Football has been tribal and jingoistic for over a century. Where it succeed in penetrating beyond the scope of a mere sport, it is inherently primitive. This can be a healthy way for people to remain in contact with all that is important in life but it’s often not.
Writing in today’s Sun, former Celtic player (good grief) , Ian ‘Wrighty’ Wright said: “The next young player who says he does not want to play for England should be ordered to ring the parents of a soldier who has died serving his country in Afghanistan and tell them his reasons”.
To invoke the memory of those who have sacrificed their lives in order to rebuke reluctant footballers is beyond primitive, it is debased and ugly. Bereaved parents would surely be sickened at attempts to equate their sacrifice with a football game. Football and our media have lost their way. Wright should be ashamed, but he won’t be, it’s nonsense like this which newspapers pay for. His media value will have increased.
Harry Redknapp’s ill-made comments about Spurs players not wanting to travel for England games are also a nonsense. There’s not a top-flgiht manager in the game who’s yet to experience players reluctant to fly to Tbilisi, or some other distant destination, for a friendly instead of resting at home with his family. If you are a top pro, these games hold little excitement or value and come at a fitness cost, to pretend otherwise is being duplicitous.
Players with imposing club demands can see these games far enough. Those involved in European football often have two games per week for months, depleting resources and adding strains to muscles. A flight to the back of beyond before a thankless task of a game is simply not an attractive offer. Most players go, but let’s be honest, almost all will choose times to back out occasionally.
England are hurting after an awful World Cup but it will be counter-productive to hand the stage over to jingoistic lunatics. And ‘Wrighty’, if anyone asks you to pull the Paradise Windfall one day, don’t feel obliged to pitch up.
Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his book, All the Best.
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1,013 Comments- Pages:
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CFC
He shoots , he scores .
Where are ye , where are ye
Bronze
Up the tic
From another mclaughlin :-)
Come on Bhoys
Damn. Not even bronze.
Welcome
Rain stopped play.
Hail! Hail!
ernie lynch
12:09 on
24 June, 2014
weeron
12:05 on 24 June, 2014
‘Craig Gordon is a bad person’
##
No one has said that.
Some have questioned whether he’s an appropriate signing target.
Different thing.
Ernie…I paraphrased……
But your version is even worse…! He’s not a good signing target because he tried to get a result for the team he was playing for???
A lot of time spent on here, dreaming up reasons to hate people. I seem to remember people questioning Gordon Strachan’s credentials because of how he played for Aberdeen.
Like I said. Oh dear………….
What dates are the qualifiers ?
No-one talking about the world cup here at work on the Fylde Riviera.
Canny mention the cricket to take their minds off it either.
There’s always Andy though.
PAUL67
Brilliant article,Paul.
All the better for missing out some of the words my mates and I used discussing the same articles.
I admire your restraint.
Gary67 from last thread, be careful what you wish for, the last left back debate lasted four years : )
Norwich refuse 5m bid for snodgrass from hull city.. I thought he was out of contract this summer .
Looks like he wont be coming to the celts anyway. Think he would be a great buy.
Paul67
Good article and well done for highlighting it.
I saw a response on Twitter last night to Wright’s comment suggesting that every time he writes a column for The Sun he should call up the families of the Hillsborough tragedy and apologise to them.
Not bad advice.
Phone hacking trial verdict-
A.Coulson guilty
R.Brookes not guilty
DBBIA/12 angry men csc
weeron
12:26 on 24 June, 2014
To paraphrase something you have to retain the original meaning but express it in different words.
You changed the meaning.
proudbhoy
12:37 on
24 June, 2014
Norwich refuse 5m bid for snodgrass from hull city.. I thought he was out of contract this summer .
Looks like he wont be coming to the celts anyway. Think he would be a great buy.
========================
Out of contract next summer.
Would be surprised if they knocked back 5m, esp after relegation…
HH
hamiltontim
12:43 on 24 June, 2014
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Great response.
Complete ejit.
proudbhoy
15/16th and 22/23rd July I think.
Dontbrattbakkinanger
12:44 on 24 June, 2014
Apparently Brookes thanked the judge and told him that his wife had called and left a message that he was to pick up the dry cleaning on the way home.
traditionalist88
12:44 on 24 June, 2014
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Surprised aswel, never know what to believe these days when it comes to transfer figures. Espcially when celtic are involved
So it looks as though Coulson has been left to carry the can.
Shameful.
In July 2011 David Cameron said:
“I decided to give him a second chance and no one has raised serious concerns about how he did his job for me … But the second chance didn’t work out. The decision to hire him was mine and mine alone and I take full responsibility for it. People will decide whether it is right to give someone a second chance or not. I do think it is right to judge an individual by the work he did for me. I accept he was an editor of a newspaper where some very bad things happened. Because he’d resigned … it was reasonable to offer him a second chance … People will judge me on that, and I fully understand that. When you work with someone for four years as I did and you work closely, you do build a friendship and I became friends with him … so, yes, he became a friend and is a friend.“
But Cameron cannot undo those words.
Although he tried at the Leveson Inquiry, a year later:
“I was reliant on his word but I was also reliant on the fact that the Press Complaints Commission had accepted his word, the select committee had accepted his word, the police had accepted his word, the Crown Prosecution Service had accepted his word.”
hamiltontim
12:49 on 24 June, 2014
So it looks as though Coulson has been left to carry the can.
Shameful.
…,.,,………
Good job he’s a juggler then cos he’s carrying a few.
News Int will have to be avoided as i am sure the Brookes are going to serialise their story of how innocent they are………………………………………………….
Passthesickbucket.csc
Steven Gerrard still insists he hasn’t made his mind up yet whether he wants a window, or an aisle seat on the way home.
Craig Gordon is not a jambo he is though part of a Masonic cabal planning to infiltrate the club. He will start slowly by shipping a few goals then poisoning tea mates. Peter Lawell secretly loved his coming up for a corner routine as he knew this would drive down his salary demands after his injuries.
Lovely tribute to
Elena Balltacha at wimbledon
Beautiful girl ..r.i.p
Paul67…..
“To invoke the memory of those who have sacrificed their lives in order to rebuke reluctant footballers is beyond primitive, it is debased and ugly. Bereaved parents would surely be sickened at attempts to equate their sacrifice with a football game.”
I could not agree with you more….. some cretin (can’t remember who it was, since I ‘switched off’ at that stage) similarly, believe it or not, invoked the memory of the Holocaust on CQN recently, to support his argument against those who don’t ever want to set eyes on the oldco zombies again ……. repugnant, debased and ugly indeed.!!
mullet and co 2,
Never a truer word spoken!! That’s the best jibe at Peter Lawwell I have heard yet.
Sorry all for being flippant there. Was unaware of the hacking verdicts. 1 question: how did she get off?
Apparently, under Jack Charlton’s RoI reign, players who were left out of the squad, asked if they could go along anyway.
I wonder why?
I remember Craig Gordon despite the length of his recuperation and time spent out of the game, and like all before, if he pulls on a Celtic jersey he’ll get my unequi-vocals voluntary tics and hail hails and even the compulsive utterance of the odd wee swearie.
That said I’m dubious that we’ll have Fraser Forster, Lucasz Zaluska and Craig Gordon vying for the padded shirt, and big goalie gloves.
You buy cheap, you buy twice I should know as I’m never away from Prizmark, and Homebargains.
Gazebo’sRUs CSC
Parkheadcumsalford- she got off because the jury found her not guilty.
And she’s a good pal of the Prime Minister.
However, the whole trial has shone a light on current journalistic practices and they are all nothing but rascals, as my ole granny would say.
lionroars67
12:54 on
24 June, 2014
News Int will have to be avoided as i am sure the Brookes are going to serialise their story of how innocent they are………………………………………………….
Passthesickbucket.csc
——————–
I’m not sure that they would have the audacity. Even brass has a melting point.
Why all the furore about Craig Gordon ? We signed Kenny Misser and he wore the shirt of our biggest rivals when they were alive and liked it so much he wants to pull on their shirt now that they are dead too… I cheered my head off when he scored his first goal for us against them :) I didn’t stand there in a strop saying “naw, I’m no celebrating that goal.. he used to play for that mob” ….
Oh and we made a few bob out of selling him on AND when he was sold back to deadco if I remember correctly.