As Europa League night (or afternoon) two kicks off, two teams with just a wee touch of controversial history go head to head at Celtic Park. Celtic and Rapid Vienna (or Sk Rapid Wien if you’re up on your German) will be facing off with the history of the 1984 Cup Winner’s Cup looming large in the background.
For those of you who are not fully in the know or have not read any of the articles making a rotation since these two teams were drawn together, after going down 3-1 in Vienna, Celtic were in full control of the match in Glasgow, up 3-0 when a Rapid Vienna defender, Rudolf Weinhofer, went to the ground claiming he had been hit by a bottle. Video evidence showed that the bottle in no way hit the man but the powers that be ordered the match replayed at Old Trafford. Celtic fared poorly in a 1-0 loss that day. The match highlights and reactions are available on YouTube if you want to check them out. It also shows the level of aggression in that era mixed with some free-flowing football.
Back to the present, Rapid Vienna currently reside in 4th place in the Austrian Bundesliga. Celtic are top of the table in the SPL. Both teams won their most recent matches, Celtic 2-0 and Rapid Vienna 3-1.
Aiden McGeady has been upgraded to ‘game-time decision’ for Thursday’s match. Whether he replaces an on-form Paddy McCourt or a virtually absent Shaun Maloney is anyone’s guess.
The game will be offered on DirecTv, Setanta or Channel 67. I hope to see some lovely faces at Fado for the match!
Another early wake-up call for Celtic fans in the Central Ohio area. Celtic face off against 6th placed (5 points from 5 matches) St. Mirren at St. Mirren Park on Saturday morning. Celtic are residing at the top of the table with 13 points from 5 matches.
Celtic’s last league match saw them run out a last-gasp winner against Hearts, 2-1 while St. Mirren dropped to Aberdeen 1-0.
Celtic come in to the match after playing Wednesday in a CIS Cup match and winning 4-0 over Falkirk with only one injury concern and that is Aiden McGeady who picked up an ankle knock late in the CIS Cup match when he came on as a substitute.
I hope to see everyone there early if not bright and help cheer on the Bhoys to extend their lead in the league!
Celtic return to action after an uninspiring (or frustrating) weekend of action and a home draw with Dundee United 1-1 with a visit to Israel to play Hapoel Tel-Aviv in a Europa League match Thursday at 1:00 P.M.
Before I go too much further I want to clarify that according to Setanta’s site the game will be shown on Setanta 2 in Canada only (this as of 1:00 P.M. Tuesday). The NAFCSC has mailed me saying that the match WILL be shown in the U.S. on Setanta 2. So, all other things being equal the match SHOULD be shown at Fado tomorrow.
What I know about Hapoel Tel-Aviv: Not a lot. They play in the Israeli Premier League, they play at Bloomfield Stadium that seats around 15,000, after 3 matches they sit 6th in their league, current Jambo Laryea Kingston played a couple of seasons for them. . . .and that’s about it.
Auntie Beeb says that Aiden McGeady will be back in action (obviously) and that ol’ Banjo Ass, er, I mean Scott McDonald will be playing up front in a solo striker role. Grain of salt the size of Gibraltar with that info, please.
So, tomorrow I hope that some people will be at Fado to represent Celtic. I will, sadly, not be in attendance. If the match is shown could some kind soul collect the cover? Thank you in advance.
So with the first steps of the group stages on Celtic’s doorstep, which side will show? The team that wins games running away or the team that sits and struggles. Argue amongst yourselves on what the result will be.
Celtic return to league action against Dundee United this Saturday at 10:00 A.M. Celtic return from the international break with a variety of injuries of various degrees to first team players. Aiden McGeady, Scott Brown, Artur Boruc and Marc-Antoine Fortune will all be either missing due to suspension or possible to probable outs due to injury for this weekend’s match.
Scott Fox will also put his health at considerable risk by declaring for Scotland via his grandfather.
During a mid-week friendly against Cork Celtic (Celtic of Glasgow won 1-0 on a Paddy McCourt strike if you care to know) Guillaume Beuzelin (formerly of Hibs and now of no fixed address) played for Celtic. Another choice signing available at Celtic’s favorite price: free? Who knows?
Liam Miller will also be looking to sign with Hibs this week as he has been without a club since the end of last season. Let us all continue laughing.
Back to current events, Celtic, who stand second on the table due to goal difference and the usual dodgy calls won 1-0 two weeks ago versus Hibernian in a match best described as “You may have made the right decision to stay home.”. Dundee United, who sit in 3rd place with 7 points of a possible nine were 2-1 winners over Falkirk.
I hope to see everyone at our gathering place of choice this Saturday - don’t forget, your support keeps this club afloat!
