"Marco was getting up and running and his injury came at a bad time for him and to spend two and half months out has been a disappointment for him."
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Youths back on top, Start of the season for Fortune
"Marco was getting up and running and his injury came at a bad time for him and to spend two and half months out has been a disappointment for him."
Dallas vow of silence broken within 24 hours
In an interview with Chick Young Dallas again went into detail about the SFA's tracking system and how they follow up on all correspondence.
The postal system in use at Hampden is unlikely to ever be a talking point amongst football supporters, players or manager.
"No one has explained the Royal Mail saga or Royal Mailgate as we call it," Dallas joked. "Comments from managers, coaches and also club directors is something that we treat very seriously.
RESPONCE
"They are frequenly in contact with me and they always get a responce. All of the copy letters, the Royal Mail tracking, the recepit of letters from Motherwell have all been catalogued and listed and sent back to Motherwell."
Perhaps if equal attention was given to refereeing standards as to following the post Jim Gannon would have less to complain about.
Dallas once again avoided the question of poor refereeing, Gannon's most outspoken comments on refereeing came after his opponents, Dundee United, had had two players sent off against Motherwell.
Bringing up Craig Thomson's performance in the October 4 Rangers-Celtic game reopened an old sore with Dallas.
Such were Thomson's errors that day that Dallas came out and admitted that he had made ONE mistake, other contentious incidents involving penalties and bookings were quickly swept over by the admission of one mistake.
EXPLANATION
No explanation was given for the mistake, we weren't told if the referee was unsighted or why he failed to award Celtic a penalty which would likely have also involved a booking for David Weir.
"I thought that the Dallas soap opera had finished in the 80s," Gannon replied when told about the latest comments from the man that was fourth official at the 2002 World Cup Final.
"The SFA PR machine is much stronger than hours they get on the front pages of newspapers and the BBC website."
Gannon's intervention and comments are a welcome breath of fresh air to Scottish football where too often mistakes and incompetence are excused with the time honoured 'these things even themselves out over the course of the season' excuse.
An invite to explain his comments is bound to be heading Gannon's way, that hearing at the SFA could be as explosive the great 'Who Shot JR' mystery of the eighties.
Friday, 11 December 2009
Touchy Dallas blasts back at Gannon and blames the Royal Mail
New date for Rangers game (February)
Marsden turns his back on Premiership for hoops dream
The 18-year-old from Wigan has spent most of the season on the sidelines with injury but has notched back to back goals against Brora Rangers and St Mirren.
Marsden turned his back on half a dozen Premiership clubs in his own backyard to join the hoops to the delight of the Celtic-mad elements in his own family.
"Half of my family are Celtic fans and they are one of the biggest clubs in the world," he smiled about his choice of club.
"I thought that I'd get a better chance here than I'd get at an English club where they just go out and buy top class strikers for £25m or whatever.
"I've settled in quickly at Celtic although it's obviously difficult when you leave home as a 16-year-old but that's what you need to do to be a footballer.
"Celtic was always in my thoughts when I was growing up, my family is all English but there might be some Scottish and Irish relatives far back and that's why they've supported Celtic.
"I'm a Liverpool fan and remember not being too pleased when Celtic beat Liverpool in the UEFA Cup but they did well in that tournament."
Marsden is one of a number of players from outwith the traditional Celtic heartlands making their way through the club Academy.
Josh Thompson and Matty Hughes have also been recruited from the North-West of England with the Twardzik's, Filip and Patrik, picked up from Germany.
Various players are currently being assessed by the Academy coaching staff with the Celtic scouting network covering Europe extensively.
Recruiting young talent from England should be a difficult task with parents being offered massive amounts of money and even houses or jobs for getting their kids to sign up.
Against that the lack of opportunities for English players could give Celtic a chance to offer players the prospect of a top level career.
Nothing is left to chance within the Celtic Academy with every aspect of the players development monitored in the hope of producing first team candidates.
Marsden added: "Being at Celtic has been brilliant for me, with full time training I'm learning every day. The players can see themselves improving as the coaches Stevie (Frail) and Tommy (McIntyre) keep on pushing us.
"It's great to get back involved playing and scoring goals, that's what strikers are judged on and hopefully there will be lots more goals for me to enjoy this season.
"Last season I was playing for the u-17's and this season is only just starting for me. Scoring gives strikers confidence, when I'm scoring I'm happy with my game and looking to score in the next match."
Celtic 4-1 St Mirren, youths back on top of the league
Liverpool Echo article on Marsden's signing