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Celtic Diary Sunday August 1: Hang Out The Flag Of War

The new season started last night, as Celtic were beaten 2-1 byBobby Madden’s newly promoted Hearts side.

 

It’s difficult to grudge them their win, largely under the cosh for the whole game, they had no answer to some of Celtic’s play, with the hoops looking a completely different proposition from last term.

 

Postecoglou’s side looked like they wanted to score goals, pushing forward with speed and precision at every opportunity, they created space and opportunities, but the old trouble of shooting straight at the keeper was still there, as was the fragility in defence.

 

As a result, Hearts only needed to win a few set pieces before sooner or later the inevitable happened, and Madden simply instructed his charges to fall over a lot and he’d do the rest.

 

Whilst Celtic are a long way from being the finished article, and we can probably expect a few more results like this over the next few weeks, there are some encouraging signs.

 

Tony Ralston scored the Celtic goal, a well worked move and strong run allowing him to show his colleagues the idea is to put the ball where the keeper can’t reach it, and it appears he has decided to listen and learn from the manager and try to keep the right back shirt for himself.

 

He’s maybe not yet ready to claim it, but with every game he’s getting closer.

 

If he can improve, so can others, if they want to.

 

 

There is still a sieve mentality at the back, with no one prepared to take up an on field leadership mantel, and the same mistakes keep getting made, and there’s no reason to suggest things will change when we have the same coaches preaching the same lessons to the same people.

 

Whilst Postecoglou has allowed Kennedy and Strachan time to show what they can do, maybe he’s decided enough is enough.

 

This little bit of information seems to have slipped under the radar….and I can’t find any reports on it, but the fitness coach and the sports science boss at Yokohoma Marinos quit last week….

 

 

Now where could they be going ?

 

 

We need them.

 

Or at least someone like them, as too much of the mentality of last season is still there on the pitch, and off it…well, it’s the same old story.

 

The current Ibrox entity needs money. Automatic qualification for next seasons UCL will bring in enough of the green stuff to solve all of their woes.

 

 

We’ll be keeping an eye on those honest mistakes as they happen, because it seems apparent that our own club aren’t going to even mention them.

 

Quite why isn’t clear, but they are leaving themselves open to further allegations of collusion with the signatories of the infamous five Way agreement that paved the way for a football club to dump debt and carry on as though nothing had happened, unheard of anywhere else in the world of business.

 

There is a word for it. It’s called fraud.

 

 

On match day one, Celtic were denied what appeared to be a perfectly good goal. Flagged offside because the forwards hand was ahead of the two defenders who were actually standing in front of him….

 

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Although the rules, of course, make exceptions for hands and arms….

 

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Perhaps it’s an individual error…an honest mistake, like this one from John Beaton at Ibrox…

 

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Had the Celtic goal counted, the hoops would have been 2-1 up, and the momentum that led up to the goal would have continued. As it turned out, the team looked deflated afterwards, and the players would have been thinking “here we go again…”

 

 

The second incidence of official incompetence is that reluctance to penalise a player who quite clearly fouled an opponent.

 

Andy Halliday, seen here with pal , er, Bobby Madden…

 

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…launched himself recklessly at Calum MacGregor and fortunately the speed of the Celtic midfielder prevented serious injury.

 

 

 

A red…which would have been deserved, changes the direction of the game, even a yellow means the offender has to be careful.

 

 

The referee  awarded neither.

 

 

He did award a few fouls to Hearts to give them the opportunity to put pressure on the Celtic defence, but fouls on Celtic players were largely overlooked….unless the team happened to be breaking on goal.

 

 

No one from Celtic has commented, presumably lest they be seen as bad losers or chewing on sour grapes.

 

 

Frankly, who gives a toss about how others see us ?

 

 

All we ask for is a level playing field, and a chance to compete according to the rules.

 

 

But then playing by the rules is an entirely alien concept for Scottish football.

 

 

If we don;t call it out now, we’re going to see this sort of influence for the next thirty seven league games. It isn’t enough to say we have to play so much better that the referees don;t matter, because the referees do matter, as we have seen in game after game, year after year.

 

There’s s reason why no SFA officials were invited to the Euros.

 

They cannot be trusted to apply the rules fairly and squarely.

 

 

For Postecoglou, a simple

 

These must  be the honest mistakes I’ve been warned about

 

would have done for starters.

 

 

This cannot be kept behind closed doors, there must be no back channels to the SFA.

 

That has been shown not to work.

 

We know they will make these mistakes against us early on so that they can even them up when it doesn’t matter any more.

 

 

Time to hang out the flag of war.

 

 

And if you think this article makes me look like a bad loser, then you’d be right.

 

 

Funny Quotes About Losers. QuotesGram | Loser quotes, Winner quotes, Sore loser  quote

 

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James Lee Ritchie
2 years ago

Always cheated, never defeated, and hey surprise rangers dragged into it by Celtic fans when their nothing to do with it………business as usual then.

Patrick Street
2 years ago

While I agree with your sentiments about Bobby Madden, the reason Scottish referees weren’t invited to the Euros is that they are not VAR trained, as we have no VAR in Scottish football.

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  Patrick Street

Giving readers the impression that ‘squeaky clean’ UEFA (sic) somehow abhor the behaviour of their brothers in Scotland is disingenuous at best for UEFA’s own pages on the Sevco Continuation Myth proves beyond all doubt that they are and always have been in on the scam.

It’s their game and their baw and they could have punished Rangers, Sevco & all of Scottish fitba for such outrageous criminal activity and fraud at a stroke.

But what mob boss punishes his own men for bringing massive piles of money in?

UEFA are as complicit as Bryson, Regan, Lawwell, DD or Murray and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in a naive deluded fantasy.

portpower
2 years ago

But he`s (Ange) only just in the door…

To the nervous blogger who questioned Ange over this very situation, thank you.

2 years ago

Why the fuck are you so obsessed with Sevco ,Rangers ,Fit you better to start on the Celtic Board for there incompetence last season and going into this season to,get over this Sevco lark they are champions a good side coached well,we on the other hand are left with Kennedy,Strachan and to a lesser extent Big Mick,which has to be addressed quickly or it will be the same as last season,so do yourself a favour stop looking of having a go at what is happening over in Govan,and concentrate on what’s happening over at Parkhead.

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  Timbhoy

It’s a common theme across most of the Celtic blogs.

Some might call it a method of distraction.

Andy
2 years ago

It was a shocking challenge on McGregor. The fact it went unpunished is beyond belief, even Christophe Berra admitted it was a red card offence.

Meanwhile John Beaton was doing his bit at Ibrox, young Forrest was yellow carded for pulling a Sevco players jersey, 5 mins later the roles are reversed………no yellow card for Sevco player

highseastim
2 years ago
Reply to  Andy

To make matters worse, I was waiting for Halliday to be booked for 4 out of 4 bets up yesterday.

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Madden & Beaton should be red carded for good.

And if Celtic weren’t run by Hun loving Masons they would have been already,

Stephen McNeil
2 years ago

There was also the incident where a Celtic player was fouled on the edge of the penalty area and the ball broke to Edouard who was through on the goalkeeper and Madden stopped the play for the free kick.

Mike
2 years ago

Treated like shit since 1888. Instead of “Walk On”, it should be “Walk Off”.

obz
2 years ago

I think Sevco have a good chance of qualifying for the UCL this season. Next season will potentially tip the financial balance towards them. The reason they have a chance, is because their board of directors have backed their manager to the hilt. They are still bringing players in from a position of strength. Like it or not they are far better organised than we are defensively. I cannot remember the last time we had a clean sheet in a competitive game. I see Postecoglu’s way of playing will be nice to watch but I still think we look frail when we defend. (IWhist the two full backs worked their balls off last night. NB is a squad player And Starfelt definitely needs another established CH with him. As does Julien. Welsh isn’t the answer yet. Both GKs aren’t good enough)

At board level Celtic are clueless and the board (DD,IB,DM/PL) have no backbone to drive us back to where Celtic should be, given our resources. This applies to Europe as well as Scotland. You can see the the Sevco board are now beginning to throw their weight around with the SFA re the sponsorship deal. The fannies in our board room have helped create this. I sense this situation will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Whitearra
2 years ago

Very strange use of the subs last night. Must be instructions from Strachan’s iPad app . I’m pretty sure that the completely neutral compliance officer will be looking at the Halliday assault. We desperately need a box striker (a la Hooper), not a forward who needs to score the perfect goal!

Uralius
2 years ago
Reply to  Whitearra

Agree entirely with your sentiments.

Sack the Board Sack the Board Sack the Board
2 years ago

Sack the Board.

Monti
2 years ago

DESMOND, LAWWELL & BANKIER OUT!

Sack the Board Sack the Board Sack the Board
2 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Sack the Board.

Monti
2 years ago

SACK THE BOARD….NOW!

Sack the Board Sack the Board Sack the Board
2 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Ransack the Board.

Sack the Board Sack the Board Sack the Board
2 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Baw sack booting of the Board.

James
2 years ago

It’s been the same every season for years and the only folk to blame are the mugs that keep buying season books and merchandise.

Uralius
2 years ago
Reply to  James

Hail, hail!

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  James

The only people with the power to genuinely Sack The Board prefer to replenish the parasites’ greed instead.

To purchase anything from Celtic now is to buy into the Old Firm scam and those who claim ‘But we’re supporting the team, not the board’ when buy their STs are using the exact same argument as the Sevvies by deliberately separating the club from the company, even when they’ve spent the last decade knowing that such waffle is nothing but a comforting myth.

It’s becoming more apparent by the day that the Celtic support and the Sevvie support really aren’t that much different after all when it comes to gullibility and handing over their ye to parasitic corporate vultures who not only have now killed both clubs but have wrecked all integritynof the Scottish league with it.

A fvckin laughing stock.

You’d be as well believing in the wrestling.

Cartvale88
2 years ago

Celtic are like a disaster movie, going from on crisis to another until the end collapse. There is no leadership at the club or on the park, everyone appears to be a headless chicken. Last night Celtic were the better team till the 70th minute they ran out of steam, a bit like the UCL games, a proper scientific approach to fitness is urgently needed.
Ange looks perplexed at the refereeing, the biased journos and the shambles he has arrived at, how long before he says ‘ I am out of here mate!’
You can rage on about the referees but this has always been the way, Stein said to the players ‘ you are playing against 12 men today’ think back to Tiny and company, masons in the black then and now.
This is a crisis that has been coming for years, supporters groups ar3 as much to blame by not calling the board and its cohorts out.
Leadership is required but sadly it is lacking, unless McKay gets a grip of the situation it will only get worse

Devoy45
2 years ago
Reply to  Cartvale88

Ralph, spot on! We need leadership on and off the pitch. I thought the MIBs had done their duty last year and could let up a bit. The refereeing last night was atrocious and cost us the game. As a club, we need to speak out. Slippy Steve did it for a few years until he was rewarded (last year and this) We need to sack the Board for putting our club (fans and manager) in this situation. It will be an interesting and exciting year. Keep the faith.

jpm88
2 years ago

“The current Ibrox entity needs money. Automatic qualification for next seasons UCL will bring in enough of the green stuff to solve all of their woes.”

There’s your explanation as to what’s going on re our ” preparedness ” for this season ; THEY still need “survival ” money despite last season’s ermmm ” win ” 😉

Surely no-one is still going along with the ” incompetent/complacent ” theory .
As I said before , forget the board , it’s DD running this show and Billionaires don’t do ” incompetence/complacency ” .

“But why ?”, some say ; My opinion ? If sevco go bust , harder to keep coming back , no competition , lack of TV interest , commercial opportunities etc , fewer quality players interested in coming to Celtic , dwindling gates , downward spiral ( long term ) for Celtic ; that in my opinion is how DD sees it .
Also , would it be Admin 1 or Admin 2 ? Whole can of worms nobody wants opening !

” But we’re weak and spiralling down now ” ?
Once they’re “safe ” financially watch for BR type appointment and Celtic ” tooling up ” for a return to the ” old firm” arms race . Remember the times when Hiddink and O’Neill vied for the Celtic job ? “What’s not to like” I can almost hear Desmond thinking .

Uralius
2 years ago

We need more than just a fitness coach and Sports Scientist. We need to address our recruitment. Are Kennedy and Strachan somehow causing Ange to lose confidence in his methods? Go and get a proper Anchor man, one is required for this tactic.

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  Uralius

Kennedy & Strachan are nothing but wage thieves and should be ashamed of their appalling coaching and shambolic fitness ‘regimes’, if such a thing has ever even existed since Brendan Rodgers left.

Admittedly they’re not in the Lawwell/BankierAllison/Desmond bracket of wage thieves but still they have shown absolutely nothing of note during their whole tenure at CP.

And all this pish in the papers from ex players about Kennedy being ‘a great coach’ is likely forced upon them by Lawwell as part of their leaving deal so he can keep his favourite toy boy spy in the building.

Funkyy
2 years ago
Reply to  Uralius

Did you notice while the manager and others hugged and celebrated, Kennedy couldn’t muster a smile when Celtic scored?…..again!!!!

The Green Machine
2 years ago
Reply to  Funkyy

How can he be happy when his objective is to destroy us from the inside out?

He should have been out the club years ago but him & Peter have a cosy little thing going,

The Green Machine
2 years ago

The time for petty arguments and sniping is over, Bhoys.

Now is the time us Tim’s should unite and do our absolute damndest to rid the Fanous Glasgow Celtic of these liars and money grabbing conmen.

Cos I fvckin love fitba with a passion, and playing the gemme is even better now in my 50s is even better than when I was a wee Bhoy when we played 20 a side in the middle of the street every minute of the day, some of the games lasting all day & night with an ever changing cast of players, with everybody joining in, from the weans to their Da’s to the passing drunks in the street.

This was our game, the working class game, and it still belongs to us no matter how many Masons or Rupert Murdochs try to make it otherwise.

Cos those cvnts couldn’t care less for either us or the game …

All they want is the money.

And I know all you true fitba men on these pages scarcely the same feelings as myself as neither you nor I would be here.

Hail Hail, Bhoys.

Its time for ALL Tims to unite as One against the leeches that have stolen our club and turned it into a mere easy profitable venture for their other even more massive money making projects.

And it’s the Celtic support’s money they’re using to do it.

Our Day Has Come.

The Green Machine
2 years ago

They’ve upped their game and finessed their methods, these runners for the world’s elite, and there’s nothing like being on the shite end of the stick for most o yer life to sharpen your won awareness.

These guys have played the long game for centuries but their tricks have remianed the same, which makes it even more in red that humanity keeps falling for the same old shite time after time after time.

Thye think they have us now with their current long con(vid) and their inoculation passport crap but they don’t, not by a long shot, cos if they did there’d be no more need for the start fearmongering through their media and relentless obfuscation of facts.

Keep kicking the can down the road until the prime objective against them is lost and soon enough folk have forgot what happened to cause their anger, as the Sevco scam testifies and will fall into line and buy 48,000 season tickets, or whatever other toxic shite they want ro pump into our bloodstream, and Vwah- fvckin-La, they gotcha.

My despair at this state of affairs is now way beyond compare but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop fighting.

Au contraire.

They’ll just make me more determined.

And you should be too.

Cheers.

Mike
2 years ago

You get the sense that the football department has been gutted, filleted of its whole structure. No new Head of Football Operations, Garry Penrice has gone and no-one has replaced him yet. The Head of Scouting is a thirty year old ex Arsenal employee, currently advertising for a football analyst. When Brendan Rodgers left, he took his whole professional team with him and Celtic received around £9.00 million for them, which was promptly squandered. But, no-one replaced that whole team of analysts, coaches and Brendan’s scouts along with his contact’s, knowledge and professionalism. The word professionalism is relevant, we were left with an accountant playing… X-Box. To me, this all seems surreal, coming from an experienced set up to a void, a nothingness which could take a while to sort and that’s just off the field. You would think that this was an emergency situation, how to fix? Firstly acknowledge that it is an emergency and use a short term approach which would give us time to fix. Bring in players at the end of their careers on a years contract, on a pay per play plan. (4 peas in that pod). They would give us their vast experience and stabilise the team, its either that or sit back and watch Skinto take advantage and scoop up the ££.

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