Well, thats the Grand National over with. My horse started at 40/1 at Aintree, and ended up 2 for 1 at tesco. Its name was Battle Group, the one who decided to make a break for it when the race started.

Don’t know why I bothered.

Earlier in the day, Celtic overcame a spirited Dundee Utd 2-0 at Tannadice, with goals from Georgios Samaras and Anthony Stokes. Though there was a feeling that we were kind of hanging on in the second half, as the Arabs continually broke up play and stormed forward. Fraser forster and Virgil van dijk earned their wage yesterday, but man of the match for me was Scott Brown, deputising at right back and putting in a disciplined performance that suggested he had sat up all night chewing the fat with Danny McGrain.

Samaras opened the scoring after just five minutes when he ignored the attentions of defender Gavin gunning to latch onto a Kris commons free kick to leave the keeper stranded with a first time volley cum flick.

Twenty minutes later, Anthony Stokes finished off a great move to make the points certain, and at that point, a landslide appeared on the cards.

Nobody told Dundee Utd the game was over, and they kept plugging away, and were unlucky not to score, but the same could have been said of Celtic, and especially leigh Griffiths, who came on as a second half substitute, and could easily have had a hat trick.

All in all, it was an entertaining game, and wasn’t short of quality play from both sides, and even though it was done and dusted before the break, you felt you couldn’t take your eyes off the action.

United, of course, still have a Cup to play for, and used yesterday as a practice run for the trip to Ibrox next week, when they could have rested players, or put in a half arsed shift. Credit to them, they made a game of it, and gave over 11,000 fans a game to watch.

Thats my opinion. Wonder which team this guy, Jim Black, from the Daily Mail, supports..

Dundee United clearly had their minds on tackling one half of the Old Firm — but it wasn’t Celtic.

Older readers will remember the old firm.  And Austin Healeys, Spangles and Morecambe and Wise.

With next Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers looming on the horizon, the Tannadice side were tentative and appeared  keen to avoid injury ahead of their Ibrox showdown.

Saving the injuries till next week, no doubt.

On this evidence, United will certainly have to raise their  performance several notches for the biggest game of their season — or risk losing out in their quest to win the trophy for a third time. ”

Older readers will also remember Jimmy Sanderson, and his famous line to callers to his phone in show; 

” Were you at the game , caller ? ” 

Newly crowned  Manager  of  the Month Neil Lennon was delighted, and praised his players;

“This is always a great fixture and traditionally it’s always a really good game here,” he said after the game. “It’s a great stadium and our fans come here in their thousands, so we had to make sure that they went away happy.

“Once we’d done that, then on the counter-attack we were fantastic, and but for a little bit more care we’d have won the game three, four, five. But it’s the all-round performance I’m looking at, and I thought the football we played at times was exhibition stuff.” 

Er, it was good, but not that good. Actually, thats unfair, it was good. Perhaps its just that when we play like that we expect to have won by four or five, and while that could have happened yesterday, it would have been harsh on United.

“He can sing what he wants, ” chanted the support when Leigh Griffiths entered the fray, but then this morning one or two of us were having second thoughts;

Celtic star Leigh Griffiths caught

on video leading Hibs fans in

racist chant during Edinburgh

derby

CELTIC star Leigh Griffiths is at the centre of a fresh video storm today after he was filmed leading a pub in a ­racist song about former Hearts hero Rudi Skacel.

Mobile phone footage passed to the Sunday Mail shows the Scotland striker standing up in the packed pub to start a massed chant branding the Czech player a “f****** refugee”.

Footage clearly shows Griffiths, 23, leading dozens of Hibs fans belting out the hateful song in the Roseburn Bar before the club’s ­Edinburgh derby with Hearts last Sunday.

Wearing a grey top, he stands up with his hands in the air and kicks off the chant before jumping up and down when others join  in.

WARNING: This video contains foul language

singalongaleigh 

The video, twenty seconds or so long, sees Griffiths at a table dancing along to the beginning of a chant, before realising what is happening and then sitting down out of the way. Thats what my lawyer would say, anyway.

It does not show him starting or even singing along to a chant. Though it could certainly be said that he was there, and that he was aware of the chant.

Which is why he sat down out of the way.

Thats what my lawyer would say, anyway.

But then , after the case was concluded, he would then tell me to pick my friends a wee bit better, and to fucking grow up and stop acting like a cock.

Perhaps Mr Griffiths would like his number.

There is a way to behave when you are a Celtic player. In years gone by, before the interweb, mobile phone cameras and newspapers who don’t bother with the news, it didn’t matter as much.

Everything could be dealt with away from the public gaze, and the matter closed.

Its a different world now, and  there is a code of conduct. Which  doesn’t include singing along to what could easily be interpreted as a racist song, directed toward refugees.

Especially when you represent a club that was founded to support refugees.

Neil Lennon is on record as saying that racist behaviour from any of his staff will be deemed an instant sackable offence. Griffiths will be sweating a wee bit this weekend, as a potentially glorious career may have been cut short, and it will be all his own fault.

Or, will the stupid wee boy learn from this and grow into a man ?

Legally, any charge of racism would be difficult to prove.

Morally, any charge of racism would be in the eye of the onlooker.

Realistically, Griffiths needs a kick up the arse.

Yesterday, you may have spotted Owen Archdeacon amongst the clues.

Today, this ones for Leigh Griffiths. Picture clues to a former player who lost his way, and Griffiths should have a long at hard look at how this guys career turned out.

Finally, the biggest match of the Scottish season takes place today. Raith Rovers face Second Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup Final. For Raith, its a chance to salvage something from a relatively poor season, and make up for their cup exit to St. Johnstone. Its also an opportunity for Turnbull Hutton, who single handedly faced down the SFA when they tried to parachute Raiths toxic opponents into the First Division, to have the last laugh, after he and his club were subjected to threats from the forces of darkness.

These exclusive pictures show the confrontation between big Turnbull and the authorities, which took place in a disused quarry in Fife.

Good luck to them today.