{"id":4935,"date":"2014-05-06T10:48:30","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T09:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4935"},"modified":"2014-05-06T10:48:30","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T09:48:30","slug":"celtic-diary-tuesday-may-6-hooper-coming-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=4935","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Tuesday May 6: Hooper Coming Home ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kris Commons is missing his buddy. Gary Hooper, who moved to Norwich to further his international career may have realised he’s been badly advised. He also may have realised that after Celtic, with very, very few exceptions, the only way is down. So, if theres a chance, should we take him back ?<\/p>\n

Commons seems to think so;<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an ideal world I would like to get Hoops back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a very strong relationship with him on the park. He is one of the best players I have ever performed alongside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it is totally unrealistic that we could get him back one day. Obviously, Lionel Messi would be perfect but I would like us to bring back Hoops.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be magic to have him in our side again. Look at the amount of goals he scored. In addition, his movement and link-up play were second to none. He\u2019s a top player and that\u2019s why he went to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of superb players and Hoops is up there with the best. It would be great if he returned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0And then Hooper picked up the phone, and asked Commons to put in a good word for him……<\/p>\n

\u00a0Stranger things have happened, and a front pairing of any two from Griffiths , Stokes and Hooper wouldn’t exactly be Sutton, Larsson and Hartson, but it wouldn’t be far off.<\/p>\n

\"cat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Oh, alright, it would be a million miles off, but it would be a lot better than anything else we’ve had since those heady days.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0One school of thought says that a player should never return to a club, but I asked Bertie Auld about that once in the club shop, and he soon put me right. And I ended up with a full basket by the time I got to the till as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I just hope I never meet that guy in Asda.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hooper looks to be condemned to the English Championship, which is way beneath his capabilities, and he hasn’t impressed in the Premiership, so he won’t attract many other bids. Although there are still some managers in England not too blinkered about the SPFL , where Hooper has proved himself, they are few and far between.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sell the other forwards and spend the money on Hooper. Its that easy. Commons and Hooper are pals, so its easy to surmise that they still speak, and if I was the suspicious type, I’d be thinking its all part of a cunning plan to bring him home.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Emilio Izaguerre has been named in the Honduran World Cup squad, and they start their warm up from Monday onwards with a few friendlies in the USA.\u00a0They face Turkey in Washington on May 29 before meeting Israel in Houston on June 1. Six days later they face England in Miami before heading into the finals, where they will meet France, Ecuador and Switzerland in Group E.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Incredibly, Second Rangers have a player in the squad as well, Arnold Peralta, who might find the step up to international level a bit more of a jump than most. However, we hear he has arranged a meeting with the agent who sorted out his move to Ibrox.<\/p>\n

\"duffed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0No such luck for Virgil van Dijk though. He misses out on the Dutch squad, for now anyway, but he hid his disappointment well when the news came on the telly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0Van Dijk can take comfort from the words of Giovanni van Bronckhurst, one of the better players to grace Scottish football in recent years, despite picking the wrong club.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgil is a very exciting player. I think we are potentially looking at the best central defender in Europe in the next few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgil has all the attributes to succeed in that position and, at his age, he is only going to keep on getting better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not my decision if he is in the squad for Brazil but my only advice to him would be not to worry if he doesn\u2019t make it because at his age he has the chance to play in another three World Cups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he needs to even think about leaving Scotland yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it is attractive when big clubs in England are interested but he is guaranteed first-team football as well as the Champions League with Celtic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good place for him to grow. Historically, Scottish clubs and Rangers especially have done great things for Dutch players and Scotland can play a big part in Virgil\u2019s development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fair enough. But this is from the Record, and Craig Swan;<\/p>\n

Van Bronckhorst, however, believes it is tough for van Dijk and his team-mates to suddenly up the gears after cruising through domestic games.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt was all so easy for Celtic this year and I don\u2019t think that helped them in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it is so easy for you in the league and then all of a sudden you have to go and get points at Barcelona, Ajax, and Milan, it is
\na shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, van Bronckhorst believes his former club will be able to assist the Hoops in that respect.<\/p>\n

And naturally, the Record have to shoe horn the running joke that is eminating from Ibrox into the story….<\/em><\/p>\n

Rangers\u2019 absence from the top flight has cleared the pathway for Celtic in the championship. “<\/p>\n

At this point Craig Swan, without a hint of shame, placed a cushion on his lap to hide his obvious excitement.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Celtic are contesting the title with Rangers, they will have to have that fighting edge in Scotland as well and it will help them because they can take it into Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure Celtic need Rangers, just like Rangers need Celtic.<\/p>\n

And I’m sure van Bronckhurst is an idiot.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic may have won the title this season but it was too easy for them. Fans would rather win it after a close battle with Rangers than win it by the amount of points they did.<\/p>\n

Frankly, I don’t care how win it, as long as we win it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe sooner Rangers are back in the top flight the better it will be for Celtic and for Scottish
\nfootball as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the interview, would it not have been an idea to tell van Bronckhurst that the club he played for is dead ?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

After all, Richard Gough knows it is.<\/p>\n

In fact, back in June 2012 he was most upset about it.<\/p>\n

Jail them for blue murder<\/h1>\n

was the headline in the column he scribbled for the Sun newspaper;<\/p>\n

” LOCK them up and throw away the key.<\/h3>\n

The club I gave blood, sweat and tears for is dead. ”<\/p>\n

Is it ? Well, if he says so….<\/p>\n

“One day Rangers will be back. They will wear light blue and play at Ibrox Stadium. But it won\u2019t be the same club I played for. Instead Rangers have died”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

But then he met Dave King, the glib and shameless liar from South Africa, who like the dead club, has issues about paying tax. so much so, in fact, he has agreed to pay an enormous sum of money to avoid spending time in a little room with bars on the window.<\/p>\n

And he backs him one hundred per cent in the war of words with the current Ibrox board;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s all quite astonishing. Dave has given the board every chance to come forward and publish the review at the end of the 120-day period and now they are not going to do that. I\u2019m staggered by the board\u2019s decision. I\u2019m amazed the club have no intention of announcing details of the 120-day review until after the deadline for season-ticket renewals has passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt smacks of arrogance and they are cheating the supporters, the very people who have kept the club going these past few years.<\/p>\n

Kept it going? my lord, I refer you to his previous statement….<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again they are asking supporters to put forward their money without knowing how it will be spent.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he appealed to the fans;<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not give this board the money only to be disappointed again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m firmly asking supporters to put their money into escrow and I promise we will look after it and use it for the best purposes of the club to get it back on an even keel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to be involved. I\u2019d urge fans to put their money into this account and we\u2019ll look after it. It will go to all the right places, nowhere else \u2013 which seems to have been happening these last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud and honoured to be given such a trusted position and I\u2019ll do everything within my power to help Rangers return to where we belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Er, hang on. Return to where we belong ? Lets return to his words….<\/p>\n

“One day Rangers will be back. They will wear light blue and play at Ibrox Stadium. But it won\u2019t be the same club I played for. Instead Rangers have died”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Anyway, Gough and King set up a bank account so that fans of this club who play at Ibrox in light blue can put their season book money in it.<\/p>\n

Non season book holders can also pledge their donations as well.<\/p>\n

You’d think they would have learned by now….<\/p>\n

Apparently there really are a lot of peepil prepared to pledge \u00a31690 to the cause, and no doubt they are all genuine supporters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Its quite funny when you stand back and look at it. Yet surely the job of the press is to question this move ?<\/p>\n

People-or should that be “peepil ” stand to lose money.<\/p>\n

Should the SFA or the SPFL not come out and question this ? Is it not their job to protect the integrity of the game ?<\/p>\n

Or have they just stuck their heads in the sand and decided to hope it will all go away ?<\/p>\n

Answers on a postcard….<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Ibrox support, no-one is taking a stand for them, and whilst I really don’t care what happens to the club, I don’t particularly get any pleasure, well, not much, from seeing someone getting money taken off them.<\/p>\n

The SFA, the SPFL and the press \u00a0are failing here, and surely theres a decent journalist out there who can point this out to them ?<\/p>\n

The two associations are especially guilty here. They’ll bend over backwards for the club, but are standing by idly while someone bends its \u00a0fans over ..<\/p>\n

Again.<\/p>\n

Theres a big game at Lennoxtown this afternoon as Celtics under 20 side need to beat Rangers to have a shot at retaining the league crown. The youngsters have had Next Gen champions league as a distraction this year, while Gordon Duries side have gone about their business domestically.<\/p>\n

The Ibrox club need a point, while the young Celts need to win this one, and the next game against Dundee Utd to take the title.<\/p>\n

Exciting stuff.<\/p>\n

Paul McMullen, the Celtic winger, told the Evening Times;<\/p>\n

“The Rangers game at Murray Park was probably the highlight over the past 12 months,” the youngster told the official Celtic website.<\/p>\n

“It was one of those nights where everything I tried came off. “<\/p>\n

Celtic won the game 2-0 with goals from Conor MacManus and Joe Thomson.<\/p>\n

“It’s nice to have those games, and for it to be a big occasion against Rangers was great as well. The first couple of times I managed to get by the guy I was playing against.<\/p>\n

“It worked well so they kept giving me the ball.<\/p>\n

“Obviously the two goalscorers take a lot of credit, but it was good to contribute in such a big game.<\/p>\n

“The way we played the last time can only give us confidence to go on and do the same this time and hopefully we can beat them again.”<\/p>\n

Lets hope so. We hear the SFA have already submitted an application for the new Rangers to compete in the Europa League if they do win it.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere , Liverpool bottled it in their race to win the English league. Now Scousers get a taste of what its like to have something stolen from them.<\/p>\n

Anyway, there is a hotline for Anfield fans who are feeling a bit distressed this morning.<\/p>\n

0845 30 31 32 33.<\/p>\n

Morten Rasmussen was the forgettable forward in yesterdays diary, and heres someone else you might struggle to remember..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\n

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