After all the talk about players moving away, it’s refreshing to hear from one who has no intention of leaving.
Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who stepped into the shoes of Fraser Forster, and surprised us all by finding that they fitted rather well, has pledged his future to the cause.
“It has gone well this season and I’m happy with my first year back, It was a little bit of a step into the unknown for me to get back into playing football but I don’t think I could ask for an awful lot more from my first season.
“We got two trophies, very close to being three, and we’ve played some good football along the way. I’m delighted with the way things have gone as we’ve not lost too many goals and I think it has been a pretty good season.
“I’m very happy here. I want to take it one year at a time, but also try to replicate what we did this year then improve on that and improve in Europe. Personally I am still developing within the team.
“We set our goals for this season and we have achieved as much and probably more than what I set out to achieve at the start of the season, so next year I’ll be setting my goals for what I want to do in the next season.
“I’m delighted to be here, very happy with how things are going and now I want to look to the future both personally and as part of the club.”
The club have recognised this by handing him the number one jersey, which has delighted the former Hearts and Sunderland man;
“It means a lot to goalkeepers, All the top goalkeepers across the world are No.1 and it’s a very traditional number for a keeper and one that I’ve had most of my career.
“It’s huge for me. It’s the trademark of goalkeepers and people talk about them being ‘the No.1’ whether they wear it on their back or not but to actually be known as the Celtic No.1 and have that on my back is something that all goalkeepers aspire to.
“There’s a sense of pride in wearing it. The club has a rich history with goalkeepers and even lately the goalkeepers that have worn the No.1 jersey have been great performers for the club, so to have that number and responsibility adds something extra to it.”
When he joined the club last summer, there was an element of risk involved, at least as far as some supporters saw it, but Gordon came through what would have been a more strenuous medical than most, and hasn’t disappointed. Keepers should win you points with crucial saves, and he has. Not only that, but he seems more aware and in command of whats going on around him than recent stoppers, and surely an international breakthrough is on the cards.
Good luck to him. He’s earned it.
Another stalwart, captain Scott Brown, is looking ahead to the champions League qualifiers. His injury last year has been perhaps discounted as a significant factor in the clubs failure to reach the group stages, largely as the fans found another scapegoat in the new manager, but this time he’s raring to go.
Although it might be an idea for him to save his dog chasing a carier bag on a beach style until those games come around.
“The atmosphere is good, confidence is high and as a team we feel we are progressing in the right way Getting to the group stage is a challenge enough just now.
“We think we are good enough. The players here all believe we can take that step.
“But it is one thing to talk about and another thing to do it. It is difficult.
“You have to show that you are good enough by the way you play. It is about the results that you get.
“This summer is massive for us. We all know that. Once you have experienced playing in the Champions League, there is nothing else like it. The atmosphere at the stadium on those nights is just amazing.
“The pressure is always there but that is the mark of a good team. To be able to handle that is what it is all about.
“The spirit in the team was great under Neil and it is great under Ronny.
“We feel that we have it in us to go and get into the Champions League but you have to be ready for these games because they are so important for us.”
Now that the league is won and out of the way , it’s worth looking at the possible opponents in July.
The confirmed non seeded teams for the second round, where Celtic come in, are;
Levadia Tallinn * Est 4.200
. Zalgiris Vilnius Lit 3.900 .
FK Astana Kaz 3.825 .
CH Mon 3.125 – 3.875
. Stjarnan FC Isl 3.100
. FC Santa Coloma * And 2.666 .
CL-QR1 * Nir 2.475 – 3.550 .
Dundalk Irl 2.150 .
Hibernians FC Mlt 1.591
Which effectively means , due to regionalisation, it will be Dundalk, St. Jarnan, Santa Coloma or Hibernians. That’s the ones from Malta, not the far eastern drug cartel controlled empire of Leith.
One of the more refreshing compensations of the Europa League was the chance to play different teams in different countries, whilst the champions League usually meant we’d play Benfica, Barcelona and one other.
The qualifiers are beginning to look a little monotonous as well, but the team needs to approach it with vigour and enthusiasm, even f the fans don’t.
John Guidetti, having frightened off the more fiscally prudent Feyenoord and Sporting Lisbon ( as well as Celtic ) with his wage demands, has apparently left himself with just two options. Bolton and Stoke, which suggest that he might want to sit down and have a think about where his career is going.
Bolton…
Or Stoke…
Tricky one, that.
With it looking like the Swede will be away, there will be a need to dip into the market and replace him.
a Q and A between fans and Ronny deila at Celtic Park didn’t give us many clues as to who it will be. but it did perhaps tell us who it won’t be.
These highlights came from Jake the Snake on Twitter;
Ronny asked about Pukki & Balde returning
“As I said we plan to trim the squad” to much laughter.
Ronny asked about areas he will focus on this summer.
2 centre halves, a right back. A striker – but everyone wants a striker.
Ronny says measure of teams performance before and after Christmas is unrecognisable.
Every statistic gathered shows significant improvement
Ronny said celtic squad had 692 days out injured in 1st 3 months
2nd 3 months they reduced that to 252 injured days
An injured day is one players missing one training day. Five players out of one session is five days.
Take Derk Boerrigter out of that and you might get an even more impressive statistic that shows the methods are working…
Over at the ground something else is going on…
That’s just a few. You can see the rest here..
There’s no denying it, thats impressive, and far better than adverts, of which there are too many in football.
Celtic Park, enveloped by pictures of Celtic heroes. and I include the support in that definition.
Yep. Beats the name of a company every time.
Well done to everyone behind that one.
Meanwhile, English striker and informed football pundit Alan Shearer has admitted he turned down the chance to play for Celtic when Martin O’Neill was in charge.
“I actually spoke to Martin O’Neill twice about moving to Celtic a few years ago when I thought I might be leaving Newcastle. What if? Nah, I never look back. I lived my dream and I was a lucky lad.”
Probably didn’t fancy his chances of displacing Sutton , Hartson or Larsson.
Come to think of it, who would ?
Meanwhile, Neil Doncaster, who has secured a sponsor for next seasons Scottish football leagues, has spoken to the Record at length about his achievements, ( not many ) his visions ( not clear ) and his hopes for the future ( unfortunately not resignation ).
If you are feeling good, you can change all that by reading this.
Nowhere does doncaster tell us how much the deal is worth, and nowhere does Jackson ask him. ( He might have done, to be fair, but I’d started crying about half way through, and may have lost concentration )
The deal is allegedly worth £2m a year to the game, and after the SPFL takes it cut, to pay it’s staff and other bills, each club should receive enough to cover the bus fare home after they attend the meeting to tell them how much they get.
Frankly, though, I suppose it’s an improvement on the last time Doncaster was in charge of negotiations. Then he actually paid BT sport to show a Second Rangers game.
Oh, and you’ll notice he doesn’t rule out completely a 42 team league so that the Ibrox club can compete at the top level. Which is what’s going to be needed when they crash and burn this summer.
Now, an apology. A few of you thought the recent jokes about the royal family have been in bad taste.
So, sorry to Prince Ginger . And his Dad.
If Cameron wants to save a few quid, he could book these pair onto the Jeremy Kyle show.
Remember the bus company in Cardiff with the advertising campaign that raised a few, er, eyebrows ?
They’ve cancelled it.
We await with bated breath their next effort.
Something else occured to me whilst looking at those old photos of Bolton and Stoke.
All this retro stuff isn’t a bad idea, you know. remember when footballers had perms, back in the eighties ?
I reckon it’s due a comeback. Imagine , next year, the fear in a Barcelona midfielder’s heart, the expression of terror on his face when he sees this hurtling toward him…
Anyway, I’m off now. got to be somewhere soon.
For the love of god, do not google this place.
Yesterday, finally, we got the picture sent in by Tim buffy to work.
It’s Andy Walker of Kilwinning Rangers!
Tim explains the story behind the picture.
A” flirtation with the buffs “.
Perhaps something else best left out of one’s internet search engine.
If anyone else has any similar interesting shots of player, ex players and so on, let us know and we’ll get it posted. After years of this I’m running out of quiz questions….
Although there is this one…
This former Celt has done something no other has done, past or present. Who is he, what has he done, and more importantly, how did that happen ?
Wore an orange jail it. Hh
edinson brafheid (sp) and he somehow played in a world cup final for holland against spain!?!?
No Idea, but great Diary as usual. HH Champions League here we come.
Cant be world cup final, Juninho came on as a sub in 2002 final. Unless it’s start a world cup final?
He wasn’t an ex Celt at the time.
Cracking read today again Ralph good stuff.
On Craig Gordon I never had any doubts in his ability my only concern regarding Craig Gordon was the fact we never went and got him when we picked up Elvis and Hartley because I believed at that time he was one of the best young Keepers in the World at Hearts.
Nothing has changed in that respect except he’s not young anymore.
He is quality always has been in my eyes and the fact he want’s to stay at Celtic is a very good thing indeed and the No1 Jersey a sure sign the Club see’s him staying for a while.
I don’t see the first 2 rounds being that much of a hurdle in the Champions League Qualifiers myself though I would hope we have strengthened up front before the final round.
Our weakness this Season has not been in defence or creating chances it has been in finishing them.
So common sense decrees you sort that area out first and put your resources into getting that right.
That could take a leap of faith from our Board let us hope they speculate a bit more than they have been doing in recent years because £3-4m just wont cut it at that level anymore.
Mornin’…
Another great Diary read…ta for that.
On a “serious” note…
We’re gettin all excited about the upcoming CL qualifiers…
But am I the only one who’s a bit worried about them ?
It looks as if we’re about to lose two of the best Centre-Backs we’ve ever had…and how do we replace them in such a short space of time ?
These two guys have been immense for us..so I can only hope that RD is on the case.
We don’t have a lot of time.
PS If both guys stay..please disregard the foregoing as pessimistic crap….:0)
Great news about Craig Gordon. Not sure about the report that one of Ronnie’s priorities is a right back. We have several on the books already and he has already told us that he intends to have a smaller first team squad next year. Is he telling us something about the injury prognosis for Lustig and possibly Matthews? Is he hinting, hopefully, at Ambrose leaving? What about Fisher who, despite being “skinned” a couple of times last weekend by McGinn, looks a good prospect, particularly going forward. I would have thought that an addition for regular competition for the left back position which for most of this season has only had Izzie to fill it, would have been a more pressing priority.
Thought that the Arab quote was very strange myself Paddy. We are more than well endowed (oo er missus) in the area unless Ronny is planning to “trim” the squad there as well. FFS, when will we ever see the day when we get adequate cover at LB. Suppose we can’t really complain. At least we have one competent LB at present. Until fairly recently we had none.
Arab quote??? It should have read RB!
Ronny says the centre halfs are going nowhere….and then says he wants to sign two centre halfs……..?
Craig Gordon earned that jersey months ago, absolute top class this season.
Not only that but he’s not once strayed into the “badge kisser” territory inhabited by Guidetti and recent others, he’s a Hearts fan but has been nothing but an total credit to Celtic when he speaks and seems sincerely glad to have the chance to play at CP. Kudos Craig
BTW Agree wi Patrick – SIGN A LB FFS!!!!!!! its been about 5 year without real cover
Always enjoy reading the diary. Keep up the good work.
love the Harry the Bastard lookalike
Shearer, just want to point out having met Alan Shearer many times with work and spoke to him about this that he never actually turned down Martin O’Neil on both occasions O’Neil asked if he was interested and on both occasions Shearer said that if Newcastle wanted to let him go he would then talk further, on both Occasions Freddy Sheppard said Shearer was going nowhere although he played brinkmanship with the fans over Shearer, but Shearer was always clear that Newcastle always said he would not be leaving, Its worth noting shearer was never out of contract so he was never in a position to “talk further” with O’Neil
Is your surname ‘Sutton’? 🙂
It appears Major James has the good sense, not to mention good eye sight, not to have gone near Camilla …
Love the banners, a great idea and very impressive. Hats off to the folks that did it. Anyone surprised about the sudden proposal to reform the league and I assume magically SEVCO will end up in the Premier? Yet I bet none of us are surprised. I await Mike Ashley’s demand for his money back with great anticipation.
Raplh, you nearly killed me with laughter using that Broonie perm photo.
Love those Paradise banners. Class.
Another Right Back? Titter or Twitter Me Not!
Horse trade 4 or 5 of our attackers and get that Striker and LB cover we have all been waiting for; and that is IF we retain our CB’s.
I gave jake his info last night. It was mis-reported for right back, definitely left back cover and challenge for izzy
Makes more sense.
Just thank our lucky stars that the deid team isnae still in the 4th tier or we’d have Keech Jackson and the Daily Dump landing us with a 50 team Premiership.
Superb Diary as usual. Re Shearer. Is that why the song “you are my Larsson” had the line “Alan shearer well he’s a w@nker”?!
Alan Shearer picked Celtic to play in his testimonial. He probably could have picked any team in Europe and they’d have agreed. For once Celtic fans weren’t being used to line somebody’s pockets as the game would have sold out regardless of who the opposition was. Newcastle fans were unhappy as they wanted a big team for the testimonial and couldn’t understand Shearer’s desire to have Celtic. Is his family Celtic minded?
fucking typical, FC Astana in the draw but we cant get them due to geographical shit, where do I work????? ASTANA