I got my haircut today. Sitting, waiting in line, usual habits were cast aside and I picked up a newspaper; what an alarming read. Neil Lennon was quoted as saying, “I’m not big on tactics. It’s about the players and they have to go out onto the pitch and apply that.”
I couldn’t disagree more. It’s all about the tactics. Players need to be sufficiently fit, fast and fearless but all the talent in the world can be ripped asunder if it’s not tactically well organised. I had been watching Celtic tactics closely for 20 years before Martin O’Neill arrived. Back in 2000, watching Celtic was like going to school. My eyes were opened to how a defence is organised, how to stage an attack that fits your strikers and how to buy with a playing strategy in mind.
We had seen plenty great players since our last great team: McStay, McClair, McGrain, McAvennie, Burns, Nicholas. We’d seen courage and directness: the Bear, MacLeod and Provan, and cameos from Moravcik and Larsson, but we were forever found out, a plucky team who would flatter to deceive. Celtic would regularly dominate Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen – who understood too well the importance of tactics – and lose 1-0, and we went 30 years without beating a team from a major European league.
Martin O’Neill clearly demonstrated that successful football teams are all about tactics, not the players, nor courage, not even an aggregate ocean of skill.
>90% of football games are won and lost before kick-off.
As for the on-going orgy that is dominating front pages (good grief). Get used to it. As I’ve said many times, positions are absolutely entrenched when it comes to the songs debate. Neil Lennon and Ian Bankier are in for a disappointment if they think they, or any of the rest of us, can “self-police” those who object to being inhibited from singing about the IRA. I’ve encouraged this so often I’m not going to waste my your time with it anymore.
Celtic are set for an extended period when its reputation will suffer, there is no avoiding this. Unfortunately, not everyone listens. My great sympathies go to the £X per hour Celtic stewards who have to put themselves in the front line of this confrontation.
If I can offer any advice on a related subject… Songs and banners affect individuals, who will often be selected randomly for exclusion. Lateral movement in the stands, which happened last weekend, will get an entire section of the stadium closed by Health & Safety. If this creeps back into Celtic Park there is a real risk of council action. I’m pretty sure Michael Davitt didn’t place the sod on Celtic Park before bouncing left to right and back again. It’s not a key part of our heritage, don’t pick fights you’re going to lose.
CQN Magazine, issue 5, will be out soon. After 4 issues online and shipping single copies from Magcloud in the US, we’ve ordered a print run locally. You can order now with credit/debit card or Paypal and buy direct from the UK for only £5 by clicking on the link below.
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If anyone is in any doubt about who the enemy is, they only have to look at the hun fest taday at the bigot dome, a nicely gifted 3 points to the establishment team.
The enemy is at home bhoys, nowhere else.
Italiabhoy
No problems pal.
Healthy debate hurt noone.
Saint Stivs,
Re: politics at Italian games – you’re right I have sat aongst communists and fascists at various games in Italy. There is also quite a strong current of racism in Italian football, barely concealed…
Terrifying! Celtic Park is a haven of calm by comparison.
Saint Stivis:
Some of the songs I intend to sing when Thatcher snuffs it will simply not be as good without the invenctive!
That answer your question? Haha.
Enrico Dandolo nicked my Crusade’
That’s what we are asking for-some recognition from above that we are sinned against.
It seems as though we are being hammered by our enemies,ignored by those who should be our allies,persecuted by those who should protect us,and worst of all,turned upon by our own.
All because we refuse to sit at the back of the bus?
THOSE DAYS HAVE GONE,REMEMBER?
Saint Stivs – Kano 1000 – Glasgows Green and White says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:48
That’s up to the individual. I would say no it’s not in either case for exactly the same reason why it’s not allowed here, on this blog.
Rico
big nan 1946
That deserves to be put on a t-shirt,at least.
James Forrest 1951
The club did NOT fight the lies about the Rennes game.
Next point?
BMCUW
Thank you for your defence mate.
Gordon64 … He wasn’t comparing managers he was simply stating that they probably share the same view .
I agree with Lenny and I’m glad the individual is now banned thus NOT being able to feed the media and eyes of the world with ‘aye ah told you that that AULD FIRM are as bad as each other!’ .
What a massive on goal scored on the back of SNP wrongly pushing through a non transparent legislation that could possibly criminalise honest fans like you and I .
That idiot of a fan had a stage to let the world know about ‘fans against criminalisation’ that could affect all of us…
No he choose an Orc like banner choice of @£&@ UEFA .
Years and years of good fans work out the window with 1 banner
Clown
Saint Stivs – Kano 1000 – Glasgows Green and White says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:00
IMO what we are witnessing is the culmination of the ragers fans being FORCED to give up their bile ,now you and I know they won,t ,so all they could do is find some way to drag us back to the (different side of the same coin )argument .
Domestically they could control the agenda ,outside Scotland they could not .
they were getting panned by UEFA and we were getting awards this did not fit the both sides of the same coin argument
UEFA rules
No racist singing
No sectarian singing
No political singing .
we did none of the first two but wait a minute what about the third .
what if someone could exploit that one by say
parading the armed forces
parading the armed forces in the run up to remembrance day
setting up microphones outside a ground on remembrance week
making us the first team were a match commander reports us to UEFA because we show we will react to the 3 points above .
I posted today that we chanted our way into a trap this week and that another will be coming our way ,
Well them playing host to Judas and mallas today IMO shows we did not have to wait long for it .
The question is are you going to be pig headed and say feck you ,or are you going to say ,no I am not going to play your game and become more savvy regards the tactics that are in play .
The fact that CELTIC FOOTBALL FANS were the first ever FOOTBALL fans to be given that award by UEFA should be something that we should ALL be proud of (it was never given the deserved recognition in the Scottish press ,I wonder why) now look where THEY have led us and it is THEY .
Led by the nose to display a banner saying F**K the organisation that finally condemned them and PUNISHED them for their bile and do not forget who forced them to finally change their sectarian signing policy If I was the head of their PR I would be over the moon ,in fact I would ask for a performance BONUS .
IMO they know the hordes won’t behave themselves on the 28th ,they are hoping they have done enough to ensure we don;t either.
I know I am not going to give them what they want ,what about you bhoys
hail hail
JF,
as Christy says
“you can say waht you like about thatcher, but she sure gave us some great songs to write”
lol
ktf.
i know your disappointed in what occured the other night, and that long-term strategies , is your forte, but there is never control over the free actions of many. someone , somewhere will mess it up.
Re.:banner.
I don’t know if it was posted? Victoria Pilsen who shown same banner in Copenhagen in September this year got 12 000 Euro fine.
I wonder if Hapoel Tel Aviv will be fined for showing this banner during the game against Legia last Thursday?
http://legia.net/images/news/big/hapoel25_1323992005.jpg
hamiltontim says:
See, that post just then … that tugs the heart strings mate, and I DO NOT think it makes you sad. I get that, I understand that. But you think less of Lennon, the man, because he has his own set of convictions? Mate, that is a strength, not a weakness. He loves this club as much as you do, and he wants what is best for it.
Some of the guys here have, rightly, said he was ambushed by that question at the airport, after a gruelling 90 minutes where we came close – agonisingly close – to going through. He was doubtless exhausted but proud, and had been hoping for some recognition.
It was an answer partly born of frustration. It happens that I agree with it and you don’t, but that was the basis on which he was flippant. If you agree, in broad terms, with the sentiment, if not the wording, then don’t make it the basis on which you view him. I think it was a little mis-directed anger. What he really wanted to do, doubtless, was take the microphone that had just been shoved in his face and stick it somewhere the sun was unlikely to shine on it for a long, long time.
Don’t think less of him for that. He is One of Us, and I mean a Celtic man, not some drum banging Republican. If that’s what people want as a manager, they want something diffrent from me. This guy is taking us somewhere special, very special, and part of my own frustration is that a lot of our guys are ignoring that to concentrate on some tired, frustrated remarks.
Thursday night was not about the banner mate. It was about the fantastic football team we are building under this guy. It’s about how a Rangers team presently looks ready to fold the hand as we start to hit high gear.
Wait until the 28th fella. It’s going to be a sight to see.
Keep the Faith. In Lenny.
The agenda is clear turn celtic supporters
against each other.
See it now.
Rise above the nonsense.
We will always have more that unites us
than divides us.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:52
I sympathise with you, but I don’t feel it to quite the same extent you do.
Where you are seeing bullying and aggression, I’m seeing come on bhoys, let’s keep it to football and caw canny here.
I say we box clever instead of the charge of the light brigade.
Rico
Wow, stepped into the middle of somethin tonight!
Pace brothers, we all want the same thing
HT 1951
EFFEMAW.
Have a beer,and remember that all men have feet of clay.
I loved Neil’s play,and I think he will be successful for us as a boss-behind him from day one,remember?
Come on,bud. We canny expect him to be a media-savvy tellystar as well.
We love him for what he does as a football man.
Celtic Celtic thats the team for me…..
Celtic Celtic on to victory…..
Gordon64 says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:59
.
We will always have more that unites us
than divides us.
—————————————-
1000%.
except for the GreenOakians.
:-)
I think the point that was most disappointing about the Banner protest is that it was just so untypical.
Protest are welcome, but the GB (if it was them), have shown they can deliver a powerful message when required.Witness the first half protest banners and the silent protest.
the banner the other night was just so crude ,so unoriginal.
Unbecoming of the Celtic support
James, I posted earlier that it was a dereliction of duty by whoever is in charge of our PR that Lenny was doorstepped in the airport.
He should not have been made to answer any questions and the press should have been directed to an official statement instead.
There are aspects of Celtic PLC that are so ineffectual it is unreal.
I said it on Wednesday night the banner was stupid no more no less than that the reaction by the media was and is disproptionate any one would think wed trashed a City or kicked a policeman senseless we have to accept that the media will bad mouth us at every chance they get and that is why the banner was stupid. Now Lennie doesnt deal with the media well now he came back from Italy into Glasgow Airport and was surrounded by the media and instead of answeing the question on the banner by saying he was happy to answer questions about his team and how they played he allowed himself to be drawn into a negative comment on some of the fans and in my opinion he was wrong just as wrong as the fans with the banner he pandered to the media the same media who would stab him in the back as soon as look at him.H.H.
stop the IRA garbage ffs
notthebus says:
Good point. Totally lacking the subtlety which made the “silent protest” one of the best things ever seen from fans in a football stadium.
That was truly poetry. This was more like drunken slabbering.
(I’m obviously speaking from experience haha.)
JimmyQuinnsBits says:
17 December, 2011 at 20:01
Pace brothers? Didn’t they play the Burns Howff? Backing band for Jamie Barnes, no? :)))))
Rico
on a lighter note,
I happended to catch a Mr J.Traynor of AIRDRIE , comment on the national broadcaster in response to a caller, that he has “no knowledge of what happens at Orange walls, and i suspect that if there is sectarian behaviour its punished by the law”.
no kiddin.
from airdrie
i nearly dropped a stitch in my new pink and green scarf.
James Forrest.
Is that the same uefa who have continually told us that there is nothing wrong with our songs up until a few weeks ago where they fined us for singing those songs?
Is that the same uefa who have done nothing to investigate the sfa and rangers for the illicit entry to their competitions?
Is that the same uefa who made us finish the tie with sion despite them fielding illelibible players in the first tie?
Is that the same uefa who put us into a group where our seeding was ignored?
Is it the same uefa who didnt intervene in the referees strike?
Is it the same uefa who continued to employ Hugh Dallas despite him being sacked for a sectarian email?
Is it the same uefa whose employees made phonecalls during the referees strike to disuade the polish fa and others from covering the ties?
Need I mention rapid Vienna?
Theyre not our enemy?
F&@& uefa!!
ItaliaBhoy:
Little doubt that has played a huge role in this. And I actually thought we were getting it right when Gary Hooper was pulled in the middle of a press conference some weeks ago because some scummy gin soaked hack asked about the original UEFA charge.
Gary Hooper. 22 years old. From England. Asked a question they would never have asked a wiser head.
But yes, they have slipped again since.
Celtic is a football club open to all who want to support it
It is not the athletic wing of the now terminated PIRA
The Green Brigade have brought noise and colour and at times good humour to Celtic Park
They are not however the guardians of the club’s spirit nor essence
If they cannot take on board what is happening and want to insist on behaving in a way that they know will bring the club in to trouble with the footballing authorities at home and abroad – then they should be refused entry to CP and refused tickets for away games
No man nor group is bigger than the club
They have to decide who has their ultimate loyalty their group or the club
I sincerely hope they choose to stay and support the club in a positive fashion and leave the other stuff for their homes or clubs/pubs
HH
Twinbhoy
Can i say the same for you pal.
Lads nice open debate this morning. James well done for coming back with eloquent and well thought out answers. Some very good points especially about abusing our single biggest ally in our struggle for a fair playing field. I have been on the freedom of speech side especially where the message is something meaningful even if disagreeable. This banner was neither and really doesn’t remotely represent the smallest fraction of our support . The way its gets front page and is used to attack us is the most galling part. Our enemies seek to damage us by implicating Lenny and our club in its attempts to attack our support. Don’t let them divide us. Like Martin 42 . Kit and a few others I think that the club itself needs to get back on the offensive to defend our support. I also agree with Paul when he says that it will be impossible to self police the few cases who just don’t get the fact that they are doing the devils work for them. Keep on debating Celts but keep the huddle we are in for a long haul when it comes to getting the equality on and off the field that we should have. Three points a must after another contrived win for them. Have a great weekend all. Hail Hail.
Ah see that, after many years of development, and millions of pounds of investment, the scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have concluded that the mass of the Universe is made up of Biggs Bosums
Ma neebor, wee Hughie, has been sayin that fur years
Wit are they experimentin oan down there, wh should be told
and how do ye join?
The Honest Mistake says:
Aye the same UEFA which HAS to trust its national associations or it would be up to its neck in paperwork looking for things that don’t fit. The same UEFA which had to back the national referees association when they voted, like any trade union, to go on strike. The same UEFA which let us back into the competition in the first place, after we were beaten.
Aye the same one. And if you think UEFA are part of the Great Masonic Conspiracy of 2011 you are barking.
We should be able to debate the goings on of Thursday with out falling out – as a few have said is about 90% that we agree on but the remaining 10% is always magnified not just by the Press but by ourselves. The need is to get right behind the Team from here on in and let this sad episode die a natural death. The Press will keep it alive in the lead up to the 28th – don’t throw any more fuel on the fire for them – its just what they are after.
Roll on Perth tomorrow and a thumping win for the Bhoys.
Corporate Celtic, Corporate Celtic that’s the team for customers
Corporate Celtic, Corporate Celtic onto victory.
MWD wishes he was an Über Tim
We rally must be worrying them just now if the reaction to the sweary word on a banner is any indication. Until 3-4 years ago them and the mini them flew UVF flags every time they came to paradise, before the polis finally decided to do something about it. No mention ever in the press. Is a flag glorifying a gang of sectarian murderers really less offensive or newsworthy than the word F”*K?
ENRICO 2001
Just how much ground do you intend to strategically concede in this clever strategy?
Do you have any idea where the precipice is?The one that you are retreating to?