Someone asked me a few weeks ago if this was a must-win game. Clearly it’s not, the cup games are must-win, as is the coming league game against Aberdeen, but tomorrow night is an important weathervane, indicating if the club is on the road to recovery.
Since that great high against Barcelona, we have faced Italian opposition twice, both in 2013, losing home games 0-3 to Juventus and Milan. You can trace the decline in European performances through a subsequent Champions League group stage which concluded with five defeats, and last summer’s abject qualification campaign.
Indications are we are a better team now than we were in August, or even when qualifying from our Europa League group, but there is still an almighty task ahead tomorrow night. I suspect none of this recent history will affect Ronny and his players. The manager has told the players they can win. Most of them are playing like they have a point to prove, all of them are looking forward to the challenge.
Inter will know they’ve been in a game.
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Bawsman
Meeting was pants as usual but thanks anyway.
If Scotland had been Independent at the time of the banking crash your world would not be good.
If Gordon Brown or Alistair Darling had not been at the wheel at the time of the banking crash ALL our worlds would not be good.
Back then (prior to the crash), Brown wanted to apply restraint to the markets using the FSA, he got dogs abuse from the media, the city, the Tory’s and Alex Salmond. He (with hindsight) should have had the courage of his convictions.
of course Alistair of the 2tone heid and Gordon had nothing to do with credit bloating to over one Trillion pound
£1,000,000,000,000.
more than every country in africa put together
feeding the market is such a socialist thing.
even more socialist is bloating credit to the point the banks collapse
of course it was not there fault.
no introspection into how the labour party cant count
and youz know it
The party of no memory
Your NHS/Schools building programmes are lovely earners for those Holding PFi contract and will be for years to come
Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling summed up by the note left by one of thier junior secretaries
some thing bout not having money left.(surely not under labour)
its a bit like the chaos of your past govt 75-9
record inflation-27%,
IMF bail out(no money again)
and the beautiful sight of a socialist govt introducing monetarist policies
yes thats the same monetarist policies Thatcher CONTINUED once the lab-lib pact failed
and yep the SNP did vote against youz in 79 but a little memory please of what it was like
Where was your local pile of rat infested kack?
by all means snipe but take the cork out the end of your gun it affects your memory
not mine tho
HH
good day on hill :-)
apologies for having a memory
Jungle Jim
Only joking mate.
Lol
HH
Neillybhoy
I was in McV recently (with Hrvatski Jim of this parish), but haven’t actually been in there for some time to watch a game (was avoiding an unhappy ex, who sometimes frequents there and PJ’s) … they used to show the games on the main floor.
If I can make it over tomorrow, I will post on here (or feel free to get my email from P67), and we can say hello.
HH
Jungle JIm @ 16.38
Quite interesting that about Chelsea because I have always wondered where the London Hun thing came from.
Growing up they were always looked on as being a somewhat frivolous club- exciting players like Osgood and Charlie Cooke it was true but not serious contenders as well as being serial chokers and the object of Terry Collier’s ire. Most people wanted them to beat Leeds in 1970. They signed one of my favourite players, David Hay ( a dark horse possibility for my all time Celtic XI) and got relegated.
They had supporters that caused trouble but they were not as bad, quite, as Leeds or Millwall or the Man U support when they were in the 2nd division and I remember a guy writing to the View – around about 1980- telling us that he went to the Shed in the Hoops and got no hassle. Even by the time their fans were attracting the indignation of Pat Nevin ( and others) for their blatant racism there seemed no connection with the stinkies from Ibrox. And any time I visited Ireland I always met people whose English team was Chelsea as opposed to the more expected Liverpool, Man U or Arsenal.
I would assume that there was some sort of ‘Casual’ linkage or perhaps even the politics of the Far Right but it undoubtedly it exists now even if when I speak to Chelsea fans – like the guy in my work – they could hardly spell ‘Rangers’ far less tell me what colour strip they wear.
Jimbo67
Does anyone know if the game is being shown live in Ireland tomorrow night?
Cheers.
Tlwio
o.g.rafferty @ 16:14,
We’ll Pat Nevin was driven away from Celtic for what he perceived as sectarianism – he said he will mention it each time her hears it.
Well will he be driven away from Chelsea for racism – will he mention it now he can hear it and see it.
Will he out and “embarrass” this team?
Well guess we’ll see in his next column for the official Chelsea website.
Hail Hail
Fan of the Republic of Ireland team? Fan of indie popsters St Etienne? This one’s for you.
pic.twitter.com/RAFIKWkMy1
JJ
Interesting post.
Many years ago I was in London and got a ticket at the gate for a Chelsea Euro match. Forget who, it was Stamford Bridge at the time. My seat was front row behind the goal at the fulham Road end, where the skinheads gathered. I sat quietly for a while, not wanting them to hear my Scottish accent.
At the time they had a Norwegian (I think) central defender, Erlund Johnsen. Early in the game the other team got a corner at my end. This big, intimidating hairless bloke with the ring though his nose (and everywhere else probably) got up as the ball came over and shouted “come on Erlund gerrinto these foreign bastards (or similar)”.
That was about as bad as it got. I ended up chatting to these guys, just football talk.
We make a big mistake when we use disparaging terms to characterise a whole community on the basis of a tribal prejudice against the lowest common denominator. The way we use “Huns” is a good example. Do it if you want, but don’t then take the moral high ground when the other tribe does the same thing with the songs they sing.
A lot of Chelsea support comes from the white hinterlands of satellite towns outside the M25. Spend an afternoon at Victoria Station when they (or England) are at home and the Ulster, GRFC, No Surrender flags hang in numbers from the railings outside the Wetherspoons above the concourse.
As for Pat Selective Hearing Nevin, he seems like a lot of guys I knew in Belfast – happy to stand up for the underdog in anywhere but the place they came from. The fact that he is happy to be wheeled out as the considered voice of football allows him to avoid any soul searching he may otherwise have to do. Self-serving in the extreme
Re: Chelsea fans
I’ve lived in London most of my life and over the years I have associated or worked with scores of Chelsea fans. None of them support the Huns as a second team, one guy I used to play football with had a soft spot for Hearts, but most of those who showed any interest in Scottish football tended to favour Celtic. Many of them had Irish connections as well.
I used to stay near Stamford Bridge and on one match-day I remember seeing a guy with a King Billy scarf on in the late ’90s. But even in the days of the two-team ski hats, Chelsea/Celtic were more popular around the ground.
Chelsea did have a major problem with extreme right-wing fuds for a long time though. Yid-Busters tee-shirts on sale near the ground spring to mind.
Chairbhoy
Entirely.
Livibhoy
I was a big Man U fan for over 30 years.
Until the night they came up here the second time on CL business six months after the Bosch wrecked Manchester.
The supporters they brought acted like they owned the place and disgusted me with their Bosch like attitudes
I loathe them now with the passion of a convert.
There are no martyrs left. Why pick on Pat?
The closest to a martyr in SMS, interstingly, might be Graham Spiers.
Fair minded responses to my ” Chelsea are lovely ” post. Apart . of course, from that narrow-minded Burghbhoy.
Actually, Burghbhoy, your post made me laugh ( in a good, Celtic Way) then I laughed again when you told me you were only joking! I imagined you sitting there after your first post and thinking, ” If we were face to face, JJ would know I was having a laugh but it doen`t alway come over that way in a post. I wonder…hmmmm? Better tell him it was a joke just in case.”
Life on a Blog, eh?
JJ
Nevin did have his moments though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0u4lTUl39I
Squire D
Quite a few people I know have `gone off` Man U but they are not sure why. Like yourself, I went off them after we played them a few years ago at Celtic Park. The one were the Holy Goaly saved the penalty.
JJ
Oops. `where` and `Goalie` before Geordie has a go at me !
Pat Nevin
The man who made a career of reading the NME in the dressing room instead of listening to Wham! and Duran Duran
The hypocrite who grew up in the Jungle in the 1970s and never learned a rebel song.
The fearless zealot who hears offence at all things Celtic and defends his Chelsea to the death – even though they probably despise him
You’ve made your bed Nevin.
So it was Chelsea fans that were singing The Billy Boys, No Pope of Rome, and the Famine song licenced by the BBC just the other week?
neillybhoy
where have you been.?
Ronny during his press conference……’We have the best supporters in the world, in my opinion.’
He gets ‘it’. Either he gets us or he gets the media game. Hopefully both. In good measure.
He could have added the caveat ‘apart from that moronic rotund bassa who’s about 3 rows behind ma dugout and goes mentol every time the other team get so much as a throw-in…..’
HH jamesgang
Nevis is only in it for the money, he will say whatever is needed to keep on the gravy train.
Neillybhoy – The game will be shown either upstairs or doonstairs, does that help? And don’t waste that pint on MikeinToronto, he disnae drink……keep it for me efta lent:)
slainte
tony
JJ
Ya ICF, she’ll suited, loadsamoney bassa you – I forgive you!
Till recently I took the Jinky approach. Celtic Reserves was my only other team. Post- ‘Jay Day’ I may have added Hamilton Accies to my list!
As for the rest of the footie world, couldn’t give a hun-related animal about their fortunes!
HH jamesgang
Chelsea-
I spent time working in London years ago.chelsea were a poor team.their fans were neanderthal.i remember being opp them in the platform.the kack that shower dished out to people on their platform was worse than the inhumanity shown to that chap on the metro.
Shameful behaviour from the fans of a russian oligarch without whom I suspect they would be a nothing club winning the odd league and cup every fifty years
Neanderthals.lets see if they ban them.
HH
She’ll – shell!
Sorry teach!
My prediction for tomorrow is for the tie to be over with by half time unless Craig Gordon has his usual mesmerising European performance. If Leigh Griffiths plays I expect to see him play like he has done on the international stage so far. (MIA)
To be honest I don’t watch as much domestic fayre as I used to but I cannot see where the positivity is coming from. I record games and watch them at my leisure and it is hardly reassuring. Yes we have got better because it helped the Kris Common contract negotiations. I heard Mancini sent two of his best masseurs to Lennoxtown to help Kris get fit for the game.
Even if Leigh Griffthis was joined by both Guidetti and Scepovic I don’t think inter would be too bothered. Johanson, Brown and Britton continually giving the ball away again inter will be suicide and that glaring trend within our play is hardly likely to stop tomorrow evening. If lustig is not fit then the only penetration from us will come through izzy and I expect inter to have that covered.
The two recent signings will hopefully not be started.
HH
neillybhoy
a few bhoys in the irish club looking for you,something about pints.!!!!!
squire danaher
‘You’ve made your bed Nevin’
——–
In truth I suspect he probably hasn’t. Strikes me as the type who’d end up lost/trapped in his duvet cover while trying to change it.
The Green Brigade would be blamed.
24 dawn raids would ensue.
21 arrests would be made.
No successful prosecutions would be achieved.
And/but Pat would bravely reaffirm his determination to call out sectarian duvet bullies at every made-up opportunity.
(Some of that is made up. Sadly less than we could once imagine. )
HH jamesgang
torontony
if I had a unhappy ex I think I would want my wits about me.
is mike not a lawyer?
Well said JJ…
It is evidentially true some clubs attract a larger portion of ne’er do wells than the norm.
Given the attacks on football fans in general by governments and police it seems to me however self defeating to highlight all examples of bad behaviour at this or that club (usually those perceived to be polar opposites of us) and to extrapolate that behaviour and brand the entire fan base as Neanderthals.
Rarely expressed on here is any sympathy for the fans of that club tainted by the highlighted actions of the few.
The branding of Celtic fans at the likes of Motherwell and Tynecastle is a ‘good’ example of how an entirety of fans are traduced.
No doubt I’ll get a blog kicking for suggesting we are super quick to condemn others and super quick to take offence from others.
HH
Jungle Jim
You’ve read me like a book mate.
My initial post was a wind up , just for a laugh.
As soon as I posted I thought , hope JJ gets my irony.
Hence my quick follow up!
HH to u sir
awe_naw_no_annoni_oan_anaw_noo
Dude!
Turn that frown upside down!
:-( -> ;-)
HH jamesgang
Torontony
Howya doing? Keeping warm?
A pint of irn bru would go down very well, thanks….
jamesgang
He has with me
TH
guilty ….
Awe_Naw
You o.k. M8?
HH