I remember singing “It’s going to be 10 in a row”, but back then 10 had no significance. Neither did 9, it was like 8 in a row, another stop along the way. But when Jock Stein’s team finished their spectacular domination of the Scottish game in 1974 with nine successive titles and four European Cup semi-finals, “Nine in a row” became a phrase with extraordinary substance.
Of course, in years to come, for others, nine in a row became a target to surpass. In the late eighties Rangers changed the financial parameters of Scottish football for some time, and set their own course towards liquidation, but on the park, they swept all before them in the domestic game. By summer 1997 they had won their won nine in a row. McEwan’s lager billboard adverts featured the club with the line, “9 out of 10, could do better”. And didn’t we know it.
Celtic were in disarray having sacked Tommy Burns and with our three most cherished players, Di Canio, Cadete and van Hooijdonk on their way out the door. The new managerial appointment “the second worst thing to happen to Hiroshima”, as our mainstream media portrayed him to Celtic fans, arrived only two weeks before the start of the season.
After losing the first league game of the season at Easter Road Celtic lost 1-2 at home to Dunfermline; they were leading at half time. 10 in a row seemed inevitable but this season was the greatest example of why the prevailing currents of football are now always evident on the surface.
Have a read at this from the Independent after that defeat to Dunfermline:
“[The home supporters] cannot be fooled – even as the teams were announced it was clear they are unconvinced by the new signings. The mention of Pierre van Hooijdonk, Paolo Di Canio and Jorge Cadete before a game was enough a year ago to raise the roof in anticipation. On Saturday, Henrik Larsson and Regi Blinker hardly registered in the approval stakes.
“Larsson’s poor touch too often saw him lose possession. The blunt truth is he is not a proven goalscorer and Jock Brown, the general manager, will have to add fire power to the team.”
Don’t be too harsh on the journo who penned this, few dissented, and Jock Brown’s reputation was pretty much set by these incredibly inaccurate reviews. Although, “blunt truth” has never been used with such laxity.
The towns of the west of Scotland can be dangerous places after big football games but not 15 years ago today, when Celtic beat St Johnstone to win the league for the first time in a decade. Celtic fans of all ages poured onto the streets as the spirit of carnival took hold.
I remember hooped fans sitting on top of a set of traffic lights in Lanarkshire; green, amber, red, then rows of green and white. I walked around Hamilton town centre that night. For an evening, every pub was a Celtic pub, with rules about wearing colours suspended, and singing was celebrated.
And sing we did.
At the end of the night I could be found singing “Cheerio to 10 in a row” at a taxi rank outside a nightclub. The ‘brave’ soul standing in front of me waited until his taxi was moving away before mumbling his offenses out of the window.
Last summer I did an interview with Tony Hamilton for Celtic TV . When we drilled into what really made an impact on me as a Celtic fan I had no hesitation on placing that game against St Johnstone above Champions League victories, qualifying for a European final or beating Barcelona. We aspire to move beyond the confines of Scottish football but for 125 years this has been our home. In all that time, in domestic or European football, there have been, at most, only two more important games.
Enjoy the memories, but don’t play that George O’Boyle leap over in your mind; just in case you imagine him a few inches higher.
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BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
08:00 on 10 May, 2013
Not particularly well researched.
‘Ferguson in the Govan shipyards.’
BMCUW-We went to a place called Soho in Miller St,very good and cheap as chips mate.IW is noted .
Summa –
That ToffeeQuickNews comment was brilliant man.
Hilarious it was.
:~)
Morning all. Iffy sky down here at the minute. Sun has disappeared already.
Still, looking forward with the ole song in the heart to tomorrow. Then, on to next week and hopefully good news from Alex Thomson with regard to the deady bears.
If Johan does the Press conference today,it might tell us something….
Good morning from overcast Bawtry.
BT, can you e mail me details for tonight please. Should be in my hotel in Glasgow by 7.00pm.
TT
doors open at 7
Tom McLaughlin
I was watching the game from Dunfermline in Benny Rooney’s pub in the south side– can’t remember the name of the pub at this hour.
I recall they equalised with a big long looping header– and that was that– there would be no title celebration that day.
However, we were all confident that we would win the title the following week against St Johnstone.
The following week– disaster loomed.
I was woken up early on the morning of the game to find that a building where I had a business interest had gone on fire!
I jumped in the car– dashed down to the premises to find Fire Engines, Firemen and smouldering devastation. The Building was saved but the internal damage was pretty spectacular.
All I could think of was ” This is a real pain in the arse!”.
No one had died thank God– no one was injured.
The business would be banjaxed but there was insurance.
Surely to God you could just board the place up quickly, shut it all up and deal with it on Monday? Surely it wouldn’t stop me going to Celtic Park?
In fact– sod it— the bloody thing could fall down— I WAS going to Celtic Park!
Eventually we got finished and I was able to leave.
I came home, got changed, went to collect my dad and met the rest of my family to take our seats in the North stand.
Others may have had one ear on what was going on elsewhere– I could not care less!
It was one of those days where you get that feeling. The feeling that the ghosts were coming out of the graveyard– where every seat was full with a body and the spirit of those who had stood on the old terracing decades before.
The Celtic Spirit was there– in force.
When Henrik cut in from the left and belted the ball home early on– I had no doubts– no fears.
George O’Boyle was a damn nuisance, had upset the fans with some comments before the game as I recall, but I never thought he would score. His header? Destined not to make it i’m afraid.
I had seen Harald Brattbakk in town many times. I used to see him eating in restaurants– sometimes with Henrik– sometimes with others.
A quiet studious looking guy– not very big— with his spectacles he looked like a swotty university student from an American sitcom.
I had seen him with the ball at his feet– when it bobbled and ran away from him, hit off his shins, slide off the outside of the post and on occasion do everything except follow his commands and come under control.
Yet here on this afternoon– Harald would run onto a ball and stroke home as sure as you like— and Celtic were champions!
For me– 10 in a row meant nothing. Oh I didn’t like their bragging and their boasting. I didn’t like them matching OUR record. I didn’t like the feeling of losing again in a title race– but when the final whistle went and the players walked round the pitch with Murdo and Wim– I could only think of Europe.
Celtic– MY Celtic– were back in Europe with the big boys. With the teams who could not live with my Celtic in the late sixties and early seventies. We were back where we rightly belonged, where we could take the Celtic message to generations of foreign fans who had never seen it or heard it before.
We could travel in Green and White en masse and let everyone know we are Celtic and we travel as Champions– champions of Scotland– and champions of a spirit and an ethos that had not been properly seen in Europe for a decade.
We might lose in Europe– but that did not matter.
Money and manipulation had in many respects kept us away from that table– but we had broken free of our shackles on this day– and we were free.
I will openly admit to crying in the stand– tears on face– rolling down cheeks.
I could not care less for the records of others– what they achieved and how they achieved it was not my concern.
WE were back– and that was all that mattered!!!
The following day I got a call from an unexpected quarter. It was a businessman– someone who dealt in motor cars whom I knew and did a bit of work for.
” Wee Man!!! Where are they?”
” Who?”
” Them! The Huns?”
” What?”
” Where are they? They have disappeared off the face of the earth. They are nowhere to be found! I have been driving about- walking about– and folk who have been ever present in certain places have just plain disappeared. Their phones don’t work, their doors don’t open, they have given up drinking, they don’t go to the pub or the restaurants or the shops– they have disappeared wee man!
I can go an offer a brand new Merc for free—- no one is answering their phone! is it that bad? Can they not take a defeat and recognise that the time of the famous Glasgow Celtic has come?
Wee Man if you see so and so and so and so– call me– let me know where they are— I want to see them and look into their eyes. I told them this day would come– that we would be back– and I was told straight to my face –NEVER.
I want to see what Never looks like! So call me!
Hail Hail”
And with that he was off– presumably to call someone else with the same speech.
For me– the rest of that time is but a blur.
The only thing I remember is singing– and singing and singing– and then— singing!
Morning cqn..i take it Lenny is still banned from the dugout and we’l enjoy another 15min.count down?…hope they play some music this time while they set up the podium for the Bhoys to have the trophy celebrations..can wait love trophy days cause others watchin will be hurtin big time!!!h.h
BADA BING
Ah,the gentrification of Glasgow continues apace.
I could never take any woman of my acquaintance to the places I went to in Miller St.
And we were happier then,haha!
Hopefully to be seen soon on back pages of rags
GINGER FENIAN LENNON SNUBBED BY EVERTON!!!
tommysbhoy
Happy birthday yesterday mate……it was yesterday?
blantyretim..
Can I get a train for Hamilton at Argyle St Station,It’s nearer than Central Station.
tommysbhoy
I think it was a 3 match ban so should be back for tomorrow although he may get banned again for Cup final as apparently breached a rule during the Motherwell game.
Mort
Good morning bampots from a sunny and breezy Troon.
The old saying, nothing lasts forever, may be apt for Sky Sports
dominance. BT have announced free EPL matches next season within
their broadband package with the launch of 2 sports channels.
BT share price up 24p this morning.
Day off today, my choc lab & I off oot for a walk along the beach .HH
BT,
SAME QUESTION AS OLDTIM BUT FROM QUEEN ST.
keevins just said that a very large bet had been placed in northern Ireland on NFL taking over at everton
HH
TimsinOhio.
What time will you be in QueensSt,And are you getting into Queens St from a train.
oldtim
yes go downstairs at central, eastbound platform 16 I think…
get train to Hamilton , 2md stop after Blantyre..
make sure you take the train to Hamilton as some go to Motherwell and Lanark
weet weet weet
Hugh Keevins is a known compulsive liar.
Blantyretim.
Thanks for that info,you never know with me,I may end up in London.
Oldtim,
Should be between 6.00 and 7.00. I’m driving up from Doncaster later today. Staying at the Millenium.
Really can’t see Lenny going to Everton, they’ve not got a lot to spend and is their scouting network better than ours?
Sooooo, I’ve taken the 33’s available on Gus Poyet, but what about good ole Davie Weir….132’s on Betfair! Or what about Stubbsy?!
Would Moyes have recommended someone for the role he’s vacating, as Fergie did?
T4
oldtim
yes eastbound platform…
get train to Hamilton , 2md stop after Blantyre..
make sure you take the train to Hamilton as some go to Motherwell and Lanark
blantyretim.
I want to go from Argyle St.
I was walking the dog one evening this week and tuned to Clyde SSB for a little while. A caller asked about Celtic having to play 3 qualifiers to reach the Group Stages and he was under the impression that we could face 4th team from a major league in the final qualifier and how difficult that would be.
Jim Delahunt stated that it was “unlikely” that we would get such a draw due to our seeding. Neither of the other panellists advised him that we will go through the Champions qualifying path and are protected from meeting a team from a major league.
This, from a panel which tells us how poor the standard of football is in Scotland and how little competition there is.
My instant thought was: Yes – we do need better competition – in the “journalistic” arena.
It begged the question with me: Which is worse in Scotland – the sate of our football or the state of our football “journalism”?
Easy question to get the day started.
tims n ohio..
fraid you will need to walk down to argyle st also…
oldtim67
Same train
Enjoy
Remember this guy? What a classy man eh?
keith wyness @retsub12 21m
Having sat on SFA disciplinary comms with him in front of me, please no Lennon for EFC
BT & TSOAL,
Thanks lads. Hopefully make it tonight.
For q and a at Columba club tonight. I know doors open at 7 but anyone know what time it starts?
Bad Bing –
On reflection, I was very rude to you last night. I apologise unreservedly.
Hail Hail.
Sorry again. I meant Bada Bing. Posting from a smart phone in a noisy club.
TimsinOhio.
I’ve booked a Hotel room in Holiday Inn Express in Hamilton Scotland?.I thought we could have had a drink before we headed into Blantyre.
BT.
Your a traveller by train,Can I get a ticket to Blantyre, Get off at Hamilton,then re-use the ticket to go to Blantyre. Sorry for these stupid Questions.
Hrvatski Jim
The main problem is the majority of journalists who cover the scottish game are lazy. They get their information from insiders within clubs and have a reasonably easy job of writing stories. They also get info passed to them from agents when players are looking to move clubs, and if they are still stuck for a story, they just make it up.
Researching a story is an alien concept to many which is why they can sound ignorant when placed in live situations like you describe.
There is also a level of arrogance that because they have an inside line to some clubs, they are more knowledgeable than the average fan and feel they already know everything. I have stopped listening to phone-ins as it is apparent that the panels are poorly informed, have a poor grasp of basic English in some cases, and are so condescending to callers, it just isn’t worth listening too.
We get our information from a variety of sources now, the traditional scottish journalist who used to be able to get the big stories first, is now pretty much redundant.
Mort
Hope you all have had a chance to read the latest edition of CQN Magazine. Here is a direct link.
http://www.calameo.com/read/000390171179f475cf1c0
So far this edition has reached over 77k individual views and that will keep rising! We have one more edition this season which will be out after the Cup Final. Anyone running a business who wants to benefit from reaching this audience please get in touch. It is surprisingly inexpensive and refreshingly effective! Send Paul an email to celticquicknews@gmail.com and we’ll come back to you.
Oldtim
Just get ticket to Hamilton.
Mrs BT will come out for you when you are booked in
Dr Beeching CSC busy this ole mornin’.