Celtic Diary Friday July 17: Celts To Face…(Fill This In after The Draw-Ed)

I always have a wee look at the news before I start the diary, and what caught my eye this morning was a story about Iran announcing a deal with the US involving nuclear capability before it became official

Fucking hooray. Someone who wants nuclear weapons hitting the “send ” button by mistake.

Unless the result of the draw is in before I finish this, which is unlikely, Celtic will know which two teams are possible opponents in the next qualifying round should they complete the job against Stjarnan.

UEFA have not regionalised the draw, but it has been split, so Celtic will face the winners of one of the following ties;

FK Sarajevo (BIH)/KKS Lech Poznan (POL)
FK Partizan (SRB)/FC Dila Gori (GEO)
Qarabag FK (AZE)/FK Rudar Pljevlja (MNE)
HJK Helsinki (FIN)/FK Ventspils (LVA)
KF Skënderbeu (ALB)/Crusaders FC (NIR)  

Not pretty reading, there’s a couple of awakward games in there.

Some of the destinations are extremely unappealing, and only Finlnd and Northern Ireland emerge as being easy trips, if not easy games.

Stjarnan goalkeeper Gunnar Neilsen has claimed he was delighted to see Leigh Griffiths win the argument over who would take that penalty on Wednesday night.

 “I saw the argument between Johansen and Griffiths for the right to take the penalty – and I was happy when the striker won it because I had an idea where he would put the ball.

“Perhaps Johansen was confused because it’s always clear in a team which player is the penalty taker and you talk about it before the match. 

Hopefullly, Griffiths will see this claim and give his reply on the pitch next week.

“We may be part-timers but we still do our homework and I knew the last time Griffiths scored a penalty he put it to the right-hand side of the keeper.

“We talked about it before the game so when he won the ball it was more than guesswork for me to dive and make the stop.

“I’m on a run against Celtic. The last penalty I saved in 
Scotland was at Motherwell, against Kris Commons, and he had scored 10 out of 10 with his previous efforts.

“I only hope my save on Wednesday means something in terms of the tie. Celtic are strong favourites to progress but at 2-0 we still have a chance. At 3-0 it would have been over.”  

Remind me, when was the last time Stjarnan scored three without reply…..

 “It could be awkward for Celtic, especially if we score first, but we can’t just attack and leave ourselves open at the back so we’ll look to be solid defensively and try to hit on the counter. 

As I thought, there’s nothing else in their locker.

“We’ll put more pressure on the ball as the surface isn’t as smooth as Celtic Park and the ball won’t run as well.

“Celtic are a professional team and their manager will have them well prepared but it’s a totally different environment between the Samsung Stadium and Parkhead.

“We don’t play on the best astroturf in the world and we want to make the game as awkward as possible.

“The playing surface is bumpy – there’s a lot of rubber on the pitch so the ball won’t roll as smoothly as it did when Celtic were in possession at home. We can make it difficult and nervous. We know how much qualification for the group stage means to Celtic. It’s their Holy Grail. They’re the ones under all the pressure.” 

Are level 5 doing his PR as well ?

In yesterday’s diary replies, Etims colleague Desi Mond pointed out he had overheard someone grumbling that Ronny had put so much planning into pre season only to start with a player ( Ciftci ) who only turned up last week.

A good point, and further ramblings from the manager have made me a little more nervous than I should be about the next few games;

“It is like having a new player again, having Charlie ( Mulgrew ) back. He is so important for us. It is not just his experience and ability, but he is a big player for us to have in the dressing room. 

Well, leave him there then.

“He was out for so long and now that he is back and fully fit we know we can rely on him. He can also play in different positions which is important. He is a solid professional.

“Charlie and Scott Brown are two massive players for us and when they are both fit and available we are a better team.” 

If thats the case, who is he going to leave out ? Nir Biton ? Virgil van Dijk ? Deydrick Boyata ?

It would have to be one of those three, because Mulgrew doesn’t have the pace to play left back the way Ronny wants it played.

Maybe he just means he’s handy back up. Which he is.

Speaking of van Dijk, he is available for the second leg, which may bring mulgrew’s European campaign to a standstill.

Or will it ? How about this for piss poor reporting, from weblog “The Ugly Inside ” , which is associated with Southampton.

Va

Van Dijk Exclusion From Celtic Team Intensifies Transfer Rumours

Virgil Van Dijk played no part in Celtic’s Champions league game against Stjarnan in the Champions League leading to rumours a move could be imminent.

Virgil Van Dijk is a name that was linked with Saints a year ago and has again been linked this summer and rumours that he might be about to leave Celtic are increasing after he was not selected for the squad for the Glasgow sides Champions league victory against Stjarnan on Wednesday evening. 

Social media was awash with posts suggesting that if Van Dijk had played he would have been cup tied for the Europa league and that his exclusion could mean that Saints are close to a deal, certainly with the other English sides linked with the Dutch central defender not taking part in European qualification it would not have affected them if he had played, certainly Celtic are no adverse to using players in the early rounds of the Champions league even when they are on the brink of a move as we know from signing Fraser Forster who played 4 Champions League games for Celtic last season, the last one only 3 days before joining Saints.  

Even the Etims Rumour Mill would struggle to compete with that. I’m surprised they didn’t spell Celtic with an “S”.

Celtic Supporters Liason officer John Paul Taylor has been looking into the amount of police present at St. Mirren Park for the Real Sociedad game, which had concerned a few fans;

@Martin_Doc @MDaly67 @FACKilltheBill Total deployment inc local area 32, 14 reserve, 4 mounted, 3 control room, 11 in and around stadium  

Oh dear. He might want to get them to check that last bit.

It’s not been a good week for Police Scotland. Five supporters, who had been found guilty in a previous hearing if singing an “offensive ” , Roll of Honour, reieved an absolute discharge when they appeared for sentencing earlier this week. I’m not sure what exactly went on, but aj1888 on the huddleboard gave an excellent summary;

The sheriff had found all of the defendants guilty a few weeks back. Before sentencing, the lawyers can make submissions to the court as to why the sentencing/punishment should be reduced or given absolute discharges.

In this case, the sheriff, at sentencing, and in her summary as to the reasons for sentencing, came out and said that in her opinion, having read the submissions by the lawyers for each defendant she could not find a mitigating factor which would allow for reduced sentencing and so in her opinion they were invalid.

The only problem with this was the lawyers hadn’t actually made any submissions, so how could she have read, and then decided they weren’t relevant if nothing had been submitted? The lawyers realised this straight away and raised it immediately, and so sentencing was adjourned until today. She knew if she gave any custodial sentences/fines/community service/FBO or whatever, the defendants would automatically have right of appeal due to the fact she claimed to have read submissions that didn’t exist. To save face she gave 5 of them an absolute discharge, which basically is the same result as “Not guilty”, so no records you were ever convicted, no punishment, nothing on disclosures etc, but your still technically guilty of the crime.   

Which reminds me, anyone know how the Amsterdam guys are getting on ? Surely an MP or a journalist should have picked up on the story by now ?

Steven Reid has tweeted us a copy of his correspondence with Celtic after he ended up with one of the dodgy New Balance tops;

 That should put peoples minds at rest, the shop will replace them, but of more concern is that the problem exists in the first place.

I’ll be emailing the man behind the deal for his response, and I’ll let you know what he says.

It’s only fair to offer him a chance to explain things.

Elsewhere, the desire for good news at Ibrox took a bizarre twist in their daily fanzine The Evening Times;

Not only is Mark Warburton a tactical genius, he a ruthless disciplinarian as well, who demands certain standards.

That should have them delirious over there, with their traditions and so on.

They do love a  dignified approach. And a stirring quote.

Oh come on, a bit of investment, hard work and all pulling in the same direction and they might make it.

Anyway, back to the Times… and reporter Gary Keown has found a bloke who used to work with Warby at Brentford, Frank MacParland;

“He is a terrific man-manager and people like him, but he has a real ruthless streak,” said McParland. “The rules are the rules.

“He has gone from a small club in Brentford to an absolutely gigantic one, but he will have the same ethos and view on what the players should be doing.

“If someone is told to come in certain attire, they do it. These people are paid a lot of money to represent Rangers. How lucky are those boys to be in that position?

“They just need to realise that. Mark is a disciplinarian, but the players like him for that.

“Real, proper players like rules. They like to know where they have to be at a certain time and what they are expected to be doing and he is certainly not going to allow anyone to represent that club in a bad way.

“At Brentford, there were no mobile phones allowed in certain areas, phones could not be switched on when people were having lunch.

“We didn’t have club suits as such, but everyone had to wear a suit for the home games and had to wear the right tracksuit for the away matches.

“People would not be late. He was a stickler for that. It is what we all have to do in normal jobs, really, and the players will be involved in a lot of the decisions being made, but his say is final.”  

Modern football, Timmy. You wouldn’t understand.

And I don’t understand this either, from STV on their latest new signing;

andy-halliday-has-medical-ahead-of-signing-three-year-deal-at-rangers/

A loan move to Bradford City resulted in a permanent transfer in January before the midfielder exited Valley Parade this summer.

He exited after winning a permanent move just a few months earlier ?

Desi Mond has seen a parallel;

Reminds me of the movie Draft Day where Kevin Costner has the first pick of the draft and really has to make a big signing…everyone says it has to be the super quarterback…it seems a forgone conclusion and he asks his mate to “just have a quick look just in case”….the mate comes back and says “His stats are brilliant, what a player”..Costner says “Theres a but isn’t there?” and the mate says “Well it may be nothing, BUT, not one of his team mates showed up to his farewell dinner!”

Costner passes. 

Clubs don’t always let players go just because they are shite. This guy might be shite and a pain in the arse.

Now theres an analysis you won’t see in the MSM.

They need cheering up after cruel photoshoppers got their hands on their recent dynamic plug for their new papal, sorry, purple kit;

The next time you criticise injury prone Dutch winger Derk Boerrigter you might want to consider the guys determination to overcome his problems, after a picture of him emerged playing for his school team;

Andy Lynch was the man in the picture yesterday, during his spell with the superbly named Montreal Maniacs.

Can you tell the ground and the year in this picture ?

EDIT:

Celtic will play Qarabag or Radar Pljevlja in the Champions League third qualifying round if they get past Stjarnan.   

First Leg, 0-0.