{"id":18712,"date":"2024-08-05T09:17:29","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T08:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=18712"},"modified":"2024-08-05T09:17:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T08:17:29","slug":"celtic-diary-monday-august-5-monday-morning-sure-looks-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=18712","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Monday August 5: Monday Morning Sure Looks Fine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fears of a backlash from Kilmarnock after they exited the Europa League last midweek were swept aside by a Celtic side who swashbuckled their way to a 4-0 in their opening fixture of season 24-25.<\/p>\n

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Despite losing or about to lose several key players and not replacing them with anyone except a couple of goalkeepers, Brendan Rodgers begged , stole and cajoled his charges into a display of pace, skill and effort that surprised more or less everyone who reads the papers.<\/p>\n

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And James Forrest, probing and moving forward on the flanks, showed us exactly why he never got a game in the recent Euros for Scotland….. a statement equalled by Tony Ralston who grabbed the fourth goal , which was one more than his Scotland team mates managed between them in Germany<\/p>\n

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Veteran Kasper Schmeichel, a stop gap freebie at the end of his career showed us that he isn’t a stop gap freebie after all, and might yet have a few good games in him, not so much for his saves but his complete command of the defensive zone and the players in front of him.<\/p>\n

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Liam Scales seemed to benefit most from the old head behind him, so much so that he even ventured forward from time to time without shouting “oh bollocks<\/em> ” and running the length of the pitch to commit a foul in the exact place he should have been anyway,<\/p>\n

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After the dull Euro series it was great to get back to real football, great to see a team wanting to win a game as opposed to trying not to make an arse of things, which as we know, leads to teams making an arse of things.<\/p>\n

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For Celtic fans , optimism should go through the roof, with one or two players excelling ….or putting themselves in the August sales..<\/p>\n

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Reo Hatate was back to his best, opening the scoring and making a nuisance of himself, and Matt O’Riley took another step in his quest to be the most artistic player since the heady days of the McStays and Collins’ of this world.<\/p>\n

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O’Riley certainly seemed to enjoy it, posting on social media<\/p>\n

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“Oof…it’s good to be back “<\/em><\/p>\n

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And Nicolas Kuhn showed why sometimes it’s better to wait until players are settled before complaining about them.<\/p>\n

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And could Odin Holm have his own song soon ?<\/p>\n

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Mick<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>\n
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@NCCMick<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the pub and it shows a reply of Holm back flick pass to Palma . Someone shouts Go on Holm Instantly someone else shouts British soldiers.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>
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\u00a0Alright, calm doon, I hear you say.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0All we’ve done so far is beat Kilmarnock, Chelsea and Manchester City, scoring four times against each side, so let’s not get carried away.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0And weapons grade it is…<\/div>\n
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\u00a0What’s wrong with being optimistic and pessimistic in equal measure ?<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Just as we can be accused of being a wee bit miserable when things aren’t so good, surely we can be a little bit over the top when things start to look good ?<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The team looks good and is playing well.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0A couple of quality additions would make a difference, although I’d be surprised if we got them, but a couple of loans with the same quality as Jota or Bernardo, given time to settle and flourish is actually a long term plan of sorts, similar to what we’re doing with the goalkeeper postion.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Should we not recruit wisely and strengthen the squad, then no doubt fingers will be pointed at the board and Peter Lawwell, somewhat bizarrely in the case of the latter, who is more interested in European matters these days than the day to day running of Celtic.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0And those fingers would then point to the piss poor start made by homeless neighbours “rangers “, who have already had their traditional 12 points from Hearts reduced to a maximum of 10 after a lacklustre 0-0 draw on Saturday.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Still, they at least have four more years of Phillipe Clement as manager, after he signed a new deal to make sure he gets a big pay off when they sack him.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Clement claimed he had grown to love the club and it’s support\u00a0 which perhaps lost something in translation, but with his retirement fund now secure, he won’t give a toss and will hang on as long as he can.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Worryingly for Celtic fans, we’ve seen how our board goes into downsize mode when things start to go a little out of shape over the river, and if there is any disharmony between management and executive at Celtic, it will be that Rodgers wants to make an impact on Europe whereas the board might just give a little less of a toss.<\/div>\n
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They do have form, after all, and the possibility of raking in millions for O’Riley , Hatate and possibly even Kyogo will be on their agendas and in their private Whatsapp groups, so Brendan will have to be at his most stubborn to get his own way, but he is still here , and seems to be a man with a plan , so indications are he is winning his arguments.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0But there’s still time, I suppose…..<\/div>\n
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\u00a0But there is also still time for us to look forward, and to maybe be more confident than optimistic that a memorable season is on the cards, and for now at least, I’m firmly on board that train.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0To keep a sort of cheerful mood going, something a little different today.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0I’ve just finished reading a book called Tales From The Jungle, or Jungle Tales, by a fellow called James Quinn.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Written in the nineties before the advent of fan media and the internet, it is a heavily sanitised trip down memory lane with recollections of the old North Enclosure, findly known as the Jungle, presumably because of the largely unkempt appearance of the place.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Come to think of it, it had it’s own river as well.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Readers of a certain age may well have their own tales of banter , excitement, triumph or disaster, and I’d like to hear them.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0One of my own that springs immediately to mind is 1984, and that<\/em> game against Rapid Vienna, and the sight of a lass jumping around shouting “Get it out ” after she discovered a firework fizzing in her jacket pocket.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0you won’t see that these days….<\/div>\n
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Oh, a;right, caption competitions as well<\/div>\n
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This was the last one……<\/div>\n
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CarlJungleBhoy<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a012 days ago<\/em><\/div>\n
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Man Utd team rest after their 2-0 win at Murrayfield<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0And today…..<\/div>\n
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\"Image\"<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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