19.

It is indeed. There are Israeli flags all over too, possibly with Rangers fans. Direct empathy you see. The colour coming from the Celtic end was fantastic. The atmosphere down there, favourable or not, was electric.

No I'm sorry, but I am not trying to steer anything anywhere (as was insinuated in the warning PM.) Such things are bound to arise in a topic where people are relating their experiences with the Celtic fans from last night. You can be rest assured that politics is pretty low on my agenda also. I was asked a question and I answered it. You want it left alone? Fair enough.

It wasn't a fluke, we were well and truly done.

That's not what I'm saying.

edited

And what exactly is offensive about it? Do you know what it means? Of course I know what it bloody means! It's a widely used Republican slogan which means "Our Day Will Come." The chanting of this has been used by generations of Republicans and Celtic fans alike. It is an IRA saying used by killers of innocent people. That is why it is offensive.

I know.

That's not racist. It's, er...pro-IRA

That was the weather I suspect. @#/? down all day, Liverpool looks even bleaker in the rain you know.

As an Irishman and a product of a Celtic family/back-ground, I have little problem with the Celtic fans. From where I was sitting in the Jack Walker stand, the Darwen End became the most impressive thing inside the stadium (considering the dross being played out on the pitch.) The atmosphere and sound coming from there was awesome. But I do appreciate that to the non-Celtic fan/English football supporter their antics and behaviour are in many cases totally unacceptable. The chanting of Republican maxims and the singing of rebels songs by Scotsmen who clearly have little idea about the subject matter (something which is hostile to a state of which they are citizens ) repels me and my family (my father and brother were at the game last night also.) To hear a bloke with a Glaswegian accent walking down the street singing (phonetically as I'm not an Irish speaker) "Chuckie ar lah" is frankly embarrasing. To Mr and Mrs Lancashire the chanting of such things is not only totally alien but also highly offensive. When I came out of the game I could not believe that the cops had allowed the Darwen End to empty, considering the violent undertones during the game (After Larsson's goal/at half time.) Very stupid. The guy was the Rangers shirt actually made my night. It was absolutely hilarious The days of planning were obvious and the moment carefully chosen. I'd say the Celtic fans found it amusing also, as they were winning comfortably. He may have made a fool of himself by wearing that cap but it was certainly a mood-lightener.

Well what can I say? Awful? My first trip to Ewood was marred by a pathetic performance by our 'men.' Celtic's 'boys' had little trouble containing two strikers with brick wall touches, an unimaginative midfield and a starved for service Damien Duff. Cole and Yorke were feckin' awful. Constantly playing with their backs to goal, totally unable to find each other, their team mates or get a meaningful shot off (Cole's disallowed effort exempted.) I'm very down due to the totally inept show put on by a team that is supposed to be full of attacking verve Souness was quoted after the game as saying that Celtic had 2 lucky breaks. What rubbish, they did us over like a dead donkey. We were shocking. On a side note I must say that Ewood is an absolutely fantastic stadium. No wonder you all chant Jack Walker's name (for that alone.) Those Dingle muppets can only dream of having such a set-up. Also Blackburn is nowhere near as bad as all the nay-sayers make it out to be The drive in was very pleasant. Mind you we had just been in Preston.

That has to be MTV's worst show.

Matt Jansen, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and Damien Duff. Dear dear these Scots are good for a laugh.

Well considering their massive squad and penchant for buying anything with a pulse that's quite a hard job. You can hardly expect to get a game when you are competing with Rangers captain and idol Barry Ferguson for the midfeild role. Tugay is a quality international midfield play-maker pure and simple.

No actually it holds 31,000. Obviously you have grown used to playing mickey mouse teams in your behemoth of a stadium. We outplayed Celtic for the entire game although admittedly you did the important thing and won. We won't be so wasteful at home and you can only dream of having an attacking ensemble like Cole, Jansen and Yorke to support the one man show that is Henrik Larsson. And as for your comments about Tugay; don't be stupid. He single handedly dominated your entire midfield; Rangers reject? He's slightly better than that.

Well that's actually true.

Very true. Some of the Celtic supporting scum that inhabit parts of Belfast are not exactly good ambassadors for the club.

I heard Rangers were looking into F-16s due to their ability to consistently hit the target.

Watch out for the Parisiens indeed. Scary people. :'>

It is very scary indeed. I mentioned before having to walk back through it and the Blue part of the East-end a couple of years back The only colour on the landscape consists of the ubiquitous tricolours dotted around all the houses. The Gorbels is on the way in, you should stop and have a look

Story? it's true I tell you I'm not coming over to Glasgow but I am going to Ewood for the 2nd leg. Polmikcfc, as far as I know Rovers do have a large following over here in Ireland. They would have less than the big three clubs but more Irish support than many of the other Premier League teams.

Well my dad wrote a book about the legendary Belfast Celtic and brought some of the old players over to meet O'Neill who knows a number of them. Coming from a Celtic family, the whole thing was like a trip to bloody Mecca. The atmosphere was alright yeah, :'>

Fair enough. Surely though the crowds would be an incentive for their going there.

Without wanting to cause offence to anyone, Celtic Park is located in the middle of a huge area resembling Kabul. You can get a taxi out there but they won't come in for you of their own accord. Two years ago I ended up walking three miles back to the hotel after the St.Mirren championship game, through Glasgow's east-end. It certainly reminded me of home. I quickly discovered that our blue and white colours would be very welcome all year round in certain 'pubs' in that area.