CELTIC1CALEY3

Falkirk need to beat Rangers away and Hibs at home to stand a chance of a top four finish. QOS have Dumbarton at home and Livingston away. With a far superior goal difference to Falkirk, they basically need one more point. With QOS qualifying for fourth, Falkirk will have four weeks before their next competitive game i.e. the cup final. They should certainly be rested!!

2008-09 23 May – Falkirk beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–0 to stay in the SPL and relegate Inverness to the First Division on goal difference. 24 May – Rangers are crowned Scottish champions after beating Dundee United 3–0, Celtic drew 0–0 with Heart of Midlothian so Rangers won by 4 points. 30 May – Rangers won the Scottish Cup beating Falkirk 1–0 in the final thanks to a goal from substitute Nacho Novo just after half-time. Yogi engineered that!!!

Dundee United will be writing to the SFA every week if they lose to question decisions and with their lawyers will win the League next year. We do not need an artificial pitch next season if ALL results are to be decided by the Compliance Officer. We need to spend money on good lawyers.

Bring back Billy - who is to say Edward and Tomo will not sight up for next year and get their fitness ready for a complete season?

I would settle for just 7 more points - two home wins against Dundee United and one draw against Celtic away to deny them the Championship..

He was politely advised by Yogi that he missed giving us a penalty in the league cup final when Considine shoved Richie who potentially had a free header on goal. Let's hope he redeems himself with 5 minutes to go on Sunday. He is a pretty fair and calm referee though.

One of the interesting comments to come out of the Saturday game was that Celtic would have more space available on the Hampden pitch. From what UI can find, the dimensions of the two pitches is identical. Sunday's weather forecast looks to be sunny with lower wind speeds. Given the way we played at the beginning of the season and throughout January that should not disadvantage us. Thank goodness we are not on course for the treble!!

It would be interesting to look at their accounts. That said, their current performances are superb in any one's book, and in inspiring Motherwell, they have put the absolute skitters up Partick Thistle. Long may their stop and start financial investments continue.

Shinnie was outstanding today. We did not have the cutting edge even if we appeared to be the better team. In the last two seasons we have not finally had the bottle foe Euro place. Now is the time to dig ourselves out of a rut.

The big issue about the semi final is not about ticket prices or transport but the fact that we remain in the SHADOW of Ross County in the Scottish Cup!!! They have beaten Celtic in the semi final be we have not.

How could he sink so low ? Maybe he is trying to tap into a new market That joke sinks this site to a new level and is water under the Kessock Bridge. Let's hope he fixes the extension, sewer, rather than lather.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3020665/Celtic-handed-16m-Champions-League-carrot-SPL-leaders-know-qualify-Europe-s-premier-competition.html 'Significantly, however, the three Scottish clubs that enter the Europa League qualifiers will now cover their costs via a solidarity payment of £150,000 – even if they crash out at the first hurdle.' ''Crucially, where clubs like Aberdeen, Inverness, St Johnstone or Dundee United are concerned, there will also be the new solidarity payments for those who crash out of the Europa League at the qualifying stage. This has long been the norm for Scottish clubs, their pain heightened by the cost of flying to far-flung remote outposts in Russia, Belarus or Moldova.''

Going into the Scottish League could bankrupt Brora just like Gretna because their financial base is unsustainable. http://sport.stv.tv/football/scottish-league-two/315575-brora-rangers-chairman-john-young-on-spfl-play-off-despite-finance-fears/ The SFA appears to have set up sanctions against clubs if they refuse to come into the league. That is quite interesting under financial fair play rules. I do like the pyramid concept but surely clubs should not be forced to join when the finance risk is high.

Should we bother turning up with Celtic in such scintillating form?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31934088 A Manager's view: McNamara accepts his top scorer is "temperamental" but insists that is not unique among talented players. "Look at players in the past," McNamara told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "There's a thin line between genius and temperament, you saw [Zinedine] Zidane in a World Cup final, losing his rag [and getting sent off when France played Italy in 2006]. "You saw Eric Cantona do it, jumping into the crowd [in 1995 during Manchester United's match against Crystal Palace]. "Fortunately, Nadir's not done anything like that yet. Dundee United players and manager Jackie McNamara looking dejected United lost Sunday's League Cup final 2-0 to Celtic "He's been blamed for quite a number of things in the last year-and-half up in Scotland, people wanting him banned and everything else, but he's never done anything that serious in my eyes, so far.

Another gift for Rooney against Motherwell.

The injustice is now complete: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31858622 Warren serves two matches because he over reacted to a dangerous challenge..................while a whole stack of players walk away from a diving accusation, mistaken identity and......

https://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/hampden-staff-pitch-in-ahead-of-final.html

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/sport/football/dundee-united/dundee-united-reject-suspension-offer-issued-to-nadir-ciftci-1.849734 ''A club statement read: “Dundee United confirms that it has declined the fixed suspension offer in relation to the notice of complaint issued to Nadir Ciftci following an alleged breach of disciplinary rule 200 at the Dundee United v Celtic game on Sunday, 8th March 2015. Nadir will appear at Hampden to put his case on Thursday and the club will fully support him in this appeal.” No surprise there then.

The referee did have a very good game.

The BBC have rights to the Scottish Cup. They have already shown their preference (see link http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/scottish-cup although they do indicate dates can change) to show the 3pm kick off game on the Saturday for the Falkirk v Hibernian semi final which is good news for ICT if both games are at 3pm. We clearly do not want a 12.45 kick off on the Sunday. On the Sunday Sky Sports appears to have covered their slots so BT Sports would be the other option but ''Scottish Cup matches are currently broadcast live by both BBC Sport Scotland in Scotland and Sky Sports across the rest of the United Kingdom and also into Ireland.'' Sky schedule: Sat 18th April Arsenal 15:00 Sunderland Crystal Palace 15:00 West Bromwich Albion Everton 15:00 Burnley Hull City 15:00 Liverpool Leicester City 15:00 Swansea City Stoke City 15:00 Southampton Chelsea 17:30 Manchester United Sky Sports 1 Sun 19th April Manchester City 13:30 West Ham United Sky Sports 1 Newcastle United 16:00 Tottenham Hotspur Sky therefore have a slot at 12.30 on the Saturday. BT Sports are free to show the game at 3 pm on the Sunday and I guess we request that time now now regardless of opposition. If Celtic get through a 12.45 kick off on the Saturday or Sunday in Glasgow gives them an enormous advantage. http://www.live-footballontv.com/ http://www.live-footballontv.com/live-scottish-football-on-tv.html Whilst it will be great to play at Hampden, it will not be great playing the second of two semis because the pitch might resemble Aintree after the Grand National. So there is logic, if Dundee United beat Celtic playing the game at Pittodrie on the Sunday at 3pm.

Competition time - This is the third time the said Nadir has been subject to potentially serious disciplinary action. We do not know if Dundee United will appeal the latest 2 match ban but if they do - what will be their reason this time? Here is a starter: 'Scott Brown does not have a traditional head'

Connolly's dive for the penalty was highly theatrical and TV evidence seems to confirm Craig Thomson had his eyes closed for that too!!

One of the great things about Craig Thomson refereeing this game is that he seemed to close his eyes when the heat was on and then send off who was closest to him at the time. Clearly another appeal by Dundee United.

For those not in Inverness, the winds have been a nightmare too. Completely sensible decision by Willie Collum. A great referee.