The incisive reporting of the Scottish mainstream media continues ahead of the Europa League clash with Inter Milan.
Michael Gannon again.
Mauro Icardi, the Argentine striker, has told Celtic fans that he won’t be intimidated by the atmosphere;
“The Celtic fans will create an intense atmosphere, but anybody who knows me knows that things like that do not affect me. If anything I will feed off it.
“If the Celtic fans think they can create an atmosphere that will intimidate me they are in for a shock.
“The day of the game in Scotland is my birthday – and the only present I want on Thursday is to come back to Italy with a good victory for Inter.
“It’s so important that we get off to a good start and put ourselves in a good position for the second game.”
Well, thats us told.
What do the experts think ?
So, who is Mauro Icardi ?
Icardi has rattled 13 goals in 22 games in Serie A this season and has been tagged the new Lionel Messi having followed the Barca superstar from South America through the Nou Camp youth system.
He failed to make the grade in Spain and headed to Sampdoria but has hit the heights at the San Siro and believes he’s more like Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta.
So, he’s the new Messi, except he , er , didn’t make it at Barcelona. I guess that makes me the new Jimmy Johnstone, because I didn’t make it at Celtic.
Icardi said: “If the media call me the New Messi of course it is a big honour – but it is not a title I can accept.
In other news….
It’s not only Icardi we should look out for, and theres no doubt Ronny will know all about the man who has scored a commendable 13 goals in 22 games this season, but Chilean “enforcer” Gary Medel.
Well, so Don Cowie thinks. Cowie played alongside Medel at Cardiff last season, so he knows all about him.
“Gary’s small in stature but he won’t shirk away, that’s for sure.
“He wants to be in the thick of things and he’s not going to hide away from challenges. If he comes across Broonie it will be a nice wee tussle.
“If Broonie wants to play a bit of mind games and get under his skin, Gary will give as good as he gets. It’s set up for a great battle between them. They’ll bounce off each other.”
Anthony Haggerty, in the Record, described the Inter lad as a “ midfield destroyer “ just to add to the sense of menace, and Cowie eagerly picked up the theme;
“He’s a real warrior of a player.
He’s an ugly little spud.
The Evening Times, too, is on the ball. David Santon, who used to play at Newcastle, has connections in Scotland that could be the key to a sensational victory over the hoops, none other than on Ibrox loannee Haris Vuckic;
“I have already spoken to Haris since he moved to Glasgow, but I will give him a call again this week. I haven’t talked to him about Celtic yet, but I will ask him some questions in the next couple of days.
“I will find out what he thinks about them and if he can give us any advice. But even if he tells me that Celtic have a strong team, I know that we also have quality players.
“We are going there with confidence and I believe we can win in Glasgow. It will be tough, but with the players we have, nothing is impossible.
“I know Vuckic well and I am happy he has been playing at Rangers. I noticed he scored on his debut and he will do well there. He is a good player, he has qualities and can become a big player for Rangers.”
Lets hope , for Santons sake, that Vuckic knows more about Celtic than Second Rangers know about Vuckic;
Vuckic is Slovenian. Thats the Slovakian flag on the cover of an ibrox match programme.
Oddly enough, the player doesn’t seem to have noticed either, which means we shouldn’t have to worry too much about anything he tells Santona.
Word is that Vuckic has already given santona the low down;
We intercepted the call….
” I don’t know. They play in a league above us. Could you tell my mum I’m fine and they are feeding me regularly. We could be released as early as next week if the Embassy pulls its finger out. ”
All of this was surpassed by the Herald, who, via Mark Walker, asked Inter legend Sandro Mazzola, who scored the penalty in 67, what he thought.
I haven’t watched Celtic recently but I know about Scottish football and their footballers. They are physical and will attempt to win the tie by being stronger than Inter and that might very well work.
“They also have a great mentality which I love – they never give up. And they are very strong in Glasgow, but not so good away I think. I don’t know about Ronny Deila at all
Well, that was money well spent. Perhaps they should have asked somebody else.
Anyone else, in fact.
Any sign of any stories which might unsettle the players ? Lets see, theres the fragile John Guidetti and the insecure Leigh Griffiths-though the latter really has little to feel insecure about.
So, lets see how they can be got at….after all, they are the potential matchwinners.
The Scottish Sun has us back in for PSVs Belgian striker Zakkaria Bakkali,
CELTIC have stepped up their interest in PSV Eindhoven teenage star Zakaria Bakkali.
A PSV source last night confirmed to SunSport the Hoops have formally made contact to inform them of their talks with the Belgian striker, whose contract is up in the summer.
A source ? Well it must be true.
Maybe we are in for him, maybe we aren’t, but maybe theres a game to concentrate on.
Whilst the MSM are doing their best to , well, I’m not sure what they are trying to do, but it certainly isn’t constructive. The Celtic camp has remained quiet on the game, the only exception being a non commital quote given to FC Inter news by Stefan Johansen;
We can perform really well if we work as a team, and work hard for the entire 90 minutes, Inter are a great side but we have to take the field confident of winning; it will be a great game.”
Nice touch.
Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini may yet regret taking cash strapped Second Rangers up on their offer to train at Murray Park. apparently, there are still a few cash flow issues at the club, and there was a surprise for the Italian when they got there;
And it appears one Ibrox player is desperate for a move to Italy, so much so that he’s been on a bit of a mission to show Mancini that he can still shake his stuff.
Lets leave the Inter game for a minute, and move on to the League cup final, which takes place on the 15th of March.
Celtic have released ticket details, which has peturbed one or two of us.
TICKETS for the Scottish League Cup final, presented by QTS, are on sale from tomorrow (Tuesday, February 17) to Season Ticket holders who have been allocated a ticket.
Tickets have been allocated to Season Ticket holders based on membership of the Home Cup Ticket Scheme, attendance at domestic away matches, attendance at previous League Cup matches against Hearts and Partick Thistle and attendance at the League Cup semi final.
SUCCESFUL SEASON TICKET HOLDERS WILL NOT BE SENT A LETTER INFORMING THEM ABOUT ELIGIBILITY TO PURCHASE.
Season Ticket holders can check if they have been allocated a ticket by logging on to the game when it goes on sale online.
To check your eligibility follow this link and click ‘Find Tickets’ next to the game:https://www.eticketing.co.uk/celtic/default.aspx
Successful has got two s’s in it.
Thats a bit rich coming from the Etims Diary author, who it is rumoured simply types some letters every morning and hopes they end up in some sort of legible order, but its still not aceptable from Celtic. ( See what I did there, before you start moaning ? )
Actually, the real issue is the fact that no letter will be sent out. Now, sometimes change is not necessarily for the better, and i don’t know about you, but these days its a bit of a rarity to pick up the post and find anything you actually want to read, and maybe the ticket tsars should think about that before going all digital on us.
Theres a lot of things that make us Celtic fans a little happier, and one of those is receiving an offer letter for a big game, especially if we weren’t expecting it.
Don’t take away one of our small pleasures.
Lightening the mood a little, after our revelation that Dublin had honoured Kris Commons with a street, reader and Lennon CSC member Chrisbhoy has discovered that Cannock chase council have honoured the whole club!
Which got me thinking, is Celtic the only club to be honoured in this way by an English council ?
Well, there is a Rangers Road in Chingford, but credit has to go to Rowley Regis council, who decided to honour Neil Doncaster, the current head of the SPFL
And don’t worry, theres no favouritism. Stewart Regan has been recognised by Northamptonshire council, in the village of Kings Sutton
Mark Reid was the unsung hero in the picture yesterday, and today, with the Inter game ahead, we go back in time, and ask who this chap is, who was forced to miss the Lisbon final;
Argentinian midfield maestro Luis Suarez
Spanish
Top form,today Ralph.
The Fuckic call home was hilarious.
Ah..The good old laptop loyal.They are bursting
to try and make Sevco relevant.How sad.
They might have Icardi,but they have never seen Sparky Griffiths in full full,or on song.An early bold prediction,2-0 to the Hoops.
Don’t know his name, but is he italian?.
Is the Inter player Pete Sampras’ Dad ?
Also to continue the pedantry Successful has 3 s’s in it if you count the first letter (?).
I prefer this quiet Celtic approach, let the players do their talking on the pitch and we’ll listen to their patter after the games. Some treble talk has irritated sections of the support so lets get on with the games and hopefully the words will be celebratory over the coming weeks and months.
Sometimes successful has three ‘s’s – But who’s counting?
Hugh,
Sometimes successful has 5 ‘s’s !
Touché ! Time for a wee lie down.
RE:the msm,what do you expect from pigs but grunts.Win,lose or draw,we’re in a better place tHan they are,MON THE HOOPS.
Come on now, nobody loves a peddant!
I doubt if Icardi (or Michael Gannon) speak English fluently so it’s quite probable Google Translate was used to translate his words from Spanish to Italian, and then into English.
If that aforementioned dodgy tool (Google not Gannon) worked up to it’s usual standard, then the “quote” probably bears no relation to Icardi’s actual words. which I’m reliably informed went something like this….
“Ze Celtic fans have very good, erm, engine room for atmosphere, but everybody knows I’m totally corned-beef, so won’t hear anything and – just like Argentinian military – I’d rather run away like a wee lassie, eat a large steak & ride a gaucho.
If ze Celtic fans believe these shoutings about me being the next Messi – they are in for a shock – because I’m intimated by that and will cry like Evita.
The day of the game in Scotchland is my gran’s birthday, so I’ve promised I’ll bring back a kilted ginger toy-boy victim and a bottle of Irn Bru.
It is important that I get off with a nice wee tart and take her in many good positions before the second game”
quote-unquote tee hee
Great Diary Ralph, loved the Bell End, we dont care what the MSM say its all jealousy, they would all love to be in our shoes right now. HH Comon the hoops
Good stuff Ralph! As for the “chap who was forced to miss the Lisbon final” .. Well, he was apparently regarded as “one of Spain’s greatest players” noted for his “perceptive passing and explosive shot”… – it says here.. and played midfield for Deportivo de La Coruña, CD España Industrial, FC Barcelona, Internazionale, Sampdoria and Spain…
So my guess – JOE MC BRIDE – is clearly wrong – unless the his head, hair, face, mouth, eyes , ears and Inter-Milan shirt have all ben photoshopped.
Hi Ralph, very first post, love the site. Could you settle a pub argument plz, friend of mine says that Celtic Park was under renovation during Mr Stein’s reign and that they were playing out of Hamden, sharing with Queens Park. Queens had a Saturday home game, as did ‘Tic, so he says that we had to play our game on Saturday night after Q Park had played in the afternoon? Could you tell me if this happened, and if so, who against, what year and the crowd please. Look forward to your post every day, miss them when you’ve been on hols or drink, keep them coming Ralph. Hail Hail. Roll on Thursday.
I’ve asked the SFA. Will let you know what answer I get. They’ll probably ask me to sponsor the league or something. Oh, no , wait, they won’t. They don’t ask anybody that.
Ralph
The Diary seems to hit the heights every time it comments on the media. You just raised a flag on the summit with this one. It is not often we can enjoy seeing a journalist squirming as he grasps the literary balls he has just been kicked in. You have just let us witness it over and over. It is what some might call a very unccefuly diary and I would avoid saying so as there are critics among us who would condemn us for using too many s’s. One thing I know for certain shit only has one and it stinks.
Thursday holds no worries. Remember The Lions played this same team when Big Jock was just preping them for the future too. Just saying like…..
Before I sign off, I must ask if the monitor is stealing your emails now too? Sent one a few days ago. Then you may have judged it to be like most of my stuff, akin to that word with only 1 s in it and never bothered to read it.
H H
Not seen the email, but I have missed a few of late. Try again and I’ll look in spam as well.
Sent it directly to you this time.
H H
Where Maryhill bus depot used to be, Celtic Street & Lennox Street run parallel to each other.
MON THE HOOPS !!!!!
God Bless you,Bondi,your back!
Did you enjoy the humiliation of Sevco ?
I mean from us,not Raith or Hibs.
Where did you watch,other Tims/Irish their?
The Bell End gag was gas and I nearly fell off the chair at The Knob. Excellent