SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Due to unforeseen circumstances such as signing a useless twat last season who manages to encompass the deficiencies of all three of Dorothy’s companions in The Wizard Of Oz-no heart,no brain,no courage-we were deprived once again of watching our heroes in action at the weekend. It wasn’t without its moments though,as both the megabucks Manc clubs met their comeuppance,and we finally saw the dying embers of the great Barcelona side,who lit up much of the last decade for us all,snuffed out in the most ruthless of fashions. 

8-2,8-bloody-2!!! It’s kind of reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch,except that one with Michael Palin was funny. Watching Bayern absolutely destroy Barcelona wasn’t,not really. It was pitiful,an abject humiliation. Yet,less than a year ago,I watched that Bayern side beat Spurs in London by 7-2,so anyone doing their homework should have known that going into a game like that against such opponents,and playing a defence which was as much use as a chocolate fireguard,was likely not to end well. 

And so it proved. 

We all love The Beautiful Game,we all love our silky skills. Sometimes,such as this,we need a reminder that victories are achieved just as much,if not more,by a solid rearguard as by our talismanic front men. I think the last time that Barcelona had a decent defender was when Carlos Puyol was there,and he was best known for his last-ditch interceptions and throwing his body on the line. There’s yer Barcelona failings laid bare,no defensive structure for years because they didn’t think they needed to bother with that kind of stuff,it was beneath them. 

Recent shocking results in Europe-some thrashings in the later stages in The Champions League from such as PSG,Liverpool and Juventus-suggest that they don’t need a Pocchetino,they need a George Graham. Which is sad,but thems the breaks. 

And anyway,I don’t remember much sympathy from them after they scudded us a few times,so hell mend them…

Meanwhile,back at the ranch and in the absence of a George Graham ourselves,we need a centre back who scares the opposition shitless,and does the same to his defensive colleagues-in the right way,of course. I still hold out hope for Shane Duffy,and I can’t wait for him to arrive. I recall I Wanna saying that he enjoyed being at Celtic,and that the French players already there were making it easier for him. That his English was improving-its probably better than mine!-but he still found some of the Scottish lads difficult to understand,particularly during a match. 

Wait till he hears a Derry accent,that’ll be fun!!!

I think £5m will get him,but I’m a tad concerned that two other Brighton centre backs,Dunk and Webster,are being talked about as big money targets. First,that might get them used to levering their assets,secondly it might mean that they decide to keep him. This one won’t happen tomorrow,and I’m sure we will have other targets just in case. But we definitely need a commanding figure in there,and the sooner the better. 

Up front,the Toney from Peterborough stuff won’t go away,but unless his bosses stop shouting their mouths off,I can’t see us doing business on it. An obnoxious duo are Fry and MacDoughnut,just made for each other. My thinking is that we have no intention of dealing with that club now,and will deal with the player and his agent prior to a pre-contract in January. Frankly,I think that’s how I would deal with them too. I’m not a great fan of the company of people who diss me behind my back,and after a parting gift,usually take nothing more to do with them. A pre-contract can be Celtic’s parting gift to Dumb and Dumber,teach them some manners. 

Elsewhere,it seems that our noxious neighbours have failed again in their decade long task to record four wins in a row at the start of a league season,and their boss still can’t top his personal best of four in a row ever. Quel dommage. I could weep,but my sides haven’t recovered from earlier,particularly when I Timterloped onto the dark side and saw fuses popping everywhere. Who knew football could be such fun,especially a no score bore draw? Truly the gift that just can’t stop giving. 

Cheered me up no end,nearly as much as all the English teams getting a doing in Portugal this week. England’s oldest ally? With friends like that…

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Above article by BMCUWP. Back to the football soon,but there’s still time to send us your thoughts for Article of the Day. Mail MAHE

sentinelcelts@gmail.com