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.
1,194 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- »
WGs = WGS
IM! = IMO!
Sorry M8!/PAL!
FFM –
Thanks. I wish I were only 50.
:~)
KevJ,
Nowt new there…journalists out to get us?? FFS stop phoning the trumpets then!!!
GCT,
Wish I was only half that age myself :)
Adios CQN nightshift.
St. Johnstone 1-4 Lennons lions
May God Bless ‘Every’ Celtic Fan
Laters….
Fortunes Favour Mibbes says:we are going to get a jolt ?
18 December, 2011 at 03:48
KevJ,
Nowt new there…journalists out to get us?? FFS stop phoning the trumpets then!!!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The thing that bugs me about that scenario is…..why can Phil Mac find out/dig dirt on the hun tax case but, dizny have a scooby about that situation ???mmm
Off the record…I think that the biggest donations that go Phils way are, those made by mysterious members of the Celtic hierarchy ?
Is it just me or……does Phil have this habit of, coveniently ‘dropping’ a news-exclusive about the huns, just as things look as though, we are going to get a jolt ?mmmm
Adios My GREAT Amigo xxxxx
Adios CQN xxxx
May God Bless ‘Every’ Celtic Fan.
KevJ
Phil has recently raised some serious questions about the Celtic Board, as I think you know, my mischievous friend.
He shoudn’t be doubted for that reason, so your point is valid and well-timed amigo.
.
McCoist’s counterpart Terry Butcher surprised everybody when refusing to launch a volley of flak in the direction of Bobby Madden, the referee, for some contentious decisions, all of which went the way of Rangers. Madden, it has to be said, is respected greatly. Even Richie Foran when stating that Madden got two penalty decisions wrong in the match was at pains to point out that Madden is a top official and a fine communicator. The Irishman’s sense of grievance was obvious, though. As was, in fairness, his anger at his own team’s defending for both Rangers goals.
Summa
Morning all,
Heavy frost in the kingdom of Fife this morning currently -2 degree, forecast is sunny which will bring the temp up to a balmy 0 degrees for the rest of the day.
I am only 25 miles from Perth so hopefully the game will not be called off at the last minute!
Vaultbhoy
Why should MIBs worry about anything now? There’s no threat whatsoever from those outside forces who should be demanding fair play.
Things are about to get a lot lot worse.
I’ve just started reading the complaints by Ian rankin; the hero’s a jambo and there’s a young upstart in the office called naysmith, it’s going to be a long read !
-4 and heavy frost here. I’m less than a mile from the stadium.
PMJS
Can’t wait to hear butcher’s post match interview after that game yesterday. He must be absolutely ragin in it, surely??
A nice wee bit of music for a Sunday morn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZqZh_MAqat0#!
the Celtic football club song sung by Celtic players some of whom might not know all the words
Kitalba,
We allowed to listen to that?
Jim Scullion Artist with Celtic Football Club for 25 years
Butcher praises referee despite penalty decisions…..
Terry Butcher took his side’s 2-1 defeat to Rangers on the chin despite seeing two good penalty decisions waved away by referee Bobby Madden.
A handball from Nikita Jelavic went unpunished by Madden who also missed a second half incident when Kyle Bartley appeared to pull Billy McKay with the game still goal-less.
Butcher’s after match rants have become legendary since taking over at Inverness but after today’s match he claimed that the officials had had an excellent game despite denying his side two penalties.
“We don’t get penalties – 20 games this season and not one penalty,” the Caley Thistle boss said. “It is an unwritten SPL rule. It is part of the constitution that Inverness don’t get penalties. That’s a joke.
“I thought they were legitimate but the referee didn’t think so. I thought Bobby Madden and the officials had an excellent game.
—————-
Hmmm.
Lubo.
Fortunes Favour Mibbes
Are you in the Middle East now?
Game on.
http://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/newsitemsdetail.php?param=1851
The Celtic Family
I Don’t Wanna Talk About It, by the Thai Tims
Good morning friends from a cold, clear skied, frost covered East Kilbride.
Another big day for our team but pretty confident.
Jobo
Lads it just goes to show what we’re up against with butchers comments.
I will love nothing more if ICT go down and Huns go into admin.
Now I am going to keep on at this untill something is done, what are we going to do about referees in this country they are the Huns protection.
Have you read this part on the bbc report of the scums game
“That changed the flow of the game as Inverness were to equalise in controversial circumstances soon after.
Jelavic was injured in a challenge from Roman Golobart but the game raged on and both sides had chances to put the ball out of play.”
How the hell is the Inverness goal controversial if Rangers could have put the ball out as well
Maybe it’s just me but I think Butchers comments are heavily laced with irony.
Deep down though, he knows his team should have won that game by the length of Edmiston Drive and shouldn’t have had to rely on Madden.
Morning Celts I hope the Celts continue with they’re rich vain of performance today and bring home another 3 points, it’ll be a tough game but we’ll do it.
2-0 Celts.
V
Good piece from Kevin McKenna in the Observer…
There are many reasons why I feel privileged to be Scottish. Nothing though, gives me more pride than the knowledge that few other nations hold the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights as close to its heart as my country. In stating this, I also acknowledge (and do now hereby repent) of those occasions when I have gently mocked our elected officials’ mild obsession with petty political correctness in many aspects of our lives.
I know that they mean well and that their many enactments, pronouncements and decrees are underpinned by a desire to ensure that no one feels excluded or detached in modern Scotland. There are many rooms in the House of Caledonia and all are welcome, especially those who have suffered cruel, unjust or inhumane treatment at the hands of other governments who may have a less rigorous interpretation of what is meant by human dignity. Ours is an enlightened and mature democracy and God forbid that any of our citizens may one day feel the need to seek asylum from Scottish injustice in the embrace of another country.
That scenario, though previously thought bizarre and abstruse, is now clearly within the bounds of credibility. For, last Wednesday, the SNP administration used its Holyrood majority to bulldoze through its Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications bill. As such, Scotland’s commitment to the human rights of its own citizens has now become a little tawdry and diminished. This is despite the fact that Scots law already provides several sanctions for those deemed to have behaved in a threatening manner within the admittedly fluid area of sectarianism.
It is only football supporters who will be affected by one of the two new offences that have been created. This is the one which will target behaviour in and around football matches. The second offence will also provide legal sanctions for similar behaviour on the internet. The Daily Record bravely attempted to provide for us readers a list of songs (lyrics included) that may be on a proscribed list. It divided them into the categories of Sing on; Banned! and Jury’s Out. I’ve seen fewer grey areas on Billy Connolly’s beard. And that sound of delighted chuckling in the background is Glasgow’s legal fraternity who are even now instructing their juniors to get their heads into the human rights tomes lining the shelves.
Even a cursory glance at the Universal Declaration reveals at least four articles that will cause problems when the first clutch of miscreants is dragged bewildered before the courts.
Article 7: All are equal before the law. Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 12: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinions and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference.
Perhaps I could supply a somewhat industrial example of some of these in action. I am a Catholic, proud of my faith and happy to acknowledge Benedict XVI as supreme pontiff, Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome and a thoroughly decent old chap. There are many others though, some of my friends among them, who are perplexed and exercised by some of the teachings of my church. This is, after all, a powerful, rich and influential organisation. People are entitled to express their opposition to Rome’s world view. If they were to shout “F**k the Pope” I would probably experience feelings of mild distress and may form the view that such a calumny is vile and disproportionate. Yet it may be their valid expression of what they are feeling at that moment in time. I would feel neither threatened or intimidated. If the bearer of such unpleasant tidings were also to strike me with a blunt instrument then his uncharitable expostulation would be the least of my worries. In Scots law now it’s two years for the chibbing and three years for the sentiment. This is a bad law.
Many people will be charged arbitrarily under the new legislation by a single policeman wielding a handheld camera aimed at groups of men whom he has already decided will provide rich pickings. Already this year Strathclyde police have been forced to apologise to a Celtic supporter who was apprehended, having been observed through the lens of a distant camera, for wearing a scarf which commemorated Pope Benedict’s state visit to Britain.
The impetus for the new legislation was provided this year by Stephen House, chief constable of Strathclyde, who urged Alex Salmond, first minister of Scotland, to convene a meeting following some alarming arrest figures after recent Old Firm games. His opportunity came when Sky TV captured the respective managers of Celtic and Rangers having a mild disagreement at the end of a cup tie. House, an extremely able and wily public servant, if a little too fond of his own publicity, cited the “spike” in incidents of domestic violence that accompany Old Firm games. There is a clear inference here: that bigotry causes men to go home and beat up their partners if the wrong team has won in this fixture. Yet to accept such an inference is to believe that Glasgow has somehow also experienced a “spike” in mixed marriages. Football fans do not act violently towards their spouses because they belong to a different religion; they do so because this is a special occasion and they have had too much to drink. In much of Scotland our relationship with alcohol is a ruinous one. But it is mainly in our most deprived areas that this results in a violent outcome. Perhaps we ought to be policing weddings where those being joined in matrimony hail from our cities’ less salubrious neighbourhoods.
Under this legislation, a football fan sporting a Union flag and singing God Save the Queen in the street following an Old Firm game will be charged. A Scottish rugby supporter singing “You can stick your f***ing chariot up your arse” as a retort to the English fans’ pet refrain will escape legal scrutiny. And so we are no longer equal under the law. For the educated middle classes who proliferate at rugby internationals are not expected to misbehave much; people who attend Old Firm matches are.
They are poorer, less educated and exist within a cycle of violence and deprivation. As such, they will always be easy targets for the detached, affluent, political intelligentsia who purport to act in their best interests.
———–
kitalba @ 08:36
I is seriously considering sacrificing the Asda Smartprice Cider to go and live there for the sake of greater freedom of expression.
But in all reality, I’ll prob just move to Penrith or Northumberland. Nice folk there.
Butcher clearly being sarcastic in those comments. However it would be nice to see him focus his anger a bit more: in 2 games against the Huns this season, Rangers have been awarded two scandalous penalties, ICT have been denied 2 good shouts, and had a perfectly good goal disallowed.
This isn’t anti-ICT bias, it is clearly pro-RFC bias.
Butcher isn’t daft. He knows that there could be job available in the coming months. Wouldn’t want to come across as being too annoyed at losing to his prospective new employers
This time last year we thought we had the situation of fair refereeing on the go and the mood was one of change and optimism.
Recently things have gone back to worse than before as the Huns need everything they can get.
They have no shame as these decisions will never be considered as cheating queried by the press.
Thinking of heading up to Perth today, any spares? You reckon I should be able to pick up a ticket at the match? Managed to get one at Tannadice….
ItaliaBhoy
If you’re not careful you will be tagged delusional and paranoid, don’t you know the ‘honest mistakes’ even themselves out.
Decisions like that change the destination of the SPL title especially when huns have been struggling of late.
So I will ask again are you going to be happy if Neil Lennon gets the sack?
No thought not so what plan do we have to get rid if these referees.
The encouraging thing is that the refs can only help them so much. It took 3 bad decisions to get them the points yesterday. No matter what we think, they simply cannot get that level of help in every game.
Their own chairman has admitted they have a 10million pound funding gap in this season’s books. He ain’t going to pony up, so where does that cash come from? On top of that they are still facing a ruinous tax bill and if their accounts are not signed off soon there will be no European football next season.
I don’t want us to rely on their collapse, but neither should we downplay the existential threats they face, and seem to have no means or plan to overcome. Yes, the SPL will help them out with football administration matters as much as possible, but even they cannot sign off their accounts, or fill a multi-million pound funding gap…
They are heading for a hard, hard landing. The press know it, their players and Sally probably know it, only their deluded fans are blissfully unaware…
Bright, sunny morning here in North Ayrshire.
Come on the Bhoys.
I see Rangers got their usual assistance from the officials yesterday.
This is a festering scandal.
Iscariot not wearing very well.
http://willievass.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/171211-Rangers-v-Inverness/G0000Y49Wepv7KHw/I0000vIqnN6tq3tY
James forrest: “It is 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.”
Sounds like cognitive dissonance there.
I think also that the club have continually explained their strategy – keeping a tight rein on finances so as not to take in unsustainable debt in the poorly funded league we play in, to develop homegrown talent and seek young players from abroad in an attempt to sell them on for a profit that will be reinvested into the club. Our ambition is the same as ever – to win everything at home and to compete in Europe. That’s a clearer statement of strategy and vision than most clubs. If its not what some people want to hear as a strategy, I know some want Lawwell saying “our goal is to put the hun out of business” , but that’s not likey is it?
goldstar10 says:
18 December, 2011 at 09:31
For me there is a striking similarity with the whyte knight, separated at birth possibly? at the very least the same gene pool!
Nice to see old Hugh having a day out as well!
Vaultbhoy