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00:00For Scotland's international break to be done by 8 o'clock on Sunday night

00:04was a bit peculiar, but by the end of it you're just glad it's done

00:09because Sunday was certainly one of the low moments of the Steve Clarke era

00:14and a bit of soul-searching now to be done between the friendlies in June

00:20and the World Cup qualifiers starting in the autumn.

00:24We'll dive into Scotland a bit later in the show, but let's kick off then with Celtic

00:29a bit ahead of their return to action this weekend.

00:32So on the game, let's talk transfers and potential fan protests this weekend.

00:40This fan protest has stemmed from the backlash to Police Scotland's actions

00:49following the Old Firm defeat to Rangers.

00:53It comes after the incident at the end of the game,

00:56after Hamsa Ighaman's match-winning goal, whereby a couple of the Rangers' players,

01:01Václav Šerný and I think it was Nadeem Birzrami, were throwing water

01:06into the crowd, the home crowd, and I think Celtic fans kind of felt

01:13that they were rather aggressively handled by Police Scotland, to say the least.

01:18So a potential protest ahead of the game this weekend.

01:22Yeah, I think some of it stems from some sections of the fan base

01:27being held outside the ground for hours.

01:31I believe from online reports that Celtic SLO was over that situation,

01:36but I don't think they actually get into the ground in the end.

01:40So it'll be interesting to see what kind of tone it takes for the game.

01:44I always find when I've done these similar fixtures in the past,

01:47not just at Celtic, but at other grounds, it definitely brings in

01:52an added tension to the atmosphere.

01:55I can remember, without wanting to delve into the specifics of the certain game too much,

01:59I can remember doing Wraith Rovers vs. Hamilton the day after

02:03David Goodwillie had signed for Wraith Rovers, and I don't want to compare

02:08the two situations in terms of the separate incidents,

02:11but just in terms of that pure fraught tension and people aware

02:15that other things are happening.

02:17Whether that translates onto the park, I don't know,

02:20but it certainly adds an element to the fan experience.

02:23So it'll be interesting, at least in the first instances of this game,

02:27once the action starts going, then people quickly turn focus to the football.

02:30But certainly in the build-up to it, it'll be interesting to see the scenes

02:35outside Parkhead and how big that sort of protest ends up being.

02:40Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how that does affect the atmosphere.

02:43As you said, I'd imagine Brendan Rodgers is very much looking for a reaction,

02:47given that he'll still be licking his wounds on the back of that old firm defeat.

02:52Yeah, the edges came out of Celtic's performances in recent weeks.

02:56It kind of happened in one of Andrew Post's call-glue seasons as well,

03:01where they'd won the league at an absolute canter,

03:04and the remaining games, post-split especially,

03:07were pretty poor in terms of results, but it ultimately didn't matter.

03:11And that's where Celtic are at this stage.

03:13It's a testament to the team that they're at the end of March,

03:17essentially in junk time.

03:19They're playing out to the end of the season.

03:21The two games that matter for Celtic now, between now and May,

03:24are Celtic versus St. John's in the cup semi-final.

03:27And if they progress through that, then the winner of Hearts v Aberdeen.

03:30The league title's done, it'll take care of itself.

03:33A party will need to wait for a bit longer,

03:35but Celtic fans know they're getting one, it's just a case of winning.

03:39We know that there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes

03:43in terms of planning ahead for next season.

03:45In recent days, Celtic have been linked with a couple of players

03:49that they're potentially interested in ahead of the summer window.

03:52You've got Kalidou Sidibe,

03:55and we're going to see a former teammate of Arne Engels at FC Augsburg,

04:00a young midfielder called Elvis Rebicak.

04:06We're going for something along those lines.

04:09It's a good guess his MD's going to have at it.

04:12Clearly, Brendan Rodgers identifying areas of his squad

04:16that he's quite keen to bolster.

04:18Obviously, there's speculation that they might lose one or two in the summer,

04:22but it's pleasing to see that there are already

04:26a couple of names being floated around.

04:29I think off the back of the, I know it's not the same position,

04:32but the failed striker pursuit,

04:34I think Celtic, to restore some confidence

04:38that there is a fully functioning...

04:41Going out the way in terms of player trade model selling,

04:44Celtic have got one of the best in Europe for their club,

04:46their size and their position in the food chain.

04:48In terms of bringing players in,

04:49that's maybe where some of the criticisms have been in recent times

04:52in terms of getting players in a timely manner.

04:55Even last summer, Adam Ida seemed like a certainty

05:00to come in after the cup final.

05:02I remember sitting in the press conference with Brendan Rodgers after it

05:05and I'm saying that it was a deal they would like to get done

05:08and it never got done until well past Celtic's pre-season

05:12and you wonder how much of an impact that has had on Adam Ida's season

05:16in terms of that elongated process.

05:19Arnie Engels as well was one that arrived very late in the day.

05:23I think for Celtic at this stage and this is a time of year

05:26where we do start to see these type of foreign names

05:29and random names we've never heard of coming through the woodwork.

05:32It will be paramount I think for Celtic in the summer

05:36to get a couple of these deals done early,

05:38have them in for pre-season.

05:40You've not got a major World Cup or Euros to concern yourself with.

05:45You can get the players in bang on time

05:48and ready to go for the Champions League, League phase essentially.

05:52I mean the league stuff will all take care of itself

05:54but the Champions League, League phase is where you really want

05:56that squad to be gelled for.

05:59.

Celtic look to Europe | Fitbaw Talk

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