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Confidence and talent

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

Such was Newco’s run of form going into the winter break, they had not dropped points since the last time they met Aberdeen, in October.  Celtic drew two league games in the intervening period, stretching the gap at the top of the table from two to six points.  We needed a break and on Tuesday the evergreen Scott Brown delivered again.

After crucial wins at Easter Road and Tynecastle last month, Newco’s façade cracked.  They remain in the driving seat, Celtic have little margin for error, but we are in the familiar position of asking who will recover best after the winter break.  Newco’s form in this respect is not good.  They cracked two years ago, when Celtic put pressure on them (and won last year under no pressure).  Aberdeen’s equaliser turned the screw sufficiently to draw their first domestic red card in what amounts to 21.8% of their history.  They must be a very clean team.  Or a very fortunate one.  European referees awarded four red cards in that period in a fraction of the games played.

Dropping points to Aberdeen, who remain sixth in the table, is more a sign of mental fragility than sporting deficit.  Between the two Aberdeen games, Newco won away at higher-placed Motherwell, Hibs and Hearts, scoring nine and conceding only once in the process.  That is championship winning form.  Even a poor Aberdeen, though, bring Newco out in a sweat rash.  The prospect of Celtic Park under the lights with an exclusive home crowd looms.

You know the script, when you are winning, every game in winnable, when you are not winning, every game is a minefield.  The next two weeks are as much about confidence as talent.  In that respect, the steady influx of new signings at Lennoxtown is invaluable.  All a consequence of the value achieved from a squad that won nothing last season, but we will explore that issue later.

A word on Scott Brown.  His legs had gone, that’s not in dispute, but a generation of Celtic managers loved him for how he got the team over the line.  His drive and devilment is still there.

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  3. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    Chairbhoy (from last thread)

     

     

    I share your concern about this dragging on, mostly because it is futile in influencing the opinion of the people singing the songs, but I would like to correct some misconceptions:-

     

     

    Yet consider this, how can “up to our knees in Fenian blood” not be sectarian?

     

     

    My view was that the use of the word Fenian need not be taken as sectarian, though I accept that some amongst us do; others see it as a badge of pride. No!- the offensive and threatening word in the lyrics is, of course, “blood”. There is an implied threat of physical harm or, at least, rejoicing in achieved physical harm. With or without Fenian as an adjective, this is an intimidatory or offensive threat/reminder.

     

     

    You gave a pass, I believe, to Flower of Scotland as non-sectarian but it too tells Edward and his English Armies to “go home and think again”. I think the historical record shows that it wasn’t a flea in their ear that sent them on this journey but the threat and, in particular, the inflicting of violence that did it. Scotland was born with it as was the USA (who also survived a Civil- was it sectarian- conflict?), Italy, France, Cyprus and Afghanistan to detemine their changeable borders.

     

     

    I believe it can NOT be sectarian because Sectarian is such an ill defined and poorly applied term for all the reasons of imprecision I already gave. Every SNP MSP, Scottish Holy Willies like Pat Nevin and Graeme Speirs, and the Scotish Police all ignored the warnings on this from decidedly non-sectarian sources such as Tom Devine, and found out, the hard way, that legalising the term of Offensive Beahviour ( and then trying to reverse engineer it to make it a synonym for the term they could not define- Sectarianism), was easy to consider but difficult to draft. They had popular sentiment behind their efforts but, unfortunately not, the less popular virtue of intelligence.

     

     

     

     

    Also there was a war involving these two communities, one side, had an army of “freedom fighters” struggling against the other side.

     

     

    Not sure if you are referring to 1916, The Troubles, or the 800 year history of occupation there but it would be a struggle to shoehorn any of the three into a purely sectarian conflict. If one side was seeking freedom, then we do not have an equal sectarian split going on here. What we have is a war against occupation or oppression. Would you stick the French resistance in WW2 into the category of sectarian fighters?

     

     

    England invaded Ireland when both countries had rulers with the same religion. Irish Protestants and non-Catholics have been present in the struggle for Irish Freedom throughout its history, or, at least since the onset of the European Reformation when Protestantism emerged. Wolfe Tone, Henry McCracken and Lord Fitzgerald, for example, supported the cause. It cannot be denied that there were ethnic and religious bases to the grouings in this struggle but it was never a fight to win Catholic supremacy or eliminate Protestantism. One side only was fighting to do down a religion and a community, and they did it whilst asserting Protestant Ascendancy.

     

     

    I don’t see your view, from England, as being any more clear sighted in pointing out our blindness to sectarianism in Scotland and there is some myopia in your thinking as to what the Irish conflict was about too, it seems.

  5. IniquitousIV on

    OLDTIM67

     

    Sorry to read you weren’t feeling so good. A lot of posters are rooting for you to Get Well Soon.

     

    Take care of yourself, mate.

     

    HH

  9. bognorbhoy on

    Copy and paste from Celtic fc

     

    ===================*********=========******

     

    By Joe Sullivan

     

     

     

     

    It was 99 years ago this very day, January 20, 1923, that a young hopeful made his debut in a game against Third Lanark at Cathkin in the role usually operated by the legendary Patsy Gallacher.

     

     

    Gallacher had also missed the previous two games through injury when the role was taken up by Calton Bhoy, Jim Cairney. He played against Clyde and Aberdeen but it was his friend who was given the nod by Willie Maley for the Third Lanark game.

     

     

    Cairney’s friend was 19-year-old Jimmy McGrory, and though he wasn’t mentioned in the match reports of the 1-0 defeat, he would pick up further mentions later.

     

     

    A GENTLE REMINDER

     

     

    Jimmy McGrory scored an incredible 468 goals for Celtic. It is a total that is unlikely ever to be surpassed and he is the greatest goalscorer ever to wear the famous green and white Hoops. Yet, despite all those goals – and there were so many memorable and significant ones – it could be argued that the most important goal of Jimmy McGrory’s career came against Celtic. Having signed for the Hoops in 1921, the young player was loaned out to Clydebank a year later and he instantly proved his worth, scoring 23 goals for the Bankies. This tally included one against Celtic on March 4, 1924 when Clydebank won 2-1 at Celtic Park. It was, McGrory later said, “the goal that reminded Celtic I existed.” Returning to Celtic for the following season, McGrory soon began scoring for fun with the Hoops.

     

     

    UP FOR THE CUP!

     

     

    The 1925 Scottish Cup final will be forever known as the ‘Patsy Gallacher final’ in memory of the Irishman’s acrobatic goal against Dundee which brought the sides level, but it was a Jimmy McGrory header three minutes from time when gave Celtic a 2-1 victory, and McGrory his first winner’s medal as a Celtic player. His roll of honour reads as follows: three league titles (1926, 1936, 1938) and five Scottish Cups (1925, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1937), although given the outstanding contribution he made to the club right up until his retirement in 1937, it’s a medal haul that should have been a lot more substantial.

     

     

    GOALS! GOALS! GOALS!

     

     

    Jimmy McGrory scored an incredible FIFTY-FIVE hat-tricks during his 15 years with Celtic – and even more in the Glasgow and Charity Cups. It is a phenomenal tally and helped McGrory reach his tally of 468 goals. He also scored five goals in a single game on no fewer than four occasions, while he scored four goals in 11 different matches. But as well as all the singles, doubles, trebles, quadruples and quintuples, on January 14, 1928 he scored EIGHT goals in a 9-0 victory over Dunfermline. In The Story of the Celtic, Willie Maley said of Jimmy McGrory: ‘With all respect to the many other splendid Celts we have had and still have, I want to say this: We have never had, unless with one exception, a player whose prowess and o’erflowing enthusiasm have led us to so many victories. The exception is Paddy Gallacher. As a goal-getter McGrory stands supreme. He has scored more goals with his head than any other player. Celtic have had many offers for his transfer. Arsenal wanted him very much. We left it to him to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. ‘No’ it was. He wanted to finish his playing career with Celtic.’

     

     

    WHAT PRICE LOYALTY?

     

     

    Willie Maley was undoubtedly a fan of McGrory, and would certainly have appreciated his contribution over the many years he was at the club, though it could be argued that he was being economical with the truth when it came to explaining away Arsenal’s interest in signing the player. The general consensus was that it was Celtic who were instrumental in trying to sell McGrory to the London club and that they had arranged ‘surprise’ encounters at Euston Station, London with Arsenal manager, Herbert Chapman, when Maley and McGrory were travelling to and from Lourdes. Maley had also noted in his book of McGrory that ‘his heart was ours long before he was offered a peg in our dressing-room,’ and thankfully for the Celtic supporters that was indeed the case, with the Garngad Bhoy rejecting all overtures from Arsenal, even to the point of signing a contract with Celtic that saw him paid £1 less than other players

     

     

    DID YOU KNOW?

     

     

    For all that Jimmy McGrory was a goalscoring machine, out of his 468 goals for the Hoops, only 13 came against Rangers. The breakdown of his goals against opposing teams is as follows: Hamilton Accies (28 goals); Queen’s Park (26); Falkirk (24); Motherwell (23); Kilmarnock (22); Cowdenbeath (22); Dunfermline (22); Third Lanark (21); St Mirren (19); Hibernian (18); Aberdeen (18); Hearts (17); Airdrie (17); St Johnstone (16); Partick Thistle (16); Clyde (16); Dundee (14); Morton (14); Ayr United (14); Rangers (13); Arbroath (10); Leith Athletic (10); Dundee United (9); Queen of the South (9); East Fife (7); Albion Rovers (7); Raith Rovers (7); Brechin City (4); Bo’ness (4); Alloa Athletic (3); Keith (3); Arthurlie (3); Stenhousemuir (3); Clydebank (2); Dumbarton (2); East Stirling (2); Inverness Caledonian (2); Solway Star (1).

  10. KINGLUBO on

    OldTim67

     

     

    sorry to see you are suffering, watching Ange.s Celtic should cheer you, and with that hopefully your health will improve too.

     

    Bestest

     

     

     

    KINGLuBO

  11. Gene on

    Just back from Glasgow where we laid my brother James to rest yesterday. Requiem Mass at St Columbkille’s followed by cremation service and of course a celebration of his life with the family.

     

     

    Thanks again for all your messages of support on his passing.

     

     

    James you will always be in our thoughts.

  13. big wavy on

    Gene,

     

     

    Thoughts with you and the entire family today. Always sad to say goodbye to a loved one.

     

     

    Take care.

     

     

    HH

  15. Kelvinbhoy on

    Gene, hope you took comfort from yesterday. Do you Hail Hail from Rutherglen, St Columbkilles is my second home parish after St Marks though now stuck up in freezing cold Jobo territory in EK. Take care

  18. Hot Smoked on

    I can`t get too excited about the admirable Alloa but I am already nervous about Hearts next week !!

  19. Stephbhoy67 on

    Saw a post saying sevco have a run of games that look easier than ours in Jan and early Feb on paper. The games will even themselves out over course of season. Also Footbal is played on grass not paper. Let’s be positive and get behind the team.

     

     

    HH

  27. clunks on

    BIGRAILROADBLUES on 20TH JANUARY 2022 5:24 PM

     

     

    St Stivs so was Jonny Hayes. A real hard Irish lad.

     

     

    ===============

     

     

    I would think that hayes standing up was the catalyst to the sending off

     

     

    Maybe more teams will see that and use it to their advantage,,,,

  29. corkcelt on

    Best Wishes to the Legend Old Tim, an absolutely smashing ghuy.

     

    Hope you are feeling better soon, Davy.

  31. the_huddle on

    STEPHBHOY67 on 20TH JANUARY 2022 5:05 PM

     

    Saw a post saying sevco have a run of games that look easier than ours in Jan and early Feb on paper. The games will even themselves out over course of season. Also Footbal is played on grass not paper. Let’s be positive and get behind the team.

     

    ——————–

     

    In Scotland the split means that games don’t even themselves out

  33. Melvin Udall on

    Can anyone recommend a good Celtic pub in Edinburgh to watch us pump the huns on 2nd Feb. please? Used to go to Malone’s, but heard it has changed hands. Cheers in advance.

  35. lets all do the huddle on

    Can anyone recommend a good Celtic pub in Edinburgh to watch us pump the huns on 2nd Feb. please? Used to go to Malone’s, but heard it has changed hands. Cheers in advance.

     

    —

     

     

    mcsorleys on forrest road up behind waverley which used to be malones

     

     

    there is also malones on morrison street just up from haymarket

  37. prestonpans bhoys on

    Vinnie

     

    20TH JANUARY 2022 6:17 PM

     

    Have we been gazumped again ???

     

     

    Have you heard/seen something, last I heard was about add ons

  40. Saint Stivs on

    brilliant call by a paranoid gers person. jimmy

     

     

    everybody knows ra celtic got the break pult forrad by gettin at the ither teams, they use ivri ting to thir advantage. celtic instigated the winter break pulled foward and thats it, the fact oh the matter is that celtic manipulate everything in scottish fitba.

  41. McPhail Bhoy on

    I see Arbroath are topping the Championship, a long way to go I know but if they get promoted is there an issue with their stadium? I read somewhere they only have a few hundred seats. Is there a minimum number of seats required does anyone know?

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