![\"Image\"](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EjcGk4zXkA0dWP-?format=png&name=900x900\")
<\/p>\nCeltic got out of jail\/got the result they deserved\/acted like true champions when two late goals from substitutes Patrik Klimala and Leigh Griffiths disposed of a robust and enthusiastic St Johnstone side.<\/p>\n
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It wasn’t a great game, one which I was spared the trauma of listening to as by half time my EBT Radio Scotland link was still broadcasting the pre match interviews, so i went over to the Sounds app and just got updates from the OffThe Ball show.<\/p>\n
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Probably just as well, given the frustration felt by those watching as nothing seems to be improving where entertainment value is concerned, but then again, with no crowd to play for maybe thats why.<\/p>\n
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It’s also why I’m maybe not as concerned about performances, having not seen them, as some. Results are what matter, and since January Celtic have only dropped four points out of a possible fifty seven in the league, which isn;t something you’ll see in the papers or hear on the radio.<\/p>\n
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And as for BBC Sportscene….Chris Iwelumo and\u00a0 Andy Halliday have joined their line up of experts, so its not even worth thinking about their opinions.<\/p>\n
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The biggest surprise for me when I heard the result was that Leigh Griffiths had scored.<\/p>\n
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After consulting our moles at the ranch, we learned that he is allowed to play, but only if he wears one of those suits used in the film making industry where another actor controls his movements.<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1312856689390039042<\/p>\n
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This led to consternation in the dressing room afterwards when the manager was forced to wait until Griff had finished his post match interview before he could go for a wee.<\/p>\n
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What wasn’t a surprise was the strength and determination of the Polish Paddy, who earned himself the nickname at the ranch of “The Tank “, when he shrugged off a tackle that would have had fat Colombian strikers still rolling about this morning to score the second.<\/p>\n
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This guy will be our main man sooner rather than later….John Hartson with pace.<\/p>\n
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Alls well ended well, however, and I’m firmly in the camp that to play badly and win is the true mark of champions, although, of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.<\/p>\n
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We now have a couple of weeks until the next game, as Scotland are in action again for whatever reason, and that gives the media time to hype up the next game, the seasons first Glasgow derby.<\/p>\n
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The referees have been practising for it, and the feeling at the SFA is they are ready to go. Their only disappointment was when Neil Lennon opted to keep Scott Brown on the bench yesterday for long enough to make them forget they were supposed to book him for something so he’d miss the game.<\/p>\n
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The media are building up a narrative around allowing some fans into the match, even though it won’t happen as it’s far too risky.<\/p>\n
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The Conservative and Unionist leaning BBC see it as a way to criticise the SNP government by labelling it a political move, when in reality, the movement of thousands of people across the country, and the risk of others without tickets travelling anyway, simply isn’t worth it.<\/p>\n
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The political agenda came to light when it was revealed that Douglas Ross, a politician and a football official, so no conflict of interest there, asked the Chairman of Stenhousemuir to do some digging for him….<\/p>\n
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McMenemy has connections to the Orange Lodge and Ross is an SFA official, so its probably not too difficult to work out where they know each other from.<\/p>\n
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The arrogance of the corporation means that they forgot the basic question, which is would fans go anyway of they were allowed, given the risks involved.<\/p>\n
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So, I thought I’d ask… after all, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if after all the kerfuffle, no one went anyway ?<\/p>\n
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If fans were to be admitted to football matches, would you actually go?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surprisingly, quite a few said they wouldn’t, and they gave their reasons, and that was mainly concerning the risks. Those who said they would tended to say that if shops and pubs were open they could see no reason why stadia couldn’t be opened, and both camps have a point.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But then, if we expand the argument to whether or not pubs should be open\u00a0 , given that infections are on the rise again, that gets kind of negated as a deflection rather than a serious argument.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The real issue is that the government, having outsourced the English response to private companies with no expertise in public health has caused the second wave, and with little or no real advice based on real evidence available about a new virus surely caution has to be the watchword.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s clear that opening up too soon has put the country back to where it was at the beginning, and given that there is a narrative that plays down the virus that rise was inevitable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The lack of common sense surrounding the issue is bewildering at times, but there is a way of perhaps opening up stadia to fans that combines common sense with caution…and in that case the fan himself can make his own mind up….<\/p>\n <\/p>\n John Ward is the CEO at Livingston, who probably haven’t git as much to worry about as other clubs-or companies-after they sold Lyndon Dykes, and he makes a good point with his reply to the question…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Track and trace app a must and temp checking. No turnstiles and heavily stewarded. I think it\u2019s possible.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Temperature checking is mandatory in a lot of work places, and the track and trace is a necessary part of combating any pandemic, although I would venture that the one in Scotland is probably better than the shambolic efforts down here, and thats the one to use.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is, of cpurse, something else to consider, given you’d be sitting there freezing cold, wearing a mask and probably by yourself, even of you did go to one game, would you bother with a second ?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Don’t expect a serious debate in the media, all they will do is formulate an argument to back re-opening, without thinking it through, and if 2020 is to be remembered for anything, it certainly wonlt be for anyone thinking anything through.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s transfer deadline day, and the latest is that Celtic will bring in Uruguayan defender Diego Laxalt, which should quieten the demands from those who don’t rate Greg Taylor. Laxalt can’t get a game for Milan, who face Celtic in a couple of weeks in the Europa League, so he’s clearly the way forward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robert Snodgrass has also been mentioned, by the same people who mentioned Steven Fletcher, which isn;t a surprise, though it would be if the Scotland interntional ended up in Glasgow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Though we did hear the scuttle of rat’s feet in the city, and we can only hope he’s been sent scurrying south before he got a chance to get his teeth into anything….<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Saturday, we had this…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whitearra\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0The board’s transparency policy to the Celtic support<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Celtic got out of jail\/got the result they deserved\/acted like true champions when two late goals from substitutes Patrik Klimala and Leigh Griffiths disposed of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16113,"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\/2020\/10\/plan-a-fail.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-4bS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16112"}],"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=16112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16114,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16112\/revisions\/16114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Image\"](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EjWqRkHXkAAHOxY?format=jpg&name=900x900\")
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