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.
[calameo code=0003901719d82038831a9 lang=en page=126 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
2,002 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- »
The_ huddle
Yon Pharel Williams, he’s definitely a ‘happee, happee, happee clapper’
Marspapa, he is not a person I would invite to dinner and not because his a pipe smoker.
It shows the mentality of him, while still a sticky bun director, when he defended the guy who killed Mark Scott after one of our games. A possible PR disaster
.
I know everyone charged is innocent until proven guilty but could you imagine the uproar if we had a lawyer associated with the club defending one of our fans charged with a similar motive for murder.
DD
Even a hun free clydebank will struggle to attract the Larrsons I am afraid, but keep up the efforts nevertheless.
DD,
The Hun eh? Or as good as one.
I see Catholic education was getting a tanking earlier..
Cannae mind who the poster was….
TCR the same character you had words with last week
Thought While My Guitar Gently Weeps might be better with Dave on the drums but nope, another murder of a great tune. Think Paul must’ve had a say on who sang what tonight :o)
beatbhoy
23:59 on
21 June, 2014
Did Alf Ramsey not substitute Gordon Banks when England were 2-0 up in the Germany game?
I remember wee Gerd “no back swing” Muller scoring a couple.
Jc2
There’s a great atmosphere at most of the matches too, which is helping to make this World Cup such a great spectacle.
looks like Efe has been taking tips from DM on being a marauding right back
dallas dallas,
When was the last time he successfully defended someone in a high profile case?
I’ve maybe overlooked them mind you.
Now we got The Dude on
Tom, I think it is Steve Wilson and Kevin Kilbane doing the BBC commentary.
Steve Wilson is one of the better commentators. He commentates on the teams playing with very few mentions of the English team.
Dallas
Jason Campbell, grandson of Billy Fullerton is walking the streets as a free man. He will rot in hell soon :)))
gordybhoy,
I know mate, that was tongue in cheek..
Ringo Starr.
Legend, that’s magic.
Macjay
No, he substituted Bobby Charlton, which gave Beckenbauer some space at last, and he scored Germany’s first shortly after.
Banks had taken ill before the match, and so Bonetti played. He wasn’t too clever at the first 2 German goals, and was made the scapegoat, though Ramsey took stick for the substitution handing the initiative to W. Germany.
TCR ah I see mucker,not like you at all
Ol Ringo is the size of Messi
mon Efe !!!!!!
Craig
KoK is Jesus Christ.
Great save
Macjay –
I am loving it mate. Meeting new great nieces and nephews and almost standing Napoleon-like before the expanding McLaughlin family. They all want to show their kids to Uncle Thomas from Australia.
Loving it my friend.
Animal from the muppets must be based on Ringo.
Macjay
Muller scored the winner in extra time I think, Seeler scored the equaliser with a brilliant back-header.
different Nigeria team altogether from their first match
Tricoloured ribbon, last week when I stumbled in on your ‘squabble’ I thought you were over-reacting to our friend and think I told you all to ‘get to bed, the lot of you’.
Well now I know you were probably being quite restrained under the circumstances. Apologies.
Dallas dallas
As a club and a collective wee have a far higher set of standards , i hope that dos’nt come across as arrogant , we have issuses with at our club but the fans would’nt stand for anything other than doing the right thing ” it’s the Celtic way” pardon the pun . ;))) g/nite bud i really need my beauty sleep …
Uglyazfek.com ;))
Strange world cup, Bosnia were impressive in their first game, Nigeria pretty woeful.
All change this game.
Also points to Argentina getting no where near winning this thing (unless Messi drags them there which after 2 games is starting to look like it)
Busy goalie that Begovic!
St Stivs
Always thought Animal was Keith Moon.
tricoloured ribbon
23:38 on 21 June, 2014
——————————————–
Only had about 5 pints mate, couple bottles of Mags and about 15 whiskey.
Might seem a lot, but spread over the day It’s not much.
Also they only sell wee nips of whiskey in Scotland 25mls, not the proper measures in Ireland.
Say 10 whiskey,sounds like a lot, but in real terms 10 x 25mls = 250mls which is only the equivalent of a wee quarter bottle.
More disappointed that I went home with money in my sky, I did try to spend the money, but the people kept buying me drink.
Won £50 on the night dogs in that wee bookies as well.
Won’t ever forget the generosity.
HH.
Tricloured Ribbon, I don’t think Whiskers has won a high profile case for many a year.
Joe Beltrami was one of those who backed him after the sashaoke was filmed at Ibrox.
I read an article years ago which said the law firm Whiskers was a partner in were the recipients of the largest amount of Legal Aid in Scotland.
The Cowdenbeath strip is very similar to the sevco monstrosity.
Nae word yet from the Wimbledon CSC night oot :-)
sparkleghirl
don’t worry about apologising to TCR,
he could cause trouble in an empty house ;-))))
Delaney’s, I agree re Keith Moon and Animal from the Muppets.
Miss Piggy maybe based on Margaret ‘hotlips’ Houlihan from the Mash telly show. The character’s name in the film was O’Houlihan
We all live in a Catholic housing scheme.
Liking this Beatles. Tribute a lotter
So much for my forecast that this game had lots of goals in it.
I don’t know, seem to either pick awful covers of Beatles tunes or have Ringo and now Paul sing average songs. Destroying the memory :O)