Emilio Izzaguerre, Efe Ambrose and Fraser Forster look certain to be going to Brazil directly with their respective nations, whilst Mikael Lustig and Georgios Samaras will probably be in the play offs.<\/p>\n
Forsters progress may be halted, or at least delayed if another former Celt , holy goalie Artur Boruc plays to his capabilities against the English for Poland tonight.Jack Wilshere , of Arsenal, wants to lead his country \u00a0into battle against the Poles, just like his hero Adolf Hitler did all those years ago.<\/p>\n
Personally, I’ll be glad when its all done and we can get back to real football, and then the ticket office can hurry up and send us our Hibs briefs.<\/p>\n
Scotland face Croatia tonight at Hampden, and club and country captain Scott Brown has paid tribute to his mentor Gordon Strachan;<\/p>\n
“He is the same Gordon who brought me to Celtic,” said Brown. “He loves his job, he loves training, double sessions, single session – I think he enjoys it more than half of the lads do.<\/p>\n
“His ball control is still better than mine, even with his hips!<\/p>\n
“He has been a huge figure in my career. He had faith in me at Celtic and faith in me here at Scotland where he made me captain. I owe him a lot.”<\/p>\n
Something that has concerned Scotland fans is the home form in this current run-they’ve failed to win a game-and for some reason they asked Brown why this was;<\/p>\n
“If I could tell you why we haven’t won a home game in this group, I would be a manager myself. I really don’t know what it is,”<\/p>\n
Cheers , Scott.<\/p>\n
Still, he did try to drum up interest in the game. Apparently, Croatia coach Igor Stimac has described the match as “practice ” for his players, who are certain of a play off place. Its difficult to disagree with that, but Brown was determined to put a few hundred on the crowd;<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mind games. They say one thing, we know another, we all know how it works.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can say there\u2019s nothing to play for but for us it\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n
\u201cA home win at Hampden would be great for us to show the fans we can play at home as well as we can away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last three or four games away from home we\u2019ve done really well. If we could have started like that at home we would be in a really good position now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s the chance to do the double over Croatia too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is for us to show we are a good team, be positive and hopefully win at Hampden. I know Croatia have one or two world-class players but one or two doesn\u2019t make a team. It\u2019s how you play together.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s up to us at home to show we can play in a positive way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could tell you why we haven\u2019t won a home game in this group I would be a manager myself. I really don\u2019t know what it is.<\/p>\n
\u00a0
<\/p>\n
\u201cTeams come here and we try to change our formation or at least we did. Now we\u2019ve got a settled team and formation so we\u2019ll try to put it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think we’ll all be relieved once this dreadful campaign is over.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, its nearly January, and Milan , according to ForzaItalianFootball are ready to put a \u00a39.5m bid on the table for Fraser Forster, which would almost certainly see the big keeper head off to sunnier climes. Their current keeper is 36, useless and only on a one year deal. Theres probably something in this, and if that sort of money is being mentioned, then we won’t be hanging on to him. Barcelona , too, may enter the fray. Victor Valdes has all but bought a house in Monaco, and looks to be off to the millionaires playground soon.<\/p>\n
Which is a shame, he really has improved over the last couple of years, some might even say completely beyond recognition from the raw kid who came on loan from Newcastle, who must be questioning their goalkeeping coach for allowing him to go.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Back at Celtic Park, manager Neil Lennon has publicly praised forward Kris Commons, in an attempt to cheer him up, as he’s been moping around the ground on his own for a few days.<\/p>\n
The \u00a0boss explained: “Kris has surprised me because he has taken his career on and, the older he is getting, the better he is getting. I had a doubt whether he could play at Champions League level. But, he has answered all those questions as well.”<\/p>\n
Last year, going into the games, I was thinking, did Kris have the legs? Did he have the pace? And he answered all that in spades,”<\/p>\n
“He had an exceptional campaign and, again, I think he has played very, very well in Milan and at home against Barcelona in our opening two group games this season.”<\/p>\n
“I thought, on the ball against Barcelona, he was our best player,” said the Celtic boss. “His technical ability is unquestioned.<\/p>\n
“And, in our game against Motherwell before we stopped for the international games, I thought he was just fantastic, so intelligent.<\/p>\n
“It was not just with his goal – though that was a thing of beauty and exceptional – but his all-round game. He is in a great place and is a great player.”<\/p>\n
Is it a coincidence that Commons has improved since he decided not to bother with international football ?<\/p>\n
Neil Lennon said ;\u00a0“You would need to ask Kris that.”<\/p>\n
Anyone else already knows the answer. Commons is injury free, and seems to have more energy this year. He might yet prove to be an ace in the pack in the double header against Ajax. He doesn’t rely on pace, and is an intelligent footballer who could become the hero we need.<\/p>\n
Well, we haven’t had one for ages.<\/p>\n
Speaking of heroes, \u00a0Hugh Keevins<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0is on the Daily Recordback page video to discuss the days events..<\/p>\n In the link above, he sits and chats with Gregor Kyle and gives us his opinions on the Scotland game, the Rangers crisis, and everything else he can think of. Its worth watching just to see the conviction the man puts his views across with. He really thinks he is an authority, and I mention him again because he is the type of journalist who will drum up tension on the streets between fans, before penning the sort of article that condemns us all as hooligans.<\/p>\n The man is an idiot. Watch it, and listen to the inane ramblings of someone who either just doesn’t know anything about anything, or is just out to provoke a reaction. I suspect the latter, but fear the former.<\/p>\n At the end of the video, he makes a plea for the Rangers AGM to sort out their problems;<\/p>\n ” Please make this stop ” he says, which is also the cry of anyone watching.<\/p>\n If you don’t want to watch the video, put a hot poker into one of your eyes. The effect is the same.<\/p>\n Paul McConville, over on CQN , has also picked up on the Records article mentioned in yesterdays diary, where the paper urged Celtic shareholders to vote against the resolution to ask UEFA to investigate all the misdeeds of the now defunct Rangers and their pals at the SFA.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ” There was a fascinating and completely unfounded angle to the Daily Record\u2019s story today about Celtic\u2019s forthcoming AGM, \u201cCeltic\u2019s directors\u00a0insist<\/a>\u00a0Rangers (sic) were dealt with fairly\u201d.<\/p>\n Oh no they don\u2019t.\u00a0 This is an incredible dose of poison to inject into the Celtic family.<\/p>\n The matter in question is a resolution before the AGM urging Celtic to write to the SFA and Uefa regarding club licencing for season 2011\/12.\u00a0 As a result of this resolution Celtic\u2019s written response to the AGM confirms that they questioned the SFA\u2019s licensing at the time directly with the Association, a fact which had not previously been revealed.\u00a0 The matter was also raised with Uefa.\u00a0 Both bodies backed the SFA actions.<\/p>\n I knew how this played out at the time and I was keen for the matter to reach the AGM, where\u00a0questions<\/a>\u00a0could be asked and responses given, but lines like \u201cCeltic\u2019s directors insist Rangers were dealt with fairly\u201d are put out just to mess with you.<\/p>\n The Record addresses another point in the same article, \u201cthe Scottish champions are also acutely aware of how official action would heighten tensions between fans of the two clubs\u201d.\u00a0 If you think Charles Green was the only one on the receiving end of threats and intimidation last year, when these matters came to light, you\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n Celtic pursued the licencing question as far as they were permitted to do, this is quite different than insisting Rangers (sic) were dealt with fairly.\u00a0 The SFA are not interested and Uefa are not interested.\u00a0 As a result of this resolution, this issue can be properly examined in front of the supporters.<\/p>\n The club\u2019s public comments, or often, the lack of public comments, put the safety of their employees and supporters, which was already acutely in focus, first.\u00a0 Not so long ago office staff at Celtic had to go through\u00a0training<\/a>\u00a0on how to open the mail following specific attacks.<\/p>\n Despite popular mythology, Celtic don\u2019t control the SFA, re-orientating that organisation will take a while.\u00a0 The issue of licensing in 2011 was pursued as far as the club were allowed to do so.\u00a0 Get along to the AGM, look the board in the eye and ask your questions on this.\u00a0 Celtic also have a responsibility \u2013 and a lot of formal security advice \u2013 to staff, each other and all of us when it comes to public comment.\u00a0 This is the world Celtic has to operate in.\u00a0 The sooner we are out of here the better. ”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just another wee matter regarding these resolutions, which I saw somewhere yesterday.<\/p>\n The Celtic Trust also want all employees at Celtic Park to be paid a minimum wage-a living wage-of \u00a37.45 an hour. It will be interesting to see how that one gets on when its mentioned at the AGM.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Second Rangers will not have a new leader after all, and they have released this statement;<\/p>\n ” The Board of RIFC notes recent and misleading speculation in relation to David King, a former director of Rangers Football Club. \u00a0On Saturday 12th October RIFC published statements on its web site from David King and Craig Mather in order to prevent the escalation of false rumours. \u00a0RIFC was advised by its Nominated Adviser that there were regulatory implications arising from these statements, and accordingly an amendment was subsequently made. \u00a0The full text of those amended statements is set out below. ”<\/p>\n Thats more from Paul Mcconville, full article here.<\/p>\n Dave King not coming back<\/a><\/p>\n But wait, another piss poor journalist, Richard Wilson has his say, with a full, in depth analysis;<\/p>\n Analysis: why King is ready to take throne but ball is in Rangers’ court<\/strong><\/p>\n Is Dave King returning to Ibrox as chairman or not?
\n<\/strong>
\nThat remains a possibility. Craig Mather, the Rangers chief executive, and Brian Stockbridge, the\u00a0finance<\/a>\u00a0director, agreed the terms of King’s return when they met him in South Africa last week. The confidentiality of the discussions was broken, and proper regulatory procedures have still to be followed through, but the Glasgow-born businessman wants to help the\u00a0club<\/a>\u00a0with his experience and, potentially, his wealth if a new share issue is launched.<\/p>\n