It took until 5th October but Celtic are top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time. The valiant stand by the Highlanders went the way of Culloden but whereas the competition for first place us over for the season, the league has a promising look to it.
The SPL suffered for many years not exclusively because Celtic and Rangers dominated but because those teams who should have been snapping at their heels – the city clubs – were hugely underachieving.
Motherwell have done enormously well finishing ‘best of the rest’ for three years but they are inhibited by being the third best supported team in Motherwell (population 30,311). Their coaching and scouting infrastructure would provide a completely different platform if they were one of the top-flight clubs from Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.
Below Celtic sit Motherwell, and the other very well run SPFL club, Inverness, but behind them are Aberdeen and Dundee United, who for once sit above the detritus (sorry, Kilmarnock, but you are a terribly run football club) and plucky upstarts (Ross County, from Dingwall, population 5,026). Even Hibs are rallying. They will return to the top half of the table if they beat Partick Thistle tonight.
Of the big city clubs, only Hearts (in Administration) are off the pace, and even their league status is bound to be rescued when Kilmarnock’s name is inevitably written with the accompanying parenthesis.
As we’ve noted here often before, when the Daily Record finally acknowledges the reality Celtic websites have long explained about the Rangers group of clubs, you know it’s too late to do anything about it. Today’s piece in the newspaper confirms what we’ve known for a long time, the white flag has been raised. If they were more circumspect before declaring the unquestionable business acumen of the Ibrox key-holder, at any point over the last 15 years, the spivs would have been unable to fill their boots.
All those fawning pieces simply enabled the misdeeds.
While we are on the topic of enablers, what is the price of loyalty? £825k, apparently.
Congratulations to all who participated in the Great Scottish Run for 1254125. It turned into a great Celtic day with participants ranging from the dedicated athletes to those on the high side of 20st who grabbed the chance to make a different to their own lives, as well as others.
It’s happening again next year, so you have plenty time to get ready. The sooner you start preparing the better.
My sincere thanks to the many people who contributed to the 1254125 MyDonate page I put up on Friday. It now sits at an incredible £935, I’ll leave it up for a few days more to see if we can break into four figures.
Thanks for all your help.
Order Sean Fallon, Celtic’s Iron Man, below.
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Bhoys/Ghirls… muted apologies for posting again but i’ve had no luck so far….
..if you’ve read before just scroll by…
Not many things in life are certain, death and taxes aside, but next week I’ll be getting on a flight to Glasgow.
Now, as I’ve said above, that is not a certainty in itself as there are numerous things that could prevent it happening and life is full of “ifs an buts”
IF.. I don’t drop dead before then
IF.. my flight is not cancelled.
BUT.. I can always get another.
IF.. the ‘plane does not drop out of the sky and crash somewhere causing loss of life, which ties in with the first IF above.
I could go on ad nauseam here BUT I’m sure you get my drift…
Now IF I am successful in making it to next week and getting onto the ‘plane there is another certainty (circumstances, batteries and telco services to name but a few, permitting)and that is, my mobile is going to ring with the tone of ”Zadok”: courtesy of ACGR.
By the time I get the phone out of my pocket, after a few rings, it’ll be too late and the caller will have hung up. However, I am certain it will happen several times and Zadok will get a few more “airings” as the caller is persistent, if nothing else.
This should hopefully wind up whatever bears are within earshot (nothing like starting a holiday on the front foot) but I must make sure to power off both mobiles prior to take off!!
All said and done, hopefully I arrive in Glasgow BUT this brings me to the main purpose of this post and why I “chose” this particular period to return home. I have to attend a business meeting in Europe on October 25 (travelling the day before), which presents me with the opportunity of attending the Ajax game on October 22.
Now, and this is the big IF, it will only be possible IF I can get 2 tickets. This might be possible if someone, who has tickets, is unfortunate enough to be requested to be elsewhere at the time, or someone actually has spare tickets.
I know it is almost 3 weeks till the game and my post could be considered “early” but I don’t want to miss the boat, so to speak, and I am also likely to repost this later, unless lucky first time.
IF anyone can help, please answer this post or mail me at desertbhoy1888@gmail.com
If I get tickets I will CERTAINLY be there; “ifs an buts” permitting…..
Whether I’m there or not we can still make the next stage!!
KTF and HH.
Ps… even willing to sit where that baw was lodged a couple of weeks back; well, mibbes naw.
14.19 Summa
‘I am the first to confess I am not a financial manager, and stocks, shares, trade and NASDAQ are all double Dutch to me’.
The only bit of truth written by this confused myopic and bigoted fan of the accounting exercise
McGRORY1888
Not mine. Someone with a much sharper sense of humour.
Btw,I have a good friend in Oxford who comes from a long line if Barnsley supporters. The first words he said to me when he found out I was a Celtic fan were that Ronnie Glavin was his Dad’s favourite player.
He is now rather taken with Paddy. Good luck to him.
BMCUW
I agree I wish Paddy every success. Barnsley are lucky to have him.
Think I’ll pop down to Woolworths later. The shops are still open, right? It was only the company that owned the shops that got liquidated?
.
Bobby..
Glad to hear l am Not the Only one that reads stuff in Instalments..
Normally l run a Mile from Legal or Financial Articles..But that one had me at..Peter Lawwell gets 700k..Ha Ha..
And they bring up (Rightly so) Expenses..Jeezo..Bed and Breakfast in Forfar compared to Milan..
Note to Self..*Don’t Walk away from 825K*
As Prince Charles Said..You learn something New everyday..
Summa
I was reading Pauls peace and it got me thinking to at what point did it all go wrong for the deed club and the media. I always remember an after match press conference with Wattie after they drew 0-0 with Aberdeen at the bigotdome. Wattie tells the press “the bank are running Rangers”. I said to myself for whose benefit is this information. The following week we are on the wrong end of some shocking decisions thanks to Craig Thompsons refereeing where he fails to award clearcut penalties. (I was at a bad angle) Words which would be used an awful lot that season. (Stuart Dougal said the same later in the year when failing to book and send off Kevin Thomson for diving) Admittedly we were not great that year but that still doesn’t take into account the amount of honest mistakes that benefited one club. (At the end of the day we only lost the league by 6 points that season)
I also remember how the media got hold of a story of how Celtic asked the SFA that their refs and linesmen could maybe polish up on their jobs a bit because Robbie Keane was being incorrectly called offside a lot. Oh how they mocked us, I wonder where the press got that information eh Darryll.
I think that was the point where Celtic said “no more”.
Then the next big thing I can remember was “Dougiegate”. Is it just me or does anyone else think that every member of the MSM was taken into a room (a bit like the film The Manchurian Candidate) and told to keep repeating this line “ultimately the referee got the the decision correct”. I’m sure both Jack and Ramsay will feel they did a great job on that one. But fair play to Celtic, they stuck their heels in and “ultimately” Dougie got his jotters.
I remember Jabba immediately got an interview with Dougie, all about white lies and other vomit inducing stuff. That year didn’t go smoothly either but i’m sure the refereeing fraternity were happy that we lost out on the league by a point (your performance at the game against Hamilton Accies was a disgrace Mr Collum) while a lot of the media kept saying “Lennon brings a lot of it on himself” while he is being sent bombs and bullets.
Then our hero Craig takes over at the bigot dome and we all know what happened there but my angst is with that fat turd Jabba. As soon as they go into admin Jabba says it’s because Celtic never paid Rangers the ticket money in advance, i’m sure in the background he was doing his best in an unofficial capacity of course to smooth things over for new club. He tries to get them into the top flight mentioning Armageddon and the like, that fails. He tries to get them into league One, that fails. At this point he’s really pissed off with the online community (and Stuart Cosgrove) for pointing out the flaws in his arguments. What does he do ? Well when he can’t do them any favours anymore in the DR he might as well become the official spokesman for the deed club. My angst is also with King, Jackson, Wilson, Lindsay etc for trying to rewrite history. (King f***** off to the States as soon as his lamb dried up) They got what they deserved and a big thankyou to people like Paul, Phil and all the expert writers on these blogs for pointing out their wrongdoings.
‘825k’ Mc coist……. kind of sticks…. will get me coat lol
.
The Honest Mistake loves being first
14:26 on
7 October, 2013
Gordon j.
You have done a good job of educating myself to the stigma attached to mental illness through your blog and posts on this site. I believe that you have changed the way I react to mental illness and my preconceptions and prejudices have been questioned through your effort.
It’s unfortunate what was posted earlier today on this blog, I can’t change that but what I can do is thank you for your efforts and appeal to others to read your blog if they believe that mental illness is somehow related to the prayers that you say before you go to bed at night.
..
Well said..Very well said..
As GordonJ said people with Mental illness are far more Likely to be the Victims of Crime..and a Majority that end up committing a Crime are probably Not being looked after properly or Medicated properly..
Compare that to a Drug Addict who commits crime to fund Drugs or While on Drugs..
Summa
Good morning from a rainy Toronto.
Been playing catch up on the blog all weekend…..some of my thoughts……..
Congrats to Paul67 and everyone who participated in the charity run, especially ole Jobo with a fine performance and an inspiration to us all of how we should be taking care of ourselves, health wise.
I know that I should be happy that the bigots are almost done (again),but a couple of things at the weekend made my blood boil.
I seen a bit of the Sevco game(I know, I know) and the commentator (?) mentioned that Ayr haven’t beaten them for 34 years and that their “journey” through the leagues will lead to them returning to their “rightful place”….It’s like there is a national campaign, handed down through the ranks of broadcasters and reporters, that the peepil are the peepil and will always be the peepil.
The sectarian singing and chanting, which I believe is a crime in Scotland?, was so bad that I switched the TV off to avoid blowing a gasket.
The national broadcaster has a duty to protect innocent, decent, licence (and tax) paying people and not subject them to having this filth pollute living rooms the length and breadth of the country.
I fear the Government, Courts, Police, TV and media doesn’t care as there is one mighty unseen brotherhood who will always run the show.
Maybe Celtic know this and it explains their futile silence but one thing I know for sure is that we have lost a hero at the weekend that fought for us, and our kind.
RIP George Ryan (St. John Doyle)
Teuchter ár lá
……hmmmm emptied the blog…
must have ll run to the bookies to bet on Airdrie…
ii = all
.
GlassTwoThirdsFull
14:47 on
7 October, 2013
Think I’ll pop down to Woolworths later. The shops are still open, right? It was only the company that owned the shops that got liquidated?
..
Wollies are thriving in Australia..as are SetantaOz..
Sh*t l hope l don’t give them Ideas..
Summa
ii was II but should be all…
Re Muir and the original sale from Murray
In my opinion Muir was pursuing an overdraft and was totally within his remit to pursue the best policy for its repayment on behalf of LTSB.
Murray and his 87% shareholding and its BACKING of Muirs policy appears to be forgotten in the MSM. Not with us tho!!
‘Sir’ knew of the importance each time he raised the 87% voting card.
always in Celtic
Wee story from Saturday.
One or two of you who were at Celtic Park may recall about 35 minutes into the match an announcement requesting a car owner contact the nearest steward. The announcer described a blue BMW and started to read out the registration. After getting as far as SA59 I was thinking what a coincidence it was that somebody had the same make, colour and first four registration letters/numbers as me and it was only as he completed the registration that the penny dropped! Complete panic set in. I was convinced that some ned must have torched my pride and joy which was parked about three quarters of a mile away on a side street off London Road.
It felt like forever before I was able to find a steward and he then had to find his boss to contact the control room. ‘I’ve got the owner of the blue BMX’ is funny looking back but at the time the error was not appreciated. I was advised to return to my car immediately without being given any other information.
I went sprinting down London Road only to be stopped a couple of hundred yards form the stadium by a completely gorgeous young police officer who told me I had left it unlocked, drove me back to my car and then drove me all the way back to the stadium in plenty of time for the second half. I told her I could kiss her but it was probably inappropriate to which she replied that it was all right which was a lovely ambiguous answer that I’ve been flattering myself about ever since!
BOSCOBHOY02
Difficult to add to that,except to simply agree.
Unfortunately,everyone seems to think their problems are all our fault.
We should have said nowt and let the brethren do as they have always done. In much the same way as I can understand English accents though they struggle with mine-and are quick to point it out!-huns have told us we’re talking pash when we tell them the truth about their club.
In each case,I get it,you don’t,so one of us must be stupid.
An Tearmann
Donald Muir played in goals for Toronto Celtic…….fact.
Teuchter ár lá
.
Bryce..
Never took You for a BMX Rider..;-)
Summa
Bryce
BMW rule but better in black ;-)
BMCUP
My dad used to phone me up from Ireland inquiring how they were getting on (the now deed club that is) He now reads these blogs daily and stopped buying the DR over there. We both agree that if there was no internet they would still be in the top league as ugly and arrogant as ever.
Good afternoon from a sunny hun free tunisian pool side
Aways wanted to say that…
No zombies spotted as yet however i did spot a pair of green celtic away shorts from a couple of years back
B-)
I don’t understand what is happening with the Scottish Parliament’s e-petition site.
There have been problems in the past whereby supporters have signed to support my petition and have also commented and it was noticeable that their comment appeared but their signature didn’t. One such man, Robbie the Pict was notified by me of this and was not best pleased as he knew his way around the parliament site having been a petitioner himself and knew how to sign up for support.
Anyway Robbie had to sign up and that was that. It was the same with comments. I have posted comments and they failed to appear. Went missing.
Some might almost think that the e-petition site which is manned by clerks was manned by Masons.
Now something strange has happened in the opposite direction so to speak and all of a sudden over a period of about an hour a hundred names have appeared!
The total has gone from 1491 to 1593 in just over an hour and if it continued at this rate would attract about two million signatures by 29 October!
Maybe they gave the Masonic clerks the day off?
Any ideas what is causing this folks?
if any of you out there have sevco minded friends, who you might feel are more eduacted and enlightened than the general sevco eejits, ask them this svery simple question
have they ever seen or heard of Charlotte?
in my limited experience (because i have very few sevco minded friends who are not eejits) the answer will be No, who is Charlotte?
and that ignorance is one of the reasons that they are full of bullstuff
Bhoylo
I fly out on Wednesday
Sahara beach
Bryce
An open BMW parked aff’ the London Road…….Nae wonder it was OK.
Last thing anyone would have thought :-)
Big Nan……..another hero fighting oor’ corner.
Blantyre
U cudnt have timed it better thunderstorms last nite and this morning..cleared today however tomorrow is meant to be the last of the rain. Im in madhia not sure if thats near hand wer ur headed
BT
Tunisia?
Bhoylo83
Monster at I think
Teuchter.
Yes..
Paul67
Enablers?
Did you not mean embalmers?!
Got your breath back after yesterday?
HH!!
14.15 Bmcuw…triggers broom hahahahaha now in my favourites.brilliant hail hail
Bryce- toffs is careless ;/)
My uncle Stephen is buried in Medjez el bab.
Let me know if you come across this place on your travels – I have been meaning to go there all my life.
Teuchter ár lá
For BT :-)
TomtheLeedsTim-
All time Barnsley cult heroes 1/Ronnie Glavin 2/Clint Marcelle 3/Mick McCarthy
As voted on by the ole Tykes for a BBC poll.
DBBIA/MichaelParkinsonCSC
Will Stokesy go..or Wull Stokesey..well..No Go?
That is the Question.
He wull be able tae sign a Pre-Contract wi’ anither Club,in a few Months time.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
He has refused the terms offered by Celtic, during their last round of Negos.
That wiz.. several Months Ago..and since then.. There hiv bin No Attempt by Celtic tae increase thur previous wage offer tae him.. an offer,which failed tae Excite HIm,wan wee bit.
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Stokesy,is Noo…. Getting Antsy.
Ah dinnae Blame Him..
So wid Ah,in his position.. It DISNAE look Good..
But it dis Look…. Promising!
Although, the Promise that is Being Promised.. Might no be the Promise that Stokesey Wid Be happy tae See.
Right?
Noo, Ah like Stokesy.. he is a very guid man tae Hiv in yer side.
Howevahhhhhhh..
Ah wid Think.. Think, Mind Ye!… That Peter wid hiv wrapped up Contract Talks wi’ Stokesy.. Months ago..
‘
If.. Peter wanted.
It Appears that Peter disnae..well.. Waaant!
Note, the Alacrtity wi’ which.. Efe’s Spanking New.. Contract, complete wi .. Increased Weekly Emolunent n Six added Goodies, fur oor Nigerian wonder… wiz awe Written Up,Cut ,Dried..and Laid oot oan the table..In front of Efe..tae approve.. Sign.. and Pick up…
oan his wey oot the Dooor…Efter the Motherwell Game?
Yes, Peter, Knows How tae Hustle when He Wants..
See, Whit Ah Mean?
Whit this awe amounts tae is that
If Peter Disnae Want tae Want.. then .. It’s Tough Turkey,Fur You.
And it looks like Stokesy in No Gonna Hiv a Very Good Christmas..
Tae Me..
In Ma Opinion.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Teuchtar.
Will have a look..
Bhoylo.
What did you do re cash?