It’s probably a good job we won’t be playing Legia Warsaw this season. They may still hold a grudge. Which wasn’t helped in their Europa League fixture last night when they faced Romanian  side Botoani;

Legia progressed, so the tactic of dressing all the ball boys in Celtic tops didn’t work. I doubt they saw the funny side of it.

We didn’t need Stjarnan to field an ineligible player to progress, but with the tie against Qarabag looming next Wednesday, we can’t count on them doing it either.

So we’ll need to step it up a bit.

Not just my words, but those of  Ronny Deila as well;

“When you get bigger tasks you step it up and the players will do that.

“So we need to be at our Inter Milan level. Qarabag are a very good team.

“They beat Twente Enschede in the Europa League qualifiers and did well in the group. 

“It’s a difficult draw but you can’t think like that and we have to take what is coming in front of us.

“We know we are good enough. But we have to be at our best and at least we are at home first. That will be an important game.” 

Curiously, Ronny thinks that being at home first is an advantage. for years , the accepted advantage was playing at home and knowing what you had to do to win the tie. But he might have a point. both Qarabag and Celtic achieved better results away from home in the previous rounds, in the second legs, and it could be argued that it’s easier to absorb the pressure and break away on your opponents ground if you already have an advantage. It’s just that their ground is so, well, far away.

“They have to go to Scotland the same as we have to go to them.

“So they also have a difficult journey to come to Glasgow.

“But we have to prepare well and I think we will go there one day before the normal to adapt because it is five hours or so on the plane.” 

Proper planning and preparation will help, and the idea of flying out a day early sounds sensible. Ronny has been working towards these qualifiers, and , so far it’s working. Th inclusion of Ciftci in the starting line up may seem bizarre, given he has only been here a couple of weeks, but it’s apparent that Ronny sees him as part of a bigger picture to get us into the group stages.

Not a picture I can see, but I’ll bow to his superior knowledge of the player on this one. For now, anyway.

With regards to Ciftci, the press are delighted that there may be an achilles heel in Ronny’s seemingly indestructability.

They’re queuing up to try to create an issue of his removing Leigh Griffiths from the starting line up.

He was asked if this meant Griffiths was knocking on his door to demand to know why he hadn’t started the Stjarnan games ;

‘Why would Leigh knock on my door when I knock on his all of the time to talk with him? 

The honesty behind that statement leads one to think that he is in full control of the situation, and Griffiths is fully aware of what the big plan is. 

‘It is so important we have players who are able to be a sub sometimes and can go on and perform like he does.

‘That’s team spirit and putting the team in front of yourself. If he continues doing this, it is hard to keep him out of the team.’

The manager then pretty much explained his thinking;

‘Both Nadir and Leigh have different qualities. When the games get open, Leigh is a very good player.
‘It was open down in Eibar last weekend and he got his chances but it was going to be tighter in Iceland.‘We need players who score, so he is important. We can also play two up front.

‘We haven’t done that much because we have not have the time for them to get used to doing it, so everything is a transition.’ 

Fair enough.

As Ronny has said, and we have pointed out in the Diary, the reason for the rigidity in sticking to  4-2-3-1 was to get everyone playing the same way. Then he would teach them different ways.

He also poured a little bit of cold water on stories that he was looking to replace Emilio Izaguirre, after Charlie mulgrew took to the field in Iceland. Well, it wasn’t a field, but you know what I mean;

We chose Charlie in Iceland and we’ll see what do in the next game. Charlie is a good player with a lot of experience and he can fill different roles.

‘Defensively, he talks and communicates better than Emilio has done recently, so it was better.

‘We are also dangerous at set-plays and Charlie has great delivery.

‘There are positive things but Emilio also has good things that he does going forward. He has speed.

‘It’s the same as the strikers, you use them in certain situations.

I don’t think Emilio has been anything different from last year. We talk a lot and he knows the things he has to work on to improve.

‘He’s in our plans for the future.’

Fair enough. Emilio isn’t a great talker, so it is something he can work on. 

We’ve had our moans about the press in the Diary, although they have kind of asked for it, and it was refreshing to see, if not a little puzzling, that Stjarnan also had a wee dig at the Record;

Utmost respect for the people of Scotland but have to exclude @Daily_Record & @Record_Sport #ShowSomeRespect #DontLikeYouAttitude

It’s not clear what the paper did to upset them, but this article from Gary Ralston may be at the root of it;

THEY erupted with the fire they had promised only for Celtic to reduce their Champions League claims to hot air and bluster.

Iceland once spilled plumes of volcanic cinders all over Europe and brought chaos to the travel plans of millions.

When the dust settles this morning, Celtic can reflect on a job professionally completed against FC Stjarnan as their journey towards the group stages of the Champions League remains on schedule.

Iceland can keep the ash, the Scottish champions still have their eyes on the cash, with Azerbaijani outfit Qarabag to face in the third round of qualifiers over the next two weeks.

Reykjavik may be the architectural lovechild of Greenock and East Kilbride, but it’s a short hop compared to Baku, next up for Celtic and a round trip of almost 7,000 miles. 

Basically, he’s implying the town is a dump and the country caused havoc by making a volcano erupt. The sort of thing a child might write if an Icelandic policeman told him to stop riding his bike on the pavement.

And the stadium ?

this one-sided stadium that makes the home of Inverness Caley Thistle look like the Bernabeu. 

Not the sort of chap you’d invite around if you’re having a barbecue.

Someone else who will never be asked to taste the burgers at my house is referee Steven MacLean.

You may remember him as the optically challenged official from the Inverness Cup game.

He will be in charge for the visit of Rennes tomorrow, as someone at the SFA thought he would be a good choice to ensure that the French side don’t commit too many over enthusiastic challenges, in much the same way as Brian Madden put a stop to it against Dukla.

 You’d think there was someone at the SFA who didn’t like us.

Still, lets hope that the supporters refrain from swearing at him, throwing things at him or letting his tyres down on his car.

Elsewhere, Rotherham , to be precise, there’s an interesting story breaking, despite one of those confidentiality clauses which tried to keep it out of the public eye…

Chris Jack, of the Ibrox Evening Times drew attention to it  on twitter;

Kirk Broadfoot facing a ten game ban from the FA for a ‘verbal tirade’  

 Former Rangers former , er, player, Kirk Broadfoot has got himself banned for a massive ten games-two more than Luis Suarez did for biting, after he said something he shouldn’t.

So what did he say ? And who to ?

Well, it was to James MacLean, the Irish winger who was with Wigan at the time of the offence;

I wonder what he could have said to have created such a stir…

Chris Jack wasn’t going to investigate further, or at least he wasn’t letting on. So, we need to read the paper;

Sectarian abuse ? By the way, thats not Chris Jack’s comment superimposed on the picture.

Seems so, as the Mirror reported;

Rotherham defender Kirk Broadfoot handed 10-game ban

for sectarian tirade against James McClean

The former Scotland defender will have to serve what is believed to be the longest ban for verbal abuse in English football history

Kirk Broadfoot has been handed a staggering 10-game ban for a sectarian tirade against James McClean.

The Rotherham and former Scotland defender will have to serve what is believed to be the longest ban for verbal abuse in English football history.

The ex-Glasgow Rangers player launched the attack against the Wigan and Republic of Ireland winger at the New York Stadium on March 14.

It is understood he received the record ban after being called to an FA tribunal with club officials to face charges relating to sectarianism.

Earlier this week, Rotherham and the FA refused to comment on the matter because of a strict confidentiality agreement that prohibits anyone connected to the case with making any comment about it. 

Brushed under the carpet ? Even the English are at it. But why ?

It is believed that was put in place over fears of a risk to the parties involved if details were revealed. 

MacLean is not noted for hiding from his beliefs. So it must be Broadfoot, afraid of retaliation ? From who ?

The ban beats the eight-game punishment given to Liverpool striker Luis Suarez after he racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in 2011.

Broadfoot was born into a Protestant family in Ayrshire and is known to be a staunch supporters of certain cultural traditions relating to his religion. 

Staunchly religous Broadfoot….

McClean, a Catholic who signed for West Brom this summer, has been in the news over his refusal to wear a shirt with a poppy symbol in it, turning his back on the Union Flag prior to a game and refusing to sing the British national anthem before kick-off at a game for his new club during their pre-season tour in America. 

against MacLean, who won’t wear a poppy, and won’t sing the anthem of a foreign country.

At least the FA have handed out a proper punishment, but hardly without fear. The confidentiality clause appears to be to protect them as much as any of the players.

They deserve credit for doing what they had to do-in Scotland Broadfoot would have been not proven-but should at least acknowledge publicly what they have done. It might even put a stop to it.

Away from all that and a change of sport.

Same day as the inverness game, we see the Light Middleweight Thumping Competition.

Kelly is a tim, and would appreciate your support. The other chap isn’t a tim. In fact, i don’t think he has a football team to follow.

Other sports are sometimes worth watching, as the high level of performance , dedication and fitness required is often admirable to watch.

Although i think women’s tennis is going downhill a bit since they increased the prize money.

The 1975 Glasgow Cup final finished in a 2-2 draw. The game was never replayed.

Today, it’s a missing words round. The headline is from the Sky Sports Website, and it’s from the 16th of March this year….

Rotherham defender Kirk Broadfoot has labelled Wigan midfielder James McClean a “******” for his part in his side’s opening goal of their 2-1 win on Saturday.  

It might be more than one word.