Scotland and in the days which followed the old board agreed to sell their shares (with the worthy exception of Kevin Kelly, who told Fergus he could rely on the support of his shares without needing to pay for them).
John has attended board meetings and AGMs for the last 19 years; I can think of no better hand on the tiller. In future, when our history is written, he’ll have a page to himself. Unfurling the flag will be a proud moment for one of the most significant fans in our history.
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canamalar1 15:34 on 23 July, 2013
“So keevins has taken jacks orders, benefit of doubt now withdrawn from keevins, he is part of the problem”
Keevins has been an irrelevance for almost two decades.
The MSM are a busted flush – not worth a light.
Sunday’s orchestrated nonsense about a fire in a bus depot was beyond embarrassing; a very clumsy attempt at smear and proof that piss-poor PR companies are still calling the shots.
My brief interlope for the day comes to an end.
Much wailing and nashing of teeth may commence………
Or rejoicing.
Whatever.
It’s all good.
Is the game on the telly?
gherrybhoy57
I always found Archie fair when talking Celtic and certainly gave us much enthusiasm for our club than any other. He was about as fair as they come in this country. Peter Martin is another who is enthusiastic for all clubs.
English guys commentating on Scottish football is just alien to me. Especially international games. It’s just weird!
LB
squire danaher-a wee wake up call for next week mate.
South Of Tunis
Nice tune, he tried to do a night in Basel a few years back, in a posh gaff, really nice room and top quality tunes unfortunately the Baslers don’t have much taste or appreciate proper dj’s and diggers outside of the hip hop and house scenes, cue the scene of half a dozen engaged dancers and some pretty people standing around not really knowing what to do!
Lets give it Laldy for big Balde, hes Portugease and scores with ease , Lets give it Laldy for big Balde. H.H.
Archie will speak out whatever side of his mouth,for whover is paying him.
Mighty Tim
Hiya Pally.. Nice tae chat..
Why hiv ye skirted .. Two of the Issues.. that Ah brought up…In fact..
the Only Two Issues that Ah brought Up..’
as tae why.. Ah Heartily Condemn..along wi Keevins and anybuddy Else..
Who Deplore and Therefore, totally .. Eschew, such Uncivilized behavior,which wuzz exhibited that Night, in Brentford… by
a Certain group of Celtic Fans ..
Sorry,Kiddo..
But Ah jist canny Approve of such Outlandish Behaviour.
Flares, at a Fitba Match..Going Aff.. Among A Crowd of Folk?
that is Bordering oan.. Criminal Behaviour.. and must be
Fully . and rightly,if Ah may say so..
CONDEMNED…
And no jist by Keevins and Kojo..
But by
ALL SAFE AND SANE CELTIC FANS.. the World over..
Flares, are Bad Medicine ..when used in Such a fashion,,,, and the Smoke and Fumes kin .. bring oan a Asthmatic
Attack..in a Noo Yoik Minute..in certain Indivuals who suffer frum that Malady.
The Use of Flares, alone.. and No ither Bad Behaviour , by Certain Celtic Fans..
is Enuff
to Justify..
Public condemnation.. Fur it is a Damn Dangerous Pastime. tae Indulge.
Ah am sorry that You do not seem tae Agree with me oan this..
Anyway..
It is all aboot opinions.. so they tell Me…
And Ah.. well.. agree.
Kojo
Still , Laughin’
Robert T
I have checked TV listings – appears not on TV… I wondered if Bbc Ireland?
Kojo,
I’m no disappointed in you, I don’t expect any better, neither the flares or pitch invasion were being discussed, his remark implicating supporters were singing about the slaughter of the young soldier when no other rag has mentioned it was specifically being discussed. You as normal decided that discussion did not suit your agenda to lambast the Celtic support so tried to take the whole discussion I your favoured direction as expected, so just to remind you again and again, we were talking about keevins implying our support were singing about the murder of the soldier without any single shred of evidence it happened, lone source he has is media house and he used it.
Keevins is using media house as his source to imply the Celtic support were singing songs which celebrated the slaughter of a young soldier on the streets of London, a far more vile and dangerous action than any flare or pitch invasion, this is incitement, and they are trying to create friction and hatred towards the Celtic support, or don’t you think enough of our supporters have been assaulted and murdered yer ?
CultsBhoy loves being 1st forever & ever
The game is not on anywhere. I have checked all listings.
LB
Viktoria Plzen replaces BATE as seaded team in next rounds.
Lone = only
unew mike @ 12 42
Andrea Pirlo ?
He has a contract with Juve until the summer of 2014…
An Italian rumor monger has suggested that Real Madrid are interested in Pirlo and that Pirlo might be interested in Real Madrid…
Fabulous player – reaching the end of his career.
Canny lad will be pleased to see he had me spot on. My influence is widespread.
Jack
http://www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west-london-sport/allsport/2013/07/23/109642-33645302/?
http://www.clyde1.com/on-air/superscoreboard/lightning-strikes-for-rangers-players/
A clear attack on the players at the training ground. Swally demands to know who was behind this.
The reaction of some of the coaches and players is hillarious!
LB
LiviBhoy
Fair comment. I just felt that some were getting ready to have him canonised. Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be and all that.
Big Jock must have thought highly of him so that should be good enough for me. Remember a guy called Peter Thompson who Jock dubbed “Blue Peter?”
Could you imagine Jock with the likes of the Darryls or Leggo? It would be carnage.
…….Jackanory…………….Jackanory………Jack………
South of Tunis
Keevins is the biggest Uncle Tom ever….fact.
masty
I hope your entertaining your Irish visitors in the Brazen. Btw really nice gesture by you and Billy, giving ticket to the wee lassy in the Rock
hh
Emdy in Dempseys in Cardiff?
Nephew and I progressing slowly in that direction.
SRS,
I usually gave him the benefit of doubt simply because he did exposé info, and there were some well worked wee digs in his offering I thought went over the head of a lot of people, but today’s offering has killed any benefit I have previously given him, no that I read anything unless its been posted on here.
Messi scored 40 goals with his left foot last season…more left footed goals than any other TEAM in Europe.
Real Madrid scored 33.
Kojo
As it happens I agree with you that flares of any description ( trousers too) have no place in any fitba ground, so no fawnin oot there but the fans that came oan the park at the back of the goal did so in a friendly manner doing the huddle etc. Whilst this is not generally accepted it was reported by the Brentfords people and the local constabulary as done in a good natured way and was seen as also being a way to cool down on an extremely hot day as sprinklers were on. Brentfords people and police have said they would welcome our support back anytime. Also worth noting that Keevins was alluding to singing and making the comparison between our support and yon sevco support. Nothing else amigo.
KTF
HH
gherrybhoy57
Stein had spies everywhere. He was probably getting information from Archie and he didn;t even know that Jock was doing it. I was told Archie had a wee problem with the bevvy. Not sure if he always did but a few drinks and the mouth would have been flapping. Jock Stein was way before his time and you can see from Alex Ferguson how Stein would have operated in the modern era. Ferguson is very similar to Stein as he was effectively Steins apprentice.
I think Archie came from a an era when commentators and journalists wanted all Scottish clubs to do well in Europe.
LB
gherrybhoy57
13:16 on 23 July, 2013
I’d like to think that if I had £1m in the bank, I would be as unselfish as John Keane. He put his money where his heart was and, without doubt, saved our club. No headlines or jostling for a position; just action. We are truly blessed to have such fans among us. HH
Correct mate we have plenty that would have done the same HH
marakesh
we ended up with 7 between 4 of us, it was good to see the tears of joy on the weans face,,magical.
The last time I experienced and auld Erchie commentary was on Celtic TV – the 4-1 win over Kilmarnock at the end of January, where Adam Matthews scored two goals.
It was a surreal experience all round – got the impression he did not even know where he was! Kept getting the players mixed-up, among other things.
The new bhoy Kenny McKay had not long joined and must have been thinking what the hell he had let himself in for!
Oooooooofffttttt!!
HH!!
derbyshirebhoy 16:50 on 23 July, 2013
“Locals struggled to get near Griffin Park as roads and pavements were jammed with a sea of people wearing the green and white shirts of the opposition. One resident described the scenes as ‘the worst I’ve seen in 20 years of living here’ while officers largely stood by and watched as bottles and fast-food packaging were thoughtlessly discarded everywhere.”
Heavy stuff. The area around a football ground was packed with people on a match-day – if it hadn’t been for that another major story ‘Woman has a baby’ this would have been all over the world media.
No streakers, no attempt at breaking the goalposts, nowhere near that number of people on the pitch, and no aggression – the sooner the ‘journalist’ responsible for this rubbish returns to Trumpton the better.
marakesh
heading out to the brazen after ma tea.
Zybszek
Plzen face hard tie tonight in Bosnia only leading 4-3
Don’t think they will get through either
Anyone who has any understanding of the evil art of PR will recognise the ‘low fruit’ tactic of seeding local/free rags with pre-prepared copy for no cost. Apart from being free, locals also have the chance of being paid by nationals.
The truth is non-important. There is clear evidence of a campaign here. The killer is the last line which is probably the only editorial contribution by Chronicle staff:
“The Chronicle has spoken to Brentford FC, the local police and Hounslow Council for their reactions to the match but so far has received no comments.”
In other words, this entire article is uncorroborated!
Very appropriate gesture by the club to ask John Keane to raise the flag
John had the money to do what many without the money would have done
There are very few who have been successful enough to be in a position to write a cheque of that size, who would have done so
We all owe him a debt of gratitude
canamalar
Ah understaun very well that Celtic hiv No friends.. who work at Media House.
But..
Ah canny see fur the life of Me..
Why ,my Agreement with Keevins..in Condemning the Behaviour of Certain Celtic Fans, during and After. the Game Agin Brentford.. is such a goddamn Big deal wit You.
Ah repeat.. whit Ah hiv said
Ah Do condemn the Use of Flares at a Fitba’ Match..and Ah Condemn Pitch Invasions… and If Keevins diz tae..
then. Ah am With Him in those.
This Singing stuff.. Ah Do not doot .. did NOT Tak place..
If Keevins Said that it Did..
then. Ah do Not Agree with Him in that..
But, did He Actually Said that the Singing of that Song.. did Occur…?
in so Many words..
or.. did Keevins.. Imply it..only, By Implication?
You tell me.
But.. All the Ither Stuff.. the Flares. the Pitch Invasion..
Well
Keevins and Me are Pinkety, Pinkety oan That..
Kojo
Still, Laughin’
A
….it’s all Jackanory…..
canamalar1 16:57 on 23 July, 2013
I’ve no idea what he said today or yesterday – but he is a no mark in my opinion. Completely out of touch and holding a major grudge against our club.
Celtic continue to flourish while Keevins attempts to be heard.
Masty
I take it the Irish will be there in numbers?
Ah Cannot Get Over All This Adulation Of Pirlo…..
He Was The Dirtiest Player On The Pitch..
In The Games Celtic Played Against Milan
Under Gordon Strachan…..
He Was Throwing Himself Into Reckless Challenges….
Breaking Down Promising Celtic Moves…
And Was Only Belatedly Booked….
Which Was No Compensation For The Damage He Did To Our Chances….
He Contributed Little In The Way Of Constructive….
In Any Of The Matches…..
He Should Be Remembered For His Performances Against Us….
In The Way That The Disgraceful Ryan Giggs…
Is Remembered For His Cowardly Dive At Old Trafford……
Which Earned His Team An Unwarranted Penalty….
And The Holy Goalie….A Booking…
The Margin Between Success And Failure Is So Narrow….
That Had These Individuals Played In The True Spirit Of The Game…..
Celtic Would Have Enjoyed The Progress That Their Performances Justified…
Coarnerboys…..BOTH !
I was at Brentford on Saturday and didn’t here any singing about Lee Rigby.
Lots of bangers and unacceptably some flares in the crowd and about 20 green smoke canisters thrown on to the pitch. Why do elements of our support applaud when these are thrown?
The pitch invasion at the end by the fans including, young children, girls and boys and many older fans was of a good natured type.
The eejits who individually ran on to the pitch during the game including the one who kicked the ball when the Brentford keeper was lining up a goal kick should know better.
I assume none of the above will happen at Parkhead tonight or in any competitive games. If it does we will get caned.
I actually enjoyed the football and thought their number 10 was a standout. We were much better in the second half and Tony Watt redeemed himself with the cross for the second goal. He would be a much better player if he could play with his head up. Would he be better though the middle, will he get any games through the middle?