{"id":6760,"date":"2015-03-08T11:15:42","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T11:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6760"},"modified":"2015-03-08T11:15:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T11:15:42","slug":"celtic-diary-sunday-march-8-up-for-the-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6760","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Sunday March 8: Up for The Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic travel to Tannadice today , and if things go to plan they will be a step closer to the holy grail of the domestic treble.<\/p>\n

The hoops will be without Lustig, Mulgrew and the two winter signings, Mackay Steven and Armstrong. There are doubts over Commons, Matthews, Guidetti and Izaguirre, and bearing in ind Ronny Deilas reluctance to field a player if he’s not one hundred per cent, then it may be safe to assume they won’t play.<\/p>\n

Could this be the day when James Forrest reminds us that theres still a player in there ?<\/p>\n

Ronny deila hinted that he will play when he asked the support, who have decided that the forward is the man they love to hate, now that Samaras is away, to give him a break. After all, there has been a tendency to rush him back in the past when he wasn’t ready, and Deila has taken care for this not to be repeated. Its just unfortunate that in the meantime, Gary Mackay Steven has taken his place as first pick.<\/p>\n

But an injury free run means that Ronny thinks Forrest could burt onto the scene again anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJames hasn\u2019t pulled a muscle now in five months and that\u2019s a big step forward for him. He has been unlucky and needs time to get back to his highest level.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a long-term plan with James because his history is not good. In fact, it\u2019s very bad injury-wise. But he\u2019s in a better place now. I\u2019m thinking, next season he\u2019ll be on top again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, James can still make an impact in this campaign as well. I can understand the fans\u2019 frustration with him. On that pitch you have to perform, that\u2019s the demands of Celtic.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have to look longer term and see what\u2019s happening in the background. We know there is special potential there. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve been working differently in his training and treatment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also a mental thing where sometimes you\u2019re afraid to get hurt. James needs training and more matches to get back to his best form.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Celtics support can be cruel, and we’ve all stood there and criticised players in the past. Wingers, who are closest to the touchline, and thus the crowd, get in in the neck more, with the added bonus of actually being able to hear each individual piece of constructive criticism, often coupled with a fairly loose description of the player.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If Celtic are to win today, Forrest, cruelly omitted from yesterdays Diary’s suggested line up -I don’t expect him to be fit anymore- could be the key.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Although Armstrong and Mackay Steven won’t feature for the Hoops today, its more of a relief that they won’t be wearing the Tangerine, and its probably no coincidence that Jackie MacNamaras side have struggled since they left. This could make Celtic slight favourites to win, but a lot depends on whether or not the players can get back to the tempo shown in the second half last week against Aberdeen, and if they can put the St. johnstone display out of their minds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The team will have an unfamiliar look and feel to it, but if I was picking it, it would be<\/p>\n

Gordon, Ambrose, Izaguirre, van Dijk, Denaayer, Brown, Bitton, Henderson, Johansen, Forrest, Griffiths.<\/p>\n

As for a prediction, it will either be a famine or a feast. We’ll either win by four or five, or scrape a single goal victory. I don’t think Dundee United will have enough to beat us, simply because it does appear that Stuart Armstrong was the man who made them tick.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Elsewhere, there was an interesting development in the TV money debate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Peter Lawwell offered his thoughts, and although he knows that a deal of some sort is neccesary, it was a shot fired across the bows of the tv people simply because , as with all negotiations, he was letting the other lot know he doesn’t need them, and in fact, would prefer not to have them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe would like to play our games every Saturday at 3pm and forget live television.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople talk about enhancing the match-day experience. At 3pm on a Saturday, we\u2019d get more people coming to our games and that money would far outweigh what we get from the TV deal.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOther clubs in Scotland are dependant on the television deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, something is only worth what someone will pay you for it \u2013 and that\u2019s the case with the TV deal.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe English Premier League is a different ball game. That\u2019s gone beyond the valuation of football rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not part of that. And the irony is that 10 per cent of the people who help fund that are Scottish subscribers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day you turn the TV on and it\u2019s all about the EPL. Scottish kids want Man City and Arsenal strips now. All the while we\u2019re sitting with less than one per cent of the money they get.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBurnley could outbid us for a player now. They\u2019ll get \u00a3100m if they are relegated this season.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBurnley now dwarf Celtic financially. It\u2019s ludicrous but it\u2019s a sign of the times.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Then he kind of spoiled it, but in another sense, built up the product ready for new talks;<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be more TV money going forward, depending on Hearts and Rangers\u00a0<\/em>
\ncoming up. It would help.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDo I hope Rangers come up? The positives you miss, the negatives you don\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to sort themselves out. It costs us \u00a310m a year without Rangers \u2013 if they came back up we\u2019d progressively get that money back.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut making it into the Champions League group stage is the transformer for us. Not just financially, it\u2019s where we need to be as a club.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe infrastructure here is for a Champions League club. To sustain that, you have to be in there.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in it seven out of the last 11 years and made the last 16 three times. We deserve pass marks for that record.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m intrigued by this \u00a310m loss. You can’t lose what you don’t have, and I can’t see in the accounts of yesteryear this ten million pounds that is now missing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Although the current stewards at Ibrox will continue to tell a slavering media about how much they are needed in the game, its probably better that we, and other clubs, ignore them, in much the same way as you ignore any irritation that tries to put you off what you are doing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The picture yesterday showed a disturbing decline in former Rangers and second Rangers boss Ally Mccoist, but should the makers of Rab C Nesbitt ever decide to widen the character base, with say a long lost brother, I think they would know where to look.<\/p>\n

Just as Dave King and his crew have moved to strengthen the team after a disappointing 0-0 draw yesterday with Cowdenbeath;<\/p>\n

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And to be fair to Kong, he’s searching every possible avenue as he tries to raise money;<\/p>\n

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Two sides of the same coin ? Two companies that need each other ?<\/p>\n

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I don’t think so, and can’t see how anyone else does.<\/p>\n

Just a quick question today…<\/p>\n

Who is this fresh faced young man ?<\/p>\n

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

Celtic travel to Tannadice today , and if things go to plan they will be a step closer to the holy grail of the domestic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6761,"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\/03\/Scottish_Cup_trophy_630155-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1L2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6760"}],"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=6760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6762,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6760\/revisions\/6762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}