At 1:45 yesterday afternoon the prospects of Celtic stretching their lead at the top of the table by the end of the day appeared slight. The tide has turned in Celtic’s favour in recent weeks but leagues are hard to win and we need only think back to how many chances St Mirren peppered Fraser Forster’s goal with to appreciate the difference between winning games and dropping points.
Teams in the SPL are well organised, even eighth place St Mirren, who are on a run of poor form but apart from a couple of lapses defended well, created more chances than Celtic and played with adventure and confidence.
Celtic are the best team in the league but there will not be a single game before the end of the season in which they will be able to take anything for granted. The result from yesterday we should pay most attention to is bottom of the league Dunfermline’s 0-3 win at Kilmarnock. This is a league without whipping boys.
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Praecepta , sorted
The Kano Foundation
The Kano Foundation End of season fundraising dance will be held in the Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park on sat 28th April. Tickets will be priced at £25 per head this will include a 3 course meal. Entertainment will be from Britiains no1 Michael Buble tribute act and a disco to finish off the night. We will be holding our usual raffle (prize donations welcome) and for the first time we have a fantastic auction prize. We hope to have a few special guests as well. look out for details of how you can purchase tickets on line. We hope you will join us for what will be a great evening.
If you’re interested , please email eos@thekanofoundation.com
Current list is (possibles in italics)
Stephen Black +1
Sannabhoy+1
CRC +1
TTTT + 1
TTT+1
MWD+1
Mouldy67
Penfold
Lennybhoy+1
Praecepta+3
MOTD2
Mancini and Platt.
remember when your missus allways had an ugly mate in tow.
St Stivs dinnae worry about they blaggards, last time I seen ye, not only did I find you well erm… rounded and fit as a fiddle (ye’d put some of those young uns to shame), but ye were pogo-ing up and doon the steps of one 11 section in blatant disregard of the no standing rule……. fair play to ye :¬)
ps don’t accept anything but slimline tonic in the vodka and you’ll be fine (smiley)
Vinny
HH
kikinthenakas at 23:30
Well aware of his previous.
But he was also the linesman who angered Jim Jeffries by correctly allowing two Celtic goals Jeffries claimed TV showed were offside.
Is he a good linesman – on the basis of yesterday’s performance, no.
Is he biased against Celtic, quite possibly.
I just don’t think the Rogne goal is clear cut because the offside law as it now stands is a matter of judgement calls about whether defenders have been distracted.
skin deep
Fred C. Dobbs
really enjoyed that :O)
tictalker talking tic
Vmhan Supporting Lenny! says:
22 January, 2012 at 23:52
cheers bud, appreciate the support.
its a Higgins shape, remember Bandy (Hughie).
much missed.
i was a rude bhoy, and cross over punk mod type of guy.
while i was pogoing in Janeys , Greenlion and TTTT were perfecting a New Romantic sweepover.
———–
hows Ryan though,
Joe Filippis Haircut says:
22 January, 2012 at 16:19
I am delighted with Man. Cities win and why would that be ? well I just cant stand Arry Redknapp he is seen as a top manager in the EPL and yet he Bankrupted Portsmouth him and th Chairman with there over spending and high wage structure and he has spent a fortune at Spurs and they dont look like winning anything hes not in the same class as Lennie. H.H.
share
———————————-
Couldn’t agree more, Arry is the kind of spiv who gives football a bad name. Claiming that Balotteli stamped on Parker are just rubbish! Spurs are getting found out. Incidentally,watched BBC shortbread highlights of the rangers v Aberdeen game, why no mention of Clark being taken out of the game right in front of the referee (just before the bocanegra ‘yellow’)?
tictalker,
Good stuff :O).
Congratulations to the New England Patriots, or Pats, in beating Baltimore to reach the SuperBowl in two weeks time.
Mr and Mrs Scotpatsfan will be making a day, and night, of it!!! Fantastic game, but a bit lucky to win in the end.
A very happy,
SPF
He’s fine St Stivs just spoke to him, it’s a worry when you’re so far away……. but at least he’s ok.
Night Celts up for work in 5hrs time aaaaaaaagh!
I don’t like MondaysCSC…… Mondays would be fun of course, if I lived in Scotland TAL.
V
HH
A repost as requested by RWE
RalphWaldoEllison-is Neil Lennon Season 2011-12 says:
20 January, 2012 at 14:13
I want to thank all those who visited my son Tony’s blogsite recently.
His trip of a lifetime to see the Celts on January 14 exceeded his wildest dreams.
His account of the trip can be found on this link http://www.dontshrink.com/2012/01/glasgow.html
Paul67, thnaks for everything. James Johnstone, we’ll never forget. Peter Mullan you are always a star. Cath Morrison, Leslie Walsh – a special mention. Maureen and Paul Nicolson – a special mention Top Corner (I Think) thanks for sending the dedication to Gregor Kyle.
We’re not getting carried away either, BUT Tony and his Mum and I spent three days at the Johns Hopkins Hospital , Baltimore. The effect was positve and Tony writes of them here http://www.dontshrink.com/2012/01/good-numbers.html
Don’t Shrink – Fight ALS/MND
HH RWE CSC
Last year, despite our great defensive record and ever-changing centre-backs, Fraser Forster did not make the top 12 players selected by Celtic Underground as our best 12 of that season (Zaluska did not make it either so they were saying we did not have a worthy goalkeeper, it seems)
Now, a poster there is claiming that Fraser has made a massive step forward since his penalty save against Hearts. He is repeating a commonly held view amongst our support but I do not hold with it.
I see no massive improvement, merely a steady improvement in some technical weaknesses in a goalie who was already very competent in many phases. His kicking has shown some obvious improvement though it is not yet a strength. His willingness to shout at defenders has also developed but there has been no great step forward in other areas, just the slow steady improvement of a guy who was already very promising.
He impressed Alan Pardew, despite his public disparagement of the SPL standard, enough for him to consider having him back to challenge the favoured Tim Krul. He valued him enough to set a £2m transfer fee, which is a hefty payment for anyone’s so-called 3rd keeper. Thankfully, Neil resisted the criticism and stood up to the opprobrium heaped upon him for daring to bring back a loan keeper rather than a permanent one.
Last year, Fraser produced 21 clean sheets. He produced an outstanding save from Jelavic in the League Cup final. He produced several smart saves when teams broke upfield after periods of Celtic pressure but they seemed not to impress our support enough despite the 21 clean sheets. He was lambasted for the goals lost at that LC final on that potato field before Hampden was re-turfed yet again.
This year, he was implicated in the Cha Du Ri own goal and derided when we were going through our bad patch with many calls for Zaluska to replace him. His world class save against Atletico was wiped from the memory because we lost. He did get recognition for a very good save in Rennes because we earned a point but it was not until the Hearts penalty save, that a fair proportion of our support changed their mind about him.
The view was that he was too tall to be a rounded keeper. He was not commanding of his box. He was too slow in getting down for shots and his kicking was mince.
I saw him as a very promising young keeper. In common with most modern keepers, and coaching orthodoxy, he was punching more than he was clutching, a safety first approach. However, he was getting good clearance with most punches and rarely punched into trouble. He had the great attribute for a Celtic keeper, of concentration. He was not in constant action but, when called upon, showed more concentration powers than his loved predecessor Artur, who was and is a better keeper. He was a young man playing with more seasoned pros and he was too quiet for his own good. Goalkeepers do not need to rant and rave but they do need to communicate clearly. He did have a weak kicking technique but he had a great dedication to training and a fairly unflappable nature.
All in all there was great promise in his development at his age and stage and that development has continued to slowly mature this year. He is still two years off his peak, I would expect. There has been no great change to his play this year just normal development and coaching. He is still a bit too quiet and his kicking remains a relative weakness of his, though it is far from being a liability. He never was slow in going down. It was always more of a wekness to be expected in someone tall rather than an evidenced defect.
I did not and do not understand the disdain in which he was held as a loanee and as a keeper. If truth be told, we do not have high standards to maintain in our post war history of keepers. If I was rating our previous number 1s on a 10 point scale where 10 was world class and 5 was average with 3 being SPL average, i would place previous keepers as follows
9- Boruc (could have been a 10 if he had looked after himself better but far superior to any other keeper we have had in my lifetime)
6- Simpson, Fallon & Bonner ( Ronnie was an experienced keeper who calmed our defence but he was not a standout amongst Scots keepers at the time, and our keepers did not enjoy a great reputation at the time; John Fallon was more athletic but our defence did not seem to gel as well with him though he produced more spectacular performances than Ronnie; Packie gets a 6 more for his ROI performances than for Celtic. He was weak with cross balls coming out for impossible balls and missing many)
5- Alan Rough Ally Hunter ( For a joke Scotland keeper, Alan showed up the weaknesses of previous incumbents though the guys in front of him may have helped me in that perception. Ally was very good for us for a short period, maybe at a 7, but he deteriorated to a 2 or 3 level very quickly.)
4- Rab Douglas- (A hard working guy but with an unfortunate habit of playing the ball back to the opposition, instead of clearing when saving)
3 Evan Williams, Denis Connaghan, Jonathan Gould & Peter Latchford. ( I never felt we had one of the best keepers in Scotland when these guys played for Celtic. It was almost as if Jock did not rate the position. Evan produced a level 7 or 8 performance against Feyenoord but his average performance was less convincing and none of these guyshad glittering careers outside Celtic, there were Scottish keepers of that time who were better (Cruikshank, Clark) and there were many better coached English keepers yet Peter Latchford was loved and cheered in a way that we did not offer to other keepers except Artur and Packie.
2- Frank Haffey- a lovely lad but never convinced. He got two Scottish caps though.
I have not included guys like David Marshall, Shay Given or Magnus Hedman as they never established as a number 1 keeper for any length of time.
As for Fraser, I think he has reached a level 6. With continued improvement he might make an 8 or 9 in the next two years but, even if he only improves one more notch, I would still place him as our second best keeper in my lifetime of Celtic supporting.
He should make the Celtic Underground list this year :-)
davythelotion says:
23 January, 2012 at 00:05
Joe Filippis Haircut says:
22 January, 2012 at 16:19
Balotelli did stamp on Parker. Red card as I saw it. So arry Kidnapp was corrupt as they come. Yes he was. Yes he is.Portsmouth. Got it. But not half as corrupt as Man City.
I hope HMRC gets them and Chelsea and all the other EPL and SPL scum who have made football a cheating joke.
Dont be such a pair of Hypocrites.
Dont get me wrong I loathe and despise all London clubs followed by Newcastle and Man City followed by all the other EPL, La Liga and Serie A cheaters. There is another bunch close to home that there will be a reckoning for hopefully.
As for Man City. GTF!
Daily Mail identifies the mystery striker as possibly being this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Molina_Vidal
Ten Men Won The League says:
22 January, 2012 at 13:12
“I adored Henrik Larsson as a kid”
We all adored him no matter what age he was.
Balotelli will eventually get banned from football – he is sub human.
Not only did Balotelli stamp on Parker. Lescott smacked Kaboul.
Its Mancini encouraged thuggery just like Mourinho. Win at all costs.
Mancini gesturing for cards from the sidelines? Should be censured.
Football needs video.
I am tired of FIFA reserving the right to nobble refs in world cups.
CultsBhoy at 00:22
Though listening to Souness on Sky condemn the guy was a bit much after incidents like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVgxYa3mlo
My bhoy informs me that it was not Mr Andrews who flagged Rogne offside. It was Mr A Ross. I hope he is correct as he assures me ESPN were wrong.
for the nightshift,
dont click on any of the random posters tonight, blog being attacked all day.
DONT CLICK
I see there has been a concerted effort to do a SQL injection attack on CQN last couple of days all day..will these huns never learn….. patching servers…its like paying yer taxes.
nothing without fans says:
22 January, 2012 at 23:14
dwptom at 23:02
“This is why I think the offside law as it now is, far from being clear as suggested in the article you quoted has become one of impossible judgement calls for the officials.”
I agree and would quite happily go back to the old interpretation.
When you have untrustworthy officials, the allowance of discretion gives them the opportunity to disguise their incompetence and dishonesty.
They could never have a forum like CQN.
So they revert to type…they spoil :o(.
Pay the bloody taxman for pities sake.
Dear Moderators
Instead of deleting my elephant jokes you should be deleting those posts that have paul67s’ title string in the content. Kids are just as likely to click on those.
C’est ma chanson
fatherandbhoy at 00:32
ESPN getting something wrong is more than likely. And A Ross was the 1st Assistant, which I would think means being on the side with the technical areas. So he’s probably right.
iki at 00:37
As you say, the discretion / interpretation is open to abuse. I also think it is all but impossible even for unbiased officials.
as for:
the “new” offside interpretation
Balls crossing the goal line
Deliberate hand balls in the box
Diving/simulation in the box
Violent conduct off the ball
…..video……no brainer
too important to leave for unsighted refs and linesman that cant keep up.
You ken likesy whit I mean when you’re the subject of a CQN free participatory psychology experiment, and nobody else shows up, and you’re thinking hmmm maybe that’s part of the experiment?
ok wee joke….
Do you know what HMRC told Whyte last week….??
“For every fiver a tenner”
Margaret
You are not alone
HH
But ye will be with any more jokes like that…
At least it is a Kojo free zone..
His dislike of our Captain is starting to border on the pathological.
bunburybhoy says:
23 January, 2012 at 01:50
k
deal
FRAN Sandaza has hit out at Rangers for playing games and trying to get him on the cheap.
Rankers get a big knockback for attempting to buy on the cheap
The Ibrox club tried to secure the striker on a pre-contract, but both the player and the Ibrox boss, Ally McCoist, have said that there will be no deal after the Spaniard opted to see out the season at St Johnstone.
“Why did I say no? Honestly, I think they don’t value me highly enough,” said Sandaza, who scored the winning goal in his team’s 3-2 victory at Hibernian on Saturday. “They are trying to get me cheaply. It’s a big club. Everyone would love to play for that team. But if I play for that team, I am going to score 25 goals – more – easy. So they have to value me properly. I don’t think they have done this with me in the pre-contract.”
Sandaza’s 14 goals in just 20 appearances this season have been a key reason for St Johnstone’s advance up the league table. He says attempts to play down his value are disrespectful. “If I had come from another league and I was doing the same as I’m doing here, they would say: ‘Oh, what a striker!’ But I’m coming from St Johnstone, so they think I’m not worth as much.
bunburybhoy says:
23 January, 2012 at 01:53
he’s his own cousin
Margaret
Now I am confused but I think I know what you are alluding to..
These losers are laughable..