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Champions League pitfalls

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

Having the first leg of our Champions League qualifier against KR in Iceland instead of Scotland, as initially drawn, ticks boxes for both clubs.  Without being disrespectful (well, maybe a bit), if the first leg was in Scotland KR could find themselves trying to sell a dead rubber second leg to TV companies.  With their home tie starting level, this could be their biggest windfall of the season.

Despite KR’s lowly coefficient, Celtic are stepping into the unknown and would infinitely prefer the second leg at home, a week after competitive cobwebs are blown away.  If we encounter a Karagandy-goat-sacrifice-type experience in Reykjavik, we would still have the chance to resolve things at Celtic Park Murrayfield.  The only surprise is that it took the clubs this long to confirm the change.

Now all we need to worry about is the goat-sacrificing habits of Scotland’s rugby types.

News from Nyon that Celtic’s share of last season’s Champions League bounty was £14.1m, plus £1.8m for participating in the qualifying rounds, on top of ticket sales, reiterates how important the competition is to the club.

We’re now trying to qualify for the third consecutive season, a feat we’ve never achieved before.  After the chastening experiences of last August, and the changing of the guard, I’m taking nothing for granted this season.  By my reckoning we cope without reaching the group stage two years in five without significantly downsizing.

I got a bit of banter for saying I was still raw from Georgios Samaras penalty miss four seasons ago.  Why shouldn’t we be raw, it was the last time Celtic failed to win a Scottish championship.  Ever!  Those who celebrate that miss will be clinging onto it as a highlight for the rest of their days.

Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his book, All the Best.

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  9. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    setting free the bears supports res. 12 & oscar knox

     

     

    14:28 on 26 June, 2014

     

    MWD

     

     

    “MWD says AYE and is pwoud take have nae alignment wae the BritNat Klan OO”

     

     

    Shame! you’ll have to make do with Christine “equalize the arrest figures” Grahame and Roseanne “blessing yourself might be a crime” Cunningham, and various other McGlashan type figures.

     

     

    At least our Klan buddies dress smartly and perform folk dances.

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~++~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    Interesting that you mention Christine Grahame. I asked a few days back for a link to that comment to forward to someone,and when I viewed it,it was not quite as damning as I recall.

     

     

    The link is this one,from about six minutes in.

     

     

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aiEMBR7uwek

     

     

    I’d be interested in your thoughts. Has it been edited,or is my memory even worse than I thought?

  10. Greeninbingley on

    To Tommy Gemmell, Winning Captains and everyone who made Tommy’s book possible:

     

     

    I have just come from Oslo to West Yorkshire to look after my old uncle’s house for a few days while his daughters take him and my auntie round his beloved Ring of Kerry, probably for the last time.

     

     

    He is in his late 80s now, and the years are beginning to take their toll on both of them. He’s a Kelly, lived in Singer Street Clydebank, survived the Blitz, joined the Merchant Navy, went all round the world, met and married my wonderful auntie, a beautiful Sligo lass who now has the voice of a foghorn thanks to a lifetime working in the clamour and racket of the woollen mills here.

     

     

    Three daughters they were blessed with, and eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Through all the generations they instilled a simple, modest decency, of putting others before yourself, always trying to see the good in people, never judging.

     

     

    And of course he has been mad on the Celtic since he was five. I could, and do, listen to him all night when the bottle comes out and he tells me of the greats I was never lucky enough to see – Patsy, Willie Fernie, McPhail, all the names. He was terribly upset at the death of Bobby Collins.

     

     

    But his favourite memory, and the one I never ever tire of hearing, is when TG nearly burst the net in Lisbon. “Even better than Stevie Chalmers’ winner, because me and everybody else there knew that when big Tommy scored, they were broken.”

     

     

    I bought Tommy’s book, and asked him to inscribe it ‘From one Lion to another’. It was a bit cheeky of me – Tommy Gemmell is a Lisbon Lion and my uncle is not – and I half-expected it to be left out.

     

     

    But i have just opened the package, there is the book, and there is the inscription.

     

     

    So thank you. Sorry for being a bit emotional, but i know what this is going to mean to the old fella when he opens it on his birthday in 2 weeks.

     

     

    Sorry for going on.

     

     

    I love this club.

  15. ElDiegoBhoy on

    Greeninbingley

     

     

    Glad you shared that.

     

     

    A great surprise awaits the old bhoy.

  18. Delaneys Dunky on

    Greeninbingley

     

     

    Beautiful story. I drove by Singer St today. All the weans had Hoops on! :)

  21. Kojo on

    GreeninBingley

     

     

    @ 18.33

     

     

    Pal..

     

     

    Thur ur Writers..n then. thur ur WRITERS!

     

     

    n.. You ,Pal.. ur in the Latter Catergory,,

     

     

    The Best Piece of Writing that Ah hiv read oan Here..

     

     

     

    Ah salute Ye, Pally…

     

     

    Ye done Damn Good~

     

     

    Kojo

     

    Still,Laughin’

     

     

    Gotta Fly.. Sly..

     

     

     

    Seeya.

  23. Neustadt-Braw on

    Greeninbingley…………..

     

     

    awfy braw ….all the best to the other lion when his birthday arrives …braw

  24. Billy Bhoy 05 on

    setting free the bears supports res. 12 & oscar knox

     

     

    14:28 on 26 June, 2014

     

    MWD

     

     

    “MWD says AYE and is pwoud take have nae alignment wae the BritNat Klan OO”

     

     

    Shame! you’ll have to make do with Christine “equalize the arrest figures” Grahame and Roseanne “blessing yourself might be a crime” Cunningham, and various other McGlashan type figures.

     

     

    At least our Klan buddies dress smartly and perform folk dances.

     

     

    :::::::

     

     

    Total rubbish and nastiness, and so unlike you as you are definitely of the most intellegent posters on this blog

  25. Hrvatski Jim on

    Greeninbingley

     

     

    Great post. I just love hearing older fans tell their stories about Celtic and their experiences.

     

     

    Lisbon was the first time I saw a full game live and , even then, it meant so much because I knew from my dad’s reaction that this was the biggest thing ever. How much more it must have meant to people like your uncle at that time.

     

     

    —————————————————–

     

    On a related note – the World Cup brings out so many references to England winning the World Cup. It can be annoying listening to the same old story all the time so I think we need a policy on how far back it is acceptable to go.

     

     

    I have conducted my study of this topic and, picking a random date, I have come to the conclusion that any major trophy won after 24 May 1967 is perfectly acceptable to reminisce about but not before.

  26. Billy Bhoy 05 on

    bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers

     

     

    18:32 on 26 June, 2014

     

    setting free the bears supports res. 12 & oscar knox

     

     

    14:28 on 26 June, 2014

     

    MWD

     

     

    “MWD says AYE and is pwoud take have nae alignment wae the BritNat Klan OO”

     

     

    Shame! you’ll have to make do with Christine “equalize the arrest figures” Grahame and Roseanne “blessing yourself might be a crime” Cunningham, and various other McGlashan type figures.

     

     

    At least our Klan buddies dress smartly and perform folk dances.

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~++~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    Interesting that you mention Christine Grahame. I asked a few days back for a link to that comment to forward to someone,and when I viewed it,it was not quite as damning as I recall.

     

     

    The link is this one,from about six minutes in.

     

     

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aiEMBR7uwek

     

     

    I’d be interested in your thoughts. Has it been edited,or is my memory even worse than I thought?

     

     

    ::::::::::

     

     

    A good post which takes a responsible stance rather than fan the flames of untruths.

     

    Blessing yourself becoming illegal is an appalling lie!

  29. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    BILLY BHOY 05

     

     

    IIRC,the concept of blessing yourself in an aggressive manner was mentioned as being an offence under the act.

     

     

    I suspect that doing so would have been an offence already,conduct liable to cause a breach of the peace.

     

     

    So we can’t bless ourselves when confronted by a zombie,but I’m at a loss what to do when confronted by a vampire!

  32. Captain Beefheart killed Marxist dreams... Keane ate my courage... Formerly JO'N... Just say no to the clique. on

    Thanks so much Kingsnake.

     

     

    What a delightful video.

     

     

    Bring back the Greek Tim. It was a mistake to let him go. I seldom cared when he looked disinterested in SPL games as he performed when it mattered elsewhere.

  33. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    DELANEYS DUNKY

     

     

    Garlic should be ok,but I reckon the Rosary beads are a non-starter as well!

  34. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    KINGSNAKE

     

     

    Not covered by the act,you have hit on the winning suggestion.

     

     

    But,should there be garlic with yer stake?

  35. Captain Beefheart killed Marxist dreams... Keane ate my courage... Formerly JO'N... Just say no to the clique. on

    Billy,

     

     

    Ernie and others are still playing with sectarian gutter politics. Very embarrassing for those who would vote no.

  36. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    Just got a text from my wee Evertonian buddy. Apologies for this,but very funny.

     

     

    “Just think,if Suarez had been in The Premier League ten years ago,he would have got a mouthful of Seaman!”

  41. gordybhoy64 on

    Jamesgang,

     

    hope you have a cracking holiday,been to Belek once and had a brilliant time,

     

    the all-inclusive was the best I have ever had,even Johnnie Walker was available,

     

    not too much to do outside the hotels though but plenty to keep you occupied

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