The Diary is basking in the Sol-Shine……..
It is big news that Sol Campbell was in Glasgow for signing talks with Celtic. Off course it’s big news as those Big Papers that tell you to vote Conservative have reported on a league – that is seen like one of those pesky blue bottles that keep on hitting window when you have opened it to let it out – in amongst it’s tennis and egg-chasing coverage.
The Big Papers that are so Big that when you lay them flat out they are bigger than most coffee tables in Scotland.
This is no longer what The Diary called the ‘Summer Of Love.’ The summer of 2000. Those heady days when we wore flowers in our hair, we could sign Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson, Dider Agathe and our manager could compete for impressive centre backs at that years European Championships without a Bolton or Blackburn being able to offer them a better deal than us.
I’m openly weeping at the thought of a time before Bobby Petta was a one hit wonder.
So, Sol Campbell willing to write off his career, to those south of Watford anyway, by even considering signing for us is meet by bemusement dripping from the quills of the Big Papers and some not so Big Papers that you get free on trains and buses.
“Veteran defender eyes up move to Scottish Giants” (Campbell is old enough to be a veteran but young enough to be appointed a memeber of our coaching staff) , “Campbell checks out Celtic”, “set for free transfer to Celtic” and “visits Celtic to see what’s on offer” is what greets our eyes as we wake up blinking in the morning sun.
The best thing about these stories is that we get pictures of an unsuspecting Campbell being photographed coming out of Celtic Park where, despite us looking at the evidence to prove he was there, the need to be told that ” (Campbell) was seen leaving Celtic’s stadium before getting into his car following discussions involving representatives from the club and his agent.” is too overwhelming for some.
Which, I’m sure he is glad about. He will want to see the white of peoples eyes after last year being duped by Sven and those Fake Sheiks Munto Finance who talked him into signing on at Notts County, which is worse than anything the SPL has to offer. Only just mind.
“Celtic hope they have done enough to convince Sol Campbell to sign” another screams. We hope that “the guided tours of the stadium and Lennoxtown, plus the potential to win silverware” and “£20,000 a week” is enough.
Still, Campbell himself “is not totally sold on Celtic” . He states ” We have to see where the club wants to go. It is really dependant on where they want to go in Europe.” as we usher Charlie Mulgrew in front of him as a sign of our European ambition.
Campbell is “refusing to be rushed“, which in the SPL maybe a bad thing, and now is humming “I have to talk to Arsenal as well because they are still at the table” and that “the main thing for me right now is my wedding and honeymoon” giving the impressing that he is taking part in BBC3’s “Don’t tell the bride” where the groom has to organise everything from the dress, to the sausage rolls down to what time the drunk Uncle tries to feel up the bridesmaid and starts a punch up.
It’s true that we would “all jump at the chance to sign such a big named player from under the noses of a major Premier League Force” but to drag it out until he comes back from honeymoon leaves a taste akin to licking the sweat from Glenn Loovens and Darren O’Dea’s armpit in my mouth.
Shudder the thought.