Celtic face Dundee tonight in the League Cup, and Neil McCann, formerly of Rangers and Sky TV , thinks he’s in for a torrid time.<\/p>\n
Well, he will be, as long as Celtic supporters think he’s still worth it.<\/p>\n
McCann is a sort of modern day Maurice Johnston, a man who went for the tax free blue pound when it was offered, and when his career moved off the ptich to the tv studio, he never hid his admiration for the club who showed him an entirely new way of doing his annual accounts.<\/p>\n
Here he is when he heard Celtic had won a corner\u00a0 against Rangers..<\/p>\n
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Here he is when that corner lead to a goal..<\/p>\n
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And here he is after the hoops won that particular game..<\/p>\n
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McCann struggled, to be generous to him, with impartiality, and would show this with the occasional tantrum , the one where he waved a rule book around sticking in the mind more than most.<\/p>\n
Thats a football rule book, not a guide to tax law.<\/p>\n
Anyway, he’s been whinging in the papers.. presumably not looking forward to tonights game..<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect a nice cheery, warm welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never changed since I\u2019ve been playing football. I get the same adulation from the Celtic fans.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing they can say to me that I haven\u2019t heard before.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Ah, he’s writing us off before the game.<\/p>\n I’m sure someone will think of something to sing to the man who makes Piers Morgan seem\u00a0 like the kind of guy you’d want to share a long train journey with while you’re already on a suspended sentence for hitting people.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard some disgusting, despicable things but nothing they say will bother me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Oddly enough, so have we, but then all we did was turn the sound down when he came on the telly.<\/p>\n Whilst reaching a semi final is obviously the priority tonight, a post match interview with him waving his rule book around and bemoaning a couple of referee decisions would round off an\u00a0 incredible evening.<\/p>\n See, there’s something else.<\/p>\n I know what incredible means. Not everyone does.<\/p>\n Ivanka Trump<\/strong>\u200fVerified account<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>@IvankaTrump<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a015h<\/span>15 hours ago<\/span><\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Cuddling my little nephew Luke… the best part of an otherwise incredible day!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n And she’s the smart one in that family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of smart people, though i think this was a little tongue in cheek.. Faissal El Bhaktaoiu, the Dundee forward, has been watching Celtic, and thinks he knows how to win the game tonight..<\/p>\n \u201cI was at the PSG game after Scott Allan got me tickets and I went along with my friend.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWatching the match gives teams like Dundee some hope. We know Celtic are beatable.Now Dundee just have to play like PSG!\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Well, they might…<\/p>\n Not only has McCann declared his team will not park the bus, he’s going to call it over if they do.<\/p>\n It looks like Celtic will have the strongest pool of players available for selection this season, with Dedryck Boyata back in contention, though he will be nursed rather than rushed back to full fitness.<\/p>\n Will the manager go with Griffiths and Dembele up front again ?<\/p>\n The luck we’ve had with injuries this season already suggests he won;t chance it. It wouldn’t entirely be a surprise if they bumped into each other, knocked themselves out and then broke their legs falling off the stretcher.<\/p>\n But Gordon Smith, the Sunday Posts Man in the Know, had a word of two of warning for hoops fans, with his expert and impartial opinion..<\/p>\n “The likes of Olivier Ntcham, who has impressed since his \u00a34.5-million move from Manchester City, will have had his confidence bruised by an experience which saw him struggle to keep up,”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget either that Moussa Dembele, who hit the hat-trick in that 5-1 win at Ibrox, has been out for a long time.<\/em><\/p>\n “Even if he plays, he is unlikely to pose the same threat he did then.”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With three away games in a row in the next seven days, no doubt the full squad will be utilised, but the important thing right now is to join Hiberian and “rangers ” in the semi finals.<\/p>\n Hibernian eventually overcame a spirited Livingston, whilst “rangers ” needed extra time to defeat Partick.<\/p>\n The Ibrox side made four substitutions during the game, new rules allow an extra one in extra time, which baffled a few onlookers at first, but lets be honest, its not the first time they’ve had rule changes that seem to be for their benefit alone.<\/p>\n After their favourites pulled ahead conclusively in the tie, the old party tunes were back in evidence.<\/p>\n Singing their usual anti catholic ditties about where their knees are, how much they hate the pope and so on.<\/p>\n And the Fuck the IRA ? What will their Portuguese heroes know about the IRA ?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A number of their players -notably Bruno Alves -were injured last night and may miss the third consecutive Glasgow derby for their club at the weekend, though we hear thats nothing compared to the amount of players who will be forced to sit it out after an outbreak of malaria or food poisoning or kit theft expected around Friday lunchtime.<\/p>\n They’d better hurry up this guys getting fed up of waiting..<\/p>\n But Gordon Smith, the Sunday Posts Man in the Know, had a word of two of warning for hoops fans, with his expert and impartial opinion..<\/p>\n “The likes of Olivier Ntcham, who has impressed since his \u00a34.5-million move from Manchester City, will have had his confidence bruised by an experience which saw him struggle to keep up,”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget either that Moussa Dembele, who hit the hat-trick in that 5-1 win at Ibrox, has been out for a long time.<\/em><\/p>\n “Even if he plays, he is unlikely to pose the same threat he did then.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Elsewhere, and Manuel Nueuer, the badly spelt Bayern Munich keeper will miss the group stage matches of the UCL. He’s broken his foot, and as he’s sort of their main man, thats apparently a good thing for Celtic’s hopes in Europe.<\/p>\n Well, it would be if it was contagious. Which it isn’t, and anyway, they’re allowed to field a replacement, who is unlikely to have one hand and a couple of glass eyes.<\/p>\n I think we signed that guy.<\/p>\n Time for one of those stories about the one that got away, and there might even be something in this one…<\/p>\n Following his arrival from Hannover 96 to Marseille on a free transfer, Hiroki Sakai took some time to adapt to French football.<\/em><\/p>\n However, things could have been very different for him, as he could have signed for Celtic.<\/em><\/p>\n In need of a right-back for his squad during the summer of 2016, Brendan Rodgers ended up plumping on West Brom\u2019s Cristian Gamboa in August, yet his first choice appears to have been Hiroki Sakai.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Here..Rodgers…you can’t go around plumping on people. no wonder Gamboa hasn’t established himself yet. He;s still traumatised.<\/p>\n Giving an interview to France Football, the Japanese defender opened up about his choice to move from Germany to France, and revealed what made him choose Marseille over a transfer to Celtic Park.<\/em><\/p>\n In short, it was his national team manager, Vahid Halilhodzic:\u00a0\u201cI had three offers (Ajax, Celtic and Marseille). He told me OM was a good club, but it was hard to impose yourself there. Since that\u2019s what I wanted, I chose to come here. I think he\u2019s happy that I\u2019m in France.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Currently using James Forrest, Mikael Lustig, Callum McGregor or Anthony Ralston down the right depending on the opponent and the formation, and only sporadically picking Gamboa during their undefeated campaign, you can see why Rodgers might have wanted someone like Sakai\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Couple of new things on the horizon, one symbolising the future and the way ahead for the club..<\/p>\n And more importantly,\u00a0 for some of us at least, one remembering the past…<\/p>\n From The Irish Voice..<\/p>\n THE Coiste Cuimhneacha\u00edn An Gorta M\u00f3r (Great Hunger Memorial Committee) has announced the final location for its proposed Great Hunger memorial, with the grounds of St Mary\u2019s Church in the Calton being selected as the site on which it will be built.<\/span><\/em> Well done to all concerned, it’s always irked me that one of the biggest concentrations of the diaspora has never had a focal point to recognise and remember the struggles of their ancestors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yesterdays picture…<\/p>\n\n\n\nMore<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DKGVkOPW0AoCrox.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0\u201cPSG are a great team and produced one of the best performances I have ever seen. To be fair to them, PSG have some really good players.<\/em><\/div>\n\u00a0\u201cIt just didn\u2019t happen for Celtic on the night. It is not often you go to Celtic Park and see a team exploit Celtic\u2019s weaknesses like PSG did.<\/em><\/div>\n![](\"http:\/\/i2.dailyrecord.co.uk\/incoming\/article10901115.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/JS126735801.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nJapan international reveals offer from Celtic, opportunity to join in previous summer window<\/h1>\n
\u00a0The Japanese right-back struggled at first, yet he has gradually become one of the key elements of Rudi Garcia\u2019s plans, and his absence\u00a0tends to be\u00a0noted when he doesn\u2019t feature.<\/em><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DJ__P9LXoAAQYw6.jpg\")
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\nAfter stalling for some months during the planning stage, the committee met recently to officially\u00a0<\/span>re-start the campaign and after deciding that no city centre site could feasibly be negotiated with Glasgow City Council it was agreed unanimously that the available site in St Mary\u2019s (above)\u2014placed at the disposal of the committee by parish priest Fr Tom White\u2014should be selected as the site.<\/span><\/em>
\nHaving worked closely with the committee in the early stages, Fr White\u2019s support for the project will no ensure that the Irish community in Scotland will see the victims of Great Hunger and the lasting impact it has had on the city of Glasgow commemorated in a fitting fashion.<\/span><\/em>
\nWith some fundraising work already undertaken by the committee, the challenge of meeting the cost of the ambitious memorial project as it moves closer towards becoming a reality now falls to the wider Irish community, but having received widespread support so far the committee remain confident that the necessary funds will be raised.<\/span><\/em>
\nAlready merchandise and donations have seen the work of the committee gain the necessary financial support\u2014which also allowed a cash prize to be offered to potential designers\u2014to carry out its early work, and now in partnership with the Glasgow School of Art the submissions are being sought from some of the finest artists in the country.<\/span><\/em>
\nOnce designs begin to be received the committee will start to work through them in order to select the one which best represents the story of how the Great Hunger threw the Irish people to the winds and changed the face of the city of Glasgow.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DJ9KBZ_WAAAczCq.jpg\")
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