Celtic Diary Monday October 21

The charm continued from Easter Road in the aftermath of the Edinburgh clubs  synchronised kicking of anything in yellow on Saturday.

Rowan Vine, he of the upside down head, tweeted Neil Lennon, and threatened to get his mate Alan Shearer to deal with the Celtic boss , after Lennon had commented on the Hibs ” rugby-esque ” tackling.

“Read Sir Neil Lennon’s comments regarding tackles in y’days game and said my tackle was ‘rugby-esque’..I mean I know he likes the snus….

“But has he been smoking something else..I hardly touched the boy and there were no ‘reckless’ tackles in the game..

“Might get me mate Alan Shearer to send him another size 9 Umbro Speciali in the dish if he don’t pipe down…”

Lennon replied;

“Did I read that right?”

Vine continued;

“Some people need to relax…bit of banter to get people biting.. never been fortunate to meet? Mr Shearer or Mr Lennon personally.”

And responding to Lennon, he said: “…was light hearted, just thought your comment was poor, thought it was a good physical game.

“Apologies obviously if you’ve taken offence.”

There is a marked difference between saying something in jest, and writing it. This means that a “tweet” can be taken the wrong way-or the right way.

It would be churlish of Lennon to follow up on this, but Vine should have his arse kicked by his bosses. It would stop him tweeting through it.

Speaking of stupidity on twitter, Charlie Mulgrew sent this to his thousands of followers;

Its not Charlie, but it is in fact a couple of models, but why Chuck felt the need to share it with the world is a little puzzling.

Some people should leave their phones at home when they nip out for a pint.

Manchester United are the latest club to be linked with Fraser Forster, which gives more and more credibility to rumours that he will be off in the January window. Perhaps we should get our scouts to just phone the so called bigger clubs every time they spot someone.

It would save all the paperwork inbetween.

Anyway, we’ve a replacement lined up already-a guy called Warner Hahn ( see top pic ), currently with Dutch Second tier side Dordrecht. He’s highly rated, and Celtic have expressed an interest, though Feyenoord have as well.  He has already been capped for the u-21s over there, and his deal is up at the end of the season. Which brings him into our price range.

After surviving the battle of Edinburgh, the club now gets down to concentrating on the Ajax game. Neil Lennon is trying to let the support know that ajax will be just as tough an opponent as Milan and Barcelona were in the previous games.

He watched the Dutch side fight back to earn a 1-1 draw at league leaders Twente Enschede at the weekend, and was clearly impressed;

“In the second half they showed their capabilities.

“Twente had the best of the first half and could have been a couple of goals up.

“But Ajax are a very good side and you can see they have a talented squad.

“There were experienced players missing yet they still managed to get a draw against the league leaders away from home.

“It is silly for anyone to think they will not be as dangerous as Milan or Barcelona. That is exactly the reason why myself and the rest of the coaching staff went to watch them.

“There were things I saw which we can exploit but there were also things that demonstrated Ajax are very talented and dangerous.

“There is so much flexibility within their team. In attack they interchange and the players seem comfortable with whatever they are asked to do.

“Against Twente, Daley Blind played as the anchor man in midfield and I hadn’t seen him play that role before.

”It’s a different context going into this game because people are expecting us to win.

“But there is no way you can underestimate Ajax because they are a top team.”

Without Matthews, Brown and Commons, three key players at this level, Celtic have their work cut out for this one, and although there is a lot of optimism going into the game, I get the feeling that the butterflies will be firmly entrenched in the bowels by teat time on Tuesday. In fact, theres a few of them down there now looking for rooms for a couple of days.

James Forrest and Georgios Samaras will be vitally important, as Celtic may favour a more direct game than their opponents, and Forrest does seem to be over his illness, and looking forward to the game;

“These are crucial games,” he said with a heavy tone of lip-licking anticipation.

“I love playing in these games. They’re different class. All the boys will tell you the atmosphere is frightening.

“We just want to give something back to the fans for their support. We want to give them something to cheer about.

“There will be a great atmosphere and the boys are up for it.

“I am happy to take on extra responsibility if Kris is out. But we also have guys like Sami, Stokes and Pukki.

“I’ve played in big games before and this is another one. I’ll treat it the same way as I always do – I’m just really looking forward to it.”

Sorry for the use of the phrase ” heavy tone of lip licking anticipation “. Its Keith Jacksons. He certainly knows his prose !

He’s got someway to go though, to compete with his stablemate Hugh Keevins, who once again spectacularly misses the point with this article; ( the bits in brackets are mine )

Note: When I say “stablemate”, I mean it in the sense that they work from the same office. Theres nothing stable about Keevins or his  ramblings. Its one word, not two.

STROPPY shareholders who want Celtic to report the SFA to UEFA over the governing body’s failure to put Rangers out of business are surely missing the point.

( Rangers are already out of business )

The orgy of self destruction that has been going on without respite at Ibrox would suggest Rangers are trying their level best to do that job for themselves.

( Rangers are already out of business. Thats a new club at Ibrox )

But if Celtic’s board are forced to listen to the demented ramblings of the dissident shareholders at their AGM next month it’ll at least prove one thing beyond all doubt.

( That they care about Sporting Integrity and Financial Fair Play ? )

And that is the businesses who were formerly joined together in disharmony as the Old Firm shouldn’t have fan
representation on their respective boards.

( In case they point out little things, such as the truth . )

There is a nobility about Dunfermline coming under supporter ownership. And there was a touching acceptance of the responsibility for keeping the club alive expressed by new chairman Bob Garmory at East End Park on Wednesday.

His reference to council-house dwellers taking better care of their property once they owned it outright was a good point well made on the subject of fan control.

( Hang on, didn’t he just say that fans should not be on the board ? )

And Pars supporters will certainly have to pay through the nose to preserve their club for future generations. Starting with the £17 a head they had to fork out to watch yesterday’s derby with East Fife.

( If thats what it takes, and if thats what they want. Its their decision. )

But the Celtic fans already live in what is, comparatively speaking, a detached property kept in immaculate condition.

And with an unobstructed view of the Champions League.

Their club has fortunes in the bank and the satisfaction of knowing their peace at the summit of the domestic game won’t be disturbed for the foreseeable future.

But they’re still not happy.

( Largely because you and your fellow apologists want to gloss over the biggest scandal in football history. )

And that’s because they want the people across the road to be evicted and thrown out on to the street because they lower the tone of the neighbourhood.

( Not really. more because they cheated and lied and stole. Hang on, that was the old club. The new lot are still at it, but only from their own fans. Something the press could have a look at, if they can’t think of anything else to write about. )

This isn’t the reason why Ferguson McCann gambled so many millions of pounds of his own money to make the previously disenfranchised Celtic support shareholders 20 years ago.

He put his personal wealth up to take over a club that was fighting for its life and make it challenge Rangers’ supremacy.

And the Celtic supporters bought into the fact McCann was sincere, trustworthy and clearly had the business acumen to do whatever he promised.

( and he did it. )

If Fergus was here today instead of enjoying the fruits of his labours with his family on the other side of the Atlantic he’d be appalled to find his main business competitor struggling so badly.

He wouldn’t be organising a shareholders vigilante movement to see if he could put his rivals out of existence altogether.

( Perhaps not,because they are already out of business,  but he would certainly be chapping at the doors of the SFA and asking him why they gave Rangers a European licence they were not entitled to. He used to love a rammy with the beaks. Or anyone else he thought was taking the piss, for that matter. )

Corporate governance and the democratic process mean nothing to the kind of shareholder who would lob in a grenade and bringing anarchy to the boardroom.

It’s a boardroom he, or she, will never see for that very reason.

( Eh ? I’ve read this bit three times now, and it doesn’t make any sense at all. )

McCann was so smart he left behind the former deputy governor of the Bank of England Brian Quinn to steer the club in the right direction after he’d gone.

( Who, in turn, advised on the use of EBTs, and  decided not to use them, )

And the last two decades have seen Celtic prosper as never before under a succession of careful custodians.

( Not so much careful.  Just paying the bills when they came in, really. And not using EBTs . )

So when the Champions League music plays to a full house of 60,000 before the game against Ajax on Tuesday night, those Celtic fans should offer a silent prayer of thanks for McCann. And leave Rangers to get on with sorting out the considerable mess left by successive business practitioners who couldn’t have fetched wee Fergus a cup of coffee without spilling it.

If former Ibrox chairman Alistair Johnston’s worst fears are confirmed, and the hand of Craig Whyte can still be detected behind the scenes at the club, the salvage operation could take a while yet.

But it has to be carried out successfully, however long it takes, for the good of the game.

( For the good of the game ? Really ? Years of cheating , lying, fraud, theft, intimidation, bigotry racism and Ally McCoist ? )

In the meantime, Rangers fans can only hope that a win for Ajax opens up the possibility of Celtic getting no points at all from their Champions League group.

( Just Rangers fans, Hugh ? Just Rangers fans ? )

Between their games against Brechin City and East Fife, it will need to pass for excitement until something better comes along.

( Most other hacks reckon the Brechin game was one of the most exciting of the season . )

If it’s possible to have the bragging rights while you’re in the state they’re in, then that’s what it will take to see the Rangers supporters temporarily distracted from the business of tearing their hair out.

( Maybe one or two of them will be tearing their hair out at the fourth estates inaction and timidity when it comes to protecting them from all that has happened down Ibrox way in the last decade or so. )

Hugh Keevins is a journalist. It says so on Wikipedia.

At Brechin on saturday, bored Second Rangers supporters held a tie your own scarf competition, congratulations to the winner;

winner, tie your own scarf competition

Best answer to yesterdays picture came from sh1974, who felt that Commons was sick of hearing about Mulgrews miss..

They’ve been learning a new dance routine down Govan way…

Ach,  Enough of them!

Today, can you remember what happened next ?