Celticunderground:the Celtic Football Fan Podcast

Celtic and our Irish heritage   This week St Anthony takes control of the podcast to discuss Celtic and it’s Irish heritage.  Saint is joined by Sean McDonagh who lecture politics and Scots/Irish history at OU.    There cannot be a Celtic fan out there who does not know some basics of the coubs formation and heritage however it is always good to get  the details from an expert in the field and Sean provides that in spades here.   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 Game Episode 6 - Udinese draw and F’ UEFA   The current situation at Celtic could be better and so our guest wanted to pick a game from happier times.  It’s the winter of 2011 and the team has had a dramatic turnaround since being 3 nil down at Rugby Park and Neil Lennon looked like being on the way out.  They pulled things back in the 2nd half of that game and started to really motor.  At the same time RFC where spiralling to their death and we were all having a right laugh on this podcast.   Our guest, Matthew Mochan was listening in and enjoying every moment and he wanted to recall a game that took him back to those fun times.   Celtic went into this game still with a chance of qualifying past the Europa League Group stages.   It wasn’t to be but we did have a very good performance in this 1-1 draw and we also had a UEFA fine because some fans unveiled a banner that said “F**k UEFA”.   Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,

Podcast Xtra   Ange & the starman   On Saturday31st July Celtic commence the new league season away at Tynecastle.  The current state of the first team squad has some fans concerned but we have the new Swede and an update on the new Japanese striker in these pre-game interviews from Ange Postecoglou and Carl Starfelt.   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

Season 16 - Let’s go round again   Baby we’re back!  Welcome to the 16th season of the world’s longets running football fans podcast.  To celebrate our new season we will have   NO new features NO new graphics NO new music NO new opinions   The podcast will be just as you like - same old usual rubbish but it’s this consistency that has kept our listener numbers the same all these years.   We really appreciate everyone who takes the time to listen or rate us on iTunes.  We don’t have any awards but then, you have to self nominate so where’s the fun in that?   CU - The podcast for the generally optimistic but occasionally midly irritated middle aged Celtic fan.   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

Welcome Ange & Dom   Today was the official unveiling of Ange Postecoglou as Celtic manager and of Dom McKay as Celtic CEO.  Both spoke very well.  Talk is cheap as the negative people say however I was very pleased with what I heard today.   No-one comes into a new job and criticises the people or the past but it’s clear, reading between the lines, that Dom wants to address the stagnation in our business model over the past 10 years and Ange will have his own people in coaching roles sooner rather than later.   We have the fan media questions first followed by the broadcast media press conference.   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 View from Down Under   Ange Postecoglou is the new manager of Celtic.  Fans are filled with trepidation about a manager with no European track record.  The pessemists are trotting out the usual “he’s sh!te3” stuff whilst the optimists are noting the exceptional level of positivity coming out of Australia for this guy.   Based upon this mixed view, I called up our friend Mike Mehall-Wood (now based down in Aus) and sought his view.   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

Ange Postecoglou First Interview   Celtic have today appointed Ange Postecoglou as the new manager of the club and we have the audio from his first interview.  Interstingly in the chat that follows with Dom McKay, he once again mentions modernisation.   It seems to be his theme and listeners to the last podcast will know we heartily agree.   Dominic McKay: Ange is an outstanding leader and an outstanding manager   Dominic McKay is delighted that Celtic have appointed an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win, and he believes that Ange Postecoglou’s vision for the future of the Club aligns with his own. In an exclusive interview with Celtic TV, the Club's incoming Chief Executive, who officially takes over on July 1, explained why the Australian manager is the right fit for the Club, and explained that he has already started working with the new Celtic manager to pave the way for future success. “I’m delighted that we’ve managed to secure Ange as the new manager of Celtic Football Club,” said Domin

An analogue club in a digital age   This week we’re back to talk about The Celtic! We will be having more of The Game series but we thought we’d take a break from that to discuss the managerial situation at the club.  First we’ve had the rejection by Eddie Howe and then the appointment of Ange (or at least the likely appointment of Ange as nothing has happened yet…).   This week we get Saint Anthony, Hullbhoy and Sean together to discuss the situation at the club.   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 Game Ep5 - Tirollercoaster   This game had everything - a new team under a new manager with a new striker scoring an og in a 9 goal thriller where Celtic were out with just 6 minutes to go.  It had a full house and so everyone who was a Tim at the time could say “I was there” but for some reason it’s never one of those games everyone talks about with reverence…and it should be.   Celtic 6 Tirol Innsbruk 3.  What a night.   The Celtic Wiki describes it as follows:   An incredible European night. A nail-biter all the way down the line finally settled by goals in the 87th and 94th minute.   It looked like Anoni was for the off. Allegedly this was all down to a training ground bust up between him and Jansen on pre-season in Holland and he had been on the injury list for some time. And just to prove it Jansen included him in the squad – so much for newspaper rumours. Surprise surprise when Bebeto was not going to be signing for Celtic. The 33 year old returned to Spain and although it was said he would return

The Game Ep4 - Boavista Away 2003   For those of us lucky enough to remember Seville it was all made possible by this night - a victory away at Boavista.  A crap game, a sclaffed shot and a penalty claim….but we were through.   Remy of ByTheMinCeltic fame joins Antony and I to share his recollections of The Game.   This is how The Celtic Wiki describes it…   With so much at stake, the opening exchanges were tentative, but Celtic settled first and created the game's first decent goalscoring opportunity. A hopeful Alan Thompson free-kick was flicked on by the head of John Hartson, allowing Larsson a sight of goal, but the Swede uncharacteristically pulled his shot wide under pressure from Eder Silveira.   Celtic were forced to bring Chris Sutton into the fray rather earlier than planned when Paul Lambert was forced off with an ankle injury with just over half an hour gone.   In the second half Alan Thompson had a fierce drive deflected wide on 70 minutes as they sought that elusive away goal. It finally came ei

The Game Ep3 - Partizan Belgrade   To this day, this is one of the most incredible games I have ever attended.  Yes I’ve been at the Barca game, the Invincibles Cup Final Game, victories and defeats at Ibrox but for utterly incredible drama few can match this game - Celtic 5, Partizan Belgrade 4.   A future Dundee Utd Manager, the dad of a future Celtic striker and a guy wearing trackie bottoms - this game had it all (all except a Celtic victory).   Antony and I are joined by Lawrence Donegan as he name drops his way through his memories of The Game.   Here’s how the Celtic Wiki describes it:   This was one of the most remarkable games ever viewed at Parkhead with an absolutely disastrous ending for a brave Celtic team.   Scoring went as follows: 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4.   With Celtic leading 5-3 and going through on aggregate with just two minutes left, Joe Miller lost the ball at the Partizan goal corner flag. A quick break down the left wing saw a cross come in and Scepovic headed it fo

The Game Ep2 - Palm Sunday   This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Palm Sunday gubbing of Rangers, a game that holds special memories for our guest Kevin Schofield as it was his first Glasgow Derby.  It was dark times for the club and these victories were smal glimpses of light.   We had beaten Rangers the week before for what became known as the ST Patrick’s Day Massacre.  That was a game that saw Rangers receive 3 red cards and so for this match, Not The View gave out red cards and Nisbet duly obliged by getting himself sent off and leaving the pitch to a sea of aforementioned red cards from the crowd.  Anton Rogan was the star of the day, scoring the opener in the 3-0 victory over Rangers in March 1991, his first against them (just day before his birthday), but he also set up the second and cleared a goal off the line.   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 Game Episode 1 - Shame Game   10 years ago this month was The Shame Game.  A silly title for a game that saw no shame apart from the terrible behaviour of the soon to be defunct Rangers players and assistant manager.  But with its notoriety and coming to the fore we thought  we’d kick off the new series with a review of that game.   Here’s how the Celtic Wiki describes it:   As one-side a match against the Huns you'll ever see. Celtic were on top throughout this game, and despite the Huns being able to break well at points, they were simply playing for penalties from early on. With injuries/resting players like Lafferty & Jelavic, the Huns were relying on some rough tactics with heavy tackling on the menu. Luckily, Celtic's pressing on fairer referees has paid off with Murray officiating well and taking to half measures. He allowed around 20-25 mins before dishing out yellow cards, and Whittaker was first to be ordered off with two yellows. Harsh the first card may have been but it wasn't for that cha

Podcast Xtra - John Kennedy & David Turnbull   Celtic are looking to engage better with the fan media and this was the first step in 2021 of that new engagement with a specially organised fan media press conference.  To be fair to the club, bringing this together is slightly more complicated than it seems.  As I’ve joked recently, there are now a plethora of podcasts and how do the club make sure everyone gets access, how do they balance this with those fans who do excellent written work but not the spoken word - do they let on every podcast and website (not matter the numbers of listeners readers).  Do they have a cut off and how do they measure that cut-off? etc etc.   Regular listeners and readers will know that we have been fortunate enough to have engagement before but it is good to have some further engagement after a little bit of a hiatus.   We have David Turnbull and John Kennedy first up, John being especially generous with his time and providing very full answers.  I have met with John before a

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