"You can't go back . . . "

I still wish I was a Partick Thistle supporter but this was rather well done:



Bit of a massacre.

A slow dance, some romance and R*ngers didn't stand a chance

Deserved it.

Going into the game I thought they'd get walloped and I was so, so happy to be proven wrong.

McCourt answered his doubters and showed that he could perform in a big game. His reverse pass in the first half that created a scoring chance for Forrest was the pass of the game . . . Miller went missing . . . Samaras should have got a hat trick (and deserved it) . . . Mulgrew was good going forward but scares the hell out of the spectator when called upon to defend . . . Ness looks like one for the future for R*ngers . . . . and Forrest still looks like he'd get carded if he tried to get into an over-12's youth disco.

R*ngers are still the favourites for the league, but this win makes it much more interesting.

The St Genevieve Day Massacre?

OK, this is the set up. Since they got beat 1-0 by Seville in early December, R*ngers league form has been as follows:

12th Dec R*ngers 3-0 St Johnstone

15th Dec Dundee Utd 0-3 R*ngers

19th Dec R*ngers 6-1 Motherwell

27th Dec Hibs 1-4 R*ngers

30th Dec R*ngers 7-1 Dundee Utd

That's 5 victories on the bounce, with 23 goals scored and only three conceded. They're leading the SPL by seven points having played one game more than Celtic but also have a goal difference advantage of +16. And stats like that mean something in the SPL.

They're that rampant at the moment that even Kenny Miller is scoring goals. I repeat: KENNY MILLER is scoring goals. He was as surprised as the rest of us and needed to rest his studs on Darren Dods shins, thus missing out on today's match.

Oh yeah, about today's match. Despite Celtic going into today's match on the back of that great escape from Vienna and recent form of 5 wins and 1 draw in their last six home games, it doesn't look good for us. A defence that is currently auditioning for Danny Baker's next football blooper dvd, and Boruc with aspirations to take on the starring role in a film of this footballing legend of yesteryear all adds up to what couild be known in future years as the St Genevieve Day Massacre.

And yet? And yet I haven't been as excited about an auld firm game in a long, long time. Like a Socialist Standard front cover it could be a thing of brilliance or an absolute disaster. I'll be smiling whatever happens. The only thing that could have made today better is if it had been played at Ibrox.

Mid-Manhattan, here I come.

Auld Firm Sign Language

"Walter, your shower of journeymen were this close from finishing 2008 unbeaten at Ibrox."

I wasn't expecting that.

Pictures of Smiling Babies Increases Blog Traffic . . . amongst friends and family

Negotiations over the 'Socialist Standard subscription as a Christmas gift' continues apace:

'You're kidding me on? I don't believe you. You mean every single article concludes with the same final paragraph? What about the book reviews?'

'I'm going to clean your clock in a minute if you don't tell me a real bedtime story! Ire of the Irate Itinerant doesn't count.

Tell me that one about 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' again. I love that one. See when you told me Frank McAvennie used to be a top class striker, I knew then it was a fairytale.'

'OK, this blog has now officially jumped the shark. Once you decide to actually get back to real posts rather than falling back on YouTube clips, Weekly Bulletins and unsanctioned pics of me, then you can get back to me. I might - just might - stop pretending to be asleep all the time.

PS - I'm still adamant that I don't want the Socialist Standard in my stocking come Christmas morning. Get me a sub to the New Yorker instead. The cartoons are funnier.'

Hat tip to Auntie Anne for the pics.

Manhattan Bound

What with my ongoing bloggers block indifference, I haven't really been mentioning the SPL much since it started up again a few weeks back but August 31st means this place and, who knows, maybe come 1pm my time I'll actually be back in the flow of blogging again.

Aye, and I also predict that Derek Riordan will bag a hat trick today.

I'm not going to venture a prediction on the score today, but I do hope Celtic, as the home team, can at least buck the trend of yesterday's SPL results:

Pringle sweaters for goalposts

I can see where Barry Glendenning is coming from:

"I don't buy this stuff about players being tired. When I was a kid I used to play football from after breakfast in the morning until it got dark at night every day during the school holidays, taking occasional breaks only to eat, or play tennis and/or golf. What's more, the standard of football we were playing was a lot higher than that of most SPL games." [From his minute-by-minute report of Celtic's victory against R*ngers in today's Guardian.]

It's an old joke and it's fitting that he got it out of the mothballs for this special occasion.

Tennis, golf and breakfast. I think Mr Glendenning was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Still too dazed, heady and in a dreamlike state to cough up a few comments about the game - now would be the perfect time for me to try and get my head around dialectical materialism - but I thought I would post a link to the Guardian's minute-by-minute report as part of my ongoing blog project of constructing a shrine to my once fading memory. No I don't know what that means either, and I just transferred the words from my head to the keyboard to the screen.

Press publish.

Heartache deferred

A bagel, a coffee and a probable heartache

Get the jokes in before Gloomy Sunday

Via the New York Celtic Supporters Club FAQs:

Is there any place to avoid in New York City ?

New York is one of the safest places around these days and anyone exhibiting common sense should not run into any problems. The lack of a Glasgow Rangers presence makes for a pretty pleasant environment. However visitng Celtic Fans should note that the New York Rangers Hockey franchise despite being uniformed in sickly shades of red white and blue do not represent North American relatives of our cloven hooved friends.

Or as one Urban 75er puts it:

"as my friend dara once said to me "our bigotry's so much more romantic than yours".

Hat tip to Kara for the original quote.

"But, David, I think I should be leading."

News just in:

David Weir and Gary Caldwell get voted off Scotland's version of 'Dancing With The Stars'.

No Chance