{"id":6299,"date":"2015-01-07T17:35:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T17:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6299"},"modified":"2015-01-07T17:35:40","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T17:35:40","slug":"2014-the-highs-and-lows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6299","title":{"rendered":"2014 – The Highs and Lows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well that was the year that was. Lets have a wee look back and see what we can remember as good bad and downright ugly…please add your suggestions in under Comments section…<\/p>\n

Highlights of 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"CelticThe League Win<\/strong>
\nAfter the hardship and heartbreak of still very recent times, Ive never been one to take these things for granted so every League win is always welcomed and celebrated. So its ‘Hooray for Three in a row’ with a due nod to the great defensive record and the early claiming of the title which we hoped would give our World cup stars a rest…which big Fraser ended up not exactly needing whatsoever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"cp\"<\/strong>Paradise Found<\/strong>
\nWas tempted to put this in the Lowlights but no,I’ll be generous. 2014 saw the elevation of Celtic Park and its surroundings into a world class facility.Brilliantly used to hosting the Scottish Cup Final and of course the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games and The Queen no less. The Queen…at Celtic Park…Yes that really did happen!. The new Celtic Way is a lovely lit entrance addition and the removal of the old School saw some hilarious screams of State Aid from our blue nosed brethren. We just need the award of a European Final to send them over the edge!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"strach-mart\"Scotland under Strachan<\/strong>
\nIts been great to see the wee man prosper along with several Celts or ex Celts in the blue, white, yellow and pink of scotland. Chuck Mulgrew, Scott Brown, James Forrest, Shaun Maloney and now even the rejuvenated Craig Gordon are all loving life helping wee Gordons excellent Scotland side keep up the pressure on Germany and Poland. Of course we can all look forward to a summer game against the Republic in Dublin after our recent victory over Blessed Martin and Aidenihno at Celtic Park.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

R\"ronny\"on Manager <\/strong>
\nWith Lenny gone, the opening for Celtic manager saw the usual suspects named for the Vacancy. Moyes, Lambert, Coyle, McNamara were all touted ( along with the usual “NO THANKS” from half the crowd) and of course a certain Irishman named Royston. However the Board went in a different direction. Some will say cheap direction but I prefer to think it was forward thinking and stepping away from normal standard practise. Ronnie has a new “fitness first” approach and while the short team benefits are hard to see ( if existant), the man who actually accepted the job\u00a0has a new fresh vision and that for me is worth celebrating while biting my nails.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SNS-10028915--Celtic-unveil\"Craig Gordon<\/strong>
\nJust WOW! Truly a Lazarus resurrection as the former hated Hearts corner comer-upper became the new hero at Celtic Park. Brilliant goalkeeping performances along with a tearing a strip off Ally McCoist for making false “I tried to sign him first” claims saw the Celtic keeper fly up the appreciation ratings from the Celtic Support. Fraser who?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"sammi-jay\"Sammi & Jay<\/strong>
\nTheres a romance about Celtic. Sometimes it can lead to green coloured glasses and we create heroes where they dont exist or belong, or we over appreciate abilities and fail to see faults. The reverse is also true, we can be harsh and quickly target scapegoats. EVery now and again though, something wonderful happens to remind us why Celtic are truly special. That happened in 2014 when Sammi took a lap of honour with wee Jay Beatty. The sight of our Greek God carrying his biggest fan around the park was joyous and the epitome of Celtic class and love.To then see Sammi offer Jay a chance to go to the World Cup and the pair collect a Humanity Award from the Greek Journalist Association said it all about our by now former Greek star and the way our club generates such feelings. Now at West Brom warming a bench, he will be forever welcome back at Paradise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ally-panto\"Walking Away<\/strong>
\nIt isnt over till the fat guy signs a confidentiality Agreement and goes on Gardening Leave. After hilariously awful results, Sally eventually had to walk away from his beloved holding company. Of course the media rallied behind him but his legacy will long outlast any “fully deserved” severance pay. The demotion of Durrant also helped raise a smile but to see the arrogant, cowardly, nasty, vindictive, self serving manager get his come-uppance was a welcome sight in 2014. Good riddance but can Lenny please now just tell us what was in that infamous whisper?.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Honourable Highlight mentions to<\/em><\/p>\n

Stan Petrov getting better!<\/p>\n

Anthony Stokes hairline!<\/p>\n

Lowlights<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"lennonThe Departure of Neil Lennon<\/strong>
\nWe had heard the rumours of course but it was still a sad shock when our Lurgan leader left out the side door in a depressingly modern “mutual agreement” fashion. After the victory speech during the League trophy presentation, there was still hope but that soon ebbed away as soon as Neil asked for transfer cash, got rejected, complained and Dermot called his bluff. It probably came as a surprise to the BBC who had hired Lenny for the World Cup analysis and had to wonder about referencing him as “ex Celtic boss”. Hey ho. Now Neil and big Johann are at Bolton and best of luck to Them and The Whites.<\/p>\n

\"fourThe World Cup<\/strong>
\nIt happened didnt it?
\nI cant really remember it was that instantly forgettable. Or maybe its just me? I blame the saturation of football on telly these days, its 7 days a week, 365 these days. Nothing is that special anymore. Ive sat here for 5 mins trying to remember who Argentina beat to reach the final, but nope, it wont come. That cant be right can it? We had the joys of Celts Efe ( curly toe et al!) and Izzy ( aka CrazyMan) there as well as ex Celts in Sammi and Fraser as well as Lenny in the BBC portakabin with Gary Lineker and co.<\/p>\n

\"ronnyChumpions League<\/strong>
\nTo paraphrase Oscar Wilde “To lose one Champions League qualifier may be regarded as a misforture, to lose both looks like carelessness!”. The blame for the humilations sit squarely with Ronnie, John, Peter, Dermot and John Parks. Truly embarrasing and should never be forgotten regardless of the outcome of the up and coming tie with Inter Milan. The Europa League campaign has been a mixed bag too but when all thoughts come to Europe and celtic in 2014, 2 words will spring to mind “Administration Error” but perhaps “Dreadful Planning” is more apt.<\/p>\n

\"forsterIn\/Out Bugger<\/strong>
\nIt was a revolving door down Celtic way in 2014 with sadly the big names going only one way. First Joe Ledley departed for a great showing at Crystal Palace then come summer it was adios from Sammi and Fraser Forster and Lenny. It was also time up for Barca Batterer Tony Watt, who sadly looks destined for a career with charity side Dukla Pumperpherson. The failed strikers Pukki, Fri\u00f0j\u00f3nsson and Bald\u00e9 ambled out the door and the replacement policy was rushed and scattered. Any money was banked bar a stumping up for Stefan \u0160\u0107epovi\u0107 which was immediately queried with the loaning of John Guidetti from Man City who also gave us Jason Denayer. The loan strategy also gave us the curios of Jo Inge Berget(already away), Wakaso Mubarak and the now tainted acquisition of Aleksandar Tonev. Lets hope Peter and Co have some better plans in place than last seasons lucky dip strategy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can you think of any others..good or bad?….lets hear them below:<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well that was the year that was. Lets have a wee look back and see what we can remember as good bad and downright ugly…please…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6301,"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\/2015\/01\/goodbye-2014-welcome-2015-1-1024x827.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1DB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299"}],"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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6303,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299\/revisions\/6303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}