Likely summer signing number two, Virgil van Dijk, arrived in Glasgow this morning for a medical after terms were agreed with the player and his club, Groningen. The 6’4” player, who will be 22 next month, is a Dutch under-21 international.
Virgil is two weeks younger than Victor Wanyama and emerged into the Groningen team around the same time Victor pitched up in Glasgow, they have made almost exactly the same number of appearances for their respective clubs, 62 top flight games in total, in the case of Virgil.
62 games is an interesting figure. Enough to bed in, catch local scouts’ eyes and have well-travelled men from Glasgow watch several times before making a recommendation. Not enough to catch the eyes of less well-organised, but no less resourceful, scouts in the bottom half of the English Premier League, who Celtic now seem to compete for talent with.
If Virgil is the real deal, another couple of dozen games might have changed the competition for his signature.
Is there a 50-80 game window which can deliver sufficient evidence of a player’s talent, but not too much evidence, which evaporates the value gap? This hypothesis would be easy to test and if it holds would provide an interesting filter on the hundreds of names pushed to the club each year.
Have you booked for the Lions Roar event at Celtic Park tomorrow night? Last and precious opportunity to watch how the European Cup was won with the men who did the work. In short, priceless. Tickets available here.
Speaking of the men who won it, buy Heart of a Lion here:
[calameo code=0003901713852289beccb lang=en page=10 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
961 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- »
oops!
Do you agree that having an Scottish Republican identity is criminal?
ASTRMPCHROI
Reading PMcC’s article earlier,the sooner the bill is challenged at EHCR,the better.
It is being used in precisely the manner we always thought it would be,and when shown by the courts to be bad law,is merely reinterpreted at a higher level as the catch-all it was always meant to be.
Scots Law has for centuries been held in the highest esteem. This example of it risks undermining that reputation.
Ooooops,sorry.
Above meant for A STOR MO CHROI
Dunno what went wrong there,not even been drinking!
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
From FAC
Ponsonby’s triumph and Mulholland’s shame
Yesterday was in interesting news day. We had the publication of the statistics for charges/convictions under the Offensive Behaviour Act and on Religiously Aggravated Crimes in Scotland for 2012-13. STV news gave the issue a 2nd top billing on the 6pm news, the justification for which, when the interview with the Lord Advocate came on, became immediately apparent.
By now most people will know that, Bernard Ponsonby the veteran Scottish newsman put the following question to the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland:
BP: ‘So-called political chanting falls foul of this law?’
Lord Advocate: ‘Of course it does yes, as I understand it’.
Ponsonby follows this up by asking about ‘Irish Republican Identity’ and asks:
BP ‘An Irish Republican identity is potentially criminal under the Act?’
Lord Advocate:’Potentially criminal under this Act, yes’
This comment is extremely important and congratulations to Bernard Ponsonby for asking the question when other, lesser, journalists would not. It is not that this was an utterly mad comment from Frank Mulholland that he must feel like a complete clown for saying – although it was and he must. Neither is it that you could actually be arrested for having ‘an Irish Republican identity’ whatever that might mean, because quite clearly you could not be arrested, or charged or convicted for having any kind of ethnic or political identity.
The really important thing about it, whether or not any Scottish citizen, journalist or political commentator chooses to acknowledge it, is that it is an open admission (probably of an extremely common albeit almost subconscious mind-set) that there is something dangerous or wrong or potentially criminal to be Irish in Scotland or to believe in a united Ireland.
If you were to replace the word ‘Irish’ with any other nationality, the question would have been treated with a bemused look I would suggest. If you were to change the word ‘republican’ with a description of any other political position, then a similar response would have been forthcoming. It is only those two words – that ethnic identity and that political position – which almost without thinking, elicits concern, suspicion and negativity from many Scots; certainly from the police and from many part of government and other institutions.
This brings us back to the Act. This Act, very clearly, was never about sectarianism; because, quite rightly, we already had laws to cover that and to cover other forms of bigotry and racism. This was, and still is, about trying to extend the term bigot or hate crime to the expression by Celtic fans of republican views or (except in a very sanitised, commercially-exploitable way) their Irish identity, should they as individuals, or as a group choose to do so.
For that reason it has not worked, because much as they would love to be able to do so, the government simply, in a modern, European country, cannot criminalise ethnicity or political ideology.
So all that has happened, and their own statistics show this, is that those people who could have been convicted under the Section 74 offences (justifiably), have instead been convicted under the new Act. Indeed, the Celtic Trust was told by McAllister of the FoCuS group that the police were instructed by the Crown Office to use the new Act, so that is what they have done.
However, despite their best efforts to get Celtic fans convicted of singing Irish republican songs, the Sheriffs have, to their credit, refused to do it. Not satisfied with this, the Crown Office under Mr Mulholland (with Alex Salmond working him from the back like a ventriloquist) is appealing two of these Not Guilty verdicts. You may be interested to know that appeals are very, very expensive processes and that the Crown Office usually appeals one or two cases a year and usually in case of very serious crimes such as murder or rape. Yet they have two appeals under way right now because the Sheriffs had the temerity not to convict young boys for singing the Roll of Honour.
So, well done Bernard Ponsonby but shame on you Frank Mulholland. You are a disgrace to your office and if you are remembered at all, it will be as the most craven Lord Advocate ever to have held the post.
By Philip Johnston The Telegraph
14 May 2012
In a free and civilised country, people should not be abusive or gratuitously offensive to each other; but they should be entitled to voice an opinion that someone else might find insulting. It is a hallmark of liberty that it allows a person to say something that is provocative, otherwise it is no freedom at all. John Milton put it best: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”
Macjay
That is a very good point.
Utopia or Valhalla do not exist.
We should strive for the 80% of that
I live in Ireland where the SME is King(farmer)
Politics and economics will always be dominated by the red faced culchie.
In the UK where most Celtic fans live, they have a choice of party with very little change.
I get no choice with the right wing parties or the terrorists of Sf, so I will vote Labour all my life but never get a win
—
Terrorists ?
Along with mandela,che,sands,dan breen , tom clarke ?
proudbhoy
05:07 on 21 June, 2013
Important to point out that the above was a reply to me by
Coneybhoy
04:02 on 21 June, 2013
macjay1 for neil lennon
05:22 on 21 June, 2013
proudbhoy
05:07 on 21 June, 2013
Important to point out that the above was a reply to me by
Coneybhoy
04:02 on 21 June, 2013
—
Sorry mate copied wrong.
I know myself it was but defo worth pointing out.
proudbhoy
Nae wurries.
or in Oz
No wuckin furries.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/celtic-fan-faces-new-case-over-ira-songs.21397966
Was this what A Stor was referring to earlier?
It will only encourage defiance.Who could blame the defiant?
`Twas on a dreary New Year`s Eve………..
MACJAY
Worse,it will encourage Focus.
No law should be so open to interpretation-and therefore abuse-as has been laid down in statute in this case.
In normal circumstances,a person is arrested because a police officer decides he has committed an illegal action.
The defence would be that he did not commit the illegal action.
Not that the action was not illegal.
A stor
C. Graham openly admitted it was an attempt to even up the score by allowing Tims to be arrested for that which didn’t fall foul of the existing legislation , but was considered heinous behaviour by the Huns
They abhor the expression of Irish republicanism by some of our fans ….they have tried to criminalise it ….without success…
IMO nothing more than a vote catcher ….a sop to the OO and the like ….Mulholland and Crown Office should be ashamed of themselves for engaging in this
Mind you …most of the legislation produced by The Scottush Parliament is of a very poor standard …
Good morning friends and a Big Happy Friday from a dry and bright (and green and white) EK.
BMCUWP
I would assume that the sheriff having formed the opinion that there was insufficient evidence for a case to answer , will have no difficulty in acquitting the accused when he has to consider the quality of the evidence and whether there exists a reasonable doubt
At the end of the Crown evidence the crown case has to be taken at its highest ……not so at the conclusion
BMCUWP
No reason why it can’t be both …..
New CFC strip …don’t know if I like it
Not sure it compliments the fuller figure …..which rules out most of you that I’ve met from this place
FatbasketCSC
Good morning Timland.
Happy 80th birthday tae the maw in law…….a wee
party the night, in 26 yr of marriage tae her lassie
never hid a cross word……with her that is…….not so
with her lassie.
The Cock Crowed THRICE….
And The Silence From Ernie Lynch,Corkie
….& Ena Sharples…
Was As DEAFENING….
As It Was…ELOQUENT
~~~~~
June 20, 2013 American Thinker
Barack Obama ‘Savages’ Catholic Education
Jeannie DeAngelis
It’s already been firmly established that if a person, group or ideology disagrees with Barack Obama, he becomes fixated on them and then, any opportunity he gets, he makes provocative comments that could be interpreted as a warning shot. The message? Barack Obama doesn’t forget ideological unfaithfulness, and if he can, he’ll shut you up by shutting you down.
The president has imposed his bad attitude on, to name but a few: Conservatives, specifically of the tea party brand, right-leaning talk radio, Fox News, and the group the left views as the seat of pro-life advocacy, the Catholic Church.
Catholicism is a prime target because it’s an autonomous, self-governing entity that continues to insist on having the freedom to exercise the First Amendment right to freedom of religion, and has defied the administration by refusing to submit to Obamacare contraceptive and abortion directives.
So while in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit, Obama didn’t waste the opportunity to taunt Catholics worldwide by saying inflammatory things to schoolchildren. Despite the fact that just days prior, Vatican Prefect Archbishop Gerhard Müller told Scots that Catholic education is “a critical component of the Church,” Barack Obama, speaking to an audience of about 2,000 students at Belfast’s Waterfront hall, made what was described as “an alarming call for an end to Catholic education,” saying:
If towns remain divided-if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden-that too encourages division and discourages cooperation.
It’s hard to recall, but when the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner was in Indonesia, Cairo or Turkey, did he also suggest to Muslims that schooling children in madrassas “encourages division and discourages cooperation?”
Of course not. And while the comparison may seem extreme, Barack Obama’s animosity towards Catholicism, although expressed in a more dignified manner, is eerily reminiscent of gay activist Dan Savage, founder of “It Gets Better” and Savage Love sex advisor.
In 2012, Savage was invited to give an anti-bullying speech at the National High School Journalism Conference. Instead of addressing bullying, Savage used the opportunity to make like Barack Obama and bash Christians.
Savage implied that people use the Bible as an excuse to bully gays and cited Leviticus and Romans, which both say that homosexuality is sinful. Then, the anti-bullying expert told the students to ignore all the bulls**t in the Bible. When 100 students walked out, Savage responded by heckling them and calling them “pansy-assed.”
Savage might as well have been speaking to Irish students about the evils of parochial school, because the effect was the same. Although Obama exhibits a bit more finesse when he insults Christians, he insults them just the same by implying that Catholic education fosters division – defying Archbishop Müller’s contention that Catholic education provides schoolchildren an exceptional setting where “intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment…come together.”
The truth is that it’s precisely the intellectual training, intrinsic morality, and commitment to faith that irritates secular progressive activists like Dan Savage and Barack Obama and drives them to exploit public appearances as platforms to vent their partisan hostility.
During his homily at St. Andrews Foundation for Catholic Teacher Education at Glasgow University, Archbishop Müller also said that Catholic education provides young people with a wonderful opportunity to “grow up with Jesus.” And after all, isn’t growing up with Jesus at the crux of the problem progressive ideologues, who support the gay lifestyle, facilitate premarital sex, and promote abortion, have with any kind of Christian education?
Müller stressed that Catholic schools should seek to promote “all that is good in the philosophies of societies and human culture,” concepts diametrically opposed to everything Barack Obama stands for. That is why the president is driven to weave into every public address he gives the message that, just as the IRS and NSA scandals have proven, if you disagree with Barack Obama, he wants to shut you down.
~~~~
Still….Laughin’
Still no broadband in the van so a rare post.
A Stor:
A fascinating article that I somehow missed. Of course it shouldn’t be fascinating as it merely observes the absurdity of equating a political action with sectarianism.
The determination of the Scottish establishment to persecute people for singing political songs is as predictable as it is reprehensible. The appeasement mentality of some in the Celtic family in the face of such persecution is as divisive as it is ineffective.
Let the people sing…
Catholic schools did not cause the problems that still exist in the North of Ireland and the real reason there is such a big push for integrated schools is because Catholics are in the majority at Primary School age – it is about jobs!
The Singing Detective Demands The Resignation Of Campbell Ogilvie
07:22 on
I out you as a Media House troll and I advise everyone to ignore this idiot.
Morning cqn
The signing detective
Forgive me for asking but who’s corkie an ena sharples ??
Has Virgil van Duij signed yet. H.h
Morning cqn
Another chance to get rich today, or, to make your donation to the bookies pension fund. I’m going:
Wedding ring 12/1 each way
Hillstar 7/1 ( and 11/2 insure bet 2 places). I know Ryan Moore likes this horse.
Big break 6/1
Albasharrah 5/1
Nicholas canyon 12/1 each way
Campanology 12/1 each way
Tommysbhoy
Looks like he’ll put Biro to parchment today.
Free the curled up winklepicker one.
I have been a socialist through my upbringing and workin life. (Never a left wing looney)
I believe that greed is the route of evil and a fairer distribution of wealth by fair taxation is required.
This would give the majority of the citizens a decent life. In work poverty is a vast problem.
Banks ruined our economy by their greed and are again saying they need massive bonuses and wages to grow our economy again
Labour as a party have lost their spirit whilst the tories are really only interested in maki g money for their elite friends..
The poor remain in 21st century Britain. This is a national disgrace that our politicians should be held accountable for. But their greed is their main political goal.
The vast majority should hang their heads in shame..
Back to sleep..
Hail Hail
BT
Don’t disagree with the sentiment of your post, I would be interested though in what you consider “fair taxation”?
Then I thought,
If I was a player playing in Scotland for the famous Glasgow Celtic and the odds on my career finishing from a dangerous tackle that was likely to go unpunished or truvialised, shortened every time I played domestic football, would I want the insurance money to cover SPL or EPL wages?
Bye Scotland, it’s easy for us to give and demand our all, the club is in our blood but asking foreigners to potentially sacrifice their playing career is a wee bit presumptuous.
TNT
Vodafone amazon etc…
Deep fried Toblerone the whole day for The Singing Ringing Richard, The Passive Aggressive Darling of Singapore Slings and Wetnurse Fantasy…
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/alex-massie/2013/06/hail-caledonia-fantasy-justice-and-offensive-behaviour-at-football-the-horror-continues/
It is a pernicious, illiberal bill that would remain a disgrace even if it could – as it cannot – be applied consistently and equitably.
A good article well worth a read
Twisty
Tried a few myself today ….last four races …few with a legal slant
However…put yours on …£1 ew acc…£625k ….would be nice
Tax avoidance is a disgrace yet the bbc and others chase benefit cheats (still wrong) by givng that little twat dom littlemind tv time..
Vat avoidance is also a big problem.
BT
Very cerebral ….and accurate
Had a bet yesterday.
Ew lucky 15.
Two winners and a place…
I cheated and went with the bhoys on here. Took oldtims horse a n/r so one of my winnets was lizzies horse.i think.?
PF. Need to get back to work and fight the good fight but next hospital app not till july 16th..
Work sent me to ot Wednesday and he told me I’ll be another 6 weeks at least more due to health and safety.
Also said I am covered by disability act as original break was 29 years ago..
BT
Nigel lawson had the right idea in the 80s. There was legislation in place to ensure prevention of big companies shifting their cash into foreign tax havens. George Osborne slowly but surely eradicated that legislation to what it is today.
PF
Ha..£600k? .as I said to someone yesterday if God really does love a trier he must love me to bits!
Ascot selections……nae messing about the day
2:30 Princess Noor 25/1
3:05 Tha’ir 12/1
3:45 Big Break 6/1
£1 e/w patent
4:25 Genzy 15/1
5:00 Da Do Run Run 40/1
5:35 Baccarat 14/1
50p e/w patent
if one of these lines stoot’s….I’ll be
posting fae the Caribbean.