The wife came up with a good idea to liven up our culinary experiences the other day. With the World cup being on, she decided that whichever country was playing we would link that to our evening meal. When Mexico played, it was burritos, the US meant burgers, Italy of course pizza, and sauerkraut for Germany.
England play on Tuesday, so we are going out.
Last night saw a Celtic player end up on the winning side for the first time, when Efe Ambrose and Nigeria overcame the Bosnia Herzegovina pairing, and lets be honest, any chance of silverware for a Celt lies with the big scary defender. Although Emilio Izaguerres Honduran side must be a good each way bet in the kick boxing.
Last word on the England squad, and it looks like they will be done over by penalties again. all that champagne they are bringing back will make their luggage overweight.
Meanwhile, as they say, back at the ranch, John Collins is looking forward to the Champions League. During his time as a player at Celtic, the unique pay structure in place at now defunct Rangers meant that they had a bit of an advantage over the other teams, so he never got to play in the tournament. He told the Sunday Mail ;
” With the huns cheating, and not paying tax, they won the league. Celtic wouldn’t go down the tax free route, so i had to move to Monaco. ” But they left that bit out.
The printed bit said;
“It’s a regret when I look back and see that I didn’t get the chance to play in the Champions League with Celtic. But you can’t get everything you want in life.
“It will be great for me to be able to coach in the Champions League. It will be fantastic to pit your wits against the big boys and it’s where we want to be.
“If you ask any player they’ll say the Champions League is where they want to be playing. It’s among the big boys and the big clubs with the whole world watching on.
“I haven’t spoken to the players yet but I’m sure they absolutely loved their previous Champions League experience and will want to taste that again.
“It’s always going to be a massive test. It’s a big jump from the Premiership to the Champions League. But Celtic have proven they can get the results.
“And if you ask any Celtic supporter what they want, they want Champions League and those European nights to look forward to.”
The draw is made tomorrow, and there is no confirmation yet as to who will be classed in the same “region ” as Celtic, but defeat means European football is finished, so Ronny and Johnny have to hit the ground running.
“Whoever we get, it will be what we do that counts. If we play well and get the breaks then we will qualify. We just have to make sure we get the work started and are ready for the big games. These are massive games even though they might not be against massive clubs.”
Yes, players will need to know that they may have to work harder under the new regime.
Yes, if they don’t buy into the new way of doing things, they should be shown the door, but lets not be swinging the axe from day one… Ronny and Johnny need to have a plan
“I’ve spent a bit of time with him over dinners and it won’t take long to get to know the manager.
“We are going off to a training camp in Austria for 12 days so we will be together at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Look, I was only joking about the man to man stuff the other day, but he really isn’t helping himself here.
“He has similar beliefs and wants the same things so it’s about working together rather than against each other. I had lots of
questions to ask him, he had questions for me and there is a lot of common ground.
Seriously, give it a miss now. Theres your private life, and your work. Keep the two separate.
The Mail also reckons that Craig Gordon will land his zero hours contract this week, and its actually Lukasz Zaluska who is on the way out. The Pole is entering the last year of his contract, and the paper claims that Deila is happy to let him go.
Anyone else see a bit of a problem with this ?
Perhaps Deila has already had a word with the Ghanain fellow we mentioned earlier this month, which we hear has already delighted Peter Lawwell because it means that there will be a chance to put “Larsson ” on the shirts again. Although no-one has mentioned to him its spelt differently.
In case you missed it, the BBC apologised for any comments any of their staff made about Celtic fans misbehaving. This came on the back of John Quigley, who was arrested over there when he walked on the cracks in the pavement and combed his hair in a manner likely to cause distress, was compensated by the Dutch courts. The BBC said;
A Celtic fan arrested during disorder in Amsterdam in November has been awarded about £3,000 by Dutch courts.
John Quigley, 49, was detained when trouble broke out before the champions league match against Ajax.
He was later acquitted of violence against police. The compensation includes money for time spent in custody and the cost of his ticket.
Five other Celtic fans were given jail sentences but were released pending an appeal.
During the disorder, police made 44 arrests, 28 of them Celtic supporters.
Most were later freed, either without charge or after paying a fine.
Oh hang on, my mistake . no apology at all.
Wonder if they’ll apologise , or even investigate claims that Mediahouse, run by Jack Irvine and geared up to take attention away from Ibrox and its bigotry by the simply using the two sides of the same coin argument.
But because such an argument actually has little grounds in reality, it needed a little prompting…
and the website VideoCelts has drawn a bit of attention to that prompting, which may not have been entirely above board;
Charlotte Fakeovers has published an alleged invoice that shows how BBC policy can be bought and paid for.
The anonymous twitter account has turned its attention in recent weeks to the activities of the PR company Media House who included Rangers among their clients.
Charlotte appears to have almost unlimited access to documentation involving various parties involved with the Ibrox club in recent times.
The latest document published online details the May 2011 invoice from Media House to the football club- the month in which former billionaire Craig Whyte bought the club for £1.
Naturally painting Whyte in the best possible light was a priority for the PR firm but for reasons unknown the club was invoiced for a ‘Call to the BBC to define pro-IRA songs’ on May 16.
Five days later, having ignored the issue of contentious by supporters at the League Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers in March, BBC anchor-man Rob MacLean decided to accuse Celtic fans of singing sectarian songs at the Scottish Cup Final with Motherwell.
Using a favoured old tactic McLean changed the conversation from football with Craig Levein to reveal: “I’d love to go through a football show without having to mention the word sectarian but at half time I feel that I am going to have to because those outside who can hear the songs being sung have been telling me that the Celtic supporters have been singing sectarian songs during the first half despite Celtic going very public with their intimation that they want it completely stamped out.”
The BBC received a number of complaints about that issue from Celtic fans.
Answering the complaints in a standard email they claimed that “five editions of Sportscene in April and May took time to debate the issue in relation to the general problem and to specific incidents such as the sending of parcel bombs and the fining of Rangers FC by UEFA.”
Part of the BBC Scotland reply read: “At the half time interval of our live television broadcast of this year’s Scottish Cup Final the presenter and one of the guests briefly mentioned that sectarian singing had been heard coming from a minority of Celtic fans.
“Given the incidents of recent weeks, and taking into account the statement by Neil Lennon posted on the club’s official website just days before the Final, it was editorially appropriate to include this short discussion.
“Sectarianism and associated behaviours have been the topic of much comment this season and five editions of Sportscene in April and May took time to debate the issue in relation to the general problem and to specific incidents such as the sending of parcel bombs and the fining of Rangers FC by UEFA.
“There is a continuing debate around the definition of “sectarian” and we accept that it would have been more accurate for our presenter to refer to “songs that some people believe to be an expression of sectarianism but which many people nonetheless find both offensive and provocative”.
Unless BBC Scotland comes out to explain their change in policy, and the source of the complaints at the 2011 Scottish Cup Final, it will appear that the state broadcaster is there to be influenced by PR companies.
If BBC Scotland decide to ignore the claims of Charlotte Fakeovers then it is possible that more damaging accusations could appear in the future.
Until they explain their position a cloud hangs over BBC Scotland and its cherished claims of impartiality and of adopting the highest of journalistic and ethical standards.
The BBC, not what it used to be.
Though I doubt they will be using that anytime soon as a logo.
Elsewhere, a cheery wee heartwarming story emerged last week when a six year old boy applied for the post of Celtic manager. And Peter Lawwell took time out to send a reply;
But he sent the wee fellow a t-shirt…
and debited his account for the shirt, the postage and the packaging.
The new t-shirt was seen as a nice gesture, but the diary can reveal all applicants got one;
for one particular hopeful, that seemed to be enough;
I suppose the news that his grandchildren will be celtic fans has hit him hard;
Anything else we missed this week ? Anything else you saw that we didn’t? If you hear or see anything you think might be of interest to Celtic fans around the world, send it to us at the usual address. Its bound to be better than anything we come up with.
Henrik Larsson scored 21 international goals during his time at Celtic. Speaking of goalscorers, everyone knows Jimmy McGrory scored 8 in a game for Celtic. Who scored seven, and when ?
I am raging, this is the first time I have been first and I dont know the answer.
Not to worry great diary once again. Lets hope our new management team do the business. HH
Dixie Deans V Partick Thistle?
On 17th Dec.1892, in a Scottish Cup match against 5th Kirkcudbrightshire Rifle Volunteers,Johnny Campbell scored 7 goals.
sure it was dixie deans but cant remember against who
Very disturbed by collins saying we will be concentrating on young scottish players regards signing,if delia reckons no norweigans are capable of Champions league performances,I reckon not one scottish player not in our club is either,just a cheap manager and assistant being told to buy cheap players by pete how much is my bonus lawwell
Trailer up for Paul Larkin’s upcoming documentary:
http://www.theasteriskyears.com/
Hail Hail
Jimmy McGrory – in the same game!!
Cascarino between 1989 and 1994
Who’s In the last 2 pics, I canny see..?