It remains a possibility that Atletico Madrid will lose today’s league decider against Barcelona and next week’s Champions League final against Real Madrid (vernacular: ‘do a Hearts), but I hope not. The fact that they have pushed the two most celebrated football clubs on the planet to the limit, across two tournaments, is already remarkable. Should they deliver on two fronts, it will be the most stunning achievement in European football in 47 years.
There was a healthy amount of bloodlust for the Uefa Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules to fine the life out of the likes of Manchester City and Paris St Germain, before banning them from Uefa competition. This was never the point.
What Uefa have done is bring Europe’s two most freely spending clubs into line. FFP will restrict City and PSG’s expenditure, transfer market activity and squad selection. This is a result.
It’s a pity we’re not at Celtic Park to lift the Scottish Cup today. *!*!
Enormous thanks to Tommy Gemmell and everyone who participated in the entertainment here yesterday. Tommy thoroughly enjoyed the banter and will be back on the blog below this article early this afternoon to catch up with the questions he didn’t have time for yesterday.
You can buy a signed copy of his new autobiography, which he can add a personalised message to, by ordering below:
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bamboo @ 09.17 hrs,
Always up for a good conspiracy theory, however if you can’t beat them join them.
Dutch grass at Paradise will enhance our mind blowing experience and take the players performance to a new high.
For any doubters, check the adictionary
HH, always in Celtic.
Quincy Adams Wagstaff
09:01 on 19 May, 2014
Cheers – I’ll just play it by ear – I knew where the new ticket office was – just wasn’t sure if there was a car park beside it
timomouse:
I’m up to chapter six, do you mind if I ask a couple of questions?
Reading back on the night shift …
Some real quality posts from great CQNrs !
Been in here 8 years and have to say it’s just not a patch on the good days of CQN
Fortunately I have met many genuine people who are a credit to themselves and our club
I choose to scroll by the ones I don’t want to read … But it really is sad times on this blog
Watched the cup final on sat, in a pub in Fenguerola , STJ v DU.
Asked him ,who do you fancy? He said nobody don’t care. Don’t support any of them.
He came from Dundee so I thought it was a bit strange.
Anyway we are talking away .
SJ scored then the mask slipped.
Ya beuty he shouts ,he then said to another fella.
As long as it’s a blue .
That wins .
I thought aye right next time he goes to the toilet or for a smoke am pissin in his pint.
Heading out to see whether Swindon’s pubs have survived my absence.
I’ll leave you with this,a sorry tale of inner-city ‘regeneration’ where,unlikely as it seems-!-the poorer people in society have been shafted.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/18/-sp-truth-about-gentrification-how-woodberry-down-became-woodberry-park
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS ………Praying for our WEE HERO
“BILLY BHOY 05
The power of devolution in WALES was never as strong as in SCOTLAND.
The amount of legislative powers passed to The Welsh Assembly is significantly less than to The Scottish Parliament”
—————————————————
Agreed, but although the Welsh are patriotic they don’t seem to want to go retro like some of our Yes( terday) campaigners.
HH, always in Celtic
TBJ
An apology from me.
It was only this morning that I realised that TBJ stands for The Bhoy Jinky and if so I think we were introduced very briefly at Cowiebhoy’s do just as I was leaving to go and feed my kids.
You have said previously that we had spoken before but I don’t remember that.
CQN names are a nightmare for me– I much prefer Harry or Charlie or Mick or anything other than a CQN name which I will never remember.
So my apologies if I seemed distant I just did not get the TBJ (The Bhoy Jinky ) connection.
” I’m staying until I hear that Champions League anthem blaring out once again across Ibrox. That’s what the fans and the people here should be given and if that can be delivered maybe I’ll feel my job is complete.”
Chortles Green
Bigyinmilan and others about our youth players. What is exactly the point of our youth system ?
Our youths have been winning and winning for years and that has given us. Err Mcgeady and Marshall who have made the grade who else
To me a total waste of money as most of our players are foreign
Maybe time for a German our Dutch youth team as more likely we would get a return
Investing in our home youths is a waste of money
Modern being drunk in charge of the internet is rubbish.
Dontbrattbakkinanger,
No, just got back from the US on Saturday. What did I miss??
SydneyTim
09:50 on
19 May, 2014
Investing in our home youths is a waste of money
You post endless amounts of fitba drivel, you surpassed yersell with that comment
sydneytim
Maloney, McManus, Kennedy (but for injury would have captained us and Scotland)
Lionroars67. I know it sound great in investing in our youth
But just asking what have as a club gained from that ?
In 10 years 2 players !!!
Forrest
sydneytim
You have a very selective memory :-P
SydneyTim
09:58 on
19 May, 2014
For someone who slaughters Celtic for looking at the bottom line in the balance sheet you certainly dont do irony
If you need a full explanation on WHY Celtic invest in home grown players and WHY it is not only the correct thing to do and not just for Celtic (check the squads of SPFL clubs) i can’t help you
Gary I am talking about players who have Made the grade
McManus at his level now so is Maloney. Kennedy might have been
I can only see Mcgeady as only outfield player
If you mention james forest I will be oof oot
Ps it’s not just Celtic. It’s the whole of the UK
But if an EPL team fails at youth level they just use their tv money to buy from abroad. We don’t have that luxury we have to find a better way of developing our youths and sorry but scottish youths tend not to cut it
Champions, multiple trophy winners through the age groups, Champions League (qualifiers) to look forward to, books balanced, and generally rosy outlook with some exciting possibilities in the future for Celtic FC.
Now how can I get a negative from that……oh, wait.
Gordon J – young master Isbell and his 400 Unit. I was there with ole Subterranean.
They were very good.
And they finished with ‘Outfit’!
In the ole piney woods below the Mason -Dixon line career advice must consist of two doors- go through one and you’re a sniper in the Marines; go through the other and you’re a sublime guitar picker.
[the DBTs were in Glasgow at the beginning of the week, gave that show a miss].
A repeated shout out to Cowiebhoy for his exemplary hosting skills on Saturday!
Gary. So our youth system develops players and we then give them as free transfers to other scottish clubs. Jesus wept
We have only a certain income. I just look at better ways we can spend it
As I said Mcgeady in ten years Not a great return
Awe naw no the ole youth in Asia debate.
Dontbrattbakkinanger,
Ah yes, I’d forgotten I was missing Jason. Love his new album, and he always plays a few old ones too.
I hear he is playing a benefit show in Alabama soon with his old friends Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. That’s one I’d love to see.
Because
Bournesoup. Forget aisa. What about Munich , Rotterdam, Prague
I don’t mean scouting. I mean a youth team as the numerous teams out of lennoxtown are doing no good for producing top grade players
I wonder how the ole Dallas Cowboys partnership is shaping up?
ST renewed,26 years in a row.
We can scrap the whole youth setup or we can look into turning world class youth players into world class players. Celtic are doing fantastically well educating youth players who compete with the worlds top teams reaching the latter stages of competitions. We need to allow these players to make the transition. Shipping them out to other teams on loan can’t be the answer as I can’t think of many who return to stake a claim.
I think we’re getting to a point where we can trust our young players to make the transition to the first team.
Ole youth set up is a thorny issue
However,the sale of McGeady has paid for the whole thing for many years
Add the sale ofa few bit part players over the years ..Caddis , Cuthbert etc and the whole thing maybe cost neutral
The current crop look very good and hopefully we’ll see some of Henderson,Fisher, Watt et al make an sustained impact on the first team in early course
SydneyTim
09:58 on
19 May, 2014
Lionroars67. I know it sound great in investing in our youth
But just asking what have as a club gained from that ?
In 10 years 2 players !!!
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ST….Our youth system represents Celtic and indeed Scotland in tournaments all over Europe and beyond. This defines the BIG teams from the rest….See sevco
Bada. Think we have more chance of the Ewings fae Dallas getting into our 1st team and making the grade than anybody from our youth set up
Must be about 5000 youths that have entered our youth system in ten years and got Mcgeady oot. Very poor
The Honest Mistake loves being first
10:24 on 19 May, 2014
‘I think we’re getting to a point where we can trust our young players to make the transition to the first team.’
####
The problem is that the Celtic support are impatient and intolerant in judging players.
If it had been left to the fans both Sammaras and Forster would have been binned within a few weeks.
Think back to that. U16 scottish team that got to the final at Hamden v the Saudi. Under 30’s. How many make the grade. We burn our players out by the age of 20 as we play competive games. Much less abroad. They develop skills 1st
Look at the Ajax system. How many tournaments do their youths win. Far far less than us , as winning is not important
I remember in 1982 before our game in Amsterdam, we fell across their youth camp and their under 14 boys gave about 8 of us a kick about game
They murdered us Skill wise off the radar to us The Buckie didn’t help our cause either :)))
We have been saying the current crop looks good for years now
But nae return
Syd
Interesting but impractical to bring under sixteen’s to Scotland just because all Scots apart from Irish Scots like Aiden McGeady are rubbish.
I’d imagine we are the same as any other football club in the world in terms of youth, to first team level success rate. We are behind the Ajax model, where they get the best of the Netherlands and pinch the rest of the Dutch,except when we get there first for Virgil Van Dijk then they retaliate by gifting us Derk Boeriggter
That’s the market place, there are no Scottish guys over 5’7” good enough for Celtic’s euro bash.
..Michty me!
…some eye-catching, swivel-eyed nutcasery from the oddly usual spoilsport(s)…..in the wee sma’ hours.
Anyhoo…if the subject is yoof set-up, again I’d free McDowally from his ranjurs hell and get him back involved at Paradise.
…. Guid business all round.
HH