Celtic Soul Shorts

A  trip to North America and a week in the company of an unknown young comedian called Kevin Bridges and Frank McAvennie. Billy McNeill was also on that Canadian trip

https://youtu.be/wkI0ozBmswU?si=Zr1FoARCbyYMiGbP

The post A week with Lisbon Lion Legend Billy McNeill & Comedian Kevin Bridges appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

The Green Brigade returned to take up their rightful place in the North Curve section of the ground they unfurled a banner before the game “Everyone has their particular part to play” . They did play a big part in creating noise and colour for over 90 minutes. From my viewing point in the main stand I noticed there was not a heavy Police presence visual near the section.

The Bhoys Ultras in their corner of the stadium also brought the noise and like the GB sang for 90 minutes. The scene was set before kick off! A sold out Celtic Park, the Fields of Athenry being belted out, scarfs above our heads and the players come out of the huddle to a big cheer. The sun was shining it was game on. 3pm football on a Saturday as it should be.

Celtic had to do the business to keep in touch with leaders Hearts who also kicked off at the traditional football kick off time. One eye was on the phone screen to see how they were doing it turned out they won 3-1. Motherwell had took the lead on the 50 minute but could not hold on but its all about what Celtic do and they held out for a 1-0 unconvincing win.

Click image above to order the print edition or digital download

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain kept his place in midfield and paid the managers faith in sticking with him with the winning goal. He also picked up the man of the match award which would have been a hard pick for the sponsors because no one performed to levels required to win the title.

A former player commented to me over a half time pie and Bovril that he did not think Celtic played friendly games in April. That just about summed up the game. We sat for 90 minutes waiting for some excitement but apart from the goal and the relief of 3 points at full time it was a poor game.

At times Martin O’Neill cut a frustrated figure on the sideline but he did get the win and after the game he said “The energy levels concern me a bit, we didn’t seem to have that. “For long periods in the second half, St Mirren were in control. However, we dug in and defended strongly to keep the clean sheet.”

For Festival Tickets Click image above or Scan the QR Code 

It was not pretty but it was 3 points and a clean sheet but if we are to progress in the Scottish Cup next week we will need to see improvement throughout the team. Likewise if we are to win the league the players will need to show more desire and find the energy that was lacking on Saturday.

All our thoughts now turn to Hampden next Sunday and another encounter with St. Mirren at the national stadium and chance to banish the League Cup final defeat earlier in the season.

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

Click image above to order one of our T-Shirts. Prices start at €10 plus P & P

The post Celtic Dig in for 3 Points – Player Energy Levels Concern Martin O’Neill appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

He missed a late penalty at Ibrox on New Year’s Day 1965 which would have given 10-man Celtic a more than deserved draw, and the poor boy was now at rock bottom, seriously considering asking for a transfer, emigration or giving up football altogether. It was a very low point in Murdoch’s and Celtic’s life.

And yet perceptive supporters, not least a primitive Celtic fanzine called “The Shamrock” which appeared with trenchant but usually accurate comments on cheap paper from an Edinburgh base, were bold enough to ask whether Murdoch was in the right position when played all over the forward line?

In particular he seemed to find it difficult to do do his best with the ball when it came onto him from behind, as it were. Might it not be a better idea to play him further back in the right half position?

The idea had been tried once or twice before Stein arrived, but with no great success in the general mayhem of Bob Kelly’s team selections, but Stein on March 20 1965 tried it out at Dens Park, Dundee The game was entertaining but not a great Celtic performance – 3-3 draw with some awful defensive lapses – but Murdoch dovetailed well into his new position with some fine balls finding their way to Jimmy Johnstone. On the Monday, Murdoch was back at inside right and played poorly as the team went down 4-2 to Hibs, Scotland’s best team at the time.

Stein had seen enough. He was now convinced that Bobby, hitherto a disappointing inside forward, could become a world-class right half – and he told him that! He backed his judgement by playing him at right half in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden against Motherwell on Saturday March 27. Once again, Murdoch played well – but the team didn’t particularly – and a 2-2 draw was the result. But it was the replay that really made the difference.

Stein clearly had told Murdoch not to be shy, to go in hard, to take a grip of the game and to stamp his personality all over it. Bobby did just that, the team won 3-0 and one of the best careers in Celtic’s history was launched, or rather re-launched. Murdoch at right half soon became the key dynamic in the emerging team and it was not long before terms like “world class” began to be used. The Cup was won in 1965 – and from them on, neither Celtic nor Murdoch ever looked back.Bob Kelly had, apparently, once buttonholed Stein to ask whether this was the right way to use a man who was, by nature, a forward. Stein’s reply was apparently polite (Kelly was his Boss, after all) but firm. “You’ll see how good a wing half he is!”

All this was part of an evolution as well. Not all of us realised it at the time, but I had a good friend who actually played for East Fife and was a Celtic admirer if not an actual supporter, and knew a lot more than most people about the geometrics of field positioning and team formations. He pointed out that Celtic were gradually changing from the 2-3-5 traditional Scottish formation to 4-2-4, and that Murdoch and Bertie Auld were becoming what was known as the “midfield” of the team.

4-2-4 had hitherto been despised as “continental” and “defensive” and “boring”, but of course, team formations mean very little in comparison with the quality of the men playing in them. This team was fit, lean, well managed and had Bobby Murdoch in it with his characteristic ability to chest a ball down, charge through and deliver an excellent pass to the feet of Johnstone, or two or three yards ahead of the speedy Lennox or Chalmers who could run on to it. It was football history in the making – and the results told their own tale.

When asked who was Celtic’s best player in the Lisbon era, it is of course very tempting to say Jimmy Johnstone. He has a very strong case, as indeed do Billy McNeill and Bertie Auld, but I am inclined to go for Bobby Murdoch because he was the power engine of the team, the boiler house – and he had very few bad games. Fortunate to see him in his early days and in his moderately “good enough” days of 1964, I have to use the word “privileged” to describe my lucky star when I saw him at his best in 1967, 1968 and 1969. He was, quite simply, the greatest player on earth.

David Potter RIP

The post The Potter Archives – Remembering Bobby Murdoch – One of Celtic’s Greatest Players appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

1967 was not necessarily a good year for all of Glasgow. Yes, I know that Rangers fans hated it because they had to endure the sight of Celtic winning the European Cup and then their own team losing the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup the following week, but even worse news befell the lovers of Third Lanark AFC, for their team went out of business in 1967, and for them there was no rescue plan or resurrection. They simply disappeared.

Glasgow in the heyday of the 1950s had six football teams, and that was possibly one too many when Glasgow began to lose population with the slum clearances and the “overspill” population which tended to migrate to “new towns” like Cumbernauld, East Kilbride and Glenrothes rather than be resettled in Glasgow itself. Third Lanark were the unlucky ones, but of course, there was more to it than that. We are talking here about corruption and even theft, with a man called Hiddleston blamed (after his death) for what had gone wrong. It was a shame to lose the Thirds however, for they were a great part of Scottish football.

Event Tickets

Cathkin Park

Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers (a group whose main task had been to extirpate Jacobites, although it was the working class which was beginning to cause more concern in the 19^thcentury), they were founder members of the Scottish Football Association in 1873 and the Scottish League in 1890. They played at a ground called Cathkin Park, but that is misleading for there were two Cathkins, and the one that they played on in 1967 was in fact Second Hampden Park, for they moved there in 1903 when the new Hampden was built.

Known as the “Redcoats”, the “Thirds”, the “Warriors”, the “Sodgers” and the “Hi-Hi-Hi”, Third Lanark twice won the Scottish Cup in 1889 and in 1905, and once won the Scottish League in 1904. Their first win in the Scottish Cup was against Celtic in the final (Celtic’s first season of existence) and it was a controversial one. The final was scheduled for February 2 and Thirds won 3-0 in the snow at Second Hampden before 20,000 spectators, but the conditions had rendered the pitch unplayable and the game was played as a friendly (but the crowd were not told that, for fear of a riot!) But we are told that some of the crowd sang songs “such as might be heard at a political meeting”. Intriguing! But all this means “A Nation Once Again” and “The Wearing O’ The Green” sung with gusto by the Celtic element. Slightly better weather prevailed the next week when the real final was played, and this time Thirds won 2-1. They also beat Rangers 3-1 in a replay in 1905, and that was a year after they had won the Scottish League in 1904 their manager had the unlikely but somehow appropriate name of Frank Heaven.

Third Lanark in 1905 with the Scottish Cup after beating Rangers.

They had many connections with Celtic. Tom Maley played for them before he joined Celtic, and Johnny Campbell finished off his career with the Thirds. Between the wars, Alec Bennett was their manager, and of course Tommy McInally played three years for Thirds between his two spells at Celtic famously “pining for home” after his first falling out with Willie Maley. But Maley always confessed to a “soft spot for the boy” and took him back.

By the 1930s they had become a yo-yo club between the two Divisions, although they reached the final of the Scottish Cup in 1936. Their last big game was the Scottish League Cup final of 1959/60 when they lost to Hearts. Around 1961 they had a great forward line with players like Harley, Hilley and Gray – but financial circumstances compelled Thirds to sell them. In 1962 they met Celtic in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup and were 3-1 up at half time but Celtic then got going and were heading for a 4-3 win, until Thirds equalised at the death before Celtic won the replay 4-0. On Monday April 8 1963, they won their last ever trophy when they beat a woeful Celtic team 2-1 in the Glasgow Cup final. They were relegated in 1965, somehow lasted two years in the Second Division with no money and loads of debt, and finally succumbed in 1967.

There remains a residue of affection for the Hi-Hi-Hi’s and many of their supporters defected to Celtic when they went out of business (this was 1967, after all). There is now an amateur team playing at Cathkin, and one would love to see them come back into the Scottish League – but that seems some way in the distance.

Born in 1948, David Potter first saw Celtic at Dens Park, Dundee in March 29. It was a 3-5 defeat, which equipped him admirably for the horrors of the early 1960’s. He had “followed” Celtic for a few years before that and recalls having been called upon to impersonate Jock Stein and receive the family silver teapot which had to do for the Scottish Cup as it was presented on April 24 1954, after he and his father had spent a nerve wracking afternoon listening to the radio!  Since then, he has “followed” every Celtic game with bated breath, and has written extensively about the club in magazines and books. His favorite team was that of 1969 (which he rates marginally better than 1967) and his favorite player was Henrik Larsson.

His ambition for Celtic is for them to keep on winning silver in Scotland and to be something in Europe once again. His other interests are cricket and drama. He is 70, a retired teacher of Classical Languages, married with three children and five grandchildren. He now travels on the Joseph Rafferty bus from Kirkcaldy. He also loves Forfar Athletic.

Celtic Soul Scarf

The post Whatever Happened to THIRD LANARK appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

Ahead of our upcoming Evening with Chris Sutton at Malones in Glasgow, Chris Sutton joins Scotty Alcroft in conversation. On Friday September 27, Chris will join our Editor, Andrew Milne on stage for a no holds barred interview about his success at Celtic and his media career and then he will open up the questions to the floor. All VIP tickets are sold out but there are still a limited amout of £20 tickets left, It looks like another sell out following on from sell out nights with Tom Boyd, Frank McAvennie and John Hartson a the city centre venue.

When it comes to defending Scottish Fitba on the Telly and telling things exactly how they are, one name springs to mind. This guy doesn’t suffer fools gladly and takes a lot of criticism online much of which is unfounded for me. If you listen to him, he’s not often wrong either.

An Evening with Chris Sutton at Malones Glasgow

When did you first hear about Celtic’s interest in you?

I had signed a six-year deal at Chelsea the previous season and had a stinker! At the end of the season I had Middlesbrough, Spurs and Celtic all agree the Six Million Pound Fee. I met with Martin O’Neill at a hotel near Wycombe and that was all it took. I was excited to sign for Martin and Celtic.

Where does Martin rank amongst the other Manager’s you’ve worked alongside?

The period I had at Celtic under Martin was my most memorable as I really appreciated what I had. I thought once I’d make the breakthrough at a young age at Norwich City everything would be a natural progression. My time at Chelsea set me back and under Martin I regained my confidence and love for the game. I was a big admirer of Kenny Dalglish at Blackburn, he was very similar to Martin and always backed his players.

Who were the characters in the dressing room during your time at Paradise?

There were lots of good strong characters. Henrik was ruthless and respected. Neil Lennon a serial moaner in the nicest possible way. But the truth is I ran the dressing room. Jonathan Gould was funny, Johan Mjallby was not one to mess with and you didn’t joke with Bobo!

What were your top 3 goals in the Hoops?

1. Chip v Rangers in the whitewash.
2. Volley v Juventus.
3. Header v Lyon. I took the throw in on halfway followed it in and Henrik hit a sublime cross and I finished it. A great Champions League night.

What was the best match you played in for Celtic?

The 6-2 game, it’s still my favourite game. It was an iconic game which shifted the balance of power in Glasgow.

If there was one player in Celtic’s history that you could’ve played alongside but never got the opportunity to do so, who would it be and why?

John Clark, a gentleman and a true legend.

Who was your toughest opponent in a Celtic shirt?

Roberto Ayala of Valencia was brutal. He wasn’t the biggest but a huge heart and a brilliantly dirty player. He knew every trick in the book. A top defender.

Finally, Just how special a player was your old strike partner Henrik Larsson?

Henrik was simply the greatest I played with and I was lucky enough to play with some greats. He could do everything he could score all types of goals, link up. He was such an intelligent player and very unselfish. The ultimate team player. A superstar with no ego!

Chris, that was all we hoped for and much more. We love the enthusiasm you have for our game up here and thanks for always defending it. Thanks for all the memories you gave us in a Celtic jersey too. That partnership with Henrik was sensational. Good luck with the rest of your career and just keep doing what you’re doing. HH

Scott Alcroft is the author of the 3 Books, “The Bunnet”, “Hugo” and “The Factory Girls”. He’s written for a few Celtic websites including CQN & The Celtic Star and joins us on loan from our good friends at  ACSOM (A Celtic State Of Mind).

Celtic Soul Scarf

The post In Conversation with Chris Sutton appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

The transfer window is shut. The amount of half-truths and rumours that we have had to listen to and read about is unbelievable (excuse the pun) and it’s the same every time from it opens till it closes. I understand the newspapers need to fill column space and that Sky Sports News needs to fill minutes that turn to endless hours of repeating itself and now with social media we have the bloke down the pub telling us that he has heard from a good source that Victor Wanyama among others is on his way back to Celtic Park. Funny the bloke down the pub never mentioned O’Connor, Frimpong or Taylor. Praise the Lord its Shut!

New Celtic Soul Badge

Young Bhoys of Ireland

Before the window shut Celtic signed of versatile Irish youngster Lee O’Connor on a four-year deal. He can play anywhere across the back four or as a defensive midfielder.

O’Connor who joins from Manchester Utd where he has been since he signed as a 16 year old. The Waterford native was Irish under 19 captain at the Euros during the summer where they reached the semi-finals. After signing in Glasgow yesterday he re-joined Stephen Kenny’s Ireland under 21 team in Dublin and Irish based Celtic fans could get a glimpse of him at Tallaght on Friday night when the Boys in Green take on Armenia in a Euro qualifier.

O’Connor joins other underage Ireland players at Celtic, Luca Connell who signed from Bolton Wanderers earlier in the summer and Jonathan Afolabi who played alongside O’Connor at the Euros and joined Celtic after being released by Southampton.

O’Connor also joins another Celtic player who was part of the Euros squad Barry Coffey. With Armstrong Oxo Flex and Ballyfermot’s goal hero from Sunday Johnny Hayes making up the Irish contingent at Paradise.

Jeremie Frimpong from Man City

Young right back Jeremie Frimpong signs for Celtic on a four-year contract from Manchester City. Speaking to the Celtic website, he said: “It feels amazing to have joined Celtic. What a massive club to be part of. I’m just lucky to have been picked and I’m grateful for everything. I’m just happy to be here and I just want to get on the pitch and show the fans everything that I’ve got.”

“I started going on YouTube to watch Celtic, and when they were on TV, I watched the games. I watched Sunday’s match against Rangers. What a game! Celtic were brilliant and deserved to win.”

Greg Taylor from Kilmarnock

Another young player in on a four-year contract from Kilmarnock is Greg Taylor. The Scottish internationalist is still only 21-year-old and comes highly ratedI have no doubt that the likes of Tosh McKinlay and Willie McStay will have had an input into all of the young players who have joined us over the transfer window.

He told Celtic TV “It’s been a whirlwind of a day but I’m over the moon to be here and thankfully that’s it over the line,” “As soon as I knew of Celtic’s interest, I was desperate to come, so it’s been a great day, certainly now that it’s done.”

After signing he re-joined the Scotland squad, which also includes Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and James Forrest. Steve Clarke was a breath of fresh air in Scotland while at Kilmarnock his success got him the Scotland job and he has shown faith in the left back by giving him his international debut in the absence of the injured Tierney and Robertson. The Sevco fans won’t be happy as he was supposed to be one of their own but if so he has now seen the light and will be reborn in Green and White. Praise the Lord.

Loan Deals

Ewan Henderson joins Ross County on a season-long loan.

Anthony Ralston joins St Johnstone on a season-long loan.

Jack Aitchison joins Forrest Green on a season-long loan.

Hopefully regular first team football will improve all the bhoys and they should take heart from Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie who both had loan spells and came back to claim first team regular spots.

The Final Word

“ Now that it’s over the line I can’t wait to be part of this squad, and to say that I’m a Celtic player is a dream come true” Greg Taylor after he is reborn and signs for Celtic

Celtic Soul Scarf

The post The FIVE at 5ish on Tuesday appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

“Little Lennoxie” as he was affectionately named by an adoring fan was a star. There were few more likeable characters in Scottish football, and without Lennox, Celtic’s consistent success would not have been so sustained. There were of course too many good forwards in the Stein era. Lennox could not always be guaranteed a place, but he never sulked or went into the huff but bounced back, always ready to play for his beloved green and white and always in among the goals.

The fact that he is second only to Jimmy McGrory in goal scoring for the club (309 in 524 appearances) is ample tribute to the man. Little really more needs to be said on the statistical side on things, but much should be made of his speed, his ability to run on to a ball and his ability to “keep the heid” when presented with a chance.

He also helped the club in a far more subtle way in his close friendship with Jimmy Johnstone (“Jimmy wasnae daft, but he did occasionally do daft things”) which prevented things from getting silly now and again. He was a stabilising, comforting character, perpetually cheerful and always willing to be one of the boys. I recall the day at Aberdeen Station when “the likely lads” of Lennox and Johnstone stepped off the train, greeted the awaiting fans and then put their arms round each other and started singing the Beatles song “Roll Over, Beethoven”. Stein, organising the removal of the hamper from the guards’ van looked on. He didn’t exactly smile tolerantly, but his face had the philosophical look of “What can you do about that?”

Annual Magazine Subscription

1962

Bobby’s Celtic career started in 1962. His debut was a game against Dundee (League Champions-to-be that year) which Celtic won, but Lennox had a poor game, and for a few years he drifted in and out of the reserves. And yet I recall him playing for the reserves at a deserted Tannadice Park one day in February 1964 and somehow or other, he just looked like a football player!

A football player he was and Jock Stein knew that. He was recalled more or less simultaneously with the joint arrivals of Bertie Auld and Big Jock himself, and Celtic never looked back. In fact, what I thought was his most significant goal for the club came in February 1965 against Queen’s Park at Hampden. Stein would not yet officially take up his duties until March, but clearly already had an influence on things. This game was a Cup tie, the Queens were in the Second Division, Celtic were playing atrociously and a huge upset even seemed possible against the spirited amateurs until a long ball found Bobby just outside the penalty box, and he ran in and scored. It was a routine goal (he would score many more like it) but never was there a more significant one. There might not have been a Cup run that year, and there might not have been Billy’s glorious winner.

1980

His playing career lasted until 1980. He was one of the ten men who won the League in 1979 (well, he was a substitute) and if you count appearances on the bench he won more Scottish Cup medals that McNeill or McMenemy – and that is saying something. He never gave anyone any bother – never did he give grief to Stein or McNeill, always co-operative and a genuine team man, and apart from the collective madness in South America, his discipline record was impeccable.

There was one man however to whom he gave a lot of bother, and that was John Greig of Rangers. Time and time again he was simply too fast for the ponderous Greig who actually normally played well against other Celtic players. On one unfortunate occasion in 1976, a tackle by Greig broke Bobby’s leg, but to John’s credit, he did express regret and it was an accident. (Or was it?)

Injuries seldom got Lennox down. He was a great Celtic servant and his record for the club will seldom be surpassed.

DAVID POTTER

Born in 1948, David Potter first saw Celtic at Dens Park, Dundee in March 29. It was a 3-5 defeat, which equipped him admirably for the horrors of the early 1960’s. He had “followed” Celtic for a few years before that and recalls having been called upon to impersonate Jock Stein and receive the family silver teapot which had to do for the Scottish Cup as it was presented on April 24 1954, after he and his father had spent a nerve wracking afternoon listening to the radio!  Since then, he has “followed” every Celtic game with bated breath, and has written extensively about the club in magazines and books. His favorite team was that of 1969 (which he rates marginally better than 1967) and his favorite player was Henrik Larsson.

His ambition for Celtic is for them to keep on winning silver in Scotland and to be something in Europe once again. His other interests are cricket and drama. He is 70, a retired teacher of Classical Languages, married with three children and five grandchildren. He now travels on the Joseph Rafferty bus from Kirkcaldy. He also loves Forfar Athletic.

Quarterly Magazine Subscriptions

The post Potters Players Bobby Lennox appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

Happy Mondays

Celtic fans woke up around the World this morning slightly hung-over with very large smiles on their faces and they may now be heading for the Monday Club for more celebrations. Scott Brown is heading on holidays while most of his team mates are joining their national teams for international duty and Stevie G, his backroom staff, his players and all Sevco fans are now firmly back in their box, while Celtic fans are cashing in their bookies dockets. Yes we really were 2-1 to win the game, the bookies got that one wrong as did the MSM in Scotland and Lenny was quick to remind them after the game.

Transfer Window Closes

Thankfully the transfer window closes tonight, since the end of last season we have been linked with any player who ever had a fish supper in the Glasgow area. Hopefully Lenny will be busy and get who ever else he needs to gets in as we continue to dominate Scottish football and give us a decent shout of European football after Christmas.

Social Media Watch

The continued comedy circus continues on all social media platforms, cartoons, videos and some very funny quotes, little stories and comments have been making us chuckle since Celtic ripped Sevco apart on their home patch but a post on Facebook by Rob Milne just summed up how hurt some Sevco fans are and in this case it’s all self inflicted.

“After seeing some lad in Glasgow City Centre wearing a Union Jack Onesie (yes, they exist), head-butting a wall with a bottle of Buckfast in his hand. #peoplemakeglasgow”

Todays Weather

Sunshine for the international break in the Green half of Glasgow while across the city in the Blue half they are experiencing very dark clouds, its very cold in Celtic’s shadow and most of the natives are staying in doors, The Orange order have asked all Sevconians to stay indoors to avoid Sunshine Tim’s.

The Final Words

“Everyone wrote us off. We were very motivated, hungry and had great belief about us.”

Neil Lennon after pumping Sevco 

“He deserves his red card, he deserves his ban and he’s got everything to do now to get back in my team.”

Stevie G after watching his team get pumped by Celtic comments on Jordon Jones sending off

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Ezine Annual Digital Subscription

The post The FIVE at 5ish on Monday appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

If this game had been a week or two ago, Celtic would have been traveling with a cloud over their heads, having crashed out of the Champions League to Cluj and then an out of sorts performance at home to Dunfermline. There was some discontent amongst the fans in regards to the transfer activity as well.

More than 90 Minutes Celtic Ezine Quarterly Digital Subscription

This week however the side should be as equally confident as Sevco. Navigating what could have been a tricky two legs against the Swedish champions AIK, 6-1 on aggregate, scoring four goals away from home in Europe is not a sight we have yet grown accustomed to as a Celtic support.

Sandwiched in between the two European games was a dominant performance at Celtic Park against Hearts with Bayo putting in an impressive performance to remind everyone what he has to offer.

Loan Signings

Signings of Fraser Forster and Mohammad Elyounoussi has added a bit of excitement. Although both loans, these are the sort of loans that can be accepted when they should improve the team, too many loan signings in the past have failed to deliver. With Forster there is a likelihood he could become a permanent signing. Elyounoussi would appear to be out of our budget having only moved to Southampton last year for £16 million.

There have been numerous reports suggesting Kilmarnock left back Greg Taylor will be concluded before the window closes on Monday.

Going into the game at Ibrox it’s clear our defence is our biggest weakness, although there have been signs of improvement from both Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli. It’s still to be seen if Ajer has recovered from an injury he received during the AIK win. Edouard also came off early with an injury however Neil Lennon is confident he will make the game.

Sevco

Sevco also go into the game having qualified for the Europa League with a last minute winner from Morelos knocking out Legia Warsaw.

We can expect Sevco to come out quickly and we need to match them all over the park. From middle to front we are clearly better than them but if the team play the way they have in the last two visits there then we will be in for a tough time.

I can see the game being tight between the two teams and I keep seeing a draw being the outcome. Will Elyounoussi make an appearance? Even better will he make an impact? Let’s hope so.

Prediction: Sevco 2-2 Celtic

Mick Kane hails from Glasgow. He has been hooked on Celtic since he went to his first game when he was 7. Celtic beat Hamilton 8-3 at Celtic Park on the 3rd of January 1987. His favourite player at the time, Brian McClair scored four goals.

He started going regular as a 16 year old when Celtic played at Hampden for the season, being a Southsider it meant a short train journey to get to Hampden. From then he has had a season ticket travelled around Europe for games as Celtic became the dominant force in Scottish football again. A nice change from growing up during Rangers run to 9 in a row.

New Celtic Soul Badge

The post Away Days- Sevco v Celtic Match Preview appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.

Celtic fans are no angels but generally we don’t get much hassle from the local Police when we visit foreign lands, in fact we probably get more at home from Glasgow’s finest. Much of the hassle in Scotland came after the introduction of the OBA which thankfully was defeated by FAC.

Jumping the Gun

How could I comment on what happened at half time when I watched the game from the comfort of my sofa. So unlike others I waited to speak to fans who were at the game. Yesterday I got to speak to Dixie ( Left Wing Badges) a fellow member of St. Margaret’s CSC. It was he who posted one of the videos so he was there and thankfully he told STV, the Press Association and others where to go when they asked about using the footage and fair play to him he told us that we were the only Celtic fan website to ask for permission to use the footage.

I asked Dixie what happened and he told me in his own words and I think his video backs it up

“During the half time break security entered our section of the stadium and headed to an area behind the Green Brigade banner I made my way towards that section, by the time I got there (30 seconds) there seemed to be a stand off, then out of nowhere security started to use their batons again with a line of them ensuring no one could assist the fans being attacked. After a bit there was a pause, and some Swedish lads spoke to the security. We then spoke to security in front of us and we asked why are the batons being used? From their reply I think they had checked CCTV and were trying to identify the pyro lads but no one was arrested they took away some flag poles and then the security retreated from the section”

It’s worth noting folks that some of our own fans who run blog and websites are just acting as another wing of the main stream media who will never let the truth get in the way of a sensationalised Headline.

Andrew started More than 90 Minutes in 2001. He has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic. One of his essays featured in Celtic Minded 2 and he is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of Celtic AM pre-match events at Malone’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

Celtic Soul Scarf

The post Sensationalised Headlines appeared first on Celtic Fanzine.