Celtic defender Liam Scales rose high in the air to win a header in the dying minutes against Hungary in Budapest. He wins the header Troy Parrot gets his boot to the ball its 3-2 and a nation celebrates. Parrot the Hatrick hero. The win follows a 2-0 win in Dublin on Thursday over Portugal. Parrot on target twice.

No one gave Ireland a hope before Thursday. We needed 6 points and that is what we got. Portugal have topped the group with a 9-1 home win over Armenia. Ireland finish second with 10 points and now we can look forward to the World Cup Play Offs in March. The draw takes place on Thursday.

It was also an afternoon that Johnny Kenny won’t forget. Called into the squad late after 4 goals in 4 games for Celtic. He comes off the bench and has a great chance to score but the goalkeeper pulled off a great save. Offside also denied former Celt Adam Idah a goal.

Tears of joy are flowing into pints from Budapest to Belfast and beyond. The Irish World Cup dream is still alive. COYBIG

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

 

The international break continues today when Liam Scales Ireland team travel to Hungary on a win or bust mission. In his London home Martin O’ Neill pondered Celtic’s next managerial move as speculation continues as to who will replace him on a permanent basis.

Click image for the SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT

I try not to get caught up in speculation and rumours when it comes to managers and players coming to Celtic. The Eddie Howe saga springs to mind. How many column inches and hours of podcasts were wasted on the Eddie speculation before Ange Postecoglou was announced as Celtic manager?

The international break was always going to bring plenty of speculation and debate about who will come in to replace Martin O’Neill but on Thursday night I returned to an old stomping ground of O’Neill’s  the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

On the way up on the bus from Drogheda we discussed the last time Ireland pulled off a big shock  which was Germany when MON’s boys in green beat the visitors 1-0 thanks to a Shane Long goal. Hard to believe it was 10 years ago on our way to qualifying for the Euros.

On Thursday that feat was repeated when Ireland beat Portugal 2-0 and Celtic’s Liam Scales played a blinder on the left side of the defence setting up Troy Parrot for the first goal. The celebrations were incredible at full time. To say it was a happy bus going up the road would be an understatement.

On Sunday Ireland have the chance to qualify for the play offs away in Hungary. It’s a massive game for the long suffering fans who follow the team. After the Armenia defeat the campaign looked dead but Ireland now find themselves 90 minutes away from a play off.

Celtic Bhoys Scales and Johnny Kenny are in the travelling Ireland squad and ready to play their part on and off the pitch alongside former Hoops Adam Idah and Mikey Johnston.

COYBIG

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Just over 24 years ago (September 2001) More than 90 Minutes first went on sale outside Celtic Park. Since then the media world has been turned upside down with the emergence of Digital platforms, Social Media and YouTube. The way people consume the news now has completely changed with the emergence of a smart phone in your hand.

The old guard of newspapers and traditional TV stations no longer have the monopoly of how we get our news but sadly social media has become a cesspit of misinformation and racists who pedal hate and lies. Fake news is everywhere, there are plenty of headlines created to get you to click in but when you do you soon realise that its nothing more than that a headline with little or no substance to the article.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that we have been able to keep producing the print edition of the fanzine. It would be not possible without the support of our contributors, readers, subscribers, members, patrons and sponsors who continue to support us. Some of those have been with us from day one on our journey.

Over the years we have travelled home and away throughout Scotland and Europe with fellow Celtic fans writing about those journey’s. There were plenty of highs and some lows travelling over land and sea. We have made so many friends and shared so many of those journey’s in the fanzine through the years.

Sadly we have lost some of our regular contributors. Scott Crystall and David Potter were regular contributors. Scott reported on our European away day adventures and David was our go to history anorak, Thankfully we are still able to print articles from his extensive archives. This will also be the first issue without the John Fallon’s column.

During Covid we started the Celtic Soul Podcast and David was a regular on it. He proved very popular with our listeners. The podcast was a bit of a god send for myself during Covid and hopefully I can get back to doing it on a more regular basis in the coming months.

We finally got our website up and running, the digital edition of the fanzine and we joined YouTube and social media in more recent years. We were probably a bit late embracing new technologies but it is what it is.

We have been lucky enough to have interviewed so many Celtic minded people over the years. Celtic players, managers and fans and a few celebrities have graced our pages and spoke to us on the podcast or at our live events which included our Celtic AM pre-match show which we ran in Glasgow for a number of years.

For years the fanzine was on sale outside grounds home and away and on the shelves of newsagents. Since Covid we have not sold the fanzine at the ground (We all got too old for getting wet and cold) and also during Covid we opted to only sell the print copy online and grow our subscription base and also concentrate more with our online platforms.

The More than 90 Minutes journey continues thanks for being part of it.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

 

I wondered why Celtic v Kilmarnock kick off time at Celtic Park was moved an hour later to 4pm but I was happy to be able to get out of bed at a reasonable time to head to Dublin Airport for an 11:55 flight to Edinburgh. I have since been told that Police asked for the game to played an hour later because of a walk or a parade taking place earlier in the day.

I met a good pal on the aeroplane and we caught the 1:10 bus to Glasgow and got a pre-match pint with another mate before making our way to Celtic Park. I made it to my seat just after kick off. The last I heard before kick off was that the rangers were 2-0 up and Hearts were 1-0 up. Not what I wanted to hear but that was the news.

We needed to win and get the 3 points to keep in touch with league leaders Hearts and stay ahead of the chasing pack. Confidence was high before the game among Celtic supporters I spoke to in the run up to the game even though we had been beaten in Denmark in Europa League.

Martin O’Neill made a few changes to the team that started in Denmark. Saracchi Maeda, Hatate, Cowan started as did Simpson-Pusey finally made his debut after sitting a few rows in front of me at games since his arrival on loan from Manchester City. They replaced Tierney, Engels, Ralston, Nygren and Forest who all started in the Europa League.

Kilmarnock only real chance was  a shot that crashed off the bar apart from that it was a comfortable afternoon for Celtic. The Green Brigade Ban was enforced but they managed to get tickets and took up there place in the North Curve and along with the Bhoys in the opposite corner they sang for 90 minutes.

Empty seats were noticeable throughout the ground during the game and with the game out of sight before the final whistle many fans had made there way to the exits and the small Kilmarnock support maybe wished they hadn’t bothered. It looks like it could be a long season for them and they could be in a scrap at the bottom with Dundee and Livingston.

It was a good day for the Parish with Johnny Kenny scoring the opener his fourth goal in four games since the arrival of Martin O’Neill. I bumped in Johnny in Dublin airport after his late call up to the Ireland squad. His career has took the turn for the better in the past few weeks.

Kieran Tierney replaced Saracchi in the first half after he picked up an early injury  and he scored a rare goal to make it 2-0 Daizen Maeda got the third before second half substitute Arnie Engels wrapped up a 4-0 win and sending everyone home happy.

The rangers game finished 3-0 and Hearts could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Dundee United which allowed  Celtic to narrow the gap at the top of the league to 7 points and the chasing pack Hibs and the rangers are 5 points behind us and 12 off Hearts.

A post match pint with good friends before heading for the bus back to Edinburgh. An accident on the motorway stopped traffic and after sitting in traffic on the bus for an hour we finally got diverted and thankfully made the last flight back to Dublin.

What will happen over the international break who knows? Have we seen the last of  Martin O’Neill in that splendid Adidas Retro Tracksuit with Shaun Maloney beside him in that coat which is a few sizes too big for him who knows? Are the Celtic board looking far and wide for a permanent manager or is Dermot Desmond going to call someone from his little phone book of managers and offer them the job before informing Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson? Communication is not his strong point so who knows!

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast