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Celtic Diary Friday April 10: Dedicated to The Stupid

And you know who I mean, but we’ll come to them later.

But it would be unfair to leave out Ed Milliband, leader of the Labour Party. He says he wants to be Britains first Jewish Prime minister. Fair enough, but would van who has never heard of Benjamin Disraeli ?

We’ll move away from that theme for a moment, because there’s big news about your season book price. It will go up.

To be fair, thats not unexpected, it’s one thing to moan about a lack of investment, but the money has to come from somewhere. The increase, of £50, isn’t bad. It’s still not back up to the price it was three years ago, and comes with a couple of benefits, such as a European freebie and a couple of free family and friends tickets. And importantly, theres no increase in prices for children.

An insider told the Daily Record; ( presumably before he was taken away and shot )

“There is no doubt the Scottish game is continuing to experience difficult times but through the club’s careful management we have been able to do all we can to keep prices as low as possible.

“We have given back £8m in reductions over the last two years. At the same time, as ever, we aim continually to improve the team, hopefully strengthen our squad and bring our fans the success they deserve.

“We also understand the contribution our fans make and how they have stuck with us throughout these times.” 

If the club could do something about kick off times , with the new style of football on show, it would be able to open the rest of the Lisbon lions stand.

 Mind you, qualifying for the Champions League would help, cutting down the amount of Sunday games.

And anyway, if you’ve cancelled Sky sports, the £50 is there already…

Celtic travel north tomorrow to Inverness , where a win would push the club closer to the title, and give a huge psychological advantage ahead of next weekends Hampden semi final against the Highlanders.

 Thankfully, this game is being played on what should be one of the hottest days of the year, and with Inverness playing at easily the most aesthetically pleasing stadium in Scottish football, those at the game should have a day to remember.

Image result for tulloch stadium

Not like the last time I went up there.

Image result for arctic expedition

I’ll never forget the brisk breeze that blew in from the Moray Firth…

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Or the problems getting the new bus through the town

Image result for arctic expedition

Craig Gordon, another candidate for Scottish Player of the Year, and in my view the only one, considering where he was twelve months ago, training under the supervision of a coach who must surely have made him consider wondering if it was all worth it;

Image result for Craig Gordon trains with Rangers

By the way-anyone seen old Tubs ?

I have, at a Thunderbirds theme party. He was wearing a green coat.

thunderbird 2

Sorry, back to Gordon, who is looking forward to tomorrows game;

“It is going to be a tough one up there,” Gordon told the official Celtic website. “It’s a game that we need to win but we know how hard it will be. I’ve actually not played against them this season so far, so it’ll be a first for me.

“To their credit, they are a good team. They try and play the right way and they pass and move and create chances. But the most important thing for us is to win and maintain that gap at the top of the SPFL Scottish Premiership.” 

And he’s focused, taking full advantage of this Indian summer of his career;

We’ve got a league game against Inverness this weekend, then another against Kilmarnock and then the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Keeping the momentum going is a big deal for us and there’s no room for slip-ups.

“We’ve won the first trophy but part and parcel of being at Celtic is concentrating on the next one.” 

With Gordon in such form, it’s no surprise that the first player to declare that he’s leaving this summer is Lukasz Zaluska, who, incredibly , has been with Celtic for six years.

Celtic będzie namawiać Łukasza Załuskę, by ten pozostał w Celticu – donosi Scottish Sun. Były reprezentant Polski jest piłkarzem The Bhoys od 2009 roku, ale od kilku lat przesiaduje głównie na ławce rezerwowych. 

Załuska wyraził ostatnio nadzieję na zmianę swojego otoczenia. Nie myśli on co prawda o powrocie do Polski, ale chciałby znaleźć pracodawcę, który zagwarantowałby mu grę w pierwszym składzie.

Następcą Załuski miał być młody bramkarz Dundee FC – Scott Bain. Podpisał on jednak nową umowę ze swoim klubem i nie myśli o przenosinach do Celticu. Włodarze mistrza Szkocji zamierzają wobec tego namówić Załuskę do podpisania nowej umowy.

which means, if my schoolboy Polish is correct. ( note, thats schoolboy Polish, not polish. nobody polishes schoolboys. )

Celtic Załuska will persuade Luke to the left Celtic – Scottish Sun reports The former Polish footballer is The Bhoys
since 2009, but for several years remains mostly on the bench . Załuska has recently expressed hope for a change in their environment. He did not think that the truth about returning to Polish , but would like to find an employer who would provide his play in the starting lineup . Zaluski was supposed to be the successor to the young goalkeeper Dundee FC – Scott Bain . However, he signed a new
contract with his club and is not thinking about moving to Celtic . Master stewards of Scotland intend to persuade Załuska to sign a new contract .

 Master Stewards of Scotland ?

How good would that look on a banner when they hand out the Scottish cup at the end of the season ?

Stefan Johansen, another candidate for Player of the Year, has spoken of what it’s like to be captain for the day;

“We talk about what we’re going to do in the locker room so it’s just a last few words. But I struggle with my English.” 

After he made that statement, the club rushed to clarify that it was indeed the Norwegian who said it, and not the usual captain, Scott Brown.

Right, lets get back to the stupid…

Now, when he was with us, I thought he was a great player. But moving north seems to have affected his thinking.

Former Celt Still Thinks Dons Can Beat Bhoys to Title

dons

“We are still up there competing to get first place and we will not give up. It is a belief which has to be ingrained in this football club. We were disappointed to be knocked out of the cup competitions when we feel we should be in them and we want to win every game.” 

Ach, to be honest, that’s unfair. The guy does have drive, and he’ll never be forgotten for the work he did alongside Paul Hartley that time when Celtic forced their way to the title, culminating in that night at Tannadice.

 Incidentally, let’s not refer to Barry as stupid, but instead remember that night in Dundee, when the guy who organises the tickets for the Lennon CSC did an astonishing job getting everyone else sorted, but sat in the pub watching the game, completely unaware that he had not miscounted and did have a ticket in his back pocket….

We’ll come back to the intellectually challenged in a minute…

John Collins has been quiet of late.  but all good things must come to an end.

With tomorrows game in mind, he looked forward to the closing stages of the season…

Being second in Glasgow is not what you want.

“It makes your life a lot less pleasurable, so to win it as a coach would be very fulfilling.

Is he expecting a late surge from Partick, or a sudden restructuring of the league system to allow the new Ibrox club to enter the top six segment of the fixture list, with a bonus hundred points ?

 ( Regan, Doncaster, don’t even fucking think about it. Oh, you already have…. )

 No, he’s referring to his own playing days at Celtic. Collins had six years at the club, part of a midfield that incuded Paul McStay, but sadly nine assorted donkeys made up the rest of the side, with only occasional glimpses of decent players.

 And managers.

“Those were tough times for the club and now we’re top of the pile. It’s important we stay there for some time to come.”

However much Collins is perhaps disliked amongst the support, he stayed six years in those dark days, and must have felt as bad as the rest of us.

 A treble this year will mean a lot to him, and I’m actually looking forward to seeing him smile. He’s rode a lot of criticism as well from early on in the job, and he, like Deila, has stuck it out.

 A good assistant is worth his weight in gold, and maybe collins has found his level to swim at in the big goldfish bowl.

Right, on to the stupid…

Turns out that despite winning power over at Ibrox, the three bears, or four bears , or however many there are of them this week don’t seem to actually own anything connected with the club;

 All of the trademarks, logos, badges, even matchday mascot Broxi Bear are , in fact registered trademarks of Sports Direct..

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and theres three more pages of that stuff.

So it looks like the new guys have bought the square root of hee haw.

A club spokesman said;

 “The board is currently conducting a review of all contractual documentation but this particular issue has become a matter of urgency.”  

No shit.

 You’d think they would have checked. Seriously, they could have asked anyone on any celtic forum, and got the same answer.

Craig Whyte checked with an expert long before any of this.

Bob The Builder

So, if they were stupid enough to get involved, what does that say about the peepil who are right behind them, the Ibrox support ?

 Well, lets consider what three judges said about Dave King, the man behind the coup.

man behind a cow

 Oops. I typed that in using my Glasgow accent.

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Never mind. Things are picking up on the pitch.

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So, as you can imagine , spirits were high last night for their next game….

Queen of the South 3 Rangers 0:

Honeymoon period over for Stuart McCall

as Doonhamers run riot

Dejection for Rangers as they kick-off after conceding another goal at Palmerston

Some consolation for one of their players, though. He’s due a couple of quid back from the man who put his name on his shirt for him..

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41 and counting on twitter summed it all up;

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Roy aitken was in action at Tannadice in yesterdays picture, this isn’t him.

Nothing to do with football, but just because its Friday, its a caption competiton.

Who is this, from many years ago, and whats he saying ?

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It’s probably  fake, in fact it’s hard to believe that anyone would go out in public looking like that, but I suppose some kind of police force is necessary.

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ian
9 years ago

Nigel Forage and he doesn’t like that pic being shown.

9 years ago

Great piece Ralph Malph LOL.

dziekanowski's nightclub child
9 years ago

that will be Nigel Farage… he of the left wing persuasion

Stevie
9 years ago

It is fake, but still pretty funny.

aceplym
9 years ago

Disraeli was from an ethnically Jewish family but I think the generation before him had converted (purely in the interests of accuracy)

Jerseybhoy
9 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

Shouldn’t that be there is not and never has been ? Oh I see what you did there .

Jimbo
9 years ago

MICHU ….. On load at Napoli, up for sale in the summer !!!!!

Honest Hoops
9 years ago
Reply to  Jimbo

That would be a great signing, did awesome in his 1st season at Swansea..

Gerry Mac
9 years ago

Well done for another great diary Ralph. I am enjoying my lunchtime read at work today but the smartphone isnae letting me open the pictures up so will have to catch up later. It’s a beautiful day way up north today (Elgin) 19` and a street busker playing in the background – “Aye Aye Aye Aye Simpson is better than Yashin and Murdoch is betterthan Eusebio and Johnstone is better than anyone”. At least that’s the words I know.

deadhead67
9 years ago

Dont get the great system we are playing,one up front against the mighty amateurs from maryhill was dull boring and nearly cost us points,this norweigian whale murderer makes strachans team look adventurous and exciting to watch,it,s been a terrible season and thenumber of season books sold for next season will be lucky to number
25,000.unless we get in some proper players and a proper manager

Atlantabhoy
9 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

deadhun is no longer living in this world Ralph

JonjoKSG
9 years ago
Reply to  deadhead67

Haw you, HUN, sad bastard.

gerard
9 years ago

deadhead 67,sir,i put it to you,that you are a hunwanker,please go back to looking at pictures of crypts,so that you can walk amongst your own kind

Devoy45
9 years ago

Aye, it’s been a terrible season. A terrible treble looms. We’re aa doomed, I tell ye!
**************
When UKIP forces Cameron to remove us from the EU with real hardship for Scotland’s farmers and fishermen, here’s some stats for Nigel:

1.8 Britons live in the E.U. with 1 million of them living in Spain. 400,000 of that 1.8 million even claim their UK pensions abroad. 330,000 thousand Britons live in France and nearly the same number in Ireland. 45,000 UK residents live in Greece and 65,000 in Cyprus. Some estimates list 2.2 million Britons living in the EU,nearly as many EU citizens as live in the UK. If Britain leaves the EU, why should any of these countries tolerate us foreigners in their midst? I bet all the elderly in Spain put real stress on their medical and social services.It cuts both ways, yet these 1.8 million are never mentioned. Who is doing the over-running.
Remember the Irish statesman who said the trouble with Ireland is “that it’s being over-run with absentee landlords…”
Nigel, ask the Spanish locals about what being over-run means.
Meanwhile, tomorrow under the Kessock Bridge could be a tough one.

Gordon
Matthews/Van Dijk/Denayer/Izzy
Brown/Bitton
Mackay-Steven/Johansen/Armstrong
Griffiths

Commons and Forrest to figure.
Hard-fought, 1-0 to the Bhoys.
Aberdeem will win at Killie.

mr greene
9 years ago

Caption.

What,that fuckin hun mob have sold my image rights to Sports Direct.

9 years ago

“You want me to invest in Rangers? GIRFUY!”

Vinnie.
9 years ago

Great read, great info, and what a fucking laugh. Real Class.
Cheers, Pal.
HH

9 years ago

Ralph

Your spoof photography of Inverness yesterday came back to bite you in the proverbials today. My understanding is the weather was more typical of the frozen north than that expected at this time of year. Although expectations could be way off given I have experienced the same in July.

It certainly seemed to cool the exertions of the team today. If nothing else, Ronny is relatively honesty so when he says a draw was as much as we deserved, I take it we were pure pish. However, I will modify my panic by ignoring the media and reminding myself our nearest rival is still 8 points behind with the same number of games played. Consequently, I put my pistols back in the case for another week.

I hope you enjoyed Dunoon and did not get too doon about the result. Looking forward to the next Diary where you will no doubt blow me away or out of the water.

H H

Devoy45
9 years ago

Deila’s system depends on good passing on good pitches in good weather. When those things work against us, we need some sort of plan B, when we can’t break down a side.What is our plan B for those conditions? This team still makes me nervous. Sometimes, I think too many of our players are tired from tracking back. When you score within 3 minutes, you should be able to rack up some goals.
This team had better want the treble more than they showed yesterday. Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water….
Since we nick the best players off our rivals, why not nick Adam Rooney? He could score bucketloads in the league for us.

Doc
9 years ago
Reply to  Devoy45

Not convinced by Deila and by this stage I don’t think I will be.

Vinnie.
9 years ago

We’re knocking on the door of having only the 3rd manager in our History to achieve the treble and we’re getting comments like the 2 above. Is route one football better ?

Come on Bhoys, support our Team and our Manager, FFS, and remember we’re still in transition !
HH

Devoy45
9 years ago

Hey, Vinnie. No, anything but one route football. A different formation, different players. Different style to suit the wind, rutted pitches and Scottish weather generally?
We don’t live in the ideal world Deila’s system is designed for. Sometimes, we have to win ugly and he has to learn when those times are. I have bought totally into Deila’s methods and philosophy but we have to win the league in order to play at the level we want.
I accept the transition thing and we have improved incredibly since August. Unlike Doc, I am convinced by the new man and his methods (I go back to Big Jock by the way) and it is refreshing. I no longer see it as one striker up front but four attackers up front and we get goals from five attackers not just two like in the past: we’ve got Guidetti/Griffiths/Stokes/Commons/Johansen/Forrest but we may need to get one forward who can score in all conditions.For the league, I’d look at Rooney, Sutton and a few lads from Queen of the South who can also score.
But no Celtic team past, present or future should drop points to St. Johnstone at Parkhead or to Inverness. It’s not good enough. Now, we have to take all three on Wednesday night and I’m not totally confident in this team at this moment.Too many wasted chances, too many bad passes, not enough movement off the ball (at times) and sometimes we just look knackered. I want Forrest and Commons back in there on Wednesday night. I’m totally behind Deila and the bhoys but as a fan, I have a right to criticise and offer my opinions. Nobody on this site can deny that we pass badly and waste far too many chances especially on set pieces

Vinnie.
9 years ago
Reply to  Devoy45

Hiya Devoy,
We’re all on the same side here and, of course, entitled to our respective opinions.
I, too, go back to the Big Jock era.
I, too, would’ve seen Ronny gone last year. (The Berget thing in Europe made me incandescent,) but I’ve been encouraged a lot this year whilst still being ‘surprised’ at some choices of starting line-up and subs. When it looked like KC was leaving I was inconsolable and RD was not my favourite person on earth.
Anyway, that one’s history and KC has proved his worth again since. IMO, he MUST start vs Killie. (Look how he played against them last time)
Finally, I agree totally about an out-and-out target man.
I wanted Finnbogason when he was available, but I think PL wouldn’t open his purse enough. What a shock, eh ? We’ve all seen the parade of ‘strikers’ come and go since, with a lot of wasted cash.
Anyway 3 pts on Wednesday and I’ll be a happier man too.
HH

Macca
9 years ago

So when will the loan be repaid?

Devoy45
9 years ago

Oh, by the way, I’m holding Charlie Saiz to his prophecy that we will win the league by 10 points (or more) Fair play, he said this way back when we weren’t playing so well and hypocrites like me were comparing Deila to Mowbray and asking for him to be sacked. Deep down, I think Charlie will be right. I’d also like him to tell me the lotto numbers for next Saturday while he’s at it! Three points from Killie is absolutely necessary and I don’t care how we do it.

Devoy45
9 years ago

And Macca, they made the face painter wait for one helluva long time so I reckon Mike Ashley will have to wait forever.

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