Live updates will appear below after 19:45.
Signing event in Stirling
Joe Miller will be at Waterstones in Stirling tomorrow (Thurs) from 5pm to sign copies of Caesar and the Assassin, Billy McNeill and Davie Hay’s account of managing Celtic from 1978 to 1991, told in their own words to Alex Gordon.
Joe is a great character who worked under McNeill, Hay and Alex Ferguson, and now heads the Celtic Former Players Association. If you’re in the Stirling area, get along and bring your camera.
The 2015 CQN Annual is through design and ready to ship next week. You can pre-order yours now.
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timmy7_noted
23:18 on 3 December, 2014
VVD & Stokes both have 6 goals
HT, I knew you predicted this, but I do disagree.
Stefan in that position adds a dynamic that Kris doesn’t.
442, Kris would play, 4231, Stefan.
The other change I’d like to see is Nir playing alongside Scott.
HT T7
if we play KC we need to change the sytstem as we still need two holding midfielders, we need to drop the right or left forward and where does SJ fit into that system.?
Just in and time for a beer, our Ronny is making it difficult by sticking to favourite picks irrespective of form. Mulgrew and Stokes should be dropped, so not a bad performance since down to eight men from the start.
Jamesgang,
Just an in-an-out from you, wow, just as yet missus described ;-))
H.H. & KTF
I was the only one of a group of 9 season ticket holders who could be bothered going to the game tonight I find that very worrying,all of us have been season ticket holders for at least 20 years and 4 or 5 over 30,I’m afraid the dearth in performance is chasing people away.
Is anyone really enjoying watching us at the moment? I’m enjoying winning but the performances are erratic,slow and very inconsistent.A spell of bad weather could have us down to well under 20k for home games.
The manager does not seem to be learning anything.
I don’t want to sack him I just want to see him solving the obvious problems.
https://twitter.com/rangersfeed/status/540279913886924801
BT, he wouldn’t.
As the season of goodwill approaches, please spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves.
Heh heh.
PetrifiedPetrofackersCSC
new article posted.
67 heaven
Ye olde twitterer :))
HT
Commons creates the bit of space with drawing defenders toward him & can also see a pass. I think his lack of mobility & age will result in RD finding him surplus to requirements.
Personally, thought our biggest failure was the lack of support beside Guidette.
Just back from Paradise.
Weird night really.
Some nice football and some awful football!
We should have had the game wrapped up by half time and we could have had 6 again but in the end we needed a nice wee break of the ball for Virgil to get the only goal.
Hope some of you bhoys stuck some money on him at half time to be the 1st goalscorer……..16-1!
Gents
I’d play 2 holding midfielders with Johansen just ahead of them. His mobility would allow him to support both the attack and the defence. I’d play with one winger, Forest if fit and I’d play Commons behind Guidetti.
Doc, I’m sorry but in terms of ability Stefan isn’t a patch on Kris.
DD
Picked up that ticket for you tonight mate.
Good 3 points tonight.
Is it just me but when thistle had the ball at the back we had players moving and chasing the ball but when our goalie and defenders have it their is a severe lack of movement. We are like statues at times.
Also thought the super Swede looked tired?
Quite honestly I thought Celtic were poor tonight.
Too many moves break down, the finishing is or at least was on the whole poor and the passing for me simply is not consistently good enough. The team have not played well at home for most of the season.
Dundee United 6-1
Partick Thistle 6-0 (against 10 men for the second half)
I cannot think of any other matches this season where the performance level and the consistency in all the aspects I mentioned were as high as in these games.
I really wish Celtic could get it together and play well more often. Winning is fine but the performances are not there at home especially.
I really enjoyed beating the Sheep when we had gone down to 10 men and the celebration from the manager and the team was great but something is missing and it is no wonder we are looking at new players.
January I think will see 6 players leaving or going out on loan and three or four coming in.
Having the right team on the park for the game against Sevco is paramount. We have issues hanging over us with players who may leave and I want us to be as strong as possible to obliterate them and humiliate them utterly, completely and thoroughly.
Like it or not, that game will be the one on which Ronny Deila’s year is going to be judged across the country because those who run, talk about and are interested in the game will not allow it to be any other way.
Night all Night wee Oscar my hero!! God bless x x
ANN BUDGE STATEMENT – WHAT IT SAID BEFORE PR TEAM WATERED IT DOWN
Ann Budge today gave this latest update to fans following the fourth-round meeting with Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup.
“I feel it is important that I respond to some of the greetin-faced emails that I have received from Hertz fans after we were yet again handed our dinner on a plate in our own midden by those uppity fenians from the west for the umpteemth time in recent years.
I hope this goes some way to offering reassurance that we are totally committed to creating a hostile, barbaric, sectarian and hate-filled environment in which to enjoy the “unique” Tynecastle matchday experience.
It is important to stress the values and principles we are trying to promote within the club and the behaviour we are seeking to encourage. Those values and principles are most certainly not about paying our debts but are more about exploiting the supremacist beliefs of salt and sauce bigots who cannot afford the bus fare to Ibrox Stadium.
Many of our fans are supporting our efforts to improve the overall experience at Tynecastle and to create a truly family-focused culture, which is why the club has in recent years employed such family friendly figures such as sex offenders Graham Rix and Craig Thomson and compulsive gambler Ian Black.
For this to work, we need to do everything in our power to ensure our opposition on the day also enjoys the experience of coming to Tynecastle. Friendly banter is acceptable – some might even say desirable – and as Jim Traynor decreed that the Famine Song is banter then I declare it fine for our fans to demonstrate their friendliness by telling Hibs and especially Celtic fans to go home. Threatening and intimidating behaviour, such as that of that nice Hertz fan who tried to approach Emilio Izaguirre in the 31st minute of Sunday`s game, is absolutely fine as long as you do not get caught.
However, we also need our visiting fans to shut up and accept their inferiority to the white trailer trash classes of East Central Scotland. Based on emails and communications received into the club it would seem both sets of supporters had cause for complaint on Sunday – the pies were honking and those uppity Tims didn`t stop singing once in the whole 90 minutes. This will not do.
Sunday past – November 30th – was, of course, St Andrew’s day – a day when we should all be proud to be Scots! Even those amongst our support who wave Union Jack and Red Hand of Ulster flags. Unfortunately, I was certainly not overly proud of some of the behaviour I witnessed and heard about both during and after the game. Especially those unrepentant fenians singing the Irish national anthem – I mean what was all that about, you don`t do that in the Heart of Midlothian! Not on St Andrews Day! Dearie me, Walter Scott would be turning in his grave, as would all those deceased World War One soldiers whose memory we mercilessly exploit each year in a charade that has got nothng to do with football and plenty to do with jingoism.
The match was a disappointing football spectacle for both sets of supporters. No, honestly Celtic fans, listen to me: you hated it too. Winning 4-0 and progressing in the cup is overrated I tell you. However, as football supporters, we know that things will not always go our way on the pitch; we know that players will make mistakes; we know that referees will make calls that we do not all agree with. (Except Hearts season ticket holder Callum Murray, he never makes mistakes!) That is football! It does not justify bad behaviour – on or off the field, although special allowances must be made when Neil Lennon is outrageously provoking our support by standing aggressively in the dug-out, just asking to be thumped.
At Hearts, poor on-field behaviour is scrutinised, cherished and, where appropriate, rewarded with a lucrative contract. How else could greats such as Walter Kidd, Ian Black, Jimmy Sandison, Sandy Clark or Pasquale Bruno ever have eked out a career in football? The same approach must apply off the field.
The police report confirms that one Hearts supporter was arrested at the match for sectarian abuse. That is unacceptable and dangerous. The police must realise they are out of line arresting people for such friendly banter that this club has fostered and encouraged in a shameful marketing ploy to the Edinburgh red-neck underclass for many decades. In line with my previous statement of zero tolerance, and following established practice set by Ranngers, that individual arrested will be allowed back into the stadium and given the job of club kitman.
The same police report confirms that five Celtic supporters were arrested for sectarian abuse, coin throwing and disorderly behaviour. I hope that Celtic will take appropriate action against those individuals who let them down. Certainly, at Hearts, we will do everything in our power to ensure they are never again allowed into Tynecastle. We shall also be pressing the police to interrogate these miscreants to locate the coins that they threw; wages day is coming and we at Hertz like our big cousins across the M8 need every penny we can get.
I was appalled at the fenianism carried out by our visiting supporters on Sunday. Having recently spent significant sums to replace broken seats in the Roseburn Stand, seats that were broken by our big cousins from Govan without any hysterical statements following afterwards, I was hugely disappointed to witness the destruction of close to 100 seats. I counted them at the time – anything was better than watching the mince our team served up on the park. Similarly, the graffiti on walls, tiles, doors – basically all types of surfaces – was quite disgraceful and this is not to mention the damage to toilets.
I have discussed all of these matters with members of the Celtic Executive and we are working co-operatively to address the issues. No club should be on the receiving end of such unacceptable behaviour and no club should be put in the position of having to defend such behaviour. However, it is perfectly acceptable for fans to cheer when an opposing team`s fan has a heart attack, or to interrupt and besmirch a minute`s silence for the Pope. I see nothing wrong with this at all.
The most distressing emails/reports I have received are of intimidation both to fans and to staff from away fans. Hearts fans are only brave in a 12 on 1 situation so are quite prone to fill their pants on the rare occasion when the away end is full. Everyone gets frustrated when officials and police appear to take little or no action, especially when such heinous crimes as flag waving and laughing are taking place.
This is something I will discuss with the authorities but as many of us know, their response is very often influenced by a need not to further inflame a situation. The only real answer is to try to remove those people who cause the problems and who spoil the whole experience for so many others which is why its strange that my rant has until now made no mention of the clown who tried to approach Izaguirre or the many who verbally abused Anthony Stokes.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that approximately 20% of the Hearts supporters on Sunday were youths. You would only go and watch Hearts if you were a sectarian bigot or an under 12 being dragged along by a parent and promised a fish supper afterwards. Its fantastic evidence that we are appealing to the family despite having employed compulsive gamblers and sex offenders. The not so good news is that I have received a number of emails/letters from parents stating that their children were terrified/had to be removed part way through the game/were traumatised – and as such would be unlikely ever to want to return to a game. This is appalling and I shall gloss over the fact that most were terrified as they were caught up in the stampede to get to the exits caused by Celtic`s third goal.
OK. These letters relate to a tiny proportion of the 12,000-plus crowd. The number is unimportant. We pretend that want to be a family-oriented club, offering a thoroughly enjoyable matchday experience for both sets of supporters – in a safe and non-threatening environment. In reality we are more than happy to take the bigot`s shilling, its what we`ve always done. And if that means making our club a hotbed of reactionary jingoistic sectarianism then I can live with that.
I promise that this current management team will do everything in its power to try to make this happen. This includes taking action against our own supporters who let the side down by not being bigoted or ugly enough; vigorously pressing other clubs to be accountable for the actions of their supporters and where necessary petitioning the authorities to take appropriate action to ensure all fans feel safe to be as anti-Catholic as they wish.
I would urge Hearts supporters to stick with us – the alternative is to support Sevco after all – and supporters of other visiting clubs to recognise that we want to offer a repugnant and vile environment at Tynecastle where both teams can butcher each other in a war of attrition; a truly enjoyable matchday experience. For Scottish football to survive and develop, we need each other.
Let’s look forward to welcoming the Queen of the South supporters to Tynecastle on Saturday in the way that we traditionally do; by having 100 of our fans corner 2 of theirs on a dingy wee stinking street off Gorgie Road and knock seven shades of cr@p out of them.
Yours in Hertz,
Ann Budge
PS Dinnae forget ma granda foat in the furst wurld war, ken!”
Very impressed with Johansen lately, dare I say he could be a better player than ledley