Celtic 2 Rangers 4

After a fairly even first half, Celtic didn't get started in the second half and were lucky to lose by just 2. There seemed to be a sense of "we are too good for this mob" - a lack of urgency - a lack of concentration.

There were few pass marks today. It seems clear that our inability/unwillingness to buy a good, solid and experienced left-back could cost us dear this season. Wilson is not a left-back and would be better than Hinckel on the right. He tries to go forward and cross with his left, but it is a waste of time.

I was suprised that Barry Robson didn't start the game and even more suprised that he replaced Hartley rather than Brown in the second half. I'd even have considered taking Brown off, moving Caldwell into midfield and bringing Loovens on.

I don't know what Venegoor of Hesselink did to get sent off, but I don't think it made much difference. We still had a chance at 3-1 with 10 versus 10. Boruc's spill merely confirmed the lack of concentration in the whole team.

Maybe the goal that Nakamura scored at the end will be the difference between the teams at the end of the season.

I agree with Bobby's last post. When does the transfer window close?

The shape of the team

This seems an appopriate time to post a message about the shape Celtic are in, going into an important league game and about to commence the Champions League.

I'm disappointed in the transfers. And it looks like we're stuck with what we've got. I believe that the manager and the Board mis-judge the current team, that they think the players are better than they are. Of course, it suits the Board to think this. Celtic boards over the years have let down the fans. But I'm surprised that wee Gordon has given in so meekly to their restrictions. Maybe he's afraid to spend big money and be tested without the excuse of "we're only a wee diddy team".

There have be infamous cases over the years when the Board has not supported the team with hard cash. This is another. If £10-15M had been made available to purchase two or three quality players, today's game would be a formality and we could look forward to the CL games instead of watching them through our fingers. Instead we have the propect of watching Lee Naylor for another season.

Champions League Draw Preview

Mystic Miranda takes a look into the crystal ball to predict the fate that may lie in store for Celtic and Rangers in tomorrow's Champions League draw....

CELTIC

Group C
Real Madrid
Marsielle
Celtic
Dinamo Kiev

Synopsis:

1st or 2nd place - would see Celtic qualify for the 2nd round of the Champions League for the 3rd season in a row and another tie against one of Europe's elite clubs.

3rd place - Celtic would drop into the UEFA Cup with a strong chance of reaching the latter stages of the competition and improving their co-efficient which in turn could result in a higher seeding in next season's Champions League

4th place - would mean elimination. Celtic have only finished 4th once in five CL appearances, in 2004/5 when drawn in a group including AC Milan and Barcelona.


RANGERS

Group TV

Rangers
The Bill
Eastenders
CSI Miami

Synopsis:

1st or 2nd place - would see Rangers fans continue to view some of the UK's top rated TV shows such as Coronation Street, the F (enian) Word and Embarrassing Illnesses (especially relevant to huns) till February at least.

3rd place - would see Rangers fans slipping into the lower realms of satellite freeview such as UK Living programmes about a 30stone guy getting his stomach stapled so he can swap his XXXXXL Rangers jersey for an XXXL one. This would also result in the inconvenience of huns now only being able to watch the first 10 minutes of the Fantasy Channel.

4th place - no programmes available to Rangers fans due to failure to pay TV licence to fund purchase of XXXXXL Rangers jersey, hire purchase rail ticket to Manchester and 72 cans of Tennent's Lager and/or 1983 Hitachi black and white telly being incompatible with roll-out of new digital TV signal.

Celtic 3 Falkirk 0

I thought this was a very good performance today. It was a good open game and Falkirk played some nice stuff. It was notable that Celtic speeded up and became more skillful and confident when Maloney came on for Jan. Maloney won't score the goals that McDonald or Venegoor of Hesselink will, but he does bring a different dimension and I think a more attractive style of football.

Loovens had a good debut, as did Maloney (if it counts as a debut). Brown is also beginning to look hungry again. Maybe he realises that his place is not guaranteed with Robson and now Crosas waiting to replace him.

It has been a while since there has been a standing ovation at Celtic Park for a single piece of skill, but Naka's nutmeg of the left-back followed by turning the poor guy inside out deserved the reception it got. I'm sure it will feature on You Tube and will be worth seeing again.

There was a load of good footballers in the Celtic team today (McGeady, Maloney, Nakamura, Crosas) and they seemed to enjoy turning on the style just as much as I enjoyed watching it.

Here's hoping I'm just as happy next weekend.

Pensionbook - facebook for old people

Dundee United 1-1 Celtic

Fox News cuts off Georgian woman criticising Georgian President Saakashvili

An American girl visiting relatives in Georgia talks about Georgian aggression in South Ossetia and the Russian response. At 2.30 her aunt condemns Georgian President Saakashvili for Georgian aggression and is promptly cut off for a commercial break. Following this break, she is then allocated a mammoth 30 seconds to conclude her point which appears to be hampered by a "technical difficulty". See Chomsky, N on Concision in the US media.



GEORGIA v RUSSIA FOR DUMMIES

Celtic 1 St Mirren 0

At least it was a victory. 3 points. I missed the game so I cannot comment; fan websites don't rate it too highly though.

I wonder if you plotted a graph of entertainment value versus Time (in the season), factoring in the closeness of the huns, whether or not you'd end up with the classic bell curve. I think you probably would. The football is really good for a short period in the middle of the season.

I'm going to write a paper on this. I'm sure there is a mathematical formula to describe the Celtic 4-in-a-row phenomena.

There's nothing funny about prison rape

'From the studio that brought you 'Brokeback Mountain,' " intones the preview for the light comedy "Let's Go To Prison," "comes a penetrating look at the American penal system." In case that was too subtle for you, the DVD box features a dropped bar of soap, just waiting for some poor inmate to bend over to pick it up -- and suffer a hilarious sexual assault in the process. More.

Follow Follow Aberdeen?

Good to see that Follow Follow, despite their anguish, still manage to advertise Aberdeen gear.

Applied maths in action

Great Start to the season

This has got to be one of the best starts to the season ever.

Check the follow follow site.