Celtic Diary Saturday January 4

Spare a thought today for enlightened BNP politician Nick Griffin. The poor fellow has been declared bankrupt. Seems he doesn’t even like his finances in the black. Still, its his own fault, having sent all his bills back to where they came from.

Theres a little bit of optimism even amongst the most cynical of us this morning after Neil Lennon spoke of his desire to do some business in the current transfer window;

“We will see how the weekend goes,” he said. “We had a meeting this morning with Peter and we are getting cracking on things, and hopefully we will have something maybe not by Monday but by next week.

“Names keep coming thick and fast but what we will do is do our business quietly as we can.

“What we want to do is to sign players for the future – for the second half of the season, and then obviously with the qualifiers in mind for next year.

“I want to make the squad better and give some of the players here a hand, and I think the squad needs an injection of fresh blood and that´s exactly what I have been trying to do.

“It doesn’t matter who you sign, if you think they are going to make you better then that´s what we will look to do. We are in a position to spend a bit of money and we haven´t been in a position as strong as this for quite a considerable time.

“We will endeavour to bring quality in and look for the future. That´s what I want to do and that´s where I want to take the club. It´s very difficult in the climate we are in and we have to sell at times to make ends meet. We have done that this season and we are looking to forge ahead.”
Well, signing players who will make the squad better is a novel and refreshing approach. Perhaps one or two of them might even get a run in the team, which would be positively revolutionary.

And Mo Bangura is back !

“He´s back training,” revealed Lennon,  “The reason we let him go on loan was to get games and he´s had that and we will get a look at him now over the next few weeks. It´s good to see him back, he´s fit and is another addition to the squad.”

The boss also claimed that Banguras appearance against the hoops for Elfsborg, where he spent the last six months, is all in the past;

“I didn’t have a problem with Mo – I was unhappy with Elfsborg for making him play.

“I know Mo maybe had the final decision but when you are on loan at a club they should show some common sense and take you out of a situation like that for your own peace of mind.

“He was under enormous pressure but I think the lads welcome him back without any problems.

“There was friction at the time but that was months ago. That’s in the past. He’s back with us now.

“Mo is determined to make his mark here because he hasn’t done that. He has been on loan twice so we’re hoping that experience has improved him.”

I’m sure it has.

Steven Fletcher seems to be his priority maquee type signing, which given celtics tendency to spring surprises on us , means it probably isn’t him. Lennon , though, has said that the kind of money required to sign the Scotland striker, just a mere five years after initial enquiries begun, is available. We’ve been saving up, you see.

I know transfer fees change over the years but he is a youngish player still so I would imagine it might not be £6m we are talking about.

“He is a player that I think most teams in Britain would like but affordability might be a problem for us though. Could we afford to spend £6m for one player? Yes, we could.”

We just wouldn’t pay him any wages.

Ach, its easy to criticise, and theres more milage in moaning, but , as with every transfer window, there is a degree of anticipation. There may be a bit of a clearout, -its difficult to imagine that all the squad is happy, especially those who joined last summer, or those who seem to be perenially on the fringe. That would free up a few quid, and who knows, we might yet begin the second half of the season with some enthusiasm.

If,  perhaps , signing a few players would freshen up the side, and inject a little enthusiasm, maybe the same tactic would work with the support. We could bring in this chap from Hearts, who showed more passion than most in the recent game against Hibernian. Surprised you didn’t see this on the news, actually, given the recent purge against violent troublemakers at the football;

Fighting in the stands Hibs v Hearts

Its the guy who ran onto the pitch we should be bringing in.

But it will be players that we want, but who is on the list ?

Robbie Keane has ruled out a move back, Scott MacDonald is only being considered by the sort of people who hit themselves over the head with sticks, and Alfred Finnbogasson is being valued at £8m by his club now, which given that he only has six months left on his contract is unlikely.

My optimistic head says it will be him. The more realisitic side of me reckons it will Fletcher, as James Forrest and Beram Kayal are short of company in the treatment room. Although I wouldn’t be disappointed with Stevie May, or even a cheeky bid for Johnny Russell. So, theres the Etims Indian sign on it. It’ll be Fletcher

My concerns are twofold, first, and it is worrying, is his fitness;

Then theres his appalling disciplinary record;

Other names bandied about include  Kris Boyd -no thanks. Alan McGregor from Hull ? Thats more likely than you think, especially as the Scotland keeper is now involved in bitter rants on twitter with his former admirers at Second Rangers over just who shafted who. (Thats his wages, not his personal life. )

Especially if Forster heads south. Well, only if Forster heads south.

Over at the New Rangers club, there is a story circulating that their latest CEO, the one who oversaw a loss of about £200m when he was at Manchester City-I can’t remember his name off hand, they change them so frequently over there its not worth trying to-is about to up sticks and head out of dodge.

It wouldn’t be much of a shock, they tend to be out the door shortly after they are given the dreaded vote of confidence from the manager. Who, incidentally, has been moaning again;

“There was an attitude around East End Park and around the stadium (Airdrie) which I don’t think is necessarily a good attitude for women and children to be involved in at a football game,” McCoist said after winning 1-0 at Airdrie.

“Let’s just leave it at that but if we’re going to have to handle it that way, we are going to have handle it that way. I’m not complaining at all.

“I’m a big enough boy and have been around Scottish football long enough that the fans and opposition aren’t going to open the door and let them trample all over you. That’s just the way it is.”

Four times I’ve read that last sentence, and I’m still none the wiser as to what he was on about.

However, he’s looking forward to playing Hearts next season, if both clubs survive that long, and a return to ditties that deal solely with the racism and bigotry that is widely accepted as their tradition and heritage. Perhaps more to the taste of these delicate little flowers;

Who, on first impression , look like the sort of people who would be offended if a song failed to contain any references to knee level fenian blood.

Ach , enough of them. Have we signed anyone yet ?

Saint Mirin or Mirren, an Irish monk and missionary (born circa 565; died circa 620), is also known as Mirren of Benchor (now called Bangor), Merinus, Merryn and Meadhrán. The patron saint of the town and Roman Catholic diocese of Paisley, Scotland, he was the founder of a religious community which grew to become Paisley Abbey. The shrine of this saint in the abbey became a centre of pilgrimage.

A contemporary of the better known Saint Columba of Iona and disciple of Saint Comgall, he was prior of Bangor Abbey in County Down, Ireland before making his missionary voyage to Scotland. He is venerated in both Ireland and Scotland and in the Orthodoxtradition.^[1] 

And he was also the guy in the picture yesterday.

Still chuckling at the answer from Mickey Spillane, who said that whoever he was, he wasn’t one of ours, as he ” knows what to do with  a cross. ”

Lets look back into our own history now, and a face from the very early days.. who is he, and what is his significance with Celtic ?