Davie Bhoy

You'll struggle to get 54 to hold his hands up and admit he was wrong. That's Be'er Sheva now beaten Inter Milan home & away as well as eliminating a good Premiership side. Not bad for a wee pub team eh.

Now you mention it, I think you're right. I watched their games well. Did Aberdeen not play Malmo?

Yet you don't factor in the luck of the draw giving us a nightmare group when you try to use our group results against us. Can't have it both ways. Nice spin on the argument there. 2pts from 5 CL group games is far superior to 3pts from 6 EL group games. Last season we failed to make the CL, this season we did. Stevie Wonder can see the improvement from last season. Nobody is comparing our last time in the CL with now. This debate started out as a progress from last season. You flit between last season & our last time in the CL. It was Malmo we faced in the last qualifier...not Molde. It was Molde who ran away with our group. From having been at our games against Malmo, Qarabag & Astana, I can't understand why you claim that Malmo are somehow some great team. They aren't. They carried luck against an average Celtic side. Even this season, poor refereeing decisions were all that stopped Hibs from knocking them out of Europe.

It is relevant though. The insinuation was that we spent that amount on first team wages when it isn't the case. The hefty wages the directors are on from the money the groundsmen, stewards, catering staff etc etc are all lumped into that figure. Anyway, like you said it's no fault of our own and the comparison isn't with other Scottish clubs it's with teams in Europe. Maybe if 54 & counting wants to compare wage budgets he should look at his own club over the past 4-5 seasons. 2nd biggest wage bill in Scottish football for all that time. 4 attempts to win the prestigious Petrofac Cup, 2 attempts to get out the Championship, no major domestic cups won, languishing in 3rd in the league. Maybe he should compare wage budgets with the teams who did win some of those honours such as Hibs, Hearts, Inverness CT, St Johnstone, Livingston, Raith Rovers, QoS, Partick Thistle....or does the playing budget not count when it comes to his own club?

Yes, the rest. Bloody phone/site seems to change words too easily. No it's not like that because this squad isn't just built for the challenges of the domestic game. It's also to help us do well in Europe. This is where we enter the unknown. This season we have spent very little given we've been drawn against big clubs from the top 3 clubs in Europe. Maybe we should use your argument and asses it on a points v money spent to evaluate value for money. Anyway, as this is a European topic I'm not sure why what we spend has to do with the Scottish game in that context. If fans want to compete with us then turn up and put the money in. Don't just cry about it. Which is entirely up to them. If they can afford to repay the loans etc then fair enough. They couldn't afford to splash the cash,....we can!

Every club has bonuses. The money spent isn't to keep ahead of Aberdeen, but to keep ahead of the feast of Scottish football. I'm not interested in what cost each point gained comes at. We are the champions, we are in the CL, we're playing great football, we're looking good for a treble....the money is well spent.

Quite simply because it's a new manager who is still trying to find out about 30 new players and who works well in his system etc. Do you really think that 7 competitive games is sufficient time for a new manager to have assessed his entire playing squad? I noticed you failed to address the conditions they had to play in. How can you claim it was an easier qualifying campaign? On paper the teams were maybe not as good but the conditions and other factors were levellers. Travelling to the edge of Asia, Travelling to the desert, playing on a poor artificial surface, playing in a humid climate. You seem to want to overlook these factors while ignoring the point that the opposition were actually not too bad either. Again...new manager trying to get to grips with an entirely new bunch of players at a new club while trying to navigate through European qualifiers. I know your argument doesn't allow for any of that to be taken into consideration but the only sign of improvement that matters is that while this time last season we failed to make the CL, this season we are there. While we were slipping up in the Europa, this season we are doing it in the CL.

This isn't just for the playing squad though which is where he was aiming that. This includes everyone employed at the club.

Makes no difference. We couldn't compete financially for the past 20 years & we still can't now.

Jeez, just read several of your posts and you really are bitter. Celtic go through & we were lucky...funnily enough in our defeats you never suggest we were unlucky. I mean we battered the Red Imps away but do I hear you say we were unlucky to lose and not kill the tie in Gibraltar....no. All you have done is focus on the negatives. The only game we really struggled in was the away tie in Israel & given the Heat & humidity of playing in the desert, our players looked dead on their feet. That kinda game poss came too soon for them but that's the beauty of the qualifiers. However the fact is we did enough to go through. So it's not lucky. As for throwing in about the penalties, they were stonewallers and if we hadn't been taken down in the box, would have likely scored. That is not being lucky...it's the rules of the game. You also question the quality of the sides we faced & how 'lucky' we were but you fail to mention how this poor Beer Sheva side went to Milan & beat Inter in the San Siro. C'mon man, give credit where it's due. We also drew away in Germany & at home to Man City. Both sides who play in the elite leagues in Europe & who spend so many £m's more than we do...how does that fit into your 'they spend £m's' argument? If you can't see the improvement in this Celtic side in Europe then you clearly have no clue about football. You go on about spending £m's...our net spend is only about £4m

Suggesting Celtic are spending close on £30m a year on wages

It's Celtic who hand out 1yr rolling contracts to managers. Have done with every manager since MoN.

Clearly this shows the need for The Rangers to find a new tax avoidance scheme and people to rip off so they can challenge the true dominant force in Scottish football, or can they really be considered a proper tribute act!

Aye that's the one. Remember we used to be in the Georgie Rd end and having to park the Supporters buses along by some wee Crescent that felt like miles away & in the middle of it was a grass bit that had cattle grazing on it lol. Used to get into the ground through the gap in the flats. Was about 15 on my first visit there. If it was about cost would they not have been better putting a bit more on the sideline instead of the wee bit around the corner? Was just strange seeing it the first time.

Speaking about roofs, what was the thinking behind the old Tynecastle one where their main singing crowd used to gather in the corner when it was terraced? Only a wee bit of the sideline & a fraction behind the goal had a roof & the rest was exposed to the elements.