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[His mistake for the 3rd goal, turning into a clutter of Juve players around the edge of the box was the worst I've seen in Celtics' cl campaign, there's little doubt that by that stage of the game, his brains were mush.]

Abrose is there for his pace. He is a tremendous athlete and covers off very well.
However, this was a mistake wating to happen as Ambrose and a few other Celtic starters all too often give the ball away needlessly through bad passing or poor control.
A lack of experience and a hugely different style of play (at a much higher technical level) doesnt help.
Celic playing week in week out in spl then have to metamorph into a side that competes with CL teams. thats not easy.

I think Ambrose has been performing very well in the games that demand it,  CL qualifier/group games and the Africa Cup where he got on the team of the tournament. I'd say there is little doubt that the edge of the (poor)  split second decisions he made, was the effect of post tournament/travel/no recovery time  and not because he's prone to poor decision making in the big games.

His mistake for the 3rd goal,  turning into a clutter of Juve players around the edge of the box was the worst I've seen in Celtics' cl campaign, there's little doubt that by that stage of the game, his brains were mush.

Ambrose's speed and athleticism usually save him, but the bit in bold - he has been a bit of a bombscare on a few occassions home and away to spartak and away to Barca.
he is not on his own there, but Celtic defenders are not the accomplished footballing centre halves.
However I'd prefer to see them hoof it out if in doubt. Reiper and Mjalby etc would never have hesitated. Safety first as a defender or when defending.
my thoughts I think are on record prev in this thread about giving the ball away too easily. I also am always an advocate (not advocaat) of safety first for defence!

Undoubtedly Ambrose was affected by the trip back to Glasgow. Lennon risked him and it didnt work.
I personally woudl play Rogne who is damn fast, but he doesnt seem to gel well with Wilson when they play together, which is prob why Lennon went for Ambrose too. Mulgrew a good all round player, but not a natural centre half and too left footed for there in the big games imo - if not lacking a bit of place for the CL there too.

Dinny, new all seater stadiums have been the death knell for atmosphere in stadiums.
There is a different in day and night between the old Celtic atmosphere at league games and the current Post 1998 atmosphere.
OK the CL games they have a big vocal crowd, but up until the new Green brigade was formed, it was getting more like a church (or epl game) year on year.
not as bad now, but still nowhere near what it was like when the jungle was there and up until the only the new stands behind the goals were there.
Reports from fans from english sides say the atmosphere is nosediving in similar fashion - due to taylor report and all seater more expensive stadia.
Dont talk about atmosphere at Derry GAA matches.
Rugby seems to be following on the soccer model. crowds less vocal and for all the reasons you have mentioned.

however I also say that an overhyped team that delivers feck all doesnt help. we used to hate England for this and we are as bad ourselves now for this.
I feared we were lucky that the welsh had no invention and imo four bad mistakes that Ireland fantastically capitalised upon gave the half time lead. After that when wales got their act together defensively, we had no invention of our own to break through them - likewise in the first half save for the mistakes they made. Wales were dire and their scores should have never been conceeded.
I feared the worst against england going into the game. while imo this 6N is wide open given the rebuilding that engerland, france and wales are doing - We should be actually winning more comfortably. The weather played its part on sunday, but we show a massive lack of invention. The centres are too old and too much is expected of young and for now, overhyped wingers. Poor selections and bad execution allied with too many unenforced errors have cost the side.

I also think the refs are poor so far. so many offsides and forward passes not blown. Do wales even know what a backward pass looks like?

I admire how you didnt say anything about Quinlan - I know you see red when his name comes up!
Was kinda looking forward to what you would reply with!

Abrose is there for his pace. He is a tremendous athlete and covers off very well.
However, this was a mistake wating to happen as Ambrose and a few other Celtic starters all too often give the ball away needlessly through bad passing or poor control.
A lack of experience and a hugely different style of play (at a much higher technical level) doesnt help.
Celic playing week in week out in spl then have to metamorph into a side that competes with CL teams. thats not easy.

IMO Samaras missing was a disaster for the team. Hooper does not fit well into the lone striker of a counter attacking team. he has scored goals , but it a 18 yard box poacher more than a lone striker. A fit enough Stokes or Samaras the ideal candidate for that role.

Forster not as sharp yet as he was due to only just back from lengthy lay off from inj didnt help.
thought the Forster before Christmas would have saved the first and one of the other subsequent goals (cant rem which one).

The sooner Celtic get into the epl the better. Swansea have paved the way for this!
Even if they do have to start in lower divisions...

while i'm often wrong on these things, I cant see Celtic scoring.
if Juve sit back and wait for Celtic to come at them, then it will be a 0-0 borefest.
Celtic are going great in europe on the counter attacking tactic.
however even in the spl thy cant hardly break a defense down.
interesting to see the youth and young Rogic in particular do just that last weekend.
If Celtic are to really be up there and actually stand toe to toe with the Juve's and Barca ec - then tech creative players are also needed - the same thing people are giving out about the Irish team and Wes Hoolahan on.
I know Celtic have a fraction of the money these other teams have to spend, and what big name player would want to go to the freezing cold of Glasgow of a November...
Celtic are doing fantastically well - but if counter attacking or route one are not an option, then it wont work (right now at least). I'll hopefully hear the second half of the game on the radio driving home tonight! Hail Hail

wondering if anyone could recommend a good, comprehensive travel insurance for my folks (over 65's) that want to head off to the states this easter.
VHI quote is €180 for both of them, multi trip insurance.

thats more than double what I pay, I know the premium goes up because they are over 65, but if anyone knows of a decent policy in the south- please reply.
TIA

[they]

I hope they start up a bolshevik party , I'll vote for them - esp if they say they are going to tell the bondholders to feck off

Nothing like waiting for "Someone else" eh?
Anyway SF in the 26 Cos. fit the bill already 

Anyway the deal done today/last night was the inevitable one - pay back over a longer period so it costs less each year but the overall total is much more .
There will be a lot more of this over the next few years both at Governmantal and private/personal levels.

im too much of a capitalist fat cat.

sf are almost as central policy wise now as ff , fg etc - so they are not the leaders of the revolution !

we still are ending up paying more and we should have followed Icelands example and at least reduced the debt by some magnitude.

we are just going to go further into hock to loan sharks.

IF the public sector was tackled then that would make inroads on the 15bn a year - but turkeys dont vote for christmas and we have wasted too many years maintaining the status quo on this already.

[Seemingly the Gardaí started checking car boots and lofts looking for the horse.]

Aside from the predictable burger jokes can anyone point to where Shergar is buried - or is he still working in a 7-11 with Elvis?

I remember the day well when the news came in. Seemingly the Gardaí started checking car boots and lofts looking for the horse.
All anecdotal evidence points to the horse going mental and being shot after a day or so and buried in Leitrim - but nothing was ever found to back this up.

hard to believe but true!

a disgrace
the debt was not reduced, merely an agreement to pay it all off over a longer period.

I hope they start up a bolshevik party , I'll vote for them - esp if they say they are going to tell the bondholders to feck off (well only paying 50%-75% would be better than what we have now).
fg are incapable and inept. labour are their willing useless lapdogs.

we have too many people in cushy positions who only care about me fein. thats the problem with our gov and people who we vote for.
There are only a handful that are worth the vote.

if yer going to get married - make sure she is a gael.
it makes it f**king difficult in later footballing (training, coaching, going to matches) years if she isnt!

Nonsense. If you marry a Gael, the odds are that she hails from another club or county, quite possibly one that routinely punches your club/county in the face. With a non-Gael, they're a blank slate only too eager to explore the exotic (!) world of the GAA.

I'd gladly take the tribalism over the whole problem with understanding why you have to go play/training/coach/watch football.

First mistake was to bring her to 1998 ulster championship (final or semi final) in clones.

if yer going to get married - make sure she is a gael.
it makes it f**king difficult in later footballing (training, coaching, going to matches) years if she isnt!

Got my eye on a wee Briton-Saxon, whats the craic with getting hitched to one of them, if you loud proud and Gael.

it would prob be the joining of two pro british identities in your case !

The British gov has not really started their economic/jobs withdrawal just yet, but it cant be far away.

What is this opinion based on? Have they started at all, and what makes this action imminent?

dont think any real move to transfer jobs etc has ben started yet.
my opinion is formed from hearing occasional comments from british politicians and from declarations from british politicians from over 30 years ago that they would prefer to move out of he north of Ireland but just cannot until there is a referendum that they can use to do so.

the more that britain gets into financial difficulty, the more they will look for solutions such as this...
thats all really. but it makes sense and financial sense too - but then again sense isnt always applied to the north of Ireland...



also - I'd think a lot of southern Irish people would vote against reunification presently. The northern brethren (taigs) have peed a lot off down here, let alone how people look at the unionist/loyalist mentality !

No they are not, the debate is solely going on around the poll. Before we get to that stage there is a lot of ground work needs doing.

dont know about a lot of ground needing to be covered just yet.
I think these things will work themeselves out in the longer term, right before reunification.
the Economy in the south/jobs etc will be lucrative for those in the north with ever decreasing british gov funding. the longer this goes on, the less people will have to lose and will accept whatever 'offer' is given to them at the time.
The British gov has not really started their economic/jobs withdrawal just yet, but it cant be far away.

ideally the south will improve certain things like health servie- did I hear inda kinny and fg say they wanted to bring a free health service into play in the south ? I dont think thats happening even if some crazed election promise. sure the hoor cant even deliver the promisory notes deal - and its been on a plate for months...

for all those (not mentioning certain SF supporters) who slag off the southern economy, well its only the bank deal thats hankering the full recovery now. plenty of businesses are booming down here.OK many have left our shores, but there are still loads of jobs for the educated...

If a reunification was on the doorstep, then I'd fear that free health service would be phased out.
the dole might go down also.
not sure how a lot of the northern contingent would survive without these makey uppy jobs and boards up there.
but as most of these employed by these schemes are educated, their skills are somewhat transferrable.

What about the long term damage to our environment lads? These things are 180meters tall, and for the project to work there will be loads of them!!
Yes - a small number of people will earn a living wage out of the proposal, but what impact will these windmills have on the people who live in the area?

Exporting beef & butter doesnt damage the environment lads so its not fair to make such a comparison

How would you like to live in an area where they are been erected? These things would dwarf those erected in Co. Derry, and they are bloody awful looking and have certainly devalued the area

Wind turbines don't cause environmental damage - the only perceived negative impact they have is visual; they do produce some noise impacts locally too I suppose.  Planning tends to remove that impact through siting appropriately. 

Production of beef and butter for export, through agriculture, on the other hand has several significant impacts on our environment - recognised by the legislation in place for nearly 20 years regulating their operation and management.  I would imagine that the export of green electricity would have much less impact on our environment than agricultural exports. 

That said, much of our electricity is currently imported from Britain via the interconnector - I understand that much of it comes from nuclear power.  I'm presuming that most of this new green power will be exported also via the interconnector, no?  I personally think it's a very good day for Ireland's economy.

thats similar to my own view on this also.

ok the jobs created might not all be long term - but any flurry of work for people and a financial injection into all levels of the economy is great - until more longer term work comes back this way for the ex construction/manufacturing workers.

remember a couple of decades ago, there was a lot of seasonal workers- full time long term employment was not always readily available.

Surprised none of our rugger experts have expressed an opinion on Kidney's decision to take the captaincy from O'Driscoll.
Seems a strange one to me

I actually think it's something Kidney got spot on. Widely recognised that O'Driscoll is close to retirement, Heaslip did well as captain in the AI and it's bringing that forward to the 6N. Simple succession planning no?

completely agree. Will ODriscoll last the 6N without getting inj. might bebetter coming on with slower tired defenders and the opportunity to go through the gaps and score- thats what he is best at , even if he has lost a bit of pace.
for me it was either Sexton , Heaslip or potentially Ryan as captain and only Heaslip has the exp.
slightly wary of it upsetting his game though.