The Football Specials will be packed today with optimistic Celtic fans ahead of their opening competitive game of season 1966-67 at Tynecastle. The Glasgow club hope to win the League Cup for the fourth time in their history. They face a Hearts team looking to win the League Cup for the firth time, which last season became increasingly dependent on lightning-fast striker, Willie Wallace.
By comparison, the reigning Division One and League Cup champions have two of the best wingers in the country. Bobby Lennox and Jimmy Johnstone were the only Celtic players to score in their final eight competitive games of last season, as Jock Stein’s team’s fitness proved crucial with a barrage of late goals.
St Mirren visit Clyde in the other Group 4 game, the only group with all Division One teams, but it’s the two giants who meet in Edinburgh who are favourites to produce the group winner.
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Nye
Heard all about this on the web yesterday.
Just watched the summary after the game – didn’t see the actual highlights – and it is simply not possible to interpret the rules in anyway that allows the player to stay on the pitch.
It was much worse than I thought it would be. Right up there with Bougherra staying on despite kicking seven bells out of Robbie Keane for about 85 minutes.
The blatant pro Rangers bias in the refereeing set up in the country is disgraceful.
Aye, but will he last while backing BR?
If he does he’ll be unique and still nowhere near Celtic legends before that never got a sniff
in the ‘establishment’ SMSM
Any way we could arrange a monthly competition collating the “Honest Mistakes”, perhaps on You Tube or similar and award a prize, like a badge showing entwined snakes to the referee with the highest number of “Honest Mistakes”.
The cheats need to know that they will be exposed and ridiculed. Perhaps we could even get a bookie to lay odds on the monthly outcomes. HH
AN TEACH
Brendan is keeping a dossier on Refs, – maybe ‘we won’t be treated differently’
Who broke the blog?
Whit happened there then ?
“Big bhoy did it and runaway” aka the sevco defence (if they have one :-) )
You Whoooo, Anyone there?
Pauls had servant problems or somert.
Philvus csc
Calton Tongues …
Hello … ello …llo …lo
(sorry, that is supposed to be the sound of my voice echoing through the empty halls of CQN) ….
We’re back!
And were are back
Robinsbhoy….. PC plod is always suspicious of the first on the scene ….or the last…..
Andy Murray……absolutely braw….
Braw
mike in toronto on 15th August 2016 3:01 pm
Calton Tongues …
________________________________________________
Whit?
Aw,bliddy nice one,Paul.
Get the blog up and running just as I hit my cot!
I assume it was a serious attack. Proves yer doing summat right.
HH and thanks for your efforts!!!!
I always understood that if the blog was down a message would be posted on Twitter or Facebook explaining what and when but I couldn’t see a thing. Ah well, back now.
Caltontonges
Am here, thought P67 has barred me, couldn’t even read back to find out when I fell asleep (copyright Philbhoy)
Neustadt … it was Chelsea fans that broke the blog, and then they ran away. They were wearing Sevco jerseys, but they were really Chelsea fans … I saw them
Was there a cyber attack on the blog?
I’ve been having withdrawal symptoms:-))
Hail! Hail!
CQN is here
What the hell do we care now!
BMCUWP
Stuff that sleeping thing stay with us, I had to talk to the family all morning with no Cqn, Miss GFTB thought Cqn being down was hilarious, she has never witnessed me being so agitated :-)
UEFA take the playoffs seriously by making all 10 ties KO at the same standard CL time (20:45 CET), and appointing Elite band referees (plus Willie Collum !).
Our referee is Damir Skomina (SVN). He was the referee at the final Round of 16 fixture between England and Iceland at Euro 2016, as well as the Quarter Final match between Wales and Belgium, so one of UEFA’s best.
Congratulations to Andy Murray. Brilliant, resilient performance in winning the Olympic Gold. Hard luck to Del Potro who was also outstanding.
First thing i thought of when not be able to get on the blog was we’ve signed the pig Farmer!
Heard Fassan had a good game against Inter. Is he in the shop window or just because we are short of keepers?
HH
gsu
TOSB
Andy Murray ?
That’s yesterday’s news :-)
Blimey we’re back.
Maaaan whit a turkey:)))
The ole Cqn coming up straight in my google search now so maybe the “out of commission” was a wee upgrade, if so well done to all concerned plus it did make my daughters day it being down for a few hours
Lee Wallace told me paul broke the blog :)
I got loads of jobs done.
GERRYFAETHEBRIG on 15TH AUGUST 2016 3:09 PM
TOSB
Andy Murray ?
That’s yesterday’s news :-)
………………………………..
It just goes to show how important CQN is to us and how much we miss it when not available. There would have been a stream of updates throughout the early hours on Andy’s great achievement. There would also have been a lot of discussion on the cretin of a commentator’s comment about Andy going over to greet “a group of English supporters”. Imbecile.
Frannyb67
Don’t believe that guy, touts tell lies :-)
CQN has been back up and running for over 20 minutes and no one, not one single person, has posted a pun.
Disgusting.
TOSB
Totally agree, as I have posted before am not on any other site or that Facebook stuf, Cqn is my only vehicle (apart from mates) to talk Celtic or Andy Murray…. If I was at work I probably wouldn’t have noticed but as you said even all the lurkers would have been climbing the walls without the ole Celtuc Quick News
I see that the former City Trader has hatched a cunning plan to make Clint Hill look good; Philip Senderos is training with them!
16 oz of mince. ….. :-)
The record books will show that this is a newco CQN.
Show dodgy air con units the red card.
http://www.balls.ie/football/champions-league-changes/342871
Journalist Gabrielle Marcotti of The Times and ESPN has broken some major Champions League changes. The alterations to the format of the competition are the kind of alterations one would expect from a capitalist society: the rich are just going to keep on getting richer.
UEFA’s Executive Committee will ratify the following changes later this month:
From 2018-19, top 4 leagues will have 16 guaranteed spots in CL. UEFA ExCo to approve late August. Rich get richer. #onepercenters
— Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) August 15, 2016
That essentially means that the side who finishes fourth in England, Spain and Germany will not have to qualify for the group stage via the play-offs, the fate which awaits Man City tomorrow night against Steaua Bucharest.
Presumably, the fourth league extends to Serie A, which currently only has three spots on offer owing to their lousy coefficient. This will also mean that English side’s rubbish performances in Europe will have no impact on the coefficient, something which briefly worried the English football consciousness in the throes of English ineptitude last season, before Man City’s semi-final run and Liverpool’s Europa League final appearance assuaged those concerns.
These changes will mean we will be subject once more to the same sides playing in the same games, meaning opportunities will be even fewer for smaller clubs like Dundalk to muscle their way upon Europe’s top table.
The issue of club power is a major concern for UEFA. The clubs have realised their power, and UEFA’s competition is nothing without their involvement. The increased money going to the Premier League is causing alarm among clubs across Europe, who are worried about left behind. Next year’s ranking of the wealthiest 30 football clubs in the world will include all 20 Premier League clubs.
Hence the clubs feel they need to flex their muscles in order to maximise revenue streams.
Oliver Kay of the Times broke the news earlier this year that the European Clubs Association were proposing a rule whereby clubs were guaranteed a position in the Champions League regardless of domestic performance: something that will be soon known as the Istanbul Rule (most applicable to Liverpool and AC Milan). This plan was publicly backed by Barcelona’s president.
This absurd plan was actually proposed:
Re: Champions League revamp, some big clubs wanted more: wild card for historical merit, weekend games, co-ownership of competition
— Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) August 15, 2016
These changes are evidently a compromise on UEFA’s part, but the worry is the fact that this may be the first step on its way to a European Super League, to which only the richest are invited.