Brendan Rodgers may send out an unfamiliar team to face Ross county today, according to most media outlets.
Although Roberts, Svaitchenko and Simunovic are back in training, they’re unlikely to be risked ahead of the conclusion of the champions League games. An unlikely point in Paris coupled with a Bayern win over Anderlecht would secure third place ahead of the visit of the Belgians to Glasgow early next month.
What he might well do, however, is tinker with the formation.
We may well field Dorus Des Vries instead of a goalkeeper, with the dutchman buoyant after signing a new deal.
Three at the back ? Boyata, Biton and Tierney.
Sinclair and Forrest as wingbacks.
Armstrong, Brown and MacGregor in the middle , with Griffiths and Dembele seeing who can hit a hat trick first.
It’s a long way to Dingwall, and maybe something a wee bit different will make the journey worthwhile for the travelling fans.
With international football done with now for a while, its time to concentrate fully on Celtic for the players.
This week, after the County game, we have the Paris match and then the potential first leg of a second treble.
Everyone will need to switch back on quickly, and freshening up the formation may well encourage the extra concentration needed.
Celtic have struggled to an extent in previous visits to the highland town, but today should see a comfortable four or five goal win. As long as Brendan heeds my advice and doesn’t do anything silly.
Whilst I’m on this pedestal, there’s something else bothering me…
Info for CSC’s heading to Dingwall, Police Scotland will be carrying out random alcohol checks on coaches on the road up
With the Christmas party season ahead, they have to get their drink from somewhere.
Watch out for them at the Broxden roundabout..
Football fans not only have to contend with the ridiculous FAC bill, where you can get lifted if a copper thinks you are wearing an offensive t shirt or sing an offensive song, but also with this antiquated no drink on the way to the game rule, which is perhaps up there with it in its stupidity.
After the 1980 cup final, those dignified Rangers fans couldn;t take the extra time defeat to celtic, and therefore did their usual we’ve lost a game lets go and protect our players routine, and as a result, the authorities decided drink was to blame and put a stop to it.
These days, stadia are safer, stewarding is better and the very cost of going to a game is enough to make fans not want to forget the experience in an alcoholic daze.
For the few who don’t, there are already sufficient anti drink laws in place.
A couple of beers on the bus is a way of relaxing during the journey, like you can on the train. But of course, the police won’t show balance by searching trains, whose staff will happily sell you cans at an inflated price.
Perfectly legally.
Nope, its just buses who get the attention.
As the law stands, they can board the bus and penalise the driver and other occupants, and its an easy collar for them.
So when they write up their reports it looks like they’ve performed a necessary service and kept the civilian population safe from hordes of rampaging drunks.
Yet when the same supporters travel to Europe, arrests are non existent and trouble is rare. And there is no shortage of drink.
Football is the only event where drinking beforehand is outlawed.
Football is the only event which has its own anti social behaviour laws.
There has never been anyone in a position of power in the game to stand up for its paying customers, and as a result, successive administrations have seen them as an easy target, one which admittedly has its problems, one which improves arrest figures if not conviction rates and a chance to see hundreds of policemen on the streets, which gives a false indication of how much they actually interact with the community, by allowing them out in numbers at weekends, when they could be doing something useful instead.
Joe Public likes to see coppers on the street. It makes him feel safe. It makes him feel they are close at hand should his car get stolen or his house broken into.
A feeling , of course, that soon disappears should you ever get your car stolen or your house broken into.
Be careful out there today, they would love to make themselves better by keeping the locals safe, even though they aren’t actually in any danger.
A look into the cost of supporting a football team lends credibility to the idea that fans simply want to enjoy the game, with or without a beer, and thats something that is overlooked by the police, and shamefully not argued by the SFA.
A BBC report goes into more detail..
As in previous years, the seventh edition of the BBC study looked into the cheapest and most expensive matchday and Season Tickets, cheapest and most expensive away ticket prices, as well as pies, cups of tea, programmes, junior and adult shirts but for the first time the 232 clubs polled across Europe were also asked about special ticket prices for fans aged between 16-24.
The study this year found that in the Premiership the average price in all eleven pricing categories had risen, after most had fallen between 2015 and 2016 and the average cheapest Season Ticket now costs £302.42 which is up from £293.83 last season. Seven clubs raised prices this term, with only Ross County providing a reduction.
The lowest home matchday prices are slightly up however on average for the second year running, rising from £21.25 to £21.90 and the average cheapest away ticket also spikes from £21.58 to £22.83.
In terms of shirts, the average adult shirt rising by £2 to £46.58 with a junior shirt rising £1.50 to £36.25.
Other headline news for the Premiership shows that the cheapest Season Ticket comes at Hamilton with a price of £180, with Rangers selling the most expensive Season Ticket at £660.
Rangers also sell the most expensive adult shirt at £54.99, but the most expensive junior shirt falls to Celtic and Aberdeen with a price of £40.
Hearts and Motherwell boast the cheapest single matchday ticket at £19, with Hearts also taking the cheapest away ticket at £19 as well.
The most expensive single matchday ticket is £49 for Celtic and Rangers, both home and away at Old Firm clashes.
The most expensive pie falls to Aberdeen at £2.70, with Rangers taking £2.50 for a tea. Celtic, Hearts and Rangers are most expensive for programmes at £3.50.
As the data is sifted through, the above link will lead you to club specific information, but as ever, Vital Football will give a club by club breakdown in the coming days.
Thats an awful lot of money coming into one industry. Any other industry would have some sort of voice to protect the consumer…and not put up with the government and the police using them to beef up their popularity ratings.
Former Celtic scout David Moss is someone you wouldn’t want in the dock with you…he spoke about when Everton rang him to ask about Moussa Dembele…
“Everton were a club who phoned me up about him. They said: ‘David, what do you think?’ I said: ‘Don’t even blink, don’t even think about it, sign him. It’s a no-brainer’,”
“If you really know your football you know he should have been signed.
“Back in the summer Moussa had a hamstring injury – clubs could possibly have got him for £20million or £25million. If you get Moussa Dembele for £30million now you have won a watch.”
Everton shouldn’t be too disappointed. They have won a watch, and can watch him as often they like.
Meanwhile, the east end of Glasgow is a little darker tonight…
Engineers have finally found a way to turn off one of the big screens at Celtic Park.
It’s been taken down, soon to be replaced by a newer one which comes with an on/off switch.
The stadium manager tweeted yesterday…
That’s the old west stand screen away.
At least, we think its being replaced. Buchanan may well have been telling us its been stolen, as thieves take advantage of the fact the police are all hiding in bushes at the side of the road to Dingwall.
And there’s something else thats criminal as well…Celtic haven’t had a penalty awarded in the league this season yet…
Given the amount of time the players spend in the opposition box thats quite a remarkable statistic…
Hearts fans should be.
Their club has been refused a safety certificate for their new stand, leaving todays game with Partick Thistle in doubt. Club chief Ann Budge says she’s confident it’ll be alright, but can’t give guarantees.
Whereas these recent pictures from a ground in Glasgow suggest she just went to the wrong lodge for approval..
Sadly, they were warned a long time ago…by one of their own and took no notice.
That was in 2004, and they wouldn’t listen.
They never do.
Yesterday we had this picture for your perusal…
Caption Ann Summers first sale leaves one satisfied and several hospitalised
Today…
