SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Big day tomorrow as we make our return to league football after an enforced two week break. I always enjoyed a trip to Tannadice,even if I didn’t enjoy the result all the time,but as yet we have no concrete evidence of any efforts being successful at getting the fans back where they belong,which is at the game. I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies in that we are at least able to play,and to watch it on TV. I’ll be perched on a settee in Essex with my fingers crossed,because one thing is certain,and that is that we can’t afford another display like our one against Kilmarnock.

In fact,I think we need to make sure that we never have a display as bad as that one again-ever! Let’s hope that the players are suitably chastened by that experience,and that they come out with all guns blazing.

One player who looks unlikely to figure for us is Tom Rogic,with rumours that he is for the off. Some reports link him with a move to Qatar while others are suggesting he could be gone in a swap deal for Shane Duffy. It may be a tad harsh to say that we never saw the best of him-after all,he was outstanding in our Invincibles season-but there’s little doubt that he could have offered us more,and more often. His time with us has been largely blighted by niggling injuries,plus of course his frequent forays on international business with Australia,and really a player of his undoubted quality should have been a mainstay in the first team for the last five years or so. Instead he has been frustrated by injuries and we have too often been frustrated by his displays.

That he is being touted as a target for a Qatari club or as a makeweight in a swap deal for a centre half,and valued at a paltry £4m should be a source of shame for him. He should be getting priced at around £20m,a player as talented as he is. That he isn’t is simply down to himself,and any new contract with the buying club will reflect the price paid for him. He might want to think about that,and I hope that Ollie Ntcham gets the message too,that to get a decent contract it has to be earned.

One player who did manage to negotiate a decent contract on his departure is Kieran Tierney when he joined Arsenal. Okay,he isn’t on the mega-wages of Aubameyang but a year’s wages would cover Rogic’s transfer fee and with a few quid left over. We were all disappointed when he left,of course,though the move was heavily trailed on here from about April that year,but is that really any reason for some idiot Celtic fans to scrawl Judas on the walls of his house?

That’s the kind of behaviour which is usually the preserve of the worse elements of hunnery and I’m seriously disappointed that some of our fans thought it was an appropriate response. Let’s face it,the physical abuse he endured over three seasons at least was bloody criminal and would have seriously endangered his future career with us. The club didn’t seem to be making any effort to prevent this,and the only obvious way to stop it was to leave.

He left with my gratitude,and I believe the gratitude of most of us,and while I have no real interest in the progress of anyone who leaves us,I still wish him well,personally and professionally. He will be facing opponents down there who abide by the rules,and with referees who enforce them. If anyone is looking to attach blame here,they should look no further than the licensed thuggery permitted up here against our players.

On a lighter note,it seems that the huns are revolting-no,really! The news that their premium product kit is a pile of pish should come as no surprise to anyone who was paying attention,the new kit supplier Castore clearly isn’t equipped for large scale manufacture in a short time frame,and to be fair,the huns seem to have been buying the stuff in their droves. Some jerseys have turned up with branding misaligned or wrongly spelt,or with symbols missing. And it’s not cheap either,despite giving every impression of so being. Still,we always wanted the stars on their jerseys stripped and in the lack of any will in Scottish football to do so,we will have to accept this backdoor way of doing it.

But back to The Hoooooops,and I hope we start with two up front tomorrow. I can’t see it,mind,but it’s high time we changed our formation about a bit. When teams know how we are going to line up,and can make a pretty good guess at the personnel involved,it puts us at an immediate disadvantage. It’s time for Neil Lennon to change things around a bit more,keep the opposition guessing. I mean,we are all getting fed up with the team sheet being leaked hours before the match-and the club should be taking steps to find the mole,it’s been going on for years!-but most of us can hazard a guess at the line-up anyway.

Time for a bit of adventure,Neil. Try it,you might like it!

Above article by BMCUWP. There’s still time to post us your thoughts as Article of the Day,just mail MAHE

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