Diamond Scot

What do you do if you are the Celtic board now? I think its fair to say that Lennon wont be the manager next season and that several of the bigger assets will be looking to move on. Do you sack Lennon now and give the new manager 6 months to bed in and get ready for the Champions League qualifiers? Do you sell the assets now and try and get in replacements to give them time to settle aswell? Aberdeen are only 5 points behind having played a game more. Should they make abit of investment to tey and get an unlikely 2nd place which in turn could transform their finances? I think the most likely scenario is to keep Lennon on but announce he will leave at end of season. Do nothing on players, some leave in summer and Celtic then really struggle in qualifierd due to a new manager and not having replacements in and up to speed.

Possibly. Everytime a player has tested positive their names have come out although that could be just the press doing the digging. Im thinking of Armstrong with Scotland. We knew straight away it was him and that Tierney and Christie were the players in close contact.

I wonder if Celtic arent releasing details of the player who has Covid because they suspect that there will be pictures of him in close contact with several of their squad who would then need to isolate and would thus dramatically weaken there team for tonights game.

Exactly, which was a foul and following the rules then a red card. You said it was a penalty but not a red card. The only way it can be a penalty but not a red card was if he made a genuine attempt for the ball which again you have stated he didnt. Therefore a red card. In my opinion thats a stupid rule but its the rule all the same.

Thats not the rules though. If you dont make a genuine attempt to go for the ball and its a foul then its a red. Cant blame the officials for upholding the law.

My only criticism of him is that he always looks to be playing within himself. His range of passing is exceptional but more often than not he plays it safe, he never seems to sprint and seems content to hang around outside the box when its on to burst into it. Now this might be the tactics but sometimes a player needs to make his own decisions within a game.

I totally agree but from a legal perspective they cant be punished for it. They were given the green light, nobody told them otherwise and the rules havent changed with regards to what they have done. Its another example of where the SFA / SPFL could and should have been better.

Thats what im saying. They may have broken protocols regarding distancing but those rules would apply equally in Scotland as in Dubai. Im not sure what the rules are for distancing within training complexes. Id imagine that if a group is allowed to sit around the same table in Lennoxtown drinking coffee then they will be allowed to sit around the same table in Dubai drinking pints as the hotel complex they are staying in has been classed as their place of training.

It is essential travel as defined by Scot Gov in terms of elite sport. Any travel for the purposes of training or match. There is no further definition of where you travel to train. Only the protocols that must be taken when doing so. Now it may be that those protocols have been breached as some pictures suggest bubbles have been broken and distancing hasnt been followed but thats a seperate matter. Im purely talking from a legal perspective here. Not a moral or common sence one.

Playing abit of Devils advocate here but Celtic havent broken any rules. They sought permission and it was granted. As far as we are aware they have followed all the protocols. There is no comparison with clubs like St Mirren who broke the rules by car sharing. I'll advised and shocking PR yes but there is no case to answer here in terms of punishment.

Cant work out whats happening with Gimlour. He came back from injury and I could understand why he wasnt being rushed back into the team. Especially as Chelsea were flying at the time. He started in the Champions League and got MOTM. He then didnt feature for the next few weeks until he got less than 10 mins when losing at Everton. He then hasnt featured at all despite being on the bench all through the busy festive period. Making it even more strange is that Chelsea's form has went off a cliff. He then gets brought on for 30 mins against one of the best teams in the league when 3 nil down. Everytime he has started a match for Chelsea bar 1 he has played exceptionally well. More often than not picking up MOTM. Surely he should be expecting some more game time.

A big problem is the total lack of enforcement. I can understand the personal responsibility responce when we 1st went into lockdown in March. The pandemic was new, the government didnt want to be seen to be going over the top and there was unknowns about how things would progress. However we are now 10 months down the line. The virus only needs a small percentage of people to not follow the rules in order for it to spread. There are always people in society who dont follow the rules. Thats why we have laws that enforce them. The approach to Covid would be the same as saying its against the law to steal, however if you arw caught stealing then aslong as you out the item back without issue then you wont be fined or prosecuted. Its madness. The longer this has went on for the less people obey the rules, especially without consequences. Which in itsself causes problems because the more society sees other people breaking the rules and getting away with it, the more likely they are to do it themselves. Substantial fines for all blatant breaches, criminal reports for those clearly endangering the lives of others. Courts could be setup to sentence Tags if need be. This coupled with the obvious suggestions about testing and travel etc could have had the virus well under control long before now.

It wasnt as im pretty sure like me, neither you or the othet poster support the old firm. It was a general comment aint at football fans and managers in general. Had also been listening to the football phone in where clutching at straws is commonplace.

Nope, just people in general. Lennon would have came away with alot more credit imo if he had just said Bitton made a mistake that changed the game because before the sending off their was only going to be one winner. Celtic were very good first half. Rangers couldnt get out of their half and Celtic looked dangerous everytime they went forward.

He didnt give Kent a 10 yard head start though. They started from the same position. Kent has better acceleration so built up a quick lead before Ayers longer stride caught him up. Theres a huge difference between that and the sending off. He would have to be double the speed of Moreles given the distances. No human being is double the speed of Moreles over that distance. Moreles is 100% getting the shot off on goal which is the test that the ref has to apply. The shot would have been inside the box, on his strong foot with the keeper having to advance. Im no fan of Refs the world over but what chance do they have when fans and managers cant even accept the basics.

Moreles was running at pace aswell (hence why Bitton had to bring him down) He was about 10 yards from the box, wouldnt have had to take a touch as the ball was curling towards the goal. Ayer wad about 15/20 yards from the box and would have had to cover an additional 10 yards to get across to Moreles as Ayer was in the centre of the pitch. So unless you are telling me that Ayer can run 30 yards in the time it takes Moreles to run 15 then your argument doesnt stack up. Its embarrasing how some people cant just accept decisions. Celtic were brilliant today, best ive seen them in a long long time. Rangers literally couldnt keep hold of the ball. Lennon coming out with that nonsence actually takes the conversation away from that point to one which nobody but the blind followers will agree with. Even Petrov, a Celtic legend and former teammate said he couldnt defend Lennon on the red card. Its clear as day. Moreles probably wouldnt have scored but thats not the test. A really really poor decision from Bitton and Ayer had a really poor starting positon.

Denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick. What part of the above do you not think occured? Ball was going towards the goal, attacker going towards goal and neither Ayer or the GK were going to get to the ball first.

And if he does ask?

I was actually thinking about Motherwell and Hibs when I wrote the post. I think Motherwell are maybe slightly different to the 3 clubs I mentioned because they dont have the same population area and also are very close to Glasgow. The reason I was thinking of them and Hibs was that for a while both teams seemed to be held in high regard for promoting youth. Was that system scrapped as it just wasnt workable? Hibs for example made alot of money around the time of Brown, Thompson, Riorden and OConnor. I know they used alot of this to build the training ground but from outside looking in, it looked like they got abit if money and then tried to spend it on more established players rather than stick to the model and bring more kids through.

Gilmour has significantly more positional discipline than McGinn. Gilmour is brilliant at passing through the lines. Something that is done best from deep. McGinn is brilliant at hassling players, anticipating loose balls and rolling players. All things that are done best from further forward.

Would Gordon not be backup GK wtih either McLaughlin or a younger GK as 3rd choice?

Thats deflection of the highest order. Some players will cry etc, some sing FOS at top of lungs. Others are merely proud to play for Scotland and some no doubt arent that bothered but it gets them some recognition. Or are we saying that because there is no evidence of Adams crying with pride when his agent was asked that this in itself evidence of his saying he never wants to play for Scotland and only ever wants to play for England?

I think alot of people on here consistently confuse their interpretation of information as facts. The only direct qoute I can see comes from McLeish via Adams agent and it just states that he would like to concentrate on club football for the moment. By all means have an opinion but please stop making statements like they are based on fact when they arent. For what its worth im not bothered about Adams. I just think life isnt as black and white as some on here like to suggest. Try and have a think back to some of the things you used to say or do in your teens. Imagine you were never allowed to change your mind on them. If Adams or any player for that matter decides that they want to play for us, are committed, good enough and the manager thinks they would do a job then thats good enough for me.

My concern is that the UK gov will do as above but Scot Gov tighten restrictions. I think this would really turn people against Sturgeon when so much good will has been built up.

All the way through ive been in support of tough restrictions and even tougher enforcement however id be dead against any tightening of restrictions over xmas. The fact they have setout the rules in advance which people have then planned around. It might sound insignificant but some people will have went to some expence to host xmas dinner which will then mostly go to waste. At a time of year when moneys already tight, this is unacceptable. Add to this that the vast majority of people wont adhere to the rules over xmas so the only people to lose out will be those with jobs where they cant afford to be caught breaking the rules. Once they announced the rules in advance they should stick to them. The mistake was announcing anything in advance.