Celtic’s run of 27 games unbeaten in domestic football came to an end yesterday as Kilmarnock surprised even their own fans, who bought fewer tickets for the final than they did for the semi-final, perhaps anticipating a reversal.
The bedrock of that magnificent run has been incredibly strong defensive performances; even when Aberdeen scored to take a point earlier this month, their goal benefited from an enormous deflection and the interaction of two debutant defenders.
Kilmarnock’s goal yesterday benefited from no such fortune. Ki didn’t match the forward run of Lee Johnson and Kelvin Wilson didn’t attack the cross. It was, however, a good goal, exploiting the expansive Hampden pitch with some fine passing and excellent movement.
Cammy Bell deservedly won Man of the Match but none of his many saves were spectacular. It could be argued that the stop from Gary Hooper five minutes in turned the match but it was a gift to Bell’s highlights DVD.
Celtic looked like a team who have run out of steam. Profligacy in front of goal and a momentary lapse in defence was all Kilmarnock needed to secure the cup.
I didn’t get a good view of the Anthony Stokes penalty incident at the game, it was Hampden after all, but on the radio going home I heard the evidence clearly confirmed it was not a penalty, which Neil Lennon would realise after he calmed down a bit, despite his initial reaction on seeing a replay.
Television evidence could not be clearer. Michael Nelson went to ground to tackle Stokes and didn’t come within 2 feet of the ball but clipped the Celtic player’s ankle while he was in the process of controlling a fast moving ball.
There was no dispute that Stokes ankle was clipped. No claims were made that Nelson played the ball, or even got close to playing the ball. The incident was an indisputable foul.
When you are running at speed the contact required to force you to lose to lose control of the ball is slight, more than enough contact was made on Stokes to hugely reduce his chances of scoring. Nelson made a rash and ill-timed challenge which should have resulted in an injury-time penalty.
Our sincerest condolences to the Liam Kelly, his family, Kenny Shiels and the Kilmarnock players on the death of Liam’s father Jack in the minutes after full time.
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Had to laff at keevins tonight making out we owe colum summitt re to “goals” v rankers and hertz when he said the ball wasnt over the line.
Listen up shugg. Smidger was 20 yards away and he didnt make the decision. His assistants did!!
mighty tim on 19 March, 2012 at 21:16 said:
a question I would have asked Smith in follow up to his statement that Rangers could stay in budget and would still be more competitive than most Scottish clubs because of their size
“Why was that not good enough before? Why drive the club into bankruptcy when they could have been competitive?”.
Answer: Wit? and let thae Tims be top dog- never!
Jude2005,
Calling me silly ain’t actually addressing the point I made,just sounds a bit patronising,my point was that Daly was no better than those I mentioned
I have never seen Moonbeams squirm as much during an interview, as i have in that latest clip
He knows the end is nigh and is calling in favours all over the place to try and squirm out of it
Too late David. As you certainly won’t be a Sir when this is over
lionroars67 on 19 March, 2012 at 20:01 said:
CVA has been agreed with HMRC according to 5 live
HMRC need to now come out and explain why they are agreeing to a CVA if they are? the situation certainly needs HMRC to make a statement
I as a tax payer find it disgusting that HMRC are apparently according to 5 live willing to forego legitimate tax in the millions as long as individual (craig whyte) is not involved at Ibrox.
———————————-
One pundit was at pains to say a condition was the removal of Craig Whyte but another calrified HMRC’s staement to say thyat another condition was a CVA had to be equitable.
That begs the question equitable to whom?
eq·ui·ty
[ek-wi-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural eq·ui·ties.
1.
the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality:
I can think a few million taxpayers would view a pence in the £ deal as anything but fair to them. the guy punting thi sline is trying to blow smoke into buyer’s eyes. Mind you I wish HMRC would make a statement only if to clarify for potential buyers what they might be getting into.
The hun is a despicable creature torturing himself with delusions of adequacy or at least appearing to be one step ahead of us
Think about how special they feel they have to make themselves
The awarding of not one but five stars to themselves
They would be pathetic were it not for the bitterness and bile that spews out of them
Crush them on the park and then let Hector crush them off it!
I really want us to hammer them on Sunday
Please,please Lenny pick a team full of guys willing to stand up to the hatred and bigotry
HH
adi_dasler on 19 March, 2012 at 21:18 said:
Did I just see on SSN that the huns are selling 43,000 union jacks before sunday’s game for the fightin fuds ?
FFS – irony – sad f***wits
Even in their darkest hour they hate us more than they love their own club.
Bigots to a man.
Auldheid
SFA/Game into disrepute/Owner not proper/Ratified accounts not submitted by 31 March/licence to operate. (if the SFA follow the rules)
———————————–
If the SFA break this rule and allow them to play in the SPL next season then the game is most definitely over………
There was an interesting feature in Saturday’s Independent magazine which might help explain the anti-Celtic comments that seem to feature regularly on NUFC websites…
From a photo journalist book by Chris Killip.
‘There were other realities. The day in 1981 that the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands finally starved himself to death, Killip went to a North Shields housing estate. “It was the only place where I had seen some Bobby Sands graffiti,” he remembers. ‘BOBBY SANDS, GREEDY IRISH PIG’ it read. “Shipbuilding was dominated by Protestants and the Orange Order in Newcastle, as it was in Belfast, Glasgow and Liverpool’.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/still-lives-chris-killips-images-of-northern-working-life-chronicle-and-define-a-bygone-era-7566796.html?action=gallery&ino=2
Let’s hope they leave their newly purchased union jacks on their empty seats with 20 minutes to go. They don’t do walking away, they get the subway.
I know i,ve posted this before but Jellyfish appears and dissapears regularly since he was sold, on the BBC website Scottish Top Scorer Section not only that he has now changing from Everton back to Rangers today. Its like the appearing and dissapearing 10 point penalty. Idle hands do the devils work.
shimmies33 on 19 March, 2012 at 19:10 said:
You guys who keep on about Hooper going through motions ffs
gonna watch the game again!
he held ball up well he linked up play well he fed balls to wide players and his pass to ledley was pure class
Yes he missed chance but his overall game was good and then look at stokes no movement doesnt hold ball up doesnt read passes and only reacts after the event
So watch game again and watch how many times hooper links up with other celtic players
——————————–
Yup I would agree with that. He can hold up play and bring others into play much better than Stokes.
theweegreenman on 19 March, 2012 at 21:41 said:
It has not been forgotten.
The huns on RM were debating last week whether to sing “The Liverpool Song” en masse. They think it would really get to us.
They really are stupid peepel..
So that is :
The Sun newspaper;
A former Rangers director;
A Daily Record Rangers supporting journalist live on radio; and
A tax consultant live on Sky News.
All claim there is documentary evidence of Rangers’ paying players outside of their contracts.
This impacts at least 5 competitions all with different rules and 4 ruling bodies. This can and should be investigated INDEPENDENTLY from any tax issues – there is no dependency here.
Football administrators – WAKE UP.
HH
TLK
Auldheid
Re Hooper.
I thought he did ok yesterday , but too often he had to come deep.
His strength IMHO is when we play on the counter attack , or he finds space between the two centre backs.
Given where he came from and what he cost, he is a good player, but , he needs to attack the ball inside the opposition penalty box to be a great
Fortunately I was unaware of Admin FC on 5live until after the event, thankfully, otherwise I might have been tempted to listen to such drivel.
My view though on 5live having an Admin FC love-in is that they are thinking more what could happen if Scottish football fans stop subsidising the EPL by buying Skysports subscriptions and Sky decided not to give the EPL another above-inflationary increase in subsidy.
I don’t believe today’s ‘revelations’ that Celtic could join the English leagues was coincidental. Sky will do this now and again to retain Celtic’s fans interest in English football. I don’t pay for a Sky subscription out of the principle that my pennies should be subsidising what I want to see more of in proportion i.e. Scottish rather than English football which I couldn’t really care less about.
If 10% of Sky subscriptions comes from Scottish fans and in my view it is probably more than that, then the SPL (or Scottish football if you will) should get 10% or more of the booty.
Just caught an excerpt of the Randall interview – a body language expert could have written a thesis on Minty’s gestures and movements.
Lots of face touching , and squirming back into the chair.
If you notice his body language and tone in the last minute when he Is on the offensive / comfortable ground , compared to the middle of the interview it tells you all you need to know …..perhaps he isn’t used to challenging interviews.
Also, I heard Duffield getting asked a few challenging questions about ‘not knowing’, and I am genuinely flabbergasted by his response…..voice tone and choice of language suggests either extreme discomfort, extreme naivety , or he was choking on succulent lamb.
adi-dasler
And I thought they were skint??? Must cost a right few grand at least ten!!
Anyone goat a link to Shaky Davy?
MWD
Fernando Ricksen played 183 LEAGUE games for Rangers over 6 seasons (2000/1 – 2005/6)- over 30 league games a season. As well as numerous cup and European games. 1 player.
Just sayin’
HH
TLK
MWD
I posted one earlier look back, not sure when.
One of the things I love about CQN is that there are posters from all different walks of life. We statisticians, MP’s, lawyers, etc.
So here is a question. Back in ’94 with Celts for Change, how many headlines or pundits were shouting from the roof tops that “Rancurs needs Celtic, they must be saved at all costs?”
Can any of the knowledgeable posters point me to all these quotes from the past when our rivals tried so valiantly to keep us in the game?
Celtic Mac, ‘tis often the way when journos fly up without doing their prep work first.
Dunno if it’s true or not, but someone posted earlier on the RTC blog that there might be a wee (legal) snag with the sale of 43,000 flags on Sunday. Something to do with street trader licences. If it’s true then a lot of much needed dosh has been wasted.
Wunder if the bucket collectors at the last home game had permission to do so.
Might phone the council offices tomorrow and ask a few questions, in case there is an amnesty this weekend on street traders (how much could I make selling magic anti-administration dust)
HH
The Lizard King
What are the powers to do, they know by now the hun have cheated, they are waithing and praying that the FTT rules against them so they can then take action.
They do not want to be seen to be the bad guys.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the ruling body doesn’t have the will to enforce it’s own rules, now if it was Celtic, we would have been relegated by now.
I have no faith that they will take any action against them, we as a club have to do everything in our powers to walk away.
We will never ever get anything like a level playing field when these are in power.
You can change all the rules you want, but you will never change the hearts of the real people who control the game in scotland, and that is the referees.
What the hell is going on here?
Muamba is at death’s door.
Liam Kelly’s dad has died
And we are waffling on about Kelvin Wilson – poor positioning, failutre to attack, etc, plus the phone-ins?
Celtic is not, never has been. nor ever shall be the most important thing in life.
Life itself and compassion towards others shall always take precendence..
We don’t do hatred. Tommy Burns would have it so and he was a better man than I even aspire to be.
Cheers
Alex
Clashcitybhoy
Auldheid
I agree, he should attack the ball more, improve his first touch and his left peg, but he does sometimes have his head down and look a wee bit sorry for himself, but I believe with the right coaching and attitude he will improve that will be up to him and the coaching staff. He does this at his tender years and we will have a player.
Was at the game and disappointed but watched again and thought we were unlucky but we are young and as you auld guys know at that age we make mistakes……sure we will learn and work out how to close these games out.
It was my bhoys first final and clear he was disappointed but a few of the wiser auld heads counselled him in the ways of being a Celtic supporter, he seemed to like this and said “so the cure is to pump the Huns next weekend” much hilarity and agreement that he was indeed a bhoy to be proud of.
HH
TET
How’s the bhoy?
Didnt tune in to 5live tonight.
Sounds humourous and infuriating in equal measure.
I’m quite happy that the ‘impartial and distinguished expert panel’ did their best impression of Comical Ali tonight. Makes it sweeter when the inevitable happens.
Do not extinguish their hope. If they give in it just wont be as funny.
TJ
THE EXILED TIM on 19 March, 2012 at 22:14 said:
As you know I don’t disagree with the view of inherent bias in the referees – an inevitable consequnce of demographics and lack of governance turned organised and sinister the last 3 years.
But it is on points of the rules we need to challenge them. We’ll never win the referee debate – the charge of paranoia and whataboutery will always be thrown in our face. Neutrals will scoff as “all teams get bad decisions”. Unless documentary evidence of collusion is found (and i wouldn’t rule anything out on that one the way this is panning out), we need to stick to ensuring the documented rules are adhered to.
As with the disciplinary processes, this is the ground we can win on as we can take the emotion and partisanship out of it – “it’s in the rules”.
I hope dear Paul McBride has some mates.
HH
TLK
HT
Out of hospital, but can’t see out of one eye and his cheek is a mess.
I didn’t know then but it was a racist attack on him, they took great delight in calling him Irish this and Irish that as they were laying into him.
As it happens, they have been traced, Aberdeen is not a big place when you are looking for someone.
Apols for any offence the other night, thanks.
………………………………………………………….
Paul67
I just bought the new edition of the mag, not that it matters but it charged me for sending to the rest of the world and not to europe.
I posted this in the morning, not that it matters to me, but for others maybes.
kikinthenakas on 19 March, 2012 at 22:15 said:,
Excellent post. I hope the young lad gets his wish re ‘pumping the huns’ next week. Took me a while to console my eldest yesterday.
Árd Macha
From Hun rumours boys.
19 Mar 2012 21:27:35
I was informed today that Jackson
and traynor were not at their desks
today, they were away in London
meeting a businessman that would
blow the lid off the Ranger’s fiasco.
Apparently they were both invited
down to be excusivley told of the
outcome of the “big” case and the
implications for the club and any
possible buy out of the club.
They will be reporting this on
Wednesday.
(3)
(2)
THE EXILED TIM on 19 March, 2012 at 22:22 said:
Hope your bhoy gets better soon.
HH
theweegreenman
Surprise, surprise – you don’t need any fingers to count BUT we won against the odds, they didn’t expect it and certainly don’t like in the current environment.
Don’t know how this will pan out, but it won’t make them stronger as we were.
Cheers
Alex
Didnt think Pat the pincil looked a well man yesterday. Maybe its the company he keeps!!
Jackson and Traynor invited down to hear the outcome of the big case.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Stupid Huns.