Celtic Diary Wednesday March 19

You may have noticed that there’s a considerable amount  of women posing for photos throughout social media without their make up on. Its worth clarifying that this is to raise awareness for cancer research, and not , in fact, an attempt to help reduce global overpopulation.

Neil Lennon says he will probably definitely maybe consider thinking about maybe resting some players when the title is won. He told Sky Sports News;

“We will certainly look at doing that. We’ll have maybe three or four at the World Cup.

“I’m not sure how much break we are going to have between the World Cup and the qualifiers, if any at all.

“So, it may be something we’ll look at towards the end of the season, once we have wrapped up the Championship in good time.”

“I think we’re really in a good place,” he said.

“We played really well Friday, second-half in particular, and we played really well a couple of weeks before, against Inverness.

“We are in a good vein of form and I think we want to finish the season in style.

“Obviously, once we have clinched the Championship, we will be looking to build towards next season.

“The squad is starting to look a little bit more like it now, the new players are starting to bed in.”

Another non story, but the last line is interesting. And accurate. The new look Celtic is taking shape, not only the faces, but the system. Gone is the gung ho use of two wingers and two overlapping full backs. gone are the hard working strikers-instead we have Griffiths who will shoot on sight, and Commons who will finish off anything thats loose.

With Liam Henderson and Darnell Fisher having tasted the big time, the other youngsters may now feel that their route to the top team is no longer blocked.

Its all starting to look good again.

Except….

Those of us who felt the season was over, and that there was nothing left to get excited about, may have forgotten to consider those basic , primeval instincts that delight in the demise of the latest incarnation of our former rivals from the south side of the city.

Whilst we will all announce that we don’t miss them, that we don’t care what happens to them, and that we only use them as a source of endless and harmless fun, those instincts haven’t gone away.

Its not surprising, because for decades, the now defunct club seemed only to exist and prosper by encouraging an active dislike, nay hatred, of all the things that they perceived Celtic stood for. I mention perceived because thats exactly what it was. A perception of Irishness-whatever that is – , a perception of catholicism, and above all, the link with violent atrocities in the name of rebellion.

It gave that club something to bond them, since they had no real identity of their own-they still struggle with that in their latest incarnation. And they, along with their chums at Hampden,  are doing their best to keep it going.

After all, its all they have left.

The SFA, its power receding with the introduction of the SPFL, now feels its safe to come out of hiding again.

It started when the League Cup final was held at Celtic Park, and the two sets of supporters produced an atmosphere which showed everyone the folly of Hampden Park. Its no coincidence that since the new , soul- less stadium was built, Scotlands national team has suffered a poor run of results at home. Thats because the place has no atmosphere.

And its difficult to get to.

Its a dreadful place to watch football. Yet the SFA persisted with the renovation, despite there being two perfectly suitable stadia to host cup finals and internationals already in place. ( and there was always Ibrox as well ). Millions of pounds which could have been spent on developing the game was wasted. Wonder who provided the steel for the build……?

Murrayfield , in the capital , should be used for Scotland games, and cup finals , while Celtic Park could be used as a back up in the event of unavailability. Even allowing for rental costs, it would always return a profit and provide a much better backdrop for the big games.

The recent League Cup final has highlighted just how bad the Hampden experience has become. It has frightened the SFA, and highlighted the ongoing battle for control of the game in Scotland between the clubs and the blazers.

Well, not all the clubs.

One, the newest, still have friends at Hampden, and those friends are doing their level best to help them out. Thats why the base instincts are kicking in again, whether we like it or not. Don’t believe me ?

Cast your mind back to the first Albion Rovers -Second Rangers game. You were kicking every ball with the Coatbridge side-I know I was. You were expecting the referee to help the Ibrox side-just perhaps not so blatantly as he eventually did-I know I was.

But its not the club I have issues with.In fact, if they were to accept their wrongdoings, pay their bills-and at least show some remorse for their crimes, I’d have no problem with their new identity climbing up the leagues and offering a fair and sporting challenge.

But I have enormous difficulty in accepting that they should be aided or assisted in any way whatsoever.

We have already seen them making the same mistake of living beyond their means, and we have already seen that they are in enormous financial difficulty because of it.

Its completely unacceptable , however, that they should be bailed out by the national association. A national association which is short on friends and desperately now trying to cling to power in a changing football environment.

Second Rangers will play Dundee Utd in the semi final of the Scottish Cup. Its the first time the new club will face a Premier League side this season, and it might be the first time they have faced a full time side as well. On paper, they are hopelessly outclassed. They could well be facing a severe reminder of how far they have fallen, and their friends in high places are clearly terrified of that prospect. So, they have offered a helping hand, and tried to cover it up.

Both semi finals will be held at Ibrox, which means they will have home advantage. Fair enough, they have to be held somewhere, but it does seem strange-and thats before any hints of wrongdoing- that a pitch which is clearly substandard should be used for two high profile and important games in quick succession, which means that the chances of an entertaining, high quality game are considerably lower.

Rumour is that the first choice venue-also to help the new club, was unavailable.

Of course, the new club will gain from home advantage, they will be in their own dressing room, toasting the queen or whatever other dark pre match ritual they undertake, but most significantly, they will get the lions share of tickets.

This has upset Stephen Thompson, the Dundee Utd chairman, who loves a rammy, especially with the SFA.

In response to claims that United were asking for just 8,000 tickets, and were happy with the venue, the club released a statement.

” Are we fuck. ”

Well, okay, I’ve paraphrased a bit there.. here’s the full statement.

” Are we fuck. Fuck off. ”

Well, thats what they meant;

In response to the Scottish FA statement regarding ticketing information for the upcoming William Hill Scottish Cup semi final, Dundee United suggests there appears to be some confusion in this incomplete account, which certainly does not reflect the position of the Club.

Our position on the need for a neutral venue remains the same also. We still hope that the Scottish FA will revisit this as there is still time to do so. However, should that not be the case, we urge as many United supporters as possible to attend the tie and get behind the team and counter the lack of neutrality which, amongst other things, exaggerates any ticketing imbalance. This imbalance would not be such a factor at a genuinely neutral venue. 

Which means someone at the SFA is telling lies. Which begs the question, why are they telling lies ?

Thats easy. Its because thats what they do. These cheating egotistical dinosaurs are intent on self preservation, and the preservation of the club that nearly dragged Scottish football down with it into a stinking cesspit of corruption, lies and cheating.

Except that the fans wouldn’t allow it.

Except that there are still men of integrity -like Stephen Thompson, like Turnbull Hutton, who will not allow these peepil to get away with their crimes, and not allow them to behave as though nothing has happened, and that its business as usual in the corridors of power.

So, that basic instinct which kicks in every time any incarnation pertaining to belong to the peepil appears, is not to be denied. Nor is it to be blamed on the “Old Firm ” rivalry.

Its based on a desire to see the corruption of the old order washed away, and replaced with a new order, thriving on sporting integrity and honesty.

You know, we always say that a new player can become “celtic minded “, yet we never give the board the same credit. On this issue, I have a feeling that Lawwell especially is as keen to root out the SFA establishment as anyone else. Actually, its more than a feeling.

We’re nearly there. Lets not lose sight of the winning post.

Bloody hell, I’d no idea I felt so strongly about that issue until I started the first paragraph, which may have over run.

I hope I haven’t been boring you.

Back to the football, and Adam Matthews is drew the short straw and took his turn speaking to the papers. Matthews, if he stays, and I hope he does, is unlucky in a sense. With Mikael Lustig the first choice right back, he might feel a wee bit put out, but in the flying Welshman, we have a superb right midfielder whose pace and tenacity  could well be a match winner at the highest level, especially away from home.

First, he looked forward to the weekend, and the game against St. Mirren;

“In the second half against Kilmarnock we were really good and we want to take that into Saturday,” he said at Lennoxtown .

“We want to win the title as quickly as possible and we’re just keeping focused on the next game. We can’t worry about how Aberdeen are doing, so it’s three games for us, three big games, and we want to keep playing the way we are.

“I want to keep trying to play well, keep fit and stay away from injury and hopefully get a run in the team.

“This season’s been my worst for injuries so I’m just trying to keep improving in every game and trying to win every game from now until the end of the season.”

Significantly, thats the first time anyone at Celtic has mentioned a team they are not playing….

He also spoke about other things…

and said: “We wanted to win every competition we were in this season.

“We are disappointed with the way we played in the cups but our league form has been brilliant and we want to keep that going to the end.

“Last season we did really well in the cups, but I think that hindered our league form.

“It has obviously switched around this year.

“Hopefully, next season we can put the two together and win every competition we are in.”

A tall order ? Ach, it won’t be the first time….

Elsewhere, there has been consternation after it was revealed that Police Scotland had vetoed the original Aberdeen tifo for the League Cup final, after they claimed it had “IRA connotations ”

From “The Parrot” on twitter;

Actually, this is the real one. Quite what the connection with the IRA is escapes me.

I’ve got a busy day today. I need to head to the police station, to bail the wife out. apparently she smashed up one of those self service machines in Tesco, when it announced there was an “unexpected bag in the bagging area”. And her diet isn’t working, mainly because she should be eating poached eggs, not Cadburys.

Then I’ve to book our flights to Jersey, where I’m heading to a wedding next month. We are going by Ryan Air, because their tight fuel policy means that if the plane goes missing it won’t be found any more than fifty miles away.

The three front men in the picture yesterday were Peter Latchford, Roddie MacDonald, and alan Hansen. The look of terror on Hansens face is because he is about to head a ball, something he famously tried to avoid throughout his career. Presumably in case it gave him some sort of brain damage that affected his speech or thinking.

Today, a conversation between a world class defender, and a man who thinks he’s a world class defender. What are they saying ?