After the thrills, spills and drama of the last league match, the handicap hurdle at Ibrox, Celtic travel to another outpost today to face Motherwell, a side who they may yet face in the Scottish cup final.
We’ll return to assess how the match went later this evening. Probably.
The fixture provides the match officials a chance to get to know the Motherwell players, their strengths and faults so that the men in black can adapt the rules to suit should the two meet again at Hampden in May.
One thing to note about the game is that although on your match ticket it says the kick off is at 2.30, its actually at 2.15. Mind you, it also describes Motherwell as a football club.
Its a bit parky outside, with temperatures in the Lanarkshire town expected to be around the one or two degree mark, but the wind, snow and atmosphere in and around the ground will make it feel considerably lower.
So put a hat or something on.
The BBC, the licence funded state broadcaster , has an up to date weather information service, and they posted this picture of Motherwell town centre this morning…
Apparently its part of a new alignment with their news service, which in this hi tech age , where information is available literally at the touch of a button, the BBC still think we will fall for their shite.
One could argue that too much information is a good thing, but it depends who is serving it up.
For Diary readers, misinformation is no new phenomena. apart from the guff on this page, we’re all accustomed to the Scottish mainstream sports media, which has led the way for years in misinformation.
And its not likely to stop anytime soon.
Should Celtic win today, and with Moussa Dembele finding his shooting boots and fitness, thats more than likely, then the hoops will be twelve points ahead and a game in hand.
Not really the title race we were promised/warned of/bullshitted about this time last week. For the second consecutive week, “rangers ” lost at ibrox, this time to Kilmarnock, and to rub salt into the wound it was Kris Boyd, their former hero, who scored the winning goal..
Celtic could hand starts to Charley Musonda and Stuart Armstrong. Then again, they might not.
Armstrong has a big decision to make. Should he stay or should he go ? This time last year he -or his agent-was haggling about a new deal. In the end, there was a compromise, and the midfielder signed a one year extension.
However, manager Brendan Rodgers isn’t going to haggle this year..
“When I was younger I used to think it was personal but it’s football.
“Players have short careers. Of course I’d love them to stay but there are numerous reasons – on both sides as there could be issues with the club too – that don’t allow them to sign.
“My job is to try to keep them and if they decide their future lies somewhere else, that’s fine.
I have talked to Stuart briefly on it – I just want to help him become the best player he can be. He knows the opportunity he has here and I know he respects that.
“So I tend not to get bogged down too much with that. I have a strong relationship with him.”
If only Celtic had seen this coming and agreed a deal to bring in another promising young Scottish midfielder..
Rodgers continued..
“Players are within their rights, if they feel the deal or the offer is not right or just purely if they don’t want to sign.
“But it’s two ways. If it’s not right for both parties then it’s not going to happen.
“Some are happy to see out their career at Celtic, playing for trophies.
“They will play 500 or 600 games – Callum McGregor, someone like that.
“You’ll get players who will see this as a two or three-year project, an opportunity to play for a huge club, be a winner then move on.
“Then you have others who think they want to stay and then they get a big offer and go. The club then tries to get maximum value.
“You like to think you will always have a core there but you want freshness too.”
Reading between the lines, the club are now planning for next season. With the title race-ha, title race- almost over, there are only the Cup games, semi final and probably final to worry about.
That means we may well see an assessment of what we have before any decisions are made to renew any contracts.
Especially as this particular lot are going into the last year of their deals..
| Player(s) | born/age | Nat. | End of contract | Contract option | Market value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Oct 15, 1996 (21) |   |
31.05.2019 | – | 5,00 Mill. € | |||
|
Jun 25, 1985 (32) |  |
31.05.2019 | – | 4,00 Mill. € | |||
|
Dec 13, 1986 (31) |  |
31.05.2019 | – | 3,25 Mill. € | |||
|
Dec 16, 1992 (25) |   |
31.05.2019 | – | 2,50 Mill. € | |||
|
Jul 7, 1991 (26) | |
31.05.2019 | – | 2,00 Mill. € | |||
|
Nov 28, 1990 (27) |  |
31.05.2019 | – | 2,00 Mill. € | |||
|
Mar 30, 1992 (25) | |
31.05.2019 | – | 2,00 Mill. € | |||
|
Oct 24, 1989 (28) |  |
31.05.2019 | – | 1,25 Mill. € | |||
|
Dec 29, 1980 (37) |  |
31.05.2019 | – | 500 Th. € |
Musonda, of course, is on loan, but there’s that core Rodgers spoke of, Armstrong, Boyata, Rogic, Brown, Lustig, Forrest..and they all need to be sorted out this summer.
Which is why today I expect to see the start of the change from Deila’s team to Brendans team. Although technically Rodgers gave improved deals to a number of players, he has kept that core, and we may now see him start to use players such as Ntcham, Kouassi and Edouardo a little more.
As far as the latter is concerned, it would be a major surprise if he didn’t sign up permanently this summer. He looks like he can play a bit, and we aren’t going to have Dembele for ever.
Tough decisions have to be made, and sentimentality will not come into it. There won’t be time to dither, as the UCL qualifiers start even earlier for next season, about an hour before this years final, I think.
Todays game will be interesting, especially now as Paddy Roberts and Leigh Griffiths are back in training, though the downside is that Celtic face Motherwell, which means the medical staff needn’t think they’re getting an early dart tonight.
I haven’t looked to see who the referee is, but history has taught us that a few years ago we weren’t paranoid enough, and today will be no different from last Sunday.
Put simply, in the eyes of many, the brand of Scottish football is endangered again, as the mighty “rangers ” teeter on the edge of the financial abyss, which is one particular trait they have inherited from their predecessor club, Rangers.
They need next seasons European money to survive.
Those who fail to learn from history are fated to repeat their mistakes, and the current ibrox entity, under the guidance of a rookie manager, but cheered on by a compliant media, is going to need a little bit of help to firstly get into Europe, and secondly, keep the hordes onside long enough to renew their season books.
A set of circumstnaces which are exactly the same as when the first club hit the rocks. Just the faces are different.
To overcome those, , they are going to need quite a bit of help, as the reaction to yesterdays defeat highlighted a little tension among the hordes..
You know what. That tears it. No more. I will be boycotting Rangers till our players play to the standards that we expect of them. I cant take it any longer I need a break. No Surrender. We Are The People.
Surrendering is presumably not the same as boycotting…
Bunch of hopeless spineless bastards that defence, Bruno is a big fucking bottle job who can only win shity headers and Cardoso can fuck off the useless fanny.. OH AND MORELOS CAN GO DIE IN A FUCKING DITCH USELESS GREMLIN LOOKING WANKER. Feel Bad that murty has to deal with these
This is actually the agent of the players mentioned…
Rangers can fuck off fucking ruined my weekend again
But its St Patricks weekend, away out and enjoy yourself…its only a game.
Hah…watch this…
Haw Jimmy , you doing anything for Paddys day ?
Poor Jimmy. and yet he , and his clubs, both of them, have provided delight to millions…and this animated animaniac will show us where those millions are..
Who is laughing at Rangers today ?
Let Yakko Bhoy 💪tell us! pic.twitter.com/mnlrDxElFW
— TJDSBlog (@TJDSBlog) March 17, 2018
That might work, its the first time I’ve tried to embed a video.
But on a serious note, and Celtic need to address this, with perhaps a little bit of savvy in news conferences.
We’ve seen a reluctance from match officials to protect our players from the hammer throwers in our game. The long injury list is testament to that, maybe not outright clubbings as such, but persistant and unpunished fouls, which take their toll during a long season.
Celtic are due to face “rangers ” in a semi final next month, a game upon which not only rests their season, but their existence..Am I exaggerating ?
Well, not if you consider this picture, taken with about a qurter of an hour to go at Ibrox yesterday..
A failure to make the Scottish cup final, and a slide further down the league will hit season book sales, and this picture shows how that support may finally have had enough. It took a while, but they appear to be wakening up, and seeing through the spin the media have force fed them over the last few years.
The SFA bent over backwards last time to help them, lets nip it in the bud this time.
And we can nip it in the bud.
The OBFA is now history.
The hard work put in by some has paid off.
This is what can happen when the man and woman in the street get together and fight for change.
Congratulations and Thank you go to all involved, Paul Quigley… Jeanete Findlay….everyone who did their bit, no matter how small, no matter how large.
It all counts.
The SFA should take note, because they are next.
And it was down to raising a glass to those guys on Thursday evening that the Diary hasn’t appeared since, er , Thursday.
So we go back a couple of days for the caption competition…
Caption: Press reports on positive results on a Tory alternative to those expensive school meals they are stopping.
Neatly ties in with the media misinformation theme of today..
todays picture..
