Ryan Christie became the latest player to pledge his future to Celtic yesterday. The policy of investing in players that we know continues…Paddy Roberts has made sure his phone is on and fully charged.
“I’m delighted. Ever since I started to play a bit more in the team, I’ve been happy to make an impact. Celtic is the club I want to continue playing for. It’s such a big club in Scottish football and it’s a delight for me to sign and keep playing for Celtic.
“I’ve enjoyed my football ever since I’ve come to the club. The manager’s been brilliant with me and I’ve really enjoyed playing under him and working with all the staff. I have a really positive feeling right now and I’m enjoying my football at Celtic.
“There’s no reason why I’d want that to change and I’m delighted looking at what’s ahead.
”I’ve really enjoyed coming in and I’ve taken a lot of confidence from that. It’s helping my game right now and I’m definitely looking to improve. I feel there’s plenty more to come for me which is a good thing. Hopefully, now I can kick on now and become a mainstay at Celtic.
“The fans have been brilliant. You’re always going to get that from Celtic fans. You put in a few good performances and the reception makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.”
Alright…we get the point.
Christie has all the characteristics required to make his mark at the club.
Its been a while since we signed someone with such unbridled enthusiasm.
The change in policy may have a little more to it than avoiding the Comperrs of this world..
Its hard to believe that this is the first time that anyone in the media has mentioned the possibility of the post Brexit ban on foreign workers affecting football.
If a European cannot come to Scotland to work in a factory there is no case for him to come and kick a ball.
One wonders if the referendum would have had a different outcome if this had been made public.
Scottish players, especially Celtic minded Scottish players with more talent than usual have always been the bedrock of our club.
These days, they have another role to play, and according to Mikael Lustig, its an important one…
“It’s not just lately. For as long as they have been playing they have made a contribution.
“Of course, as a fan you want to see people who have been raised at the club.
“To have players such as KT, Cal and Jamesie brought up with the club at heart is massive. They know everything about the club and can pass that on to others coming into the system from other teams or abroad.”
Even when he was not in the team I’ve always said Cal was one of the most important players in the squad and now he’s in there and starting every game.
“He has proved how much he has developed under the gaffer. What’s his best role? He has four or five! That’s why I’ve said he is a really important guy to have. Players like that make the gaffer really happy.
“James has been flying and when he’s on form there’s no better player in Scotland in my view. KT is KT. He is never going to have a bad game.
“Now you can add Ryan to that list. He’s been brilliant.”
And Scott Brown, Craig Gordon, Leigh Griffiths, Lewis Morgan, Scott Bain, Jack Hendry…and one or two others who may well come through the ranks…or even join up.
And still Alex McLeish continues to make an arse of being Scotland manager…
We are now entering another international break, and if McLeish hadn’t been such a knob about using Celtic players, then perhaps he would be looking at the probability of advancing in the European Nations League-or whatever its called.
Anyway, the break gives us a chance to look at what else is going on.
Mark Daly over at the BBC deserves a lot of credit for helping the victims of James Torbett get a degree of closure over the abuse they suffered from the former Celtic Boys club man.
He seems to be behind the idea that the victims should be compensated by the club. His recent tweets indicate as such, and we may yet see more of the line that the victims were under the impression that Celtic boys club was a part of Celtic.
Legally there is no case against Celtic, and whilst the club expresses sympathy and regret, there can be no apology, as that would go some way to admitting liability, and open a channel for compensation.
In other cases of abuse, the perpetrator has been held responsible for his own actions. There has been little talk of compensation, and its rather surprising, given the unusually high number of BBC employees who took advantage of their own positions to abuse youngsters, that Daly hasn’t contemplated a crusade for compensation for those victims.
Actually, no it doesn’t.
Anyway, its genuinely refreshing to see a journalist actually investigate anything in Scotland, and there can only be praise for his unswerving efforts to get Torbett into the court room and in front of a jury.
In instances such as these, justice and support for the victims is paramount. He helped to do that.
One wonders what he will do next…
Football is going to be back on terrestrial television !
Alright, its BBC Scotland, and it won;t be the best production, but its a start…
THE SFA will bank up to £20 million from a deal with BBC Scotland and satellite broadcaster Premier Sports to broadcast William Hill Scottish Cup games for the next six seasons.
Premier Sports also show the European qualifiers-well, some of them- and its a bit of a surprise that they have pinched the Cup from the bigger players in the industry.
It could be seen as a warning to Sky and BT that they are not the only players in this game, but that would be to credit the SFA negotiators perhaps where it isn’t due, and lets face it, £20m over six years isn’t exactly a triumph, and so yet again those in charge of Scottish football have shown that they really shouldn’t be.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “This deal will ensure that more action than ever before will be broadcast live to the nation.
“It will also drive significant revenue back to all the clubs who participate in the competition, ensuring ongoing investment into the game.”
The agreement with BBC Scotland and Premier Sports was struck by IMG , who the SFA have signed a new six year deal with to market broadcast rights for the Scottish Cup globally.
Oh, and IMG will be wanting their cut as well…
More importantly, the details of the deal haven’t actually been made public.
As usual.
The idea to use BBC Scotland is quite good. That will give kids a chance to watch local football on the television, and perhaps get them interested in going to games…anything that distracts them from the EPL is a good thing, but as for marketing the game via Premier sports ?
That doesnt make any sense.
Its not about the money, ts about promoting the game, if thats done correctly, then long term the money will follow.
However, and whilst the media continue to ignore the elephant in the room that is the novel and refreshing financial history attached to the club playing out of Ibrox, especially given the new UEFA enthusiasm about financial fair play, then sponsorship and decent tv money will continue to avoid Scottish football.
When the full extent of what has happened over on the other side of the river becomes clear, we will see why the SFA and the SPFL have struggled to attract significant income from broadcasters and sponsors…
Hey, there’s something for Mark Daly to look into.
After a recent UEFA decision to mark their European games as “high risk ” due to crowd trouble, UEFA have been keeping an eye on “rangers “, and sure enough… ( From STV )
Rangers have been hit with a disciplinary charge from UEFA over their Europa League match against Spartak Moscow last week.
Both clubs have been cited for the match failing to kick-off exactly on time. The game kicked off two minutes later than the scheduled time.
Television footage appears to show striker Alfredo Morelos late in joining his teammates in the tunnel before the game, with the match referee holding both teams from taking to the pitch until the full complement of players are present.
UEFA operate a strict liability process over disciplinary issues, so Rangers will have to state their case to the governing body before the case if heard by their Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on 13 December.
Spartak Moscow will face more serious charges in addition to the timekeeping issue. The Russian club have been cited for their fans setting off fireworks and throwing objects, with a further charge relating to blocked stairways inside the Otkritie Arena.
Note the tone which implies Spartak were worse than “rangers “…
Mind you, if they thought the team was late in arriving, the fans could be in more serious trouble. They’re stuck in the seventeenth century.
Meanwhile, if you ever wanted proof that perhaps the respect shown for the soldiers who fell in wartime was a little less than genuine from one glasgow club, this may be it.
Now we know what its all about.
Yesterday we had this picture..
Caption: Ibrox upgrade complete!
today..
