IT wasn’t only the Celtic players and fans who enjoyed the decadent surroundings of the Etihad campus during the week, with Scotland’s football hacks greeting the fare on offer pre-match with wide-eyed (and big stomached) wonder.

More than one Scottish scribe shamed themselves as they greedily set about the feast of Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Rogan Josh or salmon and potatoes. Some had all three. There was also a generously-apportioned sweet trolley, jars of sweeties (like the ten pence mixes you used to get) as well as your choice of chocolate confectionary.

And then, if that wasn’t enough, your choice of pie at half-time between Chicken Balti, meat and potato or cheese and onion. Marvellous.

The staff seemed surprised that the fridges full of beer and the bottles of red wine went untouched until after the game, presuming the visiting Scots may have polished it off prior to the match in similar fashion to the Ukrainian press pack that came to town with Dynamo Kiev a few years back.

Either way, the packet of Hobnobs usually on offer at Firhill now seems a little underwhelming.

And as for the pies at Dens Park… let’s just say that they might be the only fast food which once you eat can help you lose weight within the next 24 hours.

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Scottish referee Craig Thomson had to be protected from being attacked by Besiktas players after a series of strange decisions from the Paisley whistler.

His decision to award a dubious penalty to the hosts and send off Besiktas stopper Andreas Beck made the Turks incandescent as they crashed out of competition after eventually losing 6-0.

Thomson was tracked down by a Turkish newspaper demanding an explanation for his mistakes and, it has to be said, the big man's defence wasn't great.

"I love the Turkish people and kebabs too," he said.

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Kilmarnock are doing a bit better than most of us felt this season and things might become even better.

Manager Lee Clark hired a KrioSystem Cryochamber, a pure cold thingy for the uninitiated, which has become a favourite with elite sports stars.

The chamber can reach a temperature of minus 137C with the Arctic conditions helping to aid recovery. The Killie players were allowed to cover their head, gentleman’s area and hands – and that was it. Poor sods.

Clark himself didn’t venture in and perhaps it’s because as a Geordie, he would feel overdressed walking about in such temperatures given that the people of Newcastle believe a t-shirt is suffice clothing for the depths of winter.

Clark probably would have broken into a sweat midway through.

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So who does Austin MacPhee resemble most?

The new Hearts assistant manager has been likened to Rick Wakeman, Chad Kroeger (some guy from a band called Nickleback) and at least four different characters from Game of Thrones.

It does say a lot of our conservative nature that we can’t get over someone with long hair working in Scottish football.The Herald:

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Is Gary Lineker set to enter politics and if not, why not?

This is a tweet he sent out the other day which had Jeremy Corbyn come up with it, people would have wondered who wrote it for him.

And not with Hearts fans giving their new manager Ian Cathro the obvious but nonetheless funny nickname of ‘Fidel’ the question has to be asked whether our game is being taken over by Revolutionary Marxists? I think we should be told.

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The following criticism came from a reader in the comments section.

“Was some kind cheap voice recognition software used to produce the semi literate nonsense? If it was some kid on work experience send them back to school, the prelims are in February and they need all the help they can get.”

I wouldn’t have minded but he didn’t hyphenate semi-literate. I mean, honestly.

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Staying with Twitter, this from Ronnie O'Sullivan:

Seems a winner to us.

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Much hilarity at the Mark Warburton press conference on Thursday when he told the assembled pack that when he was 30, the age Cathro is now, he was not close to being a football manager but was instead working with a Finnish bank.

This is when one hack needed it explained that Warburton hadn’t “finished a bank” which would make his already unusual backstory a lot more interesting.

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And so the remarkable European run of Irish club Dundalk came to an end on Thursday when they lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv and results didn’t go their way elsewhere.

They gave their supporters one hell of a ride and made a lot of friends along the way, even if world-wide fame still eludes them.

As two Irish journalists struck up a conversation with a taxi driver in the Israeli capital on the way to the game, the local senses why the two foreign gentlemen were in his can.

“Ah you are here to see your team…Donald Duck."