Raptor

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maollelujah:

_SO'M_ I am sure I will come up with a brilliant plan only to be foiled in the end, but as a supporting character that is unfortunately my role. You see, this is Frost's story and he writes everything, except the brilliant parts that star me, like this little piece. Mao writes those, hence they are humorous and insightful.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

retired_sander

Not forgetting my little pieces either :p

Still this must be the longest any story has gone with no proper footballing action ever before without being closed

retired_mellnet

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John O'Shea = Here to stay:
Not forgetting my little pieces either :p

Still this must be the longest any story has gone with no proper footballing action ever before without being closed<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My apologies! It should have read "...Frost writes everything except a few intelligent pieces written by a few real class writers..."

retired_sander

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maollelujah:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John O'Shea = Here to stay:
Not forgetting my little pieces either :p

Still this must be the longest any story has gone with no proper footballing action ever before without being closed<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My apologies! It should have read "...Frost writes everything except a few intelligent pieces written by a few real class writers..."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep thats the right phrase

Raptor

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Still this must be the longest any story has gone with no proper footballing action ever before without being closed
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You want football? I present you football...


*****

There was one important person Frost hadn't spoken to since his return to Ireland: his old friend in charge of now ex-Raptor Group club Hibs, Brian Winchester. For Frost, it was a good excuse to visit his favourite city for the first time in over three years. On his way into Scotland's capital, he drove by Calder Road, off the Edinburgh Bypass, and saw Stevie O'Mao's latest project was nearing completion. Hearts' as yet nameless stadium was almost finished by O'Mao's own Quincy Construction, and would open for business in August. Hearts would have a stadium to rival that of their arch rivals Hibs, and without the traffic problems bugging downtown football grounds such as the one in Leith. It was a development Winchester was cleary envious of...

BW ... So as you can see, we'll have a pretty hard task on our hands, keeping Hearts behind us in the coming years. Thankfully we recovered from last season's disaster to finish ahead of them. And we're back in Europe. Terrible shame we missed out on the CL on goal difference though.

MF No Euro distraction and early cup exits this season... would your squad cope with fixture congestion next season?

BW Van Marwijk's completely rebuilding it. Signed 19 players, for a total of £38m. Obviously, the days of world superstars coming to Easter Road are over now. It's more realistic to try and challenge for Europe regularly, and win the odd cup.

MF With good management, you should be able to. Money isn't everything.

BW Tell Fulham! Came very close to relegation to the Conference!

MF United champions again after eight years...

BW Yeah, they overtook Celtic on the last day. That's three second places in a row for them now. Could just as easily have gone Newcastle's way, or even Arsenal's, until their CL campaign killed their Premiership challenge.

MF I bet they thought the European Cup was theirs when PSV beat Celtic in the other semi.

BW I thought it was theirs even when it went to a penalty shootout! I mean, when did the Dutch learn to take a penalty?

MF Good question! I wonder if they'll remember it for Euro2012.

BW Pre-tournament favourites now. I've got £10,000 riding on them at 5/1, when the press in all its wisdom declared Italy and the Germans the likely finalists.

MF Had any trouble from O'Mao lately?

BW A lot! He stole a few of our transfer targets from right under our nose, all because Redmond remembered who we were after. But we shut those traitors up properly by taking four points off them in the League. Shouldn't have surrendered a 2-0 lead at Tynecastle though, would've been a nice goodbye to that dump.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">British Premier League. 1.Man Utd 38 21 10 7 55 - 33 +22 73 C 2.Celtic 38 19 15 4 66 - 34 +32 72 3.Newcastle 38 22 5 11 64 - 30 +34 71 4.Rangers 38 18 11 9 43 - 26 +17 65 5.Hibs 38 18 11 9 46 - 32 +14 65 6.Arsenal 38 16 14 8 44 - 35 +9 62 7.Stoke 38 14 15 9 41 - 38 +3 57 8.Hearts 38 16 6 16 42 - 45 -3 54 9.Liverpool 38 14 11 13 45 - 47 -2 5310.Bolton 38 16 5 17 38 - 46 -8 5311.Portsmouth 38 13 12 13 43 - 46 -3 5112.Sunderland 38 14 7 17 41 - 46 -5 4913.Blackburn 38 13 9 16 47 - 52 -5 4814.Everton 38 14 6 18 44 - 51 -7 4815.Millwall 38 12 10 16 39 - 44 -5 4616.Birmingham 38 10 9 19 42 - 55 -13 3917.Leeds 38 9 10 19 33 - 50 -17 3718.Motherwell 38 9 8 21 40 - 58 -18 35 R19.Nottm Forest 38 10 5 23 39 - 58 -19 35 R20.Southampton 38 7 11 20 40 - 66 -26 32 R.British First Division. 1.Tottenham 46 27 8 11 86 - 50 +36 89 C 2.Sheff Utd 46 24 10 12 81 - 68 +13 82 P 3.Chelsea 46 22 11 13 66 - 49 +17 77 P 4.St. Johnstone 46 23 8 15 49 - 41 +8 77 5.Man City 46 23 7 16 77 - 67 +10 76 6.Sheff Wed 46 20 15 11 66 - 48 +18 75 7.Gillingham 46 20 14 12 69 - 42 +27 74 8.Ipswich 46 21 10 15 56 - 43 +13 73 9.Charlton 46 17 21 8 67 - 51 +16 7210.St. Mirren 46 17 15 14 56 - 56 0 6611.Q.P.R. 46 17 14 15 64 - 59 +5 6512.West Ham 46 18 10 18 50 - 55 -5 6413.Wimbledon 46 16 15 15 53 - 61 -8 6314.Derby 46 17 11 18 54 - 49 +5 6215.Crystal Palace 46 15 17 14 48 - 44 +4 6216.Rotherham 46 14 15 17 44 - 47 -3 5717.Coventry 46 14 12 20 50 - 55 -5 5418.Livingston 46 13 15 18 47 - 55 -8 5419.Crewe 46 13 13 20 40 - 48 -8 5220.Hull 46 12 13 21 47 - 65 -18 4921.Grimsby 46 11 14 21 45 - 66 -21 4722.Wolves 46 10 13 23 43 - 71 -28 43 R23.Port Vale 46 8 13 25 41 - 70 -29 37 R24.Notts Co 46 8 10 28 39 - 78 -39 34 R.British Second Division. 1.Brighton 46 23 14 9 73 - 49 +24 83 C 2.Dundee 46 23 14 9 71 - 53 +18 83 P 3.Reading 46 23 13 10 77 - 55 +22 82 P 4.Middlesbrough 46 23 12 11 79 - 66 +13 81 5.Watford 46 23 11 12 58 - 39 +19 80 6.Kilmarnock 46 23 10 13 69 - 53 +16 79 7.Peterborough 46 19 19 8 61 - 41 +20 76 8.Leyton Orient 46 20 15 11 62 - 47 +15 75 9.Darlington 46 18 16 12 63 - 55 +8 7010.Tranmere 46 19 12 15 71 - 57 +14 6911.Leicester 46 18 13 15 62 - 52 +10 6712.Aston Villa 46 17 13 16 60 - 59 +1 6413.Burnley 46 15 16 15 67 - 64 +3 6114.Bury 46 17 10 19 66 - 73 -7 6115.Wycombe 46 15 12 19 56 - 58 -2 5716.Carlisle 46 15 12 19 49 - 55 -6 5717.Bournemouth 46 14 13 19 72 - 80 -8 5518.Wrexham 46 14 12 20 56 - 61 -5 5419.Swindon 46 12 15 19 45 - 53 -8 5120.Clyde 46 11 14 21 49 - 63 -14 4721.Dundee Utd 46 7 22 17 43 - 64 -21 43 R22.Dunfermline 46 10 8 28 56 - 83 -27 38 R23.Bradford 46 8 13 25 56 - 86 -30 37 R24.Walsall 46 5 11 30 33 - 88 -55 26 R.British Third Division. 1.Airdrie 46 29 5 12 83 - 52 +31 92 C 2.Arbroath 46 26 9 11 67 - 43 +24 87 P 3.Stockport 46 22 14 10 72 - 57 +15 80 P 4.W.B.A. 46 20 17 9 76 - 49 +27 77 5.Brentford 46 23 8 15 57 - 48 +9 77 P 6.Falkirk 46 21 13 12 60 - 52 +8 76 7.Wigan 46 22 8 16 58 - 46 +12 74 8.Huddersfield 46 19 13 14 62 - 47 +15 70 9.Bristol C 46 21 7 18 72 - 66 +6 7010.Morton 46 19 13 14 61 - 56 +5 7011.Luton 46 18 13 15 67 - 65 +2 6712.Aberdeen 46 18 10 18 67 - 71 -4 6413.Barnsley 46 17 10 19 51 - 55 -4 6114.Norwich 46 16 11 19 52 - 58 -6 5915.Plymouth 46 18 5 23 43 - 54 -11 5916.Northampton 46 15 12 19 54 - 61 -7 5717.Ross County 46 15 11 20 65 - 76 -11 5618.Swansea 46 14 13 19 69 - 71 -2 5519.Cambridge Utd 46 14 11 21 63 - 71 -8 5320.Preston 46 14 11 21 49 - 60 -11 5321.Cardiff 46 12 14 20 64 - 79 -15 5022.Inverness C. Thistle46 11 11 24 46 - 68 -22 4423.Fulham 46 10 9 27 59 - 93 -34 3924.Oldham 46 9 10 27 53 - 72 -19 37 R.British Conference. 1.Halifax 42 23 15 4 80 - 47 +33 84 C 2.Shrewsbury 42 23 11 8 64 - 39 +25 80 3.York 42 23 9 10 68 - 44 +24 78 4.Rushden 42 20 9 13 51 - 34 +17 69 5.Northwich Vics 42 19 12 11 62 - 48 +14 69 6.Cheltenham 42 20 8 14 51 - 39 +12 68 7.Nuneaton Borough 42 19 8 15 57 - 61 -4 65 8.Scarborough 42 17 13 12 48 - 41 +7 64 9.Oxford 42 17 12 13 61 - 53 +8 6310.Southport 42 15 15 12 66 - 54 +12 6011.Lincoln 42 14 17 11 53 - 45 +8 5912.Stranraer 42 14 14 14 47 - 49 -2 5613.Kidderminster 42 14 13 15 62 - 61 +1 5514.Scunthorpe 42 14 11 17 43 - 52 -9 5315.Blackpool 42 14 10 18 62 - 70 -8 5216.Ayr 42 12 14 16 41 - 48 -7 5017.Southend 42 13 9 20 48 - 57 -9 4818.Alloa 42 9 18 15 46 - 59 -13 4519.Chesterfield 42 10 14 18 27 - 41 -14 4420.Raith Rovers 42 7 11 24 32 - 61 -29 32 R21.Rochdale 42 4 18 20 39 - 69 -30 30 R22.Margate 42 6 9 27 52 - 88 -36 27 R</pre>

retired_kellywinkler42

I live just off the Calder Road and I assure you if Hearts built a stadium just off it I would be looking for a new place to live. Think how much my home would drop in price!

retired_carlos.jango71

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maollelujah:

_SO'M_ I am sure I will come up with a brilliant plan only to be foiled in the end, but as a supporting character that is unfortunately my role. You see, this is Frost's story and he writes everything, except the brilliant parts that star me, like this little piece. Mao writes those, hence they are humorous and insightful. On the other hand, the long winded plot lines that have more twists than Porthos' mustache and are less interesting than Madame Pompador's undergarments, Frost writes those. So I am sorry to tell you, but our job is to show up, not laugh when he hands us the the script, tell him how good the tea is, to go with the flow and hope he doesn't see fit to off us.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's worth putting up with most of this crap to get to Mao's parts

Raptor

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by stevethedog:
I live just off the Calder Road and I assure you if Hearts built a stadium just off it I would be looking for a new place to live. Think how much my home would drop in price!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



I'll get you a new house in Leith.

Raptor

The month of June was a strange experience for Frost. He remembered the days when summer rebuilding meant a minor or major overhaul of his Belfast Celtic squad, before things went pear-shaped in 2009. Now, rebuilding was taken a bit more literally, for he and his family had a house to rebuild. And a life, for that matter. Perhaps, then, not regaining instant control of Celtic was a blessing in disguise. At least that notion was comforting, at a time when Bruce Arena took full control of the Irish champions.

Football wise, Frost's month of June was restricted to watching the 2012 European Championships on the telly. Up in Norway, some major upsets shocked the establishment.

In Group 1, England beat Scotland 2-1, but both sides went on to qualify for the quarter finals, at the expense of the hosts and Sweden. Two more neighbouring countries, Holland and Belgium, took care of surprise qualifiers Belarus and Germany in Group 2, while Russia and Spain became victims of a tough Group 3 that saw Yugoslavia and France go through. Finally, in Group 4, holders Italy needed a late goal to prevent Finland ending the Azzuri's title defence at the first hurdle. The Italians came through in the end, in second place behind Poland. In the last eight, they had recoved from the shock to beat Yugoslavia 2-0.

On that same night, Scotland dominated Belgium in Trondheim, but couldn't clinch victory in normal or extra time. Even the penalty shootout went to sudden death before Kenny Verhoeven failed to control his nerves to send the ball into orbit. Scotland were in the last four, where they'd meet the Italians.

The other semi would be between England, for whom Justin Georcelin of Inter Milan grabbed an early goal to knock out the much-fancied Dutch, and Poland, extra time winners against France. However unlikely, a Battle of Britain final was possible now.

And on Wednesday 27 June, the dream came true. Georcelin and experienced defender Wes Brown scored the goals that saw off Poland, while hours later, Scotland's fairytale campaign continued with a demolition job on Italy. Another total annihilation in terms of possession, pressure and goalscoring opportunities, but a mercyful scoreline in the end: 2-0 (Fletcher, McPhee).

Not many people will have noticed, but on the same night, the Irish club season got underway again...

Raptor

Wednesday 27 June 2012, Super Cup, Belfast Celtic v Linfield, The Oval

It may have been a low-key event for the rest of the world, but Celtic fans were out in force. For many, it was their first venture into East Belfast for a long time. During the latter stages of the war, the city had been divided in two, and religion-wise, that split would probably be here to stay. Nevertheless, East Belfast, Glentoran's homeground The Oval to be precise, would be Celtic's temporary matchday home, as the Resurrection Stadium was still in ruins, and rebuilding it hadn't been given as high a priority as rebuilding the city itself. Celtic weren't alone in having this as their temporary basis of operations either. Both Cliftonville and Linfield would also play at their Super Cup games at their city rivals' ground. But unlike Linfield, Celtic and Cliftonville would not be playing their League games here. Instead, those would be hosted at Casement Park, Belfast's GAA ground.

Pending a final decision by the FAI, the ban on away fans visiting Irish games had been upheld for the Super Cup, so every last one of the 15,000 paying spectators would be cheering for Celtic.

Eleven minutes into the contest, David Healy opened his 2012/3 account, to celebrate his Fans' Player of the Year award. Not long after, Alex Murray silenced the "home" crowd with a 25-yard thunderbolt.

Veteran midfielder Paul Scholes got Bruce Arena off to a winning start in Irish domestic football though, with a similar effort four minutes from the interval. Despite drama at either end, no further goals were added in the second half, as the game ended 2-1.

Celtic 2 (Healy 11, Scholes 41)
Linfield 1 (A.Murray 19)
Attendance: 15,000