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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Sir Kojo…
With your expertise in Forensic Psychology,gained many,many moons ago,at the Prestigious McGills University,in between fending off the
flirtatious legions of snow bunnies etc.
Perhaps you could interpret Murray’s
‘tells’ and other subconscious cues in his interview on Sky News tonight…
And do you reckon he might benefit from a liberal application of PreparationH to those tender affected
pairts ?
Just received a txt from a mate saying something about the huns club deck seats are now void?
Asked him what he meant?
He replied that they paid up front for these “knee scraper seats” and have lost them to administration.
Think he’s had too much jelly and ice cream!
Up over the goal
I was watching Man United in Europe this week, passing the ball about with no real intent, and I muttered to my brother, they are just waiting to give it to Rooney.
Then bang, Rooney scores a cracker.
McCourt on his game gives us that. Neil doesn’t play him, so we have to trust that he is not the man we need now, but we definitely lack the Lubo type magic that would have killed off Killie.
Tiny Tim
He’d be more than interested and would share the outcome,though I’d doubt he’s put his name to the findings.
Will have to see if I can get it on catch up,unless someone can post a link to it?
Tiny Tim and anyone else that’s interested
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2h6gqk_Ybw&feature=player_embedded
Will send this to him TT and let you know what he says.
HH
@the_eriugena: HMRC evidence revealed. Murray compared to Fred Goodwin in the media. In spite of BBC smokescreens it’s been a major day in Rangers scandal.
@rangerstaxcase: Channel 4 news Tuesday 7pm. Could be worth watching.
Mick 00.11
Please do.
TT
Just watched Minty squirm through that interview.
Now I have dragged my right brained child like mind through many a nlp or neurological textbook, without really retaining any conscious knowledge of what I’ve been reading.
But I seem to know the stuff when I talk to clients, so I’ll settle for that.
Minty is a beaten man, and I felt sorry for him as I watched.
He is looking for help from former friends, in a kinda car crash way.
I took no pleasure in watching that.
Sir David Murray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w1xRyZXJu0
There are no words to describe how that collection of pusillanimous cretins called a ‘panel’ on 5Live make me feel. No the slightest scintilla of shame or remorse. Only blaming CW and calling for ‘the game’ to be better regulated.
They need booted out of football ( and Scottish society ) as fast as possible.
They wouldn’t know ‘the game’ if it walked up and headbutted them.
David Murray in an earlier interview where he doesnt seem to touch his face, squirm, scratch……………………. but he is still lying through his teeth.
So it aint the lies.
Its the, “I’ve been caught.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq9txi2Su1o&feature=related
(Sorry, link to unscratcy Murray.)
Sadly, living ‘down under’ I don’t get much chance to see Celtic play. I have a query too all the tims who get to see them regularly, do you think the team plays better in the hoops than in the other strips? As a fan, I find the hoops inspirational and find the other strips less so. Even the bumble-bee kit was better than the strip we wore against Killie.
I’d prefer it if our 2nd strip was something very like the original hoops. Maybe another bumble-bee type strip.
My observation was that only a couple of the players (Brown and Mulgrew) were actually on their game. All the rest seemed to be pretty below par.
oops too=to
SaintLubo
would be intrigued to see the stats on that also
SaintLubo
Yes, I think the strip is important.
Players need to know they are playing for the greatest team in the world.
Jocks team, jinkys team, maestro team, Lubos team, henriks team.
Opposition players need to know they have no right to be on the same pitch as the the hoops.
This is all there is your unconscious mind.
Whether you like it or not.
hen1rik on 20 March, 2012 at 00:14 said:
@the_eriugena: HMRC evidence revealed. Murray compared to Fred Goodwin in the media. In spite of BBC smokescreens it’s been a major day in Rangers scandal.
——————————
I wondered if that particular line would be pursued. It has a Poltical element to it.
It seems that for hibs fans the debate about which flags they can fly is like our debate about songs, for that reason alone, seeing the dilution of irishness at hibs. We need to continue to sing every song under the book and it would be great if every one of us took flags to our game because if we yield on one thing we will end up like Hibs in years to come, debating flags and developing fans a minority of fans that are moderately anti-Irish.
sp and developing a minority of fans that are actually moderately anti-Irish.
Antifa
In my opinion we will never be like Hibs fans.
These are the supporters who at the recent game against us, when the ‘jelly n ice cream’ were in full flow, decided to take in a banner with the words
‘1 down 1 to go. OF GTF’
I have absolutely no time for them, in my view they are only mildly better than those who despise us most.
With all the talk that happens-yesterday was a result that occurs on a regular basis in football. Malaga beat Real Madrid. Barcelona are beaten by another team. That is football. I’ve been on this blog for at least 5 years now. To all the geniuse”s I just say—go and do it. At whatever level you choose–go and do it. This is about the game and the day. Kenny Sheils got it right, and I’m glad that a proper Ulsterman should have that glory. Kilmarnock did not try to kick Celtic off the pitch. They played football, and they took their chance when it came. I love it. All the crap about the Orcs being indespensible took a huge knock yesterday. NL knows this. The only man who came out on his side last season gave his wee team glory. It’s romance and a dream for Kilmarnock. They’ll remember it for years, and I as a football man love it. NL would be the first man to say that as well. Collum? He knows not integrity, faith, or any modicum of fair play. I’m a lapsed Catholic, except when Im in Scotland. Collum is one of the reasons why Catholics in Scotland (leaving out Celtic suporters) feel they need to bend the knee. I wait the time when it does become Radical, and someone comes forward to form a Scottish Republican party. Now that would be fun.
Antifa
I have a brother and a sister who are moderately anti Irish, which is ridiculous since they are 100 per cent ethnically Irish.
I think they just hate hatred, and associate it with Ireland and sectarianism.
I think they, and many others in Britain, are very tired of these old divisions.
It’s quite amazing to read posters calling for the ‘big Pole’ to play, all 5ft 11 of him. Nevermind his size I cannot understand why so many people are calling for him to start at Ibrox. Glasgow derby games are a baptism of fire for any player nevermind a new loan singing who has hardly played for us at all in a potential title clinching game. Lenny is hardly going to bring in an untested player for such a tie and quite rightly so.
I have nothing against a CVA being agreed for any business which has fallen on troubled times through no fault of their own and are struggling to pay their debts. That is NOT the case here. In this case, TFOD have knowingly and deliberately taken steps to avoid paying their due tax (EBTs) followed by a equally deliberate withholding of their due tax. Indeed, that witholding of the due tax is actually using HMRCs monies to fund the huns football team.
It actually amazes me that huns fans don’t even see that as wrong!
They are quite willing to agree that CW’s purchase of TFOD with their own money was wrong but they don’t see anything wrong with running the club with HMRC money. Bizarre!
As to the flogging of union jacks for the game this week, why don’t Tims make a giant union flag with “GEEZ MA MONEY” emblazoned on the front?
.
RIP Irish AFL legend Jim Stynes..
Who Passed away Today after a 3 Year Battle with Cancer..
Don’t know How well Jim is Know back Home but was Adored by The Melbourne Public.. One of the First to Swap codes..
Summa
The Fields of Athenry Part 1
The song is about the famine.
The Fields of Athenry Part 2
A fair bit of Celtic in this one.
Part 3 you are not allowed to watch.
The Fields of Athenry Part 4
The Fields of Athenry Part 5
From minute 4.00 on there is a wee message. The power of song and Support
Watch Part 4, it has history.
.
Courtesy The Scorsman..
Gordon Strachan tips Neil Lennon to rally after final defeat
Gordon Strachan: Has tipped Neil Lennon to bounce back
GORDON Strachan believes Celtic’s season will not be derailed by the shock of losing to Kilmarnock in Sunday’s League Cup final.
The former manager of the Parkhead club said yesterday that current boss Neil Lennon would have been annoyed in the aftermath of the 1-0 defeat at Hampden, but that he would find a simple way of reminding himself of how well his team have been playing over the past few months.
“He probably gave himself a good beating last night and this morning, but he’ll be fine this afternoon,” Strachan said. “He just needs to look at the league table and he’ll be fine.”
Strachan thinks it should simply be accepted that Cammie Bell had an outstanding afternoon in goal for Kilmarnock. “To be fair, the Kilmarnock goalkeeper was the man of the match,” he said. “I think that says it all. There are loads of these examples with goalkeepers. You could go back to the FA Cup final between Leeds and Sunderland in 1973. Sunderland goalkeeper Jim Montgomery was the man of the match and they won 1-0.
“It was the perfect storm that came together for Kilmarnock. The whole thing.”
Strachan added that he took no joy in Rangers’ current difficulties, and suggested that, though Celtic could get by financially without their rivals, they would be impoverished in other ways. “Celtic financially could get on without them and I think that’s what Celtic were saying. They weren’t saying life would be great without them. Somebody asked if they would be affected financially: no, they wouldn’t.
“Celtic have done their work well, so they wouldn’t be affected. In fact they would probably get more Champions League money, and once you get that, everything is OK. But Celtic without Rangers is just not on. That’s what the sponsors go for, Celtic-Rangers games.”
Summa
Morning bhoys,
just switched 5Li.ve on to hear the telling passage from the Mark Daly (?) exchange with Duffield from last night.
Duffield gets very defensive and stiff and aggressive quite quickly – IIRC there was a Paul67 – Duffield exchange of views on the wireless last year when he ‘flared up’ in similar fashion.
Keep pushing it’s an open door.
.
Courtesy The Scotsman..
Rangers administration: David Murray claims Celtic would toil to thrive without Rangers
David Murray: Believes a domino effect would hit Scottish football
SIR David Murray has disputed Celtic’s claims they could thrive financially in the absence of Rangers and has warned that Scottish football would face a damaging “domino effect” without the Ibrox club.
Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, insisted last month that Rangers’ demise would have “no material effect” on his club. He was speaking on the day Rangers announced their intention to go into administration.
Former owner and chairman Murray, in an interview with Sky News, insisted Lawwell and Celtic are mistaken in any belief that the disappearance of Rangers would not have an adverse impact.
“Well, they’re bound to say that, I’d have thought,” said Murray. “It’s a good moment for them to take the high ground. I think where they’ve got it wrong is I wonder how many season tickets they’ll sell because a lot of people buy a season ticket because it’s Rangers.
“If it becomes a one-horse race, if you look at any league that’s a one-horse race, the crowds will dwindle. It’s not my position to talk about Celtic but let’s take in general, a typical Saturday if Rangers go up to Aberdeen and they take three, four, 5000 fans, how many they take, the expenditure and petrol, the economy, tickets, that will all be lost.
“You’re not going to regain that with a club coming in. I then think the Sky deal, the TV deal is all about four Rangers and Celtic games, with no disrespect it’s not about Motherwell against that, and that’s not criticising Motherwell at all. So I think the domino effect of this will make Scottish football greatly reduced of interest level, media level and fans turning up for games.”
Murray was also dismissive of the notion, mooted again at the weekend, that Celtic could relocate to English football in order to find a more profitable level of competition. “They’d probably like to,” he said. “We’ve also wanted to but I don’t think that the English… I’ve been involved in meetings years and years ago with the English authorities. Do they need Rangers and Celtic? The teams at the bottom, turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
“They’re not going to want Rangers and Celtic. I thought years ago the sensible thing would have been to put Rangers and Celtic in lesser divisions and let them work their way up, and throw money into the lower leagues and give some money back, but that didn’t happen.”
Football League chairman Greg Clarke, meanwhile, ruled out any chance of Celtic joining League One or the Championship as suggested at the weekend. Club sources have insisted that is not the case and Clarke himself said it would be “disrespectful” to the Scottish football authorities to enter into any such talks.
“We have absolutely no intention of having any discussions with any club from another national league regarding membership of our competition,” said Clarke.
“This would be highly disrespectful to the Scottish FA and Scottish Premier League and will not be countenanced by the Football League.”
Summa
Good morning friends from a pretty wet, bre4ezy and dark grey East Kilbride.
Jobo
so this is what 7am looks like. wet but mild in bushy but nice spring like feel
that moonbeams interview.
the man who broke the bank at casino loyal is telling us how we can’t survive without them.
STUPID HUN
Morning Celts,
There’s no need to physcho analyse Mintys persona in his sky interview, the man is finished and the impending doom for him and his moonbeam emporium is upon him.
We have a double to win, onwards to victory!
V
So,now we can add murray to the list of “peepil” who say Celtic need rangers.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that on one side of the equation we have those who keep telling us how much we need them (salmond,murray,laptop loyal etc) and,on the other side of the equation we have…..well…..US.
At a time when our greatest rival is in so much trouble,it’s heartening to know so many of them can spend so much time telling US what’s good for US.
I think we could be forgiven for being a wee bit sceptical re. their motives
A dismal, rain-spattered morning here in North Ayrshire.
No further revelations about Rangers?
I could do with cheering up.