Right, I popped out for a beer last night.

Hope I didn’t miss anything.

For anyone else who didn’t see the telly last night, el cormaco didn’t win on Pointless and let us all down. Though I was pretty impressed when he identified Carlos Alberto. As, indeed, was Carlos Alberto.

Then I checked my emails…

Dear Daft Bastard

I am honoured today to be named the new Manager of Celtic Football Club. This is a huge privilege for me and it is a role which I will give everything to. 

As someone who has supported the Club all my life, I know exactly what Celtic means to so many people. Celtic is one of the most famous football clubs in the world, one which enjoys the fantastic support of so many people, such as yourself. 

I will give everything to my new role to bring further success to our club. I can’t wait to get started next season and I hope to carry on Celtic’s wonderful winning tradition and bring you exciting and entertaining football as well. 

Your support has always been a great strength of this club, and I’m sure that will continue to be the case. Together we can continue our position as the best club in Scotland, and make inroads once again in Europe. 

I can’t wait to see you all in Paradise. 

Best wishes,

Brendan Rodgers

Funnily enough, the club haven’t said who’s been doing the PR for the last couple of days, which has been uncharacteristically thought through and effective. Still, if I’m the first to criticise, i must also be the first to praise, and a big well done to evryone concerned for the way that they have made us look forward to next season, and the timing with how its been done.

As you know, hibernian face the SFA in todays cup final, and I’d like t wish them all the luck in the world, and Celtics announcement yesterday has perhaps snatched the headlines away from the SFA glamour occasion.

Which is fine by me.

Of course, the SMSM, somewhat irrtated that one club can spend more money on its new manager than their favourite can spend on its squad and stadium had to hit back…

Italian Rangers fan flew 1,000 miles to see his team take on Hibs for the Scottish Cup.

Fuck me. Are you going to tell him, or should I ?

The daft sod obviously doesn’t get the papers delivered to his house;

ITALIAN lawyer Roberto Manservisi has flown more than a 1,000 miles to cheer on his beloved Rangers at Hampden today.

The brief, 53, didn’t hesitate to make the trip from his home city of Bologna to Glasgow after landing a Cup Final ticket.  

Well, I know who not to ring the next time I’m in court.

Anyway, enough of them.

Hang on, it really isn’t’

Dave King: Four of Celtic’s titles don’t count.. because Rangers weren’t in league

I’m guessing that means that none of the next ones will count either.

King, scared shitless that the gullibillies will notice he doesn’t spend any of his own money, decided to try a bit of deflection, like he used to do in south African courtrooms…

“The rivalry of the Old Firm has been intense for over a century as each team has vied to dominate the other one.

“The legendary nine-in-a-row teams are testimony to what this means to each club’s history and to the respective fans, even though many were not even living at the time of Celtic’s nine-in-a-row success.

“The nine-in-a-row concept is meaningless unless both clubs are competing against each other.

“Even though Celtic have won the last five titles it is still only one-in-a-row in terms of our rivalry — and that is what truly counts for both sets of supporters.

“I interact with enough Celtic supporters on my visits to Glasgow to know how much they have missed competing with Rangers.

“Celtic fans have missed that competition as much as we have.”  

“Most people have moved on.

“There are, of course, some ‘diehards’ who continue to make noise and get a sympathetic hearing from their own club.

“But that is really not an issue for the vast majority who recognise that Rangers’ return to the top flight is a shot in the arm for Scottish football in general, and for the Glasgow economy.

“Celtic supporters are also significant beneficiaries and they have missed the competition.”  

Presumably it’s not meaningless when one of the teams doesn’t register or pay players within the rules of law either.

Personally, I’m more interested in how our serious rivals, Aberdeen and Hearts view the new appointment, and also how they feel about the media writing them off before a ball is kicked, after they have both improved so much over the last couple of years.

Over at the Record, the theme continued… sort of..

The Record claimed to be first with the story…even though they’ve got the wage wrong. Yet surrisingly they haven’t made the connection yet with their own story on page 63….

And the biggest deal of all, buying out Liverpool for just £3m doesn’t get the praise it deserves either.

As we said yesterday, long before it was official, Celtic’s acquisition of Brendan Rodgers is a statement if intent.

Now, some regular readers may remember i was on a train from gourock a while back, and bumed into a couple from Paisley, one of whom told me that an old spey wife had told him Celtic would win a european trophy in 2017.

I took this as an endorsement of Ronny Deila and his philosophy, when clearly it was a reference to Brendan Rodgers taking over…

Ach, its all good, and yesterday has to go down as one of the better days associated with being a Celtic fan.

It certainly cheered me up anyway.

And so, i’d like to cheer someone else up, if i may.

Irish journalist Phil Macghiollabhan gets a lot of stick from the hordes for referring to them as the Klan. Indeed, some of them get quite upset by it.

Yet, as this recruiting poster from the US in the 1920’s shows, he really does have a point… as it appears to be the inspiration behind one or two images used by the Ibrox support, and the tag line is too much of a coincidence to be, well, a coincidence..

indeed, it goes a little deeper, as one of our readers pointed out..

 “The klan had their own paper called the fiery cross, this would herald upcoming events and record the establishments klan should use or frequent and those to avoid..”

Read that bit again.. “HERALD… RECORD”  

He’s working on a full article for us, which will take some time to put together, but having seen the draft, i promise you its probably the best thing I’ve ever read.

And I had to include that bit above because it truly is jawdropping.

But last word in the Celtic diary today goes to Desmond Kane, writing for eurosport, about Celtic, and the new manager….

Like most of the world’s most iconic clubs, and you would include Celtic alongside the names of Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid in terms of appeal if not luxuriating in such levels of finance, there is a constant demand to live up to what your forefathers achieved. This is what appeals to managers like Rodgers, a bloke obviously steeped in the tradition of the club, when you are presented with the chance to etch your own legacy in the Dear Green Place.

Celtic have and continue to be at a severe disadvantage compared to England due to the simple geography of being based in an impoverished Scottish Premiership that continues to house genuine giants in Celtic and their Glasgow rivals Rangers, clubs with average attendances of well over 50,000 but without the television revenue of the Premier League.

Yet since their definining moment in Lisbon under Stein, Celtic continue to hold an enticement that is not merely financial, but spiritual. It is not as if Rodgers needed to take on such a role with his wage cut from £100,000 at Liverpool to a measly £45,000 per week, according to various media reports.

Since being formed by an Irish priest to help the poor in the East End of Glasgow in 1887, Celtic, with its Irish roots and diaspora, has been more than a football club, it is a cause. It is a focal point for a working-class, good-natured community of fans that are driven by an unyielding expectation to give of your best and be the best you can be when representing your people in the famous hooped jersey. 

For many, Celtic continues to provide an escape from the hardship and toils of daily life.

The iconic shirt, worn by Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, Jimmy Johnstone,Henrik Larsson and Paddy McCourt, is another aspect of the club’s fascinating background that has no room for cheap imitations. Celtic have endured some poor times, wretched managers and some desperately mediocre players, but the ambition to play the Celtic Way has never waned.

Rodgers will be acutely aware of what playing the Celtic way means. He apparently rejoiced in following the club from his childhood days back in Carnlough with his family all devotees of a place named Paradise. 

If it is a standard that was buttressed by Stein, perhaps Rodgers should look to more recent history to see what can be achieved when fighting out of Scotland. The Scottish Premiership might be unfashionable, but being a cheque-book manager is not what Celtic are seeking. A lot of damage can still be done in football if £15m, a figure Rodgers will apparently have to spend, is invested wisely.

Celtic supporters are seeking a leader of men, and a figure with an aura who can raise the club’s profile in foreign climes. Most notably, by qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2013.  

Well, that’ll do for starters, I suppose…