Celtic Diary Sunday January 5

Celtic make the short trip to Paisley today to face St. Mirren in the last match before they head off to a training camp in Turkey to make them all better.

Several 1-0 wins have meant that Lennons side have been heavily criticised for showing a lack of flair and imagination, but flowing football is a bit tricky when you’re tired. So, a quick jaunt halfway round the world, and a couple of extra games should be just the ticket to get everyone ready for the second half of the season.

Teemu Pukki , the Finnish striker brought in to replace Gary Hooper, is only a couple of dozen goals short of the Englishmans tally, and he thinks that he will find form in 2014, but has admitted it may be next season before we see the best of him. Whoever he is playing for, presumably.

“Hopefully in 2014 I can start scoring a lot of goals and start helping the team more.

“I think I took a little bit more time than I thought to adapt to the game here but I believe that I can start scoring.

“Living here is no problem, I’ve been abroad on my own for a while now, but the football is not so easy.

“I need to be a little bit more physical, and not lose balls so easily, so I’m doing work in the gym with the physios.

“I think it would have been easier to have come on the beginning of summer but I came on the last day and haven’t had so much time to train with the team because we have played so much. Hopefully now in Turkey we will have time to train more.

“And while I hope it comes earlier, I think next season will be a lot better than this season. I will need to be at my best for the Champions League qualifiers.”

He thinks he will score more if he is part of an established front two;

“I’m used to playing always with two strikers so that is what is best for me, I prefer having a partner.”

As long as that partner isn’t any of the ones currently at Celtic Park.

The manager turned his attention to todays game, and claimed he wanted a bit more from his players;

“There was definitely a tiredness creeping into the team in the second half against Partick,” said Lennon.

“I just want us to play with a little more zest.

“We have had a heavy schedule of games recently but we have had an extra day (over St Mirren) to recover from the Thistle game.

“So hopefully we will see a wee bit more energy in the team. That is what I am looking for.”

So, will we see the total football of the fir Park and Tynecastle visits, or do we get the turgid, sleep inducing Celtic of recent matches ?

For those not heading to the game, its on Sky sports at lunchtime, where its up against the big film of the week, Star Trek into darkness, which is the new spin off of the old genre where they ask the viewer to try to work out what the feck is going on before the film finishes.

A bit like watching the game, really.

St. Mirren will be without Jim ” Fanny ” Goodwin, their skipper who keeps getting in trouble with referees who don’t understand his vigorous approach to the game. Manager Danny Lennon bemoaned the way Goodwin is treated by the officials , and reckons he’s a marked man, and not, as others seem to think, a man who marks other men;

“Other bosses and coaches out there have a go at the fourth official or linesman from Jim’s first challenge in every game – even when he has won the ball cleanly and fairly.

“We know it happens but I like to think we have good refs who aren’t naive enough to fall for it week-in and week-out.

“I would rather people spoke about Jim in terms of ability.

“He organises, breaks play up and keeps things simple.

“It’s vital in terms of what we’re trying to do here. In terms of the type of player he is – and he is a warrior – there’s no doubt other clubs will specifically go out and target him. I know it happens because I’ve seen it.

“I’ll concentrate on what Jim brings to this club. The work he does behind the scenes is nothing but outstanding.

“He’s a fantastic captain. There are weaknesses in terms of his disciplinary record but only Jim can sort them out.”

Target him ? Aye, thats whats happening.

He isn’t playing today, as the game kicks off before the 9pm watershed for tv violence.

Meanwhile, the transfer window is well and truly open, and the Sunday Sun continues the new, somewhat scary policy of good news stories for Celtic fans, leading many to think that there is about to be a revolution in the MSM. One fellow tells us that when filling in a recent application form at a big paper up there, the question about what school you went to had been removed, and where you fill your surname, the letter O and an apostrophe are already printed in for you….

Anyway , it seems that Dermot desmond has sent a new debit card to Neil Lennon and told him to do a bit of shopping in the January sales;

Jordan Rhodes didn’t feature for Blackburn yesterday, and our drunk mole has been telling us for a while now he is number one on Lennons list, and as long as Rhodes keeps playing until he’s sixty, our man might get it right one day.

But, with £6m to spend on a striker, and Rhodes not happy amongst the smoke filled streets of Lancashire , then if he isn’t already on the phone to Blackburn, then he should be. Its not just us , you know. Sports Moles Shane O’ Callaghan released this;

Blackburn Rovers hitman Jordan Rhodes has refused to be drawn on the speculation regarding his future at Ewood Park.

The 23-year-old has hit 16 goals in 24 Championship appearances for the Lancashire outfit this term, resulting in rumours linking the in-form marksman with a move to the Premier League, with Crystal Palace among those reportedly keen.

Rovers boss Gary Bowyer recently stated that he felt no pressure to sell the former Huddersfield Town starlet, prior to omitting Rhodes from his starting lineup in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the FA Cup this afternoon.

Speaking to reporters following the result, the striker said: “It (the speculation) is not something I can influence. I am just happy to be playing football for a living as it is the best job in the world.”

Rhodes is contracted to Ewood Park until 2017.

Which prompted this reply from a reader;

Keith Woodhead · Huddersfield

Pretty much the same script he gave us at Town..BYE BYE JORDAN

 I’m probably flying a little flag on my own here, but Rhodes very nearly joined us before, and that came from a bloke in a pub in Huddersfield. So it must be true. And it was backed up by an ex-Aberdeen player, who was also in the bar that night. . and i’m fecked if I can remember his name, but he played there in the fifties or sixties.

 Other rumours include the addition of the Egyptian Trezeguet Mahmoud Hassan, which pleases my very own Egyptian mole in Stoke, who claims the lad is a great player. Its worth noting that my pal also hated Madjid Bougherra with a passion, so his judgment is sound.

 Steven Fletcher is also in there somewhere, but this one would surprise me if it came off. Although its a decent enough second choice to Rhodes.

 The story says that Lennon has twelve targets, which tells you what he thinks of the eleven he’ll put out today.

 Theres another story, incidentally, in that paper today, concerning  John Gemmell, of Stenhousemuir, who has called Second Rangers manager a naughty name after the sleekit former tv panellist turned football guru complained that his players had been forced to play four games in eleven days, or something.

 Considering most of the players McCoists team have faced also have proper jobs outwith football, its understandable he got this retort from the Stenny player, who has to be commended for his honesty;

 Well, it made me laugh.

 Oliver Norwood is another who looks like he will possibly join Celtic, having more or less told his club that if they turn down an offer he will ask for a transfer. Tough talk, there.  So, its off to the social media site Twitter for more info, and it was quite revealing;

@ONorwood’s tweets are protected.

Only confirmed followers have access to @ONorwood’s Tweets and complete profile. Click the “Follow” button to send a follow request.

The plot thickens…..

So, I suppose we’d better ask the manager;

“This transfer window is important,” said Lennon. “We just have to be careful and make sure we get it right. We have a list of players who we feel we can do [business with] and will make us better. We have about 12 targets. You know you are not going to get everything that you want straightaway so you have to create options and availability and affordability as well.

“At the minute we need a striker. We’ll endeavour to bring two or three in but with strikers it is always difficult because of the money and affordability. That might take a bit of time but that’s what we are trying to do.

“Sometimes it’s very exciting, ultimately it’s very frustrating at times as well because, like kids at Christmas, you always ask for things and you don’t always get what you asked for.”

We want a striker.

” Again, if you are going to spend £5-6m you have to be 100 per cent sure this guy is going to come in and score goals and make you better. If he does that, then people will come and watch anyway but I think we do need a bit of quality at the top end of the pitch because in two-thirds of the pitch we are very good at the minute. We just need someone to put the ball in the hole.”

Aha ! Thats what we’ve been doing wrong. Ball in the hole ?

 

That explains a hell of a lot. We may have a problem with one or two of our coaches.

Meanwhile, you’ve probably seen this on the walls erected around Celtic Park to stop us seeing what the workmen will do.

celtic park redevelopment Click on that, then look at this

Its actually got nothing to do with the Commonwealth games.

These are advance publicity shots for a new film about to be released .

It concerns a futuristic football team who have seen their identity eradicated by corporate whores, who have sanitised the atmosphere and destroyed the concept of “going to the fitba’ on a Saturday afternoon ”

In the movie, an irate supporter rounds up a group of fans who have abandoned the club, and gets them to return to the game every week to  sing songs about the clubs history and heritage. They go on to  heckle  the opposition players, instead of applauding them. Some of them even swear.

Despite a campaign to prevent him doing so, including a totalitarian government changing laws, intimidation from a private security firm, and state police  arresting his friends and family at dawn, he eventually succeeds, with sixty thousand people singing about Letting the People sing,  and in the movies final frames, the ghost of a monk visits him and says ;

” Thank you. You’ve given the club back to its true owners ”

Can’t remember the name of the film though. Anyone got any ideas ?

 

 

By the way, that was Michael Davitt in the picture yesterday. He laid the first sod of earth at the current Celtic Park, and was active in Irish politics.

These days, they won’t let you name a CSC after him, unless you make a real issue of it.