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The story about Craig Gordon and a possible move to Chelsea, however accurate it was, has provoked a reaction from Ronny Deila.

Send dem til å knulle Off .

Although this was somewhat watered down by the press. For obvious reasons.

“I can’t sell him I don’t want to.”

“I want him here for the rest of his career. Hopefully, that can happen.

“I think he’s a great goalkeeper, and he’s a man we want to keep at the club.

“We will do everything to keep him here.

“I understand why other clubs are looking at him because he’s had a fantastic season.

“Myself and Peter Lawwell have already talked about this.

“It’s also about what Craig wants and, hopefully, he wants to stay here and be with Celtic.”  

 The word is that Gordon is happy at Celtic. He is very touched by the support he has had since the club gave him a chance to get his career back on track, and again its an indication of this new breed of signing that may not have been Celtic minded when they joined, but have come to appreciate what they have here.

 Deila moved on to give us a quick rundown on how the squad is shaping up for tonights game against St. Johnstone at Celtic Park;

 “Izaguirre is out, even though he wants to play. We don’t take any chances with him.

“If he gets injured again, they may need to operate, and we don’t want that.

“Kris Commons won’t make this game, either, but he should be okay for Sunday. It’s just a nerve injury.

“Stuart Armstrong will be okay for this game. It was cramp on Sunday. It was a sign he’s not strong enough yet.” 

Not reading too much into that, but how come he’s not on first name terms with Izzy ? Or last name terms, even. The Hondurans full name is Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Giron.

Everydays a schoolday.

Notice how he states that Armstrong isn’t strong enough yet, which again points to the high standards of fitness demanded at the club these days.

But this press conference remark shows how seriously he takes the condition of the players, when he was asked how they will prepare for tonights game;

“What we have worked on is lying on the couch more! The players were very tired after the game and Aberdeen were fresh.” 

Ronny is sounding more and more relaxed with his role as the season progresses, and theres no doubt he’s had to be strong to get things the way he wants them. But its worked, and everyone deserves credit for that.

He continued, paying his usual bland respects to tonights opponents;

“They have very good spirit in the team and they’re hard working.

”They’re very clear in their play and will be hard to beat.” 

Actually, we need to be careful tonight.

With the adrenaline from the Inter and Aberdeen games gone, and the two cup mathces ahead, this game may not have the appeal to the players it should have. Thats not blaming anyone. Six points clear at worst tomorrow, so there may be a temptation to take the foot off the pedal.

In fact, it could be argued that in pre-Ronny days, it wouldn’t be a case of taking the foot off the gas, but some players might not have even got into the car.

Publicly, at least, Ronny and the players are as focused for tonight as they have been for any other game;

“There is still so much to fight for. We are working here on the culture to be 100 per cent focused every day.

“There wasn’t even a hint of a celebration among the players after the Aberdeen game – the manager was celebrating more than them.

“They were very tired. The amount of metres and sprints they did was unbelievable given they played three days before.

“I am really looking forward to the St Johnstone game now and expect a good performance.”

 Should be interesting to see how Celtic approach this game, because St. johnstone are a difficult side to beat, and will be bouyed by their recent win over Celtics next three opponents, Dundee Utd.

If February was interesting, March promises to be enjoyable. Two more-possibly even three-steps could be taken towards that treble, and that would leave only a couple more.

And then , with that out of the way, theres the UCL qualifiers to get ready for.

Although Deila has already started;

“We have increased the high intensity running by 30 to 40 per cent since summer, which is a lot.

“We want to be direct, create, penetrate, be a high pressing team, so you have to run and you have to run quickly and you see that in the stats and in how we perform.

“Rodrigo Palacio, the Inter striker, ran for 1250 metres against us at Celtic Park at high intensity. That’s an incredible number. But on Sunday, Gary Mackay-Steven ran 1300m against Aberdeen.

“We now compare to the better Champions League teams in terms of our figures and we have to find benchmarks. Where are we good? Where can we be better? That way we can be as prepared as possible if we get to the Champions League.

Now, you might argue that running around a lot, albeit a lot quicker and for longer, isn’t going to win games, but thats only a part of it;

“In my experience, teams that say: ‘We are going to train twice as much as before and be really fit’ are almost always relegated because you lose focus on the important things.

“For me, it’s what you do in training. We don’t train more than before but hopefully we train better and we give more in that hour-and-a-half every day.

“You must always add things to your game. If someone asks which manager I want to be like. I want to be me but I can add something from him, him and him to make the best of the person I am.

“It’s the same for the team. We have a style of play but can get things from other teams to find the benchmarks but you must know the references of what it means to be fit.

“It’s easy to say that to the other players. If a player asks me why he is not playing, I can show him the numbers. If he is running 600m and a guy in the team is running 1200m, what does he think of that?

“I only wish I learned this earlier in my career as a player. I was always strong but I was too heavy. My body was 92 kilos but I got down to 85.7 kilos and suddenly I was sharper and quicker around the pitch. I ate too many carbohydrates before.”  

All is well at Celtic, and its actually difficult to remember a time when Tims in general were as contented.

However, if we think we’re happy, have a look across the river, and it seems the hordes of Satan are even happier.

 Thats because some chaps who were on the board when the original club went down are apparently about to take over at the new club and work their magic again. For some reason, their fans, the media and the authorities are rather pleased about this.

 Word is that Mike Ashley may now give up his Ibrox franchise and hand it over without a fight, and go back to concentrating on Newcastle, where the media are a cut above the quality of their Scottish equivalent.

 The way should be clear for Dave King and his merry men to take over. Just as soon as the remaining directors have borrowed enough money from Ashley to pay themselves and the players this month.

 Then Ashley will demand his money back, forcing them into liquidation.

 Then they’ll set up another club, debt free, and the whole shennanigans will start over.

 Surely that wasn’t the plan all along, after all, Mr. King is an honourable man….

 Although company Law prohibits a director serving in a similarly named company within five years after liquidation of the original, there is an exception which says its alright if the second entity has been around for over a year.

 BDO, the liquidators of Rangers, will be looking at events closely, as no matter how you dress this up, its fraud, and its fraud on a massive level.

 The PAYE is also due on the 19th of this month.

 No wonder the board are all buggering off.

The press continue to champion King, just like they heralded Whyte, Green, Ashley and all the other behind the scenes investors. Its only two years since they raised millions via a share issue, and no-one seems to be asking where that went.

Chris Graham seems certain all will be well;

Well, almost certain;

 The incoming custodians  are asking -not directly as yet-for the beleagured support to invest again, via another share issue.

 Surely the fans  won’t be that stupid ?  Again ?

Well, it depends how they are asked, I suppose.

An Opportunity To Invest In Your Club! 

We , the new owners of Rangers,  are offering you the chance to be a part of the resurgence of the worlds most successful club. 

You, the heart and soul of the club, who has been steadfast and loyal throughout these dark days, can now make sure that those days never return. 

 Invest in Rangers! Invest in our future together ! 

We have reached the end of the tunnel, and together we must stop Celtic from winning  ten in a row, and restore  our mighty institution back to where it belongs, at the summit of European football.

 But you must act now. 

Without fear or hesitation

 Rangers needs You! 

NB, supporters are requested to bring cash only, and leave it in a bag, with your name and number on it, under the marble staircase,as no-one is daft enough to give us a bank account. 

 We’ll get back to you. Promise. Fingers crossed.

And we’ll do an orange away top as well. 

 Jock Stein played for Albion Rovers, Celtic and….

Dundee Utd.

From the Arab archive…

Jock Stein

Full Name: John Stein
Born: October 5th, 1922 (Burnbank, South Lanarkshire)
Died: September 10th, 1985 (Cardiff, Wales)
Position: Centre Half
Signed: April 10th, 1943
Debut: April 10th, 1943 vs. Raith Rovers (4-3)
First Goal: None.   

 Everydays a schoolday.

Now, Celtic are taking to the field for a European game here, who are the opponents and where is this ?

Thanks again to Celtic Collectibles for finding and sharing this picture.