Celtic Diary Saturday September 28

Celtic need to get back into their stride today down at rugby Park. Don’t take my word for it. Chris Sutton thinks so too.

” The manager will be smarting after losing to Morton and he’ll want to take care of Killie this afternoon to send Celtic into Europe on a high.

Ayrshire is where Celtic make a statement of intent ”

Fighting talk from the former centre forward who himself was no shrinking violet.

Sutton , in his newspaper ( Newspaper? Really ? Its the Record… ) column sounds just as annoyed about the midweek Morton defeat as any other fan;

” CARDS on the table. Celtic losing at home to Morton in the League Cup and failing to take another step towards winning the Treble is a disastrous result. ”

” There are levels of play that are acceptable when you’re wearing Celtic’s shirt and some players fell beneath that standard in midweek. ”

One abiding memory of Sutton when he wore the hoops was when he came out to the wing to help out Alan Thompson, who had been dithering, and shouted, as he passed by..

” Fucks sake Alan, switch on. ”

That level of commitment and focus will be required today in Ayrshire when Celtic line up against Kilmarnock.  Manager Neil Lennon is aware that the players might well have half an eye on the upcoming glamour match against the short arse tippy tappers of Barcelona;

“I’m not looking beyond tomorrow and I’ve made it clear to the players that anyone who has their eye on Tuesday won’t play Tuesday,”

Barcelona will be delighted. Celtic will be lucky to field half a dozen players.

You can’t blame them. As supporters we look forward to the big games, and sometimes feel that we go to the less exciting ones more out of habit than anything else. Sure, there is the argument about their professionalism, but it has to be remembered that they are only human.

Well, most of them, anyway.

Having drawn level on points with leaders Inverness, and having a game in hand, the players might be forgiven for perhaps not giving one hundred per cent, but quite simply, that attitude has already cost us a treble this season, and the team need to put on a committed, focussed and entertaining show today, if only to restore morale after what has been a less than convincing couple of weeks.

Celtic will be without Beram Kayal, James Forrest and Joe Ledley. The latter won’t make the Barcelona game either, which is worrying. Celtics midfield is not the same without him.

Expect Nir Bitton to be given a chance to stake a claim for a regular slot, and you get the feeling that Derk Boerrigter needs to start doing something as well. Though in fairness to the Dutchman, out would help if his team mates remembered he was there and gave him the ball every now and then. He looked a little withdrawn when he was sitting on the bench the other day.

Kilmarnock will not be fielding on loan youngster Jackson Irvine against his parent club, thankfully this time Celtic decided to put in a clause forbidding this, and sparing us the circus that surrounded Mo Bangura when he faced the hoops for Elfsborg.

Lennon is happy enough with the way things are going for Irvine;

“I’m delighted for him,I’m delighted that he has taken the opportunity to go out on loan and play.

“He did really well for us against Liverpool. Allan Johnstone rates him highly because he’s played in him in all the games and he’s a good kid.

“This period is important for him. Hopefully he’ll come back a better player and more experience.”

Someone else who has been put out on loan is Tony Watt. After exploding on to the scene last season, the former Airdrie man appeared to start believing his own hype, and was sent to Belguim to re discover his form.

Despite scoring within a couple of minutes of his debut, as a sub, he was accused of being fat and lazy by the Belgian manager.

Watt netted his second goal in two games in a Belgian Cup success over minnows Lommel United and celebrated by whipping off his top to show off his torso in response to the criticism he has received.

Watt explained: “I just wanted to show that I am not fat. I knew perfectly well that if I took my top off I would get a yellow card – it happens all over the world.

“But I just wanted to show everyone that I am in prime condition. I am not too fat and I wanted to prove this.”

John Collins would have nodded approvingly, given his own obsession with physique.

Watt has been given a kick up the arse, and seems to have responded the right way. So far.

In other news, Celtic have announced a partnership with Stubhub, ” the worlds largest ticket marketplace and part of the eBay Inc group of companies, ”

Their spokesman said;

“We are delighted to be partnering with Celtic Football Club. With passionate and faithful fans across the UK, as well as the US East Coast, Celtic will benefit from StubHub’s broad reach in both territories to help attract fans to Celtic Park. Consistent with all our partnerships, we will have an activation-focused approach and look forward to working closely with the Club to provide its fans with great experiences.”

Peter Lawwell, Chief Executive of Celtic Football Club added:

“On behalf of everyone at Celtic, I am delighted to welcome StubHub to the Club’s family of partners. This partnership is great news for Celtic fans who may not be able to commit to coming to every home game but would still like to show their support and attend when they can. By using a safe, secure and trusted channel like StubHub, we hope to welcome fans from across the world to Celtic Park.”

The press release also contains a wee bit of information about the company;

About StubHub

StubHub is a ticket marketplace that connects buyers to sellers, however, unlike current UK competitors, the company does not buy or sell tickets itself or charge fans additional booking fees at the point of purchase – a first for the industry.

StubHub, which launched in the US in 2000, consistently holds the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the entire ticketing industry, and boasts one of the highest scores in all of e-commerce. Every purchase made through the site is backed by StubHub’s FanProtect™ Guarantee, which guards against fraud and ensures that buyers get what they pay for.

StubHub offers a full suite of mobile applications, and opened the first-ever central London retail outlet for fans to buy, pick up or drop off their tickets on Great Portland Street last year. Additional pop-up locations are also planned across the country. These will be conveniently located close to major venues, meaning fans will never have to worry about getting in at the last minute.

 They guarantee that fans actually get what they pay for ?

 As opposed to picking up a fake from our own ticket office ?

 ” consistently holds the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the entire ticketing industry, ” which is a bit like being the best player at Ibrox.

An internet search provided this;

stubhub reviews

They charge a “service fee “, which means I’ll be giving it a miss. Amongst other reasons..

Looks to me like a sort of online ticket tout shop.

Elsewhere, rumours of a financial event facing the bright new young Second Rangers club re surfaced after manager Ally Mccoist admitted that he and his backroom staff have taken a pay cut;

“Ally McCoist on Friday night revealed he has taken a wage cut in a bid to help Rangers slash costs.

The Ibrox boss and his management team have agreed to a reduction in their salaries amid fears much of the £22million raised last December through an institutional share issue has been wiped out.

A promise by finance chief Brian Stockbridge to produce audited accounts by mid-September has so far failed to materialise, while sacked commercial director Imran Ahmad has launched a £500,000 court battle against the club.

As the club’s finances take centre stage at a bloody boardroom battle at an AGM next month, however, McCoist has agreed to ease the burden by scaling down his £700,000-a-year salary.

‘It’s just been agreed that the management team are certainly taking a wage cut,’ the Rangers boss on Friday night told plzsoccer.com’s Football Show.

‘I didn’t feel under pressure to do it because effectively I signed a contract. People forget that when I became manager of the club someone put a contract in front of me and I just signed it as simple as that.

‘I didn’t even look at it, to be quite honest with you. I didn’t look at wages or length of contract, I just said: “I’m signing that because it’s what I want to do”.

Aye, okay. But I’ll wager a shiny two bob bit that your lawyer read every word.

Then he appeared on SSN this morning saying that investment was needed, and wanted to buy more players.

Clearly, he is aware of whats going on behind closed doors.

After they crash and burn, will he say he didn’t know ?

Midfielder Ian Black returns to their team today, and it will be interesting to see how the clubs support takes to him;

‘I’d be very hopeful that it’s now the case that we can all move on,’ said McCoist.

Black is a regular target for opposition supporters — but has yet to experience booing from his own fans.

McCoist believes the midfielder will cope with that if it happens. ‘Listen, football divides opinion all the time — especially at this club in the last two years,’ he said.

‘That’s a natural part of being involved at this club. I get stick myself about performances and team selections. It’s part and parcel. That will continue to be the case.

‘But I feel the most important thing is that, while we all have different opinions and opinions will be divided, the main focus and sole aim is the club’s focus to get back to where we want to be.’”

You couldn’t make it up. The sooner that club is where everyone else wants it to be , the better, and then, and only then, can Scottish football rebuild its shattered image.

Hen, a Glasgow wifie, portayed here by Isa from Still Game, alternative to comedy star Rik Mayall, and the girl with the dragon tattoo, written by a chap called Larsson , gave us the king of kings yesterday, and heres one for today;