{"id":18776,"date":"2024-09-01T07:42:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T06:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=18776"},"modified":"2024-09-01T07:42:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T06:42:56","slug":"celtic-diary-sunday-september-1-2024-and-now-the-end-is-near","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=18776","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Sunday September 1 2024 : And Now, The End Is Near."},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Glasgow derby day today, and even when you take into consideration the relative infancy of one of the contestants, it’s probably one of the strangest fixtures we’ve seen.<\/p>\n

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For our friends over the river, it may well be the beginning of the end.<\/p>\n

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I do hope so.<\/p>\n

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The Glasgow sides lock horns , well, they’ve got horns, we’ve got nicely coiffured hairstyles, with neither side in pole position.<\/p>\n

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Aberdeen took all three points at Dingwall yesterday which leaves them three clear at the top ahead of Celtic, and five clear of “rangers ” , who are in third.<\/p>\n

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In a two horse race.<\/p>\n

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Given the merits of both Glasgow clubs, it’s unlikely that the Ibrox -or Hampden- side will record a victory today.<\/p>\n

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Celtic have smashed their transfer record for an individual player purchase, and spent over \u00a330m in the window.<\/p>\n

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Record signing Arne Engels, striker Adam Idah , defender Anton Trusty and midfielder Luke McCowan are all unlikely to start, though they may feature at some point.<\/p>\n

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The reason they may not start is that the team are playing quite well, and the manager may not want to shuffle things around when there’s no need to.<\/p>\n

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The only changes that may be made are the inclusion of Kyogo Fuhruhashi and Nicolas Kuhn for Idah and Forrest.<\/p>\n

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Though I’d wager most hoops fans are fairly relaxed about either prospect in the starting line up.<\/p>\n

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Over the river, “rangers have raised a few bob…and I’ve chosen those words carefully….by selling Todd Cantwell and Scott Wright to clubs who presumably thought they were worth a punt at the price, leaving themselves a little short in numbers.<\/p>\n

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On paper, there doesn’t seem to be much point in “rangers ” turning up, and Celtic’s main issue will be one of concentration, and avoiding complacency.<\/p>\n

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For the Ibrox-or Hampden- side, it will be damage limitation.<\/p>\n

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Which may be tricky for a club that is already damaged, in so many ways.<\/p>\n

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Their manager at the moment, Phillipe Clement, remains optimistic, especially after their 6-0 thrashing of Ross County last week, which he didn’t forget to mention.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u201cThis game is always important. For the fans, we know it\u2019s their game of the season and it\u2019s our biggest rival. There\u2019s been a negative perception around the club, with the stadium, elimination from the Champions League, all of those things.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cBut sometimes people forget about what\u2019s going well. We won our last game 6-0 so it\u2019s not all bad. This is an exciting project. We\u2019re not the finished article and on Sunday we play against a team with a lot of experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve played together for a long time, in Champions League games, getting that experience and learning from it.They will probably replace one player (Matt O\u2019Riley) on Sunday with another player (Paulo Bernardo) who was there last season.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo they know everything together. We\u2019re an exciting young team who want to challenge that now. I believe we have the quality to do that – and to go for three points on Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll do that. But we\u2019re not the finished article, which is normal because we\u2019re rebuilding with 16 players leaving. But I know there\u2019s only one truth at the end and that\u2019s what\u2019s happening on the pitch.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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You have to give him credit for his stubborn refusal to face reality. In public, at least.<\/p>\n

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This may come back to haunt him, though…<\/p>\n

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\u201cNothing will be determined on Sunday in one game<\/strong>. It\u2019s an exciting challenge for us. And of course, if we can play a really good game and get a good result, we can take a massive step forward as a club.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Defeat will leave them five points adrift in third, and the cuddly bears will be after his blood.<\/p>\n

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A heavy defeat and a piss poor performance and he’ll be out of there, or at the very least they’ll be waving their pitchforks at him.<\/p>\n

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A lot will depend on the performance of their midfield maestro John Beaton, and his sidekick in a locked room Andrew Dallas.<\/p>\n

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Beaton will play in the Paul Lambert role, breaking up attacks and controlling the tempo of the game, allowing his side time to regroup and recover during repeated waves of Celtic attacks.<\/p>\n

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A set piece specialist, it will be down to him to make them count, as realistically, it’s their only chance of finding the net.<\/p>\n

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And he does know how to get his opponents booked, which , of course, can temper their enthusiasm for a stronger , more physical contribution.<\/p>\n

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But can he recover the form of previous years ?<\/p>\n

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Well, if he can, they might well name a supporters bus after him….he has a real chance to become a “rangers ” legend ” today.<\/p>\n

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Oh, alright, another supporters bus to add to the one he’s already got.<\/p>\n

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You have to feel a little bit sorry for them, especially as even the guys who published the fixtures for their Europa League group appears to be laughing at them…. incorporating the first two lines of a tune down the side of the page.<\/p>\n

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

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And it’s also the only time you’ll see Nice Rangers written anywhere.<\/p>\n

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Speaking of Europe, Celtic don;t seem to have come out of the UCL draw too badly, avoiding the “big guns ” and having no real travel issues, but we’ll deal with that later, as there are matters at home to deal with before we go gallivanting around Europe.<\/p>\n

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Back home, there are a few other things to play for today. A few things which had Alan Patullo of the Scotsman dripping a few tears onto his keyboard….<\/p>\n

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There is no trophy at stake on Sunday afternoon. What there is, though, is something arguably greater. Some, including Jose Mourinho, might refer to it as football heritage. Glasgow bragging rights stretching all the way back to 1888 lie in the balance, with both teams currently level-pegging on 169 wins each. As well as drawing five points clear of their rivals with a win tomorrow, Celtic can inch ahead of them in history.<\/em><\/p>\n

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What a blow this would represent to Rangers’ pride. What a stark portrayal of the vandalism wrought upon the club by a succession of hubristic and incompetent owners. Even though it looked like progress was being made on that front, the Ibrox fans have been let down by the current incumbents. Ahead of their trip into enemy territory on Sunday morning, Rangers will be given a rousing send-off by their fans from a stadium they last played at on 14 May against Dundee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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So much seems to be in the balance at present. So much of Rangers’ admittedly sometimes self-proclaimed identity seems imperilled – how can they claim to be the most successful team in the world when they are not even top dogs in their own city? Never mind the Copland Road stand, an entire edifice is crumbling. Celtic are targeting a 55th title win \u2013 the number Rangers reached under Steven Gerrard and have failed to add to since. Both clubs, meanwhile, are locked on 118 trophies.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Then you could actually hear him sobbing out loud….<\/p>\n

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Indeed, is there a single player in the Rangers line-up who could reasonably to be picked over their Celtic equivalent in a joint XI? Not for this correspondent. Cyriel Dessers might trump Idah for the centre-forward shirt in the unlikely event of a merging of forces.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With so much going on player-recruitment wise,\u00a0Rodgers was remaining\u00a0understandably\u00a0tight-lipped on Friday on team selection matters,\u00a0but\u00a0Idah is unlikely to start. And who out of Dessers and\u00a0Kyogo\u00a0Furuhashi would\u00a0anyone\u00a0want spearheading an attack? Manchester City were not contemplating swooping for Dessers, put it that way.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite his shoulder seeming perpetually in danger of popping out, what\u2019s the betting Kyogo opens his account for the season and emerges as the match winner once again? It\u2019s vulnerable Rangers whose crutches are at risk of being kicked from under them on a potentially momentous afternoon for Old Firm oneupmanship.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Back in 2012 when the original Rangers bit the dust, I didn’t think things could get any funnier, or any more symbolic.<\/p>\n

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Gone was the club that stood for racism, for religious supremacy and for financial skullduggery.<\/p>\n

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Then, aided and abetted by a compliant Scottish Football Association, along with mainstream media support, they came back in a new form with the same old problems, the same flies gathering around a different pile of shite.<\/p>\n

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Even then, had they learned from their mistakes and tried to weed out the more unpleasant aspects of their culture, and those who followed them, then i might have lent them some sympathy.<\/p>\n

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But they have used that as the cornerstone of their resurgence, actively raking in money from societal outcasts with extremist views.<\/p>\n

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A win for Celtic today, a convincing win, may well send them back into the pit from whence they came.<\/p>\n

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They cannot afford to be third in a two horse race. They cannot afford to become irrelevant, and most importantly they cannot afford to keep going as an entity if things stay as they are.<\/p>\n

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that’s why we need to make things a whole lot worse for them with a comprehensive and entertaining win.<\/p>\n

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On Thursday we had this…<\/p>\n

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\"We<\/p>\n

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\n
Michael Annis<\/em><\/div>\n
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Right that\u2019s two yellow cards, one for Carter and one for Vickers. Yer off<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Today….<\/p>\n

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