SENTINELCELTS

This week should see us crowned again as determined by the bigwigs in a meeting that actually came up with the closest thing we have seen to answers so far . Its incumbent upon us all to wait eagerly until the fat lady sings and then begin the analysis, especially after hearing some leagues are going down the null and void route. Our governing bodies were always going to take their queue from the top table, hide behind daddies legs, and it looks like its time to man up and make the announcement that will invoke a fresh round of fury.
Wednesday or Friday should see the season conclude at last. Its not one we are likely to forget anytime soon.

As we attempt to navigate these strange times we keep hearing or realising that the entire planet has been given a real dose of perspective, and theres always some who will make humour out of even the worst of situations. Whats making me smile though is the delicious sense of irony that is becoming more and more unescapable both in this virus hit globe, and the national sport of the best wee bigoted country in the world.

Isn’t it ironic that here we have the Ibrox men threatening the governing bodies with a dossier ! My sides almost split reading this. There’s a room full of evidence against them but they’ve a dossier. The most ironic thing is plenty of that dossier is likely to be true, aye theres probably evidence galore there of malarkey. However it was all to help facilitate and aid them !
The ultimate irony?

And then theres the governing bodies themselves who were motoring along nicely and having somehow got Putrid Petrie into position and it looked to be another generation of jobs for the boys allied with the best way to stop Timmy is a strong team in light blue mindset.
And kaboom just like that their entire setup has imploded from under them, exposing any cracks in the system and their ineptitude.
In this situation pre virus they and their lackeys would deflect some ill will towards their favourite punching bag. Uproar left, right, and centre in the domestic game and not a Celtic conspiracy anywhere in sight. Oh the irony that we can watch and smile as they tear each other apart.

And hey, you want irony. Just look at the Dundee chairman who was so conflicted by his personal allegiance to the team he supports and his professional allegiance to his paycheck and liberty that he sent a yes AND a no vote.
IN A ONE VOTE PER CLUB SYSTEM HE SENT TWO, ONE OF EACH !!!
I mean this one,,, call the Guinness book of Records folks because this one deserves to be in there under irony.
You couldn’t script that.
You will believe he is still employed, for the moment.

The sport may well find itself begging for fans, one huge irony surely as in general it couldn’t give a stuff about them, only their wallet is coveted. The closed stadium route is just not for me and here in the States we already have precedent with LeBron saying if the basketball decides to opt for that then he’s looking at early retirement as it doesn’t appeal to him one bit.
Cant get up for it without the fans, or words to that effect.
If basketball’s biggest name is willing to walk away on this one, it’s that important to him, perhaps its worth asking would the beautiful game lose a name or ten if introduced?
Have players themselves been consulted because Ive never heard anything but bad reports of behind closed door games. If faced with that or a comfortable retirement now without the sour ending how many would succumb to the latter. I know I would.
I recall in the not too distant past a fear that some rocket would penetrate the field of play and a player (or manager) would be the victim of an attack, around the time Robbie Savage was confronted during play I believe.
Talk then was that if policing and searches around games weren’t stepped up then some footballers may choose to walk away fearing harm. They were going to leave the sport because of the fans! Now some have said they will leave their sport if no fans !
The f#@king irony of it !

And then the previously funny-ish situation re clubs dying. ‘Yer clubs deid pal’ was acceptable when liquidation was such a rare event but if some do fold here it’s not funny at all. To have managed fine for over a hundred years and fall to an invisible foe would be a travesty unworthy of mocking full stop.
There will be a fine line to tread when it comes to establishments going under, but we must not allow one certain passing away to be filed under ‘ The Virus Years’ for future generations.
File that one under ‘Death by Hubris’ please and keep the two lists separate.
Two death lists eh.
If someone had told you that 15 years ago what would you have said?
If someone had told you that one team wished they were on the other death list how would you have looked at them?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the one club that totally ignores its previous death (with the help of the everyone in the game shamefully) see all that hard work undone by a bug?
‘Bat Upsets Bears’ the headline will read !

The best for last though, our club of choice. Its practically everywhere you look.
First there’s the news that the Dons may seek to have FFP enforced on der Huns. Its hard to tell if our board members spat their coffee out and seen the dollar signs disappearing and gasped Nooooo,,,
Or perhaps they raised a rye smile and said get ready for the heat of the klan northerners.
Its likely they have completely missed the irony that it will take someone else to clear up the mess they are so willing to ignore yet get paid well to handle, maybe its all in the company’s best interests and we should trust them.

Its more than ironic that myself and others who have yelled ‘ Empty the Park ‘ in the past are finally getting their wish, out of the blue given a massive helping hand in that request.
And now its here, it doesn’t make one iota of difference because all are forced into the same boat.
The gravy train we cursed has finally ground to a halt, but we never thought all trains would stop and the station would be empty. Be careful what you wish for I guess.

My own little head scratcher are the pitches. For instance the Huns scream finish the season yet ripped their pitch up? Urmm, something missing there ?
But wait don’t laugh, because on the other hand guess who’s lawn care expenses are a hell of lot cheaper than ours right now ! Unwittingly outsmarted?
Who woulda thunk it, financially punished the most for having the best pitch in the league and they have no effing pitch and we cant laugh about it oh !!!
The bleeding irony guv’nor.

As for our suits I confess this is one time when I would love to pick their brains.
Is Peter eyeing up the bank account and having palpitations at the thought of no more top ups or worse yet, might have to dip into it? Terrible to blow your savings on not what it was saved up for, whatever that is.
Look at it from the stadium size point of view. Should minimum mandatory spacing restrictions come into play, and realistically all signs are pointing that direction, then we are looking at a much restricted attendance. In which case we will be paying for the upkeep of the nations biggest stadium, without all the benefits of being the biggest.
There will be no ten thousand extra season tickets sold than any rival either, the gap will be negligible. Theres a great leveller without them lifting a finger.
I will let you decide if thats ironic.

One massive dollop of irony is the fact our ten that couldn’t be derailed on the field now has serious wobbles off the field, and for once there’s no masonic conspiracy.
A bat has our 10 in doubt and I’m not talking Bruce Wayne here.
Ps as a boy I had the Lions on the wall and a Batman hanging in the window, talk about a personal conflict of interests.
A huge percentage of the faithful fans who will have seen every league since Walters players they couldn’t afford eventually nabbed a title, might be forced to miss the special season.
If there was one season out of the ten you wouldn’t want to miss, it doesn’t take a genius to figure its the history maker. But to be denied the pride and joy of your chosen vantage point over the field of play after having witnessed the first 8 and a half years of the campaign will be very hard for some, and excruciating for others.
I can only say for once I’m glad that there’s nothing sinister at play, what an indictment of the national sport and the fiasco it had become.

And as for our suits after they navigated the AGM and the demands for Res12 justice, surely they would have thought themselves home and dry seeing as most of the support simply will not stop attending even if shown solid proof of cheating, but yet just like that their plans are stopped in their tracks. A hotel , a cafe, perhaps the Barrowfield renovation are all in doubt, immediately placed on hold, and that’s the transparent plan’s.
Their own gravy train has halted, and the wages that should never have been offered in a backwater must be readjusted to the current and future climate. Surely a streamlining of sorts must be on the agenda if a major drop of income materializes.
Young Desmond just may not fancy that backwater or even the entire sport any longer now its landscape has drastically changed.
Change was the last thing our PLC wanted and by embracing the Old Firm and what they know it showed, yet change is upon us and must be confronted ready or not.
Out of the blue and from China but not some mystery investor who noticed us while scouting Alfredo for around the same price as our entire club.
Is it not ironic that once El Buffalo decides not to go to China , it comes to him?

 :

Some other notables are Budge getting on the reconstruction group,, the mother of all ironies?
And then there’s Valencia being forced to remove the bat from their clubs crest after almost a century of using it,, talk about timing and surely the head honchos at DC comics can see a hint of irony in that they just spent an absolute fortune to secure the image rights of probably the world’s most loathed species right now.
Its all about perspective folks.
Because finally what is 100% ironic, is that there’s nowhere to be, you’re not leaving the house, and essentially we are doing nothing, but yet none of us will ever forget these days.

The above is by Mahe. We will be seeking volunteers to help write the player of the season awards. sentinelcelts@gmail.com apply within.