Author Archives: celticfanzine

Celtic Supporters Vote with their Feet

Celtic Fans have voted with their feet for the friendly at Celtic Park on Saturday against Middlesborough. Empty seats was the story of the day when Celtic new bhoy Camilo Duran equalised for Celtic in the 1-1 draw after the visitors went ahead through one time Celtic target David Strelec.

Many Celtic fans are frustrated with the lack of player recruitment and after the last two transfer windows have no confidence in those running the club to deliver anything more than broken promises and a continued failure to learn from past mistakes.

Fuel was added to the fire when two players who were on loan last season Ihenacho and Sarrachi took to social media to say thanks to the Celtic Support after Celtic decided not to resign them.

There are always two sides to every story but many Celtic fans have lost trust in Dermot Desmond who pulls all the strings and his CEO Michael Nicholas who has over seen the last number of failed transfer windows.

So with this in mind Celtic fans may be excused for leaning towards the players stories even if Celtic have used supportive voices within the Scottish main stream media to trickle out stories of those players looking for too much money!

Middlesborough fans out numbered Celtic supporters at Paradise and that sends a strong message to the Celtic board that enough is enough and that change is needed in the Celtic board room.

Next week it will be AC Milan who come to the East end of Glasgow for the last pre-season friendly ahead of the start of the competitive season. Celtic will not be able to rely on a big away support traveling from Italy, so it will be interesting to see if fans will continue to vote with their feet and stay away until Flag Day and use their season books which are already paid for. Hopefully Celtic will learn from this and re-introduce a pre-season friendly as part of the season book package.

Flag Day is on a Monday night. Football on a Monday night will not suit everyone especially those Celtic fans based here in Ireland and further a field.

Calls for a modern digital ticket service so season book holders can resell on their ticket is not on Celtic Agenda.

At the AICSC AGM which Celtic manager Martin O’Neill, Interim Chairman Brian Wilson and Celtic CEO Micheal Nicholson attended in what some would say was a box ticking fan engagement exercise.

A question asked by Leeside CSC – Are there plans to go digital in terms of season books and matchday tickets, with an option to transfer tickets?

Michael Nicholson took the question, and advised that there are no immediate plans to go digital with tickets just now, aside from their existing hospitality app. He did go on to say that they have looked at several UK clubs with digital ticket schemes in place, but was worried about the ease of sharing season tickets, which would directly impact the Irish clubs.

He said he was happy to look at something to help the Irish CSC’s, as he was aware that mid-week fixtures, in particular, meant a lot of empty seats in the stadium due to the Irish ST holders not in attendance. He invited suggestions and feedback from the Irish CSC’s and said he would happily re-visit this once we compiled some feedback.

https://youtu.be/Scw4TaqIL7I?si=_Uj7KFRqC1u1OZFE

Michael is paid £17,000 a week and he is asking for supporters to come up with suggestions for a digital solution to a ticket exchange. I deal with the FAI for our Irish supporters group season tickets and it is done through Ticketmaster and we can exchange tickets with ease with fellow Irish supporters.

The FAI have many problems but their ticket system shows how Celtic are still in the dark ages when it comes to positive digital solutions.

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

Paul Weller – A Solid Bond for Palestine

Glasgow journalist Michael Pringle joins More than 90 Minutes Editor Andrew Milne 

Music and gigs is always on the agenda.

Music and Politics have long links and the bhoys speak about Paul Weller, Roger Walters and Kneecap ahead of Ireland’s game against Israel in Serbia as the greater Irish football community calls for the game to be stopped. STOP THE GAME!

https://youtu.be/Scw4TaqIL7I?si=dBiTMq1duTocztpJ

Celtic Fans are getting Restless : Bring on the Summer Signings

Glasgow Journalist Michael Pringle joins More than 90 Minutes Editor, Andrew Milne for their weekly chat about all things Celtic.

The Bhoys look ahead to the Celtic v Middlesborough game. 9000 visiting away fans are expected but there are questions over how many Celtic fans will turn up as frustration grows with the lack of activity in the transfer window with Flag Day and a Champions League qualifier only around the corner with some decent teams waiting.

They also chat about the pre-season games in Dublin and Faro and the two players who have signed Duran and the Ox who looks like he enjoyed his summer off the pitch.

Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson met along with Brian Wilson and Martin O’Neill with members of the AICSC recently at their AGM and did not cover himself in glory with his answer to why we have not signed players blaming others for his failings. The situation with Saracchi sums up those failings.

Music is always up for discussion and this weeks Michael chats about his visit to Doof in the Park dance event hosted by Hannah Lang. Michael’s mate DJ & Producer David Forbes was on the bill which leads the bhoys to DJ tales from London and Ibiza where so many young DJ’s cut their teeth.

The lads look back at the World Cup semi-final and preview the final from the comfort of their armchairs.

Memory lane takes Michael to London for a game v Arsenal in Highbury when Police only expected a couple of thousand Celtic fans but 14,000 fans turned up for a testimonial with half of the support only getting in at half time.

https://youtu.be/oZttcE2ypJ0?si=z9MwTH0dPo3iB667

Celtic return to Paradise but how many Celtic Fans will?

Celtic Season Books are sold out but it will be interesting to see how many of the season ticket holders buy tickets to attend the pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on Saturday against Middlesborough.

https://youtu.be/rh2ctf1IR-g?si=v8n2A-7cifWcQ4yU

Season ticket holders always have first preference for buying tickets and with tickets on general sale it looks like some Celtic fans have decided to stay away and not pay for another ticket after forking out for season book and may wait for the Champions League qualifier before parting with their hard earned cash.

Many fans are also frustrated with the lack of players coming into bolster the squad ahead of the Champions League qualifier with last season’s transfer windows and the early exit from the Champions League at the same stage fresh in the the minds.

Middlesborough have sold their full allocation of 9000 tickets and they will be looking forward to travelling to Glasgow for the game, with no European Football in a long time for the English team it will be nice for them to visit another country to see their team play even if it is only for a pre-season game. I expect some of them to team up with our city rivals in their pubs.

Celtic return to Paradise for the first time since that dramatic win over Hearts to take on the English Championship side. There was 60,000 fans crammed into Celtic Park on that day which will live long in every Celtic fans memory.

Camilo Duran should get his first taste of playing at the stadium but without the noise, tension and excitement of that famous day.

The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon and will be streamed on the CelticPlayer for subscribers or those with a dodgy box.

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

 

 

Celtic continue to Spin the Good News

On Tuesday evening Celtic took on Sporting Lisbon in a pre-season friendly. Last year in the same fixture Brendan Rodgers Celtic side turned in a good performance and won the game 2-0. I know you can never read too much into pre-season games as its all about getting players match fit ahead of the competitive season but winning breeds confidence.

With the Celtic players who were at the World Cup now enjoying a holiday, Martin O’Neill’s Celtic team that started the second pre-season game was made up of some familiar starting 11 faces and some first team squad players. None of them really did themselves any justice apart from SinIsalo and Celtic were second best in all departments and never really troubled the Portuguese goalkeeper in the first half.

It was the Celtic goalkeeper who was busiest and he pulled of some fine saves before finally succumbing to the Sporting attack. At half time Celtic were lucky to go down the tunnel only 1-0 down.

Engels and Oxlade Chamberlain were the only two changes at half time and it looked like the Ox enjoyed his summer as he looked overweight and unfit. Although in fairness he didn’t not get signed by Celtic until 2 weeks ago and only joined up with the team for the training camp in Portugal.

Celtic made sweeping changes during the second half and we got our first look at Celtic’s new striker Duran. The rest of the subs included third choice goalkeeper Doohan and a mix of B team players and some from the under 19’s.

The highlight of the game from a Celtic point of view was the equaliser from Duran. Hopefully a sign of things to come. Celtic’s young team were cut to shreds by Sporting who continued to impress and entertain their fans who as expected well out numbered the Celtic support which seemed to be less than last years fixture.

The official Celtic website was still able to swing a positive headline after the game – Camilo Duran gets off the mark in pre-season friendly. I noticed that there was nothing on the website about Shin Yamada going out on loan to OH Leuvan in Belgium. When he came to the club last summer during another bleak transfer window, Brendan Rodgers did not fancy him then and Martin O’Neill does not fancy him now.

It’s seems the Celtic website is only there to promote good news and the sale of Adidas kits.

The natives are getting restless and there is no positive swing to that story unless some quality players are added who are first team ready as we can expect some of our better players to leave in the next few weeks.

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

Match Day in Sunny Portugal

I woke up in sunny Portugal early this morning. A swim in the sea is my not my usual start to a matchday experience but a very welcome one.

A quick check on the official Celtic website to see what the latest news greets me with, another sales pitch this time for a new away jersey. The Celtic Adidas catalogue is never ending.

Also I get to watch a short video from Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney about how training sessions have been in pre-season on the official CelticPlayer but what I really am interested in is concrete news on more players signing for Celtic.

Over on the MSM and the Celtic fan websites there is not much news either apart from where you can watch tonight’s match and usual rumours and half truths about players coming and going .

One story that does catch my eye is the one about Arnie Engels move to Nottingham Forest. A player we could do with keeping but I expect the club to cash in on him it’s the transfer model that we have become accustomed to as Celtic fans.

Here in Albufeira it was lively last night with young holiday makers enjoying themselves. A bit wild for us old bucks so we found a quiet area for a bite to eat and a few beers and get a catch up on all things Celtic. There does not seem to be as many Celtic fans around as when we came for the same fixture last season.

From the ones I did speak to here, confidence is low in Dermot Desmond and Celtic CEO Peter Nicholas to make the changes needed in how Celtic do their business. Celtic announced a new deal with a Swiss watch company but that does not interest any of the Celtic fans I speak to.

One of the usual suspects from our Celtic away trips who was with us last year posted on social media that he will not be attending any more friendlies and renewing his season book is all he will be spending until those running the club are replaced or can show some kind of ambition.

If reports are true on ticket sales for Celtic v Middlesborough on Saturday the team may play in a half empty stadium. Maybe just maybe the board may consider adding on pre-season friendlies back into the season book package but I won’t hold my breath.

It seems now that the Celtic Board are happy to meet with Celtic groups who will not rock the boat but if you question the running of the club you will not be invited to the party.  We were promised better communication but we don’t want to wait in vain!

Anyway back to tonight game tickets costs €11 which is not bad and the game will be streamed on the CelticPlayer. Kick Off in 5:30pm

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

 

Faro – Back in the Road following the Bhoys

I am on the road again following Celtic for my first away game of the season and a return to Faro in Portugal where Celtic take on Sporting Lisbon in their second pre-season outing.

Celtic started pre-season 30 miles down the road from me in Dublin. I missed out on attending the game in Tolka due to having to work in Spain but managed to get to watch the game with the Paddy’s Point CSC in La Zenia, Alicante.

Tolka has many memories for me. I took my son Conor to his first Celtic game there when they played Shamrock Rovers in a pre-season friendly back in 2002. Steve Guppy scored for Celtic in 1-1 draw.

Celtic played St. Patricks Athletic back in 1998 in the Champions League just as our supporters club journey at St. Margarets was starting. Celtic won 2-0 on the night with Brattback and Larsson on target for the Celts.

Back in 1992 Celtic beat Man City in pre-season tournament 3-1 and that was my wife’s Sandra’s first Celtic game. Charlie Nicholas and Irish internationals Tommy Coyne and Chris Morris scored that day.

Last summer none of us could have imagined what type of a season lay in store when Brendan Rodgers Celtic team beat Sporting  2-0 in the Portugeese heat at the Estádio do Algarve. Reo Hatate and Luke McCowan scores Celtic’s goals.

On Tuesday evening in Faro we may see Celtic latest signing Camilo Duran for the first time in a Celtic jersey. The Columbian 24 year old signed a 5 year deal with the Hoops last week from Azerbaijani side Qarabag.

Duran became Celtic’s second signing if the season after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became Celtic’s first signing of the transfer window after he signed a new one-year deal with the club. Like Martin O’Neill he came in after the Wilfried Nancy shambles.

He had no club and was training with his former club Arsenal and Celtic took him to Glasgow until the end of the season in February. He made the perfect start in the Hoops coming off the bench to score a last minute winner against Livingston at Celtic Park.

He went on to play his part in Celtic’s double mostly coming off the bench making 12 appearances in total. He also scored the winner against St. Mirren.

 

Most Celtic fans will be happy to see him back at Celtic and hope he can have a bigger impact this season with a full pre-season under his belt.

He is an experienced operator and hopefully he can help Celtic secure Champions League football. He has won everything there is to win in Club Football with Liverpool and played 35 times for England.

His best days maybe behind him but hopefully his best Celtic days are still ahead of him.

The game kicks off at 5pm which should give us time to dash back after the game to watch the France v Spain World Cup semi-final which kicks off at 8pm.

I am looking forward to hooking up with the usual Celtic Away Day crew for a few beers and to chat about all things Celtic.

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