Celtic Diary Saturday December 8

First things first, if anyone is considering buying a Volkswagen, don’t. They break down thirty miles from home on a freezing Friday night. Hence the picture.

Celtic travel to Kilmarnock at lunchtime today, just a small jaunt down the motorway into Ayrshire, and hopefully the popular (though the lord alone knows why) German car company don’t supply the buses.

Still, I eventually got back, via a couple of refreshments in Warrington, and if anyone is going over the Thelwall viaduct today, could you possibly tip the fecking thing into the canal if its still there?

Not that its upset me or anything. I’m sure the toes i lost to frostbite will grow back, with a bit of ointment on them.

Look, its a diary. I can moan if I want to.

Kris commons and Mikael Lustig will miss todays game due to the knocks they picked up against Spartak, but Victor Wanyama, a promising midfielder from Kenya, will start, probably alongside Scott Brown, who , as he said post match on Wednesday, is not needing hip surgery, he’s just “crap”. Although Neil Lennons comment on the issue, which was “we don’t want to put him through what we put him through the last two months”, when referring to the injury, is worrying. apparently, Broonaldinho wants to keep playing, and “we can’t force him to have surgery”

Kilmarnock have decided not to forfeit the match by playing Manuel Pascali, as he is under a two match ban, which will be completed today. There were stories he would play, but boss Kenny Shiels, has decided not to incur the wrath of the SPL by playing him anyway. And to be fair to him, he hasn’t asked for those who banned him to be named. The Killie boss said that threats to play his captain were simply a wind up, although he does now face a five year ban from the beaks for “being in possession of a sense of humour” and trying to inject a bit of “fun2 into the game. Which , of course, will neverr catch on. Shiels is also facing a couple of charges for other offences, as he is Irish.

As the league game may not have the appeal or the drama of a champions League fixture, both supporters and players will need to raise their efforts today, as we won’t have another european match until the end of February, and the next few months will determine if we have to win the UCL in order to get back in it next year.

Did I mention not to buy a Volkswagen?

Celtic should stay top today even if they lose, as the teams in second and third-hibs and Inverness, clah on the banks of the Moray firth, which to be fair, is the game of the day in Scotland, although Hearts against Aberdeen looks quite tasty as well. Oh, and theres a Dundee derby as well this weekend….

And still Sportscene will sound like an obituary when its on tomorrow.

No doubt they will mention the Daily Mirro story about SPL clubs being allowed to enter the English pyramid system, as the corporate giant which is geographically our neighbour looks to swallow any chance of a threat to its dominance. Seriously, the English are now aware that our league isa wee bit more interesting than theirs.

There are just six games in their top flight today, as they continue to bow to Sky tv, and seeing as how Saturday is football day, around a couple of hundred thousand people will have to find something else to do. Highlights today include Swansea v Norwich, and Wigan v QPR. Or Southampton v Reading, if you like that sort of thing.

The new kids on the block Rangers have a chance to avenge their defeat against Stirling Albion earlier this season, as they continue to find their feet in senior football. Like in  a huge aquarium, the new fish is trying to find the depth at which it can comfortably swim. Today they will be offered the chance to buy Follow Follow fanzine, which includes articles on the SPL, and how its doomed without them, and a special feature on 140 years of unbroken history. Any Rangers fans who miss this publication at the game can pick it up in a newsagents, where it is on the shelf next to the National Enquirer, the Daily Sport and Tales of the Unexpected magazine.

Still, fair play to James Traynor, who has obviously taken his considerable talents to the editors and got himself another job, just reprinting his Daily Record editorials.

Anyhoo, back to the Champions League. With certain teams unable to play certain others, due to the official UEFA policy of keeping all the big teams in as long as they possibly can, it looks like we will play Manchester Utd again. Alex Ferguson is said to be delighted, but he fell asleep again before any further comments could be extracted, but he did mumble something about making sure the wee chinese fellow didn’t get any free kicks.

Right, the weekend awaits, the game is on in a couple of hours, and I’m going to ring Alloa again to see if they got their money yet.

Hang on, I’ll do it now. Got a recorded message. The numbers 01259 722695 if like me you haven’t got a life or anything better to do later today, that doesn’t involve fetching Volkswagens from the m6.

Keiran Gallagher gave a full, frank and accurate answer to yesterdays question about Fergus McCann witholding bounuses after a shocking display against Croatia Zagreb in 1998. The bunnet then gave the money to yorkhill hospital, money which had been the subject of an internal dispute, surprisingly for the nineties, as not too many players would have known what a win bonus was.

Today, we’ll stick with Fergus, who after all is the main reason that Celtic are what they are today. He was-and still is- a man of integrity and honour, and although he made a lot of money out of Celtic, he risked a lot as well. How did he make his money in the first place?