{"id":15955,"date":"2020-08-15T08:18:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-15T07:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15955"},"modified":"2020-08-15T08:18:26","modified_gmt":"2020-08-15T07:18:26","slug":"celtic-diary-saturday-august-15-world-turning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=15955","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Saturday August 15: World Turning"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 2020 almost certain to be remembered as , on the whole, a pretty bad year, analysts are loking for that sign, that one event, that could give us all hope.<\/p>\n

Something to cling to after a six months of a pandemic, economic collapse, the effects of climate change-look at California just now and the flash floods closer to home,\u00a0 and finally kids moaning that they would have got an A , honest dad.<\/p>\n

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We needed hope, we needed something to happen that would allow us to think,<\/p>\n

” Do you know what, things might actually be alright<\/em> ”<\/p>\n

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Well, it’s happened….<\/p>\n

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Steven Fletcher: Stoke City sign Scotland striker after Sheffield Wednesday exit<\/h1>\n

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Despite the best efforts of pundit Tam MacManus, formerly of Hibernian and a friend of the forward, Celtic have resisted the urge to put ten in a row even more at risk than the coronavirus could ever dream of, and ” messed him about ” , which has forced him to move to the midlands mecca of football instead.<\/p>\n

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\"And<\/p>\n

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Although I do remember mentioning this would happen on a recent podcast . Celtic didn;t mess him about, on the contrary the player knew exactly where he stood with the club, and as Celtic don’t do two years for players of a certain vintage-keepers excepted – it was never going to happen.<\/p>\n

Though his name being linked with Celtic assured him of offers from lesser clubs….which was sort of the point of his friends intervention. In fact, Celtic were never interested in him, it was Fletcher who was interested in Celtic.<\/p>\n

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Instead, Celtic will have to make do with Oddsone Edoaurd, Patrick Klimali and now Albien Ajeti as a pool of forwards that might yet even be strengthened further if Leigh Griffiths can get the nut screwed on.<\/p>\n

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Albien Ajeti dazzled in the Swiss league, and moved to West Ham for \u00a38m …where his manager became Davie Moyes, who is not noted for anything in the game apart from a few years at Everton who were happy enough with mediocrity.<\/p>\n

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The general consensus among West Ham fans is that he wasn;t given a chance to impress, and was forced to play to a system that didn’t suit him when he did.<\/p>\n

Thats quite easy to find out if you ask around, and one has to wonder why the Scottish media didn;t do the same, and instead rolled-and thats the right word-out Charlie Adam to offer quite possibly the most ill informed view made by anyone even n the Scottish sports media, which is in itself quite an achievement.<\/p>\n

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“Have I seen enough of him? I’ve heard through the grapevine that he’s not at the level that everybody thinks he is.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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So, er, no, then. He hasn’t seen anything of him but one of his mates, who probably hasn’t seen him either, or one would assume the media might have asked him, says he’s not as good as others who haven’t seen him think he is.<\/p>\n

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Sooner or later they might ask someone who has seen him, Mo Elyannoussi would have been an obvious choice, as they played together at Basel, but with Celtic players not allowed to talk to the media just yet, we’ll have to wait for his views.<\/p>\n

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This weekend sees yet another Celtic -and Aberdeens- game called off to allow their main rivals to try to build up a head of steam and get far enough in front in case the league is called off.<\/p>\n

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The SPFL have announced that both clubs are to be charged with whatever they can think of between now and the hearingin a blatant display of deflection from the fact that other clubs have been at it as well.<\/p>\n

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The internet is brimming with pictures of other clubs players and management disregarding the plague rules but no further charges are being made.<\/p>\n

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Thats largely because if they are , football will be stopped, and hence the media won’t publish them, or even ask questions about them, as it resumes its craven cowardice position on the hope that yet another scandal within the game will go away if they pretend it didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

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And we wonder why we have a league with no sponsor and a game without outside investment.<\/p>\n

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Those in charge are a perfect example of people getting jobs beyond their qualifications, a line the Westminster Education minister used to explain to poor kids down south that he was really doing them a favour by marking them down instead of fairly , whlst preserving the standards of the elite who have done so much for the country in recent months.<\/p>\n

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If Fletcher hadn’t signed for Stoke I’d be in a bit of a bad mood this morning, so we;d better raise the tone of the Diary again….<\/p>\n

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There looks like there’ll be a new centre half here next week, and we’ve got the pictures of yer man Duffy at Celtic Park…<\/p>\n

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

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He’s not quite the baby eating brawler that we need, but he can carry a tune, which will be needed in the closing stages of the season.<\/p>\n

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(Are you sure this is him? -Ed )<\/p>\n

( As sure as I am about anything else on this page -ralph )<\/p>\n

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If Bertie Auld can get the players to sing the Celtic song ahead of a momentous occasion, then maybe we’ve found someone to lead the lads in a chorus of the Helicopter Song when that tenth title is finally secured.<\/p>\n

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Duffy is apparently on his way, all done and dusted, but at the moment it’s difficult to say whether its a loan, with or without an option to buy, or a straightforward purchase.<\/p>\n

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There is no news about a possible move for Stoke city winger James MacLean, though you never know…<\/p>\n

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For those of you who wondered whether or not that the Scottish sports media could ever attain the maturity of adult hood, and not just be a home for those who perhaps need a little help with day to day basic functions, such as thinking, for example, there was confirmation today that is is indeed full of fucking idiots.<\/p>\n

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With Frank MacAvennie winning the Etims Knob of the Week award, it appears there was a bit of the green eyed monster in, er the blue nosed monster muncher over at the Sun, who came out with an article that showed he really shouldn’t be allowed to write articles….<\/p>\n

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CELTIC were happy to be reinstated into the Champions League when Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player against them a few years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

If it was good enough for them to be awarded the victory, it\u2019s now good enough for\u00a0Kilmarnock<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Kris Boyd completely missing the point, as of course, Bolingoli was eligible to play, and maybe opening up a can of worms about ineligible players, who dominated the payroll of one Scottish club whilst they were competing both at home and in Europe.<\/p>\n

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Boli Bolingoli shouldn\u2019t have been anywhere near Rugby Park last weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n

The moment he stepped onto that pitch as a late substitute was the moment\u00a0Celtic<\/a> were breaking the rules.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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He doesn’t say which rules, becaue of course, they weren’t.<\/p>\n

The article contains pictures of Bolingoli, and the Aberdeen players who went out for a beer or two after the game against “rangers ” on the opening weekend.<\/p>\n

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But, for me, that\u2019s what Celtic should be facing right now. And I\u2019d be saying the same if it was Rangers<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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I’m quite sure that he will have seen the pictures that show it was “rangers “…if not, he should look a little harder.<\/p>\n

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Of course, there was no mention of “rangers ” breaching testing rules ahead of a friendly.<\/p>\n

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It’s just a matter of time before the shit hits the shits…..<\/p>\n

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Yesterday, we had this….<\/p>\n

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

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Whitearra<\/em><\/div>\n