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Celtic v Hearts, Live updates

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  1. the long wait is over on

    Irrespective of the significance of today from a “getting over the line’ pov, going a goal behind to the team comfortably third in the league and then coolly and methodically dismantling them is a great result.

     

     

    A performance of true champions.

     

     

    Let’s remember , despite the hype around thems reaching the Europa League final , they aren’t the best in Europe. They aren’t even the best in their own house.

     

     

     

    We are.

  2. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    Spidey 101 from the last thread

     

     

    From yesterday (I got sidetracked with work so couldn’t reply), I don’t have time to find previous posts about not competing, but there’s ample evidence that lots of us see Europe as a bonus and the league being the be all and end all – see the “Hibs is the more important game” comments in the run up to and aftermath of the second leg of the Bodo game – we were only 2 goals down to a team in pre-season and we’d thrown in the towel. They didn’t do that in any of the ties they were behind in – Braga, Leipzig. You can be sure a good number of us would have said “we can’t compete” if we were drawn against Dortmund or Leipzig.

     

     

     

    The biggest lesson we can learn from them is about doing all we can to make our football team as good as it can be! They’ve spent money they don’t have to achieve success and did so – they stopped our 10 (a holy grail for them) and have achieved European respectability.

     

     

     

    We, by contrast, appear to take a “just enough” perspective – we do things either the cheap way or the easy way. Examples include appointing Ronnie as head coach when we intended him to be assistant manager, appointing Lennon in the showers, WGS wanting Fletcher and getting Flood, a “jobs for the boys” approach to the back room team, replacing McKay as he was too much for the Board, keeping Lennon too long last year and giving Kennedy an audition, missing out on Toney, McGinn, Puccini et al for relatively small sums of money, the list goes on! We’re amateurish and have no ambition (Bankier basically said there’s no point aiming for CL as we have had some pastings) to modernise, improve or be the best we can be! Just enough to achieve domestic success and no more than that is our approach.

     

    ————————————————–

     

     

    Tonight is not the best night to get into this but I owe you the courtesy of a reply.

     

     

    My reply was that there was concern expressed by the support as to whether we should pursue CL with its financial success but high risk of getting a doing now and again or to aim at Europa as it was a competition into which we had a chance to go deep. My own preference was always to aim at the CL and test against the big boys and risk the beatings but I recognise there was disagreement by some. Doesn’t matter which side you are on because you cannot guarantee to do well in either so it might as well be CL.

     

     

    This kind of debate and thinking which was there amongst most of our support is not confined to the “suit’s” thinking, and they don’t influence our chances of success by much; that is always down to players and coaches. They are the ones who are praised when successful and derided when not. Directors and Chairmen just need to run finances prudently and not get in the way. In all my life I have never heard a song sung about a director or Chairman.

     

     

    The debate started about whether we were deliberately dismissing or sabotaging our chances of Euro football. I asserted that your post was saying that we weren’t trying for it because it was too hard. The quote you gave, which I am now informed came from Bankier, did not support that, in my opinion. That is why you have to say “basically”, and “appears to” ; phrases like that show when the interpretation and potential distortion comes in. Bankier is a fool with words but even he was not saying that European football is beyond us, and neither has any Celtic fan on here.

     

     

    It is, however, very hard to get to quarter final level in the CL as a club like Celtic; not impossible but you’ll get long odds on it. I am hard headed enough to know that but it does not make me dismissive of the competition nor does it make me want to see Celtic not aim at it. I have never heard a manager, player or Director/CEO at Celtic say that either. That is why my £50 donation remains unwon. It is not because you don’t have the time to look for them; it is because they don’t exist in the form that you hinted at. There may well be individual directors or CEO’s who feel Europa is more our level but none of them are planning to make us fail a title challenge or a CL qualifying tie to end up there. It is, however, a popular position and opinion to say they are responsible for our many failures to make as good a fist of CL qualifying as we should have.

     

     

    The players and coaches do not throw in a towel either; they just got beat. It is annoying and the easy arguments are to say they are unmotivated, lazy or wanting away but the truth is they are competitive professionals playing other competitive professionals and Bodo beat us ; we did not give up on efforts- no player would accept that accusation from you.

     

     

    Accepting RD, after he was deemed to be an asst. coach (training to be the top coach) may have been a cheap option but so was Ange and so was Wim. Ronny, as he has proven with New York City FC was unlucky that he did not get senior player buy in. Other cheap options like Wim and Ange did. Dearer options as manager- Tony Mowbray and Dalglish/ Barnes did not. It is quality not expense that counts though of course, more buying power gets you more highly rated options and they are highly rated because they have been successful and because they are highly rated, they are disinclined to wallow in the SPFL.

     

     

    Which brings me to my final point- you praise Sevco for having spent money they don’t have to stop the 10 and get to a Euro final. That’s only one side of the equation- they spent even more chasing the European Cup in the 90’s and noughts and went bust as a result. That behaviour does not merit praise. Of course, most will reply- “we only want a little bit of debt and not the amounts they risked”- but the whole purpose of this blog was to show that we did pursue many years of moderate debt year on year, without affecting our Euro chances at all. Moderate debt does not cut it when you try to bridge a gap with teams assembled with £100m more than you spend. And debt has to be repaid someday. You cannot go chasing your lost bets from a speculate to accumulate policy like a desperate gambler without having a repayment plan. I detest Sugar Daddy financing and every pound of debt is stolen from next year’s team and from the next generation who have to cut back to pay for your indulgence.

     

     

    Now the Huns have landed the gamble this year bu spare me the idea that they planned for this. They were aiming for the league- that was the easiest way to win the CL money on offer. They never expected to win the Europa (and they haven’t yet) so their gamble has not yet worked out for them but I agree they are frighteningly close to adding fuel to those who believe “speculate to accumulate” is a plan with prospects.

     

     

    I cannot explain how Sevco reached the Europa final and I never explain things away by attributing them to luck. They beat a lot of good teams to get where they are. They offer hope that we can do much better than we do but it was an unplanned occurrence. They are as surprised to be in the final as we are gobsmacked. I can only attribute it to the same phenomenon that saw Foinavon win the 1967 Grand National as a 100 to 1 shot. But, if you backed a 100/1 horse strategy every year, you would have had a winner 5 times in the 183 year history of the race. though it happened again in 2009 with Mon Mome- remember there are more than one 100/1 shot in every race and you’ll have to bet them all to land a winner so you would not be in profit.

     

     

    Celtic will have to continue to do it the hard way as a financially strapped team in a peripheral league spending what they can afford buying smartly and appointing ambitious coaches. I think we won a watch with Ange and he will improve us , even in Europe, but good coaches and good players will be tempted away if we are successful and building and re-building is never an easy task.

     

     

    I foresee better success under Ange but I also foresee future failures. It is a competitive sport and many clubs are advantaged over us. We live within a glass ceiling until other structures in football change. I can live with that without feeling the need to pin the blame someone within this disadvantaged sector.

     

     

    And today of all days, I rejoice in a very good and a very sweet league win- that Bankier & Co never managed to sabotage with their pesky lack of ambition😀

  4. THE EXILED TIM on

    GFTB

     

    I bet the feeling you had going to collect was intense, I know mine was, they had to give me a cheque for half of it as they didn’t have enough in their till, in saying that I was there when the shop opened >:)

     

    And he may well have robbed you, they are like that as time has proven, it’s in their DNA and they have no shame either.

     

    Anyways, looking forward to an extended break and a rejuvenation of the squad, they need it after their exertions this season, it’s been superb.

  5. GFTB on

    Guy 8.27pm

     

     

    We’ve had a good few amazing captains … Callum “could” eclipse the lot, he has it all and I love listening to other players saying how important he is, a terrific grounding from Broony but 100% his own man, by all accounts (rumours) he was the one player that Brendan really wanted to follow him to Leicester … he is such an intelligent footballer who works his socks off, so glad when he came back from Notts County we didn’t sell him as Notts Co and a few others were after him back then … shows what I know I thought £1m would be great business back then … Calmac has proved , I should probably keep my opinions to myself :-)

  7. Turkeybhoy on

    On second thoughts,maybe the “Maths” are good way of doing it.Prolong the agony.A brilliant night for the punters at Dundee on Wed,then a real lap of honour,on Saturday.Wife’s,weans,girlfriends,the lot showing the new guys,”This is what it means to be Celtic”

  8. GFTB on

    TET 8.38pm

     

     

    I have an understanding wife who doesn’t mind my gambling, it’s more of a hobby than a habit and definitely only gamble what I can afford (allowed) .. any winnings gets transferred to the Mrs these days none of that going to the “pay out desk” probably miss that more than anything :-)

     

     

    I was dreaming last Sunday as I had Jota hattrick at 375/1 for a couple of quid … but Celtic bets are just novelty and main thing is Celtic winning

     

     

    Ange has been amazing this season and love his replies to the press… in a couple of hours am just going to binge on utube and watch the aftermath stuff today … Wednesday at Tannadice will be magnificent

     

     

    Life is far too short to worry about things out with our control … Celtic is our constant 🍀

  9. the long wait is over on

    GFTB on 7TH MAY 2022 8:39 PM

     

     

    I agree.

     

     

    Callum’s awareness of what’s around him – “seeing pictures around him “ as the pundits like to call it

     

    – is truly exceptional.

     

     

    He almost never gets caught in possession.

     

     

    He’s matured into an indispensable captain and the comfortably the best player in the country.

     

     

    We wouldn’t have won this league without him.

  10. TheLurkinTim on

    Watching the interview…I now know why Calmac continues to wear the mask…he isn’t ageing ;-))

     

     

    DorianGreyCSC

     

     

    H.H.

  11. THE EXILED TIM on

    GFTB

     

    Same here really, I have scaled back my betting to the same as you, it’s now more of a pain as the betting sites are fleecing you more and more, so I am giving them less and less.

     

    Anyways, had too much bibida so I will bid you all a good champions winning evening, sleep well Timland

     

    HH

  12. GFTB on

    TLWIO 8.48pm

     

     

    Cheers, am in agreement with you also

     

     

    Even though Callum has been great for us over a number of years I think this season he seems to have just grabbed the whole team and pushed us on, him being fit and available in the 3-0 game against the Huns was pivotal for us this season, I think his teammates (& the fans) got a lift with him starting the game

     

     

    Player of the year by a country mile

  13. GFTB on

    TET 8.56pm

     

     

    Sleep well … you’ll probably be dreaming about partnering Kyogo in attack and betting yourself for a hattrick

     

     

    Good times mate 🍀

  14. 31003 on

    Vvd follows the ball instead of marking the man coming through

     

    He’s losing his game. He needs to stop trying to be the big I am

  15. Celtic Mac on

    turkeybhoy

     

     

    Vast majority of the crowd did stay behind to celebrate but you did draw attention to an area where, rather than the crowd leave early, they did not turn up at all, namely in sections 118 and 119. It is obvious to me at least that tickets were not sold for large parts of those sections, and though they are relatively close to the away fans, in 120, not close enough to present a problem in my book. Fact is though Celtic announced, on 25 April, late afternoon that both the Hearts game and next weeks Motherwell game were “sold out”. I know these areas well, along with 116 and 117, and it is clear substantial numbers of tickets are not being made available to Celtic supporters. Poor show and no good reason for it. And as for getting an explanation, I might as well ask about Res 13.

  16. JHB on

    We have scored 130+ goals this season, so I’m not complaining. That said, we do miss a lot of straightforward chances – today e.g. at least three cut-backs into the six-yard box resulting in almost pass-back like ‘shots’ straight at the keeper – and sometimes headers from that range are almost ‘cushioned’ towards the goal. We’ve seen in a number of games this season, not least against the Ibrox club, where we could/should have been two/three to the good before they replied, but spurned gilt-edge chances.

     

     

    So the quantity of goals is fine, but sometimes, in some games, we pass up good chances and this invites pressure on to us as the game unfolds. We can be almost like a company, well run & successful with no obvious overall financial problems, sometimes needlessly put under pressure by unnecessary cashflow issues.

     

     

    Let’s hope Ange gets them to put the foot through the ball in such positions in future…..much like the GMak & O’Riley goals today.

  18. Thunder Road on

    Couldn’t pick a motm today…..thought every single player stepped up today and played their part in another brilliant team performance.

     

    A joy to watch.

     

    Thank you Ange.

  19. GFTB on

    Whooft … 9.10pm

     

     

    Thunder Road

     

     

    How are things not saw your moniker for an age

     

     

    Glad your enjoying our Ange hope all is good mate

  23. prestonpans bhoys on

    They can stuff their ‘ mathematically possible crap’ far as I’m concerned we won the league today. Bottle of wine🍷 number two👍👍👍

  24. An Tearmann on

    Thunder Rd and The original Sadies bhoy

     

     

    Good to see you both on these pages.

     

     

    HH

  25. Thunder Road on

    Hey GFTB, yes been a while!

     

     

    Im good, just been working toooo much.

     

     

    Special day today and couldn’t resist enjoying it as much as i could, so here i am!

     

     

    Didn’t expect to see you but the day keeps getting better!

     

     

    Hows things?

     

     

    Is the wee blade still wee and is she still keeping you in check?

  27. Ron Bacardi on

    JHB

     

     

    Where did the cashflow reference come from? Are you really a hurting hun?

  29. An Tearmann on

    ParkheadcumSalford.

     

     

    No worries my friend,hope you enjoy today’s victory.

     

     

    God bless

     

     

    HH

  30. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    Dearie me. Jota this, O’Reilley that, maybe CCV.

     

     

    We started terribly and much like the game at Mordor, Cal Mac stepped up to lead by example and steady the ship.

     

     

    MOTM by a country mile.

  31. Jinkyredstar on

    Prestonpans – with you 100% on us being Champions after today, the other 10% doesn’t trust calculators 😀

     

     

    My personal take on a Mojito is now just 4 parts Rum with a bit of lime I found on the carpet!

     

     

    Hail hail

  33. Ron Bacardi on

    JHB

     

     

    You are a hun , certainly not a Celtic fan or supporter. Just a stirrer on here.

  34. JHB on

    RON BACARDI @ 9:30

     

    JHB

     

     

    Where did the cashflow reference come from? Are you really a hurting hun?

     

    —–

     

    What I am is immaterial here – but it is patently obvious what you are.

  36. An Dún on

    Liverpool’s league hopes look done after a 1-1 draw with Spurs.

     

     

    1967 looks set to remain unequalled in Britain.

  37. 31003 on

    Sextuple if you count the quiz show we won. ( Can’t remember what it was called)

  41. 31003 on

    Septuble if we won the reserve league, which we probably did because of the Quality Street Gang

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