Naismith Nearly a Bhoy, The Butchers are Back

By: JT | August 1st, 2007

It seems that Celtic are on the verge of signing Kilmarnock and Scotland striker Stephen Naismith for a fee of £2m. Before they agree on that sum, Celtic want to be sure that Naismith wants a move to Parkhead. Um, yeah, that seems like it would be a good idea.

I really haven’t been too impressed with the way that this situation has been handled by Killie, so I truly don’t know what they’re going to pull next. Naismith would prefer a move to Rangers for both competitive and personal reasons. It may be difficult for him to put on the Hoops having publicly declared his allegiance to Rangers, and admitting his lack of interest in heading to Celtic Park where there is no guarantee of first team football. Your guess is as good as mine as to what happens next, I’ll update as the day goes on if anything breaks.

Speaking of Rangers, yesterday’s miserable performance against youthful Montenegran side FK Zeta showed that Walter Smith and the boys have no intention of playing what we know as football this year. 4 yellow cards plus a double whammy/sending off against a team of teenagers! From what I’ve read about the match some of the yellow cards were a long time in coming too, especially Cuellar’s. Two aesthetically challenged goals got them by and will likely get them through to the next round.

They are going to be painful to watch and play against this season on this evidence. I fear for the spindly legs of Nakamura and McGeady because the Butchers in Blue are back with a vengeance. DaMarcus Beasley’s lack of physical presence will earn him a seat on the bench like he had yesterday. Its a shame, because apparently he was promised that they would be using a round ball rather than an oblong one this season at Ibrox.

Oh, and Rangers’ debt has tripled over the last year. That’s the genius of Sir Minty Moonbeams at work, folks.

Lest you think I spend all my time worrying about the Evil Empire and their doings, I present the following video. We’re coming up on the 50th Anniversary of Celtic’s 7-1 drubbing of Rangers in the League Cup final played at Hampden Park. It inspired the brilliant song you hear on the video. A genuine classic, here’s the story if you’re interested.