{"id":16259,"date":"2020-11-02T07:12:57","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T07:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16259"},"modified":"2020-11-02T07:12:57","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T07:12:57","slug":"celtic-diary-monday-november-2-a-results-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16259","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Monday November 2: A Results Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic are ninety minutes away from a twelfth consecutive domestic trophy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Think about that for a moment, as even those of us who have been spoilt and know only this particular period of success need to let that sink in.<\/p>\n

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It’s a phenomenal achievement, unprecedented anywhere in the world, and it’s not over yet.<\/p>\n

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As Neil Lennon said;<\/p>\n

…to question whether this Celtic side has any character is and always has been foolish. It\u2019s also totally disrespectful to a side who have won 11 consecutive domestic competitions.<\/em><\/p>\n

There will come a time when that ends, but it won\u2019t come from a lack of belief\/character\/personality or whatever else you want to label it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These players, their focus, desire and will to win is one of the best I’ve ever seen. They’re achieving greatness as they go along and sometimes that gets a bit overlooked at times.”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The 2-0 win over Aberdeen was the proverbial game of two halves, with the hoops finding something like their true style and speed from the off, overwhelming any resistance put up by the dons, and the two quick goals put an end to the game as a competition, so with the second half seeing a distinct drop in tempo we shouldn’t really be surprised.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The adrenaline had to an extent been used up, but it had been used effectively.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We can now look forward to a Cup final on December 20 against Hearts, and knowing how these things turn out, an inspired Craig Gordon showing us what we’re missing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But thats for another day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Right now, we can look back on a few days where Celtic started to remember what they are capable of, and adjust their working day to suit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Character is needed at this level, especially when even your own are criticising , and there were a few little things that seem to have of not made the difference, certainly made a contribution to the difference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shane Duffy had a good game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, Shane Duffy had a really good game, and that may in part be down to the manager taking him to one side recently and having a heart to heart, as he called it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the start of the second half, the Aberdeen players were out early, and the tv camera went into the tunnel to show us the Celtic players, who were all together, all looking mean , moody and magnificent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ajeti and Griffiths clapping each other on the shoulder before entering the fray, another sign that the wagons are being circled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Suddenly, everyone is pulling for everyone else, and whatever crisis was looming has passed…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We still have a lot to do, of course, a job made an awful lot more difficult by a refereeing circle determined to do their bit for their cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Off the field, Douglas Ross could be in trouble for putting a picture of him in referee uniform on a political pamphlet..though why he thought that would help his cause is baffling…as UEFA and FIFA forbid any kind of political\/sporting links, which could lead to his suspension after investigation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yesterday we saw some bizarre decisions from don Robertson, including the right hook to Tom Rogic from Lewis Ferguson , which went unpunished…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1322983961413488642<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tom Rogic was fouled repeatedly yesterday, and this needs to be mentioned by the club. Whilst it will provoke comment about whinging and moaning in the media, they do have a duty of care to their players, and allowing them to be subject to assault and battery is a dereliction of that duty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mind you, there’s always Diego Laxalt, who whilst looking like butter wouldn;t melt in is mouth , has a touch of the Davie Hay about him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking of referees, who had James Tavernier to score at any time from the spot yesterday at the bookies ?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Come on, Andrew Dallas was the referee. He’d have just kept awarding them until Tav (pen ) scored one…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next Sunday, yet again this season, Dallas takes charge of the Motherwell-Celtic game, and rarely has one man had such an influence on a league title race.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the tactic favoured by referees of early Celtic bookings and breaking up play could see a six point turnaround if Dallas gets his way, and in order to highlight this, get your money on a Motherwell penalty….or find out who takes them and do an any time score bet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unusual betting patterns flag up beyond Scotland….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Imagine of thousands of Far Eastern dollars suddenly appeared alongside this possibility…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For no, though, we can relax a bit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The players have got a huge chunk of their mojo back, and that means everyone else should watch out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Friday, we had this…..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Puggy 67\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Would I have been Celtic’s mascot longer if I had been a polar bear ? I think I would..\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celtic are ninety minutes away from a twelfth consecutive domestic trophy.   Think about that for a moment, as even those of us who have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16260,"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\/11\/download-41.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-4ef","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259"}],"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=16259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16261,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259\/revisions\/16261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}