Confusion shall reign upon the land.
Nearly every news outlet has picked up on story of Neil Lennon heading for the sunnier climes and quiet life at Norwich city. Despite no further quotes to add to the one where he said there had been no offer, there have been the rumours about his visit to a hotel in the area, so much so that a well known leisure chain actually had a competition to find him yesterday. We believe Peter Lawwell put up the prize money.
Ladbrokes claim he is keen on the job, and bookies do tend to have their own sources which are rarely wrong.
Then there was this;
Neil Lennon to be named Norwich manager within next 48 hours. You heard it here first
The BBC, for reasons best known to themselves, employ Crooks as a summariser, and they said ;
“Garth is not on Twitter, this is a completely fake account.”
Confused ?
Well, obviously not as confused as the guy who woke up one morning and decided he would pretend to be Garth Crooks.
Perhaps he needs to sort his head out. But even that can be confusing, and open to misunderstanding.
Celtic strike duo, Leigh Griffiths and Anthony Stokes have been the subject of unwanted attention due to love of belting out a tune, and have been told that during the summer break they should go and sort their heads out
Hair transplants. Not quite what was ordered, but they seem eager to please, bless them.
Matthew Lindsay-now theres a confused chap-writing in the Evening Times, claims that Virgil van Dijk was overlooked for the Dutch World Cup squad because he plays in Scotland;
VIRGIL van Dijk missed out on the chance to play in the World Cup due to the low regard Scottish football is held in back in his homeland.
Lindsay, who has Dutch boss Louis van Gaal on speed dial went on to elaborate;
The Dutch centre-half has been outstanding for Celtic since his £2.6million transfer from Groningen last summer.
The 22-year-old only failed to pick up the Player of the Year awards due to the stunning form of his Hoops team- mate Kris Commons.
Yet, the former under-21 international has not been included in the Holland squad for Brazil this summer.
Louis van Gaal, set to be confirmed as Manchester United manager, has repeatedly overlooked the defender despite his stunning displays domestically and in Europe.
You have to say, thats, er, stunning.
Van Dijk knows this is partially due to the fact the SPFL Premiership is not rated as highly as other leagues across the continent.
” If only there was a strong Rangers in the top division, ” whined the Dutch defender ” Then I would have been a better player and would have represented my country on the biggest stage of all. If I had known that Rangers were to have been punished so much I would have stayed with Gronigen. “
Oh, alright, van Dijk didn’t say that, but Lindsay would have been hoping he did. Surprisingly, he didn’t publish it anyway.
Van Dijk did say….
“There is a big difference playing here in Scotland and playing in Holland,” he said. “I have learned about the British style of playing the game this season.
“I thought I would need more time to adapt to Scottish football. But I settled in at Celtic very quickly and I have enjoyed my first season here very much.”
He went on: “I am definitely a better player because of the experience. There is a big difference between Dutch and European football and British football and Scottish football.
“I have learned how to play the two of them now. I am sure that this will stand me in good stead in the future.”
Van Dijk added: “In Holland teams want to play football all the time. Even when they are under pressure. Even when they are 2-0 down. They always want to play.
“Here, though, it is far more physical. The referee allows the game to continue after incidents which the game would be stopped for back home.
“There are more long balls. You do not get the same amount of time on the ball. I have been used to having more time on the ball to pick my passes and so on
“That is the big difference. It has been good for my personal development to learn that because obviously I have played in Holland all of my life.”
He also sang the praises of his team mate Fraser Forster, who is, as Lindsay took time to point out, is going to the World Cup, presumably because the English rate the Scottish top division more than the Dutch.
” Fraser is a very good goalkeeper and that is why he has received this recognition. He got his chance in the England squad and deserves to be going to the World Cup.
“Fraser is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He broke the Scottish shut-out record this season and is a phenomenal player and a great guy off the pitch.
“I know he is not the first-choice keeper for England, but, having seen him perform well at the highest level in the Champions League, I know what he is capable of. If he has to play over in Brazil he will not be daunted by that prospect no matter who he is up against. I know he would play well on that stage.”
with the interview going well, and the big man not giving Lindsay any spectacular headlines, it was time for the Inverness fan to throw in a googly.
Forster is widely expected to leave Celtic after four years during the close season, with a Barclays Premier League club the most likely destination.
Van Dijk’s future has also been the subject of intense speculation as a result of his eye-catching displays for Celtic in the 2013/14 campaign.
His agent Henk-Maarten Chin caused controversy earlier this season when he claimed that top clubs down in England were monitoring his progress.
And this week the centre- back, who turned down the chance to move to Russia and join Kuban Krasnodar last year, was linked with Moscow Dynamo.
But the player is contracted to Celtic for another three years and it would take a substantial offer – somewhere in the region of £8m – for his employers to allow him to leave.
Van Dijk has repeatedly stressed that he is happy to remain at the Hoops and he will not be downhearted if no move materialises in the coming weeks and months.
He is keen for another crack at the Champions League with the Hoops and believes he can continue to improve with Neil Lennon’s side.
He said: “I want to keep getting better as a player and keep winning trophies with Celtic.
“We had disappointments in the cups this season and can do better. There is much that I can still do here and a lot that I want to achieve.”
Talk about confusion, Lindsay seemed to give up the fight during that article, and it will be interesting to see what else he comes out with this summer. Perhaps his head has gone down a wee bit with news that despite staying open over the weekend, the ticket office at Ibrox is unlikely to shift the thirty or so thousand season books required to pay the bills for the next few months.
But they haven’t played their trump card yet !
Ally McCoist has yet to make his heartfelt appeal to the masses-they hate being called that- which will no doubt boost the figures and set the good ship Rangers back on an even keel.
Mind you, he’ll have to be quick, and no-one seems to know where he is…..
We hear he’s taking time out to think things over
and has decided not to walk away, as such.
Another controversy that needs investigating was brought to our attention last night. Celtic Research , on twitter, tells us;
Scottish football must be in clover if the SPFL can afford to pay £225k per year to BT towards their costs of televising Sevco matches
At the time of the TV negotiations around the liquidation of Rangers, Doncaster offered the deal to SKY/ESPN then sold this as a “victory.
Why ?
In Doncaster’s eyes, the Rangers brand had to be saved above all else and giving the broadcasters sweeteners was part of that. There’s more
At the time of the Rangers admin, dissatisfaction with TV deals meant the SPL were well down the road of producing their own content
That was ditched immediately because of info given to the SPL executive. We then went cap in hand to the broadcasters giving away our game
There was even more SPL generosity offered towards making sure that the the Sevco brand was given publicity in the form of viewer subsidy.
The SPL then agreed to pay ESPN (then BT) an amount per viewer if there total audience for the season fell short of their modest target.
That dear Scottish football fans amounted to another £200k+ subsidy of the Rangers brand which had to be promoted in the “games interests.”
Of course, the Scottish press will be all over this, especially as the summer recess will mean they should be desperate for something to fill space….won’t they ?
Neil Doncaster is actually paying people to buy the product he is supposed to be marketing.
Confused ?
I am. How did that fucking idiot get the job, and who does he have photographs of to keep him in it ?
Scottish football is a marketable product, there will be over fifty thousand non central belt supporters at Celtic Park today for the showpiece Cup Final. Sky tv have been promoting it all morning.
These people want to show Scottish football, they want to be involved with Scottish football.
How hard can it be to sell something to someone who wants to buy it ?
Leigh Griffiths was the man in the photo yesterday admiring his league winners medal.
Someones got a new book out this week . Who ? And why will he never forget this game ?
Tommy Gemmell, he kicked helmut haller up the arse and big Jock dropped him for a cup final
Could’ve been worse. He could’ve kicked Haller up the helmut.
Ooyah!
One of my favourite footballing moments seeing big Tommy getting clipped, then you can almost see him snapping and thinking to himself “F eck this, I have had enough of this , c’mere you to I kick you up the arse ! In true Bishop Brennan style in Father Ted.
If that is true about Doncaster then every other club in the SPFL should demand his immediate resignation. Absolute amateur and not good enough for the job.
Wrong game. I think Tommy Gemmell was sent off in a 3-2 defeat by West Germany, played in Germany.
The kick in the spuds he gave Ayala in Montevideo was by far the best shot he ever hit.
Remember he chased him to do it, think the c-nt had done jinky. HH
Seems the Ibrokes youth team get more media coverage for winning a diddy cup then we do winning the youth league for 5 years now!!
Some things will never change…unless they die forever this time…that’s cheered me up!!
Big Virgil shouldn’t go to Russia as it’s not a place for Dutchmen…a wee Dick went there and the next think you know there’s a Pussy Riot. Stay away big man…your time will come