Flag day at Celtic Park with no supporters to cheer the unfurling just added to the dystopian reality of the Copvid19 word.
At times like this, the need for the magnificent triviality of sport is now greater than ever.
Once the hostilities began, it was business as usual for the Hoops.
An Tús maith leath na hoibre!
The visitors are a well-run club who regularly defy expert predictions of their imminent relegation.
Indeed, the last time they travelled to Glasgow, they did rather better.
However, yesterday they played the champions, and it showed.
Today I consulted with several professionals who are Celtic watchers.
Their collective view was that Lennon’s men would take some stopping in the domestic sphere.
My highly unqualified take is that this season only Celtic can stop Celtic.
Selling key players and not replacing them would be one way to fail.
Across the city, it is still a case of Follow Follow the money.
The Sisyphean task that is at the heart of Operation Sell Alfredo is still ongoing.
There is a view in the Blue Room that they may have overplayed their hand with the French side.
I would not be surprised if Les Dogues sussed out that Alfie was not the Lille deal.
It will come as not surprised that Mr Let’s Go has let it be known that he wants funds from any putative transfer to allow him to re-invest in the squad.
At the time of writing the Colombian remains a Sevco player.
Apropos any replacement for Alfie the player would need to be within the £1.5m-£2m range, and that’s a stretch.
Across the city, Celtic have spent considerably more on a goalkeeper.
Aon rud eile:
If any chap is in the Stenography Corps want to try this journalism lark, then I have a tip for them.
They can use their access to Sevco players to ask Stevie’s Gumtree Galacticos how they feel about the quality of the new Castore kit.
I will just leave that there.
My information is that the size chart is rudimentary:
Medium, large and Morelos.
Meanwhile, the Sevco replica kits are on sale at Sports Direct.
A new era and all that…
Clyde SSB in full Hello Hello and Follow Follow mode tonight.
Statement coming out of Ibrox stating both players signed for undisclosed fee’s.
Yet Duncan, Hannah and Dalziel are claiming the deals cost them £9 million.
Gordon Dalziel claiming Itten is a top class striker yet admitted he knew nothing about him.
Ye couldnae make it up, these guys are getting paid for this pish.
Still it’ll make it all the sweeter when they fall flat on their faces and we win 10 in a row.
Itten spent 8 years with Basel being loaned out. They eventually sold him last year for his only fee ever of £300k to FC St Gallen (They came 6th last season).
Sevco did not spend £500k on this guy. He’s on the never never as usual.
How this guy gets a work visa for elite sportsman beggars belief. No international cap or UEFA appearances. There’s better Scottish lads.
FC St Gallen record ever sale was £1.8m.
8 years (joined at 13)
Loaned twice, usual for young players. One of which to a team that signed him.
St Gallen came 2nd last season.
He’s played at every level for Switzerland including 3 goals in 2 games for the senior side.
Apart from that you’re bang on….
Steven Gerrard is clearly underfunded at Ibrox.
He has had no chance against the financial might of CELTIC for the last 2 years.
If he thinks the CELTIC Board is going to take its foot off the gas during the TEN season, he really is dumber than dumb.
Dumb idea to go to Ibrox in the first place and even Dumber to expect better result this year of all years.
They’re not funding you Steven, They’re not funding for success, why be loyal to that?
He’s just brought in 2 strikers which will further diminish the season ticket revenue.
Shifting El Buffoon is no longer a priority, it’s a must.
It remains to be seen whether the replacements will contribute as many goals as the volatile Colombian who just can’t help himself resulting in numerous red and yellow cards over his time at Ibrox.
Jackson and his ilk will already be gearing up to report the fiction that Morelos was hounded out of Scotland, racist abuse et al, rather than recognise the serious flaws in his make up that made him an easy target for opposition fans as he often threw himself to the ground, sneaking a look through his fingers to see if he had the ref’s attention, not forgetting his inability to get through 90 minutes without having a sly, and sometimes not so sly, kick out at an opponent.
Yet they still manage to find funds from somewhere to purchase yet another two strikers, both of whom could prove to be very useful players. Now I keep hearing and reading about how they are going to go into administration as they can’t possibly pay all their liabilities but yet they keep on managing to find money from somewhere. Is this indicative of a throw of the dice based on a prospective fee for Morelos. If it is, its a very risky way of running your business.
Did they only raise the league flag to 3/4 up the pole,to signify the given title, as the league was not played to the end?
The Rangers FC [Sevco Scotland Ltd.,] voted to end the 2019/20 season and award CELTIC the title.
Sevco were desperate to get their paws on second place prizemonies. They couldn’t be second unless CELTIC were first. They didn’t want the prizemoney divided evenly among all teams (null and void).
The Scottish Govt stopped resumption of football not the SFA or SPFL and only allowed it to restart (with protocols and mitigations) Last Saturday.
The season was never restarting.
Celtic your champions. Hail Hail.
No mate all the way to the Top to signify 9 in a row. Same will happen this season. Get used to being forever in our shadow.
Nope, intended to be left it at half mast, repecting your deceased old club. The club you let die in2012. As the old club deserves no respect, it went to the top.
Feeling your pain, only a currant bun could think you can win 3/4 of a title.
Explains a lot I suppose!!!
No all 9 were at full mast.
Not for the first time either 😉🧤
Unable to read the rule book, Mr Thomas? It ends when the SPFL decides it ends and your klub voted for it to end too. Your tears are delicious though! HH
Bournemouth AFC are a £135m p.a. Revenue Club.
That makes them more than twice bigger than SEVCO.
Slippy G would prefer access to that.
Slippy going for nine out of nine failed trophies in a row.
Ibrox, the graveyard of footballing, managerial, coaching and business careers.
They (Bournemouth) spend an additional £35m above revenue so thats a £170m Spend.
Deliberate Director Strategy.
Three times spend of Sevco.
More for the Manager.
Noted Aberdeen have depleted Striker options. Would loaning Griffiths until Christmas help them out and catalyze him to up his game to get back to CFC? No playing against CFC of course.
Let’s not forget that following the collapse of SDM’s empire the bank had to write off over £600m of debt.
Money which HBOS chucked at MIM with nary a thought, a large chunk of which picked up the tab for the hugely unsubscribed RFC share issue underwritten by MIM.
It begs the question now, obviously not then, what security did the bank have against the flood of cash being loaned to MIM?
Now there was a real story for the Scottiah media to get their teeth into. Unfortunately they were so filled to the brim with succulent lamb that not one of them had the guts to investigate and the knight of the realm sailed through the choppy waters and emerged on the other side in an excellent financial position and remarkably with his knighthood intact.
Who would have thought?
One of the biggest scandals in British sporting history.
I think Bank of Scotland was more to blame than HBOS…could be wrong ‘though.
Phil will put me right if needed.
As for Sir Minty retaining his knighthood…
Well….that’s Scotland for you…and some things will never change Brother.
All we can do is keep them firmly in their place …
That’s ..Simply Second Best.
hail hail
Looked like there were two Alfredo in the one jersey.
I wonder about the motives of the Daily Radar who over the last few days have gone out of their way to crucify Craig Whyte.
Aye, the same Craig Whyte who their award winning reporter introduced to his readers as a billionaire with wealth off the radar.
They have no shame whatsoever and furthermore they give Alastair Johnston a platform to have a go at Whyte as well.
Talk about wise after the fact.
This is the same Alastair Johnston who was reported as having failed the SFA fit and proper test yet despite that sits on the Ibrox club’s board. How can that be Mr Maxwell?
If the SFA and Maxwell have quietly given Johnston a clean bill of health since then, don’t they think that Scottish football fans should be updated on Johnston”s situation?
There is something reeking about Johnston’s Fit and Proper status and the SFA and Maxwell’s silence on the matter tells it’s own story.
Lots on social media about the quality of the kit being delivered to the ‘People’ – missing and reversed letters – missing badges etc. Obviously a match made in Govan…
I see they are still complaining about not getting their strips that they pre ordered. They now think it was just a gimmick to get a load of money up front.
Do the maths. They sold 50,000 strips on pre order the strips are £60 each. So that’s £3m.
Just happens to be the amount castore had to pay sevco up front lol
I’d like to give Neil Lennon and the coaching staff a well done on preparing the Bhoys properly for the first game of the season.
Neil will leave no stone unturned in his Preparedness to deliver ten in a row. The bhoys are fit and hungry and confident.
It’s going to be a long season for Sevco.
What’s the story with that weird photo of the GG’s kit promo? Guy back-left so far out of the picture he’s imitating a ‘searching’ pose. One guy is fixing his collar? The captain seems to have been told to ‘go long’ as the designer almost manages to get him right out the picture! The YTS kid has a “trendy-in-the-1980’s” thing going on with the hair. Old Jermain meanwhile, what a trooper he is, up front and proud, just a tiny bit of a grimace emerging as he really has to go for a wee sit down 🙂
Like that Phil… the ‘Lille deal’ top o’ the class,unlike their strictly third/fourth class apparel at best
Yes, complacency is still Celtic’s biggest threat – but they have managed that threat exceptionally well, especially over the last 4 seasons.
And having grabbed the cash for KT, the left back position is now – arguably – a real weak point in the team / squad.
The worry is if Eddy goes for big bucks too – but we don’t have a proven goalscorer brought in, (and not a WIP).
Disappointingly, and hope I’m wrong, but Leigh seems to have blown it…?
Greg taylor played well against Hamilton. Bolingoli is a car crash, worst left back I’ve ever seen at celtic. The back 2 are still a worry for me. Bullied and hardly won a ball in the air against Hamilton, if you didn’t see that then fair enough. If they were playing against a better team they could have been 2 down in the first 15 minutes. We need another couple of big centre backs to give these 2 competition and another left back as cover and maybe another striker until Griffiths gets his head together. The only people that can stop 10 IAR are the celtic board.
No, No, Phil, yet again you’ve got it wrong. Griff is the fat one, Moreorless has “Bulked Up!!”