There were quite a few comments yesterday which were hit by the spam filter, which happens to mot of us now an again. they’ve all been cleared, and it’s worth having a look at them. especially some of the comments from US based fans regarding the franchises.

Anyway, tomorrow sees Celtic face Aberdeen in a top of the table clash which could finish the dons off once and for all. They’ve not won a game since their manager Derek McInnes told everyone how easy it would be to win the league with Celtic’s budget, which kind of mirrors the wobbly spell Celtic have had since john collins had his little outburst.

Perhaps there’s a lesson for them all there somewhere.

McInnes, though, doesn’t seem to know when to shut up;

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes hits back at Murdo MacLeod:

People who say our title challenge is over if we lose at Celtic are

WRONG

 “What Murdo is saying is probably what a lot of people in Scotland are thinking.

“But it would be wrong to say that because we are still only in October.

“We want to get closer to Celtic and I feel we can get closer to them. At the same time, after we beat them 2-1 at Pittodrie earlier in the season people were maybe thinking that if we could beat them at Parkhead we would have a good chance of winning the league.

“But that would be the wrong thing to say in October as well.

“We just have to stick to the here and now, try to win the game and see where that takes us. But over the course of the season I know we can improve on our last campaign.”

then he had a go at former aberdeen defender Willie Miller, who had said it was the responsibility of aberdeen to keep scottish football interesting , or something like that;

“I know what they are saying but it’s wrong to put it only on Aberdeen.

“People are looking for challenges from elsewhere and other teams are capable.

“But the neutrals don’t want to see one team being so far in front by the turn of the year.

“We are second in the table and with a win on Saturday we can pull it back to one point.

“So I understand totally where Willie is coming from but we are doing business for ourselves and not concentrating on anyone else.

“We want to build on the positives of last week’s home draw with Motherwell when we had a good 25-minute period in the second half where Mark Reynolds had a goal chopped off and we had two or three good chances.

“Motherwell got back into it thanks to a sloppy goal from our point of view and from then on it became a game we could have lost.

“We need more control to our game. We know we can improve.”

 Lets be honest, with no wins in five, they can’t really get much worse.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ronny deila must be wondering what on earth is wrong with people in this country, well, at least if he takes any notice of the papers, that is. despite being top of the league, in one domestic cup semi final with the other yet to kick in properly, Alec McLeish, who used to be a manager himself, has warned;

Former Rangers gaffer Alex McLeish tells Ronny Deila:

Even a domestic treble might not save you if Celtic crash out of

Europe

McLeish, who once explained that if he had a pound for every time someone asked him if he was naturally ginger he’d have fuck all, as no-one talks to him, explained this somewhat bizarre theory, which must have made sense to him before he actually saw it in print;

“When Celtic and Rangers were in the league together winning the treble would have compensated if things hadn’t gone to plan in Europe. 

Maybe now what is much more important to Celtic is Europe. Europe is the big expectation and winning domestically is a bit taken for granted. They should be winning the three trophies domestically but I understand it’s easier said than done.

“Even if you win domestically just now it might not be enough. The Treble should be within Celtic’s grasp because they are by far the biggest spenders in the league and have by far the strongest squad but for one reason or another they haven’t been able to do it.” 

Happily burbling away, he continued to make hardly any sense at all;

“I’m not going to speculate on Ronny’s future but he has got to beat these teams. At Celtic your spending power is probably bigger than theirs.

“So is it then an indictment on the Scottish league that the Swedish league is better? That it is more competitive for Malmo. Is it more competitive in Norway for Molde? 

Three times i’ve read that. Still no idea what his point is.

These are the hurdles Celtic have to get over, starting in the next home game. I think Ronny has to be beating these teams. I’m not trying to put pressure on him. I just know, having been there as a manager, that would be the same expectation for me.

“I’m sure Ronny would appreciate that coming from someone else who has been through that kind of situation. I know the expectation levels. In Scotland, domestic success is taken as read for Celtic at the moment.

“That’s why everyone with Celtic in their hearts, and for Scottish football, needs Celtic to succeed in Europe and that’s the pressure that’s on them. It’s like down south if Arsene Wenger wins the League Cup, most Arsenal fans wouldn’t be happy with that. That wouldn’t be success in their eyes.”

Alex McLeish is currently unemployed. Presumably because he can’t get past the interview stage as no-one can work out what he’s on about.

Actually, he’s on about £56,90 a week, paid directly into his bank.

Ronny Deila is probably already aware of the agenda against him. If he ever needs to take comfort from someone who has seen it all before, he should ring Paul le Guen, the last continental coach to come to Scotland and try to do things differently. He, too, was hounded by the press.

 But he probaly saw the accounts and decided it wasn’t worth hanging about anyway.

Deila is made of sterner stuff, and will see this nonsense out.

He’ll start with a convincing win tomorrow over an Aberdeen side which has lost so much confidence in itself that an early goal or two could see a landslide, and to be honest, where McInnes is concerned, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

With the molde return next Thursday, it’s likely that Ronny will rest a few players.

The defence , again is the key.

It needs to gel, and whilst Keiran Tierney has excelled when asked, he cannot be expected to play in both games. I’d play him tomorrow, along with Ambrose, Boyata and Simunovic. The main thing is to get the two centre backs game time together. The full backs are interchangeable anyway, and as long as we stop both of them bombing forward at once, and leave one back as cover, that will strengthen things no matter who they are.

 Scott Brown has plainly been carrying a knock, which came to the fore in the warm up at Tynecastle, so Johansen and Biton can continue in the holding slots. Some might argue that two holding midfielders domestically is a little much, but again, it’s about working with the two new centre backs.

 Commons needs a rest, if we are to use him on Thursday, so forrest, Rogic and Armstrong should be the next three, with,of course, Leigh Griffiths up front.

 Ah. Leaping Leigh Griffiths;

Goals in 2015-16: Griffiths – 14 Aguero – 8 Rooney – 6 Messi – 6 Costa – 3  

There was a clue in the Hearts game as to what Celtic have been doing wrong. when griffiths ran directly at the defenders, they more or less panicked, and two goals were the result.

More of the same tomorrow, please, and to hell with this footering about with square passes.

We’ve already covered Alex McLeish and his ramblings on Celtic and Deila, so its only fair to make him feel a little better by including the nonsense that spouts forth from Sky Tv’s Neil McCann, who has been ponificating things at the club;

McCann has been talking about Kris Commons.

“The former Scotland international has been excluded from lots of Ronny’s starting line-ups, For whatever reason, he’s found himself out of the side and you have to say it can’t be due to any lack of ability, so why has he not featured more? One suggestion has been he hasn’t conformed to the new management’s fitness requirements. Whether that’s the case or not, the man who scored 31 goals and won the PFA Scotland Player of the Year prize in 2013/14 is undoubtedly a fans’ favourite.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t have let Commons near the squad, never mind the starting line-up. I think the manager should have put out a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable at Celtic FC. I’m sure they had enough in their squad to beat bottom-of-the-table Dundee United without him. Did Ronny buckle under the pressure then of leaving out a player who is popular with supporters, at a time when the fans are starting to ask questions of him or was he the bigger man by putting the team before himself? Something, it’s worth noting, Kris should have done!”  

 If he actually believes any of what he has said, he’s an even bigger fool than we first thought. Which would take some doing.

Commons hasn’t responded, but there were reports of a fight around the back of the tv studios… but security put a stop to it.

All this tittle tattle was put firmly into perspective by Davie Hay, former Celtic player and manager, first on coomons, and then on the Ciftci-Izaguirre bout;

It doesn’t appear to have impacted on his relationship with Ronny Deila and his performances since – typified by two goals against Dundee United–have been impressive.

At the end of the day, though, he should not have been substituted and, equally, he should not have acted the way he did.

Players will get substituted and not be happy about it, there would be something wrong if he wasn’t.

I remember Jimmy Johnstone got subbed off once and I remember he indicated he was a bit ‘displeased’ with Big Jock’s decision, although I don’t know if he went as far as throwing his jersey off or not.

But the story goes that Jock chased after him and wee Jimmy locked himself in the toilet!

Regarding the clash between Ciftci and Izaguirre, these things happen in training. It certainly did in my time as a player.

You have physical contact between players. The difference was, though, that in our time it probably wasn’t reported.

Nowadays, you just need to sneeze the wrong way and someone has a photo of you. It never really left the ground back in the day.

Incidents get highlighted and it may appear to some that there is a lack of discipline. It happened during my time as a manager as well.

But the point is when you are training every day there is always the possibility something will happen. 

Celtic train at a high intensity so there will be instances like this now and again. It was the same sort of training when I was at the club, it’s always been the case that you go at it full throttle.

A bit like the issue with Kris, it doesn’t seem to have affected Emilio as he was picked in front of Kieran Tierney to face Hearts and he played well.

You just get the feeling the rest of the MSM won’t leave it at that, though.

I’ll be at the game tomorrow, starting at 06.10, which is fortunate as my clock only goes up to twelve.

It’s unlikely there will be a Diary, but sunday’s will make up for it. If I’m awake at any point on sunday, that is.

Meanwhile, theres dark news for the former dark lord of ibrox, Craig Whyte. The man who brought laughter and joy to millions has been declared bankrupt, and some wag on twitter has decided that the man, who was a hero to us all, could do with a little help, and perhaps some recognition for his efforts;

It’s great having a dual personality. Twice as many people get to dislike me.

Twitters great if you want a laugh.

Rangers youth boss Ian Durrant: Murray Park can be simply the best in Europe http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/rangers/13925507.Rangers_youth_boss_Ian_Durrant__Murray_Park_can_be_simply_the_best_in_Europe/?ref=twtrec …

It’s been fifteen years. so far it’s given them  Lewis MacLoed. Maybe time to turn it into houses, at least then producing something that is fit for purpose.

The two players with Durrant look like they could do with a bit of bulking up.

Though, to be fair, they are probably more mobile than the two defenders currently at the heart of the Ibrox defence.

In the article, “Union ” Jack begins with this, which is probably best read whilst listening to Land Of Hope and glory, or Rule Brittania. If you don’t have them, that Benny Hill music would work as well.

THE best. They are the lyrics that reverberate around Ibrox and the message that is engrained in those at Murray Park.

It is the position Rangers are striving for, one they aspire to reach at all levels. They are recovering from their lowest point but determined to experience the highs once again. 

Don’t think the gullibillies will go for it again, Chris.

And neither does Dave King who is back in town, and no-one seems to know why.

Trouble at t’mill ?

It would explain the feelgood factor in the press, although one wonders of the papers are trying to make the supporters eel better, or they are doing it for themselves.

 We had a photograph of Kings  last interview, but cannot find the text;

Caption competition time, and just in case you thought i’d forgotten to remind you to vote for the removal of Lord Livingston, I haven’t, so go ahead and vote, though we hear news reached him of the campaign…prompting him to do a “Barry Ferguson”

so, to todays caption competition.

I’ll go first.

There’s consternation at the signing of a trade deal when someone shouts “Oi, dickhead ” across the room,