Celtic Diary Thursday February 28

Effin Ambrose -I think thats his name, its seems to be what people are calling him,-helped Motherwell to a 2-1 win last night in Lanarkshire, and incredibly, in this “walkover ” league, gave Celtic their fifth defeat this season-only three less than Ross Co. and Inverness combined.

Apart from the welcome return of Greek  forward Georgios Samaras there was little good to come out of the Fir Park tussle, and predictably, manager Neil Lennon was not best pleased;

“I’m raging. I made changes with games in mind but still put a strong team out. People keep coming to me looking to play-they got the opportunity and didn’t play. It seems to me if I leave Hooper out the team then we suffer. We were very, very poor going forward in the first half.”

Now, when a player knows he is not an automatic pick, and has little chance of forcing his way into the team, as illustrated by Lennon picking Ambrose for the Juventus match, as opposed to, say, someone who was awake, then they may have a point, perhaps feeling, rightly or wrongly, that no matter how well they do, they won’t keep their place. Maybe , also, there is a lack of hunger -there certainly was last night-because the players know the league is all but won. Well, Lennon had an answer to that as well;

“If thats the case they won’t play here again. They can find another club and I’ll play the kids. If they waste any game at this club and I detect that in their play, which was apparent in some cases, then it gives me a lot to think about. I’m pretty angry with some of the performances.”  No kidding!

Still, he kept a good word for James Forrest;

“I don’t know how many decent balls James put into the box and there was no real desire to get on the end of things. The front line first half, apart from James, was insipid.”

Seems like Forrests policy of bringing in a cake his mum baked for the boss every morning has paid off. Forrest was a little better than most last night, but by no means a stand out.

The win means Celtic are now just nineteen points clear at the top, and it adds a little tension to Saturdays cup quarter final tie in Paisley against St. Mirren, who have already dumped the Hoops out of the League Cup.

Last night actually reminded me of a midweek game I went to about ten years ago. It was at Almondvale , Livingston, and the home side simply all stood in their own area for an hour and a half. The Celts won, but put in very little effort, and I can remember Lennon ambling over to take a throw in, and as he was just in front of me, I can clearly remember his expression, which was one of complete disinterest. They were going through the motions, and I had a three hundred mile drive home afertwards. As with last night, maybe it would be an idea to think about those who put in the effort-physically and financially to get to the games.

The advantage of experience Lennon has means that sometimes he should  explain to those new to it how it feels, and how to deal with it. Perhaps a better way of approaching the players than just shouting at everyone. Except Forrest, of course, who would have to break into Lennons house and defecate on his carpet before he drew any criticism.

Anyway, that games done now, and attention today will shift, at around noon, to an announcement by Lord Nimmo Smith on the dual contracts issue over at now defunct Rangers.

Quite simply, he’s going to tell us whether or not the old club cheated.

Which we all know they did, but at least this will make it official.

Most of us will be content with a statement along those lines, as he is not there to decide consequences or punishment. He may well recommend some, but as long as he says they cheated , we should be happy enough with that for now.

The real fun will start when Rangers, who are liquidated, cannot appeal. Then Green, Mccoist and all the muppets in the media will finally have to admit Sevco is a new club.

Or, they will maintain they are the same club-though how they can do this is uncertain,and unlikely. Which means they will get punished, and quite possibly suspended or expelled.

I believe its known as a win-win situation.

There was a lot of movement in shares of Sevco this week, surely they cannot know something we don’t? If so, then you can add insider dealing to the list of offences.

Green has been quiet recently, perhaps because the real power at Sevco has demanded it-or he might well know the decision already, and its bad, meaning he is in a corner now, and will be thinking more about his exit than anything else.

Now , you may be reading this after the decision was made, in which case, all this conjecture is irrelevant. If the decision goes the way it should, and you are reading this tonight, then frankly, I’m surprised you can focus on the page.

Anyway, the world of Timdom will stop briefly at 12 noon, and there will be much rejoicing.

What happens after may well be the removal of titles, cups and most important, credibility.

But thats for another day.

When there will be much more rejoicing.

Most goals in a season is Jimmy McGrory, with 59-49 in the league, and ten in the Cup, in 1926-27.

Celtic lost last night, which means they need to go how many games unbeaten to set a new record?