One of the traps most bloggers fall into is that when there isn’t a great deal going on, they tend to highlight trivia, or unsourced rumours in order just to find something to say.
Here at etims we just make stuff up, especially if anyone from the legal profession is reading.
Especially if anyone from the legal profession linked to “rangers” or Sean dyche is reading.
Or Duncan Ferguson, for that matter. Has anyone checked if the “Mr. Ferguson ” sign is still on the manager’s office door at Ibrox ?
They have to save money, as you know.
Or any other tenuous links, such as Brebdan used to work with Jamie Vardy, or Kasper Schmeichel and Matthias whatever his name is are both Danish, which means he’ll have a pal in the dressing room should he opt for Celtic.
One curious thought is that despite the success of several Japanese players at Celtic, there doesn’t seem to be any enthusiasm for scouring that market again…or is there?
There’s been a change to the Champions League format. Teams who finish in the top eight will now get the advantage of being drawn away from home in the first leg in the quarter finals as well as the last 16. Which will no doubt be a factor when Brendan plans the next campaign.
The new eight game format is fun, as each game sort of means something to someone, if you don’t count our game against Aston Villa, which seemed to have an end of season feel about it.
The transfer window usually dominates Celtic media in the summer, largely because there’s little else going on, and based on what Rodgers said in April, it might yet provide lots of tittle tattle.
“It’s all about improvement. I think naturally what you have at our club is a natural slide of players that move out and come in every three or four years,”
“We always want to improve the team, improve the hunger in the team. “That’s always key. You need the freshness.”
That might seem obvious, but it put me in mind of Jock Stein after his side were defeated 4-1 by Partick Thistle in the League Cup final in 1971.
Afterwards, he said that too many players had grown accustomed to winning, and there needed to be more fear in the squad about losing, which he felt would keep the team on their toes.
After that, several youngsters were introduced and the team went on to win nine in a row, unprecedented at the time, and against strong domestic opposition.
Then, tired of Celtic’s dominance, the League format was changed and the run ended. Although that wasn;t the only factor, it was what the beaks at Hampden had in mind.
If Rodgers adopts the same attitude, and it seems he has, then we can forget Jamie Vardy, or anyone else who is looking to have a final fling in the game.
So far, it’s been about young players who want to improve their game and move on to a more financially rewarding outfit, such as Brighton or Southampton, neither of which can be classed as big clubs, but both could pay better wages and give a player more exposure.
The policy has worked more often than not, so don;t expect Celtic to sign somone at the peak of his powers, and we can hope we won;t sign anyone past them.
It’s more fun that way anyway.
In other news, Celtic are now 35th in the European rankings, which probably means something to someone.
Yesterday, we had this…
Caption
“Calm doon everybody. Etims won’t be publishing another diary for six months
Just goes to show, you can’t believe anything you read these days.
Today…
Is it me or can you smell fish?
Caption;Todd Cantwell relives his first attempt at making an impression on a girl. “No not like that, stupid boy.”
The diary may keep me sane this summer. I would prefer it if more was done to bring young players through, take a risk, can’t protect them forever.
Caption: You only had to ask and I’d have given you my last rolo.
Just nitpicking I know, Ralph, but how can the teams who finish in the top eight be guaranteed an away leg in the quarters? Aren’t there only eight teams in the quarters so four ties? Or is this all part of a new exciting ‘spot the cock up’ competition that you’re launching on etims?
Mm, if we finish 24th and put out the top seed in Last 16, do we assume their seeding?
Caption – Marion Morrison dukes it out with Shirley Crabtree to see who the big daddy at Ibrox next season will be.
I guess it must be something like that as there’s no way they could guarantee that the top 8 all make the quarter finals, so presumably their seeding is taken over by their conquerors.
PS Still can’t give 8 clubs an away 1st leg though when there are only 4 quarters to be played – shum pish stained mishtake surely.
She’s not known as the Flying Rabbit for nothing………
I see ma maw is takin the divorce well!
Caption: The top 100 things that are preferable to an Ally McCoist co-commentary. No 36.
Caption: Don’t know anything about wrestling but my money’s on the curly blonde.
The rangers new manager is now down to the last 2 and the loser wins the job
Just now, there’s no knowing what’s going on at Ibrox but Celtic need to keep an eye on ‘them’.
The Yanks won’t be using their own money but may borrow enough to go shit or bust in their 1st season. To counter-act any possibility, we’ve got to strengthen sufficiently to get through the qualifier and then make another run in CL. It’s a win, win, due to the money available from CL group football and to consolidate our position at home.
My biggest fear is that Lawwell is still IN the building, in a position of power and his adoration of the deceased Old Firm may well ‘colour’ his thinking. AGAIN!
Prepare for Europe and the rest will take care of itself. How often does that simple truth need to be stated for the goons at the PLC to understand it?
BTW, hoping he avoids injury, KT could be massive for us again. He IS quality and it helps for Euro rules about club-trained players in the squad too.
Parachute malfunction causes drag queen to plummet into outdoor boxing venue, almost flattening ring-card girl.
As the season ends, the Scottish Var team reasses the recent missed opportunity to award rangers a goal against Hibs, and conclude there’s no balls to be seen
Owen gets her revenge on Ralphie.