Celticunderground:the Celtic Football Fan Podcast

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… This

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…   This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Marketing Celtic   I know, I know, all we want is a succesful team on the pitch and you have no time for all this marketing and “brand” chat that revolves around modern football and if that’s the sum total of your thoughts on marketing a football club then this podcast is not for you.  If, however, you see maximising income as the way of getting the best players in the pitch then hopefully you will find this of interest.   I look at our club as failing to communicate well with the supporters.  I therefore wonder if we are so poor at speaking with the fans, are we even worse at communicating with a wider audience, and is that poor communication impacting on the business as a whole?    Whilst I can have a view, I always think it best to ask an expert and so I asked the Managing Direcor of Sporst Marketing experts Fuse for some input.  It does help that not only is Stephen an expert on sports marketing, he’s also a huge Celtic fan.  We therefore have a marketing expert talking specifically about our club and how

And so after 17 years in the job Peter is leaving.    Peter Lawwell was first employed by Celtic as the club's Financial Controller from 1990 to 1991 under then Chief Executive Terry Cassidy. In September 2003, he returned to Celtic succeeding Ian McLeod as Chief Executive. The job title was changed for Lawwell to Executive Director, Head of Operations as many of the previous Chief Executives had performed poorly in that role.  Arsenal were interested in appointing Lawwell as their chief executive in 2008, but Lawwell rejected their approach.  Lawwell has been credited with increasing revenue, reducing debt and is considered a tough transfer negotiator. He has attracted criticism since 2008, however, as Rangers had won three championships in a row. In particular, Celtic fans cite the club's refusal to increase their offer for steven Fletcher in January 2009, after which Rangers overhauled Celtic to win the 2008/09 SPL. In 2010 it was reported that Lawwell earned a wage of more than £700,000 a year, after rece

Dear Dr Jo   This past week saw the passing of Big Shuggie Edvaldsson and formerCeltic manager Dr Jozef Venglos.   Jóhannes Eðvaldsson signed for Celtic in 1975 and made 127 appearances for the club.  He scored 24 goals for Celtic playing in defence, midfield and attack but made his name mainly as a central defender.   Dr Jozef Venglos was the first foreign born & raised manager of a club in the English top tier league(now it's the EPL): Aston Villa.  He won the European Championships at under 23 level, and then his finest moment in coaching, the full European Championship with Czechoslovakia in 1976, beating Netherlands in the semi-finals and West Germany in the Final, as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the Italia 1990 World Cup.  Appointed President of the European Coaches Union in 1995 as well as being chosen to coach European and World select teams in the 1980's and 1990's.  AT Celtic he signed the great players Lubo & Mjallby for Celtic. Truthfully, he never made a bad signing.  Disgracefu

Tell me when it’s over   And the hits just keep on coming… This past week Celtic have dropped points to Livingston twice (once to a team made up of their fringe players) and still the management team remains unchanged.  On the podcast we discuss the possible rational behind this, the issues with the players, the Livi game and of course that press conference.   As a podcast that has (at times) been very aggitated with the team - coaches and players, we try our best to take a step back and assess how and why.  We discuss the board and what we should be doing.  Tanks on the lawn with a firm statement of intent that this will never happen again.   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

What’s going on?   Who could have predicted, that going to Dubai, in the middle of the world’s worst pandemic in 100 years could end up being a PR disaster…?   Sunday night the news broke that we had a player with Covid. Then it started to come out that, due to the nature of everyone being in close proximity, 13 players and 3 coaches would be unavailable for the game against Hibs.  With perhaps a 5% chance still left of winning the league, we needed to win every game left this season and this wouldn’t give us the best chance of starting that run, yet we nearly achieved it.   Antony Murray and I discuss the game, the trip and basically ask - Celtic - What’s going on?!?   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

2020 - A Year in Review   Twenty Twenty vision was hard work - a year of two halves.  We ran away with the league until Covid came and we were robbed of the 9iar celebrations.  When won a quadruple treble and again robbed of the celebrations.  In the grand scheme of things it will be just one year of missing going to games and there are worse things happening in the world however it hurt to miss them all the same.   It WAS supposed to be a review with @antonymurray25 and @hullbhoy @stephen4_2 and myself but for a variety of reasons it was just Saint & I but we still managed to ramble on for 2 hours reviewing the seasons past and present in 2020.   Hullbhoy and Antony will be on again soon.   Meantime, please enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

I don’t want to talk about it!   The maltesers edition.   And there it was - in the 62nd minute the final flickers of the 10iar dream were snuffed out when Nir Bitton climbed all over the back of Alfredo Morelos and Madden was presented with the opportunity to reduce us to 10 men and any chnce of clawing back the huge deficit went.   It wasn’t the Bitton sending off that killed the chances of winning the league and securing the 10.  The seeds of this defeat were sowed long ago with a various key points since February 2012 when, presented with an opportunity, Celtic made the wrong choice.  The key to losing the ten was when the club decided to focus on demoestic rather than European dominance.  Set your standards low and and you achieve low.   Antony Murray and I review a game which, for the first hour, was dominated by Celtic.   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Quadruple Treble   No illiterative headlines name for the podcast - it’s a simple history making name.  The remarkable dominance of Celtic over Scottish football continues as the third and final trophyof the 2019/20 season is secured and Celtic become world beaters by securing a fourth consecutive treble.   After a first 45 mins where we looked like we would go on to score 4 or 5 it was squeaky bum time and penalties were required.   I am joined by Antony Murray and Saint Anthony to discuss why that might have been, to review the game, the players, and the unique achievement of 4 trebles.  We also (briefly) preview the Ross County game.   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Custer’s Last Stand   And the hits just keep on coming…..this week it was St Johnstone.  Where do we go from here?  Is it down to the lake I fear?   After the Ferencvaros game Antnony Murray and I were very critical of the manager and after 30 mins I got St Anthony on to be the voice of reason and calm us all down.  Since then there has been no discernible improvement in performances and so we thought we’d get Saint back on.   We review the St Johnstone game, discuss the Cektic statement, try and think why the board are thinking as they are and then discussing whether we believe that 10iar can be saved.   After the analogies of Julius Ceaser, this week it’s Cowboys and Indians.   Enjoy…(if you can) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

No longer surprising   Sorry to have such long breaks between podcasts, honestly, we’re not just waiting for defeats but I know many will be in the working every hour God sends boat at the moment and getting an hour to do a podcast is challenging.   Enough of that negativity - onto the hoops!  As you’ll hear on the podcast, Antony Murray has just been teaching Julius Ceaser and one quote from that came to mind that our coaches and board would do well to think about;   “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”   Something has to change, new coaches, new attitudes, I don’t know, but something.   Here’s hoping it’s soon.   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Count The Trophies   Following the Scottish Cup Semi-Final victory Celtic are on course for another treble - 4 in a row would be quite incredible and you would assume that everything in the garden is rosy…but it’s not.  Thursday night saw another abysmal European result for the club and another performance were body language was dreadful on and off the pitch and it was hard to believe that this is a team coached to play together.   After the Feroncvaros defeat we had an immediate post game review (more of a rant) with myself and Antony Murray, later joined by the voice of reason Aint Anthony.  This time we decided to hold off for a few days for a more taional debate.   We discuss everything and go back 8 years in reviewing where we are just now.   Enjoy…   Don’t forget that antony can be found on twitter @antonymurray25 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Success in mind   Saturday’s result and performance could have been better…!   Rather than have a knee jerk rant, I thought it would be more appropriate to have some positive thinking on the podcast and who better than the guru of Scottish positive thinking, Mr Jack Black.   I first came across Jack around 1997 when my then boss handed me some audio tapes and said - I think this will be right up your street.  The days before Apple Car Play or even in car CDs, these tapes were of Jack’s Mindstore lectures and they were a huge eye opener.  At the time he was working with Rangers and it came as a revelation to me that he is actually a Celtic fan.  Even more of a revelation was that he was a fan of our podcast and so when I discovered this I knew I had to get him on.   Work, work and more work have got in the way of late and so it’s simply a coincidence that he is on straight after THAT Rangers performance.   If you want to know more about Jack after listening you can log onto https://www.mindstore.com/   He’s al

Antony Murray brings us episode 7 of the lifetime XI series. Many listeners have been enjoying the lifetime XI series of Antony Murray.  Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and this series is coming to a close, butnot before we have at least one more episode.  This week Antony returns and we have episode 7 of the series. Enjoy... This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Celtic in the Black & White Era   There’s a new book out and St Anthony chats with the author, Steve Finan   This brand new book features hundreds of previously unseen classic Celtic photos from the glory days. Even if you know the history . . . have you seen it like this? These photos have lain hidden in archives for 40, 50 or even 60 years. They show the great events such as the European Cup triumph of 1967, Hampden in the sun, Gil Heron’s debut, the John Thomson tragedy, and the Leeds United European tie of 1970. There are also scores of behind-the-scenes photos, images of Celtic heroes of the past as you’ve never seen them, and “new” old photos of the great games. It is the ideal gift for any Celtic-minded person — nostalgia for those who remember, a chance to experience the halcyon days for those who don’t. There’s never been a Celtic book like this!   Enjoy... This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.su

Garbage   Tonight Celtic played a team who are vastly inferior to us.  They had three attempts on goal and scored with two of them.  Meantime our manager picked a starting 11 with no striker and didn’t bring one on until the 78th minute.  I get that Ajeti may not quite be fully fit and I fear Klimala not starting is because the manager doesn’t rate him.  what a s**t show   We wanted to get a podcast out and to your ears as quickly as possible and so we start with just Antony Murray and after 25 mins are joined by St Anthony.  We discuss what to do and don’t come up with solutions, just moans.   If you can, enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Viva Espana   We have had a very eventful time of things both on and off the park at Celtic since our last podcast discussing the current squad.  In that last podcast Juco James disected the pros and cons (minus the pros) of continuing to play Scott Brown.  we then had the Killie game which was the usual purgatory on plastic.  We lack creativity and gave away a stupid goal and many fingers pointed at Jullien and Brown.  After that we had the Boli 24 hour Spanish holiday jaunt.  In between we signed Ajeti.   With all this going on we needed a podcast and we needed some calm heads and so we have Hullbhoy and Duncan to discuss all this and more.     Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

Antony Murray returns to discuss the all time Celtic XI of another hoops fan.  This week Paul Rutherford picks his favourite Celtic XI with some alternative options from the norm. Enjoy... This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe

The first game of the new season has just finished with a 5-1 victory over Hamilton so if you're looking for Celtic chat, we have episode 5 of the Lifetime XI podcasts.  It's the first official podcast of our 15th season and features our old friend Lawrence Donegan. He's had plenty of time to get the pronunciations correct so hopefully no mangling. It's Antony Murray with Lawrence Donegan's best XI. Enjoy... This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecelticunderground.substack.com/subscribe