Celtic Diary Friday October 7: Silly Season Continues

Scotland host Lithuania tomorrow in a world cup qualifier, and with Scott Brown having retired from the scene, he gets a chance to sit and watch the game like the rest of us.

Wonder if he’ll still feel the same way about retiring after the game ?

He’s quit to focus entirely on his club career, in a thinly disguised attempt to be the man who lifts the tenth successive title.

Is it working ?

 “I think it can extend my career by a good two or three years at least.

‘I feel fresh as a daisy, like I did when I was 25. 

As fresh as a daisy ? Use of this phrase makes me think theres more to Brown than meets the eye.

Daisies are considered amongst the freshest and best-rested flowers because they sleep. Well, “sleep”. Come sunset, the daisy is famous for closing its petals as it “goes to sleep” and opening up again come morning. 

The daisy’s habit of getting a bit of shut-eye at night gave the flower its name, where “daisy” comes from the old English daeges eage, or “day’s eye” because it only “opened its eye” by day. 

A wonderful use of language on National Poetry Day, succinctly describing why he’s retired, and what effect its had on him.

Theres no doubt he’s improved for Celtic, and it does seem likely that the extra rest is doing him good. He’s back to the all action swashbuckler we used to love. More importantly, his concentration is better, and he’s less prone to stupid mistakes and tantrums.

Then he got a bit carried away…

“If I could go on and play until I am 40, I would be over the moon. 

Down to the pain killing medication, presumably.

The decision to field thirteen year old Karamoke Dembele in a development game this week continues to have repercussions, or at least the media seem to want it to have repercussions.

We’ve already seen Dutch legend Ruud Gullitt ambushed for his opinion on the lad, and having seen the embarrassing result of that, reporters have now done away with quotes and sources, as they can spoil a good story;

Sportsmail has learned the English FA are keen on hijacking him for their own national set-up, if he can be persuaded to switch.

The Scottish response ? 

To keep England (where he was born ) and the Ivory Coast (where his parents come from ) at bay, the SFA want to pitch Dembele into the Victory Shield Under-16s tournament next month. 

I’m not entirely sure the English are the ones who would be guilty of hijacking here, but that point has been somehow forgotten by writer Stephen MacGowan of the Daily Mail. 

Alright, so its international week, and there’s very little going on for hacks to write about, so we can expect a few sensationalist tales, simply to keep readers interested until the proper football starts back in just over a weeks time.

Maybe someone could do a piece on Islam Feruz, who made his debut in a testimonial aged just fourteen.

Whatever happened to him ?

HITC sport can tell us…

The youngster was tempted away by Chelsea in 2011, where his chances of making the first team were far more difficult.

After a bright start in the academy, Feruz was sent out on loan, and never really settled anywhere.

He had spells at OFI Crete, Blackpool and Hibernian but failed to make it into double figures in terms of appearances for any of the clubs. 

He remains under contract to Chelsea until 2019, and is just 21, but his chances of making it with the Blues look slim.

On deadline day he was sent out on loan to Belgian side Excel Mouscron for the season, where he has made two appearances so far, for a combined 65 minutes of football. 

Theres a real story there, which should be used a a warning to Dembele, an example of how not to plan your career. A story which could serve the whole of Scottish football well, by pointing out that its not about the glamour and money of going south at such a tender age, its about continuing to learn your trade.

Astonishingly, for such a promising young forward, Feruz has yet to score his first professional goal, but is more than likely in a financial postion which means he’ll never have to work again. Which kind of pulls the lid down on  the eye of the tiger

But no, they go with stories such as this one, about another youngster who could be tempted south, maybe onto greater things, but more than likely not. English teams want ready made players, not those who are still learning.

Arsenal and Manchester City are keeping tabs on Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney.

That is according to The Sun, who say the Premier League giants have both been impressed by the teenager’s displays in Brendan Rodgers’ defence.

Pep Guardiola was able to watch Tierney close up when City drew 3-3 at Celtic, with The Sun quoting ‘an Etihad source’:

“Pep was impressed by Tierney’s non-stop running and refusal to hide on the night.

“City have built close links with Celtic in recent years with Patrick Roberts currently on loan there this season.

“Scouts have been watching him all season and last. The longer Celtic stay in the Champions League, the better.”

Both City and Arsenal are likely to be in the market for a new left-back before next season. At the Emirates, neither Nacho Monreal nor Kieran Gibbs have impressed Arsene Wenger enough to make the position their own, while City are yet to offer Gael Clichy a new contract and Aleksandar Kolarov has been used mostly as a centre-half by Guardiola.

Tierney already has 50 Celtic appearances under his belt and one Scotland cap. 

Teirney would end up in the reserves, to start with, at least, behind a bigger name on bigger wages.

Could all of this just be to unsettle the defender ?

Well, we can exclusively reveal the source of all these Tierney Wanted By…stories, so I am a little suspicious…

Still, at least they’re leaving Moussa Dembele in peace for now.

Elsewhere, renegade “ranger ” Joey Barton has invoked the use of a PR specialist to get the fans back onside as he prepares for a war of attrition over his severance fee;

With cunningly placed words such as “remorseful ” and phrases like “fight for his future “, its clear that his new book has sold as many copies as its going to, and he wants to go back to work.

Or at least, he wants to give that impression.

With a transfer window coming up soon, and the Ibrox club anxious to offload a few players to keep the lights on, then this story also serves as a wee remider to other clubs of Bartons new found maturity and dedication.

According to the report, Barton “secretly left his family behind ” to head out to Qatar, so at least they’ll know where he is when they pick up the paper this morning.

And its so hot over there!

Record Sport understands Barton has been training alone three times a day in temperatures tipping 100 degrees as he attempts to get back into top shape ahead of his return to Auchenhowie.

The former Manchester City midfielder is understood to have paid for the trip – to the world-renowned Aspire Academy – out of his own pocket as part of a determined effort to win back Warburton’s trust.

The extreme temperature is probably down to someone forgetting to switch the air conditioning on at the indoor centre, and no doubt its all been sorted.

Barton is also facing a charge over his recent bets on football matches, and surprisingly hasn’t called for help from Ally McCoist, who if you remember defended former “rangers ” midfielder Ian Black when he was caught a year or two ago.

As Gavin Berry put it, in the Record on September 13, 2013

 McCoist – who compiled a list of more than 100 players and officials in Scotland who regularly gamble on football – will support the player he signed on a free last season.

All he had to do was give it to Lee Wallace…

Its Friday, and that means its time for

Knob of the Week 

With no midweek football, its all a little quiet, so one man took advantage, and swooped to take his second award in this category, the first man to do so, with his comments on “rangers ” tv about how the media are upsetting his rather delicate players;

“I listen to some of the commentaries from the Premier League down south and the top Championship clubs down south.

“They talk about Spanish players or other players coming in and taking six to nine months to come in and settle down.

“I remember Lamela coming to Spurs and people saying it took him 12 months to settle in and now he’s producing a fantastic level of football.

“But 12 months to settle in … the expectation here at Rangers is such that players are expected to deliver immediately, and it takes time.

“It’s a different culture, different demands, different responsibilities at the club. The weight of expectation, dealing with so many different things and we laugh and joke about the weather, but it is players dealing with different circumstances.

“You’ve got people coming in and I’ve mentioned Clint Hill, the level he has played at and the number of games he has played, yet he is still shocked by the media interest, media speculation and media comments.

“It does take some getting used to, so I think we need to give the boys as much space as possible.

“But we are getting there, we are only eight games in, so hopefully as we go forward now we make real progress.” 

Its nice to see him wining something. We don’t want to see him quit, and return to city trading, although theres very little evidence of his time in that industry.

Step forward , Mark Warburton, the under pressure boss at “rangers “, who hasn’t found the going easy in his first ever stint as a top division manager, but he sure knows how to deflect… bless him.

Yesterdays caption competition…

A topical winner…

On a serious note, theres another story which I’d like to see covered. Or at the very least, find out more about.

Have a look at this picture, the kid on the left is Saleed..

He’s fourteen, and apparently last night he was kidnapped by the Israeli Army.

If anyone knows any more about this story, or can provide a link, add it in the replies.

I saw it on twitter, but can’t find anything to verify the claim.