With some Celtic supporters still being held and facing trial for not being able to get away from the Dutch version of the SPG , the Celtic Supporters Association has began an appeal for funds to help them, and their families, fight their cases.

You can donate here;

CSA appeal

It could have been any of us, so its worth looking at.

The Celtic Trust are also asking for eye witnesses to tell their stories;

Were you in Dam Square? Give your evidence!

Fans Against Criminalisation met tonight and agreed a number of initiatives to show support and solidarity with the fans caught up in the horrific events of last week in Amsterdam.  One of those initiatives is to do a re-run of our very successful evidence gathering session which we organised following the police attack on our support in the Gallowgate in March. We are sure that there is vital evidence in both photographic, video and witness form which will help the cases of Padraig Mullen and Andy Vance and the other supporters who are released but will have to go back to Holland to face trial on 21st November.  We will take statements from you on specially designed forms and, with your consent, pass them to the lawyers who are defending those facing trial.

In addition there are many fans who were not arrested but who sustained injuries and we would like to hear their stories too.

As well as assisting those in trouble now we need to produce our own report of what happened in Amsterdam to provide evidence to the footballing and other authorities and to defend our reputation.  Get the message out there – and come to St Mary’s on Saturday – tell us what you saw!

Venue:  St Mary’s, Ward Room, Abercromby Street, Glasgow

Day: Saturday 16 November 2013

Time:  11-1 

Which reminds me-CarlJunglebhoy, check your emails..

Speaking of injustice, but not quite the same thing, the figures from the Champuions League tv money are out.

Celtic made £6.94m , which is ten per cent of the pot available to British clubs. The total pot was £69.4m , which after Celtics share was subtracted, was shared between the English clubs.

Yet Celtic were shown live on the ITV network throughout Britain, which surely means the money should be split five ways equally ?

The Juventus game was shown on the network, and , though memory isn’t my strongpoint, wasn’t one of the Barcelona games on as well ?

This season has already seen one game networked, and depending on progress and interest, there may be another.

Someone has to look at the small print and fight our corner here.

Anyway, this gets a mention because with BT Sport having outbid Sky for the rights to the UCL, Celtics share will increase from 2015, should they participate, which means we can finally go and get that striker in.

Or have we already found him ?

The club are closing in on Icelandic hitman Holmbert Aron Fridjonsson.

Last night Fridjonsson’s club, Fram Reykjavik, claimed negotiations over a price for the striker, believed to be in the region of £150,000, are at an advanced stage.

Fram chairman Sverrir Einarsson said: “We have received an offer. We responded to Celtic last night and are waiting to hear again from them. They are not far away.

“We are hoping it will happen. Celtic would be a very good club for him. He was satisfied with the club and very happy to be there on trial.

“He has potential. He is a special type of player. He is a very good guy and has his family behind him.

“I believe he will go all the way in the game.”

Fridjonsson – a 6ft 3in Under-21 international – netted 12 times in 23 appearances for Fram in the 2013 season.

Look, with the greatest possible respect to the guy. He’s a £150,000 striker, and thats exactly what we will get.

I’ve got a better idea.

McLaren launches £150,000 super car

Buy this car, and give it to the first one of our strikers who scores thirty goals this season. Or , give it to me, and I’ll score thirty goals this season.

Thats me when I played for Stoke, but I forgot my shorts that day.

Players need a wee bit of an incentive, and granted , most of them could nip out and buy this vehicle with the change down the back of their sofas, but when you add the factor that any striker scoring less than fifteen will get hit on the back of the head with this

we might see a bit of effort.

Too many players, not just at Celtic, are in a comfort zone, and perhaps need a bit of alternative psychology.

Then theres this guy..

Peter Lawwell has also revealed the Hoops will step up their interest in Chinese midfielder Zhang Xizhe in the new year.

A Celtic delegation was in China earlier this month to attempt to widen the club’s global appeal and gain a foothold in the emerging Far East market.

They watched exciting 22-year-old international midfielder Xizhe, who plays for Beijing Guoan, and Lawwell was full of praise for the seven-cap star.

The Parkhead chief exec said: “We were informed about him earlier this year. He is an intelligent player and left a profound impression on us.

“We were in China with officials from Scottish football to explore live TV coverage and we are very interested in the local market.

“In addition to this we wanted to have a look at Zhang. He is a phenomenal player and very hopeful of getting a place in the Celtic squad. He only turned 22 this year and is very good physically and technically.

“‘He is improving all the time but one of the most important issues would be how he would adapt to the rhythm of European football which is very different from the Chinese League.”

I used to work with a guy who was a youth scout for Blackburn, part time, and every now and again, he would get a phone call. his first questions, when presented with a name, were

a) How tall is he ?

and

b) how fast is he ?

No mention of whether he can actually play, which you would think is fairly important.

With Celtic, it seems to be just “how tall is he ?”

Meanwhile, no-one has noticed this chap;

Stevie May of St. Johnstone.

56 goals in his last 72 starts.

Frankly, thats more than our forward line put together. Even Frank MacAvennie would be impressed at that scoring rate.

Brian Clough used to say, ( when he wasn’t dead, or pissed ) that it doesn’t matter what level you score goals at, a goalscorer is a goalscorer.

He also said that Rangers weren’t a football team, so he was way ahead of his time;

Brian Clough: “What team did you say you support again?”
Man in the studio audience: “RANGERS!”
Brian Clough: “That’s not a football team! That’s a gang of villains.”
The irrepressible Brian Clough on “Sport in Question”

In years gone by, before foreigners were deemed to be automatically better than home grown players- a policy which almost killed Scottish football, May would have been on the radar, and would have been seen as a great move.

These days, he will be dismissed as SPL dross. Despite scoring more than our own strikers, with less quality support, in exactly the same league, against the same teams.

I would wager that if he was given the shiny bright MacLaren further up the page, and his club were given a decent wedge, then he could be persuaded to do a job for Celtic.

Or we could just concentrate on the projects;

Which weren’t entirely successful in the USA , either.

Or we could promote from within. Darnell Fisher is the latest youngster to perform admirably when called upon.

He even seems unfazed by the Scott Brown stare, and drew praise from a man who knows a bit about defending, Danny McGrain

“I’d previously watched Darnell play for our NextGen team at Firhill and he always impressed me, both with his defending and attacking ability.

“He used to be a right midfielder but an injury to another lad meant he switched to right-back.

“Darnell’s a lively kid, he’s still learning the game but he has a real chance of doing well at Celtic.

“He’s performed amazingly well so far and hasn’t looked out of place when Neil’s given him a chance.

“I thought he was solid against Ross County on Saturday. He was aggressive and put in some nice crosses as well.

“Sometimes he’s a bit eager but when you come into the first team it can be hard to keep control of your excitement and enthusiasm.

“If he wants advice he’ll probably ask Mikael or Adam. I don’t like going to somebody and pointing things out – I like to be asked.

“When I came through the ranks at Celtic I was never told by anyone how to play the role.

“But I’d speak to Bobby Murdoch, Jim Craig, Tommy Gemmell, Billy McNeill or Bobby Lennox. They’d all tell me what kind of pass or cross they were looking for. Then I’d go away and just work at it.”

Woahhh.

There we have it. A wee bit of common sense.

How about someone asking Stokes, Pukki or Balde what sort of cross-or pass -they are looking for ?

Instead of trying the same one every bloody time, which is usually more in hope than expectation.

All a bit miserable today, but I blame my wife. she wears my t-shirts, my shorts-even the odd football top, yet if I put on her underwear, I have serious mental issues.

There is some good news-Jame sForrest has pulled out of the Scotland squad, preferring instead to pick up his next injury at Lennoxtown.

With the new Rangers doing their usual stuff for Armistice weekend, this article offers a thought provoking and interesting angle on all things to do with the poppy, and should be pinned up on the outside walls at Ibrox.

Hypocrisy knows no bounds

Its not just about them, but more about the whole issue surrounding the way in which the fallen are remembered these days.

No-one answered the question yesterday-what happened to Jonathan Gould in the run up to stopping the ten, back in 98. So. I’ll let it roll over.