{"id":15949,"date":"2020-08-13T08:39:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T07:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15949"},"modified":"2020-08-13T08:39:26","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T07:39:26","slug":"celtic-diary-thursday-august-13-finally-some-good-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15949","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Thursday August 13: Finally, Some Good News…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amidst all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, it’s about time we had something to make us feel a bit better, amongst all the kerfuffle of the new season.<\/p>\n

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Should Lyon not win the current champions league, or the last one, depending on which way you look at it, Celtic will be in pot 3 if they make the group stage this season, which makes it just that little bit easier to avoid groups of death.<\/p>\n

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Albien Aljeti will be announced as an addition to an already fearsome front line at some point today or tomorrow, and there’s a likelihood that Shane Duffy, a Celtic fan from Derry will bolster a back line that clearly needs re-inforcements.<\/p>\n

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Duffy had been telling his pals back home that he was joining Celtic, and is currently in talks about a loan move.<\/p>\n

Aljeti, a former team mate of Mo Elyannoussi in Switzerland, might help to bring out the best in the winger, as the players look to make amends for the appalling display at Kilmarnock.<\/p>\n

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It’s all gone quiet now, with the players under instruction not to talk to anyone, which can only be a good thing as they lick their wounds and try to make some sort of sense of the events of the last few days.<\/p>\n

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Events that see them five points adrift in the league already, with the certainty that that will have increased by the time they next tale the field in domestic action.<\/p>\n

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The game with Reykjavik next week is still on, but the fragility of involvement n Europe was outlined when Linfield were awarded a 3-0 win over KF Drita.<\/p>\n

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The Drita squad had been quarantined by Swiss authorities after two of their players tested positive for Covid, which shows that there will be no messing around when it comes to decision making should any club have similar results.<\/p>\n

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Boligoli Boli really didn’t think his trip to Spain through, although there are one or two other players, not Celtic players, who will be anxiously picking up papers and watching for the police at the door based on what is on the grapevine.<\/p>\n

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For Scottish First minister Nicola Sturgeon, all of this is an unwelcome and tiresome distraction from the job of halting the spread of the virus in the north, and hopefully the conservatives will keep giving her Ruth Davidson to play with to keep her mind of things.<\/p>\n

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It won’t take much for Sturgeon to call a halt to the whole thing, and there is already enough news waiting to break to pretty much ensure that the season will be halted, albeit temporarily, which if nothing else will have the hordes howling about unseen fenina hands again.<\/p>\n

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Though that howl may well be cut short….<\/p>\n

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Alright, the title was a bit misleading as although there is some good news, it might not matter ….if Celtic do get to resume their campaign, then I’ll be surprised and delighted.<\/p>\n

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And hopefully the players will, by then, have all grown up into mature adults who have realised exactly what is required of them, on and off the pitch, until the moment that tenth title is secured.<\/p>\n

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It’s not just a disregard for safety that bothers me. One story doing the rounds claims that Olivier Ntcham was due to start at Kilmarnock on Sunday, but turned up in the wrong place for the pre match meet. although we can be certain he wasn’t in as much of a wrong place as Boli, it still smacks of underpreparedness and even sloppiness, at least we’re having these problems now and the proverbial kick up the arse has been delivered.<\/p>\n

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It just remains to be seen if we get a chance to put the plans into action.<\/p>\n

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When football has it’s big stories, such as the one playing out now, its an opportunity for the great and wise to offer their thoughts, which when constructively put together can actually help to work out a solution.<\/p>\n

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Then there’s Alan Brazil, of Talkshite Radio…who , when he was told of the indiscretions of Aberdeen and Celtic players, said ;<\/p>\n

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\u201cAre people thick or what?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Fortunately for him, as US comedian George Carlin once said, most people are even thicker than thick, which gives him an audience to play to.<\/p>\n

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Something else I’ve noticed, which may or may not be significant, “rangers ” have yet, in three domestic matches, to have a player booked or sent off…<\/p>\n

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Where did this new angelic outfit come from ? Surely they are to be applauded ?<\/p>\n

Yet somehow I don’t think anyone in the media will draw attention to this, a pity because whatever instructions Gerrard has given to his players about sporting behaviour should be passed on to everyone as an example of how the game should be played….<\/p>\n

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1 August 20201<\/small><\/td>\nAberdeen<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\n0\u20131<\/b><\/td>\nRangers<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\nhide<\/a><\/span>Aberdeen<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12:30<\/td>\nOjo<\/a>\u00a0\"Yellow\u00a045‘<\/span><\/small>
\nConsidine<\/a>\u00a0\"Red\u00a087‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\n		Report<\/a><\/td>\nKent<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a021‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\nStadium:\u00a0Pittodrie Stadium<\/a><\/span>
\nAttendance: N\/A
\nReferee:\u00a0Bobby Madden<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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9 August 20202<\/small><\/td>\nRangers<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\n3\u20130<\/b><\/td>\nSt Mirren<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\nhide<\/a><\/span>Glasgow<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15:00<\/td>\nMcCarthy<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a023‘<\/span>\u00a0(o.g.<\/a>)<\/small>
\nMorelos<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a069‘<\/span><\/small>,\u00a074‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\n		Report<\/a><\/td>\nSheron<\/a>\u00a0\"Yellow\u00a025‘<\/span><\/small>
\nMacPherson<\/a>\u00a0\"Yellow\u00a068‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\n		Stadium:\u00a0Ibrox Stadium<\/a><\/span>
\nAttendance: N\/A
\nReferee:\u00a0Andrew Dallas<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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12 August 20203<\/small><\/td>\nRangers<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\n3\u20130<\/b><\/td>\nSt Johnstone<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/td>\nhide<\/a><\/span>Glasgow<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19:45<\/td>\nBari\u0161i\u0107<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a021‘<\/span><\/small>
\nKent<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a045+2‘<\/span><\/small>
\nAribo<\/a>\u00a0\"Goal\"\u00a049‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\n		Report<\/a><\/td>\nMcCart<\/a>\u00a0\"Yellow\u00a037‘<\/span><\/small>
\nGordon<\/a>\u00a0\"Yellow\u00a078‘<\/span><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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It’s not only the media who are onside with stopping the ten….but we expected that. Less bookings means less suspensions later on, and I think we’ve seen this film before…..<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Going back to Tuesday, we had this picture, which since then has become a little too close to reality for some of us…<\/div>\n
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\"Image\"<\/div>\n
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alzyerpal<\/em><\/div>\n