Celtic Diary Tuesday November 8: World’s Turning

As you know, this site prides itself on accuracy ( fuck off-Ed ) , and so I can only apologise for claiming Celtic had not been awarded any penalties whilst VAR was in operation.

As many of you pointed out, Celtic got a penalty against Livingston, though in my defence I can honestly say I never saw any of the headlines about one of our players being felled by an opposition players carefully aimed hand grenade, so I missed it.

Ange Postecoglou has started to mention his concerns publicly about the operation of the new referee’s aid, which may or may not have an influence on how it is being run. As it stands, if we are to remove the perception of bias, it could just be that those in the control room are afraid of missing something that could be deemed significant, a theory that sort of falls apart when you consider the blatant handball by a Hearts defender when James Forrest tried to flick the ball past him.

There is no consistency, and whilst there is an argument that us armchair experts may not be fully up to speed with the various rule changes, it’s hard to believe, on the evidence so far, that the referees are any better informed.

All things considered, the introduction of full time referees would be the next logical step, allowing them to brush up on the rules and become more adept in their roles, after all, a full time player will always be better than a part time one, if only because he is fitter…

As we all know though, there is still a culture at the SFa that if not directly anti Celtic is clearly pro anyone who isn’t Celtic, so maybe the current crop of officials should be barred from moving into full time positions.

Which creates a vacuum, although there must be plenty of impartial referees outwith the Lanarkshire circle who could step up to fill the void.

Or maybe someone has been messing about with my anti paranoia medication……

Whilst it may take the manager some time to change the culture in Scottish football, he’s certainly making his mark on Celtic.

Yuki -promounced yooki, we hope, as if it were yukky there would be associations with the less than delightfully but strangely accurately named Rafael Scheidt, Kobayashi is a 22 year old left sided defender from Vissal Kobe in Japan, and he’s already agreed to come to Celtic in January,

As with Oliver Abildgaard, he’ll take a while before he’s ready to compete for a first team place, as the manager likes to get them up to speed with his methods now he has the strength in depth to do so.

This kind of planning is in direct contrast to the old Lawwellian style of last day deals which replaced the primary targets that he couldn;t always get.

In fact, new players were often asked to pop into a sports shop and get a kit that fitted them as the club didn’t have one in their size.

Comfortingly, that suggests the manager will be with us for a while yet, no surprise really as privately he is telling people how much he loves Celtic, the supporters and the whole way of life at the club.

For a glimpse of the real ange Postecoglou, watch his regular appearances on Australian tv, where he is more relaxed, and hardly ever coughs, compared to his frequent throat clearances which he uses to prevent an outburst that the hostile Scottish hacks can use.

They are desperate to make him as uncomfortable as possible, in the hope he’ll get fed up with Scotland and Celtic, and move on before he joins Hector, Craig and Charlie Chuckles  in a list of names that have had a terminal effect on a club based at Ibrox.

A dominant Celtic means a submissive “rangers “, in whatever form, and as their culture is rabidly anti Celtic they tend to forget that there are other clubs in Scotland who can, and given the right attitude, overtake them in the battle for money and honours.

St Johnstone are the most recent example, but if you look back to any Celtic dominated period, they always fall away of they don;t keep up with us.

Which leads us to their next AGM, on December 6, and there is hope that they’ll publish their accounts, so that we can see if there are any Going Concern warnings attached.

Put simply, they can’t really ask for outside investment as they are not listed on the stock exchange, which would make any potential investor wary, they can’t use soft directorial loans any more, and their few remaining assets on the field, notably Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, are about to become free agents, and at best would only raise a nominal fee, which given the lack of interest in either, is unlikely.

Combine that with recent results and form, and their reluctance…or inability …to invest in new players, the storm cluds are gathering over the river, but on a happier note at least they won’t have to hire a tent for this meeting.

Tomorrow night Celtic are away to Motherwell, and if you are attending , would you bear this in mind ?

Celtic Foundation recently donated £400,000 to those who need it in the Glasgow area, and other clubs are doing their bit as well.

The Conservatives may have all but destroyed communities, but football, despite their best efforts, remains perhaps the only one they couldn’t break.

Who knows, if we all get together to help combat poverty and deprivation, maybe we could do something about the SFA as well. …

Yesterday, there was this….

The Gaffer 

” Paper says that people can’t afford to heat their houses this winter ” 

” I know, I’m Freisian ” 

Today