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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@SydneyTim
i disagree about Dan – he is now finding his feet, give him a chance, also Cha is superbly fit but does give possession away too easy
HT
It was an ill advised comment however
the media scrum that met Neil coming
out the airport was ridiculous.
Hamiltontim
Difficult times – They are are concerned about how they are dealing with things they think they have said or meant. Those they are unsure if they are the they that they are referring to.
U
Gordon64
Agreed mate but Neil Lennon has shown that he is an intelligent and articulate man.
I would have had no problem if he had expressed his feelings had they not been so disparaging.
For the tagline of this blog to read ‘not lazy journalism’ then to start with ‘I picked up a newspaper; what an alarming read’ seems a bit contradictory.
Was that really what Neil said and meant or was it the twist the media gave to it?
hamiltontim:
You want me to answer for a dead man?
I have no idea, and neither do you. But I’ll tell you what I do know, Tommy Burns loved Celtic more than these guys do. He would never have brought embarrasment on this club. He would have put the club before every other consideration, and that is borne up out by facts, not your suppositions.
I think it’s a shameful question to be honest.
I know too that the greatest manager our club has ever had, or will ever have, spoke out against fans who brought negative headlines on the club, and he hated the media as much as anyone and knew full well that you don’t feed the beast in such a way.
Would Tommy Burns have done it? No idea. Would Mother Teresa have done it? No clue. Such things do not interest me. Neil Lennon is the manager of Celtic and if your argument is that he should have thought of the good of the club, about limiting negative press, you are kidding yourself.
Lenny asked the question, says no comment … there would still have been headlines.
Lenny asked the question, stands by the fans … he would have brought opprobium on himself in the media which would have had to be seen to be believed. “Lennon Tells UEFA to F@@@ Off” or worse.
This guy’s life has been threatened. How much harder do people like you want to make it? Would you have him wear a hunger strike t-shirt as a measure of his devotion to the cause YOU think he has?
Disgraceful. You might as well paint a target on the man’s back.
TractorBhoy, replace Lennon with who? G Adams or M McGuinness? M McKevitt or C Murphy?
SffS
I thought that something was missing from my immediate post-Udinese comments.
This is it: Fraser Foster finally qualified as the Celtic keeper IMHO. What a magical (for me) his courage and skills and general performance were fantastic. On yer’sel Big Man! We have a Keeper!
Ghuys, for anyone who hasn’t seen this or paid any attention to it,
an important and extremely well rounded piece,
highlighting perspectives of all Celtic concerned.
What does Celtic mean to you ?
– – – – – – – – –
By day I’m ‘Mike in Toronto’ but on Sunday ‘I’m Neil Lennon’ says:
If you are still around bud, thank you for that post,
i hope that it hits home and adds clarity for those confused !
You pretty much echo my own thought’s/feelings on these issues,
Principles, equality/fairness/consistency, where are they?
As for our lack of leadership on these matters.
You sound like a busy man, how much spare time do you have?
That’s not tongue-in-cheek, lead the way Sir !
cheers FSTB . tis funny indeed.
fergus slayed the blues says:
17 December, 2011 at 15:53
This is hilarious, hope it works.
http://i.imgur.com/77DJY.gif
someonr posted this on RTC ;-)
share
A howler from Cech gives Wigan an equaliser against the London Huns
We are now getting to the real heart of the matter.
Celtic go to Italy in a crucial game against the top team in Seria A.
We play very well and are unlucky not to go through.
What do our media concentrate on ?
And then if you need to, ask yourself why.
Evening bhoys, cool, but as ever hun free.
I see the hun cheated their way to 3 points again, no surprise there then.
HamiltonTim.
Surprised at your reaction to what Lenny said, and you have every right to feel the way you do.
After seeing the video, a few things ocured to me, Lenny looked totally knackered for a start., but I don’t know if you saw this post but it saves me writing what I would say.
thomthethim says:
17 December, 2011 at 14:57
If you as much as throw an empty fag packet on to the pitch at a UEFA game, you are in trouble; never mind a flare.
If you assault a steward at a game, you are in trouble.
If you display a crass, offensive banner at a match, you are an idiot.
I can’t understand this campaign to exonerate anti social behavior just because someone is “one of us”.
The ned who butted jhilday was “one of us”.
Wearing a Celtic scarf round your neck or pulling a jersey over your head, is not a badge of immunity.
It is a symbol of the club and should command a sense of responsibility from those who wear it.
Neil Lennon has put his life on the line to build a Celtic team worthy of the name and reputation.
He doesn’t deserve his efforts to be undermined by mindless morons, bedecked in Celtic colours.
He had every right to be angry and condemn the anti-Celtic actions.
……………………………………………………….
Put yourself in Lenny’s shoes, the flack he knew that would be directed at him and the club he knows will be relentless, personally that’s not the way to treat the manager, cos whoever had the banner must have know that there would be consequences, and Lenny get’s most of the brunt of them.
What next for Lenny ? more bombs etc, maybes he has had enough.
sixtaeseven
Sorry, didnèt mean to ignore your question ….. the ghirl (golden retriever) was needing a walk and forgot to log off before I took her out …
The Clubs statement is fine for what it is …. but (i) words without action are rather meaningless, and (ii) it doesnèt (and the club does not) engage the supporters in this. The latter is crucial as increasingly there seems to be a gap growing between the people that are running the club, and the everyday supporter. And, as important as what is written, is how it is read and understood.
I dont know PL or NL at all, and I suspect that their views on many matters would not be that dissimilar to my own, but they feel constrained by the business of Celtic (and it brings with it a load of baggage and unarticulated preconditions). However, it is these unspoken assumptions that seem to be causing so much of the dischord today. All I am saying is that this part of the discussion has been largely ignored, but, in my opinion, might be the most important.
Its hard to have these sorts of discussion on a log like this (although, CQN is probably the best online forum that I have found for this sort of thing). However, Pauls idea of an article for the magazine has got me thinking…..
Gordon64:
Look mate, I see what you’re saying, but there are two things need saying.
1st) It’s a news story. We might not like it, it might be over-blown, spectacularly, but it is a news story, like it or not. And a big one. If it had been Rangers fans, we would be talking about it online for weeks and mocking the sheer insanity of it, and that’s a simple fact we all know well.
2nd) The reaction is nothing we couldn’t have predicted beforehand … and I find it hard to believe that at least one of the people involved did not realise the enormous press attention it would get, and the sort of headlines it would generate.
That leads me to conclude they simply did not care about that. Or they wanted it that way.
This is not the fault of the media. Give them nothing, they have nothing. Except their own imaginations, and limited as they are I am certain we would have dealt with whatever they invented.
Dealing with this is on a different order. Celtic have acted precisely as they should and in the only way that they could. I cannot fault them.
James,Tommy left the club following scathing attacks on its custodians,which were published in his autobiography.
I’ve never doubted Tommy’s love for the club,and the above reinforced that.
kKnda knackers your argument wth hamiltontim though……
I watched ex rankers superprospect Danny Wilson playing for Liverpool v Man U today- I must say he didnt look out of place, as it was a reserve game. He was roasted by the Man U centre forward at one of Man U’s 4 goals. He didnt look interested to be honest
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS:
I am fairly certain he would have argued that he WAS acting in the club’s best interests, at least in his own opinion. In just who’s interests was it to fly a F@@@ UEFA banner?
Answer THAT question and we’re somewhere close to the truth about this incident.
Certainly, it did not help Celtic.
James Forrest,
I like your stuuf, usually, but your hardline stance on this less than dramatic incident , peplexes me, as i normally find your arguments on the freedoms allowed, no matter how akward the subject. let me ask you a couple of things though,
was it the language on the banner that was wrong, or the timing of their protest ?
is the banner said “UEFA – DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING” would that have been ok ?
is it ever okay to use the F word on banners or is song ?
should we all refrain from the “hate the f rangers ” chant just in case ?
and lastly
why was it ok for several hundered to march on hampden last year while singing the F SFA song, and the custodians dont condemn it ?
if i hit my kid for swearing, while all the time allowing me and my brothers to swear, why am i suprised ?
James
How do you feel about the F the SFA chant?
U
James Forest
Not sure where to start.
Firstly, is that really you because rarely in my life have I seen a man change his views in such a polarised fashion?
As per usual your self indulgence has taken you away from the initial question mate. I loved Tommy Burns and all that he stood for as a Celtic supporter and a man. You mention supposition but if you actually take the trouble to read my post, I merely asked a question there was no supposition involved but I am entitled to an opinion.
There may well have been media headlines if Lenny had been inclined to stick to the no comment line. I wouldn’t even have minded if he thought, like me, that the banner was ill advised and childish in its content. At least these options wouldn’t have had him ridiculing Celtic in front of a baying media.
Lastly, you make a comment about me believing he should wear a hunger strike t-shirt. Eh whit?! You know nothing about me all I want is a manager of Celtic who doesn’t slag off the support.
Paul Mcstay -“Celtic Football Club is the supporters”
James,as you say,TB acted in what he thought were the best interests of the club.
Now go back over your coatings of HamiltonTim,and find out how many times you have contradicted yourself.
Oh and James, personally I don’t think in a million years that Tommy Burns would have made that statement.
As an aside I don’t think MON would have either.
James Forrest
First of all i’m not condoning the banner.
But there is a bigger picture here.
There is a concerted effort to neuter Celtic.
We are more than just a football club.
James Forrest is Lennon says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:31
It was in their own interests to fly the banner.
The fact it has given Celtic another load unwanted attention to deal with, will be of little interest to them.
Rico
Jock Stein piled into the Celtic fans once, to clip them round the ear for singing the wrong kind of songs.
I suppose he wasn’t a true Celtic man either…
hamiltontim says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:37
You’re right. Tommy would never have said that.
But I’m pretty sure he would have been horrified by the banner that gave rise to the spelling mistake and would have been saddened by the latest banner.
Rico
ItaliaBhoy says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:40
hi, are you in Italy ?
how was the banner reported in Italian press ? if at all ?
how does it compare with the Right / Left factions and their normally dispaly banners ?
anyone there offended by it ?
Italiabhoy
Don’t dare make the same comparison.
ENRICO
Tommy would have been vociferous in his condemnation of the circumstances which led to those banners!
St Stivis and ulysees:
I’ll answer you both at the same time, if I may.
First the sentiment on the banner is ridiculous. I have no problem with the SFA chant, but UEFA? Why are these people suddenly the Enemy? That is just not right. These people reinstated us in Europe, they went after Rangers and their fans … they have been fair minded to us.
It was taking that banner in there, flaunting it and THEN breaking a widely know UEFA regulation, throwing flares, that really cheeses me off. It was a provocation followed by a “come ahead then.” It was not sheer folly but a very intentional act designed to get a response.
In who’s interests? Not Celtic’s.
I think they were wrong to turn the guns on UEFA. It was not UEFA observers who decided to do us, it was the Scottish Police, and a nod and a wink from Celtic itself. We know this to be true, there’s little denying it. And it was political pressure from Scotland, doubtless with some off-the-record briefing from ministers. UEFA have been our ALLIES and should we have an almight fight with the SFA in the coming weeks and months it will be UEFA we have to turn to … and fighting with them on that basis is loony-tunes.
In their eyes, Celtic fans – or sections of the support – are now extremists hell-bent on conflict. To go to them in the aftermath of this and tell them our fans are being unfairly targeted in Scotland, that the league is corrupt, and to beg for their help … good luck selling THAT.
The SNP government ARE our enemies. And the SFA, which some fans on this forum would still embrace and even trust, are our enemies, and until we bring that house down we will always be treated this way. UEFA are our potential allies in THAT fight as well.
I also object – STRONGLY – to people using the “freedom of speech” argument to defend the banner carriers who are pouring scorn on Lenny and the board for daring to exercise their own. There’s also a lot of whatabouttery going on, which is equally ridiculous.
If this was Rangers we would be laughing at the stupidity of the people involved. Laughing.
What they did makes NO SENSE strategically. It was an open provocation to people we need as friends, and then they compounded it by an act of lunacy everyone knows full well is an offense under UEFA regs.
There is NO DEFENCE of the people responsible, and their attacks on our manager for daring to speak his mind – with some suggesting they would not have supported him last year had they “known”, disgusting, disgusting HUN comments – demonstrates clearly where they are coming from.
Freedom has sod all to do with this. It’s a power struggle. The name of our club is being used as a political football, and I am against that as much as I am against anything.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:45
I don’t doubt that.
Rico
Saint Stivs,
No, Netherlee!
However, I understand the press in Italy were very complimentary towards Celtic, and South of Tunis posted earlier that the banner and smoke bomb has merited precisely zero attention…
Gordon64, apologies, of course I completely forgot this was your blog.
JAmes Forrest
When R Angers won or drew in Italy the Glasgow Evening Times in it’s early editions had photos of the returning Hun hoards complete with paramilitary flags and racist slogans including “Naka ate my dog”
Later editions had airbrushed all the offensive stuff out.
They were pulled up and apologised, but that illustrates the different treatment by the press.
They magnify our faults and invent if necessary and hide theirs….Fact
James Forrest is Lennon says:
17 December, 2011 at 19:45
ok, I understand your position, and a pretty measurable one it is.
Now, is it ever ok to use the F word in banners or in song ?
James Forrest,
I agree 100%.
Big Nan says:
I understand that and accept it … and it is shocking, and they are hypocrites.
That’s something every one of us understands well. But if you want the club to be ABLE to mount a challenge to these people over the portrayal of our fans, our fans have to work with them.
If we gave them nothing to write about, yes, they would write lies, and they have before.
And our club would fight those lies, and we would be united against them. Giving these people facts to deal with is playing Russian roulette. It is insanity.
TET
My friend I actually agree with most of that is contained in your post I really do. I only have a difficulty with the actual words that Lenny chose.
I spend the majority of my disposable income following Celtic and have done for years. Now that doesn’t make me any more of a tim than you, Paul67 or Neil Lennon but I would hope that it is at least a demonstration of my devotion to the cause.
I was almost in tears when I saw it last night and yes that make me sound like a sad prick but it was borne out of a culmination of anger and hurt a genuine deep hurt. Why? Because I had until that moment held Lenny in the highest esteem as a player, manager and a man.
I’m afraid I’ve now lost that respect. But before I get slated I’m fully aware that Neil won’t lose any sleep over the opinion of a lil’ ol Celtic supporter like me.