{"id":10480,"date":"2016-12-13T10:18:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T10:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=10480"},"modified":"2016-12-13T10:18:34","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T10:18:34","slug":"celtic-diary-tuesday-december-13-more-transfer-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=10480","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Tuesday December 13: More Transfer Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar de Marcos, Junior Flores, Dani Parejo, Paco Alcacer joined James McCarthy and Darlington Nagbe on the list of players due to arrive\/might arrive\/were made up by some loon with to much time on his hands.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve never heard of them, thats no real surprise. If you haven&#8217;t heard any more of them by the end of January , that won&#8217;t really be a surprise either.<\/p>\n<p>But there is talk-albeit by someone who ought to know better- that Patrick Roberts and Moussa Dembele will both be with Celtic at the start of next season, although the one currently on loan here will be our own player, and the one who is our own player will be on loan. Manchester City and Celtic are apparently looking at this deal-which will include a few bob going to Celtic as well- to keep everyone happy.<\/p>\n<p>Except, of course , Leigh Griffiths, who stands to lose the most here.<\/p>\n<p>Recent events have proved that four wingers are necessary, and the four in place at the moment are all up to the job.<\/p>\n<p>As for the other names on the list, they&#8217;re all midfielders, bar Alacacer, who is a forward at Barcelona and another possible loan target, which means that the people making these things up have ran out of ideas.<\/p>\n<p>However, if these potential signings are being done to try to boost season ticket sales, then I&#8217;ve a better idea.<\/p>\n<p>Try playing someof the games at weekends, when those of us who don&#8217;t live in Central Scotland, or those of us with young children can get to the games. Radical, yes, but if the club wants to keep the ground full, playing the games when we can make it will help enormously.<\/p>\n<p>Only tow out of the next seven home games are not midweek matches, which shows that having brought in a decent manager, the board have retreated to their Ivry Towers and see us as a nuisance again. Yes, I know the fixture computer has a lot to do with it, but there comes a time when enough is enough. A large chunk of those who go to Scottish football matches are Celtic fans, and whilst the SPFL would probably rather this wasn&#8217;t the case, it would be nice if the club showed appreciation of the money, time and effort that goes into attending.<\/p>\n<p>Back at the ranch, and there&#8217;s increasing evidence that Stuart Armstrong has &#8220;come on a bundle &#8221; since being allowed to do what he&#8217;s best at, and he compliments perfectly the energy and enthusiasm of Scott Brown, so bringing in a \u00a0midfielder may not be as important as we thought it was when Nir Biton was causing alarm amongst the rank and file with his laissez faire attitude.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong, it may surprise you to know, has the best goals and assists to minutes played record in the league, and would be boasting about that if someone could explain to him what it really means. That rules me out, but a glance at the stats might impress some of you..<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thebackpassrule.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/spfl-premiership-ga-per-90-leaders-3.png?w=739\" alt=\"spfl-premiership-ga-per-90-leaders-3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Taken from website Thebackpassrule, it shows that Armstrong is making one hell of a contribution to the side, and he&#8217;ll only get better, which questions the wisdom of bringing someone else in.<\/p>\n<p>But then again, wisdom at Celtic is a recent thing, and thats only if it continues.<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers made his name as a coach, and theres little doubt he&#8217;s bringing out the best in players already there. surely its worth seeing how this pans out before starting all over with new faces ?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thats probably why there won&#8217;t be too many changes against Hamilton at Celtic Park tonight, as the hoops look to increase their lead at the top of the league, and move closer to clinching the sixth title of the quest to put things back to normal in the record books.<\/p>\n<p>Scott Brown was rudely interrupted while reading yesterdays diary on the dangers of complacency, and told reporters&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cBecause we\u2019ve been playing so well recently, you can just easily fall into that, We don\u2019t want to do that, we want to keep improving.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cThe gaffer is huge on us learning and taking it to a new level. The way we\u2019ve been training and performing in games then it\u2019s been shown so far. This run of games is going to be hard but we need to maintain that form we\u2019ve been hitting so far.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cWe\u2019re enjoying it, we\u2019ve not had a lot of days training but we are enjoying all the games. We\u2019ve not really had a December schedule as busy as this in a long time but I think everyone\u2019s enjoying it. A few chops and changes all the way through December and it\u2019s going to be interesting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Oh, lads, can you think of a funny one liner for this picture of a bloke in a jet suit ?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Complacency, coupled with opposition desire to be the first to beat Celtic could see a couple of shock results this month, and the players will have to raise their game a wee bit.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton midfielder Darian McKinnon has that idea..<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\">\u00a0<em>\u201cWe\u2019ll go there and we\u2019re not expected to get anything, so I hope we have a go, because if you get beat, you get beat, but you don\u2019t want to go there and be defensive.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>\u201cWe know Celtic are a good side, but we can just hope to nick something, so hopefully we can go there and have a go.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\">Nick something ? Better nail down the cutlery in the dressing room then.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\">another who wants to be in the side that finally beats Celtic this season is former player Kenny Miller. speaking in between gulps of vitamin tablets and oxygen implants, the old man of Scottish football whispered;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cNo team is unbeatable. The best teams in world football get beat, it\u2019s as simple as that. It\u2019s a big ask to go through a whole season undefeated, that\u2019s for sure.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cIt\u2019s up to us and the rest of the teams to put that right, but the only time we can do that is when we play them next, which is on the 31st.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cCome that time, we can hopefully change that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"color: #333333;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jokideo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/403162_10150613644143465_129446698464_11144620_448774237_n.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for stop it i'm going to pee\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<em>\u201cWe\u2019ve still not managed to get three wins in a row but we have another opportunity to do that on Friday and, if we do, we want to kick on to four and five in a row.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cFor us to have any kind of successful season, we have to put a consistent run of wins together and hopefully we are at the start of doing that.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThat game against Celtic is at home. We\u2019ve already put right the defeats away from home to Aberdeen and Hearts, so it would be good to win that one against Celtic as well.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ah feck. too late.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_mkzDXAhrF4\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for i've wet myself\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The game on New Years Eve is already being built up to be something similar to the clashes between the original Rangers and Celtic , in what could be the last throw of the dice for those who remain blinkered to the truth about whats going on down on the other side of the river.<\/p>\n<p>While Phil McGhiollabhain gets abused for claiming the ground is unsafe, and MSP James Dornan also ponders the point of keeping the hordes safe, no one has asked why the game is going ahead on Hogmanay, giving the supporters an extra few hours drinking before the traditional New Year drinking bout, and indeed the police have laid the blame firmly at the door of the SPFL<\/p>\n<p>Back in September, the Sunday Mail reported..<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>THE controversial Hogmanay Old Firm date was chosen by a US firm\u2019s computer, the Sunday Mail can reveal.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>The SPFL ditched the fixture planners who had organised their diary for 10 years.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>The new company were hired to provide the league\u2019s fixture list after bosses ended their agreement with Canadian-based Opitmal Planning Solutions.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>Police Scotland had the chance to veto the decision but decided to give it the go-ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\"><em>The decision has been met with widespread disbelief from fans, politicians and the licensed trade.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #141414;\">In October there was a slight shift in the blame..according to the Evening Times..<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>As part of the Bells Not Brawls campaign, Neil Doncaster, head of the SPFL, and SPFL Secretary Iain Blair, met with Paul Waterson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Donald MacLeod, Convenor of the Licensing Forum and Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, to discuss their concerns about the scheduling of the Hogmanay Old Firm Match.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em><strong style=\"font-weight: 600; font-style: inherit;\">READ MORE:\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 600; font-style: inherit; color: #a01016;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.eveningtimes.co.uk\/news\/14822712.Pub_and_club_bosses_in_plea_over_Hogmanay_Old_Firm_fixture\/?commentSort=oldest\">Pub and club bosses in plea over Hogmanay Old Firm fixture<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>Mr Doncaster and Mr Blair are said to have understood the concerns of those opposing the plans, but stated that the decision to schedule the game for Hogmanay was that of Police Scotland.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>Pub and club chiefs said the SPFL have agreed that for future fixtures they would be willing to enter into a dialogue with the SLTA and Chamber of Commerce to work towards a match schedule that will limit disruption for Glasgow businesses.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>Donald MacLeod said: \u201cAlthough we are disappointed with the outcome of the meeting we are not surprised, we are however happy with other aspects of the meeting and look forward to further discussions with the SPFL and hopefully Police Scotland on future fixtures.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So who picked Hogmanay ?<\/p>\n<p>The game is on anyones big red list of potential troublespots, and one wonders if the beaks-and the police have really thought this through .<\/p>\n<p>Well, for the police its a chance for a boit of overtime, and politically they can claim a few arrests which will ad to the desire to keep the OBFA in place, even citing that it is needed.<\/p>\n<p>For the SPFL its a massive audience for the game they claimed is the only one that anyone outwith the central belt of Scotland \u00a0is interested in,<\/p>\n<p>And Sky TV. Well, they would love to show a riot.<\/p>\n<p>Celtic fans have now decided to wear hard hats in order to mock the safety issues around Ibrox, where its claimed a few items of importance were not revealed to council inspectors before they issued a safety certificate.<\/p>\n<p>One wonders if that certificate runs out on January 1, hence the need to play this game beforehand.<\/p>\n<p>What is worrying is that the Ibrox board have form for this sort of negligence, and that in itself is enough to put me off the idea of going there on hogmanay.<\/p>\n<p>And the idea that Celtic should ask for clarification is nonsense as well, as there is a safety certificate in place, and all the Ibrox club would do is present it.<\/p>\n<p>Which leave the only conclusion that if you think the place is in as bad a shape as some claim, then don&#8217;t go.<\/p>\n<p>And leave that club to get on with its own business.<\/p>\n<p>Which some might say is doing just fine&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet\n\n    u-block js-tweet-details-fixer\" style=\"color: #292f33;\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet-container\">\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet-innerContainer u-cf js-permalink js-media-container\" tabindex=\"0\" data-item-id=\"808334997014933504\" data-item-type=\"tweet\" data-screen-name=\"Hunter2Stars\" data-user-id=\"65738314\">\n<div class=\"tweet-content\" style=\"color: #292f33;\">\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet-authorAndText u-alignTop\">\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet-originalAuthor u-cf u-textTruncate stream-item-header js-user-profile-link\"><em><b class=\"QuoteTweet-fullname u-linkComplex-target\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #292f33;\">Craig Hunter<\/b>\u00a0<span class=\"QuoteTweet-screenname u-dir\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\"><span class=\"at\">@<\/span>Hunter2Stars<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"QuoteTweet-text tweet-text u-dir\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\" data-aria-label-part=\"2\"><em><span class=\"twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav\" dir=\"ltr\" data-mentioned-user-id=\"212560938\"><s style=\"color: #292f33;\">@<\/s><b style=\"color: #292f33;\">StanCollymore<\/b><\/span>\u00a0What&#8217;s your thoughts on how &#8220;The Rangers&#8221; are doing this season in their first ever season in the top flight?<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"stream-item-footer\" style=\"color: #292f33;\">\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCountList u-hiddenVisually\" style=\"color: #292f33;\"><em><span class=\"ProfileTweet-action--reply u-hiddenVisually\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCount\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #aab8c2;\" data-tweet-stat-count=\"30\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria\" data-aria-label-part=\"\">30 replies<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"ProfileTweet-action--retweet u-hiddenVisually\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCount\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: inherit;\" data-tweet-stat-count=\"303\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria\" data-aria-label-part=\"\">303 retweets<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"ProfileTweet-action--favorite u-hiddenVisually\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCount\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #aab8c2;\" data-tweet-stat-count=\"482\"><span class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCountForAria\" data-aria-label-part=\"\">482 likes<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-actionList js-actions\" style=\"color: #292f33;\">\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-action ProfileTweet-action--reply\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"stream-item-header\" style=\"color: #292f33;\"><em><a class=\"account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanCollymore\" data-user-id=\"212560938\"><strong class=\"fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #292f33;\">Stan Collymore<\/strong>\u00a0\u200f<span class=\"username js-action-profile-name\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\"><s style=\"color: #b1bbc3;\">@<\/s><b>StanCollymore<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/a><small class=\"time\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\">\u00a0<a class=\"tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\" title=\"7:43 AM - 12 Dec 2016\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanCollymore\/status\/808336425993338881\"><span class=\"_timestamp js-short-timestamp js-relative-timestamp\" data-time=\"1481557396\" data-time-ms=\"1481557396000\" data-long-form=\"true\">18h<\/span><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" data-aria-label-part=\"last\">18 hours ago<\/span><\/a><\/small><\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"1\"><em>Stan Collymore Retweeted Craig Hunter<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"js-tweet-text-container\" style=\"color: #292f33;\">\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"en\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-aria-label-part=\"4\"><em>Great to see a start up doing so well. Its tough for new companies, i know, I\u2019ve just started one myself. Hope they don\u2019t fold.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"3\">If there are a few issues with the roof, there&#8217;s a product on the market that will fix everything up just dandy..<\/p>\n<p class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CzeekKqWEAMG_a_.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"3\">\n<div class=\"stream-item-footer\" style=\"color: #292f33;\">\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-actionCountList u-hiddenVisually\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-actionList js-actions\">\n<div class=\"ProfileTweet-action ProfileTweet-action--reply\">\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\">Happy to help.<\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\">Yesterday , we showed you this&#8230;<\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.oldpicsarchive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Jetpacks.jpg\" alt=\"Jetpacks\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\">to which you responded with this&#8230;<\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\">\n<div class=\"comment-meta\" style=\"color: #bbbbbb;\"><span class=\"comment-author vcard\"><cite class=\"fn\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #333333;\">Johnbhoy<\/cite><\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"published\"><abbr class=\"comment-date\" title=\"Monday, December 12th, 2016, 9:57 am\">December 12, 2016<\/abbr>\u00a0at\u00a0<abbr class=\"comment-time\" title=\"Monday, December 12th, 2016, 9:57 am\">9:57 am<\/abbr><\/span>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<a class=\"comment-edit-link\" style=\"color: #333333;\" title=\"Edit comment\" href=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-admin\/comment.php?action=editcomment&amp;c=844328\"><span class=\"edit\">Edit<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<a class=\"comment-reply-link\" style=\"color: #333333;\" href=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=10477&amp;replytocom=844328#respond\">Reply<\/a>\u00a0\u2192<\/div>\n<div class=\"comment-content comment-text\" style=\"color: #444444;\">\n<p><em>New long ball tactics take on new dimension at ibrox \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>today, make of this what you will&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.oldpicsarchive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A-tug-of-war-team-demonstrates-the-relative-lightness-of-the-Burlington-Zephyr-Philadelphia-1934.jpg\" alt=\"A tug-of-war team demonstrates the relative lightness of the Burlington Zephyr, Philadelphia, 1934\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"IconContainer js-tooltip\" title=\"Reply\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar de Marcos, Junior Flores, Dani Parejo, Paco Alcacer joined James McCarthy and Darlington Nagbe on the list of players due to arrive\/might arrive\/were made&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/bullshit-detector.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2J2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10489,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10480\/revisions\/10489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}