I WAS forced to check it wasn’t April 1 yesterday when I noted a headline that informed me – and everyone else, for that matter – that ‘Rangers are everything Celtic aren’t right now’ and ‘the smart money is on the club that’s throwing it about’.
Oh, really?
That will be the same Rangers team that were booed off the pitch for the second successive Saturday after another lame performance in the Premiership where they have shed four points from a possible six in back-to-back 1-1 draws with Motherwell and Dundee.
No prizes are handed out at this stage of the season, but this is hardly the start Russell Martin was hoping for when he accepted the role after Wee Barry and his pals were handed their collective P45s when the final ball was kicked back in May.
I wouldn’t read too much into their results in their three Champions League outings. Panathinaikos contrived to lose the tie after failing to take a landslide of chances over the two legs.
HIT AND MISS…a Panathinaikos player thumps the ball off keeper Jack Butland.
Rather crudely, a friend of mine, an avid follower of the Ibrox side, as a matter of fact, put it this way: ‘If the Greeks had been in Dallas, JFK would still be alive.’
I’m sure you get the drift. Viktoria Plzen were the second best team in the Czech Republic last season. I have no idea what the standard of football is like in that part of the universe, but, on the evidence in Govan during the week, my heart goes out to fans who have to watch this drivel on a weekly basis.
Yes, the American-owned club across the city have been spending money like a drunken sailor. So what? Are we supposed to be impressed by the fact they are writing cheques – or wiring dollars, as the case may be – as they paper over the cracks from previous failed campaigns?
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but my knees have not been rattling like coconuts in a tropical storm at the farrago of transfer activity in the blue corner.
We’ve seen Lyall Cameron arrive on a free from Dundee, two loan players – Max Aarons and Nasser Djiga -come in from Bournemouth and Wolves respectively – while there have been another couple in for undisclosed fees – Joe Rothwell and Theo Aasgaard – from Bournemouth (again) and Luton Town.
HEAVEN IN GOVAN? Not quite for new Ibrox boss Russell Martin.
Oliver Antman, Emmanuel Fernandez and Djeidi Gassama have joined Martin for a reported combined outlay of £10.1million. That’s almost £1million short of what Arne Engels cost Celtic from Augsburg last summer.
And we cannot forget the £4.5million the club were forced to pay RC Lens for the injury-prone Oscar Cortes. That commitment was written into his loan arrangement and the French side cashed in. Bon cri, Lens. Or good shout, Lens; the choice is yours.
And, just to emphasise this is the silly season, we have the Go Ahead Eagles sporting director, a chap by the name of Jan Willem Dop, saying Celtic should follow the example of their city neighbours while conducting transfer business.
The wonderfully-named Antman was whisked out of the Eredivisie club for £4.4million while it has been reported the champions have had three bids – £1.5m, £1.7m and £2.6m – knocked back for Danish Under-21 winger Jakob Breum.
The Dutch side are apparently holding out for at least £6million because the player’s former club, Odense, are due 25 per cent of any future transfer fee. If the Eagles powerbrokers aren’t well versed on contract negotiations that is hardly the fault of Celtic.
Supremo Dop, speaking to his local media, is quoted as saying: “There was some interest from Celtic for Jakob Breum, but we felt the gap was too wide. Things moved very quickly with Oliver Antman and Glasgow Rangers. Celtic could have taken a leaf out of Rangers’ book, haha.”
A Dutchman with a sense of humour? That’s a first.
SPEAK NO EVIL…Brendan Rodgers is concentrating on results.
So, it appears there is an ever-growing queue of people only too willing to offer advice to Celtic. Thanks, folks, but we’ve been managing okay without your input for the greater percentage of a trophy-laden 21st Century.
I understand the concerns of the followers who demand the Parkhead moneymen dig into the vast reserves of available funds to help the manager strengthen his squad.
But I’ve never been a great believer of buying for buying’s sake and, as we must all surely acknowledge by now, the picture becomes clearer and the unrealistic demands of selling clubs and the equally impractical ultimatums from selfish agents and advisers are put into proper perspective and – Hey! Presto! – deals can be concluded.
Who knows? Maybe Russell Martin’s hotchpotch first team jigsaw could go all the way and win the Champions League this season.
Maybe I’ll just go for a walk on the moon as I while away the hours before Celtic kick off against Aberdeen at Pittodrie at 12.30pm today.
Enjoy the game, folks!
ALEX GORDON
