There’s been a lot of talk about the Lisbon Lions recently; you may have noticed. Go ask you dad about them, he’ll tell you they could take care of themselves. For all the pretty football, they still had to win the battles.
Consider also the team during Seville season. Thompson, Lennon, Sutton, Hartson, Mjallby and Valgaeren never failed to meet an opponent square on. They were all hard men. Don’t even ask about Bobo, he terrified opponents by the scale of his shadow, no opponent dared take him on.
All of those duties now fall to Scott Brown, he’s our hard man. It’s an important role and he doesn’t have much in the way of support.
You get the feeling there’s a notion that the rest of the guys can concentrate on being wonderful, in the knowledge that Scott will sort out the troublemakers. He was, of course, wrong yesterday, not for the first time, although red cards are not a regular occurrence.
Sky TV could not have hand-picked a better analyst of this situation than Barry Robson. Barry arrived at Celtic in January 2008, picked up the mantle of Sorter Outer in Chief, and stamped his authority on the league title. We all knew that, unlike a then often-rash Scott Brown, Barry could work within the lines and still get the job done.
But even the such a master of subtle intimidation can get it spectacularly wrong. Last year he lamped former Celtic team-mate, Scott McDonald, a minute after coming on as a substitute. If you want a hard man in your team, don’t go yelling about him when he acts like a hard man moments after being assaulted from behind.
The only surprise about the late penalty for Ross County’s Schalk’s outrageous dive and subsequent penalty was that it happened this weekend, not next. Set your watch for it, people, if you think the treble will be decided purely on meritocratic terms, you’ve not watched as much football as me.
Brendan’s about to find out the limits of his apparent powers in Scottish football.
BOOK AND T-SHIRT OFFER ENDS TUESDAY AT MIDNIGHT!
466 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- »
John is a quality fitba player, nae pace, horrible thing to say.
A CH must have pace noo, at the tap level of fitba.
@CraigWhyte22 is the real deal.
This could get good.
MWD
John Terry could be signed to celebrate cup victories. Full kit Warnkerer.
MWD
Moonbeamswd on 18th April 2017 12:38 am
John Terry could be signed to celebrate cup victories. Full kit Warnkerer.
MWD
…………………………………..
He’s minted we are Not.
Was it Stan that said he was good?
Get on the bike Bro, the Chilled out Bike.
Love ye D, awesome what ye done for me.
Dembeleeeeeeeeee
Moussa Moussa
Dembeleeeeeeeeee.
kasabian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdgItx4nDHw
CELTIC
Rinsing out the STYLE.
MICKBHOY1888 on 17TH APRIL 2017 11:43 PM
Fan a tic
I’ll add to your list,like McCoist he was pall bearer at one of the greatest ever Celts funeral
Thanks for that it made me think sleekit should also be added
Just Beat the HUN.
Beat the Hun Hard.
Harder than EV£r before.
I’d love to be a a Leo SAYER.
7 cELTIC.
pErfec tion.
Absolutel…. Rinsing oot th …..
Cheqats willo
Strengthening CELTIC
STUPIDITY CITY.
Scoring ALL the while.
CELTIC 7
Celtic Perferction.
Perfection Obviousleeeeeeeee
PUT in place a wee Character.
Putin place a wee Jamie C.
My Sister is Hardcore Anti Abortion.
Not as Hardcore as petec.
The biggest cheats of the Cellic support are the Celtic PLC board.
Ah mean,……
They have the easiest jobs on the planet, playing with the emotions of Cellic supporters.
Ah mean,…..
They take your season ticket money and then….they strap yeez onto the back seat of the bus!
Ah mean,…..
See when the Cellic get mibberied on the pitch, who’s emotions get hurt ? The Cellic supporters.
Ah mean,….
Neil Lennon didn’t just rattle the cage of mibbery, he kicked it into the river Clyde!
NL proved beyond all doubt that MIBs cheat the Cellic when he proved that MIBs were lying to him during all the – “Dougie, Dougie” – stuff. NL had the MIBs so rattled that they had nowhere to run. So, the mibs went on strike! The smsm then turned all they’re fury on NL like never before! Then, the shame-game arrived and, to this day, Celtic PLC have never backed NL. Ye see, the PLC are incapable of enduring the emotional turmoil that Cellic supporters must and, have to endure. That’s because the PLC have never been at the sharp end of supporting the Cellic. The PLC are trained opportunists, trained to exploit opportunities. That’s what they do.
But, but, but,….they know that the connection between the supporters and the team can at times be of the, have to be seen to be believed category. That is when the PLC will make a move to exploit the supporters by, reducing the quality of the product on the pitch by selling a top player and replacing him with a project or, even scunner iconic managers oot the door and, to hell with what the supporters think! Ye see, the cold shouldering of supporters only leads to apathy. Don’t forget that, it was apathy that emptied 30,000 seats which led to the recruitment of Mr Rodgers. But let me not take my eyes of the ball……
Celtic supporters are cheated by no greater entity than, the very folk that, these same well intentioned, well meaning, faithful, football supporters, entrust with they’re tens of millions of quid, year in, year out…..
The Celtic Football Club PLC Board. GUILTY!!!
Ye see, there are those among us who yearn for a level playing field but, when Celtic FC is run by a PLC who will never feel the emotional pain of the Celtic supporters, how can this be achieved?
I have been saying on here for years that the only way that Celtic FC can provide a combatitive response to all the, mibbery etc, will be when Celtic FC are led by a non kowtowing board who would leave the world in no doubt that, yes we are to, probably hundreds of thousands of Celts worldwide, the most magical, all inclusive football club…………that will be flucked about by nobody!!!
I know full well that a club cannot be run purely on, emotion but what type of club is Celtic FC when, all of the emotion is on the outside…..looking in ?
Hmmmmmm…….indeed.
Some will as usual dismiss me as a troll /Looney etc, on to sow dicord and reminding me that these are great Celtic times etc…..well, ask yourselves this one question……
If, Mr Rodgers Cellic team is mibberied out of the treble and, to rub salt into the wounds, the more than capable Celtic PLC do what they do best and, stay silent and look the other way……how many of you will be queueing up to hand your season tickets money over to this PLC, fully in the knowlege that, next season, this same PLC will do the same to, not only yourselves but, to Mr Rodgers all over again ???
Ye see,….
If you let the PLC think that your a fool, well, the PLC gladly treat you as one.
Anyway…….
Thoughts and Prayers for all
Supporters of Glasgow Celtic.
……..off-oot.
tHE fIRst EVENtURA.
Olde petec, DJ petec, is Worthless, utterly Worthless.
Rinsing out the STYLE.
Sunderland hit Celtic for 7. Celtic reacted well and scored 5 against Sunderland.
MAGICAL.
KEVJ
Outrageously GOOD.
Awesome.
You Sir, yer a Gernius.
Sorry Genius.
KEVJCity
The Genesis of the Lions.
PARADice
The Books are bang on.
the jibber jabber about Damascus.
If only I could.
I’d Make this World a better place.
The Genesis of the LIONS indeed.
smiley face
WOW – Tom has it all in his Locker:)))
macjay1 is not about now.
I know he is an Elderly Gentleman.
Macjay1 stayed the course, so it makes me worry.
Kitalba is hardcore, he won’t back Down.
Awesome Celts.
Frankly Mr Shankly
The 3rd Temple is the sign of the Times.
NOTHING is new under the Sun
Beatbhoy
Keep ‘nitpickin.it happened and they conceived and rolled out as policy their own ending
Hamilton Tim/Philbhoy
Good lhads:-)
Hrvatski jim.
Hail haiil to james.great tale
Can we get away from refwree and red card for a wee minute-
I said to my mate watching the game on telly the linesman on 2 occasions awaited refwree say so on which way to give thhrow-in..
I was also concerned at crosses into our box.Erik aoppears to need to play every week.
Mwd
Ii believe wee craigy is legit.I read on sfm bout him vying with james doleman on titter
Hail hail to all
And I hope your mornings as nice as mine.
:-)
STEPHEN HALLIDAY 22:30Monday 17 April 2017 The Scotsman
Peter Lovenkrands insists Rangers can have no complaints about Celtic captain Scott Brown’s disciplinary reprieve ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final, insisting the Ibrox club would have had no hesitation in using the appeals system to their own advantage in a similar situation.
Brown will be free to play at Hampden despite the straight red card he received at the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Ross County in Dingwall which triggered an automatic two-match suspension. Celtic plan to lodge an appeal against the dismissal, issued by referee Don Robertson for Brown’s foul on County striker Liam Boyce, when the SFA offices re-open for business today after their Easter weekend break. The holiday schedules dictate a fast-track disciplinary hearing for Brown, which would normally have been held this Thursday, cannot now take place until 27 April.
That means the Scotland midfielder will be available to lead Celtic in Sunday’s showdown with Rangers as they pursue a first treble for the Parkhead club since 2001.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers initially said they had no complaints about Brown’s sending-off but former Rangers winger Lovenkrands believes the Parkhead club are fully justified in seeking to exploit any technicality which will allow their influential skipper to play.
“If I look at it from Rangers’ point of view, why would you not take advantage of the system?” said Lovenkrands. “That’s the way it’s been proved to do it, so, of course, you would do it.
If it had been Rangers, they would have done the same thing. So they are just taking advantage of the system and it’s worked in their favour. “I have no issue with it. It’s the way it is and if there’s a gap (in the rules) they can exploit to make sure he can play, then fair-dos.” Lovenkrands, speaking at a William Hill media event at Hampden, is optimistic about Rangers’ prospects of upsetting the odds and securing a first Old Firm victory in five attempts this season.
The former Danish international was among the former Ibrox players interviewed by new manager Pedro Caixinha for a place on his coaching staff. Despite losing out on the post to Jonatan Johansson, Lovenkrands has been impressed by Caixinha and his early impact on Rangers. “Sunday isn’t going to faze him. I don’t think anything will,” said Lovenkrands. “After meeting him and speaking to him, I think he knows what he wants and is very focused on what he is looking for from the players and the club. ‘He will be probably be more excited about Sunday than anything.
The thing that impressed me most about Pedro when I met him was his ideas and the way he’s thinking football-wise. We had the same type of mentality in terms of our thoughts on football and training. He came across as very clever. He knows his stuff, and he appears to be very hard working in terms of preparation. “He’ll be fine in his first experience of the derby but only time will tell because the Old Firm can get to anyone in the heat of the moment and we’ve seen that before.”
Managers can call me any time to discuss decisions, says referee chief John Fleming
Graeme McGarry The Sunday Herald
Anyone who watched the post-match interview given by Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers on Sunday after his side had been denied a win by Ross County forward Alex Schalk’s now infamous dive, would struggle to label the current climate as a high point in manager/referee relations in Scottish football.
It was “an embarrassing decision”, according to Rodgers, who left his interview with the print media with the ominous promise to speak to referee Don Robertson “if he lets the lock off his door.”
But for the SFA’s head of refereeing operations, John Fleming, we are at a high point in terms of the working relationship between managers and officials, with the two parties working together more closely than ever to ensure that the players understand the rules, and the referees are capable of applying them fairly and accurately.
That mutual understanding clearly doesn’t extend to managers calling their players out for diving, as Ross County boss Jim McIntyre refused to do at the weekend, instead offering the flimsy excuse for his player that he expected contact.
But Fleming thinks that the closer relationship between himself as head of the SFA’s refereeing department and the young up-and-coming managers in the SPFL Premiership, can lead to a new era of openness and transparency from officials, with Fleming himself happy to discuss any decisions with managers who feel aggrieved.
To that end, it’s a safe bet that he can expect a call from a certain Mr. Rodgers any time now.
“I wouldn’t speak about individual managers, but I see all managers here to be very positive in this day and age,” Fleming said.
“There will be incidents in the heat of the battle that somebody says something or whatever, but everyone is entitled to their view.
“In general, I find the managers to be very accommodating. When I go back to my own time in refereeing, everything was a bit more closed off, but nowadays the managers can have a dialogue with us.
“They are all up to date with technology, and you can go over an incident with them.
“It used to be that a manager would ask you about a tackle, but nowadays they have the footage, so we can have a proper talk through everything and see exactly where each of us is coming from.
“I think the managers here now are up to date with the laws of the game, and they are entitled to their opinions.
“Any of the managers will phone me during the course of a week to discuss matters, so the relationship I’ve got with the managers is very favourable.
“We have some experienced young managers in Scotland just now who are doing exceptionally well like Jim McIntyre and Brendan Rodgers, you can go through them all. I don’t have any issues with managers. We have to build on the relationship we have with them.
“Some will phone and have a general chat and ask if we can clarify a situation, some others don’t and that’s absolutely fine too.
“But I’m here if they want to speak to me. I’m more than happy to speak to them if they want to.”
Fleming is a vocal supporter of introducing video assistant referees into football to help officials get the big decisions right. Despite successful trials though, it is unclear when Scottish referees will be able to lean on replays to assist them.
“I’ve no idea when it might come in here, that’s a decision for the respective league bodies and the Scottish FA to see if they want to put it into their cup competitions,” Fleming said.
“From a referee’s point of view though, there is no doubt that it would assist us. Anything that helps us get the right decision is important.
“The game will always change, and the countries with the resource will adapt to modern technology, there’s no doubt about that.
“There are plenty of trials going on around the world just now, some in cup competitions and some in leagues, so it is gathering momentum and there is a lot of positive feedback.
“Look at Spain against France a few weeks ago where there were two decisions overturned that the official had made and they were proven to be right to do so.
“You can show as many replays as you want though, as soon as you put the human being in to make a decision based upon what they think, then it is open to opinion after that and it becomes a bit subjective.
“So, it won’t cure all the ailments of football, but it will certainly help the referees to get to the right decision, there’s no doubt about that.”
Good morning friends from a dry, bright, calm and pretty peaceful feeling East Kilbride.
Good morning CQN from a cool, dry and bright East Devon.
Jings,it’s quiet on here this morning.
Good luck to BIGJIMMY today as he gives the establishment a guid Glesca Kiss,The Malkie,and a right good boot in the bollocks for good measure.
Must dash,I’ve got jury duty.
(Just kidding,Jimmy!)
Having spent a bit of last night lurking on various blogs including ff, I wonder that we are not in danger of building ourselves into such a frenzy about Gollum that our worries are reflected on the pitch not allowing our players to express themselves.
I am sure the support on Sunday will be up for it let’s get blogging in line with that emotion, no more worrying
HH