Celtic Diary Thursday July 14: Buck Up Or Buck Off

That was the message from the manager to the perennial underachievers in Tuesdays Celtic side. Whilst the manager remained calm in public, apparently his tirade in the dressing room prompted a call from Alex Ferguson, to tell him to “calm the fuck down, its only a game.”

He didn’t look like he was in any mood to be calm as he left the pitch, to be fair…

and when the players saw who the new head of security was, they knew what was coming…

It wouldn’t be fair to mention which players got it in the neck, as doing that might end any chance of them bucking up, and lead to them bucking off, and to be perfectly frank, whilst theres plenty of room for improvement, no-one is too far gone to be saved.

You see, despite what some say, they’ve already done the hard part. They have had the luck, the ability and the opportunity presented to them to be Celtic players, ahead of thousands of other applicants. To do that they have had to depend on someone else noticing them, someone else spotting their potential and someone else taking a chance on them.

Once they are in there, its entirely up to them. I cannot recall a player being dropped for putting in too much effort. So if they don’t want to do it, they can move on.

What they have to realise is that they have to perform at a higher level as Celtic players. They have to elevate themselves to match the expectations of a support that plays a big part in why any of them wanted to be Celts in the first place.

It appears that Brendans rant, and by all accounts it was fierce, and rightly so, will separate the wheat from the chaff.

Time will tell who has responded, and who has decided to opt for the quiet life.

There’s a couple of impressive points to be made about this.

Firstly, it was done in private. No public slagging match, no-one needs to pick up one of the papers and feel that they’ve been singled out for the teams awful European debut match of the season.

We played as a team, in a fashion, and we lost as a team.

And rightly, they all got their haw maws booted around the dressing room by the manager as a team.

Secondly, the players were left in absolutely no doubt that this was not a manager to be undermined. Whatever power they felt they had after the dismissal of Ronny Deila was whipped away the minute that dressing room door closed.

We know of a couple of players who are still shell shocked, actually to the point of being at the doctors this morning to be treated for post traumatic stress disorder.

If there was a problem before with the way the dressing room heirarchy worked, there isn’t now.

Brendan Rodgers has arrived, and he has already introduced himself to the players.

As a result of Tuesday, changes will be made. They’ll be made quickly and with little public fuss.

From what we hear, no-one will be all that surprised by who it affects initially, unless of course they immediately get themselves into shape.

Good. and not before time. The return game, not the second half, is next week. The memory of Tuesday needs to be erased, especially as the result cannot be.

As expected , the press had a field day over the result, with ex players especially offering their advice on how to run a club far larger than any that would be stupid enough to offer them a job.

Chris Sutton, for instance on Efe Ambrose;

How many times are we going to have to talk about Efe Ambrose? I’ve got nothing against the guy but he should be nowhere near the side.

This question about is he better at right back or centre half? Efe’s best position is in the stand.

Brendan must have spoken to people at the club and known how much damage he can do. A couple of half decent friendlies just lulls people in to a false sense of security because there’s always a disaster lurking with Ambrose.

Honestly, there must be a better centre back option out there. In fact, I’m a better option than Efe right now. 

As the replies to countless diaries show, Efe gets far worse from our own fans. And you might argue that Sutton is only saying what the fans are saying.

But there’s difference.

We’re fans. sutton, for all his proclamations, is not.

A fan, for instance, when wearing a Celtic shirt, does not chuck it at Ibrox when his team are in need of inspiration, and for that reason, among others, chris Sutton has absolutely no right to criticise any Celtic player ever.

Efe may have his bad games, and he may sometimes drive us to despair, but you know what, he never hides, he always gives it his best shot, and not fucking once has he ever thrown his hand at the ball to get himself sent off because he didn’t fancy the rest of the game.

And as far as I’m concerned, Chris Sutton can , how shall I put this…?

Efe got done by the centre forward, which resulted in the loss of a goal.

Efe did not single handedly lose that game.

That would be like saying Chris Sutton was single handedly responsible for the loss in Bratislava because he didn’t score a crucial away goal before he hurt himself again.

But the big Nigerian is  an easy target.

Former player, manager and calendar model Neil Lennon ( any excuse, honestly )…

…was a little more supportive, and to be honest, he’s been there, so he knows the drill. And he never hid either.

“I think the furore over it is way over the top These results can happen, it is so early. It’s only Brendan’s first game in charge; he’s still getting to know the players.

“I didn’t see the game but the pitch was a shocker, conditions were difficult and a 1-0 deficit, Celtic will turn that around. I expect them to go through and reach the next round.

“Brendan’s had very little time to work with the players, very little.

“I’m sure Gibraltar will be preparing for the game for a long long time. It’s probably meant the world to them to win the game but I’m sure Celtic will get the job done in the second leg and progress to the next qualifying round.

“They’re also fraught with danger these games, they’re never easy but Brendan would have had a good look now.

“He knows what he can and can’t get out of the players and he’ll know exactly what’s needed and he’ll get the job done.” 

“It’s too negative and they’re not out the competition yet If they go out of the competition then you can label those comparisons but they’ve got another game at Celtic Park and like I say I expect them to come through comfortably.

“They’ve had a manager in between myself and Brendan. And now Brendan needs time to put his own stamp on things and I’m sure he will.

“I think it’s a very good appointment and it’s very early days obviously it’s his first competitive game and it’s unfair to compare them to other bad results that Celtic have had over the years because it’s a two-leg tie.” 

Fair enough, but then there’s Andy Walker…

“I can’t quite believe what I saw,”

“I played in a few games for Celtic that were pretty embarrassing – arguably this is the worst result in the history of Celtic. It’s embarrassing and humiliating. I don’t think anyone saw it coming.

“Most of the players are Ronny Delia’s signings, but this is Brendan Rodgers’ team now. There’s no escape from criticism and I think it highlights how much work is needed on the team.

“Brendan Rodgers coming into Celtic has given the supporters a lift, but these are the biggest games of the season.

“Rodgers has been brought in to deliver Champions League football and of course the tie is still very much alive, but this will shatter the confidence of some of the supporters.

“There is a level of humiliation here, this is a semi-amateur team. It’s an extraordinary result and I don’t think you can underestimate how sore the supporters will be feeling.”

“Brendan Rodgers has called it wrong: this is embarrassing,”  

A few of you might be thinking, hang on, this is pretty much what the diary said yesterday, and you’d be right.

But, and its a big but,

my opinions are my own, genuine and of the moment. Which is why they can swing wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other, sometimes even in the same sentence.

When you read the Diary, I hope you can taste the hurt -or glee-in the words as you digest them. No-one here has an agenda, no one is pandering to an editor and no one is trying to sell a few more copies, or gain a few more hits.

The difference between the diary and the papers is that even if no one read this, I’d still write it. Theres no pressure on me to play to the gallery.

Walker is not hurting. He may say he is, and he may even believe he is.

But he isn’t.

And I’m not any more, because the issue of Tuesdays performance is being dealt with.

Who knows, we might even force a draw in the return!

Elsewhere, Sky TV, made themselves look a little silly yesterday when they failed to check some  facts about Lincoln Red Imps. Which makes me feel rather good.

From Balls.ie…

Sky Sports News may have drawn a smile out of some Celtic fans this morning with a remarkable piece of badly researched television.

George Weah’s Cousin is a Twitter account which has gained notoriety in recent months for creating many of those fakes quotes you’ll see flying around attributed to footballers.

You may have seen one purporting to be from an Icelandic player after their defeat of England at Euro 2016 stating that Harry Kane had asked the referee at half time if ‘England were out if they lost’.

Last night, after Celtic’s loss, the Twitter account threw out some ‘facts’ about the Lincoln Red Imps via a mocked-up Sky Sports News graphic. 

Lee Casciaro – the Lincoln goalscorer – is actually a police officer. It also wasn’t the first time he scored against Scottish opposition, he grabbed a goal against Scotland during Euro 2016 qualifying.

On Sky Sports News this morning – while interviewing former Celtic striker Andy Walker – presenter Mike Wedderburn read out two of those fake facts.

Presumably, someone at Sky Sports saw the graphic, thought it was one of theirs and then presented the facts to Mike Wedderburn.

It’s probably their biggest fuck up since they interviewed someone pretending to be Shay Given.  

And you can watch it here…

Sky Make An Arse Of It.

And note also how there’s no flicker on Andy Walkers face. A few days ago I did a wee summary of Lincoln for the Diary. Walker, as a fan, or even as a profesional summariser should surely have known the” facts “weren’t true.

Well, that made me laugh, and so therefore i’m all cheerful again.

And the little warm glow doesn’t want to go away…