craig

Not that I am disagreeing but you can be assured that the stance is that "they were the last two still drinking". Do I think that going to your room 30 mins before the "last two" means being let off scott-free ? No. But the SFA can justify this as AM and BF were, supposedly, the last two drinking. It is nothing short of a farce.

I wonder if any of the other participants are also on a "yellow" then ??? Sweep sweep indeed.

So the SPL are using the Seville calculator ? April 8 plus 14 days = May 3 ??????

If there is any SPL player we should consider signing I would go for Gomis at Dundee Utd. Skilful and pacy and always gives us problems.

Stevie Smith has no chance of playing at the weekend IMO. It will be Dailly, which is criminal. I was saying last night that Brown is suspended for 2 after the break and whether the SPL would organise it such that he didnt miss the OF game. But if Bougherra and Boyd are also to be suspended then you can guarantee that they will organise it so that Boyd and Bougherra are out for the OF game - especially as we need Bougherra probably more than they need Brown. If Broadfoot is out and Bougherra injured we actually are getting thin on the ground for CB's. Papac injured too (not that I would want him at CB). The only real option I see is Webster - yet you can guarantee that Smith will play Dailly at CB or McCulloch, even if not fully fit - instead of Webster who is a natural CB.

Whilst I agree that we suffer far more than our fair share of injuries I just cant fault the guy over last night's injuries. In the first few moments he took a flying forearm flush in the jaw. He then got up, continued to try to contribute - he at least had one decent defending tackle just after. But the tackle that took him out of the game was pretty much common assault and how that St Mirren player managed to come away from that tackle without a yellow card is beyond me. I also agree, for the most part, that he needs to toughen up but, FFS, give the guy a break. If he has broken ribs this morning then he went off the pitch, had the doctor take a look at him and then came back on WINCING to try and continue. To try to continue playing with broken ribs or even with the serious rib injury he seems to have is pretty tough in my book. Brittle he may be, but the injuries he took last night were hardly innocuous. He took a couple of hefty shots last night but we are complaining about him toughening up - whilst someone like McCulloch has lasted one game between calf injuries - and gets nowhere near the same abuse over his injuries. I am somewhat surprised that we arent applauding him for trying to continue with the injury he has. Or complaining about our medics again for asking him to continue despite what appears to be a bad injury.

Why the Gav ? Did you not watch the game ? Answer is yes, he nearly scored an own goal. Malouda, I think, played the ball into the back post and in trying to put it behind for a corner Dossena almost managed to put it in the top corner but for a point blank save from Reina. You have to question Benitez putting faith in Lucas, who did nothing. Dossena was AWFUL when he came on too. I think it was a mixture of Liverpool losing their way and Chelsea, after scoring, having real belief. Even though at 1-0 Chelsea should have been up 2-1 I felt Liverpool looked comfortable - but as soon as Chelsea scored and Cech saved from Kuyt moments later Liverpool lost all belief whilst Chelsea almost knew they would win.

Where did you say there were four Liverpool defenders around Ivanovic ? :devil:

I would say decent movement by Ivanovic at the first rather than great - he did what any attacking player should do, attack the ball. However, take a look at it again...... there were FOUR Liverpool defenders surrounding him and NOT ONE got even close to Ivanovic. The 2nd was almost a duplicate and, in fact, Gerrard was to blame as he was ball watching and lost the flight of the ball. 1st half I felt Liverpool were the better team, comfortably so. 2nd half and it was pretty much all Chelsea. It really was a game of two halves - Liverpool winning everything, every 50:50 in the first and Chelsea doing the same in the 2nd. Cracking game though.

Barca too could have scored double figures. It was 4-0 going on 6 or 7 at half time !! The quality of passing and movement off the ball from Barca is a joy to watch !

oh aye, forgot about that. Get in !! Chelsea well deserved win. To be fair it could have been 6 or 7. 3-1 and Drogba missed a couple of sitters and Reina had a cracking save from Dossena. Liverpool are out, they wont go to Stamford Bridge and score 3.

FFS.... how long do we need to listen to this "news". It happened a week ago, we have had a match since, we should be putting a line under it now. Whatever happened to the "I will not be taking questions on......." approach ?

What is sadder is that he is a bigger attacking threat then ALL the players in front of him (bar, perhaps, Boyd). So we have a CB who is more of an attacking threat than at least 6 other players. We really are a sorry state....

Sadly I agree with you !! We have a CB who we want to play in midfield because the midfield have been so inept this season !!

Next season ? Surely not..... we have almost as many CM's as we have CB's ! If this season then why not - we don't often play players out of position...... although Bougherra looks like he could play anywhere (except maybe up front - and even then some would say he is a better option there than Miller, right S_A ?) :devil:

Cheers guys - sometimes I get in an annoyed mood.... when I saw that email it kind of got me going - probably as much for the fact that the Tims seem to be one step ahead of us these days. They got Nakamura and no matter what you think of him as a player they did get more exposure to the Asian market. Meanwhile we have 2 US internationals and the Tims still steal a march on us in that market too. That said, I doubt that this partnership will bear much fruit. But at least THEY seem to be making the effort.

Touche. The point is though..... Porto have accessibility to these same Dutch, German and Scandinavian players - erstwhile they ALSO have accessibility to the south Americans which we dont. I go back to your original point though - you ask if lessons can be learned from Porto - and their squad is made up of more South Americans than Europeans. The South Americans we simply can't get or have a much tougher time in doing so. Unless of course you are talking in the bigger sense of learning i.e. off-field activity. If you are talking about on field then we are not talking of a level playing field as they get more nations to consider. Or maybe you mean from other European footballing nations in general ? Porto is, as I say, made up of tons of South Americans, a bunch of Portuguese and that is about it. So given the South American issue we would next have to look at the Portuguese. Seems that the other major European footballing nations have a better process of developing their kids. But if we are talking about learning from Porto then I don't see the relevance of Dutch, Germans, Scandinavian players as Porto have very few, if any, of those nations in their squad. Perhaps I am being a bit simple though.

I bought my 4 yr old this thing called a "Kickmedic" which apparently helps them hone their footballing skills (you put a ball in a net bag and it is attached to elasticated cord and you kick it - obviously thanks to the elastic the ball returns to you). Anyway..... I just got an email from them and they have partnered with Celtic for US kids to go over and train with Celtic - why is it we haven't done this, especially given the fact we have a history of US internationals at the club and given that US football appears to be on the rise again. Here is the email I received from them plus my response. ===================================================== Hello Craig, I hope this email finds you well. Premier FÃ?ºtbol Concepts is proud to say that we are now exclusively working with CELTIC F.C. ( Scotland ) to bring young players from the USA over to Scotland for the unique opportunity to experience training with a World-Class Academy. CELTIC F.C. have created this exclusive opportunity for players to experience elite coaching from some of the worlds top youth coaches. CELTIC F.C. is one of the biggest and most prestigious clubs in the world and their academy is testament to this success. Over the last few years some of the brightest talents in soccer have come from this very breeding ground, 8 of Celticââ?¬â?¢s current first team actually developed through the Academy. The Residential Course is the first rung on the development ladder for Celtic F.C. players and can act as a key part for talent identification for the club and its coaching staff. Players will take part in some of the most up to date coaching methodologies of its kind using the ââ?¬Ë? Celtic Way ââ?¬â?¢ curriculum. Some of the best training facilities in Scotland will be at their disposal not to mention some of the brightest minds in soccer training. The Course still has reservations open to Boys ages 11 and up and also for Girls 14 and up. Not only is this camp a fantastic development tool for your player but socially he/she will develop by interacting with other players and teams from in and around the UK . Premier Futbol Concepts is committed to the players and teams of the USA and the sport of soccer itself, our goal is to work with some of the best soccer teams and products within the industry to bring clubs and soccer individuals alike the highest quality possible. With this commitment in mind we also have developed some fund raising opportunities available for players and parents to ensure this trip is possible. If you are interested in receiving more information on how to take advantage of this great opportunity, or if you have any questions, or to receive your full-colour brochure, please feel free to contact us at PFC anytime. Cheers! ===================================================== Thank you for the email. However, as I am a Rangers fan (Celtic's fierce rival) I am sure you will appreciate that I have little interest in the product that Celtic offer. I am somewhat surprised that you have not considered brokering a similar deal with Rangers FC, especially considering that they have two current US internationals on the payroll, those being DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu. Further, I find it somewhat strange that you would associate yourselves with a club whose fans infamously mocked the 9/11 tragedy by making "aeroplane" motions at then Rangers and USA player, Claudio Reyna. To be quite frank I am stunned that a US company would promote and asociate with Celtic given the above - unless, of course, Celtic approached you. There is far more to Celtic than meets the eye. However, that is obviously a choice which you as a company have made and are comfortable with. Good luck in your quest. Regards Craig

Agreed. Looked decent in his only top team game against Gretna - scored and got MOTM. Not the best of opposition but looked assured on the ball and had a good game generally.

No thanks to Reynolds. We have PLENTY CB's anyway, even if Weir retires.

I think you are missing my point Cammy. I am not saying that the South Americans are the only continent who are producing decent players. But if you look at Porto's 2008/09 squad is it any coincidence that 12 out of 26 squad members are either Brazilian or Argentinian, with a further two from Uruguay and one Colombian. That means the Porto squad is more than 50% South and Central American. And not all of those will be established internationals to satisfy the work permit requirements. You ask if we can learn lessons from Porto and the answer is an unequivocal yes but, at the same time, we can't ignore some of the advantages they also have over Scottish teams - one of which is a less stringent work permit rule. You have to look at ALL the reasons they seem to be doing better than us and one of those reasons must surely be their signing policy and with more than half their squad made up of South Americans surely that can't be debated ?

But surely it would at least be potentially more advantageous to have the OPTION of guys like that ????? I doubt our scouting network would see the players potential but better to have the option than not. Nieto...... wow, there is a guy I had forgotten about.

Maybe not buy are you telling me that we wouldn't welcome a player like Lisandro Lopez to Ibrox ? Just look at the squad we have..... some of these South Americans who haven't been capped are better than we have in our current squad - yet in the UK they wouldn't get a permit. I am not saying they would sign for us, nor am I saying our scouting would be good enough to realise them - but at least Portugal make it easier for players from renowned countries to get in.

Davis has 6, Mendes has 3 (I think) and BF has a couple I think.

But does Portugal not also make it easier for their clubs by allowing South Americans in with less stringent work permit rules ?