Ballymote, Barca and harsh rule for Paisley
Two things to cover today but important item first…
Mark Cameron, from the John Thomson Memorial Committee has been in touch to invite you to participate in the Ballymote to Glasgow Cycle next month to commemorate and promote our club’s important origins. I know there are several enthusiastic cyclists in our community so I hope you can participate in this magnificent venture. Message on the trip reads:
“Ballymote – Glasgow Cycle
As a supporters lead project to promote the charitable origins of the club we will be cycling from Brother Walfrid’s home in Ballymote, Co Sligo to Celtic Park to coincide with the clubs first domestic game in the clubs 125th year. The cycle will commence on Thursday 8th November and arrive at Celtic Park in time for the St Johnstone league match on Sunday November 11th.
We are seeking volunteers to take part in the cycle and raise funds for Celtic Charity Fund’s “1254125” campaign.
Draft Itinerary:
Leave CP after Barcelona game on Nov 7th
Travel overnight to arrive in Ballymote 09.30 Nov 8th
Thursday cycle 40 miles
Friday cycle 75 miles
Saturday am cycle 25 miles then Belfast – Cairnryan ferry
Saturday pm cycle 35 miles
Sunday cycle 50 miles arriving at CP prior to St Johnstone game on November 11th
There will be overnight accommodation on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
In order to meet deadlines for ferry and to ensure we are cycling in daylight hours we need to be cycling consistently at 15 mph. As most of the cycling will be on road then a racer / road bike would be better than mountain bike.
In addition to the cyclists we are looking for a couple of volunteers for support drivers (first aid experience would be an advantage) who will travel along the route with the cyclists and assist as necessary.
If you want any more information then please get in touch by emailing johnthomson31@live.co.uk.”
On other matters……
Most of Celtic’s international players will arrive back in Scotland today and return to training tomorrow and Friday ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick off against St Mirren. They will fly to Barcelona on Sunday and have a full day training on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game.
We know Scott Brown is injured and Neil Lennon will surely take no chances in Paisley with his captain, currently on the best form of his career and instrumental in the win in Moscow, but others will arrive from throughout Europe, Africa and Central America with varying levels of preparedness for the enormous task that lies ahead. The first job of the backroom team will be to assess and compensate for any fatigue, stiffness or knocks before sending the squad out for a warm-up. I would be keen to spare other travellers the rigours of Paisley, where possible.
The same is true of our opponents (I’m not referring to St Mirren here), who have endured the kind of injury run normally associated with a week at Lennoxtown and who have international players throughout their team. Barcelona are away to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday evening, who are currently languishing in 18th place after losing Lassad to Celtic on transfer deadline day.
The odds of something special happening on Tuesday night are long but we have profited against similar odds at the same location in the recent past – with a rookier keeper too. We are in the Champions League on merit and have already surpassed one achievement of all previous Celtic teams in this tournament. Plans for Tuesday start with how we prepare for Saturday.
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