Celtic Diary Monday October 15: I Counted Them all Out…

And it looks like they’re all coming home safe.

The international break -for Scotland-is over and no one got hurt . There are a few others still involved here and there but the majority of Celtic players made it through the ordeal of two games listening to Alex McLeish unscathed.

And that must have been tough.

Scotland were beaten by a makeshift Portugal side last night and we were treated to another bizarre press conference for the man who is clearly either not well or not sober…

“It’s basic errors that we made and that is the disappointing aspect of it,” 

“You expect the top teams to cut you open with majestic skills, but we were the perpetrators of our own mistakes.

“I thought there was a lot of good football. We had a good game plan, we were compact, we pressed when we had a chance to press. I know there was a few Portugal players rested but there was a still a hell of a lot of money out on that pitch. 

None of it, however, was tax free.

“I know every system that there is to know. I’ve coached teams before with three at the back, it’s been quite fashionable recently. We want to adapt. The Russians at the World Cup, they played four at the back but for certain games they played three. For the Albania game it really worked.” 

He probably has, but what he omits is that if you take away the EBT years from his record, and he wishes HMRC would, his win record at club level is just 30%.

And his current record, when compared to the last manager.. this was Strachan

This is McLeish’s

How fortunate then, that it was the man who organised his testimonial who had the final say in who got the Scotland job… and that the same man will be protecting him until his tax bill comes in.

The written version of his post match mumblings-and he was mumbling-doesn’t comapre to the swaying figure that meandered verbally to the interviewer.

Its quite distressing to watch someone who seems to be completely unaware of whats going on around him being forced into the spotlight.

Whoever is in a position to put him out of his misery should do so now.

With that nonsense out of the way, the players can concentrate on what looks like being yet another crucial period of the season. So much for those who criticise the Scottish game and say its dull.

Three competitions and three tough games.

The players and management can now show beyond any doubt that they are back on message, and three good results here will go a long way towards a third successive treble, and perhaps even a nice trip to Europe after christmas.

The first of those games is against Hibernian, the bogey team of last season, and the last against Hearts, the bogey team of this one.

Liepzig are doing quite well…

Furious football evening! The Red Bulls made the 1. FC Nuremberg in front of 37.389 fans in the Red Bull Arena after a great performance with 6-0 (4-0) from and climb after the third league victory in series to rank two inthe Bundesliga. 

The first 45 minutes were to tongue-snapping and were crowned by four gates. Kevin Kampl (100th Bundesliga game) and Yussuf Poulsen set the course early in the 3rd and 7th minute; Marcel Sabitzer (21st) and Timo Werner (32nd) made for the preliminary decision before the break.

Halftime two went on similarly spectacular and our Torhunger was still not satisfied. Sabitzer (55.) and Werner (59.) each tied a double and made half the dozen full. Werner (missed foul penalty, 64th) and Will Orban (header on the post, 70th) were even two top chances. That did not change our highest Bundesliga victory and a perfect 7th matchday. 

They are second in the league, behind Borussia Dortmund. four wins and two draws from their first seven games.

They are ahead of everyone else in the table bar Dortmund.

This is not an easy group for Celtic, and whereas the Europa League may not have the glamour of the champions League, it certainly has the more intriguing games.

If Celtic qualify from this group Rodgers and his crew will deserve an awful lot of praise.

First up are Hibernian, and that should give us a decent work out.

Hearts may be top of the league table, with their neighbours in second, but hibernian have scored a major morale boosting victory…

HIBS have beaten their capital rivals Hearts – in a new edition of Monopoly. The Easter Road club will be positioned above their rivals in the new official Edinburgh edition of the board game, which will go on sale next month.

The clubs will both feature in a sports themed set on the board, with Murrayfield Stadium, the home of Scottish rugby, expected to fill the final space. Hearts and Hibs currently occupy the top two positions in the Scottish Premiership table.

But while high-flying Gorgie-based Hearts sit two points clear at the summit, Leith’s Hibs will be positioned higher on the board.

A spokesperson for Winning Moves UK – makers of the game under official licence from Hasbro – said:

“Hibs will be featuring higher up the board than Hearts. “Of course, both had to be on as Edinburgh Monopoly without the two major football clubs would be like Edinburgh without the Castle – unthinkable.”

The Monopoly makers said several factors came in to play in deciding which club was positioned higher on the board.

Although Hearts, founded in 1874, are a year older than Hibernian (1875), it was Hibs who finished higher up the league table last season and qualified for European competition. And while Hearts have the edge in matches between the two clubs, Hibs’ Easter Road Stadium has a slightly larger capacity than Hearts’ Tynecastle. The new Monopoly Edinburgh Edition will see famous locations such as Mayfair and Park Lane updated to iconic landmarks of the Scottish capital.

A Glasgow based model featuring local football clubs lost credibility when the amount demanded for one club on the monopoly board was far greater than what it actually cost to buy it in real life.

Australian magazine The World Game has revealed that a clause in the loan contract of Damiel Arzani means he can go back to Manchester City if he doesn’t play a first team game before December…

I think we can guess how this one will turn out…

This is what happens when a manager doesn’t get the players he wants….he ignores the ones he gets.

If this is repeated in January, both Lawwell and Rodgers can go.

They’ve been told, work together. Or don’t.

As for their scouting system…We Are Wearside summed up Lee Congertons time there, and it does sound rather familiar..

Lee Congerton’s questionable stint as Sunderland Director of Football hasn’t stopped him landing a decent job elsewhere after he was today appointed as Celtic Head of Recruitment.

There is no doubt Congerton managed to pull out a couple of corkers, however much he himself had to do with it – particularly when persuading Toronto FC to swap an actual, quality footballer for Jozy Altidore. However, with mega contracts handed out like 50p mix ups to the likes of Billy Jones, as well as signings like Rodwell and Alvarez, our current financial plight was not helped in the slightest by Congerton and as such it’s difficult to dish out any praise to him. 

The phrase flinging shit at a wall and hoping some of it sticks springs to mind.

Here’s a sobering thought…and perhaps a terrifying one.

If we were to hold a minute of silence for every estimated death of a migrant worker due to the constructions of the Qatar World Cup, the first 44 matches of the tournament would be played in silence.” 

International football . Is it time for everyone to boycott it ?

Yesterday, we had this…