After complaints that Celtic were funding “rangers ” by hiring a coach every couple of weeks, the board, their finger ever on the pulse, moved swiftly to get supporters back on side…
Dreams FC coach Charles Akunnor has joined Scottish giants Celtic FC on attachment.
Akunnor, who joined helped sustained Obuasi-based AshantiGold SC Ghana Premier League premiership status, arrived in Celtic on Thursday and would under study manager Brendan Rogers.
His time at Celtic forms part of his self-funded knowledge sharing trip of European top clubs on the current trend of the game.
He has already had some stints in Germany with his former club Wolfsburg.
Akunnor will move to England for a last knowledge sharing experience at English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs.
Well, at least they tried.
It appears that Akunnor and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers go way back, as this picture of them in prison stripes proves..
Of course, the above is nonsense, but the Dreams coach is coming to Celtic to share knowledge and is funding it himself, which is probably what interested the board in the first place, and they just didn’t check what sort of coach it was. , Anyway, hopefully the knowledge he shares will include the names of a couple of decent centre halfs.
Thats because we hear that Dedryck Boyata has decided to go halfers on a taxi with Jozo Simunovic after the Christmas rush has died down, and to add to that, Kristoffer Ajer fancies plying his trade elsewhere for the second half of the season, but his will be a return ticket. He wants a loan move.
Erik Sviatchenko is back in training, and will be due his next injury early in the New Year, so we could be in trouble, and I’d hold off putting that each way tenner on Celtic in the Europa.
Dorus Des Vries has signed an extension to his contract. Which came as a surprise, especially as he didn’t drop the pen, or move out of its way when it came near him.
“As a player you want to be at the best clubs and Celtic is certainly up there. It’s a great squad to play in, great technical staff who are enjoyable to work with as well, and, for me, everything is here to keep on going and make sure that we keep bringing trophies to this club.
“Stevie Woods is a great goalkeeping coach. I worked with him in the past and it’s a great pleasure to be working with him again.
“Craig Gordon, Conor Hazard, Ross Doohan, and there are a couple of youngsters as well, are all great. We all just want to keep going strong, working really hard, training well, ensuring everyone stays focused and fit, and make sure that the goalkeepers’ union stays strong.
“When called upon, you just need to be ready and that’s what we’re all aiming for. We all keep each other on our toes to get the best out of each other in training every day.”
Reading between the lines, this appears to mean that he’ll do until Hazard or Doohan are ready to step up, and that Woods thinks either one or both of them will.
I wouldn’t get too attached to Moussa Demebele, though.. as Brendan revealed..
“I believed when Moussa came that he probably had two-year cycle,”
“That’s what I saw. For me, I still think that’s the case. All the conversations I have with him I have no doubt he loves it here.
“It’s just a natural process where if you’re on X amount of money and someone offers you Y amount of money, and the club get offered a ridiculous amount of money then you have to respect that.
“That’s unfortunate. I don’t like it. For me, this is a big club and we should never have to sell anyone. But because of money that is not the reality.
“If it’s the right thing to do and all parties are happy then it’s our job to make sure we’ve got the next one coming in.
But is all this the usual tittle tattle from the media when there’s a transfer window open and letting out the heat ?
Sort of.
Well, the next bits are. The stuff above we made up all by ourselves. Apart from the bit about Des Vries. We thought about hinting he would sign a new deal, but figured it was too far fetched , even for us.
The speculation around Liam Moore, a decent centre half at Reading, continues, and whilst he may suffice as the third of three coming in, there is a feeling that Rodgers wants their top man purely to piss Reading off, as they sacked him and tommy burns years ago.
To be fair, if thats his motive, I don’t care of Moore has one leg, visual impairment and sings the Sash lustily in the shower after games.
Bring him in.
Then , in order to see who else is on the radar, according to the SMSM, you’ll need one of these..
Select two vowels at random, and add as many consonants as you like and re arrange them into a word that looks like it might be an Eastern european footballer.
Thats what they are doing.
Am I the only one a little uncomfortable with Keiran Tierney changing his agent to the same one as his manager shortly before signing his new deal ?
Then again, Tierney has signed a new deal and I don’t care if he is represented by Robert Mugabe and Fred fucking West.
Celtic return this weekend with a trip to Ross County, and a 64th game without defeat will move us ahead of Sherrif Tiraspol of Moldova in the all time elite league.
Or something like that.
Anyway, there’s a warm welcome awaiting in Dingwall… according to Match commander Chief Inspector Colin “Happy Harry” Gough
“We are looking forward to welcoming supporters of both teams to Dingwall for the match and we hope everyone has safe and enjoyable day.
“Our officers will be in attendance to offer assistance to anyone who needs it.
“While we hope everyone enjoys themselves and the overwhelming majority will behave responsibly, it should go without saying that any disorder or anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.
“I also want to remind fans that they should not drink alcohol in the street, in the stadium, or when travelling to and from the game. Those who attend the ground drunk will not be permitted entry.”
“I would also urge people to plan ahead to allow time for any potential delays before and after the game.
“People not attending the game should be aware that the streets around Dingwall and public transport will be busier than usual on Saturday.”
Be careful out there.
Over on the dark side, one player might well have to be careful after he posted an image on Instagram..
John smith, who sounds a delightful chap, posted on twitter…
Future tip @wes_foderingham don’t post pictures from old firm defeats mate
To which Foderingham replied..
Future tip… I will post what I want, I’m a grown man.
which prompted a little debate, which would have had Foderingham checking his phone to see if he still had Warburtons phone number..
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I’ve always defended you Wes when people have had a go at you but the boy is bang on here. You should be having nightmares about defeats against they bastards. Especially at Ibrox. Not posting pictures as throwbacks
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I’ve always defended him rate him as our best player past few years but posting that photo was a joke
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Aye bro they just don’t understand it. They still have the lower league English side mentality and that’s fine down at Swindon etc but up here it’s a totally different ball game. Would expect him to know better he’s one of the longest serving at the club
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He’s been here longer enough now and on the park he’s done a very good job for us in poor Rangers sides but posting this photo would never have happened in the good old days. Plenty of our own players would have told him.
The present lot were going to, but they had to go to mass.
Then it got worse…
Wes Foderingham Retweeted John Smith
I give 100% for this football club. A picture doesn’t change that. You are entitled to your opinion of course but as soon as I have an opinion everyone gets offended? Come on now.
Welcome to our world, Wes.
Anyway, I’ve got a tip for all of them.
A couple of things now, which I think are worthy ways of spending a moment or two..
First, this…
Release information related to Rangers Football Club (2012).
Who’s involved?
Scottish football supporters across the country deserve better than the information screening they’ve received so far with regards to the behaviour of Rangers Football Club, and its enablers in the Scottish Football Association. As a Hibernian supporter, the issue is perhaps more keenly felt as my club is in the rare position of having Support Representatives appointed as non-executive board members.
Earlier this year, the club’s board stated that it did not intend to pursue further investigations into the financial dealings of the aforementioned football club, since liquidated, and this decision was reputedly “unanimous”; this is extraordinary, given that the supporters were not consulted in any meaningful way and the overwhelming response seems to be that the investigation should continue as far as supporters are concerned.
What should we know?
These are some of the main issues:
1) One of the Support Representatives recently stated on the Hibees Bounce that discussions unearthed “information that was not widely known” – what was that information?
2) The current Rangers Football Club is a new club, as proven by the Lord Nimmo Smith report and discussed by Stuart Campbell here. Why is the current club allowed to claim otherwise?
3) What legal requirements need to be met in order to remove titles that were now proven to have been won via fraudulent means? If there are none, why is the club not pursuing this well-known course of action from other sports?
4) Given that Rangers Football Club (2012) was liquidated largely for a tax avoidance scheme, how could the SFA/SPFL find Mr. Dave King, a man convicted for tax avoidance in South Africa, a “fit and proper person” to take over the new football club?
5) Rangers Football Club have, over the last five years, reportedly ran at an average loss of £7.9m per annum with a total debt now standing at £39.6m. The club was widely reported on the 3rd/4th November to now be relying on interest free loans. Does Hibernian Football Club consider this appropriate for a new and reputedly reformed club?
These are just some of the key questions relating to the issue.
How should we find out?
This petition will be sent to the CEO of Hibernian Football Club, but its questions are obviously of interest to all Scottish football supporters; particularly those of clubs that have publicly stated they intend to drop all future proceedings.
This is not good enough.
The five questions above, plus many others, need to see their answers fully divulged to their supporters groups, and preferably as press releases to the main broadcast and print media vehicles in Scotland. No more back-corridor briefings, or under-the-table handshakes.
Why should we care?
Scottish football supporters are fanatical.
This is an empirical fact.
Despite the game being talked down, the lack of success in European club competition and with the national side, the dearth of investment or necessary reform, the plague of sectarianism investigated by UEFA, and including the dire lack of TV or sponsorship revenue, Scottish football is amongst the best attended in Europe per capita. We love our game.
The conduct, and liquidation, of one of its footballing institutions was an embarrassment, and leaves a great many questions about what the SFA were doing at the time, have been doing since, and how complicit individual clubs are in these dealings.
Supporters demand, and deserve, much better than this.
We understand legal necessities, but also understand that the club should be at liberty to make this clear if appropriate.
What clubs must understand, is that their supporters are the lifesblood upon which the game thrives in Scotland, and they deserve to know what went on, what is being done to stop it happening again, and that their boards have their best interests at heart.
Only fully divulging appropriate information will rebuild the broken trust.
Another clubs supporters are joining the quest for justice.
Get behind them and sign the petition.
And St. Rochs could use a hand as well. Vote for them.
It’s Friday, and its time to announce the Etims
Knob of the Week
Which as you can see has been elevated to Gold Status this week, with the first ever consecutive winner of the title…
Ever since his victory-and well deserved it was-last week, Mark has excelled himself by simply disappearing off the face of the earth when he was given information relevant to his recent attacks on those who use offshore facilities to help with their tax returns.
Showing an even better [air of heels than Dermot Desmond was able to, Daly has ignored all calls to investigate a club operating in Glasgow financed by soft loans from a company registered in the Virgin islands, as well as other demands that amount to him getting his finger out and following up a couple of other stories, one of which he actually broke and then dropped quicker than one would a picture of Ruth Davidson in the bath…
Daly has done a runner…
He needs to turn around and finish what he started.
Otherwise, he’ll be looking at his own ten in a row.. but for now, congratualtions to the first person to achieve gold as the Etims …
Knob of the Week
We’ve been sadly neglectful of the caption competition this week. Largely because it can take longer to find a suitable picture than it takes to write the rest of this drivel.
We go back to Wednesday for this…
Which, in fact is a genuine picture of the British Army attempting to camouflage their vehicles.
Somewhere on Salisbury Plain, I believe.
I think they’re oan a trunk road
Today…