Davie Hay, who has a column in the Evening Times, is in agreement with the sentiment expressed in the diary yesterday, if his comments are to be believed today. Hay was sent off in a reserve game when he was starting out, and received a wee bit of advice from Celtics assistant manager afterwards;

” I was 19 and playing for Celtic’s reserves. I was left in no doubt just how much I had let down my team and myself.

Sean Fallon later told me that if I was going off then I should make sure that my opponent was too. ”

Call it thuggery, call it cheating, but that extra bit of savvy, that increased level of awareness , is a major issue at the moment with Celtic when in Europe.

Hay thinks that Brown will learn from this mistake, and we have to hope he does, but I still have doubts. Its not the first time, its probably not going to be the last.

But, it is time to draw a line under it and move on.

Fraser Forster will be in the England squad for their remaining World cup qualifiers, but its likely that Manchester City stopper Joe Hart ( perhaps stopper is the wrong word here. Unless it means stopped playing well ) will be between the posts as he has “experience ” , as Roy Hodgson, should he fail to lead England to Brazil, will need a scapegoat.

I went on to Joe Harts website , to see if he had anything to say, but it damaged my computer. It won’t save anything now.

Personally, I want Forster to wait until these games are over. Should it all go pear shaped for the English, I would rather he was nowhere near the first team.

Another good display in the UCL has alerted the reporters at the Record who have the remit to sell Celtics players, and they ran a curious article , by Gavin Berry, who roped in Peter Shilton, to tell us that playing for the Old Firm  should not hamper Forsters chances.

Google tells us that the term “Old Firm ” refers to a business relationship between Celtic, and the first incarnation of Rangers, now in liquidation. As the club became obselete, so did the term, and I am surprised that a quality journal such as the Record has mentioned it.

Anyway, Shilton could have signed for First Rangers when Graeme Souness was in charge of the club, and the Bank of Scotland in charge of the wages;

“When I was at Southampton in the 1980s Graeme was interested in signing me for Rangers.

“But the one thing that stopped me thinking about it was the fact they appeared to be so far ahead of every other team that I saw myself as being a spectator in most league games.

( Rangers league record in the eighties, from 81-82 was 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 3rd, …..yup, way out in front. )

“I felt if I’d gone it would just have been for the European Cup matches and at that time the tournament was a knockout format so if you were eliminated in the early rounds then, while it would be wrong to say the season would have been over, the big incentive would have gone.

 ( which they usually were )

“I wanted to play for England and I felt it was better being in the spotlight and being able to perform in what is now the Premier League than standing around in the Scottish League every week.

“I still feel it was the right decision because I had three semi-finals with Southampton, we finished second in the league in five seasons and I broke into the England team again.

“Rangers signed a lot of Englishmen including Terry Butcher but I was quite happy at Southampton at the time and we were starting to progress so it was one of those things, you make your mind up and stick to it.

“Rangers signed Chris after their interest in me and look at him. He got into the England team so I realise now it wouldn’t have done me any harm in that sense but it’s just the way I felt at that time.

( Well spotted. The only thing he got right in this article. )

“I never really played for what I’d term a really big club and playing for someone like Rangers would have been a fantastic experience and I realise now that what I achieved for England I could probably have achieved if I’d joined Rangers.

( Well, its too late now. They’re dead. )

“That’s why in the here and now I don’t think playing in Scotland should or will hold back Fraser in terms of his England chances if he’s performing. It didn’t hold back Chris and I think as long as they have the Champions League that will put him in the spotlight.”

Astonishing.  Keeping an insignificant Third tier side in the news to justify a story about Fraser Forster getting  into the England squad, which he has already achieved.

Barcelona are looking to replace Victor Valdes , who wants to leave, with the big Englishman, and a fee of £8.3m has already been mentioned-not only here, but in Barcelona. Arsenal and Chelsea are also looking, and we hear Manchester City have him on their radar, but as their keeper is Joe Hart, they have everybody who has ever stood between the jumpers on their radar.

After yesterdays report on the Celtic fan who pointed a stick at Rangers fans, and got convicted of , er, pointing a stick at someone who is likely to be offended, the pendulum, much to the delight of lawyers, politicians and the police, has swung the other way.

This picture, of a man wearing a Second Rangers away top, was all over Facebook yesterday;

Here, he is clearly seen holding a knife at a television set, which he might still owe a few payments on, and possibly not even have a licence for.

The Daily Record ran a story under this headline;

Horrified Celtic fans brand this football supporter a disgrace after he posts a photo of himself holding a knife to Neil Lennon’s throat

Right, so just Celtic fans horrified then ?

Perhaps they condemn it in the story…

” HORRIFIED Celtic fans have branded this so-called football supporter a disgrace after he posted a photo of himself appearing to hold a kitchen knife to Neil Lennon’s throat.

( “So called football supporter -he’s wearing a Second Rangers second top. Of course he’s not a football supporter. They’ll mention that in a minute. )

The man, who has not been identified, took the picture after freezing a TV image of the Celtic manager and placing the sharp blade against the screen.

( Nope, not yet )

The disgusting image appeared on a Celtic supporters’ Facebook page just moments after Celtic lost 0-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

( ah- its ” disgusting ” , still no mention of the top )

The image, which has since been taken down, attracted hundreds of comments from angry Celtic supporters who branded the man “an idiot”.

One fan, John Ferguson said: “I really hope the police will be notified of this picture –absolutely disgusting.”

And Ann-Marie Johnston posted: “I am in shock after seeing this picture.

“I can’t believe someone would be so stupid.”

Grant Stevenson wrote: “This guy is a disgrace to football. No matter who he supports he should be ashamed of doing something like this. A complete idiot.”

( No matter who he supports -well, theres a clue in the picture. Just can’t bring themselves to mention it , though )

The Celtics Green and White Army Facebook page has since been reported and is under investigation by the social media site.

( Investigated by Facebook, not the police… )

Frankly, its all going a bit doo lally. Someone holds a knife to a tv screen, someone points a stick at someone else, really, is it an issue ? Are we such a nation of lightweights that a picture of someone doing something to a picture is deemed offensive ?

However, if the law says its wrong, then its wrong. And he should be lifted and charged.

Still, as the paper says, its only Celtic fans who are horrified… to everyone else its just banter…

Anyone know who Gregory Campbell is ? Some drunk guy told me he’s an MP, maybe DUP , maybe East Derry ? Anyhoo, the same drunk said he has a finger or two in one of the pies at Ibrox, and its not the steak kind. Though it might be.

I’d put this firmly under bullshit. Surely if it were true, Jack Irvine would have told us. Unless they had common interests or something.

Speaking of the new club, international commitments means that Second Rangers have asked for, and been granted , a postponement of their game against Dunfermline.  Apparently, a number of Allys  players had arranged to watch the Scotland game on telly, with a few beers and maybe a bet on the game.

That means there will be no home games in October for the financially challenged club. More importantly, no chance of a public demonstration by the fans before the AGM…

But, there is good news. Manager Ally McCoist should see his wages slashed by half to just £400,000 p.a. , which is a noble gesture by him. Wonder if there will be any shares heading his way as a gesture of goodwill from the club….

With pressure mounting from all sides for the police and the army to look into the sectarian love in at Ibrox last week, the Scottish Sun are doing their bit to keep the event in focus;

This may have happened, but the question is, why is this the first we have heard of it ? This sort of thing usually hits the forums virtually straight away .

Kevin Bridges has given us a chuckle after he received an invite from Downing Street, and pondered whether or not to attend;

Yeah, you have to sympathise. Thats a tricky one.

All the players in the picture yesterday have been on the books of Newcastle Utd, and theres a connection between these guys as well, what is it ?

Finally, a story in the news today concerns two students being expelled for having sex on the school rugby pitch.

” We wouldn’t normally have bothered, ” said the headmaster, ” but one of them was a girl . “