Celtic Diary Wednesday March 6

Now, there is an outside possibility, perish the thought, that Celtic may exit this seasons Champions League in Turin tonight. Apparently a miracle is needed for the side to progress.

So we need someone who specialises in that sort of thing.

Or , as he looks here in his working clothes

Or here, with hardly any clothes. Which to be fair, with the lass on the left being his chosen lady, wearing no clothes would be the preferred option.

And here is a picture of a lady with a coat on.

A lot of our hopes  will rest  on the Greeks shoulders tonight, and the unassuming forward will, at the very least , give all he has. On his day he is a world beater, and maybe today will be the day he becomes a true legend.

One thing is for sure, he is the only player we have that is noticeable by his absence. Whilst not quite irreplaceable, he is the ace up our sleeves in Europe, and the man the Italians will fear.

Lennon will have one or two decisions to make ahead of the game, and it seems likely that Charlie Mulgrew and Joe Ledley will be our rocks, with flair players such as Forrest-he’s always on the flair-and Samaras being asked to do the damage up front.

Lennon, perhaps attempting to get the fire in the belly burning, has accused Juventus manger Antonio Conte-he’s not the Chelsea boss yet-of talking rubbish when the Italian claimed that because Gary Hooper was standing next to his keeper and thats against the regulations.

Conte said;

“Every time there is a corner to Celtic there is always a punishment in favour of the defending team because there is a player who systematically blocks our keeper in the six yard box. In the case of the first leg it was Hooper. Regulations say in the six yard box a keeper must not be touched and if he is it is a foul. So I say every time there is a player that goes in there then all angles show there was a foul in favour of Juventus. Lennon talks about the rules so I’ll bring a dossier about the Celtic player blocking our keeper.

Lennon replied;

“Hooper is allowed to stand in front of Buffon so Conte is talking rubbish. Any player can standanywhere he likes in the box. He’s not affecting the keeper, he’s not touching the keeper, and he’s not preventing him from getting the ball. If he prevents him from getting the ball, then yes, its a free kick. But before the ball is kicked he’s not doing anything and he’s entitled to stand where he likes , so Conte is talking nonsense”

Ralph Malph, of Etims said;

“Conte is full of shit. ”

It might be a sign that Juve are trying to intimidate the ref, as they plan to invoke WWF rules again, and hopefully the man in the middle will stamp on their unorthodox tactics from the off. In fact, I’m certain thats what they are going to do.

So, what do we know about tonights ref? Well, this is him

His name is Firat Aydinus, and he is from Turkey. According to World Referee, he has handled 13 of the Turkish derbies-Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and so on, and so is used to pressure from the crowd. Worryingly, though, the site claims that in his homeland he is known as the “Italian referee” because of his looks and his style.

He is a geological engineer by trade, and took charge of his first Champions League group games as recently as last September. He was in charge of the Arsenal Montpellier game in London, where his performance made no headlines at all. Which has to be a good thing.

Referees can influence a game, as we know, but no matter what happens tonight, lets not go down the line of “distraught” Alex Ferguson last night after one of his players was sent off for a chest high kick to an opponent.

Ferguson was too “distraught” to speak to the press after the game, presumably in the same way I was too  “distraught” to walk home from the pub the other night.

So, its the Italian job, live on Sky Sports and lets hope we do more than blow the bloody doors off!

You know something, Juventus are not that good a side, and the tie isn’t over yet. If the ref pulls them up for their cheating, and we get an early goal, anything can happen.

In the movies , the good guys always win. Lets hope that it happens now and again in real life as well.

C’mon the Hoops.

Diary prediction?

Lots of shouting, a few ups and downs, and a headache in the morning.

Juventus 1, Celtic 2

And a wee bit of pride restored. Thats what the head is saying, but the heart says

Juventus 1, Celtic 4

And Antonio Conte does a Ferguson because he is distraught at an outbreak of honest refereeing in Turin.

Murdo MacLoed was the man who placed his head in front of a Brazilian free kick back in the days when we liked him, and   to be fair, he is a likeable guy. He speaks his mind, and sometimes comes across as anti Celtic, which he isn’t. He’s just not a very good pundit, but hey, who is these days?

Another , much less likeable pundit has a couple of teeth missing. Who is he, and how did it happen?

Note, for those like Scotty bhoy looking for tickets over in Turin, a couple of addresses are in yesterdays replies. Let us know how you go on, and we’ll keep trying to update the situation all day. Or at least for as long as I can stay sober.

Which probably gives us till the one o’clock news.