McFaul

Probably quote the next line to be fair.

He'll not get an England cap imo. He's too clumsy. If he gets the chance though I agree he should progress his career with someone like Leeds, Burnley or Bolton, somewhere that he can get up in to the Premiership with. It wouldn't be so bad in Scotland if Rangers weren't as shite, or Hearts and Aberdeen were capable of mounting a challenge, it really is footballing purgatory but it takes the players a long time to see it because they're swept along by the fans and local media's utter delusion that they're doing something important. Back to Celtic I think the way forward for them has to be banging on the door to get in the English pyramid, or even forming a league with Scandanvian, Dutch and Belgian clubs.

The only countries you can trust are the Scandi's and the dutch. There's something annoying, corrupt or backward about virtually any other country you can think of on this side of the world, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, they all epitomise that. I remember talking to this Estonian kid in hustler pool haal in the toon, me and me mate, played him and his mate and asked him if he'd seen Rocky 4, and what he thought about Ivan Drago. When I broke, I said "YOU WILLLL LOOOOOOOSE" like Drago, and he just looked at me with a blank expression like I was a cunt. That sums them up for me. I went to France 98 and Euro 2000, I won't go to another tournament till England players show they're proud to play for their country and aren't spoilt little arseholes.

People say Newcastle fans live in a bubble, and we do to a point on Tyneside, because nothing else in football matters to us, we just don't care about anything else, or who wins the Premiership or anything. The bubble Celtic fans are in, is incredible though. I'm sure if you asked any of them, they'd say their current team would be good enough to come 9th or 10th, I'd agree....in the Championship. A serious honest non-disrespectful question. Go through their squad and be impartial, who is good enough to play in the Barclays Premier League of these: 1 GK Fraser Forster (on loan from Newcastle United) 2 DF Adam Matthews 3 DF Emilio Izaguirre 4 MF Efraín Juárez 5 DF Daniel Majstorović 6 DF Kelvin Wilson 8 MF Scott Brown (captain) 9 FW Georgios Samaras 10 FW Anthony Stokes 11 DF Cha Du-Ri 12 DF Mark Wilson 14 FW Mohamed Bangura 15 MF Kris Commons 16 MF Joe Ledley 17 FW Paweł Brożek (on loan from Trabzonspor) 18 MF Ki Sung-Yueng 19 FW Morten Rasmussen 20 MF Paddy McCourt No. Position Player 21 DF Charlie Mulgrew 22 DF Glenn Loovens 23 DF Mikael Lustig 24 GK Łukasz Załuska 25 DF Thomas Rogne 32 FW Tony Watt 33 MF Beram Kayal 39 DF Andre Blackman 40 MF Rabiu Ibrahim 44 DF Marcus Fraser 46 MF Dylan McGeouch 47 GK Dominic Cervi 49 FW James Forrest 56 MF Filip Twardzik 58 MF Patrik Twardzik 67 MF Victor Wanyama 88 FW Gary Hooper

Agreed, he doesn't get tested as much as a keeper should do because Celtic are that much better than the rest. If Celtic were say in the Championship there'd be at least 12 teams more or less on their level, and he'd have more to do and would improve.

Is the water tower open to the public? Would be a cracking view of the North East from up there.

Aye I was on the other side to this pic though, was more trees and what not, lovely country lane through there. I have to say, I was hugely impressed, the houses were massive, similar to the nice ones in Jesmond. As soon as you get to that beefeater beside the roundabout and golf driving range, the awful accents begin though It sounds bigoted, I am, I admit it, I just can't listen to mackems, they must know themselves they have a shite accent. It's just the Keith Chegwin of accents.

Aye the Keelman is good for families like, me fatha is a face in there, he absolutely loves it but it's an old mans bar, the foods pish too but it's a fantastic setting on a summers day, not for young divvies on the piss though. I was there on Saturday evening as it goes :-) Been all over mountain biking this weekend like. Saturday I did the Derwent Walk on the bike Swalwell to Consett, I recommend it to everyone. If you're biking it or just having a walk with your lass, or your kids, it's absolutely stunning. It's 11 miles like, so if you're a fat cunt give it a miss but if you're not I actually insist on yous doing it. Some lush little pubs on the way too. I went from there to Consett ( like the hills have eyes the people up there - canny enough place though) then to Stanley. Then back to Consett, up to Chopwell, got a bite to eat at the lasses in Prudhoe, then back through Wylam and back to Newcastle. Easily 60 mile there, but I loved it. Yesterday probably did 35 miles. Went through the toon, Sheilds Road, Byker, past Swan Hunters, through that little marina at Royal Quays (totally stunning that by the way with all the little yachts), had a quick pint at the porthole and got the ferry over to Sewth Sheylds. Fuck me did the weather change. From 78 degree heat, you were immersed in freezing fog, was fuckin aaful. Anyway got a bit lost, went past that big stone thing that you can see from Level 7, back in the sunshine, through this leafy village, not sure what it was called but was amazed South Tyneside had somewhere so lovely. Then got some scran near a golf range, and went through to Sunderland. What a shithole as ever, even when it's sunny. Got the train back and met a few pals in the denton, I counted up I had 9 pints with me bike yesterday. Sounds like a funny way to spend a day but I loved it. Me arse feels like Jean Claude van Damme's today now though. Ye can see the fog coming in here, honestly as soon as you went in it the temperature dropped 20 degrees.

Wind your neck in calling people idiots. This is CLEARLY a sensitive subject for you. He's an average keeper, maybe not League One but Championship certainly. His albeit brief appearances for us in friendlies and howlers for the Reserves show he's never going to be top quality. His kicking his almost laughable, I seem to remember one of his hopeless kicks cost them a goal at home in a Old Firm game.

Because their ground is bigger, we had 7 or 8 sell outs, some of which we'd have got 60,000+ quite comfortably with the capacity. Celtic 50,304 Newcastle 49,935 Rangers 46,324 Year before: Celtic 48,708 Newcastle 47,939 Rangers 45,018 If we had a 60,000 capacity it's quite clear that we'd get more in, you'd get 60,000 for at least 6 or 7 games a season. I'm not even sure why you're sticking up from them, I know they have a large bigoted republican support in Belfast.... Weldy tells me it's the same with Rangers. Having said everything you have to feel sorry for the likes of Gary Hooper, he said people in England think he's Scottish. That's a damning indictment from their main striker about how pertinent they are in the English psyche in terms of stature and significance. I'm one of the few who would like to see them playing in the English league structure big time.

We were snobby towards the UEFA Cup then, attendances never went below 28-30000 too, playing teams literally nobody had ever heard of like Bnei Sakhnin. European football is the absolute pinnacle of their seasons.

No it couldn't. You're telling me people couldn't tell you who the Dutch national team keeper is (well he played last night), or two of France (one of the best 10 NTs in the world) or two of Africa's top strikers, one of whom was probably one of the most talked about strikers in Europe in the last 3 months of the season or Argentinian internationals, or a 7 time capped 20 year old Italian defender who used to play for Inter Milan or one of THE most sort after defensive midfielders in Europe valued at £25m... or..or... people in tents in Vietnam would know who they are.

I'm sure you think I'm making it up! Literally they get as much media attention as say Ajax. There's an SPL page in the pull out in the Sun, just with the results and the table. Very occasionally, normally if it's an old firm game the editorial will be two paragraphs long at the best best. 8 lines max. That's why we laugh when people go on about them being a "force", they might be in Scotland but they just don't exist in English psyche which is why we're always baffled when people talk about them in terms of being a big significant club. No one honestly knows who they are here, that's honest and you can ask anyone else.

It's all about perspective Ant. In England they get ZERO media attention, you can go a whole year without reading about them. In your country it might be different here, they're less relevant than say Crewe or Macclesfield in terms of stature and public awareness of who they are.

They're not very popular Celtic in England are they. Neither are Rangers generally. I think the general opinion right around the country is that they're a bunch of irrelevant bigoted tramps, and while there maybe some truth in that they're not all bad, same as any support there's some really canny ones, but I think if I was from Glasgow, I'd support Partick or Albion. Without any question on earth though they are without doubt the most deluded supports on earth the two of them. People in England don't notice or care but they don't understand why. When you speak to new ones up there, who d yae prefer Laynjurs or Sellik, to which I always reply, who do you prefer Newcastle or Sunderland. They're an irrelevance, who want to count. Maybe if they played in the "EPL", they would but no one cares or notices here, I can not stress that enough. If you asked the average reasonably knowledgable English football fan to name 4 Celtic players and 4 Rangers players they'd struggle.

So other than games against Rangers, the game that decided the title and the game you picked the trophy up against Hearts, you didn't get over 53,000. I don't blame Celtic fans tbh it's shit, but it's cheap to watch them.

"odd that we get more games for a silly game against St Johnstone" I mean he might be a young kid but that's just thick. The fact is you could've sold 80,000 easily for the game against Man City, probably even more when you think of their support too, but we couldn't because it was a capacity crowd. How is it odd that we can't get more than our capacity?!?! The only odd thing is that there were 3,000 empty seats at Parkhead on the day you clinched the title?

Funny how Man City and Stoke managed to sell out with those kick off times. If you wanted to go you'd go, not many people work after 6pm anyway.

Top four fans? We're third, we were second for years till Arsenal built the Emirates. In real terms of true support we're probably 4th behind Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Good post. Historically our support absolutely pisses on there's, they're like a new club, based on Irishness and catholicism in terms of support. It was on a level with say Aston Villa, which is the same sort of size club I regard them as, another over-achieving club with an European Cup. Celtic Park held 62,000 up to 1992, and generally the average gate fluctuated between 16,000 and 30,000 which isn't bad really, but the myths which are promoted about this club beggar belief. An incomparable support to ourselves in my view. As you rightly say they'd never averaged over 40,000 in the entire history of the club up to 1997, and when you think Newcastle were averaging 57,000 in the 40's and 50's it really does put their club in to perspective, on that basis alone their support can not be historically described as big, even though they had one of games at Hampden with six figure crowds like their European Semi Final against Leeds. For the size of Celtic then and now compared to the true big clubs, and the fact they come from a country of 5m people, I maintain their European Cup win in 1967 is and always will be the most astonishing achievement in club football history. Especially when you consider all of the players were from within 30 miles of Glasgow.

According to the paper this morning, he scored a last minute winner for Deportivo against Gimnastic, which has basically sealed their place in La Liga. Their president and manager both said recently they'd do a permanent deal if they went up and they are baring a miracle. I think Simpson is away personally.

There were times I felt happy about things involving him though, times like this....

:lol:

We should be signing 5 really good players this summer. There's £130k a week coming off the wage bill with just him, Simpson and Xisco alone.

As long as anyone can remember. People can say Maric, Luque, Viana, Owen, Boumsong etc... were a waste of money and they were. However nearly all of them contributed some good, or weren't in the team enough to do too much damage. 94 games for Newcastle not one goal, and the old line "he looks like someone who's won a competition to play with the first team" rings true with him. Honestly, if you had 5 Alan Smith's at the JJB against 5 me's, if we didn't win I'd never kick a ball again. He's fuckin wank. £60,000 a week, and you were praying he wouldn't be included in starting line ups for FIVE years. Unbelievable. THE WORST BUY in the clubs 120 year history bar none. As I've said before his sickening membership and public show of fake loyalty in "the players committee" in the CCC, didn't pull the wool over my eyes. The only reason for this is no cunt else would pay his disgusting £60,000 a week wage. If he had any honour he'd give at least half of the money he's pilfered from NUFC to charity.