Celtic Diary Monday May 19

Celtics under 19s won the League Cup with a 2-1 extra time victory over Ayr United yesterday. Ciaran Lafferty opened the scoring in the second half, but Ayr equalised with just twelve minutes to go. Luke Donnelly restored the lead at the start of extra time, and the kids held out to complete their own domestic treble, with the Glasgow Cup and the league title already in the cupboard.

The under 15s were unlucky. They made the final of the Nike Cup after a 1-1 draw with Manchester city, but lost on penalties in the final to Chelsea, who seem to have a fairly strong youth set up themselves. Chelsea at this level are sponsored by the National Lottery, which is a similar set up, offering hope to those who realistically have no chance of succeeding.

In the third game of interest yesterday, Scotland under 17s were swept aside by the Dutch 5-0 in their Eurpean championship semi final. Having missed the earlier games, I was looking forward to this one, as the youth set up has been overhauled recently, and an appearance in the semi final proved it must be working. The revolutionary tactic of hoofing the ball to a lone striker, coupled with giving the ball back to the Dutch at every possible opportunity might not look effective, but it certainly kept the score down to five.

Meanwhile, in the senior world, social media has been in overdrive, and theres all sorts of stories going round.

Alfred Finnboggasson, the great white hope himself, may yet end up in Glasgow, as Celtic  are rumoured to have offered/ will be offering £6m plus Tony Watt , which given that Watt scored a couple for Lierse in a friendly against Heerenveen while Finnbogasson was in opposition, might actually have some truth to it. Well, certainly some truth that its a rumour. It came from a Heerenveen fan site, but when you think of one or two fan sites that are attached to Celtic, then its maybe worth taking it with a pinch of salt.

Malky Mackay has moved back into pole position for the Norwich job, having been down to owner Delia Smiths  restaurant for a chat. At least, it looks like him.

Or it might be Neil Lennon. Norwich hasn’t seen such excitement since they pedestrianised the city centre.

The prospect of Neil Lennon hasn’t alarmed the Celtic support as much as the fear of who might get the job next. Many names are being spread over the web as peoples first choice, but they all add , with a sigh, that we will end up with Jackie MacNamara, which is harsh on Lennon, who it seems won’t be missed, and MacNamara, who it seems isn’t wanted.

All in all, it would be better if Lennon just came out and put the rumours to bed. Or maybe he thinks they aren’t worth commenting on.

He’s confirmed he’s going to Brazil, as part of the BBC commentary team;

“I’m going for a week,” said Lennon.

“That will give me the opportunity to look at players while I am there, and take in the experience of a World Cup in Brazil.

“I probably wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

“I will be working with the BBC and working for the club, as well, to see if I can find any players.”

 Which he will then be priced out of……

 Mind you, if theres any good Honduran players, I’m sure Izzy could help sell the club to them, and big Efe will no doubt put in a word for us amongst his Nigerian team mates.

 Wouldn’t count on Samaras or Rogic too much though….

Speaking of the World Cup, one of the England players-didn’t catch who it was-says that ;

 ” Theres no point in getting on the plane if we don’t think we are going to go far. “

 Indeed.

 Meanwhile, the rumours concerning the precarious financial situation over at Scotlands newest senior club flared back into life over the weekend, as it seems they are going to go into administration today.

Despite all the help they had when they started up, the new club is set to fold after just a couple of years.

Someone still needs their arse kicking over that one. They can’t even use the excuse that the story of the journey has helped to raise the profile of the game, and it was money well spent.

Though who can forget some of the wonderful imagery ?

First, the ball on the hedge at Brechin, then the burnt out luxury coach, and then, er, well I have absolutely no idea what that is. But I wouldn’t let it in the house.

Looking ahead this summer, two things will happen.

The English media will turn on their team in Brazil, and Second Rangers will go into administration.

Its just a matter of when.

Second Rangers have extended their deadline for season book renewal to today, in the hope that around thirty thousand people take the day off work to save their club by handing over their money. At best, thats unlikely, so they may turn to plan b to keep the wolves from the door.

 That would involve sale and leaseback of Ibrox, or just a sale of the Auchenhowie training complex.

Its just a matter of which.

 Or they could just say balls to this and close the place down.

 Its more likely they will use administration to ditch some of their expense, and then flog off as many assets as they can, before finally calling it a day and blaming the fans for not supporting them.

 A recent meeting between one of their supporters groups and some of the board seemed to put everyones mind at rest, but it now appears that those in control were just paying lip service to those who still care by agreeing to everything they asked, while delivering nothing.

 The end is in sight, it just depends how quick the board want to move towards it. and how much money they’ll take with them.

Which is good news for the struggling ice cream industry….

Away from football for a moment, and scientific history was made last week when the biggest ever dinosaur was discovered..

and former Rangers legend Paul Gascoigne is suing a supermarket chain when he found out that “Aldi ” closed at 6pm.

Yesterday we featured a couple of pictures that had been restored by Barry McGonigle, who has been bringing the past to life with some remarkable restorations of old black and white photos.

 To give you an idea of how this works, have a look at this one, which shows the transformation…

 The picture featured in the diary teaser was of Jimmy McMenemy, included because it was the first time I’d seen him with brown hair. These wee details are fascinating.

Heres another, from 1909. Who is it ?

jimmy quinn

Probably the easiest quiz we’ve ever done.

Try this , instead..