{"id":6479,"date":"2015-01-26T10:23:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T10:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6479"},"modified":"2015-01-26T10:23:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T10:23:22","slug":"celtic-diary-monday-january-26-its-going-to-be-one-of-those-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6479","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Monday January 26: Its Going To Be One Of Those Weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic consolidated their position at the top of the league with a hard fought 1-0 win over Ross County up in Dingwall. Kris Commons fired the ball towards goal when it took a deflection from a County player and looped over the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

A wins a win, an’ aw that.<\/p>\n

To get an idea of what it was like up there on Saturday, have a look at this picture, from Ricky Finlayson on twitter, when he was five minutes from Dingwall;<\/p>\n

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Sometimes the players just have to roll up their sleeves and dig in, sometimes the conditions won’t allow for silky football, but leagues are won and lost on days like Saturday, and although the game itself won’t be remembered by supporters, the result should be. It showed character and mental strength amongst the players, and it proved that the league won’t be won until its mathematically impossible for the hoops to be caught.<\/p>\n

Which might be pointing out the obvious, but you get the point.<\/p>\n

With aberdeen dropping points again, the lead is now three points and a game in hand, which , co-incidentally is the equivalent of the two wins over our nearest challengers this season.<\/p>\n

Manager Ronny Deila was pleased enough with the days work;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe have the ball 70 per cent of the time in games now so it\u2019s up to us to create and be even better in passing.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always important to get an early goal when you see a team sit so far back, but we did it in the second half and there is good morale and a good attitude in the boys and that\u2019s why we won.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have put ourselves in a very good position now and everything is in our hands. It\u2019s about our performances and if we keep on winning then the season is going to end with a championship.\u00a0It\u2019s up to us.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0The early goal was always going to be difficult, with the low sun in the players eyes-don’t underestimate how difficult this can make things. You can hardly make a good pass or have a shot on target if you can’t see what you’re aiming at. The pitch looked bumpy and uneven , to say the least, and as its one of the smaller playing surfaces in the league, it would have been a bit of a culture shock after the two artificial surfaces and Celtic Park that the players have enjoyed in the last few outings.<\/p>\n

Deila agreed, but he appears to get a little mixed up in the last line. Maybe he’s just glad to get the game out of the way, and the points in the bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first 60 minutes was a good game and it\u2019s hard to play against Ross County because they work hard and defend well and they were very deep as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a small pitch and it\u2019s hard to break them down but we created chances and in the end it finished 1-0. If there was something I want us to do better, it\u2019s to control the game more than we did in the last 20 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very good defence, though. It’s very strong while we have a good attack too, so we defend well as a team.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

After the game, goalscorer and contract rebel-depending on who you believe-Kris Commons made a public appeal to sort out his future with the club, which is hanging in the balance amongst a batch of contradicting stories eminating from just about anyone with an interest.<\/p>\n

Commons said;<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was asking for the world I would think my future lay elsewhere but I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m being greedy. I hope my contract situation can be sorted out before the end of the month but it\u2019s not in my hands.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPeter Lawwell, the board, they all have a part to play\u00a0if they want me to stay for the next couple of years.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to leave, this is where I belong. I am comfortable here but everything has to be right for the club and myself.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHow close are we? I don\u2019t know. It has been going on for so long. It is a little strange when you ask for a little bit and don\u2019t get it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what my gut feeling is. I never go by gut. It usually rumbles.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy agent is speaking to them, they are speaking to me. They want me to stay, I want to stay but we can\u2019t agree on something at the minute.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ronny Deila countered;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cHopefully we can sort out Kris\u2019 future. We will see. We have good communication so there is no problem there.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just to get agreement about the contract. There are two different views just now but both of us want to solve it.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Does every picture tell a story ?<\/p>\n

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Commons obviously doesn’t feel secure at Celtic. That explains the revolver he wears at training.<\/p>\n

Its been going on now since when Neil Lennon was manager. I think Kris maybe needs to take the hint here. although you get the feeling the club is up to something, as usual.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The rub of the argument-if you can call it an argument when two sides don’t appear to be speaking to each other , is that Commons wants a two year deal. The club are offering a one year deal with an option to extend, based on appearances and so on.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Commons has , like Anthony Stokes, got himself fitter, he has knuckled down and started to do what the manager asks,at least on the surface, and a two year deal, in this sense, seems reasonable enough.<\/p>\n

\u00a0He’ll get it as well, but not because Celtic want to give it to him, but because theres a week left of the transfer window, and Celtic simply won’t be buying anyone else.<\/p>\n

Not even Sean Maloney. He’s gone to Chicago Fire, in the Windy city , where he should be in his element.<\/p>\n

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Though, as these exclusive pictures reveal, there was a problem with the medical;<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Although , it has to be said, I’m not convinced we’ll lose any top players either.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Its a bit like when my doctor told me not to drink any more. He didn’t tell me to drink any less either.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For a variety of reasons, next Monday night will be welcome, as the window will then be closed, and we can get on with chasing the four trophies. Players -and supporters-will feel more settled, and that bloody League Cup semi final will be out of the way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Leigh Griffiths has finally been charged with singing in a pub, we’ve all seen the video, and if thats the police evidence then its going to be thrown out. Its unlikely, even if the striker was singing along with his pals, that any of them will come forward as witnesses for the prosecution. In fact, if I was Griffiths, each and every one of them would be lining up for the defence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Could this prosecution, at a time when its likely one or two more “offensive ditties ” will be sung at Hampden on Sunday, combined with the videoing of the Green Brigade during the Motherwell game, all be part of some police and government conspiracy to justify their spending on and commitment to the Offensive Behaviour act ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0The behaviour of football supporters-and players-will be under the spotlight this week, and next week. What better to stoke the flames and pre empt a good old fashoined rammy on the streets of Glasgow next sunday when decent, law abiding citizens are on their way to the chapel, or their mother in laws, or taking their kids to the pictures ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Hampden, of course, is in a largely residential area, increasing the potential for someone to be “offensive “, and don’t be surprised if the numbers of arrests are equally divided between Celtic supporters and the other lot-because then they can call us both sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Seriously, I wish we’d drawn Aberdeen or Dundee United.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ever read that Stephen King book, Pet Sematary ? Its about a haunted wee bit of ground that brings the dead back to life, but the drawback is when they come back they are right nasty little characters, and the moral of the story is that the dead should be left where they are.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Unfortunately, nit only has the corpse of Rangers been re-animated, they don’t seem to be aware that they are dead, and pointing it out to them usually upsets some, all or many of them, their apologists, and it seems those in positions of influence \u00a0as well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So, unless you spent yesterday face down on your back in bed sleeping off a hangover, you would have seen the advert placed in the Herald by some Celtic supporters which pointed out the obvious.<\/p>\n

This is a new Rangers. The advert, somewhat long winded, but I guess at \u00a33000 you’d want to put in as many words as you could as well, simply made the point that it was a new club operating out of Ibrox.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now, you might think \u00a33000 is a lot of money to state the obvious, but its not actually about that. Its about, as far as I can see, embarrassing the media and the authorities to come out and say either that they think-and thus can prove-its a new club, or they don’t.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Its about calling the authorities, and the media, \u00a0out for the last couple of years, which have seen a period of denial that only Thatchers government can match when they were individually asked if they knew a chap called Leon Brittain.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Judging by the response on social media, its certainly done that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0On the CQN site, theres an article which answers-fairly well-most of the criticisms levelled at the use of the advert.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Most of which make sense, but I’m still unsure about the claim it won’t provoke violence as those inclined towards violence would be , er, inclined towards violence anyway.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Well, thats alright then.<\/p>\n

The thing is, as far as I see it, I-and quite a few others-see this game as a semi final against a team from the first division, Thats it. Fair enough, the media will try to play it up, they see it as a return of the Old Firm, but we can ignore that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0And thats my point, we can ignore all of it-or at least try to.<\/p>\n

For those who want the club to come out and say they are a new club, they already did.<\/p>\n

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Simply repeating it ad nauseam kind of dulls the effect.<\/p>\n

The advert has got people talking, it might even lead to the press finally admitting the truth, but since the majority of them never bothered with that in most of the stuff they write anyway, it seems a little optimistic.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Personally, I think humour is the way forward. Casting my mind back to an afternoon in 2003, in the Broomloan stand, where i stood resplendent in my sombrero, it was interesting to note the amount of Rangers supporters who were laughing at the display of beachwear and accessories.<\/p>\n

\u00a0We could, for instance, sing “Bring On The Rangers ” , though for it to work, we’d have to all join hands….<\/p>\n

\u00a0I’ll be glad when the games over. If a new club in the “spirit of Rangers, you know the decent fans, had come to the fore, then I’d have welcomed the game. Hell, it could even be a stand against people taking our clubs for granted, and using them as their own source of wealth at our expense.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But thats not what happened, and its not how the press saw it either, choosing instead to try to continue the status quo. In that sense, the advert has succeeded, exposing that and putting it firmly back in the public eye, prompting debate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One point on all this new club nonsense, why doesn’t an enterprising journalist simply ask if the players at Ibrox now are registered to the same club as the ones who were there pre liquidation ?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Oh wait, i said enterprising journalist. This is Scotland.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lightening the mood, and still at the expense of the Ibrox club, its sad to see that Andy Goram has yet to conquer his dual personality problems;<\/p>\n

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\u00a0We wish him all the best in his struggle.<\/p>\n

But \u00a0its great to see that perennial bigots Harland and Wolff are coming into the 21st century. Note the second bottom line;<\/p>\n

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\u00a0And , happily, there is some honesty still about;<\/p>\n

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Oh, by the way, remember those t-shirts that Second Rangers printed to commemorate the League Cup semi final ? Those clever chaps in the marketing division at Celtic Park have decided to introduce a new Celtic strip for the day. again, we have the exclusive pictures;<\/p>\n

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Right, who is playing, and when ?<\/p>\n

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