Scottish clubs, including (original) Rangers, opposed the imposition of Strict Liability on clubs for offenses by their fans as long as the club concerned had undertaken all reasonable precautions to discourage and prevent those offenses.
In other words, if a club warn fans what is unacceptable behaviour, and confirm they will be banned from your stadium if they indulge, the club will not incur any punishment. As we know, it’s different in European competition, where clubs are held responsible for fans’ transgressions.
This is all fine and well, but it’s a moot debate after the Scottish Cup Final riot. Hibs and (Newco) Rangers may well have taken all reasonable precautions ahead of the game, but that changed for Newco immediately thereafter.
The statement defending the Newco fans taking the law into their own hands on the Hampden pitch that day is the opposite of undertaking all reasonable precautions. In fact, it was incendiary. I have little doubt it contributed to the actions of Newco fans in the first few months of this season, who appear to wandering around Premiership grounds ready to settle perceived scores.
Justification by Statement has continued. It’s now a pattern. The question for the SFA disciplinary panel, is whether they condone clubs encouraging fans taking the law into their own hands, as consistent with reasonable precautions, when deciding on actions by visiting fans at Celtic Park and Pittodrie.
It’s not. In fact, it’s dangerous and will lead to increasingly alarming situations until those setting the fires are brought to account. What happened at Celtic Park and Pittodrie was bad enough but far more serious consequences could lie ahead if this clarion call for Direct Action isn’t faced.
The players will still be buzzing from Wednesday night when they take to the field at Dens tomorrow lunchtime. We could blow Dundee away in a wave of effervescent football, or we could struggle to get heads out of the clouds. We’ve witnessed both scenarios before.
Jimmy Johnstone
You’re in for a treat tonight, the Jimmy Johnstone documentary is on BBC Alba at 9:30, on what would have been his 72nd birthday. It’s a brilliant journey into the life and family of an extraordinary-ordinary person. I thought I’d known all there was to know about the Jinky story, but I didn’t realise he was decades ahead of the game in terms of fitness and training techniques.
Brain injury
We have a special article out today, written by SunnyJim, on brain injury in the game (and a whole lot more). We re-examine a blow to the head taken early in the 6-2 game by Fernando Ricksen, who like Jinky, was struck by Motor Neurone Disease.
The game has a responsibility to its players, which means we all need to become educated in some of the risks. Read the article, you’ll learn something significant about an incident you are very familiar with.
The Celtic Foundation has had a great boost already from all those who are doing the Great Scottish Run on Sunday on its behalf. Dozens of Celtic fans have been sponsored by hundreds of fans, raising thousands of pounds.
This will be the last you hear from me on the subject before the off; if you can help, here’s the place.
Thank you, and thanks to everyone who has already contributed.
496 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eClAL1LCRk
Too much Too Young
SpellinglessontwotonestyleCSC
TSOAL
Good man. We might need support by then(!)
https://youtu.be/lgCZN1rU5co
The Specials
Gangsters
Goodnight troops, hopefully catch up with a few of you at the Hoot tomorrow.
HH
The Huddle 11.37pm
Totally agree we were in for Dembelle in January if you believe the rumours, for me, we were also in for BR before January …..must my opinion
VFR would be delighted to talk rubbish about the hoops with you at any time
From 2006
A long time ago, in a nostalgic look at the entanglement of Celtic with my own life, I noted down my memory of Jimmy Johnstone!
I never posted it as I always hoped that I would be long gone before him and would never need to add his sad loss to my happy and at times hilarious recollections.
Today, however that dreaded news came through and so I went up to Celtic park where at 09.00 hours already tied to the railings outside the main entrance was a Rangers shirt, a Scotland scarf, and the beginnings of a multicoloured monument of epic memories!
The queue for the Cup final tickets stood in almost a reverent silence as they slowly filed forward to collect their briefs for the game and as they did so the name Jimmy, Jinky, JJ, or simply the wee man would drift in the air to be followed by a burst of laughter.
Even today the magician extraordinaire continued to entertain us.
So Jimmy, I know where you are now as you have sent St Peter the wrong way and nipped by him as he has fallen on his backside outside that more ethereal Paradise!
Say hello to Ronnie and Bobby and Big Jock for me!
To everyone else I make no apologies for reposting just what Jimmy meant to me!!
To the man who could thread a needle with his feet
(or how the f*** did he do that?)
The nearest I have ever physically come to Jimmy Johnstone was, for every home match, standing in the ‘Jungle’ just to the right of the halfway line, and about twenty terracing steps back from the low grey stone wall which separated us from that fiery headed green and white clad magician.
This was however much closer than the opposition ever got to him.
Everyone knows at least by word of mouth about Jimmy’s slightness of stature but abundance of heart. Everyone knows about his extraordinary skills, artfulness, resourcefulness, and reputation. But what no one has really said is that Jinky would have made a world class fisherman.
Like an expert angler, Jimmy would regularly bait, hook, reel, land, and then throw us back in to be teased again, almost as much as he ever did to the opposition. But we loved it because he was doing it for us, because he was one of us, and he represented us on those hallowed sods of Celtic Park.
“Gie it tae Jimmy” the Jungle would call and with a thousand moves orchestrated as one, the man of a million moments of blinding extravagance and brilliance would instantaneously have the ball under control, spun to face the oppositions goal, and be jinking across the half-way line, going left then right, then back, then forwards, leaving a trail of exhausted opponents, their tongues covered in grass burns as the vainly tried to work out why Newton’s natural laws of motion did not seem to apply to the wee man.
As he instantly hypnotised both the opposing fullback, and us, and transmitted by ESP the message that he was going down the outside, the defenders muscles made that imperceptible, involuntary and sadly (for him) irreversible commitment to covering the route that Jinky had somehow convinced him he was going.
Imperceptible to most of us that is, but like the thrashing of a distressed fish to a shark, the wee man picked up both the heat of fear and the consequential disturbance in the air pattern. In an instant, he had whipped the ball eight inches in the air, pulled it with his right instep inside and over the vain and forlorn swish of the opponent’s right-foot which had continued on its own trajectory. This resulted in three things happening with uncanny regularity.
Firstly Jimmy immediately and seamlessly, transferred the responsibility for the continued advance and control of the ball to his left peg, and defied the laws of body mechanics to go inside and home in on the goal at the Celtic End of Paradise.
Secondly, the defender seemed to be heading off to buy a pint of milk and three pounds of potatoes.
And thirdly, everyone in the ground pished themselves laughing at him!
The centre-half seeing the thrust of the red-haired whiz-bang, made to push forward from the safety of the defensive numbers to cut-off JJ’s path (or more usually to cut off his legs usually somewhere up around Jimmy’s neck). The full back, recovering as quickly as was possible when your legs were as dignified as a couple of twisted pipe-cleaners, but desperate to rid himself of the memory of urine soaked ridicule, rushed to support his advancing comrade in arms by forming that impenetrable pincer of muscle, tackity boots, liniment, brute force and destructive football ignorance!
In they both came; one from forward slightly left, and one from backwards to the right. Nostrils flaring, eyes popping, veins, throbbing, evil was in their mind and harm was their intent.
Shoulders dipping, waist and hips shimmying, eyes on the ball and its two yard circumference, Jimmy took the move to that point where no-one could draw out and everyone could see what was going to happen.
We all had a premonition of the pain that Jinky was going to feel!
In instinctive harmony we closed our eyes and drew a sharp breath as the three torsos, six arms, six legs, and one ball, fuelled by the unsophisticated assault and battery of the not-so-beautiful game’s answer to the nuclear threat – 1960’s Scottish defenders – were subjected to the cataclysmic amalgam of ‘immovable objects’ and ‘unstoppable forces’.
Except, when we opened our eyes, there was Jimmy, still with the ball.
Somehow he had not only whipped it back with the outside of his left foot in the opposite direction – in defiance of his muscles and bone structure and dragged it away from his potential assailants, but he had also managed to manoeuvre himself down the outside right channel where we had all thought he was originally going,….. then decided he wasn’t and ………then finally decided he was after all. (In fact we only really knew where he was going once he got there, although even then I was never completely sure that he was where he appeared to be.)
‘Now’, with absolutely no apologies to Paul Daniels, ‘ that is magic’.
And there he was now on the bye-line, all on his own. He was ready to chip it, drive it, float it, or possibly come up with a new variation of a cross for Stevie Chalmers, or Bertie Auld, or Wullie Wallace or Joe McBride. As the other members of the unstoppable green machine flooded the box to finish the move, Jinky caught them all out too by changing his mind and going back, finding another couple of overconfident gullible victims and take them through another of the infinite variations on the ‘you’ll-end-up-sitting-on-your-arse’ routines..
I can still see the cast of famous but failed assailants pushing and shoving each other, trying to get to their feet, almost arguing over whose leg was whose as they unravelled the spaghetti of the aftermath of their unsuccessful mugging.
But funniest of all was their embarrassed search around the grass for the dignity that they seemed to lose so suddenly, predictably, and justifiably.
Jinky was if nothing else, scrupulously fair in his treatment of defenders. They all copped it in equally contemptuous measures!!
In an ever resounding echo of the Celtic Song (They come from Bonnie Scotland, they come from County Cork ….), they came from Madrid, from Prague, from St Etienne, from Nantes, from Buenos Aires, from England, and on a humiliatingly regular basis, from the Govan area of this dear green place. And the great thing is that while most left eventually with a smile on their faces, most certainly ALL left with a memory of a footballer extraordinaire!
And as for that ‘lost dignity’, well feeling magnanimous as he usually did after games Jimmy would probably return it to them in the dressing room, or more likely in whatever bar they ended up in that night.
For one other thing about Jimmy was that he lived his life the way he played his football, and let’s be honest, would we have wanted it any other way.
James Connolly Johnstone……….Thank you
Requiescant in pace Jinky, for one day we will meet again!
Hail Hail
Matt
Gentlemen.been lurkin as usual and noticed that Melbourne Mick never got to his bed till about 3am our time.Which of course means he is pished. I’m jealous. I was wondering if it was possible to get a copy-link whatever for the Jinky documentary. I would love to show it our club in the Peninsula.Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks. Paddy
MATT
Wonderful stuff. Anyone who saw Jimmy will know exactly what you mean,and be envious that they could never convey it with words like that!
HH.
Roy –
The Beatles – Paul Simon – Gerry Rafferty – are the Holy Trinity of music.
But, with respect, be careful with the ole you tube links cos a couple of the recent ‘Beatles’ ones sure don’t sound like The (real) Beatles to me! Hic.
Jobo
How to make a grown man greet. Watch Jinky on Alba via iplayer.
Legend. RIP Jinky (James Connolly Johnstone).
MWD
PADDYMACOZ
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xdrv3
Showing as not available yet,once that changes you should be able to watch it. If it shows up on YouTube,I’ll post it here.
Another fine piece of eloquent prose from Matt Stewart, the artist formerly known as Estadio. A wonderful description of Jinky on the ball.
Earth shattering stuff, Harry Redknapp the latest ex manager to be caught on camera saying he threw a match. Anyone but Harry :O)
VFR
How ya doing? I was in the car when you posted so couldn’t reply
I did see the game (it was on TV here, so I didn’t have to cross my own picket line!). Most enjoyable game I have seen in some time. And the fans were even better
I had dinner with Dan and waheeda last week. They are good. They were supposed to come to the concert last night, but unfortunately Whas the flu, so they didn’t make it.
W is excited about the basketball season starting. For some reason, she has taken to the Raptors (the only team she likes more than the boys!)
All well with you?
Hope everyone has a great day at the hotenanny. Wish I could be there but I canny. My wee bro might stunt double for me though.
Gordybhoy64, I need the wee hipper back bruv.
TET, mailed you re sclaffnaw espania, did you get it?
HH Celtic men and wummin.
From Zeros to heros – Home
Matt/ Estadio
A wonderful piece- do you still have a copy of the piece you wrote about Jinky’s funeral route- that would be a good companion piece to your post above.
Estadio –
Fantastico. Just fantastico!
Love the Inspiral Carpets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-fX0UbpZls
This Is How It Feels
quonno @ 7:14 pm
“Any repeal of the OBAF act was scuppered after the cup final shambles, the diversion towards strict liability will now take centre stage.
I heard MSP James Dornan on radio this morning already preparing the ground. Notice how Scotlands finest can find 4 alleged offenders for the blow up doll mess, however not a single arrest for vandalism?
I do not subscribe to all of the conspiracy theories on here however once again we see an apparent difference being made, or am I paranoid?
Months ago I was being derided on here for suggesting that repeal of the OB Act was far from a done deal.
I think you are being disingenuous with that memory.
You were derided for saying that James Kelly and the Labour Party would be dropping their commitment to repeal of the OBaF Act because they were just being opportunistic. You spoke as an SNP loyalist. James Kelly delivered on his promise- no one on that side has backtracked.
The reason that repeal is or will be “far from a done deal” is because of SNP reluctance to admit to error. Introducing strict liability is their attempt to shore up their Act and prevent its repeal.
It’s time for the SNP loyalists to start calling out their own party. They will resist any sense spoken to them by outsiders.
I’m really disappointed I can’t make the hootenanny but as I explained to BMCUW I’m going to Medjugorje on Sunday and the flight is at 6:20 :-(
Celtic battled the richest club in the world to a standstill on Wednesday night. Our ghuys in the Hoops fought like lions for themselves and for is the 12th Man. We sweated blood as they did and they did not let us down. Not a single one of them. Less than 48 hours later, I log on and ghuys (good Celtic ghuys) are arguing with one another about POLITICS!
Come on lhads have a word with yourselves. It’s all about Celtic. The meeja are begging us up through gritted teeth. They’re talking about ‘the wall of noise’, Brendan’s tactics as a template for EPL teams, our teams heroic, in-your-face pressing. MOUSSA Dembele and every other hero in our team.
Mikael Lustig, a hero for 5 years, a ghuy who totally gets Celtic and loves the Club, a ghuy who puts his body on the line in every big game for us and who is still only 29 and who has 50 + caps for Sweden (I think) is nearing the end of his contract (on the summer). I want him given a new one. He’s indispensable and I hope he stays and eventually becomes a coach. He’s had a lot of injuries but was a total hero against City the other night and would run through a wall for us. He’s getting back to full fitness. I want him to be given another contract and then to join our coaching staff.
Let’s talk about football issues involving our Bhoys.
Feck the politics.
Let’s hear it for our Great Swede! Mikael Lustig!
Any views would be welcome.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy –
Totally agree with you about Mikael. As a right back or in a back 3/5 he has to be accomodated.
I think that we could see Leigh Griffith become
The Saturday Boy for us against Dundee.
POGMATHONYAHUN
Wise decision!
I hope you enjoy it,mate. It would take a miracle similar to those in Medjugorje to make that flight after a wee dayoooot.
TOSB
Mikael Lustig is probably a better centre half that right back but for one am glad we have him !
Sleep tight y’all…………..
Bobby…. Only reading on here by your own admission trains can be missed those big birds in the sky are pretty costly !
Looking forward to the morra dreading going into work when I don’t have too, but the end justifies the means
Matt
There are no words I can conjure to do your words justice. Except to say Thank You for that masterpiece you just painted.
MWD
PS. Hope you don’t mind but I C&P’d your post to my FB as it was to good just for CQN
I was born in 1960 so never really got the chance to see wee Jinky in his prime. My memories are mainly of him being hacked to bits by Atletico in the EC semi final then destroying England at Wembley before the 74 World Cup.
I did get to speak to him though. He attended a Celtic night in Kilsyth in the early 80’s. There was a Q and A session and I posed a question about whether Celtic were always destined to lose all our best players to England. We had just lost Nicholas to Arsenal.
Jimmy came down from the stage and made a bee line for me. I thought wow, he must have been really impressed with my question. It turned out that he had just noticed my wee brother sitting beside me in his wheelchair
He came down and chatted to him for a few minutes.i managed to ask him if he was disappointed at not featuring in the 74 World Cup. . He said that he knew that ship had sailed when the oars fell off his boat in Largs!
Everybody was desperate to buy the wee man a pint. He resisted admirably but with what we learned later on it is no surprise that he succumbed to the bevvy.
I haven’t watched the show tonight. I have been watching the Ryder Cup. I will watch it tomorrow following our game. Hopefully, our team will do his memory justice.
They’re certainly doing that at the moment.
.
Yeah! Jobo andcGerry agree with me about Big Mik! I’m feeling slightly pissed after a very busy day and a few drinks poos! Thank you to two ghuys whose opinions I always respect on CQN!
This says so much about what Brendan is wanting.
He is Ruthless in what he wants for Celtic. There is something really Special about this guy.
TOSB
If you need a wee curer while arguing/agreeing about the hoops get yourself along to the BV the morra, only a couple of bus stops into the city centre, to see if that Brendan guy can match Ronny’s post Euro performances :-)
Fellow Celtic fans we live in good times, Jobo, a terrifically reminder about the Jinky programme, we ditched Googlebox….. For me it sums up as much about Celtic as the 3-3 draw the other night, in fact probably far more important……
Anyway fellow Celtic fans good night and God bless
Questions:
In January, would you accept bid of £10m for Moussa?
In January, would you accept his of £15m for Mousse?
In January, would you accept his of £20m for Mousse?
Questions:
In January, would you accept bid of £10m for Moussa?
In January, would you accept bid of £15m for Moussa?
In January, would you accept bid of £20m for Moussa?
Petec = Dembelle hat-trick 20/1
Petec we live in good Celtic times
Night night
Celtic are back in the Big Time.
Dexter, maybe next January…… I feel your pain
Gftb on this occasion I was wrong ( and delighted to be).
But overall the trend is sadly right.
But hey.
Why even worry about things like morality and justice.
All that matters is the old fir………..error Celtic.
Etc.