retired_loubou

It's good to see you're back Raptor

Great result again Dundalk, although you only managed it in two times :p

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Wisnae me, blame Bruce Arena :p

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And while Celtic’s punishment for a poor performance in the original FAI Cup game was that replay on a freezing cold night, the Frost family were enjoying Brazil’s tropical summer. Frost’s vision of a global network of clubs, one in every corner of the world, had taken a back seat in the past seven months, as he was too focused on regaining control of Belfast Celtic, but now that that was on the backburner for the time being, he decided to work on what he wanted to be Celtic’s network of satellite clubs again.

A powerful South American club had always been near or at the top of his wishlist, as the CONMEBOL region was the only part of the world where the established European superpowers didn’t have much influence. During his family’s enforced stay in Colombia and Brazil, Frost had experienced his first taste of Latin American football, and the foundations he’d laid there were strong enough to see his club América clinch local success and rejoin the National League, but a club from Manaus, really just a backwater in this continent-sized country, would always be a minor player in the superstructure of Brazilian and South American football. If Frost wanted a club to really make an impact, it needed to be one in the big cities...

Having thought about it for a while, and knowing it’d have to be Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo, intuition and the city’s international appeal swung the decision in Rio’s favour. That was about the hardest part of the process, as Frost had opted against buying an existing club, founding a new one instead. Yes, they’d have to work their way up from the bottom, but starting from scratch had more positives than negatives, and so Rio Celtic was founded on Friday 11 January 2013.

Recently introduced anti-corruption laws meant Frost would have to give up América though, as it was now illegal to own more than one club in Brazil.

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Saturday 12 January 2013, Premier Division, Linfield v Belfast Celtic, The Oval

Back in Ireland, it was time for the latest Good v Evil clash, or Evil v Good in this case, as Linfield were at “home”. Celtic were five points clear of their arch rivals and knew a win here would deal a killer blow to Linfield’s title hopes.

Half an hour into the game, the champions could be forgiven for thinking they’d pulled it off already. Keddy and Healy, despite still feeling the effects of two Cup games in a week, both headed in from set pieces to put Celtic 2-0 up. They were dominating midfield too, and all seemed well.

But if the tag “a game of two halves” was ever appropriate, now was the time. Linfield manager Andy Kilner would probably have liked to make 11 substitutions, but he couldn’t. Instead, he gave his players a bollocking so loud the Celtic dressing room at the other end of the corridor could hear every word of it. It should’ve served as a warning Linfield would throw everything at them in the second half, but somehow didn’t.

Instead, Arena’s team let themselves be surprised by a brief spell of free flowing football by the home side. By the end of it, they’d turned the game on its head and led 3-2. Veteran striker Davy Larmour led the forward line by example and scored two stunning goals to lever the score, before substitute Jon Morgan, on for the injured Lewis Hogg, neatly chipped Danny Milosevic from 25 yards after a perfect through ball.

Celtic pushed forward again and almost snatched a late equaliser, but new Linfield signing Stephen Mildenhall, a £ 475,000 arrival from Man City, kept Michael Keane’s desperate long range drive out with a fingertip save. Linfield had reduced Celtic’s lead to two points, and Cork City too had a shot at the championship now.

Linfield 3 (Larmour 57, 68, Morgan 70)
Celtic 2 (Keddy 19, Healy 32)
Attendance: 15,967

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Frost wasted very little time in setting up a working structure at Rio Celtic, and on Monday, he presented the club’s first manager to the press. Not that many had bothered to show up, after all this was the city of Vasco Da Gama, Flamengo, Fluminense and Botafogo. Few people cared about the smaller clubs, never mind one just founded by Europeans. What were they trying to accomplish anyway?

Well, the minute the club’s manager was unveiled, Rio, and Brazil, suddenly started to take note. Frost couldn’t give a clearer signal of his intentions with Rio Celtic than he did with the appointment of none other than Ronaldo!

Aged 36, the former Cruzeiro, PSV, Barcelona, Inter and Belfast Celtic star would act as player/manager, and was given the task of taking Rio Celtic to the top division of the Rio State Championship and into the National League a.s.a.p. Somehow, you felt he’d succeed.

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Wednesday 16 January 2013, Premier Division, Belfast Celtic v Saint Patrick’s Athletic, Casement Park

The Irish champions, meanwhile, had the chance to get over the frustration of losing the derby at the weekend, when St. Pat’s visited Casement Park for one of the few midweek games that would see most clubs fulfil their 23rd League game of the campaign.

If kicking frustration out of the window was their objective, Celtic failed. Indeed, they left their temporary home with more disbelief than before, and wondered if their success train was in danger of de-railing. Despite being the better side yet again, a force-field seemed to protect Robbie Hannon’s goal, and teenage goalscoring sensation Mark Ward hit his tenth of the season from an early cross in only the ninth minute. Celtic were chasing Pat’s ever since, but couldn’t get the breakthrough their field play arguably deserved.

At the same time, across town, Kevin Grogan’s half-volley made the difference between Linfield and their visitors from Kilkenny, which completed a miserable first half of January for Celtic. At the turn of the year, they’d looked comfortably clear at the top and on their way to five-in-a-row, yet a few weeks later they’d only just scraped into the third round of the FAI Cup, and failed to pick up a single League point in 2013. It left Linfield one point ahead of them in the table, and Cork in third, another point adrift. St. Pat’s themselves shot back into title contention with that night’s three points, and were fourth, five points off the pace.

Celtic 0
St. Pat’s 1 (M.Ward 9)
Attendance: 18,548

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Belfast Telegraph, Friday 18 January 2013

Collins’s Second Chance in Belfast

Roddy Collins is back in Irish League football. Once a champion with Bohemians before an unhappy spell at Carlisle, Collins went on to spent nearly six years in charge of Linfield, before the meagre harvest of one Irish Cup in that time cost him his job. A return to Britain saw Collins take control of first team affairs at Alloa Athletic, keeping them in the Conference against most odds.

The 51-year-old could be forgiven for thinking his chance of a return to the big time had passed forever, but when Glentoran chairman John Parkinson ran out of patience with Kevin Hodges, after only just over a year in the Oval hotseat, Collins emerged as the favourite to take over at struggling Glens.

He joins a side currently four points adrift at the bottom of the table, and five points off the outright safety of 8th place. With 13 games to go, survival is the only objective, even if the Belfast side are still in the FAI Cup, where they face a trip to First Division leaders Bray.

Following Collins’ appointment, leading bookmakers cut Glentoran’s odds on staying in the Premier Division to 11/4.

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Wednesday 23 January 2013, League Cup, Final, 1st Leg, Belfast Celtic v Shamrock Rovers, Casement Park

As the League fixture between the two sides was called off the Saturday before, Celtic and Rovers went into the first leg of their League Cup Final with fully fit teams. The Belfast club were favourites, even if it was their first appearance in a League Cup Final. Rovers, though, were both the holders and the form team, starting this game on the back of four consecutive wins and clean sheets.

As it was, Celtic’s rotten luck struck again. This time, they weren’t outplaying their opponents and not taking their chances, but they suffered a couple of nasty looking injuries to key players Keith Andrews and Glen Keddy. Both would be out for about two weeks.

Those injuries were inflicted late on, by poorly timed challenges from Rovers midfielders which remained unpunished. Football-wise, neither side impressed, both creating just one goal-bound opportunity. In Celtic’s case, Patrick Bucic still felt he had a point to prove every time he played his old club, and the Canadian duly tipped David Healy’s effort over the bar.

Rovers were more fortunate, as Derek McDonald’s low drive crept underneath Danny Milosevic, only 11 minutes from time, too. It was enough for another win and another clean sheet. Suddenly, the Dublin side were the more likely winners of League Cup 2013. Celtic may have had five weeks to recover from this defeat, but the second leg was scheduled between crucial Champions’ League fixtures, and might well be sacrificed.

Celtic 0
Rovers 1 (McDonald 79)
Attendance: 25,044

retired_mellnet

What are you trying to do throw the season? I ought to fire you for this mini-slump!

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By Tuesday, Frost hadn’t managed to complete his work in Brazil, something he’d hoped to have done. That because back home, the ILCA had a vital issue to vote on: the proposed TV contract. Jonathan Bartley and Noel Farrell had continued negotiations after Frost resigned from the panel. With the blessing of the ILCA, they hadn’t replaced the former Celtic manager either. Because of this, Frost would be highly surprised if the deal put before the clubs’ representatives wouldn’t be given the green light, but he’d have loved to hear all about the details. Furthermore, Mark was eager to find out how the ICLA would split the money between its members.

In Dublin, Bartley smiled from ear to ear when he presented the deal they had negotiated. The former Carrick Rangers supreme couldn’t resist a dig at Frost either, hinting at the fact the latter had suggested settling for £26m, the existing annual income figure. Bartley had delivered on his £35m promise, and would milk it to the max. He managed to extract £30m a year for four years from RTE, playing on their fears “JB” would have no qualms about selling the rights to foreign bidders. Furthermore, he sold all League and Cup sponsorship rights as one package, and found Bank of Ireland ready to pay £5m for them, which saw Bartley reach the figure he had so optimistically told Frost about. It gained him a lot of standing in the Irish football community, and would cement his position in the ILCA. Another front on which Frost’s influence would diminish then…

Evidence of this was the relative ease with which Bartley successfully negotiated the tough hurdle of a redistribution of the £35m. Everyone wanted their share of the 35% increase in money available, but the TV deal relied heavily on Premier Division coverage, and they would get almost all benefits. Basic TV money for top flight clubs would go up from £1m a season to £1,850,000, while First Division clubs had to settle for £900k, compared to their existing allocation of £800,000 a season. Optimism about promotion chances and a new prize money table made most First Division clubs agree to these plans. Premier Division prize money would remain unchanged, but the First Division, League Cup, Super Cup and President’s Cup would all lose theirs. Instead, FAI Cup prize money was more than doubled, with £500,000 going to the winner, dropping to £50,000 for a Third Round elimination. Finally, grassroot funding would go up almost 20%.

When the proposal was put to a vote, a 27-4 majority gave Bartley and Farrell their mandate to sign the contract, hopefully creating four years of stability.