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Fcuk me that will be good... for the C****c PR Machine. Been on FF having a look and found this list of comments from Spiers.... Frankly shows how bigoted, twisted and racist the man is. Apologies for Cut and Paste, but I am an idle cnut!! 23/8/02 "Celtic, though, as a football institution, quite rightly remains a symbol of Catholicism. The Celtic strip, as famed and proudly known around the world as it is, still cannot be divorced from one of its� cultural parents, which is the Catholic faith." 8/10/02 "Like the Rangers orange strip, the song ('Follow, Follow') cannot be listed among the great criminal acts, it merely offends" 6/11/03 'Rancid chanting', 'total embarrassment', 'putrid stench', 'savages', 'poisonous singing', 'desecration', 'cavemen', 'wholesale yobishness', 'stinking, bigoted, religious stuff' and my own particular favourite 'almost to a man'. 4/3/04 "Even high-brow Herald readers, hauling their noses away from such works as Jacob Bronowski and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, may have noticed the palaver that is being planned by Celtic supporters in time for Sunday's slaughter - erm, I mean match - against Rangers at Parkhead." 25/3/04 "I repeat my main contention: that Larsson's contribution to Scottish life and culture, via the game of football, has been immense. In a sordid football age, his role-model status has also been impeccable." 1/4/04 "Following Sunday's win at Ibrox I met one Celtic player, a man I remain a great admirer of, and whispered to him: "I fear for some of the alcoholic carnage of you lot over the next few days, it's been a long wait." He smiled and looked at me with rivulets of anticipation dribbling from his chops." 25/4/04 "Nor can I recall Rangers being disparaged in 1972 when they won the Cup-Winners' Cup; a tournament which, by definition, was painfully inferior to the European Cup, indeed a prize which many placed third in the list of Europe's club baubles behind the UEFA Cup." 6/5/04 "In one of my favourite magazines, The Alternative View, I must say I have greatly enjoyed an interview carried this month with that fine actor and huge Celtic fan, Peter Mullan." 20/5/04 "Lennon's symphony is music to my ears - My sporting highlight of the past week must be the moment when I was called upon to break the news to Neil Lennon that James MacMillan, Scotland's most distinguished composer, had written a piece in his honour. It is always a minor joy catching up with Lennon." 12/8/04 "Please can I be spared any whining from Rangers over this and other criticisms?" "(Rangers) the most paranoid club in Scottish football". 29/11/04 "David Murray is on the back foot", "at Rangers, by general consent, the sectarianism is worse than it is at Celtic", "It was an experience that reminded me again of how widespread and malignant bigotry at Ibrox is"

A guy on follow follow posted this, saying he got this email sent from the Northern Ireland supporters club

0-0 at half time. Pretty even, Utd had a half shout for a pen with VoH all over Wilkie.

....according to Darryl Broadfoot. In a day of frantic transfer activity, Celtic last night completed the �£3m transfer of Glenn Loovens from under Rangers' noses. Walter Smith responded by securing the �£2.5m transfer of Pedro Mendes, the Portsmouth midfielder. Mendes will arrive at Murray Park today to undergo a medical and his likely capture will offset the disappointment of losing Cardiff City's Dutch defender to their Old Firm rivals. http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.2425965.0.Celtic_snatch_Loovens_but_Mendes_is_Ibrox_bound.php

What is this Bamboo club - is this a club where all players seem to go to??

We have a little over 2 weeks of the transfer window left and there is STILL no new midfielders at Murray Park. Sometimes WS does his business on the quiet like the signing of Bougherra which came out of the blue - so we have a tiny bit of hope that a deal could be done somewhere but i wont hold my breath until i see a player in a blue shirt. I still think Davis is likely but we still need more than him. I can also see him being played out of position if he does sign. Davis had a few good games for us when playing next to Ferguson but signing Davis alone doesnt fill me with confidence. In that 2 weeks we couldnt face a tougher fixture card. Hearts at Ibrox and Aberdeen and Celtic away. Right now with that team that played at Falkirk i dont fancy us to get anymore than 5 points from that 3 games. With the Cuellar sale, the pressure is now at peak for Murray, Bain and Smith.

Yes the start of the football season is back and Rangers have had a disasterous start to the campaign after being put out of Europe in the Qualifiers. That leaves us to fully concentrate on Domestic issues and to try bring back the league title as well as retaining the 2 domestic cups. The only positive thing to take about Europes exit is we wont be hampered by a horrendous fixture schedule of playing 68 games in the season. As mentioned its time to put the Euro exit to bed and concentrate on the SPL. But one asks if we are currently equipped with the right personnel to go on and take the title back. 4 new faces have arrived - Kenny Miller, Kyle Lafferty, Andris Velicka and Madjid Bougherra, are these 4 good enough to walk into the starting line up?. But the massive question from the fans is where is the new midfielders we need? All summer we knew the need for a creative midfielder and we did not purchase one. Instead we let our only player capable of this role - Thomas Buffel - depart the club. Then things got worse when Barry Ferguson picked up a bad injury rulling him out for the first few months. Yet the management still have not addressed the position and rather opted for strengthing the defence and forward line to make huge confusion to the Ibrox faithful. Steven Davis did well in central midfield last season but a fee couldnt be agreed with Fulham for his services. Other players which were looked at were Varynen of PSV(?) and former Ger Peter Lovenkrands - getting all 3 excited this bear. So lets have a look at our chances of SPL glory. Management: Walter Smith was brought into steady a sinking ship during the 06/07 campaign and he did a marvelous job in doing so. We finished that season strong and things looked good for 07/08. Last season his task was to put us in with a chance of trophies and he delivered the 2 domestic cups and for a few reasons already discussed he took us to within 1 game of the title. He is to be judged this season. Will he change his favoured personnel when they are in bad form or will he stick with them? Will he give youth a chance? Will he go away from his favourite 4-5-1 formation? All to be revealed! Ally McCoist: Everyones favourite former striker and club legend certainly brings harmoney to the club. He is being groomed by WS but its obvious he is still tactically inexperienced. Hopefully his finishing skills can rub onto some of the strikers as we need to start getting a couple of players who are capable of 15+ goals. I dont question Ally being in his role but I do wonder if WS misses an old experienced head in his management team at times. Keepers: Allan McGregor had a wonderful season last year. He turned from an average keeper to Scotlands No.1 IMO and I firmly believe we would have won the league had he not got injured at Parkhead - thats how good his form was. But talks of being as good as Goram and Klos were way exaggerated and a knee jerk reaction IMO. I always said he has to maintain this form into the next few seasons before he can be mentioned in the same sentance as the 2 former legends. A one season wonder isnt good enough. At the moment he is rusty and needs to get back to his form of last season ASAP. His deputy - Neil Alexander did a fine job when asked and he will be pushing AM at the moment for a start, he is a fine back up to have and many a bear would have him in between the sticks for the opening game this season. Defence: We have central defenders in Abundance. Davie Weir and Christian Dailly signed on for another season, Alan Webster is on the books yet seldom fit, Kirk Broadfoot has been featuring there and of course King Carlos Cuellar has not been sold. They are joined by Madjid Bougherra who can also operate in midfield. And if things get desperate Sasa Papac and Brahim Hemdani can move to centre back. Surely all bears are hoping to see a partnership of Cuellar and Bougherra to be formed. The full back positions is a concern. Only Steven Whittaker and Steven Smith are natural full backs with huge concerns over the latters long term fitness and footballing future. Sasa Papac has the LB role to himself at the moment. If Whittaker or Papac get injured then its obvious the full back roles will be covered by the likes of Dailly and Broadfoot - not too encouraging. Midfield: I could write pages about the midfield but Id also be aswell leaving a blank space. To start with Barry Ferguson misses the first few months of the season. It may be a blessing to tell the management we cant rely on 1 player and it also may give the skipper a long term rest that he badly needed. Hopefully he comes back to the player we know he can be as he was far too inconsistant last season and had more nad games than good ones. Other natural midfielders are Brahim Hemdani, Kevin Thomson and Dean Furman. WS doesnt seem to rate Hemdani and he rarely features in the SPL. Kevin Thomson is rated very promising by the management and fans but this season its time for him to step up and take some responsibility. Young Dean Furman is one who needs more games. On the left we have huge options. DeMarcus Beasley, Lee McCulloch, Charlie Adam and Kyle Lafferty are likely to be rotated all year. There are questions about some of their capabilities, Beasley is injury prone but he makes the team look better when he plays. McCulloch and Adam have been nothing short of dreadful recently and Lafferty is mainly a striker. Even Alan Gow is still on the books. But the problem is on the right side. With Steven Naismith and Chris Burke long term casualties it leaves only Nacho Novo to play there - who is a natural striker. The need for new players is a MUST. Strikers: WS signed 3 in the summer and only offloaded Sebo who was on loan anyway. If WS goes back to his 4-5-1 formation then there is going to be a lot of unhappy players on the bench. Daniel Cousin is still the best talent in the squad but whether he stays or not is remained to be seen. But the manager has Kenny Miller, Kris Boyd, Jean Claude Darcheville, Andrias Velicka, Kyle Lafferty and young Fleck to keep happy. Right now its guess work as to who will be preferred upfront. Key Players The spine of the team is always key and that wont change this season. Allan McGregor, Carlos Cuellar and Barry Ferguson should be 3/4 of the spine and ideally Daniel "ive changed my attitude" Cousin would be the final quarter. But with Ferguson out and Cousins future uncertain it means a few players HAVE to stand up. Noises came from Lee McCulloch and Charlie Adam in the summer but both are currently on dreadful form. IMO Kevin Thomson needs to grab the chance with both hands and if selected Hemdani is a key player. Upfront Velicka's strength could suprise us and he may be the key to unlocking defences. Overall: We have enough to win the league if we are consistant and the manager gets tactics and selections right. If we get that creative player then it may give us a different dimension and others may start to click. I dont think Celtic are better than us but they are currently much more organised. Prediction: The need for the title to come home and the early wake up call in Europe could be a catalyst in winning the league. If i was asked to put money on it then I would back us to be Champions for 08/09.

Still 0-0,mon the saints

BILLY KIRKWOOD will take an under-18 squad to Broadwood tonight to take on Old Firm rivals Celtic in the final of the Glasgow Cup. Billiy Kirkwood, Rangers and John McLaughlanThe showdown, which could not be played at the end of last season, will give fans of both clubs the chance to see the some of the country's best young talent in action as they bid to become the city's top side at this age level. Rangers defeated Partick Thistle to book their place in the final while Queens Park suffered at the hands of the Hoops. Murray Park kids including captain Danny Wilson (pictured), Jamie Ness and Archie Campbell will be joined by current under-17 players such as Max Wright and Gordon Dick in the Gers' squad. And Kirkwood hopes his troops can rise to the challenge against John McLauglan's team and bring the magnificent trophy back to Auchenhowie. He said: "This game is a historical one from last season. "Because it is not being played until now it's effectively become an under-18 cup final although it is still our under-17 team from last season that will mainly be involved. "Regardless it should be a fantastic occasion and the fact that Celtic have also reached the final will make it a bit special. "Old Firm games at every level are always competitive and fans tend to come in high number to give their support so everyone is looking forward to the match. "It's a good education for our young lads to be in a final and it's a beautiful trophy so we all hope we can get our hands on it on Thursday night." Billy is excited by the number of players coming through the ranks at Murray Park with great potential and believes the Glasgow Cup final, which will be decided by penalty kicks if the sides are level after 90 minutes, will be the perfect stage for them to showcase their talents. He said: "There will be a lot of international players on show for us at Broadwood and I Celtic will have the same.Grant Gallagher, Celtic and Danny Wilson, Rangers "The game is a good opportunity for fans to come along and see some of the players that are coming through the ranks below the Reserves and under-19s. "It should be a great game and fingers crossed we can bring another piece of silverware back to Murray Park." Captain Danny Wilson is looking forward to leading his team out in a Old Firm Cup final. He said: "It should be a great night and to face Celtic in a Cup Final will be a brilliant feeling. "Hopefully we can win the game and all the boys are well up for it." Tomorrow night's game at Broadwood will kick-off at 7.30pm

Last night was an emberrasment for our proud club. Made a laughing stock all over europe. I'm sure you were all angry and disgusted like myself. Now that the dust has settled, remember Celtic a few years ago, they got put out the same stage in the champions league as we did last night. Since then they have wen't on to win 3 league titles in a row. Let's get behind our boys now, no quadrangle to go for this year but the domestic treble is still up for grabs. To be he honest with you if you offered me the domestic treble to sacrafice the champions league i would of bite your hand off ! Yes the finances will take a hard blow but hopefully last year's european run can cover that. As for our spending money looks like we could afford a few more million unless Sir David dips into his own pocket, which i highly doubt but i hope he doeas. I hope to god Cuellar doesn't go to recoup our losses. When you woke up this morning you were probably mad at Rangers for a terrible night, but just remember that you are a Rangers fan, be thankfull for that and not being a bit of scum from the darkside of Glasgow. Let's move on from last night and hope it's a minor blip and give Rangers the support on Saturday, we will follow through thick and thin. Need to take the good times with the bad times. Let's all hope we are forgetting about last night with at least the league in May. We Are The People Ranger's Till I Die

This is my 6th season going to the Rangers games ! And i have never been more annoyed with our club than i do now !!! The first season i started going we must of ended up like 20 points behind Celtic, Ibrox was half full at the end of season games. I've been through that ! Benn through the high times of Helicopter Sunday, Champions League last 16, Uefa Cup final etc etc. Every moment i have lived over the last 6 season's. Although i did watch the games before that as well I don't know how you older bears feel, but i actually disgusted, embarresed , annoyed. What ever word you can think of !! If Cuellar goes i think that may be the last straw for me !

Let me start off by saying I watched the whole game, I know how poor we are and yes it's really starting to p*ss me off - and the txts from my timmy mates are not helping BUT.. after the rollercoaster ride of last season had died down the hard cold fact was that we did not win the league. Now with Celtic chasing 4 in a row it is imperative that we win the league this season. Last season was a one off, it's not going to happen again for a long time and even though I fully understand the financial bonus's and midweek excitement the champions league games bring maybe a team fully focused on winning the league is what we need this season. Lets face it we looked knackered tonight, its obvious last season's 68 games are still taking there toll. Maybe tonight will give SDM the kick up the backside to spend big. Walter Smith is not new to this game - he must see the frailties in our midfield, he must have identified players he feels will make a difference to our "midfield" so now SDM must back him in his plans. We all remember Faubert last season. Out of nowhere we were willing to spend big bucks on a player who genuinely looks an exciting prospect and I for one believe the same will happen before the end of the transfer window. I'm not saying I'm happy being out of europe, I grew up with the 9iar team and hold very high standards for our football club..it's just my opinion that it's not the be all and end all and could be a very strange blessing in disguise.

Any other Rangers' supporters out there that took a perverse pleasure in the Liverpool result? There can be no excuses. Rangers were outplayed by a squad that has something in abundance that we have in the rarest of flashes: skill. How hard should it be to expect a professional footballer to pass a ball to a colleague? It's like expecting a doctor to be able to give an injection or diagnose death. You don't mind so much if a committed defender intercepts a pass, but when it simply goes astray you have to wonder why these guys earn more in a fortnight than many do in a year. Charlie Adam is a fine example. He gestures like John McCrirrick on race days, then his corners either fail to clear the first defender or clear everybody. Why is he paid at all? Weight of pass is another issue in quality teams. They generally get it right. Rangers don't, unless it's wee triangles in insignificant areas of the park where no pressure is applied. Instead, we use the "hump it forward and chase" technique, a strategy fatally flawed when there's only one target and five defenders. We managed to take a corner on Saturday and within about five seconds we'd contrived, unassisted by Liverpool, to have McGregor in possession! So what positives might we take from the game? #1. Brahim Hemdani was the only player that appeared composed during the humiliation. #2. Kyle Lafferty looks a big, strong character with some ability. Why is he playing on the left wing though? His success has been as a striker with Northern Ireland so playing him out of position seems foolish. #3. Kirk Broadfoot, given a chance, will become a very decent centre-back for Rangers. Sure he made a stray pass that had unfortunate consequences but there were very many stray passes from Rangers' players. He was a poor but committed right back. In his correct position, he can become an asset if the boo-boys let him. #4. Kris Boyd was like an armless man at a banquet. It wasn't that he couldn't eat or that he lacked appetite; nobody fed him. #5. An opportunity has been presented to Smith and McCoist that spells out a simple fact: if you do not pose an attacking threat against a quality team, you'll get humped. Starting with Miller and Novo... not really my idea of a serious attacking threat. #6. Whittaker... a decent performance. He has potential if he's played in the correct position. The negatives... #1. Miller... apart from one decent pass, he did nothing, but did it with enthusiasm. A mistake bringing him back, and that judgement is not Celtic-influenced. #2. McCulloch... Words fail me. I do not understand why the man is at Ibrox. I wouldn't let him bang the drum in the band. #3. Darcheville... Like wringing out a dry cloth. #4... No, that'll do. Kicking a dead horse isn't cruel, but it is pointless. I fear that unless Smith adopts a positive team formation against Kaunas, we will struggle to get through. If he fails, his days are numbered and he will have no one to blame but himself. *************************************************** The above was copied from BBC forum and I think it is an excellent read.

How poor is the Feynoord defence. Celtic can score almost at will. They are missing 8 normal first team players but even then they are crap. HT- 0-3

It only seems like yesterday I asked this question before the start of last season. IIRC my answers then were: SPL: to be challenging for the SPL during the split rather that out of it by Halloween. Scottish Cup: To win it as we hadn't since 2003 League Cup: At least the final Europe: Still in Europe after Christmas So going by that the team met my expectations. I was pretty realistic one year ago due to Walter coming in only 7 months prior and steadying the ship very well. That was stage 1 IMO and stage 2 was to get us back on the map challenging on all domestic fronts. Stage 2 gets a big tick which included a fantastic run to the UEFA cup final. We will probably look back in a few years and realise then how good that was. But I'm not going to dwell on last seasons postives and negatives, we've discussed that plentyful since May. For me stage 3 was always going to be the 08/09 season. And the target expectations for this season is hands down to win the SPL. We cant allow Celtic - an average Celtic at that - to go on an win the title 4 times in a row and 8 times since the turn of the millennium. So on four fronts: SPL: Champions Scottish Cup: Winners League Cup: At least the final Europe: Qualify for CL and still be in any european comp after Christmas I expect a lot of realistic fans to expect pretty much the same as myself.

I just read on a Dutch site that Feynoord and Groningen were talent spotting at Molde FK for Mame Biram Diouf. What interested me in the article was that West Brom also were watching the guy. Tony Mowbray seems to be continuing what he did at Hibs. A candidate for the next Rangers manager when Wattie leaves in a few years? Or will his Celtic ties be to much of a Hurdle. He seems to be a good tactician and his youth policies speak for themselves.

Not good but funny anyway.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...6908-20679510/ FURIOUS organisers of Feyenoord's Jubilee Tournament last night blasted Celtic after they snubbed a press conference they were contractually obliged to attend. Boss Gordon Strachan and one of his players were supposed to attend the media briefing at Feyenoord's De Kuip Stadium yesterday evening. They should have been there along with representatives from the other clubs taking part in matches over the next three days, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and the hosts. But Celtic stunned tournament promoters International Event Partnership by informing them at the last moment that no one would be coming. In what was perceived as a dreadful PR blunder, one IEP official described Celtic's actions as "appalling" because they knew weeks in advance what was required. Embarrassed workers at the event had to remove hastily Celtic's place from the top table before the television cameras were put up and before the MC introducing those in attendance, including Rotterdam's mayor, had a pop at the absentees. He told the assembled media pack: "We are disappointed to tell you that Celtic chose not to attend. "I'm sure Mr Strachan will invite you all around to his beach hotel later on for drinks." In the hours leading up to the conference IEP tried several times to persuade Celtic to send someone from their base on the outskirts of the Dutch city but to no avail. IEP spokesman Michael Galjaardt said: "We are very disappointed Celtic did not appear at the conference. "It was their decision not to come. As yet, we haven't had a clear indication from them as to why they chose not to attend. "They had an obligation under the contract of the tournament to attend the press conference." Galjaardt could not say whether Celtic would lose any money for their actions. All three managers of the other clubs were in attendance, Juande Ramos of Spurs, Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp and Feyenoord's Gertjan Verbeek. They brought along players Jermaine Jenas, Nuri Sahin and Jon Dahl Tomasson who all agreed to one-to-one interviews after the conference with the many members of the media from all over Europe. Later a spokesman for Celtic said: "The press conference coincided with our training." The Parkhead club face Tottenham tonight and then Feyenoord, who celebrated their 100th anniversary this year, on Sunday evening. The Dutch giants specifically asked for Celtic, the club they defeated in the European Cup Final of 1970. Meanwhile, West Brom star Paul Robinson could be the man to solve Celtic's left-back problem. The 29-year-old Englishman is high on Strachan's wanted list as he looks to strengthen his back four. Lee Naylor has been first choice for the past two seasons, but his form has dropped and Mark Wilson has been used in pre-season.

http://cultzeros.co.uk/ Found this site, quality it is. Basically you pick a picture of a player, choose your size, shirt colour, and picture colour. You then choose what you want it to say underneath. I've got 1 and have 2 on the way, very good quality. I got Ehiogu, (Rangers 1-0 Celtic), Novo (Manchester, brace yourself) then underneath the face (Rangers are coming!!) and the other shirt I ordered was Cuellar, (Rangers centre-half).

And the crazy amount of fixtures just keeps on coming!!! 1st - Liverpool (H) - Friendly 5th - FBK Kaunas (A) - CL qualifier 9th - Falkirk (A) - SPL 13th - Potential QL 3rd qualifier 16th - Hearts (H) - SPL 23rd - Aberdeen (A) - SPL 27th - Potential CL 3rd qualifier 31st - Celtic (A) - SPL

I see Celtic beat Porto away in a friendly the other day, yes with another last gasp goal on the 88th minute. Well done to them, they beat a reasonable team away. Pity they can't do it in the champions league. Although they played a 4-5-1 formation, surely this is anti football or is it different as it's Celtic and it's the best type of football the world has ever seen. Then they think that win was the greatest thing since sliced bread, it was payback for Seville, we are the better team etc, funny though how it's only pre-season and it's about getting fitness up etc, that was your excuse on your defeats to Fulham, Cardiff and draw against Middlesborough. When we defeated Chelsea last year, it was it was only a friendly, Chelsea weren't trying, never had a full team out ( even though they did ) The tims work things the way round how they would like to hear it

I am starting to wonder if our Technical staff have a clue what they are doing. Surely any players we are interested in should have been scouted months ago and not leaving things to a last minute decision.

Music to the ears. Lets just hope he is not pushed out the door as Hutton was.

To be honest i can't blame Falkirk. I would have done the same thing. I would be thinking if you want your supporters in the stadium then do your own donkey work.

Seems the Boruc style is rubbing off, Caldwell in training http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/7519002.stm BENDER: