You don’t need to tell me. The biggest thing worrying you about tomorrow is the number of people (from both sides, but especially from the other side), who are saying Celtic are going to “batter them” tomorrow.
I have been going to Ibrox since John Greig was manager and Rangers were a midtable side. Greig endured several years of humiliating results and grief from those who were previously only disappointed in him for being so poor as a player against Celtic. “Greig must stay” was a popular Glasgow ditty for a while. “Martin must stay” has a ring to it too.
There is an anchor game which is often in my head I want to talk about, not long after Greig left the scene. The sides met at Ibrox in November 1985. Jock Wallace – the man who eventually stopped John Stein and won two trebles in three years- was back in charge. Celtic would go on to win the league that season, Rangers edged out Dundee on goal difference to finish fifth, with the same points gap between them and Celtic, as they had to bottom of the table Clydebank.
Celtic were buoyed by the arrival two days earlier of big money signing Mark McGhee from Hamburg. Everyone expected Celtic to breeze to the points but they lost the game 3-0. Good Celtic teams have lost to poor sides at Ibrox for as long as the place has stood.
The managerial titan that is Barry Ferguson took Newco to Celtic Park in March and left with the points. It has been an entire year since we have beaten them over 90 minutes (a penalty win in the League Cup Final being the exception), which for a Celtic team who win so much domestically, is not a good look.
I have indulged in watching them a few times this season. Russell Martin’s suggestion that they have players who do not have minds on the task is on the mark. Punches are being pulled. Does anyone think they will pull their punches against us? Expect Newco players to throw everything they have at us.
We are not without our worries. Kairat’s soft-press was all it took to eliminate Celtic from the Champions League. We struggled to progress the ball quickly enough into dangerous areas. And when we managed it, the cutting edge was gone. Who can we expect to get the goals tomorrow?
Brendan’s record against Newco managers has been very good, but Ferguson was one that got away. Russell Martin could do the same if we don’t find a cutting edge. This is why Brendan is the manager and you and me just fans. He needs to find a fix for what ails us.
Welcome to Celtic, Marcelo Saracchi. The 27-year-old Uruguayan left back joins on a season-long loan from Boca Juniors, allaying fears of an over-dependency on Kieran Tierney. It’s a tall ask but I expect to see him at some point tomorrow.
That game in 1985; two weeks before it I walked into the Celtic Shop in town (top of West Nile St, I think). Stevie Chalmers from behind the counter said, “How can I help you?” “Six tickets for Ibrox”, I replied. That’s how easy it was to meet a European Cup winner can get away tickets back then. Enjoy the game.
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Laxalt on 30th August 2025 7:00 pm
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Always mind ma do saying….if Bobby Murdoch played well….Celtic won
Same as Cal for this generation
Lynch…love your moniker but don’t understand your message??
Laxalt on 30th August 2025 8:54 pm
Lynch…love your moniker but don’t understand your message??
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post oneill shrinkage
and a board marking its own homework
Laxalt
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posted a few times during covid but stopped as atmosphere on here was too toxic
hope everybody made it through
thanks for compliment|
Tontine Tim..
Thanks for the reply..
I will praise the board for their financial acumen and criticise it for being very very risk averse. But we knew this qualifier was coming up and we did nothing to prepare for it.
Your reply shows we regularly lose our best players to teams from richer leagues and yet we seem to have no process in place to replace them.
Bordnock Saint
Sean….I read all your posts and I’ve meant to post this a few times
I played on the same park as Gary Bollan, Alec Cleland, Steven Wright and Craig Burley.
My dad watched nearly every game I played.
The best player who I played alongside was the great man….Phil O’Donnell.
But by a mile, Sean, you were the best player I ever played against.
My dad was a great judge of a player and actually wrote to John Kelman to take you and Phil to Celtic.
I played against you at the Cader Park for NMBC when you played for JBC.
Sean….you were a real player and watched as you went to Accies and then St Mirren.
I am so delighted you have smashed it in the USA and you have a great family.
What a player you were.
What a top Celtic mhan you are.
I’m still good pals with RazMcS and he adores you.
ToptimSeanCSC
PS….the wee guy who played up front for JBC…Steely was some player too
If we had signed Vardy, do you think he would have started tomorrow? I think he would, and I would have been feeling a lot more confident! I am concerned that Idah will, subconsciously, be worried about getting injured.
Sargosses….Vardy would have been found out like every other Enhlishman that came up here at 30+ snd thought they’d smashed Scottish football..
Anyway, im going to listen to Gslway to Graceland then im going to bed.
God Bless Sean McBride and the CrossKeysCSC
I’m beginning to think Celtic have more than one illness afflicting them at the moment. The board have become useful idiots at this convenient time but Brendan is not totally innocent.
We should be dominating teams with what we have at our disposal and our failure to do so lies somewhat at BRs door. His failure to tweak tactics and formations and stick to plan A has cost us Scottish cup and ECL qualification.
We have also become a “hard watch”, some may argue football has now moved beyond Brendan…tomorrow I feel will show if I’m barking up the wrong tree but the truth is I’m dreading it.
BSR @ 12:46 pm,
Indeed, I’ve scoured the south-east with no success, however, I’ve left a message with Brendan’s brother’s granny for Adam to get “home”
He’ll be in hunskelping mood… no doubts.
Hail Hail
Lynch77….ma da died 24vyears ago snd I miss him so much.
Before televised games my dad used to record the radio commentary and he used to make me listen to the Andy Lynch penalty and he would celebrate like it just happened.
Other than that he never made me to listen to much except….
SIMPSON
CRAIG and
GEMMELL
MURDOCH
MCNEILL and
CLARK
JOHNSTONE
WALLACE
CHALMERS
AULD and
LENNOX
is ralston fit at right back tomorrow?
In Brendan’s press conference on Friday he said Tony R didn’t train today but should be fine tomorrow. Didn’t sound too convincing to me though
If he starts we will get 70 mins out of him
Ralston is a bear and will put in the required shift
Hatate will start, with calmac and engels
Balikwisha on the left and Nygren on the right
Maeda thru the middle
Ralston, CCV, Scales, KT
Engels, Calmac, Hatate
Nygren, Daizen, Balikwisha
Thats my team
Meanwhile a wee bit of solace can be found on BBC2’s celebration of the Belfast Cowboy, Van Morrison on his 80th birthday. Singing about the ‘Celtic New Year’ that’s the the one with the hard Greek K sound and not the soft Latin C one to be found in our great club’s name. God bless Van the Man!
Apologies if already posted :
Crvena Zvezda (A) 24 September 2025 (KO: 8pm)
Braga (H), 2 October 2025(KO: 5.45pm)
Sturm Graz (H), 23 October 2025 (KO: 8pm)
FC Midtylland (A), 6 November 2025 (KO: 5.45pm)
Feyenoord (A), 27 November 2025 (KO: 5.45pm)
Roma (H), 11 December 2025 (KO: 8pm)
Bologna (A), 22 January 2026 (KO: 5.45pm)
Utrecht (H), 29 January 2026 (KO: 8pm)
HH
SKYSPORTS BREAKING TRANSFER NEWS
30 August 2015, 22.15hrs
Skysports can exclusively reveal that Celtic FC have reached a preliminary agreement with BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer for a 6 month loan deal for Dion Dublin.
It is understood that there is no option to buy clause and that Celtic will cover 50% of the player’s salary.
Maybe a footlong is what we need in hte filth of the ibrox subway
Celtic 2025.
a hard watch.
a
ffs and a dearie me
Ralstons leg is in a brace from what I know
Don’t think hes fit
Lastly, before I go…thank ghod says ye…..when Adam Idah joined Celtic on loan it was never sn option to have a buy option snx that came from either the player or Norwich.
.NOT Celtic
Laxalt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cphNpqKpKc4
Tomorrow the team that cant defend host the team that cant score. Somethings gotta give.
Both sets of supporters are deflated.
Bring on the Doldrums Derby.
FAVOURITE UNCLE on 30th August 2025 2:04 pm
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full
Did you catch any pies?
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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Joint top scorers in the league with 6 goals for and 0 goals against
And we play
The huns with 3 goals for and 3 against
Don’t believe everything the media would tell you…..
Livi have the worst defence with 8 goals conceded……
Cheers Fav.
No. Mouth pointing the wrong way.
It was a strange period.
Team suffered a mini collapse the reasons for which were unknown.
No one was injured as I recall. They just stopped playing well.
I was reflecting on Paul’s reference to Mark Mcghee’s signing.
We picked him up from Hamburg for £150,000 and he brought something else to the forward line for sure.
I remember us being 1-0 down at Tynecastle … by this time Hearts were on a roll.
McGhee scored a terrific equaliser in the second half.
Game finished 1-1
It’s been a while since I was so disillusioned with Celtic .
Tomorrow’s fixture reminds of the horror season that was 1977/78.
Having just won the double and missing out on the treble by losing the LCF to Aberdeen .
We sold our crown jewel Kenny Dalglish , before the start of the season ,to Liverpool for a British transfer record of £440k.
After a very poor start to the season , we travelled to Ibrox in need of new recruits .
To replace King Kenny .
Our previously incomparable manager, Jock Stein
Bought ex Rangers reject John Dowie from Fulham ,to bolster the midfield ,and Tom McAdam from DUFC as a striker .
The combined fees for both didn’t break £100k .
Both were rushed into the side .
Big Shuggie Edvaldsson scored twice to give Celtic a 2-0 lead .
But we melted after that and lost 3-2 .
It might have been the match where Mr Gordon produced the most biased anti- Celtic refereeing performance of my lifetime ?
Denying us a clear penalty and whilst the players surrounded him to protest in the Rangers penalty box .
He allowed Rangers to attack us with virtually our whole team stranded in front of the Copland road terracing .
I think John Greig scored unchallenged, with a tap in .
The Celtic team refused to restart the match in raging disgust at the blatant cheating .
Only when Mr Stein forced them to take to the field did the match recommence.
Dowie ended up being a right puddin and was sold to Doncaster Rovers ( I think) the next year .
McAdam failed as a striker before going on to have a distinguished career at when Billy McNeill converted him to centre – half for the 4-2 game in 1979 .
Ranger went on to beat us in the LCF and do a treble .
It marked the end for our greatest ever manager .
Dowie & McAdam for Dalglish , and a huge profit banked .
The more things change , the more things stay the same.
I’m as depressed tonight as the 14 year old bhoy was when he got off the Methil & District CSC bus , at the Buck & Hind pub .
Where my Hun mates , just back off the Buckhaven & Methil RSB , we’te waiting to get it right up me..
With the money we now have .
It’s a form of criminal negligence .
TT
Sorry for the poor punctuation.
I’m typing on my phone in a darkened room , without my glasses .
Trying not to disturb Mrs TT.
TT
I think I’m wrong about it being the match that Gordon cheated us an Greig scored .
TT
Tinytim, sorry to say it was the wrong match. I was at it. Was defiantly 1978. Must have been about April.
Celtic denied a stonewaller. MIB let them play on. Think there was about 6 monkey’s bearingdown on Peter Latchfords goal with I think Frank Munro chasing back. Sleekit Greig put it in.
Always on the wrong side of history that mob
Tontine Tim
100% was not you I was referring to. Was our host and others that share his outlook. Unlikely to share your own in my reading.
Apologies, no offence intended. At least not to you.
It’s called the Malvinas .
You’re correct .
Same season , but the 2nd visit to Ibrox that season .
TT
TINYTIM
HH
PeterLatchfordsBelly on 31st August 2025 12:26 am
Tontine Tim 100% was not you I was referring to. Was our host and others that share his outlook. Unlikely to share your own in my reading. Apologies, no offence intended. At least not to you.
*Ok thanks for the apology , I was stunned so took me ages to reply
PeterLatchfordsBelly on 31st August 2025 12:26 am
Tontine Tim 100% was not you I was referring to. Was our host and others that share his outlook. Unlikely to share your own in my reading. Apologies, no offence intended. At least not to you.
*Ok thanks for the apology , I was stunned so took me ages to reply
*btw I meant explanation as you had nothing to apologise for, I suppose I’m like the rest right now, a bit gun shy and seriously there should be no need for that.