Celtic Diary Friday 4 September. Exposed ! The Real Conspiracy.

Is that right ?

Three cliff walkers have fallen to their deaths ?

Fancy them all having the same name.

It’s international week, which means the diary has to be filled somehow, and yet , when thinking about which words to use in what order this morning , it all became clear to me.

International football is a con.

And Peter Lawwell, Ronny deila and Gordon Strachan are all in on it.

The plan is, and keep this to yourself, otherwise you’ll end up in a sports bag in the hallway of a B and B somewhere, is for Celtic to recruit all the young Scottish players they can, and the occasional promising youngster from elsewhere, to alleviate suspicion.

Then, Strachan will play them for Scotland a couple of times, thus increasing their sell on value, and everybody gets a nice brown envelope at a service station.

It’s obvious when you think about it.

International players go for much more money than your regular player, and that way everybodys happy.

I’m probably wrong, but someone once told me even Willie Maley was sometimes a little shady with his finances..

Anyway, by inflating the prices for our players, there’s less pressure on Ronny to provide for Peter’s bonuses, and that means the working relationship can only flourish.

It’s been done before, and even the most astute footballing minds have fell for it;

Remember this guy, the phonetically accurate defender ?

So, now we know what it’s all about, you can relax and enjoy tonights game between Scotland and Georgia, where the poor girl will be outnumbered eleven to one.

One Celt to watch out for, should he start the game , will be Leigh Griffiths.

Having proved he’s the number nine at Celti, he is now set on proving he’s the number nine for Celtic.

And in training, he showed what he can do;

What a Goal !

Scott Brown, captain of club and country, is looking forward to tonights game, which is live on Sky sports with a five o’clock kick off, so if you’ve any morals, listen to it on the radio, or find a stream.

It’s almost poetic, Sky sports showing Scotland. The Tv Station and those based at Hampden couldn’t have done more damage to Scottish football if they’d told the Americans there was oil underneath Hampden.

So don’t support either of them. Either catch a bus to Tblisi or find a stream.

Anyway, back to Brown. You see, despite playing half the games scheduled in the group, Scotland are somehow still in with a chance of progressing to a major finals for the first time in years, and this time there’s the added bonus that air travel has been invented, meaning the team won’t arrive knackered.

“There are still three teams who can win the group and Ireland can still qualify as well. So we have to try to push everyone as far as we possibly can.

“It’s certainly not a case of thinking about blowing it. We’ve still got a few games to go and qualifications is up for grabs.

“We’re a squad who really enjoy training and playing under a gaffer who is so enthusiastic it’s unreal, so we need to take that into every game.

“Every game is huge. There is still a lot to play for. There’s a long way to go before we get to the Euros but that’s where we want to get to.”

With Stuart Armstrong missing out due to injury, there are just five Celts involved with Scotland tonight, and predictably, the press wanted to know if the upset against Malmo will effect them.

Well, it gave them a chance to mention Malmo, at any rate.

 “The Champions League is behind us now. This is a different team, different competition, different bunch of boys. 

At this point, he glanced over his shoulder just to make sure there was no sign of Deydrick ” Willie Garner ” Boyata .

“But of course what happened last week drives you on. We wanted to get through and it’s a big, big miss for us. But now we’ve got the chance to take Scotland to the Euros, we’re playing the world champions after this and there’s so much to look forward to.

“Last week was last week. We’re just here to concentrate on Scotland now. 

“It’s a good thing for me to be here so soon after Malmo because it spurs you on.” 

David McCarthy, writing in the Record, compared the game in Georgia, where it will be quite warm, maybe around 30 degrees or so, to a previous Scottish encounter with Macedonia in 2008, when…

 Scotland were boiled alive in a 1-0 defeat, 

They weren’t , were they ?

I’m not the most technically gifted writer, or even in the top ten, but if there is one thing that really pisses me off it’s the piss poor construction of a phrase or sentence in this way.

Scotland were not boiled alive. Even Willie Collum would have pulled the Macedonians up for that, and perhaps even given them the rough edge of his tongue.

And anyway, with that amount of water on the pitch, the game would surely have been postponed.

Scotland may have “felt the effects of the searing heat ” , they may have even began to ” feel how a steak might feel in a microwave 2, but they were certainly not boiled alive.

No one is. You’d be dead before the bubbles appeared.

Anyway, that’s enough of Scotland, because the Scots lads aren’t the only ones in international action.

Last night, Tom Rogic continued his journey back to providing Peter Lawwell’s bonus in the future with a couple of goals for Australia as they beat Bangladesh 5-0.

He will be hoping to carry on the good form as the Aussies fly out to face Tajikistan on Tuesday, and after that he’ll probably fancy a bit of a lie down.

Thats if he can lie down after this appeared in “The World Game “, which is presumably edited by his dad.

Australia playmaker Tom Rogic cast aside the frustration of 18 months of international isolation to remind fans what they had been missing – and what they might expect in the future – with a command performance in the 5-0 stroll against Bangladesh. 

Two first-half goals told only a fraction of the tale as Rogic, haunted by groin injuries last season, re-appeared on centre stage in Perth on Thursday night to turn a one-sided FIFA World Cup qualifier into a personal triumph.

Whether gliding and sliding past hapless opponents, measuring perfect passes or pulling the trigger himself, the 22-year-old Celtic midfielder’s 60-minute show simply whetted the appetite for more.

Not least for Rogic himself, who can’t wait to step out in four days’ time on a plastic pitch in Tajikistan to do it all again as he begins the quest to make up for lost time.

“I haven’t felt this good physically for a long time and it’s been a lot of hard work getting back to this level, representing my country,” said Rogic, both relieved and delighted to have returned to the inner sanctum of the Socceroos.

“To play and not have any worries was a great feeling. It’s a good start and hopefully I can kick on from here.

“It’s not for me to say how I went, I just really enjoyed it and was really excited.” 

Others will do that for him, as he fired in two goals inside the first 20 minutes as Australia raced to a 4-0 lead before the half-hour mark.

The first was a crisp clean finish inside the area, the second came off a wicked defection which left him almost apologetic as he proved there is plenty of end product to the flourish that flows so effortlessly through his game.

While naive novice Bangladesh offered only token resistance, facing a side as compliant gave Rogic the perfect route back, though Tajistiskan is likely to provide far more meaningful opposition.

“It was nice to score … they were the first for my country and to do it at home was quite special, even though the second was a bit on the lucky side,” he added.

“We just had to focus on ourselves. It didn’t matter who the opponents were today.

“We just hard to work on what we’d been doing in training. Move the ball quickly and the opportunities and goals would come.

“I think we did that … clean sheet, a good result and on to the next game.

“There are no easy ones and away games are a bit more tricky. But we will be well prepared.” 

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou was delighted with Rogic’s impact as he made a long-awaited 10th appearance for his country.

“It was great for Tommy, I am sure he was a little bit nervous today playing again for his country and there’s always huge expectations on him … I thought he handled himself really well,” he said.

Playing the role of both provider and finisher, Rogic enjoyed his interactions with Australia’s other creative outlet, Massimo Luongo, who was thrust into a more forward role by Postecoglou in a formation which saw both Mathew Leckie and Nathan Burns combine with the Queens Park Rangers man at the pointy end.

“I enjoyed playing in same team as Mass … he’s a really intelligent player and our whole front line was really exciting. Aaron Mooy scored a good goal also,” said Rogic.

“It’s easy to complement each other when you play with good players.”  

You know, for all the work put in on the training ground, the endless practice and fitness coaching, the attention to diet, body fat, and tactival nous, football can still be a delightfully simple game.

“ At the pointy end “

Another Celt in actuion last night was Nir Biton, who scored as well. He headed home the second in Israel’s 4-0 win over Andorra, meaning they should at least be in the play offs when the group finishes.

That’s the group currently headed by Wales, who are unbeaten and lead Belguim by three points. Or Bales, as unkind and jealous commentators cruelly define them. It was the Real Madrid man who scored their winner in Cyprus last night, as they continued their remarkable campaign.

 Stefan Johansen was involved for Norway , and there were suspicions he may have picked up an injury as he helped his country to a 1-0 away win over Bulgaria. His hamstring is giving him problems, but he thinks he’ll face Croatia at the weekend .

I think someone wants a word with him about that…

Celtic have also decided to help out during the current refugee crisis as well;

CELTIC FC Foundation today announced that its share of the proceeds from this weekend’s duo of Jock Stein 30th Anniversary events will be devoted to assisting those people affected by the current refugee crisis.

The horrific and heartbreaking scenes which are being shared globally have shown the true extent of this humanitarian crisis, and it is only right that we support those who are in such desperate need in any way we can, particularly given our club’s own beginnings.    

Celtic FC Foundation will be partnering with an international aid agency in order that funds raised can be used in the most relevant, efficient and targeted manner.  

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “Having seen the effects of this humanitarian crisis unfold in recent days, we felt as a club we should help in any way we can.  

“Celtic was established as a football club to help people in need and this ethos remains a fundamental part of our club almost 130 years after our formation. None of us can understand the true horrors of this situation but as a club we wanted to show our support for those affected.”

This , from Barry Mcgonigle, sums it up;

In the light of David Cameron’s inactivity during the crisis, it’s refreshing to know that Celtic hasn’t forgotten the history.

As opposed to Cameron, who is a bastard.

See if it was bankers instead of refugees, that swine would swim out there, rope between teeth, and haul the fucking boats back to portsmouth himself.

( you may spot that phrase in another article on common space.scot today. )

If you cannot get to the game to donate, there’s another way, just follow the link after the picture

how to donate

Elsewher, as the pantomime season kicks in early this year, before even the shops have the christmas biscuits out, I’ll bet you were wondering exactly what former Ibrox owner/operators Green , Whyte et al are actually charged with ?

And this is an extra one for Charles Green;

 you need to be careful writing about this case. Apparently it’s a contempt of court thing or something, which means that you cannot say anything that could prejudice the case.

I wonder if that applies to thinking about it ?. If not, I think ( Stop it -Ed )

And now, a nice wee story at the end, like they used to do on News At Ten;

That should put you in a good mood.

Did you enjoy it. Because this will put you in a bad mood as you try to work out who , why and when Celtic are playing here…