\u201cCompared to us, they spend lots more money. In a way, we are a semi-amateur club at best.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the toughest draw for us but the players are very excited about going back to Glasgow.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a good few days there when we played Motherwell.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe were in Europe for the first time last year and had some great results.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAfter Motherwell, we defeated Lech Poznan. Those results were unbelievable and we went all the way to face Inter Milan in the play-off.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n \n Coach John Kennedy \u00a0perhaps unwittingly, adding to the nervousness<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no excuses this year.<\/em><\/p>\n We want to be in the Champions League. A club of this stature should be there.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLast year\u2019s experience will stand us in good stead. Now we know what\u2019s coming along.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The tone of the article is wrong, and instead of instilling a feeling of confidence, it induces a fear of failure.<\/p>\n Was it different when Motherwell played them, one wonders, maybe a change of tone ?<\/p>\n Er, no.<\/p>\n How about this, from the Scotsman, just before Motherwell faced Stjarnan last year… on the day of the first leg at Fir Park;<\/p>\n MOTHERWELL have yet to win a single European match so far under manager Stuart McCall. In fact, they\u2019ve yet to even score a goal in three two-legged ties.<\/p>\n \n Do these writers not understand that players read their nonsense, and can have a fragile confidence shattered on the words of someone who has absolutely no idea what it feels like to have your whole years work ahead of you decided on whether or not you are on your game that evening. That’s a years work and a years bonuses.<\/p>\n Motherwell, of course, were nervous-to the extent they conceded t a 92nd minute penalty which proved ultimately to cost them the tie.<\/p>\n \u00a0Using the same quotes from the Record ( for it was them ) article above, how about this instead ?<\/p>\n Coach John Kennedy was looking ahead to a return to Iceland last night as Celts were drawn against Icelandic part timers Stjarnan.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no excuses this year.\u00a0We want to be in the Champions League.\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Celtic faced Icelandic opposition at the same stage last year in Reykjavik and ran out comfortable aggregate winners.<\/p>\n Stjarnan coach Bryan Gunnarson was more resigned about his clubs chances against one of the worlds best known clubs;<\/p>\n \u201cCompared to us, they spend lots more money. In a way, we are a semi-amateur club at best.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the toughest draw for us ”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Now that’s not to encourage complacency, bearing in mind the earlier point that players read the newspapers, but it’s easier for a manager or coach to get a positive \u00a0thought \u00a0into a players head than to get a negative one out of it.<\/p>\n Sure, I’ve left bits out from Gunnarsons quotes, but that’s not important. After all, the press is very selective on what it leaves out…<\/p>\n You won’t see this anywhere today… well, in the SMSM , that is.<\/p>\n West Ham and Spurs pull out of race for \u00a38million Celtic star leaving Sunderland ready pounce\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Evening Chronicle claims the \u00a38million-rated start tops Sunderland\u2019s list along with Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates and the pair could be snapped up by the Black Cats. Norwich and Crystal Palace have both been linked with bids for the Holland international too, but Celtic\u2019s heft price-tag has put a number of clubs off. Arsenal had been long-term admirers of Van Dijk, however their interest has gone, with West Ham and Spurs also currently looking elsewhere for summer recruits.<\/span><\/em> That’s all the London clubs declared no interest this summer in van Dijk. Wonder if it’s because they have been told he’s not for sale yet, ?\u00a0 \n \u00a0The first leg being in Glasgow, at Celtic Park should help. By then the game should be won.<\/p>\n In fact, there’s a lot of differences between this year and last year, and every reason to feel confident.<\/p>\n John Kennedy again;<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe are in a much better place to make an impact.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLast year a lot of changes were going on. We had a new management team just getting to know the players. They were trying to understand what was wanted on the pitch and, at the same time, we were thrown into qualifiers with a lot of pressure on us.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t make it. We didn\u2019t deserve to. However, we are in a much better place now.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe players now fully understand what we want them to do and what is required of them.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey are much more settled, have more peace of mind and go and attack games with no added\u00a0<\/em> \u201cThey know what is expected and that\u2019s a key thing for us.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a very good squad. Making five and six changes every transfer window only destabilises things.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou need consistency and we\u2019ve got that at this minute.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf one or two become available who are going to improve the squad and give us a better standard of player, then we would look at that.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re not desperate to bring players in at this moment. We have to just wait and see what\u2019s available.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cEven if it means going into the Champions League campaign with what we\u2019ve got I think we\u2019ll be content with that.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve brought in Dedryck Boyata and also now have Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong. The latter two were pencilled in for this season but we were fortunate enough to get them a bit earlier. So they\u2019re well integrated with the rest of the squad.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s three changes from last season and you don\u2019t want too many more.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLast year was just managing the situation as it moved along. I was getting to know the manager and still getting to know what he wanted.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of chats, spent a lot of time together. That takes time for coaches but for players that is tenfold.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to understand what the manager wanted but it takes even more time for the players. Looking back, it was a tough time.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an experience that will certainly help us and give us an extra edge going into this game.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He’s probably letting slip a little more than he wanted to there, if you read between the lines, though at least with the written version of what he says, the words “you know ” can be edited out.<\/p>\n You know.<\/p>\n Or , which could be more likely, he’s just leading the press on a wee dance.<\/p>\n What worries me is the constant referral back to last season’s campaign. The thing is, it’s done . We can’t change it, so there’s little point in looking back at it while we prepare for the next one.<\/p>\n So, let’s focus on what’s in front of us, and not what’s behind.<\/p>\n Otherwise things can go a bit awry.<\/p>\n Oh, has to be worth mentioning the song for the game, which was doing the rounds on social media yesterday, to the tune of a David Bowie hit from many. many years ago..<\/p>\n ‘There’s a Stjarnan waiting in July, they’d like to come and beat us but we think we’ll blow their minds’<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Might give the outfit a miss though.<\/p>\n So, what about Stjarnan ? Should we be worried ?<\/p>\n Recent form suggests that being midway through their season will probably more of a hindrance…<\/p>\n 1<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a050<\/span>\u00a0\/\u00a0404<\/span><\/p>\n Reading from the top down, in reverse chronological order, it appears the wheels are coming off their campaign, with just two wins in nine games, and one of them was on penalties.<\/p>\n The other Scottish sides won’t have it easy, but we can expect John Hughes on the phone with Celtic’s Europa opponents from last year, Astra Guirgi, being drawn against the highlanders in their first ever European campaign.<\/p>\n He’ll need all the help he can get , that’s a nasty draw for them, and it’s the same for the other sides, as Aberdeen face Shkendija, which , happily for them is an aberdonian phrase as well, meaning ” to keep a secret “<\/p>\n St. Johnstone, arguably the second most experienced European side in Scotland must head out to Armenia and they face Alashkert, who finished fourth in their league, which only has eight teams.<\/p>\n We wish them luck. Seriously, it would be great to have extended runs for all Scottish sides.<\/p>\n And the media, and the league, should be doing everything they can to help.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Celtic’s glasgow rivals Partick Thistle have pulled off a master stroke in the PR game by changing their mascot…<\/p>\n Where did that come from ? It’s scary enough being outside the ground in Maryhill without having that staring after you inside it.<\/p>\n It’s all part of a deal with this american firm worth around \u00a3200,000 to the firhill club<\/p>\n \n It’s great to see a Scottish club employing forward thinking. with the gradual removal of the old guard of management on the field, maybe it’s a sign of new thinking off it.<\/p>\n Maybe the SFA and the MSM will take note.<\/p>\n It’s okay to have new ideas. They can bring in money and raise the profile of the game.<\/p>\n Kingsford Capital have played a blinder, and so have Partick.<\/p>\n Another Glasgow club , First division Second Rangers, are about to announce three signings as the push to dump over priced season books on unsuspecting fans continues.<\/p>\n Danny Wilson, rumoured to be a Celtic target for the purposes of joining Rangers, allegedly joined legendary striker Nacho Novo in the “I told Celtic No ” club when he supposedly chose the Ibrox club over Celtic Park, presumably to create a hero out of a zero , in much the same way as the media did with the talentless Novo.<\/p>\n By the way, Wilson has played for Hearts against Celtic a few times….<\/p>\n How did he do ? Hearts score first…<\/p>\n 1-4 ,<\/span><\/p>\n 1-3, <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a00-7 <\/span><\/p>\n 0-2<\/span><\/p>\n 0-2 <\/span><\/p>\n 0-3 <\/span><\/p>\n 0-4 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Impressive form. We heard Celtic were offered the player on a \u00a35,000 a week deal, but when it transpired the club was to pay him, Celtic lost all interest.<\/p>\n \u00a0Second Rangers, whose latest attempt to raise capital failed when one bank refused even to lend them a pen to fill the form in with, are struggling.<\/p>\n The same tired old cliches are being wrung out by the same, tired old hacks, and the end cannot be far away…<\/p>\n The theme seems to be that Warburton only wants players who want to play for the club, supporters who want to support it, and fucking idiots who want to pay for it.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there’s not a lot to do when the footballs not on, so for those who are interested, here’s something worth a look at;<\/p>\n \u00a0If you want to know a little more of the history , that is.<\/p>\n And not the history the media will spin.<\/p>\n \n \n Right, dig deep into your own history and tell us where and when….<\/p>\n And \u00a0we’d like to ask for more memories… from this game..<\/p>\n \n By the way, we’d like to say how sad we were to learn of the death of ” Titanic” \u00a0composer James Horner this morning.<\/p>\n It’s a small consolation, that as a donor card carrier, his heart will go on.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Celtic will host Icelandic champions Stjarnan on either the 14th or 15th of July. Or both. You’d think they’d at least know when the game…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7315,"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\/kennedy.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1TY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314"}],"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=7314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7316,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314\/revisions\/7316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Celts Ready For Another Short Trip To Iceland<\/h1>\n
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Latest results<\/div>\n\n\n
\n 22.06.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 0-1<\/a><\/td>\n KR Reykjavik<\/a><\/td>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.futbol24.com\/i\/l.gif\")
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 18.06.2015<\/td>\n ICE Cup<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 0-3<\/a><\/td>\n Fylkir FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 15.06.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Fylkir FC<\/a><\/td>\n 0-2<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.futbol24.com\/i\/w.gif\")
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 07.06.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-3<\/a><\/td>\n Fj\u00f6lnir<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 03.06.2015<\/td>\n ICE Cup<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-1\/p.6-5<\/a><\/td>\n Leiknir Reykjavik<\/a><\/td>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.futbol24.com\/i\/d.gif\")
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 31.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Breidablik<\/a><\/td>\n 3-0<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 26.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-1<\/a><\/td>\n FH Hafnarfjordur<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 20.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Vikingur Reykjavik<\/a><\/td>\n 2-2<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 17.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-1<\/a><\/td>\n Leiknir Reykjavik<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 10.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n IBV Vestmannaeyjar<\/a><\/td>\n 0-2<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 03.05.2015<\/td>\n ICE D1<\/a><\/td>\n IA Akranes<\/a><\/td>\n 0-1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 27.04.2015<\/td>\n ICE SC<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-0<\/a><\/td>\n KR Reykjavik<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 07.04.2015<\/td>\n ICE LC<\/a><\/td>\n Haukar<\/a><\/td>\n 0-1<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 31.03.2015<\/td>\n ICE LC<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 3-1<\/a><\/td>\n UMF Grindavik<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 28.03.2015<\/td>\n ICE LC<\/a><\/td>\n Keflavik IF<\/a><\/td>\n 0-2<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n 24.03.2015<\/td>\n ICE LC<\/a><\/td>\n Stjarnan FC<\/a><\/td>\n 1-0<\/a><\/td>\n Thor Akureyri<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CIHmUOAWIAAaXit.jpg\")
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