Celtic are in Bavaria this evening where they continue the build up to next weeks qualifier against Cliftonville. Its local side Greuther Furths turn to beat the hoops tonight, kick off is at 6pm and the game is live on Premier Sports, Celtic tv and any computer near you.
For anyone who has not seen the Cluj game, its being repeated at 4.10, which might set a record for the lowest viewing figures in the history of tv.
Neil Lennon has described the Cluj kickabout as a “valuable lesson, ” but didn’t say who for;
” It was a great work out. a little bit hot but we were up against a good side there. There was a little bit of rust there from a few but thats to be expected. I’m expecting them to be sharper from now though, they were second to the ball too often for my liking. ”
Actually, a lot of the time they weren’t even second.
Gruether are a second division side in Germany, and have a very likeable badge.
The strip isn’t bad , either.
The side features one familiar name, Nikola Djurdic , the Serb who was at Helsingborgs until January this year. One other interesting feature is their advert, on the official website , for season books, where they say a supporter can expect “exciting fights and great goals . ” Probably something lost in the translation there. Nobody can expect great goals.
Travelling fans will enjoy the game . The stadium has standing areas, and Bavaria is famous for beer and blondes. And trees, but thats not really high on the list of things to see when one takes a trip abroad.
Manager Neil Lennon expects to sign a new contract in the next few weeks, which should give him and the club some stability. He’s currently on a rolling contract, and a long term deal will publicly at least, show some sort of commitment.
Norwich have justified renting a flat in Glasgow for one of their scouts with a bid ( again ) for Gary Hooper, and according to the Sun, an interest in Fraser Forster. Charlie Austin has failed a medical at Hull, which means they might come back in for the Englishman, as have QPR with their bid matching the one from Norwich. The fee of £4m has been mentioned, and Lennon will reply as soon as he is finished laughing.
James Forrest is ready to put the injury woes of last season behind him, and is ready to fight for his place in the team. It looks like the lacklustre performances could be blamed on a few players minds already being on the Cliftonville game;
” A few of the boys will train in the build up and will be ready for that game, ” he said
” We’re all raring to go in these games , we want to help ourselves get back to fitness as soon as possible and we all want to make a point and stay in the team. The trip has been good so far, the games are coming thick and fast so we’ll be ready for the Cliftonville game when it comes around. We’re doing enough in training and we’re changing the suad around with each game to give us all a chance of being ready.
I came on at half time on Saturday and felt good for the 45 minutes I got. I’ll do a bit of recovery now, and hopefully get a bit of time on Tuesday as well. I want to push on from this now I’m back. ”
We’ll know he’s fit when he starts to wave his arms about a bit, shortly before he gets injured again.
Over at Ibrox, where the nations newest club are finding it hard to come to terms with full time football, manager Ally McCoist has leapt on the already considerably oversized bandwagon which is following wimbledon winner Andy murray.
Sorry, i got some words mixed up there.
Over at Ibrox, where the nations newest club are finding it hard to come to terms with full time football, considerably oversized manager Ally McCoist has leapt on the bandwagon which is following Wimbledon winner Andy Murray.
The rookie boss claims that although Murray is a Hibs fan,” perhaps he is a Rangers man at Heart, ” and as such would maybe want to parade his trophy at Ibrox. He might, ( though its extremely unlikely ) and if he does, hopefully he will have the good sense not to leave it lying unattended or it will end up in Cash Converters Govan before he even knows its gone.
Speaking of Murrays achievement, the Holy Poet has sent us these words…
Andy Murray. 7th July 2013.
The Centre Court, the searing heat and what they witnessed was a treat
A crowded court and packed out Hill, anticipating spills and thrills
With celebrities from every shore, they thought they’d seen it all before
As one they rose on centre stage for the man they hoped had come of age.
The crowd acknowledged fiercest start, no sign of nerves just two strong hearts
Relentlessly the sun beat down as cheers and sighs rang round the ground
Some shots he won and some he lost but today our man would not be bossed
And fifteen thousand cheered his name willing him in every game.
Murray grimaced, held his hip as he slid in hard then seemed to trip
But one by one the games went by and Andy pointed to the sky
Yet Djokovic seemed out of sorts, slipping, missing easy shots
Or ones that he would normally get, he hit too flat and found the net.
As both men vied to take control, their baseline rallies took their toll,
Conserving strength was Novak’s ploy playing Murray like a toy
He ran him ragged, side to side but in tennis there’s no place to hide
But panting hard and pouring sweat, a hardened Murray took the set.
Murray gained with each point played whilst his opponents game was frayed
The blistering heat and frantic pace paints anguish on a painful face
St Andrew’s cross, the Saltires raised as everyone around him praised
Murray charged with every shot and ensured this winner was a Scot.
Emotions high and hearts still strong, too often shots were hit too long
Both heroes here gave all they had, one each would leave, ecstatic, sad
But today they witnessed something great, someone, somewhere called it fate
A Scotsman ended foreign reign, he was Andy Murray from Dunblane.
If he does want to parade his trophy, Easter Road , surely ?
Still with the new club, they have announced to the stock market that Malcolm Murray is to leave his position on the board. ( What is their obsession with that name ? ) .
Going through the door with him is his ally Phil Cartmell, which should mean “privately seething ” Walter Smith could follow. Its another victory for Yorkshire spiv Charles Green, who can now appoint the NacGill brothers to the board, bringing a whole new level of skullduggery to the club.
Murray, who has several new ventures lined up, was said to be “wetting himself with excitement ”
Meanwhile, the pre season training has started over at the new club. Exercises include a race from the sea to allocate the shirts given to the club under the new deal-there are only fifteen-, a competition to dress Ally Mccoist , here shown with the winning effort, only the shorts were on the wrong way round, and an attempt to show the players how to bury their heads in the sand, like the fans do. The fourth picture has four footballs in the air, which is where it will be during most of their games next season, as the tactically inept McCoist tries to -and they are serious about this-compete for one of the major trophies.
Still, despite all their troubles, they still have this man.
I think they bring a lot of their troubles on themselves.
Now, some real good news. A few weeks ago, the brilliant “Sashes to Ashes ” cartoon was featured in the diary, presumably to make it worth reading. The author, tc2012, has been in touch, and hasn’t mentioned legal action.
” I was off work with a fractured foot, so I had a few weeks to kill. All the facts of the Rangers being a new club were on the net, but all on different Celtic sites, so I wanted to get all the evidence on one thing so I did the Sashes to Ashes. ”
And did it so well.
If you haven’t read it, its in the diary for Friday June 14. If you have read it, read it again. Its well worth it.
If this is what he can do with a broken foot, we can only dream about what he could come up with if his legs fell off, or something.
Which probably came out wrong. Anyway, well done tc. It was brilliant.
John Hartson, at a very young age, received a player of the year trophy from Bonnie Tyler. She didn’tlook any different, whereas he was thin and had a shock of ginger hair. Its always a shock to parents when their offspring have ginger hair. And not a nice one. The picture is in his first autobiography, but not on the web. Well, I couldn’t find it.
Who said these words, and what game was he talking about ?
“We could have played without a referee. Or even a ball. ”
It seems every slimeball is after a piece of Andy Murray after his phenomenal achievement – Alex ‘Easter Egg’ Salmond, David ‘Baw Face’ Cameron and now Fat ‘God Bless Pies’ Sally.
“He may be a Sevco man at heart”. No Sally, he is a Hibs man and there is NO chance he will be parading a genuinely worthy piece of silverware at Ibrokes.
At least Lenny had the simple good grace to congratulate Andy and thank him for providing him for fantastic entertainment, not try to claim him as one of his own unlike the other vultures.
I want to echo the praise rightly heaped on TC2012 for his brilliant Sashes To Ashes strip. How convenient is it to have the whole Sevco disaster thing in a handy package ready to throw at any zombies when you cannot be arsed repeating yurself for the zillionth time. I think TC2012 should parade the comic strip at Parkhead as I am sure he is “a Celtic man at heart”.
The quote is definitely from a Lisbon Lion talking about the infamous World Club games we had against a mob who I can’t even bring myself to mention. I’ll take a punt on Tommy Gemmell.
I think it was Cesar talking about the Racing game.
training on the beach and running into the sea? is this the Victorian age again?
didn’t real clubs they stop doing that in the 80’s after men with medical degrees and backgrounds in sport science said it was of little benefit due to high the risk of injury?
lo and behold one of their CB is injured already, probably a nasty case of the vapours
-a round of leech therapy will cure that !
I’ll go for Davie Hay after the Athletico Madrid semi in 74.
was it some deadco player after the Dunfermaline game ,
rest of quote
“we would still have got the result we needed”
The problem with Lenny signing a long-term contract is that as soon as it reaches its last year or two all the speculation over whether he will sign a new one will swell up. The rolling contract does away with much of that.
One of the voices in Mark Vidukala head?
Viduka’s even!
dunfermline
jeezo its hot hot hot
sashes to ashes,yi cannie wackit, listen here ye spawn of beezebul and mephistopheles, yeeziz PISH & MER PISH
Gruther fuerth ? Wasnt he in the longest day or a bridge too far ? Seriously 6- 2 ? 1 week to season proper . I know its early j7ly but cmon celtic !
Bertie Auld
surely it should have read: “Murray, who has several new VULTURES lined up….”
MON THE HOOPS !!!!!!!!!!
Paul McStay after the St.Mirren game