Celtic Diary Friday September 28

Six players, James forrest, Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama , Charlie Mulgrew, Adam Matthews and Thomas Rogne are all at various stages of talks over new deals.  Unusually for Celtic, it seems that we are determined to hold on to what we have got, and if we cannot, then the policy seems to be to extract as much money from potential suitors as possible. as in the case of Ki seung Yeung, who left for Swansea for around £6m, which still causes much mirth and merriment in the boardroom and in the stands.

This idea of building on what we have is a refreshing change from the days when Davie Hay, the man who once laid into an Atletico Madrid player in the tunnel, while a copper held him down-so we are told-was asked to sell Roy Aitken, one of the most inspirational players to grace Celtic Park in the seventies and eighties, and told Desmond White, one of the men who ran the club into the ground before the bold Fergus McCann rescued it, that the money would have to be used to replace the stand, as supporters would tear it down. There are many legendary tales of the “how much is he worth?” mentality of the=ose days, so for those of us old enough to remember them, these are indeed heady days.

Manager Lennon wants to reward those who have played so “brilliantly” for him, and credit has to go to the board for supporting him. As a player, Lennon was well compensated for his loyalty to Celtic, and its great management to see him do it for his lads.

Perhaps the only downside is Wanyamas agent, who doesn’t want to extend the length of Vics deal, but only the pay packet. He has described his client as “one of the best young midfielders in Europe”, and is seeking a wage accordingly. He maintains that Celtic will seek a huge fee for him, but during negotiations, it will no doubt be pointed out to him that he has developed at Celtic, under expert tutelage (is that a word?) and its a kind of symbiotic relationship. (Fairly sure “symbiotic” is a word , meaning mutually beneficial).

Celtic travel to Motherwell on Saturday, with a three o’clock kick off as its not on tv. This bizarre throwback to the days of  old when all games started at this time must be an oversight on someones part. Motherwell are sitting proudly at the top of the SPL, and despite the cup shock at Ibrox in midweek have improved greatly this year. In fact, they even kept minnows Rangers down to just two goals, where they ususally leak four or five.

They will want to make amends for that defeat, and will come out kicking and screaming tomorrow, as they have no doubt been stung by allegations of lying down and rolling over. Manager Stuart McCall was “irked ” by his team, but was disappointed by bookies refusing to allow any of his players anywhere near their shops on wednesday morning.

The town of motherwell has many Celtic friendly bars, and many good Celtic supporters. Back in the days when Margaret Thatcher decided to trim the workforce by closing down all places of work which employed more than five people who didn’t wear a tie, the town suffered as much as anywhere with the closure of nearby Ravenscraig steelworks.

Even now, nearly thirty years later, the town has not recovered, but the people do have a form of honesty, humour and dignity which makes a day at the Railway Tavern, the Carfin hibs club , or in days gone by, Tullys, a marvellous place for pre-match refreshments. Its just a shame the local team doesn’t have these qualities.

Its also Scottish cup day tomorrow, and Forres Mechanics, surely a team who should be under investigation for dual contracts, theres a clue in the name, play host to giant killers Rangers in the second round.

Forres is way up north somewhere, near where the eskimos live, and their ground is not one of the biggest in the country. In fact, its probably not even the biggest in Forres.

Thanks to Stevie Ross for that one. The town is bracing itself for the visit of dozens of Rangers fans as they continue their resurgence, and good luck to them in keeping them sweet.

Yesterdays teaser was correctly answered by a few, with Jimbo the first to say Sandy “Duke “MacMahon. He scored 19 times against Rangers, more than anyone else. Today, and over the weekend, think about this. Which two teams did Celtic fail to beat in the league during the 1966-7 season?

Thanks again to Gedbhoy for his great poems this week, and thanks to everyone who said they enjoyed them.

Elsewhere, John Terry of Chelsea has been found guilty of racist abuse, and has been banned for four games. This means he will become the first player to score more times during a ban than when he is playing.