Celtic Diary Friday April 8 : Butterflies Are Fluttering…

There’ll be more than a few anxious eyes on tonights Hearts-Aberdeen clash, live on the telly to get us all in the mood for the final game before the league split at Motherwell tomorrow.

An Aberdeen win pulls them to within two points of the hoops, although a Hearts win, plus a victory in their game in hand could see them challenge for second spot.

Wasn’t it so much easier when all we had to do was turn up to win games ? Whenever that was.

The Lennoxtown treatment room is full up again, the space vacated by Derk Boerrigter is now occupied by Erik Sviatchenko who won’t play tomorrow, Mikael Lustig who might not play tomorrow, and Jozo Simunovic, whoever he is.

We could well line up with Ambrose at right back, Boyata and Mulgrew in the middle, and Tierney on the left. Or Scott Brown could move to the right back slot, where his pace and tenacity-oh forget it.

There is one man for the job, though, a man whose very presence would terrify the opposition, leaving them so awestruck as to be incapable of movement, and one who would inspire and lead our own…

Ok, he might not last the full ninety, and may be better off on the bench to start with, but you tell me a single Celtic supporter who wouldn’t feel the hackles go up on the back of their neck if they saw him pitchside tomorrow..

Or player…

Failing that , give Tommy Boyd a shout. He goes to most games anyway, and a wee shout on the tannoy would get him down to the dressing room. Mind you, we’d have to refund his ticket.

Oh, for those heady days of inspirational Celtic defenders..

If  they’re  not up for it, then I guess moving  Brown  to right back,  means space for someone else in the middle.

Just to make you feel a little better, Celtic were beaten 2-1 by Motherwell at Celtic Park in December.

This time round, Celtic will have Leigh Griffiths on the pitch, and he’ll be fired up, having not scored in four consecutive games as another misunderstanding among the coaching team about working to bring all the clubs strikers to  the same level comes to light.

Motherwell manager Mark Mcghee says they’ll have to “strain every sinew ” to keep Griffiths at bay, thats their own sinews, presumably, and not those of the Celtic striker.

The ex Celt or next Celt, depending on whether or not Lawwell was asking for advice from Gordon Strachan as they chatted after the recent Scotland game, told the media, who wanted to know more about his clubs recent victory over Celtic;

‘That win is significant in the sense the players know how they approached it that day, mentally and physically, They worked really hard and played very well.

‘We got a couple of breaks along the way as well. I mean, Griffiths never played that day.

‘I am not taking away anything from my team at all but he is a danger. He will be playing on Saturday and that makes Celtic more dangerous.

We have to keep in mind that we did do very well at Parkhead, but this is a different game and we have to start again and work harder. Even if that is only because Leigh Griffiths is playing and makes Celtic better.

‘Will he be frustrated just now? The great strikers just keep getting there, don’t they? They just keep getting chances, missing chances and going back again and again. It doesn’t affect them 

Leigh is like that. He is a predator who loves to score. He is hungry for goals and wants to set a record. He will be looking to keep on scoring.

‘Regardless of how he has been in the last couple of games, he will see the next game as an opportunity to get goals. That is all he will be thinking.

‘As a striker, you rely on the team as well. The general form of the team is reflected in the goals.

‘It’s not just about Leigh Griffiths. He needs chances presented to him. If he gets enough of the ball then he will get goals.

‘No striker scores in every game. But he has scored in a lot of them — and will do so in a few more before the end of the season.’

‘Off the training field, he is a quiet lad.  He keeps with his mates. 

On the training pitch, he will hit any loose ball into the net. He is a striker. No matter how far away the goal is, he will try and put it in the net.

‘In training, his finishing is outstanding. In any of those sessions, Gordon will come back talking about Griffiths’ finishing.

‘He hits the ball really hard. That’s one thing you notice. He absolutely cements it. He is great to watch in training because he will score a spectacular goal or two as well.’

Once or twice this season we’ve noticed that Celtic press conferences are somewhat insipid affairs easily dominated by hacks asking irrelevant questions, and managers and players answering them.

It’s great to see a Celtic player being talked up and spoken of in such reverential tones, unless of course you happen to be a Motherwell defender.

For the first time we may see a Celt fired up and ready to go, with words of encouragement ringing in his ears. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll get that from his own boss.

His own boss, by the way, is relishing the pressure of a title race…

It’s more than just a title race now. Pressure and criticism is coming from all angles.

Former player Didier Agathe chucked in his tuppence worth as the media dug out their old team lists to find someone else to repeat that Celtic had failed and ” Rangers ” ( you’ll note the inclusion of asterisks from now on when that lot are mentioned, as suggested  by Tom Campbell the other day as the best way of referring to them. Wonderful stuff )  were back to make them suffer mantra;

“They (Celtic ) should be bigger and stronger than they ever were, They had a chance to make themselves the biggest club in Scotland for a long time, but instead they have tried to not spend so much and you can see what the difference is.

It’s all his fault , you know. He cost £50,000 and led the board to think he was a normal £50,000 player, when he was easily worth double that, and that set the transfer policy we see today firmly in their minds…

“They should be out of sight from everyone else by now.

“If they had spent money they knew that they would have a chance of European football every season and with quality players you can make a mark there. Instead, over the last few years the quality has not been there to do that.

“It would be a disaster if they do not win the league this season for everyone – but they should never be in this position.

“I love Celtic. I am a Celtic fan, I loved playing with the club and being a Celtic player so I always want them to be successful and to win. But these last few years should have made them bigger, much bigger, than any other club in the country.

So, bargain basement Scottish based player signed by Celtic warns Celtic its not the way forward….do these people ever read what they are saying ?

(Before you start, no, I don’t )

Agathe may be correct in what he says, but surely he should have thought about the irony in what he was saying ?

Anyway, in a move to open up the club to the support, and try to close the ever widening gap between the club and it’s followers, there’s a major event tonight, where fans can go along and watch the defence in a full training session.

TONIGHT sees the return of our Comedy Night at Celtic Park where a great line-up of top Scottish comedy talent will take to the stage. 

Ah, so its not just the defence. It’s the midfield and forwards as well.

The stage in question, for some of our players, should be the first one out of town.

They’ve got a few games, however, to change the mind of this notoriously fickle author. Starting tomorrow would be good…

Elsewhere, the kerfuffle about the return of “Rangers ” ( tom’s right, it works well ) has reached the shores of europe, largely because those on this shore haven’t told the truth about what happened. Or even shown an interest in the truth, such as who did Charles Green buy the assets from, or why he couldn’t get any money for the players he thought he’d bought.

Anyway, Sports Insider spoke of the hunger for the game throughout the continent…

Earlier today we covered a report from Spanish newspaper AS on Rangers gaining promotion to the Scottish Premier League. AS are quite excited about the return of Rangers to the top flight, after they gained promotion in an emotional Ibrox match, and the chance for Old Firm matches to resume regularly.

Going through the rest of the European media on Thursday, as we do daily, it became quite clear that it’s not just AS who see it all as quite a big deal, and something to be excited about.

Over in Italy, the grand old newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who celebrated their 120th birthday last week, have also covered Rangers and their ‘long journey of rebirth’. The Italian newspaper don’t hold back, saying the ‘world of football’ has been on an involuntary fast of Old Firm matches, a Glasgow game they call ‘one of the most heartfelt and sometimes most violent on the planet’.

Sky Sports Italia say that ‘finally’ football fans can ‘savour’ matches between Rangers and Celtic again. Il Messaggero say the Old Firm is one of the ‘hottest football rivalries, and sometimes violent’, and they put Rangers fiscal difficulties down to ‘relaxed financial management’.

France’s Le Monde say it’s been ‘four long years’, but ‘passion is intact’. RMC say it’s four long years that the city of Glasgow, and the wider world, has been deprived of matches between Rangers and Celtic. 

It’s not just Europe, Brazil’s Globo Esporte are looking forward to Rangers and Celtic resuming a match ‘considered one of the greatest rivalries in the world’.

The huge response shows how big matches between Celtic and Rangers are worldwide, and everyone gets a preview on April 17th, when the teams face each other at Hampden Park… although the world media seem to think it’s taking place at Ibrox!  

The big con, or the big switcheroo, whatever you want to call it, is almost complete, at least in some minds.

Sickening, I know, but we must not allow it to happen.

As I said yesterday, the game’s integrity is at stake.

We haven’t done that badly, without them, you know…

Yesterdays caption competition was shared by a few who posted more or less at the same time a version of this…

And there’s a guest caption , from Tam on twitter, who spotted Keith Jackson being led away after conducting his , er, respectful , interview with Paul murray, one of the “Rangers ” directors.

How about that for raising the bar ?

todays is probably the most disturbing picture I’ve ever seen, and it came with no explanation, except the word “saw “

Help me out here..