{"id":7250,"date":"2015-06-11T10:07:31","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T09:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7250"},"modified":"2015-06-11T10:07:31","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T09:07:31","slug":"celtic-diary-thursday-june-11-introducing-ridiculous-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7250","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Thursday June 11: Introducing Ridiculous Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The world of science has announced groundbreaking news. Wild apes have been spotted drinking alcohol for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>The first time ? Really ?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/?attachment_id=7251\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7251\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7251\" src=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/louden.jpeg\" alt=\"louden\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/louden.jpeg 259w, https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/louden-150x112.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Despite Ronny Deila telling him he&#8217;s not going anywhere until at least after the Champions League qualifiers, virgil van dijk has been playing his annual game of \u00a0&#8221; I&#8217;m A Great Player Get Me Out Of Here &#8220;;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>\u00a0&#8220;There has been interest every summer and winter, especially from the Barclays Premier League. I stood there open to it, but Celtic decided not to sell me at that time. Yes, I was disappointed.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>\u00a0&#8220;They must understand that as a footballer, sometimes it&#8217;s time to make a move. Of course, the Champions League millions are important for Celtic, but they cannot dismiss any interest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>&#8220;If the correct amount is placed on the table, then they will really think about it, yes. If Celtic want to earn money from me, the club must act now.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>He gives the impression that whatever feelings he has at any given moment come largely from the last person he spoke to. I&#8217;m guessing that during his break he&#8217;s had his agent on the phone, and although it&#8217;s plain he&#8217;s going to leave at some point, he&#8217;ll change his mind again after a chat with the management, and will probably be around for the crucial European games.<\/p>\n<p>So will someone else, arguably just as important;<\/p>\n<div class=\"stream-item-header\" style=\"color: #292f33;\"><em><a class=\"account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fposadas\" data-user-id=\"243780076\"><strong class=\"fullname js-action-profile-name show-popup-with-id\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"\">Fredy Posadas<\/strong>\u00a0\u200f<span class=\"username js-action-profile-name\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\" data-aria-label-part=\"\"><s style=\"color: #b1bbc3;\">@<\/s><b>fposadas<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/a><small class=\"time\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\">\u00a0<a class=\"tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip\" style=\"color: #8899a6;\" title=\"1:23 PM - 10 Jun 2015\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fposadas\/status\/608731188237172736\"><span class=\"_timestamp js-short-timestamp js-relative-timestamp\" data-time=\"1433967799\" data-time-ms=\"1433967799000\" data-long-form=\"true\">11h<\/span><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\" data-aria-label-part=\"last\">11 hours ago<\/span><\/a><\/small><button class=\"btn-link js-translate-tweet translate-button expand-stream-item\" style=\"font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; color: #8899a6;\" type=\"button\" data-nav=\"translate_tweet\"><span class=\"translate-label\">View translation<\/span><\/button><\/em><\/div>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\"><em>Emilio Izaguirre fue el que pidi\u00f3 NO estar en la Copa Oro porque dijo que quer\u00eda hacer la Prechampions con Celtic.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">And in English&#8230;.( sort of )<\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\"><em>Emilio Izaguirre was who asked not to be in the Gold Cup because he said that he wanted to make the Prechampions with Celtic<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">If we could take a little of the Hondurans attitude, put it in a bottle and make van Dijk drink it&#8230;..but at the same time hiding it from Guidetti..then we would have a hell of a player.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">But some things cannot be taught, and although it&#8217;s churlish of me to suggest it, we should should sell van Dijk to Stoke or something. Then I can drive past his house every day and shout rude words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">Maybe he should ring Joe Ledley, Victor Wanyama and \u00a0Gary Hooper to hear what &#8220;you won&#8217;t find another place like Celtic &#8221; sounds like in three different languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">Van Dijk added, in the style of John Guidetti;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s a dream and a goal to play for the Oranje,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Calm down , Mr. King, he means the Netherlands<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>&#8220;When you play in the Premier League, you are more in the picture. That is clear. Whether that&#8217;s right, I&#8217;ll leave it to others.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>&#8220;There are several people who have advised me to leave Scotland.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Agents, by any chance, motivated by money ?<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em> This was mainly to move a step higher, but also the Holland team plays a role. The next major finals in France. I have to go for it, but this is only possible if I perform well in a club.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Oddly enough, other Celts have performed quite well at international level. It can&#8217;t be that hard to get into the Dutch team. Edson Braafheid played in a World cup final, and therefore I rest my case.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em>&#8220;I am 24 this year, I&#8217;m ready for something new &#8211;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Is he ? Have a look at how he performed in last years Europa League;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.squawka.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/screenshot-www.squawka.com-2015-06-11-08-19-41.png\" alt=\"Van Dijk made eight Champions League appearances last season\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em> more pressure, better opponents.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">More money.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Celtic became the first winners of the SFA Platinum award yesterday. This is from the SFA website, included to clarify what is is that the club have actually won;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">The Scottish FA has awarded its first-ever National Club Licensing Platinum Award to Celtic after continuous improvement was shown at various areas of the club.<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">To receive the honour clubs must meet a series of standards and procedures as set out by the Scottish FA Club Licensing system. These guidelines are encompassed by a National and UEFA regulatory system with specific references to Stadium Facilities, First Team Football, Youth Football and Legal, administration and finance practices.<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Clubs are graded from entry level, Bronze, Silver and Gold and only in exceptional cases is the Platinum Award granted.<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Scottish FA Chief Executive Stewart Regan said: &#8220;The Scottish FA are extremely pleased to be handing out our first-ever Platinum Award to Celtic. As a club they have shown a real commitment to youth football and are continually striving for the highest level \u2013 particularly with regards to their Youth Academy.<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">&#8220;I am confident that more Scottish clubs will be joining Celtic in achieving this exceptional award in the years ahead.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><br style=\"color: #404040;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell added: \u201c Celtic aims at all times to be a world class football Club in everything we do and this award is recognition of the high standards of governance across many areas, which the Club has met for some time.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">Er, very good.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">If anything, \u00a0it&#8217;s an acknowledgement to all those who work behind the scenes on the facilities at the ground to make the &#8220;match day experience &#8221; run smoothly, so that&#8217;s good, as without them there would be nothing. So well done to them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\">If thats not actually what it is, then that&#8217;s what it should be.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #444444;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gifs.gifbin.com\/032010\/reverse-1269602956_dr-mccoy-and-captain-kirk-approve.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--16px js-tweet-text tweet-text\" lang=\"es\" style=\"color: #292f33;\" data-aria-label-part=\"0\">\n<p>And now it&#8217;s time for a new section in the Diary;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/?attachment_id=7252\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7252\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7252\" src=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/optimism.jpeg\" alt=\"optimism\" width=\"201\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/optimism.jpeg 201w, https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/optimism-120x150.jpeg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The champions League this season offers Celtic a chance to put right something that has bugged a few of us for a number of years. You see, the final is being held in the San Siro, scene of Celtic&#8217;s defeat to Feyenoord all those years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Which means that fate has decreed we will be in that final, and this time we will win it.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, that&#8217;s not enough calculated reason to lump this months rent on at the bookies, but it&#8217;s a start.<\/p>\n<p>The draw for the Second round takes place in just eleven days time, and the club have already started to market the games&#8230; in a style which mocks the Scottish media in a way that deserves a massive round of applause for whoever is behind it<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHLA6LyWQAEC6M8.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHLA62jWMAI0sBe.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>and it&#8217;s not just the Champions League games. The theme continues<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHLA6MAXIAAT4_H.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHLA64xWkAAgfH7.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Full page adverts in the Record ?<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll chip in&#8230;..<\/p>\n<p>The club haven&#8217;t credited the fertile and imaginative mind behind this campaign, but we at Etims have found where he is staying \u00a0for a while<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToNJY0JBWfldmeC-_OH0St3H8ImJcSqBotNA2OrDs-4AYG11WjZQ\" alt=\"Image result for desert island\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Someone should have shown them to Ray Wilkins, the former Rangers , Chelsea and Milan player who is now another of those &#8220;expert&#8221; pundits&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #222222;\">\u201c<em>I would imagine that Celtic were quite distraught when Rangers didn\u2019t get promoted and Motherwell did \u2013 Scottish football just isn\u2019t the same when they\u2019re not in there and pitting themselves against each other,\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s right to an extent. not about Celtic being distraught, but about scottish football not being the same.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CGHw2IoXEAAvP6F.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Those who comment on Scottish football should be those who watch it regularly. No-one else.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a man who knows his stuff, which is why he isn&#8217;t a regular in the \u00a0mainstream media;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHIc-72W8AE54i8.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s Tom Boyd, doing his bit for the Celtic Foundation. Who in turn, are doing their bit for kids with the help of glasgow taxi drivers.<\/p>\n<p>All good stuff.<\/p>\n<p>And Boyd had a few words to say about football as well,<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cRangers won\u2019t be able to challenge within the next two or three years. Look at where Celtic are just now and where Rangers are.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u201cThere\u2019s a massive gap and it will take a right good few years to bridge that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cCeltic don\u2019t need Rangers, they need the Champions League money at this moment in time.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u00a0\u201cThey certainly need competition, which they got to a degree from Aberdeen last season, but more importantly Celtic need to get in to play against the best teams in Europe and keep the challenge of that alive and hopefully then go beyond the group stages. That is certainly more of an attraction just now than playing Rangers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cWith the additional revenue from the\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; color: #ed002d;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyrecord.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-match-reports\/juventus-1-barcelona-3-barcelona-5837679\" data-content-type=\"news\" data-type=\"inline\" data-action=\"5837679\" data-word-count=\"9\" data-track=\"true\">Champions League money you can them get better players<\/a>\u00a0and I don\u2019t see that over the other side of the city just now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cI don\u2019t see how you can attract better players to the Championship unless you\u2019re doing what you did previously and that is paying them over the odds.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt didn\u2019t work out for Rangers last season so it will need to be a different strategy unless they are buying in lesser- quality players.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy take on it is that it will take a right good few years before Rangers even come close.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Teemu Pukki has admitted he will probably be back at Celtic for pre season training, as Brondby refuse to pay what Celtic think he&#8217;s worth. Martin Odegaard will tour with Real Madrid before choosing where he wants to spend next season, and Lee Erwin has joined Leeds, so he won&#8217;t be in the Celtic line up next season, as some had hinted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Later today, Dave King will be in London at that meeting he referred to earlier in the week&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHMudj9WgAEnEsB.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>From 10.30 onwards.<\/p>\n<p>The Record doesn&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s all about,:<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 100; color: #626262;\">EXACT details of Sport Direct&#8217;s legal move were being kept secret last night although it is not believed to be linked to Ashley&#8217;s \u00a35million loan to the Ibrox club.<\/h2>\n<p>This is because \u00a0Phil MacGhiollabhan waited until the paper was printed before revealing he&#8217;s heard it&#8217;s about ringfencing the money Ashley is due from the Ibrox club;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/?attachment_id=7253\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7253\">Phil MacGhiollabhan See You In court<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whatever it&#8217;s all about, and we&#8217;ll know soon, it&#8217;s going to be expensive for King;<\/p>\n<p>Barry Likes on twitter revealed;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CHMw3cWWsAAeOFp.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And then there&#8217;s the EGM tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>I need to nip into Iceland while I&#8217;m out later&#8230;. looks like it&#8217;s going to be a good weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, (eventually ) we asked where you would see this graffiti&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/20150608_222548-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"20150608_222548\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The answer, as revealed by Gerrybhoy, was here;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net\/coronationstreet\/images\/c\/cd\/Websters_autos.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20140412093214\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Caption competition today. Based on this picture sent in by a reader with an impossibly long Gaelic name.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ton.twitter.com\/1.1\/ton\/data\/dm\/608741861717618688\/608741861751185408\/SdwNmJVx.jpg:small\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>With Rangers unable \u00a0to pass a credit check, Ian Durrrant receives a pay as you go phone for club business<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world of science has announced groundbreaking news. Wild apes have been spotted drinking alcohol for the first time. The first time ? Really ?&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7254,"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\/06\/glass-full.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1SW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250"}],"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=7250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7255,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions\/7255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}