{"id":7825,"date":"2015-09-26T10:52:58","date_gmt":"2015-09-26T09:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7825"},"modified":"2015-09-26T10:52:58","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T09:52:58","slug":"celtic-diary-saturday-september-26-maybe-we-are-more-than-a-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7825","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Saturday September 26: Maybe We Are More Than A Club"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>These financial whizz kids don&#8217;t hang around. this morning someone rang me and asked if i&#8217;d been mis sold a TDi.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m here all week, try the veal etc.<\/p>\n<p>Volkswagen proving you can&#8217;t trust anyone these days. In fact, I&#8217;m not even sure that Herbie was a true story any more.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of financial whizz kids..<\/p>\n<p>Craig Gordon has spoken of his big regret when he moved from Hearts to Sunderland&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cWhen I left Hearts I didn\u2019t take anything with me from the transfer fee or any signing-on fees. I left that with the club and it\u2019s probably long gone.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cMaybe it would have been better had I taken it with me so I could put it back in now. I waived what I could have taken because I thought that was the right thing to do.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cThe club did well by me. They gave me my chance to come through and showed a great deal of faith in me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">I can understand his altruism, but I&#8217;ll wager his wife has a special implement in the kitchen to hit him with every time the kids need new shoes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cThey put me on a good contract before I left, which was not long after it. I certainly didn\u2019t feel the need to take any more than was necessary. I did say that I would rather leave it to the youth development which had helped me. To put it towards perhaps a few more players coming through.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cI\u2019m annoyed to think that the youth academy maybe didn\u2019t get that money. \u201cMaybe it did go towards youth development, maybe it didn\u2019t. I\u2019ve no idea. But it would have been nice if a certain percentage of that had managed to filter through.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cThey have brought through quite a number of young players recently and in some ways they are kind of fortunate in that the youth team of that time was especially good.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cMost of them have developed into top-flight players. Although a few have moved on, they are still playing at a reasonably high level.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cSo to get that number of players coming through at the one time is impressive, even though they might have been forced to bring them through due to circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em>\u201cFor guys to come through and make top-level careers, there\u2019s been a fair chunk who have done well.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Well, i think that Craig deserves to know what happened to the cash, so we asked Vladimir Romanov, who was in charge at Tynecastle at the time&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bigrab.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/03\/vladimir-romanov.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u00a0Crig&#8217;s old club Hearts are the visitors today, and I&#8217;m quite sure they will be pleased to be remonded of their time under the Lithuanian banker, who did so much for the club, and for Scottish football in a David Murray kind of way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">So much so that Stan Thomson, a Hearts fan, had this done to his back;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBSK83ABGcUmmUxoavIpWD9VGoaUMsZw9kAb1jOFsM4gObVn-1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">whereas, of course, Romanov concentrated his efforts on a lower part of the supports anatomy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Hearts have started well this season, currently in third place four points behind Celtic, who in turn lie five behind Aberdeen. With the dons travelling to Inverness today, and the wheels beginning to come of the MacInnes motorcade, then there is every chance that results today could go someway to restoring the natural order of things.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Judging by the defensive record of the Tynecastle side in the league thus far, thirteen conceded in eight games, it would appear that all Celtic have to do is keep the ball in the opposition half, occasionally firing one off in the general direction of the keeper.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Which is pretty much what we do in most games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u00a0With Hearts being one of the better sides in the country, one would expect Ronny Deila to field his strongest available side, but then there&#8217;s Fenerbache to think about&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u00a0So, Craig Gordon is a given, well, he isn&#8217;t a Given, we got rid of Given when we decided Marshall was a better bet, what I mean is he is probably the only player guaranteed a start, if only to build up a relationship with the &#8220;new &#8221; defence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u00a0Mikael Lustig will be needed for Thursday, so Saidy Janko should get a chance to continue his good run at right back. Left back should be the Emilio IzaLarsson, and his mean streak.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Bqpl-pSCMAAwm20.png\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Emilio will help Jozo Simunovic to settle alongside the main man of the moment, Efe Ambrose. The coolest dude in town.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.dailyexpress.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/285x214\/356388_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Ambrose has risen from the shadow of van Dijk and Denaayer to prove there is a defender in there after all, and with every game he is winning over fans that maybe thought that he was from the Willie Garner school of defending.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">For younger readers think of , well, actually, there has never been another Willie Garner, a more than decent defender signed from Aberdeen who managed to score twice on his Celtic debut in a 3-1 defeat to St. Mirren. Both goals were for St. Mirren , which limited his career to just three appearances.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><i style=\"color: #333333;\">&#8220;I played for my boyhood idols that day, thought I had a long career at club. Two own goals decided that \ud83d\ude42 [Lived the dream] Running down that tunnel, 60,000 in the ground, wearing the hoops.&#8221;\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Mind you, he was in a side that did something no other Celtic team has ever done. The BBC Sportsnight Fivies, in 1981, when Celtic beat Southampton and a young Charlie Nicholas scored the winner.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">From the Celtic Graves site&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">25.11.1981<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">1st Round Watford 3- 0 (Nicholas, Crainie, McStay)<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">2nd Round Manchester United 2- 0 (Crainie 2)<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">Semi-Final Ipswich Town 3- 1 (Nicholas 2, Crainie)<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">Final Southampton 1- 0 (Nicholas)<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">Squad: Latchford McStay, Garner, Nicholas, Crainie, Weir<\/span><\/em><br style=\"color: #31332b;\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #31332b;\">Coach: Jim Lumsden\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">There used to be a video kicking around of it, on the Celtic Underground site. If anyone can find it, i&#8217;d love to see it again. Peter Latchfords foul on Kevin Keegan is up there with anything Bertie Auld did.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Anyway, i do digress&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">So , with Gordon, Janko, Simunovic , Ambrose, and Izaguirre at the back, and Boyata on hand as back up, the defence could be taking shape , perhaps even a little earlier than we hoped.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\u00a0Scott Brown and Nir Biton are the usual first picks to play as cover, but maybe one of those can be rested, and allow Stefan Johansen to drop back a little and put some discipline back into his game. And if he doesn&#8217;t put in a disciplined and mature performance, he can have a rest on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">That would leave the creativity of Kris Commons, Tom Rogic and James Forrest a free hand to support Nadir Ciftci up front. We&#8217;ll need Griffiths on Thursday, and Ciftci will benefit from a couple more goals today against the fragile Edinburgh defence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">There is a sense of anticipation around the team now, as we have so many options, and the dodgy period, although costly to prestige and finance, seems to be over.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Funnily enough, speaking of dodgy periods, Christian Wulff, the Norwegian journalist who spotted Deila and said, long before any of us had heard of him, that Ronny would be a great fit for Celtic, has a couple of interesting points to make&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #292f33;\">Celtic longest losing streak under Deila is 2 games. Only happened once; during his first month at the club against Legia away and home.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"color: #292f33;\">Longest run without a win under Deila is 4 (Maribor x2, Caley &amp; Dundee in Aug 14). Also only time they&#8217;ve gone more than 2 games w\/o win\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #292f33;\">Games against Aberdeen &amp; Ajax only 2nd time in 2015 Celtic went two games without a win (St. Johnstone &amp; Dundee U in March the first)\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"color: #292f33;\">In total, Celtic has had a winless streak of more than 1 game on 6 different occasions under Deila, but only 3 times after Sep 14.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 300; color: #292f33;\">In the league, Celtic only twice gone two games without a win under Deila; Caley &amp; Dundee (Aug 14) and Dundee U &amp; Ross County (Dec 14)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Something for the bedwetters to think about.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/incoming.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Not just on the field, but off it as well, there&#8217;s a number of things that should give you a warm glow this morning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Beaten 1967 European Cup finalists Inter Milan supporters had a protest the other day, and their Tifo suggests that they learned a few other things from the great Jock Stein;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPvG4EKWEAAiPKO.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">which means&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPvG4FMXAAAetRA.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Closer to home, but also on the continent, Celtic Graves deserve a massive round of applause for not only knowing the history, but helping to enshrine it&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPvb7ejWIAE1iMF.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">They&#8217;ve cleaned up the Prague grave of Johnny Madden, who played in Celtic&#8217;s first ever side. And it looks fantastic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">Even closer to home, there&#8217;s a nod to the memory of those who died or were displaced during the Great Hunger in nineteenth century Ireland when Celtic take the field today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.celticfc.net\/assets\/images\/news\/5d13d001f5ef709ab52d4a850ca5cff3\/8dcd8009a501130c25286f9509ad3088.png\" alt=\"Celtic remembers The Great Hunger\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c2c;\">From the official website&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>TO once again recognise The Great Hunger, Celtic will be wearing the National Famine Memorial Day logo on the Hoops when they take to the field this Saturday for the match against Hearts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Unquestionably, the Great Hunger was a transforming event in Ireland, which changed the demographic and cultural landscape forever.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Indeed, there is nothing else in the history of the Irish people that can be likened to the Great Hunger, either for its immediate impact, or its legacy of emigration, cultural loss and decline of the Irish language.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The Irish arts minister, Heather Humphreys has confirmed that the annual commemoration of the Famine, where one million people died, will take place this year in Newry, County Down, also on Saturday.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The Minister said the Famine affected all of the island of Ireland, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the Republic of Ireland and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland\u00a0 have been working with the council and other stakeholders to stage this memorial event.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ms Humphreys said: \u201cThe annual Famine commemoration is a solemn tribute to those who suffered in the most appalling circumstances that prevailed during the Great Famine.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;While the scale of suffering was greater in some parts of Ireland than in others, all parts of the island suffered great loss of life and the destruction of families and communities through emigration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;In this commemoration, we remember all those who suffered, those who died, those who survived but who lost family members, those who were forced to emigrate and those who remained in Ireland but suffered other forms of loss because of the Great Famine.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell added: \u201cThe origins of Celtic Football Club are inextricably linked to the Great Famine and it is right that we once again join in this commemoration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Celtic was formed by immigrants and to help people in real need, many whose families had escaped the devastation of the Great Famine.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;We should never forget the devastating impact this event had on the lives of so many millions of people and we are pleased again to play our part in this year\u2019s memorial.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Celtic FC Foundation have confirmed that the unique match issue shirts, to be signed by each player, will be auctioned in the coming days for charitable purposes, providing supporters with the opportunity to own a wonderful collectors\u2019 item.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>An announcement will be made next week, providing full details of the online auction.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">My own paternal great great grandmother , with thirteen -or nine, versions vary within the family- took a rowing boat full of kids from Donegal to the west of Scotland to escape the horrors of the time, and doubtless many others have similar stories.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0I&#8217;ve always wondered though, that with a bit more effort could she not have aimed for somewhere warmer ? Florida or something.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0Thats not to disrespect any of the refugees, by the way, before anyone says anything.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">To fully understand, or at least get a picture of the true disaster that was the famine, pick up a copy of this. It&#8217;s a hell of a read. And I use that word meaningfully.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51FOIITf%2BaL.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Which , oddly enough, was never covered in our school&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPxpDF1W8AA_Fwk.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">There will also be a bucket collection at the ground today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0In aid of HCPT , a charity who take kids with disabilities and from disadvantaged backgrounds on a pilgrimage to Lourdes every Easter.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hcpt.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/logo.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Have a look for them, and chuck in a few quid. These wee charities don&#8217;t get the publicity they deserve some times, as they tend to be crowded out by the professional fundraisers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Something else to make you feel good ?<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Okay, link these pictures and tell me what the story is behind them&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPvJczEWcAAcq8I.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CPvJCu-WwAAjqO8.jpg\" alt=\"Embedded image permalink\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These financial whizz kids don&#8217;t hang around. this morning someone rang me and asked if i&#8217;d been mis sold a TDi. I&#8217;m here all week,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7826,"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\/09\/quote-celtic-like-barcelona-are-more-than-a-football-club-our-clubs-are-a-symbol-of-a-culture-xavi-71-95-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-22d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825"}],"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=7825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7827,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7825\/revisions\/7827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}