Celtic Diary Tuesday July 22: Nervous ? A Little More Than We Should Be.

Its about thirty degrees in Stoke. Which is nearly the temperature the dishwasher works at, and that puts steam on my glasses when I open it.

And I’m worried about a champions League game when the biggest problem we should have in this weather is how much ice to put in my glass of Pimms. ( You’ve changed, Ralph-Ed )

I’ve no idea why I’m nervous about todays game. Its only Reykjavik, and we are already one up. You’d love to start every home game one up. Even if you have to play that game in a different city. A city where chips are covered in sauce and don’t come in a bag. They come in a lump. Well, last time I was at Tynecastle they did.

To get a flavour for Edinburgh, I watched the BBC production “Live At Edinburgh Castle” at the weekend.

Thinking that influential and proud Scots would make a stand in the capital.

Alright . i’m nervous about the game.

At a meeting of the Lennon CSC committee last night, we agreed that the AGM should be on August 10 at the Catholic club in Newcastle Under Lyme.

And there was much rejoicing.

Then we agreed that we would all come to my house to watch the game tonight.

And there was much rejoicing.

Except its not on tv.

If it goes pear shaped in this game , theres no second chances. The money at stake for the club makes it the single most important game of the season. BBC Scotland isn’t interested. STV isn’t a proper station, and Sky are more concerned with the Guinness cup, or whatever its called.

Surely its time to take control of our own affairs regarding tv coverage ?

I’m all for Saturday at three kick offs, but midweek games for the fan who lives outside Scotland are a nightmare at the best of times. Obviously, they need to be played, but I’m of the mind that if people want to go to the game, it doesn’t matter if its on TV.

As far as I can tell, even Celtic tv is only offering commentary of the game.

I tried to ring the Celtic marketing department, but those guys at 118118 couldn’t find it. They did give me the number of the Chocolate Teapot Company however, , as they felt it was equally useful.

Even the guys at Malaysian Airlines are adapting, offering assisted suicide flights to Switzerland.

Heres a picture of Murrayfield before the game.

And heres one taken during the game;

At least, thats the fear of the ticket office;

RONNY Deila’s first match in Scotland is just hours away and if you’ve not already bought a ticket for tonight’s match there’s still time to secure your seat at BT Murrayfield Stadium.

Tickets can be purchased through various means;

• Celtic Park Ticket Office – until 5:00pm
• Celtic Stores in Argyle St and Sauchiehall St – until 5:30pm
• BT Murrayfield Stadium Ticket Office – until 4:30pm
• BT Murrayfield Ticket Outlet in Roseburn Street, Edinburgh – from 4:30pm
• Online at www.celticfc.net/tickets – Print at Home facility is only available until 12.45pm
• Phone on 0871 226 1888* – Print at Home facility is only available until 12:45pm

Credit/Debit card transactions are subject to booking fee at BT Murrayfield Stadium.

We advise supporters if they are coming along to buy tickets that they come along as early as possible.

Please not that there is NO REPRINT FACILITY at BT Murrayfield Stadium tonight. Any supporter who has any queries relating to their tickets need to contact the Celtic Ticket Office by 12.45pm today.

Tickets are priced at £20 (Adults), £10 (Concessions) and £5 (Under-13s).

 Meanwhile, at Celtic Park. Which isn’t called “home ” for nothing…

 I know the deal was done years ago. I know we didn’t expect to be playing Champions League games at this time of year.

 But you wouldn’t rent your house out to someone else for a few weeks and stay up the road in a hotel, would you ?

Oh ho. Here we go; From the Scotsman, which , interstingly enough, has no plans to change its name if a “no ” vote is recorded in September. Even though the breed will disappear.

Southampton have launched a £7.5 million move for Celtic keeper Fraser Forster, it was reported today.

The Sun have reported that the English Premier League side have opened talks to sign the England international. It is thought the club were urged to make a move for the player by the appointment of new goalkeeping coach Dave Watson, who worked with Forster at international level and is said to be a huge fan of the player.

It is believed however, that Southampton’s present valuation is too low for the Parkhead club, who rate Forster at £9 million minimum. Celtic will also have the 25 per cent sell on clause they agreed in mind, after they bought the striker from Newcastle for £2 million in 2012.

Money shouldn’t be a concern though as Saints manager Ronald Koeman has a large warchest due to the sales of Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. Koeman is also reported to be interested in signing Celtic’s centre back Virgil Van Dijk though there has been no word on any bids.

Thwe bit about opening talks annoys me. Theres a game on tonight, and okay, it might be paper talk, but if Celtic won’t buy anyone because we need to be sure of qualifying for the group stages, then surely we shouldn’t be thinking of selling anyone for the same reason ?

 Or maybe its only the support who want to be a big club again ?

Even more annoying was this, from Footymad;

Southampton’s new boss Ronald Koeman will attempt to prise Fraser Forster from Celtic after Cardiff put an £8million price tag on David Marshall.

The Cardiff and Scotland goalkeeper was one of the few positives from the south Wales club’s one-season stay in the Premier League, and he has received admiring glances from a number of clubs.

But, according to the Daily Mail, Saints have been put off by Cardiff’s valuation and will instead turn their attention to England international Forster, who is also interesting Atletico Madrid and Benfica. 

Eight million notes for David Marshall ? Double it for Forster, surely ?

 Then again, our lot struggle to market season books to a captive market.

Then, on the subject of the latest bunch of halfwits that will join us this summer…from Sky sports…

Ronny Deila will continue the quest to bolster his Celtic squad before the transfer window closes but will not recruit for the sake of it.

Aye. Okay.

Why do we have to listen to this shite every summer ?

Deila said ;

“We are working to try to get someone in but it is also about finding the right ones, I am after quality,” he said. “It has to be someone who can come straight in and do something at once and that is very difficult. Or get a player who will be a good player in a while.

“Some clubs haven’t started training yet again, so we have to find the right options.

“If the players aren’t going to make the team better then it is better to wait. But we hope to get players in to make the team better and make Celtic better as a club.”

Deila isn’t in charge of the signings . Thats obvious.

 Neither was Lennon. Lets jump into the tardis for a second…

“We believe Mohamed is a player of real quality and someone who has the potential to make a big contribution to Celtic.

“He comes highly recommended by people in the Swedish game. We have had him watched for a year or so, and all the reports have been very positive, and I know Mohamed is excited about joining the club.” 

We believe ? Shouldn’t he have checked before signing the player , Mo Bangura, in this instance.

No. Because it wasn’t his job then, and its not Deilas now.

After a few weeks of thinking, I’ll give the season book a miss this year.

Until we get a manager in who is allowed to manage. Which is what we pay them for.

Or at the very least one who is familiar with the English language…

Celtic Coach Deila: We Must Attack Reykjavik

It hasn’t even got any oil.

“We’re going to attack as we did in Iceland,” said the manager. “We want to control the game and try to score goals and continue to work with our offensive and defensive play,” the coach was quoted by the club’s official website.

“For me it’s a very important match and we want to have 90 minutes like the last 45 minutes in Iceland with good pressure and more penetration and runs with more plays forward.”

“It’s very important that we’re good in offensive marking so we don’t get any counter-attacks against us and I’m looking forward to the game.”

“In the other games we have been scoring almost every chance and we have strikers who can hit the target and are good at scoring goals. So if we can continue to create as many chances we will eventually have a lot of goals as well.”

“I was very pleased with the second-half in Iceland. We created a lot but the first half was too much sideways. However, I liked what I saw in the second half.” 

 Well, thats the Icelandic scouts job done for them.

 Alright.

 Perhaps I am worried about the game unneccessarily, perhaps Deila will overcome his obvious lack of experience at this level.

 He’d better.

And okay, he’s trying…

“The team will have the support and that is important and the pitch is perfect. So no excuses.” 

He sounds like he’s out of his depth, like he’s playing this game on a computer console.

Hang on, Charlie Mulgrew has something to say…

 “If you are not going to play at your home stadium then this is just the perfect place.

“Everything is perfect about it, the pitch, everything, it will be fine.

“Preparations have been fine and everything has gone smoothly. It is just another place to play, and it is a great place.” 

Oh, thats made me feel so much better.

 The sun doesn’t set this time of year in Norway, but if Deila makes an arse of it tonight, ( which is unlikely, even Tony Mowbray would struggle to get us papped out to that lot, ) then it will feel like it went behind the mountains forever in Scotland.

 I’ve been watching Deila, I’ve tried to make a joke with the “leave it, Ronny “.

 For someone who took his clothes off when his previous side won something, he is showing a remarkable lack of personality and charisma.

 Fortunately, we have John Collins…

 Oh bollocks. Anybody got Willie McStays number ?  He’s just been fired by Celtic Nation, the English club trying to latch on to the Irish diaspora.

 And we thought pour marketing department was no good.

 Charlie Nicholas was the up and coming striker who disposed of southampton in the final of the BBC Fivies Cup on Sportsnight all those years ago. Don’t know what happened to the lad afterwards, but his views on football would be worth listening to ….

 Thanks to Celtic Collectibles on twitter for this picture. All we need to know is who, where , when and why …