It wasn’t just the result, which was enormously satisfying, but the manner of Celtic’s performance yesterday was equally gratifying. We passed with speed and precision, creating space between what was often two blocks of five defenders. Hearts were in a sorry state but despite enduring the consequences of being unable to pay their dues, they remain considerably more resourceful than many of the lower league teams which have caused Celtic problems in cup competitions in recent seasons.
We finally got to see what the fuss over Nir Biton was all about. He brought control, time and space to the play. In particular I liked the way he tried to retain possession. Hope we see more of him in the weeks to come.
While most attention was drawn to the striker position following defeat to Milan last week, central midfield, bereft of recent departures, the injured and suspended, was just as under-resourced. The opportunity is there for Biton to grab a place for himself, just as Victor did a couple of years ago.
Christmas book offer:
To mark yesterday’s 7 goals, you can order a copy of last year’s CQN Annual (we’ve only a few boxes left), plus Willie Wallace’s Heart of a Lion, for only £7 (UK, Ireland only). Email David, david@cqnmagazine.com, who will organise. Once they’re gone, they’re gone…….
You can order this year’s CQN Annual below:
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macanbheatha Oscar Abú
14:37
All the best to the wee fella.
Thanks for all the well wishes Heading back up to the hospital
HT
He’s not so little now but still my Wee son
Slán
macanbheatha, I now regard myself as a lurker but am breaking my silence to send my regards and best wishes to you and your lad today. Hail Hail Comrade. UTLR.
South of Tunis.
A happy clapper probably nicked it when you were shouting about perspective after an 8 goal victory
;)
Phyllis Dietrichson
Many thanks for your incredibly generous donation to the Dambhoys fund. I won’t mention the amount for fear of embarrassing you :-)
Hail Hail
Was it JRP Gordon who was the ref at Ibrox late 70’s. Celtic claim for a pen, linesman puts up flag to indicate a pen. Ref waves play on (doesn’t even go over to consult linesman) Celtic players surround ref and point to linesman who still has flag up. Meanwhile I think Frank Munro is only defender while 10 Rangers players maraud up the park and John Greig scores ?
I always remember after David Robertsons goal being disallowed at Ibrox and if ever after that decision a Celtic penalty or goal would not be given the media would harp back well David Robertson had a goal disallowed so that evens things up. If you ever get the chance to watch that game again have a look at a goal Andy Thom had disallowed in the second half. Not offside at all. I’m sure you can see it on Youtube. The media up here only comment on what they chose to comment on. Peter Lawwell comments on Rory Bremner makes front page, high profile Sevco fans sniggering about pedophilia not a word said.
macanbheatha
Prayers said for your buchail. Hopefully it works as well as the one said earlier I.e no diedco in cup. More than just a club.
South of Tunis.
I was at the game in 65, and at the pope’s corner where my da took me. Sorry mate, no sign of your Drifters LP.
hh
BMCUW
“Frankly,the point which was made earlier,and to which I replied,was not about semantics.”
Neither was mine.
I was presenting my realities, backed up by figures to support. I am not trying to say that the MON era was not enjoyable but I feel too many are still stuck in what they imagine it to have been rather than what it was.
Why are we so miserable in the midst of good times? Well apart from the demographic justification that there are a large number of grumpy old men, myself included, on here, I have another hypothesis to add.
I saw a post recently on here saying that we had no legends, “like Nakamura” (sic) in our team now. That made me smile because I can recollect how Naka was described on here while he was with us. He was a waste of a jersey, too lightweight for the SPL, and an example of downsizing compared to Larsson and Moravcik (who isn’t?).
There were jungle-ites who berated Jimmy Johnstone for his inconsistent performances and Bobby Lennox told me of an oul’ hand who told him early on that he would never make it at Celtic. The ould begrudgers and judgementalists are always with us.
Naka being described as a Legend now reminds me of my post about teachers always rating their current class as the worst they have had. So, in a few years time we might get round to appreciating the ability of some of our current players. it seems we don’t know what we’ve got till its gone.
Who knows how history will see it? Wee James Forrest might make our best ever 11!!! Teemu Pukki might break Boydy’s SPL record :-) Gordon Strachan might get some recognition for having a higher title securing ratio than MON.
In short, perspective might be gained.
Mind you we will still look back on the 80s, some of us, as magic because we were young and bold, regardless of the Celtic results. We will still appreciate the MON era as the revolution it was. I hope we develop a more generous and realistic appreciation of the highly successful WGS and NFL periods too.
The Honest Mistake
Hah !.
Losing that Lp and the milk round money that paid for it was bad enough , but a mate had given me the money to buy -The Zombies -The Zombies Lp and, big problems with short term memory me, managed to lose that too . Cue coughing up for that too.
I conducted a quick pub poll on Saturday. I asked three mates (aged from 55 to 65) to name their worst and most anti Celtic referees seen in their lifetime. The general consensus was…
1 RH Davidson, Airdrie
2 JPR Gordon, Newport on Tay
3 Willie Syme
It says a lot for them when Dallas, McCurry or Tait etc didnt make the top 3.
hh
Will RIFC 2012 still be operating in February? If not do Ayr or Dunfermline get a pass in to the next round?
Disappointed we drew AFC so early- both teams deserve to progress to final…
Sot.
Now you can see the zombies live any time you want;)
The luggage rack on Gourock bound trains has stolen more albums off me than I can remember. They’re the ones you miss most.
Tanner can take a wee drink now, his OF hyperventilating was nauseasting, everyone knows we will get them in the semi at……..guess where……….it is written in the book of Ogilvie.
Yogiy
Please use david@CQNMagazine.com
thanks
Danny puts Tanner in his place regarding the Spivco game, not once, twice but three times….well done Daniel Fergus….
Kikinthenakas
what did Danny say to Tanner.
I feel for the silly wee Zombie Hun boy who tweeted vile nonsense post Clutha Bar incident. At 16 he is probably too brainless to be aware of his offensive behaviour. Makes you wonder what kind of home life influences he has been exposed to.
I dare say he’s regretting his actions now.
Still might be safer to lock him a way for a while.. For his own safety. His parents can deal with the issues they have helped create…
Marrakesh,
I honestly don’t think Dallas was all that anti-Celtic. The vidmar penalty in the ‘burst heed’ game being probably his worst decision against us.
I’d say that when it came to pro-huns/ anti-Celtic referees, the sinister minister (mccurry) puts Hugh in the shade.
BoscoBhoy02
I was at that game and remember Tom McAdam wanting to take Celtic off the park such was the farce of that day. He got a message from the sidelines to play on and it became a two day story before being quietly put aside.
The came the League Cup final a few years later when Davie Hay wanted us to seek pastures new to play after another refereeing display (think it was Syme).
I always reckoned that the breaks went 9:1 against us. Typically, they would get away with a few early fouls and the first time one of our players committed a similar foul, out came a card which set the tone of the game. Sometimes we lost our discipline but often we galvanised and took control and got a result against the odds.
Scrutiny of live TV has helped a bit but even that fails to halt some displays from people like Collum and Thomson (who I thought was going to be a good ref until the 3 missed penalties in one game at you know where).
I am genuinely not a person who think that referees wake up with intent to influence a game but instincts take over.
Would be interesting to have a poll of the worst referees. Davidson was the worst I can ever remember but Patterson, McLuskey and Syme would be my contenders.
thanks HT.
The Honest Mistake.
Tubes, buses, trains, boozers ,Celtic Park twice, a shop in Rose St , Garnethill, a library and a goat n peas curry take-a -way place in Ladbroke Grove——.
Well done Danny McGrain,the fud Tanner cannot help himself can he! he now sees Sevco facing Celtic in the final FFs, but Danny kept to the tie of the round and one game at a time mantra, Sky still hurting with their o** f*** kept apart claptrap.
HH
SofTunis – so milk float ended up goin’ on an Odyssey and Oracle?
Dallas had willing accomplices in Dougal, Dougie Dougie , etc… McCurry was not in the Dallas dream team , mainly formed from Lanarkshire refs and mentored by McVicar.
Re. a possibel tie with Sevco…
Like most I am totally in the dark over whether Sevco Rangers will survive long enough to reach the Scottish Premiership and I’m sure if the answer is no we will find out by this time next year, at the latest.
Certainly they have been spared the full brunt of liquidation(…for now) in a way that has left hundreds of creditors out of pocket, yet away they go, playing the victim and preparing the chicken to lay another egg in case the current incarnation spends too much dough.
If they are to survive in their current form it may be best to get that first fixture against them out the way.
One way or another we are bound to have to face a version of Rangers at some stage, preferably having had to start again in an honest fashion via Division 3.
That would almost be worth paying to see. Their simmering hatred will have boiled over long before we ever see them in that case.
HH
Sky and their money is one of the main reasons why no one in Scottish football has the backbone to confirm that the zombies are a new club. Sky are desperate for the resumption (in their eyes) of us v any form of them that exists, as it gives them not just the live games with their huge viewing figures but also hours of pre & post match footage/discussion to fill in their tedious schedules. Celtic v The Rangers (in whatever guise) is box office.
Holmbert will put the Dandy Dons to the sword.H.H.
The McCurry 3-1 game against Dundee Utd was surreal. The one where Levein lost it.
Was it a few weeks later that news came out of his affair with the Sunday school teacher?
That whole business was very murky given some of the Charlotte revelations hence.
Worst ref I can think of was Jim McCluskey. Closely followed by Davie Slime and JRP Gordon. Davidson was just before my time.
Has it been revealed what nevin had to say at the cqn grilling . Or is it like the masons , still a secret .
bawsman.
All our games are in in the Irish Fiddler, San Eugenie.
Petethebeat,
Years ago on the old beeb message board someone posted a good few links to games involving the deed club and opposing managers going mad about refereeing decisions.
The common factor….mccurry.
I remember as a kid in the 70s and youth in the 80s, the rumour of cup tie fixing was all about keeping us and them apart until semi final or final. Whether the stats would ever back up that belief who knows, but everyone believed it.
The odds of getting drwan away from home 13 out of 14 times in the SC until today (now 13 out of 15) seems remarkably suspicious but, like the above, perhaps it can all be explained by the laws of probability and things evening themselves out over time..
I don’t see the SC draw this year doing them any special favours so far. The Falkirk draw was a tough one and Dunfermline will give them a good game. If the idea is to keep us apart until the semis then they are likley to have been knocked out by then anyway.
DBBIA @ 15 32 .
A great Lp . I remember buying it from the very good Bernard Electricals in Sauchiehall Street . Beehived woman who dealt the choons was an absolute gem .
I still give Odyssey and Oracle a twirl.
Cultsbhoy @ 15.20
What is the story you refer to?
I do believe Wharton did us no favours, but Davidson and Gordon were true Huns.
Hail! Hail!
In other news……………The Christmas tree in Burnside is squinty