Two eye-catching displays in three days and their early season form has caught the imagination of the support and even earned the praise of Neil Lennon.
Step forward The Green Brigade.
After a few seasons of perseverance with occasional brilliance the bhoys from 111 have started the new season on fire with bigger numbers and ever and all-action performances before during and after the matches.
The Celtic u-19 squad certainly appreiated their efforts in the SFA Youth Cup Final win over Rangers at Hampden with Neil Lennon adding his support after the win over St Mirren.
Amongst the on-line praise for TGB I was especially impressed by the article from Hector Bandido on Etims.
Discussing their performance against Utrecht Hector said: “The onset of the match was quietish by their own standards but as the game progressed so did their own noise and colour. This reached an incredible level midway through the second half when for a good 15-20 minutes the same chant and the same beat kept on and on and on.
“Its funny how we’ve all loved watching foreign teams and their abundance of colour and sound making their clubs matches appear like a carnival but here we were inside Celtic Park, just under 40,000 inside the ground and it felt like we were in the middle of a Celtic festival.
“As the beat went on and the supporters noise increased so did the reception of those not involved in the Green Brigade who began clapping to the tune, humming away, smiling, laughing and partaking in a Celtic party.
“Truly, truly sensational.”
Well said that man.
Before the Utrecht match my attention was caught by an amazing in-depth article on the Dutch side put together by the Gib Football Show.
Gib is clearly a Celtic fanatic who can’t let any televised match go past. Previews of the season for England and Germany have been interesting with an ability to bring stats to life rather than as a cover for lack of knowledge or interest in the game often shown by mainstream media.
In his Utrecht preview Gib excelled himself, putting in a level of scouting that some football clubs would struggle to match.
Discussing the Dutch side ahead of their trip to Glasgow he said: “Going forward Utrecht are a very talented side, however they do have weaknesses in defence
“Their main weakness it seems is on the left side, as fantastic an attacker Dries Mertens seems to be, he is not interested in helping Nesu with his defensive duties, this leaves the Romanian very isolated and with two players working together at times he is left stranded, over the two games, 3 of the 4 goals they conceded came from poor defending on the left.
The Celtic Underground Podcast made for good listening with ‘social meejar guru’ Craig McGill the guest discussing all matters online as well as the win over Inverness Caley Thistle.
McGill’s enthusiasm came over well, mixed with reality about the pitfalls and danger of expectations about online communications.
Eddie the host, despite putting together the essential podcast, seemed to be more curious and cynical about the brave new world online which is perhaps understandable since most websites have had their teething problems and server issues.
McGill outlined the benefits of twitter and improved communications with supporters emphasising that it has to be a free service to be successful with the profit to come further down the line.
A Celtic twitter account would certainly be popular delivering instant news to supporters while referring them back to the official website which is in line for a revamp with expectations for the new look reaching Weiss-like proportions.
Going along to the u-19 match at 11am I couldn’t help but wonder how many supporters within twenty minutes of Barrafield were at a loose end on a Saturday morning- a 10am tweet promoting the match could have added a few extra bodies to the attendance.
On the park the young Celts were in fantastic form, Hamilton are reputed to have one of the best youth set-ups in Scotland but were taken apart by Celtic playing the same sort of aggressive flexable football that the first team have shown so far this season.
With Darren O’Dea, Morten Rasmussen and Josh Thompson joining the on-loan exodus the internet becomes even more essential for the clued up Celtic supporter.
The websites of Fiorentina, Spartak Moscow and CSKA Sofia can expect additional Celtic traffic as the fortunes of Artur Boruc, Aiden McGeady and Cillian Sheridan are followed closely.
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