Celtic Diary Friday January 23 2026: It’s A Results Business

We wanted a draw from last night’s game in Bologna, and we got one. It could have been better, but it could also have been worse.

Celtic opened the scoring after just five minutes , Daezen Maeda doing what he does and harassing defenders leading to an unforced error from the Bolognese keeper , allowing the Japanese to square to compatriot Reo Hatate to slot home in what was the most unexpected Japanese attack since Pearl Harbour.

Then Reo Hatate did he does and got needlessly booked twice meaning Celtic were down to ten men, The hoops were coasting until then, and Bologna crept back into the game.

Yet on the stroke of half time the hoops- white and green hoops instead of green and white, and thankfully not the black away kit…were further ahead when Austen Trusty clipped the ball onto the bar and over the line.

But there was still another forty five inutes to go, and O’Neill had to decide whether to stick or twist. He replaced Sebastian Tounetki with Ben Nygren, who could keep learning his box to box role, and tried to weather the storm we all expected.

It sort of worked, Bologna did score twice and only a monumental effort from everyone on the pitch allowed Celtic to hold on, but am I being too greedy when I say we maybe invited that storm by playing too deep ?

Anyway, it matters not a jot. Although it feels like we lost something, we got the point that sets us up nicely for next week when Utecht come to Glasgow in the final group stage game.

A win sends Celtic through.

Even a lesser result might still do it, given the right set of results elsewhere, but our fate is in our own hands, and we couldn’t really have asked for much more given the thirty three day break.

The Daily Record said:

Nope. Absolutely no idea what that means.

It was Bring Your Child to Work at the paper yesterday, and one of the tots even got to write a headline…

The Daily Record will soon be available free on trains, and we hear the owners , Reach PLC, have promised to print it on a more absorbent material in order to allow a more practical use for it.

Had Celtic gone two down last night and recovered to get a draw, we’d all be bouncing today. The result is the same, but some would argue the fightback shows spirit and endeavour.

I’d say there was more than enough of both characteristics during the game last night, more than enough to keep the dream of a memorable season alive.

Manager Martin…sounds like a character from a kids tv show…agreed;

“It was a magnificent effort by the team. They put their heart and soul into it.

“To play 60-odd minutes with 10 men and to show the sort of character that is supposedly lacking in this team – I don’t see it at all.

“I see heart and desire in big waves and it’s really welcoming.

“The sending-off changes the course of the game in many aspects. There’s a long way to go, but the spirit of the side was terrific and the crowd helped us the whole way through. 

“It would have been a real shame if we had lost the game and the players were really out on their feet in the last 10 minutes, but they kept going.

“What it does for us, the point at least takes it into the final game and what we’ve done is given ourselves a bit of hope.” 

“Auston Trusty was magnificent. He was absolutely magnificent. As he has been in my time here and I’m sure before that. I couldn’t give him any higher praise than the performance he put in. He was absolutely magnificent, as were the team.

“He and Liam Scales have been really, really great as a defensive two for me during the time that I’ve been here. Trusty epitomised the spirit of the team.

“It was colossal, really colossal.” 

Scales and Trusty have seen three managers this season. One reckoned they couldn’t play together, one reckoned that two central defenders was too many, and the other said…well, you’ve just read it.

There’s a thought. How would our Nancy defence have coped with an onslaught of that intensity against a quality side ?

Perhaps better not to think about that.

Ever.

What we now have to think about is the game against Hearts on Sunday. Over in the capital they are already running scared, with captain Lawrence Shankland the latest to phone in sick….

They are trying to get someone in on loan to lead the line at Tynecastle, as a win would put them nine ahead of Celtic.

As long as our players get a bit of rest today and tomorrow, I don;t think it will come to that, however.

It’s Friday, and it’s time to announce the winner of the Etims Knob Of The Week Award. 

That was supposed to be gold, but it looks orange, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Reo Hatate was a late contender for the title, his petulance overcoming his enthusiasm ending in his sending off, but he did score the opener, so it would be unfair to give him the nod.

Especially as in a world where Donald Trump takes centre stage, you would have to reach extraordinary levels of knobbery to hold off Doolally Don to win….

This is Andreas Skov Olsen, who this week joined “rangers “, and he said…

He didn’t elaborate on where he wanted to go, but his agent took it as he wanted to go to Rangers, and although he rocked up at Ibrox just over a decade too late to do that, it just shows a level of stupidity even the bold donald couldn’t reach.

The player hasn’t done any sort of due diligence on his new club…I chose the words wisely….and has obviously been told that he won;t get an offer like that anywhere else.

This sort of scenario inevitably ends in tears, so I thought I’d cheer the fellow up by awarding him the

For some reason, Keith Jackson has never offered to present the award for us. You’d think he would, given that there is more than a groundswell of support for the award to be named after him.

Yesterday, we had this…

Today…