Celtic Diary Saturday June 14: New Logo Rejected For World Cup

The World cup continued yesterday, and this time it was Mexico who suffered at the hands of piss poor officials, as they struggled to find a goal that suited the linesmans new rules. Two efforts were chalked off before the central Americans found one that counted, and the Colombian officials probably engineered the result that will prevent them being shot the next time they nip out to the shops.

In the second game, the Dutch got off to a flying start with a 5-1 win over Spain, but unfortunately that doesn’t make them world champions. Louis van Gaals team thought that, as in boxing, that was the job done, and immediately started fighting with each other in the dressing room, and as usual, they’ll lose their next two games and blame each other. Spain are simply regretting their decision to invoke a little of their own culture in Brazil, half an hours work then falling into a deep sleep.

Finally Chile , in the late kick off, scored twice in the first quarter of an hour to lead Australia, but the plucky Aussies fought back and looked like they might even rescue a point, but a guy from Wigan  sealed the points for the South Americans, a popular each way bet with punters,  with a third goal.. With all the destitution, poverty and rioting that has become associated with the tournament, the fellow from the Lancashire club is probably glad he’s away from all that and over in South America.

England , the choice of the football purist enter the fray tonight, when they face Italy at 11pm. Pubs in the country have been granted a late licence to allow the fans a chance to sit together over a cold one and discuss tactics, selection and make enlightened observations. Here for instance, a chap is gently mocked when he suggests that the English should attempt to play a more pressing game high up the field.

There are already concerns about the impartiality of the linesman, especially after the poor decisions in the opening games of the tournament;

A World cup without the neighbours would be much poorer, they bring so much to the table;

My own wife takes an interest in Italy when theres a tournament on the telly, and surprised me when she said this morning she had been impressed with their low key approach, and added she felt they would play in a more controlled manner and try to close the game down.

I was surprised when she said that. I thought she’d gone to work.

There are three other games today, Uruguay face Costa Rica, a country which sends shudders down the spines of older Scotland fans. Actually , its two countries who send shivers down our spines. The Ivory Coast are up against Japan in the “how the hell did they get here ? ” game, whilst our own interest will be taken up at 5pm with Georgios Samaras and his Greek warriors who take on Colombia, home of the famous marching powder.

Speaking of  drugs, another movie star has revealed his addiction, and the damage it can do

Back to the football, and as we know, Samaras has the potential to light up any game, and as he is the shop window for the next couple of weeks theres every chance he will be looking to stick two fingers up at Peter Lawwell , who refused to give him the contract he wanted at Celtic.

If he is in the mood, he’ll be the player everyone is talking about tomorrow.

Did you know the slogan for the World Cup is ” All In One Rhythm ” a sort of Latin american “We’re all in it together “, illustrated best in this picture from Barry McGonigle on twitter;

No matter how good the football is, its still indecent to spend so much money on a sport when there is so much destitution in a country. Destitution and corruption go hand in hand in these places, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some dodgy refereeing decisions , or perhaps even bias toward the home nation, who see victory as a political necessity to avoid a post tournament revolution.

Meanwhile, back at home, Ronnie Deila still hasn’t decided on his number two/ director of football/ assistant, but then Peter Lawwell is on holiday, and hasn’t been able to give him his list of names to choose from. We’ve seen it, though, and its going to be a tough call for the Norwegian;

1: John Park

2: David Cameron

3: Adrian Chiles

4: The Archbishop of Canterbury.

The BBCs Reevel Alderson ( honest , thats his name, ) reports that sectarian crime has dropped by forty percent in the last year, according to Crown Office figures. He says;

“The total number of offences, under new legislation which criminalised religious hatred connected to football, dropped from 267 to 203 in 2013/14.

Officials said this may account for a 15% drop in all offences with a religious aggravation.

The figure of 587 was down from 689 the previous year and 898 in 2011/12.

The totals for the preceding five years were relatively stable, with between 600 and 700 charges reported each year.

In 51% of the football-related cases, the accused was affiliated with either Rangers or Celtic.

In all, there were 635 charges relating to religious prejudice in Scotland when general offences of religious hatred were added to those under the new legislation – the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.

That was a 17% reduction on the previous 12 months.

So, its down to 200 or so, but then he says its up again at the end, claiming 635 offences, which is actually three times as many as last year.

The government said it was committed to review the football legislation after two years, but said the figures showed strong action was being taken to tackle the actions of the “small minority” of fans who indulge in offensive behaviour at matches.

As in previous years, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were most often the religions that were the subject of abuse.

Close the schools, etc…

There was an increase in the proportion of charges which related to Catholicism – from 57% in 2012/13 to 63% in the subsequent 12 months – although the number of offences fell.

Offences relating to Protestantism remained steady at 29% – also with a reduced number.

Steady ? Surely he means “staunch ” ?

Relating to…is an interesting choice of phrase. Does that mean they were the victims, or the perpetrators ? The way this is worded hints at Catholicism causing the most problems, so, er , close the schools, etc.

In 29% per cent of the incidents, the accused had affiliations with Rangers. Celtic fans accounted for 22%.

More than a quarter (28%) referred to support for terrorist organisations.

Al Qaeda ? IRA, UVF, British Army ? Technically, all use violence to achieve their ends, its just a question of whose side you’re reading it from . Some would argue the BBC was a terrorist organisation, because if you don’t pay your annual subscription to them, which they can do with as they please, you will go to jail.

The legislation has proved controversial with football clubs and fans who have complained it does not specify exactly what constitutes offensive behaviour, including which songs or chants could contravene the law.

Religious hate crimes fell by 17% overall, which ministers said was testament to hard work taking place to tackle these offences.

The government said it had invested £9m between 2012 and 2015 in community projects and set up an independent advisory group to tackle the scourge of sectarianism.

So, its working. And the more they have to justify the expense, the more chance there is of you getting lifted at the game. Look closely at the figures. They are up, yet the authorities are saying they are down. 

Meanwhile, the now released Neil MacKenzie, who threatened Neil Lennon  , the late Paul McBride and MP Trish Godman with parcel bombs, has achieved the ultimate accolade from his peers;

Still want them in the Premier League ? Miss those games against them ?

Actually, we’ve known for a long time they live in their own, twisted little world, and now we know where it is;

Twitter, the social media outlet, often recommends people of a similar mindset that you can “follow “, that is, read what they “tweet ” because it should be of interest to you. The groupings can be quite interesting sometimes…

( Note, this was not sent to me. )

Horrified at being linked with such violent extremists, Nick Griffin and the EDL are believed to be taking legal action.

Brazil have featured in twenty six World Cup finals matches, way ahead of anyone else.

Samaras is playing today, other Celts will enter the stage over the next few days, so cast your mind back….

Who were the first Celtic players to appear at a World Cup finals , and when ?