Celtic Diary Friday June 7

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels has been banned for four matches following his radio outburst when he accused Celtic of having a “massive influence ” over Scottish football. his club will also be punished on June 21 for not keeping him on a leash.

He referred to Celtic as the “monster of Scottish football ” and is being punished for bringing the game into disrepute and also for talking complete shite.

At least the last time he was in bother it was for acussing Andrew Dallas, the son of Hugh, of fabricating evidence when the promising young official was the fourth man at a Kilmarnock game.

Dallas, of course, will go on to great things. Shiels is the manager of Kilmarnock.

The Amido Balde signing story got a little complicated last night, when it was revealed his club only own 37% of his “rights”. According to Sky, his agent owns the other 53%. If thats the case, then you really wouldn’t want him sorting out your next contract. Crystal Palace are reportedly interested, presumably they already own the other 10%. The Record, still chasing that golden, groundbreaking moment when they get something right, claims he will head south.

John Viola, the agent acting for Johnny Russell, has insisted that no deal has been signed for his man, and stressed that anything could still happen.

The player may still end up at Celtic, and if he does, it will be down in no small measure to Viola camping outside Neil Lennons house, holding a placard that says  “Ring me ASAP ”

There is football tonight!

Well, a Scotland game.

Supporters can gather round ESPN and play that fairly new game called “Who is that guy? ” when Strachans team, now needing snookers, continue their World Cup campaign. James Morrison will be the captain, and that shows how low a once proud nation has sunk. Still, Strachan has remarkable management skills, and might even get a result over in Zagreb.

Then again, he might not.

Brentford fans are in a bit of a tizzy. The upcoming game needs to sell 9000 tickets to break even, and thats at 25 quid a pop. Celtic have been allocated three sides of the ground, and Brentford fans are not only annoyed by this, but the fact that they feel their board reckon that the price is so high because Celtic fans will pay it anyway . Whilst acknowledging Celtic as Champions League opposition, website “Beesotted ” claims the club are more or less telling their own fans that they are not needed as Celtic fans will turn up in huge numbers anyway.

Even the English sides treat us as a cash cow, and it might be time to make an example of one of them if they don’t show a little more respect.

These games used to be a chance for those fans who couldn’t get to see Celtic at any other time. They still are to a lesser extent, but if £25 is the sort of price they are asking, then the phrase “meaningless friendly ” may become more common.

In an interview with UTV, Neil Lennon admitted that the death threats he received in 2011 made him think long and hard about quitting the game. It was the players who helped to make up his mind to stay, and for now he is quite happy with his lot.

Notice that when talking about Lennon and death threats, its important to clarify which ones. As opposed to mere attempted assaults and beatings in the street, these have to be taken seriously.

When the MSM were touting him for jobs in the south, its worth remembering that he didn’t leave Celtic when his life was in danger, so a few quid a week more was never going to shift him.

Still, you can’t fault them for trying.

Meanwhile, over at Ibrox, Malcolm Murray has survived the latest attempt to get him out of the boardroom. As the asset strippers continue to slowly place their own kind in position, Murray has held on grimly to his post. What does he know? They definitely want him out, but can’t push him over the line. What has he hidden away to keep him safe?

No-one in the press has rung Walter Smith to ask him about the allegations that he had an EBT whilst not actually working for Rangers, and what he did to earn it. Its not illegal-former employees can have them as well as current, but he could at least clarify what he did to get it. Likewise Graeme Souness, who got his when he was at Blackburn, buying the odd player here and there from Rangers..

They ought to come out and publicly announce that it was all above board, otherwise pesky little tims on the interweb will start to draw their own, ill informed conclusions, and nobody wants that.

Craig Whyte has been captured on tape and released into cyberspace again by Charlotte Fakeover.

In a chat he has with Administrators Duff and Phelps, he gives the dreaded vote of confidence to rookie manager Ally McCoist.

” some of these guys are good at telling the fans what they want to hear. McCoists a master at that . Crap manager, but good at the media. He’s been saved by this process. disorganised guy. Desk in a total mess with papers from six months ago. He wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for the admin process. ”

duffandphelps1may2012part01

Thats the first of eight parts, it is only background noise until about six minutes in, but worth listening to. Theres another seven parts in there as well. Very entertaining stuff. Whyte is rapidly earning legendary status in Timland, and its not hard to see why. ( He also remarks that Sandy Jardine  “couldn’t run a bath. “)

There is good news for Sevco followers though. Bus tycoon James Easdale is about to join the board, and the Record salutes this move, as it will bring much needed stability to the club.

There really are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

The Sandy MacMahon pic has a few doubting its authenticity. It has come from a reputable website and although the picture does seem a little too clear to be turn of the 20th century stuff, we have to take their word for it.

That was indeed John Dowie yesterday, the man signed to replace Kenny Dalglish. Stein at the time said that Dowie would get a game in any team.

Except Fulham. He went on to do great things, but not at  football.

Heres another one to chew over. Who is he, and what was his ridiculous middle name?