Villa v Celtic Friendly

[PeterWithesShin]

FIFA 12 has spoken.

[bertlambshank]

Play the game against Celtic and give the money to Rangers.Happy days.

[garyfouroaks]

To all the people posting about the politics why don't you start a seperate thread and discuss it there?

Exactly what I asked them to do, but got ignored.

So, can we keep this to discussion of the game, and start a thread in OT on the politics of Rangers / Celtic instead?

Paulie, you will be pleased to know that I will duck out of this after this contribution.I have studiously avoided spelling out the politics.

This isn't about Celtic/Rangers. This is about Celtic's relationship with Britain and Birmingham.

The whole point is that with Celtic, it is about more than the game. Ignore that, and you cannot have a discussion about the merits of the game.

We all wish Stan well.

[Irish villain]

Garyfouroaks, I appreciate that it's insensitive of me to respond to your above post but Celtic are a British club. Some of their supporters sing about something they know little about because it annoys their rivals who also sing about a subject that they are quite ignorant about. A lot villa fans don't approve of the Paul McGrath song but it still gets sung. Should a recovering alcoholic thus be offended by Aston Villa FC? Let's try and see the bigger picture here.

[Pete3206]

Spot on Irish Villain.

[The Adventurer]

I'm with garyfouroaks on this one! I wont go antwhere near Villa Park if THAT club are invited down to play a friendly!! I've had the misfortune of seeing what "jolly craicsters" their anti-British support are on more than one occasision & I'd like to think there's no room for it at Villa Park!!

Why dont we play CSKA Sofia instead??

[Legion]

[Ger Regan]

This thread is immensely depressing.

[AV82EC]

This thread is immensely depressing.

Never was the expression Little Englander so appropriate.

[Dave Cooper please]

This thread is immensely depressing.

Isn't it.
Two clubs with a shared goal of raising money for a worthy cause on behalf of a player they both hold in the highest regard yet still some people just cannot keep their prejudices to themselves.
Shame.

[Perry Barr Pet]

If a charity match was to take place, what percentage of the takings would a charity actually receive?  On top of the usual costs for a game, the bill for policing this one would be enormous.  I would prefer to stick my 19 quid in an envelope and send it direct to a charity who would get it all.

[DeKuip]

VillaBobby you do understand that Bilbao have one of the most politicised supports in world football? The club itself has a Basque only signing policy.

The ETA haven't bombed Birmingham though!

For what it's worth, my feelings are that we should wait until Stan is through it all until any game is played – be it in Brum or Glasgow. I'm sure everyone means well but I do feel Stan and his family should be left to concentrate 100% on what is of most importance over the next few months, or however long it takes. Being the type of guy Stan is he'd insist on getting involved in some way if a game was planned - or at least be feeling as though he should - when he could probably do without any added stress.
I really don't know the timescale involved but I would imagine the worst time for him physically will be over the next few months.
Let's just keep up the 19 mins applause and support for him, and work something out with Celtic when Stan's well enough to be involved.

[The Adventurer]

If a charity match was to take place, what percentage of the takings would a charity actually receive?  On top of the usual costs for a game, the bill for policing this one would be enormous.  I would prefer to stick my 19 quid in an envelope and send it direct to a charity who would get it all.

Totally agree with this!!

[villanic]

Garyfouroaks, I appreciate that it's insensitive of me to respond to your above post but Celtic are a British club. Some of their supporters sing about something they know little about because it annoys their rivals who also sing about a subject that they are quite ignorant about. A lot villa fans don't approve of the Paul McGrath song but it still gets sung. Should a recovering alcoholic thus be offended by Aston Villa FC? Let's try and see the bigger picture here.

Well said Irish villain.

I've posted on this thread a few times now about how too many people are letting the politics get in the way of what could be a truly top moment for the football family and not just us and Celtic.

 It's time to make it clear where I'm coming from on this, my dad and his best mate (who is now my stepdad, yeah I know its all very Jeremy Kyle) lost two of there best mates in the pub bombings and for years I've had them both banging on on about the IRA, sectarianism and about how We should hate Celtic, I Actually like Rangers not that it's got fuck all to with politics, I loved watching Lazio on 4 and i loved Gascoigne and so when he went to Rangers I started following them, I'm also massive fan of Larsson and Lambert and raved about Stan before we signed him.

Ive spoken to both my dad(season ticket holder for nearly 20 years befoe AM) and my step dad, a man who never cared about football but is now a massive villa fan thanks to me dragging him all over the place to watch us, over the last couple of days about Stan and this potential match and even they agree it would be a tremendous show of are support to Stan and a great way of supporting any charities that will benefit from this match.

A lot of people posting on here are starting to remind of Liverpool fans. They can't play an FA Cup semi final on a Sunday because they can't let something in the past go and we can't play a friendly against Celtic to show respect for our captain because some people done a fucked up thing decades ago to show there political beliefs.

Eventually we all just have to move on, something's are just more important.

[Pete3206]

This thread is immensely depressing.

Pathetic isn't it?