Celtic Diary Thursday July 24: Off To Warsaw In The Green

Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it ?  Though the ground, above, looks very familiar.

Legia Warsaw trounced St. Patricks Athletic last night, costing Irish Ferries thousands, and forcing redundancies and pub closures in Holyhead.

Fortunately, the draw was made last week, and anyone going to either of the games can get tore into the arrangements for travel straight away.

Sort of.

From the official website…

CELTIC will face Legia Warsaw in the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League after the Polish side knocked out St Patrick’s Athletic.

The sides had drawn 1-1 in Poland, but Legia produced an impressive performance in Dublin tonight (Wednesday), winning 5-0 on the night for a 6-1 aggregate victory.

Ronny Deila’s side booked their place in the Third Qualifying Round with a 5-0 aggregate victory over KR Reykjavik, which included a 4-0 win at BT Murrayfield Stadium on Tuesday night. Virgil van Dijk and Teemu Pukki scored two goals apiece.

The ties are scheduled for July 29/30 and August 5/6. More details to follow on the official Celtic website. 

 Are we playing them four times ?

 No, I checked with UEFA. Its only twice, we just don’t know when yet.

 We know where on of the games will take place, back at Murrayfield, because the new tenants at Celtic Park have took over the use of the place for a couple of weeks, and not only that they went live on the telly to rub it in. Though it did look alright. We could maybe remember this when planning for the  for the start of champions league games…

 And anyway,, at least one of them made an effort to curry favour with her new  landlord;

 Then she asked for the address of “some bastards round here who owe me a few quid ” before “popping round for a few fucking words “

 Whilst the old bat maybe held centre stage for a few minutes, Lizzie herself ( hah-got you ) enjoyed a rendition of the British national anthem, which had Celtic fans reaching for the mute button, but any sense of disgust was soon washed away by a member of the local street gang , the Calton Tongas, who somehow sneaked into the ground and waved a hooped shirt to the watching billions. ( Billions, really ? As soon as the guy off Dr. Who and the dancing teacakes were done, you imagine the audience may have dropped slightly, say by around billions )

 The wee fellow seemed pleased with himself, probably not as pleased as shirt sponsors Magners, however, and gained a special place in the hearts and minds of the Celtic support.

 Lomalito Moala is a boxer from Tonga, in the Pacific, and not , in fact from Glasgow. ( thanks, -Ed )

 He seemed happy enough , and certainly made most of us smile. However, this is Glasgow….

And the Daily Mail, still reeling from the shock of Edward Mosley losing all the elections in the nineteen thirties, carried the story about the fellow planning to pull out of the games…

Commonwealth bronze medallist Lomalito Moala has said he will pull out of the Glasgow Games if Tongan officials discipline him for wearing a Celtic shirt during the opening ceremony. 

Moala, who won bronze in the lightweight 60kg boxing at Delhi 2010, is a huge Bhoys fan, and on Tuesday watched their Champions League qualifying win against KR Reykjavik at Murrayfield.

As the Tongan competitiors made their way out on to the stage at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening, the 22-year-old boxer held out a Celtic shirt, before putting it on, much to the delight of the 40,000 fans inside the Glasgow side’s stadium.

Their picture is brilliant

-the story, well, theres nothing in it. Moala did tweet this afterwards,

If the Tongan officials have a problem with me pulling a stunt like that il pull out of the boxing…. It was worth it

but to be honest, the amount of tweeting he was doing last night you have to hope he doesn’t need his hands for anything important any time soon, and it looks like  he was probably just getting carried away with the moment.

The Tongans will have loved their time in the spotlight, and Magners will be using him in their next series of adverts, where he takes a pint of the  beverage formerly associated with tramps,  having spent a few hours in the make up room to look like this

 before simply adding ice to it, becoming himself again and beating up some drug dealers who just killed an old womans puppy.

 Its the ice that makes all the difference, in the same way a round tea bag has a fuller flavour.

We all need a hero.

 Perhaps the most bizarre story from the ceremony last night comes from the Daily Record, which, of course , probably means it didn’t happen;

A RANGERS fan popped the question to his fiancee during the rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games – at Celtic Park.

As thousands watched on from the stands the phrase “Aimee Noble will you marry me?” appeared on the massive screen.

And chef Chris Anderson, 21, got the answer he was looking for when Aimee said a big “Yes”. 

 Of course, we wish them all the best. Its nice to see petty bigotries and jealousies ignored. And anyway, its where their grandchildren will be watching their football.

There was also a bit of a security scare when a half dressed old man  got into the trophy room, but got all confused and faced the wrong way when trying to scoop up the loot.

Meanwhile, away from the Games, Southampton are continuing to play their part in moving Celtic to the English Premier League, albeit one or two players at a time.

A second offer for Fraser Forster has apparently been turned down, and now they are in for Virgil van Dijk as well. Maybe we should have asked them if we could use their ground for the UCL qualifiers..

HITC Sport tell us;

Southampton are reportedly eyeing a move for Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk who could come in at St Mary’s to replace Liverpool target Dejan Lovren.

The 23-year-old centre back only signed for Celtic last year from FC Groningen but the 6ft4” defender could be moving again, according to reports suggesting he is being pursued by Southampton.

The Saints already have four centre backs at the club at present in Maya Yoshida, Jose Fonte, Jos Hooiveld and Dejan Lovren who is a target for Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers this summer.

The Saints have already lost Adam Lallana to the Merseyside giants and England fullback Luke Shaw to Manchester United are have been understood to be more than a little reluctant to let the 25-year-old Croatia international leave St Mary’s. However, if reports that Celtic’s Van Dijk is on his way are accurate, the Dutch defender could well be the intended replacement for Liverpool’s target.

But wait, theres another name in the frame…from a Sunderland website

Gus Poyet is about to try and tempt Celtic centre half Virgil van Dijk to Sunderland according to the Daily Record.

The Scottish newspaper claims that Poyet had the Dutchman watched in their game against KR Reykjavik on Tuesday, but that is nothing out of the unusual really as several English clubs are keeping tabs on the 23 year old.

Although Van Dijk is a highly rated defender, he scored twice in Tuesday’s 4-0 win. 

 Or it could be Hamburg, or Seville, or Swansea, according to the Express;

The Bundesliga side are under new ownership and the 23-year-old is top of their shopping list.

It’s understood a £6million bid will be tabled in the next 48 hours  – although Celtic are unlikely to accept.

The Germans may need to push the boat out towards a fee of £8m if they are to compete with rival suitors such as Southampton, Swansea and Sevilla. 

 I think we can safely rule out Hamburg. His girlfriend would stab him if he even mentioned it;

 Then you have another dockland city in there, Southampton;

And Sunderland ?

 That leaves Seville, where the weather is better but the wages low, and Swansea, in Wales , where he could try something different, I suppose.

 ( Oh for fucks sake, he’s having a go at the Welsh now -Ed )

 To be fair to our Celtic cousins, after they do that to them, we still eat them. so who is the real winner ?

 Ronnie Cully,  of the Evening Times, highly respected by the Celtic board and with an ear to the ground, as they say, gives us a clue to the mentality of the current board when he says….,

But the reality – and one which Deila embraced before he accepted the invitation to become boss – is that the absence of the income from regular meetings with Rangers means money derived from elsewhere is essential just to keep the club on an even keel, with some provision for future rainy days. 

As opposed to the money that they deprived us off when they were alive and cheating their way into the Champions League trough ?

 Seriously, I hope that is not the attitude of the board.

Then he adds;

But having seen off KR Reykjavik with the ease the disparity in their co-efficient rankings suggested should be the case, Deila can see no reason to veer from the agreed course at this point.

They should also have enough in their locker to get past Legia Warsaw without recourse to any impulse buying.

We’re going to flog off the family silver and have our next party with plastic cups and plates , aren’t we.

 Its not Deila that annoys me, he seems to be a perfectly good coach. He has his ideas, and will make do and mend, probably very effectively.

 Its the nagging feeling that although I grew up supporting a big club, with ambitions on the field , thats being eroded year on year. The best players have always been sold south, and maybe an average of around four years at the club is acceptable, but the haste with which Victor Wanyama and now Virgil van Dijk appear to be despatched is indicative of  us being a commercial operation forst, which contrary to the phrase that appears on some of the merchandise, makes us a little less than a club.

 Then again, you could argue that theses two are in fact the exception-Gary Hooper was here for a few years, as have been Emilio Izaguerre and even Fraser Forster.

 It just seems like every time we look like doing something at a higher level, we rip out the foundations and start again.

 But, and believe me, I’ve looked at this froma million angles and then a million more, perhaps the right way is with  the development of Calum MacGregor, of Liam Henderson, local lads with a feel for the club. Thats not to say theres no place for imported players, they can get a feel for the place very quickly.

 You know what, i think we might be on the right track after all, which considering its a track, is a spectacular u-turn from before the Reykjavik game in my way of thinking.

 Until the game against Lefia rolls around , anyway, but then again, I’ve always reserved the right to change my mind every five minutes or so.

 Its a Diary. Thats why its inconsistent, funny and sad all at the same time. Often within the same paragraph.

 That was the poncho handed out to those of us in the old temporary stand back in the nineties, which showed that all of a sudden those in charge at Celtic were starting to actually think of the support as something else apart from a noisy bunch of irritating drunks who turned up every couple of weeks or so .

Which reminds me, Lennon CSC AGM , 10th August , Newcastle Under Lyme. All are welcome. Time to be confirmed.

 ( See what I did there ? )

 Another who what and where today….again from Celtic Collectibles on twitter.