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Belgian football on the ropes

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

You and I know how fans of other Scottish clubs feel about their performances in Europe; at best, it is a source of national frustration. Everyone else is cleared out of Europe in the qualifiers by teams who themselves seldom reach the Europa League proper.

All of this matches the Scotland national team, who only this year started to look competitive. A malaise has crept in, everyone comes to expect failure and copes without undue distress (for the most part).

In this respect, we have nothing to lecture Belgian football on. The Belgian national team is one of their nation’s best ever, a decent outside shout for next year’s World Cup. But domestically, Belgian football has rapidly fallen apart.

Anderlecht, like Celtic, are their country’s last remaining competitor in European football. Brugge were bumped from the Champions League qualifiers by Basaksehir, then the Europa’s by AEK Athens. Oostende lost to Marseille, no particular surprise there, but Gent exited the Europa qualifiers to Altach, currently seventh in the Austrian table after nine games.

The pain of humiliation in European club football is being felt acutely right now in Belgium, while their most successful club, Anderlecht, acts as the flag bearer.

Anderlecht’s fall from grace has been steep. On the way to winning the domestic title, they produced one of the greatest wins in their European history last season, 1-6 away to German club FSV Mainz on the way to a 3-2 aggregate quarter-final defeat to eventual Europa League winners Manchester United.

Now they sit seventh in the table, nine points adrift from Brugge, having sold their top talent from last season, and sacked their manager this month. This is a dysfunctional team in a newly-dysfunctional league. They fear Celtic.

So far, so encouraging, but you and I have seen this movie before. Larsson, Sutton and Hartson had Anderlecht on the canvass in 2003. Dominating possession in Brussels with the home team down to 10 men, but we still contrived to lose the game to a team we would sweep aside with ease at Celtic Park.

There are reasons to be hopeful. Our previous two away games in the group stage, (Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach), produced highly credible draws, we looked like a team who knew how to survive in this environment, but you and I would be delighted with a draw tomorrow night.

Notwithstanding the fact that a draw would be a satisfactory result, this is a game we should look to win. Anderlecht’s deficiencies are many and evident. They cannot buy a performance right now. If Brendan and his players secure three points, they will take a huge step towards European maturity. Don’t bet against them.

Celtic FC Foundation, Great Scottish Run

A number of us will be treading the streets of Glasgow in Celtic FC Foundation regalia on Sunday with the Great Scottish Run. I am doing the 10k (either because I fancied the shorter distance, or because I forgot to register for the Half in time…. hopeless).

Being able to do things for the Foundation is a significant part of my Celtic relationship. It is appropriate to follow in the footsteps of those who 130 years ago decided to form a football club to help those in need.

What the Foundation does will never grab the headlines of what the football team does, but it is difficult to imagine a football result having as profound an impact on people’s lives as the work of the Foundation, when it feeds the hungry, or provides respect to the downtrodden.

If you are able to support the work, please do so at this MyDonate page.

Thank you.

——–

The CQN Podcast: A Celtic State of Mind (EP14) Champions League Special

A Celtic State of Mind offers an insight into the culture of Celtic Football Club, the city of Glasgow, and fans of the reigning invincible Scottish champions.

Each episode includes interviews with ‘Celtic-minded’ figures from the world of sport, music, film, art, broadcasting, literature or politics.

Ahead of the crucial Champions League match against Anderlecht, ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ goes behind the Champions League curtain for Celtic’s opening match against PSG.

Kevin Graham provides pre and post-match discussion with members of his CSC, as well as in-match analysis in what will be a regular Celtic State of Mind feature.

Enjoy!

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  1. Delaneys Dunky on

    Macjay

     

     

    I was born in ’65. Just after we beat Dunfermline to win the FTSFA Cup. I was 10 before I saw anyone bar Celtic win the league.

     

    My children were born at the start of the hun 9 in a row. This is their time to return the gloating towards the Rangers fans who slagged them when they were weans in the playground.

     

    Glasgow is Green and White!

  2. What is the Stars on

    Delaneys

     

     

    Glasgow will be green and white on saturday

     

     

    Over for the HIBS GAME

     

     

    hail hail

  3. Delaneys Dunky on

    WITS

     

     

    Hopefully bump into you on Saturday D.

     

    Will need to be prematch though.

     

    Have the grandweans Saturday night. Daughter at a wedding.

     

    Neil will love Saturday, till we beat him. :)

  4. thomthethim for Oscar OK on

    Belated thanks to all my well wishers.

     

    47 years ain’t seem a year too much.

     

     

    They were the best of years and remain so.

     

     

    Deo Gratias.

  5. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    WHAT IS THE STARS on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 12:05 AM

     

     

    Good man.

     

    Thank you for your point of view.

     

     

    History is important. Of greater importance is the current tragic situation.

     

    A focus on the stolen generation matters.

     

    The problem is that this focus has prevented intervention to save the children and women at risk.

     

    The tragic tale of the young lass raped at the age of eight. Taken from a safe but non aboriginal family by the authorities , placed in an aboriginal home and pack raped at the age of ten.

     

    A child sacrificed on the Altar of identity politics.

     

     

    This was a direct result of the political correctness which permeates the whole issue and absolutely stymies efforts to intervene and assist.

     

     

    A similar mentality existed ( exists ? ) in the North of England and Oxford where authorities were reluctant to take action about the Muslim gangs of serial rapists of young non Muslim girls and women.

     

    Lest they be accused of racism.

     

     

    That`s the whole point.

     

    By all means point out the errors of the past as long as this does not result in inaction today.

     

    Because it does.

  8. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    DELANEYS DUNKY on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 12:11 AM

     

     

    Like I say.

     

    My boy , his mate and I danced round Cheers bar Saturday night.

     

    No better feeling than paternal bonding.

  12. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    KEVJUNGLE on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 1:34 AM

     

     

    No higher recommendation than your condemnation.

  15. Moonbeamswd on

    Firstly, a hearty congratulations to ThomThe Tim and his good lady for enduring a couple of life sentences worth of marraiage. Happy anniversary guys.

     

     

    I remember a time not so long ago when CQN was an addiction. Now I generally take a glance in in the wee hours of the morning and pick a fight with a point of view posted that I disagree with or a post that has no factual relevance and is just posted to obfuscate a decent debate.

     

     

    You all know the posts and the particular menu of posters.

     

     

    But today in my wee small hour insomniac visit I was delighted to be taken back to days of old, both in the nature of a post matching the best of the best of posts written on these pages since 2004 and in the reminiscence of a bygone time of our great club.

     

     

    STAND AND TAKE A BOW TOMMY JOAD

     

     

    http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/belgian-football-on-the-ropes/comment-page-2/#comment-3132703

     

     

    * TOMMY JOAD on 26TH SEPTEMBER 2017 2:23 PM
A Joyful Lament to a Different Game
 
 
Celtic fans around the world spent last season commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions European Cup success. The current team played their part with an unbeaten campaign that culminated in a treble. But amid the joyful nostalgia there is the recognition that that the game has changed beyond all measure in the intervening period.
 
 
It is a Saturday afternoon in Paisley, just outside Glasgow. The year is 1967 and a 28 year old man with a whimsical idea in mind is dialling a number in a telephone box, more in hope than expectation. A gruff sounding Irishman receives the call. A speculative request is made, and is granted after brief consideration. The necessary arrangements are agreed. The players of St Charles Boys Club should report to the stadium the next day at 10am for a tour of the ground. Some of the Celtic players – newly crowned European champions – are in for a light training session and will be happy to say hello. The man placing the call – my father – thanks the gentlemen on the other end, the Celtic assistant manager, Sean Fallon. A hectic evening ensues convincing disbelieving kids and parents alike that the proposed outing is not a hoax.
 
 
On the Sunday morning, Fallon was true to his word and a dozen or so wide eyed Paisley youngsters were greeted by the man from Sligo, who warmly introduced them to legendary manager Jock Stein and club icon Jimmy McGrory, along with a clutch of first team players who willingly had a kickabout with them at the ground, followed by a full tour of the stadium.
 
 
I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been told this story, both by my old man and by those who made the 10 mile trip to Glasgow’s east end with him. As I sat with my dad watching Brendan Rogers’ current Celtic team honour the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions triumph with an undefeated treble in May this year, we reflected again on that impromptu encounter, laughing at the notion that a man in the street would have such direct, immediate and unfettered access to senior players and management at the home of the reigning European champions, while remembering that this was also a time when star midfielder Bobby Murdoch would take the bus to training on a daily basis and legendary winger Jimmy Johnstone borrowed money from the ball boys for a fish supper on the way home. Simpler times undoubtedly, when players and managers were still deeply embedded in their communities and were talented representatives and extensions of the wider support
 
 
In football as in life, the generations elapse and things change, but these anecdotes – now half a century old and heavily laden with nostalgia – form the basis of a lament to the modern game, where elite players are for the most part, fiercely protected from their fans. The story of the Lisbon Lions has been split into tens of thousands of narratives but it remains eternal and special largely because eleven men, all from within thirty miles of Glasgow, conquered Europe with an earthy, gallus swagger which is entirely different to the pretentious conceit we often see at the top level of football today.
 
 
I often argue with my dad that nostalgia can contaminate the memory when it comes to football but in the case of the Lions, the evidence pointing towards true greatness is overwhelming. Some might also argue, and not without reason, that Celtic fans have an inclination towards the sentimental but it’s important to acknowledge the club would not have the history and romance it has now, had those players not had the courage and ability they had then, but the magnitude of their unique achievements were not always recognised in some quarters. From the UK media, national team selectors and even from within the boardroom at Celtic Park they received contemporary applause, followed by oblivion, with the odd moment of rediscovery. Chief executive Peter Lawell and Martin O’Neill raised their profile greatly again around the millennium, though the fans had never allowed these ordinary heroes to be forgotten.
 
 
When Jock Stein arrived as manager in 1965 there was no drum roll to accompany him. Trumpets did not play. His limited playing career and plain speaking offered no hint of his visionary attitude to the game. He was an ex miner whose values of modesty, humility and teamwork were forged in the pits, a man who in the words of Hugh McIllvanney was “educated below his intelligence”. His impact on the club and on his players was seismic. Victory over the mighty Inter Milan in Lisbon was as one sided as a 2-1 victory could possibly be, where Celtic dominated proceedings entirely, despite the oppressive heat and the concession of an early goal. It is unlikely that there has ever been a more fruitful or historic collaboration between two full backs than Jim Craig’s perfectly timed cutback for Tommy Gemmell to hammer in the equaliser from the edge of the box, a combination which epitomised the relentlessly attacking nature of the Celtic performance. When Stevie Chalmers diverted Gemmells strike beyond the one man barricade of Giuliano Sarti, the Italians had long since abandoned any pretence of attempting to win the game.
 
 
Re-watching the entire ninety minutes is an illuminating experience; Celtic were absolutely masterful.
 
 
Millions of words have been written about this special team so when the anniversary documentaries and articles began to be trailed it was hard to see where the fresh angle would come from. The new perspective on their achievements came with a heavy dose of melancholy and sadness, with news earlier in the year that team captain Billy McNeill was in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which was closely followed by the passing of Tommy Gemmell. These were hard blows for a group of men who are close as brothers and the anniversary celebrations were coloured by recent developments. The sight of Billy McNeill with the group in May this year prompted some throat clogging emotions for Celtic fans of all ages.
 
 
Jimmy Johnstone overcame the limitations of his genetic inheritance, not to mention some medieval tackling, to be voted the greatest Celt of all time. Bertie Auld epitomised the Glaswegian essence of the team with streetwise attitude and ability, while Bobby Murdoch held the compass every time the team advanced. But McNeill was the undisputed leader of the team. This son of a blackwatch soldier led the team out in Lisbon with the quiet nobility of a gladiator and ended it by ascending the concrete stairs alone, to be immortalised in the most famous photograph in the clubs history with the big cup. It must be difficult for family and ex-team mates to see a figure of such physical and mental fortitude in his current health.
 
 
Sporting icons, even the greatest, do not exist in a vacuum and the remaining Lisbon Lions are old men now. Even those St Charles Boys Club youngsters who attended Celtic Park on a bright Sunday morning are in their sixties. While all would acknowledge the incredible job Brendan Rogers has done in his maiden season to connect players, fans and management again, it would be an offence to most fans sensibilities to compare the two teams. It is equally futile to compare eras and traditions but one wonders what Jock Stein would have made of the corporate carnival of vanity that passes for the Champions League today, or what McNeill might think of the actions of Sergio Ramos in ensuring the dismissal of his opponent in the recent Champions League final.
 
 
The remembrance of the Lions was a season long celebration and they were commemorated brilliantly by supporters in the 67th minute of every game at home and away, in Scotland and abroad. For Celtic fans of my father’s generation, that Celtic team were men like themselves with the same daily concerns, who just happened to be sportsmen. Perhaps this is part of the reason why they continue to be so celebrated.
 
 
Sometimes it’s unhealthy to dismiss modern progress or to lapse into sentimentality for an extended period of time, but in the year of the Lisbon Lions 50th anniversary, it’s been entirely justified. There will never be another team like them.

     

     

    MWD

  19. Bateen Bhoy on

    MWD,

     

    It’s worthy of a repost. I first scrolled past because i was just ‘skimming’ at work, but went back to read it after seeing some of the comments. So evocative, and took me back to that time when i would have been a couple of years younger than some of the boys who were lucky enough to be involved, and just after i fell in love with ‘The Celtic’ as my grandafther called them.

     

    What would we give for the game to be as simple as it was in those days ( as opposed to todays state where everything is all about the money. Well, almost everything.

     

     

    Hope your keeping well. Would be good to finally meet up with you sometime. We have history, although you’re probably not aware of it ( nothing bad, I promise you )

     

    :-)

     

    HH

  20. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    SIONNACH ABU on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 5:38 AM

     

     

    Intellectual input from SIONNACH ” You Tube ” ABU .

     

     

    Zero.

  21. Sionnach Abu on

    MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 6:11 AM

     

    Doesn’t take much. That “Daily Mail” thing gets you every time :-)

     

    Celtic -2

  23. Malorbhoy on

    Good Morning CQN from a dry slow start in Brussels, I’m sure things will accelerate as the day progresses

  24. Moonbeamswd on

    Bateen Bhoy

     

     

    If we have history it will defo not be good as I’ve jumped from mess up to …. up. :-)))

     

     

    I’ll be sharing a beer at the next hoot with BMCUWP and a fair few CQNers on the 11th of the 11th.

     

     

    MWD

  25. Moonbeamswd on

    Looking forward to our biggest game of the week after the wee spar of last weekend with the irrelevance of as some Bhoys like to term then their biggest favourite other team.

     

     

    MWD

  30. Moonbeamswd on

    Just a wee scandal involving Australia and U.K. that has no connection to Aboriginals or Muslims.

     

     

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-sex-abuse-inquiry-jimmy-savile-forced-transportation-deportation-to-australia-gordon-brown-a7852041.html

     

     

    Just thought that I’d point this out as a reference to the fact that sex scandals and abuse are not just an issue for minority groups while others stand on the side of Huns highlighting only those scandals that are viewed from their own prejudice and racist position.

     

     

    MWD

  35. Big Jimmy on

    JOBO BALDE

     

    “Last Man Standing”.

     

     

    I will call my bank today and get the transfer done. Ive looked online but I don’t know how to do it.

     

    I’m a dumpling sometimes.

     

    Sorries, but I will try today.

     

    HH

  36. Big Jimmy on

    THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 12:29 AM

     

    Belated thanks to all my well wishers.

     

     

    47 years ain’t seem a year too much.

     

     

     

    They were the best of years and remain so.

     

     

     

    Deo Gratias.

     

    …………………………………

     

    Belated Congratulations to your good lady and yourself.

     

    HH….47 and Counting !

  37. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    MOONBEAMSWD on 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017 6:44 AM

     

     

    ” Mr Hill, who later became the managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABC), later uncovered documents shown to the inquiry which said a fact-finding mission was set from the UK to Australia in 1956 after people raise concerns about the policy.”

     

     

    Good point.

     

    The common denominator in so much of the abuse.

     

    Vulnerable children.

  38. Big Jimmy on

    DELANEYS DUNKY on 26TH SEPTEMBER 2017 10:39 PM

     

    TTR

     

     

     

    You think the huns would take wee Barrie back?

     

     

    He widnae get in our Under 20 team.

     

    ………………………….

     

    Wee Barrie ferguson…nah, he’s too auld now !

     

    LOL

     

    HH

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