{"id":7088,"date":"2015-05-14T09:46:56","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T08:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7088"},"modified":"2015-05-14T09:46:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T08:46:56","slug":"celtic-diary-thursday-may-14-the-new-number-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7088","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Thursday May 14: The New Number One"},"content":{"rendered":"

After \u00a0all the talk about players moving away, it’s refreshing to hear from one who has no intention of leaving.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who stepped into the shoes of Fraser Forster, and surprised us all by finding that they fitted rather well, has pledged his future to the cause.<\/p>\n

“It has gone well this season and I’m happy with my first year back, It was a little bit of a step into the unknown for me to get back into playing football but I don’t think I could ask for an awful lot more from my first season.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We got two trophies, very close to being three, and we’ve played some good football along the way. I’m delighted with the way things have gone as we’ve not lost too many goals and I think it has been a pretty good season.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I’m very happy here. I want to take it one year at a time, but also try to replicate what we did this year then improve on that and improve in Europe. Personally I am still developing within the team.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We set our goals for this season and we have achieved as much and probably more than what I set out to achieve at the start of the season, so next year I’ll be setting my goals for what I want to do in the next season.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I’m delighted to be here, very happy with how things are going and now I want to look to the future both personally and as part of the club.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The club have recognised this by handing him the number one jersey, which has delighted the former Hearts and Sunderland man;<\/p>\n

“It means a lot to goalkeepers,\u00a0All the top goalkeepers across the world are No.1 and it’s a very traditional number for a keeper and one that I’ve had most of my career.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It’s huge for me. It’s the trademark of goalkeepers and people talk about them being ‘the No.1’ whether they wear it on their back or not but to actually be known as the Celtic No.1 and have that on my back is something that all goalkeepers aspire to.<\/em><\/p>\n

“There’s a sense of pride in wearing it. The club has a rich history with goalkeepers and even lately the goalkeepers that have worn the No.1 jersey have been great performers for the club, so to have that number and responsibility adds something extra to it.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When he joined the club last summer, there was an element of risk involved, at least as far as some supporters saw it, but Gordon came through what would have been a more strenuous medical than most, and hasn’t disappointed. Keepers should win you points with crucial saves, and he has. Not only that, but he seems more aware and in command of whats going on around him than recent stoppers, and surely an international breakthrough is on the cards.<\/p>\n

Good luck to him. He’s earned it.<\/p>\n

Another stalwart, captain Scott Brown, is looking ahead to the champions League qualifiers. His injury last year has been perhaps discounted as a significant factor in the clubs failure to reach the group stages, largely as the fans found another scapegoat in the new manager, but this time he’s raring to go.<\/p>\n

Although it might be an idea for him to save his dog chasing a carier bag \u00a0on a beach style until those games come around.<\/p>\n

“The atmosphere is good, confidence is high and as a team we feel we are progressing in the right way Getting to the group stage is a challenge enough just now.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We think we are good enough. The players here all believe we can take that step.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But it is one thing to talk about and another thing to do it. It is difficult.<\/em><\/p>\n

“You have to show that you are good enough by the way you play. It is about the results that you get.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

“This summer is massive for us. We all know that. Once you have experienced playing in the Champions League, there is nothing else like it. The atmosphere at the stadium on those nights is just amazing.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The pressure is always there but that is the mark of a good team. To be able to handle that is what it is all about.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The spirit in the team was great under Neil and it is great under Ronny.<\/em><\/p>\n

“We feel that we have it in us to go and get into the Champions League but you have to be ready for these games because they are so important for us.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Now that the league is won and out of the way , it’s worth looking at the possible opponents in July.<\/p>\n

The confirmed non seeded teams for the second round, where Celtic come in, are;<\/p>\n

Levadia Tallinn * Est 4.200<\/p>\n

. Zalgiris Vilnius Lit 3.900 .<\/p>\n

FK Astana Kaz 3.825 .<\/p>\n

CH Mon 3.125 – 3.875<\/p>\n

. Stjarnan FC Isl 3.100<\/p>\n

. FC Santa Coloma * And 2.666 .<\/p>\n

CL-QR1 * Nir 2.475 – 3.550 .<\/p>\n

Dundalk Irl 2.150 .<\/p>\n

Hibernians FC Mlt 1.591<\/p>\n

Which effectively means , due to regionalisation, it will be Dundalk, St. Jarnan, Santa Coloma or Hibernians. That’s the ones from Malta, not the far eastern drug cartel controlled empire of Leith.<\/p>\n

One of the more refreshing compensations of the Europa League was the chance to play different teams in different countries, whilst the champions League usually meant we’d play Benfica, Barcelona and one other.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The qualifiers are beginning to look a little monotonous as well, but the team needs to approach it with vigour and enthusiasm, even f the fans don’t.<\/p>\n

\u00a0John Guidetti, having frightened off the more fiscally prudent Feyenoord and Sporting Lisbon \u00a0( as well as Celtic ) with his wage demands, has apparently left himself with just two options. Bolton and Stoke, which suggest that he might want to sit down and have a think about where his career is going.<\/p>\n

Bolton…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Or Stoke…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0Tricky one, that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0With it looking like the Swede will be away, there will be a need to dip into the market and replace him.<\/p>\n

a Q and A between fans and Ronny deila at Celtic Park didn’t give \u00a0us many clues as to who it will be. but it did perhaps tell us who it won’t be.<\/p>\n

These highlights came from Jake the Snake on Twitter;<\/p>\n

\u00a0Ronny asked about Pukki & Balde returning <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“As I said we plan to trim the squad” \u00a0 \u00a0to much laughter. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Ronny asked about areas he will focus on this summer.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2 centre halves, a right back. A striker – but everyone wants a striker.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Ronny says measure of teams performance before and after Christmas is unrecognisable. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Every statistic gathered shows significant improvement \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ronny said celtic squad had 692 days out injured in 1st 3 months\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2nd 3 months they reduced that to 252 injured days \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

An injured day is one players missing one training day. Five players out of one session is five days.<\/p>\n

Take Derk Boerrigter out of that and you might get an even more impressive statistic that shows the methods are working…<\/p>\n

\n

\n

Over at the ground something else is going on…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

That’s just a few. You can see the rest here..<\/p>\n

new banners<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0There’s no denying it, thats impressive, and far better than adverts, of which there are too many in football.<\/p>\n

Celtic Park, enveloped by pictures of Celtic heroes. and I include the support in that definition.<\/p>\n

Yep. Beats the name of a company every time.<\/p>\n

Well done to everyone behind that one.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, English striker and informed football pundit Alan Shearer has admitted he turned down the chance to play for Celtic when Martin O’Neill was in charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually spoke to Martin O\u2019Neill twice about moving to Celtic a few years ago when I thought I might be leaving Newcastle. What if? Nah, I never look back. I lived my dream and I was a lucky lad.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Probably didn’t fancy his chances of displacing Sutton , Hartson or \u00a0Larsson.<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, who would ?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Neil Doncaster, who has secured a sponsor for next seasons Scottish football leagues, has spoken to the Record at length about his achievements, ( not many ) his visions ( not clear ) and his hopes for the future ( unfortunately not resignation ).<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you are feeling good, you can change all that by reading this.<\/p>\n

Doncaster interview<\/a><\/p>\n

Nowhere does doncaster tell us how much the deal is worth, and nowhere does Jackson ask him. ( He might have done, to be fair, but I’d started crying about half way through, and may have lost concentration )<\/p>\n

\u00a0The deal is allegedly worth \u00a32m a year to the game, and after the SPFL takes it cut, to pay it’s staff and other bills, each club should receive enough to cover the bus fare home after they attend the meeting to tell them how much they get.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Frankly, though, I suppose it’s an improvement on the last time Doncaster was in charge of negotiations. Then he actually paid BT sport to show a Second Rangers game.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Oh, and you’ll notice he doesn’t rule out completely a 42 team league so that the Ibrox club can compete at the top level. Which is what’s going to be needed when they crash and burn this summer.<\/p>\n

Now, an apology. A few of you thought the recent jokes about the royal family have been in bad taste.<\/p>\n

So, sorry to Prince Ginger . And his Dad.<\/p>\n

If Cameron wants to save a few quid, he could book these pair onto the Jeremy Kyle show.<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

Remember the bus company in Cardiff with the advertising campaign that raised a few, er, eyebrows ?<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

They’ve cancelled it.<\/p>\n

We await with bated breath their next effort.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0Something else occured to me whilst looking at those old photos of Bolton and Stoke.<\/p>\n

All this retro stuff isn’t a bad idea, you know. remember when footballers had perms, back in the eighties ?<\/p>\n

I reckon it’s due a comeback. Imagine , next year, the fear in \u00a0a Barcelona midfielder’s heart, the expression of terror on his face when he sees this hurtling toward him…<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

\n

Anyway, I’m off now. got to be somewhere soon.<\/p>\n

\"Embedded<\/p>\n

For the love of god, do not google this place.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, finally, we got the picture sent in by Tim buffy to work.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1238a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s Andy Walker of Kilwinning Rangers!<\/p>\n

Tim explains the story behind the picture.<\/p>\n

Andy had a very brief flirtation with the Buffs at the end of\u00a0Season 1999-2000 and donned the blue and white hoops before a game at Ardrossan Winton Rovers.<\/em><\/div>\n
But, although he was stripped and ready, he didn’t feature that afternoon and this was as near as he got to actually playing for the Ayrshire Junior outfit.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Afterwards, he offered to do an interesting and educational talk about professional football…<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

A” \u00a0flirtation with the buffs “.<\/p>\n

Perhaps something else best left out of one’s internet search engine.<\/p>\n

If anyone else has any similar interesting shots of player, ex players and so on, let us know and we’ll get it posted. After years of this I’m running out of quiz questions….<\/p>\n

Although there is this one…<\/p>\n

This former Celt has done something no other has done, past or present. Who is he, what has he done, and more importantly, how did that happen ?<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After \u00a0all the talk about players moving away, it’s refreshing to hear from one who has no intention of leaving. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who stepped…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7089,"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\/05\/gordon-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1Qk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7088"}],"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=7088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7092,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7088\/revisions\/7092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}