The Game Episode 6 - Udinese draw and F’ UEFA   The current situation at Celtic could be better and so our guest wanted to pick a game from happier times.  It’s the winter of 2011 and the team has had a dramatic turnaround since being 3 nil down at Rugby Park and Neil Lennon looked like being on the way out.  They pulled things back in the 2nd half of that game and started to really motor.  At the same time RFC where spiralling to their death and we were all having a right laugh on this podcast.   Our guest, Matthew Mochan was listening in and enjoying every moment and he wanted to recall a game that took him back to those fun times.   Celtic went into this game still with a chance of qualifying past the Europa League Group stages.   It wasn’t to be but we did have a very good performance in this 1-1 draw and we also had a UEFA fine because some fans unveiled a banner that said “F**k UEFA”.   Enjoy…

Celticunderground:The Celtic Football Fan Podcast

The Game Episode 6 - Udinese draw and F UEFA

Podcast Xtra   Ange & the starman   On Saturday31st July Celtic commence the new league season away at Tynecastle.  The current state of the first team squad has some fans concerned but we have the new Swede and an update on the new Japanese striker in these pre-game interviews from Ange Postecoglou and Carl Starfelt.   Enjoy…

Ange and the starman Podcast Xtra

Season 16 - Let’s go round again   Baby we’re back!  Welcome to the 16th season of the world’s longets running football fans podcast.  To celebrate our new season we will have   NO new features NO new graphics NO new music NO new opinions   The podcast will be just as you like - same old usual rubbish but it’s this consistency that has kept our listener numbers the same all these years.   We really appreciate everyone who takes the time to listen or rate us on iTunes.  We don’t have any awards but then, you have to self nominate so where’s the fun in that?   CU - The podcast for the generally optimistic but occasionally midly irritated middle aged Celtic fan.   Enjoy…

Season 16 - Lets go round again

Welcome Ange & Dom   Today was the official unveiling of Ange Postecoglou as Celtic manager and of Dom McKay as Celtic CEO.  Both spoke very well.  Talk is cheap as the negative people say however I was very pleased with what I heard today.   No-one comes into a new job and criticises the people or the past but it’s clear, reading between the lines, that Dom wants to address the stagnation in our business model over the past 10 years and Ange will have his own people in coaching roles sooner rather than later.   We have the fan media questions first followed by the broadcast media press conference.   Enjoy…

Welcome Ange and Dom

The View from Down Under   Ange Postecoglou is the new manager of Celtic.  Fans are filled with trepidation about a manager with no European track record.  The pessemists are trotting out the usual “he’s sh!te3” stuff whilst the optimists are noting the exceptional level of positivity coming out of Australia for this guy.   Based upon this mixed view, I called up our friend Mike Mehall-Wood (now based down in Aus) and sought his view.   Enjoy…

A View From Down Under

Ange Postecoglou First Interview   Celtic have today appointed Ange Postecoglou as the new manager of the club and we have the audio from his first interview.  Interstingly in the chat that follows with Dom McKay, he once again mentions modernisation.   It seems to be his theme and listeners to the last podcast will know we heartily agree.   Dominic McKay: Ange is an outstanding leader and an outstanding manager   Dominic McKay is delighted that Celtic have appointed an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win, and he believes that Ange Postecoglou’s vision for the future of the Club aligns with his own. In an exclusive interview with Celtic TV, the Club's incoming Chief Executive, who officially takes over on July 1, explained why the Australian manager is the right fit for the Club, and explained that he has already started working with the new Celtic manager to pave the way for future success. “I’m delighted that we’ve managed to secure Ange as the new manager of Celtic Football Club,” said Dominic McKay. “Ange is an outstanding leader and an outstanding manager. “In all my discussions with him to date, I’ve been really impressed by his enthusiasm for Celtic, and his keenness to work with me to modernise and develop the footballing structures and the non-footballing structures to make sure we are the successful club that we need to be for the generation ahead. “His experience at the international level, having taken Australia to World Cups is hugely impressive, as is his experience of winning both in Australia and Japan, so I’m excited about securing a winning manager and in securing someone who wants to drive forward the club in a way that I think everyone will be really proud about. “We’ve spent a lot of time chatting through the playing side, the coaching side and the footballing operations side. “It would be fair to say his phone’s been busy over the last number of weeks and I’m excited that we’re getting information across to him to make decisions and get feedback on all the various aspects you would expect us to be considering ahead of the new season. “We’ve been talking about recruitment in particular and the plans for the season ahead, so we’re very active in that regard. There are some important fixtures coming up so we need to make sure the team is in the best shape it can be, and I’m sure Ange will share more information with the Celtic support as soon as he can.” Dominic McKay also shed light on how his own vision for delivering success to the club aligns with Ange Postecoglou’s ambitions. “We have a shared vision and that was very important to me to make sure we had a new manager who bought into the modernising, evolution and development of the club, both on and off the field,” the new Celtic CEO said. “In terms of his style of play, I think he will excite the fans. In terms of his communication, I think he will be great in engaging with supporters and, importantly, his philosophy, which is borne out of his experience at international level going through World Cups but also in winning competitions. I wanted a winner and I’m delighted that we’ve managed to secure Ange.”

Ange Postecoglou First Interview

An analogue club in a digital age   This week we’re back to talk about The Celtic! We will be having more of The Game series but we thought we’d take a break from that to discuss the managerial situation at the club.  First we’ve had the rejection by Eddie Howe and then the appointment of Ange (or at least the likely appointment of Ange as nothing has happened yet…).   This week we get Saint Anthony, Hullbhoy and Sean together to discuss the situation at the club.   Enjoy…

An analogue club in a digital age?

The Game Ep5 - Tirollercoaster   This game had everything - a new team under a new manager with a new striker scoring an og in a 9 goal thriller where Celtic were out with just 6 minutes to go.  It had a full house and so everyone who was a Tim at the time could say “I was there” but for some reason it’s never one of those games everyone talks about with reverence…and it should be.   Celtic 6 Tirol Innsbruk 3.  What a night.   The Celtic Wiki describes it as follows:   An incredible European night. A nail-biter all the way down the line finally settled by goals in the 87th and 94th minute.   It looked like Anoni was for the off. Allegedly this was all down to a training ground bust up between him and Jansen on pre-season in Holland and he had been on the injury list for some time. And just to prove it Jansen included him in the squad – so much for newspaper rumours. Surprise surprise when Bebeto was not going to be signing for Celtic. The 33 year old returned to Spain and although it was said he would return to Deportivo la Coruna he eventually joined Sevilla. Darren Jackson was taken ill prior to the match and immediately after was admitted to hospital for tests. He complained of a migraine and was too ill to play.   Teams Celtic: Scorers: Donnelly (34, pen 69), Thom (44), Burley (70, 94), Wieghorst (87)   Tirol Innsbruck: Scorers: Mayrleb (39), Larsson (45og), Krinner (82)   Enjoy…

The Game Ep 5 - Tirollercoaster

The Game Ep4 - Boavista Away 2003   For those of us lucky enough to remember Seville it was all made possible by this night - a victory away at Boavista.  A crap game, a sclaffed shot and a penalty claim….but we were through.   Remy of ByTheMinCeltic fame joins Antony and I to share his recollections of The Game.   This is how The Celtic Wiki describes it…   With so much at stake, the opening exchanges were tentative, but Celtic settled first and created the game's first decent goalscoring opportunity. A hopeful Alan Thompson free-kick was flicked on by the head of John Hartson, allowing Larsson a sight of goal, but the Swede uncharacteristically pulled his shot wide under pressure from Eder Silveira.   Celtic were forced to bring Chris Sutton into the fray rather earlier than planned when Paul Lambert was forced off with an ankle injury with just over half an hour gone.   In the second half Alan Thompson had a fierce drive deflected wide on 70 minutes as they sought that elusive away goal. It finally came eight minutes later, when Larsson played a slightly fortunate one-two with Boavista defender Filipe Anunciacao before finishing clinically from 12 yards.   The performance may not necessarily have been vintage and will be overlooked by the Celtic supporters as we prepare for the trip to Seville, where the team will play Porto in the final on 21 May.     Boavista v Celtic, 24 April 2003, was one of the most frustrating games of football I’ve sat through. Needing to score, for 78 minutes Celtic were moribund; they made not a single attempt on goal. Instead, they did what most teams do away from home, condensed midfield and defended, while Boavista, who would qualify for the Uefa Cup final if the game ended goalless, did much the same.   The goal appeared to take place in slow motion. Henrik Larsson moved forward to the end of the D and tried to pass to John Hartson, but a defender intercepted. Unfortunately for Boavista the ball was returned from the interception to an unmarked Larsson on the edge of the box.   It spun from his preferred right foot onto his left but the shot gently arced inches away from the goalkeeper’s grasp. The goal was a deflection, although we didn’t see it at the time. The keeper was moving his weight from right to left as the ball drifted to his left.   It may have been a turgid game of football decided by a deflection but it was also one of the most intense sporting occasions in our 125 year history. The sheer release of tension when the goal went in was incredible. 15 minutes, and one generous refereeing decision later, Celtic were in a European final.   Since then we have become accustomed to our position as a credible European team but it was very different in season 2002-03. This was the first Christmas Celtic were in Europe since 1979; each milestone along the way, Blackburn Rovers (a far more credible team at the time), Celta Vigo, Stuttgart and Liverpool, was celebrated with something close to astonishment.   The triumphs of this season, qualifying for the Champions League group stage instead of losing to Basel, then progressing to the knock out rounds, are greater than the achievements of April 2003, but they will never feel that way.   That game, that season, trophy-less though it was, changed our entire landscape. Nothing would ever be the same again.   Enjoy…

The Game Ep4 - Boavista Away 2003

The Game Ep3 - Partizan Belgrade   To this day, this is one of the most incredible games I have ever attended.  Yes I’ve been at the Barca game, the Invincibles Cup Final Game, victories and defeats at Ibrox but for utterly incredible drama few can match this game - Celtic 5, Partizan Belgrade 4.   A future Dundee Utd Manager, the dad of a future Celtic striker and a guy wearing trackie bottoms - this game had it all (all except a Celtic victory).   Antony and I are joined by Lawrence Donegan as he name drops his way through his memories of The Game.   Here’s how the Celtic Wiki describes it:   This was one of the most remarkable games ever viewed at Parkhead with an absolutely disastrous ending for a brave Celtic team.   Scoring went as follows: 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4.   With Celtic leading 5-3 and going through on aggregate with just two minutes left, Joe Miller lost the ball at the Partizan goal corner flag. A quick break down the left wing saw a cross come in and Scepovic headed it for goal. The despairing Bonner got a hand to out and only served to divert it past Paul Elliot who was on the goal line and would have cleared had Bonner not knocked it past him.   Celtic players and fans were devastated at time up and stood in stone silence as jubilant Partizan players and coaches danced for joy on the Parkhead turf.   Billy McNeill was heavily criticised afterwards for not making one substitution when Celtic were leading 5-3 with minutes to go which would have broken the game up and killed some time.   It is thought that Darius Dziekanowski could have laid on another cert, but went for a personal five. He was later lambasted in the changing room despite having scored four goals, and maybe others were more culpable for the defeat than Jacki.   Enjoy…

The Game Ep3 - Partizan Belgrade

The Game Ep2 - Palm Sunday   This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Palm Sunday gubbing of Rangers, a game that holds special memories for our guest Kevin Schofield as it was his first Glasgow Derby.  It was dark times for the club and these victories were smal glimpses of light.   We had beaten Rangers the week before for what became known as the ST Patrick’s Day Massacre.  That was a game that saw Rangers receive 3 red cards and so for this match, Not The View gave out red cards and Nisbet duly obliged by getting himself sent off and leaving the pitch to a sea of aforementioned red cards from the crowd.  Anton Rogan was the star of the day, scoring the opener in the 3-0 victory over Rangers in March 1991, his first against them (just day before his birthday), but he also set up the second and cleared a goal off the line.   Enjoy…

The Game Ep2 - Palm Sunday

The Game Episode 1 - Shame Game   10 years ago this month was The Shame Game.  A silly title for a game that saw no shame apart from the terrible behaviour of the soon to be defunct Rangers players and assistant manager.  But with its notoriety and coming to the fore we thought  we’d kick off the new series with a review of that game.   Here’s how the Celtic Wiki describes it:   As one-side a match against the Huns you'll ever see. Celtic were on top throughout this game, and despite the Huns being able to break well at points, they were simply playing for penalties from early on. With injuries/resting players like Lafferty & Jelavic, the Huns were relying on some rough tactics with heavy tackling on the menu. Luckily, Celtic's pressing on fairer referees has paid off with Murray officiating well and taking to half measures. He allowed around 20-25 mins before dishing out yellow cards, and Whittaker was first to be ordered off with two yellows. Harsh the first card may have been but it wasn't for that challenged alone (he had committed a few bad tackles before hand).   From then on, Celtic took control (in particular in the midfield) however we weren't makign enough of our advantages. Wilson was exceptional and has been on a bit of a goal glut of late (3 goals in 6 games) and he scored with his second chance today just after half-time to send the support into raptures. From then in, there was only one team in it. Rangers had a late burst but their runs were cut short..... and Rangers were out the cup!!!   YESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   More important is the rammies that occurred. Diouf was in everyone's' face, with match offs with Brown and then inexcusably with the Celtic bench. He should have been sent off early but the referee was too soft. Next there was a rammy with Mjallby for Djouf in the tunnel at half-time! It was comical.   The unbookable Bhougeira was sent off! Amazing! Daft tackles were the cause, he's scum like Diouf.   Diouf was sent off after the final whistle for not keeping control of his senses (not possible for him). A farce and scumbag.   The home support were in his face and we all laughed. The worse he is on the pitch, the worse his antics are...   Match ended with a spat between Lennon & Ally McCoist (Hun assistant manager). McCoist approaced Lennon in our dugout, Lennon politley held out his hand, then McCoist whispered something in his ear, Lennon retorted, then it blew with some shoves and people jumping in to separate the two. McCoist should be hammered for it.   Anyhow, we won, it's great to be a Celtic.   Crazy: The match has been criticised by the First Minister as a disgrace with head police officer calling for possibly stopping all games v Rangers or play them behind close doors! Absolute joke, total mock outrage.   Enjoy…

The Game Ep 1 - Shame Game

Podcast Xtra - John Kennedy & David Turnbull   Celtic are looking to engage better with the fan media and this was the first step in 2021 of that new engagement with a specially organised fan media press conference.  To be fair to the club, bringing this together is slightly more complicated than it seems.  As I’ve joked recently, there are now a plethora of podcasts and how do the club make sure everyone gets access, how do they balance this with those fans who do excellent written work but not the spoken word - do they let on every podcast and website (not matter the numbers of listeners readers).  Do they have a cut off and how do they measure that cut-off? etc etc.   Regular listeners and readers will know that we have been fortunate enough to have engagement before but it is good to have some further engagement after a little bit of a hiatus.   We have David Turnbull and John Kennedy first up, John being especially generous with his time and providing very full answers.  I have met with John before and found him a very impressive and engaging man.  I have yet to meet a football person who isn’t impressed by John.  I hope you are too.   Enjoy…

Podcast Xtra David Turnbull John Kennedy

Pieces of Eight   Yes, it’s the pirate podcast (you’ll understand when you listen) and we are reviewing the tenure of Neil Lennon as Celtic manager.  We look at his departure last time, his re-appointment and assess whether this was some catastrophic turn of unlucky events for Neil or the inevitable outcome of appointing someone not qualified for the job and I would suggest that the panel have a range of opinions along that spectrum.   A change is gonna come at Celtic and we suspect that it will have an alpine look to it but whatever it is, there are always grounds for omptimism when you support Celtic so we (mainly) agree that next season is going to be very exciting.   Saint Anthony, Sean and Antony all discuss.   Also, we’re pulling together a series on Celtic matches, key games that might now have mythical status among the support.  We’ll be starting with The Shame Game.  Email your memories of this and also let us know hat games you would like us to feature.   Podcasts@celticunderground.net   Enjoy…

Pieces of Eight

Celts on The Rocks   This week I am joined by Lachie Mor and Duncan Smillie of Glasgow Rocks to discuss the current situation at Celtic.   We review the inept Ross County performance and then go on to discuss the nature of the vitriol against senior people at the club (manager CEO) and question if that is the “Celtic Way” - can we not disagree with the board’s decision on Lennon without being so disagreeable?  Duncan has a go at me for the agressive language of the Ferencvaros podcast.  Lachie is taken aback and patently didn’t listen to it!   We review the need to get more young players coming through the academy into the first team and generally wish this season would just go away.   Enjoy…  

Celts on the rocks

The Celticunderground podcast is produced by the people behind www.celticunderground.net. Just a few Celtic fans talking about Celtic, the greatest football team in the world.

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Celticunderground:The Celtic Football Fan Podcast

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