Spain were cut low by Chile, England by Uruguay, Italy by Costa Rica. Argentina were pushed to the last gasp by Iran, Germany had to come from behind to match Ghana. Add to this the merit badges earned by Croatia against Brazil, Bosnia against Argentina and the Aussies against the Dutch, and we have a remarkable list of performances by underdogs against countries who to some extent fancied their chances for the trophy.
The most striking feature of all these performances is the way the results were achieved. Apart from their own dead rubber in the Nou Camp last season, Celtic beat or narrowly lost to Barcelona in a series of games over the last decade by defending their 18 yard box as though their lives depended on it. Ventures forward were never supported by many players. We’ve not been alone, this is the way lower-resource clubs have taken on the super-rich in the Champions League.
World Cup 2014 has seen this change. Australia, Iran and Bosnia will head home proud of their performances, something which takes balls. When we’re inevitably drawn against Barca next time in the Champions League, should we press them high up the field? My feeling is, we would be slaughtered, but at one point in this tournament, we need to mature.
Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his book, All the Best.
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Oh Dear..!
Kamchatka Has Midgies Bigger Than Crows..
PFayr
Thank you also. How did I miss you:o)
Ps
Things are too well mannered & respectful on here at the moment ,someone will probably be along soon to try and disrupt it ,dont bite :)))))
eldiegobhoy
You’re right. I don’t know so apols if I ever offend.
And/or delete as appropriate in terms of my best wishes. :-)
HH jamesgang
Weefra
Here you are mhate.
Many thanks
HH jamesgang
http://m.virginmoneygiving.com/mt/uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=coast2coastscotland&isTeam=true
Belgium win!
Travesty.
That’s fitba’.
HH!!
Dreadful refereeing.
Shitzel and Lucacku were dire.
Belgium is the belly button of Europe: it serves no purpose and is duller than Ed Millibland.
Onwards and upwards for Fab’s men.
Fyodor’s 11 vs Camus 11. A feast for fans of misery. At least Woy will enjoy it.
Given our Board’s views on keeping politics out of Celtic, can we expect a public reprimand for Lord Reid and Willie Haughey for their dragging Celtic’s name into the Better Together campaign.
Incidentally, what about Red Ed? He is the equivalent of a John Travolta Scientology movie: so bad that it actually becomes good in an ironic sense.
Right Enough…Cap’n Beefheart…!
Belgium…. Is The Poland
Of Northern Europe..
Dontcha’ Know..?
Viva Vladimir….!
quonno
What did Lord Reid and Willie Haughey say ?
Jamesgang, small donation made for your cause. Well done big chap.
REPORT: Labour Party Vote Is Increasingly Reliant on Ethnic Minority Voters.
by Andre Walker
21 Jun 2014, 7:16 AM PDT
Conservatives are at risk of losing vote share due to increases in immigration, and the party’s inability to reach out to voters from ethnic minorities. A new study reported by the Guardian suggests that a ‘superdiversity’ is emerging in Britain’s inner cities and that Labour is almost exclusively benefiting from the rise in immigrant voters.
The fast growing minority vote has been caused by large scale immigration from the former commonwealth and more recently Eastern European who have come to the country as a result of EU rules. The research was conducted by Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and academic Richard Webber.
They suggest that two out of three minority voters in London support Labour. Whereas white voters are much more likely to support the Conservatives or UKIP. In the European elections white voters’ support for UKIP matched the level of support for the Tories, twice the number backing Labour.
The authors say: “We may tentatively conclude that the principal factor differentiating London’s attitudes from the rest of the country is not its socially liberal attitudes but the size and preference of the visible minority vote within it,”
The trend towards ethnic voting is described as the “browning of Labour” as the party get 70 percent of the “visible minority” vote. By galvanising that support they could eat into the Conservative heartlands even more as these communities begin to depart the inner cities and move out to places like the home counties that are almost exclusively white at the moment.
The report also suggests that Labour’s reliance on ethnic minorities may be exacerbated by Scottish independence. At the moment Labour does well north of Hadrian’s Wall and losing those seats due to independence would leave the party with a major electoral headache that may only be solved by relying on more immigration and the votes of new arrivals.
In the European elections earlier this year Labour began to haemorrhage serious numbers of white working class voters to UKIP. If this continues the country may be left with a strong electoral division between Labour, which relies on immigrants and other parties that fight it out for the white vote.
Authors of the report are concerned that this will further damage community relations. The report says: “Even if a policy tilt towards UKIP may benefit Labour in the short term (i.e. in time for a 2015 general election), there will be a huge price for Mr Miliband and his successors to pay in every subsequent general election for several decades.”
Conservatives are also likely to be deeply concerned by this trend as it would be electorally advantageous for any future Labour government to bring even more immigrants to the country. As they would have a vested interest in the loosest possible immigration policy.
Between 1997 and 2010 Labour were accused of deliberately encouraging immigration to change the nature of the country, and benefit from the extra votes.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/06/21/Conservatives-At-Electoral-Risk-Due-To-Immigration
–
Aiden Bhoy
19:03 on
22 June, 2014
quonno
What did Lord Reid and Willie Haughey say ?
According to today’s Herald, Willie Haughey paid for a Better Together supporting advert in the Glasgow Observer, to which John Reid put his name in his capacity as a former Cabinet Minister and former Chairman of Celtic.
ACGR.
Thanks mhate. Much appreciated.
HH jamesgang
And meanwhile at the attention seekers world cup there’s no change at the top…
They’ll be dancing in the streets of Belgium… Don’t be daft. They will be yawning as usual.
Did the dreadful Stonewall buy that ref?
Margaret McGill
Could be Kamchatka holiday resort for Russia team then.
jamesgang
Donation made with Gift Aid. :-)))
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Cap’n Beefheart…
OOOhh…..!
You ARE Awful..!
Duncan&SandyCSC
tsd
and the point of that post on the blog is?
HT@18.10
Fair enough. I was unaware of the Dundee criticism. That was where we managed to stage a riot and none of our support witnessed it.
gene’s a bhoy’s name
19:14 on 22 June, 2014
tsd
and the point of that post on the blog
is?
——
Duncan & Sandy Would Be Upset By The Implication That The Referee Was Bribed..?
You ARE Awful..!
Thanks Weefra.
HH jamesgang
Just jesting Singing D.
starry plough
Oh I don’t know mate, there’s a few vying for top spot these days!! :-)
Zbyszek
19:11 on 22 June, 2014
I suspected thats what you meant :)
Incidentally (part 2),
Fine commentary from the Timtastic JP and MK.
Going to listen to a Jonny Trunk sampler, happy days.
Goodnight everybody.
JamesGang, very well done.
Cheers Doc.
Almost scared to admit that mrs jamesgang and Jnr now avowed dans of the tartan away strip I’m increasingly coming to quite like it myself!
YouToldMeSoCSC
HH jamesgang
JamesGang
just un-lurked to send a modest donation for your efforts. Well done my bhoy!
Hamiltontim
Like the top 20 on a Sunday when you were supposed to go to 6.30 mass!!
Just came in to see Belgium score, cracking goal and I am expecting a Belgian mate any minute, he’ll be chuffed!
Jamesgang
I hope you don’t mind asking me. Is your moniker in relation to american music band The James Gang?That band with Joe Walsh.
Starry
I’m delighted, I had 1-0 Belgium in the predictor :-)
The Tartan strip is a cracker:-)
Wee strachan : Porto Allegre looks a bit like Arbroath at this time of year
FFS … If ever there was a reason to have sooper ally on the tv ; he has first hand experience of Arbroath
jamesgang –
just logged on and only read page 5. How far back do I need to scroll to learn wot u dun? Can I guess? Did it involve a cooker, a screwdriver and a small amount of drink?
Hamiltontim
Happy days…I’m enjoying this World Cup after years of not really being bothered!
Aulddugnewtricks CSC