All good things come in 3’s as they say so this weekend couldn’t be any better and today completed my ‘treble’. My only daughter got married on Friday and we were back in sunny Donegal for the nuptials as they head to New York for the honeymoon.

Now it really couldn’t get much better but I suppose topping off a wonderful weekend put a veneer gloss on things when Celtic like PSV midweek beat the ‘Bears’ earlier today.

We watched the game in ‘Sibin Ceoil’ in North Donegal, the heartbeat of Celtic in Ireland, the ancestral roots of our club, John Glass and the first directors, Charlie McEleny the first Irish player, Jimmy McGrory with Donegal connections, big Packie and of course Andrew Kerins just down the road in Sligo.

My first experience of the ‘Blue terror’ was with Linfield in Belfast, cousins of the Glasgow bears and induced with the same disgusting sectarian bigotry. Windsor Park was the most bigoted place on earth according to Danny McGrain, Celtic’s great right back and Captain.

A Protestant, he called it what it was, pathetic. In 1971 I ventured over to my first Celtic v Rangers game, the Cup final replay; 108,000 watched as a young Lou Macari and a Harry Hood penalty put the bears to sleep.

Apres match they attacked us in Mount Florida but we survived and always will. I’ve seen many Glasgow derby’s since with mixed emotions in the 1980’s then the challenging 1990’s prevailed but the noughties brought unparalleled success right through to the present day.

Which brought us to the stage where inflicting another defeat on the bears tastes as sweet as ever. As time moved on I found the sectarian hatred emanating from Govan as archaic and simply pathetic with no place in the 21st century, so much so that I much prefer Champions League games at an atmospheric Paradise much more than listening to a song about a gay guy on a white horse crossing a river at the Boyne in 1690.

FF’s two foreign Kings squabbling about an English throne on Irish soil and these Neanderthals singing about it 300 years later. But when all is said and done it’s still nice to ‘draw blood’ when we face up to them especially at a 100% loyalist den of iniquity, sure there’s nothing like it and my weekend treble is complete. Yep it has been a bad week for the bears.

No Fans, No Problem, Lets Party

Paddy was born in Belfast with Donegal and Tyrone parents. He spent the 70’s in Long Kesh. He has been going to Paradise since the Benfica game in Nov. 1969. He lived in Donegal for 30 years but now lives in Galway. He returned to University at 50 and became a secondary school teacher of history and English.

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After galloping towards the Scottish premier league title last season, Celtic were rewarded with direct rout into the group stages of the worlds premier club competition.  Celtic fans were in a fortunate position of watching on as clubs battled it out across Europe for the final few places at the top table of European football. As Scotland’s sole representative in this season’s UEFA Champions League, Celtic invited press from the Scottish media as well as the burgeoning fan media groups to watch the draw live from the home of the Scottish champions on Thursday evening.

Gathered in the press room as the draw began to take shape, the collective murmuring amongst fans and reporters grew louder as each team were drawn and allocated to the respective groups.   As the teams in pot 4 were added to the draw, the permutations and dreams of potential opponents went into overdrive.  Who do you want – who do you want to avoid?

There was some familiarity in the groups, which is to be expected when UEFA continue to carve up the qualifying process for the top 4 or 5 national leagues in Europe.  So, when we were finally drawn and allocated to Group E, the buzz of anticipation could be felt throughout the room.  Memories of late wins against Lazio and historic duels with Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord was more than enough to whet the appetite for the 6 crucial showdowns between now and Christmas.

Following the draw, I along with other fan reps were introduced to two of the new hoops signings of the summer.  Firstly we spoke to Honduran international Luis Palma.  Luis arrived in Glasgow on 30th August to sign a 5 year deal with the champions and immediately claimed he was ready to face our Glasgow rivals in the derby match on Sunday.  The 23 year old winger had been aware of interest from Celtic for several weeks and without any doubt wanted to be part of the Brendan Rodgers era at Celtic.   Acknowledging the strength and talent already in our squad, Luis is looking forward to adding his own qualities to the team, focusing on the derby and securing more silverware for the club this season.

Swedish internationalist Gustaf Lagerbielke joined the hoops in mid August and has already experienced the pressures of playing for the club in the disappointing results against Kilmarnock and St Johnstone.   However, the 23 year old is aware of the expectations linked with playing at the club and is pulling in the experience from the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Natt Phillips to build on his qualities.  Gustaf spoke about the draw of champions league, European football and the up coming derby match as big factors in his move to Glasgow and has already seen improvements in the squad and team in his short spell at the club so far.

With the transfer window now closed, the club, players and fans can concentrate on the challenges of the season, starting with a trip across the city on Sunday .

Martin Donaldson is a Glasgow East End Bhoy,  He made my first trip to Celtic Park in 1983 for a 0-0 draw with Brechin City & thankfully that never put him off going back.   He now sits perched high in section 409 of the North Stand with his 2 kids making memories along the Celtic Way.

He loves picking out those matches from yester-year to find out much more about the legendary names & faces that have graced the Celtic Jersey over the years.  He is a keen fundraiser for The Celtic Foundation & The British Heart Foundation as they both strive to  make a difference and to change peoples lives all over the world.

After Saturday’s frustrating result it has all gone very quiet ahead of Sundays visit to Ibrox. There has been nothing on the official Celtic website as yet in the build up to the game. A lot of the independent Celtic fan media websites are relying on bits of news on transfers maybe’s or maybe nots to fill column space.

A comment on social media from Haksabanovic has been getting plenty of column inches which just sums up a slow start to the week for Celtic news. Ajeti is also reported to be on his way out and on his way to Turkey but again nothing official from the club on that one.

Neil Lennon has been linked to a return to Hibs after they sacked their manager, Lee Johnston at the weekend. Former Celts Chris Sutton and John Hartson have taken to social media to share their opinions ahead of Sunday and the state of play at Celtic Park.

As we wait for some concrete information on transfer news. We are also waiting on Thursday’s Champion League draw and assuming we are in pot 4 as expected we could be drawn in a group that includes Man City (Pot 1) , Real Madrid (Pot 2) and AC Milan Pot 3. But we will have to wait and see on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Calm before the Storm!

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes and host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

Joe Cassidy was a Celtic hero at a time when they needed heroes. The years immediately after the Great War were dire with poverty and so many families lacking a bread winner. Joe first appeared before the Great War but did not feature much. In the war, he won the Military Medal with the Black Watch, and became known as “the Trooper”.

It was New Year’s Day 1921 that brought Cassidy to the forefront with his two goals against Rangers at Ibrox, all of which triggered the famous sight of the brake clubs heading home with slogans like Sinn Fein 2 Black and Tans 0 chalked on them. From now on, the handsome Joe was the hero and 1923 was the year in which he won the Cup for Celtic by scoring 11 goals and hit the net in every round bar one. He scored the only goal in the final against Hibs. It was a curious header into an empty net after the goalkeeper had been deceived by the bounce of the ball, but the goal was celebrated with much glee for it was Celtic’s first win since the Great War, and it now meant that Celtic had levelled Queen’s Park’s tally of ten victories.

Joe left the club in 1923. He later played for Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Dundee, but he was never anything other than Joe Cassidy of Celtic.

David Potter (RIP) Not all Celtic Legends were players or managers. David’s contribution to Celtic through his books and writings is immense.