Scottish football has a strange look to it at the moment. It’s not just that Celtic are not top of the league, it’s also who remains a challenge in the Scottish Cup. Sunday’s semifinal opponents St Mirren last won the trophy in 1987, while the other semi-finalists Dunfermline last won in 1968 and Falkirk in 1957. Celtic have won the trophy seven times since the 2013 final, the same number as the other three sides have won it in their history. You would be pushed to handpick a better scenario.
You would also have been forgiven for making the same argument ahead of the League Cup Final. Newco perished against Martin O’Neil’s side in the semi, while St Mirren mugged on-form Motherwell in the other semi. The script was written but under Wilfried Nancy Celtic deservedly lost.
A lot has happened since that Hampden final and Celtic fans have been conditioned to take nothing for granted this season. None of us will be complacent about the outcome when we revisit the venue to play St Mirren on Sunday.
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2-0 to the good ghuys.
Was too busy to read The Herald yesterday so you can imagine my surprise when I picked up their Sport section that it included not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4 but 5 (Five) pages on Raskin and Rangers. Not only that but when I turned to the back page it’s entirely devoted to their angst that Falkirk might ban Hun fans from their ground on the final day because they infiltrated the Home support at the weekend, assaulted a steward and belted out sectarian songs throughout,
Newspaper? Rangers fanzine more like.
Another squeaky 1-0 win will do me, and six more following that, please.
Good afternoon all from Dunoon sur la Clyde
A few swifties and you’ll soon be done in doon in Dunoon.
Stephen McGowan confirmed that Celtic are tracking two Premiership players, stating: “I think Miguel Chaiwa is certainly one Celtic are interested in. No question about that. They are looking at Elijah Just as well.”
The statement removes ambiguity and establishes both Miguel Chaiwa and Elijah Just as genuine options under consideration
We saw Royal Crescent, he saw the hole if Dunoon…
BarToursR’USCSC
Hail Hail
Gave up the Herald quite a few years ago. I think I am right in saying that their 2 main football writers wrote previously for the rangers news.
We have never won the Scottish Cup in a year ending 6
From the Scotsman:
“Celtic striker Johnny Kenny continued his hot streak on loan to Bolton Wanderers as he scored for the third consecutive game in a 5-1 win over Stevenage on Tuesday night.
Steven Schumacher’s side were looking to bounce back from a damaging defeat to Cardiff City the weekend, and were handed the perfect tonic as they routed playoff rivals Stevenage, with Celtic forward Kenny at the centre of the action yet again.”
He should have had 15-20 goals for us before January such were the chances he missed.
1957/1968 & 1987
The age of replays. 1957 we knocked out Rangers after a replay and were knocked out by Kilmarnock in the semi-finals after a replay, 110,000 attending the first match. 1968 Celtic were knocked out in the first round by winners Dunfermline, a team which included Tommy Callaghan, Alex Edwards and Roy Barry. In 1968 we were knocked out by Hearts early doors, and a young Paul Lambert played for Cup winners St Mirren in the final.
Reasonably confident of making it to the final, one if we do not use players who are unfit, and two we start out with a midfieldset-up capable of both helping our defence and our forwards. And keep Shaun Maloneys tactical input to a minimum.
In 1968 we were knocked out by Hearts early doors, and a young Paul Lambert played for Cup winners St Mirren in the final.
Celtic Mac
Paul Lambert can’t be that old surely?!
mcphail bhoy
Whoops! 1987 Scottish Cup Final!
I expect a repeat of Saturday’s match, with hopefully the same outcome.
Chaiwa and Just would both improve our current team. Which isn’t that much of a compliment but both are good players.
Wonder how we are on Sundays at 2pm?
Take nothing forgranted,a victory to be worked for.
Eyes on the victory on Sunday
C’mon Celts
I’m against the so-called ‘pig watch’ going on in the North Curve.
In general terms, two wrongs don’t make a right.
In practical terms, this one will not end satisfactorily for Celtic fans.
That said, IMHO the club and (in an intelligent and dignified manner) the fans … should not shy away from pursuing equality of treatment and exposing (in a controlled mannee) when it does not happen.
There is no biased, slanted interpretation in this report.
The reporter is stating facts.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy512w9w6k5o
vinniethedog @ 11:21 am,
“The Blogger formerly known as GM
Reading back with your convo with chairbhoy
Did you think Idah was a development player when purchased?….
Yes, don’t think >GM wants to debate the point.
To be fair, neither did I, the fact is Adam off piste Idah can be tailored to suit…
Adam wasn’t a development player, nor a 9 mn player when we took him on loan, his value increased during his time with us, but he wasn’t a 9 mn player when he went back to Norwich City, nor alas when we bought him… and not when we sold him…
What Adam was, was a great addition to the squad with some sound CF attributes, including goals…
Arguably we paid 9 mn for Adam as he could develop into a 9 mn+ player and we had no alternatives lined up at the time of Kyogo’s injury.
The lessons learned from that was Dolberg a year later, again we had no alternatives lined up, but instead of paying out as his fee increased, we simply refused to be “held to ransom” and ended the transfer window without a first choice striker – that showed them….
Letting Adam Idah go for 6.5 mn under those circumstances was lunacy…
But, for those not aware, the madness had started well before that…
Hail Hail
The new covid lockdowns will start one week AFTER you buy a 1,000 quid season ticket, and you’ll need to watch the piss poor Celtic TV with the woefully misinformed Peter Grant bursting your eardrums.
Don’t say you weren’t told!
Interesting why neither Rangers FC or their fans fell for the 2020 covid plandemic depopulation program, but troosered the money and didn’t pay any of it back????
Who are the real fools????
And, when stadiums opened after the lockdowns, Celtic had to leave half of the lower Main stand seats either side of the dugouts empty, and the front 3 bottom rows of seats behind each goal empty, because of Uefa stupid rules?????
Yet the uppity Huns sold every seat out????
Wake up CSC
Sad are the homes….
The BBC is a bastion of impartiality.
When the narrative suits.
The weathers fine here in the East Neuk of Fife , but bring your oilskins .
Elie CSC
Celtic 3 -Saints 0 in the Nancy redemption
Celtic FC B are to withdraw from the Lowland League at the end of this season, it is being reported.
In a move unprecedented in Scottish Football, Celtic – and rivals Rangers entered the new-look ‘B’ squads into Scotland’s regional fifth tier starting from 2021, replacing the previous Reserve team.
Some guy called Dolberg seems to be brought up as a brick to throw at those involved in recruitment last year.
This guy scored 3 in 19 games for Ajax and basically prior had a record much inferior to Oh in the Belgian league. Oh being the much maligned striker many (including our then manager) were keen for us to get rid of a couple of years ago.
Funny that.
Now who was the manager who wanted to get shot of Oh again ?
CHAIRBHOY on 16TH APRIL 2026 2:11 PM
vinniethedog @ 11:21 am,
“The Blogger formerly known as GM
Reading back with your convo with chairbhoy
Did you think Idah was a development player when purchased?….
Yes, don’t think >GM wants to debate the point”.
Correct. I have neither the time nor inclination for your inevitable sophistry, semantics and verbiage if I do.
What I will say is the likes of Toure, Bain, McCarthy, Mooy, Harte, Smichael, Tierney, Robertson if he comes were all signed on a free transfer or for a nominal fee. They all were/are in the latter stages of their career are not “development players” as they had/have no sell-on value.
Whether it is £2m or £9m, I would argue IN GENERAL if Celtic pay a transfer fee for a player it is in the hope he can be sold at some point for a higher fee and therefore should be considered a “development player”.
What not to do when you’ve lost a winning manager
Go get Nancy 👍
Bhoys Town on 16th April 2026 8:23 am
Scott Brown is, with Callum McGregor, one of the two greatest Celts of this millennium. He led us through thick and thin in our era of unrivalled dominance.
When he and Kevin Thomson were at Hibs, the now dead Rangers offered a reported £4.5 million to sign both. Hibs said no, and we paid £4.4 million just for Broonie. It makes me laugh to think about what value we implicitly attached to Thomson (we were right about that, btw).
*allegedly we were originally after both and went to a previous manager of both players for advice and seemingly he told us to stay away fae the one naesurname “stole” from us.
Burnley78 on 14th April 2026 10:51 pm
Gedinte BR is second most successful manager? How do you work that out?
*The rest snipped, I had contemplated replying in the same vein but a wee bit busy in my own life right now so wisnae up for a urinating contest for dare criticising the our last but 2 manager, anyway this is NOT about him but a manager you neglected to mention and I’m putting that down to your age, IMHO one of the greatest ever CELTS was the mhan who signed the current greatest ever one, James Edward McGrory.
His record as a player remains undisputed its his managerial record which has often been maligned through the years but like the infamous “years in the wilderness”, which he was a part of, is also rather fanciful as I have pointed out more than once on here.
On retirement he was given the first ever full time managerial position down at Rugby Park, where after losing their first two games, 9–1 against us in his debut as manager and a 4–0 loss to the hibbees their form improved and eventually managed to stay up and he also led them to the SC Final knocking out both us and the huns enroute, where they lost after a replay to East Fife
However, in his 3rd season the Scottish League was abandoned and Rugby Park, was then requisitioned as a fuel depot, the combination of losing their ground and players being conscripted resulted in killie stopping playing football altogether, Jimmy was kept on officially as manager, but had virtually nothing to do, so during this time he found work as chief storeman at a munitions factory in Ayrshire and also joined the Home Guard.
On resumption of the fitba, in July 1945 Jimmy travelled to Glasgow to speak with out Chairman Tom White where he was offered and accepted the position as manager of his beloved Celtic, who were in the same dire straits as the killie team he first inherited, so on 24 July 1945, Jimmy returned to Parkhead this time as manager.
His first 2 seasons saw him having to not just rebuild the side of veterans and youngsters but the selling of Jimmy Delaney to manure and Malky McDonald to his former club killie, both heroes of the Empire Exhibition side, then on March 1947 saw the death of Chairman Tom White and the election of his successor Bob Kelly who for the next 18 years would be a thorn in nice guy Jimmy’s side.
Then the almost humiliation of our great club almost occurred in the following season when we were nearly relegated, Jimmy admitted our flirtation with relegation as “the worst experience I’ve ever had in football.”, and then he started to make his managerial mark with the signing of Charles Patrick, we also appointed Jimmy Hogan as a coach, he had previously worked throughout Europe, notably Hungary, and spent six years as the English FA’s coach, now Jimmy had only spent two years with us but is credited with bringing back to the club playing football the Glasgow Celtic Way.
Then 4 years after courting relegation in a team that now contained Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Bobby Collins, John McPahil and of course Charles Patrick saw us win our first trophy since the war with a 1-0 win over Motherwell, we followed this up the next season with the St Mungo Cup, a tournament held to celebrate the Festival of Britain in Glasgow.
Next in December of that year IMHO his greatest ever achievement by bringing back to Scotland a Lanarkshire coal miner to mentor his younger players, two years later, he captained the side that defeated the arse and manure, beat hibs in the final and as the song says all hampden was covered in banners of green to win the Coronation Cup.
One year later he again captained us as we won our first league and cup double for forty years, including our first league title since 1938 and a Cup win pioneered by another of Jimmy’s 2 signings, a Sean Fallon goal after excellent play from the juggler Willie Fernie.
As they say all good things must come to an end and it did for our captain as he was forced to retire in January 1957, taking over as coach of the soon to be known Kelly Kids, which included Billy McNeill, Bobby Murdoch and John Clark, and in his first season as a coach we won the Reserve Cup with an 8–2 aggregate triumph over 1872.
But back to Jimmy, he led us to out first LC win over the Maryhill Magyars and a year later we defended our cup in what is still a record score for a team in a major cup final in the british isles, “oh hampden in the sun”, although that record cup win was to be his swan song as far as managerial cups is concerned he also brought us European Cup winners oul Ronnie from the Jock Stein managed hibbees, big Tam, Chopper, Big Billy, Luggy, Jinky, Stevie, the Buzz Bomb, wee ten thirty back for his 3rd stint with us and not forgetting Paddy Crerand who although he won it with manure honed his craft, nae pun intended, with us.
Lets not forget winning 4 Glasgow and 4 Charity Cups, or the 4 times runners up in the SC, once in the LC, 5 times in the Glasgow Cup and 3 times in the Charity Cup as well as taking us to the semis of the European Cup Winners Cup with a 3 goal lead before Bob effed that up by stipulating that Celtic only played attacking football, but most importantly the first trophy Jock won with is on April 24, 1965, was actually Jimmy’s side as he led us to away wins at Love Street and Hampden before we beat the League Champions that season in our last appearance wearing the shamrock strip 3-2.
Jimmy then handed the team over to Jock but as we sang and danced and I witnessed grown men and women greetin that sunny spring afternoon, the mantle had been handed to Jock from the man he still called Boss and encouraged his players to still do so, he NEVER left as after 20 years in charge, he didnae throw his toys out of the pram, but was appointed to the new role of Public Relations Officer where he would remain until his retirement in 1979, oh and for all his great achievements, and there have been many, he admitted tae having a wee greet on the evening of May 25, 1967.
His love for the club remains undisputed and as he once said Jimmy McGrory of Celtic sounds better than Jimmy McGrory of Arsenal, this action actually cost him a drop in wages which stayed with him for the rest of his playing career, having a parsimonious or lets call it a stingy board is nothing new at Parkheid, so as far as I’m concerned the best manager of our club in my lifetime will always be Jock, but the second best was the man who made it all possible, in spite of working under the dominant personality of Bob Kelly who imposed his will in the running of the club at all levels including having direct involvement in team selection, James Edward with MON in 3rd place and NFL in 4th.
Burnley78….
Telling lies again!?
Od decided to leave…
Oh said: “I had lost my place in my national team because I was no longer playing for Celtic. It was then I knew I had to get a transfer. Now I am in a good place here.
“I scored 12 goals in total for Celtic, but I hardly played in the last six months. They had brought in a new striker, someone with a different profile – a big, strong boy [Adam Iah] – and they had to find a solution for me.
I thought that was a shame at first because I really loved Celtic. It’s a great club. But when Genk came calling, I didn’t hesitate. I had a few options in the English Championship, but I just wanted to come here.
“When you see all the players who came through here – Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Leandro Trossard and more. That’s impressive, isn’t it?”
I thought that was a shame at first because I really loved Celtic. It’s a great club. But when Genk came calling, I didn’t hesitate. I had a few options in the English Championship, but I just wanted to come here.
Now, it’s true if BR&Co had played Oh as first choice he may have stayed.
He had a ways to go….
Anyways what are you worried about…
That manager was emptied just as you campained for, you got your way…
You won…
Don’t be a bitter, whining winner…
Celtic are now the club you demanded they’ be…
No Rodgers
No Green brigade
The last six months must have been bliss for the uber fans:))))
Hail Hail
The Blogger Formerly Known As GM @ 3:53 pm,
Well one thing every informed commentator agrees on is Celtic’s recruitment was not fit for purpose…
Lord Haughey to Martin O’Neill…
“Whether it is £2m or £9m, I would argue IN GENERAL if Celtic pay a transfer fee for a player it is in the hope he can be sold at some point for a higher fee and therefore should be considered a “development player”.”
That is just one of the reasons the recruitment was dysfunctional.
Folk like you and the Board Directors, especially the lawyers and accountants should be no-where near a football recruitment strategy.
Hail Hail
Tontine Tim @ 4:01pm – absolutely brilliant
Respect.
Britain’s leading goalscorer.
Faithful to Celtic through and through.
As I said a few months back …
IMHO, among our countless, genuine heroes … six Celts in our history have almost mythical status.
There are statues of four of these men outside Celtic Park.
Time for similar tributes to Jimmy McGrory and The Prince Of Goalkeepers.
Bournesouprecipe @ 3:58 pm,
Empty our highly successful manager, who stored up trophies and cash galore and hire Wilfried Nancy…
You got to think, maybe behind that curtain Burnley78 and >GM were the brains of the operation:))))
Hail Hail
BTB – who is the sixth?
Tommy Burns?
Chairbhoy
Mike and Bernie Winters
Snorbitz CSC
Yawn….
Bring out the gimp.
Bournesouprecipe @ 4:25 pm,
There’s two of them!?
Think if these lot were in charge back in the day….
There would be a statue outside The Emirates of a formidable man… with a huge plaque…
McGLORY of ARSENAL
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY
Brendan “had an eye for a player” – Arne Engels £25M 🤣
Emptied for Wilfried CSC
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 16th April 2026 4:13 pm
Tontine Tim @ 4:01pm – absolutely brilliant Respect.
Britain’s leading goalscorer. Faithful to Celtic through and through. As I said a few months back …IMHO, among our countless, genuine heroes … six Celts in our history have almost mythical status. There are statues of four of these men outside Celtic Park.
Time for similar tributes to Jimmy McGrory and The Prince Of Goalkeepers.
*Fully concur but also one of Jimmy up in his native Garngad.