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Now watchin a game fae the boozer does have some benefits tae actually bein there: the beer's on tap and available and ye can watch the game wi'oot some unemployed jakey in a luminous green jacket wi a Hitler complex tellin ye tae sit doon every 2 minutes...oh aye, and ye avoid the agony of a 3 hour plus journey hame after we've been beat.
Of course there's nae such thing as a free lunch and the cost of such a pampered life is you have tae put up wi Jock 'The Cock' Broon and Stanch Hateley's commentry. Nae one for the auld 'Weejia' conspiracy nonsense, but I was screamin at the 'selective blindness' shall we say - apparently if you say a player 'used his experience there' that makes everything ok no matter how blatant the cheating.
Incidently how bizarre is it to watch grown men running up and screaming at a TV screen - I mean it's no as if the refs gonna hear ye tellin him he's an illegitimate onanist is it (and yes I was doing it too)?
Having said that, it was the first time I'd watched any Setanta output (well at least relatively sober anyway) and I was quite impressed - nae a touch on the true masters at SKY but a million miles better than last years woeful Beeb efforts anyway - though in a similar manner to Tango 'n Sash and Pele, all they had to do was make sure they didnae employ Vougie Dipond and things were always gonna be better.
Incidently why, given we've had 5 years of Martin O'Neill jumping aboot like a very camp Billy Elliott after EVERY Celtic goal, do TV companies insist on showin it... in f*ckin slo-mo for f*ck's sake! Hackneyed shots o the Leaping Leprechaun aside though pass mark for PaddyVision fae this Dandy.
And so to the game: first up an impressive display by the Celtic fans pre match which quite a few Reds in the bar noticed was awfie similar to the Red Ultra's een last week.
Further proof (if ony mair were needed) that in terms of Scottish Terrace Culture for the last quarter o a century, where Aberdeen have led the rest have surely followed. Brothers Mezz, Pie and the rest of their acolytes in the RU should be very proud of what they helped start, after all they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Ra Cellic as expected came oot all guns blazin but we held our shape and them oot, bar a last gasp Zander tackle on Big Bad Baldy John (or Triple BJ as I like tae call him) they produced nowt in the first half apart fae half chances and long shots.
So much so that after half an hour they had to resort to their patented 'fall doon for onything', wi Petrov and Thompson the main culprits. Whilst the ref desrves credit for nae caving in when both dived in the box he obviously lacked the ba's to book them for diving, which logically if they werenae fouls/pens he should have done.
That aside the masonic git had a good game though you have to ask just how many petulant shoves/barges/elbows/late challenges, and in the second half standing OVER the touchline to obstruct a throw, he can make before a referee in this country will even consider booking Chris Sutton.
We had our chances and might have been the now usual 2-0 up at half time - Richie Byrne (yes, THAT Richie Byrne...now dubbed 'Socrates'...that's ironic I think!) had a header off the line and there was a half chance right at the death - but once again our lack of a striker worthy o the name cost us.
The second half had barely began when one of them (either Petrov or Beattie) flopped for a soft free kick...into the box...Triple BJ vs Richie Byrne...well only gonna be one winner there...ball takes a bizarre bounce not seen since Scott "The" Nesbitt scored for the Blue Monkeys against Brugge a bit back...Considine knocked it over the line but it was gaun in anyway.
We almost pulled it straight back when once again 'Socrates' Byrne forgot he was pish and knocked a decent ball into the box, Chrissey pulled it back to a wide open Mackie. Now if Mackie had a decent first touch we'd have scored... but he disnae and we didnae.
After that no much to report - they killed the game and our players went down crocked, Russ wi a nasty knee when goin for a 50/50 and Superkev when he got maimed by Jackie Mac (no booking naturally). At one point we had 9 men on the park and we played the last 10 minutes wi 10...so 2-0 was a decent if predictable result. Thankfully Celtic appeared to show no interest in scorin and our goal differnece was nae put beyond repair.
Oh aye their second... Sutton just beats Russ to cut it back to Triple BJ who nips in front of Zander... 2-0.
Now I've been impressed wi Esson this year, along wi Mackie and Hart he's one of the most improved Reds this season but IMO like Preece (and indeed the incoming Langfield) he's only an adequate keeper and we're unlikely to need to increase our Brasso order wi any of that trio. We need a dominant presence in goal (think what Kjaer did) to make us truly effective. Both goals could have been stopped if we had a keeper willing to command his area....a characteristic which I dinna think any of our current selections have.
So another defeat but the UEFA spot pulse is still beating...if very very lightly. 2-0 was probably the worst result we could take and still have a chance of using oor passports next year...we got that. In the past a defeat by either of the OF would have me in a black mood for a week at least but to be honest I was more gutted by Hibs last minute equaliser on Saturday than this expected defeat.
Death or Glory next week on Easter Road....BRING IT ON !!!!
The Red Avenger