{"id":15925,"date":"2020-08-09T08:43:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T07:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15925"},"modified":"2020-08-09T08:43:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T07:43:20","slug":"celtic-diary-sunday-august-9-its-all-happening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15925","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Sunday August 9: It’s All Happening"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today promises to be one of those days where we’ll have a lot to talk about.<\/p>\n

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Apart from the second game of the season, over at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock, there’s the draw for the first European qualifier at around 11am.<\/p>\n

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Thats why I’ve got up early this morning to put this nonsense together. That and a bloody great border collie jumping on my head because she wanted to go out.<\/p>\n

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Kilmarnock lost the opening game of their campaign to Hibernian last week, so they’ll be looking to get something from the game, and have caused a few problems for Celtic in previous meetings, though today I’d be surprised if the biggest issue wasn’t the traffic in and out of the town.<\/p>\n

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Most pundits expect Ross county and Hamilton to be the cannon fodder this season, but Kilmarnock have been a little bit conservative themselves in their approach, and sooner or later that desire to hang on to Premier status will backfire, and this season could be the one.<\/p>\n

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Against Celtic, they tend to start the game by sprinting back to the eighteen yard line and staying there until its time to go home, but the difference this season, as shown in the opener against Hamilton, is that Celtic are a little more varied in their approach to goal now, and an awful lot quicker in getting there.<\/p>\n

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As a result, today should see another big score as opposed to the tedious war of attrition that tends to be what would loosely be called a football match in Ayrshire.<\/p>\n

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The word on the street is that Vassilis Barkas will make his debut, and apparently he’s been quite impressive in training, showing he can catch, punch and parry the ball depending on what he thinks is suitable.<\/p>\n

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There’s no word on whether or not he’ll be allowed to go off on any mazy runs ….he can play outfield as well….in the style of Ramon Quiroga…look him up…..but again, it’s another option of Kilmarnock manage to pack the defence and kill the game.<\/p>\n

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Jeremie Frimpong and Greg Taylor will form the outer layer of wingers, occasionally wandering back to their own half to check if Barkas needs a drink or a sandwich, and Mo Elyanoussi and James Forrest will be the Inner Wingers.<\/p>\n

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Kris Ajer hasn’t gone to Milan yet so he’ll partner Chris Jullien at the back, although both will form the third wave of attackers for most of the game, dropping back only in the unlikely event of Kilmarnock having enough interest in meeting the new Celtic goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

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Second wave of forwards will be Scott Brown and Calum Macgregor , with Ryan Christie and Oddsone Edoaurd in the front line.<\/p>\n

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We may see Patrick Klimali at some point again, as the striker has scored a goal in every eight minutes of play this season.<\/p>\n

In fact, if he starts the game, that means he will find the net eleven times on his own.<\/p>\n

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Thats how statistics and analytics work, right ?<\/p>\n

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On Twitter yesterday, we came under criticism from some quarters for a throwaway remark in the podcast that left some people quite peturbed.<\/p>\n

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A reference was made that those who study analytics and data are all “virgins ” which rankled with some listeners, but there’s no pleasing some people, as Jesus said in Monty Pythons\u00a0 Life of Brian.<\/p>\n

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Which does lead us to the real issue here….<\/p>\n

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\"Lifr<\/p>\n

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Speaking of Patrcik Klimali, there are hopes that he could be the real deal on the field, and suspicions grew that he might also be the right kind of guy off it….<\/p>\n

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\"Image\"<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/p>\n

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As opposed to Leigh Griffiths, who is just “off it ”<\/p>\n

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With there every possibility of the season being stopped at some point each and every game becomes a cup final for Celtic. Every game has to be won, and won convincingly, especially when you take into account the novel and refreshing interpretation that Scottish referees have of the Laws of the Game.<\/p>\n

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I’d like to think another four or five goal victory is on the cards, and on balance, that should be the least we target.<\/p>\n

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With Hibernian winning convincingly at Livingston yesterday…scoring four against a club who only lost eight goals at home throughout the whole of last season, there can be no room for complacency, and Dundee United have adapted quickly as well, winning at Fir Park to add to their point against St Johnstone in their opener.<\/p>\n

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James McPake is doing a grand job at Tannadice….at least according to Sky sports, who continue to do as far away from a grand job as possible when it comes to Scottish football….<\/p>\n

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\"Image\"<\/p>\n

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There’s also plucky newcomers “rangers “, who will be desperate for their first senior trophy, and who won’t have to worry about their fans getting the stadium closed, as they’re not allowed in yet anyway, and have been forced to find other ways to hate catholics.<\/p>\n

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It could be a good season, and maybe this is they year when other clubs raise their standards of expectation…<\/p>\n

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One particularly pleasing aspect of Scottish football was on display around the country yesterday…..<\/p>\n

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Neil Macfarlane<\/span><\/div>\n
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@ByNeilMac<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SPL today: Hibs with \u201cThank You NHS\u201d instead of a shirt sponsor. Dundee Utd in purple to promote Alzheimer\u2019s Scotland. Motherwell filled a stand with cardboard cutout silhouettes for the Missing Persons charity. Proper football, still in touch with the community\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0They even went a stage further at Fir Park by giving the cut outs rotating arms so they can throw cans at visiting players for that full match day effect.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0There’s a feeling that the SPFL has missed a trick by not giving one or more charities the opportunity to have their names associated with the league, with this season being sponsorless, although there is still time to maybe bring it in later.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Then again, they aren’t known for thinking out of the box down Hampden way.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Or in it, come to think of it.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The draw for the qualifiers is this morning , and once again we defer to Moravcik 67 on Twitter, who will tell us what we need to know…<\/div>\n
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Celtic will play one of these teams in the 1st round of Champions League qualifying.<\/div>\n
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Djurg\u00e5rdens (SWE) <\/em><\/div>\n
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Linfield (NIR) \/ Drita (Kos)<\/em><\/div>\n
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KR Reykjav\u00edk (ISL) <\/em><\/div>\n
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Linfield and Drita play midweek to decide which of them makes it through from the prelim to QR1.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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\u00a0I can’t be the only one not overly happy with the prospect of facing the Swedish champions this early, especially -though i’m not sure- if there is no european football to follow in the Europa League for the losers….<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Linfield could be a laugh though, they are truly dreadful, and as these qualifiers get more and more repetitive over the years it will probably be them anyway.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Celtic have played more game in europe over the last six years than anyone else. It’s time to put that sort of experience to work, and to make it count.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The lack of crowds at matches could be a leveller, apart from Manchester City, who will not notice any difference,\u00a0 so lets give it our best shot.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0There was firther bad news for “rangers ” yesteray when police received reports of broken windows at their new mega store. Fans were seen throwing their substandard new shirts back into the shop after it was revealed that Mike Ashley is still getting a fair whack of their moolah.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0And then it got worse….<\/div>\n
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Kemar Roofe makes Rangers vow as he tells Steven Gerrard he’s ready to go<\/h3>\n

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He’s only been here a week….how bad are things over there ?<\/p>\n

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The campaign to sell Oddsone Edoaurd took a bizarre twist today as well, as having exhausted a list of mid ranking Englsih sides about to make a bid, Hugh Keevins, who now has a column in the Sunday Mail as well as his Radio Clyde show to give us the benefit of his wisdom, came out with this…<\/p>\n

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Celtic, meanwhile, are supposed to be poised to receive a \u00a340million bid for\u00a0Odsonne Edouard<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

What would Fergus have done under those same<\/em>
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He would have had Edouard sent up to his office. He would have informed the player of his new postcode so that his family could visit.<\/em><\/p>\n

And he would have asked Odsonne to close the door behind him on the way out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Hugh , in fairness, perhaps has difficulty these days in recalling events and personalities from yesteryear, and that is to be expected as he enters the autumn years of his life.<\/p>\n

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Mind you, he was full of shite back then as well….<\/p>\n

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\"Li'l<\/p>\n

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With Celtic only paying \u00a3150,000 for Moravcik, he got that bit wrong as well. although, to be fair, it’s what the club told everyone to avoid being seen as penny pinching.<\/p>\n

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Keevins has replaced Gordon Waddell at the Mail, who are undergoing a cost and quality cutting exercise, and if this is an example of how they intend to continue, it’s fair to say that they probably won’t continue for very long.<\/p>\n

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Waddell may not have been easy to agree with at times, but he always put forward a decent argument, which is kind of what it’s all about.<\/p>\n

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Keevins, however, has usually forgotten what he was on about by the time he gets to the conclusion.<\/p>\n

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Yesterday, we had this….<\/p>\n

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Prague Alk<\/em><\/div>\n