A glance at the match stats, as they are known, from the clash with St mirren, reveals an interesting if unlikely fact.
Only if these stats are accurate, of course. Its entirely possible that they are just guesswork.
St mirren were in possession for 28% of the time the ball was in play. Lets assume that actual playing time was the full ninety minutes, which, of course it wasn’t.
Celtic committed fourteen fouls, presumably when St Mirren had the ball. Thats one roughly every minute and a half.
St Mirren committed one far less frequently, at about every eight or nine minutes, which is not how I remember it.
Are we to conclude that Celtic fouled to regain possession ?
And St Mirren didn’t?
A couple of weeks ago Celtic asked Ian Maxwell, the vacuum at the centre of the SFA, for an explanation of some of the more bizarre decisions made by referee John Beaton during the Glasgow derby in December.
Maxwell has so far refused to do so.
Beaton , despite death threats to his family and himself, bravely continues to referee…oh wait. skip the bit in parenthesis, we all know thats bollocks, and maybe someone with a set of bollocks ought to be calling the media-who will blame the Press Association- out on this one.
For once, just for fucking once, lets have someone tell the truth before our game disappears in a puff of self righteous and self serving smoke.
There was further embarrassment for John Fleming when a little girl had to explain the rules concerning throw ins to one of his elite band of officials…
Well, if they don’t want to tell the truth, why should I ?
There seems to be a little bit of concern surrounding who selects the players that have arrived, or are about to arrive at Celtic Park.
So far, two of them, Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah have made their Celtic debuts.
They both have two goals from two games.
I don’t care who is picking these players, as long as he continues to do so.
Burke may not be marquee signings along the lines of Jermaine Defoe and Steven Davis
He might only be here on loan, but one could argue its what happens here and now that counts, and when combined with an attitude such as Burkes, thats when you get a result..
“I feel at home already and I’m sure if I continue to keep doing well I’m sure I’ll want to stay here as a player.
“My career has been a bit stop-start and it’s not been great for me. This is just football – that’s what happens. Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.
“But I feel now that I’m ready to give my all and it’s really important for me now to get my head down and do the very best that I can.
“Knowing that I’m going to play football, I think that’s the main thing for me now especially at a young age.
“I’ve been sort of starved of football for the past couple of years now so that’s all I want to do.
“I just want to be out there enjoying myself on nights like Wednesday. It was a massive relief for me to score and an amazing feeling. I feel really happy.”
Timothy Weah seems to have found his spiritual home..
“It’s great to get another goal.
“But I’m not even worried about me today.
“I’m super happy for [Oli Burke] getting his first two, so we’ll celebrate that.
And a shout-out to the guys, they played 100% throughout the whole match.”
“Besides the fact we’re getting goals, the overall vibe of the team has been great,”
“It just shows on the field that the chemistry is there.
“I feel like I’ve been with Celtic forever, so it’s a good feeling.”
Then theres Vakoun Bayo, who has only just got here.. and was presented to the fans under the lights on Wednnesday..
“When I first heard of the offer from Celtic, I was surprised and very happy,”
“Initially, I couldn’t believe what was happening. It all happened very quickly.”
Yesterday was really moving for me,”
“The fans played a big role in my decision to move here.
“I’ve just arrived in Glasgow. I haven’t played for a month, so I’m going to train hard and when the coach decides I’m ready then I’ll play. I would like to keep scoring goals and win trophies.”
Attitude, ability and a capacity to become instantly Celtic minded.
All three have all three of those attributes.
So when supporters question who found and suggested the Ukranian winger Shved, consider this..
Who cares ?
Meanwhile, Charlie Nicholas is still a knob.
We’re not quite sure what he means by control, and he certainly isn;t referring to todays deadline regarding the case of the Takeover Panel versus Dave King.
It might be worth keeping an eye on Phil MacGhiollabhan over the next day or two.
Theres little chance that you’ll get proper analysis in our SMSM.
Martin Williams in the Herlad sums up where we are at…but I’m curious as to what grounds he has as to why King is “expected ” to comply..
RANGERS chairman Dave King is expected to finally comply with a court order to make a multi-million-pound offer to buy out the rest of the club’s shareholders today.
The 63-year-old businessman who had been defending claims of contempt of court over his failure so far to make the bid agreed to meet a series of deadlines in December with the Takeover Panel financial watchdog before finally fulfilling his pledge to make a bid to existing shareholders at 20p a share.
The Herald understands that the Rangers chief has complied with commitments on a series of timetabled preliminary steps and that there is an expectation he will make the offer by Friday’s 5.30pm deadline and stave off any possible future court action.
King , of course, claimed in an earlier court appearance that he was “penniless “, so “rangers ” fans will be hoping he can apply the same midas touch that has made him millions in a few short months to the clubs accounts.
One way of raising money is by issuing a hit single, and with the Eurovision Song contest only a few weeks away, Sammy Sash and the Staunch Stevies have put forward what could prove to be the British entry…
Perhaps the release of such a heartfelt anthem will re-unite those who are beginning to doubt..
Loyally, he went on to staunchly defend the player after his mistake against Kilmarnock..with great dignity..
Serious stuff again now..this is the parking exclusion zone for matchdays, as suggested by Glasgow city council..
This is a list of what Celtic bring to the city..
– The spending of Celtic and supporters worth £165million to Scottish economy.
– Attendances of almost 2million.
– Helping to support the equivalent of 2,820 full-time equivalent jobs.
– 25th strongest brand in world football.
– Paid £20m in taxes since 2012 and this excludes £millions in PAYE & NI
If I could discover how much the city receives in business rates from the club, and the business rates they receive from businesses which depend on or thrive due to the club, and its support, then I think we’d have a strong case to argue against simply moving the parked cars somewhere else, somewhere which means the congestion would last a lot longer than it does now.
forcing supporters to walk a mile or more to their cars just means any problems are being shunted sideways, and not dealt with.
Todays the last day you can email your protest. ring them and ask for the address.
And then ring them again.
And all next week.
In fact, we’re doing a podcast next week.
Does anyone from Glasgow City council wish to debate the issue with me ?
Its Friday, and of course that means its time for
Knob of the Week
Its got to be …Stevie G..
Recommended by his own supporters, after he introduced his two marquee signings into a game against Scotlands form team of last year, on their own pitch on a cold January night, changing the formation and personnel that had given the club their greatest win in their short history and then blaming the players for playing the square ball…
He makes Warbs, Pedro and coisty look like Stein, shankly and Clough.
Long may he reign..
Caption competiton from yesterday..
Caption:
In the words of Rikki Fulton’s supercop: Ok Philip! Oot the truck!
today..