Football in July, the brilliant Dave King

Celtic play their fifth and final preseason friendly tomorrow before Tuesday’s Champions League qualifier in Armenia.  Five games feels light.  Legs will still be tired after each game, the prospect of 90 minutes in extreme heat will not be welcome.

Opponents Alashkert will have played only three preseason games before facing Celtic, each against lower league Russian opponents, so while they will cope better with the heat, their underlying fitness will not be better than Celtic’s.

In theory, Tuesday’s game should be welcomed as an opportunity to increase preparedness before the tougher challenges that lie ahead.  But this is football in July, when normal rules do not apply, as Lincoln Red Imps demonstrated two years ago.

Loved the lack of logic in Dave King’s written response to BBC’s Alasdair Lamont’s question on the Takeover Panel’s Contempt of Court proceedings.  “The [Takeover Panel] know that I live in [South Africa] and that it will require exchange control approval to move the funds to London.  They are just bullying me”.

The Takeover Panel’s rules (which exist for everyone) that an offer has to have proven funds in the UK is not an actual impediment.  If King’s funds were not in the UK, he would be unable to pay for the shares three weeks after the offer is made.

Takeover Panel rules merely bring the date cash is required forward by three weeks.  Still, I am sure this talk of bullying will make the Takeover Panel think twice before crossing King again.

This guy is beyond brilliant.  He is behaving like this openly.  You know how it ends.