Astra started their season on a historical high, eliminating Lyon from European competition, but their 8 games since August have brought five defeats, two draws and a solitary win against opponents currently 14th place in the Romanian league.
On paper this sounds as straightforward as previous European ties did against teams from Karagandy or Maribor but as we found out on those occasions, European ties are seldom straightforward.
The cynic in me suggests there is more going on at Astra than meets the eye. Any team who can win in Lyon would be heavy odds against shipping three goals in the cup to lower league opponents a few weeks later, which Astra did. They then turned up away to league leaders Steaua Bucharest to keep their only clean sheet since August. Another coupon buster.
Astra, it would seem, are a gift to those who bet outsiders. They are long odds tomorrow, so I’d caution against backing Celtic for a comfortable win. The visitors will apply themselves, just as they did earlier this month against Salzburg, who won by a single goal.
The Celtic books we have published in recent years have been a real labour of love. After a biography of Willie Wallace and a football journey from Tommy Gemmell, we published your story of Seville, a record of its impact on the Celtic Movement.
Today we launch Caesar & the Assassin, the accounts of Billy McNeill and Davie Hay as Celtic managers, told in their own words. It documents the period of our history from when Billy took over from Jock Stein in 1978, through to the end of his era 13 years later, including Davie Hay’s four years in charge.
Most of us lived experienced that period first-hand but it has been an absolute education to read about the games and events which we watched as spectators from the managers in charge. It’s the best CQN book yet.
The first batch of orders will receive a copy signed by Billy and Davie, more here.
If you fancy watching Sunday’s game against Kilmarnock in comfort…….. We have secured another pair of Premium Seat tickets for the Jock Stein Stand from Celtic sponsor Magners. To win the tickets answer the following question:
Which country do Thursday’s opponents FC Astra come from?
Optionally, if you have £1 available, please donate it to Mary’s Meals at this MyDonate page, which will send your £1 straight to Mary’s Meals, then send me your contact details (with or without donation confirmation) to celticquicknews@gmail.com
Competition closes tonight (Wednesday) at 10pm, so get your entries in now and watch your inbox Thursday morning. You can donate more than £1 if you like, of course. Terms and conditions are available here.
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Josefin Lustig sounds like she gets what the gutter press are like in Scotland.
delighted the wean is on the mend.
ohhhh Gooooooooooooooood evening all
BSR
The compliance officer will be serving him with a notice of complaint next for ‘simulation’.
Hail hail.
igc, Can’t think of any Celtic friendly bars in Edinburgh city centre. We use Queen’s Arms in Frederick St. It’s neutral and they don’t growl at you, unlike many others
Good news re the Lustig kid.
When are these irresponsible morons of the msm going to be dealt with?
Anti-Celtic and scum of the earth.
Correction. Ramos oot
Geordie@18.56,
Ramos not playing.Not even on the bench.
Spooky stuff!
michaelj
17:41 on 22 October, 2014
Just watched sky sports could not believe what I have just seen a convicted rapist given airtime to say he wants to play football again has the world gone mad
What about the victim who has had to move and change her identity
=========================
How that boy got convicted in the first place is a scathing indictment on the justice system and a sinister warning to any young man out on the pull of a weekend. There are thousands of footballers gone there before him who may just be realising, with a shudder, how lucky they were that their one-night stand with the eager young beauty remained nothing more; thousands of ordinary men too.
You will have noticed – before you jumped on the bandwagon of condemnation – that his long-term girlfriend was by his side all the time, and the willingness of United supporters to accept him back; there are shocking circumstances behind his case which can be found on the web but which I’m not going to reproduce here.
Regardless of your stance, and opinion, you must accept that even at the extreme end of his conviction, he has done his time and should be givne the opportunity to rehabilitate within his profession.
weeman67
Think the book you read was from Michael Connelly and is from a number of years ago. Harry Bosch is/was the main character in the series.
Not to be confused with John Connolly who writes some powerful stuff.
Sandman
This is getting spooky. Just opened a book titled The Sandman from a guy called Lars Kepler. Not where you took your blog name from?
Macew
SWINDON – THE TAP & BARREL 115 MANCHESTER RD, SN1 2AJ (Tel: 01793 432587) (Swindon Shamrock CSC)
celticbars.com
P67 ‘Astra, it would seem, are a gift to those who bet outsiders. They are long odds tomorrow, so I’d caution against backing Celtic for a comfortable win.’
=====================================
6-0, 150/1.
I have great expectations tomorrow night.
blantyretim
Get well before you come out for a drink again, I’m sorry I talked you into the Blane last week ,It’s a shame I’ll have to put up with acgr on my own until Richie gets in at four, the wee shit will drive me to drink, Ah well I’ll say a prayer to St Jude, I think that’s the St for lost causes.(:.
ElDiegoBhoy
19:15 on 22 October, 2014
Sandman
This is getting spooky. Just opened a book titled The Sandman from a guy called Lars Kepler. Not where you took your blog name from?
==========================================
ElDiegoBhoy
19:15 on 22 October, 2014
Sandman
This is getting spooky. Just opened a book titled The Sandman from a guy called Lars Kepler. Not where you took your blog name from?
=================================
Lol, no, but I’ve got it on my Kindle. Read his book ‘the nightmare’ – good stuff and looking forward to see what he wrote about me ;))
bournesouprecipe
19:16 on 22 October, 2014
Cheers mate, I have also put macew in touch with BMCUWP as well. Do you know if he frequents there?
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
IGC said:
Due to work commitments with The Mob, I’ll be in edinburgh tomorrow night.
Any recommendations for a Celtic friendly pub that’ll show the game. Thinking around the Lothian Road area.
The International Bar at 15 Brougham Place would be your best bet for that part of town. A good Celtic bar over the years.
Evening bhoys and ghirls. Thanks for the positive thoughts and prayers last night and this morning. Should know in next couple of days results.
Weefrae hope it went well for you today.
Really glad young miss Lustig is on the mend.but not surprised at the gutter press. Celtic really should boot this mob out of Celtic Park. As for McNamara he really wants to take a hard look at himself defending that wee scumbag.
HH
KTF
MT
Sorry buddy, never noticed you had issues, I hope all is well and that any issues are being addressed and sorted. Thanks for your good wishes.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Igc
Malones on Forrest Road very Celtic friendly and good atmosphere, unfortunately International bar fallen out of love with celts these days
bournesouprecipe @ 1916, thanks for that.
Nice Liverpool/Celtic scarf on show there during YNWA.
A reality check from James Forrest
“Ally, on the other hand, has publicly mused on whether he’ll ever manage another club after he leaves Ibrox behind. I would say the chances of it are somewhere between slim and none.
I never expect him to manage a top flight game again in his career.
He’s not going to get his club to the SPL, and that’ll mean his jotters. When clubs in England examine what he “achieved” they will not be impressed as much as aghast at how he went about it.
McCoist gets an easy ride here in Scotland. You only have to look at the nonsense Deila is being asked to swallow, a guy who’s literally just in the door at his club, a guy who’s trying to change not tactics or personnel but honest-to-god fundamentals, to compare and contrast with the way the media fawns all over everything “Coisty” says.
This isn’t just about having mates in the media, although that’s definitely part of it. Ally’s easy time feeds into the general desire the press has to paint everything that that happens at Sevco in the best possible light. The current “takeover talks” are a case in point.
Everyone who’s been following the Sevco story, either on this site or elsewhere, knows that the King over the water isn’t going to take the keys at Ibrox. The obstacles in the way would be too great even for a guy who didn’t simply like having his picture in the paper.
He wants to buy 51% of Sevco, say the papers. Oh yeah? Has no-one told him that if he does then he’s legally obligated to make a bid for the other 49%? Or did he miss class they day they were teaching that one at business school?
Does he realise that his plans would require 75% backing from the existing shareholders? Does he know Ashley himself owns 10% and can call on the same again from the Easdales? Does he realise that every single one of the shareholders would have to see their own share diluted – to no gain whatsoever – in order to make his pipedream a reality?
Does he know it would require a business plan? That it would require something more substantial than the “back of a napkin” nonsense he came up with the last time?
What was that again? Oh aye, give Ally a transfer war chest and pray they get into Europe.
Has no-one told him that if expenditure outstrips earnings by too much that the club will be skint again in short order, Europe or not? Did anyone think to remind him that UEFA financial fair play regulations are in force now, and they wouldn’t be allowed in under those circumstances? Has any of this been discussed? Even thought about?
I suspect not. I suspect that these are questions that strike too close to reality, the one thing Sevco Rangers fans, and those backing the King “bid”, would rather not come face to face with.
The club is a bottomless pit. Even if King wasn’t full of it, spending £30 million on the team would be a sticking plaster over what’s really wrong there.
The stadium is coming apart, needing an eight figure sum spent on it to bring it up to snuff, or there’s a very real risk of a safety certificate being refused somewhere down the line.
Don’t even kid yourself that this won’t happen … HSE regulations are written in stone. It’s a criminal offence to ignore them, and if the inspectors find faults they will shut the place down. Money will have to be spent on that, and a lot of money at that.
Their scouting network is non-existent. When Celtic has to sell players to stay in profit (Hell, even to break even, in a Champions League year) the fantasy that Sevco will be able to continue spending on signings ad infinitum is ridiculous.
They will have to copy the so-called strategy at Celtic Park … except that this strategy misses as often as it hits, and in order to get our success ratio where it’s at right now, the costs were in the tens of millions and the timescale was measured in years.
This is reality. This is not the fantasy the media likes to indulge in.
Even if there was a mood amongst shareholders to dilute their own holdings, the cost of getting involved will run into the tens of millions easily, and will brush the outer limits of a nine figure commitment, lasting at least a decade, with the most unforgiving, selfish supporters in the world baying in his ear the whole time.
Ashley is in the driving seat. He can block King’s grandiose scheme, knowing he’ll take a little flack but there’s nothing anyone can do about it. If the club wants to survive, it will have to go to him with the begging bowl, and essentially give him whatever he wants. That bill is liable to be sky high. Ashley is going to give a first class demonstration of how you don’t need to be the majority shareholder to make everyone around the table dance to your tune.
All of this, the hardship this club is going to face over the next few years, is known to those of us who keep our eyes on what’s happening and don’t trust the media spin.
But you have to want to know.
You know who doesn’t know anything? Our friend Ally.
He was asked today about the King talks, and he pled utter ignorance. He was asked about Ashley and said he didn’t know. On the surface of it, he doesn’t want to dig too far, or delve too deep. He would, it seems, rather sit on the side-lines and wait to be handed money.
Yet, I suspect that’s not the full picture. I wonder how much those above him care about keeping him in the loop these days.
If I were his bosses I wouldn’t be in a great hurry to share anything with him, because the last few months have proved, yet again, that Ally is very adroit at looking out for number one, and he doesn’t mind the occasional flash of disloyalty to his employers if it keeps him in the good graces of the media, and in the eyes of some of the fans.
See, the media is Ally’s Praetorian Guard. If they gave him the same treatment they’re giving Deila, he would have been gone a long time before now.
Two weeks ago, when Ashley was calling for the heads of the Chief Executive and the Finance Officer (I don’t want to say we told you so, but we did kinda tell you so), McCoist was asked about Ashley’s plans for the club. He went on record to say he supported the idea of Ashley investing. He repeated that last week, with the ridiculous notion thrown in that he and King should get together.
Now maybe it’s just me, but where was the statement in support of the CEO? His board of directors has been undermined at every turn in the past year, and McCoist has, on nearly every occasion, supported those who were doing it.
He’s been one of the chief spokesmen for King all the way through, and in the week that Ashley wanted heads to roll above him, there was Ally, talking about how nice his money would be.
This is why today’s bout of head-scratching and “I don’t know anything” was unsurprising. McCoist, in trying to ride both sides of the fence last week with his notion of King and Ashley coming together (and neither camp seems to want Graham Wallace and Phil Nash), has pissed off everyone. If he was being kept informed, he now no longer is.
He’s not in the dog house as much as in the dark house.
Regular readers will know how little I think of him, as a manager and as a man. When he is not spinning conspiracy theories about everyone hating his club, when he isn’t making demands for the naming of names or for criminal investigations into guys in green hoody’s, when he’s not slithering about on the issue of his recompense even as he questions others for taking money out of Ibrox, he’s indulging in little battles against the people who are covering his back.
He is a slippery chancer who is in the final stages of his final job in football.
This time next year, when I’m “celebrating” being 39, he will no longer be working in the sport. I believe that implicitly. I would bet on it.
In the meantime, I suspect he’s living in the growing awareness of assassins in the shadows, of being all alone in that stadium, with few real friends.
A man in hard times needs to know who he can count on. A man who’s behaved as selfishly as he has can only really rely on one person. The man in the mirror.
Even if I was of a mind to show some sympathy for his position – which I am not – I only have to read the statement from the Cowdenbeath chairman last week, when he said McCoist’s ludicrous and cowardly, decision to postpone the match between the sides – and the SPFL’s corrupt endorsement of it even when it no longer had validity –had cost them £20,000 they could ill afford.
That’s chump change to Ally, so what does he care?
His time is running out, and I think he probably knows it.
Today, as I’m one year closer to 40 (and 50, and 60) I strongly suspect that I’m not alone in hearing that rather loud ticking in the background.”
tom mclaughlin
19:43 on 22 October, 2014
Nice Liverpool/Celtic scarf on show there during YNWA.
_____
Ye, noticed it, my bhoy has one the same….Liverpool is his second team, always has been since he was a pup.
He’s upstairs watching it and shouting like a madman, I prefared before his voice broke :(
Anyone got any theories as to why no ones been charged with the assault on Zalukas…
…am i the only one that finds it strange?.
Tom,
it will probably be the well known Celtic/Liverpool fan Ryecatcher
Never respected McCoist but his conduct since being manager makes me now despise him. He has single-handedly brought fear and anxiety to people, who were simply telling the truth or doing their job.
I well remember the one and only press conference where he was asked some direct questions, which utterly flustered him and there have been no repetitions since. Totally out of his depth, in all manner of ways.
RM 1 up. Ronaldo. Brilliant.
One down
CM…20 goals this season …it’s not even November FFS
They had gone out to 10/11 too..
Aaaarghhh
CR…even ..FFS :-))
bgx nope I find it very strange. I also hope that Celtic pursue this as vigorously as possible and show the scum that we as a club will not sit back and accept our player’s or manager or any member of staff being attacked and assaulted.
I would like for someone who is attending the AGM to raise this point and also to consider banning the daily reprobate.
HH
KTF
Lennybhoy
I’m sorry I don’t, but I’m sure he’ll be familiar with it, as it’s the only one
listed in the area.
KTF
You’ve got to say what a finish, but the ball thru was the kind of ball Paul McStay would have played. Happy 50th Paul.
Regarding assault on Zaluska. Is this kind of assault private prosecution proceeding or public in the UK? It’s private in Poland.
Z
Prosecution will be pursued by the public prosecutor…in Scotland they are called Procurator Fiscal
It’s like taking Toffee aff a baby :)
Ssssssssshhhhhhhh !
Weefra thank you for your kind words my friend. My wife things I have had issues for the last 27 years hmm :)).
HH
KTF