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Celtic Diary Thursday June 20

After an enforced lay off , the Diary returns today in a blaze of obscurity.

First , and above all-tc20012, huddleboard poster. Get in touch with us. Tc is the original poster from the huddleboard who put the aclaimed “Sashes to Ashes ” cartoon into interwebland. If anyone knows who he is, then let him know. He’s due a lot of praise.

So, whats been happening while we’ve been away?

No Luke Murphy yet? The Crewe boss has been sitting outside the ground with the lad proclaiming he is for sale, and cannot understand why he hasn’t gone yet. Faced with the prospect of an opening day fixture against Rotherham, the lad is sitting hopefully by his phone. In pre Sky money days, he would already have been at Liverpool. These days, he’s not a big enough name for the Premier league, but he will be one day…

Virgil van Dijk, the Groningen defender is also desperate to sign. Add that to the enthusiasm of striker Amido Balde and perhaps Celtic isn’t looked upon as such a bad move by those abroad after all.

Tweets seem to suggest he is in Glasgow today to sign, and it looks like he’s another who is highly rated. Van Dijk will join an illustrious list of Dutch defenders who have graced Parkhead such as Loovens, Hooijveld oh wait, lets just judge the guy on his own merits.

With his arrival, that just leaves the mythical Argentinian or other who has been rumoured to be on his way. Barcelona have yet to deny any move for Lionel messi….

Anyway, the fixture list is out, which means the new SPFL is going ahead regardless of what people think. Celtic will unveil the flag at home to Ross County on Saturday August 3. Hearts, already fifteen points adrift due to picking Campbell Ogilivie from the list of applicants for the chairmans job-or whatever he was supposed to be over there-visit Perth to play St. Johnstone, and could be the first team in the history of top flight football to travel by public transport.

Controversy has risen over game 2 on the list for Celtic, which would have been against St. Mirren, but will be postponed so that the Dublin Decider can be played against Liverpool. Jim Goodwin, the St. Mirren defender, ย has slammed the decision to allow this, but Neil Lennon has refused to comment on Goodwins actions this time. Publicly , at least.

Rob Kearsay, writing on Caughtoffside .com says that Southampton have leapt “to the front of the cue ” (sic) to sign Victor Wanyama, which will surprise everyone. Including Wanayam, Celtic and Southampton.

Gary Hooper is leaving, staying, joining a mountain based religous movement deoending on who you listen to. Reading, Hull and any other grim, non descript team you can think of are in the running.

If only we could have the position of new club Rangers Sevco, who don’t have to worry about any of their championship winning side being plundered. In fact, with new league rules meaning they can play trialists, they have re -signed defender Stevie Smith -you must remember him, he had the word “Who ” on the back of his shirt first time round. Thats six people they have brought in for their assault on Division Two, which can only mean that rookie boss Ally McCoist is getting mixed up with the number of players allowed in the squad, and the number of players allowed on the field at one time.

Still, those youngsters he was proud of last year as they began their climb up the leagues can be happy in the knowledge that as soon as the daft sod was allowed to spend fans money he would cast them aside and show he still hasn’t quite got the grasp of man management.

Their fixtures are out as well, and as the fans pore over the next stage of their adventure, one match stands out. They will face East Fife at the end of August, and somewhere I read, I’m sure, that the east coasters have enquired about signing Rangers legend Nacho Novo. Novo, still the only player in Scottish history capable of peeling a banana with his feet, is extrememly popular amongst the Sevco support, for reasons only they know.

Speaking of that old club, Charlotte Fakeovers latest tweet claims that the roof of Ibrox is rotten and needs replacing. Ibrox at one time had the worst safety record of any British ground, and a former Sherriff officer wrote a book about the “dealings ” , extremely controversial at the time, that kept certain issues out of the press.

Does anyone else remember it?

Of course, the book didn’t receive much publicity at the time of its publication, but if anyone can remember the author or title, I would be grateful.

Fridays diary featured a picture quiz with a built in answer. Hovering the mouse above the picture revealed the name Tommy MacInally, which was a clue to the identity of the player.

No picture today, but a quote.

Who said, to who, about whom?

“If you put that wee thing out on the park, you’ll be done for manslaughter? ”

 

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Alan McGrane
10 years ago

Jimmy Quinn to Willie Maley, about Patsy Gallacher.

Arfur Phuxake
10 years ago

Same as Alan and to add to that though Patsy finished off plenty of the oposition single handed he was never ever done for manslaughter..(see what I did there).

Tony B
10 years ago

Nice to see Goodwin living up to his name again.

He’s a Goodwin all right.

Talking of the other Goodwins, I can’t remember the name of the book to which you refer, but I’m sure it was Sheriff Irvine Smith who made the very damning comments re the Oldco board’s attempts to obfuscate matters (successfully it turns out) re their liabilities and responsibilities towards the victims and families of the Ibrox disaster.

You couldn’t mark their necks with a blowtorch.

Frank McGaaaaarvey
10 years ago

The quote, was it made by all Rangers(1872-2012) chairmen to all Rangers(1872-2012) managers regarding just about any Rangers(1872-2012) players in their 140-year history?

It’s extremely heartening to see that we appear to be going about our transfer dealings very early on in the game, rather than all that last day Sky Sports News carry on of “such and such over the hill player spotted at Celtic Park, blah blah blah etc.”. We really need any new additions to be given ample time to gel with their new teammates. Given how vital those CL qualifiers are going to be.

charlie
10 years ago

was the book called law life and laughter /a personal verdict?

10 years ago

the scum that is sevco,jambos bye bye,you all deserve admin/ liquid

Pensionerbhoy
10 years ago

Ralph

You are back just in time. I was on the roof wobbling when I heard there was a fresh diary. Mind you, I did arrange for the wife to lay out 6 mattresses just in case I did jump. Anyway, to business.

In spite of your absence, you seem to have captured ALL the news that has been circulating which indicates how bustling the close season can be. Rumours and counter rumours abound about transfer fees and big money signings and we still end up going Dutch. To be fair, and that is not a Celtic fan trait, he gets good reports from, eh! his manager. I must say a Dutchman beside an Ambrose and a Balde sounds more like a Spaghetti Western than a Back 3. I wonder how long before someone “in the know” links us with the Tahitian goal scorer. I need to be careful here as I have connections over there. Was speaking to one last night actually and when I asked about the team performance, he said “What? What’s football?” I just told him it was kicking a coconut about a field for an hour or so. He laughed and said, “Man, we use tractors to collect ours”. I explained there were some fairly heavy machinations at work in Scottish football too.

Sorry, Ralph, but I can not help with the book on the Ibrox issues, not unless you mean “Downfall” – kidding! I do recall Sheriff Irvine Smith creating some kind of hullabaloo over on the south side. Whether it was about the state of the stadium or the state of Rangers, I am not certain. One thing is for sure, it would not have been given much if any publicity. You think modern times are bad? If you are under 100, like me, you have not experienced the half of the secret “Scotland” society. The difference then, was we believed we had no voice. That must not be allowed to be the case again.

With regard to the plight of Heart of Midlothian (somewhere around Berwick, I think), Mr. Salmond will take care of that. Just like he tried to brush Rangers’ taxes under the big fancy carpet at Parliament House, he will no doubt look for a suitable cupboard to lock away his team’s troubles and woes. He must have the hand shake to a T by now. When will these people realise that integrity is integrity whether in English, Gaelic or gobbledegook. It will be interesting to see when and where they meet Sevco on their way down the slippery slide. What a pile-up that will be. Never mind, here come the honorary SFA clean-up executives with their fluctuating regulations in hand to wipe up the mess and make everything all nice and shiny again.

Speaking of Sevco/The Rangers, is Ally planning to have games in every play-park in Scotland. He has a squad that is bigger than the Ally-ied Armies. Of course, that’s it! He’s off to Syria to sort it out – General McCulloch in the lead. How do they get away with it. Och, whit a daft question.

Quiz: Like Allan and Arfur, I would say it was being said of Patsy Gallagher, my late father’s all time favourite player. He told me many stories about him, but his favourite was the goal he scored by beating practically the whole opposing side then scissor-kicking the ball into the net. If that was an exaggeration, I do not give a whit. It has been a glorious picture in my imagination for decades. As for who said it to whom, I bow to the superior knowledge of others, Alan and Arfur. Both of you seem to be in with a good shout.

H H

binkabhoy
10 years ago

My posts today have caught Pensionerbhoyitis ๐Ÿ™

binkabhoy
10 years ago
Reply to  binkabhoy

Aw NOO they’re working! PB, have you put the curse into a stone wrapped it in animal bladder and now I’ve dug it up? Or sumthin??

Pensionerbhoy
10 years ago
Reply to  binkabhoy

binkabhoy

Not so loud! When I tried to reply earlier, Ralph or Desi must have heard ’cause my reply wasn’t posted. As for me, I keep the heid doon now. When on a roll, it’s not a good idea to look back. You can come to a stop wae an awfy bump if your not watching where ye’re going.

H H

daviebhoy
10 years ago

Quiz, was it not Bertie Auld about Jinky, I know he said something along thoses lines
HH

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