Referee Mallenco scouted ahead of Celtic game

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The Guardian did an excellent piece on Wednesday on how referees in various European territories would view the penalty box wrestling of the Juventus players.  In short, there is a variance in how these offences are punished.  Who knew?

Juventus knew.  I hear they watched four videos of referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco ahead of the Celtic game.

You have to admire their thoroughness.  They had a plan to combat Celtic and needed to know if the referee would let them away with it.  Gone are the days when someone at Juve would simply pick up the phone and ‘ask’.  The danger from Celtic was known, illegal holding would nullify this danger and watching a few videos established what players would get away with.

It’s no longer sufficient to scout your opponents, if you want an edge in this game, scout the referee too.

Every day’s a school day.

I hear from a good contact that a journalist who recently departed the media for a job in the lower leagues once wanted to be a bit of a Jungle Jim. Apparently he was keen to ditch his industry for a job at Celtic back in the 90s. What an escape!

On Friday 1 March the Lisbon Lions will be at the Kerrydale Suite providing commentary and answering questions on their magnificent European Cup final win in 1967. This has never happened in 46 years since that game, to say it is a unique opportunity fails to tell the whole story.

The event is part of our 125 4 125 campaign – central to reinvigorating the charitable spirit which is part of the club we love. It will be a family occasions, tickets are available at £10 for adults and £5 for children. The night has been organised by several fans working in conjunction with the people at Celtic Charity, so please do your best to support this great occasion. Individual tickets or tables are available, details here.
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  1. Big Georges Fan Club on

    kikinthenakas

     

    12:54 on

     

    16 February, 2013

     

    Off to the game, enjoy your day bhoy…..just a wee thought…all those who were clambering for tickets for Juve wonder if they’ll make it today….

     

    ——————————————————————————-

     

     

    Not to worried about that KITN, as long as it is the boo-bhoys who give it a miss (thumbsup)

     

     

    BGFC

  2. Truth_Beauty_and_Freedom on

    SFTB @12:17.

     

     

    Not enough my friend, not enough! :-)

     

     

    Yours in Celtic,

     

     

    TB&F.

  3. Cathedral View

     

     

    That isn’t correct. The ball isn’t in play till it is kicked ( or thrown in case of a throw in). A referee doesn’t blow a whistle for a corner, bye kick etc in any event.

  4. buick makane

     

     

    13:09 on

     

    16 February, 2013

     

    Does anyone know if the st.johnstone game is live on tv on Tuesday?

     

     

    —-

     

     

    Nope. Delayed transmission at 10:00 pm CP time on BBC Alba.

  5. 50 shades of green on

    right off to the game with wee Shades.

     

     

    dark cloud just about away from me after tuesdays match.

     

     

    havent felt so down about a game since seville.

     

     

    hope we are all in fine song today and show the team that we are proud of the overall european exploits this season{with a twist still to come}.

     

     

    i said before tue in lenny we must trust and the more i think about it know matter what team he put out the other night we wouldnt have been allowed a fair crack at the whip.

     

     

    individual errors apart overall the bhoys played well.

     

     

    i will be there today because as the song says .

     

     

    we dont care if we win lose or draw.

     

     

    and another i like is

     

     

    always look on the bright side of life.

     

     

     

    so its over 2 you lord nimmo smith.

     

     

    get the result out on monday.

     

     

    Lookingforewardnotbackwards.csc.

  6. Alexander not a happy goalie! money must be tight at t’rangers

     

     

    Rangers keeper can’t deal with wage cut

     

    By: Scott Burns

     

     

    UNHAPPY Rangers keeper Neil Alexander looks set to leave Rangers at the end of the season – after Ibrox chiefs asked him to take a wage cut of more than 50 per cent.

     

     

    As things stand, the Ibrox No 1 will reluctantly leave the Third Division leaders when his current deal expires in the summer.

     

     

    The former Scotland keeper, who will play against Clyde today, was desperate to stay with the Light Blues but has been left fuming with the way his contract negotiations have been handled.

     

    The 34-year-old was initially offered a new 12-month deal on around £10,000-a-week but that was turned down because he wanted a two-year contract, the same as fellow veteran and club captain Lee McCulloch recently penned.

     

    Alexander was stunned when Rangers returned with a final take-it-or-leave-it offer, still for one season but less than half of what the club initially tabled.

     

     

    The Ibrox club also want the new contract to kick in right away – meaning Alexander would also need to take a substantial cut for the rest of this season.

     

    Rangers boss Ally McCoist wants the keeper to stay, but he hasn’t been involved in the financial negotiations, leaving that to the club’s powerbrokers. ( pawnbrokers, shirley?)

     

    The Govan giants have also turned up the heat on Alexander by offering a pre-contract to Kilmarnock shot-stopper Cammy Bell.

     

     

    That deal still has to be finalised, but Rangers are confident they can get Bell In on a fraction of the money that Alexander is currently earning.

     

    Bell’s representatives also denied claims from Killie boss Kenny Shiels that Championship side Ipswich Town had made an approach to sign the keeper on a pre-contract.

     

     

    Alexander is unhappy with the situation, especially after all the loyalty he feels he has shown to the club.

     

    He was one of the players who remained when the club went into administration and the likes of then first choice keeper Allan McGregor decided to jump ship for Turkish side Besiktas.

     

     

    Alexander could have left on a free transfer in the last two windows, but decided to stick around to help the club rise back up the ranks.

     

     

    The experienced keeper joined Rangers from Ipswich Town in 2008 and has made more than 80 appearances, including the 2008 UEFA Cup Final defeat to Zenit St Petersburg, and has picked up every top-flight domestic medal in the last five years.

     

    Alexander now plans to play out his contract and then leave – unless Ibrox chiefs agree to get back round the table.

  7. sixtaeseven – 4 fouls 4 cards & penalty, a day in the life

     

     

    12:09 on

     

     

    Hunchbacks… perfect description of thems.

     

    They no what Murray did and can’t look ye in the eye.hh

  8. cathedral view

     

     

    12:24 on 16 February, 2013

     

    As a point of order –

     

     

    The ball is deemed ‘in play’ from the moment the ref blows his whistle.

     

     

    A corner or free kick does not necessarily have to have been taken for a foul to be awarded.

     

     

    cv

     

     

    ——————-

     

     

    That is not correct. Law 17 – corner kick states:

     

     

    “The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves”

  9. Holiday just about over, so willbe tuned into CQN for updates today.

     

     

    C O Y B I G

     

     

    Hail Hail

  10. Celtic, Celtic thats the team for me,

     

    Celtic, Celtic on to victory,

     

    They’re the finest team in Scotland, I’m sure you will agree,

     

    We’ll never give up till we’ve won the cup and the scottish football league.

     

     

    They come from bonnie Scotland, they come from county Cork,

     

    They come from dear old Donegal and even from New York,

     

    From every street in Glasgow they proudly make their way,

     

    To a place called dear old paradise and this is what they say.

     

     

    Celtic, Celtic thats the team for me,

     

    Celtic, Celtic on to victory,

     

    They’re the finest team in Scotland, I’m sure you will agree,

     

    We’ll never give up till we’ve won the cup and the scottish football league.

     

     

     

    There’s Fallon, Young and Gemmel who proudly wear the green,

     

    There’s Clark, McNeill and Kennedy the best there;s ever been,

     

    Jim Johnstone, Murdoch, Chalmers, John Divers and John Hughes,

     

    And sixty thousand Celtic fans who proudly shout the news.

     

     

    Celtic, Celtic thats the team for me,

     

    Celtic, Celtic on to victory,

     

    They’re the finest team in Scotland, I’m sure you will agree,

     

    We’ll never give up till we’ve won the cup and the scottish football league.

  11. jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/ on

    Paul67

     

     

    14.30? Thats half way thru my siesta. Need to set the alarm. Adios for now. zzzzzzzzz

  12. At last, news of an official Sevco anthem from Bill McMurder:

     

     

    “Good news I want to be sharing is Rangers finally adopting “We Have An Anchor” as the official hymn of the club.

     

    I am aware that prominent bluenoses are lobbying the club for this and I certainly endorse the idea.

     

    The hymn is, of course, the anthem of the Boys Brigade, another fine Protestant institution started in Glasgow in 1883.

     

    The BB is responsible for churning out thousands of well-bred, upstanding young men – including yours truly – and the hymn is a great expression of Christian faith.

     

    It is also a powerful anthem for Glasgow’s biggest team and this video will help evoke strong emotions in my readers, I am sure.”

     

     

    I’ll spare yeez the video.

  13. Carrick Rovers saw months of

     

    behind the scenes planning come

     

    to fruition last weekend with the

     

    visit of renowned Celtic FC Football

     

    Development Officer Willie McNab

     

    to the town to officially launch a

     

    Club Partnership Programme

     

    between the Monaghan club side

     

    and the Glasgow giants.

     

    McNab, who is also the U13 Celtic

     

    FC Academy Coach spent the

     

    weekend with the club visiting

     

    training sessions and games

     

    involving young players in addition

     

    to delivering a Coach Education

     

    Session and presentations on The

     

    Celtic Academy and the Club

     

    Partnership Programme.

  14. MurdochauldandHay

     

     

    13:13 on 16 February, 2013

     

     

    Hope this is another sign of cash flow problems at Sevco. Haggling over your bills then forcing wage cuts on your ‘uber loyal’ playing staff. Now where have we seen this before ?

  15. I wonder how many actually go to a church? Also, if they dont go, how can they still class themselves as ‘Protesting’ against the Church of Rome.

     

     

    stupid zombies…

  16. No prizes for guessing what Bill’s next line was:

     

     

    ‘Let’s get it done – and bring back “The Billy Boys” while we’re at it!’

     

     

    He’s at it all right.

  17. Just wished jackie mac all the best as he got off the bus. Let’s hope we hump them now !

     

     

    Mon the hoops

  18. Funnily Bill McMurdo is an anchor. The w is silent.

     

     

    About a third of the boys in my Boys Brigade were Catholics. I only joined for the fitba but won the scriptures knowledge prize 5 years in a row. No bad for an atheist.

     

     

    I also know of a Grand Master of a Masonic Lodge who is a fervent Celtic fan and pays for three season tickets for him and his boys. I have yet to ask him if he sings “Who’s the Mason in the black?”

  19. BIG-CUP-WINNERS on

    Monaghan1900

     

     

    They really do give you the boak eh ?

     

    Imagine being one of them for a minute and realising that everything you maintained as right and good, fully in the knowledge it was farce and folly.

     

    In theory they are more to be pitied than despised. But when you factor in we have to live alongside them and they are legion, well………..

  20. Good start to the day..finished my shift early…passed a republican march on the way home..then got in to find a ticket for today waiting.

  21. the boul’ Bill(y)…………………….

     

    Bay City Bawbag……..

     

     

    Time warped.

     

     

    Just like ‘Victorian Dad’

  22. BIG-CUP-WINNERS on

    ASonOfDan

     

    13:32 on

     

    16 February, 2013

     

    I wonder how many actually go to a church? Also, if they dont go, how can they still class themselves as ‘Protesting’ against the Church of Rome.

     

     

    For many of them their religion is hatred, not Protestantism, in any of it’s guises. If they were, their mantra would be acceptable.