Celtic will face their first Champions League qualifying opponents on either 31 July or 1 August but heartbeats among the scouting staff will quicken tonight and tomorrow when every potential opponent will play in the second qualifying round.
A number of potential opponents from eastern and northern Europe are mid-season but all will benefit from successfully coming through two qualifying games before tackling seeded opponents two weeks from now.
It is crucially important that Celtic are ready for this tie.
The final qualifying round, scheduled to take place during the last two weeks in August, will offer a greater challenge on paper but European qualifying games in July are notorious for catching better teams unprepared.
After a credibly, though ultimately unsuccessful, Europa League group campaign last season Celtic’s domestic form clicked into place and we looked like a team capable of becoming champions. There was some regret that we didn’t hit form early enough to make the most of our European adventure. Neil Lennon will also be keen to avoid the anaemic performance against Sion, who beat Celtic on aggregate but were subsequently awarded two 3-0 defeats for failing to observe rules.
These Celtic players found hidden depths last season but they have a point to prove in Europe. There is also the nagging suspicion that this Celtic team is more talented that the two Gordon Strachan took to the later stages of the Champions League.
Bring it on.
Get your season ticket and saddle up for the ride.
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Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 18 July, 2012 at 03:11 said:
Neil let me guess. The allegory with the taxman and the lack of a birth certificate for sevco choppers?
Im laying claim to that wan btw….
© The Pig Hoose
Rangers should be stripped of their titles if found guilty of using EBTs, says former Celtic captain Tom Boyd
Tom Boyd won three championship medals with Celtic but he believes that his tally ought to be doubled should Rangers be found guilty of illegally using Employment Benefit Trusts to supplement the salaries of players they would not otherwise have been able to afford.
By Ewing Grahame 11:59PM BST 17 Jul 2012 9 Comments
He also argues that, should the First Tier Tax Tribunal and the SPL’s investigation into improper registration of players find against them, Rangers should be stripped of the titles they won, which could leave Neil Lennon’s side (already 1/100 favourites to finish first with Bet365) able to secure the championship for a 15th successive season.
The enquiries into the payments by former owner Sir David Murray date back to 1998 and the start of the profligate spending by Dick Advocaat, which led to Rangers being £84 million in debt by 2004.
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs originally handed Rangers with a bill for £49 million (which may rise to £75 million once penalties and interest are included), which led to Rangers appealing to the FTTT.
Now Boyd, who captained Martin O’Neill’s side to a domestic treble in 2001, has demanded that strong sanctions are applied if Rangers are convicted of cheating football’s ruling bodies as well as the taxman, including awarding titles to the runners-up for each season Rangers finished in pole position while utilising the EBTs.
“I’d probably be due more than a couple [of medals], I think, when you look back on the number of years,” he said. “We’ll wait and see the outcome of the appeal.
blah blah blah
“Obviously, yes, I think the appropriate punishment would be to strip them of these titles. But we will wait and see if that has been the case.”
Which may yet see Celtic moving into double figures for consecutive championships won.
“Fifteen in a row?” he grinned. “I’d still be playing! If they have got these players illegally then it’s certainly the case that they should be stripped of those titles. “Whether you give it to the team who finished second or whatever will be for them to decide.”
Boyd, speaking to publicise the sale of season tickets at Parkhead, confessed that anger and frustration were some of the emotions he experienced as the alleged scandal came to light.
“A lot of things go through your mind and your emotions,” he said. “You think, ‘Where does it end?’There are so many factions to this that you can delve into and get further into: obviously, looking at all the SFA chairmen that have been Rangers supporters – or ex-Rangers chairmen and stuff like that.
“It will be interesting to see where it finishes. But, initially, there would be a case for the titles to be stripped if it’s found to be illegal.”
:o)
Captain my Captain
Keevins says….Midnight Internet Bampots are the worst.
Cheeky cnut
mag,
naw,
the greedy mother in law following the dablunes into the minefield :oD)))))
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 18 July, 2012 at 03:21 said:
15 in a row! It just gets better and better. So what are the chances?
Ewing Greaeme [ignoring the Second name for a first name] ….
“( already 1/100 favourites to finish first with Bet365 )”
Get used to it E–wing
The bould bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 July, 2012 at 03:19 said:
If it comes to it in court and pig royalties are at stake. I’m your witness. However, swine fever is on the run in Escosia.
Tommy Boyd —-
A servant Off the field as much as he was on the field….A true Celt.
Love ye man. [Hope yer readin this Tom]
Hail hail
inevitible my friend :oD))))
its how we acquit ourselves is whats important now,
do we walow in howling screaming derision or show dignity and forgivness as our CHRISTdemands.
Me, am up for a wee bit of both, and its going to take me a few years to get over the screaming derision bit :oD)))) not that I’d advocate that course, did I tell you I was a liar :oD))))
Ewing Graeme
Graeme Ewing
You picked the right cat there. Gaun yersel Tom Bhoy !!!!!
GerrinteRummmmmmmm!!
Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on 18 July, 2012 at 03:32 said:
Yes my friend you did (many times) but I dont believe you!
canamalar
Don’t you be wimping out on us now……Don’t dare give ‘Em an inch
This is the Devil and all his works we are dealin with ….Forget that forgiveness nonsense…!
[Ach…..jist realised…ye got me again ya bugger]
anyroadup,
thats the crack done, again, better get to sleep got loadsahooring for my next pipeful.
canamalar the crackhoor with more dignity than a hun :o)
hail hail
Mags
With Backup like that…..Who dares to try and take my glory
:)
Och well ….
The queens Lavvys a Cupboard noo.
#FairfieldShipyardscsc hahahahaaaaa
G’nite you handsome/ gorgeous Fenian Wo/Men
Good on you Tom
Go to hampden mate and talk out loud
Fed up with weasels such as mccoist and brown talking mince how they have been hard done by
Wonder how bigger their house or bank account is bigger thanks to blatant cheating
So think they should shut it unless somebody asked them how they benifited financially by the cheating
Im not kidding.
Just think…
Judging by the pebble-dashing,..If it weren’t for those valets…one would have one sh***y a**e.
Once titles and cups are rightfully taken from rangers in a domestic setting UEFA will find a good few teams asking about sporting integrity being dished out re rangers period in Europe. Again rightfully so. Will they owe money to Uefa and European teams for placements and tv allocations?
As the Sevco fiasco unfolds some mysteries remain unanswered.
1 What exactly did McCoist whisper in Neil’s ear?
2 When will McCoist be held answerable for his outburst of “Who are these people? We have to know.”
3 How many EBT payments did Smith and Souness receive?
4 Who owns Ibrox and the training ground formerly known as Murray Park?
5 How much money will D&P earn from their maladministration gig?
6 Will the big hoose stay open?
7 Who will make up Sevco’s first 11?
8 Did Bomber really donate 40k or did he just pledge it to the fighting fund like many of us did when they first sought pledges?
9 Will they ever stop Walking Away?
10 Will Sevco see Christmas?
Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!
As far as I’m concerned, the red herring that is the “here’s your five titles back”, is the surest sign ever that, astonishingly no matter what way you think about it, the powers that matter are making a pretty good job, at present, of conspiring to allow a brand new football club to inherit the name, badge, premises, and footballing history of the dead club, minus the toxic, crippling fraud burden.
Neat trick if successfull.
‘GG on 18 July, 2012 at 04:08 said:
I can reveal answers for all….
1. “There’s more bullets in the mail for you”
2. Christmas
3. 4 each
4. Whyte
5. A million. Each
6. Naw
7. Some huns some spartans and some stenhoose muirians.
8, Pledged it. Verbally. Still paying his mortgage.
9. No
10. just
Morning Hoops
Some CL qualifiers for your perusal
HJK Helsinki thumped seven goals past hapless visitors KR Reykjavik, with Juho Makela scoring a hat-trick, and Alexander Frei scored twice to give Swiss champions FC Basel a 2-0 win at Flora Tallinn in other second round, first leg qualifiers.
Salzburg have never reached the Champions League group stage since the club was taken over by Red Bull in 2005 despite the energy drinks company pouring money into the club and their latest attempt got off to a miserable start.
Aurelien Joachim scored the only goal with a rasping 25-metre effort 15 minutes from the end, his fifth goal of the competition, while Salzburg had substitute Jonathan Soriano sent off for a second bookable offence in the last minute.
Makela opened the floodgates for HJK with a 13th minute goal and they led 2-0 at half-time thanks to a Mika Vayrynen penalty.
Two further goals from Makela, two more from Joel Pohjanpalo and one from Rasmus Schuller completed the rout after the break.
Basel, forced into the qualifying rounds after the Swiss league dropped down UEFA’s complex rankings system, had to wait for the last half hour before securing their win in Estonia.
Frei, Switzerland’s all-time leading scorer, converted a David Degen cross just after the hour and slotted home a penalty three minutes from time.
Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol, beaten in the play-off stages in the last two seasons, won 1-0 at Armenia’s FC Ulisses thanks to a Serghei Gheorghiev goal in Yerevan.
Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade thumped FC Valletta 4-1 away while Czech side Liberec won 1-0 at home to Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to Vojtech Hadascok’s first-half strike.
Margaret McGill on 18 July, 2012 at 04:42 said:
So we’re both agreed;
THEY’RE DEFUNCT…..
or maybe something that sounds similar.
Good morning fellow Celts from the 0631 to Waterloo grey skies and looks like rain
Holiday head on stop today for a long break :/)
we still need a playmaker and a grid the ba in the net striker…pronto
I feel defence is strong enough and will benefit from stability this season
HH
.
Thank You Celtic..
Few Hoops here in Dubai Airport..
Summa of Samaras HeadingHomeCSC
Grid = heid the ba in the net striker
Predictive txt and too daft too proof before I send :@)
rimtimtim on 18 July, 2012 at 00:23 said:
Nice thoughtful post there mate
The bit about Celts showing the way on Scottish fitba after a period in the Dark Ages…oh I’m going to snaffle that mate :)
I like your style
HH
I don’t want to steal SydneyTim’s thunder but I think it would be comforting to see an experienced centre half being brought in; somebody over the age of 28, intimidating, good in the air and who knows when row Z is the percentage bet, would be ideal.
As a club we haven’t gambled for a long time and have had to look on whilst other, maybe historically on paper ‘lesser’ teams have reaped large rewards.
Come on DD, don’t you agree rollercoaster would be just a wee bit more fun if you were to sanction a few coins into the pokie?!
Hail hail Marc crosas….
Tweeted you just have to look at novos twitter account to see who really abuses who !
Get in there Marc
The bould bhoys….. Tá ár lá anois on 18 July, 2012 at 03:34 said:
Ewing Graeme
Graeme Ewing
You picked the right cat there. Gaun yersel Tom Bhoy !!!!!
GerrinteRummmmmmmm!!
—–
Try to understand The oul’ first names as surnames bit has played out… Think Raith Rovers chairman for starters
What do you really know about EG?
HH
Happy Birthday to ma wee maw. Here’s a taste of her special slant of life going back to the Gordon Strachan era :-
WG’s Maw’s Hoose, Craigneuk, ML2
WG’sMaw: ………. and at the end of the day he needs to go
WG: At the end of the day they all go, mum
WG’sM: I think we should go for Craig Ravine
WG: Who ?
WG’sM: Craig Ravine, the Dundee United manager
WG: Why ?
WG’sM: I think he wears very nice glasses. Martin O’Neill used to wear nice glasses too. I miss Martin to this day. I felt very secure with Martin.
WG: Mum, you speak of these people as if you know them personally
WG’sM: Oh aye, many a candle I’ve lit for Martin and his family.
WG: Does Gordon not deserve a candle for winning 3-in-a-row ?
WG’sM: Definitely not. Strachan’s a non-believer. He said so himself. What’s the point of me lighting candles for dyed-in-the-wool atheists ?
WG: I think it would befit your status as a Christian.
WG’sM: I’ll tell you what to do son. Next time you’re at the chapel light two candles for Strachan and pretend one of them’s from me.
WG: Why do you call him Strachan mum ?
WG’sM: What do you want me to call him, Rumplestiltstkin ?
WG: I wish he WAS Rumplestiltskin.
WG’sM: Anyway your dad says he’ll be for the off in the summer and then Martin might come back.
WG: Dad’s leaving you after all these years ?
WG’sM: Don’t be daft, what would that man do without me? Strachan’s for the off and I think Martin will come back
WG: There’s more chance of me taking over.
WG’sM: Which might not be a bad thing, son. Now what’s this big question you have to ask me ?
WG: What’s your current view on extra-marital sex, mum ?
WG’sM: I’m reasonably happy with the amount we’ve got just now. Your father’s not getting any younger son.
WG: I’m not talking about you and dad, I’m talking about me
WG’sM: But you’re not even married.
WG: That I know, mother
WG’sM: Are you still seeing that girl who caused the credit munch ?
WG: Boynita
WG’sM: Funny name that. I’ve never heard of a Saint Boynita in all my life.
WG: There is no Saint Boynita, mum. She’s a non-believer as well, I’m saving you a fortune in candle money. Anyway she’s pregnant.
WG’sM: How could she do that to you, son ?
WG: She believes I’m the father.
WG’sM: Patrem Omnipotentem I hope you told her to sling her hook.
WG: Of course I didn’t. She’s expecting triplets, mum.
WG’sM: Good Lord in heaven. She’s obviously been having that HIV treatment
WG: What ?
WG’sM: HIV treatment. It’s when you have no children then suddenly you get loads.
WG: IVF
WG’sM: Not those loyalist thugs, I won’t have talk of them in this house. So when do I get to meet this girl ? I’ll need to get started on the knitting.
WG: I’m still coming to terms with the news myself, mum
WG’sM: I don’t watch that Scotland Today, anymore. They hate the Celtic, so they do. Never a good word to say about us and that Strachan just makes it worse.
WG: Give me strength
WG’sM: Have you told your dad about the triplets, son ?
WG: Of course not, I don’t want to set him on the drink again
WG’sM: He’ll be very pleased for you. Grandparents again at our age, who’d a thought? I wonder how they’ll be divyd up.
WG: Divyd up ?
WG’sM: Aye, the triplets. There’s loads of germutations.
WG: I hope the babies will be perfectly normal, mum.
WG’sM: Will it be three boys ? Three girls ? Two boys and a girl? Two girls and a boy ? I hope it’s three boys.
WG: You hope THEY’re three boys, not ‘it
WG’sM: ……Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. At least we’ve got the names sorted, that will save you some soul-searching.
WG: Do you not think Boynita deserves a say in her children’s names, mum ?
WG’sM: That would very much depend
WG: Very much depend on what ?
WG’sM: Whether or not it’s a difficult birth
WG: Triplets mum. I don’t expect it will be a walk in the park
WG’sM: The most natural thing in the world. Anyway she will have to invoke the intercession of St Gerard Majella, Patron Saint of Motherhood
WM: She’s not the invoking type, mum, and how many weans did Gerard Majella birth ?
WG’sM: Mind your tongue.What are your pals saying about the big news son ?
WG: I’ve still to break it to them. I guess I’ll be the butt of much scorn
WG’sM: From Alfred Lee and NAFOS ?
WG: Yup, Mr Laurel & Mr Hardy
WG’sM: Well, at least you got yourself a girlfriend, even if she is a non-believer. Those two will never amount to much, too much nonsense in their heads. I always thought that Alfred Lee was a bit soft, another one of your lame ducks.
WG: Maybe that’s why he can’t get a woman, mum……Oh here’s your dad coming in now
WG: I know I can hear that bloody dog yelping. Its bark gets right inside my ears mum. I’m going to suffer a perforated eardrum because of that mutt.
WG’sM: That dog IS my ears. I wouldn’t know when there was someone at the door is it wasn’t for Patch. Anyway it’s well known you don’t like the dog. That’s why the dog barks at you, he can sense your disinfection.
WG: What ?
WG’sM: It’s obvious. Animals pick things up. Patch knows you don’t like him and that’s why he growls at you. He detects your disinfection and reacts naturally. He sees you as a threat, doesn’t he, John ?
WG’sDad: Disaffection
WG’sM: That’s what I said
WG’sD: WG has always preferred cats, haven’t you, son ?
WG’sM: Sleekit creatures in league with the devil. You wouldn’t see St Martin de Porres with a cat at his feet. Good old Martin, I always liked that name. He got me that four apartment in Wishaw, Martin de Porres did.
WG: I’ve seen a painting of Martin de Porres and beside him are a dog, a cat and a mouse. He brought the disparate tribes of the animal kingdom together, a kind of Catholic version of Sir Murray David.
WG’sM: Do not mention that man’s name under my roof, WG.
WG’sD: De Porres was also a mulatto, the same as your musical hero Arthur Lee. He referred to himself as ‘the mulatto dog’ such was his humility.
WG’sM: Well that just proves my point, John. He didn’t call himself ‘the mulatto cat’, did he ?
WG: Mum, explain away the Lisbon Lions…… in your own time of course.
WG’sM: I’m away to put the kettle on. John, your son has some news for you…..
……
WG: Dad, how do you cope with that woman ? How have you managed to spend almost fifty years of matrimonial bliss with someone who seemlessly translates everything we say into what she wants to be hearing ?
WG’sD: It’s all double-bluff, son. I let your mum haver on around the minutiae and I deal with reality – bills, council tax, the supporters club, the lottery etc. Just keep your eye to the important things and let the women dust around the periphery of life.
WG: Wise words indeed.
WG’sD: And most unlike you to seek them. What can I do for you ? Your maximum withdrawal is £200.
WG: I’m not after cash, dad. Well, not in the short term.
WG’sD: What’s happening in the long term ?
WG: I’m undecided, thought I’d take time to examine my options.
WG’sD: What are your options, son ?
WG: Option A – continue to spend my days of unlimited leisure supporting Celtic, watching Arsenal, drinking in the Teser, commanding the militia and undermining the serried ranks of freemasonry
WG’sD: Go for Option A
WG: You haven’t heard Option B
WG’sD: No matter what Option B is it can’t be better than Option A
WG: It’s not
WG’s D: Teser ?
WG: Aye, may as well
Happy Birthday, Irene
Morning Celts
The place is buzzing doon here, full o golfers……. Fore!
Naw they’re in the turd!
Winningemmell
Ha too long to read, need to save it for later.
HH
winningemmell on 18 July, 2012 at 07:26 said:
Happy Birthday to ma wee maw. Here’s a taste of her special slant of life going back to the Gordon Strachan era :-
—–
Hilarious and happy birthday to your mum
HH
Captain take my hand and lead me to the discoland.
Tommy Boyd you’re the mhan.
miki67 01-01
nice one..
hh
WG
A nice wee read (although not ” wee ” enough for vmhan!).
Does Tom Boyd have a column in any Scottish `paper? Hmmm….