Striker Leigh Griffiths was over the moon to be involved in the celebrations at Celtic Park on Saturday;

“It was a great to see the Celtic support today at home. I´m disappointed that we didn´t get the three points even though the season is over now in terms of the league title.

“But today was about us and celebrating with the fans and we´ll have a good night tonight then focus on going to Dundee United.

“I was just buzzing when the move came about on the last day of January and from then on in I´ve just grew in confidence.

“I´ve not scored in a few games but hopefully I can head back up to Tannadice on Saturday and get one or two more.”

He also added his thoughts on bringing youngsters through, and sounded like an intelligent and articulate young man;

Of course, it´s always good to see young players coming through because it means the coaches at the academy are doing a good job.

“It´s not all about buying in players it’s about producing our own talent and I think that is what all Scottish clubs are doing right now.”

Then he stood on a table in an Edinburgh bar singing “Hearts are going bust” , captured on this video,  leigh griffiths singing ,

shortly after being caught in a pub doorway with a can of Kopperberg, which is a cider, commonly enjoyed by gentleman who have broken with tradition to live out in the open air, usually underneath a motorway flyover.

Mind you, its a lot classier if you put it in a glass with ice in it.

Griffiths had done what all young men do on their day off. Had a few beers with his mates and gone to watch his favourite team.

Finally, we have a football player who the fans can identify with. Not only that, he has decided to go to the game as a fan, instead of getting hospitality tickets, or worse, popping down to an EPL game.

Manager Neil Lennon might be tempted to have a word with him, but even if he does, it should only be along the lines of warning him about his mates putting the photos up on twitter.

In the old days, stories of a particular little red haired winger and his jaunts to local hostelries were legion, and although times have changed, theres nothing wrong with letting your hair down when the jobs done.

Not that Griffiths can take that literally, of course.

The celebrations on Saturday, muted as they were, raised another issue from supporters, as exuberant stewards stopped any contact between fans and players. Not that Emilio Izzaguerre took any notice, the Honduran as usual , taking time to talk to the fans , as he always does, and showing his appreciation for their support.

Again, a little bit of humilty and normality in the sometimes detached world of professional football. It should be encouraged.

A lot of the headlines have claimed that Celtics season has been a disappointment, and that perhaps the team have under achieved, but captain Scott Brown disagrees. He told the Scotsman;

“This title win definitely ranks right up there with the others as it’s been hard with so many Champions League games.

“Last season when we came back after Champions League games we struggled, dropped points and were beaten.

“This season after Champions League games we have been incredible and have won six games out of the six (following group-stage games).

“That shows just how much we are improving and next season we need to try to improve in the cups as well.

“My performance against County wasn’t the best but I’ve enjoyed this season and I think that’s the main thing. I enjoy playing for Celtic and I enjoy winning trophies. That’s the reason why most of the lads are here.”

He’s got a point. If Celtic had not improved in the league, Aberdeen would have been a lot closer to us than they are now, so some progress has been made, though it does go to show just how hard it is to remain at a consistent high level throughout the season in all competitions.

Celtic will be vulnerable in one off cup games, as all the pressure is on them, as opposed to their opponents, who can relax a bit and enjoy the occasion. Not enough credit is given to the other side, its always just criticism of Celtic.

So, what happens now ? Theres six games to go, and to avoid an empty ground, the club-and the supporters-need to put paerhaps even more effort in to maintain an interest.

Manager Neil Lennon has hinted that more youngsters will get a chance to play in the first team;

“There are some players who will have to be given games – and they will have to show us that they are good enough to be here and that they want to be here.

“That creates its own hunger in itself for them.

“I also want to keep some players going because there are a few who have not played a lot of football recently, and I’d like to get some games into them.”

Specifically, he meant Amido Balde;

“It is good that he wants to play more.

“But it has been difficult for him to get into the team because we have been playing so well.

“Amido has a bit to prove, but he will get that opportunity with games coming up.”

“I wasn’t happy with our attacking play on Saturday,”

“I thought it was a little bit rushed, and we did lack a bit of quality at times.

“But, I understand that, given the circumstances of the game.”

He decided to use Beram Kayal and Georgios Samaras, presumably in case any scouts were watching, but the decision to use these two left supporters baffled.

Neither looks likely to be here when next season starts, so really they should be ignored, and those who want to stay at the club given a shot.

However , Lennon did leave us with a promise;

“We will make sure the season does not fizzle out.

“We have got six games to go and we will try to win them all.

“I am sure the supporters will back us all the way on that one.”

I’m not even sure they believe him.

Its been a difficult season, one perhaps of transition after the loss of a few players, but also the introduction -albeit irregularly-of the diamond system, which is difficult to play against. The stronger midfield means that Celtic are a more solid unit, which will be important in Europe.

Just think, if there was a strong Rangers around, we’d already have won the champions League and be preparing for the Intergalactic Cup as the planets representative against the Martian champions.

Well, so the press would have you believe…

Or Ally McCoist, at least.

For some reason, Sky TV asked him to appear on the Goals on Sunday programme, and he gave us his thoughts ;

“Celtic thoroughly deserved their league title and won it quite comfortably in the end. They’ve got some very good players, but they’ve also lost some very good players.

They’ve been replaced. Its what you can do when other clubs pay you for your players.

“Joe Ledley did a terrific job for them before moving to Crystal Palace. Gary Hooper scored an awful lot of goals, but he went to Norwich City in the summer. And I thought Victor Wanyama was an excellent player for them before he, too, went to England with Southampton.

The bit where he praised the new players must have been edited out.

“Neil will now want to hold on to his current squad and look to build for the next campaign. I believe it will be very difficult for Celtic to maintain their standards when you consider they are without real competition in the league.

He’s about to find out exactly what level our opposition is at when he faces Dundee Utd.

That’s just my personal opinion. Of course, Rangers and Celtic have always provided each other with strong opposition in the past.

Until he got the managers job, that is.

“Neil, though, now has the problem of maintaining the standards he has set at Celtic. He will also be looking to improve in a league you would think they would win for the foreseeable future.”

Until his team get there and provide a real challenge ? Of course. 

He didn’t waste the opportunity to play down what the panel called “sweet nothings ” whispered into Neil Lennons ear after a game at Celtic Park…

A game that had serious repercussions for supporters everywhere, and may well have ended in a riot.

“We’ve kissed and made up and that’s the most important thing. What everybody should know is that about two minutes after that incident we were sitting in his office having a bottle of beer.”

What everyone should know is that McCoist is a lying , sleekit bastard who could easily have inflamed an already volatile atmosphere into a full blown riot. 

Most of us probably knew that anyway.. 

There is a wee bit of bad news for the Ibrox boss as well. Shirt sponsorship alks with Richard Branson have broken down, as the bearded one reckons you can’t put Virgin on the clours of a club thats fucked.

Meanwhile, its all change at the Daily Record. Tam Cowan has written his last column, and I have to confess the first paragraph made me chuckle;

AND SO, dear reader, it’s with a tear in my eye that I welcome you to my last ever column in the Daily Record.

For my final piece in the sports pages I was going to bow out by sooking in with Rangers, blasting anyone who ever dared to criticise the Govan club and then offering my services as the new Ibrox head of media.

But I suppose that wouldn’t have been very original. Eh, Jim? ”

He’s gone to the Sun, which is pretty much the same as joining Rangers PR team anyway, only these days there are less breasts on view.

Back to the Record, though, and they have a report on the carnage of the Battle of Motherwell, where US Navy SEALs were already on their way up the Clyde to help the beleagured officers…

Well, when I say report, its actually more of an opinion piece, but yet again, the author hasn’t put his name to it. Unless his name is DailyRecord.co.uk.

Which is about as likely as mine really being Ralph Malph.

Cops describe Celtic-Motherwell

match violence as ‘war zone’ as

they take to the dock against

three fans

War zone ? That’ll be the stealth bombers, the armoured personnel carriers and the creeping barrage laid down by the Green Brigade as they attempted to liberate the Railway Tavern. 

OFFICERS that attempted to stop the match day mayhem at Fir Park in December have given evidence against arrested fans and told of missiles being hurled by opposing supporters.

POLICE trying to quell fan violence before a Celtic-Motherwell game branded the scenes of mayhem a “war zone”.

Officers giving evidence against three fans arrested in the trouble at Fir Park said missiles were being hurled by opposing supporters, with innocent passers-by at risk of serious injury.

Note the linking of “war zone ” to “missiles ” 

This is a war zone;

This is a missile

You chuck that at someone and its likely you’ll be at the doctors Monday morning with a sore back.

PC Adrian Kelly, 44, said: “I became aware of large-scale
disturbances around Windmillhill Street and, when we got round, the atmosphere was diabolical, totally horrendous. In fact, it was just like a war zone.

“Bottles and bricks were being thrown between fans while innocent bystanders got caught right in the middle of it and needed my help to get away from it.”

This is a bottle..

This is a brick..

Oops. Typo. Sorry.

Instead of describing accurately what happens, the police officer uses colourful descriptions to make things appear a lot worse than they actually were.

PC Karen Taylor, 31, said the atmosphere was hostile as Celtic fans arrived by train.

She said: “We were aware of radio contact saying the crowds had come together at the police station and that officers were asking for back-up. The crowd were singing anti-police songs like ‘all cops are b******s’ and there was a high level of drunkenness.”

So, some were singing, and some had been drinking. Thats quite common at football matches. 

But, despite their evidence, the sheriff cleared three men accused under controversial new legislation launched to curb offensive behaviour at football games.

Despite their evidence ? All they said was there was a disturbance. They didn’t actually say anything about the lads in the dock. At least, the report doesn’t.

One the men cleared was an internet troll who joked about the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, 25.

Michael Morton, 19, was alleged to have been involved in the street fight before the Motherwell-Celtic match last December.

Celtic fan Morton, from Stirling, was exposed by the Sunday Mail for online postings mocking
murder victim Rigby.

He wrote on Facebook: “Lee Rigby. Rest In Pieces.”

No evidence about the actual offence he’s on trial for, but he did post a poor joke on Facebook once. 

He was arrested with Mark Cowan, 19, and Alistair McKune, 16, during the disturbances.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court last week, the three denied charges under the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

A two-day trial saw them walk free after the charge against Cowan, from Coatbridge, and McKune, from Motherwell, was found not proven and the charge against Morton was dropped.

Not proven means no evidence. Which sort of makes this a non story.

Morton and McKune were charged with attacking and threatening a rival group of fans while Cowan was accused of inciting violence. But Sheriff Joyce Powrie said: “I am not happy that the evidence before me proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt and I find the charges against you not proven.”

Thats because there doesn’t appear to be any.

And thankfully the lads got the missile back to the Koreans, who need it this week.

Celtic beat Motherwell 5-0 in a match overshadowed by the off-field events.

Smoke bombs and flares were set off and supporters sitting next to a banner for Celtic’s Green Brigade fans vandalised 200 seats, causing £10,000 worth of damage.

Now that its been established that the damage wasn’t caused by the Green Brigade, the paper carefully points out the trouble makers were sitting next to their banner. So its sort of their fault.

Celtic condemned the scenes and suspended 128 fans from all their games in response.

While Ralph Malph condemned the Procurator Fiscal for wasting taxpayers money. 

And whoever it was who told those two coppers they had passed their entry exam.

If you still buy the Record, you could at least chuck it in the bin.

A story you won’t read in the paper concerns the Celtic fans forum the Huddleboard.

Whilst not always the most intellectual of sites, its certainly the funniest, and is probably the best for a quick dip in and out if you’re busy.

This appeared on there over the weekend, and the board responded by buying the shirt, and donating it to the wingers daughter.

More than a website .

Well done to all involved.

Great stuff. Its impossible not to feel a wee lump in your throat when you hear of stories like that.

Sadly, theres bad news about we Oscar Knox. He’s not doing too well at the moment, and if you could remember him in your thoughts and prayers..

Keep fighting , wee man.