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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Kev jungle
Your comment at 2:06 is a disgrace. If you are a Celtic supporter which you purport to be then you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met.
BTW keep your money in your pocket we don’t want you at Parkhead.
”Strathclyde Police seem unprepared to decommission the loose cannon that is providing the regular leaks of largely inaccurate information about Celtic fans to the press. …the Scotland on Sunday, suggesting they plan to “smash the Irish Republican, Marxist, Green Brigade”.
Marxism:
”According to Marxism, Socialism is a historical necessity (but not an inevitability [1]). In a socialist society private property in the means of production would be superseded by co-operative ownership. The socialist system would succeed capitalism as humanity’s mode of production through worker’s revolution. Capitalism according to Marxist theory can no longer sustain the living standards of the population due to its need to compensate for falling rates of profit by driving down wages”.
Hugh Keevins: taking every chance he can to grab the pound coin on offer from his sinister management by ridiculing any muppet that phones his radio shack show claiming to be from the Celtic Support. And terrified, absolutely TERRIFIED, of discussing the real issue, which is the hun financial mess and their total destruction of Scottish football. Which, in my humble opinion, should be a wee bit of a hot topic, no?
& KevJungle, you are one BIG opinion ;-)
hh
bjmac
hamiltontim says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:19
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I detect a WEE bit of an, ego-trip being embarked upon here ?
I mean, “WE don’t want you back at Parkhead!”
Who is this WE ?
Are you the new self-appointed Celtic supporters spokesman ?
Delusions of grandiuer me thinks ?
KevJungle – “Lennons Lions Get Ready To ROAR!!!” says:
I’ve seen enough to convince me, these past few years, that what you’ve just said is a fairly accurate reflection of things. We are NOT all in this together, definitely, and it’s the lack of not only ambition but any sense of purpose that is keeping me away from the club I love.
I would love to go back and be there every week. But whilst my finances are tight, I am not willing to fund continued failure, and continued lack of vision.
Fergus knew when he built the season ticket base that he was selling a dream. He was selling an idea. If the people running our club want us to continue to put money into this bankrupt league they need to do more to convince us that there is a plan, a strategy, some sense of us going places.
We need a dream to buy into. And they have not provided one.
Lenny knows what the team needs, and what the fans want. He wants the same thing himself. The reason I will partly blame him – apart from his ultimate responsibility, of putting the team on the park – is that if he allows his dream to be compromised he is not the right man. The right man would fight tooth and nail, and be dominant enough, to get his way. O’Neill was, right from the start. When Desmond asked him if spending £6 million on Sutton was a good idea the man told him to butt out and concentrate on his own job.
If Lenny does not have the belief to do the same he is risking the one chance at this job he will ever get.
I think maybe the penny has dropped with him. Sending Parker to watch Diawara tonight is a nod and a wink to the wise. He is letting us know this is what he wants, and expects it to be delivered.
Shame on the board if they let him down again. And yes, if Lenny goes at the end of the season a good many of them ought to follow him out the door.
grandiuer = grandeur
Anywho,with good intentions to all,i’m going to return to my more frequent style of post;tunes.
So here’s some for any interested ears.I have faith there’s something in there for everyone.Hope those who indulge enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_c2sUArjQk&ob=av2e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIqLsGT2wbQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQnmhyGNx28&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQcPB1WkISI&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSRrjcxjko0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3adFWKE9JE&ob=av2e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=421pZgg-vlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OslVwbS4fzc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8h04akqGhI
SHAKEYOURMONEYMAKERcsc
FFM
it possibly is inevitable, as state economies equalise globally, and corporations have nowhere else to go for cheaper labour costs. But you won’t be allowed to call it Marxism… or Socialism… shhh… it’ll be the new 3rd way… again
James Forrest is Lennon says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:24
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Your perpective should be carved in stone and, heeded by ALL CQNer’s! IMO!
Hail! Hail!
perpective = perspective
Sorry M8!
Fortunes Favour Mibbes says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:19
Hugh Keevins: taking every chance he can to grab the pound coin on offer from his sinister management by ridiculing any muppet that phones his radio shack show claiming to be from the Celtic Support. And terrified, absolutely TERRIFIED, of discussing the real issue, which is the hun financial mess and their total destruction of Scottish football. Which, in my humble opinion, should be a wee bit of a hot topic, no?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Why don’t you phone in and, set the agenda ?
boxing for me, JF that is single fish, you seem to be a total opinion the same as kev(neverbeennearthe)jungle
goodnight
Reading back, I notice a handful of CQNers wishing me a happy birthday. Just to set the record straight, my birthday is in September.
What I was celebrating on Friday was 50 years to the day since my very first Celtic game, ergo 50 years as a Celtic supporter.
Half-a-Century Bhoy.
Hail Hail.
Kev
Nothing delusions and I only speak for the tims that I would count as friends. Not one of them would want someone who has the opinions you expressed at Parkhead. Your post almost attempted to exonerate the huns for their behaviour in Manchester. Shocking.
James
Never mind players, never mind management and never mind corporate business men. Celtic is a dream all on it’s own.
Christopher Hitchens RIP.
ßjmac ♥ Kano 1000 °¿° says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:34
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I’ve always smelt something, fishy about yourself ?
One of those guys that throws a punch and, runs away!
Well sussed M8!
JimmyQuinnsBits @ 02:29
Sshh. Ya nutter. You realise we’ve just been “registered”. (hand in heid smilie)
Fholks,
KevJ is a bit mad…and words things unusually for reasons best known to himself, AND is feckin infuriating at times.
But still deserves respect imo. His points get lost in the way he says them, but he’s always been true to them. (HT, for example, the post you picked up on, had to read it twice myself. It was his way of saying the board are equating us to them so what is the difference between them and us.)
Hope that clarifies.
KevJ drives me up the wall, but is not a hun, and is a loveable Tim who deserves to be listened to, if he promises to stop reading the scumrags and stop phoning their hotlines for his cheap thrills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KboVg6SEABM
KevJ,
BJMac’s a good wan
throwin a punch and runnin away… I’ve lived my life by that bold motto… thing is, ah’ve got short legs…. and a helluva face now
hamiltontim says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:37
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Your mind is playing tricks on you M8!
Do you run about with a certain FFM ?
Btw, the huns in Manchester were like….the huns in Newcastle 1969, Barcelona 1972(the worst ever?), Birmingham(A.Villa) 1975 etc…….. until-Manchester 2008! IMO!
good wan = good guy
joshua… iUisce spell chkre
FFM
You’re a good man for trying to stick up for someone whom you see as honest and plausible. I don’t, I see a guy with either a thinly cloaked agenda or just a prick.
I’m inclined to go for the latter. His earlier comment at 2:06(?) was bizarre in the extreme.
a bit of gentle sparring :-) don’t be too offended, please
KevJungle – “Lennons Lions Get Ready To ROAR!!!” says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:39
In your posts, when you insist on saying “M8”, do you mean “pal”?
Where is Kojo when you need him, to speak some proper English :))……PAL?
JQB
Lol yep short legs and a few scars, that’ll be me too!
Anyway, Perth tomorrow so time for the spiderman jammies.
Good night and God bless all Celts
ward every round so far
Happy belated birthday GCT, ya auld git :)
HT,
night amigo
Man Utd now touched by thr Sion affair. They don’t deserve to get back in ….like us :))
http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soccer/2011/1217/1224309229705.html
hamiltontim @ 02:46
I know, but on re-reading it, he was having a go at the board (which I’ve now turned round to thinkin is the right approach given their failure to defend the support in the past 6-12 months..in public eyes anyway :( )
KevJ has been posting for several years and has provoked my own ire to the extreme….but he is just a quirky Tim..imo. Actually have a bit of affection for the fecker :)
good fight 4 rds for ward so far
Fortunes Favour Mibbes says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:40
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I luv u from the cradle 2 the grave M8!
But, sometimes you really have to take a step back and, ask yourself….have we as a club dealt with a certain situation as best we could ?
Off the top of my head…..when Salmond convened a, hastily arranged Govt summit(to get the huns off the hook) then, it was at that point that, PL should have walked out of the meeting, making it clear that we(Celtic FC) had no case to answer and, would fight any attempt at associated guilt! IMO!
But, what did PL do……rolled around satans bed with the establishment!
In a, twisted sort of way…I blame my fellow Celtic supporters for their continued financial, not to mention, emotional backing of the club!
FFS, Celtic fans wake-up!
WE Will NEVER Be CELTIC Again Until, the club is reconstructed and, run by Celtic supporters, not financial sharks!
DUSHANBE BHILLY BHOY says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:47
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Is that it PAL ?
See that eayjet photie at the bottom of the page…. thats me that is
guess where ma hand is?
dunno who the bloke is mind you
hamiltontim says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:46
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Ah,dear…….
KevJ @ 02:57
Aye, am now round to yer way of thinking….but don’t push it. The ridiculous idea of us starving the Club of money will NEVER sort out these issues.
If the Board don’t step up to the plate quick….or prove to have been doing nothing behind the scenes during all this…then the Celtic Support will show them door. Simple as that.
Luv you too ya nutter :))
KevJungle – “Lennons Lions Get Ready To ROAR!!!” says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:59
DUSHANBE BHILLY BHOY says:
18 December, 2011 at 02:47
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Is that it PAL ?
——————————————————————
Aye, that’s it…”mucker”…..but never “m8”.
Bet you say “outwith” instead of “outside”?
Ward winning by miles, Froche still chance of knockout, he’ll need it
Fortunes Favour Mibbes says:
18 December, 2011 at 03:06
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Btw, I read on one of the fan-sites yesterday morn that, PL said the GB were not to blame for the banner!
This took me back to when, WGs took us to the CL last 16 for the second time @, the Nou Camp and…..a journalist, mingled with the Celtic fans and, recorded TBOTOB and, handed in his recording of the song to, Uefa the next day in an attempt to get us in trouble ?
Uefa dismissed the material for what it was worth but….if the LL can mingle at the Nou Camp then, it can happen in Udin as well! IM!
“Keep Yer Guard-Up!” CSC