This is our second CQN TV stint where Glasgow’s hottest model and TV presenter Nicole and social media masters’ student, Suzie, ask me about the season ahead Celtic and our Champions League chances. I also get a great question about the Generation of Domination, which I’ve not written much about here recently, but you’d better believe it’s coming.
It was great fun talking about Our Celtic, hope you enjoy it.
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I had to attend an interview in London on Friday, I was given very short notice and as a result had to get the train as the flights were so expensive at such short notice. I left the house at just after 5am to catch the 6.30am Glasgow to Euston train. I wasn’t really looking forward to the journey as I get bored easily with my own company. I put a call out on twitter looking for any Tims that might also be travelling on the same train but to no avail. I did however have the foresight to take along a book, The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt, it’s one of those books that you get as a present from a family member that can’t think of anything useful to get you. I have tried on many occasions to read it but just never got beyond the first chapter. As there were no newspaper for sale in Central station or on the train I was presented with the option of spending the 4-5hrs on the train either day dreaming or reading the book. After twenty minutes going over Celtics incredible 10 champion’s league wins, in which my 2 grandsons played leading roles, I reluctantly decided to start the book. I will say now, if you are asked what you want for your birthday or Christmas this year, tell whoever is asking that you want this book, it really is that good. The Ball is Round literally has something for everyone, with a thorough list of contents and index, along with some interesting photos, it’s also an ideal reference manual. After reading almost half of it I feel be able to hold an argument with BRTH,Auldheid,The Bunnet and even James Forrest as well as any well versed football hooligan on the planet. It really is an excellent read and I can’t wait to finish it.
Anyway got to London, interview went well till we spoke about money, I have till 12pm Monday to give an answer.
So back on the road and after a couple of tube rides, found myself back at Euston an hour early for my 6.30pm train back to Glasgow, After chatting to an extremely helpful BR employee I found that my ticket was valid on the 5.30pm train. So after a quick dash through the station, I found myself on an a Glasgow bound train. As this wasn’t the train I’d previously booked I found I didn’t have a pre booked seat and had to look around for one that wasn’t reserved. There were only 4 carriages for us not second class travellers and I found every seat to be taken except one. It was an aisle seat at a table, the other occupants were 3 heavy set suit wearing Glaswegians. They were drinking cans of lager, which they were diluting with miniature of vodka, and looked as if they had already partaken of some liquid refreshments prior to boarding the train.
I was almost going to walk past till I overheard one of them mentioning Bomber Brown in what wasn’t to complimentary terms. Wrongly as it turns out I assumed at this point that they may be Tims. So the decision was made “excuse me mate, anyone sitting here?”. They all shot quick glances at each other and grudgingly invited me to sit in their company.
I swear within 5 mins I wanted out of there, these guys were as rabid a bunch as I have had the misfortune to meet in all my life. I can’t be certain of this but I would put money on them being Police officers, probably CID from some of the things they were saying. Rangers were discussed in detail, if totally getting almost every fact wrong about the whole RFC(IL) counts as detail then this was detail by default. As the two opposite would from time to time make what they thought was a startlingly insightful comment they would look over the table for acknowledgement. I never once opened my mouth in over an hour and a half, just hmm or a slight nod of the head to confirm I had been privy to their obvious Chomsky like declarations. All was going well, in a masochistic sense I was actually on some level enjoying this, until the wife phoned to find out what time I’d be home. #This land is your land, this land is my land#
Blasted out from my mobile to the utter astonishment of those at my table. “Hi honey, I caught an early train, will be in just after 11pm. Love you too”
A stunned awkward silence descended on my companions, it probably only lasted 10 seconds or so but it sure as hell felt like longer. Eventually the guy opposite looked at me without any sign of emotion and very calmly said “If I had my way, you’d never go home. I’d f@cking publicly hang every last one of you, including you bastard kids”.
I was clearly shocked at this and for the life of me couldn’t think of a reply. I just stood up retrieved my bag from the rack a was about to walk away when I leaned over and said “you don’t really believe we decommissioned all our weapons do you?”. At that I made my way to the front of the train, as I exited the compartment I could hear their howls of laughter. I spent the remainder of the journey in between two carriages as I couldn’t find a seat. I was extremely disturbed by this incident, not just that a drunk should say such a thing but the fact that neither of his companions made any effort to excuse him. This wasn’t some uneducated bigot, this was clearly an educated and respected individual who held a senior position in whatever his profession. That he could hold thess views truly astonishes and disturbs me.
I deeply regretted my own comeback to him and wished I had been able to say something more light hearted that would have exposed his hatred and bigotry.
I am a Scot, proud of my heritage and background, which includes having Irish forefathers on both my fathers and mothers side of our family. My grandfather fought in the second WW along with his brothers and cousins in the HLI. It pains me to note that in the country of my birth there are those that would do me harm for no other reason than they think that because I have an Irish tune as my ringtone, then that is enough of a reason for them to hate me.
………sailing, croquet, rugby, harse-riding (again)……………….and skiing.
do the clubs need to vote on friday or can they put forward their own motion and a vote of no confidence in the respective bodies?
the sla/ sfl with the spl in to have clearly structure the questions without giving appropraite options, i see a delay on the way!
BikerGerryS
Thanks Mate…, we live and learn….. o))
Secrets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZYfeYhQ9eU
Good Night all
There’s not a Subbuteo Team like the
One from RTC
ExiledCelt says:
08/07/2012 at 11:42 am
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During the 80s there many occasions when Celtic went to Ibroke that we had all the Broomloan, 1/2 of the Govan and 1/2 of the main stand and enclosure – meaning we had 50% of the ground. If you look at the 1983 game which was Charile Nicholas last game at Ibrox (2-4 to Celtic the day Dundee Utd won the league) and you will see the Celtic fans sitting in the Govan stand………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cHCuOHqGs
Not so sure you should be counting anymore than 20K a week in Div 1 or 2 or 3 or even SPL if they are not competative….
Eddiekirkmichael
I am sure if you called GNER/virgin you could find out who had booked those seats and make a complaint to British transport police…
or at least find out who they are…
it crosses socia-economic , class systems, scum is scum is scum. i recall a dr asking what foot i kicked with a few years ago, i could not beleive it then he told a story about this boat named king billy. and they blame catholic schools!!!!!
Eddie
Sorry to hear about your experience, not pleasant and very disturbing.
Don’t beat yourself up about your retort. Personally, I think it was a cracker and I’m sure many of us have replied in ways that we may have regretted in hindsight.
Best of luck with the job.
eddieinkirkmichael on 8 July, 2012 at 21:15 said:
it crosses socia-economic , class systems, scum is scum is scum. i recall a dr asking what foot i kicked with a few years ago, i could not beleive it then he told a story about this boat named king billy. and they blame catholic schools!!!!!
p.s i was so dumbstruck i just stood there in disbelief and made my excuses to get ta
Eddie…..
…did any of them admit to liking………….. tennis?
(just asking)
;)
anyone got a link to bomber brown other day???
blantyretim on 8 July, 2012 at 21:21:
They probably were BTP…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
lennybhoy
more like BNP…. o))
…………….sounds like they were……….FTP…..
eddieinkirkmichael on 8 July, 2012 at 21:15:
My Bros-in-Law was recently home on a visit from Oz, long time lurker, occasional poster. Anyway, he and I went in search of his Dad in a Hostelry in ML6 last Saturday, Not a good idea at the best of times but they had been doing one of their vile walks.
Met the Father-in-Law, drinking away and this elderly male came over to talk to us, God the save the Queen, me and the Bros-in-Law just stared at him. Later my in-Law went to the loo, same elderly male engages him in conversation…asks what are you then, what do you mean was the retort. What foot you kick with…I am a Jew the in-Law retorts, his chin hit the floor…you should not rue your retort.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Evening bhoys
Hope we are all well
HH
eddieinkirkmichael on 8 July, 2012 at 21:15 said:
>>>>>
Yep……that’s the shankhill butcher mindset at work in Scotland…..and they don’t care who knows it.
Sorry to hear you had to go through such a godawful experience.
eddiekirkmichael. Fella they are the worst the ones who should know better you can excuse the no brainers who couldnt get a job in a million years,However,when you meet well dressed well educated bigot it can be shocking I once met the chairman of a large UK company he is retired now and worth millions but a more evil bitter man I have ever had the misfortune to meet to meet and I knew right there and then my carreer was finished.So dont beat yourself up about it.H.H.
Eddie
Shocking story ….as has been said scum is scum
micki67. We still live in the dark ages in Scotland and I hate to think what might happen if we do become Independant.H.H.
blantyretim, 21:22
do you live in sth London by chance?
Eddie-HH. Their hatred will consume themselves thankfully.
Were is the R T C blog please.
Bundoran
Hope you’re well buddy.
OG Rafferty
nope, still living in hometown……
?
Integrity still worth its place
By John O’Brien Irish Independent
It’s hard to imagine that anything positive could emerge from the sordid and increasingly stratospheric GUBU-fest that has been the unravelling of Rangers Football Club from charges of tax evasion to administration and, finally, to howls of anguish in the south-west of Glasgow, into the bitter clutches of liquidation. But, to paraphrase Victor Hugo, even the darkest nights come to an end. The sun always rises.
And so after a seismic five-hour gathering at Hampden Park on Wednesday, 10 out of 12 clubs rejected the ‘newco’ Rangers application to join the Scottish Premier League. Why the newco itself was allowed a vote on its own future was utterly perplexing but entirely in keeping with a farce one reporter likened to The Thick of It with more spin doctors spinning than Malcolm Tucker himself could shake a stick at.
Forget the complexities surrounding Rangers’ fall from grace for a moment and think of the magnitude of what is happening here. For the first time in its 122-year history, the Scottish League will resume without Rangers at the top table. The Old Firm hegemony has been smashed (for a year at least anyway). The city will be blessed with four extra days of normality during the next football season. All that was missing on Wednesday was the Glasgow sky caving in.
Who do we credit for this slice of important history? Do we celebrate the brave and honourable club chairmen — pride and tradition dictated Celtic’s stance — who defied all manner of external pressure and scaremongering about their financial future to do the right thing and ensure the disgraced club was not allowed to purge its sins and slouch back to the main table?
Don’t be such a mug(gle). This story is more Trainspotting than Harry Potter, more gritty Scottish drama than fairytale with wizard hats and fractional train platforms. As the grisly spectacle has unfolded, you could count the number of Scottish football officials who have acted decisively and without hidden agendas comfortably on the fingers of one hand. The impetus to seek the morally righteous path came from one source alone: the fans.
That’s the story here: the power of supporters from rival clubs to form loose arrangements and use their collective voice to shame those who run their clubs into doing the right thing where otherwise, either through naked self-interest or sheer cowardice, they would have happily welcomed Rangers back into the fold. For ordinary Scottish football fans, Wednesday was a sort of Arab Spring, the day they realised how much of a say they could have in the running of their football club.
Not convinced? You think this is overstating it? Consider that two months ago reports were widely circulating in the Scottish press that the SPL was on the verge of cutting a deal that would allow the club to remain in the top division. No mention of what Scottish football fans might view of such a prospect. As if they didn’t even exist. Spurred on by decades-old arrogance, those in charge figured they could do what they liked and fans had no choice but to grin and bear it.
Except they couldn’t. Not this time. Around April, the first little snowball of opposition to newco Rangers began to develop and quickly gathered momentum as it rolled downhill towards those whose agenda was to smother the club with clemency. A series of online polls hinted at what was to come. In Aberdeen, 97 per cent of those polls wanted Rangers out of the SPL. In Hibernian, the figure was 99 per cent. Even in Hearts, traditionally Rangers’ staunchest allies, the level of opposition was 98 per cent.
Intriguingly, in a poll of Rangers fans, 80 per cent were in favour of the new club joining the Scottish third division, but there’s a subtle agenda at work here. Clearly, a large proportion of Rangers supporters would like this to happen as a sort of two-fingered gesture to the rest of Scottish football, borne of the arrogant assumption that the game would be irreparably impoverished without their box-office appeal. ‘See how you cope without us’ is effectively their anguished cry.
But that is precisely what the fans are willing to try. Sick of listening to craven officials sounding dire warnings of commercial meltdown in Rangers’ absence, tired of fact-light stories about endangered sponsorship and TV money, they clung steadfastly to their aim of not making Scottish football any more of a laughing stock than it already was. If the choice lay between cash and integrity, their position was clear. Overwhelmingly, they were for integrity.
From the beginning they went about it in the right way. Around April, a ‘Say no to Newco’ Facebook page was launched but it came adorned with a Celtic crest and, for that reason, it didn’t catch on. Whatever this was about, it wasn’t about revelling in Rangers’ misfortune. A new page was established that was inclusive and non-partisan. The snowball rolled faster and got bigger.
But no. For once, this wasn’t an Old Firm issue. It was about the wider game in Scotland and the need for clubs to find ways of standing on their own two feet. And if chairmen weren’t willing to take that message on board, the fans were prepared to hit them where it hurt: they threatened to withhold their season-ticket money. That was their trump card. “Aberdeen is a business based on fans,” said Dons supporter Gordon Duncan last month. “They have to listen to them.”
That message took hold and spread. From Aberdeen to Dundee United and from St Johnstone to Kilmarnock. At a meeting last week Kilmarnock fans warned club chairman Michael Johnson that they would refuse to purchase season tickets if he refused to take a firm line on Rangers during Wednesday’s vote. Johnson hardly mollified them when he could only force his conscience into abstaining. The chairman’s position now looks hugely precarious.
That’s good news, though, and there’s still hope for a happy ending, or one that isn’t unspeakably grim anyway. The buck passes now to the Football League and on Friday the clubs will vote on whether to accept Rangers into the SFL. There’s no moral reason why they shouldn’t, though whether they can find the nerve to banish Rangers into the third division where they belong is another matter entirely.
By Friday, reports were circulating of half-baked compromises and shadowy plots to ensure Rangers are ushered into Division One and,
thus, shepherded safely back to the familiar ground of the SPL within a year. A scenario in which, once again, the voice of ordinary fans is pushed to the margins and discarded. Typical of the myopia that reigns among those in power, stubbornly and recklessly refusing to heed the lessons from events of a mere four days ago. Whatever happens now, though, a force for good has been unleashed that, if properly harnessed, won’t be easily stopped. That alone is something worth cherishing. Particularly in a week when we saw the Glazers at their grubby best in New York, putting another stain on the soul of what was once a truly great and proud football club. And a week when Robin van Persie all but quit Arsenal, insisting the lure of Arab or Russian silver wasn’t his primary motive.
Ach, let’s not go there. Too depressing. Better to linger in Scotland awhile, where a shard of light shone through the gloom last week and reminded us that old-fashioned integrity can still carry the day against money. All thanks to a group of determined supporters who insisted their voices were heard and provided the dignity and backbone so grievously lacking among those entrusted to serve them.
ssport@independent.ie
– John O’Brien
ht – safe journey and enjoy your holiday mate.
Mind and stay away from the Womble Chippy…..!
T4
blantyretim on 8 July, 2012 at 22:00 said:
think he mix up is cos you spend so much time in london road…..heading to the gallowgate.
hamiltontim on 8 July, 2012 at 21:58 said:
Doing good buddy, hope you are well too my friend
HH
Really impressed with the Hibs supporters statement. Kinda nails it.
My local club, Elgin City haven’t declared yet. Plenty huns there. The barmanin the social club is one.
A couple of weeks back I asked him if he was looking forwards to welcoming the gers next season. He went off on one about how every club would suffer and bizarrely how Celtic were also a newco. No idea where that’s from! The big fat barmaid who I previously had a soft spot for in account a sympathetic gene I have inherited joined in . Man, we’re they riled.
I occasionally go along to watch Elgin. I hope they do the right thing. It is , when it all boils down to it the right thing. Whatever type of rangers appears at the start of the season have no right to join our league system.
I trust that the representatives of the SFL do what is right and refuse an SFL licence. Anything else would be wrong.
By the way, monty is fine when he’s winning and all sweetness and light but a complete and dislikable tit when he’s not in a good mood.
HH
SIALF
Che
aye. aye… o))
TTTT
Cheers mate I’ll bring you back an onion! :-)
Bundoran
I’m good mate just waiting on ferry to France. Can almost taste that first Guinness on the boat!!
HT,
Just poppin in for a quick message before nurse comes
You have a good holiday bud, enjoy the french paradox
Bundoran…
that means HT is scanning everyone at the bar to see what mug punter is going to bye.
He will miss CT carrying him every night.
hamiltontim on 8 July, 2012 at 22:07 said:
Enjoy mate
HH