Helsingborgs IF are sixth after 17 games in the Swedish Allsvenskan, seven points off Elfsborg and Malmo, who ended Scotland’s interest in the Champions League last season. Our opponents clearly play it tight on the road, they have lost only eight goals away from home, considerably fewer than anyone else in the league (Malmo: 19), although their home goals for and against are not unusually low (scored 14 to Malmo’s 16 at home, conceded nine to Malmo’s one).
Helsingborgs have lost only three league games, fewer than anyone else. Four draws from nine home games appears to have cost them most ground in the title race.
Celtic can expect to face a tight defence who are well versed at shutting teams out in the second leg in Glasgow where they will need the creative talents of Kris Commons with perhaps Paddy McCourt p[laying a role. A big European-night atmosphere at Celtic Park will be invaluable.
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Stephbhoy
A hotel beside Celtic Park is very welcome and will do great business once a fortnight. The developer will profit by renting to a chain operator under franchise. The franchisee will profit from the business (if run well). That’s two profit streams drawn from/dependent on people interested in Celtic not going into Celtic.
The mix of people who arrive in Dalmarnock post 2014 may or may not take (more) interest in Celtic. I suspect this will be marginal at best.
Undoubtedly, the area to the south will improve greatly in the short term and will be environmentally pleasing in the short term. Celtic will benefit from an enhanced general environment, though that may be a feel good factor rather than financial.
To not have control over the key hotel seems a missed opportunity to me. Did Fergus not build the east stand to be able to accommodate a hotel with corporate openings into that stand or is my memory failing me?
Just my opinion.
HH
Invercelt
Thank you. I did actually know that, though I doubt that will be believed by some :-)
My point is that I struggle to believe that a man who appears to have difficulty with one language would be so confident in his use of another, unless of course he’d been given advice from another source.
Bloke109 20:20
Charles Rennie Mackintosh the inventor of the iPod and anaraks? Aye? i?
Jeezo he’s some man, was listening to some of his music earlier on as well.
The man’s a Genius, yet Lawwell sits back and hasnt even approached him, see that Lawwell? See him? Uuuch I dont know.
EN
bournesouprecipe on 10 August, 2012 at 20:34 said:
VP
Was it done in an aggressive manner?
———————————————————–
That depends,they’re all for rebels blowing up
buildings and people in Libya ,Egypt and Syria.
Funnily enough they didn’t like the rebels from ole Ireland.
I’m a silly old fool as those of you who know me will testify. Old being the operative word.
Regards a celtic bar/coffee shop/restaurant or whatever close to Celtic Park to replace the burger vans etc. can someone explain to me how these outlets can satisfactorily deal with potentially thousands of fans dropping in for a pint,meal,coffee in the hour leading up to the game? It’s kinda mindboggling for me I’m afraid.
From Celtic FC.net
Manager: Helsingborgs will be tough test
By: Mark Henderson in Philadelphia on 10 Aug, 2012 18:33
WITH such a valuable prize on offer, Neil Lennon only expected a tough draw for the UEFA Champions League play-offs and that is what Celtic received today when they were paired with Helsingborgs IF.
The Swedish champions now stand between the Hoops and a place in the group stages of Europe´s premier club competition, something the club has endured a four-year absence from.
However, while acknowledging the severity of the test his team will undergo over the two matches, the manager was satisfied they would face an opponent that doesn´t fall into the unknown quantity category, thanks to Celtic´s Swedish connections.
Speaking exclusively to the official website, the Irishman said: “It didn’t matter who we got, it was going to be a tough draw. But in terms of Helsingborgs, we are pleased as we will have a good idea about them through people we know.
“Obviously Johan has a great background in Swedish football, and the majority of the players will now about the way they play – their philosophy, their ideas.
“In terms of travel, it´s not too bad. I would imagine it will be pretty similar climate-wise as it was in Helsinki. So if you throw all those ingredients in, it´s a good draw.
“But no matter who we got, it would have been very tough. What we have to do is temper our expectations and not get carried away with what we´ve achieved so far. The remit was to get passed Helsinki. Now we have given ourselves a chance and the tie for me is 50/50.”
While both teams have never clashed competitively before, they do share one common link: the reverence in which they hold Henrik Larsson.
The Swede´s contribution to Celtic during his seven-year stay is the stuff of legend, but he´s also a huge hero at Helsingborgs, the club where he rose to prominence as a youngster and where he finished his career.
But the manager won´t be giving his former team-mate a call to enlist some expert advice on Celtic´s upcoming opponents.
“I won´t be, as Henrik will have a foot in both camps and I´m sure his head will be spinning already with people ringing him, whether it be from Celtic´s side, Helsingborgs´ side or the press,” he explained.
“I´m sure he will be getting inundated with requests for information and interviews. I am going to leave him to it. I wouldn’t want to put him in that position. We have plenty of people who will do plenty of homework.
“I´m hoping that between now and the tie, I will get out to see them myself but if that´s not the case, we will watch them as rigorously as we can.”
Celtic will travel to Sweden for the first-leg fixture in just 11 days time before hosting the return game in Paradise on August 29. And the Hoops boss was pleased to be away from home first.
“Well, I think it´s good for us,” he said. “If we can get a positive result in the first game and bring them back to a full house at Celtic Park, it could all work in our favour.
“However we will have to do very well in the first tie,” he added. “Our home record over the years has been excellent and we want to work on that.
“In our last three games now we have came back unbeaten away from home. If we can be in touch going into the second leg, I will be pretty pleased about that.”
More immediately, Celtic will face the exciting challenge of Spanish champions, Real Madrid in a mouth-watering friendly tomorrow (Saturday) in Philadelphia.
Several first-team players remained in Glasgow following the exertions of Helsinki, which could see youngsters such as Callum McGregor and Marcus Fraser handed an opportunity against Jose Mourinho´s star-studded side at the Lincoln Financial Field.
“We are probably playing the best club side in the world, currently,” said the manager. “It´s a great opportunity for our players to challenge themselves against the best players in the world. I think it´s a fantastic game for them in a fantastic venue.
“We have a few people not here – Samaras, Lustig, Forrest, McCourt and Brown, so it gives some of the younger players an opportunity to get 90 minutes under their belt and have one of the greatest experiences of their young careers.”
During the trip, Celtic also announced the establishment of an International Soccer Academy in the city in partnership with Philadelphia Sports Zone.
The programme will see players and coaches will benefit from the vast international experience of the entire Celtic player development system.
Along with the various dignitaries, the launch was also attended by young footballers from the local area.
“This is my third time in Philadelphia and I absolutely love the city, and I was delighted to see some of the kids here today in the Celtic kit,” added the Hoops boss. “It really warms the heart that the club is expanding and is touching people across the Atlantic.
“We do have a huge fanbase here in American and it´s always very pleasing to come here.”
EN
You’re right. This guy Mackintosh won’t fit into the Lawwell identikit – too expensive rather than buy cheap and sell big, but with him we’d make the Champions League for definite. Sort it out Lawwell, get the boy signed. Or McGehry.
ElDiego
I think the plan would be that theses new ideas would supplement, or offer an alternative to, the existing burger vans etc.
ScotPatsFan 20:40
Cheers, can see that point but to try and match the cheap buildings around defeats the purpose and it loses a bit of character, they should try to match whats there and thats the Main Stand.
Id change the 80s brick facade of the main stand as well given the chance.
EN
Paul67 et al
Fantastic run by the USA relay team. 40.82 should be a new World record, but former officials from the former GDR have contacted the IOC and informed them that the old 1985 record still stands!
EDB
The Springy Vaults can do it so why cant Celtic
Ya auld fool
German Sanchez Sanchez, of Mexico, did an inward 4.5, 4.1 degree of difficulty,
I would want a 5 for climbing up the stairs.
Estadio Nacional on 10 August, 2012 at 20:48 said:
I would change it too,,ive never been a fan of the front of the main stand,would rather we had a glass front,a lot more modern!!
HH
celtic mac ….. 20:49 on 10 August, 2012
Strange that the BBC haven’t mentioned the WR controversy……?
Stuart Hazel arrested
Evening Ghents & Lhadies
Friday night footie quiz starts at 9pm. All welcome to join in.
5 rounds of Celtic magic. You know the rules by now.
HH
CRC
Help please guys. On phone so bear with me.
Local landlord has paid for a satellite package from Grayson ltd , byres rd. I am a bit suspicious. Kosher?
Steve Cram commentating on a race where he coaches one of the competitors. It’s like BBC blumin Scotland.
ibleedgreenandwhite1 20:53
Agree.
EN
hamiltontim on 10 August, 2012 at 20:35 said:
row z
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HT
I don’t give a toss about the old building either. I am concerned about the replacement. I am not impressed with the design. It is a metal shed. It will look pretty much like the current superstore from the outside. It is uninspiring. That is disappointing. The smarta***s can mention CRM or Foster but frankly any 1st year student at GSOA should be failed if they returned this in the architecture course.
I thought we were more than a club. Our public buildings should make a statement about who and what we are. Our stadium does this. Our statues do this. Frankly this building doesn’t.
HH
hamiltontim
Cheers mate but seriously can you see a Celtic bar or bars coping with thousands of supporters in the lead up to a game? I can’t.
They barely cope with a few hundred in the area I’ve frequented this past 16 or so years at considerable personal expense.
DickByrne has never had a problem getting upto a bar….
Round 1 of 5: If you know your Celtic nickname History. Name the Celts?
(2pts if you are first to answer Q correctly, 1pt if correct but not first. One submission only per round )
1:Rambo
2:Smiler
3: Cesar
4:Choccy
5:Faither
6:The Quiet Assasin
7:Whispy
Tommy Joad
Yip, – there is a very sinister side to his charge.
And will Neil Francis ever reveal *maybe in his book* what McCoist said that so upset him, in the ‘shame game’?
The best bit about McCoist is he can’t manage, demonstrated by his help in frittering a 15 point lead.
celticrollercoaster supporting wee Oscar on 10 August, 2012 at 21:00 said:
Round 1 of 5: If you know your Celtic nickname History. Name the Celts?
(2pts if you are first to answer Q correctly, 1pt if correct but not first. One submission only per round )
1:Rambo McInally
2:Smiler Mochan
3: Cesar Big Billy
4:Choccy McLair
5:Faither Simpson
6:The Quiet Assasin Murdoch
7:Whispy Wallace
Excellent article from the “Biased BBC.com ” website..
BBc Director General:”Olympic Coverage Is Too Patriotic,Must Now Support Other Nations….!!??”..
—————-
This was brought up in comments thread of the “Nearly Back” post by Number 7, but I think it’s worthy of a full post itself and deserves discussion.
We are too focused on Team GB: Astonishing memo from ‘increasingly unhappy’ BBC boss over patriotic tone of news coverage
BBC chiefs have ordered their news teams to stop focusing so much on Team GB’s stunning Olympics success.
Director general Mark Thompson is said to be ‘increasingly unhappy’ with the patriotic tone of the news coverage of the Games.
(…….)
TV and radio newsroom staff were astonished by an email sent yesterday, which told them to focus on the achievements of other nations as well as our own.
In the message, titled ‘An order from the DG’, director of news Helen Boaden wrote: ‘Mark Thompson is increasingly unhappy that we are focusing far too much on Team GB’s performance to the. exclusion of all else.
‘This is also becoming a theme within the Press.
‘As editor in chief, he has issued a directive that this needs to change from today. So you need to get cracking on making that shift.’
What, no hugs? Seems like a strange directive for the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Especially considering the bit in the Charter about “bringing the UK to the world”. Assuming that the following bit about “bringing the world to the UK” is about news reporting and not jingoism in sports, that is. Even so, this raises some serious questions.
1. Does Thompson believe that in reality there are enough immigrants or communities of immigrant origin in the UK who would prefer to hear about their own country’s success that he is seriously directing staff to pay more attention to other countries? If so, doesn’t that betray the entire concept of a nation united by values and that the much-vaunted concept of multiculturalism is in fact divisive balkanization? Not enough British people living in Britain, then?
2. Is this revealing of a certain embarrassment at the top levels of the BBC about openly supporting British success in the face of non-white nations? I’m pretty sure Thompson isn’t concerned about so much attention being lavished on Usain Bolt for his two brief events rather than on US athlete Ashton Easton for winning gold and setting a world record in the decathlon, which used to bestow upon the winner the title, “World’s Greatest Athlete”. Nor is Thompson talking about giving more credit to the French.
3. Has the BBC’s lust for evil profits, global reach and dominance caused Mark Thompson to subsume the BBC’s ultimate remit – providing public service broadcasting for the license fee payers in the UK as the official State broadcaster – in favor of pandering to audiences in other nations where the BBC reaps or stands to gain commercial revenue?
4. Is Thompson simply the Panderer General?
5. What does this tell us about the line of defense we’re always fed that there is no top-down editorial directive at the BBC, that there are no memos handed down from on high giving editorial directions, that the BBC is too large and too disorganized for there to be an institutional bias of this kind? According a BBC insider the Mail quotes, this never happens:
‘We never get direct orders like this.
Except, we know they do. Maybe it’s just that there’s been no serious objection before when orders come down from on high about Global Warming or Islam, for example.
6. Does the shock amongst regular BBC staff signal at least some hope for the reformation of the BBC after all?
‘It is only natural that our viewers and listeners want to hear about Team GB’s successes. All the other countries celebrate their own medal winners.
‘It would be a shame if we had to water down our coverage to satisfy an abstract notion of fairness.’
Do they not feel, as Thompson seems to, that a significant amount of their audience in the UK is not British or proud of British achievement? Presumably it’s more than just the one or two disgruntled assistant producers who leaked this to the Mail. Or will this current patriotism vanish next week and it’ll be back to business as usual because the only time Beeboids approve of patriotism or nationalism by the English, British, or certain other countries is during sports tournaments?
As an outsider living in a country where the BBC is most definitely trying to increase influence, audience share, and evil profits, I find this very amusing as well as important.”
1
1McANALLY
1:Rambo
2:Smiler
3: Cesar MCNEIL
4:Choccy MCLAIR
5:Faither SIMSON
6:The Quiet Assasin HAY
7:Whispy WALLACE
share on F’book or Twitter
1 alan mcinally
2 Mochan
3 mcneill
4 mclair
5 Simpson
6 Murdoch
7 Wallace
I meant Davie Hay
milk
chocolate
lemonade
?
Bazzabhoy ……… Bravo mate
Yet again on the money.
Stupid stupid Huns
Hail hail
The plans are rubbish. Not one mention of a hover pitch.
Several points I’d like to make on the school issue…
Glasgow Uni followed the rest of the middle classes west, and they took salvaged stone with them. It wasnt vandalism.
The school does not belong to Celtic. The owners have allowed it to decline.
The proposed new building is designed to complement the velodrome and surround. The plans specifically promise to comply with council requirements in terms of actual materials/finish in the final draft.
Most of us would prefer ‘traditional’ buildings, but they cost too much. That is simple reality. At least the proposals will generate employment and benefit both club and community.
The houses and shops fronting London Road are getting grants to modernise their frontages and windows. Celtic are not asking for taxpayers money, but are offering to ensure that the plans are environmentally and socially acceptable.
Despite all of this, people still want to blame the club and particular individuals. Dearie me, progress in Europe, financial security and forward business planning designed to secure the club in future, and some people don’t like the cladding!
HH
row z
Maybe you have a point. For most of the years that I’ve gone to watch Celtic I’ve approached the ground from a different direction so this may go some way to explaining why personally I don’t feel a particular attachment to the building.
ElDiego
I’ve said for years that Celtic should have bought some of the pubs in closest vicinity to the ground to generate additional revenue.
quiet tonight
CRC
They’re goin easy on ye ‘cos of your bad back :-)
OK maybe just make it 1 round then :-)
Turkey not very popular with the commentators …….very disappointing comments