We have a combined book review/Mary’s Meals promotion today. Celtic fan and politician, Jim Murphy, has written an excellent book, The 10 Football Matches That Changed The World. It’s in my top three books on the game (as opposed to a player), and gives insight into the deadly intimidation which sparked the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry, how the game was rescued from oblivion, and England’s public schools, by a handful of communities in the 19th Century, Hillsborough, standpoints against racism in the UK and a whole lot more.
Romantics forever mourn that the great Hungarian team lost the 1954 World Cup Final, but that game changed for post-war West Germany. Then there’s Robben Island, apartheid’s most feared opponents were locked up for decades, denied all but a football. With that ball, teams were built, men were built.
Profits from sales of the book through the link at the bottom of the page go to our Mary’s Meals appeal. Here’s the interview:
Q. OK, Jim, you’ve written a fine book, but I have to open with a question as charged as anything in the world football could be. On meeting then-Rangers chairman, Craig Whyte, you opened with “When do you think Rangers first decided on a ‘No Catholics’ policy?” Did you appreciate the enormity, and rarity, of that question? Would Scotland benefit from being open about what happened inside the game here?
“Looking back it’s hard to believe that the country tolerated that old style sectarianism. Growing up in Glasgow it was treated by far too many as the norm when it was anything but normal. My one and only encounter with the ill-fated Craig Whyte, the calamitous and short-lived Rangers chairman took place in the most unlikely of places. It was in the board room at Celtic Park, at half-time in the infamous 2011 Scottish Cup match.
“As part of my research for the book I decided to ask him about the history of the Club that he would go on to cause so much harm to. I asked Mr Whyte, ‘When do you think Rangers first decided on a “No Catholics” policy?’ He took such a direct question surprisingly well. Perhaps because I was asking him about a Rangers from what now seems like another age. Pretty fairly, he couldn’t place a date on it.
“For decades, his club was probably the only team in the world where the question of which foot you kicked with was more important than how well you could kick. Only a few yards along the corridor, in the Rangers changing room, no one knew how many Catholics were sitting listening to the Rangers manager Ally McCoist’s half-time team-talk. More importantly, no one really cared.
“Thinking back its inexplicable why so many in the media, football, UEFA, politics and others had accepted such a policy for so long. It was from an era when there was little protection against discrimination against ethnic or religious minorities, the disabled or on the grounds of sexuality and even against women. None of those things were right and nor was any sectarianism wherever it came from or who it was aimed at.
“I spoke to some of the best Celtic and Rangers historians there are. Celtic’s origins are rightly and universally celebrated but for decades much less was spoken of Rangers earliest days. But the passions of the Club’s founders the canoeing McNeil brothers had nothing to do with other people’s subsequent prejudices. For years when Rangers had a free Saturday their players sometimes turned up to watch Celtic and were welcomed by the sound of Celtic fans’ applause rather than any boos.
“In 1909 both sets of supporters invaded and rioted on the Hampden pitch after a drawn final. Parts of Hampden were set alight, fans fought with the police and some fireman were set upon when they turned up to save the stadium. Astonishingly there’s no reports in any of the media of rival fans throwing even a single punch at one another.
“But by 1924 events including post First World War anti-Catholic sentiment and the opening of Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan helped contort Rangers. It was revealing to interview Graeme Souness, the manager who broke Celtic hearts by signing Mo Johnston and in so doing helped break a sixty year taboo. Talking to Billy McNeil about all of this was pretty enlightening.”
Q. Racism was rife in British football in the 70s and 80s and you give some inside into the tide turning after Chelsea fans booing their own black player on a day they won promotion in 1984, but if you look around Britain today, or even some football grounds, do you feel as though we have slid back after recent years or recession and shortage?
“Football has come a long way to challenge the racism that had been tolerated on the pitch and celebrated on the terraces; accepted in the boardroom and in far too many changing rooms. No Club was exempt from the racism, not even Celtic. I remember being at Celtic Park and how angry I felt about the treatment of Mark Walters. We’ve all come a long way since then.
“But there’s still racist and other attitudes to be challenged. Anti-gay sentiment is still considered acceptable by a lot of football people. And football isn’t immune from the anti-Muslim attitudes that survive in wider society.”
Q. The Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry is the most intense still alive in the game but its roots, and the roots of both clubs, as you explain, are difficult to pin to a single game. Do you think this is more about the struggle for Spain across the 20th century? Barcelona, as much as any club in the world, have a duty to live up to historical expectations. Do you think this is possible in the modern world?
“No other sporting rivals have been so trapped by the multiple and often tragic identities of their country. As a consequence of the brutality inflicted on Barca and Catalonia by Franco, Barcelona set themselves standards that they are finding it hard to live up to. The allegations on transfer kick-backs, tax problems and ties to Qatar 2022 are out of kilter with the often utopian ideals that Barca sometimes encourage. And now we have the signing of Suarez. I’m not sure the signing of this brilliant but troubled star is in keeping with the spirit of Gamper and Sunyol.
“For the unthinking many of course, there is a sense that Madrid the football club was founded by the forefathers of fascist neanderthals. In truth Real were formed by left-wingers. But at a time when Franco was a pariah, Real were world beaters. He simply sided with Spain’s greatest export. The Real Madrid of the late Di Stefano were transformed into his unofficial global ambassadors.
“In writing about Barca and Madrid I was spoilt for choice about which game cemented the political and cultural conflict that became the story of the two Clubs. The contenders are: 1925, when a British Royal Marine band came to play; 1943, with Madrid’s biggest ever victory; and, lastly, a sending-off in 1970 that never should have been. I opted for the cup semi-final of 1943. Barca were 3-0 up after the home leg and favourites to go through. But after a threatening pre-match visit to their changing room by the Director of State Security Barca managed to lose the return leg 11-1.
“To fathom what happened in 1943, you need to understand something about the one event in Spain’s history that has influenced politics, the nation’s football and culture for decades. For those who lost family it’s the heartbreak of modern Spain. For many football fans it’s the emotional backdrop to the Barca v Madrid rivalry. In his brilliant book ‘The Spanish Civil War’ Antony Beevor wrote of the conflict that, ‘It is perhaps the best example of a subject which becomes more confusing when it is simplified.’ Read his book to see what he means.
“In early 1936 Spain had a democratically elected left wing Popular Front government. It was rocked by an attempted military coup that summer by its right wing opponents. For three years Spain fought and with Hitler’s support Franco triumphed. Barca President Josep Sunyol was assassinated by fascists.
“Franco was vengeful against a defeated Catalonia and often defiant Barca. Its the memories of those horrors that live today for many in Spanish football.”
Q. Football and feelings of national image have had a mostly unfortunate relationship but you tell a different story for the 1954 World Cup Final, between the great Hungarian team and West Germany. Hungary were robbed of a deserved national highlight but you think Germany won more than just a football match?
“We’ve all just enjoyed a great World Cup with Germany winning for a fourth time. The one big surprise was that the hosts conceded more goals than any other nation. Its hard to say what the impact on Brazilian psyche is going to be. But there’s little doubt about the effect on the West Germany psyche of 1954 – the most important World Cup final ever played.
“That Bern final was played against the Puskas inspired unbeatable Hungarians. Franz Beckenbauer, the man who would go on to win the World Cup for West Germany, both as a player and manager, believes that, after their success, ‘suddenly Germany was somebody again’. And reflecting the experiences of his own childhood he knew how an eighty-fourth minute winner by Helmut Rahn changed Germany’s view of itself. ‘For anybody who grew up in the misery of the post-war years, Bern was an extraordinary inspiration. The entire country regained its self-esteem.’”
Q. Football is the sport of the people in South Africa, your childhood home, but the story of the role the game played in the lives of inmates – and future statesmen – on Robben Island in 1967, unfortunately, goes largely untold. How did this game reach into the hearts of Mandela, Zuma and their contemporaries, through such hardship?
“My family emigrated to South Africa in the early 1980’s and I lived there until the South African army came knocking on the door looking for me to serve two years national service. I’m neither a coward nor a pacifist but there was no way I was going to serve in an apartheid army.
“When I lived there Nelson Mandela and so many others were jailed on the former leper colony of Robben Island. Every morning I could see across to the Atlantic Island. There was very little news from the island. Like most people I had no idea about the Makana league that the prisoners had forced the regime to allow them to set up. It was inspired by British football. Aston Villa fan Tony Suze got it going.
“Many of the prisoners idolised Billy Bremner. A lot of the teams were named after British clubs. Current South African President Jacob Zuma was a tough tackling centre-back for a team called Rangers!
“One of the ANC’s former island political prisoners I interviewed Dikgang Moseneke was clear about how football helped keep hope alive. ‘It was the great escape from imprisonment. I don’t think the governor and wardens understood the full meaning of the football that they allowed us to play. Very few people came out of Robben Island broken, very few, And some went on to become leaders.’
Q. It is clear that you enjoyed writing the book but the final chapter, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, 1989; the Hillsborough Disaster is haunting. More than the sectarianism which through football was institutionalised in Scotland in 1924, or the Soccer War game, between El Salvador and Honduras, it reaches inside the reader to touch regret and sorrow, in particular with Trevor Hicks account. What was the Justice for the 96 campaign up against, as they set about trying to change the world?
“Put bluntly the ‘Justice for the ’96’ campaign was up against large section of the British establishment. With the official inquests going on at the moment I have to be careful about what I say. Back then a media that was willing to repeat lies, too many police complicit in a cover up, a government too quick to blame the innocent and a country where many were initially willing to believe the worst of Liverpool fans. But over time the lies unravelled. Celtic’s solidarity with the campaigners is well known. What is less well known is that it wasn’t until a UK Cabinet meeting in Glasgow in 2008 that the campaign got its much yearned for political breakthrough.
“When I wrote the book I decided I wasn’t going to stitch anyone up; and I didn’t. But there’s one person who it’s impossible not to be angry with – the odious then Sun editor, Kelvin Mackenzie. Even today he gives mediocre middle aged men the world over a bad reputation. His malevolence is matched only by his unjustified arrogance.
“But the fact that the campaigners have now got to the truth means that they might just be on the cusp of getting justice as well. Theirs is a story of working class solidarity and of a city that refused to give in. As one campaigner put it to me. ‘We always believed that the law and the establishment would always win. As The Clash would say, ” I fought the law and the law won”.’ But on this occasion, mercifully, it appears they haven’t.
Q. There is so much in the book I didn’t know about the game, specifically, including that in the early 19th century it had all-but disappeared, apart from outposts in Orkney, Shetland, Workington, Cornwall and Jedburgh, before it was colonised by Britain’s public schools and Army messes. 200 years ago, it was a game, but not a game of the people. Your story starts with how people reclaimed football and lived their lives through it. Is this the real story of football over the last two centuries?
“Football almost died. How it survived is a little known truth and is the secret that the sport rarely recognises. A single match helped rescue the sport, and, with one unexpected victory, it finally broke free from its ghettos in the nation’s public schools and British Army officers’ messes. The ailing game had been violent, with very few agreed rules. It was run by and for the elite and, in a nation with very few sports fields, had been banned from public streets. In England, the FA Cup (partly funded by Scotland’s Queens Park) was colonised by university, public school, and regimental teams.
“In the 1883 FA Cup final, the former pupils of Eton College lined up against Blackburn Olympic at the Oval cricket ground. The Lancashire team won in extra time and the trophy went home with them which was further north then ever before. It coincided with Britain’s second Industrial Revolution and meant that when people left these shores they took with them a newly proletarian sport with them.
“A new breed of football innovator was born. They were more in the image of Blackburn Olympic than Old Etonian. In South America, British railway workers helped introduce the sport to Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina. A school-teaching Scot, Alexander Watson Hutton, set up the Argentine FA. In Chile, British sailors, and in Venezuela, British miners were amongst the first to play. In Spain, Brazil and Italy, Britons also planted their working class footballing roots.
“This change in football came in time for the First World War. It meant that football was one of the few things that the working class soldiers and their public school educated officers fighting in the Western Front trenches had in common. It’s an integral part of the story of how the 1914 football Christmas Truce came about. But that’s a different story and is the one match in the book which didn’t change the world.”
If you order the book through this link, with the promotion code: CELTIC, all profits will go to Mary’s Meals.
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PeteTheBeat
10:39 on
18 July, 2014
Is there not an argument that Israeli governments prefer their country to be in a state of ‘semi-war’ ?
Certainly it ensures them of the sympathy vote in America.
iki
10:40 on
18 July, 2014
Live CQN Q&A with Tony Blair would be welcomed.
He is the man responsible for bringing peace to the Middle. east.
He is doing a grand job.
Perhaps, he should be invited to chair the meetings between board and Green Brigade.
Perhaps ‘only a policing operation with no shots fired in anger’ could be invited to join him.
quonno
Yes, I imagine Celtic will have a word with Biton. Why wouldn’t they?
People generally berate the board for being cold-hearted apolitical disciples of mammon — not frothing at the mouth zionists.
weeminger
10:36 on
18 July, 2014
Aye not disagreeing with you but other airlines have been avoiding Ukranian airspace for months based on safety issues Quantas being one of them
Like I said I was genuinely concerned when I flew over Ukrainian airspace 2 weeks ago with my family on my way to Kuala Lumpur. I was so concerned I watched the planes flight path over the Ukraine and relaxed when we passed it
I remember on a previous night flight over Iraq while the Kuwaiti oil fields burned the captain of the aircraft personally checking all the shutters were down on the passengers windows
If the question was asked a few days ago would it be possible for a civilian aircraft to be shot down over Ukraine I doubt the answer would be a 100% nyet from any airline company or government
Today the answer would be yes
There is a big cost issue rerouting planes travelling to SE Asia I believe using the Ukrainian route is the most economic one and not the safest
Almost draw time – who do we fancy?
Morning all. Beautiful and warm down here at the moment.
Storms forecast. Would they be centred over Govan, one wonders??? Have they ventured on to a football field yet in the USA?
Is the draw at 11am or 12am
Interview with KoK in a German magazine the other day.
Excuse the online translator!
*************************************************************
17-Jul-2014
Legend Henrik Larsson, Ronaldinho, Celtic and life
With waving dreadlocks he captured the hearts of fans who kicks his defender, he put away without complaint. For our aktulle 11FREUNDE issue # 152 we met Henrik Larsson for great career interview and had to say: The real pain waiting for the Sweden anyway in real life.
Interview: Benjamin Kuhlhoff
Henrik Larsson, You once said: “Before every kickoff I think: Soon it will hurt,” How much pain you have endured during your career?
Physical pain is one thing worse was the psychological stress.
You mean the pressure to always Work?
defender trying to get you by all means out of the concept. If you einsteigst on their game, you lose. So I suppressed my feelings. When I was fouled, I immediately stood up and pointed: “You can not hurt me,” This self-control was the most painful ever..
way you have had a reputation as a gentleman player. ? Did you know any dirty tricks
Once the ball was in the vicinity, I found plenty of ways to show opponents their limits.
Famous They were also by Her trademark long dreadlocks. Was this hairstyle is not terribly inconvenient?
I was young and I loved my hair. Many opponents drove them to distraction. The nineties were not the most tolerant time in football. I was a godsend.
chased you because of your hair?
They left at least no opportunity to berate me for it. They laughed, called me a asocial or attracted to the dreads.
yet you remained calm.
I did not hear back and smiled kindly at my opponents instead. This made her angrier and brought them out of the concept.
Who was your toughest opponent?
Craig Moore of Glasgow Rangers. He yelled at me 90 minutes and kicked me across the lawn and tried everything to get into my head. But one has to hand it to him: He never complained when he himself has a beating. And I caught him a few times really hard.
Where did you learn to fight back?
All my life people have told me that I could not do certain things because I was small and slight. No one believed me, because my father only a sailor from Cape Verde and my mother was a factory worker. I always had to earn respect – on the playground and on the lawn. I learned: If you do not defend yourself, you’re fair game.
Did you compensated in football things that you had to endure in real life?
I have experienced things that I could have done without: racism, insults, blows of fate. But that is part of life. . I have not played against a great rage, but for my dream
Colin Hendry, once lanky central defender the Rangers, once said: “If I play against Larsson, I feel small and clueless.”
Really? Is there a better compliment for a Celtic player? (Laughs.)
In the game you were the resolute Schweiger, privately you are considered Jester. How many rolls you had as a football player actually play?
Two, in addition to my role as a player I was also a media person. As a footballer, everyone wants something from you. This extreme form of attention but you have to correctly assess, not to be arrogant.
missing many professionals this humility?
For example, in early 2000 I was for a few days in New York. Because I was used to that I am asked to sign autographs, I put on a cap and sunglasses. But no one recognized me! I understood that my disguise was pretty silly, and witnessed something that had become a stranger to me. Freedom
Amazing that you saw no one, after all, was your star at the 1994 World Cup in the United States permanently, as sensationally with the Swedish national team Third were. In the quarterfinals against Romania They achieved their first goal.
on penalties after five shooters there were still no decision and coach Tommy Svensson said to me: “You’re next,” I was 22 and was shaking all over. I did not want to be the one who ended our World Cup dream. Patrik Andersson had probably recognized how anxious I was. He handed me a small metal box and said, “Take some.”
What was in there?
chewing tobacco. The stuff was coming down me. (Laughs.) I met, and we reached the semi-finals.
Page 2: Henrik Larsson on weeping fans and the nervous Ronaldinho
In 1997, they changed from Feyenoord Rotterdam to Glasgow Celtic. Your most important transfer?
I was looking for a new adventure. Celtic was a mythical club which fascinated me.
Can you put into words what is the significance of the association for his fans?
During my first year, the Rangers could have been champions for the tenth time in a row. On the penultimate day we had the chance to snatch them this historic title, and even become champions. But we only played draw, the title race was open again. After the game, I noticed an old man in his arms and wept. He kept saying: “You must get this shit title for us,” I realized that you do not play only for himself and his team, but for the people who live for this club.. A week later we won the title.
At Celtic you scored 174 goals in 221 games. The fans call the “King of Kings”. When did you get with that fans had you in their hearts?
I have not seen the beginning. One day I called my older brother and told that he had seen a child in a Celtic jersey. On the back it was my number. The Seven. It read, “God!”
Did you love the fans pressured?
For me it was strange that people up posters of me or take my jersey. But I did not become a professional. I just wanted to play at the highest possible level football. Today flatters me this devotion of course. I am happy that I could do other so much pleasure.
Did you ever asked yourself why the fans just had you chosen as the “king”?
My Goals were certainly a reason. The idea that the collective is above the individual, was part of the Swedish culture in which I grew up. I’ve transferred it to my game. Even though I was more talented than others, I’ve done the dirty work. So some fans recognize instantly. Also, I lived by the motto: Be honest. Before you lie, just prefer the flap!
With Celtic They played regularly in the European Cup and became a regular in the Swedish national team. They finally arrived on the big stage.
I found my inner peace and felt my self-confidence grew. Until then, I had often asked myself, “Am I even good enough to be professional,” Now I knew:. “Am I fit, there is no way past me,” Freed from self-doubt, I could free even on the field unfold. Of this I had always dreamed of.
A self that is reminiscent of your compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
His ego would be worthless if it did not have these incredible abilities. Talent you just can not fake. But he also stands for a change in our society. In my day was the team over the individual, today govern the individualists. But without any team has no chance – in football as in life.
Did you ever met a more assertive player than Ibrahimovic?
Martin Dahlin. At him from any criticism bubbled. If he covered his jersey, he always said, “Today I’m going to meet anyway,” He kept very often right..
Together they have played with numerous world stars. Who was the best?
Ronaldinho. He saw gaps where others would have long given up. When he had the ball at his feet, he was the happiest man. In each workout. 98 percent of the days he beamed, and that’s an understatement. When he arrived in the morning in the cabin, you were automatically in a good mood.
Did you know him better?
When we met on my first day at Barcelona, he was very excited and told how he had me admired at the 1994 World Cup. His eyes were shining. I thought he teased me, but he said: “You are my role model, Henke” From then on he called me “Ídolo”, ie idol!. Is not that bizarre?
Page 3: Henrik Larsson about the party of his life and his darkest hour
Together they won in 2006 with FC Barcelona the Champions League. In the final against Arsenal you were not loaded until the 61st minute when the score was 0:1. 15 minutes later she prepared the 1:1 of Samuel Eto’o. Then came your grand entrance.
Nine minutes before the final whistle, I saw Juliano Belleti launched into the box, and played to him. He scored the 2:1 and screamed into the night sky, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God, “The whole team rushed up to him, all dams broke, Eto’o wept for joy. We were the kings of Europe.
After the final whistle was seen cheering you alone with the Barça fans.
It was pure coincidence. I thought that my teammates would run with me to the fans. When I turned around, I was alone – the others were already at the awards ceremony.
Did the Barça stars not about how to celebrate?
The party afterwards was the best of my life – and the first on which I was completely sober. My wife was there, to my big brother, my best friends. I had sworn to myself that I will absorb every moment of the evening.
The best moment of the evening?
My wife and I left the last to the party location. Outside it was already bright, and the doorman offered to drive us in his van to the hotel. We sat between empty bottles and buckets of paint and drove through Paris. My wife began to sing: “Campeones, Campeones, Olé, Olé, Olé”. At the hotel arrived, she sang simply and sonicated throughout the courtyard: “Campeones, Campeones”. Suddenly a window opened, Thiago Motta stuck out the cup and joined in: “Olé, Olé, Olé”. Then came Mark van Bommel, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Deco at their windows. All sang with. Perhaps the best moment of my career.
Nicer than any scoring?
Know the feeling when you can unpack as a child his birthday presents?
It is excited.
Shortly before I scored a goal, I felt this childish excitement. An amazing feeling. Only once I could not look forward to.
Allow us guess: Less than 100 days after you had left Celtic in 2004 in the direction of
Barcelona, scored in the Champions League for FC Barcelona a goal against Celtic.
Seven years they have been in Celtic Park after every goal of mine played the theme song from “The Magnificent Seven”. This time it was dead silent, some viewers even whistled. I would prefer sunk in the ground.
doing so, you had just done your job.
I owe everything Celtic. The club has paid for my house, made me financially independent and can become the person I am today. I loved the Celtic fans! And that night I stabbed them with my gate to the heart. But I was at that moment happens to players of FC Barcelona.
Henrik Larsson, You have won almost every major title in Europe and played at the biggest clubs. What was the darkest hour in your career?
The 6th June 2009. According to an international match against Denmark, I sat in the cab. A supervisor gave me my phone and said I should immediately call my wife. I replied that I wanted to take a shower yet. He only said, “It is serious,” My first thought was that something had happened to our children!.
On this day your younger brother died at the age of only 35 years.
He was a drug addict for years. We knew this day would come. I had to watch as he perished, and could do nothing. I, the football star, who was celebrated throughout Europe, who felt invincible, was helpless. I had everything, he lived in hell. In these moments, I realized that football, my purpose in life is unimportant. I decided to end my career.
Subsequently, they criticized the Swedish media for their behavior.
They earned money with our suffering. This has disgusted me. Journalists always demanded of me that I conduct myself professionally, because I was a role model for many. But in this situation, they have dropped their mask. What about their own role models?
What did you find most shocking?
The evening papers already subtitled “Larsson’s brother found dead,” when I was still on the court. So the whole country knew before I learned it. Journalists besieged our house, my parents were watching on and tried by all means to get information. I would have endured it, but my family was at their mercy defenseless. I’ll never forgive some people.
Which relationship you had before his death to your brother?
every day I have been thinking about him and still do it today. Uncertainty – How is he? Where is he now? – Has devoured me. However, no doctor and no amount of money could get rid of his demons. He even changed his name to protect me from his life.
How small is the career if you have experienced this?
I have seen how my parents aged by ten years, when they carried her son to the grave. I would every title, every damn gate and every day of my career, trade, when my brother would stay healthy among us. But we can not. This pain will always remain.
ernie lynch
10:03 on 18 July, 2014
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
08:56 on 18 July, 2014
‘Those who have nothing to hide………………………………….
I was speaking about surveillance’
###
Would you agree to the security forces having a camera in your home?
I can’t see why not.
Unless you have something to hide.
————————————————————————–
The ole reductio ad absurdum move has it’s uses.
The problem with “freedom” from state interference is all about balance of course – how much individual freedom can be allowed before there is no structure (or some would say control). The state needs not only to demonstrate it’s case for further power/interference clearly – it also need to convince the people of it’s worth and take them with it. The recent DRIP legislation is a classic case in point – how many minutes debate did it receive in parliament? Poor show. Not only has the need not been demonstrated, the issue has not even been propoery aired. I’m pretty dure if you took a straw poll in the street, few would be aware of this. Perhaps they would be unconcerned – political apathy almost defines our country now.
GORDON J
Anyone we subsequently beat will be a good draw. Anyone we subsequently lose to is a stinker of a draw!
Press freedom under attack, libel laws that only the rich and powerful can exploit, blind eye turned to illegal sexual conduct, criminal conduct of judges and lawyers unpublished, even EBT participants anonymised …… others may add to this, of course.
What is that expression that is being working overtime this week ?
If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear from monitoring or investigation.
Gordon_J. Im of the opinion we havnt qualified for the next round as yet there are still 90 minutes to play.It is unlikely that we wont go through but we should all know by now football is a funny old game. H.H.
Gordon j
St pats wouldn’t break my heart.
Ernie,
Cameras in homes is ludicrous. There’s perfectly legal stuff folks get up to inside houses that is completely illegal outside.
Usedtogetupto csc. :)
Why can Celtic no just sign – Stevie May and Gary McKay Stevens
and get the focus back onto the Celtic again?
Joe Filippis Haircut,
Fair point … we shouldn’t take anything for granted, even when it looks almost certain.
legia warsaw or st pats v celtic
Anyone who still believes that
“If you have nothing to hide,you have nothing to fear”
simply hasn’t been paying attention.
EMBRAMIKE
ZBYSZEK will be a happy fella!
I haven’t read Biton’s remarks but I am most definitely on the side of those who are not rushing to show him the door. I know enough of the situation in Palestine/Israel to know it is extremely complicated. Much more so, like other situations, than some sections of our support seem to appreciate.
BMCUW
Don’t know about that for ZBYSZEK! St Pat’s drew 1-1 away in first leg …
So St Pat’s or Legia Warsaw. A 1 – 1 draw in the first leg in Poland should make the Irish side favourite to go through?
Jfh and Gordon j,
I’m not one for counting my chickens, I’ll leave that to Weefra;), but I think on this occasion, due to dates and fixtures, we can speculate a little about our opponents in the next round should we have the good fortune of successfully negotiating this round.
away leg first.
Colin Hendry, once lanky central defender the Rangers, once said: “If I play against Larsson, I feel small and clueless.”
Not often I find myself in total agreement with a ‘once-lanky’ Stickie!
Wonder how the ‘once-svelte’ most talented young manager in world football would assess KoK!
horribly poignant to read about his brother.
Always respected Henke as much as I loved his goals. And I’m not one who’s prone to being starstruck…
HH jamesgang
Come on St. Pats. Celtic Champions League in Dublin. Oh my Lord a dream come true. Sorry Mr. Z but I repeat come on St. Pats.
St. Pat’s got a credible 1-1 draw away in the 1st leg.
HH
End London rule.YES
Go on St Pats. Finish the job!!
Sffs
EMBRAMIKE,GORDON J
Aye,I know. But he is still only one game away from a match between his two teams.
Now,if Celtic were to draw Celtic Reserves….
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
11:11 on
18 July, 2014
Anyone who still believes that
“If you have nothing to hide,you have nothing to fear”
simply hasn’t been paying attention.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Are you lookin` at me?
Or my uses?
Hrv Jim
Hope so. Otherwise I’m still on hollibobs.
Afternoon Timland from a hot hun free mountain valley.
Pat’s should have been 3 up by half time against Legia, they may well rue those missed chances.
HH
Celtic playing in a competitive match in Dublin would be fantastic I hope St.Pats get through.H.H.
Interesting draw, even though 1-1 in Poland would fancy Legia to go through, so not the easiest of draws, but not quite an Elfsborg. I’m right in saying their season hasn’t started yet?
Z, what do you make of the draw?
UEFA Champions League draw
By: Newsroom Staff on 18 Jul, 2014 11:04
IF Celtic progress through Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round against KR Reykjavik, they will play the winners of the St Patrick’s Athletic v Legia Warsaw tie.
The score from their first leg in Poland was 1-1, while Celtic go into Tuesday night’s game at BT Murrayfield against the Icelandic champions with a 1-0 lead.
St Pat’s took the lead through Christy Fagan in the 38th minute of the match played in Warsaw last week only for Legia to equalise in the 91st minute thanks to Miroslav Radović.
The second-leg will go ahead next Wednesday at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.
The third qualifying round games are scheduled to go ahead on July 29/30 and August 5/6.
I think I’ll try Euromulyins tonight ;)
Richie #TeamOscarForever
11:01 on 18 July, 2014
Interview with KoK in a German magazine the other day.
Excuse the online translator!
==================================
THAT was fantastic. Best KOK interview I’ve ever read, despite the translation blips.
Make sure you copy it to the new article later – every Celtic fan should read it/will want to read it.
In fact Paul67 should tag it at the end of his new article as per the Jim Murphy interview yesterday.
God Bless Ghod.
“Leicester City are set to break their 14-year-old transfer record by signing Brighton & Hove Albion striker Leonardo Ulloa for about £7m, reports BBC Radio Leicester.”
This guy is 27 and has a career record of 66 goals in 148 games, a lot of them outside the top flights.
Strikers are so expensive these days!
Deal with K R Reykjavik on Tues first then if we progress We’ll See:)))
Wouldn’t have fancied drawing Legia at this stage last year.
just spent over 2 hrs on the phone and walking between hospital pharmacies,chemists & doctors surgeries trying to sort pain relief for a 79 yr old woman :(((
The phrase “the left hand disnae know what the right hand is doing” springs to mind.
So i,m grateful to be talking about The Celtic again for a while.