..all this 'first time in last 16' shite..

The Times November 27, 2006

The belittling of giants
Danny Kelly

Wasn't it great last week to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the
country's first elected female leader, making a state visit to
France? France is, of course, Germany's oldest ally and a huge party
was held to mark a century of peaceful coexistence between the two.
At the bash, music was provided by the group whom rock fan Merkel
described as "undoubtedly the greatest English band of all time",
the Kaiser Chiefs. During the event, held at the Irish Embassy, there
was much quaffing of pints of Ireland's traditional liquid gift to
the world, Magners cider.

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"TonyFlynn" hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1164753421.168056.56560@n67g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
..all this 'first time in last 16' shite..

The Times November 27, 2006

The belittling of giants
Danny Kelly

Wasn't it great last week to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the
country's first elected female leader, making a state visit to
France? France is, of course, Germany's oldest ally and a huge party
was held to mark a century of peaceful coexistence between the two.
At the bash, music was provided by the group whom rock fan Merkel
described as "undoubtedly the greatest English band of all time",
the Kaiser Chiefs. During the event, held at the Irish Embassy, there
was much quaffing of pints of Ireland's traditional liquid gift to
the world, Magners cider.

Wise words mate.

Angof (no need for Mail) wrote:

He is and he isn't.

He's going OTT about the factual statement that Celtic have qualified
for the last sixteen of the Champions League for the first time. This
is true; it cannot be denied, but articles like this exacerbate what is
being pushed in the media. That is the lie that the Champions League is
a different competition from the European Cup or Champions Cup or
whatever it was called in 1967. Yes, it is a different format and yes
it has a different name, but its the same trophy that rewards the
ultimate achievement in European club competition.

His points however, about the marketing of the game and the
competition, are valid. It appears to be in the interest of the
sponsors and the media to have wiped the slate clean in 1992, and start
again. I still cannot fathom why exactly.

So the real issues are in the wording of the media's presentation and
how that is interpreted by the consumer.

\\¯`·.¸biz¸.·´¯// wrote:

..nonsense.. the guy is just pissed off with the constant 're-branding'
every few years.. everything has to start at year zero in constant
attempts to freshen up the 'product'..

..no Celtic fan is *that* annoyed about 'first time in the last 16'
shite, it just chips away at you when you know perfectly well we've won
the fuckin' thing.. there's no need for it.. Real Madrid have 9
European Cups, no-one in their right mind says 6EC & 3CL.. UEFA put
great effort into romanticising the past winners of the EC, as do SKY
when they have CL nights..

..the World Cup has changed trophy and format through the years, but it
remains the World Cup..

\¯`·.¸biz¸.·´¯// wrote:

ZB wrote:

\\¯`·.¸biz¸.·´¯// wrote:

..there was a preliminary round, a first round with about 30/31 teams
(Real Madrid had a bye to the 2nd round) and the 2nd round was 16
teams..

..whats wrong with .." this is the first time Celtic have reached the
last 16 since 1980, when they reached the quarter finals..

..when Real Madrid won their 7th EC, no-one was saying 'this is the
first time RM have reached the final'..

TonyFlynn wrote:

Probably all quite true, but it just highlights exactly how teams from a
smaller league are though of in the grand scheme of things these days,
regardless of what they've achieved in the past.

Hopefully in future we can see Rangers and Celtic regularly progressing in
the CL and the UEFA Cup where applicable.

Paddy wrote:

Are you saying that when Celtic won that competition it was a poor competition with
little interest?