It’s been almost a week since the last diary, and quite a few interesting, and events seem to have undertaken a surreal twist.

There’s no need to go over them in any great detail, suffuce to say those Celtic players who have got Covid 19, Biton, el Hamed and Edouard, are not Scottish and therefore we cannot blame the SFA for it, but not to be outdone, Ryan Christie is in isolation after the SFA made him sit next to Stuart Armstrong on the team bus.

Calum MacGregor and Greg Taylor have been steam cleaning themselves all week, and James Forrest , who would have been in the Scotland squad, is in isolation anyway after his dodgy ankle finally gave way.

The Forrest ankle is interesting, as it seems as with Keiran Tierney, players are still encouraged to play through injury, after being given two paracetomol and a can of Red Bull.

There are , as yet, no more reports of infections, but even as things stand, Celtic will be without five internationals when the league resumes on Saturday.

Thats unless there’s any paracetomol and Red Bull left, that is.

On Saturday, which is the day I reach 55 a full 55 years before our opponents that day will, Celtic face “rangers ” in the first Glasgow derby, the Old versus the New, and following on from the media A -Z of clubs in the hunt for Colombian enigma- (you can’t say that word -Ed ) Alfredo Morelos, the laptop loyal have now searched their archives for former Ibrox employees who have dutifully given their views on how the Gerrard Juggernaut will roll over the top of plague ridden Celtic and put their world to rights.

You’d think they’d have learned by now, but when you consider they still peddle the same club myth, and deny the institutional corruption n the game, its not really a surprise.

This desperation for the new Rangers to semalessly pick up where the old lot left off is the major stumbling block when it comes to getting corporate sponsorship for the Scottish football, and until some wire brushes and dettol are used to clean it up, the situation will remain the same.

Anyhoo, a short video on the media ahead of a big game, courtesy of Tam Sellics son on Twitter…

https://twitter.com/i/status/1316454011785150464

Over at the Sun, they took a slightly different angle….

BADGE ROW 

Anti-bigotry charity slams ‘moronic’ firm for pin badge featuring Rangers kitman Jimmy Bell

ANTI-bigotry campaigners have branded a company selling a pin badge depicting Rangers kit man Jimmy Bell holding aloft what appears to be Celtic manager Neil Lennon’s severed head as ‘utterly moronic’.

A firm called Teddy Bear Pins which also markets pin badges of retro images of Ibrox icons such as Graeme Souness, Ally McCoist and Paul Gascoigne has been displaying a limited edition badge featuring the image as the hours tick down to the first Old Firm derby of 2020 on Saturday lunchtime.

Anti-sectarianism charity Nil By Mouth are appalled by the inflammatory nature of the design, which some are sure to find offensive.

Director David Scott told SunSport: “This is utterly moronic and you have to wonder about the mental state of the individual who designed this grotesque badge.

“I’d urge them to take the page and image down immediately and donate any money raised from sales to a hospice so some good might come from such abject stupidity.”

A spokesperson for Teddy Bear Pins last night called Nil By Mouth’s comments “laughable” and insisted the design wasn’t sectarian at all.

They said: “Nil By Mouth should concentrate on sectarianism and not our pins which if you pay any attention to are not sectarian in any way.”  

Of course, The Sun didn’t bother condemning it themselves , nor the comments from the badge makers, instead what they have done is publicise the merchandise and therefore present it to a wider audience, and predictably they left out the history between the more extreme Ibrox support and Neil Lennon.

I’m surprised they didn’t find someone to blame it on catholic schools.

Oh, hang on….

While both of the Glasgow giants have worked hard in attempts to rid themselves of sectarian baggage, only this year Scottish broadcaster Archie Macpherson for one said the atmosphere among rival sets of Celtic and Rangers fans is as bitter as ever.

That doesn’t mean that he subscribes to the theory that the matches are so poisonous they should be banned – merely that all parties should continue to “grapple” with bigotry going forward.

MacPherson said: “In terms of attitude and mentality, not one bit has changed.

“Why? Because, we separate each other at the age of five. That’s not the sole cause of enmity and hatred but in my view it’s a handicap.

“The ‘them and us’ divisions still exist in our society.  

Archie, here’s a message for you..

Later today, I’ll be burning his excellent biography of Jock Stein, as I think the Big Man would want nothing further to do with him, given his dislike of bigotry.

Not to be outdone in the promotional stakes, the Record came back with this….

The orange top with vertical black lines after been sought after since fans were handed a glimpse earlier this summer.

Rangers supporters are rejoicing after the club made their eye-catching training top available to buy on their official website.

The orange top with vertical black lines has been sought after since fans were handed a glimpse earlier this summer when manufacturers Castore presented their big sell.

Rangers fans have been waiting patiently but can now finally purchase the top on the club’s website at a price of £42.00.

Castore will be hoping to move on in the wake of their grovelling apology to the Ibrox faithful after quality control issues with kits and other branded items back in August.

“eye catching “….not thought provoking, not a sign that the club are desperately pandering to the lowest common denominator in their support with an outrageously anti Catholic and anti Irish in a bid to raise money because no one wants to buy their over rated players, players that include their captain and top scorer who wanted out of that cesspit, one of whom is black and the other a catholic.

Of course, it all comes to a head on Saturday.

The pretence that somehow this game is between two titans of not only Scottish football, but European and world football.

Sky TV will do their bit, the print media are already doing theirs, and yet with no crowd in the stadium, there will be a distinct lack of “Get intae they fenian  bastards ” or “Thats a fucking penalty the dirty taig pig ”

Unless, of course, the tv companies wire up referee “Cheatin ” John Beaton….

In yet another insane situation unique to Scottish football, John Beaton, …this john Beaton…

Whether or not Beaton is actually a “rangers ” fan is irrelevant.

There is a perception that he is, and that makes it impossible for him to remain impartial on Saturday.

Last time out, as was documneted in the diary, we saw how mainstream media works when Andy Newport, an old school chum of Beatons, released a PA statement that Beaton had received abusive and threatening texts, which resulted in charges to a coupe of offenders.

Quite how they got his number was never investigated, or if they knew him in any way.

The original press release led to an escalation in the severity of the threats, which suddenly, and without evidence became life threatening, and all we then read were peoples opinions on death threats, whilst ignoring the fact that there were a couple of abusive texts, wrong, but not serious threats that required the police protection that came for the referee, who clearly wasn;t taking them seriously himself, otherwise he;d have had to move to a safe house.

Of course, that particular storm far outweighed the storm when bombs and bullets went to Neil Lennon, as bizarrely he had brought it on himself, the severity of that situation was brought home to me in a moment of sincerity from CEO Peter Lawwell who outlined the stress of not knowing what was in each letter that came to Celtic Park, and who would open it.

The gross irresponsibility of the media in highlighting the bigotry behind orange tops and closing catholic schools is shameful, and an example of why they aren;t taken seriously any more.

But it sells papers, not as much as they’d like, but its all they’ve got as their piss poor editors and hacks aren’t capable of producing anything constructive.

That and promoting the kind of hatred of our manager that led , in the past, to the bombs and bullets scenario.

So, I for one, won;t be watching on Saturday.

Even though it’s my birthday, and even though the pubs in Stoke are still open.

I really couldn’t give a toss about the “history ” of this fixture, because there isn’t any.

It’s just another three points on the way to ten in a row.

Just an endless parade of fuckwits and bigots who want there to be, as it hides their own professional ineptitude when it comes to reporting the truth