With the news that Shunsuke Nakamura is likely to leave Spanish side Espanyol at the end of the season, it makes you wonder if his decision to go to Spain was a wise one.

His intention of playing in arguably the best league in Europe alongside football’s elite such as Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo was admirable. Who wouldn’t swap Scotland for Spain?

Personally I thought Naka was a great player for Celtic, probably underrated by the fans. His ability to hold the ball when we need to keep possession has been sorely missed this season.

And of course his dead ball prowess has yet to be matched by Fox, Robson or Maloney.

But Naka has found out like many others that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Only Henrik, King Kenny, Chalkie and possibly one or two others have prospered when they’ve taken off from Paradise. That may be something the current crop should keep in mind before they fall through the trapdoor and into football oblivion.

To some, the board’s lack of activity in the January transfer window ultimately cost Celtic a fourth successive title in a row.

And this time around, the club have hardly burst the bank to secure new signings, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Danny Fox, Landry N’Guemo, Lukasz Zaluska and China captain Zheng Zhi replacing Naka, Jan, Bobo, Zico and JJPD.

Should the board be pushing the boat out to secure players of a different quality, a WOW signing…..like we were promised three seasons ago.

You decide in today’s poll….

With Shunsuke Nakamura, our most gifted player in the last four years, on his way to Spain his friend and fellow Japanese national,  journalist Daisuke Nakajima has launched a ‘veiled’ parting shot at the way we do things in Scotland.

Naka In Full Flow!

Nakajima said: “Naka really enjoyed his time in Scotland. He always says he improved as a player but he says the Scottish game is in need of a more global outlook in order to progress.

“He believes Scottish football can improve tactically if some foreign mangers come in and introduce more complex training techniques with a focus on passing and learning.

“The drinking culture and eating of fish and chips is not good. Even Celtic players eat crisps and drink Irn Bru on the team bus on the way to the game. This would not happen in Japan.”

And it shouldn’t happen in Scotland either.

Even amateur football players don’t guzzle juice and crisps before a game but these overpaid ‘professionals’ should know better.

It’s definitely not ‘Phenomenal’ in my book!

As if he didn’t already know, new boss Tony Mowbray is about to find that there is very little left to attract decent players to the SPL.

The money isn’t anywhere near comparable to south of the border, the competition isn’t better and this season we may not even have Champions League football to barter with.

I’m sorry friends, but the heyday of Scottish Football is a thing of the past.

Even Lenny admitted the quality of player isn’t what it used to be. (In a private conversation with Graeme Spiers. Who’d trust him?)

Now there’s an understatement if I ever heard one!

And now we’ve learned over the past few days that our most techically gifted player, Shunsuke Nakamura is off to Spain for a couple of years playing football in the sun. (Beats playing at Falkirk any day!)

So, for when the journeymen arrive lets look back on Naka’s finest hour as a Celt. The night he tamed Man United, Sir Furious and all!

We’ll miss you Naka!

Starting anytime after 3.00pm on Sunday the clear out at Celtic Park will commence.

First to go will be the big Guinean leech Bobo Balde. The talk is of a trial at Birmingham with big Feck, personally I think he should be on trial at the Old Bailey for fleecing us of £30,000 a week for the last four years.

Does he think he’s some sort of MP?

Next out the door will be big Jan. Looks like he’s off to Holland to re-join PSV Eindhoven.

On His Way To Holland

Joining him in the exit queue will be Lee Naylor. Don’t know where he’s heading, and don’t really care.

Then there’s the Italian enigma Massimo Donati. Mo flattered to decieve when he first arrived but couldn’t get to grips with the pace of the Scottish game.

No doubt more will go, Mark Brown, possibly Naka and probably Scott Brown, to raise money for the new man in charge.

Either way, the Celtic of next season will be quite different from this season.

I don’t know about you, but I canny get to sleep. From paranoia to insomnia!

Whether we like it or not, this week will be one of the most monumental in the club’s history.

Changes are afoot.

Sleepless Nights In Paradise!

If everything goes our way then we’ll not only be champions but we’ll have won four titles in a row, a feat that only the great Jock Stein has achieved in our recent history, and we’ll be straight into the Champions League group stages.

The latter part will guarantee at least £10M and condemn the Huns to a tricky qualifier, with no money for new recruits.

However, if it doesn’t go our way, then changes at all levels will surely be made. Failure is not an option at Celtic and one of the first things to happen will be all sorts of finger pointing. (bring back Peter Grant!)

It would then be down to us to negotiate a tricky qualifier, probably with a new manager and new players.

How long will they take to gel? Who knows but some will be happy as long as the man in charge isn’t WGS.

I’m away back to bed, no wonder I canny get to sleep, this is murder!

If the Bhoys come away from Sheepland with a clean sheet today, I’m certain we’ll have all three points in the bag.

Regardless of how many injuries they have, Tango and Sash will have the Sheep up for the game.

WGS, Looking For A Win

Any notion of helping their beloved Glasgow Rankers will be enough to ensure they get their players are fired up for the match.

All we have to do is ‘keep the heid’.

We’ve been in this position before, so we should know how to handle it. The Hoops will be refreshed from the wee break in Spain, and I’m sure Ghord will want to get this game out the way.

Selection wise? That’s anyone’s guess.

But I’ll take a stab at the following:

Boruc, Hinkel, Loovens, McManus, Naylor; McGeady, Nakamura, Caldwell, Crosas; Skippy and Big Jan.

C’mon the Bhoys!!!!

Ive’ been a bit quiet this week, trying to take in all the shite from the SFA, Castle Greyskull and of course the media.

The upshot of it all is…Scott Brown’s to blame. There. In black and white. It’s all Broonie’s fault.

So, to teach him a lesson, the SPL, colluding with their counterparts the SFA, have arranged the fixtures so that Scott’s two match ban will co-incide with the Hoops visit to Ipox. Of course, the timing will allow their ‘magnificent’ Magic Buggerra to play.

A great piece of putting Timmy back in his place was met with drinks all round at the local Lodges up and down the country! Masonic Lodges that is!

His scurrilous act of leaving the scene four hours before the gruesome twosome, was treason of the highest order. (the other three, Teale, Hutton and Whittaker all vanished into thin air!)

Anyway, the ‘manager with no surname’ did his now customary u-turn, got the ‘welcome back’ mats out at Scurry Park, and all is well again in Hunland.

Now To The Real Business

Last week we came away from Swinecastle with a well deserved point. It’s always a hard place to go, the wee Huns like to raise their game against the Hoops.

Naka, Made A Big Difference Last Week

Although I must admit I was a bit surprised with WGS team selection, especially in the first half. If we had started the game with the team that took the field for the second half, we might have won.

Anyway, that’s in the past.

Today we’re host to the ‘three amigos’ and their Mutton Fondlers. We all realise this is another must-win game. We’ll need to be in their faces from the start, and keep it going for the full ninety.

The Faithful will also have a big part to play today. When there is backing from the stands, singing, lots of encouragement for the full game, there is no better feeling in the world….and I should know.

Knowing that you’re a big part of the lives of each and every Celtic fans life makes your heart beat faster. Knowing that winning gives the Faithful a week of sticking out your chest, with pride.

But it’s a two-way street, the Bhoys will give their all, let us give them our all!

Hail! Hail!

John Fallon

The Original Holy Goalie

There is this vicious rumour circulating Scotland that all us Celtic fans are paranoid. It goes along the lines of the media having some sort of bias agenda against us.

I wonder why?

King of Japan

You see, after training at Celtic’s Lennoxtown complex our Japan international Shunsuke Nakamura committed the heinous crime of using his mobile phone while he was driving.

Sure, he was wrong and was duly punished by the vigilant Strathclyde Police who issued him with a fixed penalty fine.

But did it really merit being broadcast on the news every half hour from 3.30pm onwards? Was it such an evil crime that Naka’s name had to mix in the same news bulletins as murderers and drug lords?

Don’t think so. Just another piece of media mischief. They really can’t stand us being on top, can they?

P.S. If Naka gives us his three points does that mean we’re six clear at the top of the SPL?

What a week, canny beat the week following a hun bashing!

That’s my opinion anyway. Not the opinion of the media. Nooooo.

As far as they’re concerned it was a crap game. Yet think back to our loss at Celtic Park and everything about the game was rosy.

How Lucky Were We?

In other words, Celtic win=Games sh*te, Rankers win=Games great.

But the truth is, they haven’t scored against us for more than five hours. FIVE HOURS! Against a defence that has been pillored all season as being rotten. What does that say about their forwards?

Hey, it get’s worse.

Nobody has given WGS credit for changing his formation and outwitting Old Wattie. All they say is that Scottish Football is crap. NO, it’s Rankers that are crap.

The bottom line is, we changed our line up and they were fecked.

We do have problems, and we admit it, but they don’t, all they want to do is have a go at us.

Moving on to this weekend’s game.

Dundee United is a MUST win for us. Who says? You’ve guessed it. The old medja. Trying to put a bit of pressure on us.

Of, course they’ll have it easy against the wee huns? I don’t think so. They’ll be without old man Weir, Boooogerra and Broadarse.

Could well drop a couple of points….

If we’re in the right frame of mind this weekend we could easily extend our lead at the top, it’s all down to the players’ attitude.

And to finish off this great week…..I couldn’t stop laughing at the fat o.b. Jimmy Calderwood and his hun cronies at Sheepland get dumped by the Pars!

Looks like he’ll be off to Majorca instead of Hampden at the end of May, he’s looking a bit peelly-wally!! Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!

That’s all for now Bhoys & Ghirls,

Hail! Hail!

John Fallon

The Original Holy Goalie