In an incredible gesture, Celtic have offered 5000 tickets to season ticket holders-maximum two per season book-for the upcoming games against St Mirren and Ross County. The club says it is a thank you for continued support, and the supporters are left a little bewildered and wondering what brought that on.
A cynic may think that there is a hidden handling charge of, say £27, but no-its a freebie. Go get some before they are all gone, or Lawwell finds out who has been messing with his computer.
Speaking of Lawwell, what sort of mood must he be in with Neil Lennon stating that Celtic don’t need to sell anyone? He’ll have nothing to do in January, and might start to make a nuisance of himself, taking training, making tea, offering tactical hints. Something must be done. Perhaps he could go off on a goodwill tour of the middle east, or somewhere.
Mind you, if some papers and websites are to be believed, he’s got enough on his plate with his unseen hand running the media, the SFA, the SPL and organising the christmas sales at Debenhams.
The Times published an article on Monday which praised the values of good scouting, good management and an excellent team spirit and claimed that Celtic was a very good example of gaining success this way. The fawning article -which was nice , for a change, mentions the difference between big spending sides and Celtics budget plan approach.
Too much is made of a teams value, and the money spent trying to buy success. Celtic are a refreshing change, it claims, relying on the old fashioned style of watching players in the flesh instead of on DVD before buying. Lets be honest, a dvd of anyone put together correctly could look good, see Rafael Scheidt for instance, but it gives no idea of what the player does when the camera isn’t on him.
“Does he sulk?” asks the article.
The only way to way up a player is by watching him for ninety minutes, and a few times at that. Celtic have assembled a squad worth many times the original outlay, and its a policy that owes a lot to John Park, who should be the clubs main priority when it comes to contract offers.
Its not just down to him, as he has a support staff, and the management still have to settle the players brought in, and develop the raw talent that has been spotted. It doesn’t always pay off, but its working more often than not.
Anyhoo, next game is tomorrow night , back in the Cup for the replay against Arbroath up in the frozen north east. Not where anyone would want to be on a Wednesday night in December-even the locals move out during the winter-but there is a job to be done. Especially if Celtic are to go into the New Year still competing on four fronts.
Could turn out to be a memorable season, this one.
The responses to yesterdays diary incuded a couple of references to the mention of former rivals Rangers, which, as it is essentially a Celtic Diary, is fair enough.
The fallen club have been part of a massive scandal, which includes financial doping, cheating and various other misdemeanours. They need to be brought to task, and the compliant media inScotland isn’t going to do that. They want it all to go away and be forgotten about, as do the new owners, so thay can carry on stripping the carcass clean in peace.
This is a great opportunity to change the way society thinks-or put better, is told to think, and it needs to be highlighted from time to time. But I will try not to let it become an obsession.
And it would be so funny if one or two of them got the jail. Talksport has David Leggat being interviewd today, and that tells you exactly how bad the press are in this country if that clown can get airtime.
Yesterdays teaser was a reference to the Livingston team bus turning up wearing green noses to show that they weren’t going to lie down and let Celtic clinch the league that day way back when…well, what else happened that day?
Did the queen maw not pop her cloggs?
I had an out of date Gregg’s pasttie. The nightmares of the following days on the bog still run deep.
We promptly scudded the 5-1 and clinched the league that day?