When Stuart Armstrong tested positive while on Scotland duty, Ryan Christie and two others in the squad were forced to isolate, missing important club games. Christopher Jullien’s diagnosis led to the most extraordinary day in a Test and Trace lab in Scotland, resulting in 13 players forced to remain at home during the decisive stage of the season.
John Fleck’s diagnosis on Scotland duty resulted in no one being told to isolate.
I heard what happened in the lab when Jullien came in positive – the extraordinary focus on interpreting potential exposure. I have seen photos from inside the plane journeys there and back – the extraordinary distances some forced to isolate were from source.
With media chat full of ‘Fergal Harkin for Celtic director of football’ speculation for months, you (and I) would be forgiven for thinking Man City’s Partnerships and Pathways (don’t ask me) manager was a serious candidate for the job.
Not so, I was assured last night. And yes, I did let it be known that while getting the cream of the world’s talent to pitch up in sunny Glasgow can be a challenge, staying ahead of the game on persistent stories like this is easier.
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Calling Ernie Lynch
Thanks for your comment this morning on previous blog regarding UKPMs and Catholicism.
Apart from the usual and completely unnecessary sarcastic punchline.
JHB
I agree that I’d be happy were the previous 100 spent searching for the right management team.
However, the current position indicates this was not the case or the time was not spent wisely ie giving one option several months to decide.
I read somewhere that 14 of the 16 Scottish clubs who had a managerial vacancy since Neil left have filled theirs. The other 2 being Dundee Utd and maybe Stranraer?
We need to avoid becoming adept at excusing poor performance
Serious question here and I admit to having no inside knowledge whatsoever but is anyone else buying the “we never wanted Harkin anyway” line?
Or is it just as likely he’s been on our radar for months then jilted us at the altar like Howe?
Because if he never was an option, who are the candidates and what has been the delay?
Richard Hughes , Fergal Harkin ………… all these ‘massive hoops fans’ who nevertheless don’t want to come to Celtic .
I wonder what’s putting them off ?
The SFA pull out 6 players from tonight’s bounce game, after Fleck’s positive Covid test,…..they’re kidding nobody….
Glen D- KDS saying McKay having second thoughts….
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD on 2ND JUNE 2021 12:19 PM
100 % agree.
When you read some who have never or will not give Celtic any credit it does damage the credibility of said poster.
BADA
If true , we can add him to the list . Wouldn’t blame him BTW.
!!BADA BING!! on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:14 PM
Just signed a contract.
glendalystonsils on 2nd June 2021 1:13 pm
Apparently huns being huns in George Square is the cause, absolutely nothing to do with Celtic.
…what salford said.
HH.
SYDNEYTIM – yes, MELB’s the nation’s sporting capital. Love it to bits.
Shame the new lockdown scuppering so many games – stay safe HH
EKBHOY on 2ND JUNE 2021 11:58 AM
LAMBERT14
Lambo …. if memory serves (which hey it may not) Saint Brendan starting gobbing off against the club and He should have been shown the door there and then after the AEK debacle … he started to work his ticket from that day that much is clear , nothing to do with PL or the board , it was all about Brendan
———————————————————-
On the contrary, what Rodgers done leading up to Lawwell going to Chris McLaughlin should have seen the opposite to what you suggest, whereby you wanted him sacked.
Rodgers confirmed that Lawwell had signed a player he didn’t want.
I will always be thankful that Rodgers confirmed what Lawwell was like, rather than just hearing the rumours.
Notice that Lawwell would never state he signed players, not the manager.
Big yellow streak up his back Lawwell knew how the fans would react.
That is when he went to the BBC, because he had been rumbled, and he didn’t like it.
And you wanted him sacked!
For finding out the truth!
Are you for real?
Remember that was the summer of the lowball bids for weeks and weeks for John McGinn, when Lawwell finally made the required bid….when McGinn was sitting in Villa Park!!
Remember too, that we were sitting with over 30 million in the bank after Rodgers instigated a double treble.
Lawwell should have been sacked at that moment for gross incompetence as Rodgers had had enough of him by then.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:18 PM
There can’t be a Celtic fan in the universe who doesn’t already know what the huns are like/capable of .
SQUIRE DANAHER on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:04 PM
It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic.
I struggled to find the source last time I looked so assumed most people would just give up. But when I looked again today I found it very quickly. Probably just the search terms used.
The point is there’s no bar against Catholics being PM, and there’s no doubt about it. So why it keeps getting brought up is a bit of a mystery. Particularly when it’s by supporters of Cunninghames own party.
I suspect the answer wasn’t what Cunningham was expecting. She should have remembered never to ask a question you don’t know the answer to.
Financial meltdown at i-broke again, getting worse court case by court case.
Could it be lighting fires within out support is the ultimate squirrel by hunposters.
Yet so many lap it up doing der hun’s job for them.
Yes losing 10 nightmare- but the blog reads like a crazy house the last week.
glendalystonsils
Agreed, just another squirrel to blame everyone except those who are to blame.
JF – I read your (longer) piece on AP’s managerial history, and found it well researched and informative, it certainly had a ton of info I had not until then considered. If I can provide a little constructive criticism, it sometimes feels like you’ve arrived at a very strongly held opinion without perhaps taking the reader through your journey to get there. But I get you’re a passionate guy.
I’d counter a couple of points for context. Firstly AP won the Australian A league with Brisbane Roar, a league win and two “championship”s. While the A league is pretty low key, to put it in a meaningful context it has combined squad values about equal to English league one. Brisbane Roar are about the least fancied team in that league, with a squad value half that of the top teams. They had never won a league or championship prior to AP joining, and they also managed to go on a 36 match unbeaten run under him which remains a league record.
Regarding the J league, this has a combined squad value slightly higher than the SPFL but it’s not dominated by any 1 or 2 clubs. It is a far more competitive league, 4 different clubs have won the league in the last 6 years. As we know AP won the J league with Yokohama Mariners in 2019, this was their first league win in 15 years, in fact they hadn’t won a thing in that 15 year period. This year they’re on track for 3rd which (not including the league win) would be their best finish since 2013.
It’s beyond doubt that AP turned both those clubs around, however my doubts and worries remain generally in alignment with yours, though perhaps not so powerfully held. Can he transfer this success to a whole new continent, a new league, and a totally different dynamic? His record gives me some hope but I’m really not sure, and I kinda like “sure” or failing that as near as I can get. I just don’t know, so this can feel a little like a Hail Mary appointment.
What really bamboozles me though is how different a prospect this is to Eddie Howe. We spent two months tickling and flirting with Eddie Howe, while he fluttered his eyelashes demurely. A particular type of manager, a known quantity, a proven record in a strong league, knows all about the game on these isles and comes with a ready made backroom team. Only to undertake a total change of direction to this type of possible appointment straight out of leftfield, an unknown, never worked in Europe, etc. It’s bizarre.
MARTIM1980 on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:25 PM
‘Yes losing 10 nightmare-‘
###
It was the manner of losing and the subsequent omnishambles that’s causing the discord.
ERNIE LYNCH on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:30 PM
To which i still maintain, losing supporters was higher contributory factor than many accept. They flourished as they had no abuse or pressure.
Combine that with covid gate, the huns dodgy or lack testing, unequal punishments and some of the most bizarre refereeing in years, it’s not all at our door.
JHB on 2ND JUNE 2021 12:59 PM
Belligerent Activism once more on show on here with a piece of unsubstantiated & maliicious gossip being used to smear Brian Wilson…dear oh dear!
……………..
Almost ALL that YOU Post on here is ” unsubstantiated & malicious gossip”…its never stopped YOU !
Oh ” The IRONY”, Dear oh Dear.
For Example…..” Howe and his backroom team refuse to come to Celtic because of the attack on PL and the George Square Riots “.
I will ask you YET AGAIN…” HOW do you KNOW this, have you got Howes Email address and Telephone number…or that of his backroom staff” ?
ERNIE LYNCH on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:24 PM
Fair enough 👍
ernie lynch on 2nd June 2021 1:30 pm
One of the scary moments when I agree with Ernie.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:13 PM
“Richard Hughes , Fergal Harkin ………… all these ‘massive hoops fans’ who nevertheless don’t want to come to Celtic .
I wonder what’s putting them off ?”
The prospect of your house being burned down with your family in it?
Celtic shop selling BLUE Fitba Tops that resemble the Huns Strip from 1992/93…With ” 10″ Printed on the front and possibly also the back ?
Ooh…and it just so happens to be Priced at ” £55″ !
The Tops are designed for every city being represented in the EURO’s. different colours for different cities I would imagine.
Is this yet ANOTHER Balls Up from the Celtic Board ?
HH
JHB is without a doubt the best parody poster on the internet.
Top man for reeling everyone in.
UNCLE JIMMY on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:07 PM
———
Supposing we had moved much quicker, followed a similar path to the Ibrox club three years ago and announced Shaun Maloney as our manager. It would have been sort of similar, but of course Maloney has more experience at a much higher level.
In my opinion there would have been pandemonium against him on here and probably every other blog-site.
I am not avoiding the issue, I can assure you. It is difficult to get the right fit for Celtic. Macari & Mowbray seemed good fits at the time, both with good experience – not a million miles away from Eddie Howe. Paul Lambert not even considered although he, like Howe, has taken a provincial teams through the leagues and one into the EPL – again he would have not been a popular choice on here.
The Aussie guy intrigues me – maybe he could be the management equivalent of Lubo – who knows.
We spent a lot of time & done our best to secure our number one choice Eddie Howe – it didn’t work out in the end. Is that failure or just circumstances?
Every time we don’t get what we want cannot be judged a failure – otherwise all our lives would total failure interspersed by the odd non-failure.
A posteriori, Latin for “from the latter”, is a term from logic, which usually refers to reasoning that works backward from an effect to its causes. This kind of reasoning can sometimes lead to false conclusions.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:23 PM
TIMMY7_NOTED on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:18 PM
There can’t be a Celtic fan in the universe who doesn’t already know what the huns are like/capable of .
True right up until they nearly murder our CEO and his family. Bit of a game changer that wouldn’t you say?
Aahhhhhhhh balance such a distant memory in online discussion.
Permanently outraged seems to be the trend.
Twitter.
Celtic announced in December that we would see major restructuring of the footballing department. We are now in June, Neil Lennon left 98 days ago, and we are no further forward.
Martim1980- who knows what’s in the contract? Cooling off period……
CELTIC40ME
It was a genuine question , not a rhetorical one . You may be right , but I suspect it’s more complex than that.
!!BADA BING!! on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:51 PM
Possibly but how do they know he’s having second thoughts? Have he told them? That’s itself could be a breach.
I just think there’s a complete lack of reason.
“TIMMY7_NOTED on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:40 PM
ernie lynch on 2nd June 2021 1:30 pm
One of the scary moments when I agree with Ernie.”
I would imagine that might be a bit scary for ernie as well.
JHB
I share your pessimism for next season. And the ones after that once the cheating hun get their hands on the ECL money. You paint a picture of a club caught and overtaken by a new club that’s come up from the lowest tier. That’s absolutely correct.
Stivs
Never had a problem with Brian Wilson or questioned his integrity, as pet your receipts story. He’s not the problem. But neither it seems, is he the solution.
ACSOM rumouring 11K season book sales thus far. If it was 57K last season i’m guessing 25-30K this. Calamitous if that proves anywhere near accurate.
I guess the well off guys can then sit in judgment of non-renewers who don’t meet their ‘true fan’ criterion.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 2ND JUNE 2021 1:51 PM
“You may be right , but I suspect it’s more complex than that.”
No shizz Sherlock
Here we go again. Sigh.