Celtic Diary Sunday February 23

Fraser Forster achieved a new Scottish league record yesterday when he went thirty one minutes without conceding a goal, adding to the thousand or so he’d already done since November.

Well done , big man.

Forster arrived at Celtic from Newcastle originally on loan, but decided to join up full time when it became clear he was never going to make the first team at the Geordie club. Their loss, as they say, is ours-and Englands international teams -gain.

He didn’t exactly fill us all with confidence at first, I still recall him practicing his kicking at half time against the now defunct Rangers, after which the Rangers forwards closed down his clearances, and managed to score as well. But Forster has got his head down-he has to, or he can’t get into the room-and improved immensely since then.

Credit has to go as well to the consistency of the centre back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Efe Ambrose. Van Dijk has hit the ground running since he joined, but ambrose had a difficult start, though now the improvement makes you wonder if its the same player. Though to be fair, he still has the occasional moment of madness that gives us the reassurance that he is.

In fact, the whole back line has played its part, and all we need to do now is sort the rest of the team out and we’re laughing.

Yesterdays 2-0 win over Hearts gave the support a chance to sing “We’ll Meet Again” one more time, as it looks certain that Hearts will be relegated this year, as the new style of Scottish football-living within your means-begins to take root, and sides who didn’t adhere to these rules are flushed out from the top level. Still, at least Hearts have dealt with the problems in-house, and deserve credit for living with their punishment, and dealing withn it accordingly. Good luck to them next year, and as Tynecastle is one of my favourite venues, then we hope the absence is temporary.

Leigh Griffiths opened the scoring yesterday when he held off a Hearts defender to collect a pass from Anthony Stokes before tucking it beyond the Hearts keeper. It was an excellent finish, and showed the forward is a lot stronger than his slight frame suggests. Coupled with his enthusiasm, it looks good for him. Stokes and Griffiths were replace for our other strike force in the second half, and when a tenacious Amido Balde robbed a Hearts player out wide he was through on goal, but he chose to square it to Teemu Pukki, who steadied himself and placed the ball beyond a desperate Hearts goalkeeper.

Actually, had Stokes squared it to Pukki when he was through earlier, the Finn might have had a brace yesterday, and it was just  a bad decision by Stokes that prevented that.

All in all, it was a good day at the office. There was never going to be a repeat of the 7-0 mauling of the last visit, Jamie Hamill saw to that,  but the patience required to break down a well organised and enthusiastic Hearts will serve us in good stead for those difficult away games in Europe next season.

Manager Neil Lennon was delighted with the days work- especialy the new record;

“I’m delighted,”  he said.

He continued;

“I’m delighted and very proud of the players and very proud of Fraser. It’s a fantastic achievement – the 43-year record broken has been broken.

“And it’s 43-years for a reason as it’s a very difficult thing to do, so it’s a huge feather in everyone’s cap and a very proud day.”

He was pleased with Leigh Griffiths as well, who after scoring ran over to his manager to give  Lennon memories of the last time someone popped down to the dugout at Tynecastle to say hello, hello.

“It was a great goal and I was delighted,” he said. “He’s a hard worker, a good pro and it was a brilliant finish, and that’s the reason why we bought him here as he has got those goals in his makeup.

“But I have been pleased with his all-round contribution so far and it’s a great way to start a Celtic career. It meant a lot to him. We remain unbeaten in the league which is also very important.”

Actually, Griffiths may have overdone the celebrations a little,  especially when he left the ground and sprinted to Edinburgh Castle to stand on the ramparts and unleash a twenty one gun salute, but he really doesn’t like Hearts, pausing at one point to show a young lass his new top.

On loan midfielder Tom Rogic has picked up an injury in Australia, spraining his ankle after a collision with a team mate. Its not thought t be serious, and shouldn’t stop him going to the World Cup.

Someone who might be stopped from going anywhere is deffender Virgil van Dijk. His girlfriend has offered her tuppence worth on a possible move to England for the big man.

Rike Nooitgedagt-and I’m glad i was typing that, not saying it-is enjoying life in Glasgow;

‘When I was in Holland, they talked about the ‘Celtic Family’ and now I know what they mean.

‘We had a couple nights out and I enjoyed it a lot. They are very nice and make me very welcome in Glasgow.

‘I worked as a sales manager and sold different fashion-brands to the stores in Holland. I loved it but it was busy and hard work.

‘The Celtic fans are amazing, the sound they make is unreal.

‘I think Celtic is a very good club, the people are very friendly and helpful. Most of the people I meet understand how it is to live in an other country, so they help me a lot.

The Lennon to Norwich story won’t go away, despite its inaccuracy and lack of basis in the real world; This is from HITC sport;

” Norwich City are set to sack Chris Hughton… and replace him with Neil Lennon, according to reports.

The 55-year-old has been described as a “dead man walking,” with his side having won just once in their last 13 matches and now sitting only one point above the Premier League relegation zone.

And the Daily Mirror suggest that the Canaries have lined up Celtic boss Neil Lennon as Hughton’s replacement.

However, their report also claims that former Swansea boss is another strong candidate, with Celtic likely to want heavy compensation should Lennon depart for Carrow Road.

Lennon’s reluctance to leave Scotland is another potential dealbreaker, although the 42-year-old is reportedly keen to prove himself in the Premier League. ”

So, what they are saying is that Lennon is going to Norwich despite saying he doesn’t want to go…

Elsewhere, the draw for the European Championship is made today at 11am. Scotland will be in pot four, with each of the nine groups sending the top two forward to the finals, plus the best third place team. The other third placed teams will play off for the final slots in the final twenty four.

Roughly half of Europes countries will make the cut, then, which means there has never been a better chance to break the run of hundreds of years of not qualifying.

And Craig Levein isn’t the manager any more.

Tommy Gemmell, Tynecastle 1970, a rare penalty miss for the left back, but ?Celtic still won the league that day.

Point man correctly pointed this out yesterday

etims.contact@gmail.com is the contact address for anyone who wants to contribute, thanks to Pensionerbhoy for digging that out.

Try this one…who is he ?