Hibs 0-2 Celtic: Celtic make the Cup semis amongst flying Bucky bottles and coins.

Celtic survived Hibs and their fans as we secured a 2-0 win at Easter Road to make it an incredible 25 consecutive domestic cup wins and as well as 11 straight domestic wins on the bounce as we progressed to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Not much to talk about in the first half as it was pretty stagnant stuff but we got our act together in the second half as the game opened up a little. Still, it was difficult to see where a goal was going to come from until James Forrest took matters into his own hands and fired a bullet in on 62 mins that nearly ripped the net out and sent us on our way.

Hibs didn’t have much in the way of a response and we pushed on eventually getting our rewards when Edouard set-up captain Scott Brown who glided into the box and past the Hibs defence before rifling a thunderbolt in at close range to put the tie beyond doubt on 75 mins.

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Goal machine!

The victory means Neil Lennon has gone 2-0 since his unexpected return to the hot seat at the club on Tuesday with both wins coming in his old stomping ground of Edinburgh.

Off the field, the Hibs fans showed far more resistance than their players as they unsuccessfully tried to pelt Scott Sinclair with a Buckfast bottle and later on a coin as he attempted to take corner kicks in the second half.

In the aftermath, Hibs tried to deflect attention by claiming there had been a bottle thrown by a Celtic fan too. Strange no TV or press cameras picked that up.

Of course, all of this is just a west coast of Scotland problem apparently. That’s the narrative that has been put forward anyway in the last few weeks. The kids in Leith, Dundee and up in Grampian are holier than though we’re told. Mmmmmm…….I wonder how they’ll spin this latest incidence?!

Michael Stewart will no doubt be calling for strict liability which is a total non-starter and easily abused anyway but I wonder if anyone will point out the fact that the game kicked off with an early Saturday evening start time? I tend to find that in our society that that’s when people tend to consume the most alcohol. Just a thought. Others will use it as further evidence that we shouldn’t sell alcohol within football stadiums which is also absurd as the problem is being caused by people bringing in alcohol and the type of stuff you’d never be able to buy in a football ground anyway.

The draw for the semis isn’t until Monday night on BBC after the final match of the round which is Partick Thistle vs Hearts at Firhill and with Rangers playing Aberdeen at Pittodrie tomorrow, as well as Dundee Utd visiting Inverness Caley, whoever we get at Hampden it’s bound to be interesting, to say the least. Isn’t it always.

Tomorrow, of course, Brendan Rodgers begins his reign of broken promises and empty soundbites with Leicester City away at Watford. He says one day he’d like to come back and maybe manage us again once all the fury over his departure has calmed down of course in about ten or so years. What is he like?! I think I speak for all of us by saying I hope he and his new team get resoundingly pumped tomorrow.

C’mon Watford.

As for Celtic our players now get a much deserved week-long rest before being back in action at home to Aberdeen next Saturday at Celtic Park. This should give us a chance to try and get Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie back to fitness as they are definitely being missed. I’m not Nir Bitton’s biggest critic and admire his persistence and professionalism but he and Brown do not for a creative midfield make.

Anyway, that was a good win with two excellent goals that I’ll definitely put up when they become available. It had banana skin written all over what with Hibs three game-winning run under new boss Paul Heckinbottom coming in, the fact that we hadn’t won on our last three visits there and the irony of Neil Lennon being back at his old club so soon after his quietly acrimonious departure in late January.

Job done and we still have a historic Treble Treble within our grasp which seemed like it could be derailed after the past weeks pretty stunning and upsetting events in regards to our former leader.

Well done Bhoys. Keep it going.

 

Celtic 2-0 Hibs: DĂ©jĂ  Vu at the top and pantomime season lingers on at Pittodrie.

Another game. Another Celtic victory. Oh and another clean sheet. So that’s 6-0 now in terms of the 2019 winning streak and 16-0 on aggregate since returning from the break. These intros are now more or less writing themselves.

So last night Celtic secured another three points as the march towards eight consecutive titles rolls on. As expected a somewhat demoralised Hibs team in disarray since the departure of their manager Neil Lennon offered little. In their dugout, Eddie May continues to look as about uncomfortable as a pilgrim in an unholy land no doubt suffering flashbacks to his ever so brief yet disastrous tenure at the helm of Falkirk nearly a decade ago. Time flies. He also disclosed after the match he’d put off having a vasectomy so as to attend the game. That’s commitment. Either that or he bottled it.

Under Lennon, Hibs were a challenge every time we met them. Indeed in the last six league encounters between us and them, we’d only beaten them twice suffering two defeats and drawing twice in the process with an aggregate score of 10-10. Every game had been free-scoring save one with goals flying in at either end. However last night they offered little and Celtic pretty much did as they pleased with Timothy Weah and Scott Sinclair both going close before Jeremy Toljan cut in from the right to feed Christie in the box and the Scotland internationalist turned and buried it nicely to open the scoring on 24 mins. The rest of the half was more of the same.

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That’s the way to do it. 

In the second half, Celtic continued to create chance after chance and it should have been two when Boyata’s point-blank header was saved magnificently by Ofir Marciano. But the points were wrapped up finally on 63 mins when McGregor fed Christie from his own half and he scampered forward before releasing Burke with a nicely placed through ball that was duly executed in the box by that man Oliver Burke who finished via a deflection from the diving Darren McGregor which dinked over the despairing Marciano.

As a result, Celtic move onto 57 points with their third consecutive 2-0 win and remain six points clear of second-placed Rangers who stayed in contention thanks to a 4-2 win at Pittodrie over Aberdeen which sees the Govan based side pull five points ahead of the Dons after a controversy-filled affair. Having gone into the break 3-1 up thanks to two goals from Alfredo Morelos and the customary penalty for James Tavernier all looked comfortable before Englishman Tavernier conceded a penalty in his own box early in the second half that was converted by recent goal machine Sam Cosgrove. Then back up the other end, that man Morelos continued his pantomime style approach to the beautiful game as he raked a foot down alleged Celtic target Scott McKenna before appearing to take a stud to the face as the big Reds defender retaliated. Morelos went down like he’d been tasered by Grampians finest and both were subsequently shown red cards. Thereafter the home side dominated and were unlucky not to get another penalty when Allan McGregor unsuccessfully tried to break the shin of young Lewis Ferguson before a breakaway deep into injury time saw Jermain Defoe bury his new sides fourth goal and secure the points.

Earlier on today Alfredo Morelos red card was rather brazenly appealed by his employers. If the SPFL – or is it the SFA? – actually, entertain it never mind overturn the original decision then any last lingering shreds of credibility the ruling body have in Scottish football will be thoroughly doused in petrol and incinerated for good. It would be lunacy. So that’s probably why it might happen.

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Morelos was fine in the end by the way.

As the candles dimmed on Aberdeens’ unlikely title challenge they were also more or less extinguished over at Dens Park where Kilmarnock were held to a 2-2 draw by relegation battlers Dundee. 2-1 down at halftime Steve Clarke’s men got it back to equal terms thanks to a spectacular free-kick from Chris Burke and then laid siege to their host’s goal before Kenny Miller raced clear on the break in the dying embers and won a penalty. He stepped up to covert but fluffed it though and Dundee passed up the chance for two undeserved but vital extra points.

Livingston stopped the rot of their recent five-game losing run by batoning down the hatches at Tynecastle and securing a 0-0 draw against their favourite team Hearts whilst the Brian Rice revolution got off to a flyer at New Douglas Park thanks to a 2-1 win for his new charges Hamilton Accies against St.Johnstone for whom the wheels have really come off recently. That’s their fourth league loss on the spin having only lost two of their previous thirteen.

The season of woe over in Paisley continues for St.Mirren and their beleaguered manager Oran Kearney. They suffered their sixth loss in a row on league duty via a 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell and that’s their 19th in 25 in what has been a truly awful campaign. Their 0-0 draw in his first match against us back in mid-September must feel like a managerial lifetime ago for Kearney and you wonder just how much longer it can go on for before the latest axe swings on a Premiership manager’s head.

As for the rejuvenated Motherwell, that’s their fifth straight league win in a row now with nine goals scored and only two conceded. Youngsters such as Jake Hastie, Allan Campbell and David Turnbull have really come into form and they now look almost odds on to catch struggling St.Johnstone for a top six place which seemed nigh on impossible going into the winter break.

This weekend it’s back to the cup and we entertain that very team I’ve just written off in St.Johnstone on Sunday. Injury wise we are still likely to be without Odsonne Edouard and James Forrest with Tierney, Rogic, Benkovic and Griffiths also still way off.  Emilio  Izaguirre could also struggle after suffering a heavy tackle to his ankle last night though according to Brendan it’s not as bad as first feared.  Bayo made the bench last night and might see some game time but again the expectations will lie with our go-to guys McGregor and Christie as well as the new Timothy Weah / Olly Burke connection.

Kilmarnock will be hoping to repeat their recent win over Rangers in the Saturday evening game and there will be all the razmataz and glamour of the Highland Derby on Monday night. Expect Dundee Utd to also fancy themselves at a dejected St.Mirren in what could be another nail in Oran Kearney’s Scottish football management coffin.

 

The injuries pile up but we’re still out in front.

On early Sunday afternoon, Celtic extended their perfect form since returning from the winter break to 5-0 and 14-0 on aggregate.

However, unlike the previous four games, which had all been played at Celtic Park and had all been pretty routinely one-sided domestic affairs we actually had a match to contend with on Sunday.

Early doors St.Johnstone showed some ambition and created a few chances, something which they had, by and large, failed to do in 90 minutes when visiting Celtic Park last Wednesday. But then after about 15 minutes, they resorted to previous tactics of shutting up shop and playing eleven men behind the ball after what could only have been a sudden mass flashback to the 6-0 hiding they had endured on their home patch against the men in hoops back in October. Strange as we wore the away strip that day.

Anyway thereafter Celtic struggled to break them down in what can only be described as a dull and turgid affair as we passed the ball about relentlessly in front of them. Pretty apt for a dreary early February Sunday afternoon.

The game had 0-0 written all over it but fortune favours the brave and Odsonne Edouard came on for his first appearance since a substitute display at Ibrox back in December and his presence seemed to almost immediately spark us into life with Saints keeper Zander Clark saving well as French Eddy blasted a fine effort towards goal from twenty yards out. James Forrest then burst into the box and dinked one to the back post where Ryan Christie was cut in half by Jason Kerr before Clark saved again this time from Scott Sinclair and then finally Joe Shaughnessy booted the ball clear off the line, taking Edouard’s foot in the process resulting the Frenchman having to be subbed off only eight minutes after coming on.

That made you think it really wasn’ going to be our day but enter Timothy Weah as Odsonne’s replacement and he immediately set about terrorising the Perth sides defence This culminated in him taking down a speculative long ball to the edge of the box from Scott Brown rather masterfully before executing a lovely ball to the far post where James Forrest nipped in ahead of the unaware Scott Tanser to prod home the opener. A minute later Forrest was booked for celebrating with the crowd and a minute after that he walked off with a hamstring injury reducing us to ten men as all three substitutes had already been used at this point.

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Kiss the badge.

With ten minutes left this emboldened the hosts to venture forward and after committing everyone upfield for a corner on the 89th minute they were made to pay the price as Celtic broke through Scott Sinclair who released Weah and the 18-year-old played a one-two with Callum McGregor with the return ball seeing Weah bury it to wrap up the points.

Minutes later that Kristofer Ajer got a straight red after losing the ball to Callum Hendry who he then subsequently pulled back and as the last man a straight red was the inevitable conclusion.

So we finished with only nine men but the three points were what was most important and with that mission accomplished as we return to the top of the league and maintain a six points gap over second-placed Rangers.

That being said the bill from the match was pretty steep. Edouard only just back from injury and stretchered off, along with Forrest departing with a sudden hamstring pull and a straight red and automatic ban for Ajer. Even Christie was struggling with a rib injury near the end after the aformnetioned incident where he was scythed down by Kerr in a what should have been a blatant penalty that went completely unnoticed by the officials.

The positives were the continuing impressive showings by Weah who really has breathed new enthusiasm and life into the side with his effervescent displays. I also thought Olly Burke was doing a good job, indeed he nearly scored twice the first from a lung-busting run down the flanks in the first half and I thought him unfortunate to be subbed for Edouard when Scott Sinclair had done absolutely nothing all afternoon. He was also involved in another dismissed penalty incident in the first half which looked pretty clearcut to me and no doubt he would have got it if his jersey had a lot less green and a helluva lot more blue on it. Jeremy Toljan also made his debut after his transfer deadline day loan from Borussia Dortmund with Mikel Lustig going off at halftime with yet another injury. Toljan looked pretty accomplished and surprisingly sharp considering he has hardly featured this season for his parent club.

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The new bhoy.

Elsewhere Rangers got three dodgy penalties as Andrew Dallas made daddy proud via a virtuoso display of breathtaking ineptitude at Ibrox with the home side winning out 4-0 in the end and Aberdeen won 2-1 at Easter Road as the reality of the post-Lennon era starts to hit home and the Dons keep up their unlikely title challenge. Hearts gained a surprise 2-1 win at high flying Kilmarnock whilst Motherwell hammered Livingston 3-0 as the men from the Tony Macaroni faltered to their fifth straight defeat. Dundee also drew 1-1 at Hamilton in a result that doesn’t do much for either side but does signal the beginning of perennial right-hand man Brian Rice’s long-awaited assault on Scottish football management.

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I take it you’ve all seen that What’s App video by now?

On Wednesday we play managerless Hibs who are currently under the temporary guidance of ‘Mr Reluctant’ Eddie May.  It’s at home and it’s pretty much a game in which anything other than a resounding win considering our opposition’s predicament would be seen as three points thrown away. Add in the real possibility that Rangers could drop points that very night as they face a resurgent Aberdeen side up at Pittodrie and a win is vital. The Dons have only lost one in their last eleven domestic games, nine of which have been in the league and that was against us on Boxing Day in an end to end affair. They themselves sit only two points behind the men from Govan.

But what the hell kind of team are we going to put out is the main question? Kieron Tierney has only just returned to light training so is still way off, both Benkovic and Rogic are facing 4-6 weeks on the sidelines, Ajer is of course suspended and then add in the three casualties from the weekend then you have a bonafide injury crisis. It could mean that forgotten men such as Bitton, Jonny Hayes and even Jack Hendry are called back into action some of whom I figured it would seem unlikely we’d ever see in a Celtic jersey again. Encouragingly though Boyata is apparently back into full training with Ntcham, not far behind him and Leigh Griffiths has been included in the just announced Europa League squad so may not be too far off it either.

For tomorrow night, followed by the cup game against St.Johnstone……..again……. at the weekend and then Valencia next Thursday it really is all hands to the pump.

 

Celtic 2-0 St.Johnstone: Six points clear one month into the new year plus transfer deadline day talk.

In the last update on the blog, I wrote that it was three wins on the spin since the return from the winter break. Well, I guess we can make that four now as Celtic coasted home to a 2-0 win over St.Johnstone which makes it 12 goals scored and four clean sheets too.

At the top of the table we remain and now we’re six points clear with a superior goal difference as well. Not a bad eleven days if you ask me. Incredible to think we’ve already played four games in that time.

Celtic dominated the first half with Saints keeper Zander Clark making a wonderful save from a point-blank Scott Sinclair header. Later on, in the half,  Olly Burke produced a curling effort from the left-hand side of the box which zipped just past the far post. But that aside the visiting side kept it tight and remained encamped around their box for the whole 45 mins with only Rangers legend Michael O’Halloran looking any kind of a threat on the break.

At halftime, you started to wonder if it just might not be our night but five minutes after the restart any such fears were allayed when Callum McGregor had acres of space to advance towards the opposition box after being fed in from the right by Mikel Lustig and he unleashed a storming drive that gave Clark no chance and ended up in the bottom right corner to give the men in Hoops the lead.

A mere two mins later it got even better and the points were pretty much signed, sealed and delivered when the advancing Lustig again fed a ball in from the right, this time to the edge of the box where Ryan Christie left Saints captain Joe Shaughnessy for dead and proceeded to curl the ball spectacularly past Clark high into the far corner to make it 2-0 and more or less game over.

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It’s a beauty from Christie. 

Odsonne Edouard made his long-awaited comeback from the bench and almost scored before Clark made a wonderful save from McGregor minutes later. Then right at the end, Ricky Foster produced a blatant handball whilst sliding in the box to prevent a cross from James Forrest after the Celtic winger had played a cute one-two with Lustig but the referee and the linesman had already decided Celtic had scored enough for the evening so chose to pretend they didn’t see it.

So that was that. As comfortable as you like with the Celt’s keeper Scott Bain a virtual spectator.

That’s our 13th win in our last 17 league games now, 16th win in 20 domestic games and our 12th win in 12 home league games this season.

We now visit McDiarmid Park on Sunday to face the same opposition again and let’s hope for more of the same or better still a repeat of the 6-0 hammering we dished out to them back in early October. Hard to believe that’s four months ago already. I remember it well. It was pretty much the performance that kick-started our season after a, to say the least, tepid start.

Tomorrow is, of course, the final day of the transfer window. By Celtic’s standards, it’s been a pretty active January with most of our business done uncharacteristically early via the signing of striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo and the loan deals for attackers Timothy Weah and Olly Burke. There were of course hopes of a right back arriving though rumoured interest in Atalanta’s Belgium internationalist Timothy Castagne was kiboshed by a price tag of somewhere in the region of ÂŁ10 million.

Scott McKenna was also linked with some social media sources even going as far as to proclaim that a ÂŁ6.5 million fee with Aberdeen had been agreed and that the big centre back was en route via a taxi all the way from Dubai. It was of course baseless. Aberdeen have got the player tied up until 2023 and have already said they think they can get an eight-figure fee from a club down south this summer. Being that they are in rude financial health these days they are under no pressure to sell and can name their price. That price is likely to be too rich for our blood especially when you consider that McKenna is far from the finished article.

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Perhaps the closest Scott McKenna will ever get to wearing a Celtic jersey.

The latest name to be linked is Borussia Dortmund’s Jeremy Toljan, a right back who made 27 appearances for the current Bundesliga league leaders last season but so far none this term. Brendan was quick to dampen any hopes though prematch saying that there’s nothing in it.

Who knows what will materialise over the next 24 hrs.  But with Filipe Benkovic out until at least March suddenly central defence is a concern again.

That aside defender Jack Hendry and midfielder Lewis Morgan continue to be linked with loan moves away for the rest of the season. Considering the improvement we’ve seen in Ryan Christie since his return from a loan stint at Aberdeen I’d say such moves would be good for both young players. It would also trim a very bloated squad that at his way too much dead wood with Gamboa, Hayes, Eboue and Mulumbu other worthy candidates for the dispatch box. As for Marvin Compper, well, they’ll need to carry him out.

All of this and more will be answered in the coming hours. Of course, it could be that nothing happens at all.

As is always the case with a Celtic transfer deadline day………….expect the worst…..hope for the best.

 

Celtic go down meekly to Hibs. Meanwhile, it’s Valencia in the last 32.

First things first and that’s Celtic’s performance away at Easter Road yesterday. Truth be told the team looked exhausted –  not surprisingly after being run ragged against Red Bull Salzburg during Thursday night’s emotional rollercoaster – and as a result pretty devoid of ideas.

I wrote a piece over a week ago about how the players looked out on their feet away against Motherwell. We dropped two points that night as we wilted badly in the second half but recovered pretty sensationally to bury surprise table-toppers Kilmarnock 5-1 at Celtic Park a week ago on Saturday.

Thursday night though saw us come up against easily our toughest opposition of the season and for me the best team we’ve seen at Celtic Park since PSG clinically dispatched us 5-0 in the Champions League group stages 15 months ago.

Each one of our three domestic defeats this season have come in the weekend after a midweek European game and all have been away. So the taxing effects of  European football definitely plays a part but our away record, in general, this season has been pretty awful with 15 points dropped from a potential 27 in the league and only two wins from seven away ties in Europe.

Hibs have themselves been struggling of late having gone through a period of no wins in seven league games which saw them lose four times. They arrested that decline with a 1-0 win away at Hamilton Accies last weekend but generally weren’t given much of a hope yesterday. So much so that their prematch decision to reduce the Celtic away capacity so as to allow more Hibs fans tickets looked utterly absurd as half of the stand where our support usually sits was left virtually empty.

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Another great call from Rod Petrie.

Brendan decided to really utilise the squad and even went for three at the back with Ajer brought into partner Simunovic and Benkovic. Kieran Tierney was rested and in came Emilio Izaguirre with Scott Sinclair being asked to cover a right wing-back role in the absence of the injured Lustig and Gamboa.

In midfield, Ryan Christie was missing after being stretchered off with an ankle injury on Thursday night and Tom Rogic was also left at home to recover from his recent exploits. In came Brown and Ntcham to replace them with McGregor, Forrest and Edouard all retaining their places.

The last three, in particular, were noticeably quiet and looked a little jaded.

Apart from the fatigue side of things the likes of Brown and Ntcham never clicked all day and Izaguirre, who had been so impressive when he came in against Kilmarnock, really struggled with Sinclair looking pretty lost in an unfamiliar defensive role.

Hibs hit a lot of cross-field passes and balls in over the top which cost us no end of trouble and we were ultimately undone by two excellent though preventable finishes from Slivka in the very first minute and Kamberi in the second half.

The introductions of Lewis Morgan and Mikey Johnstone brought some urgency and penetration to the play in that second period but ultimately was too little too late. Johnny Hayes also appeared but did nothing of note which is pretty customary of his appearances in the hoops.

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Kamberi finally finds some form. 

The result meant that Rangers returned to the league summit due to a narrow win at home against lowly Hamilton and Kilmarnock also remain above us after a comfortable 3-1 home win against Dundee. We do of course have games in hand and no one’s really worrying especially as we can go top again if we beat Motherwell at home on Wednesday night and Rangers drop points at Easter Road which is as we’ve just discovered no easy place to go and get a result.

The likes of Boyata, Lustig, Rogic, Tierney as well as the inform Christie will also all be back soon – some as early as Wednesday night apparently – but even with that we clearly need reinforcements in January.  Up front plus at right fullback are two key areas we definitely need to address.

Earlier on today there was also the draw for the Last 32 of the Europa League. Being that we would be up against one of fifteen seeds we could only hope for something winnable and I think we got that when Valencia came out of the hat.

On paper, the Spaniards did well in their Champions League campaign to gain 8 points in a group that included one of the tournament favourites in Juventus as well as the once mighty Manchester United. But the truth is they were out by the time of the final group game which they won against a struggling Man U side who had already qualified. Valencia recorded a 2-1 home victory but for anyone who keeps up with English football that’s not that great an achievement these days considering the stumbling form Joe Mourinho’s side have shown this season so far.

In La Liga, they are struggling with only three wins from 16 matches and an incredible ten draws. Two of their defeats have been away from home and they only have two wins from nine home matches with six draws and one loss. They have only 19 points and are in 14th place, four points above the drop zone.  The goals have hardly been flowing either with only 15 so far in this campaign whilst conceding 13. In Europe, they have scored six and conceded six.

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The Mestella is where we are headed. 

All this after blowing over €126 million on players in the summer which included the €40 million capture of 21 -year-old Portuguese winger Gonçalo Guedes from PSG and veteran French striker Kevin Gameiro from Atletico Madrid for a mere €16 million. Belgian international striker Michy Batshuayi is also there on loan for the season from Chelsea and that deadly strike force has delivered a rather pathetic return of six goals in all competitions and their most dangerous marksman currently is, in fact, Spanish striker Santi Mina who has six this season and 35 in 114 appearances for them.

The other big summer singing was French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia who cost them €25 million from Inter Milan in the summer having previously cost the Italians €40 million from Monaco. He was injured at the weekend though and will be out for between eight to twelve weeks so there’s a good chance we won’t have to worry about him at all.

The star man is, or at least was, striker Rodrigo who’s 19 goals in 44 games last term earned him a place in the Spanish national side for the past summer’s World Cup. However this year he’s hit a measly two in twenty games and is bang out of form.

Backed by billionaire Singapore business magnate owner Peter Lim they could go on a spending spree this January in theory but based on their previous transfer dealings they have actually already spent double what they had spent in total over the two previous seasons combined plus they have only brought three players in, in total, during the past two winter transfer windows, two of which were loan deals.

All in all……….it’s doable.

There is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and February 14th when they visit Celtic Park in the first leg but as of now, it’s a tie you’d take especially considering some of the Leviathans we could have drawn in the next round.

Let’s just hope that eight and a half weeks from now we’re top of the league, playing well with a stronger squad and that Valencia are pretty much in the same predicament if indeed not worse as they are now.

I guess that’s what I’ll be asking Santa for, for Christmas. Well, that, a pair of Diesel jeans, a significant financial windfall and a win at Ibrox.