I remember some disparaging comment from sections of the Scottish sporting media regarding Mikael Lustig’s performances for Sweden at Euro 2012. Mikael had only recently joined Celtic and was still finding his feet in Scotland. In short, we didn’t have enough information to make an informed judgement before the Euros. We do now.
His energy levels, speed, height, crossing and general levels of performance has been remarkably high and consistent. Sweden handed him the job of subduing one of the world’s top three players at their recent World Cup qualifier in Portugal, Ronaldo was shackled, scoring only when he left Mikael’s area of the field.
There is a notion that this type of player, who can perform solidly at Champions League and international level, but who we can convince to renew his contract, is more important than the more stellar performers, who have an eye on the exit door.
Adam Matthews timely return from injury will compensate for Mikael’s absence as he recuperates post-op, but we’ve never looked as effective on the right since both of them were fully fit.
The reaction to yesterday’s AGM at Ibrox has been surprising, mostly as it surprised anyone. The outcome has been a forgone conclusion for weeks (if not months), while the realisation of what the future is going to look like for Newco has finally dawned on a few.
A generation brought up to believe in sugar daddies will have to learn: expenditure must equal or be less than income over any given business cycle.
In this respect, I cannot figure why fans are so unhappy with the Newco board, whose central failing has been to spend far too much money on wages for a manager and players. From what I hear, no one at the AGM demanded football budget is cut to an appropriate level.
As their new chairman said, costs will be cut; doing so is a financial imperative. The current Rangers might play in the same colours as its liquidated predecessor, but things will never – eeeeeeeever – be the same again.
This afternoon is the final pre-Christmas posting time if you want your CQN Annual before the day:
Willie Wallace, Heart of a Lion:
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Neustadt…
Was in the Crusty Cob in Ancoats today.
Manchester has two football teams I can’t stand but the best Meat and Potato pies on Mother Earth.
Get yerself there soon BankieBhoy.
hahahahaha DD ….the light always falls softly on the Yoker bhoys …hail hail …
braw
Ryecatcher
In Clydebank, we are the vast majority. Welcome to Republican Clydebank every Tim.
God is Love
On politics my gut tells me that Chavez and castro where against all the new world order stuff inspite of marx etc being strongly in favour of it. They where not true marxists just more what i’d call utopian leftists. And folk can and do make the case for all conflicts just being a pantomime, plenty of pictures emerge of assad, or achmidinjad in esoteric gait. But could it be that ultimately the west hates these men because inspite of them being lodge members they put their countries interest first despite their obvious tyranical failings… possibly, and its this explanation i lean towards.After all those countries had islamic banks, free of IMF control, follow the money but also follow the ideology is the second thing that should be added to that phrase.
For Delaney’s Dunkey….
I was there…..4th July 1978……Hope you had the good fortune to see this too,sublime man.
► 5:36► 5:36
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b6P6GMJmBQ
21 Nov 2009 – Uploaded by pittrek81
Clash – Live at the Apollo 1978 – part 1/2 part 1 – White Man In Hammersmith Palais video …
ryecatcher
03:52 on
21 December, 2013
Neustadt…
Was in the Crusty Cob in Ancoats today.
Manchester has two football teams I can’t stand but the best Meat and Potato pies on Mother Earth.
Get yerself there soon BankieBhoy.
……………………………..
the way my love is planned …I will be there 2nd week in March ….just have to plan round the Pie shop so the clever lass doesn,t notice :( mmmm tricky better tell her the truth and see if her love of pies / NB takes her in the correct direction..
I ,ve got 5 sisters …women are alot smarter than bhoys …….braw makes life tip top …
A Top Quiz question….
What was the first music link philvisreturns posted on CQN?
My guess would be Ants.
Antifa….
Guevara was a feckin psychopath who admitted he loved killing people.
Reckon he would be a drug baron warlord if alive today.
He wasn’t very brave at the end.
As for Celtic hope we finally give our young guys a chance. Form is up and down right now. I hope somewhat inverness do continue well cause its always sweeter when u win a hard league than an easy league, just dont want the deid clubback. Lets have the other teams get stronger.
God bless.Or for atheists out there, Best seasons empathy.
Ryecatcher
I was 12 ma mammy wouldnae let me go to a Clash gig. Saw them fae outside John Waynes pub in the Haugh.
Hmm not sure he’d be drug baron warlord. I dunno he did seem to genuinely love people get better vibes from him than I do from documentaries about the Russian variant or the stated views in the Russians philosophy and poems. Sadly the Bolshevik revolution was quickly taken from the workers and given to estoric based ideologists who wanted control…
My R-Complex Is hurting.
wow a real howler to the moon……..empathy …mmmm sounds Greek …they had Gods too…wonder why they went AWOL…..hahahahahahaha hoopy days …braw
Antifa
What’s the punch line? Or point tae your ramble?
Entrenched views.
Antifa…
Esoteric based ideologists are precisely why I vote for no fecka and never will.
Most politicians are self serving in the extreme.Not many are clever enough to have an entrepreneurial intelligence that creates proper wealth.That is why they are happy to sup from a public funded trough.
True socialism has nothing to do with politics or leeches that call themselves politicians.
DD …ah think the lad is trying to be antifascist …so he could be from St Monas or maybe even Anstruther …..gottocuthim/heraweebitslack CSC
hihihihihi Ryecather ……………….
where will I start ………….braw
apart from the obvious :)
I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It’s awful. If I’m on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I’m going, I’m liable to say I’m going to the opera. It’s terrible.
I’ve been ridiculed for listening to David Icke, I feel I can question David Icke because I have only lately unsubscribed to his mailing list.
Brussel Rand – that person and Perry could not have made a mockery of Marriage more than they did. They are well rewarded for it.
Brussel is definitely a Theo and Perry is likely an Eastern Star or very easy to manipulate.
Annoyed at so much.
Celtic <>Celtic
Come on you Bhoys in Green.
NB
My pride and joy was born in the Kingdom. So was our captain and John Thomson and George Connolly. Forza Fife!
NEIL LENNON last night admitted he’ll flog Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras in the next fortnight unless they commit to Celtic.
The duo’s contracts expire in June and the Hoops boss is desperate to avoid them leaving on Bosman frees.
Lennon said: “You never say never. I have not yet had any indication from either of them about what they want to do. And there’s also been no indication from their representatives.
“If they were thinking about running their contracts down then we’d look to move them on in January to avoid that.”
The transfer window opens on January 1 — and Lennon has set the Greek and Welshman a December 31 deadline to declare their intentions Lennon hasn’t given up hope of the pair agreeing new deals and described them as “excellent” players.
But he also conceded that with each day that passes without a commitment it’s more likely he’ll need to find replacements.
Samaras cost £1.2 million from Manchester City in 2008, while Ledley was a free transfer capture from Cardiff City in 2010.
Japanese midfielder Yamada is on trial with Hoops
Lennon — who has the pair in his squad to face Hearts at lunchtime — added: “The longer it goes, the more likely it is they’ll be leaving.
“I thought after last season both of them would’ve wanted to stay. They seem happy here.
“But they might have other issues to attend to behind the scenes that we don’t know about. But we need to know one way or the other pretty soon because we’ll have to look for replacements if that is the case that they are going.
“But we’re writing their epitaphs here — and it’s a little bit premature.”
Hull City boss Steve Bruce confirmed he is tracking Samaras — but insists he hasn’t made an approach yet.
He said: “Everyone is aware of the situation with Samaras’ contract. I am sure all of us have looked and he is a good player. But I have not expressed real interest.”
Meanwhile defender Mikael Lustig faces a fight to play again this season after major hip surgery.
It was discovered the Swede’s problems were more extensive than originally believed — and he’s now expected to be sidelined until at least April.
Lennon — also without Charlie Mulgrew, Derk Boerrigter and Dylan McGeouch today — said: “Mika’s had a double hip operation. It needed a bit more work than first expected and he’ll be out for three to four months.”
Japaness ace Hiroki Yamada continues to train with Celtic, while Lennon confirmed his interest in strikers Alfred Finnbogason and Aron Johannsson, after watching them in midweek.
NEIL LENNON is not exactly short of stress at Celtic.
The pressure of expectancy is great, the scrutiny is intense.
But compared to what ex-Hoops ace Malky Mackay is enduring at Cardiff City he reckons his current working conditions at Parkhead are a ‘walk in the park’.
Mackay’s been put through the mill by oddball Malaysian owner Vincent Tan for months — and a parting of the ways appears imminent.
That’s despite the Scot guiding the Welsh giants to the top flight for the first time in 51-years.
They are presently 15th in the Premier League and have beaten Manchester City and drawn against Manchester United.
Tan fired Mackay’s trusted head of recruitment Iain Moody in October and earlier this week publicly and angrily slapped down his manager’s wish for three new players in the January transfer window.
Then on Thursday night it emerged the ever more volatile Cardiff supremo had e-mailed Mackay with the blunt ultimatum: Resign or be SACKED.
Lennon can’t believe how Mackay’s being treated — and quickly joined Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers in offering his support.
He said: “I don’t know what more Malky has to do there.
“He got promotion with Cardiff for the first time in a long time, he has consolidated them in the Premier League.
“Some of their performances have been fantastic. You can’t do any more.
“It just baffles me the way some managers are treated and the way some owners behave.
“But it seems to be their ball and they can do whatever they want with it.
“I think Malky has handled himself brilliantly under probably extreme circumstances, to tell you the truth.
“He’s dealt really well with the media.
“He’s bound to be frustrated and he’s bound to be hurting.
“I can’t quantify the way some owners behave.
“You always think you are in a difficult position — and then you look elsewhere and you think this is a walk in the park compared to what some other managers have to put up with.
“And I don’t know what you can do about it, what regulations you bring in.
“But it’s very unfair on some managers, particularly when they have done really tremendous jobs. Tremendous.
“Malky in particular has done a tremendous job.”
Lennon spoke of Steve Clarke also, the Scot controversially dismissed by West Brom last week.
He said: “It’s a difficult one, that one, because West Brom are normally a pretty solid club. Maybe they’re just looking at recent form and felt that they needed a change in direction. But Stevie is a good manager and a good coach.”
Celtic hammered Hearts 7-0 at Tynecastle at the start of the month — a record win over the administration-hit Gorgie outfit — and now face an even weaker Jambos side.
Deep down opposition boss Gary Locke must be fearing an even more humiliating defeat at Parkhead.
But don’t think Lennon is being complacent and writing off Locke’s group of rookie kids and few senior pros who are bottom of the Premiership and doomed to relegation.
He said: “Any team can get a hiding from another team of top quality.
“If you look in England at Manchester City beating Norwich,l then Spurs and also putting six past Arsenal.
“They are exceptional sides.
“Then we suffered away in Barcelona.
“We think we are a very good side, although we didn’t perform as well as we could’ve done in Barcelona.
“You have to get a reaction any time you get a beating like that.
“Gary will be looking for a reaction from his players in tomorrow’s game.
“We just want to forge on domestically now and maintain our unbeaten run if we can. You can’t always replicate the sort of form we showed at Tynecastle. What you can do is try to get near to it.
“But Hearts will have something to say about that.”
Celtic are unbeaten in all 15 league games so far and Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk last week stated the team’s aim is to win three-in-a-row as Invincibles.
But Lennon won’t be caught out claiming that completing a full 38-fixture season without defeat is possible.
He said: “No, it’s a very difficult thing to do.
“There are so many circumstances and quirks that can get in the way of that.
“We want to get to 20 if we can, then take it from there.
“But it is a motivation for the players, something they’ve got their teeth into and want to hold on to for as long as possible.”
Lennon has winger James Forrest back from his latest injury problem — but jinxed Dutchman Derk Boerrigter is out again.
The Celtic manager said: “He has a hamstring problem and will be two to three weeks.
“He played the 90 minutes against Barcelona, didn’t report it afterwards but felt something the next day.”
TIRELESS Celtic stopper Efe Ambrose last night joked he’s a gift from God for Neil Lennon.
The Hoops gaffer has spoken about giving the World Cup-bound ace a rest due to his relentless travelling and playing schedule.
Ambrose has been a key player for Nigeria on their march to next year’s finals in Brazil and has also been one of Lennon’s first picks at home and in Europe. Add the fact that his wife recently delivered their second daughter and Ambrose has enough commitments on his mind.
But mention the idea of him taking a break from the action and he laughs it off.
The 25-year-old — who joined Lennon yesterday to celebrate the news that the Celtic Foundation has distributed more than £60,000 to good causes from money raised by its Christmas Appeal — said: “For me, football is what I love. I enjoy playing every time.
“When I wake up in the morning I just want to play. I just feel like playing EVERY day.
“If the manager wants to give me a rest, that is his own opinion.
“But I will never say no to football. I just want to play.”
With his tongue firmly in cheek, he added: “It is by the grace of God they find someone like me — we are few!
“They got lucky to have somebody like me, I keep playing 365 days a year.
“I never get injured or tired, I just want to keep playing.”
Ambrose will again take his place alongside Virgil van Dijk in the centre of the Hoops defence against Hearts today. And he was full of praise for the Dutchman and his other defensive colleagues.
Ambrose said: “Virgil is doing great. He has filled Kelvin Wilson’s shoes since he has been here.
“The back four and the goalkeeper have been great. We have been the key of the team so far.”
That back four is changing with Mikael Lustig out for up to four months, although fit-again Adam Matthews is a ready-made replacement.
Ambrose added: “We are going to miss Mikael’s height, his pace and everything in the defence.
“Playing with him has pulled me along. He has helped me a lot, communicated with me, told me how to play.
“But Adam is a good player, and we also have Darnell Fisher.”
Ambrose was also pleased to see striker Teemu Pukki end his goal drought with last week’s winner against Hibernian.
He added: “I think he’s going to improve because he’s been looking for a goal and scoring against Hibs will help him.
“He kept training hard and trying to do his best for the team. Teemu’s just trying to fit in. He’s calm and a cool guy.”
Antifa
04:09 on
21 December, 2013
Mate.
Castro and Chavez.
Where did any of their stuff work?
Were their people happy with their lives?
My questions are not intended to be confrontational and don`t require a response.
It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.
aye isn,t that the truth ………
DD …..love the Kingdom …
Neustadt….
I have worked for and with some guys from far more priveleged backgrounds than I ever had,was suspicious of most at first but as you get older you realise that they are human beings like everyone else.
In the last 15 years or so,I have seen some thoroughly decent rich guys do some humanitarian deeds with personal wealth,that these political types wouldn’t even think of doing.
One thing they all had in common was they couldn’t give a flying feck about self publicity or party politics.These guys are proper socialists in my humble opinion.
I happen to view Richard Branson as a proper socialist too.He truly is a great man with no affiliation to any political party.
tnt
Thanks for your regular headsup on Scottish media.
Hope this link works. 2 min clip on ESPN
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/video_audio/267957.html?genre=6;sport=3
t+t,
Twists &7& Turns
Tommy wisnae the Number 7………
But he wisnae far away from it.
Caltontongues.csc
Really Braw …..
When I wake up in the morning I just want to play. I just feel like playing EVERY day.
“If the manager wants to give me a rest, that is his own opinion.
“But I will never say no to football. I just want to play.”
With his tongue firmly in cheek, he added: “It is by the grace of God they find someone like me — we are few!
“They got lucky to have somebody like me, I keep playing 365 days a year.
“I never get injured or tired, I just want to keep playing.”
Efe Ambrose ………………….he talks like that Devon cream rice gear …..braw
Macjay
You are very welcome.
Petec
Nearly got me in tears there watching that!
…sorry Petec, I meant to thank you.
neustadt-braw
03:43 on 21 December, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHhVhYRtnEg
heads up Sammi ………
——————
Feckin Sublime….
I was going to post a tune….
But that was a trump card.
Still……
One sublime tune deserves another…
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yFjzzxJq2gU
G’night
Neustadt…..
Effe against Juve in CL last 16……
Tired or just woke up?
ryecatcher
04:33 on
21 December, 2013
Neustadt….
I have worked for ……
please take no great note of my postings…..you feel like a braw loon …and I am more than likely doing you a grave injustice …but always think ,,,I think as you you ,because we have all been there ….may sound strange but your a thinking fellow …
ps …love Sammi ….sad day if our team lose such a man …
Neustadt….
I’m in Manchester at least twice a week for meetings.
If you fancy a beer when you come over in March then let me know.