Dramatic picture or what ? Well, there is a reason;

Celtic have released a statement showing concern about shareholders who have been receiving unsolicited advice;

IT has come to our attention that recently a number of shareholders have received unsolicited telephone calls concerning their investments in Celtic plc.

Shareholders should be wary of any unsolicited advice, offers or other communications regarding their shares and/or personal information.

Following a recent increase in the prevalence of so-called ´boiler room´ scams, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICSA) have produced a leaflet warning investors about unsolicited communications concerning investment matters, which is available in full by going to:
http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/scams/investment-scams/share-fraud-and-boiler-room-scams

Please note the following recommendations in particular if you receive any unsolicited investment advice:
– Make sure you get the correct name of the person and organisation.
– Check that they are properly authorised by the FCA before getting involved by visiting http://www.fca.org.uk/register
– Report the matter to the FCA either by calling 0800 111 6768.
– or visiting www.fca.org.uk/consumer
– If the calls persist, hang up.

Coming on the heels of the news that Craig Whyte has just had his castle repossessed, we’d all be wise to be wary.

Whyte, who tried to rescue old Rangers, but was stumped when his manager, the underrated ally McCoist failed to take his team into the money laden UCL proved the old adage that if you want to get a million pounds, start with a billion and buy a football club.

I doubt he’s skint , though, just probably not as wealthy as certain sections of the Scottish press thought he was when he rode into town to dupe David Murray into selling him the toxic club that no-one else wanted.

Whyte , the classic asset stripper, did what we all do when we move out of a house, even taking the heating oil as he took away everything that wasn’t nailed down.

Everywhere will be just that little bit duller without him.

Back to Celtic, and Stefan Johansen, the Norwegian midfielder that has Celtic fans saying “Joe who ?” is loving life at Celtic. Despite never having the hoops as his favourite subbuteo team, he has taken to the club almost imediately since arriving from Stromgodset earlier this year.

“I think the people, not only in Glasgow, but all Scottish people are very nice. When you go to restaurants, they are nice to you.

“When someone comes to ask for a picture, it’s always nice. I have never had a bad experience.

“That’s how it is in a club like Celtic. You are a player for a huge club and the club means a lot to the city. But it’s only positive.

“Also, it’s important to give something back to the fans. They come week in, week out. If you are out shopping and they ask for a picture, of course you give it. Just be nice and they are nice to you.”

Predictably, the obligatory question about Neil Lennon moving to Norwich was thrown in;

“Of course it would be sad because I think he’s a fantastic manager,” the Norway international said.

“He brought me over here and we have a good relationship. He has let me play from the moment Joe (Ledley) left the club.

“He helps me a lot in training and he is a very good manager so I will be sad if he goes.

“He knows what the club is for and he knows how to win. He creates winners and losing is never an option for him.

“He gives young guys a chance also. That’s important for a manager, to give players a chance, and it’s good to back up young guys and new guys.

“But he demands to win and that’s what I like about him as a manager.”

“First of all we have to finish this season and start to prepare for the Champions League,” he said. “We can qualify for the group stage for a third time in a row. So we have more to achieve here and every player wants him to be here.”

He sounds like he’s been here a lot longer than a few months, and early indications are that we’ve picked up a gem. A sort of faster , stronger John Collins, with an unprecedented work rate.

We’re maybe now only a player or two short of being a very good side again. Perhaps a little more creativity, although the diamond formation moves the ball with such swiftness that its not entirely neccessary, and maybe a striker for when Leigh Griffiths finally goes completely of the rails, and last sixteen again is not only a possibility, but a likelihood.

Thats if we keep the players we’ve already got, mind. Fraser Forster remains the likeliest to go, and Virgil van Dijk may well be tempted elsewhere, but with the club not needing to sell, then we can remain optimistic, if not confident, of a more enjoyable season next time round.

Depressingly, FootballFan Cast has a list of the five players Celtic should cash in on this summer…

Derk Boerrigter is first up…

“Quite frankly, the £3million signing has all the makings of a transfer dud – despite his relatively lucrative arrival fee and Celtic’s unprecedented dominance of the Scottish top flight this season, Boerrigter has continually failed to deliver in his first Parkhead campaign.

Considering a number of Dutch sides would live to get their hands on the former Ajax, Waalwijk and Zwolle man, Lennon should cut his losses on the summer signing before Boerrigter’s value depreciates even further.”

Perhaps, but watching Boerrigter in the admittedly few appearances he has made, there is a player in there, and he’s worth another chance. If for no other reason than if we don’t nobody will actually pay for him. 

Second on the list is Fraser Forster..

” Do Celtic really require the talismanic goalkeeping services of Fraser Forster to maintain their dominance on the SPL? ”

If, as the website suggests, this was written by a Celtic fan, I’m glad he doesn’t sit next to me at the ground. I’d like to think the club is a little more ambitious than looking for just domestic domination. 

Then Anthony Stokes gets it…

” Plenty of Championship sides have shown an interest in the former Sunderland and Hibernian striker in the past, and considering the influx in finance now available in the English second tier, it could be a case of Stokes’ market worth now exceeding his utility to the Celtic cause. ”

Just as he was coming into form as well…hang on, influx of finance in the English championship…take a look at this table of debt, released today;

The numbers are in millions of pounds. In case you wondered. 

Then Beram Kayal, though its hard to disagree with this one..

The Buoys are better off relinquishing the services of a clearly unhappy player, and with just a year left on the former Macabi Haifa star’s contract, Neil Lennon’s hands are relatively tied in regards to letting Kayal leave.

Cashing in, though, is perhaps not quite the right term. We’ll be lucky if a potential suitor pays for the taxi. 

And last, but not least, Virgil van Dijk…

” Following on from Beram Kayal, if there’s one thing the Scottish champions have learned from the Israeli’s plight it’s that holding onto a sought-after player for too long can be incredibly detrimental to his transfer value.

With that in mind, Celtic should look to cash in on Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk this summer whilst the iron is still hot.”

This guy shouldn’t even be allowed a season ticket. Christy Malyan , the writer , is obviously just looking for a reaction. He’s got one. From me.

Don’t talk shite.

Speaking of talking shite, its Hugh Keevins time again !

This time, the senile scribe has been discussing Ally McCoists recent singalong after his club were beaten by Raith Rovers in the Ramsdens Cup, much to the delight of the civilised world.

With the Record also deciding that they would remind us that Celtic, too, had been beaten in a Cup final by Raith Rovers, ( at least we took them to penalties ) granted a more prestigious one that gave them a place in Europe-where they actually led Bayern munich in Gemany at one stage;

Can Rangers win the League

Cup? It took us six months to get

over the agony of our defeat to

Raith Rovers, says Celtic great

Peter Grant

perhaps it was too much to expect a balanced and informative article from Keevins. Scratch that. Its always too much to expect anything like that from Keevins.

Hugh Keevins: Ally McCoist is a

chip off the old jock

Jock Wallace ? Fair point. The old soldier wasn’t a great manager either. His idea of training was to run up and down some sand dunes. And then do it again. Then all the players would crawl through the hedges around a council estate with twigs in their hair and dirt on their faces. Probably. 

AFTER Ally McCoist took to the karaoke machine in the wake of Rangers Cup defeat HUGH says his judgement ground should be the pitch not a hospitality suite.

Er, I think thats sort of what they have already done. This pose, which McCoist was frozen into, shows a man showing us that he is more concerned about appearing thoughful than actually doing any thinking. Either that or he wants to pick his nose and isn’t sure if the camera is on him. 

IF Ally McCoist had done something which Jock Stein had done before him, that would be acceptable, wouldn’t it?

Hang on, he means Jock Stein! He’s really gone this time. 

After all, big Jock’s determination to succeed for Celtic was second to none.

And he would rather have ripped his heart out than bring discredit on the club.

Were the great man still with us today, it wouldn’t be his own heart he’d be looking to rip out…. 

So let’s revisit the night of October 23, 1971.

Celtic were halfway through winning the original nine in a row and had become the first British club to win the European Cup.

And had been in another European Cup final since, and were feared throughout Europe. 

Stein had been sounded out about Manchester United. There were even overtures from Rangers.

Wow, the eternal runners up were after him….there can be no greater praise. Nurse, he’s fallen out of bed again. 

On October 23 Celtic played Partick Thistle in the League Cup Final and many considered the outcome a foregone conclusion.

But with 36 minutes gone, Stein’s Celtic trailed 4-0.

It was so seismic BBC’s Grandstand, the Sky Sports News of its day, refused to read the result out until it had been verified.

Kenny Dalglish pulled one back with 20 minutes to go but it was to be the last goal of the game.

The Jags had won their first major trophy for half a century and, 43 years later, the memory lingers on.

So, we got beat. It happened occasionally, very occasionally , in those days. 

And what has this got to do with McCoist?

Yes, pray tell why the greatest  manager in the Scottish game can possibly be compared to that idiot. 

That night, Big Jock had a sing-song.

He had gone spare in the dressing room and accused his defeated side of lacking the correct attitude.

But later Jock joined family and friends in the Marie Stuart hotel across from Hampden.

He carried in what was described as a “big wally water jug” and told the revellers that would have to do in place of the trophy.

That brought the house down and Stein, an accomplished singer, was the life and soul of the party.

The bastard ! Right, I’m off to take down that statue. Who’s with me ? 

His party piece was a rendition of Auld Scots Mother Mine, as opposed to McCoist’s romp through the back catalogues of Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteen.

Presumably not ” Glory Days ” . Perhaps “Born to be a Hun ” , though. I think thats what its called. Maybe “Brilliant disguise ” would perhaps be a more apt song.

The moral to the story concerns perspective.

He’s compared Jock Stein with Ally McCoist. and now he mentions perspective. 

You might argue that, had Stein been prey to social networkers with phone cameras and an investigative media, he would have been receiving the flak that engulfs Rangers’ manager.

Or you could say he was trophy-laden and widely respected in a way that has eluded Ally.

Really ? Do you think ? 

Or maybe you could simply ask when drowning your sorrows with a beer and a belt at the karaoke became the cause of outrage?

How many Rangers supporters have taken to the drink as a form of anaesthetic when defeat has been too painful to bear?

It’s practically a national pastime, for heaven’s sake.

Rangers fans are entitled to their embarrassment and disgust in the wake of defeat by Raith Rovers and their manager’s record in cups is poor.

Perhaps it could be that Hughs fat friend is raping the club of much needed cash at the rate of over £800,000 a year. With no sign of giving a shit. 

Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Dundee United is a test of credibility for McCoist.

He has been accused of not knowing what he’s doing when it comes to team selection and tactical change.

If there are calls for his head, that goes with the territory.

But his judgment ground is the pitch and not a hospitality suite.

He pays Lee McCulloch over ten grand a week. That would be enough to judge him on for most people. 

Having a gregarious personality and being a good chanter are not grounds for dismissal.

Gregarious ? 

 

Otherwise Ally will create a distinction no one else in the profession will ever attain.

I think he already has. Just not the one Hugh is hinting at. 

Fancy a day out in Aberdeen this Saturday ? A day out when you can make your voice heard ?

The Celtic Trust is planning a protest against the Arrest the guy in the green and white scarf Act.

Protest against the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act

Anyone who is free is welcome to join the protest against this discriminatory piece of legislation which will take place at the SNP Conference being held in Aberdeen this weekend.

A coach will leave George Square on Saturday morning at 9.30am and the plan is to return from Aberdeen at around 4.30pm.

There is no Celtic fixture scheduled for this Saturday so if you would like a day in Aberdeen protesting against this Act which seeks to criminalise football fans just for being such, go the the Fans Against Criminalisation website and book your place on the bus. There is no charge for the trip we just need your presence.

Well, what are you waiting for ? The Trust is carrying on the fight, it just needs to strengthen the numbers in the infantry.

The caption competition had me chuckling at the answers yesterday, some crackers in there.

Already stuck with the image of Efe Ambrose singing the merry ploughboy, it was a relief to spend the evening bursting into frequent bursts of ” non, je ne regrette rien ” thanks to conner1888. Followed by a burst of giggles.

Todays caption is a little more serious. Neil Doncaster was caught on camera at Easter Road looking rather uncomfortable sitting next to the Easdale brothers.

He was also caught on camera on his way out…

Whats on that piece of paper ?