Halfwaybear

Superb Lynsey

Never cheer before these cXnts are actually eliminated. I have seen far too many last minute deflected goals from them, they are the jammiest mob around.

I think I'd need to see a link for that: surely Timothy's delusion hasn't sunk as far as this?

Appealing is a waste of time; no one ever gets back to you. The place is full of admin who would make the Gestapo blush. Bawbags.

The Sun By DEREK McGREGOR Last Updated: 31st July 2014 NEVER mind a dream, Ronny Deila was last night left haunted by a Warsaw NIGHTMARE. Celtic took the lead through Callum McGregor then incredibly collapsed. And compounding a night of sheer misery and one of the Hoops’ heaviest ever defeats, was a red card for Efe Ambrose. Deila had talked pre-match of his ambition to guide the Celts into the group stages. Now, though, he’s staring at a dismal exit before even a play-off after Legia destroyed his side. Two goals from Serbian hitman Miroslav Radovic plus further strikes by Michal Zyro and Lukasz Broz left the Hoops chances of a third straight campaign with the big boys hanging by a thread. The Poles, staggeringly, even MISSED two penalties. Now Celtic need a miracle. Deila’s already demonstrated he’s not scared of making big selection calls. McGregor, of course, was given a shock debut against KR Reykjavik in Iceland and once again he was in from the start at the superb Pepsi Arena. But Emilio Izaguirre and Leigh Griffiths were dumped to the bench with loan man Jo Inge Berget handed a stunning start barely 24-hours after arriving from Cardiff City and Adam Matthews back in. The sweltering conditions inside the stadium added to the challenge for the Hoops. But boss Deila knew the heat would really be on him and his players if they crashed here. Legia – with ex-Motherwell ace Henrik Ojamaa on the bench – were fighting for the future of their boss Henning Berg after an indifferent start to their title defence. It was a tasty atmosphere with Legia’s notoriously passionate and white-shirted supporters making a din a full half hour before kick-off. And there was a chant of tribute for Celts back-up keeper and former Legia star Lukasz Zaluska as he warmed up before the Ultras section. The opposition, stadium, raucous home support was all a world apart from Reykjavik – a massive step up. But Celtic – with Deila’s now trademark 4-2-3-1 in operation again - started in assured fashion. Dubbed clear favourites by Legia, the Hoops opened with confident possession play and Berget, wide left of lone striker Teemu Pukki, was involved immediately. It was his first competitive action since being an 11-minute sub for Cardiff in the English Premiership back on February 22. Seven minutes in and Celtic went ahead – with another fabulous moment for youngster McGregor and virtually identical goal to the one he produced in Iceland. Pukki fed the academy graduate on his wide right beat and after cutting inside, making space, he unleashed a left foot shot which took a heavy deflection and fizzed high past Dusan Kuciak at his near post. What a beginning for McGregor at top level, two goals in three starts plus two assists. It was also the perfect instant impact for Celtic against the Poles who last qualified for the group stages in 1995. At least for all of THREE MINUTES it was. Then followed an uncharacteristic howler by Forster. Crafty playmaker Michal Zyro – ironically recommended to Deila by Zaluska – threaded a ball to Radovic in the box at an angle and you felt Ambrose would get across to kill danger. But he was nowhere near quick enough and Radovic pulled the trigger on a right foot shot which went straight through Forster at his near post, going in off his ankle. England cap Forster’s much better than that and he will have been full of regret on the overnight flight home. And yet at 1-1 it was still no disaster for the Celts. But it wasn’t long to come. They had looked compact but suddenly Ambrose and van Dijk started wandering out of position and Deila’s men became horribly ragged, pulled apart at will and especially vulnerable down Matthews’ left flank. Michael Zyro heads home to make it 3-1 However, in the 23rd minute Kris Comons created a bit of magic after fine approach play by van Dijk, Mikael Lustig and Stefan Johansen, dropping the shoulder to lose Inaki Astiz to find himself 20 yards out with a clear shot at Kuciak’s goal. But his effort flew just over. Legia, though, were growing in confidence with Radovic a constant thorn. Van Dijk needed to be alert to get across and deliver a brilliant shot-blocking tackle on Michal Kucharczyk. The warning signs couldn’t have been clearer for Deila on the touchline and the ball was continually coming back at the shaky Celts defence. It was a surprisingly open tie – TOO open – and Pukki should’ve donebetter with an attempted right foot flick beyond Kuciak 16-yards out from a Commons pass. It appeared he was too concerned by the thought of being clattered by Astiz who did indeed get to him. Eight minutes from the break the roof began to show signs of potentially coming down on Celtic. Legia got a second and it was another abysmal goal to be conceded. Matthews failed to cut out Zyro’s hanging cross to the far post, Lustig couldn’t stop Kucharczyk’s header down, Ambrose faltered when favourite to clear – and Radovic buried a right foot shot beyond Forster from six yards. A catalogue of blunders. Celtic briefly recovered – and McGregor, from a Matthews cut-back, fired in a decent low left foot shot from 20-yards through a sea of bodies only to be denied by a fine Kuciak save low to his right. Just as Deila was preparing himself to get at his players during the interval the creaking roof truly caved in – with the hapless Ambrose sent off. The last man defender was caught on his heels and ploughed into Kucharczyk who was poised to run in on Forster. It was a stonewall red card and Dutch ref Pol van Boekel duly produced it. It had been an unbelievable turnaround in fortunes for the by now shell-shocked Hoops. Deila acted by hooking Pukki for Beram Kayal and pushing Charlie Mulgrew back into centre-half. But it was obvious it was now going to be a backs-to-the-wall job for the Hoops and a desperate battle to keep the tie alive ahead of next week’s Murrayfield return. However, as hard as they tried it all looks in vain. This looks too much for Celtic. Vdoljak missed the first of his two penalties in the 58th minute, sending Forster the wrong way but also wide of the post. Matthews had brought down Ondrej Duda. Van Dijk was also lucky with a handball in the box in the 76th minute. Six minutes from the end with Celtic somehow clinging on to a creditable scoreline they conceded a third through a Zyro header. Amazingly, Vdoljak missed a second spot-kick after Mulgrew had brought down Kosecki – Forster diving to his left to parry and then gathering. But in the dying seconds Deila’s pre-match dream really was left in tatters when Broz planted a fourth beyond Forster. MAN BY MAN RATINGS: FRASER FORSTER (5): Will be cut up about opener which went right through him. Redeemed himself with super stop from Zyro and penalty save from Vrdoljak. ADAM MATTHEWS (4): A weak link for Legia to expose time and again. All over the place and culpable. Bad night for the man recalled. Later moved to wide right. EFE AMBROSE (3): Utterly appalling display from Nigerian. At fault for Legia’s first two goals and then deservedly sent off in a truly calamitous 44 minutes. VIRGIL VAN DIJK (5): Had trademark moments of quality but frankly did not look like an £8million defender here. Maybe spooked by Ambrose’s jitters early on. CHARLIE MULGREW (4): For long enough he’s been assured but this was forgettable for the skipper. Pushed back to centre-half, booked and gave away two penalties. MIKAEL LUSTIG (6): Celts best defender on the night but that wasn’t something to be proud of here. Could have done better at the second goal, otherwise blameless. KRIS COMMONS (6): Good first half but moved to lone frontman role when Celts went down to 10 men and the second period became too much for him to manage. STEFAN JOHANSEN (5): Anonymous display. Mentor and boss Ronny Deila will expect much more for the second leg. Didn’t have an an influence on things. CALLUM McGREGOR (7): Another massive glory moment for the homegrown attacker. Great strike to give Celts the lead. Tireless wide left and he can be proud of his efforts. JO INGE BERGET (4): Looked the part for all of five minutes and then disappeared. Was barely seen too at Cardiff from January to May. Subbed in 62 minutes. TEEMU PUKKI (5): Wasn’t the worst in the first half before being hooked. An assist for McGregor goal but had to do much better when played in by Commons at 1-1. SUBS: Beram Kayal (4) worked hard to shore up midfield with Celts up against it. Replaced Pukki and acted as defensive shield but got booked. Emilio Izaguirre (4) replaced Berget and went into left-back berth he would have taken for granted from start. Leigh Griffiths (2) on for Commons and booked.

Surely Southampton have learned after spunking 12m on Wanyama.

I take it Virgil the virtual £15m player isn't playing?

It happens all over the World at major events. As the story goes The Queen thinks the whole World outside Buckingham Palace smells of paint. Similar when any visitor drops in on your house the last thing your wife wants is for you or your children showing them some rooms where the beds aren't made.

What he doesn't realise is that if some thief managed to steal his bike around from The Louden, then there would be a very high chance that the thief would be a Tim.

Thankfully Pacific Quay CSC didn't have a hand in the build up.

The copeland road end?

I expected Parkhead there ya cXnt.

Wee Salmond would have been pulling his plonker furiously as Dan Wallace shouted "for freedom" at the end of his race. .

I agree, there is no way peoples different disabilities can be measured. A bit of a farce really, especially in swimming when everyone starts and finishes at the same point ( i.e. there is no handicaps placed)

I don't get the ha ha bit?

Area in most need of development? The condition of both the Govan area and Dalmarnock area five years ago were akin to two peas in a pod.

Tam Fatboy Cowan's slant on the opening ceremony. By TAM COWAN Published: 3 hrs ago BAD news — the Commonwealth Games lasts for 11 days. Good news — that’s nine of them up already after the opening ceremony... Went on a bit, eh? Although, to help save a bit of time, it was good of Susan Boyle to miss out some of the words from Mull Of Kintyre. Glasgow’s got totally carried away with the 2014 Games. Can you imagine it was the Olympics rather than its school sports day wee brother? But I’ve also got the bug (not the sickness and diarrhoea one, thankfully) and your Motherwell correspondent took in the triathlon at Strathclyde Park. Just to see if it was different from the usual three disciplines of drug-dealing, dogging and throwing stones at the swans. At London 2012, I loved the opening and closing ceremonies — it was just the boring bit in the middle I couldn’t stand — and Gary Lineker almost spoiled a brilliant show on Wednesday night by reminding us there was lawn bowls, swimming and cycling from 9am the next day. Sorry, Gaz, not interested. After the fireworks display (the most spectacular one at Parkhead since Rangers went into administration) I would have moved straight on to the closing ceremony. During that first half-hour, I wonder how many English viewers were hoping they could also vote for Scottish independence? After the welcome from Craig Hill (sorry, Karen Dunbar), we had SuBo’s haunting rendition of Mull Of Kintyre with those unforgettable lyrics: “Mull Of Kintyre, oh la-la, hmm-hmm-hmm...” Then, of course, John Barrowman shocked the worldwide audience and sparked a Twitter frenzy by — wait for it — talking in a Scottish accent! The gay snog? Brilliant. This will probably now be known as a Glasgow Kiss and it gets it right up the backward nations who’d probably ban the relay race as it involves an athlete grabbing hold of another man’s baton. I also loved the Tunnock’s Teacake costumes. Wonder if that was Plan A before Jilli Blackwood opted for the tartan parade kit? Part of the dancers’ routine involved setting out hundreds of seats. I couldn’t help wondering if they were the same ones the Celtic fans took from Fir Park last December? About 4,500 athletes took part in the parade (if there’s a shortage of rooms in the village, I hear Jersey will let the Germans move in with them) and it was great watching competitors from all over the world, er, showing the crowd their mobile phones. (Oh, a special mention for Tiswas legend Bob Carolgees for providing the wee dog.) There was a crowd of 40,000 inside Celtic Park (although Peter Lawwell insists it was 46,000) and the whole country was tuned into the BBC1 coverage at 8pm. Well, apart from Kaye Adams and family as she was on All Star Mr & Mrs at the same time on STV... I’d strike a special bravery medal for the guys with the ceremonial flag wearing the dazzling white suits. What a bold choice of outfit with the norovirus still kicking about, eh? (I think the slogan for the 2014 Glasgow Games should be: If the norovirus doesn’t make you sh**e yourself, the ticket prices will). My pal Stevie reckons they should start every race with the command: “On your skidmarks... GO!” Other highlights? What about the old boy getting out of his wheelchair to hand Sir Chris Hoy the Queen’s baton? First thing on Thursday morning, he apparently got a call from Atos saying he was fit for work. I also loved the Tunnock's Teacake costumes Getty I also loved Gordon Matheson’s speech. It was heard by a worldwide audience of a billion people — whether they had a TV set or not — and I’m told the fireworks complained that he was too loud. At one point, it was feared his shouty voice might bring down the Red Road flats. The main VIP — the Queen — was driven straight into the stadium. She was put off leaving the car outside after being approached by a snottery-faced urchin who said: “Haw, missus, ten bob to look after your Daimler.” With a nod to the London Olympics, I was hoping Her Maj was going to parachute into Parkhead on the back of her racehorse. Yep, her prize stallion failed a drugs test this week — and was immediately given a wildcard entry into one of the swimming events. Hearing God Save The Queen inside Celtic Park was like hearing Zadok The Priest during John Barnes’s stint as manager. An even bigger shocker was how long it took Prince Imran to open the baton. I wouldn’t ask for his help with a new jar of pickles. Still, for the first time in 200-odd days, at least this finally made the Queen’s baton a little bit interesting. Wouldn’t it have been great if the message read out by Her Maj had said: “I knew it’d take ages to open that feckin’ thing...” Actually, in front of a big crowd at Celtic Park, I think the Queen missed a trick when she read out her own personal message. She should have said: “For the last time, it was the company — not the club — that died.” PS. On a serious note, the legacy of the Commonwealth Games will help Scotland for generations to come. Yeah, I reckon the spot fines for the Games Lanes should raise at least £400billion. TEXT JOKE OF THE WEEK: Inspired by the Commonwealth Games, my doctor told me that exercising can add years to your life. He’s right. Went for a five-mile jog this morning and I now feel like I’m 85.

Mathieson is a RC, however his visit to Parkhead last night will be one of only a few occasions he has been there, unlike many if his cronies. I thought his impression of Hitler at the Nuremberg Rallies was one of the highlights of the night.

That was a good score for McInnes, stock rising again.

He showed zero sportsmanship in failing to even nod at his winning team mate.

Love it

Of course he is gutted, but his churlish behaviour soured the medal ceremony. I got the impression that the Murdoch was afraid to celebrate to much, just in case Jamieson spat the dummy out altogether.

Michael Jamieson poor loser: couldn't even look his Gold Winning team mate in the face, didn't congratulate him or anything. Timmish behaviour.

Don't under estimate her, she was still by far the most coherent and able speaker of the night.

But she wasn't supporting her constituents in Barrowfield, she was present at the meeting to help support Celtc's plan to usurp the DV's decision that the WoSHA (and their Barrowfield tenants) were due an additional 75k as part of the land swap deal.