‘News’ that a football club can actually go out of business will come as a surprise to no one here as Hearts issued a statement saying “Without the support of fans there is a real risk that Hearts could possibly play its last game on 17 November.”
Hearts have two commercial problems: they owe HMRC money they don’t have and their running costs are greater than their income. They also have over £20m of debt owed to major shareholder, Ukio Bankas, which at this stage of their corporate existence is more of an asset than a liability.
The club have asked supporters to cough up around £2m to pay HMRC and see it through until the end of the season. A further £1.7m HMRC demand is being contested but should Hearts lose this appeal, that bill will crystallise quickly.
Unlike the now-defunct Rangers, Hearts major shareholder is due more than 75% of the debt, so Ukio could vote to accept a Company Voluntary Arrangement, possibly for as little as 1p in the £1, if the club goes into administration. This is a well-travelled road for Scottish football clubs who overwhelmingly fail owing shareholders or the bank the majority of their debt.
In this respect, there is no obvious reason why Hearts are in danger of playing their last game next week. Administration would allow the club to shed its debt, including the contested tax bill. It would almost certainly result in player redundancies, which would reduce expenditure below the level of income. Hearts would be diminished as a football club, and would take a 17 point hit in the SPL, but that is as bad as it needs to get. Ukio Bankas would take the largest hit on money they may well have already written-off.
The only thing I see for Hearts fans to worry about is the property value of Tynecastle. Ukio will almost certainly have a charge on all the club’s property assets. If the club disappears, they would be left with the real estate. Tynecastle is worth a whole lot more money as flats than as a football field.
When a company cannot pay its creditors it goes into administration and seeks to negotiate a settlement with them. Hearts can do this “within days if not hours”, as Our Hero once said. It’s just curious that Hearts are playing on the bring rather than sorting things out.
Maybe they could get former player and tracksuit salesman, Maurice something-or-other, to sell some of their assets.
The magnificent 1254125 charity cycle, from birthplace of Brother Walfrid, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, to Celtic Park, got underway yesterday. Today the six cyclists, Paul Muldoon (of this parish), Mark Cameron, Alistair Schulz, Robert Campbell Ray McFarland and Jim Kelly, left Blacklion on a 80 mile journey to Lurgan.
Check out their everyclick page for more information.
You can read CQN Magazine for FREE here , you can also subscribe for £10 or £20, and our sponsor, Executive Shaving, who offer an enormous range of grooming products, are offering readers a £20 voucher for all £30 CQN Magazine subscribers.
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Brogan, there’s been a hellova great stuff on bb4 and sky arts recently. Magic
BRT&H
Dusty was and still is the best ever.
HH
Aye, right, so the psalms.
Well. Tricky business. They are songs composed with Hebrew lyrics attributed to King David. In the third century before Christ, they were first translated from Hebrew for the first time into the lingua franca of the day, which was Greek. Seventy scholars worked on a project to translate the whole Hebrew bible, and their work is known to this day as the Septuagint (70, also written as LXX).
Unfortunately, though, the numbering system went a bit to pot so that we now have divergence. A lot of people know (and love), for example, the psalm that starts, “The Lord is my shepherd …”, as Psalm 23. It’s actually 22 according to the LXX. Stuff like that happens all over the place throughout the collection.
The Psalms matter to Christians because Jesus prayed them and we use them all the time, every day, in the liturgy. Every time a priest says Mass, one of the readings is a psalm. Nuns, monks, priests, deacons, bishops and millions (literally millions) of lay people pray them every day in the Divince Office, or Liturgy of the Hours.
The Liturgy of the Hours is what a priest (this is probably the most familiar) has in his breviary and what monks say from early morning till night at set times of the day. Monks and nuns sing them, which is what they were originally intended for. It’s a deeply moving experience to hear choirs of nuns or monks sing the psalms at one of the hours, whatever the time of day or night.
You have to say so many that priests usually have to carry their breviary around with them throughout the day. In England, priests used to refer to their breviaries as “the wife” because they always have it with them. These days, when ex-Anglicans who actually have wives are becoming Catholic priests, this could become a bit awkward. I suppose they could call their breviaries “the wife” like most other priests, and call their wives “shut it, you” like a lot of other husbands, but I digress.
The psalms are beautiful, even when you are praying on your own. They give a beautiful rhythm to morning, noon, evening and night. For religious orders it’s different, but the Liturgy of the Hours that most of us pray takes you through the whole collection of 150 in a four-week cycle.
For reasons I have mentioned before on CQN, my favourite is the one that contains the lines:
Those who were sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.
I love it. It touches every part of me.
I learned a long time ago that life cannot be all celebration and laughter and fun and joy. No matter who you are and what you possess, you will face trials. Some of us marvel at the fortitude of those around us, coping with illness, unemployment, injustice. And rightly. But everyone you know will have something of these challenges to face up to, if not today, then tomorrow. Everyone. There is no short-cut.
When it’s time to sow, sow. And weep; have no shame for your tears because sowing is hard work. Recognise that you sow for a reason. The fruit will come. The hardship will have its reward. Joy and just reward are ahead of you. You have earned them. You deserve them.
And when you reap your reward, rejoice. The time to sow and to weep will come again in the cycle of life, but for now, rejoice.
Sow and weep. Reap and rejoice. To every season, turn (I know that’s not from the Psalms).
It seems to me that we are often bad at both, the sowing and the reaping. Things are there. Just buy them. Instantly. If you want it you can have it, worth it or not, affordable or not. But this is not the key to whatever can pass for happiness in this life. What brings us most joy is what we have earned, and you can only earn by working, you can only reap by sowing.
To cut to the chase, the Irish arrived in Glasgow in the second half of the nineteenth century. For thousands and thousands of Celtic fans, our forebears were among them. This doesn’t apply to us all, and all are welcome, but it does apply to huge numbers of us.
Click this link to see an image of those Irish people sowing and weeping.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/400xY/2012/9/18752114.JPG
And as it must, the time to reap followed. Click this next link to see an image of the joy that the progeny of those Irish people have been blessed with.
http://p.twimg.com/A7H21FyCIAAk0hD.jpg
Sow, weep. Reap, rejoice. This is life.
I may never have the chance to tell him, and of those who read CQN and will have a chance, I regard it as unlikely that anyone will have read this far into such a long, dull post, but Neil Lennon moved me very deeply today when he was talking about Tuesday’s event in St Mary’s, where our club began.
Talking about the event in St Mary’s, Neil said: “It was a very special occasion and made me think about history of the club more, the founding fathers and what it means to so many people. I got a little inkling that there could be something special in the air for Wednesday night. A very special two days for us all.”
Mhan, just when you think you can’t possibly love the ghuy any more, he comes out with this. God bless you, Neil.
The history of the club. Walfrid and those who believed in his idea sowed. The hungry children and unemployed adults he strove to help reaped. Willie Maley sowed, and later reaped. Big Jock sowed and later reaped. Neil sowed and in these very special two days he has reaped … we all have. It’s in the psalm. It’s life.
This psalm, my favourite, just happens to be the first psalm for evening prayer for Wednesday of week three in the cycle. Last Wednesday, the evening of the game against Barça, we got to say it, to pray it, because it turned up in the cycle.
Because of the numbering system, some have it down as psalm 126. In the version I have, a shorter morning and evening prayer from the Divine Office, it’s not 126.
It’s 125.
Ok Lads and Lassies, it has been more than a pleasure the last few days at CP and here on My Favourite Site, ever since the Rankers story broke I have been lurking mostly but occasionally joining in with the news, quizes and general banter.
Everyone involved with Celtic should be very proud of our achievment this week but over the last year things have really turned for the better, we know why things didn’t go our way before….Hmmm
Special praise should go to the GB, they have not only brought an atmosphere back to the stadium, they have brought everyone together, the show that they put on on Wed was amazing, never thought the four horsemen of the apocalypse could be surpassed
Hope THEY get a standing ovation on Sunday ( do think we’re getting set up on Sunday, just saying like)
Here’s a tune that gets the back of my kneck tingling like YNWA and watching the BIG BAW on CL nights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRpRMSu4g
Enjoy
HH
BRTH
……..It’s quality…..
Jim Mc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_gwxhb5-t4
A unique and very forward thinking appointment especially with the age of this young squad.
I wonder if there is a Johnny Park Track. ;))
Cara Dillon
The Lark in the Clear Air
an air sung many a time in oor hoose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLoBEC5mNYI
miki67
Surprised they’re not headlining.
AL ARABIYA News
Celtic fans wave Palestinian flags at Barcelona matchBy Mahmoud Zakout
Supporters of Scottish football team Celtic raised Palestinian flags when Barcelona came to play on their pitch this week, in a show of support for the Palestinian cause.
The flag-bearers took advantage of Barca’s presence when it was reported in September that the club had invited Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to its match against Real Madrid.
Pro-Palestine football fans in Europe frequently attend matches brandishing the Palestinian flag.
The Spanish football league heavyweight denied the invitation but said it accepted a request by him to watch the game during his visit to Barcelona. The club said that it had contributed to the peace process between Israel and Palestine.
To redress the balance, Barcelona invited Mahmoud Sarsak, a former Palestinian soccer player who was released from an Israeli jail in July where he was held for three years without charge, Palestinian sports champion Jibril Rajoub, and another representative.
“The club did not invite Mr. Shalit to the game, but accepted a request to watch a match during his visit to Barcelona … In the same manner … the club has also accepted the Palestinian embassy’s request to extend three invitations to three Palestinian delegates,” the club said on its website.
“Barcelona has always wanted to promote peace and harmony in the Middle East.”
Shalit was held by his captors in solitary confinement in the Gaza Strip that is ruled by Islamist faction Hamas until his release last October. He was discharged earlier this year and has been seen at many Israeli sports events.
In 2009, Scottish trade unions called on supporters of Celtic soccer club to wave Palestinian flags at their Europa League home match on Wednesday against Hapoel Tel Aviv in “solidarity with suffering Palestinians”.
But the Glasgow club, whose fans often wave Irish flags because of their historic ties with Ireland and the Roman Catholic community, urged their supporters to ignore the call.
Shandy Shaw…………..!!!
shurely shome mishtake???????
…………….and wi’ tha’…… the big chap…….. withdrew
HH.
Celtic_First
00:46 on 10 November, 2012
I Love you Deeply and sincerely and your post was anything but Dull, it was one of the Finest comments ever on this very special site.
Thank You.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9ilIUyuqc
..
Celtic passion play inspired by unique set of fans
.
.
By Eurosport | Desmond Kane
There are few moments in life when you truly revel in your roots. A couple of weeks ago, I dragged myself along to Shepherd’s Bush Empire to watch The Proclaimers play London for the first time in several years. This was no time to haver as a diminutive Scottish geezer ran up to a microphone before relaying the news to an exuberant crowd in a distinctive Lothian patois: “Ladies and gentlemen…the boys are back in town..”
Craig and Charlie Reid, or The Proclaimers as the twin brothers are better known, had the joint bouncing with a riveting new song Whatever You’ve Got before trotting out their cascading songbook including 500 miles, Letter from America and Sunshine on Leith. It was a memorable night, the sort of evening that reminds you of The Proclaimers’ unique brilliance in writing a soothing catalogue of working class, comical, memorable and socially piercing songs.
It was a similar sensation last night at Celtic Park when the Bhoys were back in town. Like The Proclaimers, Celtic on song truly are something to behold, but do not take my word for it.
“The Celtic fans are very special and the club and players can be very proud of them,” said the waspish Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta on Tuesday, obviously aware of what was about to hit him. “They are the best I have ever heard and I am sure playing in front of a crowd like that can make a big difference for the players.”
When the team and fans come together, as it did last night, Celtic can be an irresistible force in the world game as Barcelona, arguably the greatest side assembled in the history of club football, discovered, much to their sodden disbelief in Glasgow. Forget being the 12th man, Celtic fans were the 13th, 14th and 15th man.
Celtic Park on a European night crackles with a raw energy and emotion that is utterly unique in world football. There is a togetherness and passion in the vast arena, rebuilt by former owner Fergus McCann some 17 years ago to house 60,000 supporters on evenings like this, that seems to energise the team to scale heights that obey no laws of sporting logic.
It a curious theatre that somehow installs belief into the home players when they come bounding up the tunnel before The Celtic Song is trotted out by Glen Daly.
It is perhaps not well publicised, but the Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho recalls the exhausting 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville, won 3-2 by his Porto team after extra-time, as his most memorable match in football because of the atmosphere Celtic supporters created in the Andalusian city.
There was a gorgeous, heady atmosphere of safety, song and siestas in Seville that week despite over 100,000 fans, 80,000 or so following Celtic, adorning the heart of the old town. I remember sitting having a bite to eat in the centre of Seville with a few Porto fans, who seemed to be as impressed by the good nature of the visiting hordes as Mourinho. Celtic were rewarded with trinkets from UEFA and FIFA for the conduct of their fans. The vast majority of their support continues to travel well, but the true hue of their colour continues to be best projected at Parkhead.
Celtic have a redoubtable record at Celtic Park in the Champions League in recent times usurping Juventus, AC Milan and Manchester United. But this Barcelona side represents the ultimate form of big game when you dust down the old blunderbuss.
Celtic seem to wallow in upsetting sides who they would have no right to share a park with if football was played on a balance sheet. As the club’s manager Neil Lennon rightly pointed out last night, Barcelona wheeled on substitutes David Villa and Cesc Fabregas, signed for almost £60 million, to rescue the match; Celtic turned to 18-year-old Tony Watt, a £50,000 signing from Airdrie from the danker regions of the Scottish game. Watt scored a wonderful goal to finally bury Barca. And all of this a day after the club’s 125th birthday.
Celtic’s 2-1 win over Inter Milan in the 1967 European Cup final remains their most poignant time, but this was hardly the poor relation.
To suggest Celtic played anti-football because they could not get hold of the ball, as several papers have suggested, is utterly immature. Celtic played with a controlled aggression throughout the night, and there was a directness and purpose to their play that Barcelona seemed to lack as they invariably ran up cul-de-sacs when their short passes on the edge of the home box came up short.
Once clubs like Celtic are on a financially level playing field to Barca, then we can deal in the aesthetics of how the game should be played.
Celtic would be realistic contenders to win the English Premier League within five years if they were allowed access to the millions of pounds of television money in which substantially smaller clubs revel in across the border. The sheer size of the club would demand it. Nothing will ever deter this onlooker from that belief.
In a week which saw Barack Obama with his Kenyan roots re-elected as US president, perhaps it was no surprise Kenya’s Victor Wanyama, 21, was the driving force in the inundated midfield area for Celtic. Like Obama, Wanyama should be thinking about four more years.
Wanyama could develop himself into a finer player before heading for a larger and richer league. Wherever he goes in Europe, he will not play before a more appreciative group of fans. Why did Henrik Larsson opt to spend seven years at Celtic when clubs such as Manchester United coveted him?
The Scottish Premier League receives a bad press simply because it is a small impoverished league in Northern Europe that lacks media finance, but it cannot be so bad even after the liquidation of Rangers and the predictions of Armageddon that followed their demise. Real Madrid are the only other club to have wounded Barcelona in such a manner this season.
There remains a general ignorance towards the goings on in Scotland. One bloke from a London national tabloid could be heard referring to Celtic’s ground on a national radio station this morning as Ibrox. Astonishing, but true.
Singer Rod Stewart knew the significance of the night. He could be found with tears tumbling from his eyes at the full-time whistle, but a man is nothing without his football club.
“Celtic is important to me in as much as it’s one of the only constants in my life over the years,” commented the comedian Billy Connolly. “I have changed and become various things but it is the one constant. Religion, friendships have come and gone, likes and dislikes have come and gone, but Celtic has remained.”
An old mate of mine continues to complain that The Proclaimers’ Sunshine on Leith should have been a Celtic song. That tune belongs to Edinburgh’s Hibernian just like passing football belongs to Barcelona. But Celtic have their own special assets, namely a ground and a group of fans that money cannot buy. It may not be Leith, but there is plenty of sunshine to be found in Glasgow’s East End on such manic nights of glorious drizzle.
emu
Good story………similar theme
Was introduced 10 years ago at my sisters 40th down in engerlund to a
*talk to kevin a big Celtic fan ”
Turns out Kevin was Boro and Celtic fan anyhow I asked why Celtic ??
Kevin “They choose me”
His dad was RAF and posted to Lossiemouth in 60’s
He went into play ground as a English new boy in North of Scotland
Half play ground was Rangers half Aberdeen and a couple of outcast Celtic supporters
being English he was shunned by all but the astute thinking CSC thought we can increase numbers by 50%. He signed up and 12 months later was watching his team being crowned european champs with half the school yard wanting to join his gang
emusanorphan
00:33 on 10 November, 2012
Gordon
It’s your duty. My Da was Engerlish. All his English mates were HUNS. He chose us in the 50′s when we were mince. I thank Allah every day for his choice.
TET
I will sort ticket B&B at ours. Working the next day though so cant participate after game :-)
A whistle test?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0fT9BHpImI
Night bhoys.
Take care and god bless.
HH
Go on Victor and Barak
The Kenyan and Celtic brotherhood.
I bid you adieu, with The Lowlands of Holland – The Chieftains
As fine a song as any I’ve murdered
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ejn_RTELzc
Love the ones you love
JQB
brogan rogan trevino and hogan supports kano 1000
Billie Holiday?
hail hail,
Sunday is a stitch up
the GB can easily out smart them
banner with the white poppy and one word INNOCENTS written under the white poppy, pay our respects to the victims of war, meeja snookered.
brth:
>>>
Just been and read your latest. Also read your account of Weds. night.
I’d wanted to say more earlier about the sensation I’d had about the sense of spirits at Celtic Park the other night, but I thought people’d think I was nuts, but obviously I was not alone.
For ages I’d had a feeling that that game was going to be ultra special and I was determined to go, come hell or high water. Nothing would’ve stopped me, and had I failed to source a ticket I would’ve simply landed in Glasgow and spent the evening, either in Merchant Sq. or the likes of Baird’s , Bar67….wherever Tims would noisily congregate.
As it was, I had a ticket.
I have never experienced an atmosphere like it. I used the word transcendent earlier today, and it was.
The Bhoys played with a maturity way beyond their years; Neil Lennon and the rest of the coaching staff had their tactics set to perfection; they seemed to channel the essence of Celtic F.C’s legendary history. Bertie Auld later gave the current crop his nod as having played as only he and the original Lions knew how.
It was extraordinary. Not only did they rock Barça, they never flagged, and they played with a confident poise, an incredible concentration.
The msm had written us off : they said our missing crucial players would prove our downfall; they talked of FCB’s unstoppable firepower. The bookies dismissed us. But many of us just seemed to know that something special was in the offing.
And so it proved to be. Afterwards my brother said to me, ” You called it. You just knew. ”
And I replied, ” I wasn’t alone. ” There was more than a crowd moving the air on Wednesday.
And now I believe everybody felt it.
You are right : strange things do happen at Paradise. And they’re pure dead brilliant, so they are.
HH!
Romonov as it stands has no chance to recoup anything is hearts go bust ..
But here’s a Clydebank style scenario
Hearts go into admin..
Take a points deduction …
But biggest creditor is Vlad …
Zombies offer £10m for club plus let Vlad keep tynecastle to flatten and convert into flats .
ZOmbies take hearts squad and join it with the current zombie one ….
Move team to iPox….
And rename team zombie fc ??
Would the SFA step in and obstruct ?
This is magic.
http://www.cope.es/player/id=2012110720450001&activo=10
Important Spanish radio group COPE have picked this out as a highlight from Wednesday. This is the dialogue.
Male voice: Seven minutes to go now in the countdown to kick-off. Where are the teams? Let’s find out from our roving reporter, Sonia.
Sonia: Well, the teams are in the dressing-rooms, but the moment has come now for all the fans to sing the anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. Everyone’s standing up with their scarves raised and the truth is, this is something that just brings you out in goose-bumps if you listen to it.
Male voice: Well, let’s listen.
Anurra guy: They sing it better here than at Anfield.
WALK ON, WALK ON …
Male voice: What they do is blank out the loudspeaker at one point and what you hear is the fans singing on their own.
WALK ON, WALK ON … [loudspeaker cuts out]
Male voice: This is it.
WALK ON …
Other guy: It’s just amazing.
WALK ON …
Another guy: Spectacular
WALK ON …
Yet another guy: Very good.
WALK ON …
One of the earlier guys: It just makes you want to be a part of that.
Loud guy: This has the makings of a football match at Celtic Park, Paco, it really does.
southside00:52 on 10 November, 2012
miki67Surprised they’re not headlining.
>>>>>
I know : they’re not even on the top bill. They’ll steal the show. Never mind FooFighters, Dave Grohl is the best rock drummer….ever, imo.
However, I saw Rammstein earlier in the year and they are on top notch form at the moment.
Spectacular live show.
But QOTSA? With Grohl? Heeeevvvvvveeeee!
From yesterday’s Daily Record:
Celtic icon John Clark says Rod Stewart should stop crying and write a song to mark club’s victory over Barcelona
CLARK reckons tearful Hoops fan Rod should pen a ballad to mark one of the club’s most famous results.
LISBON Lion John Clark watched Rod Stewart cry his heart out as Celtic humbled the best team on the planet inside Parkhead’s cauldron.
Now the Hoops legend wants the pop superstar to pen a ballad about the night his heroes beat Barcelona.
Clark said: “It takes a lot to bring a man to tears but Rod will hopefully write a song about this achievement. It would be a fitting way to sum up just what Wednesday night was like for everyone.
“It was just the emotion of it all. We have never seen anything like it at Celtic Park, right from the moment the fans all held up cards which said 125 years. Celtic Park has an atmosphere that’s second to none and I think everyone realises that now.
“This ranks right up there with anything the club has achieved but maybe winning the European Cup is just one notch above.
“I went home on Wednesday night and sat alone on my chair to try to let the adrenalin leave me. I didn’t get much sleep but I don’t think many Celtic fans would have.
“It was a wonderful result but the most important thing was the supporters showed just why Celtic Park is such a difficult place to get a result. Not even Barcelona have a right to just turn up at Celtic Park and win.
“There is something about our stadium, an aura and a magic that makes it difficult for teams to come here and get a result.”
Celtic’s Tony Watt celebrates his goal
The 71-year-old, who now serves Celtic as their kitman, believes the Barca result has restored some badly-needed credibility to Scottish football.
Clark is also delighted with a win which fired a shot across the bows of commentators south of the border who suffer from delusions of grandeur.
He said: “On the radio on my way to Lennoxtown on Thursday they were saying that when big English clubs are looking for a new manager they never think of Neil Lennon. It’s a bit of an insult – who are they kidding?
“These comments come from the fact we’re in Scottish football but Celtic are a massive club.
“This result gives a bit of much-needed respect to Scottish football. Listen to every sports channel and read every newspaper across Europe and Celtic’s name will be at the top of the page. All you will be hearing about is that Celtic have beaten the best team in the world.
“Now we are hopefully one more step towards qualifying.”
“Look at results from the past like the wins over the likes of Manchester United, Juventus and other huge European clubs and you realise just how difficult it is for these teams.
“Wednesday night was the best atmosphere I’ve been around.
“Just ask the Barcelona players what it was like, ask the big players who have played here in European nights and they’ll tell you how special it is. They all love coming to Celtic Park as they are blown away by the atmosphere.”
Meanwhile, Mikael Lustig called the epic win over Barca the greatest night of his career.
Celtic’s Swedish full-back said: “It’s the biggest result I’ve had at club level. We sat in the dressing-room, looked at one another and wondered how it had happened.”
Also from the same paper…
SFA must piggy-back on Celtic result to give Scottish football a much-needed boost
By Mark Hately
CELTIC’S incredible victory over Barcelona in the Champions league can be the starting point for a resurgence of the Scottish game.
HATS off to Celtic and Neil Lennon. Scottish football owes you a debt of gratitude for earning our game a bit of international respect at this, the worst of all times.
And as a Rangers man let me offer my sincere congratulations for the job you did on Barcelona the other night. It was nothing short of magnificent.
At a time when my old club are languishing in the Third Division, when Hearts are possibly days from shutting the gates of Tynecastle for good and when Craig Levein is threatening to sue the SFA for being sacked, despite dragging the national side down to 70th in the world rankings, we badly needed a shot in the arm.
And Celtic gave us exactly that by beating Barcelona 2-1 in the Champions League, in full view of the watching world. Suddenly Scottish football has been given a genuine reason to feel a bit better about itself.
So what are the rest of us going to do to harness some of that feelgood factor and make sure it works for the greater good?
And for any Celtic fans saying they couldn’t give a monkeys, stick with me. Because even though your team is heading towards the Champions League last 16 and leaving the rest behind, this affects you too.
Let me start with a suggestion for those sitting in their ivory towers at Hampden overseeing the carnage they have created.
If I was one of them, perish the thought, I would be doing everything in my power to piggy-back on Celtic’s result and whip up a bit of positivity of my own.
And that means picking up the phone to Gordon Strachan this afternoon, inviting him up to the sixth floor for a cup of tea, sticking a contract on the table and not letting him leave until he’s signed up as Scotland manager.
I’d have Strachan on that plane to Luxembourg next week to ride shotgun with Billy Stark and send out the message Scotland are on the way back. Give the supporters something to smile about, just as Celtic did for their fans.
That triumph showed we have one club in this country equipped to rise above the mire and produce outstanding results at the highest level. And all the credit in the world has to go to Neil Lennon.
Celtic’s win over Barca was down to his organisation skills and ability to spot a player. I haven’t always agreed with the way he handled some aspects of the job in the past.
But he’s almost like a different man now and he is proving himself at the highest level. He knows the job, his players and what is required to win in Europe.
For example, it wasn’t long ago he was the only guy at Parkhead who rated Georgios Samaras. And now the Greek is one of Celtic’s star turns in the Champions League.
That shows you how astute the manager is. He identified what the player could give him at that level and has brought the best out in him.
But here’s the problem now for Neil and the Celtic supporters. And here’s why they too should be concerned about the state of the Scottish game outside of Parkhead.
If Neil can keep this group of players together for two or three years Celtic will be capable of achieving sustained success at the highest level of the European game.
But how much more difficult will it be to persuade the likes of Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper and Fraser Forster to hang around when the rest of the Scottish game is disintegrating?
Yes, Celtic will always have a special lure but if the rest of Scottish football is dying it’s simply not an attractive place to be.
And if the revenue streams dry up too – we don’t even have a sponsor for the SPL next season – it will become too costly for Celtic to offer the wages that might persuade these guys to stay here regardless.
So, as thrilled as Celtic’s fans are right now, everyone will get dragged into this mess in the end. Unless people start acting right now to sort it out and stabilise the game. That’s why it really matters what happens next. It’s why the SFA should have Strachan round for a chat today to give the national team a breath of fresh air.
God knows we need it because the Scottish game is suffocating and the men at the top are doing the most damage.
Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels said it himself the other day. In this country managers are not allowed to tell the truth. I agreed with every word of his latest magnificent rant. He got it bang on.
So let’s have more straight talking. Let’s get Levein on the phone while we are it and tell him he can stick his threat of a law suit where the sun don’t shine.
In fact, let’s take his £35k-a-month severance pay back off him and agree to see him in court. With his atrocious record there’s not a judge in the land who would come down on his side.
“So Mr Levein, what evidence can you provide to substantiate your claim of unfair dismissal? A win against Lithuania and two against Liechtenstein? In three years? Is that it? Case dismissed.”
Yes, it’s time for the SFA to grow a set and be as bold and brave as Celtic were against Barca the other night. Perhaps, had they not given Hearts a transfer embargo when the transfer window wasn’t even open, Mr Romanov might have thought twice about the way he was running the Edinburgh club into the ground.
In fact, if they had done their job then Romanov wouldn’t have been allowed to get control in the first place. But we’ve been over that story before, just at a different club and with a different owner.
Fit and proper people, that’s what we need if the game in this country is to be saved. I wonder how many inside Hampden would pass that test.
Was amazing to be in the stadium and watch us win. Just Brilliant. Wanyama 30 million, Ambrose what a player. Mathews returned to form and then some. Watt did brilliant, glad hooper was injured, thought watt or Miku was more suited to the away game cause they have better engines and stamina even if they are not as strong physically. Just so many great european results this year. I thought we were good vs Benfica too. We deserved to win that one on balance.
Jardine Says we don’ t have the same history, hes right if he is talking about football history, ours is much better, all they have is 54 useless titles and a fraction of our Champions league points! Hes also right if he is talking about other history, we never destroyed Manchester, evade 100 m of Social Taxes, employ a sectarian signing policy and generally cause a rucus where ever they go! But not so sure that’s a history, tradition or ethos to be proud of….
miki67
Hope they have a glasgow date. Saw them last year, and at t in the park a few years ago. They just pummel you into submission – but in a good way. I’ll kinda miss Joey Castillo. He reminds me of animal from the muppets!
And he said
“this is just the begining”
:o)
Neil Lennon says Celtic masterplan decided just hours before Barcelona game
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/neil-lennon-says-celtic-masterplan-decided-just-hours-before-barcelona-game-1-2626875
apologies if posted before
HH
Something very special happened the night we beat Barca.
I think something has been lifted off our back and the road ahead seems so much clearer….Well, at least God agrees.
http://news.stv.tv/galleries/aurora-borealis/35872/
Life is so much better with no Huns.
Teuchter ár lá
By MARTIN HANNAN
Published on Saturday 10 November 2012 00:00
HE has been anxious to pile all the credit on his players, but Celtic manager Neil Lennon has himself come in for high praise throughout football for masterminding the Scottish champions’ victory over Barcelona on Wednesday night.
Such was the tactical nous displayed by Lennon’s Celtic that it might be presumed that many days or weeks went into planning the downfall of one of the greatest club sides ever to visit Scotland. Not a bit of it. The ‘narrow game’ 4-4-1-1 formation that thwarted Barca was decided on just a few hours before the Champions League anthem sounded around Celtic Park.
“We came up with them in the afternoon,” revealed Lennon. “We debated whether to play 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 and pack the midfield but you need pace in wide areas if you are going to counter-attack. With respect, Charlie Mulgrew and Kris Commons are not as quick as James Forrest and Georgios Samaras, so speaking to [coaches] Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker, we were wondering if we’d get out if we went 4-5-1. Would Sami be isolated up there? He’s great on the counter-attack but would we get the support to him? The other thing was that the supporters would be sick of seeing the ball being recycled and Barcelona getting it. It can be dispiriting for the players as well.
“So we wanted Miku to be a link between the midfield and Georgios and get support to him as best he could. I think Miku played wonderfully well. He did everything we asked of him and more. Our options were getting shorter and shorter. We were waiting on Scott Brown [he had a virus] to see if he would be fit to play and, about 2.30pm, it was clear he wasn’t. But it was all down to the players. It’s all about them.”
That’s true, but messages of congratulation from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Noprthern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, not to mention Sir Elton John, show that, across football, Lennon’s achievement was noted. Barcelona, too, were magnanimous in defeat, as Lennon explained: “They are a class act from top to bottom and that’s the way I want our club to be as well – humble in victory and gracious in defeat.”
The manager knows he needs to get his players grounded before their home match against St Johnstone tomorrow. Lennon said: “We talk about the European nights and that was one of the greatest, in terms of the atmosphere and the occasion, and all the ingredients of the 125th anniversary as well, but what I want is not just for people to talk about the great atmosphere, I want them to talk about the team. I think we’ve got that, people are talking about the players, and rightly so. Now they’ve got to come back down to earth.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet, apart from the seven points which could be very precious to us, but all four teams can still qualify from the group so we need to be judged on the six games and not just the four. We should enjoy these moments. I want them back to work tomorrow to prepare for St Johnstone as best they can but I do want them to enjoy these couple of days because it is very special.
“The reality of it is that there is a lot to do in this season if we want to achieve what we want to achieve. We have taken one point out of six in the league, so that is disappointing for me and I want is to get back to winning games again in the SPL as quickly as possible.”
Lennon will really earn his corn if he can keep his players ‘up’ after the high of Wednesday: “That is really the challenge for me. But there might still be some feelgood factor and confidence left over, so maybe the best thing for them will be to just get back out there and play again and just feed off the confidence they’ve gained over the last couple of days. But we will be able to gauge it tomorrow when we see them again.”
Brown is a serious doubts for tomorrow, while Gary Hooper hopes to back for the next Champions League match in Portugal against Benfica – “as tough as a visit to the Nou Camp”. Lennon singled out for praise Victor Wanyama, Adam Matthews, Joe Ledley and goalkeeper Fraser Forster, and knows he will find it difficult to keep richer clubs away.
His personal ambitions remain hidden: “In a few years’ time I don’t know where I will be, whether I am here or not. I just take it as it comes and, like [majority shareholder] Dermot Desmond says, I am a ‘work in progress.’ I keep striving to get better and make the team better.”
He did that on Wednesday, no question. St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas, who watched the match on television, was full of praise for Celtic as he plots a way to try and bring them back down to earth. “They did very well. I thought tactically and how they went about it was top notch,” said Lomas. “Barcelona had the majority of possession, but they worked very hard, as a group stayed very compact and conceded the wide areas because they know Barcelona don’t cross too many [balls]. It was a great atmosphere as well. Celtic Park was bouncing.”
The comparison may be crude, but Celtic could be performing the Barcelona role, with Saints performing the role of the underdog, this weekend. Lomas added: “Nine times out of ten you go to Celtic Park and they have the lion’s share of possession, but there are many ways to skin a cat.”
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Oh aye…….ah forgot to say – You don’t need to be a Teuchter to appreciate the Northern Lights.
Hail Hail
Teuchter ár lá
“Celtic beating Barça is like……..” says Hately, then he gives up and weeps uncontrollably as ‘Sailing’ replays endlessly in his head.
Everybody loves us now we’re bad, we’re nationwide, the whole world is dumbstruck, and these Scattish hacks HAVE to jump on the bandwagon or be seen as curmudgeons.
Hately, Britnae, Jabba, Sneevins et al, I say to you, “Suck it down deep. This will live in the collective consciousness and UNconsciousness as long as football is played on this planet.”
And we are debt free, with great attendance figures, with a great manager, attracting interest from all over the world.
Now……where have we heard THAT before?
Except, for us, it just happens to be true.
And we stunned Barça. Did I say that aready?
: > ))
ZZ Top : ” I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide “:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96K6Fvpbk3Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
“Nine times out of ten you go to Celtic Park and they have the lion’s share of possession, but there are many ways to skin a cat.”
cocky I like it :o)
Time for herbal sleepin’ pills. Maybe I’ll get to sleep . Maybe I’ll get to sleep in. This has been an incredible week for us. It’s like temporal j&i.c. with a strawberry in the middle.
My mind is now officially in meltdown. A mhan can only take SO much happiness.
Note to self : sleep, ya numpty.
Nytol.
Just think, our win gave every underdog in every walk of life HOPE
Another great night lurking.
Buenos nochas amigos