Apologies again for the lack of a diary yesterday. Nothing to do with the wifes underwear, but I suppose it’s possible.

I spent the day fretting after the dog was kept in at the vets, and £400 later we found out he has a lump on his chest wall. At ten years old, we can either send him to the University of Liverpool for treatment or we can let him stay at home with dignity.

At least if he stays at home we’ll still be able to afford the home.

It could be lipoma, which is benign, or it could be cancer, which has been stalking this family for a while now.

Anyhoo, the fitba’s back tomorrow, which coincidentally will be my fiftieth birthday. I’m going to spend it quietly watching the game, and then loudly and drunkenly singing after it.

Probably.

Speaking of drinking, and cancer, i suppose, former Celt alan Stubbs has hit the headlines today;

Alan Stubbs: Modern players can’t go drinking every week..

Hibs stars bond over paintballing.

He’s got a point about the drinking. There’s hardly any pubs left and the ones that are there charge a fortune for the beer. If even football players are struggling with the cost, the industry needs to take a good look at itself.

And of course, paintball is much safer.

But we don’t want to talk about ex Celts, do we ?

Let’s talk about current Celts, international ones. Leigh Grifftiths, Scott Brown and James forrest are all doubtful after their pointless excursion with perennial underachievers Scotland.

Ronny Deila spoke ahead of the game. Well, he can’t speak after it until tomorrow.

“Motherwell are always up for playing Celtic but they will have even more energy now as everyone gets excited when a new manager comes in,”

“It won’t be easy for us to know what they are going to do. There will be some differences but we have to concentrate on getting a good performance ourselves, and we know we are capable of beating Motherwell.

“We need performances and we want improvement, individually and as a team. We know we have the skill to win trophies and that’s what we want to do. But there is a long time to go and so much hard work is required through the whole year.

“We need to develop ourselves throughout the season and if we do that well, we have a good chance of having a good season.

“We need to concentrate on ourselves and win football games. If we do that and get the points we need then we will win in the end.” 

Insightful stuff. but then again, it must be difficult to remain interested and enthusiastic every time you face a press corps that are just waiting for you to say something silly.

The boss continued;

When you come back from an international break, you have to see where everyone is and today we have been summing everything up. We will have clearer answers tomorrow.

“What I can say is that Stuart Armstrong is fit and ready to play again. Simunovic has been training but not playing much football, so it’s still too early for him.

“Scott twisted his ankle. He has done that before and we will see tomorrow how bad it is. It’s not a major one, though, and hopefully he can play on Saturday. Charlie is not ready. He’s coming closer and he could start training next week.

“Leigh Griffiths and James Forrest suffered knocks and could be available for Saturday but we aren’t sure yet. The positive thing is they don’t have big problems.

“Leigh has had some problems with a stiff calf for a month now. It started before the Ajax game and he has been in and out a little bit.

“He did something during the interval of the Scotland game. We have had a week on it and it looks okay. He did half of training today and hopefully he will be ready for Saturday.” 

Griffiths did something during the interval ? Have his lawyers been told ?

Sometimes ronny can be a bit dull when talking to the papers. So can players.

Take Efe ambrose, for instance. (Insert obligatory please take Efe Ambrose joke here )

He told the Record, talking about his howler against Fenerbache ;

“If Craig was able to catch the ball then no one would speak about this, it is not a mistake but the communication between me and Craig was not there.

“I have put that behind me and will work harder to make sure that kind of thing will never happen again, because you learn from your mistakes and I believe I have learned from this and I will move on. 

Fair enough, he’s right.

But the Record chose this headline for twitter;

 Efe Ambrose: Craig Gordon has to take his share of the blame for Fenerbache nightmare. 

Which, of course , isn’t what he said at all.

The players, of course, will know that. but maybe it’s time to cut one or two hacks off the “granted  interviews” list…

This Hallowe’en, if you can’t think of anything else to do, and don’t fancy answering the door to shell suited teenagers threatening to put your windows through while their pal is in the kitchen rifling through your drawers, you could always nip along to celtic Park for the …

I’m all for anything that gets kids into Celtic.

But hang on, look at the food on offer…

There’s lots of tasty themed food included too with Maggot Medley (Macaroni), Goblin’s Toenails (Nachos) and Dracula’s Dread (Garlic Bread) just some of the deliciously devilish choices available.

Did he say “Nacho’s ” ?

Surely some mistake ?

It’s not entirely unexpected that the club will be doing something for Hallowe’en, especially after taking steps to move bonfire night;

Speaking of getting the kids involved, as you are probably aware, the third kit, the one that looks like it should have “Steward ” written aross the back, is aimed directly at the younger support.

There is talk of dropping it, as New Balance want to bring out a new set of gear every year. The club cannot control this, NB are in charge as per the agreement.

The idea of a “European ” strip is nonsense. The hoops are Celtic, and especially abroad it would be better to play in the proper colours rather than some design fault firstly because it would help the players, and secondly, well, simply, we are Celtic, and we want other teams to know who we are.

Surely kids should be encouraged to wear the hoops, to help them identify with the “brand ” ? Add a few wee extra’s, such as t-shirts, scarfs or badges to the kids kit and maybe those in the shop won’t have to wear a mask when they ask for the money.

More fixture changes have been announced, to suit tv, who pay a few shillings for the privilege of messing up our weekends;

Elsewhere, Scottish football exploded in outrage when Ladbrokes, who sponsor the league, suspended betting on Derek McInnes being the next manager to be sacked.

This prompted a flurry of rumours, all denied by the club, that the man second only to Warburton Of The Gers in ability, was on his way out.

Which got more and more outrageoues as the day went on, including a story that he was caught in flagrante with a players wife.

There was also a tale that he was spending time with a supporter , who was devastated that he was about to leave.

Of course, it was all nonsense. Even the sheep. But it got people talking, which i suppose is what the sponsors want.

Today is also the day when the case against seven men charged with naughtiness when Sevco bought the assets of the now defunct Rangers.

One of them, doesn’t seem overly concerned;

Although he does look a little more sombre this morning;

Note a disguised Ally McCoist in the brown jacket top left.

Probably.

And someone better tell the guy holding his jacket open that the watches he is trying to sell have been nicked. Thats what happens when you go to Edinburgh.

Whyte had already been sent home once to get changed;

Effectively, today is the court asking everyone where they are up to with the case. Then it will go to trial if they don’t all plead guilty.

Should be an interesting day.

The supporters have all got their seats in the public gallery;

Mind you, if you think this trial is set to run and run, there’s another thats been going on for a while. Thankfully, though, wonga are set to make a decision on an application, , and perhaps John Eustace will sign for the Ibrox club shortly.

Wee picture quiz today.

Who is this hirsuite chap ?