As much as we sometimes moan about the football, be it the quality on show, be it the weather at the ground, or the usual ronny isn’t up to it that seems to invade cyberspace after every game, we can safely say we missed having something to enjoy/moan about at the weekend.

The game was called off after a 9.30 pitch inspection, after the weather in and around the west of Scotland suddenly reverted to being what it should be in December, throwing the country into chaos.

If the powers that be, or whoever comes in to replace the ones who are currently running the game, really want to change things, then summer football, starting in February and ending in November, if not the permanent answer, is certainly worth giving  run for a few years.

If it coincides with a major tournament, not that that should affect Scotland, then just shut down for a month.

If all that seems too simple, well, it’s a simple game when it comes down to it, just complicated by people who like to be seen to be doing something.

I feel for the fans who had to set off early on Saturday, or who had flights and hotels booked. One lad, from our club, ended up in all sorts of predicaments, made easier only by regular infusions of a sustaining liquid, as he opted to travel by train, and their were all sorts of delays and cancellations as the day went on.

If theres a chance of the game being of, make that decision on a Friday night.

Here’s a wee story from when it happened to me, many years ago as we headed to a game at Inverness.. posted on KDS at the time.

Nearly a Day At The Football

So, this weekend I loaded an app from my phone to my smart tv, and spent a happy minute or two laughing at Sky sports, who are now back in my home and not a fucking penny is going to them or the English league.

That’ll teach them.

I also watched Jurassic World, a film about dinosaurs which had a number of holes in the plot. Especially the one about “Dominus Rex “, a hybrid that was part Tyrannosaurus and part dominoes player. They included the genetic structure from the domino player to give it an especially bad temper.

Then again, it’s a film about dinosaurs, which probably means it needed a bit of imagination to really appreciate it, and little things like actresses being covered in mud, then clean, and then covered in mud again don’t really matter.

So, yeah, give me the football back.

If we do move to summer football, we can always have an indoor fivies league or something to keep us amused, with the development squads or something.

Or a Winter cup, played in the bits of the USA which are warm that time of year, and have at least a minimal gun control law.

you can tell there’s something brewing at Ibrox, and quite possibly even at the SFA, when the press fills itself with stories about Celtic. Negative stories, that is.

According to the Express, Nir Biton is off in the summer for £10m. I included the words “according to the Express” there so you would know it was bollocks.

Even if it came from the Israeli midfielders agent, apparently;

‘We have had interest for Nir from English Premier League sides. Celtic have been approached, but right now is not the right time,’ said Dahan, in an interview with the ‘Sport 5’ radio station in Israel. ‘Some players in the Premier League are not as good as him and have bought and sold for a lot of money.

‘He will go to the Premier League, but in the summer, not in January.

‘Nir currently still has a lot to achieve with Celtic and he has a contract in Scotland up until 2020.’  

Incidentally, the same story has been repeated, somewhat gleefully , in other newspapers. 

Biton, of course, said last month, when he signed a his new deal;

‘I enjoy every minute at Celtic and my wife is very happy here, so there was never any need for change. This is where I want to be. 

‘I am so pleased to commit my long-term future to Celtic and I now look forward to doing everything I can to bring the club and our fans more and more success.’

Right, here’s another new feature in the Diary.

You’ve seen what the agent said, you’ve seen what the player said…. using your skill and judgement , try to work out who is telling the truth.

Well, it would save a fortune on chairs at the offices of our national newspapers, as no-one would be able to sit down.

Brian Marjoribanks in the Scottish Daily Mail described Bitons exit as “seemingly inevitable,” just four lines under the quote about how happy he was, which shows he has considered it in depth.

Gary Keown in the Herald says that

CELTIC are preparing themselves for a bidding war over Nir Bitton  

The Record online lazily just copied the report in the Mail, and the Express copied the first half of it.

Well, someone copied it from someone, so they didn’t even want to consider the real story, which is an agent, Dudu Dahan, the man who gave us Efe Ambrose and Beram Kayal, perhaps speaking out of turn and facing the sack from his client.

Which, of course, is always a possiblity.

Thats why you should be the judge.

There’s also the usual plethora of “give him time/get him to fuck ” Ronny Deila stories, which in all honesty have been done to death on here, and therefore need no further comment.

Really, they need no further comment.

But there was advice for the manager from perhaps a surprising source;

Matthew Lindsay: Why Turkey trip is far from

meaningless for Celtic manager Ronny Deila

 for Ronny Deila personally the Group A fixture in the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium is of huge significance. Lose and the pressure on him will intensify. Lose heavily and it could even bring an end to his tenure. 

What if he wins… ?

Qualification to the group stages of the Champions League is the Parkhead club’s main objective at the start of every season. It is where their major shareholder and supporters believe they should be competing. Deila has done precious little this season to suggest he is capable of securing it.  

I said, what if he wins ?

Oh forget it.

Ronny replied ” Get him tae fuck ”

Oddly enough, and I’m not sure why Deila was asked this, although it’s probably just to keep the Ibrox club in the news -well, off the court reports pages anyway- but the Record asked him if he had any advice for Mark Warburton, who seems to be cracking up a little under the Level 5 stories about him being linked to most of the clubs in Engl;and and possibly even the Real Madrid job.

And , of course there’s the pressure of being at a big club , where the roof is falling down and the chairman is facing a spell behind bars for Christmas, should he be convicted of contempt of court again.

Oh, and some of the directors might be barred from being directors at other companies as well as stories of vote rigging and genral shennanigans are attracting the attention of the courts.

Ronny said, no doubt just being polite.

“Because I’ve been through that it will be easier for me to go to another club in the future with the same intensity around it.

“Advice? Learn quick. That’s the most important thing. You have to use a lot of time for reflection. Know yourself, what you stand for, who you want to be, what you want to achieve. Then you have to go for it and believe in yourself.

“You have to adapt to the culture here and the environment around you too. When you get the time to reflect, you understand how much you’ve learned. But in the middle of it you just take one day at a time.”

We hear, so it probably isn’t true, that he gave him some advice on how to deal with the press as well, advising him to do what he does and tell them to get the fuck out of there.

The club shop has a Manic Monday promotion today, with 20% off everything, although the head of retail has admitted a bigger discount would be needed to shift some of the more unsaleable stuff, such as the disappointing posters that announced we would follow follow Celtic, the orange away top,  and winger Derk Boerrigter.

However, it does give me a chance to include a picture of the lovely  eighties singer Susannah Hoffs, of the Bangles, who had a hit with the song Manic Monday written by the bloke who used to be called x or something.

The lovely Susannah in the eighties…

And just last year…

See, kids? Don’t do drugs and don’t drink. Or smoke.

It’s far too late for me of course, here i am in the eighties…

And now, just thirty years later, after the occasional glass of light ale and cigarette.

By the way, if anyone is going to the shop today, and wondering what to get me for christams, I want one of these;

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it.

Chaos everywhere.

The Tesco down the road from us was advertising for a seasonal worker, and yesterday morning I awoke to this in the street outside;

They’re looking for security staff as well, as shoplifting increases at this time of year, as this image on cctv shows taken at the same store.;

Ah, crime, cctv.

I’ll finish on a wee bit of sensible advice, and I’m being serious here.

Be careful . Lock your doors when you go out, and keep an eye out for burglars, who are also putting in extra shifts at this time of year.

One of my neighbours got robbed last week, and the thief actually reversed his car onto the drive, and loaded his ill gotten gains into the car. He was caught on cctv.

So, incidentally was a chap walking right past him with his dogs. Who never noticed anything out of the unusual.

Yup.

Me.

Keep your eyes open. It’s easy for them to hide in plain sight.

Mind you, you certainly couldn’t hide this lot.

Where was this picture taken ?