The quest fior five in a row begins today with the start of the new league campaign. Celtic will face Ross County at lunchtime, where John clark will raise the flag celebratiing last years title, and then battle commences for the next one.
It’s live on Sky tv for those who still subscribe to it, and those who don’t can always join in the fun at Celtic TV;
So wherever you are around the world, tune in to enjoy the atmosphere and celebrations on the channel of the champions.
We’ll be live at 12.15pm tomorrow with all the pre-match build-up to the match action, half an hour before kick-off.
Subscribers outside of the UK and Ireland can watch the game LIVE – with audio commentary available to those within, followed by a full match replay from midnight.
They’re showing this one live, in a break with tradition.
also breaking with tradition is the re-introduction of cash turnstiles, giving those floating customers a chance to decide at the last minute whether or not they fancy going to the game today. This is an excellent idea, and is much better than putting that big “more than a club ” banner across the top of the Lisbon lions stand.
Due to demand for tickets we’ll be operating selected cash turnstiles in the Lisbon Lion stand. Turnstiles 48-49 and 53-54 will be open from 11.15am for cash entry.
Entry is priced at £26 for adults, £17 for concessions and £10 for under 13s. Please bring the correct cash amount to assist with the flow of fans in to the stadium.
Hopefully, this will catch on.
John Clark, the quiet Lion, has been with Celtic for around fifty years in one capacity or another, and no-one can even begin to consider how much this man has given to the club. Today is a special day for him, and we wish him all the best, as well as thanking him for everything he’s done for the club down the years.
Typical of the man, he said that being singled out for the flag duties made him ;
“… very humbled to be asked to perform this honour. Celtic has been everything to me and my family and this will be a tremendous honour.”
There is talk that one or two players will be rested today, with an eye on the return match in Baku next week. Emilio Izaguirre and Charlie Mulgrew will join Nadir Ciftci on the sidelines which could pave the way for Saidy Janko, who can play on the left, to make his debut.
Leigh Griffiths will start after his dental issues in the week, we hear his American dentist has had a bit of bother and was the victim of a revenge attack yesterday…
It seems a little strange to rest anyone at this stage of the season when the plan is to get everybody up to speed as quickly as possible. Anyway, the flight out to Baku will give them plaenty of time to get their heads down, as they are hardly likely to be using economy class. although a fear of hijackers has meant we won’t be using the usual plane.
One player who might get a run out today, to bring him up to speed is Kris Commons, in place of Stefan Johansen or Scott Brown, both of whom put in tireles shifts in the week. Stuart Armstrong could move alongside Nir Biton if Brown is rested, with Commons playing wide, or it may be a straight swap for the Norwegian.
Thats just a couple of ideas, because there really shouldn’t be any changes just for changes sake, what’s more likely is that a couple of key players will be withdrawn after an hour or so.
But it might be an idea to keep an eye on the weather forecast for Wednesday, in Baku…
My dishwasher works at 40 degrees. Seriously, that’s hot.
Keeper Craig Gordon was matter of fact about todays game;
“We have to try and hit the ground running We didn’t do that last season and it took us a bit of time to adjust to the way we were playing. But there are no excuses for that this season.
“Everyone knows what their jobs are. We have been together for a while now and we know what the manager is looking for.
“We will be going out there looking to make a strong start in the first game against Ross County, to show we are ready for the new seasons and ready to go and try and win the league again.”
There’s a clip doing the rounds of Leigh Griffiths nutmegging Liam Henderson during training. It’s not so much that which cathches the eye here, but look at the speed of the passing…
Anthony Stokes has been told he can leave the club, with Sheffield Wednesday among the suitors. which is interesting as they are also believed to be looking at taking Gary Hooper on loan.
When he was left out of the Qarabag squad during the week, Ronny Deila said;
“Anthony was left out because we found others better, so he has to fight to get back into the team again. “I should hope he’s not happy as everyone should be angry if they don’t play, but we’re a team with teamwork and you get what you deserve from how you play in training and matches.”
And also how much weight you put on during your holidays, we hear….
Stokes has been at Celtic for five years. He has had his ups and downs but always put his heart into it. His fondness for the beer, and his liking for a tune may have endeared him to a section of the support, but if truth be told, he was never going to be able to adapt to the Deila way of doing things. There’s no shame in that.
Elsewhere, the fury over Hibernian’s reluctance to sell Scott Allan to Second Rangers has cranked up a notch as newspaper and radio expert Derek johnstone added his tuppence worth;
Derek Johnstone: Holding on to
Scott Allan could derail Hibs bid to land the Championship
For the Evening Times, holding on to Derek johnstone could derail their chances of ever being taken seriously.
Johnstone said;
He has come out and said he doesn’t want to be there. He has stated he wants to play for their greatest rivals for the title. So why would the supporters back him? The minute he has a bad game, misplaces a pass or misses a scoring chance he will get dog’s abuse from the stands. Hibs should take all of that into consideration.
So, no pressure then.
Rangers are closer to joining the ISDX Stock Exchange after appointing Peterhouse Corporate Finance as their corporate adviser.
Following the resignation of previous advisor WH Ireland in March, Rangers International Football Club plc was delisted from the AIM Stock Exchange.
RIFC has yet to announce a new firm of auditors.
Previous firm Deloitte’s final involvement was to sign off on the annual results published last November.
“Supporters can be assured that their club and company are progressing along the correct lines and as planned,” said chairman Dave King on the Rangers website.
King mentions that everything is progressing along the correct lines, which means he has nothing new to report, and it’s interesting that his statement refers to the club and the company as separate entities, which, of course, is the party line.
Who are Peterhouse ?
Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited is an independent corporate advisor and broker, dedicated to the needs of growth-orientated and entrepreneurial companies. Peterhouse is ranked Number 1 independent small cap broker for AIM companies by the Advisor Rankings 2014, in addition Peterhouse Corporate Finance is the largest ISDX Growth Market Corporate Adviser. Peterhouse is also the owner of JP Jenkins, Europe’s longest- established matched bargain facility. With this unique array of complementary businesses, the Company provides a full range of advisory and broking services to Main Market, AIM and ISDX Growth Market companies and to companies looking to join these, or similar, markets.
Peterhouse owns and operates JP Jenkins. The latter offer a matched bargain service for the equity in unlisted companies such as RIFC. If anyone desires to sell their shares, JP Jenkins will buy them from you at a discount and then sell them at a profit.
There has been no uptake on this service until the day of the announcement. Someone has just purchased 500,000 shares at 27.5p. It’s a relatively small punt of £137,500. It is my considered opinion that someone on the shyster board made this purchase.
King is engaged in a shares heist. Every share sold to JP will be purchased by King and his concert party. His opening gambit was to strip a 10.43% holding in RIFC of their voting rights. Will JP Jenkins pursue these 8.5m shares at a considerable discount due to their current lack of voting rights? Nothing would surprise me when King is involved. Share manipulation is what he does for a living. The fact that this 10.43% holding represents the lion’s share of Eaadale’s 19.2% proxy is not lost on King. The purchase of 500,000 shares from JP was a calculated move to encourage others to use their service.
Our Glib & Shameless Liar’s statement implies that the time is now appropriate to appoint a corporate broker. The failed attempts to convince two NOMAD to represent RIFC has been quickly forgotten. The promise that a NOMAD was in place, prior to the March 6 EGM, has also been forgotten. The failed attempt at a seamless transfer from AIM to ISDX has been swept under the carpet. Was the timing not appropriate Mr King, or would it be more truthful to suggest that Peterhouse/JP Jenkins are the corporate advisers of last resort?
To suggest that this engagement was a planned short-term executive decision is at best disingenuous and at worst a barefaced lie. At the recent EGM in June, the shyster board’s ineptitude was laid out for all to see.
The first to buy in to King’s audacious lie was our friends at the SOS. One of them even had the courtesy of contacting me on Twitter to point out that the shyster board are now firing on all cylinders. King’s statement also promises the imminent appointment of an auditor.
I assume it was Craig Houston who contacted me. Mr Houston has added Peterhouse/JP Jenkins to a new auditor and arrived at the appropriate Level 5 conclusion. He believes that an ISDX listing is imminent. An ISDX listing would be in the interests of Peterhouse, as they would earn an introduction and annual fee. They would also pick up a considerable amount for an equity release.
It would be in the interests of JP Jenkins as they would earn a commission for every former AIM share that was matched with an ISDX share. Of course JP Jenkins might at this point match the board’s AIM shares with ISDX preference shares. There is also the distinct possibility that some of the non-Kingco shares will slip through the cracks of this transfer.
I can understand why a King acolyte such as Mr Houston would be seduced by this narrative. James Traynor even called King correspondent Chris Jack at The Herald to give him a pre announcement heads up.
The two individuals most likely to see through King’s attempted equity heist are Graham Spiers and Chris McLaughlin, so they have been banned. The BBC are now boycotting Ibrox. This will no doubt delight the new board as they hope their equity subterfuge will go unnoticed.
However there is a fly in the ISDX consomme. When the accounts are published, there is absolutely no possibility that RIFC will be given a going concern green light. Furthermore, how could Peterhouse/JP Jenkins convince the ISDX regulators that RIFC had 18 months operating expenditure of circa £45M at their disposal? King has only £3.8M to his name. He cannot even raise £5M to release the assets from Ashley’s control.
As is always the case with King, the truth is a foreign country.
Apols if people can’t grasp this. I’ve been to a few games at Ibrox. But I’ve not been a beat-reporter around Rangers since 2012. #banned
Andy Ritchie
Prayer said YNWA
Ralph
Mass tonight for Marie.
Big Andy, the laziest genius on the planet. He made me really angry. He was a talent 90% of which he would not be bothered to show. Ach, maybe I am wrong. The guy loved playing football and probably just wanted to enjoy it rather than work for it. I never heard him moan about not reaching the heights and, by God, he could have – easily.
Did those Lions come all the way from Lisbon?
It was great to “hear” John Clark do his usual boasting today (Hope Tam Dawson takes this the right way). What simple humility from a man who achieved so much. Now, that IS class.
Of course the other side has its class ex players too. I mean, big Derek’s journalism is pure class (I speak Chinese and mix up my Ls and Rs). This latest media onslaught on behalf of Aliens II is undeniable proof, if it were needed, that there is a definite agenda in this country and it is as blue as a dragon fly and just as animated. I hope there persistence finally creates a unified voice among all other supporters so that these self indulgent upstarts who only came into existence in 2012 are put firmly in their place – non league.
“They’re (CTV) showing this one live, in a break with tradition.” Well, outside Ireland and UK where audio is king. Otherwise the tradition is well and truly in place. Missed all the build up to the penalty (among many other events) because the commentator and Tommy Boyd were having a good old chin wag about something or other. It is just abysmal stuff. That is why I spent the first ten minutes of the second half doing the dishes. I was getting better commentary on my washing ability from the Fairy Liquid bubbles than about the game from CTV. I know i harp on but it is my lifeline to the game and I am paying NOT TO GET IT. I am seriously thinking of buying a canoe and going down a stream.
Sad that on flag day the Diary is mainly about the chaos caused by that other lot. But, I guess, that is how it has ever been. Maybe we just did not have Diaries to make us aware of it and many other serious issues. Cheers, Ralph.
H H
Meant to say that passing on the video is spectacular. If only we could replicate a fraction of it on the field. Wee Griffiths’ celebration is so funny too.
H H
2-0, ok but…Has any other Celtic team in our memory had so much possession, so many chances and so many corners with such little reward? I’ll answer my own question.Yes, this Celtic team and last year’s too. What is the problem?
Today proves another thing. Without wee Griffiths, we have no striker who is able to just score— full stop.
Craig Gordon makes me very nervous at times. Sometimes, it is better to allow a goal rather than go down to ten men, minus your starting goalie. We were lucky on this occasion.
However,well done Bhoys! Ross County is better than last year’s version. Rest up for Wednesday. What surprises are in store? Will Griffiths be fit?
Griffiths video won’t work. Just freezes my tablet.
I met Andy at the Perth races in the early 8o’s he spent most of his time amusing the youngsters with his skills.
Great player and nae bad child minder!
Prayers said for Marie
Ralph if your dishwasher only operates at 40 degrees you must have an unlimited supply of crockery because that temp will not clean owt.until I retired five years ago I worked as a rigger/steel erector scaffolder crane op all over oz for forty years in temps up to fifty degrees and I didn’t come out clean either.inever saw andy Ritchie but I had a look at the Celtic graves website yesterday and pics posted by Tom purdy(I think) are brilliant with one exception.those with (boaby)shearer a right dirty wee bastard the master of the two footed tackle hh
I think a very young Andy Ritchie entertained the crowd at a European game at CP by playing kewpie-up during half time. I seem to remember he walked round the park and the ball never touched the ground.
Can’t remember our opponents .
some rotten bastard has stolen the opposition players football studs