Celtic Diary Monday June 23: So, Its Not Stromgodset , Then.

All eyes will be on Nyon today when Celtic will learn their second qualifying round opponents for  this years champions League. Around lunchtime, airline and hotel websites will see their traffic increase as tims desperate for meaningful football plan a trip into one of footballs less exotic places.

UEFA have released the regional groups, so the choice of opponent has been narrowed down;

Group 2
Celtic FC (SCO)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
FK Partizan (SRB)*
Debreceni VSC (HUN)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
FK Ventspils (LVA)
Malmö FF (SWE)
KR Reykjavík (ISL)
The New Saints FC (WAL)
Cliftonville FC (NIR)
Winners first qualifying round match 2
Winners first qualifying round match 3 

The two unknowns in that list will come from the first round games, which take place on July 1/2 and 8/9, and will feature two of these;

First qualifying round draw (seeded teams in bold)
FC Levadia Tallinn (EST)
HB Tórshavn (FRO)
FC Santa Coloma (AND)
FC Banants (AND)
SP La Fiorita (SMR)
Lincoln FC (GIB)

So, there is no chance we will be heading to Norway to face Stromgodset, who gave us Ronny Deila and Stefan Johansen, but the more interesting trips are  to Wales or Ireland anyway.

Last years opponents Cliftonville are in there, as are Dublins St. Patricks Athletic, which would certainly be a good trip, whilst for the more adventurous among us there is Welsh champions TNS, the New Saints who hail from Oswestry, which is usually closed after tea time..

One of the town centre pubs has already made an effort to welcome Celtic fans

but that could all be in vain as if Celtic come up against the Shropshire side, the game is likely to be moved to Wrexham, and believe me, you’ll know you’ve had a night out in Wrexham.

A trip to Wrexham for me would be around forty five minutes travel, the shortest trip since I left the west coast thirty years ago, and would be a completely surreal experience for the Lennon CSC. Already, one member has suggested we walk there and back to make it seem more like a proper trip.

For those up north, its straight down to the M6, and then onto the M56 and M53. Probably around four hours from Glasgow.

It would suit everyone, and the locals are a fairy friendly bunch.

Malmo are the only relatively big name in there, but although they beat hibs 9-0 last season, its worth remembering how bad Hibs were last season. The big worry , of course, is all about match fitness, so we could do with waiting until later before drawing anyone who is likely to provide decent competition.

Playing the home games at Murrayfield will be a nice change, but if we get a tricky tie, the atmosphere might work against us. hopefully , if we get to a third qualifier, that will take care of itself, but it will take a bit more effort by the support to get behind the team than usual.

Ach, we’ll worry about that when we come to it.

The other Scottish sides in Europe will also found out their opponents today. Aberdeen have to play their first game on July 3, and for a side with two European trophies in their cabinet, thats just ridiculous. The other sides aren’t getting enough experience to deal with european football, as the seeding system is against them when the final qualifiers take place.

We need a couple of sides in the Europa group stages as well, where they can gain a bit of know how.

Anyway, we wish them all the best.

Couple of bits of transfer speculation, from the Express there is a report that Stefan Scougall of Sheffield Utd is a target. The midfield playmaker is an integral part of the Yorkshire side, and used to be at Livingston, where John Collins was, so you can see why that connection has been made.

Then theres US international Mikkel Diskerud, another midfielder from Rosenborg, who apparently Ronny Deila had already tried to take to Stromgodset. That’s from the Scotsman, and from the two reports you could be forgiven that the management team have anything to do with picking the players….

Legendary ten stopping captain Tommy Boyd doesn’t sound overly confident about the new management team and the upcoming qualifiers, and he told the Daily Record;

“There will be a lot of difficulties in terms of preparation for the new campaign but I’m sure the players will cope.

“Key players such as Kris Commons and Scott Brown have the experience, which will certainly help Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers.

“Hopefully they will have learned their lesson from last season’s experiences in the Champions League and they can compete better.

“The qualification rounds should go okay in terms of the teams they could come up against.

“Celtic will be seeded but there are always hidden dangers lurking in the draws as they almost found out with Shakhtar Karagandy last season.

“The demands are very high at a club like Celtic and down the years the supporters have been treated to so many wonderful things, especially in the Champions League.

“I hope Ronny Deila can sustain that success and qualify for the Champions League group stages.

“If he can achieve that at the first time of asking it would go a long way to helping him find his feet and settle in at Celtic.”

He doesn’t sound convinced, but perhaps, like the rest of us, Boyd is a little nervous about the prospect of starting all over with new people just as it looked like we were getting somewhere…

He’s not alone in that, and Celtic have to reverse the decline that took place in last years group stages, and we can make as many excuses as we want, and we can even believe some of them, but the fact is we could have, and should have done a lot better.

The draw will be made later, and then all this new management stuff becomes more than just a couple of stories in the paper.

The players return for pre season training today, and hopefully any changes to their routine will be gradual. They need to know that everything will be alright, and they all have a chance to impress the new guy before he decides who to keep and who to sell.

Some will have already made their own minds up, and its going to be really difficult for Deila to get everyone playing the same tune.

We can only hope he focuses on the qualifiers. Everything else can wait.

Meanwhile, the SFA have hit on a brilliant idea to divert criticism of its ineffectual and allegedly corrupt board. They want someone comparatively straightforward and non controversial to join them, apparently to do all the press conferences and deal with negotiations concerning potential sponsors.

” Its important we get someone with the right image, ” said Campbell Ogilvie, who himself is the subject of a little bit of controversy, because he’s a fucking liar, a crook and a cheat . ” We need someone to represent the image of the SFA, an honest man who people will associate instantly with the organisation. ”

They are considering this Colombian fan, as he’s likely to be less controversial than keeping the present lot in a job.

Ogilvie has been wittering on about trying to improve Scottish football , he’s mentioned summer matches, youth development and increased sponsorship all as possible-even viable-options to encourage.

Yet he forgot the one thing that would instantly improve the game in Scotland.

As the moody Blues famously sang once..well, probably quite a few times

Go Now.

Why, well this article gives quite a few reasons..from fans for change, asking what did Ogilvie know ?

fans for change

Take the time to read and digest it. Then email it to the SFA.

Based on this, the Colombian guy would be a breath of fresh air.

Ann Doherty was spot on with her answer yesterday. Johnny Campbell did score seven in a Scottish cup game against the 5th KRV. Just because it happened a long long time ago doesn’t make it less important.

Its nice to have a history, isn’t it ?

Two international full backs, who are they ?

Edit; Update; Breaking News etc…

The draw threw Celtic up against Reykjavik, meaning its not just mum who’s off to Iceland.

I’ll get my coat, I only stopped by for a minute….