Referee saga - Celtic have gone too far

The behaviour of Lennon is juvenile and embarrassing but this only this reflected his lack of maturity and unveiled the slow revelation that he is not up to the job. What was worse was the unwise announcement by John Reid who forgot that he was representing a great club and instead took us down into the mire of the long dead sectarianism of a previous Scottish society. He failed to see that attacking and libelling a long standing referee of good account and the whole upstanding fabric of the Scottish game would only paint the club in a poor light. We simply can't handle defeat and this type of blaming others to camouflage our own faults can only further ruin our reputation.

What was worse though was the giving of encouragement to those within our support (probably the majority thereof) who would seek to do harm to those referees and their families who have the temerity to give a decision against Celtic. But then of course we just like to stone referees like Mr Dallas - did we not do a good enough job the first time? This is probably one of the most disgraceful episodes in the club's history. It ranks up there with the injudicious removal of Tony Mowbray when the man was just bringing the team to greatness.

Or have I got this all wrong?

Celtic 1 Rangers 3

Another disappointment but there is not much between the teams. Celtic lacked creativity so did Rangers. I thought the game could have gone either way. Watching on tv the commentator made great play of Rangers ability to make comebacks. I didn't see it that way. After the first ten minutes Celtic had as much pressure. The Celtic goal you could say came after a short period of sustained pressure.

The Rangers goal came from a good free kick, the second a poor clearance they didn't mount a comeback. They weren't pinning Celtic back they weren't even really pushing forward. The league is not yet lost. I can't see why Celtic can't go on another winning run.

Rangers are without doubt the hardest team in the SPL to break down but I think if we had held on to the lead for another 15 minutes it would have been different. What was disappointing was our response to losing the goals. We looked more than a bit rattled and I couldn't see us scoring

The Stokes tackle was a shocker. There's something about his tackling that reminds me of that Leeds, Man U player Alan Smith. But Rangers are truly an embarrassment with their diving. I would include every player without exception although Lafferty and McCulloch are stand outs. As usual some bad refereeing. The non penalty may have been a turning point but I am not so sure. I though a more crucial refereeing decision was when McCulloch fouled Samaras in the first half - he should have been off. And he knew it and so started to roll around holding his head. Laughable, childish and embararssing but he got away with it. I don't think they would have won with 10 men.

Celtic 6 Inverness Caledonia Thistle 0

6 weeks on from the first match of the season and things are looking quite good. I know ICT aren't a severe test but some of the football last night was excellent. I like the looks of Emilio, Big Danny, Juarrez, Ledley and Hooper. On top of that the others, excluding Glenda, all played well last night.

I think I can see why Lennon is sticking with Loovens. A settled central defence is key to a winning team. Lennon thinks that Loovens has something (what?) and just needs the confidence that comes from winning and losing few goals. I think he is right as far as the SPL is concerned.

I had a great seat last night in the front row of the Upper Main Stand and could watch Lennon going mental at Loovens, and turning to Mjallby as if to say "get this sorted". I think the fact that he didn't bring Rogne on for the last 15 minutes is all about building Loovens' confidence.

Danny was a good captain last night, shouting, bullying and organising. It's a real pity that Brown was given the captaincy by Lennon; a hasty decision for 2 reasons. One, it makes it hard to drop Brown (the football is better when he isn't playing) and two, he isn't captain material.

Come on Juventas, you know you need Brown.

Inverness CT 0-1 Celtic

BBC Sport - Football - Inverness CT 0-1 Celtic

Mostly squad men

Amplify’d from sport.scotsman.com

Quick fix is a big risk for Celtic Published Date: 01 August 2010 By ANDREW SMITH A MERE seven signings into the summer, Celtic manager Neil Lennon knows what he wants. "I need another goalkeeper, no doubt about that. We're also looking for a left-back, a centre-half and maybe also a centre forward as well," the Irishman says. That'll be practically the spine of the team, then. Which might explain why squad numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 have yet to be given homes

Celtic remain a team in flux. Half the side that featured in the hideously careless 3-0 defeat that ends any realistic hopes of a place in the Champion League play-offs will be eased out of first-choice positions.Read more at sport.scotsman.com

Braga v Celtic

It's a tough game and the team seem evenly matched in many respects so it's very hard to call. But given our crap European away record, I don't expect a great result tonight but hope we can keep it tight for the second leg in Glasgow. Prediction: Braga 1 Celtic 0.

Amplify’d from news.bbc.co.uk

BRAGA v CELTIC - Champions League third qualifying round, first leg Venue: Estadio AXA, Braga Date: Wednesday, 28 July Kick-off: 2000 BSTRead more at news.bbc.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/84qy

New Season Ticket Arrived Yesterday

Here's hoping for better season than last. I know it won't be hard.

Celtic Viewer

This really is good and it is free. You just need to register but that is easy. I've just watched the Larsson video under biographies and whilst it's great to see how good he was it also shows us how we've fallen in such a short time.

End of Season

Big John, Denis and I are having an afternoon/night out to "celebrate" the past season. We are thinking that May 22 (blog) would be appropriate. We can watch the European Cup Final in a pub somewhere. It will be interesting to compare and contrast it with what we've watched this season. It will also give us a chance to shout abuse at Mourinho.

If you are going to come then get in touch. If any of you in foreign lands (Gerry, Billy, Griff, Denis) need somewhere to stay then I've got plenty of floor space.

Brown and McGeady "One of Us" - Not for long?

"Aiden McGeady, who has been described in a recent post as the one player you'd pay money to go and see, is very much "one of us" if you take that to mean what some have suggested. Yet I would dispute that I'd pay money to go and see him. Frankly, I'd never know whether I was getting enough bang for my bucks. McGeady is not an enigma as some have suggested, a player who can dazzle one minute and frustrate the next. That's not an "enigma". I've seen players like that all my time watching football. He is inconsistent. A luxury player. We can't afford those."    More.