MJC

Toothless as usual. 0-0 is the best result we can hope for today.

Game could be a lottery then if the weather is as bad it’s meant to be. Whatever happens we must not lose tomorrow.

Not a fixation on competing with the Old Firm, just a fixation with how we’re viewed by and in relation to the Old Firm.

There’s no doubting the playoff was a massive couple of results. The biggest in the last fifteen years arguably. However that was a one off (albeit over two legs) and it was against a Rangers side that was Rangers in name only. They were a side who couldn’t finish 2nd in the Championship and managed Stuart ‘bottle merchant’ McCall. Our overall record against them, indeed our league record is absolutely shameful in the last twenty years.

Okay well if we’re talking 8 years, since we last beat Celtic in 2015, Kilmarnock have beaten them three times and St.Mirren have beaten them twice. Since we last beat Rangers in 2017 Killie have beaten them five times. I couldn’t even tell you how many times they have managed to beat them in the league since we last managed it over two decades ago now.

Totally agree and that’s why I have said on more than one occasion now that I don’t see us beating either of them ever again. We’re either getting pumped 4-0 or more with a gutless performance from us or we’re unable to take advantage when they aren’t at their best. If that was Killie or St.Mirren who had played out of sorts Celtic on Saturday then the worst they would have got was a draw. We though are never able to get that big result.* *And before any of the ‘Fathers of the support’ pipe up with “aye but we have beaten Celtic before, with Jamie Dolan in goal” or “we went to Ibrox and ruined their title party” I’m talking about in recent times, not nigh on thirty years ago.

Yes there was a huge amount of satisfaction to take from Celtic losing last night especially with the last kick of the ball after they did the same to us at the weekend there. It was all the better seeing Brendan’s oily downtrodden face at the end and hearing that lickspittle Liam McLeod on Radio Scotland gutted. He loves going on about “Celtic time” well this time that backfired on them.

I presume you say that slightly in jest but at the same time it wouldn’t surprise you if that actually happened. Rodgers is the type of guy who will do anything to play to his audience and he knows he’s still got a lot of making up to do to the Celtic support for having the audacity to wanting to better himself when he ditched them for Leicester in 2019. Some of them were even singing about wanting him executed by the IRA ffs! That is the type of absolute deranged lunatics that follow Celtic.

We’ve been having this discussion about Celtic and the Green Brigade for well over ten years now and they’re only getting worse. They are a very dangerous and sinister outfit who are able to bully and manipulate everyone due to their numbers and their victim hood mentality which makes them untouchable to so many in sport, the media and in politics. Indeed they have alot of friends in high places when it comes to politics. And just last week a steward at Livingston who was no doubt on minimum wage and simply trying to do his job and get a pitch invader off the pitch is accosted by Brendan Rodgers and completely undermined. What message does that send out? Celtic, their support and the Green Brigade are untouchable in Scotland and there is nothing that anyone can do about it I’m afraid. They are just too powerful and it goes way beyond football or sport. This is a club that trade on being or representing a poor downtrodden community battling against the establishment which is doing everything in its power to keep them down. To question them, to speak out against them publicly risks professional and personal harm and that is why the police, the authorities etc let them basically do what they like. Of course in reality and if you take a step back and look at them for what they actually are then any reasonable minded person will see that they absolutely are not a persecuted community, rather a big bunch of loud mouthed hypocrites who use ancient old grievances which have nothing to do with football in order to gain any advantage they can get. And unfortunately it works for them.

I’d imagine our claret away shirt with the amber diagonal band across the front will get its debut here. We could really do with a win but I think 0-0 is a good shout for this one.

I agree and we can’t afford to simply brush off poor results with “ach it was a great performance, if only…” every week. Someone on the match thread yesterday made a comparison between Celtic’s winner yesterday and the goal Harry Kane scored for England against Scotland to equalise straight after the two Griffiths free kicks and for me there was more than just the type of goal it was that was similar. This brings me back to the “we love a gallant defeat/hard luck story” point. We as a club are bad for this but it’s a very Scottish thing as well, to butter up failure and seek glory in failure. That Scotland v England 2-2 game in 2017 is held up and celebrated by some as something to be proud of, that time Scotland ‘nearly beat England’ and it’s pathetic. It achieved nothing in the long run and only threw away two qualification points in the process, only speeding up Scotlands inevitable failure to qualify for that World Cup. It’s the wrong attitude to have.

Yip just having a quick read through the posts from last Sunday and it’s the same old story. “We played well, very unlucky to lose, deserved better but we just can’t score”. We’re going to have to get used to this script until January I’m afraid because unless Bair starts banging them in out of nowhere or Obika and Biereth can come back fit and contribute goals then there will be plenty more good team performances with nothing to show for it. And rightly or wrongly the support will lose patience with that pretty quickly.

Gallant defeats by only one goal against either of the Old Firm has always given an element of our support a hard on, particularly on here. We’re brave underdogs punching way….I won’t bother completing that sentence. We were unfortunate to lose at Ibrox last Sunday and even more unfortunate to lose yesterday. We played as well as we could have done against the top side in the country and it was a major kick in the balls to lose especially in the manner we did. That said though a defeat is a defeat and there is no glory in failure and the harsh reality is that it’s three losses on the bounce and we need to rectify that asap, starting at Livingston next Saturday. Otherwise losing becomes a habit that’s hard to snap out of as we found out only too well towards the end of Hammell’s tenure.

Poor guy. But that’s no surprise.

Jeez didn’t realise that that’s what the commotion was about up there. Hope all is well for the guy.

A few candidates but I voted the much aligned Theo Bair. Non stop running and had he a proper striker to partner him then the result would have been different imo.

Can’t argue with any of that. We played as well as we could against the strongest side in the country and largely limited them in terms of chances and goal scoring opportunities. Unfortunately though you know that they have that bit of extra quality and you expect them to score at any minute and that’s what happened today. That said hard luck stories get you nowhere in football. Had we a proper striker today like a KvV or a pre 2017 Moult then I think we win that game. However we don’t so we didn’t and worryingly for us that’s the third game in a row we’ve been saying that.

I thought we looked knackered from 70 minutes on and with their obvious superior fitness it was only a matter of time before they scored. Celtic have done this to numerous sides over the past few years (concede a late equaliser then run straight up the park and get a winner) so they obviously have that bit of quality and that play to the last whistle mentality so it wasn’t a complete surprise that they did it again today. That said it was dreadful defending for both goals especially the second.

Taylor was down injured and they obviously added time on for our equaliser. That said Collum was his usual pedantic match ruining self yet again today. It’s like he always has to make it all about him.

His defence didn’t help him whatsoever with the winner in fairness. O’Riley just ran straight off his marker unchallenged for that tap in. Kelly had a superb save from point range at 0-0.

It was actually a very good team performance but we can’t defend and we can’t score goals. That’s why we lost. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t see us beating either of them ever again.

Again a hard luck story but this one is even harder to take. Dreadful defending for the winner at the death there.

A terrific shift from him today.

We’ve played well today but as I said last week if you can’t put the ball in the net you don’t win football matches.

Mark Ferrie loaned out to Stenhousemuir until January.