Right, this time it really is Wednesday. I’ve checked.

Aberdeen did us all a favour last night by dropping points in their game against Ross County. It finished 1-1, and that means Celtic can win the league with a victory at Firhill tonight, live on sky sports.

For those of us who lived through the nineties-or even the fifties and early sixties-three in a row is something to savour. We’ve seen the bad times, and boy, some of them were bad. We’ve trudged home after games knowing that the season was over before the clocks went forward.

Well, maybe thats the case this year, but none of us will be trudging anywhere.

Enjoy it. you can’t get ten in a row without doing three in a row first.

Partick, though, cannot be expected to roll over and die. Scott Paterson, the Partick assistant coach, writing in the Evening Times, claims his side need the points.

”  The three points mean as much to us as they do to Celtic as we are fighting for our lives in the bottom six and we need every point we can get as we look to avoid the relegation play-off place this season. ”

A view echoed by Mexican defender Gabriel Piccolo;

“We are not focused on what’s going to happen with Celtic, we are focused on picking up points and doing things well that we’ve been doing.

“But of course our crowd and our fans don’t want to see Celtic winning the league here.

“We’re doing out part, Celtic should worry about their part.”

Bless him. He shouldn’t worry about his fans. There won’t be that many of them there.

However, it looks like the days of clubs rolling over are long gone. Actually, the clubs involved in that scenario a few years back  are long gone as well. From the top level, at any rate.

So, how are the papers looking at the game tonight ? Whats the build up like ?

The Daily Record goes with;

Celtic boss Neil Lennon insists he’s learned to hide

pain of defeat as he celebrates four years in

Parkhead hotseat

with the accompanying picture…

I’m not even going to bother with the text of the article, you can guess whats in it from the picture and the headline.

I did.

The Evening Times has;

Some at Celtic have yet to earn their stripes in

hoops

Followed by an article that effectively says most of the players are shite, and the ones that aren’t will be leaving.

The Herald ?

Lennon: Rangers will take time to rebuild

I didn’t bother after the opening paragraph…

” Lennon will deliver a third consecu­tive league title if Celtic beat Partick Thistle at Firhill tonight, after closest challengers Aberdeen were held at Ross County last night.

He couldn’t even be arsed using his full name, or calling him “Mr “

Dave King, the former Rangers director, who wants to finance an investment plan for the beleaguered Ibrox club, has said it could take £30m-£50m to make them competitive with Celtic again and said he was prepared to provide the lion’s share of that to make them SPFL Premiership title contenders as early as 2015/16.

So fucking what ? Now that Gwyneth Paltrow has split from her husband I want her to phone me. but it won’t happen. By the way, the split came after she finally got round to listening to a Coldplay album. 

What about over the water ? Surely the papers there are a wee bit more enthusiastic ?

The Irish Independent has ;

Lennon: Celtic will get stronger when Rangers

return

which includes this;

” Lennon, of course, has not had to deal with Rangers this season or last and the gap created by the exile of the other half of the Old Firm is unlikely to be as easily bridged as was felt in some quarters when the Ibrox side dropped through the leagues.

Dave King, the former director who has urged the board to accept a share issue, this week declared that it would take £30-£50m to bring Rangers back to competitive parity with Celtic.

“I’m not so sure about that – £50m is a lot of money and I’m not convinced the owners would want to go down that road again, too quickly,” Lennon said. ”

I would think the banks would maybe want a bit of time to think about it as well.

I was about to give up, but the Scotsman gave us this,  surprisingly, with no name credited to it. Probably because someone will drag him onto the car park and give him a proper kicking.

Neil Lennon celebrates 4 years in charge at Celtic

Complete with non -snarling picture 

BIRTHDAY wishes, rather than anniversary greetings, were uppermost on Neil Lennon’s mind yesterday.

But if 25 March will always be most prominent in his thoughts as it is his father Gerry’s birthday, the date also holds significant personal significance for the Celtic manager.

It was four years ago that aspiring coach Lennon, then in charge of the club’s development squad, was placed in 
interim charge of the first team following the sacking of Tony Mowbray.

Tonight at Firhill, Lennon will mark his 220th game in charge of Celtic as they close in on their third successive championship triumph under his guidance.

“It’s been a pretty good four years, I have to say,” he reflected. “I don’t get carried away or get too excited about it but I’m pretty proud of what we’ve done so far. It’s my dad’s birthday too, so it’s a double celebration for me.

“We have made significant progress in that period which is probably more pleasing than anything else. We’re on the brink of another championship which, again, means a very exciting few days ahead for us.”

Lennon has come a considerable distance since those initial days in the role, which included the shocking 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Ross County at Hampden which he feared would scupper his prospects of being handed the reins on a permanent basis.

Now 42, he believes he has matured as Celtic manager and modified the way he conducts himself on match days.

“It was the exuberance of being in the job for the first time and wanting to make an impression,” he said. “I look at Tim Sherwood at Spurs at the minute and I see similarities to the way I was when I first got the Celtic job.

“Certainly, behaviour-wise and with experience you grow into it and are maybe not as histrionic on the touchline as you used to be, although you are still as competitive as ever.

“The hurt still doesn’t go away when you lose games and the competitive juices are still there when you’re on the touchline, but certainly when you’re looking at yourself from the outside, there have definitely been changes. That day when we lost to Ross County, I was thinking ‘Well, that’s certainly put a dent in it’.

“Like all things in football, people are very quick to make decisions, but thankfully the people upstairs took everything into consideration and still gave me the job at the end of the 
season.

“I think the manager’s job has become more and more difficult because you’re under so much analysis. The social media side of things has really gone into overdrive. Everyone has an opinion. Your personality traits, your tactics – everything is discussed to the nth degree.

“I’m not talking about the press, because I think it’s been pretty good over the four years. I’m talking about the people out there in cyberworld who analyse you to death.”

An avid student of other managers, Lennon takes inspiration from how the leading lights in his profession have coped with adversity to enjoy longevity in the technical area.

“It takes incredible reserves of inner strength at times,” he added. “I always look at those managers – Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho – who, although they have had great success, they have had huge disappointments as well. It always fascinates me how they bounce back.

“Over the 27 years when Sir Alex was in charge of Manchester United, you always think about the great achievements he had, but there were huge disappointments – two Champions League finals, losing league titles on the last day to Man City and Blackburn – and I often wonder how he felt.

“Everyone thinks about the club, but the amount of work you put into it just to lose the title on the last day or lose a major cup final – how did he feel about that?

“It’s a really desolate place as a manager sometimes but he showed great inner strength to come back stronger the next year. Despite all the outside criticisms, outside influences and negative influences, he seemed to be able to let it bounce off him. You wouldn’t be human if it didn’t affect you sometimes, but you overcome it.

“It’s a pride thing. Your team is you, an extension of you on the pitch and when you lose it dents your pride. When you win it goes the other way, and at a big club you are expected to win, the expectation level gets bigger and bigger every year. Sometimes unrealistically.”

Lennon is satisfied with the relentless manner his team have marched towards the Premiership title this season, losing just one game so far.

“It speaks volumes for the players,” he said. “There is an apathy towards us sometimes from outwith the club but I’ve got to ignore that and put a team out that satisfies me as well as the Celtic public.

“I’ve found it a little bit more difficult this year compared to previous seasons because of the quality we lost last summer and then trying to replace that quality and build again. But we are now starting to see the green shoots coming through of the players who came in. They are showing their qualities. That augurs well for next season but I would still like to strengthen in one or two positions. The squad might be a little bit more competitive. At times I think we are a little thin in some areas, in terms of quality. But that’s the challenge that lies ahead.

“I think we are playing very well at the minute and I’m enjoying watching my team. The likes of Leigh Griffiths will get better, as will Nir Biton and Stefan Johansen and there’s more to come from Virgil van Dijk. It’s looking good for the rest of this season and going into next season as well.

“Some days I think my four years has gone quickly and other days I think it’s been much longer. You always have regrets but you can’t have the perfect scenario. If you won every game and every trophy then people would take it for granted.

“Over the piece we’ve got to be pretty content with where we are. We’re excited about this week but to go to Partick Thistle with a full house under the floodlights will be like the old days and pretty special. The players are really looking forward to each game now.”

Whoever wrote that piece deserves praise, firstly for a balanced, interesting and informative article, and secondly, for slipping it past the editor and getting it published 

I said it was balanced, informative and interesting. 

Still want to claim it ? 

Pigs will fly before that man comes up with an article of that quality.

He’s a trier, isn’t he ?

Theres a bit of transfer news, and a bit of speculation as well….from the official website…

George Clooney signs for Celtic

Now, apart from the fact he’s fifty two, and has no experience at this level, it means that I can’t go to games in peace anymore as thousands of love struck women will be waiting to ambush me, having made the reasonable mistake of thinking that I’m George Clooney.

Hang on, its not so bad.

” CELTIC FC Foundation is delighted to announce a new education programme in which Smthycroft Secondary and one of its partner primary schools, Carntyne Primary, will be joining our Digital Education programme – and it’s all thanks to George Clooney signing three Celtic shirts!

The proceeds from the sales will be used to help fund our Digital Education work.

The Hollywood actor asked that the programmes funded by the shirt sales have some focus on the human rights work he is engaged in and this work will form a substantial part of the project at Smithycroft Secondary and Carntyne Primary. ”

Phew, thats alright then.

Sporting Preview.com lists three strikers that would be a good addition to our squad….

Adrian Ramos – Hertha Berlin

There’s no two ways about it, Colombian strikers – see Radamel Falcao and Jackson Martinez – are prolific scorers, and Ramos is no different.

Plying his trade for German club Hertha Berlin, the 28-year-old has struck 15 times in 25 league outings this season, a whopping 43 percent of the club’s league total.

With qualification for next season’s Europa League only an outside shot for Berlin, a move to Scotland for guaranteed Champions League football could be just enough appeal to see Ramos sign on.

Ciro Immobile – Torino

A 2011/12 loan spell with Pescara aside, Immobile endured a frustrating career before landing at Torino from Juventus.

In his debut season with the Serie A side he’s scored 12 times from 21 starts, while assisting his teammates twice too.

Those performances, for Italian top-flight mid-tablers, have him on the cusp of a World Cup spot, whereby his stock will no doubt rise further.

Ikechukwu Uche – Villarreal

Age isn’t on the side of Nigerian Uche, who at 30-years-old is playing for his sixth Spanish club and enjoying his best season for some time.

Despite the Yellow Submarine’s Europa League-challenging position in Spain, Celtic could still offer the 12-goal frontman more regular playing time than the 15 starts he’s made in La Liga this term and the chance of winning some silverware as his career hits the home-stretch too.

Immobile ? Haven’t we already got him ?

Jock Stein was the man signing for Celtic , as cover for the defence, all those years ago. He did quite well, I suppose….

Whats going on here ?