Well, according to what we heard. At least it’s on Etims, so it must be bollocks.

John Kennedy, himself once a great prospect at centre half, spoke enthusiastically about new signing Deydrick Boyata and told us what we could expect from the latest Belgian defender to join up at Celtic Park. He compared him to Jason Denaayer, who jumped from Manchester City reserves to the Belgian national team in just one season of tutelage from the Celtic coaches;

“There are similarities because Dedryck is aggressive, quick, strong and he’s good on the ball.

“It’s everything we wanted in a centre-back. He ticked most of the boxes. We found out he was available and so the manager did a bit of work speaking to City and the player. 

“He’s ambitious as well, he knows he need to get playing football and he realises that. He’s spent a bit of time watching football instead of playing and I think that’s the reason he’s come here because he knows it gives him a very good opportunity to play at a very good level.

“He’s probably not played as many games in the last couple of years as you would expect from someone of his age and ability. However, he was a top young player at Manchester City.

“He had a big name when he went in there and probably just struggled to become a regular. With the standard of player they have, it’s very difficult to break into that side.

“I think we are getting a top player at a very good price. Hopefully, coming here and playing every week in our stadium in front of our fans, with maybe Champions League football, can develop him. We saw it with Jason, who came in and did so well at 19 years of age. We had to replace that and I think we have.”  

It’s also important thathe blends in with the rest of the squad, as the team spirit at the club could prove to be important in Europe, when they have to go that extra mile for each other.

If I told them I lived overseas do you think I’d get away with it ?

By the way, we, the Lennon CSC, are thinking about hiring a box for the Inverness game. John Paul Taylor is on holiday, so does anyone out there with experience of this have any knowledge of how this works ?

Thats a box that you sit in , by the way. not that you stand on.

Though if it’s too expensive to hire a box, I suppose it’s an option.

With the revelation from blogger John James on Rangerssupportersloyal that Dave kings Second Rangers have sold just 12,000 season books thus far, a drop of around 5000 on this time last year, they have called in the cavalry.

Well, you and i know them as the MSM, but you know what i mean.

The Evening Times’s own sword of justice and shield of truth Matthew Lindsay led the way, by crayoning  an article which suggests that all Scottish clubs need to

 bring in spending controls – and stop more clubs suffering

financial meltdown.

Er, I think most of them already did that. There’s only one i can think of who haven’t, to be honest.

SCOTTISH football can avoid major clubs like Hearts and Rangers ever dropping out of the Premiership again in the future – by introducing a revolutionary new salary cap. 

Rangers didn’t “drop out of the Premiership ” . They went out of business.

That was the message from former Gers captain Craig Moore this week as he lamented the damaging loss of the Ibrox club from the top flight. 

Surely “former Gers former captain ? In the interest of accuracy ? Must be a typo.

Our entire national game has suffered badly as a direct result of the Ibrox club’s well-documented financial meltdown three years ago.

Again, in the interests of accuracy, no it hasn’t. Another typo ?

Hearts being relegated to the Championship last year after being put into administration exacerbated what was an already difficult situation. 

 But they dealt with it, cut their cloth accordingly and roared back by winning europes most competitive league-copyright MSM-at a canter. So they probably know what they’re doing.

Average attendances in the Premiership have fallen dramatically from 13,861 during the 2011/12 campaign to just 8,865 last season.

Because one of the better supported sides went out of business ? Worth a mention , Matt ? another typo ?

Money banked from advertising, broadcasting and sponsorship has also diminished as a result of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers playing in the second tier. 

But mostly  as a result of having Neil Doncaster do the negotiating.

anyway, here’s the spin. note the difference in how the financial problems at Hearts are described, and compare how those of now defunct Rangers are.

The circumstances which led to Rangers playing in the bottom division against part-time opponents comprised of plumbers, joiners and postmen three years ago were unprecedented and are unlikely to ever be repeated.

The Glasgow giants had a multi-million pound tax bill from HMRC hanging over them for their use of EBTs to pay their players and senior members of staff.

Craig Whyte bought the 140-year-old institution from Sir David Murray for £1 in 2011 and within a year the parent company had been put into administration and then liquidated due to non-payment of NIC, PAYE and VAT.

Hearts, meanwhile, narrowly avoided going bust after being placed into administration with debts of £25million due to the chaotic stewardship of their eccentric Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov. 

Wow, if only Hearts had a parent company…..

 Lindsay is a piss poor journalist at best, but this is just unacceptable.

Everyone knows what happened. What is the point in prolonging the myth ?

Or is it just another typo ?

He then calls on Craig Moore to elaborate on why a wages cap-presumably with an EBT for certain “stars ” is the way forward…

“There is $2.5million a season salary cap for 23 players in the league here. You can have an Australian marquee player and a foreign marquee player who fall outside of that.

“It makes for a more level playing field. Some Australian clubs have done consistently well. But nobody has enjoyed total dominance.

“You have to work within the restrictions of the salary cap. It means you have to get your recruitment absolutely right and don’t spend money needlessly or too extravagantly on players.

“You are allowed five foreign players in your quotas and they are normally the better paid members of a squad. The salary cap means you can’t afford to get any of them wrong.” 

Craig Moore on salary caps ? Here’s an extract from a list which detailed those at ibrox who were paid by loans in the days before they crashed…

Carlos Cuellar £448,255

Chris Burke £55,000

Christian Nerlinger £1.8million

Claudio Caniggia £1million

Craig Moore £1.1million  

All tax free.

The “battle ” between Dave King and Mike Ashley for the hearts and minds of the masses continues, with the news that any boycott of ibrox merchandise, such as shirts, etc, would actually hurt the club more than it does Ashley.

 If Ashley has one hundred unsold shirts, the onerous contracts mean that the club will have to buy them from him at full retail value. Then, having no means to sell them themselves, they would then give them to Ashley to sell at a discounted rate, and pay him commission to do so.

 Ashley, of course, remains magnanimous in victory, and isn’t going to mock them in any way whatsoever.

Except at his Argyle Street shop….

John Eustace, the man who would be captain has gone into hiding somewhere in the midlans and for some reason doesn’t seem to be answering his phone.

 Marky Mark Warby Warburton is still confident of getting his man, but he would rather no-one kept talking about it.

We Celtic fans know what it’s like when the press ignore something and you end up with a dud. Remember Henri Camara, the first sign that Martin O’Neill was starting to lose it ?

Well, wolves fans had a song for him….

We should have listened to them.

Meanwhile, we hear that the Scottish Sports Writers Award will have a new trophy from next season…

What’s happening here ? And how do you remember it ?