Falkirk make their fourth and final appearance of the season at Celtic Park tomorrow, hoping to avoid a clean-sweep of defeats. In August they made their second League Cup visit to Celtic in successive seasons. If anything, the 4-1 scoreline did not flatter the home side. Two months later they came back on Martin O’Neill’s first game in charge of Celtic in 20 years, losing four again, with two goals from Johnny Kenny, but without the consolation goal.
New signing Tomas Cvancara scored his first goal for Celtic when the teams met in early February for a comfortable 2-0 victory. You would be forgiven for thinking the formbook looks straightforward. The main worry for most of us will be a torrid evening at Falkirk in January, when Falkirk passed-up chance after chance, only to fall to a Benjamin Nygren goal. Had the result gone the other way, few of us would complain.
Martin O’Neill does not have Kenny and is unlikely to start Cvancara, will he consider Kelechi Iheanacho fit enough to start the game, though? The answer might depend on who plays in the central-mid engine room. Callum McGregor and Arne Engels are back in the team but neither were at peak fitness as recently as Sunday. Benjamin Nygren will play, but he is not the type of player who can compensate for a striker who is considered less mobile. A fully fit McGregor and Engels gives the manager options.
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ROGERS RULES
T’was down the glen came McAlpines men,
With their shovels slung behind them.
From previous article:
flynn on 24th April 2026 12:01 pm
An Tearmann on 24th April 2026 11:32 am
“They are active,they attend you dont”
They are being mugged by the pro old firm board,
I refuse to allow the board to do that to me.
The huge increase in rapes, muggings, stabbings, grooming gangs, is because of simple simon sheeple like you who virtue signal for brownie points!
Saying brownie points isn’t racism just before you go on one of your righteous virtue signalling twisted gender benders.
The Scottish Election is between pro Zio Genocidal Maniac supporters out the back door uncountable financial support, all innocent unknowing Scottish people’s money who’s taxes keep going up, as more and more public services disappear, all stolen and shipped out to to Genocide land and then they send daft Hoomza out to cry crocodile tears for his fake family in Gaza, SNP, GREENS, LABOUR, LIBS, TORY, REFORM. are all the same pro Genocide Party.
ALL Controlled by the Isreal Lobby.
Pro abortion, pro mass Nazi Euthanasia of hundreds of thousands of people who can no longer work because they took the krankie clot shot to keep Granny safe!
Anti Lobby party…..
The Workers Party of Scotland/Britain are the only anti Zio parties in the UK island.
That is why their leader, GEORGE GALLOWAY, has to leave the country to be allowed to speak without being arrested or worse for waking dim Timdom up!
Zio = Evil
Anti Zio = Heroes
Sad are the homes….
Benny Nygren midfielder not, is a key factor in the run in. The midfield should exclude him, normally it just passes him by.
Midfield Engels CalMac Hatate – two up top Maeda and Nygren. Big Ian Nacho’s 20 minutes comes at the business end, of Celtic games.
It’s a simple game CSC
I don’t want to start a fight, but…
The guys over at Huddle Breakdown, Alan Morrison in particular, don’t agree with the commonplace characterisation of Nygren as ‘a man down’ when the opposition have the ball. Or indeed when Celtic have it.
His stats for pressing, challenges, recovering possession and so on are on a par with any other midfielder we have and are actually better than Matt O’Reilly’s. Gulp.
And his stats for key passes and chance creation are the best in the squad. (perhaps that’s a backhanded problem)
In their view, the problem with Celtic’s midfield may lie a little deeper – CalMac’s game stats have drifted steadily southwards in recent seasons, and it’s starting to look quite obvious.
I think perhaps it highlights what a smashing player he was that, when he was at the top of his game, he was able to do the job of two players. Now that he’s just doing the job of one, the team is struggling in the middle of the park.
bournesouprecipe on 24th April 2026 12:18 pm
Agreed BSR, need to do something different to ignite our play in the final third. We have it in us as per extra time last week, we just don’t show it enough.
Aff oot to the golf.
Chris Sutton got into dire financial problems. He was a terrible manager, and so the media offered the only way out of penury. And to be a media man these days you need to be a shock jock – Kris Boyd, Robbie Savage etc.
Sutton will say anything for a headline, even if it means undermining Celtic before a crucial run of games. Celtic fans can remember his contribution as a player, fair enough. But he’s not a Celtic man; it’s all about Sutton. To generate an overtly negative headline at such an important moment, in my view, cuts all ties with the support.
Id be inclined by keep Iheanacho in reserve to come against tired opposition.
Starting him leaves us facing the entire second half without a viable striker which if we’re level at the break would be a daunting prospect.
No game is easy. We’re not in great shape.
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 24TH APRIL 2026 12:29 PM
I was more concerned about their genuine concerns that we’re the poorest coached team in the league.
Kev racist
There you go,weaponising rape and a particularly virulent strain of zionist islamaphobia- that of picking out a certain population segment.
Its been done and failed kevvi
Scratch those statistics,you dont,for the right wing shiteswipe of assuming a certain religion or a certain colour do them all,all fermented/funded by that zionistblobby,friends of Stephen Laxley.
Wee compromised kevracist
He likes his zionist funded islamaphobia BUT
doesnt like zionism.
Sad is the confused racist
Will say a prayer for you
I don’t think the midfield selection will be the only area for discussion in the next 48 hours.
Does Adamu keep his place, or does Cravancara make the bench?
If Johnston (likely) and Osmand (unlikely imho) are fit, how do they fit in?
Who drops out for Scales?
Players returning to fitness is a pleasant problem for the manager.
Personally, I expect the same starting line up as last week, except for Scales replacing Arthur.
Also, I would swap the positions for Calmac and Arne, as Callum is more of a goal threat.
Emdi any feedback on how AJ or Calum Odmand did in their bounce game?
HH
Friday!
One more sleep as a man used gtø say.
Celtic’s Reckoning Isn’t About Ultras or Optics – It’s About a Board That No Longer Listens
Respected broadcaster Bernard Ponsonby says protests are no longer about ultras or online anger – Celtic’s core support is questioning direction, leadership, and the limits of the current model
ANDY MUIRHEAD
APR 23, 2026
Respected broadcaster and lifelong Celtic fan Bernard Ponsonby didn’t just criticise the Celtic board this week, he dismantled the comfortable narrative that has shielded them for years.
And he did it not as a ranting fan on social media [including yours truly], but as a measured, established voice speaking in a room full of Celtic supporters, under the banner of supporting the club’s own charitable foundation.
That matters.
Because when someone like Ponsonby says the problem is no longer “ultras” or fringe discontent, but the “core of the support,” then the ground has shifted beneath the board’s feet.
For too long, dissent at Celtic has been conveniently boxed off. Ultras. Malcontents. Online noise. But Ponsonby’s intervention strips that away. What he articulated calmly is that dissatisfaction has gone mainstream. This is no longer agitation from the margins. It’s erosion at the centre.
And yet, crucially, he also dismantled the lazy solution.
“Sack the board” is a slogan, he said. Not a strategy.
He’s right. And most supporters, if they’re being honest, know it. The idea that an AGM revolt will suddenly transform Celtic is fantasy. The ownership structure, the voting power, the reality of Dermot Desmond’s influence – it all but guarantees continuity. You can change faces, but without a shift in the underlying model, nothing fundamental changes.
That’s the real tension Ponsonby exposed. Because this isn’t simply about personalities. It’s about philosophy.
For 25 years, Celtic have been run on a model that prioritises domestic dominance, financial stability, and controlled risk. And in that narrow sense, it has worked. The trophy haul is undeniable. The balance sheet is healthy. The club has avoided the chaos that has consumed and killed off others.
But that same model has calcified.
Repeated European failures are not accidents. They are outcomes. When Ponsonby points to Celtic’s inability to consistently compete with clubs operating on smaller budgets, he’s not highlighting bad luck he’s pointing to structural conservatism. A club that manages risk so tightly that it ultimately limits its own ambition.
And here’s where his speech cuts deepest, domestic success is no longer enough.
Celtic supporters don’t measure themselves purely against Kilmarnock or St Mirren with respect to these clubs. They measure themselves against history, identity, and European nights that once defined the club’s global reputation. Lisbon wasn’t built on cautious accounting. Nor were the great modern nights from Barcelona to Juventus born out of risk aversion.
Ponsonby understands something the board increasingly appears not to, Celtic is not just a business, and it cannot be run like one in isolation from its culture. That’s why his most powerful argument wasn’t about governance or finance. It was about meaning.
He spoke about the “almost spiritual quality” of the club. About the Foundation as the embodiment of Celtic’s purpose. About supporters not executives as the club’s greatest ambassadors. This wasn’t sentimentality. It was a reminder.
Because when supporters begin to feel disconnected – not just from results, but from values – you have a deeper problem than a poor season or a failed transfer window or two. You have a crisis of identity. And that’s where the board’s biggest failure lies.
Communication.
Ponsonby’s criticism of “absentee landlords and their offspring reading the Riot Act” was as pointed as anything said all night. It speaks to a leadership that feels distant, reactive, and at times tone-deaf. In an era where football clubs are expected to engage, explain, and at least acknowledge their supporters, Celtic’s hierarchy too often retreats into silence or condescension. That approach might have worked in the past. It doesn’t now.
Perhaps the most telling line in his entire speech wasn’t about Europe, or Desmond, or governance structures. It was that for the first time in his life, he questioned renewing his season ticket. He immediately qualified it – he will renew, of course. Just as tens of thousands of others will. But the fact the question is even being asked is the warning sign.
Because Celtic’s power has always rested on something deeper than results. A loyalty that transcends logic. A connection that survives bad teams, bad managers, even bad custodians.
But that connection is not indestructible. It can be strained. It can be eroded. And if it is taken for granted for long enough, it can fracture.
Ponsonby didn’t call for revolution. He explicitly acknowledged the risks of change, the uncertainty of new ownership, the lack of obvious alternatives. But what he did do was articulate a truth that is becoming harder to ignore.
The current model has reached its limit. And unless those in charge recognise that -unless they evolve, communicate, and realign the club with the expectations and identity of its support – then the turbulence he referenced won’t simply “settle.”
It will deepen.
Because Celtic, as he reminded everyone in that room, is not defined by its boardrooms or balance sheets. It is defined by its fans. And right now, those fans are no longer content to be ignored.
Bing Bong!
This is Captain Flint your pilot on the Celtic Express
Those who have flown with us before will have experienced some extreme turbulence……
Witnessed key crew members jump ship (so to speak) some with parachutes….and sadly some without
You can be assured to know that Flint (nb not Flynn) is still at the wheel….
You can communicate any issues to me via the janitor on board
Please do not approach the cockpit directly for fear you may be mistaken for a terrorist, or worse, a member of the Green Brigade, in which case you will be grounded for another six months
You know the drill…. if things get a bit harum scarum….look oot the portside windaes….
That’ll be me oan the magic carpet….
Rodgers and out
Looking at the table,if the scum dont drop points at Tynecastle,we are going to have to beat them.Our shocking goal difference,thank you ,useless fekin Board,is a massive drawback for us.Motherwell are a hard but for them to crack,a shocking,non penalty,robbing them the last time at Ibrox.Them or Hearts,need something from them.All we need to do is win our games.
Nerve shredding.
Magic. Last thing you want when you jump ship is a parachute 😂
Turkeybhoy.
Believe.
HH
Excellent CQN’r Auldheid often regales us with his tales of buying and consuming Parkhead pies, going along the Gallowgate. Later he spent many years in his career plying his trade in the South Seas but always kept abreast with the prices.
He never failed to check up on The Pie Rates of the Caribbean
Hail Hail Me Hartys CSC
Got to say loved Bernard Ponsonby’s speech …..but who’s listening? Not the Board or DD.
Pie Rates of the Caribbean …..Comedy Gold
Hail hail.
A few VAR decisions will get viewed differently, at Poundland on Sunday, not on TV
Rainjurz TV say they’ve got VAR
New contract for Liam Scales 2030
Scales new 4 year deal
McCowan new 2 year deal
Tony Ralston next up
https://x.com/i/status/2047661207541137905
Via Bada
HH
Congratulations to the players getting contracts renewed
Who is making these decisions ? Is it next seasons management team ?
I suspect MO’N and Shaun go again 2026-2027
All will be revealed when Celtic decide we should know
I understand the strategy of extending squad players’ contracts, In the grand scheme of things its probably minimal investment . but presenting it as some kind of high profile coup strikes me as bizarre. These are not “feel-good” stories. its housekeeping.
We all know we’re in a holding pattern until the end of the season. It’s 99.9% certain we’ll have a new manager, and perhaps a new chairman and CEO as well.
Every Celtic fan agrees we need a reset this close season. For now, the focus should be on going full throttle to the end of the season, and then wiping the slate clean, regardless of where we end up/
Scales & McCowan new contracts. Not that I’m against their new contracts but who is making these decisions?
So is it a 1 year or 2 year deal for MON.?
Smart move with new deals announced this week for three senior players. Morale up.
Unfortunate news on the other side of town with news their captain is skying the park/not wanted anymore.
Chalk that up as another small victory against the foe malign.
TakeTheWinsCSC
Ralston and Hoopy the Huddlehound next
lionroars67 on 24th April 2026 2:24 pm
Congratulations to the players getting contracts renewed
Who is making these decisions ? Is it next seasons management team ?
‐‐—‐——–
Like any business, there will be continuity even when key people are missing.
You may recall when Ange joined we made a lot of signings in a 6 month period.
Some of these players will have been known to him, particularly the Japanese players, others like Hart he would know from his profile.
But, I strongly suspect others like Juranovic, Abada, Jota, CCV, Matt O Riley would be via business continuity ie existing scouts and agents.
While our model needs a reset, we can’t afford to have every football decision revolving around whoever next year’s manager is.
One last point, if I was CEO and someone like MoN came along and said ” you should extend the contracts of players A,B and C ” , I would be inclined to listen.
Bada
That’s a tricky one. Hmmm…
On the plus side, continuity, experience, leadership.
On the other, well, the modern game, progress and all that.
Let’s give him a 6 match trial shift starting tomorrow and see how he gets on 😂
ProcrastimationCSC
Just for balance
Former manager Brendan Rodgers “changed the landscape massively” at Celtic, while his assistant John Kennedy leaves “a big hole”, according to captain Callum McGregor.
Rodgers resigned on Monday evening, while Kennedy – who joined Celtic as a player in 1999 and was then a long-serving coach – left the next day.
Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been appointed on an interim basis and are preparing for Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Rangers after starting their temporary reign with a 4-0 home win over Falkirk on Wednesday.
“I just found out the same as everyone else,” McGregor said when quizzed on Rodgers’ surprise decision to quit, which was announced in a brief statement.
“I spoke to the manager maybe 10, 15 minutes after it. We had a chat, which will stay private for obvious reasons. It’s a shock at the time and then very quickly you’re five minutes from going to bed.
“You’ve got to deal with the aftermath of that. I spoke to some of the players and then we came back in on Tuesday and it’s business as usual, you’ve got a game to play the next day.”
Rodgers won four titles, along with seven cup triumphs, over his two stints as manager, with McGregor a midfield regular in the first spell and skipper for the second.
“Hopefully he’ll be judged for what he’s done for the club,”
McGregor added. “Going back 10 years, he changed the landscape of this club massively.
“The success we’ve had was because of the values and work ethic he instilled when he came in the first time – and that has carried us through a long period.
“Unfortunately, in football everything comes to an end. Everyone would love the fairytale end, but very rarely does that happen. Football can be brutal at times, that’s just the way it is.
“As a club, we have a lot to thank him for.
“He was amazing for my career. He’s done so much for me, so on a personal level I have so much to thank him for and I’m sure whatever he does next he’ll be a big success.”
El Capitano CSC
On Wednesday, Bada stated that Nicholson had said Celtic had appointed a new manager for next year and work was already underway.
If this is the case, should there not have been an announcement to the AIM as this would be stock sensitive information?
https://youtu.be/vOF7kUTzHVE
Martin O’Neill Talks New Contracts For Scales, McCowan & Forrest + Looks Ahead To Falkirk Game