Celtic Diary Thursday November 4: Narrowing The Focus

Having successfully made the leap from being unreliable in content to unreliable in appearing, the Diary pops up ahead of a european game, proving that the author is merely a part time fan as well as part time in everything else he attempts.

In my defence, my head was in the shed…a popular Staffordshire saying which denotes a lack of ability to concentrate on anything ….because Izzy the border collie wasn;t very well.

Three days in the vets and four grand out of the bank and she’s improving.

We’re hoping she gets back to her fighting weight within a week or so, and will be keeping an eye on her.

It’s all about targets, I suppose. after all, without a target you won’t hit anything, and with Celtic not quite hitting the seven goals against Livingston that was predicted in the last podcast, that doubt that the wheels are about to come off has resurfaced.

We do struggle a little bit when the manager moves our top scorer out onto the wing.

Whilst the players have responded well, and quite quickly, to the demands made by the manager tactically , there is a possibility that he may be asking them to do too much too soon.

It’s all very well getting them to play the game a new way, but asking them to learn yet another way , even a slight change, could be too much for the simple wee souls who pull on the hooped shirts every week.

One minute it’s Kyogo and his movement, then it’s Giakoumakis and his,er, not quite so much movement.

Make a plan and stick to it.

As a result, any confidence that Giakoumakis had built up was shattered when he missed the penalty that could have won the game, and thats a shame.

There are the beginnings of a great team at Celtic, and whilst thngs are probably coming together quicker than we’d hoped, we’re not ready to try something else yet.

Unless, of course, the manager is preparing for life after Kyogo……

Bet you wish I hadn’t bothered with the Diary today either now that thought has been planted in your head.

With the transfer window now just a few weeks away, rumours abound that a couple of Japanese players will be joining Celtic.

Whilst it would be surprising if a couple didn’t join, it wiuld be a shock if after a long hard season over there they were thrown into the team immediately on arriving in Glasgow.

We’re stuck with what we’ve got by and large for this season, and let’s face it, thats not as bad as it sounds.

Going back to targets, I’d say if we can win the League Cup, get to within three points of “rangers ” in the league and still have European football after christmas, then we’re doing not only well, but far better than we had dared hope given the catastrophe of last season.

It’s worth noting that we’re still fielding a team where only Calum MacGregor is the only first team regular from last season who is still regularly starting…..

So it’s Ferencvaros tonight, and a win will probably mean that the latter of the targets mentioned above will still be achievable

Even a draw might suffice, though the route for third placed teams in the Europa to qualify for the Conference is by no means simple… there’s a quailifier to play against the third placed team in a Champions League group, which could be anyone.

But it’s all practice, I suppose, and we can;t really moan about teams dropping down if we’re doing it.

Carl Starfelt will miss the game tonight, and since Ange thinks Soro is a diddy, it’s likely that Biton will cover the midfield rather than replace the Swede at centre half, which means Stephen Welsh is likely to start after his well earned rest.

If he does, it will confirm what ange said pre season about having three interchangeable centre backs, all of whom are familiar with each other, something that has been worked on in training as the defensive record shows.

But the big question surrounds Giakoumakis….if he;s dropped and Kyogo restoed, how will it affect him ?

And can we afford to not have Kyogo in a central position when chances may be few and far between ?

Factor in that if we get a penalty the big Greek is the nominated spot kick man, and the jitters are back.

Then again, why not try two up front……?

Elsewhere, and the Celtic Trust have introduced a Drive for Five, whatever that means, and suspicions remain that the board are using that trusted tactic of dividing and conquering ahead of an AGM where they have quite a bit to explain…..

We’ll cover this in greater detail and ask the relevant questions when I finally understand what they’re asking.

Yes, shareholders need to be given a voice, but whats the point of rounding them up if you’re not at least going to suggest a direction to take ?

Or at least explain what you want of them ?

Revolutions tend to be less successful if everyone turns up and hangs about in the bar until the leaders decide where they’re leading them…..

Of course, i might be wrong and there might be a plan. If there is, I’m sure they’ll tell me.

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, climate protesters have been used for the police to practice crowd control on, having not quite distinguished themselves of late.

Climate protesters could have easily avoided this, however with a little bit of costume and make up….

Double standards from Police Scotland, and with Bernard Higgins, a notably untrustworthy fellow, we hear, especially where his colleagues wives are concerned, apparently about to join Celtic as a security chief, we wonder if he’ll forget where he is and kettle fans as a sort of match day safety policy.

Maybe he’ll even smash fans front doors in at 6am before remembering where he is and offereing them breakfast in bed ?

More likely, of course, the whole story is a load of shite to deflect attention away from a boardroom which is full to overflowing with the urine they’ve taken from the fans….

Here’s a caption competition to take our minds off the politics for long enough to enjoy tonights game…