We’re close enough to the English psyche to intimately understand their hopes and fears ahead of a tournament like the World Cup, but the M74 provides enough space for those of us based within a short distance of Celtic Park to have the kind of perspective that’s not possible for most fans immersed in the moment.
For long enough, England, along with Spain and France, were the perennial underachievers of European international football, which was dominated by “skilful” Italians and “efficient” Germans, while even the Dutch and Czechs have managed vastly more major final appearances than England.
France, then Spain, got the monkey off their backs, but England still relive their regular tournament nightmare, although this time it looks likely they will bow out before troubling any of their players in a penalty kick competition.
So cut England open and what bleeds out? After the game last night Danny Murphy on BBC Radio 5Live tried to offer objective resistance to the idea that England lacked passion from a tidal wave of calls, asking “Where is the Terry Butcher with a blood soaked bandage around his head?”, “Where is the crying Gascoigne?”
Fans often confuse sporting defeat with a lack of will to win. This notion was expressed last August when Celtic lost to Shakhter Karagandy, aided and abetted by an ITV commentator who proposed the notion during live broadcast. I’m pretty sure upwards of 95% of us have played the game at some level, but time seems to remove the memories of what it’s like to be losing in a team sport, and importantly, just how difficult it can be to reverse momentum.
Suggesting professional footballers don’t try during some of the most important games of their season is an embarrassing failure to think from another’s perspective.
Listening to the radio last night and again this morning, there was no dispute to the claim that what England needed was a manager who could lose his temper in the dressing room.
Even Murphy didn’t feel comfortable enough to take on the nation on this one, instead assuring listeners that Roy Hodgson was capable of losing his temper. This was mean to be supportive. It was surely viewed as such by many. This morning, Kevin Phillips trotted out the hoary old “lacked passion” line.
Is there any other field of human endeavour where losing control of your emotions is viewed as an attribute? Football managers exist in a highly competitive, technically exacting environment. At the top level they have to communicate subtle instructions to highly skilled professionals who have heard it all before from lippy managers. By the 30th rant they are all immune and it’s highly unlikely that intimidation led to an increase in performance first time out.
Despite this, managers are supposed to demonstrate a primitive human weakness to an audience who can often scarcely tell the difference between a football match and a pantomime.
We have to be different. We have to be cleverer; let the rest satisfy their need for an alpha-male role model – because make no mistake about it – this is what they’re really craving, while Celtic show uncompromising adherence to getting the best people for the job. On a side, note, can you imagine what appointing Roy Keane would have said about our strategy?
Roy Hodgson has done enough in the game to prove he’s a good manager but he’s more Euro-sophisticate than an archetypal alpha-male. Best of luck to him.
The Celtic Graves Society are having a fundraising raffle to generate funds. 50% will go towards their excellent work and 50% will go to the Northern Ireland Childrens’ Hospice, who looked after Wee Oscar recently. For the cost of a £5 raffle ticket, you can win a singed boot from Scott Brown or from Virgil van Dijk.
To buy your ticket go to Paypal and send £5 to donate@celticgraves.com
Don’t worry if you don’t have a Paypal account, you can still work through Paypal with a debit or credit card. Please add the phrase “Boots Raffle” to the Paypal subject line, and they have asked if you could alert them to which site you picked the message up from, so “CQN” will do.
Good luck
Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his book, All the Best.
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tbj – crazy but true… But a bargain compared to the 6 mil a year they wasted on Capello
As with everything in English football they think they can buy success – sadly for them it’s not that easy
iki
18:13 on
20 June, 2014
I fear that Italian histrionics in and around the box will combine with this ref.to be the undoing of Costa Rica.
Another goal needed.
========
Wrong and wrong ………. could not be happier.
TBJ
16 (SIXTEEN) of the WC Managers were on less than Fat Sally’s £850K!
CelticResearch @CelticResearch · now
There MAY be a #Damjustice update coming up on the BBC news at 7.30pm.
Still a long way to go to get full justice.
16 Roads@ 16.32
“You cannot see what you are doing though.
Critical of everything and everyone, apart from the ideology that is Islam.
We all acknowledge Hitler and Chairman Mao,and Facism – all evil, and wrong.
Same as the trans-Atlantic slave trade, an abomination if ever there was one, only thing more horrific was the Muslim Slave Trade imo.
A lot of it is down to fear, and that’s understandable. ”
You are right – I do not see what you accuse me of.
I am quite prepared to criticise Islamofascism and have done so. What I am not prepared to do is put every Moslem into that category and define all sects of their religion as equally bloodthirsty and distinctive from other brands.
In India, Hindu slaughtered Muslim and though the first instance was started by moslems, their suffering proportionally was greater over the term of the Partition Massacres.
The Hutu :Tutsi conflict was primarily racial and ethnic but it occurred among two nominally Christian groups.
Secularists were involved with the Holocaust, Armenian and Jewish, as well as the communists who industrialised the tradition of cruelty towards serfs which the Tsars had modelled for them.
Different branches of the same Christian German family set up WW1.
Christianity set the tone in the Belgian Congo and with Manifest Destiny.
There is not a country or religion which has a monopoly on cruelty and aggression. There is no ever-present enemy. There are shifting sands and fashions. Today Eurasia, tomorrow Oceania. Today Communism, tomorrow Islamofascism, the day after China.
Hame before ra post cards.
How good is that?
News from the Dam via Christian Visser the solicitor for all of the bhoys @Voetbaladvocaat
Praecepta
Woy on £3.5m pa is shocking
Sally on £850k is worse and the fact he is on more than half the World Cup managers is just laughable
Six tae seven
I am guessing most of the postcards ain’t even got a stamp on them yet
Now for Adrian chiles post mortem lmfao ;)))
Football’s greatest intellectual Pat Nevin, talking about Costa Rica, says the SOUTH American teams are playing at a tempo the European teams can’t live with.
Apologies if already posted, but been too busy laughing at England.
Article re GCC charging full rent for charities who operate food banks – Maryhill branch is suported by CFC.
http://derekbateman.co.uk/2014/06/20/nice-little-earner/
Er,
Why the gloating? The English at least had the gumption to qualify. Unlike the Celtic nations.
Sad news about Gerry Goffin.
This will go done well with the deluded:))))
Scottish Government gives £175K seized from criminals to Celtic charity
Friday 20 June 2014
Cash seized from criminals is to be awarded to a football club’s charitable arm to create life changing opportunities for disadvantaged young people.
The Scottish Government is awarding £175,000 of CashBack for Communities funding to the Celtic FC Foundation, the charitable arm of the Glasgow giants.
The foundation will use the money to introduce the Gateway to Employment project, which is aimed at young people aged 18 to 24 and focuses on offenders and those at risk of reoffending.
Over the next three years, the Celtic FC Foundation will engage with more than100 young people in areas of Glasgow with the highest rates of crime and anti-social behaviour to support them in developing new skills through volunteering, training or employment opportunities.
Tony Hamilton, chief executive of the foundation, said: “Funding and support from CashBack allows us to work with young people, in one of our key geographical areas in Glasgow, who have specific employment needs, which we can help address.
“This project has clear outcomes and targets and there are a whole series of initiatives towards helping our target group get back to full employment.
“At Celtic FC Foundation we have a specific interest in health, equality, learning and poverty and this project, throughout its life, will cover all four key areas for young people who have offended and/or are at the risk of reoffending. Helping them to have the best possible chance of finding meaningful and worthwhile employment has a benefit for all in the community.
“We are grateful for the support of CashBack and we intend to make this programme an exemplar of what we do and what we can do at Celtic FC Foundation in those communities who need an opportunity.”
The scheme is being delivered in partnership with Apex Scotland, a specialist organisation which has 25 years’ experience in supporting ex-offenders and young people at risk.
It is the latest award from the third phase of Cashback funding, which so far has seen £74 million given to projects and initiatives across Scotland since 2007.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made the announcement while meeting Mr Hamilton and Apex chief executive Alan Staff at Celtic FC’s training ground in Lennoxtown.
Mr MacAskill said: “While this is a momentous year for Scottish sport, its legacy will last well beyond 2014.
“I am therefore delighted to announce further CashBack for Communities funding which, as we can see from other projects, is providing real opportunities to help young people realise their potential.
“What is most gratifying is that this cash has been seized from the very criminals who seek to exploit these young people and their communities and trap them in a cycle of misery.
“I commend the work of Celtic FC Foundation and all people and organisations involved in this project and hope this project paves the way for sporting and other stars of the future.”
Cashback for Communities takes money from criminals and reinvests it in schemes and projects to benefit communities to allow them to flourish.
79caps
19:34 on 20 June, 2014
Football’s greatest intellectual Pat Nevin, talking about Costa Rica, says the SOUTH American teams are playing at a tempo the European teams can’t live with.
Nevin=Erse
Well done to the Celtic Foundation.
Walking the walk, while others talk the talk.
Walfrid will be smiling.
Les Marseilles that’s an anthem.
Citizen Robespierre spotted in the crowd!
praecepta
19:59 on 20 June, 2014
Citizen Robespierre spotted in the crowd!
No I’m not, I’m in a pub in inchinnan.
And I’m getting very funny looks from the locals.
Good evening friends. And what a glorious evening it is too. And the weather’s fantastic as well.
‘mon the Swiss (possibly?). ‘mon the Hondurans (nae chance I fear)…
Celtic TV Interview:
“I try to come back to Glasgow every year,” said Donati.
“I come for three or four days to meet friends and people that I met while I was here and also to come to see Celtic.
“I have a lot of good memories of the fans and the stadium and it is always emotional for me when I come here.”
My heads scrambled and I’m still sober
Commentator on itv ” the last three games between these teams have been draws and only three goals between them “. !!!!!
Please … Please … Someone explain that to me
Sore one – early sub.
ITV commentary team have just opined that there are likely to be very minimal goals in this game. Which has helped me with my in play bets – a couple of quid on 3 or more and 4 or more goals.
whatdotheyknowCSC
It seems that not all all the miracles at the World Cup are happening on the pitch
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/themargin/2014/06/20/brazilian-police-investigate-world-cup-wheelchair-ticket-fraud/…
Swiss now have the old Arsenal Reserves central defensive partnership.
I see the apoliticals were on again espousing their politics.
The Sons of O’Duffy meets Slattery’s Mounted Fut meets Leggo’s simpler wee brother.
Anybody fancy a game of 5s tomorrow morning at 9am in Glasgow?
The results and performances of some of the unfancied teams in the World Cup show what can be achieved by an infusion of belief. Ronny and Johnny may well install that in our players. A far greater task will be to create the same positivity among the support.
Of course constructive criticism is acceptable ( if unnecessary) but too many are still too keen to adopt the MSSM line that Scottish Football is rubbish ( until a certain club plays in the top division) and that Celtic have no chance in Europe. Without belief, we will have no chance . We must judge for ourselves and not be blinded by reputations.
European success IS possible for Celtic.
JJ
The French are looking good so far.
Parkhesadcumsalford – timing is everything!!!
TBJ @ 20.07
It is so obvious I am going to let you work it out for yourself.
JJ
Giroud 1-0. Great header
2-0, Matuidi. Two inside a minute
And another!!!
Swiss have failed to CLOCK two late runs!
As I said the old Arsenal Reserves central defence. Inside 10 mins together France score twice
Swiss are punchdrunk
Jobo
What do they know they are only well paid “experts” :))))