Celtic Diary Wednesday April 20: Take Aim….Fire

You get to hear all sorts of things.

You form your own conclusions.

Today , the diary is going to ask some questions.

Some fairly direct questions.

Questions that need to be answered. That’s because there’s a lot of people involved with Celtic right now who need to take a good look in the mirror, and thats where they will see the problem.

Elsewhere on the site, there’s an article by Monty Burns which points out, somewhat brutally, though honestly, the contribution made by Peter Lawwell during his tenure.

It’s not really a great deal , is it ? Though, as Monty points out, he’d have us believe that. And to an extent, we have.

Lawwell, in his interview at sundrland, which supposedly took place recently, could have strengthened his case for the job-or any job, come to think of it, by stating that he has indeed managed to fool , if not all, nearly all of the people all of the time.

Can he truthfully come out and tell us that he is worth around a million pounds a year ?

Can he point to what it actually is he feels makes him worth that ?

As far as I can see, this man, may be trained in accountancy, but he sure as hell doesn’t understand accountability.

When a man does a job, and receives just reward, he should be abke to point to something, with a little pride, and say;

“I did that. ”

Lawwell cannot, and if he’s wondering why he’s getting a lot of stick right now, then maybe he should come out and tell us why he doesn’t deserve it.

Then, below them, we have the silent minority.

The board of directors.

Whatever they’re taking out of the club, they should be subject to a police investigation, They haven’t earned it, they sure as hell haven’t even put in a decent claim for it.

Why don’t they just give it back, apologise and spend their time doing something else ? Anything else, as long as it’s nowhere near Celtic Park.

The chasm between those who run the club, and those who collectively pay them to do so has never been greater, and yet they adopt a policy which involves hiding under the table and asking the stewards if it’s safe to go home now.

When supporters called for the resignation of Lord Livingston, and he was supported by his chairman, it felt like we were simply being dismissed in the arrogant way reminiscent of politicians who regard us plebs as something that they stood on on their way to the office.

Again, lets ask them what they actually do. What they hope to contribute, how they benefit the club by their presence.

Because from where I’m sitting, it appears to be the square root of fuck all.

Between Lawwell and his acolytes, they have conspired to drag a famous club into the gutter, and they need to have a long , hard look at their own performances and tell us why they should keep their jobs.

Or at least, tell us why they think they should keep their jobs. As it stands, I’m struggling to think of a single reason why a single person currently in that boardroom should be allowed to retain his seat by the end of this week.

I’m not saying they should leave for any particular reason, I’m asking them to give me a reason why they should stay.

I can’t wait. It should be hilarious.

Then we move onto the management side . I use management here in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Because there is no management at the club. This lot can only manage to piss everybody off.

Let’s ask Deila, first of all.

Why was Gary Mackay Steven playing if he hadn’t trained all week ?

Why was Leigh Griffiths playing having not been fully fit since his return from the Scotland camp ? Or, to put it another way, why was he not allowed to fully recover before playing again ?

Why , in fact, do you seem to spend as much of you time as you can trying to piss off as many players as you can ?

Why run to the Norwegian press to tell them you’re leaving, and unsettle a squad even further ? There’s a league to be won, and you are giving the impression that you don’t give a toss. If you don;t want to be here, just go. We won’t mind.

Really, we will  not mind in the slightest.

Then we’ll ask Collins….

You were brought in to help Ronny deila adapt to Scottish football. To explain to him how this environment works, and to assist him in settling. you were supposed to back him every step of the way while he imposed his idea’s, rightly or wrongly, on the way the club played.

Lets be honest.

You haven’t done that, have you ?

You don’t even seem to care that you haven’t done that. From what we hear, you spend a lot of time telling players, sidelined by the norwegian, that they would be in the team if you were in charge.

Well, you are not in charge. you never have been in charge, and you never will be.

Why are you still hanging around ?

Then the players…and this is the most sickening aspect of all.

Apparently, they’re having a moan that their own ticket allocations for Sunday’s Hampden clash were cut. To allow for more hospitality briefs, if I’m reading it correctly.

Aawwww.

Then do what the rest of us have to do and buy some.

Then again, would you want your friends to come and see you when you’re playing that badly ? Are you proud enough of your performances this season to want to subject your friends and family to that ordeal ?

With the season rapidly becoming a farce, as a Celtic player should you not be more worried that you have lost the ability to do your job, which involves merely trapping a moving ball and passing it in a straight line to a fellow who even wears the same shirt as you so its easier to spot him ?

Instead of fretting about not getting as many freebies as you think you should be entitled to ?

Do you really want me to point out how many you should be entitled to, if we were to put them on a performance related basis?

Oh, we’re back at the square root of fuck all again.

Finally, the support.

It would be unfair of me to slate anyone else, who like me, supports the club.

So i’m going to ask myself a couple of questions…

Why are you ripping into those at the club ? Why go on a rant about something when you should be offering constructive criticism about ?

(Shit, I was hoping for one on Geography, I’m good at that . Or pop music in the eighties . )

Come on, Ralphie, you don;t even make it from the pub to the ground sometimes, and when you do you come out early….

I can offer no excuses, No reasons save my own discontent.

I thought we were in for a cracking season, instead we got disappointment and malaise from start to finish, perhaps as a supporter I should have been a little more vocal in the ground, a little more supportive.

But the enthusiasm when you get to Glasgow, that sense of anticipation when walking up the stairs to my seat, it just isn’t there.

Supporters and players should have a mutual bond. a feeling we are all in it together. when one doesn’t perform on a regular basis, it drags the other down with it.

There’s five games left this season, and it’s a good job we have an eight point cushion.

We need to turn this anger, this sense of rage, outwards, and not inwards.

It’s going to be difficult, but with a little bit of soul searching and honesty, we can still do it.

But everyone needs to realise that there is no one reason why we are stumbling, and everyone connected with the club, everyone mentioned above, has to start doing their bit now.

Let’s get some desire back, get over the line , and sort out what went wrong after the title’s won.