Huisdean

Agree but remeber only half the north and south stands for us and they will only open up the east stand section by section as tickets start to sell as I understand it. I am sure there will be plenty tickets for all but would be dleighted if we needed more.

I don't think this is the game to be trying out such radical changes for players and Doran is not a defender. He is far better as an attacking option. This is quite simply, a game we must win and if it means winning ugly then that has to happen. two more wins would seal third place I think so let's start tonight.

but todays sale was for season ticket holders/shareholders and fans who attended the semi. A casual fan will be able to get them when they go on general sale and there will be plenty days to get these so your comments are a bit harsh. It took me 2 hours to get mine, probably with 4 serving, may have taken an hour but this was down to several things, volume of people, people choosing where they wanted to sit and lots of people buying got groups. The two people in front of me bought in excess of 20 tickets each which did cause delays but tickets got and final here we come.

While it would have been good if tickets were cheaper, don't think we can complain too much about the prices especially the concessions. If you go to a concert, you will pay much more than this on average and for people who may only attend this game this season, prices are reasonable.

last 2 games have shown we have got back to the ability to pass our way through teams and create chances but oh how we lack a natural goal scorer. Not one of our best defensive performances yesterday although the first goal had a touch of good fortune about it. For the second, not for the first time this season have we been slow to react in the box when the ball come s back out from a save/clearance etc. Something to work on.

A bit harsh there Lawrence. Playing against the wind did have an effect on either side but to say we didn't look fit??????

It was reported on Monday or even Sunday night that the ref had consulted the goal-line assistant and linesman as to the incident with Josh. He did not see it clearly to award a foul, the goal-line assistant though it hit Josh's head, and the linesman didn't see it. That was as clear as day, they mis-interperated what happened, but did consider it could have been an offence but ruled it out as none of them knew for sure. The tv pictures show the incident clearly, but you cannot tell if he tries to save the header, you normally have your eyes open if you try to save a shot or header. It was certainly not intentional. I do remember an 'incident' earlier this season, at Kilmarnock, but can't remember who the opposition were, but it wasn't Celtic, may have been the Dons or Well. Player unsighted from ref and linesman, raised his hand and saved a shot from 8-10 yards or so. No question about being accidental, or to close to avoid, he saved it like a keeper. No penalty, and it was near the end of the game. I can remember Sportscene making a feature about it. Conclusive tv showing the player raising his hand to his right and palming the ball off the line. No Complience Officer involved for what was an unquestionable deliberate handball. That would have set a precident for the after the incident retrospective handball, not to raise it when it was extremely questionable because it was against Celtic. I do hope that the Celtic players and management after this are men, and do not lay out a Roy Keane, Graeme Souness or Scott Brown style of vengence in their last game of the domestic season. And that is why the SFA could have totally diffused this situation by simply stating, from the view of the referee and assistant, they could not tell which part of the body the ball struck so could not award a penalty. The more I see of the incident, it would have been interesting to see, had the referee spotted this whether he would have sent off Josh as he deemed it be deliberate.

Now that this has been sorted out, correctly in my view, it is time to look at who are the real villians in this matter. For me it is the SFA. If, as reported, the officials did not see the handball incident clearly enough to be sure it struck a hand, they cannot give a penalty, end of story. As I have said before, there is no conclusive TV footage that gives the view from the referee or his assistant so to use TV footage to try and retrospectively ban a player is a very gig step to take and a wrong one in my opinion. People will say the referee made a mistake on this but again, in my view he has not as he cannot be sure it was handball from where he saw the incident. That really should have been the end of the matter but the SFA, who are the real villians in this wanted a scapegoat to appease the Celtic support. How difficult would it have been for the SFA to say that "referee or assistants, from their viewpoint, did not see a handball and could not give a penalty". I do feel for the officials in this game now as they have been hung out to dry by a spineless SFA. Finally, and this is really lazy journalism, if this citing could have happened since the rules were introduced, why did someone not ask Vincent Lunny why he had not raised a case before as don't for one minute think this has not happened previously. Lunny was constantly stating rules are the rules, clubs are aware of them and citing perfectly valid so why had this not happend before. Not wanting to start a conspiracy theory but you can draw your own conclusions.

I just wonder if we will rest Meekings for this game given all he has been through and give Devine some game time.

Would have thought 12.15 would be more appropriate!! probably about an hour before the first bus or train from Inverness arrives in Glasgow You mean they have taken this into account

I have read the posts on here and the majority on P & B as well. having calmed down since Josh was first cited, I think there are a few things to consider. Despite all the camera angles that have been shown, nobody has been able to, nor will they be able to, show the exact view the officials had of this incident. Why - becasue no official had a camera strpped to their head.Unless you were physically standing where the official were, you cannot 100% say from television footage that the officials saw this. If they did not see clearly or were not a 100% sure, they cannot give a penalty. Referees should not try to second guess situations although some do. The SFA are really hanging the officials out to dry here and I do have sympathy for the officials. All the SFA needed to do was to come out with a statement that they had consulted officials and this is whay they thought happened/why they did not award a penalty. I genuinely believe the officials think they got the decision correct at the time and it must be remembered that they only get to see the incident once in real time, not on endless television replays. If Josh does get banned for this, then, as has already been said, it opens up a real can of worms for the future and could change how the game is played and viewed. While technically the Compliance officer may be within the rules, it is my understanding that these rules were brought in to basically capture off the ball or violent incidents that the referee missed/did not see and to then discipline the offenders. If the rules are badly written, then the clubs need to get them rewritten as soon as possible as the clubs agreed this. The final point has to be that if these rules have been in place for 4 years, why have they not been used for an incident like this before as this cannot have been the first time this has happened. An obvious conclusion would be because the SFA did this to shift the blame from the officials and to say, they got it wrong (but did they?), we cannot change what happened but we will ban a player retrospectively to make you/the SFA happy and look like the good guys. I rest my case m'lud

So Celtic are writing to SFA for an explanation on why a penalty was not given. Do they have no shame?. Wrong decisions happen every week to every team so man up and accept the decision. What this has done however is highlight the poor state of refereeing on show as this is the type of performance you see from referees week in week out. And by the way, Jock Stein would be birling in his grave at the way Celtic now act when refereeing decisions go against them. Sooner they leave Scotland with the other ugly sister, the better it will be for Scottish Football.

Absolutely brilliant result, made even better by the whingeing from Celtic fans about the penalty. Poor coverage on Sportsecene and Pat Nevin almost in tears as Celtic lost. As for him stating Celtic were the better team, no wonder he wears glasses. Onwards and upwards.

Astonished that some people are dropping Tansey and Doran while saying Nick Ross should keep his place and played well on Saturday. Nick Ross was neat and tidy as he always is but didn't carry the same threat as Doran does. We play a lot better with Doran in the team and he gives us a lot more options. Renegade - Doran played wide left for majority of second had on Saturday and did okay beating his man and getting crosses in so what is the issue. He can play wide on either wing and really gives us something different. Tansey is probably our best/most creative midfielder and if he is dropped, who replaces him?. Same team for me with exception of maybe Brill replacing Esson and Ofere on from the start relacing Ross or Christie.

Some very negative posts on here. On paper, we should beat Dundee but we don't play games on paper. On their day, just about every team is capable of beating each other and we have been very close to getting 3 points in a few of the drawn matches but are carrying very little luck at present. Agree with the poster that the quality is not really there in depth but if we can get something from the next two games, I would be confident we can get at least third place. What does worry me slightly is I don't think Yogi is totally sure of his best team and that could be an issue

How could he sink so low ? Maybe he is trying to tap into a new market

This has merit for the fans anyway. It wopuld also lessen the risk of clubs being relegated as a bigger league and fixture numbers remain the same so keeps the finance people happy.Will not happen though as clubs will kick back at their season being written off after 26 games if in the bottom half of the table but not in any danger of relegation. Given that we already havea 1 2team league with 3 "gig" clubs in the Championship, a 16 team league would be even better although only 30 games plus cups. Would this generate more revenue as some fans would go to more games where they pick and choose just now due to the cost?.

unless you have your tongue in your cheek, this is irrelevant although I hope Kilmarnock kick lumps out of them.

Althought not daft about playing at Hampden, you are spot on about the Saturday. It would be so easy to change and help fans attend but no consideration appears to be given on that.

I would be really disappointed if the players thought that. It is a cup semi final so wherever it is played, I would expect them to be up for it. The practice of playing both semi finals at Hampden, and for that matter Wembley is a fairly recent event and certainly a lot of fans in England are not happy at this. Think of how much more special it would be to plat at Hampden if you could only do so in the final.

I totally agree with you Wanderer but, as other s have said, the increased revenue available from a larger crowd will benefit the club more and helps sustain full time football. It will be interesting to see, especially if we win the semi if this results in increased gates for the final few league games.

Personally I would play it at the largest football ground outside Glasgow, in other words at Pittodrie but that won't happen. Playing at a neutral ground, not Hampden, is the fairest thing but that is just my opinion. It is true SFA have a duty to maximise revenue from these games but they also have a duty to promote the Scottish Cup as well as generate fan interest wich a 1215 kick off on a Sunday does not address either of these points.

Celtic take maybe 3000 fans when they visit us but not all travel from Glasgow as large numbers come from "local" supporters clubs and places closer to Inverness. In addition, easier to get the number of buses from Glasgow than it is to get from Inverness. It is not therefore a like for like comparison and this is not a league game but a cup semi final.

While not all semis used to be at Hamden, the games that attract bigger crowds used to be played there. There is no way a Scottish Cup Semi against Celtic would be played anywhere other than Hampden if it was available. But the point is they don't have to be. This game could be played at a neutral venue, not in Glasgow, be a sell out and would still be able to be seen on TV. Atmosphere would be miles better that will be generated at Hampden. Still maintain the SFA could have had our game on the Saturday which would have been a bit better than the Sunday. On a personal level, having the game on a Sunday makes it more difficult for me to travel to so am in danger of not being able to attend. Having been at all our major cup semi finals before, this really annoys me.

Disagree totally as the main issue is the fact that it is a Sunday. With a bit of thought, our game could have been at 1215 on a Saturday, still not ideal but at least better public transport connections. With declining crowds, SFA need to sell these games more, not just sell out to the TV companies and of course, had the semis not been at Hampden, as used to happen, chances are a venue that was easier to get to might have been chosen.