Celtic Diary Tuesday May 20: It’s quiet out there, too quiet.

A lot of people have been astounded by the Michael Jackson holograph used the other night at an awards ceremony. Its not a new thing, Celtic have been using a Derk Boerrigter one for twelve months.

Danny McGrain is back at home and he is recovering well from his minor heart attack last week. He took time out to thank all the well wishers for their support;

” I’ve been truly amazed at all of the messages sent to the club and calls I’ve received.” 

When he says that, you know he means it, even though he really shouldn’t be surprised. Danny has a special place in the hearts and minds of the support, and its comparable with anyone else who ever played for the club.

This recent health setback, however, probably means he won’t play in any of the champions league qualifiers.

Neil Lennon is worried about some of his players leaving during the summer. Presumably because he keeps reading about it in the papers.

“I am worried about losing some players,”  

“What excites me, though, is, if we can keep this squad together and add one or two to it, we can have another pretty good go at it in Europe.

“But that’s the big question: Can we hold onto the players?

“I have no doubt there will be interest in them.”

 We’d be disappointed if there wasn’t, but its down to the club to show a little ambition and try to hold onto them instead of letting them go at the first sign of a big cheque.

Lennon continued;

” It is up to me to try and talk them out of it (going), and I will do everything I can to achieve that and keep them here, as I have done with many other players.

“But it is not always the case I am going to be persuasive. I’m not that good, at times.”

You can imagine the conversation…

” Don’t go. Look, I might even turn down Norwich to stay here. ”

” You’re right , boss. I’ll stay. ”

Norwich haven’t got a new manager yet, and its unlikely to be Lennon. Things have gone fairly quiet regarding the managers future, which means he is just getting on with his job, and looking for the players that will turn us down this window.

Although they might not turn us down. Robert Snodgrass, Alfred Finnboggasson and even Gary Hooper have yet to dismiss a move to Glasgow, and as far as I’m concerned the eternal optimist in me has these negotiations at the “looking for a place to live ” stage.

Though I’ve been wrong before.

One of the players that might go is Fraser Forster, and he gave us an insight into how international football works these days when he spoke about the moment he found out he was in Englands squad;

“We all got a text just before the squad came out,” he revealed.

“You sit all morning waiting on that text to come through. You don’t leave your phone anywhere.

“It’s a very special moment, and you then have the opportunity to tell your friends and family, and it something you will remember for ever.”

Forster added: “It is something special, something you dreamed of as a kid. A World Cup in Brazil is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

 By text ?

I’m on the verge of spotting a possible problem with man management in the England squad.

Anyhoo, one player that other clubs can forget about luring away is Emilio Izaguerre, who is currently at a training camp in Miami, preparing for the World cup with Honduras;

“If Celtic decided to sell me, then no problem, but my desire is to stay with them, play and win titles and play in the Champions League.

“That’s what you will remember for the rest of your life. I want to be part of Celtic for many years to come. My dream is to one day return to Honduras and prepare to become a great manager. Motagua is my team, but I am a professional and would coach anywhere.”

 When the hack asked him if he was interested in coaching at Ibrox, Emilio added

” I meant anywhere else “

The world of computer football, where people sit fiddling with knobs in front of a screen playing with themselves has moved on a lot since it was two wee bricks batting a smaller brick end to end on a portable telly, and they now have images of players to make it more realistic. I mention it because the Emilio Izaguerre one is uncanny;

Thought I’d throw that one in.

Emilio wants to play in the Champions League, and next month we’ll find out who Celtic will play when the draw-sorry, arrangement -is made for the second qualifying round. There are quite a few well known names in the list of possible opponents;

I fancy Tallin, for personal reasons, Cliftonville because we’d probably beat them, or Malmo because we can ask Ally Mccoist for advice on how to beat them.

 Don’t fancy Stromgodset, but thats who we will probably get, with the Bangura curse strinking again.

 If we get through, theres the teams for the third round to keep us awake at night;

 Theres another three to add to that, depending on the results from the previous round, and then we move on to the fourth round;

 Two more teams will be added to these by the time they are drawn.

If it all goes to plan, based on the co-efficients, this is how the four pots will line up for the big draw;

 Jake the Snake posted these on twitter, which saved me looking for them. So, a big thanks to him, and at least this time there was no mention of Lawwell charging double for admission because this was the last season we’d face a clear run at the big cup, as Rangers were on the way back.

 Jake is quite believable when he does his April Fools….

 It all looks quite daunting, but our squad is more experienced now, and as long as we have learned from our experiences, we should have a decent run in Europe this year.

 If its a decent run you’re after this summer, why not sprint up to the top of Ben Lomond with Babs and her pals, who have announced the plans for their big Huddle at the top of the mountain ? ( I’ve checked. Ben Lomond is a mountain, and not one of those guys who appears on the Hogmanay show singing about Dark Islands and asking Donald where his troosers are. )

 She tells us the plans for that day;

Which has to be a contender for the most ludicrous front page in the history of tabloid newspapers. England winning the World cup ?

 Paul Gascoigne wants to open a chain of pubs. Wonder if he’s thought it through.

We showed another of Barry McGonigles restores yesterday with a detailed picture of Willie Maley. Barry has been a bit upset with people who have been posting his pics online and cutting out his name at the bottom, which is shameful, because he puts a lot of work into these. However, he has taken steps to try to prevent this happening again;

 But who is in the picture ?