Celtic Banter Archive March 20 2012

20 Mar 2012 22:45:56
Hi Ed, I see there is a lot of talk about the game at the weekend 'kicking off' due to British flags and the posibilty of Celtic winning the league. Neither of those are valid reasons in my eyes for any trouble. Surely as well Ed there would be huge police and steward presence at the game? Also I don't know if it is the same in Scotland as it is in England but when LFC go to Man Utd our fans stay behind for a long time while home fans are cleared, I understand it might be more difficult when everyone is from the same City its harder however I really can't see it(unless organised beforehand) kicking off if the police get it right.
I have to admit the hatred between Celtic and Rangers fans is worrying. When you compare it to LFC and Everton its like opposites, I am very good mates with a lot of Everton fans and I'm sure you all have family and friends who support the other so I don't understand why everyone seems so happy to 'hate" the other and cause trouble.
Just my opinion mate, it just seems strange from an 'outsiders' view that friends and families could do such disgusting things to eachover.
JFT96
Smithy {Ed007's Note - In and around the ground the segregation is the same as at OT for high risk matches Smithy. All police leave is cancelled and there is a strong police presence from early doors around the stadium and in the surrounding areas. The majority of trouble is after the match when people go back to their own towns and areas. It is sad that in this day and age people still take it so serious that it can lead to violence and even death for others. As usual with any volatile situation, alcohol and peer pressure only adds to the problems.}

Whilst not disputing the ferocity of the Celtic v Rangers rivalry for one minute, I would like it to be put in perspective for those outsiders wondering what is going on here. There is a lot of negative press coverage of the game, mainly from the Scottish press. This is regurgiated by the UK media which I fear largely leads to the perception you have of it. The truth is, much is overblown and written to sell papers. It is true there are genuine problems associated with the fixture and more of that in a minute. What I do want to point out though is that large crowds of 50-60k have been attending these games for years without any trouble. A riot - over 30 years ago - at a cup final was the notable ecetion to the rule but since then OF games have largely passed without incident and there are upwards of 4 of these each year. In truth, it has a good record in terms of crowd behaviour when compared to other derby's, particularly on the continent. To give you an example of why press coverage is misleading, last years cup replay was labelled a shame game. Why? I'm still waiting on an answer to that. 3 Rangers players got sent off (2 for second bookables) and the managers had a spat (nothing more, no punches thrown). Unedifying yes, but not uncommon in world football. No riots, no flares, no dodgy singing(I can recall), no vandalism, no pitch brawl, but to the Scottish media it was a shame game. And why not. It's a good story right? And Sky, well they love that. Viewing figures were up! Then there's the talk of sectarianism and trouble around the city. The real trouble with the fixture is not the football itself or even sectarianism but the drinking culture associated with it. It is common for people to drink all day when this game is on - it has become that sort of event, or that sort of excuse. People take the next day off, meet early to get hammered and spend all day in pubs That leads to the sort of statisitics you'll have read about. Unfortunately the analysis of these is pretty lazy. It's worth pointing out that some of these can be also found at public holidays and are even higher at Christmas than they are for an OF game. In fact, they can be found anywhere in the UK (and particularly Scotland) where people feel they have an excuse to drink all dayin large numbers. unbelievably, this even includes the last royal wedding!I also read some research from a university academic down south recently suggesting that similar trends can be found at some English derbies but that they don't receive the same press scrutiny. I've no idea if that's true but worth considering. The other difference with our derby and others down south is that we not only share the city, we are the only show in town as far as our league is concerned, and I genuinely dont mean disrespect to others when I say that. Such narrow competition does however lead to an obsession with one another whereas a wider perspective would dilute this. Ed007 is correct when he highlights the historical sectarian issue in Scottish society and he's also right to point out it is a societal rather than football issue, particularly where Celtic are concerned as despite some ill founded comments to the contrary, we've always been open to and supported by people of all creeds and none. It is also the case that sectarianism is on the wane in Scotland and has been for decades and, just as you point out about Merseyside, it is commonplace for Celtic and Rangers supporters to be friends. Some even watch the game together! That's not for me though! With any luck, Sunday will pass peacefully (and Celtic will win!). If it does it will be in spite our unhelpful local media. Regardless, anyone who does involve theselves in any trouble won't be doing so in the name of football. They also won't be representative of the opinion or behaviour of the vast majority of decent supporters from both sides. And they will almost certainly be drunk! Paul {Ed007's Note - Great post Paul. Take a bow that man.}

Thanks ed. Wanted to get it off my chest lol {Ed007's Note - No problem Paul. It's a pleasure to read posts like that rather than trawling through a pile of childish one liners.}

I have to agree with everything you have said. i am a gers fan but my group of friends is 50/50 and we now watch the game at someones house with a few beers instead of going to different ends of the park or different pubs. unfortunately there is some morons on both sides who see this as an opportunity to get smashed and cause trouble. as you said we are the only show in town so the spotlight is right on us all the time. hopefully this will pass with no serious trouble and the morons stay away.

if you are out and about stay safe

DJ

20 Mar 2012 21:51:01
5 massive obstacles Rangers have to overcome to come out of administration:

1. Win the Big Tax Case.
2. Have a purchaser willing to pay Ticketus £40m over 3 years.
3. Creditors to accept a CVA.
4. Craig Whyte to agree to sell the club
5. Effectively deal with Whyte's floating charge to the tune of £18.

Any one of these is a big ask. All five? Can't see anything other than liquidation.

Mark Hateley should take out that daft diamond ear stud and sell it off for the Fighting Fund. He looks like Tim Westwood's grandad. Lol.
The Real KB {Ed007's Note - You should see some of his clobber mate. It is miles out. I would rather wear the 1996 LFC 'Spice Boys' number. Hateley look like he got dressed in the dark. Him and Scott Brown must use the same shopper, Brown's golfing gear is horrendous ;-)

Seen that helmet Hateley walking through the Italian centre with a pair of leather trousers and cowboy boots , what a donk......DH

20 Mar 2012 19:16:17
awrite limpy hows you?
pp fae the p
fleet ya bass {Ed007's Note - Not bad wee man, how's you?}

20 Mar 2012 15:54:56
timalloy posted at 19:43 last nght i was nghtshift so didn't read til i got up today , it was about flags at ibrokes on sunday , i suggested something but never got much response because it was such an old post not many of you probably read it, i was wondering what you think . if they are going to wave 43000 union flags on sunday , im sure someone could get 7 or thousand replica league flags made up and i think it would be a certainty they would sell the lot outside the park . so a nice wee profit there for someone in the know about such things . billybhoy

20 Mar 2012 14:31:11
Bozek just scored for us in a bounce game against Dunfermline. Ally Mc Coist was right he would make a dream part with jellyfish in attack. Poor Ally failed again ;) bigirishmac.

20 Mar 2012 13:01:23
i see they're all gettig excited about sheikhhamadbin kalifa al thani the mega rich guy ,i think people like the afore mentioned gentleman only go into football for fame and glory and nothing to do with love of the club. so if you were mr. kalifa why would you invest in rangers ,forget about the mess they're in , angers will never win the champions league even if they had no debt , we simply can't attract the caliber of player to scotland that are capable of beating the barcelonas of this world. so if mr. kalifa seriously wants into british football why would he not just buy everton , newcastle ,aston vila. all teams with huge supports and massive amounts of tv money . for someone like him to buy rangers just doesnt make any sense,, billybhoy {Ed001's Note - unless it was a political move?}

Are you insinuating Scottish Govt intervention ed ?
You scratch our back, we'll scratch yours ?
The Real KB {Ed001's Note - or simply to ease a massive business deal, ie he is trying to make a long term deal with a Rangers fan. I am just saying, not everything is about the obvious profit, sometimes there is a hidden profit from a deal. But your point is certainly not out of the question, especially if they would do the same to Glasgow that has been done to Manchester by ADUG. The regeneration has been incredible, they are bringing jobs and prosperity to an area that was previously one of the worst in the country. I am sure that any plans to do the same for Glasgow would be encouraged by the Govt.}

Alex Salmond is as oily as an Abroath kipper. But he's a cute fella. He has eyes on the long term independant future of Scotland, no doubt about that. As you say, getting in a potential investor, offering sweet terms for energy development etc etc. When politicians start (a) getting interested in football and (b) sticking their oar in, it is a sad case. i just have a feeling that sneaky get Salmond will see Rangers right.
The Real KB

Ed, i didn't know that about manchester, and that being the case i suppose it's not out of the question , but that raises an even better question , why would he not approach mr. desmond to see if he wants out , then he would get a ''clean '' team , billybhoy {Ed001's Note - and how much would it cost him to do that? Plus, if it is a political move or one aimed at gaining some other advantage, buying Celtic is not going to be of any use.}

20 Mar 2012 12:38:51
Gordon Smith said that he noticed
some panic when they were knocked outy
out of Europe. He kept this close to
his chest and continued to take his
salary. Rangers fans have been
DUPED by many so called Rangers
men.

20 Mar 2012 09:34:02
Good morning ED007, I caught part of the Five live show last night, debacle just does not describe, love in? Anyway Jackson made a comment that he and another reporter have spoken with HMRC and that they are willing to do a "pence in the pound deal" if Whyte is no longer there. ED007 I know you are well up on all this and will tell us, including Rangers fans the truth. But my understanding is that HMRC has a privacy policy and cannot speak about ongoing cases and certainly not to a reporter. How can these people get away with telling blatant lies and also BBC allowing them to air their lies on a national programme? Timalloy {Ed007's Note - The show was pure propaganda Tim, as soon as I heard the line up on the panel it was obvious what it was going to be like. I couldn't listen to any more after about half an hour.}

Gday Timalloy, said something similar last night! love in is certainly the most apt description.

Forgot to pick Ed007 up on the point about the distaste for all things BBC not being very long lived. I see his as part of the general we will follow follow. It was mr Whyte who started the war on the BBC and the Rangers fans followed on. Now whyte is gone the BBC are still slightly castiated for daring to give thier club bad press and actually dig a little deeper than they would have preferred but now no one is telling them to boycott the BBC so they dont!

Also hearing there should be a rather interesting piece on Chanel 4 this evening, hopefully true as they usually do decent reporting.

Evinguu {Ed007's Note - Alex Thomson from C4 News has been looking into the Rangers situation for a while. He has uncovered quite a lot that isn't known to the public yet, it should be interesting. David Murray has refused numerous requests from him for an interview.}

Hello Evinguu, not spoke in a while, hope you are well. ED007 what time on Channel 4 please?
Guys did you catch SDM on Sly?
One sentence jumped out at me...
"we are contesting this vehemently, as per our advisors, we believe we are not AS guilty, as HMRC believe"
"AS GUILTY" is that him admitting there is a DEGREE of guilt there?
The only good thing is the more SDM and CO put things on the record, in their own voice, the more will come back to bite their bums.... Timalloy {Ed007's Note - It is on sometime during the 7 o' clock news Tim.}

And if the guy thomsons findings favour rangers youl be saying thats a rangers love in aswell eh , tedbear

Im good timalloy, hope you are too! Still disappointed with the team on sunday but hey you cant win em all and we were due to get beat at somepoint.


oh tedbear that reads to me as a worried man. But i imagine there will be plenty of Rangers fans shouting the old timmy propeganda line if it isnt positive. If the truth comes out and Rangers are squeaky clean then fair doo's.its unlikley but is still a possibility even i have to admit. I doubt this piece is primarily focussed on Rangers per se but more on the SFA and possible malpractice and corruption, which all supporters from any team have thought for a very long time, albeit generally in some form of them showing bias to Rangers. But i have no proof myself other than what is dug up in blogs and by journalists and a little of my own research back in the day. so will have to wait and see.

All i want is the truth, no pandering to peoples best wishes or portraying a doomsday scenario just the truth, it would seem though that as more of this truth comes out the more certain people bury their heads and look to pass on the blaim and give the all is rosey line.

Evinguu

I meant to catch this last night, but missed it. It was with a live audience wasn't it ed ?
I suppose in one way the presenters can only reflect what the audience tell them. But usually with the BBC, at least with their live political debates, they will have representatives of all sides of the arguments. I assume this was not the case last night then ?
The Real KB {Ed007's Note - Andy Goram was on the panel RKB, that kind of sums it up really.}

I really don't know why the BBC do that for sports articles. They wouldn't dream of doing a one-sided programme on politics, so why do they shy away from it in sport ?
It could have been a potentially very interesting couple of hours but it seems like they loaded the audience.
I like the Beeb for their news / politics as much as any agency but at times their sport stuff is poor. Is it because they're scared to pi55 the respective clubs off, and fear being frozen out by Sky or influential figures like SAF.
In fact, thinking about it, that seems to be the point at which they have began to tread lightly - when SAF stopped giving them interviews.
The Real KB {Ed007's Note - The BBC don't want any controversy over sport it seems RKB, as you say, I think they got a 'fright' over the AF affair and are even more mollycoddling than their usual sycophantic low standards.}

Ed and The Real KB. Its nothing do do with that, Its all in the interest of unbiased and fair reporting you see! And how much fairer can you get than pretty much sitting on the fence untill something so big comes along that they cannot ignore it and report it from an unbiased (in their eyes) stanpoint. lol

I appreciate the BBC myself just be thankful we dont have NBC or CNN or woe betide Fox as our main news institution..... oh bugger we pretty much do were ran by the murdochs... sugar... maybe need to think before i post lol

Evinguu {Ed007's Note - Fox is dreadful Evinguu, and as you say, anything that has Murdoch's mucky paws on it is tainted.}

You're right Evinguu mate.
The BBC may have it's faults but I give Sky a complete swerve. I wonder what would happen if Al Jazeera got the next tv rights for EPL / SPL ?
The Real KB

The Real KB i think we would get a better all round product if it was North Korean state TV!!

Evinguu

Lol Evinguu.
But the ed would be f***ed for his wee dolly birds doing the sports news eh ?
The Real KB {Ed007's Note - I hope you aren't referring to Hayley as a dolly bird??}

I am.
Anyway, if Al Jazeera gets the next tv deal she'll be doing the sports news in a hijab.
Lol.
Give me Gabby Logan anyday.
The Real KB {Ed007's Note - I never thought you would have been into scrawny women mate. Someone should tell her the 'heroin chic' look is out dated now.}

20 Mar 2012 08:10:21
not being a follower of either the old firm i have to say the contrast between their managers macoist with everything falling down around his club yet still behaves with a degree of dignity neil lennon on the other hand could not bring himself to congratulate killie on sunday and his antics about the penalty says it all and he wonders why he is not well liked

Great post Well done!

Agree - Lennon is totally lacking in class and dignity

Your no a fan of the Old firm. Sure Gerry.
Lets wait till we hear what whispering Ally said at Parkhead before we talk about class and dignity.

Joeshmo1888

We know why you lot don't like Neil Lennon and it's because of sectarian and bigoted reasons and the fact he stands up for himself and his club. It is one thing to ACT as if you have dignity but another to actually be dignified,just because he wears walters old suit and brown brogues on match days and stands on the edge of the pitch holding the lapels of the suit like a fat winston churchill doesn't mean he's a dignified man. He's a media darling who knows how to use the media machine to his own benefit,everything he does and says is for the camera's just like a politician. There's no dignity in tax avoidance,there's no dignity in taking the proceeds from an arranged charity game away from a cancer charity and there is no dignity in cheating the whole of Scottish football for decades. Dignity Shmignity.

Sorry Ed forgot to leave name for above reply.

RabBhoy

I do agree that the public face of McCoist is the 'Cheeky Chappie' well oiled and polished as a celebrity on QOS charming the bloomers off Sue Barker.
He is a media darling while NL has never had the press on board even though there is a list of atrocious events that he has been victim of most of which is based on religious hatred. He is portrayed as pantomime villain in the 'Closed Shop' Scottish media and Rangers fans would rather criticise Lennon than see what a clown their darling Alistair really is.

JJ

Fans up in places like inverness where its mainly familys who go to their games are they bigots to , they give the guy stick to , lennons an in your face type of manager and he gets stick for it , darren jackson was another player who got stick in every ground he played in but a never heard. anyone playin the bigotry card on his part , tedbear

Anything is falling down around ally, how many death threats has he received.
No dignity in making sly comments about kicking people when there down.