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<\/a><\/p>\nSome people deal with it better than others.<\/p>\n
While I was in the airport, Celtic beat Dundee Utd 3-1, meaning that when Anthony Stokes opened the scoring, the Celts achieved the 100 goal target, Georgios Samaras scored a penalty to make it two and Kris Commons got the third after Filip Twardzik scored an own goal .<\/p>\n
Samaras was making his final appearance in the hoops, and he left us with food for thought, and perhaps a hint as to who actually runs the team, when he told us;<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaving, that\u2019s for sure, but it was not my decision. I never had an offer from the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never had an offer from Peter Lawwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been seven years at the club and I would have loved to stay. I had a chat with the manager. He would have loved me to stay and I was happy to stay but me and the gaffer don\u2019t make the decisions \u2013 there are people higher up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not spoken to any other club. I was waiting to the end to see if they offered me anything but that is the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Neil Lennon said, somewhat wistfully;<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI would imagine his mind is made up. I wouldn\u2019t have thought there would be
\nany negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is going to join up with the Greek World Cup squad pretty soon so I don\u2019t know if I will get the chance to see him again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would look that way. It was a nice touch by Kris to give Sami the chance to say goodbye properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to give him that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s any big secret, it doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s going to be here next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he does go he goes with the warmest wishes from the backroom team and players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Its probably the right time for him to move on. He’s been good, he’s been bad and he’s rarely been somewhere in between. If we got the good Samaras every week, he’d have been a legend, but that was never guaranteed, and as a result, neither was his place in the starting line up.<\/p>\n
Wherever he ends up, we wish him well, and no doubt we’ll be keeping an eye out for his performances.<\/p>\n
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Samaras will be remembered for his tribute to young Jay Beattie, who has Downs Syndrome. Samaras walked around the pitch with the young lad in his arms, and said;<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI first met Jay in Ireland. He is a very special little boy, a massive Celtic fan and a huge inspiration. The whole team were very proud to have him with us today.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Theres a video of the wee fellow on You Tube with the players on the team bus singing away and clearly having the time of his life. Neil Lennon gave him his title medal, and its times like this when “More than a club ” actually means something.<\/p>\n Another wee boy, Oscar Knox, has passed away .<\/p>\n Oscar had fought cancer bravely, but was taken home by the Lord . In Belfast, lanterns were released last night in his honour. Families watched from their doorsteps, and people looked to the sky as the bright lights floated upwards in a marvellous tribute to the wee mans courage and strength.<\/p>\n May he rest in peace.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Virgil van Dijk , who is expected to be the subject of some heavy bids, gave told the Record;<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed our league campaign which has been great. But in the cups it \u201cI think next season we will do a lot better. We know we have to do better in the cups and I know we can do better.<\/p>\n \u201cI still have a contract until 2017 but in football you never know what can happen so we will see.\u201d<\/p>\n prompting the paper to say that the player had “given no assurances he would be around for the long haul.<\/p>\n But surely his predictions for next season means he’s at least considering staying ?<\/p>\n James Forrest has had surgery on his troublesome groin, and will be resting so that he can be ready for his next injury, which is expected to be during the Champions Legue qualifiers in July. Manage rNeil Lennon gave us the update;<\/p>\n “Jamesie will not be going away with Scotland for their game at Craven Cottage at the end of this month,” said Lennon.<\/p>\n “He has had surgery on his groin and needs a bit of time to recover.<\/p>\n “I don’t know if Nir Biton, who has been out for a few months, will be going away with Israel.<\/p>\n “But we are hoping they can both come back in good health for the start of our pre-season.”<\/p>\n With the season now over, Lennon was already looking ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consistency has been fantastic this season, as has scoring over\u2028100 goals and winning the league \u2028by such a big margin.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we look forward to the qualifiers and making sure we are at the big table next season.\u201d<\/p>\n And maybe a Cup or two….or at least a final. Or a semi final even,…<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels better because it\u2019s the third one. I\u2019m proud of the team and the way we finished the season with a win.<\/p>\n \u201cThe likes of Commons and Stokes can reflect on a really productive and remarkable season.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly the second half of the season there has been progress and improvement so it gives us a lot of encouragement to build on.<\/p>\n \u201cThe league campaign has been magnificent since day one and the consistency has been remarkable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very special to win any sort of trophy. For a long time in the 80s and 90s it was a struggle for us but now we\u2019re productive in terms of picking up trophies and being successful on and off the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to have joined that select band of Celtic managers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m one of the few who have been privileged enough to do this job and when you are here you want to make the most if it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can be proud of what we have achieved in the last four years.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing that Etims had already begun assessing the season, with our highlights and lowlights already being discussed, the manager added his;<\/p>\n \u201cMy highlights? That\u2019s a good question.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing Forster getting capped\u2028for England. That\u2019s a remarkable achievement for a player playing his football in Scotland.<\/p>\n \u201cQualifying for the Champions League and the fact we have only lost one game out of 38 in the league is pretty good.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is difficult to predict anything but Fraser deserves to be in the squad. He has proved he is good enough and he has improved all the time over the past three seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying in Scotland can be\u2028detrimental to him. That\u2019s not being disrespectful to him or the league but that\u2019s in the eyes of other people, not my own.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be huge feather in his cap and great for the club if he makes it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0The word is that he will be in the squad for Brazil, ahead of John Ruddy of Norwich, who must have had a bummer of a weekend.<\/p>\n Lennon then told us what plans to do next;<\/p>\n \u201cWe want a break. I\u2019m tired because it\u2019s been a marathon season. It will be nice to get a break from it all, reflect on things, take stock, then get ready for being back in action in June.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d imagine I\u2019ll be talking to [chief executive] Peter Lawwell this week about things.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s initially to get things up and running then I plan to have a holiday of some sort for two-and-a-half or three weeks. It\u2019ll be welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n He’s going to talk to Lawwell and get him to loosen the purse strings..wonder how that will pan out…<\/p>\n![\"lanterns\"](\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/lanterns.jpg\")
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\nhas been a little bit disappointing this season.<\/p>\n
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