“Some ill-advised comments made by the Celtic chairman John Reid at last year’s club AGM may now be coming back to haunt him, as rivals Rangers seem to be coasting to a Scottish Premier League championship. Mark Murphy takes a look at how the two clubs have progressed this season and finds that Reid’s bullishness couldn’t have come with much worse timing.” (twohundredpercent)
“It’s springtime, so discussion has started again about how to make the game in Scotland more exciting but, as Gavin Saxton reports, none of those that are being put forward are likely to do much about the two or three elephants that live in the room that is Scottish football.” (twohundredpercent)
“Anyone turning up at The High Court on The Strand in London this morning hoping or expecting to see fireworks was disappointed. There was to be no last minute impassioned speech, in the manner of Gregory Peck in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. For the second time in less than two weeks, the owners of Chester City Football Club didn’t even carry the common courtesy to attend a meeting that would shape the destiny of their club. This time, the reality of their destiny was swiftly delivered. Chester City (2004) Limited was wound up over its unpaid tax bill in a matter of minutes, and that was that. Perhaps this time they knew in their heart of hearts that this was a busted flush.” (twohundredpercent)
“Kris Boyd ended his self-imposed international exile but it was Scott Brown who was the unlikely goal hero as Craig Levein claimed a win from his first game as Scotland manager. Brown grabbed the only goal of the game against Czech Republic to hand the Scots their first friendly win at Hampden Park since victory over Australia back in 1996.” (ESPN)
Levein starts as he means to go on
“It was by no means a textbook performance but Craig Levein’s reign as Scotland manager is off to a winning start and that is all that counts. The members of the Tartan Army who braved a cold March evening to make it along to Hampden Park will never remember the friendly encounter with Czech Republic as a classic but it is the result that matters.” (ESPN)
“Hidden away in the back pages of a couple of local newspapers, another football club is dying. It’s a club that has been to the brink before and, unlike, other, bigger clubs that have faced financial problems this season, they haven’t exactly hogged the headlines over the last couple years or so.” (twohundredpercent)
“I know I’m not the only one who isn’t really looking forward to the World Cup. But your reasons will be different from mine. I don’t enjoy tournaments which feature home nations – too tense, too much hoopla. And I enjoy ones with only England in even less – the loneliness leaves them even more exposed than they already were. Oh, to be in 1998, in the summertime, with a beer.” (More Than Mind Games)
“Noticing the lack of decent writing about the post-devolution Scottish experience, Gary Hassan turns his attention to the superior insights available in – of all places – recent books about Scottish football…” (More Than Mind Games)
Susanna and the Elders, Artemisia Gentileschi
“Rangers moved a step closer to securing a second successive Scottish Premier League title with victory over 10-man Celtic in a pulsating Old Firm derby. Robbie Keane was denied a debut goal when Allan McGregor twice saved brilliantly to thwart the striker. Rangers had a Maurice Edu goal chalked off for Kenny Miller’s handball. Celtic captain Scott Brown was controversially red-carded following a clash with Kyle Lafferty before Edu scrambled home the winner at Ibrox.” (BBC)
Tony Mowbray queries standards of referees but sees no bias against Celtic
“Tony Mowbray is a man who prefers to deal with statistical evidence, rather than conspiracy theories. So the Celtic manager will be hoping that his number comes up in more ways than one when he takes his side to Ibrox tomorrow.” (TimesOnline)
No paranoia at Celtic, says Tony Mowbray ahead of must-win Old Firm clash
“It is a safe assumption that the leak was designed to put the performance of Sunday’s referee – in this case, Dougie McDonald –under even more intense scrutiny than is normal on such occasions. However, Mowbray made it clear that Celtic, like any other Scottish club, have exercised their right to discuss such matters with the SFA’s head of refereeing development, Hugh Dallas.” (Telegraph)
“Old Firm games rarely fail to throw up controversial storylines and juicy sub-plots ahead of the big kick off, which only serve to add even more appeal to the famous fixture. Throw in an alleged attack, alongside the pending debut of a new hero and the events leading up to the latest blockbuster between the two arch rivals could scarcely have been more colourful.”> (ESPN)
Rangers v Celtic
“Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor will be in the squad for Celtic’s visit to Ibrox on Sunday. McGregor has recovered from injuries sustained in a night out incident, while midfielder Lee McCulloch is expected to shake off a knock. Celtic striker Robbie Keane has not trained all week and will be assessed before the lunchtime kick-off.” (BBC)
Scott McDonald backs ref to handle Old Firm pressure
“Former Celtic striker Scott McDonald says ref Dougie McDonald is more than capable of handling any extra pressure put on him for Sunday’s Old Firm derby. His former club this week expressed fears over refereeing standards.” (BBC)
“Notts County might not be a name that sets the pulses of football fans around the world pulsing. It doesn’t even do that for most of the city of Nottingham, never mind the rest of planet football. In recent decades County has been comprehensively outshone by its near rivals just across the River Trent at Nottingham Forest.” (Pitch Invasion)
“Such is the hysteria that engulfs Glasgow ahead of Old Firm derbies, even dogs on the street have a view on who’s going to win. On Sunday, Rangers play Celtic in front of 50,000 emotionally-frazzled fans at Ibrox. Countless more will be viewing and listening at home; while others, unable to watch, pace the room until the madness of the derby of derbies is over.” (BBC)
“Sorry, I can’t be arsed blogging too much today as I’ve got a lot to do before I’m away on my holidays at the end of the week. Besides, I missed most of the weekend’s action due to sheer apathy, so I’m not exactly a fountain of stroke-yer-beard insights theday. The following is pretty much all I could muster as I sat staring into my mulligatawny soup and sweaty cheese sandwich over lunch this afternoon.” (Inside Left)
England against Scotland in 1877
“Let’s talk about Scottish football for a bit. We’ve obviously visited this ground before; back in November, Fuse did an incredibly intricate and in-depth series of posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) looking at the troubles of the Scottish League, In it, he surmised that the easiest way to fix the problem of declining revenues and quality was to consolidate several local clubs into one team; the revenues to keep lower league teams (and, truthfully, some upper league teams) are just not there to support one club per 20,269 citizens.” (Avoiding the Drop)
“Rangers and Celtic’s financial futures look a little bleaker today. Scotland will only have one entrant in the UEFA Champions League for the 2011-12 season, after falling below Belgium in the rankings used to determine each country’s qualifiers. Moreover, their champions will not advance automatically to the group stage, and will instead have to navigate through three qualifying rounds.” (Pitch Invasion)
“The state and importance of Scottish football both fascinates and repels large parts of Scotland – but there can be little doubt that the condition of the game and how we see it throws light on Scottish culture and society. In the last week, I have watched Motherwell v Rangers and Aberdeen v Celtic live on TV, and went to the St. Johnstone v Dundee United cup tie. Taking all three of these together gives a number of pointers about the health of the game.” (Gerry Hassan)
“Interesting piece over at the Beeb. It is good news for Scottish football that Driver has decided to play for Scotland. He’s a decent enough winger and one that will add some much needed verve to the Scottish squad. Of course, some of the Tartan Army are annoyed with this.” (Left Back In The Changing Room)
“Football’s transfer system has always been a murky business. Unlike the National Football League or the National Basketball Association in America, where players enter the professional ranks amid the glitz and razzmatazz of the college draft, the movement of players in football is an altogether more furtive operation. Players are effectively the property of their employers, bought and sold by professional clubs without oversight or regulation from the sport’s authorities. Since every player has a price attached, recruitment is a cloak and dagger process.” (WSJ)
“A manager on the brink of quitting would typically walk head-down along the touchline after the defeat which seals their fate, ignoring abuse from fans nearby. But as Bradford’s 1-0 loss to Bury on Saturday spelt the end for Stuart McCall – his resignation was confirmed on Monday – he embarked on a lap around the pitch at the final whistle to applaud supporters. Putting aside two and a half years of frustrating League Two failure, almost everyone inside the stadium applauded him back.” (WSC)
“Sorry this is a bit late, I’ve been otherwise engaged. That generally involves eating biscuits and pretending to do DIY, but don’t tell the mrs. Anyway, to the football. I’ll admit it. I was stunned to see Robbie Keane at Celtic Park on the transfer deadline day. It was a real coup for the club, and one which has certainly captured the imagination of the Celtic support, myself included.” (The Great Footballing Circus)
“We’ve done it, at last, haven’t we: taken the silent and unanimous decision that Brian Clough matters… Brian Clough has made the step up: he’s cultural now, gone from the close, sweaty barracks of football because he stands for England like Elgar and Dickens. The news about Clough isn’t in the tabloids anymore. It’s strictly broadsheet, review and monthly: it’s been to the London Film Festival and must by now be under Granta’s walls, in strength. All that whilst never being out of place: all that, whilst never abandoning Derby, all that without losing the common touch. Clough, more than Ramsey, or Revie, more even than Shankly, his only possible rival, is a cornerstone and comment upon the zeitgeist, and post War Britain is impossible without him.” (More Than Mind Games)
Scott Brown
“Rangers are still 10 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League after a 3-0 win over Falkirk at Ibrox. In honesty, it was a pretty flat game with the class of Steven Davis playing a big part in deciding the result. The Northern Irish midfielder scored the first for Rangers after 18 minutes with a superb free-kick from 25 yards out. Davis then notched his 13th assist of the season with a lovely pass across the face of goal for the on-rushing John Fleck who managed to sneak the ball into the net.” (Soccer Lens)
A 10 point-gap in the SPL: is the season over?
“Travelling back home through Gatwick last night, I quickly checked the football scores before switching off the phone for the flight. At the time, Rangers where winning 1-0 against St Mirren and Celtic where 1-0 up against Hibs. Nothing unusual in that I thought, but as an illustration of the fragility of the Old Firm this season, by the time I landed in Rotterdam, Celtic had somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and websites across the nation decreed the end of the Scottish football season for 2009/10.” (Inside Left)
Hamilton 0 – 1 Celtic
“Morten Rasmussen bagged his first Celtic goal to set up an unconvincing win at Hamilton Accies. The Danish striker immediately marked his arrival as a substitute with a sharp turn and shot on 67 minutes. Prior to Rasmussen’s strike, Celtic had toiled to break down stubborn, if unadventurous, opponents, with little goalmouth action to excite the fans.” (BBC)
“Since Scottish league football began in the 1890’s, the game north of the border has been dominated by the two Glasgow giants, Rangers, with 52 titles, and Celtic, with 42. This dominance is partly due to the size of Glasgow itself, and the Greater Glasgow area, which boasts approximately 2.3 Million people, around forty percent of Scotland’s population. Also the size of their respective fan bases rightly puts them among the biggest and most well supported clubs in Europe, indeed the world.” (First Touch Online)
Celtic pick up their own ‘Duncan’
“Celtic manager Tony Mowbray’s bid to freshen up his squad has taken another step forward as Danish striker Morten ‘Duncan’ Rasmussen sealed his £1.8 million move from Brondby following the obligatory medical check in Glasgow.” (ESPN)
SPL Team of the Week – January 25
“MARC-ANTOINE FORTUNE (Celtic): The cynics claimed that he was a waste of money, but the best way for any striker to silence the doubters is to do his talking on the pitch and Fortune conjured up a quite superb goal to level matters against St Johnstone, before adding to his tally as the Celts shrugged off their initial torpor.” (ESPN)
“So Dunfermline, somewhat against the odds, manage to salvage their Scottish Cup campaign as their expulsion from the competition is successfully overturned on appeal. A replay and a massive fine are the end result, one which, given the circumstances, is probably the correct one. For Dunfermline, preparations for the replay can begin but the club must feel the pressure as the stakes where raised considerably once the verdict was announced.” (Inside Left)
“Since the start of the age of the commercialisation within football, supporters have been pretty tolerant of much of the ‘progress’ that has been made. Sponsors names on shirts and grounds, kick-off times being switched to suit television audiences and matches being put onto pay-TV have all been tolerated when they benefitted no-one but those that stood to make a profit from it. There is, however, a line in the sand that seems beyond the pale in football in much of Britain (the Welsh Premier League seems to be an exception) comes with the naming of clubs themselves. This week, however, there has been a serious attempt to cross this line, and it came from an unexpected source.” (twohundredpercent)
Drawings of the first international between England and Scotland in 1872 show some of the virtues of the burgeoning British style
“Celtic travel to Morton today for a Scottish fourth round Cup tie that assistant manager Mark Venus has declared to be ‘a really difficult game against a team that is going to be fired up.’ It’s also against a team that has won twice at home all season and is third from bottom of the Scottish First Division.” (WSC)
Scissors Kick 