I missed the game yesterday, being only able to follow it on twitter while in Jersey airport, where my wife had to drag me screaming and kicking away from a couple of young girls who were offering free samples of assorted whisky. I’d have still been there this morning if she hadn’t.
A wee break at a wedding on the island, which has left me more exhausted than before I went away. but it was all good fun and the wife and I haven’t laughed so much in years, though not actually at the same things.
Jersey itself is a nice wee place, but you wouldn’t bother with a car. Theres nowhere to park, and nearly every house has converted its front garden into parking space, which gives the town a cluttered look, but I guess they are used to it.
On nearly every wall is a sign telling you your car will be clamped, or taken away.
Some people deal with it better than others.
While I was in the airport, Celtic beat Dundee Utd 3-1, meaning that when Anthony Stokes opened the scoring, the Celts achieved the 100 goal target, Georgios Samaras scored a penalty to make it two and Kris Commons got the third after Filip Twardzik scored an own goal .
Samaras was making his final appearance in the hoops, and he left us with food for thought, and perhaps a hint as to who actually runs the team, when he told us;
“I’m leaving, that’s for sure, but it was not my decision. I never had an offer from the club.
“I never had an offer from Peter Lawwell.
“I have been seven years at the club and I would have loved to stay. I had a chat with the manager. He would have loved me to stay and I was happy to stay but me and the gaffer don’t make the decisions – there are people higher up.
“I have not spoken to any other club. I was waiting to the end to see if they offered me anything but that is the end.”
Neil Lennon said, somewhat wistfully;
“I would imagine his mind is made up. I wouldn’t have thought there would be
any negotiations.
“He is going to join up with the Greek World Cup squad pretty soon so I don’t know if I will get the chance to see him again.
“It would look that way. It was a nice touch by Kris to give Sami the chance to say goodbye properly.
“We wanted to give him that too.
“I don’t think it’s any big secret, it doesn’t look like he’s going to be here next year.
“If he does go he goes with the warmest wishes from the backroom team and players.”
Its probably the right time for him to move on. He’s been good, he’s been bad and he’s rarely been somewhere in between. If we got the good Samaras every week, he’d have been a legend, but that was never guaranteed, and as a result, neither was his place in the starting line up.
Wherever he ends up, we wish him well, and no doubt we’ll be keeping an eye out for his performances.
Samaras will be remembered for his tribute to young Jay Beattie, who has Downs Syndrome. Samaras walked around the pitch with the young lad in his arms, and said;
“I first met Jay in Ireland. He is a very special little boy, a massive Celtic fan and a huge inspiration. The whole team were very proud to have him with us today.”
Theres a video of the wee fellow on You Tube with the players on the team bus singing away and clearly having the time of his life. Neil Lennon gave him his title medal, and its times like this when “More than a club ” actually means something.
Another wee boy, Oscar Knox, has passed away .
Oscar had fought cancer bravely, but was taken home by the Lord . In Belfast, lanterns were released last night in his honour. Families watched from their doorsteps, and people looked to the sky as the bright lights floated upwards in a marvellous tribute to the wee mans courage and strength.
May he rest in peace.
Virgil van Dijk , who is expected to be the subject of some heavy bids, gave told the Record;
“I’ve really enjoyed our league campaign which has been great. But in the cups it
has been a little bit disappointing this season.
“I think next season we will do a lot better. We know we have to do better in the cups and I know we can do better.
“I still have a contract until 2017 but in football you never know what can happen so we will see.”
prompting the paper to say that the player had “given no assurances he would be around for the long haul.
But surely his predictions for next season means he’s at least considering staying ?
James Forrest has had surgery on his troublesome groin, and will be resting so that he can be ready for his next injury, which is expected to be during the Champions Legue qualifiers in July. Manage rNeil Lennon gave us the update;
“Jamesie will not be going away with Scotland for their game at Craven Cottage at the end of this month,” said Lennon.
“He has had surgery on his groin and needs a bit of time to recover.
“I don’t know if Nir Biton, who has been out for a few months, will be going away with Israel.
“But we are hoping they can both come back in good health for the start of our pre-season.”
With the season now over, Lennon was already looking ahead.
“The consistency has been fantastic this season, as has scoring over 100 goals and winning the league by such a big margin.
“Now we look forward to the qualifiers and making sure we are at the big table next season.”
And maybe a Cup or two….or at least a final. Or a semi final even,…
“It feels better because it’s the third one. I’m proud of the team and the way we finished the season with a win.
“The likes of Commons and Stokes can reflect on a really productive and remarkable season.
“Certainly the second half of the season there has been progress and improvement so it gives us a lot of encouragement to build on.
“The league campaign has been magnificent since day one and the consistency has been remarkable.
“It’s very special to win any sort of trophy. For a long time in the 80s and 90s it was a struggle for us but now we’re productive in terms of picking up trophies and being successful on and off the field.
“I’m proud to have joined that select band of Celtic managers.
“I’m one of the few who have been privileged enough to do this job and when you are here you want to make the most if it.
“We can be proud of what we have achieved in the last four years.”
Hearing that Etims had already begun assessing the season, with our highlights and lowlights already being discussed, the manager added his;
“My highlights? That’s a good question.
“Seeing Forster getting capped for England. That’s a remarkable achievement for a player playing his football in Scotland.
“Qualifying for the Champions League and the fact we have only lost one game out of 38 in the league is pretty good.
“It is difficult to predict anything but Fraser deserves to be in the squad. He has proved he is good enough and he has improved all the time over the past three seasons.
“Playing in Scotland can be detrimental to him. That’s not being disrespectful to him or the league but that’s in the eyes of other people, not my own.
“It will be huge feather in his cap and great for the club if he makes it.”
The word is that he will be in the squad for Brazil, ahead of John Ruddy of Norwich, who must have had a bummer of a weekend.
Lennon then told us what plans to do next;
“We want a break. I’m tired because it’s been a marathon season. It will be nice to get a break from it all, reflect on things, take stock, then get ready for being back in action in June.
“I’d imagine I’ll be talking to [chief executive] Peter Lawwell this week about things.
“That’s initially to get things up and running then I plan to have a holiday of some sort for two-and-a-half or three weeks. It’ll be welcome.”
He’s going to talk to Lawwell and get him to loosen the purse strings..wonder how that will pan out…
Poor Peter. He gets a terrible press, but he knows what to do to make it all better.
Celtic need to remember that its only the Scottish press who don’t think we’re a big club. Outside Scotland, everyone knows who we are. Its time we remembered who we are, as well.
Three in a row, seven to go.
Looking back at the season just gone, not enough is being made of the teams consistency in the league, which was astounding. Had Celtic mirrored the season before in the title race, it would have been a lot closer, so its maybe fair to say that although other clubs are getting better, so did we.
Lets hope that trend continues, and people start to see that the liquidation of rnagers will turn out to be a good thing.
Oh, okay, an even better thing than we first thought it would.
Although the bears think they’re onto something…
Whatever it is they are on about this time, it will no doubt have any basis in truth. Which is a coincidence, because nothing that comes from that side of the city ever does.
In his time at Celitc, whats Neil Lennon done that no-one else has ?
Spelt Celtic correctly?
“James Forrest has had surgery on his troublesome groin”
Titter ye not!
Are ra deeds under the water line?
Nice to see we’re keeping our heads well above the water while others have sunk without trace.
Hee Hee!
Welcome back,Ralph.
Nobody does parties better than Celtic.Walking up the iconic,
‘ The Celtic Way ‘ and taking my seat in Paradise,it was great to
see all the Green Flags,and the Green Brigade,making it a
visual spectacle.
As one of football’s greats,Lionel Messi says,” Nothing
compares to Celtic Park ”
A niece touch was Sparky Griffiths,with baby in arms,singing
‘ Let the People Sing ‘,I hope nobody will be offende by this
show of emotion.
Here we go to 10-in-a-row.
Won three in a row as both a player and as a manager?
No
Lenny achievements…made the Media come up with a world record number of excuses to give Manager of the year to anyone but him?
Congratulations also for Big Sammi on winning Eurovision.
Yesterday was a wonderful day of celebration at Parkhead, but also very poignant and touching with the tribute to Wee Oscar. I hope his family can take the slightest bit of consolation and solace from the heartfelt applause and tributes of the support.
We were also treated to two inspirational battlers in the form of Stan and Big Bad John presenting the league trophy, guys who have fought killer bastard conditions and are still standing tall. The game itelf was pretty rank but that is irrelevant for once.
I’d also like to pay tribute to Samaras for the way he has conducted himself as a Celt for the last 7 years. You could see how much Celtic means to him and, between him and Lenny, they gave young Jay a day he will never ever forget. Thanks Sammi, and all the best for whatever the future holds for you.
Its sad to see Sammy (THE Dr Sticky Boots) go – I think he is the longest serving member in the squad after Brown. One of the most frustrating players to watch week in, week out. You could usually tell within the first 10 mins what kind of game he was going to have. If he did something special that came off, he would be unplayable for the rest of the game, if he didn’t then we’d have been as well to take him off there and then. No middle ground from him whatsoever! Sven Goran Erikson when he managed Sammy at City pretty much summed it up – “He’s a good player but he needs to stop thinking he’s Ronaldinho.””
All the best to the Greek Gazelle.
When you hear what Sammy had to say I am yet again disgusted with how the board have conducted themselves. It is clear Neil wanted him to stay and for all his hot a cold remember how he drove us on v Karagandy in the final qualifier. Without him I don’t think we’d have had Champions league this season. Who will do the driving forward in Murrayfield this July if we’re in the s***?
A calendar
nooooo!
post lost in cyber space! included a tribute to Oscar, Sammi, yesterday and a nice wee dig at 2nd rangers fans. All gone!
Say what u want about Sammy, but Lo-well should take a good look at Celtic’s bank account and realize without Sammy’s efforts in CL games it would be MUCH MUCH lower. Treating a player who has been with us seven years like that is appalling. I keep hearing about the Celtic family and how they care for their own. It would appear that is somewhat insincere.
Ralph
I know I am raely short of words (just look in the Troll’s bin) but I find I can not better some of the statements you made in today’s diary. They express my feelings about so many topics even better than I could myself.
Sammy, “If we got the good Samaras every week, he’d have been a legend, but that was never guaranteed, and as a result, neither was his place in the starting line up.
Wherever he ends up, we wish him well, and no doubt we’ll be keeping an eye out for his performances.”
Wee Oscar & Jay,”…..and its times like this when “More than a club ” actually means something.”
The Club, “Celtic need to remember that its only the Scottish press who don’t think we’re a big club. Outside Scotland, everyone knows who we are. Its time we remembered who we are, as well.”
The season, “Had Celtic mirrored the season before in the title race, it would have been a lot closer, so its maybe fair to say that although other clubs are getting better, so did we.”
Finally, them that pretend to be what they are not seem to have found their true vocation in life. Discovering sinking ships is right up their street.
H H
Neil Lennon has, both as player and manager of Celtic, grown his hair in an aggressive manner that was likely to offend some poor souls of a club that used to exist. Neither his religion nor his nationality was ever an issue with these enlightened individuals.
It is believed that this hairstyle directly contributed to the demise of the former club.
GBNL
Brencelt,
Well said.I like that.
Thanks Holy sea.