STOLEN TITLES AND A NEW BOOK TITLE

It's quite easy to resort to knee-jerk reactions and the aftermath of last night's match is no exception. Everybody's saying how shite Celtic were and are blaming Deila, Lawwell and the board. To be honest, Molde are actually a good side and played really well on the break. Remember, Celtic had two goals chalked off for offside and brought out some excellent saves from the Molde keeper, so the fight was there. Molde were also quite cute and were adept at obstructing Celtic players running into the box, often resulting in the Molde player being barged to the ground and winning a free kick. Even the Bitton sending off was, from what I could see, unfair. It looked bad and you can't blame the referee, but the replay clearly showed that it was Bitton that was tripped and brought down. The fact that he landed on top of the Molde player made it look as if he was at fault. After that, Celtic were fighting a losing battle, having to chase all over the pitch as Molde took advantage of their extra man. I don't think it's time to panic just yet.

Yesterday, I had a comment on my blog; a rare event indeed! It was from Killybegs 1888, and he had this to say:

"What is Celtic doing about this..These cheats have cost our club £mssss of pounds..What's the point of going to football matches when there's not a level playing field..The arogince of these Bastards is shocking..Straight away last nite they were bleeding on "Your no taking our titles..If the Sfa does nothing which they won't what's the point of going to the games..If Celtic do nothing about this I won't be back at Celtic Pk."

He makes a very good point. The wee, sad Belfast man, PZJ, is still desperately trying to find something that he can pin on Celtic, inundating Glasgow District Council with FOI requests in his obsessive pursuit. He has the full backing of the Derry Dinosaur Jockey, Gregory Campbell and the full weight of the DUP behind him, tabling motions at Westminster and badgering the European Parliament relentlessly. While this concerted effort is taking place, what is Celtic doing about having been cheated out of titles, cups and money? Not a fucking thing! The supporters had to literally force the board to demand an explanation about Rangers being allowed to play in Europe in 2011. Meanwhile, Dermot Desmond, Peter Lawwell and others talk about wanting Rangers (sic) 'back' in the top tier.

For years the Ibrox club cheated their way to titles and cups and if it had been any other club those honours would have been stripped long ago. Michael Mols bleats that he won 'fair and square on the pitch'. The thing is, though, that he shouldn't have been on the fucking pitch in the first place! He can't even claim ignorance as his signature will still be visible on that side contract. He's a cheat and a liar, just like all the rest of them.

Some desperate Huns, on the Daily Record comments sections, are saying that Rangers aren't guilty of anything because they thought that EBTs were legal and above board. If they thought that, then why did they go to such pains to hide the side contracts; indeed, why did they have side contracts in the first place? Others are saying that Rangers could easily have afforded all those players without EBTs so they gained no sporting advantage. That, however, is totally beside the point. The fact is they cheated. By their logic, a thief shouldn't be convicted if he can show that he didn't need to steal. It's a load of crap and they know it!

The biggest laugh is provided by those of The Peeppul that call any of us that want their titles declared null and void 'wee green trolls' and 'obsessives'. So a whole political party wasting parliamentary time at Westminster and in Europe, as well as being paid a hefty salary by the taxpayer just to try and dig some dirt on Celtic, isn't obsessive? Meanwhile, the cretinous guy that writes the Rangers (sic) 'blog' on the Daily Record website wants we Celtic supporters to stop 'dwelling in the past'. This from a member of a crowd that still lives in the 17th Century!

To get back to what Killybegs 1888 was saying, if these titles aren't removed from the records and if the Celtic board doesn't at least try to do something to bring this about, then the game's a-bogey, as the saying goes. Really, what's the point? Rangers cheated, pure and simple, and our authorities bent over backwards to accommodate the new Ibrox team. If our authorities don't do anything about the cheating, then how can they be trusted not to allow Sevco to do the same? And if the Celtic board is just going to roll over and ignore this cheating in the past, then they're implicitly condoning any future cheating as well. In such a scenario, Scottish football is effectively fucked and there's no point in any supporter outside of Govan having anything to do with it.

Onto more cheery matters (well, the story isn't that cheery!). My new book is now available on Amazon. As I've already said, the paperback is £11.99 and the Kindle copy is £1.99. Here's what the book's about:

"Lord Peregrine Templeton-Horsburgh, more commonly known as Lord Horsburgh, is in charge of an organisation simply called The Club. For their own reasons, the members of The Club feel that they have to make sure that the English public takes a more jaundiced view of Irish Republicanism. Lord Horsburgh, therefore, uses blackmail to force the Provisional IRA into pursuing a bombing campaign in England.
Bernadette Murray, meanwhile, an eleven-year-old girl, who lives in Derry, loses her parents in the Troubles. She is sent to an orphanage, where she and the other girls are subjected to regular sexual abuse at the hands of politicians, businessmen and celebrities. While most girls retreat into themselves, Bernadette nurses her anger and is determined to get her revenge, no matter how long it takes.
From 1972 up to the present time, we follow the stories of Bernadette and the Horsburgh family, which, unknown to them, are intertwined. They are also intimately connected to the massive abuse of children throughout the UK.
Political chicanery and murder play their part as the Horsburghs fight to maintain their position in society and Bernadette seeks vengeance."

I've mixed fact and fiction in a story concerning the well-documented ritual abuse of hundreds, if not thousands of children, in the UK at the hands of powerful people. I've connected this with the situation in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s and provide an alternative explanation for well-known bombings.

The paperback version is available here.

The Kindle version is available here.