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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The top of the morning of the last Sunday of Advent to one and all.
Come on the Hoops.
Vaultbhoy- Yes, a trio of jolly boys together, hardly a bone of credibility among them.
ITALIABHOY 0930
You are abolutely right,they will NOT receive that level of help in every game.
Only when they need it.
On the other hand,I was delighted to discover that today’s papers are all over this like a rash,and are hammering the ref for his failings yesterday.
AYE,RIGHT!
Am afraid I can understand the previous for anti-Board fholk. They go on too much etc etc.
But they were right.
This board have done absolutely nothing to protect the interests of the support in the past, what…12 months? Since JR spoke out about “Those times are gone”? Unless they’re doing some kind of miraculous work behind the scenes in the shadowy world of money and football?
Nothing to protect our support whatsoever.
How many more of those on the Celtic Supportering list of Strathclyde’s Finest need to be lifted and thrown in jail (3 months, bail denied for a BOP charge) before they come out and say it like it is?
Have to say pretty sickened by it. As much as I support Lenny, I cannae support that.
Bankier’s statement just nailed it for me. PL’s statement which followed was a pathetic attempt to reign back in what Bankier said. Too late. The truth is out.
They aren’t on our side imo.
Was the anti-Poppy banner not a fair call? Apparently not.
Arghh, forgive my rant, thoughts should be 100% on the football today, apols.
Kevjungle, 02:57:
“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”.
Better financially astute people running the club than the families that got us into bother pre- fergus, but who would be these supporters to run the club? There’s 6m of us with 6m opinions. Fergus had the right idea but the reality of mass ownership through shares us more like the least bad option.
Until someone comes up with a better plan, rather than just complaining, this is how it iis. Better run like this than risk falling into the hands of a REAL financial shark like Craig Whyte.
ItaliaBhoy
I share your optimism that the time for paying the old scottino for Rangers is nearly upon them. I am greatly enjoying the soap opera.
RTC says he started his amazing blog to shame Scotland’s mainstream media. How ironic that they prove him right to do so, day in, day out. If you were writing this as a screenplay, you could not make up more head-in-the-sand behaviour on the part of Scotland’s journalists (business as well as sport).
As for the MBB, he is a cross between Delboy Trotter and a baddie from a James Bond film. Again, you couldn’t really make him up.
What a day it will be when the Ibrox crash comes. I still haven’t selected a special bottle, but am greatly enjoying mulling it over.
I do have one concern, which is how ‘successful’ their efforts to drag us and the rest of Scottish football down with them might be. We have perhaps seen some of this in the reason dialogue between Celtic and Uefa.
If Celtic keep playing well and keep winning, we can apply some nice extra pressure to Rangers. As you point out in your assessment of quite how many honest mistakes it took for them to scrape through against Inverness, they are not responding too well to pressure.
It could be argued that ranglers lead in the SPL is by curtesy of the mibs.
There must be at least 3 games where they have taken the points due to very dubious refereeing.
FORTUNE’S FAVOUR MIBBES
What did Bankier say? I missed it.
‘Mornin all, from a sunny Ireland, where the ice on the road is as black as an orange mans heart.
Having watched part of the huns game yesterday, all I can say is “bring it on”.
They are utter crap.
If Neil can get our bhoys to reach a level of consistency, we will walk this league.
My prediction today is that if we look out of sight we will benefit from a dodgy decision. This of course will not influence the game in any way but will allow the “referees are only human” and “these thing even themselves out ” chancers.
Jockybhoy. Last season our club was in absolutely no financial perils
Last season our club used half of aidens transfer fee to reduce our debt from 5.5m to 0.5m
Huns won the league as Neil did not receive enough funds
Sums up our policy in a nutshell mate:(
.
Since a The Banal Banner Talk since Thusday..
Did we Pick up any Injury’s in Italy..?
Sammi to Shine in Perth..
Another Wonder Goal methinks..
Summa
Get Paddy on.
I know we’re not playing at the moment. Just get him on anyway.
Actually, scratch that. His appearance may lead to 5 year jail sentences being handed out by our discerning courts.
Come to think of it, is Paddy McCourt’s Fenian Army on the proscribed list?
BMCUP,
I honestly don’t think you want to know. “We’re going to weed these guys out” and a reference to using the same self-policing method that the Tartan Army have apparently used.
I would have accepted these comments if there had been some visible defence made against the disingenuous attacks on our support over the past year. But this is the only time they spoke out, apologising for our supporters and expressing a determination to weed out undesirables.
We can look at media representation as an being an unfair gauge. But the Celtic website is there and has been used when it suited them.
It has taken the FAC movement and the CSA to deal with most of it, and individuals such as Tom Devine to vocalise the concerns. It was Phil Mac who led most of the challenges last year, but he clearly had no help from the Celtic Board, contrary to what some of us wanted to believe. There has been no smidgeon of even a concern coming from the board, while others are rallying round to defend our support. An official body is needed to be vocal in situations like this to unite the supporters. Now they’re [the Board] vocal. Several of them. In attacking elements of the support.
Ernie Lynch was right. Keep the support divided, and their agenda will be much easier to pursue.
will Korean rascism be tolerated in Perth again today?
CQN Saturday Naps Competition – Week 19 Results
Congratulations go to What is the Stars (Water Garden @ 9/2) and the only other winner was myself – fleagle1888 (Afsoun @ 2/1)
+£14.00 voguepunter (3)
+£12.83 fleagle1888 (5)
+£10.83 bobbymurdoch’s winklepickers (5)
+£ 4.63 Rockon (5)
+£ 3.50 twists n turns (3)
+£ 1.25 Eurochamps67 (5)
-£ 0.50 wolfetonebhoy (3)
-£ 2.70 Som mes que un club (2)
-£ 4.00 Cathal (4)
-£ 4.50 What is the Stars (2)
-£12.00 Raymac (1)
-£13.50 hunza rugli (1)
-£14.00 Che (1)
-£14.00 PFayr (1)
-£19.00 BULL67
-£19.00 oldtim
-£19.00 The Token Tim
-£19.00 tommytwisttommyturns
*No selections from : hunza rugli*
Cheers, fleagle1888
1 inch of fresh snow here a few miles north of Perth . Cold – but blue skies.
Some St jonhstone players back after injury.
Ciao —
Buona Domenica tutti ——–
Sion Quick News ——-
UEFA now threatening to sanction the Swiss FA and expel Basel from the Champions League. The Swiss FA say they cannot do what UEFA wants it to do[ punish Sion ] because they are prevented from so doing by Swiss law and relevant decisions by relevant Swiss Courts.
If UEFA expel Basel they will either reinstate Manchester United or give Bayern a bye to the next round —– Wonder who will get Man U’s Europa League place ?.
Meanwhile Italian journos speculate that the Swiss FA will retaliate by asking the timebomb question ——- why didn’t UEFA give Sion’s Europa League place to Neuchatel Xamax.?
One more front opens in the war .
Warm and sunny -way down south . Off to Catania for the derby with Palermo -It will be a lively political affair.
Is the game being shown on television today? I can’t see it on any of the Sky Channels or ESPN. What time is kick-off?
Paddy is injured,back next week.
fleagle1888
I trust you saw big bucks yesterday ?
What an animal eats up the ground effortlessly.
Barcelona v Santos in World Championship Final at 10.15am on ESPN.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy says:
18 December, 2011 at 10:14
no live coverage, only delayed coverage on BBC Alba at 5.30pm
BMCUW
Apols, you never asked for my rant or take on things, just the words. Some of its here, but not all of it.
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/288441-celtic-fan-banned-for-life-over-offensive-banner-at-european-match/
Kayal33 says:
18 December, 2011 at 10:16
Thanks for letting me know. Shocker.
Game is not on Sky or ESPN.
It’s being covered in a delayed transmission by BBC Alba from 5.30 with a Neil Lennon interview at half time.
Don’t anyone tell me the score!
I will predict Callum Murray will get Huns game on 29th let’s just wait and see if I’m right
hen1rik says:
18 December, 2011 at 10:21
but who’ll get the game on the 28th ;-)
28th lol
Seems like Terry Butcher didn’t lose his temper in yesterday’s interview. Everyone is against the apparently – no one likes us, we don’t care?
And the ref had a good game, he said. Well, he ruled a goal our wrongly and missed a couple of penalties but apart from that. Still, at least he didn’t send one of your players off, Terry. That seems to annoy you more.
Attention turns to Pert today. If we play like we have in recent games I’m confident that the three points will be coming down the road with us.
Play:
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Zaluska :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Cha :::::::::::: Wanyama ::::::::::: Majstorovic ::::::: Mulgrew
:::::::: Brown :::::::::::::: Kayal :::::::::::::::::: Ki :::::::::::::
:::::: Mcgeouch ::::::::::: Hooper :::::::::::::: Samaras ::::::::
up_over_goal says:
18 December, 2011 at 10:28
Why would you play Zaluska?
Just seen the huns highlights on soccer sunday there. Totally air brushed the game until the rankers first goal. Gritty perfomance from the champions they said and Inverness had chances to win the game (so why did you not show them)
Oh dear.
Just saw the new JCGE advert, I would imagine a few hun held remote controls would be thrown around when that comes on.
HH
goldstar10
Sorry – can’t help it!
The game isn`t on TV?
Well, I`m used to listening to the radio although it makes me dread away games. Good luck to new listeners! :-)
I thought the game was on Sky or ESPN but no. I think its time to cancel the subscription.I can,t beleive none of them have it on,as usual we are treated like the poor relations.