BT Sport had Alan Thompson on at the weekend previewing the Cup Final and I was reminiscing about him. When he played, I wrote he was the most influential Celtic midfielder since the Lisbon Lions. Not the most talented, McStay and Collins among others could claim to be more gifted, by Thompson pushed Celtic into places none of the others managed.
His goals in Europe and against Rangers are legend, and his assists record is outstanding, but despite my complete adoration of the player, he had a clear drawback. Whenever he was absent through injury, it took weeks in the first team before he looked moderately competent. So much of his game was about sheer physical effort that anything below 100% fitness made him ineffective.
This week Boli Bolingoli, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Leigh Griffiths, Jonny Hayes and Mikey Johnston started games for the first time after injury. Bolingoli (that corner kick!) and Elyounoussi both reminded me of Alan Thompson returning from injury. We should cut them some slack as they build fitness.
The same cannot be said for Leigh Griffiths, who looks as sharp as a tack. He will benefit from 90 minutes last night but he is ready to lead the line, if required.
Scott Robertson looked the part, especially early on, when Celtic had more shape than they did at the end of the game. Delighted too that Karamoko Dembele got his first outing of the season. He was not able to contribute much but he is a lad we should have plans to develop into a first team player.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the raffle for Tom Rogic’s signed shirt for the Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas appeal. It is humbling to see Celtic fans in action like this. The winner has been informed by email – so check your inbox!
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I’m not sure Paul Slane is sane
Understandably there’ve been less votes for last nights game than most others. Indeed the last email came through at 2.10pm (thanks, Corkcelt). But, panic ye not, there are still almost 3 hours to have your say. 1 email with 3 players names please to cqnpoty@gmail.com . And at least tonight your vote will count for something! HH
I actually have quite vivid memories of my first ever visit to Celtic Park.
It was the tail end of season 1968-69 and I was 3 months away from my 7th birthday. Wednesday 9th April 1969, a home league game against Falkirk. At the time, my eldest brother went to all home games and the odd away one and was 26 years old. But he didn’t live at home (long story for another night). So my 17 year old sister had to take me on the 79 bus from East Kilbride to meet my brother at Bridgton Cross of all places. After putting her back on the return bus me and my brother walked towards the huge floodlights, getting there about an hour before kick off.
As it was my first ever game my brother took me (for the one and only time!) to a seat in the stand. I looked around amazed at a pretty deserted stadium and my eye caught the numbers at the top of each walkway – the Celtic end had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, continuing on through the jungle and round the other vast terracing. A wee while later, with the crowd filling up nicely, I had my first ever (and the first of many) d’oh moment. The announcer began to tell me the team, “Number 1, John Fallon… Number 2 Jim Craig, etc…..” I looked along to my left expecting to see The Original Holy Goalie run down passageway no. 1, Craig coming down the next passageway, etc. I burst out crying when they failed to appear with my brother in hoots of laughter.
Don’t remember much of the actual game apart from the score, 5-2 to the good guys.
The team that night was Fallon, Craig and O’Neill; Murdoch, McNeil and Clarke; Johnstone, Hood, Wallace, Auld and Lennox. Goal scorers were Harry, Willie(2) and Buźz Bomb(2).
And what a domestic season that was. 3 days earlier we beat Hibs 6-2 to lift the League Cup. And 2 weeks later it was Celtic 4 Rangers 0 and the Scottish Cup was ours.
Great days indeed.
Apparently there’s an anti-boris demonstration in Buchanan Street tonight – is that where all the posters are?
Just having a look back at ‘the first sighting of Celtic Park’ posts and having a smile. I vividly remember my first visit as a 7 year old and taken by my older brother. We played Motherwell on 2 January 1959 and drew 3-3. He also took me to Celtic v Hibs (3-0) and Celtic v Dunfermline (3-1) during the same season.
Happy days!
Guys great stories about the old Celtic park and first visits, I am not long back from dropping off Mrs David66 at paradise for her works night out and oh bhoy does it look magnificent. It makes you so proud standing at the beginning of the walkway with Big Billy holding aloft that Cup and looking up to the parl along the gloriously lit green walkway to paradise.🍀💚🍀💚🍀
Hail Hail
D. :)
Hello again all you young rebels.
Great blog reading back, aul memories, aul cars, and aul thegither.
That’s the Celtic family i recognise.
Now for a festive weekend with the peninsula rebels, can’t wait.
H.H . Mick
MM – enjoy
Me and Fergusslayedtheblues from this parish have works night oot mañana and can’t wait.
Some grub, piss up and a karaoke which will probably lead to a Rebeloke🍀💚🍀🍺
HH
D. :)
DAVID66
Couldn’t sing to save my life, but put me in the jungle and i’d
start every and any Celtic song going.
Think the crowd just joined in to drown my screechy wee voice out lol.
Enjoy your night with FERGUSSLAYEDTHEBLUES, great blog name that.
H.H . Mick
Celtic
Must be near GFTB time? wonder what his first car was?
I’m guessing a Cadillac or the big Pontiac 8-))
H.H . Mick
DALLAS DALLAS
Celtic thats the team for me.
Thought i’d finish that for you lol.
H.H . Mick
MM – I cannot sing to save masell, but I loooooove it. No one else does mind you. 😂
D. :)
Mm – I had an uncle (sadly passed now) and he used to turn up every year at Christmas at my mums(his sisters) with different big American cars, feck knows where he got them from.
D. :)
MM 9.19pm
I have never drove, took 2 lessons at 17 and decided I was born to be driven :-)
My u-21 coach was my driving instructor and he said your feet never listen to your brain a bit like on a fitba Park, I was wanting to press all the pedals !!!
First Celtic Park experience SSW Innsbruck around 1977, as a 7yr old my most vivid memory was the programme was 10p and I thought I was going to “win the ball” competition, this is shocking I am not sure if it was my big cousin or one of my brothers that took me … think I was too interested in winning the ball competition… back in the late 70s early 80s when there were very wasn’t many cars in our scheme always remember my brothers “Hillman Hunter” ??? If that’s right, again not sure why I remember it, probably because when he parked it at our front gate it got in the way of us playing “gatesy” when one on one and the gate across the road was the oppositions goal, we even changed “halves” at half time and away goals counted double :-)
My first visit to Celtic Park was to see the Lions coming back with the European Cup. . I can only remember the big crowd and the truck going round the pitch.
I think my first game was a friendly at Kilbowie when i was 5 or 6 . Unfortunately , I can’t remember my first actual game at Celtic Park.
My dad when he took me to home games would park the car ( a Cortina mark 2 estate then the best of all a Cortina mark 3 2 litre GXL Ghia ) at St Michael’s Church on the Gallowgate. We would walk down Springfield Road , turn into a side street taking us to Janefield Street then into the Rangers End. The thrill for me was walking up the stairs , getting to the top then seeing our pitch and the ground at its best. I still get a thrill going up to the stadium then going up the stairs to my seat.
One of my pals gave me his and his son’s tickets in the North Stand for our game versus Dundee in September 2004. This was a great oppurtunity to take my then 4 year od son to his first game at Celtic Park. We parked the car at the forge , my wife and daughter went shopping. I tried to follow the same route, as close as possible to that my dad used taking me to our home games.
As we went along Janefield Street , i had a lump in my throat and was filling up because my son was going to see our team for the first time , hoping he would grow up into a Celtic supporter the same way my dad was delighted I did.
Fifteen years later , he has been a season ticket holder for ten years , the last three in the standing section and a member of a local supporters bus. I’m so proud of him.
Melbourne Mick , thanks.
I thought Celtic was the most appropriate thing to post to get me logged in.
Dallas 9.35pm
First game at Kilbowie ??
Who were you supporting :-)
Remember buying a flashy Ford Corsair in my 20’s, it was really
clapped out but looked great, and me with my long hair and flares.
After it broke down for the umpteenth time and back at the garage
the conman who sold me it loaned me one of those old cars Al Capone
and the mafia used to fire their Tommy guns out of.
You know the one, all black with the big running boards at the side doors
lol ,didn’t do my Rolling Stones image much good 8-))
H.H Mick
MELBOURNE MICK
5 of us in a Ford Corsair drove to Milan for the Feyenoord final. Only one driver!
Me an 4 ghuys fae the Brig.
I recall we were away for about 10 days and in spite of the result we had a great time.
It’s amazing how we feel a sense of pride when we see our children grow up to go into what ever profession or job they wish, and to know we have passed on a good work ethic, social skills, manners, to treat other people with the same respect that they would wish upon them, faith, politeness, kindness and family values, but it is equally pleasing when we take our young kids/grand kids to Celtic and introduce them to a whole new family and they grow into that said family with all the other values we have passed onto them.
Like Dallas Dallas and so many of us it makes us so proud. They then go abroad or out into life with the passed on values and that of Celtic FC which we instilled and make new friends who they tell about Celtic because of their good social skills….
Auch you all know what I mean….
Hail Hail
D. :)
PHILBHOY
Bet you passed me trying to hitch it to Milan.
You’d have recognised the Celtic top and the aul haversack
full of tins a baked beans and corned mutton lol.
H.H Mick
MELBOURNE MICK
We couldny gie ye a lift but might have nicked yer beans!
DAVID66
Yes, we all know.
Thats the Celtic family.
H.H . Mick
Talking about nicking my beans ! got chased through a French
town by a bunch of hippies for about an hour, only got away by
hiding in amongst a wee wifeys washing line.
Imagine if they’d caught me and only got tins o beans.
Things we do for Celtic eh.
H.H . Mick
MELBOURNE MICK
I wish someone had nicked my beans!
It was our staple diet for the trip and, as you can imagine, much of the journey was done with the windows down!
*** CQN PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2019-20 ***
RESULTS FROM GAME #22 – CLUJ 2 CELTIC 0
The good news is that its a very short preamble from me tonight. I have a laptop that has temperamental letters O, Y and T. So I’m on my wee tablet, trying to touch type on a small screen. I probably picked a good game to have these problems.
This game has had the 2nd lowest participation so far (coincidentally, the other one being our other 2-0 defeat at Livingstone) but thank you to the 38 who voted. The votes for the 14 players who took to the field are as follows (my own choices are asterisked) –
Gordon: 2
Bauer: 3
Jullien: 5
Bitton: 14
Bolingoli-Mbombo: 4
Ntcham*: 26
Robertson*: 18
Morgan: 0
Johnston: 19
Sinclair: 0
Griffiths*: 22
Ajer: 0
Bayo: 0
Dembele: 0
Unused subs – Hazard, Taylor, Forrest, Savoury
Therefore, the players receiving points for the Cluj game are –
Ntcham – 5 points
Griffiths – 4 points
Johnston– 3 points
Robertson – 2 points
Bitton – 1 point
That leaves the overall table reading as follows –
Brown – 45 points
Christie – 36 points
Edouard – 32 points
Forrest – 26 points
Frimpong – 25 points
Jullien – 24 points
Elyounoussi – 22 points
McGregor – 21 points
Forster – 20 points
Ntcham – 14 points
Bolingoli-Mbombo – 13 points
Ajer – 11 points
Bauer – 11 points
Hayes – 8 points
Elhamed – 8 points
Taylor – 5 points
Griffiths – 4 points
Bitton – 4 points
Bayo – 3 points
Johnston – 3 points
Robertson – 2 points
Morgan – 2 points
Rogic – 1 point
Next up, Hibs. You never know, we might start that game in 2nd place in the league, he he. Unfortunately I’ll miss that game for very happy reasons (the baptism of my 2 grandsons). But I hope to watch the whole game later in the day, allowing me to cast my own votes.
Voting will open around 4.50pm on Sunday.
Hail Hail
First time to see Celtic: v Shamrock Rovers in RDS C. 1986. Took my nephew and younger brother.
First time in Scotland: v Hearts at Tynecastle C1995. 1-1
First time at Celtic Park: v Aberdeen when Jock Stein stand was temporary seating 1-0.
First car: AMC Ambassador. Bought in 1984 from a Belfast Bhoy in Phoenix, Az. He later became the president of the Phoenix CSC and up until recently ran his own pub there
PHILBHOY
Memories eh !
Told the story before on here and it still amazes me to this day.
Lying in a field in France, nobody giving lifts because of some recent
murders of hitchhikers.
Eating my last tin of corned mutton by digging it out with a pencil lol
and then that stirring sound of HAIL..HAIL.. the Celts are here.
Thinking i might have a lift, looked along the road and there he was, a
lone Celtic supporter, no top on, no bag, nothing but a big tricolour
proudly held aloft, so pashed he couldn’t even talk.
Long story but i’ve always wondered about that ghuy.
H.H . Mick
MELBOURNE MICK
Some great stuff on here today.
Brilliant CQN!
Check this out
https://pin.it/4h44ovhzf34cgg
GFTB
Not a driver eh? bet you had a chaufoor lol.
H.H . Mick
MM 10.25pm
First job Morrison Street Glasgow in 1988, didn’t need to drive for work, 2019 still working in the toon still don’t need a car, only one in the family that doesn’t drive, it has never interested me, stepdaughters, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews all drive … born today be driven :-)
31003
Great stuff, will spend a bit of time on that site later.
Some of those photos will make me dewy eyed.
H.H . Mick
MELBOURNE MICK
It’s a great site. It has EVERYTHING on it
Gerry, Celtic.
In later years. If my dad was working and I couldn’t get to Celtic Park , my mum let me go to see Clydebank at Kilbowie.
In the 77/78 season , we lost 3 2 and drew 1 each in our games at Kilbowie. I was absolutely beelin after each of these games with our inept perfrmances.
Nice talkin as usual ghuy’s
But you all know what time it is right?
Thats correct, it’s hunt a hurtin hun time again.
Cellic tap oan and oot.
H.H . Mick
MM
Enjoy your day!