retired_mellnet

Don't blow it Raptor! :p You better not be playing some scrubs for the story's sake!!!

Raptor

:p I don't intend to ruin it, but it continues to be a tough group. I reckon a home win over Nantes and at least a draw against Feyenoord should do the trick. With many players, especially Scholes, getting on a bit, it might be a while before Celtic are in this position again.

Raptor

After those back-to-back Champions' League victories, Frost and Best knew for sure their hopes of a swift return to power at Celtic were over. Arena had not only done enough to see out the season, he would even be able to stay on after that on the basis of further European improvement. If Frost wanted Celtic back, he'd have to come up with something special.

So on Saturday, the Frost family once again found themselves in the stand, for the home game against Cork.

Saturday 29 September 2012, Premier Division, Belfast Celtic v Cork City, Casement Park

On various occasions this season, Celtic had managed to get off to a flying start, scoring in the opening ten minutes. Tonight, they did even better, scoring within three minutes. Not once, but twice. Quick goals by Keddy and Healy put the home side in the driving seat, and just for good measure, Phil Lloyd put the game beyond Cork after only 20 minutes.

Almost on the hour, Anthony Tynan gave the visitors a glimmer of hope, but Celtic were never in any real danger. Five minutes from the end, Glen Keddy headed in his second from a corner to round off the scoring. The result saw Celtic re-take top spot from Linfield and St.Pat's on goal difference.

Celtic 4 (Keddy 2, 85, Healy 3, Lloyd 20)
Cork 1 (Tynan 59)
Attendance: 20,018

retired_sander

Poor Frost has to pay to watch Celtic these days still all that money earnt laundering drugs money in S america gets to be spent at last

Raptor

In Britain, meanwhile, Hearts kept up their great early-season form. Stuart Redmond's side ended September with a run of three away games, at Portsmouth, Liverpool and Chelsea. All three clubs found themselves in the bottom five, but were still tricky away games for a relative newcomer at the highest level.

Hearts passed the triple test with flying colours though, clinching maximum points by winning all three games by a one-goal margin. As Man Utd could only salvage a late draw at home to rivals Leeds, the Edinburgh side's first midweek game in October saw them go top of the BPL, this time without any rivals having enough games in hand to overtake them again.

Edinburgh's favourite manager (and most hated at the same time) wouldn't confirm he believed in winning the League this season yet, though Redmond didn't rule it out either. He did tell the press it was more likely Hearts would win a cup competition first. A 2-0 League Cup win over Aberdeen was enough to clear the first hurdle at least...

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">British Premier League 1.Hearts 8 6 2 0 13 - 2 +11 20 2.Man Utd 8 6 2 0 14 - 6 +8 20 3.Celtic 8 5 2 1 14 - 6 +8 17 4.Leeds 8 5 2 1 14 - 8 +6 17 5.Millwall 8 4 1 3 10 - 12 -2 13 6.Everton 8 3 3 2 11 - 6 +5 12 7.Arsenal 8 3 3 2 14 - 13 +1 12 8.Sheff Utd 8 3 2 3 13 - 11 +2 11 9.Rangers 6 3 2 1 7 - 5 +2 1110.Stoke 8 3 2 3 6 - 8 -2 1111.Newcastle 6 3 1 2 10 - 8 +2 1012.Hibs 7 2 3 2 6 - 6 0 913.Birmingham 8 3 0 5 9 - 12 -3 914.Tottenham 7 2 2 3 4 - 6 -2 815.Bolton 7 1 4 2 4 - 6 -2 716.Blackburn 8 2 1 5 5 - 10 -5 717.Sunderland 8 2 0 6 5 - 12 -7 618.Chelsea 7 1 2 4 5 - 10 -5 519.Liverpool 8 1 0 7 6 - 12 -6 320.Portsmouth 8 1 0 7 6 - 17 -11 3British First Division 1.West Ham 10 7 1 2 12 - 8 +4 22 2.Dundee 10 6 3 1 10 - 3 +7 21 3.Charlton 10 6 3 1 14 - 9 +5 21 4.Crystal Palace 10 6 1 3 12 - 6 +6 19 5.Ipswich 10 6 1 3 12 - 9 +3 19 6.St. Johnstone 10 5 3 2 11 - 6 +5 18 7.Nottm Forest 10 5 3 2 15 - 11 +4 18 8.Wimbledon 10 4 4 2 11 - 8 +3 16 9.Rotherham 10 4 3 3 14 - 10 +4 1510.Grimsby 10 4 3 3 9 - 10 -1 1511.Southampton 10 4 2 4 16 - 14 +2 1412.Coventry 10 4 2 4 12 - 11 +1 1413.Hull 10 4 2 4 11 - 10 +1 1414.Motherwell 10 4 2 4 13 - 13 0 1415.Crewe 10 2 5 3 8 - 8 0 1116.Brighton 10 3 2 5 8 - 9 -1 1117.Sheff Wed 10 3 2 5 9 - 11 -2 1118.Man City 10 2 4 4 9 - 11 -2 1019.Derby 10 1 6 3 10 - 13 -3 920.Q.P.R. 10 2 2 6 8 - 12 -4 821.Livingston 10 1 5 4 5 - 10 -5 822.Gillingham 10 2 2 6 10 - 17 -7 823.Reading 10 2 1 7 6 - 15 -9 724.St. Mirren 10 1 2 7 5 - 16 -11 5British Second Division 1.Peterborough 10 7 3 0 17 - 7 +10 24 2.Bury 10 6 4 0 19 - 9 +10 22 3.Carlisle 10 6 3 1 11 - 4 +7 21 4.Port Vale 10 5 4 1 18 - 12 +6 19 5.Middlesbrough 10 5 3 2 16 - 14 +2 18 6.Aston Villa 10 5 2 3 18 - 12 +6 17 7.Leyton Orient 10 4 5 1 12 - 7 +5 17 8.Tranmere 10 4 4 2 18 - 16 +2 16 9.Darlington 10 4 3 3 13 - 9 +4 1510.Burnley 10 3 6 1 16 - 14 +2 1511.Leicester 10 3 5 2 15 - 11 +4 1412.Kilmarnock 10 3 4 3 18 - 16 +2 1313.Clyde 10 3 4 3 10 - 13 -3 1314.Wrexham 10 3 3 4 17 - 17 0 1215.Wycombe 10 3 3 4 11 - 12 -1 1216.Wolves 10 2 4 4 6 - 10 -4 1017.Airdrie 10 2 4 4 9 - 15 -6 1018.Watford 10 3 1 6 7 - 13 -6 1019.Notts Co 10 2 3 5 10 - 17 -7 920.Bournemouth 10 1 4 5 11 - 19 -8 721.Swindon 10 2 1 7 7 - 15 -8 722.Brentford 10 1 3 6 7 - 12 -5 623.Stockport 10 1 3 6 9 - 15 -6 624.Arbroath 10 1 3 6 6 - 12 -6 6British Third Division 1.Dunfermline 10 8 1 1 24 - 11 +13 25 2.Bradford 10 7 2 1 18 - 12 +6 23 3.Luton 10 7 1 2 23 - 14 +9 22 4.Falkirk 10 6 2 2 19 - 8 +11 20 5.Dundee Utd 10 6 2 2 20 - 13 +7 20 6.Fulham 10 6 1 3 16 - 16 0 19 7.Halifax 10 5 3 2 12 - 9 +3 18 8.Northampton 10 5 2 3 18 - 14 +4 17 9.Wigan 10 4 4 2 20 - 14 +6 1610.Inverness C. Thistle10 4 4 2 20 - 17 +3 1611.Morton 10 5 1 4 21 - 20 +1 1612.Aberdeen 10 4 3 3 14 - 12 +2 1513.Bristol C 10 4 2 4 19 - 17 +2 1414.W.B.A. 10 4 1 5 10 - 13 -3 1315.Walsall 10 4 0 6 6 - 15 -9 1216.Swansea 10 3 1 6 15 - 18 -3 1017.Barnsley 10 2 3 5 15 - 20 -5 918.Cambridge Utd 10 2 3 5 9 - 18 -9 919.Preston 10 2 2 6 13 - 22 -9 820.Norwich 10 2 1 7 14 - 15 -1 721.Cardiff 10 1 4 5 7 - 12 -5 722.Ross County 10 1 4 5 13 - 19 -6 723.Huddersfield 10 1 3 6 4 - 11 -7 624.Plymouth 10 0 4 6 12 - 22 -10 4British Conference 1.Northwich Vics 12 10 0 2 29 - 15 +14 30 2.Lincoln 12 6 4 2 14 - 9 +5 22 3.Ayr 12 7 1 4 19 - 15 +4 22 4.Stranraer 12 7 1 4 16 - 16 0 22 5.York 12 6 3 3 18 - 17 +1 21 6.Oxford 12 6 2 4 19 - 12 +7 20 7.Rushden 12 5 3 4 18 - 16 +2 18 8.Cheltenham 12 5 3 4 17 - 20 -3 18 9.Southend 12 4 5 3 9 - 8 +1 1710.Alloa 12 4 5 3 17 - 18 -1 1711.Yeovil 12 5 2 5 14 - 15 -1 1712.Kidderminster 12 5 1 6 23 - 20 +3 1613.Southport 12 4 4 4 18 - 17 +1 1614.Nuneaton Borough 12 5 1 6 20 - 21 -1 1615.Shrewsbury 12 4 3 5 11 - 13 -2 1516.Scarborough 12 4 2 6 10 - 12 -2 1417.Bangor City 12 3 4 5 12 - 16 -4 1318.Oldham 12 3 3 6 19 - 19 0 1219.Scunthorpe 12 3 3 6 12 - 14 -2 1220.Blackpool 12 3 3 6 12 - 17 -5 1221.Chesterfield 12 3 3 6 11 - 17 -6 1222.Barnet 12 0 4 8 7 - 18 -11 4</pre>

Raptor

... Cup success, and League Cup glory in particular, was also what Belfast Celtic manager Bruce Arena was after that midweek. Even though they had a Premier Division game 48 hours later, the American wanted a good result at Shelbourne, in the delayed League Cup Group Three game. Knowing how fickle fans are, Stevie O'Mao had urged his puppets to win anything they could get their hands on, to wipe out the memory of the Frost-era a.s.a.p.

Wednesday 3 October 2012, League Cup, Shelbourne v Belfast Celtic, Tolka Park

So despite slightly changing their starting XI, Celtic meant business at Tolka Park. Shels had beaten St.Pat's 4-2 in the first game in this group, and another win would see them clinch the last quarter final ticket.

Celtic, on the other hand, were confident a draw would do nicely, convinced they'd be able to beat St.Pat's by a three-goal margin the following week. A win would be so much better though...

And a win they'd get. In a spectacular game, Dessie Baker opened the score for the home side, only for Glen Keddy and Paul Scholes to swing the pendulum Celtic's way. Within a minute of Scholes putting the visitors 2-1 up, Michael McCann made it 2-2 though. And still first half scoring wasn't over, for Keddy had another goal up his sleeve.

In comparison with that, the second half looked a tame affair, but both sides did look like adding to the score. Only Celtic did though, when Keddy completed his hattrick late on. Joining Shels on three points, but with a positive goal difference of two, the Belfast side could even afford to lose to St.Pat's now, as long as they limited damage to one goal. The last eight would surely be theirs. After two semi final disappointments, they'd be desperate not to let the trophy slip from their grasp this time.

Shels 2 (Baker 13, McCann 31)
Celtic 4 (Keddy 21, 39, 84, Scholes 30)
Attendance: 13,887

retired_sander

Go Carlisle and Go Yeovil

Raptor

Rounding off rebuilding work on their home, the Frosts didn't travel to Dublin and Galway that week. Completing their Upper Springfield residence was more important to them, and symbolised getting better control of their lives once again. Patrick had been given a new contract at the post office, and Katie occasionally helped out at Paradise, Celtic's #1 supporters pub where she had worked before she met Mark. She didn't even do it for the money, but more to catch any news club insiders let slip whenever they had too much to drink.

Some said she was crazy, doing work like that while she could've returned to politics already. With the general elections just weeks away, she had turned down a Sinn Fein request to play a leading role in the party's campaign. She just wasn't sure about whether she wanted to be involved with SF again. It caused another fight with her brother Patrick, who still hadn't lost one bit of his republican principles, but Katie was beyond caring. She'd be damned if she would do anything that could increase tensions on the island again, just when she was getting used to the idea of a lasting peace.

Mark, meanwhile, having given up on the idea of a quick return to Celtic, thought he'd finally found a way to the decision making core of Irish football...

Raptor

Friday 5 October 2012, Premier Division, Galway United v Belfast Celtic, Terryland Park

Everyone knew money talks in football, but to force Celtic to play a League game 48 hours after a Cup tie moved to that date to boost Irish hopes in Europe caused a few protests. Galway needed the TV money from the live showing though, and ILCA chairman Jonathan Bartley still did everything he could to make life hard on the champions, and threw his weight around ensuring a Friday night kickoff.

"So be it. Give'em hell", was the core of Arena's pre-match teamtalk. Well, even if it wasn't particulary "hell" Galway endured, they were on the receiving end of a good kicking. With several Celtic first teamers rested, fringe players were eager to show they could do just as good a job, and got rather physical.

In between some tough challenges, David Healy showed two flashes of individual brilliance which won Celtic the game. In the first half, he dispossesed his marker 35 yards out and went on a beautiful run for the opener, before knocking down the ball for strike partner Glen Keddy to win the game twenty minutes from the end. So despite Neal Keane cancelling out Healy's effort in first half stoppage time, the visitors weren't to be denied all three points.

Galway 1 (N.Keane 45)
Celtic 2 (Healy 12, Keddy 70)
Attendance: 5,773

Raptor

Anticipation was gradually building up as the month progressed. General elections, completion of the first major batch of rebuilt homes, conveniently fast-tracked with those very same elections in mind, and crucial League, Cup and European football games to keep the people of Belfast entertained. Frost found it impossible to hide a smile when he visited Casement Park the following Wednesday, something Stevie picked up on.

SO'M Feeling good are we Mark?

MF Given the circumstances, I'm fairly happy yes.

SO'M Reality kicking in?

MF Which one would that be?

SO'M Well, you know, Arena doing well, taking Celtic to new heights.

MF It's good for the club, but George and I could do an ever better job, and will soon enough.

SO'M Oh right, that smile was one of a man in dreamland then.

MF We'll see Stevie, we'll see. It'll be an interesting few days, put it that way.

SO'M Yeah, two games against St.Pat's and then Feyenoord to confirm Celtic means business this time around.