Sky sports News reported last night that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was going to sign for Manchester United. The English side, pretty much a non entity before and after Alex Ferguson desperately need a boost following their capture of Jose Mourinho , the man who nearly relegated Chelsea, and they are prepared to spend big to get the Swede.
Although we heard different, and there is a reason he won’t be joining Celtic..
He wouldn’t have been accepted by a section of the support anyway….
There’s that word again.
Theres some sort of campaign to have the word “hun ” banned, or deemed sectarian or some other nonsense, so whatever ou do, use it as often as possible in as many contexts as possible.
Although if you are searching for something to define the term, you really don’t need to look any further than this;
There is evidence there that can be used to back up the claim that a section of the “rangers ” community are indeed, huns.
And whatever you do, be careful if you’re out and about wearing this new line in fashion…
Can you imagine if one of them actually answered ?
You’d be listening to his shite for months as he explains what has happened to his club, and why he’s so miserable.
On to the serious stuff now, and new Celtic second in command chris Davies has revealed his connection with Celtic.
Jonathan Gould, the keeper who despite getting his head stuck in railings a couple of days before when the players were out on the piss, was part of the team that stopped ten in a row. ( thats true, by the way. there we all were, worried sick about that lot winning ten, and the players were out on the piss on the Thursday sticking each others head in railings. Bastards . Tommy Boyd talks about it on the podcast we did with him. In fact, even after the game, Boyd still wouldn’t let the keeper out of his sight )
Gould worked with Davies out in New Zealand..Davies thinks quite highly of him.
“That’s my Celtic connection, having worked for Gouldy, I’ve got a huge amount of time and respect for him, along with his dad Bobby who was also in New Zealand at the time and was great with me.
“Gouldy is a fantastic character. I’ve already spoken to him about Celtic. He’s still a massive Celtic fan, he has a huge affection for the club.
“He told me he was part of the team which stopped Rangers winning ten in a row and that he also won a domestic treble here. I don’t usually listen to his advice! He hasn’t really given me any, to be fair. I’m hoping he can come up and visit us at the club.”
“I’ve been coaching for 12 years now since I stopped playing and that’s a decent period of time, It’s given me the chance to take my time, learn and be prepared.
“I was down when I was first told by a surgeon I had to explore other avenues in life other than playing football, but not for long. I wasn’t going to feel sorry for myself. For pure love of the game, I couldn’t see me doing anything else other than staying in football and Brendan told me I could still have a good career in the game.
“It was a good spell for me in New Zealand under Gouldy, playing a little and coaching their academy team.
“I came back home to do my ‘A’ licence with the Welsh FA, who I played for at age group level as I’m half-Welsh and half-English. It was time to come back and that’s when Brendan got the Swansea City job and needed someone to go with him.
“Brendan has been a mentor to me. I’m biased, but he has immense qualities. His temperament is unique and that’s why he can take on big jobs
like Liverpool and Celtic. My role is to support him in any way I can.”
The relationship between the management two, especially after the fractious one that just departed, is of paramount importance, and as Davies continued to speak to the press, it became easy to see why Rodgers trusts him;
On the squad, which many say is bloated, Davies said everyone will get a chance to prove themselves.
“The work on assessing the squad has started already.
“We’ve looked at all the goals they scored and conceded last season. We’ve watched games and that is a process that will continue.
“Moving forward, we start pre-season in a couple of weeks and that’s when we will start to really get to know the players and how we want to shape the squad moving forward.
“Ideally you want to be working with a compact squad. It creates a better working environment and helps the team.
“Brendan has been extremely proactive already in identifying what he wants and what he doesn’t.
“We need to see the players up close, though, because that’s always the best indicator of their strengths.
“Everybody who is here still has a chance.
“If you look back at Jon Flanagan at Liverpool – not many gave him a chance but he trained well and showed us he was ready to fight.
“Brendan put him in the team, played him in all the big games, so that is proof that everyone is going to get a chance here.”
Anyone in particular caught his eye yet ? Well, the forty goal striker for a start;
“I have seen the goals and there are some brilliant finishes in there It’s all stuff around the box, one and two touches then a clinical finish.
“Leigh was really high on confidence and that’s what we want to create – a team that is creative and confident in attack.
“We’re really lucky to be inheriting Leigh and we’re looking forward to working with him close up.”
Whilst Griffiths has come on in leaps and bounds, and this is not a criticism, there is a wee bit of what used to be termed “gallusness” about him, which if managed correctly and allowed to become a part of his game could see him move to the next level.
And we do need him to perform in Europe, but having said that, we need all of them to perform in Europe.
Then he said the bit that made even the most cynical of us sit up;
“I think we can attract big quality here, there’s no doubt,”
“Brendan in my opinion is one of the best managers in the game and here he is at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“It’s logical to think we can get some really good players here. We need players who can make a difference and that’s what we’re looking to attract.”
That, reading betwen the lines, means that there is money available, and that Rodgers is in control of team affairs, and, dare i say it, the influence of the Park/Lawwell moneyball philosophy is on the wane.
That, to me, would be the best news of the summer so far.
That line about players who can make a difference is the most telling thing either Rodgers or Davies has said since they arrived.
So, who are we being linked with ?
Will Griggs ? The Wigan striker ?
Here’s Gary Caldwell, the manager with the unfeasibly large head currently in charge at Wigan.
“As far as we’re concerned, no-one is for sale.
“Everyone who was part of the great success we had last season, we want to take forward with us and develop again in the league above.”
Speaking to the Wigan Evening Post, he added: “The club is in no need to sell anyone, which is a good thing.
“I think when you’re successful, other clubs start to look at your players, and we’ll have to wait and see on that one.
“At this time we haven’t had any interest in any of our players, but I am expecting that will come because when the players do as well as they did last year, other clubs are going to start looking.”
Steven Taylor, the defender released by Newcastle ?
New Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has made a centre-half his top priority while Rangers counterpart Mark Warburton is keen to link up Taylor with his former Toon team-mate Joey Barton.
Thats from the Express. So it’s bollocks.
I mean, how do they know that Warburton is keen to do anything ? No-ones seen him for weeks, and if I’m honest, it’s probably time to get the police involved, or do one of those twitter campaigns. Just to show we care.
Joe Gomez ?
Joe Gomez is predominantly a central defender but has an amazing versatility which makes him capable of playing in either full-back positions. The defender earned a big-money move after just 24 games for Charlton at a very tender age which speaks volumes about his immense potential. The youngster has been capped for the English under-16, under-17 and under-18 national team and currently is an under-21 international.
I’ll stop there, but believe me, google Daily Express headlines diabetes, and there are many, many more.
Why do I mention this in a Celtic Diary ?
Because its a perfect illustration of a newspaper printing what the readers want to read. although it is a cynical manipulation of people who are afflicted with a terrible condition, it is a mirror image of how the SMSM work in Scotland .
And you don’t need me to point out the obvious here.
So, I decided to try to do something about it;
Head Of Sport Editor
Vacancy posted: Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Salary: Competitive
Location: Glasgow
Closing date: 15 June 2016
The Herald & Times Group operates some of Scotland’s best-loved media brands, reaching more than three million adults every month via our market-leading print titles and web sites.
We are looking for an experienced desk head to lead and coordinate sports coverage for The Herald, Evening Times, Sunday Herald and The National plus heraldscotland.com and eveningtimes.co.uk.
This challenging new role will appeal to senior journalists with excellent sports news judgement and particularly strong management and interpersonal skills.
The successful applicant will ensure sports coverage meets the requirements of the title editors while making most effective use of the sports team to the overall benefit of the Herald & Times Group.
The role requires flair, story ideas and angles, picture suggestions and, ideally, senior contacts in the Scottish sports community.
The objective of the role is to mastermind a sports file which is both unique and compelling for the different audiences of our multiple platforms, including social media.
Personal qualities will include strong influencing and diplomatic skills and resilience combined with decisiveness in leading the sports team while balancing the priorities of the group’s senior editorial executives.
The post requires the successful applicant to work five days a week, spread flexibly across weekdays and weekends depending on the needs of the business.
To apply for this role, please submit a current CV and covering letter confirming why you are the ideal candidate.
Closing date 15/06/2016
I’m going to apply for the job, and change the face of sports reporting in Scotland.
We need honesty, we need transparency, and we need the truth, delivered without fear or favour.
Until that happens, the Scottish sports media will continue to decline as they adopt a style similar to the Daily Express, where marketing tactics take priority over the function of the paper. The simple task of getting stories in, and getting stories out.
And somehow, the rest of the diary will be in italics because somehow i’ve buggered up the font control.
A level of technical incompetence which should ensure that i’m on the short list for the Herald job at the very least.
You’ll just have to put up with it.
Can I also be the first person to congratulate the new high Street giant, The British Home Stores, who having called in a liquidation and resurrection specialist firm to help them deal with the old company’s debt, should be launched any day now.
Which brings us to the ongoing fraud case against Craig Whyte…
I sent him a text asking him if he was happy enough to be the only person left to be facing charges after his alleged co-conspirators had all their charges dropped..and he replied, and I’m paraphrasing here, ( paraphrasing as in making it up )
” what do you think ? Now they can’t do me for conspiracy, because you can’t conspire with yourself, and I’m out of here. And David Murray doesn’t have to appear in court. Which means no-one gets to see or hear the case for my defence , and the five years are nearly up, so they can have their fucking club back “
And while he was replying, don’t think he wasn’t aware of where he was standing…
Lorraine feels sorry for her fellow united fans and shows them what cups look like!
A new name on the caption competiton roll of honour , well done to John, who also seems to have sorted out the italics issue.
Today, have a look at this one… some East Coast fisherman from 1886. so they say, anyway.
