The details of Celtic’s summer tour were published today and they are … well, impressive. I will post a piece tonight which will not be quite so complimentary of the club and those who run it, but it would take someone of a particularly cynical disposition not to be thrilled by the names we’ve got lined up for the pre-season games in America.
DC United are a good side, and that should draw a good crowd. Chelsea and Manchester City are on another level. By the time we face the light blues they could be two-time Champions of Europe and the undisputed biggest club on the planet. If we win the title, it could be a Battle of Britain, and a potential warm-up for a match in the big cup itself.
All incredibly exciting, even for someone who doesn’t usually care that much about pre-season, and who certainly is not currently looking forward to the coming one. These games will be brilliant though and there’s just no denying that fact, and it speaks volumes that we can arrange these sorts of matches. You wonder what they must think across town.
If they find it difficult, that’s their own hard lines.
The Australia tour event and the shocking way they behaved fundamentally altered how some of these organisations see their club.
Call these people crazy, but they all believe that a signed contract has significance and means something and they are leery of dealing with Peepul who don’t see things the same way.
Their decision to tear that contract up will have repercussions for that club which will literally last for years. Don’t forget, this was at the start of last season.
This is not a hundred years ago, and the memory of it is still fresh in the minds of the sort of people who work in that industry, and don’t think for one minute that they accept Ibrox’s nonsensical justification for this, because they just make the club look even worse.
For openers, everyone knows they did it to appease a fan-base which is absolutely rabid.
That they pander to their craziest element to that extent would worry these companies enough, but that they then made all sorts of spurious claims that the organisers changed the terms and conditions on them paints a dreadful picture; they actually looked for the flimsiest pretext they could find to bin the whole thing, and that’s something nobody in that business will ignore.
Celtic is seen as far more professional, far more flexible and easier to deal with. We also don’t come with the appalling baggage that fan-base brings everywhere with it; I doubt they are getting invited to Boston any time soon, and they are never, ever, ever getting invited to Notre Dame. Imagine doing the whole “up to our knees in fenian blood” there.
Celtic fans, on the other hand, will feel right at home on that tour. The cities are friendly places for us, and there are plenty of Celtic clubs spread across the geographical area, so anyone who is there will have a blast and see some great football teams.
It’s great for our club and for our fans. Whatever Ibrox throws together, I very much doubt it is going to have anything like the cachet of what we’re doing here.
But they can always follow Chelsea if they want, although they might not find the London club being particularly interested in having their own name dragged through the mud by this shower, not in America and not in those particular cities where there will be an especial intolerance of their chants and songs.
It’s good news for us, and although it doesn’t affect them directly their fans are entitled to wonder if they’re going to pull their own rabbit out of the hat.
They will have a job on their hands doing that, and if those fans want someone to blame … they can look in the mirror.
Do you think they will announce another soirée in Australia again? Mr neither .
James, if Man City win the Champions League, it will make them the best team on the planet. It will not .ake them the biggest club on the planet. They are not even the biggest club in Manchester no matter how many times they might win it. Anyway, this is pre season trips our club should be making. Strengthening the first team is a bigger priority
Hopefully the Board Really do invest in the Team.
It’s good news and a tribute to the pulling power of Celtic. Sevco are a million miles behind us. Our fan base and our reputation is the key to these events.
Sevco have no allies. I know many Chelsea fans who are embarrassed by some of Sevco’s bottom feeders using their club as an ‘alternative’ team. Chelsea saw Davie Hay, Chris Sutton, Craig Burley and others play for them over the years. Not to forget Pat Nevin. Sevco have no friends in the game outside Scotland except for Linfield. Believe it, it’s the truth.
Poor sevco:
Linfield FC just doesn’t have the same appeal?
Shouldn’t laugh…too much!
🙂
They canny even side with Glentoran Bob (original)…
As they play in GREEN & WHITE !!!
I thought The Rangers had to agree to some sort of deal regarding pre season tours to avoid a court case? Anyone know the details?
I always laugh when I hear the like of Jim White, souness et al describe it.. “these two have a global fan base”. You wrote about getting lumped in with that lot yesterday when it comes to their fans abhorrent behaviour but they’re happy to cling onto our coat tails in this regard, the only reason they signed the australia contracts in the first place. With enhanced champions league money, should we get there, this preseason tour and the ones that follow off the back of it will leave us needing the binoculars to look in the rear view mirror
Sevco can play Rotherham United, Stoke City and Huddersfield Town while we play Manchester City and Chelsea no less…
Fine if we are the Champions for Season 2023/24…
If not then they can stick their glamour pre season friendlies, cos it’ll be Sevco that’ll be playing them going forward with their new found mega millions…
While we will be playing The Rotherham’s The Stoke’s and The Huddersfield’s of this world…
Absolutely Disgusting if that should come to pass…
But you’re not too late yet My Lovely Celtic !
it’s all fine and dandy….as our board of useless,self serving bastards, announce grand plans for the summer…FABULOUS !!! we’re gonna be lording it with the great man city etc…pity they didn’t look after the more important work last summer..ie strengthening the playing staff….but then, that would mean actually spending money…so as celtic fly around the usa….we can all snigger at the huns…possibly stuck at home….with a possible 3 trophies ?…..the same 3 trophies we had in our cabinet last summer ???
yep….a club like no other..FAIL FAIL
Have to confess, Im at a loss as to why Celtic fans are viewing this tour through the prism of how it makes sevco look, we stopped using the term” old firm” quite some time ago, I figured that was just another way of distancing our own club and fan base from that of Glasgows newest club yet, here we have an entire article devoted to comparing our worldwide drawing power in relation to theirs, I couldn’t care less about that clubs position regarding their popularity, or lack thereof, would prefer to keep my focus on how our board behave, they are more liable to harm our ambitions than any 12 year old entity playing out of Ibrox.
Like every pre season friendly or any friendly they will be borefests and are designed to make money not for the fans benefit