But first, the World Cup. No, I don’t know why either.

The festival of football, now becoming part of the daily routine, rumbled on yesterday. Switzerland beat Ecuador, despite Adrian Chiles predicting that one of the little countries could shock a bigger one. Ecuador, of course, has twice the population of its European opponents.  Figure of ridicule come and go, Chiles is the target at the moment, but it probably wasn’t always that way…

Alright, it probably was.

Later on yesterday,  Emilio Izaguerre took to the field with his Honduran team mates , although not all of them made it through the game. Wilson Palacio, who plies his trade with total football exponents Stoke City blundered around the field so often that it was only a matter of time before he did something stupid, and so it proved when he clattered into a French forward, conceded a penalty and got himself sent off.

After that, it was just a matter of how many, and the French settled for three, which they will say is a declaration of intent this time round, after making such an arse of it in South Africa back in 2010.

In the final game, Lionel Messi made his first appearance on this stage, and helped by an early own goal, his Argentinian side beat not only Bosnia, but Herzegovina as well by two goals to one. Messi is often accused of not giving a toss about the national side, in much the same way as Kenny Dalglish was in a Scotland shirt after he moved to Liverpool, but the little man scored the second goal, and that should keep the passionate support of his back, but with the chances of him winning Wimbledon this year limited due to his World Cup obligations, he’s going to get it in the neck at some point.

Georgios Samaras was disconsolate about his countrys 3-0 opening game defeat, but admits he has other things on his mind…

It’s no problem. I am 100% focused on the national team, and when the World Cup is finished I’ll see what my career options are.

“The only strange feeling, to be honest, is not being a Celtic player. “

“I had seven great seasons in Glasgow and I grew up there, both as a person and as a player.

“But, in the end, a decision – which I didn’t want – was taken by other people.

“Now I will look for something new, but only after this tournament is finished. This is enough for me just now. ”

We hear he is about to take a step into the music business, and will release his first single soon, a cover of this classic;

Efe Ambrose is a little more upbeat, as he prepares for Nigerias first game later today. The Super Eagles face Iraq, and already Efe is looking beyond the group stages;

”  Experience has taught me that knockout games are mostly not about the best team, but about who does the right thing and commits less errors.

“But if you want to be termed the best you have to beat the best.

“Imagine if we hadn’t beaten the Ivory Coast at the Nations Cup before lifting the trophy, some people would have said we were lucky to avoid them, but I still won’t love to play Brazil though I won’t mind them in the final.”

 In all fairness, Nigeria have to be taken seriously, they are the African champions, and the group they have landed in, on paper at least, suggests they should progress. Although the Evening Times says they face Iraq, its actually Iran, but hey, thats an easy mistake to make. Especially if you are reading a foreign policy document from the CIA. Argentina and Bosnia Herzegovina make up the group, and although the Argentinians should win the group, the other two shoudn’t prove too much of a problem.

Except….for those of you who like a punt, its worth remembering Nigeria haven’t won in their last eight World cup finals games, and Iran are managed by Carlos Queroz, formerly of Real Madrid, who used to be number two at Old Trafford. Factor in that no-one yet has made a spectacular cock up at this tournament yet,  ( if you don’t count Wayne Rooneys corner ) and Efe Ambrose is playing, and you might just have your first real shock result of the tournament tonight.

Still, Englands entrance into the tournament has boosted local businesses. Especially the pub trade;

 The knights of St. George gallantly polished off an average of 17 and a half pints each , which would put even the Tartan Army , who are no slouches themselves when it comes to refreshments, firmly into the lightweight division.

 Anyway, enough of that. Thats not why we’re here.

Celtic will offer Craig Gordon a pay as you play contract this week, according to various newspapers who have felt it neccesary to write about something other than the World Cup. Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell is keen to extend the zero hours contract philosophy to the players, and will monitor the situation closely.

” It suits everybody, because he can get on with other things, and we can call on him during peak periods  ” claimed Lawwell, who is on holiday, and probably confused him with the catering staff.

And everyone else who works at the ground.

We hear , actually, that the groundstaff are a little concerned about their own terms and conditions of employment, but it shouldn’t affect the introduction of the new train to ferry fans from the railway stations to the ground;

Another new addition to the staff at Celtic this week could be John Collins, who , according to the Record, will be unveiled as Ronnie Deilas assistant;

Celtic set to unveil John Collins

as Ronny Deila’s assistant manager

at Parkhead

At least , I think thats what they mean. It is the Record, after all. The article explains…

Record Sport understands a deal to bring the former Parkhead midfielder back to the club is all but completed and that Collins will team up with the Norwegian manager before pre-season training gets under way. 

The story also claims that John Kennedy will step up to a first team coaching position, which is good news for him, and at least retains a little bit of continuity, although Deila is likely to utilise his knowledge of the youngsters, rather than his coaching experience.

and then, the bombshell…

Meanwhile, Celts stopper Virgil van Dijk is a transfer target for Ronald Koeman, who is close to being named new Southampton boss.

Koeman, who left his role at Feyenoord last month, has tracked the Dutchman since his time at Groningen and wanted him named in Holland’s World Cup squad.

With Saints’ Dejan Lovren demanding a transfer, van Dijk is seen as the perfect replacement just a year after joining Celts for £2.2million.

So, a guy who isn’t the manager wants to sign a guy for a club because he thought he should have been in the World Cup squad to replace a player who hasn’t gone anywhere yet ? 

Southampton are expected to announce Ronald Koeman, the guy in the story, as their manager this week. Virgil van Dijk will be the subject of transfer speculation this summer. However, simply because a Dutch guy is taking a team over doesn’t mean that he will automatically want to buy  one Dutch player any more than any other, although no doubt the big defender will be happier to see discussions of footballing exploits and possible destinations rather than any other titbits that have made the papers.

 The Scotsman adds that Koeman has also been ” keeping tabs ” on keeper Fraser Forster, which smacks of lazy journalism, presumably because it invokes a little more effort to look up the names of any other teams in the English Premiership.

And somehow, they forgot to take this into consideration, from April this year;

Saints staying!

Southampton WON’T sell stars

to address financial issues – Ralph Krueger

SOUTHAMPTON chairman Ralph Krueger insists that the club will not be forced to sell their prize assets in the summer despite recording a £7.1 million loss for the year ending June 30, 2013.

Business lawyer Hans Hofstetter – a member of the recently-formed board that also comprises owner Katharina Liebherr, chief executive officer Gareth Rogers – recently suggested they had inherited a “difficult financial situation” but Krueger believes the Saints have a plan to combat the issue that does not involve major player sales.

Indeed, even though Southampton have £27million in outstanding transfer fees – £22million of which is due this summer – their obligations won’t be funded by transfers of their own.

Key players like Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Morgan Schneiderlin have been linked with a move away as has manager Mauricio Pochettino, but Krueger remains calm about the summer ahead.

Krueger told the Guardian: “We feel very comfortable that we have a plan that can deal with the situation and we are definitely not factoring in a big player sale.

“We’re pretty sure that there are no more surprises and that being the case, we feel comfortable that we’re going to be good. And that we will be able to keep this group together.”

Pochettino is thought to be a candidate to take over from Tim Sherwood at Tottenham at the end of the season, but Krueger remains confident the Argentine will still be at St Mary’s next season. “

Mind you, Pochettino has gone to Tottenham, but the south coast club have held out against offers for Shaw and Lallana. So far, anyway. 

Closer to home, and the Ramsdens cup, a source of glamour for the lower league clubs, may have to be mothballed this season. Neil Doncaster, who is the top man at the SPFL, who organise the tournament, has shown remarkable consistency in that he hasn’t been able to find a sponsor for this tournament either.

 Despite having three of Scotlands larger clubs involved this season, the man who couldn’t sell umbrellas when its raining has fallen short in his duties again. However , on the SPFL website, he offers an explanation. Er, actually, he doesn’t even mention it.

“The first official SPFL season has already provided many highlights and memorable moments and we look forward to its conclusion, including the widely-anticipated play-offs which this year will feature the new Premiership play-off.

“We are also very busy planning for season 2014/15 and are pleased to announce the start dates across league and cup competitions. There are some very positive stories to be told across all our leagues at the moment and we only see the level of interest in Scottish football increasing further in the months ahead and as next season kicks off.”

 As usual, he’s proving to be completely inept, and is dodging the issue. Anyone who has to worry about the publics perception of them will no doubt try to avoid him.

 Doncaster has to be aware that you can only fool some of the people some of the time. Clearly, those are  the ones he is focussing on.

Speaking of diddies, the bold Charles Green looks set to liven up Scottish football again, having presumably recently obtained planning permission for an extension, a pool and a full sized theatre in the grounds of his French chateau.

 He just needs to raise a few quid for materials, and where else would he head for but Ibrox, and those daft buggers ‘oo paid for t’ ouse.

 With his big hands wide open, and pockets open wider still, he’s ready to help the hordes get their club back, though for some reason he isn’t welcomed by everyone.

Chris Graham of the Union of Fans said: “It would be spectacularly arrogant of Green to think he could waltz back into Rangers and that the fans would somehow accept it.

“I know Green is a fairly self-confident person but he must realise he’s completely toxic now to the support.

Toxic to that support ? That takes some doing.

“Around 17,000 season tickets have been sold and it’s interesting this news is coming after the deadline because if this had been mooted before then that figure would be lower.”

Green is also believed to releasing a summer single, aimed at getting people onto the holiday dancefloors.

Bobby Collins was the first Celtic player to score in the World Cup finals, in 1958 against Paraguay.

Who has scored the most goals while a Celtic player at World Cup finals ?