\u201cHe\u2019s got a team there who really work hard for each other and they\u2019re probably a team that you respect most in regard to the unit that they have.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey go out there and they fight for everything and in everything they do they\u2019re together.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s great credit to what Tommy\u2019s built there and he\u2019s taken the club up to a position where they\u2019re fighting for Europe, albeit depending on the cup final, and he deserves great credit for what he\u2019s done there. And he\u2019s a good guy as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n With manager Ronny Deila’s voice worn out from talking all week, it was down to the first team coach, who is largely responsible for the defence and it’s fantastic \u00a0record this season, , \u00a0to look ahead to tonights game;<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been great. If we look at where we started when the manager came in, he brought new ideas and we were working on things, and from then until now there have been big changes.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gone into games and controlled them a lot better. We\u2019ve still been winning games but regarding the number of chances we\u2019ve been giving away and the number of goals we\u2019ve been conceding, that\u2019s improved steadily as the season has gone on.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat was our objective early in the season. If we\u2019ve got a good defence, it gives us a terrific chance to go and win games and that\u2019s been the case.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Speaking of the defence, in yesterdays diary comments, wag the dog, who gave the information to Jake the Snake, confirmed it was a left back, and not a right back, that Deila was looking for.<\/p>\n Which makes a lot more sense.<\/p>\n Especially as Willem II left back Mitchell Dijks has said Celtic have put in a bid for him.<\/p>\n Although the current rumour doing the rounds, that a former player, thought to be Aiden McGeady or Gary Hooper is returning to the club in \u00a0a swap deal, doesn’t seem to fit in with current club policy. We sell our top men, we don’t swap them for our old cast offs.<\/p>\n Kennedy, still only 31, may be that link between players and management that is necessary to keep the lines of communication open, which means problems such as discontent can be dealt with before they spread. He spoke of his satisfaction in the role;<\/p>\n \u201cSome of them are a bit cheeky \u2013 they think I\u2019m late 30s!<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWhat you do as a coach is get in and around the players and form a connection with them. Get to know them and make them feel comfortable. That\u2019s what we do \u2013 we ask about them, find about their families and likewise they come and speak to us.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when I tell them what happened to me. They ask or hear things and you chat about it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf they ask me anything about my playing career I will tell them but I don\u2019t go out my way to make that the case.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Some of us still remember Kennedys performance against Barcelona, which was one of the best by any Celtic centre half, and of course all of that early promise was shattered by Romanian Ionel Ganea during the Celts Scotland debut.<\/p>\n Kennedy doesn’t dwell on it, though;<\/p>\n \u201cNo. It\u2019s totally gone, 100 per cent. Early on I was given the hope of coming back to play and managed to do that for a short period.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut as soon as it happened I thought, \u2018That\u2019s it. It\u2019s gone\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere was no point in wasting energy on a tackle that put me out the game for two years.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is done and dusted and I gave myself the goal of trying to get back fit again. When I did get fit I tried to get back in the first team. From there I set a new target and eventually reached the end.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut there is no bitterness there at all. It\u2019s one of these things that\u2019s in the past, it\u2019s not something I think about any more.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t regret anything. When I got injured it happened and I gave it everything to get back to where I was.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a new place now. A new position and that\u2019s all I focus on.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy career was cut short but this is an opportunity for me to get a head start on guys who will play until they are 35 and that\u2019s exactly what has happened.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a position I didn\u2019t expect to be in so soon and I want to build on that. At no time did I think I\u2019d be first-team coach at Celtic by the age of 31.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It’s fairly safe to say his promotion was a surprise to all of us, but given that Ronny makes changes as soon as he feels he has to, then Kennedy must be doing something right.<\/p>\n \u00a0Tonight ronny will have to decide whether or not to go with his usual line up, or introduce a few fringe players. It’s unlikely that anyone will do anything to alter his thinking on who can stay and who can go however, as he seems to have already made his mind up on that one.<\/p>\n \u00a0Word is that the door is still open for John Guidetti, but his head won’t fit through it.<\/p>\n If there are any surprises when the team takes to the field tonight, it’s more likely to be youngsters given a run out than fringe players, although Charlie Mulgrew is likely to be involved at some stage.<\/p>\n If you are at the game tonight, have a read of this;<\/p>\n A great gesture.<\/p>\n \n Another picture from Celtic Park, this time taken at night, shows that whoever came up with the idea of putting banners around deserves a pat on the back;<\/p>\n \n Since the old school was knocked down, and work began on the new “footprint “, there has been a tremendous improvement in how the place looks. Credit to those who overrode those of us who didn’t think it would work, because it has.<\/p>\n \u00a0One or two of you may have a Celtic video where Hugh McIlvanney comments on the new front facade, some time in the eighties, as being part of “an impressive modern stadium ” .<\/p>\n \u00a0I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t, but this one certainly is.<\/p>\n With Neil Doncaster celebrating the new deal he’s secured to sponsor the Scottish league, it’s worth taking time out to listen to what Barbara Slater has to say about the game up north.<\/p>\n \u00a0She’s the Director of Sport at the BBC.<\/p>\n \u2018The sports rights market is intensely competitive and there are all sorts of dynamics that are taken into consideration when you put together what you would bid for rights,\u2019 she said.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018And it is quite correct that, the licence fee, we are trying to get as much as we can in terms of sports rights with the investment. So we are, to a degree, going to be dictated by the market rate.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018And the fact is – and I know the comparison you\u2019re going to draw between highlights of football in Scotland and highlights that we would pay for the Premier League.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018The truth is, the Premier League is a global brand. It is loved by audiences and we think it\u2019s incredibly important that Match of the Day, as the highlights broadcaster of Premier League football, is an incredibly important programme for us to invest in.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018The message from audiences across the UK is crystal clear: they love Match of the Day and they want Match of the Day to stay on the BBC.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018The strength of reaction we got when the BBC renewed those Match of the Day highlights this time is probably the most positive reaction that we\u2019ve had to a set of sports rights because I think there were real concerns in that current marketplace about how tough it is to secure rights.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018So, yes, there is inequality, in fairness, but, as a broadcaster, as someone investing the licence fee, I\u2019ve got to invest it in the way the market dictates.\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n She has a point, but she also seems to have forgotten what a public service broadcaster is, and what responsibilities they have.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Perhaps if Scottish football was on instead of the English league on a Saturday night, more people would watch it. The late night sunday show, as piss poor as it is, is on too late for kids, and anyone who wants to see the highlights would have already seen them on the web.<\/p>\n \u00a0That means the show has to rely on in depth thought provoking comment.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0I may be on the point of spotting the problem with that.<\/p>\n Time for Jim Spence, Richard Gordon and Ally Begg to step up from radio. Surprised the BBC haven’t thought of that themselves.<\/p>\n Doncaster has a duty to fight for the game. He has vowed to pursue the broadcasters for better deals, but given that the fuckwitted fool played a major part in negotiating them in the first place, again, I may be on the point of spotting the problem here.<\/p>\n \u00a0It appears that Doncaster is looking for empathy in his battle, but he’s not going to find any here.<\/p>\n \u00a0Or anywhere else, for that matter.<\/p>\n Over at Ibrox, another long term plan has bitten the dust.<\/p>\n At least the trucks doing better than this bus, booked last summer to enable them to parade the First division trophy around Glasgow.<\/p>\n \u00a0Incidentally, the latest on the missing person appeal is that Dave King still has to present the SFA with a vital piece of paperwork before they can decide whether he’s fit and proper.<\/p>\n \u00a0Presumably they already have the court report, the sentence details and the appraisals from the South African judiciary.<\/p>\n Maybe it’s a note from his mum who says a big boy did it and ran away.<\/p>\n Mind you, there was something in the Sun that made me re-assess my opinion on the David Murray years. The fun filled frolicking through the nineties finaced by his pal at the bank.<\/p>\n \u00a0Rangers signings at the time were usually grossly inflated, mainly to rub into the rest of Scottish football how they planned on leaving us all to our own devices, which is actually what happpened, just not how they thought it would.<\/p>\n \u00a0So why would they understate this one ?<\/p>\n \n \u00a0surely some mistake, or was it entirely deliberate ?<\/p>\n Anyone care ?<\/p>\n By the way, Chuka Umunna has just withdrawn from the Labour leadership battle. Shame, his hit a few years ago, about getting knocked down and getting up again is exactly what the party needed.<\/p>\n Edson Braafheid was the ex Celti who went on to play in a World cup final after leaving the club.<\/p>\n \u00a0No, I don’t know either.<\/p>\n This guy will be remembered for a certain goal that won a league title. Who is he, who did he score against ?<\/p>\n \n \n \n \u00a0Seven years ago today, a legend passed away.<\/p>\n Still thinking of him.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We learn today that blues legend BB king has passed away. 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