Rule 12.7 of Champions League regulation states that a match must be played: “either at the ground of the home club or at another ground in the same or another city within the territory of its association”
Which makes a mockery of any plans to play next summers qualifiers in Newcastle, Dublin or anywhere else for that matter. France or Spain might be all the same, but we can’t go anywhere after all. It will be in Scotland, which makes Murrayfield favourite, as Ibrox will be undergoing renovation during those months.
Its astonishing that no-one in the press has picked up on this rule, and disappointing that Lawwell hasn’t noticed it either. That, after all, is the sort of thing he gets paid to do. Or was it just a wee bit of deflection and posturing during a lot of deflecting and posturing when it comes to choosing venues for important games ?
The Ramsdens Cup Final, contested by non-Premier League clubs to give them a bit of extra revenue,and a shot at winning something, will be held at Easter Road, in Edinburgh, which is handy for the two sides involved. Second Rangers, from Glasgow, and Raith Rovers, from Kirkcaldy, will make the short trip to the capital for the game, and there has been a bit of moaning from the Ibrox clubs boss, Ally Mccoist, over the choice;
“We are fine about that and I don’t have a problem with it at all. For the reasons I’ve given, it’s maybe a strange decision but we’re not going to moan about it. ”
Oh, my mistake. He’s not moaning at all.
“If the Scottish Cup final can get held at Celtic Park, I’d have thought the Ramsdens Cup final could have been held at Celtic Park too. ”
Well, maybe just a bit of a moan.
“That baffles me, to be honest. If I’m the managing director of the sponsors, I’d want it at the biggest venue.
“It would have been an opportunity for coverage and revenue. That would have been more sensible to me.
“They’ve decided to take the game to Edinburgh and in doing that, I would have given it to the club (Hearts) that needs the money.
“I’d have given the final to a team that’s in administration and tried to help them out that way but for whatever reason the game’s at Easter Road. ”
Er, actually , quite a bit of a moan.
“We’re delighted to be in a cup final and we’ll go to Edinburgh but I can understand why our fans aren’t happy about it.
“I’m on their side. I want as many Rangers supporters wanting us in that cup final as humanly possible. ( I think he means watching )
“We’ve got 36,000 season ticket holders and I don’t think there’s any doubt we could fill wherever with our supporters.”
Oh , give it a rest. Celtic don’t want your fans at Celtic Park. No-one wants your fans.
You coudn’t afford the repair bill anyway.
The final is on Sunday April 6. Celtic are at Dundee Utd the day before, and there are no games scheduled for Celtic Park in April at all as yet. So, reading between the lines, we really don’t want them anywhere near the place.
McCoist wrapped up; ( And we all wish he would )
“One thing I would say is at least we know where we are. A marker has been put down and the rules have been made so we can get on with it. ”
Er, since when did your club follow rules ? And as for knowing ” where we are “, your club doesn’t even know who they are.
All this seems to be in response to the decision to give the Scottish cup Final to Celtic Park, which looks more and more like a concession to allow the two Semi Finals to be played at Ibrox, which at least means there will be a couple of important games there this season.
Derek Johnstone, in the Evening Times, gave his views on the matter, but they aren’t worth repeating. They make McCoist sound reasonably intelligent. Although this bit cannot escape unnoticed;
” I know that supporters of many other clubs in Scotland will be having a laugh at Rangers playing in the Ramsdens Cup final.
But look where the Glasgow club was 18 months ago. To have the chance to win a trophy, any trophy, highlights the progress that has been made. ”
It didn’t exist eighteen months ago, so he’s right. Its a great achievement. At least, thats how I read it.
Anyway, enough of them. You could do a whole page on their nonsense, and that would just lower the tone.
Fraser Forster is now wanted by Manchester City to replace Joe Hart. Poor Joe, he must be shaking every time he hears the big fellows name, which isn’t going to help him during games. The price is now £10m , and one source claims that in order to speed up the deal , there may be some players offered as sweeteners…although one would have thought the cash would be better, then we could buy who we want .
Actually, maybe the player swap thing would work in our favour, especially as our scouts can’t seem to land a top striker. We could have one of theirs. The current squad has these guys listed as strikers
Yeah, cash it is.
Speaking of cash, Peter Lawwell is away out to China to sign a deal with a compnay which will represent the clubs business interests out there;
The words in brackets are mine, the rest are his;
“China is an extraordinary developing country and a powerhouse and whenever these nations develop, football follows.”
( except in matters of basic human rights, such as the right to life, for instance. )
“They are football crazy, mainly about the Premier League and Champions League but with our profile and exposure, people are now talking about Celtic. ”
( No, they are not. You are )
“There is a lot of outward investment coming from China into the UK. They are looking for a presence and they are looking to invest in a lot of Western European companies and brands. ”
( But not looking to ease up on press censorship, or killing female babies. )
“Football follows and we are going out there to find out what is going on. ”
( er, press censorship and killing female babies. I just told you. )
“We will sign an agreement with a Chinese company who are going to represent us. ”
( Though presumably not in discussions regarding safety in the workplace. Or killing female babies. )
“It’s not investment into the club. It’s about sponsorship, commercial and maybe some social projects and it’s off our own back. ”
( and your bonus. )
“We’ll go to Beijing as we,have contacts there and it’s all about getting the Celtic name out there – whether that is through social, grassroots projects, whether it is academies here or sponsorship. ”
( or cheap , exploited labour. No fuss over zero hours contracts out there, Peter. )
“For a Champions League club, that is the proposition. ”
“The difficulty we have in any international sponsorship is the competition, which is mainly the Premier League. They say they have three billion people who watch the English league.
“Manchester United claim they have 600 million supporters. That is the challenge. How do we, playing in Scotland with little exposure, attract sponsorship? ”
( We could start by dealing with countries that have a free press and try to keep their female babies alive. )
“Champions League is one. For Chinese companies looking to establish themselves in Europe, they get a bit of profile.
“For Chinese businesses who are buying brands to take back, it gives profile. ”
( And for a Chinese government desperately trying to avoid mention of an appalling record on human rights, it allows them a pretence at being a civilised, advanced nation )
“Hopefully, they like us and our values and want to be part of it.”
( Frankly, I don’t give a fuck if they like us, and its fairly obvious they don’t like our values. Or female babies, free speech etc, but they do run over students with tanks, which I am in two minds about,though surely it should be enough just to make them do their own laundry ? )
Perhaps on the plane, Lawwell should have a wee read of the clubs social charter. He can find it at the beginning of most matchday programmes.
Scott Brown will learn later today if his three match suspension will be reduced. He is in front of a twelve man panel who will decide if his half arsed challenge on Neymar is really worth missing three games. Darren Jonhstone, in the Scotsman described the incident, for those who may have forgotten-or have formed their own opinions;
” Brown was shown a straight red card by French referee Stephan Lannoy in the 59th minute after he felled Neymar and then aimed a kick at the Brazilian.”
Good job he’s not on the panel, otherwise the verdict may be different;
Fernando Ricksen, former Rangers player , and lets be honest, the man we loved to hate, has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, a terrible illness which some years ago took the life of one of our favourites, Jimmy Johnstone. Thoughts and prayers go out to him, as begins his battle, and we wish him well.
The Celtic FC foundation launched an appeal yesterday, and uniquely amongst charities , said that;
Every penny raised will be spent to support those in need.
They are trying to raise money to help 150 local families to have a proper Christmas, and remembering who we are, where we came from, and what Celtic stands for, this deserves our support. The full story is here;
If you can help out, please do. They want to make a real difference, and thats the kind of charity that should be supported.
Yesterday, one of the most exciting, if disappointing games ever held at Celtic Park was remembered in a wee picture. Celtic Wiki tells us that the Celtic -Partizan Belgrade game in September 1989 was;
- All ticket game.
- One of the most dramatic and remarkable games ever seen at Celtic Park.
- Aggregate 6-6; Celtic out on away goals!
- Darius Dziekanowski scores a remarkable four goals.
- Partizan managed by future Dundee United manager Ivan Golac.
- Game shown on highlights by BBC UK wide in view of English clubs ban in Europe.
- Partizan lost in the quarter finals to Dinamo Bucharest 4-1 on aggregate.
For the record, the scoring went as follows: 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4.
With Celtic leading 5-3 and going through on aggregate with just two minutes left, Joe Miller lost the ball at the Partizan goal corner flag. A quick break down the left wing saw a cross come in and Scepovic headed it for goal. The despairing Bonner got a hand to out and only served to divert it past Paul Elliot who was on the goal line and would have cleared had Bonner not knocked it past him.
You don’t get games like that anymore. Which is probably just as well.
Heres another strange one. Who, what , where ?
Last night, Halloween, there was a ghostly apparition at my door. Surprisingly, it wasn’t someone dressed up, and I asked the ghost for if I could take a picture-all i’m thinking of is money. Anyway, he agreed, I fetched my camera, took a snap and he vanished.
The picture came out all dark and blurry. The spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.
I’ll go – Larsson, Leg, France.
Really not sure, apart from Larsson.
Is that from the Tyrol Innsbruck game in 1997? It was eerily reminiscent of the Partizan game (2-1 down from the first leg; 5-3 up with minutes to go in the second.)I think it was Big Morten who had just put us into a winning position and I remember Henrik picking the ball up out wide in the last minute and I was screaming at him to go for the corner flag. Instead he put a ball in the middle and just as I was about to curse his very name, Burley stuck it away and sealed the tie at 6-3.
Everyone in the ground that night was thinking about the partizan result but no-one would mention it. At least not until we made it 6-3, anyway.
Henrik’s first goal at Celtic Park, shame it was an own goal.
We were playing Tirol and thanks to some typical sieve action need 5 goals to go through, although we finally won the game 6-3, best goals were from Simon Donnelly with a right foot volley and Morton Weighorst, a superb piece of skill, switching from right foot to left before placing the ball past the keeper. Great night.
Lawwell didnt know the game had to be under same association boundary….THIS is why we need to appoint a top top top top Football Administrator…get Campbell on the phone now!
Henrik at the Stade Gerland in Lyon when his leg break signalled the first crack in the façade that was the dalgleish-Barnes Regime. Henrik was out for most of the season and was ‘replaced’ by ……..Ian Wright-Plonker!
If/when we see the headline FFS (Fraser Forster Sold) which seems almost inevitable – let’s hope Celtic squeeze every last penny they can get. On the subject of Man City strikers, believe it or not, I don’t think it’s actually that unrealistic that we could get one of these as part of the deal – namely big John Guidetti.
Not that I don’t rate him, but I met him a year or so back when he was at loan at Feyenoord (where he became a cult-hero!) and – from what he said – he seemed to really like Celtic as a club – He was also mightily impressed by the fact that Henke Larsson had stayed so long.
In the short term, I really cant see him getting a regular game for City, so who knows – Maybe the idea of getting one of City’s strikers (even if it’s only on loan) with the added attraction of CL football as an incentive, isn’t totally impossible. He’s certainly exactly what we’re looking for.
How come the rules of uefa were changed for rankers to play Shelbourne in a champs league qualifier,it took place at Tranmere’s ground?
That was a UEFA Cup qualifier, but good point caller.
It was moved to Prenton park because of fears that fans of the club that used to exist(rangers IA) might riot in Dublin. No idea where they got that idea from. It’s not as if they had form for it.
Tirol Innsbruck August 97.
Btw. Without googling it, there’s no way that’s Henke’s legbreak – Apart from the fact he was heading in the other direction on the other touchline, that’s not Lyon’s strip and Celtic wore their (then) dark green away strip. rom what I can see of Henke that look likes the hoops, so I’m 99% sure Andy’s right, it’s the 6-3 match against Tirol
There are few things more nauseating than a middle aged man of god labouring his pro life views.
It seemed more of a sexism rant rather than pro-life to me
Looking forward to chinese takeaway opening at CP…”You’ll never wok alone”.
The United Kingdom is a territory under UEFA’s TV rights…
http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/competitions/Marketing/01/94/02/93/1940293_DOWNLOAD.pdf
That’s for international qualifiers rather than the Champions League, but a great point. After all, STV can’t show a separate game from ITV so it must be classed as one territory.
Brown loses appeal 🙁
Aye he does…especially when he keeps getting sent aff 😉
Not a big fan of the chinese then?
Tommy Cooper
“Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It’s either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think it’s Colin.”
Chinese Torture
A young man comes upon a small house. Knocking on the door, he is greeted by an ancient Chinese man. “I’m lost,” said the young man. “Can you put me up for the night?” “Certainly,” the Chinese man said, “but on one condition. If you lay a finger on my daughter, I will inflict upon you the three worst Chinese tortures known to man.” “OK,” said the man, and entered the house.
The daughter came down the stairs. She was young, beautiful, and a fantastic body. She was obviously attracted to the young man as she couldn’t keep her eyes off him during the meal. Remembering the old man’s warning, he ignored her and went up to bed alone. During the night, he could bear it no longer and snuck into her room for a night of passion. He was careful to keep everything quiet, so the old man wouldn’t hear. Near dawn, he crept back to his room, exhausted but happy.
He woke to feel a pressure on his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw a large rock on his chest with a note on it that read, “Chinese Torture 1: Large rock on chest.” “Well, that’s pretty crappy,” he thought.”If that’s the best the old man can do, then I don’t have much to worry about.” He picked the boulder up, walked over to the window, and threw the boulder out.
As he did so, he noticed another note on it that read, “Chinese Torture 2: Rock tied to left testicle.” In a panic he glanced down and saw the rope that was already getting close to taut. Figuring that a few broken bones was better than castration, he jumped out of the window after the boulder.
As he plummeted towards the ground, he saw a large sign on the ground that read, “Chinese Torture 3: Right testicle tied to bed post.”
Not the leg break. The Phoenix Honda advertising board denotes the game was taking place at Parkhead.
So Ally wants to help out the Jambos? Why not tart with paying them the money you owe them for Lee Wallace ya fat dick!
Don’t be so righteous about the China connection…We’ve been wearing takeaway numbers for years (88?) so it’s the obvious next step.
your comments about china are bollocks.
abortion is legalised in uk.
I was in shehnzhen for a 3 week training course(ahem) and had the time of my life.