{"id":4617,"date":"2014-02-22T10:55:33","date_gmt":"2014-02-22T10:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2014-02-22T10:55:33","modified_gmt":"2014-02-22T10:55:33","slug":"celtic-diary-saturday-february-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4617","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Saturday February 22"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry the diary is \u00a0a bit late this morning. I’ve been out on the rob in Liverpool. Won’t happen again, I’ve got all my stuff back now.<\/p>\n

But, at least I won’t miss the game.<\/p>\n

Celtic travel along the M8 to face Hearts today, just a few weeks after a 7-0 demolition on the club. James Forest won’t be playing, and Emilio Izaguerre is still struggling with the injury he picked up last week. \u00a0Charlie Mulgrew isn fit,though,and the question for Neil Lennon is does he drop him in at left back, or does he continue with his midfield berth? Because he will play, its just a question of where.<\/p>\n

Lennon is looking forward to the game, and spoke of the tough time that Hearts have had this season, as they deal with their financial troubles in a correct and honourable fashion.<\/p>\n

“It has been a very tough year for Hearts and for Gary Locke and Billy Brown.<\/p>\n

“They got a great point at Inverness last week, so they are still fighting away.<\/p>\n

“They’ve had a lot of low blows over the course of the season and I don’t know whether the result in the Cup will still be fresh in their minds.<\/p>\n

“We were 5-0 up\u00a0by half-time and some of the football was out of this world.<\/p>\n

“It was probably the best 45 minutes in my time here and, if we can get anywhere near that tomorrow, I would be delighted.<\/p>\n

“But all I want is for us to maintain the high standards that we’ve set ourselves over the last few months.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking for a replication of the performance we got last week against St Johnstone.”<\/p>\n

What about a repeat of the last Tynecastle performance ?<\/p>\n

Lennon is on Soccer AM this morning, Sky Sports trendy football show which is a sort of down market tabloid tv show for those who can’t read, and on it he will say;<\/p>\n

“My ideal scenario would be if Celtic were to move to England. To be in charge of them then would be perfect for me.<\/p>\n

“But whether that would ever come about, I don’t know. We all have ambitions to try different challenges, but those chances have to come up.”<\/p>\n

Becasue just lately it seems like everyone wants him to move to England.<\/p>\n

Even Chris Sutton.<\/p>\n

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Chris Sutton was a fantastic player. He came to join the club when Mark Viduka left, and quickly won the admiration of the support.<\/p>\n

Then he got a job with the Daily Record.<\/p>\n

NEIL LENNON is the name doing the rounds among the Norwich City faithful.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here we go again. You just didn’t expect it from Sutton.
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Lennon must be a serious consideration for English Premier League clubs. He\u2019s young, with good experience, has coped superbly with the pressures of managing one of the world\u2019s biggest clubs and has hunger, passion and knowledge.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From one of the worlds biggest clubs to, er Norwich ? Seriously, Chris, did you read what you had typed back to yourself ?<\/p>\n

Neil has recently been speculating on managerial shelf-life and whether he has taken Celtic as far as he can after almost four years in charge.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, he has. and he says he is happy where he is.<\/p>\n

Being without Rangers to compete with has reduced crowds at Celtic Park and cost the club money. Ally that loss of domestic revenue to the financial fall-out from failing to qualify for the Champions League, and it would add up to a really hard season for Celtic.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From the guy who came up to put Rangers in their place ? The guy who said he knew Dunfermline would lie down ?<\/p>\n

No, I don’t buy it. Chris Sutton could not have written these words, and when he has a look at what has been written in his name this morning, I fully expect him to resign.<\/p>\n

He will, won’t he ?<\/p>\n

Celtic Underground has published the minutes of a recent Fans Forum held at Celtic Park, which is worth a read.<\/p>\n

celtic fans forum minutes<\/a><\/p>\n

Its basically a list of pre ordained questions with the clubs response tagged on. With little sign of debate, and whilst I wasn’t there, and further comment may be inappropriate or just inaccurate, from reading the minutes,it doesn’t seem like a lot of debate took place.<\/p>\n

I may be wrong, but with work commitments a day off and a hundred notes in fuel I’m kind of wondering if a journey north would have been justified.<\/p>\n

Oh, wait, there was tea and biscuits.<\/p>\n

Again, having apologised for Etims absence, it would be unfair of us to criticise those who did make the effort, and perhaps its just the way the minutes are presented that makes it all look kind of “heres the answers, get yourselves a drink and see you soon. ”<\/p>\n

I hope I am wrong. A lot of effort has obviously gone onto arranging this meeting, and maybe it was all a bit more positive than it looks.<\/p>\n

There does seem to be a lot of meetings just lately, as the support and the club look to improve relations with each other. Perhaps one could even suggest that the same questions are now getting the same answers from the same people.<\/p>\n

When all that is needed is a little more positivity from the club on the field, and where supporters are concerned, an improved image off it.<\/p>\n

As predicted, there are a couple of changes to the fixture list. The club released a statement;<\/p>\n

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THERE have been two changes made to Celtic\u2019s remaining pre-split SPFL away matches.<\/p>\n

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The first game to change will be the match against Kilmarnock scheduled for Saturday, March 15 and this will now go ahead on Friday, March 14 with a 7:45pm kick-off time.<\/p>\n

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The game against Dundee United originally scheduled for 3:00pm on Saturday, April, 5 will still go ahead on the same day but with a 12:45pm kick-off time.<\/p>\n

This just a couple of days after a carefully worded statement said there would be no changes to three of the other games. I believe Celtic have a PR man, although he seems to be less visible than Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.<\/p>\n

There is absolutely no fucking point in buying a a season book anymore. \u00a0Its hard enough to fill even a seven seater these days without the game being moved to a ridiculous time and date. Friday night ? Really. Friday night for football ? What the fuck are we supposed to do all weekend. The fact that we go to games hundreds of miles away shows there is something lacking in our lives, and we don’t need to be reminded of it at weekends when we have nothing else to do.<\/p>\n

Why should we bother with a season book ? \u00a0You wouldn’t buy a ticket for the cinema if there was a chance they’d move the show to another day . These days, it a certainty that half the games will be moved,and the other half you can \u00a0just get a ticket for on the day.<\/p>\n

Thats another game we can’t make because of the demands of television. Perhaps we should just cancel the tv subscriptions. The only thing we seem to be doing is subsidising the English league.<\/p>\n

English clubs don’t give a fuck about their support. Celtic need to stand up and prove they do. For the sake of around a million pounds a year it just isn’t worth it. Some things, such as integrity, have no price. The clubs current board are there to look after it for us. They could try looking out for us as well.<\/p>\n

And breathe….<\/p>\n

Right, time to laugh at those less fortunate than ourselves, those stupid people put on this earth by the good lord to make the rest of us feel a little more content with our own lives;<\/p>\n

McCoist: I’m not worried about Rangers’ finances<\/h1>\n

Ally McCoist believes Rangers are doing “reasonably well” financially despite the club being in talks over securing a \u00a31.5million loan.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Light Blues boss has been told the loan is part of the club’s business plan following reports of the cash injection from directors Sandy and James Easdale and major shareholder Laxey Partners.<\/p>\n

Despite the need for the extra funds, McCoist has no fears about a second administration for Rangers – who lost \u00a314.4million in the first 13 months of trading as a new company – or running out of money before the end of the season.<\/p>\n

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On the loan, he said: “It’s not concerning. I was down in London on Thursday at the board meeting and, although I wasn’t involved in the business side of the board meeting, I was involved in the football side.<\/p>\n

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“I was told it was part of the business plan so, if that’s the case, then I would think that’s fine.<\/p>\n

“I would still hope there would be investment further down the line, I think it’s safe to say that everybody realises the need for investment and any stage in the future would be great.”<\/p>\n

He added: “I can only say to the supporters that I think things are going reasonably well.<\/p>\n

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“With my knowledge of what’s happening, I would have to say that the supporters and myself would be encouraged by what’s happening at the moment.”<\/p>\n

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Chief executive Graham Wallace issued a categoric assurance on Thursday that there was no risk of the club being plunged into administration again and McCoist says he does not feel the need to demand continued personal assurances on the issue.<\/p>\n

He said: “I haven’t had talks with him because Graham has told me three or four times that’s the case and that’s fine.<\/p>\n

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“There is no use going into it in great detail if Graham has said to me there will not be another administration and that’s absolutely fine by me. That’s great news.”<\/p>\n

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Asked if he was concerned about Rangers running out of money before the end of the season, he said: “I’m not really worried about that. If it happens, I would obviously be deeply concerned.<\/p>\n

“But I’ve got a lot to worry about on the football side of things so I try not to worry about things that I can’t really have an affect on.”<\/p>\n

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Rangers were forced to call in the administrators in February 2012 during the ill-fated Craig Whyte era and McCoist added: “I can understand everybody’s concerns.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a ridiculously tough two years for the supporters and everybody who cares about the club.<\/p>\n

“I can understand concern because, myself included, we only want what’s best for the club. But, being at the board meeting and discussing football matters, it was very, very positive.<\/p>\n

“I’m encouraged by the fact that Graham and the rest of the board are happy with the way things are going away from the football side of the business.”<\/p>\n

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Rangers this week launched a fan engagement programme called Ready To Listen and McCoist has been encouraged by the response so far from supporters.<\/p>\n

He said: “They are reacting to the idea very well. I spoke to Graham this morning and he has been astounded by the response in 24 hours because I believe the figure is well over 20,000 replies.”<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Rangers are boosted by the return of Lee McCulloch for their Scottish League One game against Stenhousemuir.<\/p>\n

The skipper is back in contention for Saturday’s match at Ibrox after serving a suspension but Bilel Mohsni is still banned.<\/p>\n

Chris Hegarty (ankle) is back training and fellow long-term casualties Ross Perry (ankle) and Kyle Hutton (broken leg) are set to return to training on Monday, while Nicky Clark has had the protective boot removed from his foot.<\/p>\n

Provisional squad: Bell, Foster, Wallace, Gasparotto, Halkett, Faure, Law, Little, Peralta, Black, Crawford, Aird, Daly, Murdoch, Shiels, Cribari, Templeton, Smith, Simonsen, McCulloch.<\/p>\n

What about the continuity squad ? \u00a0Or the real squad ?<\/p>\n

Oh, there won’t be any continuity.<\/p>\n

Or any pretence at reality either.<\/p>\n

That was Sean Fallon pictured in yesterdays diary, and if you haven’t read Stephen Sullivans book yet, then you have no excuses. Go and get it. Borrow one from a mate-he won’t be expecting you \u00a0to give it back.It says so on the back cover.<\/p>\n

If you like old pictures, add Retro Celt to your twitter account. This is one of his, who is missing a penalty, where and when ?<\/p>\n

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By the way, Doc asked for our contact address, and for him-and anyone else who wants to send us an article, and he’s right. I can’t find it either. So we will get someone to dig it out and add it to the site.<\/p>\n

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

Sorry the diary is \u00a0a bit late this morning. I’ve been out on the rob in Liverpool. Won’t happen again, I’ve got all my stuff…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4313,"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\/2013\/12\/celtic-v-hearts.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1ct","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617"}],"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=4617"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4620,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions\/4620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}