Roy Hodgson hasn’t picked his team for tonights England game against Moldova ( where ? Near Romania, thats where. ) but he faces a very difficult decision with his regular keeper Joe Hart proving yet again that an English player is seventy per cent hype thirty percent ability , the giant figure of Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster will be in his thoughts.<\/p>\n
Forster is at least the equal of Joe Hart in the eyes of Celtic supporters and more than a few England fans, but there is a doubt in Hodgsons mind that Forster can step up from the relatively low standard of the Champions League to international football.<\/p>\n
Thats because he’s an idiot.<\/p>\n
Actually, in his defence, he will be slaughtered in the English media if he gets it wrong. If the English lose, then whoever he picked would have been the wrong one, as their media is even less constructive about football than their Scottish counterparts.<\/p>\n
Celtic fans would like to see Forster play, and do well. Although that feeling could only be replicated by watching four Second Rangers fans nick your new car and then drive it off a cliff.<\/p>\n
Scotland are also in action tonight, okay, maybe action is too strong a word, but a win over Belgium and a couple of snookers will put them right back in contention for fifth place in the group. The Belgians are fourteen points in front of Scotland after half a dozen or so games, which is a remarkable statistic, considering Scotland got three points after a shock win in Croatia last time out.<\/p>\n
On a serious note, Scotland need to finish this dismal campaign strongly, as it will affect their seedings for the European championship qualifiers, and Scotland need to finish as high as possible to avoid sides they would struggle against, such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and the Vatican City.<\/p>\n
As usual, Strachan has had a number of call offs to contend with, but the little man has worked miracles with lesser talented players before, and has delivered. This time , though, there is no \u00a0Paul Telfer to fall back on. And Alan Hansen has just retired.<\/p>\n
Actually, he’s retired from Match of the Day, the show presented entirely by ex-players with \u00a0ability to read an autocue and comb their hair straight. Hansen was arguably the most deficient commentator, I tried to stick up for him once, but was guilty of \u00a0” terrible, terrible defending ” .<\/p>\n
As usual, theres a lot of Celts involved internationally this weekend, and as usual Neil Lennon will sit down and make sure all the insurance payments are up to date, and just hope that everyone comes back okay.<\/p>\n
ASH Scotland have criticised Celtic for entering into a new partnership with a firm called E-Lites, who manufacture those ridiculous plastic fags you see people puffing on from time to time on the train. The product will be on sale at the ground, and personally I cannot wait to see the disappointment on the more chunky hooded young supporter when he realises that the vendor is not , in fact , selling a sugar free version of their favourite weekend enhancer.<\/p>\n
Which is just as well. Its bad enough listening to the Green Brigades drummer without watching those around him out of their tits and waving their arms around and dancing.<\/p>\n
Oh, wait.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the company said ;<\/p>\n
\u201cCeltic have a proud history with a tremendous global fan base that marks it out as one of the biggest clubs in the world .We are proud to be able to offer Celtic supporters the opportunity to enjoy an alternative to smoking whilst watching the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cE-cigs are the ideal solution for partnerships like this \u2013 popular venues can give their adult smokers an alternative while non-smokers can rest assured that they are not being subjected to the effects of passive smoking or the smell associated with tobacco.\u201d<\/p>\n
What he should have said was;<\/p>\n
” Look, if you have ever been in the toilets at half time, you’ll realise why the club have had to do something. The bastards are going to smoke anyway, so we might as well try to make some money out of them. ”<\/p>\n
At least that would have been honest.<\/p>\n
Anyway, back to anti smoking campaigners ASH Scotland, who wheeled out someone else who has never ventured out from behind her desk into the wide world to comment. She was asked if she agreed with the partnership;<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonally, no I don\u2019t. ”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thats not her. Its merely a representation of the passion in her voice. She continued;<\/p>\n