The Scottish PL discussion thread

KdjaCL

redspider wrote: »

ps: I couldnt find the Celtic thread but I see that someone has renamed it to the Scottish PL discussion thread !!!! Why? As thread originator, for whatever that's worth, surely the name shouldnt have been changed. If someone wants to create an SPL thread, then so be it, but can we have the Celtic discussion thread renamed back?

If you read it you would have seen numerous requests for it to be changed to SPL and numerous requests by me to the OP for allowance for changing it.

Not my fault you dont read the thread.


kdjac

Erin Go Brath

eirebhoy wrote: »

Celtic's lineup last night on ITV:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5007/celticliverpoolta5.jpg

McDonald has gained a lot of height recently, and as for Hartley he really needs to lay off the sunbeds

eirebhoy

McGeady vs Hearts last week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0sdGGERovs

He's top of the SPL Assist stats too with 5.

Erin Go Brath

Ok so neither Celtic or Rangers were playing last weekend. Is this purely because of Scotlands important upcoming game or is there another reason? Seems strange as all the other teams in England and Scotland were playing

Fwaggle

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Ok so neither Celtic or Rangers were playing last weekend. Is this purely because of Scotlands important upcoming game or is there another reason? Seems strange as all the other teams in England and Scotland were playing

Yep, it was so the players could rest before the Italy game.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8685_2821324,00.html

PauloMN

Riordan and Zurawski out, McFadden in:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football-news/scottish-football/spl-football/celtic-fc/

Ok, I know it's from the Daily Ranger, but I wouldn't be complaining if it came true.

kraggy

Yeah it's on Rte aswell.

I like McFadden. Could become even better.

However, I think Everton will offer him a better deal.

ziggy

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PauloMN

ziggy wrote: »

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I agree, and I would hope defenders are the priority. Just not sure there'll be many pickings in January.

Anyway Everton have already come out and said he's not for sale.

ziggy

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Erin Go Brath

I see Jeanette Findlay, Chair of the Celtic trust is in the news:

"A Celtic supporters’ chief has sparked fury after she defended the singing of IRA songs by fans.

Jeanette Findlay, chair of the Celtic Trust, said that chants about terrorists had a historical basis.

But the club distanced itself from her comments, saying they were “totally unrepresentative of the Celtic support”.

The row erupted after Dr Findlay spoke on BBC Radio 5 Live’s breakfast programme yesterday.

She said: “The club was founded to help the poor of the Irish immigrants to Scotland.

“Many of the supporters are descendants of these people.

“They may take a particular view of history, what happened in Ireland, which is different to many other people. So I don’t call those pro-terrorist songs.”

Full article: http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/mhmhqlmhmhgb/


Is this much ado about nothing? I sometimes like singing Boys of the Old Brigade, Soldiers Song (anthem as bearla), Sean South amongst others when watching a game in the pub. Its hardly the same as 'Up to our needs in fenian blood' in all fairness. What are peoples thoughs on this? Political correctness gone mad is mine!

A Dub in Glasgo

She is being shat upon by the media, Celtic & some uneducated fans.

The previous day, she spoke at the Celtic PLC AGM to oppose the appointment of John Reid as Celtic chairman. She done this on the basis that Reid was a warmonger. The next morning Nicky Campbell on BBC radio asked her about Celtic fans singing about terrorists. She stated that Irelands fight for independence was not terrorism.

She was quite right to highlight the difference but the sad problem is that Celtic and the media do regard Irelands fight for independence as terrorism!

Erin Go Brath

I think its sad that people take something a genuine person says, and then twist it for propoganda purposes. Of course the War of Independence was fought against Britain, and many of the black-and-tans hailed from Scotland itself. This probably contributes to the ridiculous reaction of the media over there on this issue. They love to brand the IRA of the time as terrorists, yet fail to realise that Sinn Féin won huge overall majorites in all the elections at the time making the IRA the official army of the state with a mandate from the people to deliver independence denied to them. The bloody terrorists were from England and Scotland. :mad:

A Dub in Glasgo

Full exchange on the radio

Woman presenter "The new Chairman of Celtic, the former Home Secretary John Reid, was called a "war criminal" by a fan at the clubs AGM. Mr Reid was in the cabinet when Britain took part in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Jeanette Findley is Secretary of the Celtic Trust which promotes the interests of fans & small share-holders. A bit strong Jeannette?"

Jeanette Findley "Well certainly that wasn't the Trust's spokesperson that made that remark & I don't think it was necessary to be that inflammatory. Our opposition to John Reids appointment as Chair of Celtic is certainly to do with his role, his leading role, he wasn't just a member of the Cabinet, he was Defense Secretary, his leading role in relation to what many believe is an illegal & immoral war. Our view is that if you are going to be a public face of a club like Celtic which, I don't want to sound like an advert for a well known store, its more than just a PLC & its infact more than just a football club. Its a social & cultural institution & a source of identity for many of the fans who support it. We don't want somebody who is really forever, for better or worse, is forever going to be associated with that humanitarian disaster"

Woman presenter "But before John Reid, before he had that position, how deeply into the professional & personal history's of the Chairman did you go?

Jeanette Findley “We actually only came into being, the Celtic Trust, just about the same time Brian Quinn became the Chairman so this is the first..."

Woman presenter "Hypothetically, how deeply into a persons professional & personal history do you think you should go?"

Jeanette Findley "We made some general points about the search process for Board members in general, we actually have some views about the whole process & again for the reasons I've just outlined about the need for the type of club that Celtic is, we think the search criteria should be much broader than what would be the norm for a PLC. So, for instance, Celtic was founded as a charitable institution & we think they should be looking at people who have a leading role in the charitable & social activism sector. Thats not to say they don't need professional qualifications & expertise that are necessary to run a business of that size, we have looked beyond...."

Nicky Campbell "Its a fascinating area Jeanette which are you most uncomfortable with - & this is a point which I'm sure will occur to some people - the pro-terrorist songs that regrettably are still heard from some Celtic fans or the appointment of Dr Reid? Which causes you most concern?"

Jeanette Findley "I take a different view from you on the so-called pro-terrorist songs that you've just outlined. I have tried to explain about the nature of Celtic as a club. It was founded to help the poor Irish immigrants to Scotland. Although it has never been an exclusive club, many of the support are descendants of those people. They may take a particular view on the the history of what happened in Ireland which is different from many other people, so I don't call those pro-terrorist songs."
Woman presenter "Do you not think that Celtic, & perhaps Rangers too, or Scotland generally really has had its fill of the political debate within what is essentially a sporting club. Hasn't it had enough of that? Hasn't history told us that this is dead-end?"

Jeanette Findley "I think what history tells us is that it is facile to say politics & sport will ever be separated. Throughout history, sporting events are used often as a means of expressing political views or political identities. I don't see anybody criticizing Barcelona for being essentially the national club of the Catalan people. But somehow or another when it comes to Celtic, there is something wrong with that. I think people need to take a wee step back."

Nicky Campbell "If I can get back to what some people call the pro-terrorist songs, I'm not talking about the Fields of Athenry, I'm talking about actually chanting “the IRA” & stuff?"

Jeanette Findley "You are talking about songs about the IRA but again, many of those songs are songs from what was essentially a war of independence going back right into the 1920s infact going back over a hundred years."

Nicky Campbell "People who have lost relatives who have been blown up, blown to pieces & murdered by the IRA find that as offensive as you might find Dr Reids appointment, can you not see that?"

Jeanette Findley "Well im sure the parents of Peter McBride, who was murdered by 2 British soldiers who were then reinstated under John Reids watch will also find this offensive. There's death on both sides"

Nicky Campbell "We hear where you're coming from. Thanks very much. Secretary of the Celtic Trust "

Anyhow, looking forward to the return of Celtic action tomorrow after a long time!

ziggy

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Eirebear

that'll do....struggled a bit against the wind in the second half but we got there.

You wont hear me say this very often but....cmon the sheep!

Xavi6

Anyone see Tim Krul's first half double save for Falkirk? Outstanding.

Eirebear

Xavi6 wrote: »

Anyone see Tim Krul's first half double save for Falkirk? Outstanding.

Yep...fantastic goalkeeping. Thought Falkirk played some nice football in the second half, they were unlucky not to get the second but for a couple of good saves from mcgregor.

As for Aberdeen.....meh! 4 times a season and all that

A Dub in Glasgo

Another good display from McGeady

eirebhoy

I watched it in Frazers. It was a bit stop start. Good for 20 mins, nothing happening in the next 20. Brown was class.

Eirebear

was photographing the anti racism march in Glasgow today, big turn out from "the green brigade".
TBH there was lots of things going on there that i didnt entirely agree with...as always with these things the issue is so vague that it gets hijacked by a multitude of political agendas.
But Basque flags? I really wish they wouldnt....

PauloMN

eirebhoy wrote: »

I watched it in Frazers. It was a bit stop start. Good for 20 mins, nothing happening in the next 20. Brown was class.

What channel were showing it out of interest, do they have Polsat or something?

eirebhoy

Yeh Polsat.

Erin Go Brath

McGeadys goal was class. This is surely his best season yet. What I wouldn't give for a repeat of that 3-0 in midweek!

eirebhoy

Quality pic of Brown's face one way, pass the other thing he learnt off Ronaldinho:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/martino65/cmw/IMG_8338.jpg

ziggy

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eirebhoy

haha

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4228/broondiscoxy4.jpg

PauloMN

eirebhoy wrote: »

haha

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4228/broondiscoxy4.jpg

That's defo Frazer's... only place you'd be allowed in looking that scruffy.

redspider

I couldnt find the Celtic thread so I'll post here ..... ;-)

Good to see Aiden McGeady's run of good form continuing. It's good for him and for Celtic. More mazy runs, more 'end-product'. He could still do with a solid month of shooting practice at a sports science academy. He has the strength, he just needs to learn the technique and it is never too late to learn, nor to practice.


As for the Celtic Trust/John Reid issue, I think if anyone looks into the credentials of other board members such as Dermot Desmond they will find that he is far from squeaky clean. (He readily admits giving money to CJH, and CJH returned a massive favour by sanctioning the IFSC, etc. I realise this is not a politics thread). I do agree that Reid is associated with Iraq, and is complicit in that fiasco, which was widely predicted myself included, but he was not the main driver. That was Tony Blair and the english people voted him back in, so so much for outrage against the war and the killing of innocent lives, etc. Labour even got votes in Scotland! And Tony Blair still believes that he was right, which adds to the incredulity of it all.

All very well getting on a high horse over Reid, but be consistent about it. Look at Desmond as well!

Redspider

ziggy

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PauloMN

Shakhtar are a better side than us but so too are many teams we've beaten in CP. It will be a really tight game and I doubt we'll keep a clean sheet though. Our midfield have to take control of the game from the off, we're going to need to see the best of McGeady and Brown in particular, and Artur (assuming he plays) will need to be on top form, as I expect a good few decent shots on goal when (not if) our defenders get turned inside out.

Assuming all goes to plan:
Bhoys 2 - 1 Shakhtar

My biggest fear is conceding a penalty - hopefully the back 4 will keep it cool and not get too nervous about the end result.

As for the Sons of Satan, I dunno, they could definitely get a point there - let's hope Stuttgart are like a wounded dog and we get:

Stuttgart 1 - 0 SoS

Eirebear

i reckon it will be a good week for both teams this time around.
Celtic are a great team at home in europe, and im not sure how well the ukranians travel...so even with celtics dodgy defence i reckon theyll get a win.
As for us It wont be easy over there, Stuttgart are a very proud team and wont want to go through the campaign without a point, especially at home, but with injuries to key players i think Rangers should just about have enough to beat them
Stuttgart 1-2 rangers
Celtic 2- 0 Shaktar

PauloMN

Eirebear wrote: »

Celtic 2- 0 Shaktar

That result would essentially see Celtic through the group, regardless of the result in Milan. I'd be a very happy bhoy with that score, alas I'd put money on us not keeping a clean sheet.

Erin Go Brath

Predictions:

Celtic 3 Shaktar 2 The Parkhead x-factor to see us a beating Shaktar who are a very good team. Hey we beat Milan, ManU amongst others. We can win this one, not by 3 clear goals though.

Stuttgart 1 Huns 1 The bluenoses have been doing surprisingly well, and Stuttgart haven't been great.

eirebhoy

I definitely fancy Stuttgart but not confident about tomorrow. I'd take a 1-0 win now.

ziggy

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Eirebear

friggin hell...every bloody time:eek:
Good result lads well done

PauloMN

Knew we'd concede, but I'm delighted with the end result.

Best thing is that Milan are already through. A draw will do us, and we have to just go for it. A draw against a team like Milan is far more achievable once they've qualified. You never know, Benfica could even scrape a draw against Shakhtar, although I can't see that.

Hope Kennedy is ok, seemed like a nasty injury. I suspect defenders will defo be on the shopping list now in Jan, if they weren't already.

ziggy

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PauloMN

It's good that Benfica now still have something to play for, should make their last game a good one also.

eirebhoy

First of all, absolutely delighted. I wouldn't actually be too disappointed with the UEFA cup as we can at least get through a few rounds. Poor performance by the Celts tonight tbh. Shakhtar were well below par too. As Strachan said we're getting through this on work rate, honesty, etc. but we're not doing ourselves justice. I don't like to be seen as that kind of team.

btw, that run by Brown was simply :eek::eek::eek: He was excellent tonight. I don't know where Jarosik has found the heart. Even against Aberdeen on Saturday he looked much better. Previously he'd just get his job done as simply as possible.

ziggy

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Erin Go Brath

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Great heart and fighting spirit in this team that they keep going right till the very end. It's not luck but battling qualities that saw us through.

Can we get a draw in Milan? Possibly, as Milan are through they mighnt field their strongest team.

If Shaktar fail to beat Benfica we'll be through regardless.

Good chance of one of these permutations happening.

PauloMN

Well defensively, we're getting embarrassing to watch, no doubt about that, and our injuries have me worried for the SPL as well as Europe. We're now down Wilson, Naylor, Kennedy and Doumbe at the back. Caldwell I thought was very poor tonight, but midfield were anonymous for long spells which surprised me with only McGeady being consistently good throughout. Jarosik and Brown were good in moments (yes that run was superb, but what else?), but overall were quiet.

McDonald is a class act, his control is superb and he reads the game so well, knows what to go for and what to leave. Thought Vennegoor looked tired, needs time to get into the full flow again.

Donati is most frustrating... I'd written him off tonight and then he scores. Thought Hartley did well overall considering he was moved around, and Pressely was ok aside from one poor pass I saw.

Come Jan, we need some defenders.... really!!!!!

eirebhoy

PauloMN wrote: »

yes that run was superb, but what else?

No outstanding moments but he probably put twice as many passes together as any other Celtic player. I thought he was at his best tonight and did very well.

I don't know what it is with Donati. Hopefully he's just been lacking confidence as I'm forgetting how good he was linking up with Brown and McGeady pre and early season.

PauloMN

eirebhoy wrote: »

No outstanding moments but he probably put twice as many passes together as any other Celtic player. I thought he was at his best tonight and did very well.

I don't know what it is with Donati. Hopefully he's just been lacking confidence as I'm forgetting how good he was linking up with Brown and McGeady pre and early season.

I don't think Brown was bad, but I've definitely seen him better. McGeady was our best player I thought, brilliant crosses - especially the one that Jarosik could have headed in - an absolute peach of a cross.

Tough game at the weekend, I think it's going to be very difficult with thoughts of Tuesday's away trip in the players' minds. I'm just glad we have that 3 point cushion as I feel we may need it now.

ziggy

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Eirebear

Im feeling a little wierd today, something has came over me that i just cant understand....im really excited by the fact that BOTH teams stand a very good chance of going through to the last 16.
After a year were scottish football in general has dragged itself out of the doldrums and people are starting to show us as a nation a little respect again, I think it would send a fantastic message to the doubters if both halves of the Old Firm were to qualify out of the group stages.
Dont get me wrong, i certainly wont be cheering you lot on come tuesday, but on token a lot of that is nothing but fear.
I would hate it if you went through and we didnt, especially considering the start we had.

Im off for a lie down....

PauloMN

Eirebear wrote: »

I would hate it if you went through and we didnt, especially considering the start we had.

Ditto, except in reverse obviously. I'd cheer anyone on except Rangers and the mini-huns, and Man Ure of course.

I was strangely happy for Ferguson when he scored for Scotland, it made me feel dirty though. Had to have a shower straight away afterwards.

I think Rangers will progress. Home draw is ideal for Smith's tactics. Celtic have a job to do to get a draw in Milan though, assuming Shakhtar beat Benfica. Typical jammy Rangers that they only need to make 8 points to qualify, we have 9 and still need another point to be sure. Didn't Rangers somehow manage to qualify with 7 points last time?

How come Rangers don't play Lyon until the following week?

Eirebear

PauloMN wrote: »

How come Rangers don't play Lyon until the following week?

I dont know TBH...i think its your game that has been brought forward...possibly a clash with Inter?
As for qualifying with less points...its a damn sight more than anyone expected us to get from this group wether we qualify or not!