Fairbairn

That’s not been particularly easy for us in recent years though. I can’t really call it at the moment and still fancy both teams to drop points somewhere outwith the Old Firm game.

It’s a penalty for Rangers. It’s always going to be scrutinised to the nth degree regardless of how clear cut it is.

It’s a clear penalty and gets given in any other game for any other team. The insistence that he was “on his way down” is nonsense. He’s went down theatrically after the contact/foul but it wasn’t a dive. As far as I could see the ref and VAR got all the big calls correct (eventually). Was hoping for a win obviously but happy with the draw having been behind twice.

Interesting selection from Clement. Sterling for Barasic at LB is the right call for me. Lawrence over Cantwell is questionable and Scott Wright starting is always going to raise eyebrows. No McGregor in the Celtic staring XI is a massive boost for us. Can’t really call this one, can see it being a draw.

Just wait till tomorrow…..

Think it’s OK for Wednesday?

Funny how we’re always told that the English Championship is one of the toughest leagues in the world yet Mikey Johnstone, who couldn’t kick his own arse over multiple seasons for Celtic in the SPL is absolute ripping it up down there!

If that’s the state of it now there’s no way it’ll be playable for Wednesday after 90+ minutes on it today.

Second pitch inspection at 1pm at Dens. An absolute farce and no consideration for away supporters.

Watched 7 out of 10 episodes of The Offer and it’s fantastic. It’s the story of the making of The Godfather and all the obstacles they had to overcome making it (the Mafia, the studio and even Frank Sinatra!). I had no idea of the back story and while I’m sure it’s embellished it’s pretty fascinating. Miles Teller plays the lead role and there’s some excellent casting playing the likes of Pacino, Brando and some of the other real life people involved.

Kick off 12pm I assume….

And I think in the game he’s talking about Celtic got a penalty and won the game.

I’m not sure why it’s laughable? Happens anywhere else on the pitch and nobody questions if it’s a foul.

Scottish football can be really tinpot at times.

Celtic will be gutted.

Whoever it is they’re getting they need to do it pronto as they’re getting relegated at this rate.

🤣

Another home draw for Sevco 🙄

I'd have thought it was penalty against us as it was a foul. I'm genuinely baffled by this as I can't see how anyone can see it as anything other than a foul. I'll be the first to hold my hands up when I think we've got away with one but this isn't one of those instances, not even close. For the record, I think the second yellow was probably a bit on the harsh side (although I think as Ed says, if the boy hadn't just been warned by the ref for his conduct it may not have happened) but the red was also nailed on. A few people seem to think that because he didn't make full contact it's not a red but that doesn't stop it being reckless and dangerous.

It was 100% a penalty. It’s not even close to being debatable.

I'm talking about qualifying automatically for the group stages. As it stands currently Scotland are the 10th ranked team so whoever wins the league goes straight in to the group stages. If and when we drop to 11th place we technically lose that automatic group stage spot (as only the top 10 in the country rankings get it) however if Rangers win the league they would get the last group stage spot due to the new rule coming in based on club coefficient (assuming the CL winners also qualify through their group). If Celtic were to win the league they'd need to play a qualifying round to get to the group stages due to their lower club position. That's why it's in Celtic's interests for Rangers to go further in Europe so we can cling on to that 10th spot and the guaranteed group stage entry (and Celtic would still then need to win the league of course)

No, the way it's been set up for the last few years is that if the team that wins the CL also qualifies through their own league then the extra spot goes to the Champions of the 11th ranked country. We're about to drop to 11th so under the current format that would be Rangers, Celtic or whoever wins the league in Scotland. However they're changing that criteria so that rather than go to the champion of the 11th ranked country, the spot will go to the Champion of any country ranked from 11 down who has the highest individual club coefficient. Rangers are currently 10 points ahead of their nearest challengers (Dinamo Zagreb and a couple of others) so it's highly unlikely that gap will be closed. So if Rangers win the league, even if Scotland are 11th then we'd qualify automatically to the group stages. However Celtic are much further down the club coefficient rankings so if they won the league then there would be other teams ahead of them for that last spot. However, all of that is meaningless in the unlikely event that the team that wins the CL doesn't also qualify through their league (happened twice in the last 20 years with Chelsea in 2014 and Liverpool in 2005).

I know this won't be of interest to most people outside of OF fans on here but was reading about the likelihood of Scotland being overtaken buy Czech Republic and the ramifications of CL qualifying. Czech's have 3 teams left in Europe this season while we obviously only have Rangers. 2 of the 3 Czech teams will likely go out so it comes down to Viktoria Plzen vs Rangers and if VP perform better the Czech's will overtake us in the rankings. If that does happen, and Celtic win the league in 24/25 then they would need a qualifying round to reach the new format CL. However, if Rangers win the league that season they would most likely qualify due to a new rule which favours club coefficient (Rangers are currently the highest ranked team outside of the top 7 countries). So in perverse turn of events it's actually favourable for Celtic in the longer term for Rangers to stay in Europe as long as possible this season!

Good result. We didn’t offer a great deal going forward but Benfica didn’t exactly put Butland under much pressure and slightly disappointed not to get the win given they needed a penalty and an OG to score. All set for a cracker next week.

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about this seasons POTY awards. Usually there is a standout candidate from one of the OF sides but other than perhaps Butland I don't really think there is. O'Riley started well for Celtic but hasn't done much this side of the winter break. Likewise Lundstram has been excellent since Christmas but was rotten before it. Sima may have been a contender but for his injury. Looking at other teams I'd guess Miovski and Shankland need to be in contention with the latter probably being out in front. Anyone else from any other teams in with a shout? Mayo at Killie maybe?