Celtics under 20 side stormed back to the top of the league yesterday with a 2-0 over new Glasgow team Rangers at Murray Park.  Although it sounds similar to a club that died a couple of years ago, its not the same one, even though  their followers, who support the new lot in significant numbers, carry on following, pretending nothing has happened.

From the new clubs website;

Played behind closed doors, the match took place with only club representatives and parents of players in attendance. 

Well, that should have kept the hatred and bigotry to a minimum.

Conor MacManus and Joe Thomson got the goals, and theres one to watch from the Ibrox ranks for the future, a young fellow by the name of Hegarty who got sent off after a couple of fouls, which means we’ll be seeing more of him in the first team…

With the media having already sold Fraser Forster to the EPL, its only fair they should put a bit of effort into finding a replacement. This time, it looks like they’ve got the wrong end of the stick, someone having overheard Neil Lennon say that Lukasz will be in goal if Fraser leaves;

Neil Lennon is a fan, and the Celtic boss thinks he will fit right in at Celtic Park.

The Polish keeper has been at Arsenal for seven years, and managed just thirty one games. Perhaps Lukasz is Polish for “unreliable, and likely to make an arse of it ” as no-one seems to want to play goalkeepers with that name.

Craig Gordon ….Craig Gordon…..Craig Gordon…..

“I want to add to my 40 Scotland caps,” Gordon told BBC Scotland. “That has been what’s driving me.”

“I had a few injury problems, that’s no secret,” he said on Sportscene.“My latest problem was with my patella tendon, which has taken a couple of operations and quite a few injections. ”

“I’ve been back training for the last three months and everything has been going well, so I’m hoping to get a club in the near future ”

He’s free, experienced and certainly used to be a good keeper. Hard to understand why he tried to sell himself on Sportscene , though. Nobody would have been watching.

Gordon was an international keeper, some of you might even remember him in the nations colours;

1872-that reminds me, is there any truth in the story that a couple of ex Rangers managers and a few ex players-all Rangers men are -planning to gazump Dave King and set up a third incarnation of the club ?

Including the one who is there now ?

I’d almost forgotten about that, but the date reminded me of it.

The Evening Times has this headline,

Celtic boss Lennon: Show us the

money if you want Watt

which implies that clubs are after the young fellow, and that Lennon is looking  to sell. But hey, this is Scotland….

“There have been no bids for him, that I am aware of. So, unless there is confirmation of a bid coming in…

“If one does come in, we will look at it, but it is not something I have given much thought to.”

This is all down to speculation in Belguim that a couple of clubs are ready to move for the loannee, and are prepared to pay £650,000 for him. So the Times says.

Newspapers are becoming increasingly difficult to believe these days. Look at the Daily Mail.

They claim that climate change will lead to war, famine and extreme weather.

Lets hope we avoid that scenario.

Celtic have invited the Lisbon Lions-and the families of those no longer with us, including the Steins and Fallons-to the Champions League final in Lisbon.

Peter Lawwell said;

“We felt it would be a fitting honour to invite the Lions to Lisbon for such an occasion, the first time the final has been held in the city since Celtic lifted the European Cup in 1967.

“The success of that team is something which we should never forget and cannot be underestimated. It is also an achievement which our supporters will always be proud of and something we should always celebrate.

“These are great men who achieved great things for our club and we felt it would be a real and meaningful tribute to make this invitation to the Lions, the families of those players who sadly are no longer with us and, of course, the families of the great Jock Stein and Sean Fallon.

“The Lions are men of real humility and are always humble about their great success. They played the game in a very different footballing era to today. However, it is appropriate that today we recognise all they have done for the club and our fans.

“We know that they are very much looking forward to being in Lisbon together again and I know I will speak for all our supporters when we wish them well for the visit.”

Billy McNeill, the captain in Lisbon all those years ago, said;

“This is a magnificent gesture by the club and one which is greatly appreciated by all the boys and the families of everyone connected to the team. It will be a fantastic opportunity for us all to re-live what we achieved on that great day in Lisbon in 1967.

“It will be an exciting moment for us to visit the city at such a time around this year’s European final and while we will enjoy the match we will, of course, take time to visit the scene of our own European triumph.

“As club ambassador I am privileged to travel throughout Europe proudly representing Celtic. This time, however, I will be travelling with my team-mates as part of the Lisbon Lions.

“It is always an emotional occasion when we meet up but this time it will be more so as it will be in the city where we made history all those years ago.

“Winning the European Cup is one of the club’s finest ever moments and obviously an achievement which all the players hold very dear. We will remember and celebrate this moment together as team-mates and families and we are sure it will be fantastic for us all.

“On behalf of the Lions I would like to sincerely thank the club for this invitation. It is something we are very grateful for.”

Changed days indeed from when club greats were treated like something the old directors had stood in. And long may it continue.

That means, if the Lions are in Portugal, it will be safe to go into the club shop without the fear of Bertie Auld helping you to fill your trolley.

I still haven’t forgiven him. I went four quid over budget that day.

Speaking of rumours, which we were further up the page..this is from F365..

LENNON FOR UNITED?
Don’t panic, Manchester United fans, we don’t mean Neil Lennon. No, we’re talking about Aaron Lennon, who the Daily Express website are linking with a move to Old Trafford in the summer. Because what United desperately need is another winger with no end product.

Yeah, don’t panic , its not Neil Lennon… you guys stick with Davie Moyes. 

Still, credit to the club. They’ve found out who was behind the stunt.

Remember Joe Ledley ? John Terry is unlikely to forget him for a while..

John Terry, of course, is noted for his self promotion and headline hogging…

And according to colin duncan, in the Daily Record, Beram Kayal is just as bad because of this;

 The article explains…

IF looks could kill it’s a fair bet Beram Kayal wouldn’t be around to take any more selfies.

No, it isn’t.

The midfielder made sure he was the centre of attention as Celtic celebrated winning the league title in front of their own supporters at the weekend.

To suggest Kris Commons and Adam Matthews were less than amused is arguably the understatement of the season.

To suggest that Kris Commons is even looking at Kayal is , er, inaccurate.

Most of Neil Lennon’s squad appeared content enough to indulge the little Israeli but Commons and Matthews were having none of it.

Talk about drawing daggers.

Talk about talking shite.

The pair were most certainly not impressed by the sheer audacity of Kayal, who appeared hellbent on hogging the limelight and milking the moment for all it was worth.

He took a photo on his phone. Unless he nicked everyones shirts after the game and sold them on ebay he hasn’t really milked the moment.

It was a stunt straight out of the Michelle Mone manual on how to self-promote and annoy everyone else in the process.

I’m away to look up “annoying ” in the dictionary. Something appears to have been lost in the translation.

It was the ultimo act of an attention seeker. But judging by the reaction of his team-mates Kayal looks to have boobed.

Snigger….”boobed “

There was also more than a touch of the John Terry’s about his “me, me, me” antics.

And theres more than a touch of me, me, me about this article.

Remember, how the Chelsea skipper watched the 2011 Champions League Final against Bayern from the stand in his suit only to change into full kit to help stand-in skipper Frank Lampard lift the trophy.

So much hidden rage that he’s forgotten the question mark…

Despite the mocking JT then did the same 12 months later when gatecrashing the Europa League Final after missing the Benfica match in the Amsterdam ArenA through injury.

Terry didn’t play any part in those two Euro finals and it’s difficult to argue Kayal played much of a part in Celtic’s impressive title romp. He has been a peripheral figure, starting just four league games and failing to see out any of them.

Terry , the club captain, presumably did his bit in the dressing room. Kayal keeps James Forrest company in the treatment room. Same sort of thing, really.

Winning the title is a team effort but the midfielder’s contribution has been minimal to say the least. That might just explain why Commons looked so ill at ease with his colleague during Saturday’s celebrations.

Of all the Celtic squad he is probably the one player who maybe could have been excused for a little self indulgence now three in a row has been safely secured.

Maybe he forgot his phone.

Yes, it has been a terrific all-round effort with Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk and Scott Brown all putting themselves forward as genuine Player of the Year contenders.

Away from Celtic honourable mentions must also go to Peter Pawlett, Stuart Armstrong, Stevie May and Kris Boyd.

Kris Boyd ? Player of the Year ? Someones mask is slipping…

The foursome have enjoyed excellent campaigns at their respective clubs and fully deserve to enter the reckoning.

However, there will be something seriously wrong if Commons doesn’t walk away with both the Player’s Player and Football Writers’ awards.

The man with 27 goals is a genuine class act and one of the few performers in Scotland who puts bums on seats.

At a time when attendances are dwindling Commons is one of those rare commodities worth watching.

attendances are not falling. 110,000 watched the games last weekend. Which is high.

Indeed, he had every right to be the one standing on the other side of the Champions hoarding at the weekend.

Kayal really should have been content to slip sheepishly into the background along with the embarrassed kitmen and various hangers-on who always seem to find their way into snaps.

From a championship win being a team effort -and surely the team includes those off the park as well as those on it- Duncans now having a go at the kitman. 

To cut him some slack, the interloper role had already been filled by a bearded bloke, who looked as if he’d lost a winning lottery ticket rather than just won another championship.

I think he means Adam Matthews, who looked fairly chilled to me. 

So, by criticising Beram Kayal for, in his opinion, hogging the limelight, Colin Duncan, who usually covers Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Andy Murray has decided to raise his own profile with a “selfie ” article.

Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

Its April Fools Day today, and instead of a picture quiz, we are going to list a few stories, one of which is completely untrue. The others are all true, or at least have genuine , attributable sources.  ( which rules out the Record )

Which one is the odd one out ?

1) When Henrik Larsson was at Celtic, Alex Ferguson was about to bid for him, but was warned off by Dermot Desmond, who told old Red Nose “You’ve let me down Alex. You’ve got loads of players. We need him ”

2) Alex MacLeish was on Sky Sports News. He thinks Rangers can win the Scottish Cup because of their fantastic support.

3) When Lou Macari was considering a move to Celtic, as a manager, his wife was in the paper shop, presumably collecting the Racing Post, when a Stoke fan let loose a rant on Macaris perceived lack of loyalty. Mrs Macari then let loose herself, telling the Stoke fan that “He didn’t understand what Celtic meant to Lou. ”

4) After being substituted, Jimmy Johnstone once called Jock Stein a “one legged bastard ” before locking himself in the toilet and refusing to come out because he thought Stein would “hurt him ”

5) Roy Keanes move to Celtic was prompted by a Celtic fan outside the ground who asked him why he didn’t join a “big club ”

Finally, the manufacturers of the anaesthetic chemical chloroform are launching a new promotion;

“One sniff and she’s back in your league”