Celtic

On St. Valentine’s Day, Glasgow Rangers FC entered administration with the once great club owing somewhere in the region of £75 million to £100 million. This weekend their Old Firm rivals, Celtic, were given their first real chance to revel in the demise of their greatest enemy. Sad to say, they did not disappoint.

Rangers capped off the worst week in the clubs 140 year history by losing 1-0 at home to Kilmarnock. The ignominy of such a desperate defeat really put the icing on the cake of what has been a trialling week to put it mildly.

As the Gers week was coming to an end, Celtic and their fans travelled to Edinburgh to take on, another of Scotland’s great clubs, Hibernian, full in the knowledge that three points would all but guarantee another SPL title now that Rangers have been docked 10 points for entering administration.

The Bhoys hammered Pat Fenlon’s relegation threatened side 5-0 to move Celtic 17 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

Celtic’s fans, perhaps, given their history together, understandably, took great glee in expressing some schadenfreude at Rangers expense.

Banners were hung from all corners of Easter Road celebrating the demise of Rangers title hunt this year and perhaps their demise altogether.

One banner, stretching across over 50 seats read “We’re having a party as R*NG£RS die,” while others were simply emblazoned with “HMRC” across Irish tricolours and as sponsors of fake Celtic jerseys that surfed the jubilant crowd.

Why Celtic fans would use an asterix instead of the ‘a’ in Rangers is beyond me, perhaps they could not bring themselves to write their rivals name. However, given that the rivalry between the two teams is so entrenched in sectarian hatred towards each other it is somewhat ironic to see “Her Royal Majesty’s Revenue and Customs” written across Irish flags given the history shared by the clubs.

To say that there is hatred between the supporters of Celtic and Rangers would be something of an understatement in every meaning of the word. They don’t hate each other, they despise each other. While they are a great many rivalries in the world of sport it is hard to imagine so entrenched in venomous bile towards the other.

Since their formations, Rangers and Celtic, in 1872 and 1887 respectively, have battled for the hearts and minds of supporters both near and far from Glasgow.  Rightly or wrongly both clubs have become symbols to their respective following. Rangers, the Gers, have come to represent the Protestant community while Celtic has come to represent the Roman-Catholic community.

Ironically, neither side is especially associated with Scotland as far as flags and banners are concerned as Celtic’s fans have taken to waving Irish flags of green, white and orange, a symbol of republicanism and the IRA during “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland while Rangers fans have taken to waving the Union Jack flag, which is also a symbol of Unionists and the diametric opposites of “republicans” in Northern Ireland.

There are, of course, historic reasons for the split between the two sets of fans and clubs.

Northern Irish Protestants of today are direct descendants of Scots who settled in Northern Ireland in the early 1600′s when King James VI organized the “Plantation of Ulster” whereby his Scottish supporters were rewarded with land in the province which had been taken from taken from Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell. This action, in turn, led to the “Flight of the Earls” and another seminal moment in Irish history.

With, the previously uncontrolled land of Ulster now firmly in the hands of English and Scottish immigrants they set about creating farms and villages and trying to convert Gaelic speaking Catholics to Protestantism.

However, the gulf in language, as neither group spoke the others tongue, resulted in this conversion being an unmitigated disaster.

From there, it comes as no surprise to find that war broke out quite frequently during the mid 1600′s with both sides committing atrocities upon the other.

By 1653, following a rebellion known as “The War of the Three Kingdoms” there were no catholic land owners left in an Ulster where 80 percent of the population was indigenous Catholics.

In the late 1600′s Scotland suffered a famine whereby thousands of people then fled to Ulster. This mass migration lasted for over 25 years and by 1720 the catholic population of Ulster was now in the minority.

Relations between the two groups improved somewhat over the next 140 years with people now openly calling themselves Irish-Scots or vice versa and in general Ulster was quite prosperous when compared with the rest of Ireland.

All that was to change with the Irish Famine between 1845 and 1849.

The main crop in Ireland at the time, potato, failed and as blight, bad weather, impossible living conditions, landowners shipping good food out of the country and a Whig government that seemed indifferent to the suffering the population of the country was faced with two choices; stay and take your chances with dying or leave and take your chances with living.

People left the country in droves and settled right across the world. 500,000 travelled to Britain with huge communities sprouting up almost overnight in cities like Liverpool, Manchester, London, Birmingham and Glasgow. Over one million people fled to America alone with one in seven dying on the “coffin ships” on the voyage over. In the end, the famine accounted for an estimated 800,000 lives with another 1.5 million people emigrating alone. Thus, in the space of just four years, Ireland’s population dropped from an estimated eight million to 6.5 million and has been dropping ever since.

The problem with Britain, when the emigrants arrived was that it was just entering a period of recession and all of a sudden there was a mass of people who were literally willing to work for food alone never mind reduced wages.

As many Irish people took jobs all over the country, but especially in Glasgow where a distrust of the Irish populace existed from recent history in Ireland and in Scotland with the Reformation, there was an obvious division between the indigenous and the immigrants or the Protestants and the Catholics if you like.

40 years later and with the divide in Glasgow between the two groups visible Rangers and Celtic were born.

Celtic, created as a charitable organisation by Brother Waifrid to improve morale amongst Catholics, immediately became a way for Irish-Scot’s to express their Rashness whereas Rangers, under the stewardship of John Ure Primrose, in the early 1900′s, immediately became the voice for overt anti-Catholic institutions.

In short, the two clubs became important symbols to two very different sections of society that had been in one kind of conflict or another with each other for over 300 years.

Derek Johnstone, ex-Rangers player and Rangers commentator was slightly less subtle when describing the difference between the supporters.”It’s all about bigotry,” he said. “If you are a Roman Catholic then the only team to follow is Celtic and, of course, if you are a Protestant it is Rangers…”

To further emphasize this point, ex-Celtic player Peter Grant basically mirrored Johnstone’s controversial views when he said “there’s definitely Celtic areas and there’s Rangers areas. There’s pubs you’d go into and pubs you wouldn’t go into and that’s both as supporters and players. There’s definitely that divide and there’s an acceptance there.”

Most sports clubs are lucky if they have a rivalry that goes back 20, 50 or even 100 years but Celtic’s and Rangers differences go back almost 400.

Since the two clubs were formed in the last decade of the 1800′s they have played each other an amazing 397 times. They have become a cornerstone in the tourism industry, never mind the sporting world, where they have helped contribute almost £1 billion to the Scottish economy in the last 20 years alone.

The relationship shared by the two clubs is almost unique in world sport as not only are they are heavily reliant on each other but the entire Scottish footballing family is also supported by the big two.

Take the SPL for example, at present Rangers owe around £75 million to £100 million depending upon which report you read and Dunfermline AFC some £80,000.

£80,000 is not a small amount of money but when a club issues a statement saying they are worried they will not receive the said sum you have to stand up and take account of what an impact Rangers going out of business would have on the league as a whole.

This immediately makes you understand that the wider impact of Rangers ceasing to exist will have severe ramification for all in Scotland’s football family.

The SPL is, at the moment, a 12 team league with each team playing each other a possible four times. I say a possible four times because the SPL employs a strange fixture system whereby each team plays each other three times, resulting in 33 matches. The league is then split in two, a top six and bottom six, and the teams in each side play five games, one against each other, to bring the game total to 38.

The main reasoning, as far as I can see it, is so that each team from the remaining ten gets to play Rangers and Celtic at least six times a season and thus guarantee a sell out crowd each time.

Ground wise, the capacity of teams in the SPL ranges from 7,500 with Inverness to 22,000 at Aberdeen. Celtic guarantee 60,000 each week at Celtic Park with Rangers pulling in 50,000 at Ibrox. The two Glasgow teams are easily the giants of the domestic game with all other teams sharing a symbiotic relationship with them.

Their closest relationship, however, is with each other.

No, Celtic do not need Rangers to succeed as their Chief Executive recently said, but they do need their rivals, to survive, to push them to greater glories because without Rangers in the league there is simply no other team to compete with.

No one else can match Celtic in terms of wages, structure or support, only Rangers.

Without them the league is in dire straits. Celtic, who only recorded a profit of £180,000 last year, in a league with Rangers, has already gone on record to say they are financially sound but if their profits are so low one shudders at the rest of the SPL.

In a 2009/10 report by Price Waterhouse Cooper, only two teams in the SPL were operating on a positive financial footing, Falkirk and Hamilton.

This speaks volumes about the levels of debt in the SPL and how losing Rangers could be catastrophic. To further exemplify this recent revelations that the SPL TV may become null and void if Rangers are relegated have really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons.

This would have a double whammy effect on every team in the SPL, Celtic included, regardless of their statements that the club is on a financial sound footing. If Rangers are relegated, as some now expect, and are found guilty of “financial doping” then every team in the SPL will lose out on playing the giants three times a season and with it at least three full houses.

Then on top of that each club will lose out of television revenue which will also cause them to curtail further spending in a league that is already struggling to escape debt despite being one of the most watched in Europe.

Celtic’s fans may not like to hear this but they are joined at the hip with Rangers, and they both share an umbilical with the rest of the league.

Each clubs immediate survival is not in question but should Rangers cease to exist or cease to offer competition then every clubs footballing future comes under scrutiny, Celtic’s included.

Without their rival, Celtic will never compete at the highest level in Europe again and they will drift further off the pace as far as European competition is concerned. Without Rangers, Celtic will canter to almost every SPL title without fail and they won’t even need to sign top class players to do so. Without Rangers, Celtic will have no derbies and Glasgow will have no football tourism worth speaking about.

They will be able to achieve this by marginally spending more than their chief rivals who could turn out to be Hearts or the last team to win a Scottish League title, other than Rangers or Celtic, Aberdeen. The Dons were the last club to challenge the elite in Scotland when they won the title in 1985. Since then every title has gone to Glasgow without a challenge such is the gulf in finances between them and the rest.

The time has come for Celtic and Rangers rivalry to begin anew. One based of football rather than sectarianism.

As Rangers future hangs in the balance, each set of fans and members of each club must ask themselves; would we have achieved as much without our rivals?

Would Celtic have won the European Cup in 1967 without Rangers pushing them all the way to the league title?

Would Rangers celebrate the “nine in a row” without Celtic?

Would either team be able to enjoy the pleasures one can only understand after a derby win over your greatest rival without them?

It is here and now that fans have to recognise that what happened in the past is gone. Time has moved on. Life, through a strange particular quirk of faith, has given them the opportunity to support a team with a back history that would make for epic reading never mind viewing.

To put it simply, Celtic need Rangers as much as Rangers need Celtic.

But when all that is said and done the fans of each support eleven men who chase a bag of air around a field.

Life is too short to take sport too seriously. It can be a valuable symbol. It can inspire whole nations, but it is not worth fighting over.

With this Saturday's loss to sixth-place Kilmarnock, Glasgow Rangers capped off one of the most disappointing weeks in the club's 140-year history. The descent into administration, the SPL's block of the proposed Daniel Cousin's signing, and police inquiries have left owner Craig Whyte hiding in London and an organization reeling.

Yet as scandal upon scandal greeted the resolute Ibrox faithful this week, their rival Celtic has surged with confidence and it's supporters seem to content to bask in their fellow Glaswegian team's financial tribulations. A resounding 5-0 victory over Hibernian at Clydesdale Bank Stadium today has first-place Celtic ready to claim the SPL title.

But aside from the financial drama of the Ibrox fallout and the looming job security anxiety, the state of the Celtic-Rangers rivalry itself is in jeopardy. Even if Rangers can survive administration and remain intact, the damage to this furious rivalry could irreparably weaken Scottish football.

Beginning in 1888 when the teams first faced each other, religious differences and social fissures drove a powerful schism through Glasgow's football community that endures over a century later. The "Old Firm" rivalry has become completely enmeshed in Scotland's economic solvency, generating nearly 120 million pounds annually, according to a 2005 BBC report.

While the Rangers catastrophe was hardly unexpected, with the writing on the wall visible for some time now, the level of incompetence at the highest levels of the organization has been alarming. Seemingly plunging in a downward spiral since the new owner took control of the team last May, manager Ally McCoist said yesterday that he supports the Scottish Football Association's independent investigation into the inter workings of Rangers in Whyte's regime. 

Although it has been tempting for Celtic fans to walk with a knowing smile on their faces this week, it is important to keep in mind their own side faced a similar situation in 1994, as the club was thought to be 5 million pounds in debt. After last minute heroics by Fergus McCann, the club avoided bankruptcy and survived the crisis. Let us hope that Rangers can do the same.   

Celtic and Rangers have met 397 times in their respective histories. Since 1985-86, no team has taken home the Scottish League title other than a member of the Old Firm. This type of dominance not only shows their importance within Scotland but also speaks to their international significance. With fans across Europe, particularly in Ireland, the Old Firm teams in many ways embody Scottish football. And as Rangers teeter on the brink of disaster, football fans should be holding their collective breath.

Imagine the New York Yankees without the Boston Red Sox or the Boston Celtics without the Los Angeles Lakers. Those rivalries in many ways define their sports. The same holds true for the Old Firm.

Amidst the turmoil and chaos, Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell said last week that his club "doesn't need Rangers" to remain economically secure. While Celtic are operating on a sound financial base at the moment, Lawwell has missed the point entirely. Without Rangers, Celtic are bereft of a measuring stick to gage their own talent. Without Rangers and the Old Firm, Celtic have no way to define themselves. However, most importantly, if the Rangers-Celtic rivalry fizzles, where is the fun?

While the score at Tynecastle last night looks lopsided, it might have been a completely different result in another world. After a positive build up, Hearts earned a corner kick after just two minutes of play. On the ensuing play into the box, the ball bounced around and eventually found Stephen Elliot's head. Celtic keeper Fraser Foster valiantly flicked the ball before it reached the back of the net, but the Hearts players celebrated as the ball appeared over the line.

With no signal from the line judge, Celtic moved the ball up the wing quickly and found SPL player of the month Scott Brown for a confident strike into the back of the net. Hearts fans were apoplectic. Players were incensed, but the scoreboard read 1-0 in favor of Celtic.

From that point on, the leaders of the Scottish Premier League appeared relentless, putting in two more goals before halftime. Twenty-year-old Victor Wanyama demonstrated prolific ball control in his 20th-minute blast form 10 yards, and Joe Ledley made the rest of the match irrelevant with his 31st-minute open net header from a Georgios Samaras cross.

While the disallowed goal seemed mentally debilitating for Hearts, Celtic were on top form from the opening whistle and played like league-leading squad. The win was Celtic's 13th SPL win in a row and more importantly increased their lead over Rangers to four points. 

The result was understandably disappointing for Hearts, a team trying desperately for a late-season surge to move out of fourth place in the SPL. Hearts manager Paulo Sergio accepted responsibility for the loss, but lamented the missed call on his team's apparent goal.

"We could have scored the early goal and lost 6-1," Sergio said. "I can't say we win if the goal was allowed but you have to agree the game is different and harder for Celtic if they are behind." Still, Sergio added, "I have to say, for everybody, this defeat is my responsibility."

The loss exacerbates an already tumultuous week for Hearts as their starting goal keeper, Marian Kello defiantly announced his strained relationship with the club and HM Revenue and Customs has issued an ultimatum regarding unpaid taxes. Hearts have an opportunity to regroup on Saturday against Kilmarnock.

For Celtic, the result serves as further confirmation of a special season. Manager Neil Lennon's side look to continue their dominance against Hibernian this weekend.

Celtic's under-19 side finished off their NextGen series of matches in real style on Wednesday evening, with a classy and dominant victory over French super-club Olympic Marseille.

There was no chance of progression in this tournament for the Glasgow side, as Barcelona and Marseille had already qualified for the knockout stages; this didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Hoops players, as they completely dominated their French counterparts from start to finish in this final Group 1 match.

From the first kick of the ball, the home side pushed for the opening goal with wave upon wave of attack penetrating the Marseille defence.

However, it was the visitors that should have broken the deadlock when a slack defensive back-pass by the Celtic back line allowed Marseille a break on goal. Marseille failed to capitalise on their fortunate opportunity, and the game remained goalless.

Despite Celtic's dominance, it was Marseille that looked more like scoring when they broke forward. And but for a tremendous save by the Celtic keeper, Marseille would have taken the lead from a brilliantly struck shot from 20 yards out.

Celtic continued playing a slick passing match and nearly struck gold with a well-manufactured move on the edge of the box that ended with a jinking wee back-heel that eluded the defence. But, the Marseille goalie spotted the move and raced out to save at the feet of the Celtic player before he could pull the trigger and unleash his shot.

It was Filip Twardzik that was running the show for Celtic, and he thought he had scored his side's first goal when he picked up a ball from a rebounded effort after a corner. However, as he ran to celebrate his strike, the referee noticed his near-side assistant standing with his flag up, and the offside decision was called.

Minutes later, the midfielder again went close when he rose at the back post to head goalwards, but watched in agony as his header rebounded against the post and was cleared by the French defence.

Up the other end, Christophe Lowinsky unleashed a dipping, curling thunderbolt snapshot from at least 30 yards out that nearly caught Robbie Thompson out in the home goal, but the young keeper somehow managed to get a hand on it to knock it over and out of danger.

It was a stark warning that the French team—although being outclassed—were still capable of counter-attacking football that struck right at the heart of the Scottish champions.

However, right on the stroke of halftime, Twardzik stepped up yet again to head home; this time, he was onside to give his side the lead as they headed into the break.

The second half started where the first finished off, with the Celtic team on the front foot. And as their constant attacking plied pressure on the Marseille defence, kinks started to appear, and more chances were being created.

As these chances mounted, it appeared it would just be a matter of time before Celtic added another goal. Despite three glorious chances in quick succession, Marseille seemed to be holding out and giving themselves every opportunity to claw themselves back into the match.

Celtic had other ideas, though, and 10 minutes into the second period, a second goal was added when Lewis Toshney met a Marcus Fraser cross from the left wing to slot home from close range, much to the delight of his teammates.

Dylan McGeouch was close to adding another, but an inspired save from Julien Fabri in the Marseille goal dumbfounded all that were watching, as the shot looked goal-bound, and deserved the applause that resounded around Celtic Park for his efforts.

His goalkeeping skills were put to the sword, though, when Paul George added his side's third with a well-powered strike from outside the box that ended the match as a competition.

As the match drew to a conclusion, the Marseille players' frustration caused them to react accordingly and perhaps rather harshly. They lost two players to red cards, but by this time, the game was over for their team, and the remaining players played out the time left on the clock without further incident.

This was a tremendous performance for the Scottish side, and although progression wasn't possible, it proved that the youngsters can cut it with the best youth sides in Europe.

Marc Roseblade is a contributor for Bleacher Report, Ayr United Football Academy and NotJustScottishFootball. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

It was another intriguing weekend in the SPL.

Celtic ground out a 1-0 victory over Dundee United whilst Rangers laboured to a 2-1 win over Dunfermline, thanks only to a Jelavic penalty which new signing Sone Aluko had dived to win.

Celtic have now won five games on the bounce and have shortened Rangers' lead at the top from 12 points to just four.

But the question is, can Lennon's men overhaul their biggest rivals?

The Bhoys' revitalisation began after they clawed back from a 3-0 halftime deficit versus Kilmarnock to draw 3-3.

A victory in the Europa League also boosted morale at Parkhead, and the East End side are still in with a chance of making it to the knockout stages of the competition.

Unbelievably, Georgios Samaras has also found some form and has helped Celtic to their last two league victories. It seems that Lennon's strong words from a few weeks' ago have spurred his side on.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Glasgow, Rangers have been on a seemingly downward spiral.

After grinding out some unconvincing wins in recent weeks, the men from Govan lost their first game of the season last Sunday against Kilmarnock and seemed short of ideas against strugglers Dunfermline at the weekend.

Rangers are currently embroiled in the middle of a £50 million tax case with HMRC which could see the club go into administration, and it looks like this is playing on the minds of some of the players.

The likes of Steven Whittaker, Maurice Edu and Gregg Wylde have struggled in the past few games.

So, if things continue the way they're currently going, then Celtic can definitely catch up then overtake Rangers in the race for the SPL title.

But as we've seen time and time again this season, absolutely nothing is certain.

Illicit chanting or football banter?
Sectarian/Political or Offensive?

It's the question that has split Scotland in two over the past week or so after a section of Celtic "supporters" were reported by Strathclyde Police whilst singing their songs during the recent Europa Cup match against Rennes at Celtic Park.

The Strathclyde Police match commander that night notified the UEFA delegate about offensive chants made by some fans during this match.

Just to be clear, Celtic's rivals Rangers have already been investigated and fined by UEFA over sectarian singing, so this isn't a witch hunt aimed at just one side of the old firm.

This is a genuine problem that has blighted Scottish football for years, and for any fan to deny it happens must either be deaf or part of the singing parties that join in when the songs are started and are oblivious to the offence they are causing.

Celtic's Green Brigade have been blamed for much of the offensive behaviour that takes part within the Celtic ranks and—although they bring some much needed atmosphere to the stadium bowl—most of their actions are seen as anti-football related, with the majority of Celtic supporters agreeing that there is no place for their behaviour within Celtic Park.

Songs glorifying the IRA have no place in football, no place in our society and need to be eradicated.

Only last month, Celtic's chief executive Peter Lawwell urged this section of the club's supporters to stop singing pro-IRA songs when addressing the annual general meeting at Celtic Park.

"Chants glorifying the Provisional IRA​ are totally unacceptable," Lawwell said. "It is an embarrassment to the club; we don't want it, we don't need it."

As featured on the bbcscotland website, Lawwell said the club did not want to be associated with unacceptable chanting.

"One, it is wrong, and it is an embarrassment to the club and embarrassment to the majority of supporters," he said.

"We were inundated by complaints from our own fans after the game at Tynecastle [on 2 October].

"We have dealt with it at Celtic Park and we will do all we can to make sure it doesn't happen home or away."

For Scottish football to be accepted as a forward-thinking, modern sports-orientated environment that is seen as a tolerant society, no form of offensive behaviour should be acceptable.

Racism, sectarianism, sexism or nationalism are not subjects that should be discussed or glamorised at a football ground. Ours is a multinational, multi-race, multi-religion country and any sort of chant that would offend players, fans, officials or police should not be tolerated.

The instance mentioned above has been passed off as "political" chants by the supporters involved, with the fan groups claiming that Rangers are sectarian whereas the Celtic fans singing the offensive nonsense are "political."

This "political" stance is rubbish and the majority of Celtic fans know it.

They are fed up with this offensive singing, they are fed up with the "we are being picked on" claims and they are fed up with being made out to be "paranoid" with every decision that is aimed at them.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon​ spoke to the Scottish Sun asking the fans to stop.

"It's important that we put a general message out that these chants have no place around our club. To be honest, we are better than that as a club and we always have been, we just don't need it.

"We are and always have been a club open to all and we do not have issues around sectarianism.

"We have our own values and traditions but they do not include these chants.

"We don't want them at matches and they MUST stop."

Read Neil Lennon's full interview here: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/

The Celtic fans involved have been quick to point fingers, but for all the wrong reasons.

Like the Rangers fans before them that were criticised and fined for this behaviour, they seem more intent on who the people that pointed the finger at them were, when the more important and bigger issue should be looking at themselves for their vulgar behaviour.

They seem to be missing the point: it's not who pointed the finger, it's the reason why the finger was pointed in the first place that should bother them. If they think that this reprehensible behaviour is acceptable in today's society, there is no hope for any of us.

UEFA will meet on December 8th in Nyon to decide if there is even a case to answer against Celtic.

Until then, the "banter" between both sides of the Old Firm fans will continue with both sets claiming that each one is worse than the other.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report & Not Just Scottish Football. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

 

On a freezing cold night at Celtic Park, the NextGen series rolled back into town to help showcase the talents of Europe's best under-19s. Tonight it was Manchester City's turn to visit Scotland's league winners from last season.

It was foggy in Glasgow but it didn't subdue the effort or skill shown by the players on the pitch in a hotly contested battle between two enterprising teams.

Celtic were the better of the two sides throughout and two first half goals put the Scottish side in the ascendancy, one from which they would ultimately not lose.

The first came from an exceptional piece of skill on 33 minutes from Dylan McGeoch. He ducked and dove his way past four defenders, sending a daisycutter of a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner. City's Tom Halshall didn't have a chance.

Celtic compounded the English side's woes by scoring another right of brink of halftime.

From a corner on the left, captain Marcus Fraser found himself in space on the edge of the six-yard box. He controlled the ball before squeezing it in at the near post much to the delight of 2,500 fans that braved the cold to support their side.

The second half saw Manchester City push themselves more into the match. They lacked the killer touch up front despite the best efforts of midfielders Joan Roman & Albert Rusnack in providing space and opportunities.

Rusnak managed the breakthrough for the visitors on the 75th minute. After a short spell of pressure, he found some space on the edge of the box and placed home a well struck shot into the top right hand corner of the goal, giving his side a lifeline going into the last 15 minutes.

The equalizer never materialised for City and the Celts welcomed the three points in a tight group that sees them next visit Barcelona on November 24th before welcoming Marseille on December 7th.

Marc Roseblade is a contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first hand unless otherwise stated.

Celtic's Next Generation Defeat Manchester City in Foggy Glasgow

After the early kick off at East End Park ended with a four goal victory for Rangers, Celtic were under pressure to earn three points to keep them within only the four points of the league leaders.

Expectations were high going into this match, especially after last week's defeat by rivals Rangers with the fans willing to accept nothing less than three points and a good performance.

The fans were to get the victory they desired, but the performance was less than exhilarating from most of the players on the field.

Even the two goals that were scored were made on the break and against the run of play with the visiting Inverness side showing promise and threat especially through Gregory Tade every time they attacked.

Celtic's back line looked decidedly dodgy during all 90 minutes of play, with keeper Forster looking like he needed to swallow some Xantac to calm his nerves with some poor back passes, skewed clearances and scary miss hit kick outs. The keeper also managed to slip on more than one occasion when trying to clear the ball which placed him, his teammates and the fans on edge whenever the ball was played to him.

Such was the performance of the keeper that the fans cheered rather ironically in the last minute of the match when he came to gather the ball from an Inverness corner, managing to hold onto it and without slipping or falling.

It has to be said, though, that the atmosphere at the stadium was one of the weirdest I have ever witnessed.

With talk of standing areas, flag waving bans, swearing embargo's, movement bans within grounds and general support malaise spreading through the ranks of football fans everywhere, some of the Celtic fans took the decision to stay silent for the first 45 minutes deciding instead to unfurl banners in defiance which were aimed at the police, the Scottish Government and power brokers within Scottish football.

As a neutral within the stadium, it was all very weird. Even Celtic fans around me found it a little weird, unsure of what to do and when to sing or even if they should sing. It was bizarre and slightly surreal!

The weirdness kicked into high gear in the second half with fans appearing to seem content with amusing themselves with singing and pointing at each other from opposite ends of the stadium rather than support their team. This seemed to transfer onto the field with the players seemingly bemused by the strange supporter banter that was being held in the stands.

Weird support aside, the two goals were made purely from counter attacks with both strikingly similar.

The first came from Joe Ledley when an Inverness attack was broken down with the ball being played into the attacker as he bolted up the field to meet the ball outside the box to stroke the ball home under the keeper into the bottom left hand corner to give his side the lead.

The fans seemed happy and were to become further enthused when only five minutes later they added another with an almost carbon copy of the first, this time it was young James Forrest that was to hit the net doubling his teams lead.

It seemed that the Glasgow side would go on from this to add a few more but the goals were never to materialise for Neil Lennon's men as they struggled to force their will on the match with countless mistakes and barely any standout performances.

The introduction of Mohamed Bangura up front for the home side seemed to pick up the pace with his speed and willingness to chase the ball in search for another goal.

The game ended with only the two goals but the fans left happy with the three points, keeping up their city rivals as the season keeps going.

This week sees Celtic back in Europa cup action on Thursday night at Celtic Park against Italian side Udinese. For their own sake, and for the sake of their fans, let's hope they can play better than they did in their first match against Atletico Madrid.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

Last week, Celtic were reinstated into the UEFA Europa League after a successful protest against FC Sion, which claimed the Swiss side had fielded ineligible players.

However as expected, the Swiss Cup winners have launched an appeal against the decision. So the question now is, how likely are Sion to succeed with their appeal?

Background:

2008 - FC Sion sign Egyptian international goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary without the permission of his current club Al-Ahly. This lead to FC Sion being awarded a ban from registering players in the next two transfer windows.

2009 - After an appeal from FC Sion, FIFA decides that the transfer ban should stand up to and including the 2011 summer transfer window.

Summer 2011 - FC Sion, despite FIFA's transfer ban sign five new players: Gabri, Jose Goncalves, Mario Mutsch, Billy Ketkeophomphone and Pascal Feindouno. Despite initially not being allowed to play, FC Sion (and the players themselves individually) took their case to the Civil Court in Switzerland. As a result of the verdict, the Swiss FA began to allow the players to play in the Swiss Super League.

5 Aug 2011 - FC Sion drawn against Celtic in the UEFA Europa League Playoff Round.

18 Aug 2011 - FC Sion hold Celtic to a 0-0 draw at Parkhead. Prior to the match, UEFA warned FC Sion they faced expulsion from the competition if they fielded ineligible players. Despite this warning, all five potentially ineligible players were included in the squad for the Celtic match. Two of them started, with another two coming on as substitutes. Celtic lodged an appeal following the match.

25 Aug 2011 - FC Sion win 3-1 against Celtic in Switzerland. Four of the potentially ineligible players were included in the squad, with one of them, Pascal Feindouno, scoring two goals on the night. Celtic again lodged an appeal following this match.

2 Sept 2011 - Celtic's appeals are upheld by UEFA. FC Sion are kicked out of the UEFA Europa League with Celtic being awarded 3-0 wins in both playoff ties, and thus replacing the Swiss side in the Group Stage.

5 Sept 2011 - FC Sion launch an appeal against the decision.

Do FC Sion Have A Case?:

As mentioned earlier, FC Sion were granted permission by the Civil Court in Switzerland to field the players they signed in the summer 2011 transfer window. As such, they are maintaining this verdict should have also stood in UEFA competitions.

They are also claiming that with the Swiss courts ruling in their favour, UEFA, as an organisation based in Switzerland, are not above the law and have no right to ignore this decision.

The Swiss side are proposing that the verdict is nothing more than revenge against controversial chairman Christian Constantin for his past dealings with UEFA.

FC Sion's are also suggesting that UEFA should have informed them of the problem whenever they first submitted their squad list to register their players for the competition.

So it is clear that the FC Sion do indeed have a case with some substance to it, so should Celtic fans be worried?

In this writer's opinion, no!

Problems with FC Sion's Appeal:

FC Sion were warned of the consequences of fielding ineligible players prior to their first-leg tie with Celtic. UEFA told them that if they were found guilty of playing any ineligible players, they would be expelled from the competition. Therefore, Sion can hardly claim that they were unaware of any issues with fielding any of their 2011 summer signings.

The strongest part of Sion's appeal is the fact the Swiss Civil Court has ruled in their favour and that football is not above the law. However, as was pointed out by Richard Keys on Talksport this morning, it is above the law on this occasion.

UEFA has it's own rules and regulations that must be adhered to. If a club wishes to play in a UEFA competition it must abide by these rules. Participation in UEFA competitions is by invitation, not by right.

A quick glance at the 2011-12 Regulations of the UEFA Europa League reveals a few more problems for FC Sion's appeal:

* 2.07 To be eligible to participate in the competition, a club must fulfill the following criteria:
e) it must confirm in writing that the club itself, as well as its players and officials, agree to respect the statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of UEFA.
f) it must confirm in writing that the club itself, as well as its players and officials, agree to recognise the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne as defined in the relevant provisions of the UEFA Statutes and agree that any proceedings before the CAS concerning admission to, participation in or exclusion from the competition will be held in an expedited manner in accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration of the CAS and with the directions issued by the CAS.

Evidently, in taking their protests to the Swiss Civil Courts FC Sion are failing to abide by these rules.

In summary, I would find it very surprising indeed to see FC Sion reinstated into the Europa League. It is evident that they have failed to abide by the rules laid out by UEFA with regards the competition. They knew the consequences of playing their summer signings but ignored them.

For UEFA to go back on their decision to expel Sion would show a weakness in their ability to enforce their own regulations.

Therefore, I fully expect to be cheering on the Bhoys in Madrid next Thursday, and hopefully they can put up a better performance this time around than in Switzerland!

UEFA announced today that Celtic have been reinstated to the Europa League, subject to the expected FC Sion appeal. 

The Swiss club were ejected from the competition due to fielding ineligible players in their qualifying ties with the Glasgow side.

The Swiss side defeated Celtic over the two legs of their playoff to enter the Europa Cup League stages proper last month, but have been forced to forfeit the tie after UEFA made a ruling today relating to Celtic's protest to Sion's fielding of five ineligible players against the Scottish club.

UEFA issued a statement saying: “The UEFA control and disciplinary body dealt with the two protests lodged by Celtic FC against the validity of their UEFA Europa League play-off ties played against FC Sion on 18 and 25 August."

The Scottish club questioned the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated, with the Swiss side winning 3-1 on aggregate.

The control and disciplinary body accepted both protests and decided to award both ties to Celtic by forfeit (3-0). As a consequence, Celtic are qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage.

“We are pleased by this decision, the approach which has been taken by UEFA and that UEFA rules and regulations have been upheld," Celtic responded in their own statement. "We are also grateful for the support of the Scottish FA.”

The ruling means that Celtic will re-enter the Europa Cup in Group I along with Rennes, Atletico Madrid and Udinese, who lost its Champions League play-off to Arsenal.

Martin Lawell from Celtic said, "This group of teams are more Champions League-like than Europa Cup and we are just happy to be involved again."

Celtic will open their account in an away tie to Spanish side Athletico Madrid on September 15 followed by their first home match against Udinese two weeks later.