See. If only John Collins would take time out to learn Norwegian, he and Ronny could say what they want about the other teams and the monolingusitic SMSM-they can only talk shite-wouldn’t have had a clue what they were on about.

Collins caused a storm in the Scottish media when he said that the other teams in scotland weren’t quick or clever enough to challenge celtic, and that the hoops had to step up a level in the champions League. As opposed to Derek McInnes, who claimed after his team were knocked out of Europe by some mob from Khazakstan, that his side wouldn’t face a team like that again all aseason, presumably because they won’t be involved at that level any more.

In a nutshell, both Collins and McInnes said effectively that the teams they were facing, the best from their relative countries, were better than the others in the Scottish League. Oddly enough, they are better than the ones in their own countiries as well, which is why they are at that level.

Then McInnes, who worked abroad in management at Bristol City, where he was let down by the climate, the players, the coaches and the Avon brifdge on the M5, said that Collins had “spoke pretty big words for a little man ” (or something like that )

All set for a showdown ?

Collins….

McInnes…

( I couldn’t find one that said “the piss poor ” )

and the Scottish sports media..

Ronny had a quiet word with Collins, and asked him to point out the guy who was bad mouthing him;

He then told Leigh Griffiths not to worry, he’d deal with it. Leigh is always handy to have around if there’s a rammy.

Ronny said;

 “He should call me if he is angry about it. 

If you think that collins got it in the neck, spare a thought for poor mikael Lustig. During the 2-0 win over Partick, he jumoed for a cross, missed it, and the Partick forward clipped a shot which hit his arm.

Bt Sport, covering the game, discussed the matter in a calm and rational way. It wasn’t a penalty, but they managed to drag it out a bit, and even Stephen Craigan, who thought it was a spot kick, explained why. He felt that Lustig, having erred, made himself as big as possible to try to block any resulting effort on goal. An acceptable viewpoint. Perhaps even a good point, well made.

Neil McCann, however, had a different opinion.

Getting the game onto the back pages, encouraging debate and listening to different views can only be good for the game.

But sometimes you have to wonder who chooses who to ask for their opinion, and what criteria they use. For instance, imagine the meeting down at Sky sports HQ where names were tossed around for opinions, where potential summarisers and experts were compared, their knowledge, their communication skills, their appeal to viewers and so on, and how , when someone said,

“I know ! Neil McCann, he’s the very man for this job. ”

We can reveal that the man who nominated McCann was also the man who reckoned that ginger beer was a winner.

Another one that left me wondering about what actually goes on in the heads of these people was when Celtic drew Malmo last week in the final qualifying game ahead of the Champions League group stages.

The Record found Vladimir Rodic, a winger with a unique and possibly revolutionary view of how the game should be played;

“ To progress in Europe we feel our best chance is going forward to score ” 

As opposed to going backwards ? How long before he’s a Sky Sports pundit. ?

Then there was the frantic search throughout Swedish football to find someone who might know something about Malmo, and perhaps pick up a few handy hints about their sttrengths and weaknesses, which meant that somehow, a now defunct financial basket case with identity problems got a mention in a champions League story….

Former Rangers ace Robert Prytz backs his

old club Malmo to see off Celtic if the Hoops

fail to land a knockout blow at Parkhead

REMOVAL man Robert Prytz has warned it will be Malmo flitting into the Champions League unless Celtic deliver a win a first-leg win at Parkhead.

The ex-Rangers ace – who is now in the removal business – reckons his old club in Sweden will be the ones packing for 
the group stage following yesterday’s draw.

Prytz thinks Malmo landed exactly the play-off tie they wanted – especially with the crucial second leg in Sweden.

The 55-year-old says the Swedbank Stadium is a fortress for his former side – and it could be a graveyard for the Hoops. 

In just the opening paragraph, he points out no less than six warnings for the Celts.

Writer Michael Gannon explained why Prytz was deemed worthy of the interview;

Cause Prytz answered his phone. 

A little later he remembered that Mikael Lustig is Swdish, and his opinion was sought. Still no sign of the Jo Inge Berget revenge piece though, which would have been my first phone call.

Now, with the media tearing John Collins apart for running the game in Scotland down, you’d think that they would have bounced back and sung the praises of a Celtic side which has three wins in Europe and thus far has conceded just the one goal.

But hey ho, what do I know ?

I wonder, is there perhaps an ex Celt working in Sweden, perhaps as a manager with maybe one of their clubs, who could offer some constructive advice on how to get through the tie ?

Larson , presumably , didn’t want to talk to the Record.

Celts travel to Rugby Park , Kilmarnock tomorrow for their next 2-0 win in this seasons quest for five in a row. Thinking of going ?

Lets check with the Celtic website…

• Kilmarnock v Celtic

   

  Ladbrokes Premiership
  Wed, August 12 2015
  Kick-off 19:45

• Tickets for this match are now on sale to Season Ticket holders on a first come first served basis. Tickets are now only available from the Celtic Ticket Office.

  Tickets are priced as follows:-

Audlts – £26

Concessions (65+/U21) – £18

Under 16 – £10

Who’d be an audlt these days ?

So, one adult and one child is £44.

Travel to Kilmarnock, one of their pies, two days off work with a stomach bug….( It happened to me, Killie pies my arse, which , coincidentally is where it sped back out of at the services on the way home ) and then there’s the innoculations and immunisations before you head to Ayrshire.

 Nah. I’ll give that one a miss.

Compare  the greed of Kilmarnock with the prices at Dundee United a week on Saturday… where you’ll get the aded bonus of watching next winters signings..

• Dundee Utd v Celtic

   

  Ladbrokes Premiership
  Sat, August 22 2015
  Kick-off 12:00

• Tickets for this match are now on sale to Season Ticket holders on a first come first served basis.

  Tickets are priced as follows:-

  Jerry Kerr

  Adults – £25/£24RV

  Concessions(Under 18/65+) – £13

  West Stand

  Adults – £22

  Concessions – £12

Kilmarnock are my tip for relegation this season, because they’re shite. Maybe they’re just trying to make as much money as possible before their poor quality product sees punters turn away in disgust.

You know, that link can only lead us to one place… Its another reply from New Balance regarding the tat they have passed off as replica shirts. you may have gathered that i have finally lost patience with them. If you own a New Balance top, wear it to european games and swap it with one of the opposition fans for one of their tops, or a scarf, or some crisps or something.

Because , guess what ? It appears they just want as much of our money before we realise the product is piss poor as well.

Thank you for your further feedback. I am sorry I did not respond to your email but I was off for a few days last week. 

The points made have been registered and shared with the New Balance Licensed Club Product Team.

As previously shared with you, we aim to deliver the highest standard both in product quality and customer service and therefore we take all merchandise enquiries very seriously.

As with all our club partners we will continue to monitor all communication channels to ensure the expected level of service is provided to the fans.

Thanks for your emails,

Kind regards,

Well, I feel so much better now. Don’t you ?

At least they have replied. Despite a number of enquiries , and asking for the opinion of the club from the man who did the deal, Celtic have remained silent.

 You’ve seen the evidence. You’ve seen the communications and by now will have a fair idea that the product is poor, the company supplying them doesn’t give a toss, and the club who have attached themselves to the brand, even to the point of defacing the North Stand with the logo, couldn’t give a fuck either.

 Simple really, if you haven’t bought one yet, don’t take the risk. If you have, swap it.

They might take a bit of notice then.

There’s been a stroy or two in the media that Celtic are about to sogn a new striker. On loan, at least, should the club progress to the group stages of the champions League.

 Javier Hernandez of Manchester United is one name in the frame. United have already loaned a couple of players out and are quite happy to pay a large chunk of their wages. Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn’t train with PSG at the weekend, and he’s made no secret of wanting to play in Glasgow at some point in his career.

 Then there’s , well, there’s not really anyone else , so to be honest it will be someone we never thought of, if there is to be someone at all, that is.

Well, when i say there’s not really anyone else, there’s always Steven fletcher, who fits the profile of nearly every Celtic forward that has arrived at the club in the last few years. slow, injury prone and unable to score goals. so it will probably be him.

Steven Fletcher in a New Balance top.

The visual definition of not fit for purpose.

Actually, the evidence points to it being more than possible. Ikeche Anya is likely to join if Celts progress, and with Griffiths the only forward at Celtic who knows how to score, another striker is probably a neccessity.

 Only, we’d prefer a good one this time.

For those of you who have those modern phones which don’t need ten tuppence in the slot to make a call, you can download the new CelticNewsnow app using this badly spelled link

id981913905

which will give you all the news about the club direct to your device.

Heh.

Device. I’m a twenty first century guy.

 Right, who’s this fellow ?