SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Just as we are heading into an international break with all in the garden looking rosy,I suppose it has to fall to the media to do their best to bring Celtic back to the pack a bit. I suppose you can’t blame them for that-let’s face it,their overhyped and overpaid heroes have been found wanting so far. Trying to “boost” the huns has just been a waste of newsprint,it lasts as long as it takes for the next disappointment to slap them in the face. 

So you can just about imagine the scenario when the hacks get together. Maybe that will be in their usual dingy wee bars after a press conference with their latest messiah,maybe it will be at a weekly editorial brainstormer. If you can in fact imagine the latter,more of a gentle breeze than a storm!

“So how do we f..k these fenians,they’re running away with everything? 

Two of their latest tactics seem to consist of one from the bottom drawer of old-school dirty tricks,while the other is actually perfectly feasible. And it is the latter which should concern us most. 

But to deal with them in order,the first one is simply to undermine our players,unsettle them with stories real or imagined. It is certainly true that three of the contenders for Player of the Year have been overlooked by their international managers for the upcoming matches. These things happen at times-look how often The Lisbon Lions were overlooked by Scotland,for instance. But the SMSM weren’t content with just the story,they wanted the story behind it all. 

So they asked the Japanese team manager why he has left Kyogo and Reo out of the squad. He apparently replied that they weren’t playing in a strong enough league to be considered. Cue the smelling salts,the shock as the hacks knew they had their story! No consideration given to the fact that Maeda has been selected,just as he was for the Japanese World Cup squad. That would be too inconvenient,and would only muddy the waters. 

Then they threw in the omission of CCV from the US national team,making sure that they mentioned that he has not been picked despite also featuring in Qatar. Oh no,this is all down to the poor quality of our league,that the players should be considering their future if they want to have one at international level. That players considering joining us would do well to reconsider for those same reasons. 

No thought given to any reputational damage to the game as a result,only the possibility that their brainwave might harm us. Geniuses. These turkeys would vote for Christmas if they thought it was Celtic who were gonna get stuffed. I think they are onto plums with this tactic,and I’m sure it will blow over. 

We know how modern footballing contracts work,we know that if a player wants to leave then he most probably will be allowed to. We know that if an acceptable offer comes in,it will be considered. There’s a pecking order in the game,and we aren’t as high in it as we once were. That’s life. But plums it is,because for starters Kyogo and Reo don’t yet have good enough English to read the papers,and CCV is at the stage where a bit of stability is a welcome change. So the papers can keep trying on this one,but I think they’re wasting their time. 

The second front that they have broached is one that has been mentioned here two or three times already. That is the current five substitutes concept. The sharper tools amongst the hacks have noticed how,of all the sides in Scotland,it is Celtic who are benefiting most from it. This is simply because we have a squad of higher quality than the rest,so the choices available to Ange are more varied,and more likely to add to the performance on a given day than to detract from it. 

Five fresh sets of legs after 60-70 minutes is easy enough to do if you have enough players available. Bringing on five quality sets of fresh legs is only possible if you have enough quality players available. As we have seen often enough,that is a luxury only afforded to Ange in our league. The other teams can bring on five runners-and that’s about it. 

Well,cue the toys getting thrown out of the pram. All of a sudden,this is bad for the game up here,despite its introduction being praised everywhere else in the game. It cuts down on injuries,it keeps players fresh. More to the point,it keeps players happy,even the players who aren’t getting a regular start. They know they have a part to play,and that they are valued for that part. But because it is benefitting Celtic most of all,they want it stopped. 

But how? It’s a FIFA/UEFA directive,is it not? It’s part of the laws of the game,how can we simply ignore it in Scotland? Well,here’s the clever thinking on their part. It ISN’T part of the laws of the game,it is a discretionary directive introduced as a result of the pandemic. The laws still state that up to three substitutes may be used,with a fourth available during extra-time. The directive is purely discretionary and it is left to the local governing body to decide whether to implement it or not. 

I suspect that the SFA wouldn’t even have to put it to a vote of the member clubs,that they can decide whatever they like without input from the clubs. But if some quiet pressure was applied,a phone call here or a handshake there,I reckon they would be accommodating. 

Now,even with only the previous three subs available,Celtic still have significantly the best players available to call on. But it will greatly reduce our advantage,and undermine Ange’s game plan. Life would be much easier were FIFA/UEFA to adopt the five as a mandatory change to the existing law,but I think that is out of their hands. 

Celtic need to resist this from the start. We can ignore the attacks on the players and international squads,but this one is different if it is acted upon. Time for the board to earn their money here.

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Above article by BMCUWP