{"id":9451,"date":"2016-07-29T09:12:16","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T08:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=9451"},"modified":"2016-07-29T09:12:16","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T08:12:16","slug":"celtic-diary-friday-july-29-astana-set-out-new-tactic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=9451","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Friday July 29: Astana Set Out New Tactic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Khazak opponents Astana yesterday served notice of exactly how they intend to play next week at Celtic Park when they released , on twitter, what they claimed was footage of Leigh Griffiths punching their player Igor Shitebag.<\/p>\n

This tactic, designed to get the forward retrospectively sent off for violent conduct, was doomed to failure anyway as the referee had seen the incident and booked him.<\/p>\n

Griffiths did comment on the incident after the game;<\/p>\n

“There was a bit of handbags and one of their men went down. Both of us could have been booked to be honest.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The ref could have let it go but I was the one who got booked.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But I managed to silence the crowd a few minutes later so it worked out fine.” \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From what I saw, the defender was trying to haul him back, Grifiths shrugged him off, stubbed a fag out on his eyelid and then broke two of his fingers.<\/p>\n

Hardly even a free kick.<\/p>\n

Gregory Babayan, the assistant manager at Astana, said;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cLast year, our player Patrick Twumasi got a six-game suspension for an incident against HJK and this one was even more pronounced.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve watched the incident from multiple angles and it was clearly visible, with the referee close to it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn our opinion, this episode clearly deserves the most severe punishment \u2014 removal from the field.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf he had shown the red card, we would have got the result as Griffiths was the player who scored for Celtic.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A UEFA statement, reproduced by the Sun newspaper, well, sort of newspaper, said;<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incident concerns a factual decision of the referee, therefore no protest can be lodged.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Make a note of the time and date you read this, as one day someone will ask you where you were when you first heard of the word “factual ” in connection with the Sun.<\/p>\n

However, our mole in Khazakstan says that there is more to come, as the guy who cleans the away dressing room at the ground found a few items which he claims could get the hoops thrown out of Europe…<\/p>\n

Leigh Griffith’s boots, specially adapted for the artificial surface…<\/p>\n

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Craig Gordons gloves…<\/p>\n

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and Scott Browns contact lens, which induces the most terrifying effect of all.<\/p>\n

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All of this, well, the bits that are true, show that for Astana the game next week is of extreme importance, and they will do whatever it takes to increase their chances of qualification for the next round.<\/p>\n

Hopefully we’ll get a strong, intelligent and incorruptible referee…<\/p>\n

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Anyone else having trouble with their google search (images ) facility ?<\/p>\n

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After a shaky start in the first team, Irish defender Eoghan O’Connell can be more than pleased with the way things have progressed. He made more than a telling contribution to the side the other night, and doesn’t intend to rest on his laurels.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is something I have to build on.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no point in me staying here, playing a game and then taking a step down.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI will be looking to push on from this.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe manager said to me before the game to take this game and then build on it. That is what I will be looking to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the manager\u2019s decision. He picks the team and Kolo is a very experienced player\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has played at the highest level for the last 15 years and shown his qualities.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI will work hard in training. We have another game against Barcelona on Saturday, I will do the best I can in that and take it from there.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic are a huge club. I have been here since I was 16. My main aim since I came here is to play here and make it here and that is hopefully what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

O’Connell will benefit from the arrival of Toure, as others such as Sviatchenko, Tierney and that bloke who’s always injured, and as long as the big Irish fellow listens and learns, all he needs to remember is Toure won’t be here forever, and someone will need to fill his boots when he goes.<\/p>\n

If he continues to improve at the rate he is doing, then Toure won’t get a look in by the turn of the year.<\/p>\n

The Champions League is put on a backburner for a few days now, as its a return to the heady heights of the International champions Cup this weekend, with Spanish hopefuls Barcelona the opponents, in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Honestly, it is.<\/p>\n

One or two of us questioned the wisdom of playing in such a high profile tournament against quality opposition in between a season defining match that involved an 8,000 mile round trip, but when there’s a chance of a piss up in Dublin at the weekend, who gives a toss what they think ?<\/p>\n

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Drinks giant Diaego have recently put a tremendous amount of money \u00a0into a recent campaign, oddly enough,<\/p>\n

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which led to a co-ordinated response from the Lennon CSC in particular, and the Celtic support in general..<\/p>\n

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The reason Celtic are in this tournament is simple.<\/p>\n

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Money. And quite a lot of it as well.<\/p>\n

Lets face it, there’s little chance of winning it now..<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/abbr><\/th>\nTeam<\/th>\nPld<\/abbr><\/th>\nW<\/abbr><\/th>\nWP<\/abbr><\/th>\nLP<\/abbr><\/th>\nL<\/abbr><\/th>\nGF<\/abbr><\/th>\nGA<\/abbr><\/th>\nGD<\/abbr><\/th>\nPts<\/abbr><\/th>\nFinal result<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\n\"France\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Paris Saint-Germain<\/a><\/td>\n2<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n+4<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n2016 ICC United States and Europe Champions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\n\"England\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Chelsea<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n+1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\n\"Italy\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Milan<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\n\"England\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Leicester City<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\n\"Germany\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Bayern Munich<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\n\"Scotland\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Celtic<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\n\"Spain\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Barcelona<\/a><\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\n\"England\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Liverpool<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n\u22121<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/th>\n\"Italy\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Internazionale<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n\u22122<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/th>\n\"Spain\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Real Madrid<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n\u22122<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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It’s very difficult to find out how much the clubs get for taking part, but there are rumours of around 3m euros per game, which make it difficult to turn down, in fact, it makes it impossible to turn down.<\/p>\n

With part of the deal including certain star players take part, its no surprise Lionel Messi, the Catalan sides talisman, has cut short his vacation to take part.<\/p>\n

Renato Goncalves, who does a sort of Barcelona Diary, called Barca Blaugranes, praises the little man..<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi is awesome. Not only did he cut his vacation short so he could rejoin the\u00a0<\/span>Barcelona<\/a>\u00a0squad a week earlier to train with his teammates in England and play every friendly match in preseason, he is also using the training sessions \u00a0to show just how amazing he is.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

These are just 140 seconds of greatness. Messi is laughing in the\u00a0Rondos\u00a0as he makes his teammates look like fools, he’s dribbling Mathieu like he’s not even there, and he’s even nutmegging his good friend Luis Su\u00e1rez just because why not. He’s also scoring goals on little posts, because every goalpost is big enough for Messi.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just wish Messi was not blonde. But hey, you can’t always get what you want. Still, Messi, you’re awesome. Keep being awesome. Forever. Please. Thanks.<\/em><\/p>\n

We’re the same here when we talk about James Forrest.<\/p>\n

Anyhoo, for those travelling, and I’ve a son who lives in dublin, who might yet get a surprise visit, because its important to keep in touch with family, this could be a great weekend.<\/p>\n

Here’s why… from Guy Hedgcoe of the Irish Times…<\/p>\n

Catalan independence parties approve blueprint for secession<\/h1>\n

Debate and vote on path to independence appears to violate a Spanish court ruling<\/h2>\n

Pro-independence parties in\u00a0Catalonia<\/a>\u00a0have defied the Spanish judiciary by formally approving a blueprint for secession in a move which, in theory, formally begins the region\u2019s breakaway from\u00a0Spain<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the Catalan regional parliament yesterday, the governing Junts pel S\u00ed (or Together for Yes) coalition and the anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) both voted to debate the findings of a parliamentary commission expressly set up to prepare the path to independence. Following a session of bitter recriminations, the commission\u2019s report was approved with 72 votes in favour and only 11 against, as many unionists walked out of the debating chamber or refused to vote.<\/em><\/p>\n

The most blatant challenge so far by Catalan separatists to the Spanish state, the debate and vote appeared to violate a constitutional court ruling that deemed illegal a declaration of intent to create an independent republic issued by the parliament in 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe chamber is sovereign,\u201d said Catalan parliament president\u00a0Carme Forcadell<\/a>, as she defended the decision to debate the commission\u2019s report.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anna Gabriel<\/a>, of CUP, said her party was fully aware of the repercussions, saying: \u201cWe are not afraid of independence.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Illegal proceedings<\/em><\/h4>\n

However, the conservative\u00a0Popular Party<\/a>\u00a0(PP), which has governed Spain since 2011 and staunchly opposes any moves towards independence, warned that yesterday\u2019s proceedings were illegal.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an attack against democracy,\u201d said Xavier Garc\u00eda Albiol, leader of the PP in Catalonia.<\/em><\/p>\n

The PP, the Socialists and the liberal Ciudadanos did not vote on the report, making Catalonia S\u00ed que es Pot (Catalonia Yes We Can), the regional arm of anti-austerity party Podemos, the only party to vote against.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cToday the constitutional court is contravened, but so are the basic principles of democracy,\u201d said In\u00e9s Arrimadas of Ciudadanos. \u201cIn which countries in the world are the decisions of politicians not subject to the law?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Catalan parliament\u2019s sovereignty has frequently been at the centre of the region\u2019s push for independence, which began in earnest in 2012, after Madrid refused to negotiate increased financial autonomy for Barcelona.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scotland-style referendum<\/em><\/h4>\n

In the face of the Spanish government\u2019s refusal to allow a Scotland-style referendum, a regional election last year was treated by separatists as a vote on independence. Junts pel S\u00ed and CUP together won a majority of seats in the Catalan parliament, giving them, they claimed, a mandate to move towards independence, despite having slightly less than half of the popular vote.<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cindependence commission\u201d set up by the parliament suggests staging a consultative process within Catalan society before embarking on \u201cdisconnection\u201d from Spain and the creation of a new constitution which would be ratified via referendum.<\/em><\/p>\n

The latest developments have come while Spain is in political limbo, with no permanent government in place after two inconclusive general elections. However, while this limits the ability of the acting government of Mariano Rajoy to counter the Catalan secessionist drive, the independence movement itself is struggling to maintain unity.<\/em><\/p>\n

With CUP refusing to back the annual Catalan budget plan proposed by Junts pel S\u00ed, regional premier\u00a0Carles Puigdemont<\/a>\u00a0yesterday announced he will face a confidence vote on September 28th, which could be crucial for the future of the independence project.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Nicola Sturgeon will be watching, and is more determined than ever after receiving an email from a lady in London who offered her views on Scottish independence…<\/p>\n

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Transfer news, nope. None at all, just the usual stuff you’ve heard elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Calum Paterson might be the next young Scot to try his luck at Celtic Park, and we’re no further forward in our bid to bring Jordan Larsson to Celtic.<\/p>\n

but, interestingly, we aren’t any further backward either….<\/p>\n

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Anyway, it’s Friday, and its that time again… its the award they all want, the one that recognises excellence in their chosen field…<\/p>\n

the Etims<\/p>\n

Knob Of The Week<\/span><\/h2>\n

Quality journalism is rare in Scotland. There are a few who are prepared to not only challenge the accpeted perception of events, and a few of them have the courage to write what they know, and question what they don’t, and they do it all with a professional pride and integrity that commands not only respect, but sometimes a sense of awe.<\/p>\n

This week, we saw a rumour eminate from somewhere, probably Level 5, the agency that promotes and deflects on behalf of a club at Ibrox which is perpetually deflecting from the fact it isn’t the club that used to play there, that hinted Robin van Persie, the legendary dutch striker, was about to join “rangers “<\/p>\n

Nonsense, of course, but Ladbrokes, who live a bit of publicity, and as sponsors of the league, are entitled to it, closed the betting on his arrival, partly out of sympathy for the gulllibilies, and partly because they didn’t want to be accused of daylight robbery.<\/p>\n

And anyway, the tills were all full.<\/p>\n

The rumour successfully took attention away from the fact that the Ibrox club had banned and confiscated the season books of those brave souls who ran onto the Hampden pitch after the Cup final to protect their players, including whistleblower Lee Wallace, whose \u00a0wife later denied that he was hurt.<\/p>\n

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“Brought the club into disrepute” \u00a0?<\/p>\n

I’m quite sure thats not the exact wording club officials used at the time.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the bears are raging, and its not something the powers that be at ibrox want to see in the papers, and so therefore, a suitable diversion was thought up.<\/p>\n

Van Persie.<\/p>\n

Now, I can accept a few mentions of him in the papers. Its all good craic, and keeps people talking.<\/p>\n

But Gordon Parks, in the Record,in \u00a0a story which is headlined<\/p>\n

Mark Warburton admits pigs will fly before Robin van Persie signs for Rangers<\/h2>\n

which in itself had clearly not been thought all the way through<\/p>\n

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includes an astonishing five pictures of van Persie, who will not bejoining “rangers ”<\/p>\n

His level 5 paymasters must be delighted.<\/p>\n

The player himself implied \u00a0he wants time to think about it with this obviously genuine tweet…<\/p>\n

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As for Parks, he will be over moon with his thoroughly deserved award as this weeks Etims<\/p>\n

Knob of the Week\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Caption competition, and someone is making it her own of late…<\/p>\n

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Susan Murphy<\/cite><\/span>\u00a0July 28, 2016<\/abbr>\u00a0at\u00a08:19 pm<\/abbr><\/span>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Edit<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0Reply<\/a>\u00a0\u2192<\/div>\n
\n

Caption\u2026\u201dWell doc it was free kick agin us about thirty five yards out. So I got in the wall..\u2019whose taking it?\u2019 I asked\u2026\u2019some guy called Gemmell\u2019 \u2026that\u2019s the last I remember!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Let’s see what she, and the rest of you can come up with for this one..<\/p>\n

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Finally, you may not be a fan of the man, and I would have to question your sanity if you were, but doo lally Republican nominee donald trump (no, he’s not getting capital letters, ) \u00a0proved he does have a sense of humour…<\/p>\n

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

Khazak opponents Astana yesterday served notice of exactly how they intend to play next week at Celtic Park when they released , on twitter, what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9452,"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\/2016\/07\/90555476_griffiths_shitov_sns.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2sr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9451"}],"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=9451"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9453,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9451\/revisions\/9453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}