Celtic Diary Friday September 12: Ready To Roll Again.

Celtic return to league action tomorrow after the international break with a home tie against Aberdeen, who also had an active start to this years campaign, with their European ties starting even earlier than ours. They finished earlier than ours as well, but the Celts can’t be faulted for the effort they put in in trying to halt ours.

Fortunately, UEFA wouldn’t allow it, and no matter how bad we played, or how heavily we were beaten, the powers that be created the Europa League for us.

Which was nice of them.

The break has given manager Ronny Deila time to check his contract for get out clauses, and we have to assume he couldn’t find any, because the Norwegian is ready to roll again, and has enjoyed the period away from the spotlight, which he largely spent back in his homeland asking his friends if they had an attic he could hide in;

 “It was important to get some reflection as it’s been 10 stressful weeks with a high intensity.

“So to get some days off and reflect on where we are and where the road is going has been nice and I’m looking forward to the games now.

 “When you are so involved with matches all the time, it’s hard to see the whole picture, there was a lot of reflection and a chance to plot the way forward so that we can look for improvement and good results.

“You can’t do everything at once but things have been very good. There are things that we’ve done well and there are things that can be done better.

 “We have some good signings and I’m very happy about that. We got what we wanted and that’s fantastic.” 

 Or so he told the official website. Or he was told to tell the official website. Remember , he admitted to having never seen Scepovic, so I guess he had told Lawwell to “surprise him ” with a striker.

“The Dundee United game is what we want to look like but we can still improve from their there. I liked a lot of things from that game and we need to take the positives from it and carry them forward.

“Hopefully Stefan and John can bring a lot of goals but they each have different strengths. Stefan is a penalty box player and is good at heading the ball from crosses, while John is a goalscorer, a real No9. They will add to the other qualities that we have and it is good to have that option and the ability to combine players.

“It’s not about simply putting the players in, we have to get them fit and get them playing time. We also have to get them to know our system and how we want to play but I think you could see some of our new players this Saturday.” 

One of our old players, perhaps the most important one, Scott Brown, may feature at some point in the game. He’s a few weeks ahead of schedule and will be raring to go as well. He’s been out since the pre-season touring, and at least one of the first team failed to recognise him at training;

Charlie Mulgrew, the scapegoat on the field for many will be out of action for a while. When things weren’t going right on the pitch, Mulgrew may not have put in his beat performances, but he never tried to hide, and deserves respect for that.

His performance for Scotland, where he picked up the leg injury, was much more relaxed and assured compared to his club outings, and maybe the time off will allow him to get back to his reliable best.

Virgil van Dijk is also expected tostart. Apparently he’s put his toys back into the pram, and never really wanted to join Arsenal anyway. Ronny Deila’s happy enough with him , anyway;

“I have no concerns about his commitment. I can honestly say I’m really happy about his situation and have no concerns.

“I can see his body language and he is happy. Now he is focused on getting good results with Celtic and getting better.

 “I hope the supporters accept that as well. I understand they were not happy he didn’t play at Dundee, but that was my decision. Virgil was not 100 per cent in his head. But now he is.” 

“He has said to me that he is so grateful to be at this club. Without the chance to play for Celtic, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

“He saw an opportunity to leave, but then he didn’t go. He knows what he has here and he is looking forward to the rest of the season. 

“He’s very happy now. He’s just become a dad and he’s been with his national team for the first time.

“He has to understand how important he is. He is such an unbelievably good player for us.” 

“There was interest in him, but it was not even close to what we are thinking about. 

( So, the real reason he’s still here is no-one matched the price we wanted… )

“We were not interested in selling him anyway. He is one of the players we are going to build a new team around.”

Until January. Thats another Ronnyism that will come back and bite him later on.

Mind you,  with Charlie Mulgrew out, the support needs a new scapegoat, so if we don’t secure our first win in four tomorrow, van Dijk is getting it. Especially if some of it is his fault, but that won’t really matter.

The early kick off means an early start again for the Lennon CSC, and the minibus will be on the road about an hour before we go to bed on Friday night, and at the time of writing there are still a couple of seats available. Especially if you can drive and own a minibus.

If you fancy a day of debauchery and drink let me know. I’ll come with you instead of going to the game.

It’ll be strange crossing the border for what might be the last time without armed guards searching us, or passports being required. Still, if that means we can buy duty free beer and fags, I’m all for it.

Next week, of course, Scotland gets to say whether or not it wants to break away from the old Empire, who of course would provide the border guards should such a move take place.

Interestingly, the BBC. which has come under fire for “selective ” reportage, faced further criticism over a debate held at the Hydro yesterday, where they failed to keep the air conditioning on, resulting in a lot of hot, sweaty and uncomfortable sixteen and seventeen year olds in the room.

Do those kids not read the papers ?

Back to the game though, and in all fairness, , I’m looking forward to it. The Dundee United game seems like it was played in a different era. Actually, the performance seemed to be from another era as well, but forever the optimist, we want to see it again.

Having said that, one person can’t wait for the game. New striker John Guidetti;

 “When I spoke to the manager and the feeling I got from it, there was only one club I wanted to go to.

at he did here was not normal, it was truly amazing and if I can just do maybe a small toenail of what he did, that’d be amazing.

“I got a good connection with Ronny Deila and Celtic have been on the radar for a while, so they know me as a player.

“It’s a massive football club that’s known over the whole world for its amazing history and its amazing fans. It’s very well known in Sweden because of the people that have played here before an thad the things they’ve done. When Celtic come calling, you don’t say no.” 

 “During the transfer I didn’t have time to worry. I had to stay focused for the national team. We had two crucial games to make it through and the manager was saying to me that he knew I was worried but that I had to focus.

“Fortunately I got the news just before the first big game so I came in really positive to that. We had two good games, we qualified and now I’m coming to Celtic with a very positive attitude.”  

Of course, he’s not the first Swede to come to Celtic….

“Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby are great legends and people who I have looked up to my whole life,” he said.

“I think it is very harsh to be compared to Henrik because wh

“I’m just going to keep my head down and work hard and give 100 per cent and hopefully the fans will like that.

“I’ve spoken to Henrik but I didn’t speak to him before the move. I know his son because he used to come to Feyenoord and he’d come to my house sometimes.

“They are both great guys but what was most important for me was the manager and the feeling I got from him. I want to thank him for believing in me and I will try and reward that with good performances on the pitch.”

 Swedish striker who wants to thank celtic for giving him a chance ? That’ll never work.

The missing words quiz on Wednesday had me chuckling all day, so much so that I overslept on Thursday, and the diary failed to appear, as i had failed to appear on Thursday morning as well.

How about this one for today ?

Secret report warns of ——– meltdown in ——– 

Finally, spare a thought for women in sotuh Africa. The Oscar Pistorious trial means that he may well have got off with murder-easier than he can get off a bus-and the set precedent  ladies in the country are apparently shitting themselves.

Safer than going to the toilet , I suppose.