Talk of Celtic being favourites due to the losses of star players and Bodo Glimpt being on a mid-season break did not sit easy with me, having heard that song so many times before with the inevitable defeat following on from that. I give you Copenhagen two years ago. So along we went to Celtic Park seven nights ago hoping that the Lightning wouldn’t strike twice. Well I guess they didn’t, but sadly they added a third immediately after Daizen Maeda’s superb glancing header gave us brief hope of a comeback, as our old defensive failings in Europe kicked in yet again against an excellent attacking side. So, home we trudged feeling like we had seen this particular movie a few times before. Turning this around would be an incredible achievement, and we travelled to Norway more in blind faith than anything else.
I’m sitting near the front of the plane and get chatting to a young guy called Steven, who has followed the Celts abroad comprehensively. We compare notes on the best and the worst of these trips, with Tallinn being a particular favourite of his. Small world syndrome kicks in once again as he mentions that he plays amateur football and throws in the name of my son’s team. For most of the journey we can’t see a thing outside and as we begin the landing preparations there is considerable turbulence as the plane does a couple of belly flops which are not funny. But as usual the Celts see the humorous side of life or death and a spontaneous rendition of “Walk with me O my Lord” gets the chuckles going again. The Lord duly does his job and we’re down safely to another outburst of singing. I get my first look at Bodo and it’s a chilling prospect – quite literally. Through the porthole window it looks like Winterfell.
