Lobey_Dosser

FANS TURN ON CELTIC BACK in the early 1980s, when I was based in Birmingham, working for a Sunday paper, one of the most enjoyable sidelines I had was contributing to the Aberdeen matchday programme. To underline the trust placed in me, on one pre season visit to Pittodrie the then still plain old Mister Alex Ferguson handed me the staff list of all the Dons players' home phone numbers. During that spell, and in the latter half of the decade after I returned to Auld Alba, visits to Pittodrie were pleasant affairs, and at no time did I ever detect any anti Rangers agenda among the many Aberdeen supporters I came into contact with. That most certainly changed as an unhealthy aspect to normal club rivalry crept in after the incident which left Ian Durrant so badly injured. However, as we saw at the recent Scottish election, mindsets can be changed by events. In fact in recent conversations I have had with Aberdeen supporters who are friends, I have detected Harold McMillan's wind of change blowing. So much so that one Dons supporting pal, with an extensive network extending through many levels of Aberdeen fans from websites to fanzines, tells me those friends are all happier the title was won by Rangers, rather than Celtic. Now, as he pointed out, this did not mean they were so glad to see Rangers crowned as champions for a third successive season that they organised street parties. Their attitude, according to my wee Dons buddie, simply reflects a growing anger among supporters of the rest of Scotland's clubs at the way Celtic and their fans have been behaving. Much of this anger relates to the strange views, which have nothing to do with football, which are frequently given an official platform in the Celtic View. The most recent subject tackled there is religion, following a campaign which urged Celtic supporters to declare themselves to be Irish in the recent Census. The view from outside of the Old Firm is that if these views are expressed in the Celtic View then, by definition, they represent Celtic's view. A great deal of other anger extends to the way Celtic have appeared to harry referees and hound the Scottish Football Association beyond what a wide range of ordinary decent Scottish folk deem to be acceptable. But the bottom line is that these good folk, from the Mearns, through Tayside and Edinburgh, and across into Ayrshire, are fed up with constantly being told that unless they agree with every aspect of Celtic and the club's supporters, they are bigots and racists. Just yesterday I highlighted the campaign launched by the Celtic Supporters Association's head honcho, Joe O'Rourke. O'Rourke wants all Celtic supporters' organisations to launch a campaign to influence clubs in Scotland. What he does not make clear is if his campaign will be designed to influence them in the same way much of their actions this season have . That is, to harden attitudes against Celtic, in the same way I have been assured Aberdeen fans have hardened their view of the Parkhead club and its supporters. Of course none of this is to suggest that Dons fans and supporters of other clubs in Scotland have suddenly become Rangers lovers. But Scots, even more than other Britons, have a long love affair with the underdog. Witness the support for the national team. And Rangers, thanks in the main to Walter Smith's shrewdness, positioned themselves as such over the past season and, in the main, got on with things while allowing those connected with Celtic to reveal their agenda. That is perhaps another aspect of why so many Scots with no Old Firm affiliation have secretly sided with Rangers during the title run in. And it is possibly why, more than ever before, fans the length and breadth of Scotland will be rooting for the underdog in the Scottish Cup Final.

Randolph or Murphy for Celtic will be on the back page tomorrow. Remember on the morning of our semi a few years back, it was Faddy for Rangers.

On the money Melvin.

Missed the replay in 91 with a chest infection so for me it's: Tommy Coyne 94, 1-0 in the Scottish Cup against Carl Muggleton & co Twaddle at Parkhead with 10 men Jamie Dolan/Iain Ross. See the 3-2 game at FP, was that still John Barnes days with Ian Wright on the bench? One of the best atmospheres in recent times. IIRC, we drew 3-3 the following season which was also a belter.

I'd have Carswell on the bench incase anything happens to Jennings or Lasley.

Right back is the only problem position for me and much of that is down to the form of Hateley in recent months. Can we afford to go without him in midfield? Probably not. So either Saunders or Ross need to be able to combat the threat of Commons/Maloney while being able to play in Humphrey.

Few decent saves from Hollis but I wasn't overly-convinced. Thought Hateley tried to make things happen. Probably edges young Carswell.

Seen a wee boy with a celtic top buying a 'Well flag tae. Sad to see my old work no bothering it's arse this time around after winning a similar competition in 2005. Tattie munchers must have taken over the place. Good effort all round though, certainly gets the adrenalin flowing that wee bit more.

Humphrey will never go to Liverpool. Palace were also in for Riordan & Conway. No sure Palace would be the best fit for Murphy.

Fine planning eh? Why couldn't they just have had a General Sale.

This isn't our strip though.

Have you ever seen a retro top with a sponsor on it?

Exactly, very underwhelming.

Cammy Bell seems destined for another SPL club. Mccall has someone lined up though

O'Connor will surely end up at Hibs. The guy has more baggage that Riordan, wise to steer clear.

Just to clarify that, I can use the ST of someone who won't be buying any tickets?

Still no official word on allocation and clarification as to whether there is scope for further tickets should we need them?

This is the optimal time to sell him.

We flew out the traps by going toe to toe with them in midfield though and playing 1 upfront. Lasley and Forbes got right in their faces that day. I don't want us to sit back as our defence is our main weakness; I'm wanting our midfield to get a grip of the game with the intention of being able to release Murphy and Humphrey. Big difference as well from playing on our tattie field to Hampden.

We will get completely overrun if we play 442. Need an extra man in midfield to try and get some control of the game. Whiel Jeffers offers excellent movement we need to be solid so I'd keep him on the bench. Hopefully we can keep the game tight and then we can get a decent half hour out of him. Question for me is who is the 3rd man in midfield. Hateley? Given the threat coming down the left from Commons and Izaguerre I'd be inclined to keep Hateley at right-back, unless Maurice Ross can come onto a game.

Hopefully Gunning is just a bad loser but I was surprised by his poor attitude. Maybe Lafferty just got under his skin today.

Thought Jennings was the best of a poor lot.

Defence was all at sea from the off today. I wouldn't say we lay down to Rangers but we didn't come close to having the same appetite for the game as Rangers, which I can understand to an extent. With an eye on the Cup final, today is a timely reminder that we can't beat Celtic with a 2 man midfield. While we have got some decent footballers in the team, we need to go with a 3 man midfield that will battle like fuck. Hat off to Steven Naismith, rediscovered his form from earlier in the season. Top player.

I've never subscribed to the notion that there won't be enough tickets to meet our demand but the talk of a random ballot makes me a bit twitchy. How can that be fair and why is it needed for a club of our size? Digressing slightly, what about supporters, albeit relatively few, that don't have access to the internet?

With the apparent inevitability surrounding the departure of Jennings, i'd like to think Alex Neil is on our radar. Really good player imo.