{"id":4756,"date":"2014-03-23T10:22:02","date_gmt":"2014-03-23T10:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4756"},"modified":"2014-03-23T10:22:02","modified_gmt":"2014-03-23T10:22:02","slug":"celtic-diary-sunday-march-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4756","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Sunday March 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic took care of business yesterday with a 3-0 win over St. Mirren. Goals from Stefan Johansen, Leigh Griffiths and Anthony Stokes put the hoops within four points of the title, which could yet be won at Firhill on Wednesday if Aberdeen drop points on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Norwegian Johansen was delighted to get his first goal for his new club;<\/p>\n

“It was a great ball in from Leigh and I managed to put my head to it but I\u00b4m just delighted to get my first Celtic goal. It\u00b4s so important for me to start scoring.<\/p>\n

“I\u00b4m a midfield player and usually you expect the strikers to score all the goals but it\u00b4s important to support them by contributing with a few.”<\/p>\n

“The first half was not as good as it could have been but the second was great,”<\/p>\n

He’s right there. St. Mirren made it difficult-as teams have this season on more than one occasion, and often the scorelines don’t always reflect the way the game went. Yesterdays was bizarre in that Celtic could have had six or seven, but St. Mirren could have had a few as well.<\/p>\n

Manager Neil Lennon was happy enough, though;<\/p>\n

“It’s just all about us now getting over the line as quickly as we can,” Lennon told Radio Scotland<\/p>\n

“I’m very pleased again. I thought, second half, we were terrific.<\/p>\n

“The only criticism was we were a bit wasteful in front of goal, otherwise the score would’ve been a lot more impressive,” he added. “We missed a couple of good chances but, second half I thought we dominated the game. We’re playing some really good attacking football.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been anything today. We had three goals disallowed and two shots cleared off the line. ”<\/p>\n

There was a suspicion about one of the officials.<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

Good to see the referees getting their eye in for when whichever club rises from the ashes of the various Rangers offshoots<\/p>\n

H<\/a>e decided not to mention the first half, where Celtic were sluggish, and a better team, taking their chances, would have punished his charges.<\/p>\n

The lesson are there from the past, in fact Lennon himself reminded us of the time we went to Inverness in 2011 and lost, which eventually meant losing the title to old Rangers, which shows it still rankles, even as he approaches a third consecutive league win;<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLooking back, it should have been four,\u201d he \u00a0said last night. \u201cThat first season we went up to Inverness in midweek and lost to them after having already done the majority of the donkey work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThen we drew at Ibrox and ended as runners-up when, if we\u2019d kept our focus and our consistency, we\u2019d have won the league. So regardless about what people may say about Rangers not having been here for the last two seasons, in the two before that we picked up 92 and 93 points so we have been very consistency. ”<\/p>\n

Maybe it will all come together next year.<\/p>\n

It would if we had another dozen players with the attitude of Emilio Izzaguerre;<\/p>\n

“I will be happy when the title comes, but a bit sad because we couldn’t get the cups as well. We will work hard on that for next year”<\/p>\n

“I don’t rest at all, so I will be ready for the World Cup and then after that I will be ready for champions league qualifying.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t enjoy holidays. I am happiest when I am with my family and I see them every afternoon. Football is my life.”<\/p>\n

These days, its refreshing to find a player who is happy with what he’s got and not motivated by money or fame. You have to love the wee guy.<\/p>\n

Maybe it will come together after all.<\/p>\n

Even if it doesn’t, though, he’s already getting his excuses in, much to the delight of Mark Guidi in the Sunday Mail;<\/p>\n

Celtic boss Neil Lennon says finances could make<\/h1>\n

it hard for him to compete for players in the<\/h1>\n

transfer market<\/h1>\n

\u201cWe have an extensive list of players we want to look at.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordability is obviously the crux of it. I don\u2019t think things are going to change that much in that respect. I have been looking for players in the Championship but value for money isn\u2019t there so we are looking elsewhere.<\/p>\n

This is the key point. Lennon simply doesn’t think the players on offer are worth the money they want. which isn’t the same as not being able to afford them.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cChampionship teams are finding it hard as well and with the Premier League on their doorstep they\u2019ll be looking for decent money \u2013 certainly at times more than we would be willing to pay.<\/p>\n

Only a fool would pay huge sums just for the sake of paying the, and the term for such a fool is “EPL manager ” Thats why most of their clubs, despite bringing in vast sums of money, are in heavy debt. It won’t last forever.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe price currently would be three to four million and you are never guaranteed they are going to be successful. Although the British players here in my time have done very well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to accept that\u2019s where we are. Sometimes it\u2019s difficult, sometimes it\u2019s frustrating but I totally understand it. It\u2019s not always going to be that way but in the short term that\u2019s how we have to strategise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t have Champions League football we\u2019re going to have to sell one of our better players anyway, just to keep things afloat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which sounds like a barbed threat to Lawwell to make sure business is actually done swiftly, and this time we swallow our pride and perhaps do pay above the odds for what we need.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With the old tin hat firmly on, though, I don’t think major surgery is required. Just a wee tweak here and there.<\/p>\n

Stokes and Griffiths are beginning to build an understanding, Johansen and Bitton have looked the part. The only real worry is if we lose any of the defenders, who are the best-as a unit- we have seen at Celtic Park for decades.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, multi faced Ibrox boss Ally McCoist has given another example of what a truly horrible piece of work he really is. With a semi final against Dundee United just a few weeks ahead, he has decided to comment on young Gavin gunnings future, before telling us that it would be wrong to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Gunning as a player. Any footballer has to look after his family\u00a0and, if there are question marks over finance, and let\u2019s be honest there have been at our place, it does become an issue.<\/p>\n

Except when their names are Alan MacGregor, Steven Naismith or any of the others who looked after their families because of concerns over finances. As in the club club they played for had just gone out of business.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI can honestly understand his concern because, as you know, we have been in administration, liquidation, bank loans\u2026 it\u2019s only natural.<\/p>\n

Actually, they haven’t. Though the emergency loan the other week is a sign they will be soon.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGavin is a good player that is out of\u00a0 contract but, with the semi-final coming up, it would be totally wrong of me to start commenting on Dundee United players.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t comment at all on players at other clubs\u00a0because it\u2019s not fair to do that,\u201d he elaborated, “I have spoken to two players. I can\u2019t give you names but that\u2019s where we are at the moment. The unfortunate position we are in is that we can\u2019t offer anyone anything.<\/p>\n

But he spoke to them anyway ? Reality is just something that happens to other people where McCoist is concerned.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not ideal but we will continue to do our homework and prepare to move when we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only move that he’ll be making is a very quick one along Edmiston Drive when his staunch support finally realise how much he has fleeced them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Which is a lot.<\/p>\n

Theres an interesting article in the Irish Independent, penned by Peter Geoghegan , for those of you who like your history, which loosely discusses the poppy issue, but also pays tribute to the Celts who went off to battle \u00a0in the Great War.<\/p>\n

Get yourself a coffee and have a read; And make me one.<\/p>\n

Irish Independent article<\/a><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the Better Together campaign suffered a major setback last night when a light bulb at one of their meetings went out. Nobody would replace \u00a0it, because even though it would have made everything a lot easier and \u00a0everywhere a lot brighter, they are reluctant to risk\u00a0change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was controversy during an English game yesterday, when referee Andre Marriner sent off the wrong player during Chelseas 6-0 rout of Arsenal.<\/p>\n

He will be appointed head of the SFA Referee committee on Monday, a spokesman said;<\/p>\n

” We are going to need a lot of guys like him soon. ”<\/p>\n

March 22 1958 , Celtic 4, Airdrie 2. The last appearance of Sean Fallon for Celtic.<\/p>\n

That was him in yesterdays picture, with a list of the injuries he had whilst in the hoops. There is no equivalent list of injuries other players got when they tried to intimidate or bully him.<\/p>\n

Today we have a legendary player in a different environment. Who is it ?<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

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

Celtic took care of business yesterday with a 3-0 win over St. Mirren. Goals from Stefan Johansen, Leigh Griffiths and Anthony Stokes put the hoops…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4758,"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\/2014\/03\/article-2586879-1C7E11A200000578-929_634x414.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1eI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756"}],"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=4756"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4760,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions\/4760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}