I’ve stayed away from the nonsense Craig Levein has spouted about Scott Brown this Hearts 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park. Yes, Hearts disciplinary record is vastly worse than Celtic’s, and Levein’s on-pitch assaults are memorable decades after the event, but we all know Craig isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, so why worry, I thought.
Now the Hearts manager suggests Scott Brown deliberately got himself booked, while Celtic were a goal down to Kilmarnock, in order to incur a suspension before we face Newco: “I think if you look and see if Scott didn’t get booked against Kilmarnock last week and he got booked against St Johnstone then he would have missed the Rangers game. I’ll leave you to deduce what that means.”
Craig, I’m loathed to pop-psych a diagnosis on you, but you are sounding like a man with a tenuous grip on reality. Say what you like about a tackle, we are all entitled to an alternative view, but seeing conspiracies behind such mundane events suggests he is not coping with the stress of football management.
Stress is a killer. If you suffer, seek help before things get to this stage.
Bank borrowing
The last football club in the country without bank borrowing has managed to secure an “overdraft”. Details are sparse (it is Newco, after all), but we know the facility of around £3m is secured on at least Albion car park and Edmiston House. I expect whatever they put in place now will be enough to see them through to season ticket renewal time, alleviating any immediate cash crisis.
There are many more assets available for security, specifically the stadium and IP (if they are so far unencumbered). This show could run for a while, but you know the final act.
“Great news! We no longer need to look after as many deeds as we did yesterday.” I’d call that a favourable settlement, wouldn’t you?
Walk on Fire, with the Celtic Foundation
It’s not often you get the chance to walk on hot coals but that’s the experience you can have with the Celtic Foundation on 23rd of this month. I know I bang on about the Foundation and the great work they do, but you should not underestimate the sheer human experience of getting involved with these projects.
People have sky-dived, climbed mountains, zip-wired from the top of stands and this month will walk on hot coals!! When you look back on your year/your life, you will recount these occasions.
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Apologies for clogging up the blog.
Old Jim is not in the best shape and has just lost his sister.
I have the guilts because I used to tell him to shut up when he roared at me from the touchline as a Partick Thistle youth.
He didn’t know that Crainey, Burchill and Jamie Smith were just a class apart at that point and I was trying my best…..
There’s lots still to be said….
A Joyful Lament to a Different Game
Celtic fans around the world spent last season commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions European Cup success. The current team played their part with an unbeaten campaign that culminated in a treble. But amid the joyful nostalgia there is the recognition that that the game has changed beyond all measure in the intervening period.
It is a Saturday afternoon in Paisley, just outside Glasgow. The year is 1967 and a 28 year old man with a whimsical idea in mind is dialling a number in a telephone box, more in hope than expectation. A gruff sounding Irishman receives the call. A speculative request is made, and is granted after brief consideration. The necessary arrangements are agreed. The players of St Charles Boys Club should report to the stadium the next day at 10am for a tour of the ground. Some of the Celtic players – newly crowned European champions – are in for a light training session and will be happy to say hello. The man placing the call – my father – thanks the gentlemen on the other end, the Celtic assistant manager, Sean Fallon. A hectic evening ensues convincing disbelieving kids and parents alike that the proposed outing is not a hoax.
On the Sunday morning, Fallon was true to his word and a dozen or so wide eyed Paisley youngsters were greeted by the man from Sligo, who warmly introduced them to legendary manager Jock Stein and club icon Jimmy McGrory, along with a clutch of first team players who willingly had a kickabout with them at the ground, followed by a full tour of the stadium.
I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been told this story, both by my old man and by those who made the 10 mile trip to Glasgow’s east end with him. As I sat with my dad watching Brendan Rogers’ current Celtic team honour the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions triumph with an undefeated treble in May this year, we reflected again on that impromptu encounter, laughing at the notion that a man in the street would have such direct, immediate and unfettered access to senior players and management at the home of the reigning European champions, while remembering that this was also a time when star midfielder Bobby Murdoch would take the bus to training on a daily basis and legendary winger Jimmy Johnstone borrowed money from the ball boys for a fish supper on the way home. Simpler times undoubtedly, when players and managers were still deeply embedded in their communities and were talented representatives and extensions of the wider support
In football as in life, the generations elapse and things change, but these anecdotes – now half a century old and heavily laden with nostalgia – form the basis of a lament to the modern game, where elite players are for the most part, fiercely protected from their fans. The story of the Lisbon Lions has been split into tens of thousands of narratives but it remains eternal and special largely because eleven men, all from within thirty miles of Glasgow, conquered Europe with an earthy, gallus swagger which is entirely different to the pretentious conceit we often see at the top level of football today.
I often argue with my dad that nostalgia can contaminate the memory when it comes to football but in the case of the Lions, the evidence pointing towards true greatness is overwhelming. Some might also argue, and not without reason, that Celtic fans have an inclination towards the sentimental but it’s important to acknowledge the club would not have the history and romance it has now, had those players not had the courage and ability they had then, but the magnitude of their unique achievements were not always recognised in some quarters. From the UK media, national team selectors and even from within the boardroom at Celtic Park they received contemporary applause, followed by oblivion, with the odd moment of rediscovery. Chief executive Peter Lawell and Martin O’Neill raised their profile greatly again around the millennium, though the fans had never allowed these ordinary heroes to be forgotten.
When Jock Stein arrived as manager in 1965 there was no drum roll to accompany him. Trumpets did not play. His limited playing career and plain speaking offered no hint of his visionary attitude to the game. He was an ex miner whose values of modesty, humility and teamwork were forged in the pits, a man who in the words of Hugh McIllvanney was “educated below his intelligence”. His impact on the club and on his players was seismic. Victory over the mighty Inter Milan in Lisbon was as one sided as a 2-1 victory could possibly be, where Celtic dominated proceedings entirely, despite the oppressive heat and the concession of an early goal. It is unlikely that there has ever been a more fruitful or historic collaboration between two full backs than Jim Craig’s perfectly timed cutback for Tommy Gemmell to hammer in the equaliser from the edge of the box, a combination which epitomised the relentlessly attacking nature of the Celtic performance. When Stevie Chalmers diverted Gemmells strike beyond the one man barricade of Giuliano Sarti, the Italians had long since abandoned any pretence of attempting to win the game.
Re-watching the entire ninety minutes is an illuminating experience; Celtic were absolutely masterful.
Millions of words have been written about this special team so when the anniversary documentaries and articles began to be trailed it was hard to see where the fresh angle would come from. The new perspective on their achievements came with a heavy dose of melancholy and sadness, with news earlier in the year that team captain Billy McNeill was in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, which was closely followed by the passing of Tommy Gemmell. These were hard blows for a group of men who are close as brothers and the anniversary celebrations were coloured by recent developments. The sight of Billy McNeill with the group in May this year prompted some throat clogging emotions for Celtic fans of all ages.
Jimmy Johnstone overcame the limitations of his genetic inheritance, not to mention some medieval tackling, to be voted the greatest Celt of all time. Bertie Auld epitomised the Glaswegian essence of the team with streetwise attitude and ability, while Bobby Murdoch held the compass every time the team advanced. But McNeill was the undisputed leader of the team. This son of a blackwatch soldier led the team out in Lisbon with the quiet nobility of a gladiator and ended it by ascending the concrete stairs alone, to be immortalised in the most famous photograph in the clubs history with the big cup. It must be difficult for family and ex-team mates to see a figure of such physical and mental fortitude in his current health.
Sporting icons, even the greatest, do not exist in a vacuum and the remaining Lisbon Lions are old men now. Even those St Charles Boys Club youngsters who attended Celtic Park on a bright Sunday morning are in their sixties. While all would acknowledge the incredible job Brendan Rogers has done in his maiden season to connect players, fans and management again, it would be an offence to most fans sensibilities to compare the two teams. It is equally futile to compare eras and traditions but one wonders what Jock Stein would have made of the corporate carnival of vanity that passes for the Champions League today, or what McNeill might think of the actions of Sergio Ramos in ensuring the dismissal of his opponent in the recent Champions League final.
The remembrance of the Lions was a season long celebration and they were commemorated brilliantly by supporters in the 67th minute of every game at home and away, in Scotland and abroad. For Celtic fans of my father’s generation, that Celtic team were men like themselves with the same daily concerns, who just happened to be sportsmen. Perhaps this is part of the reason why they continue to be so celebrated.
Sometimes it’s unhealthy to dismiss modern progress or to lapse into sentimentality for an extended period of time, but in the year of the Lisbon Lions 50th anniversary, it’s been entirely justified. There will
Fieldofdreams – one thing that’s always puzzled me about masons is their enthusiasm to give obvious non masons a Masonic handshake. I hate it when I get caught off guard and they manage the thumb on knuckle thing. But why do they do it? I’ve got in laws with Masonic connections. They know exactly what I am but they still try to do it.
Is it the ‘I’ve got a secret but I’m not telling you’ thing? Or a supremacy thing? I’m better than you?
Whatever, they are a corrupt shower of you know what.
AULDHEID
No judgement Auldheid just a gentle ribbing which I’m sure they too would not be upset about.
I didn’t find yesterdays article helpful or informative but then again it’s not a blog I’ve ever used much. I get my Celtic info on here mostly.
The battle rages on and with the campaign to get Smith in the job BEFORE they replace Regan stinks to high heaven and we should all be aware that this fight will get even dirtier from here on in.
I would also be surprised in Brendan’s name wasn’t mentioned when clubs are looking for managers down South, Chelsae I think will go for some Big Name Big Bucks high profile bod but I could easily see Arsenal looking at Brendan when Arsene Wenger does step down..
HH and again thank you for all you do for our community on here and in the real!
No examination or SFA comment on the Close Brothers deal which although completely standard procedure over there shows us exactly where we still are in the game:((
HOT SMOKED on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 12:56 PM
Squeeze are a very under-rated band. Vocals split between Difford and Tilbrook and (up until 1981) the keyboard talent of Jools Holland. Some superb songs and albums. Labelled With Love, Cool for cats and Up the Junction are possible the most well known but there are other hidden gems in their back catalogue.
If you google their 1989 album you will realise why that’s my favourite!
KTF
KTF
TOMMY JOAD on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 1:30 PM
A wonderful post. Thank you!
KTF
Just wondering….
Do all the people with claims over the assets of Sevco FC have to form a queue to get in to the games?
How many times can you use the same asset as security against a loan?
Hot Smoked
I saw Squeeze at Celtic Park. They were supporting Bryan Adams. Can’t remember the date. Like them a lot, often listen to their greatest hits double album in the car.
auldheid
etims articles, i thought they were the same author.
Media and SFA now so detached from public opinion it’s laughable.
There’s a scraping of the barrel like never before in identifying both Mackay and Smith as targets for the unwanted Scotland job.
Mackay has a racist blot on his copy book. Almost singularly the worst qualification for International role of any kind surely?
Smith was happy to sneak in to the shadows to avoid the limelight following Ebt, his ego now feels safe to re-emerge and pursue what can only be described as a vanity project. Although slipping your old pal £500k/yr for part time work plays a role no doubt.
I’d go for Steve Clark Jack Ross combo. Both being allowed to continue their good work at club level.
The role can be revisited later when credibility has been restored.
should be….yesterday and today.
Sevco will offer Close Bros the stadium naming rights in the summer for £1m cash and the £4m owed.
Close bros. will probably go for it and it will be trumpeted as fresh investment by Traynor and Arnold the accountant from leafy Kent.
HTH must Dougie Park feel about a company he has a big stake in, that owes him £ms going to the equivalent of wonga to meet normal business running costs?
Sevco will offer Close Bros the stadium naming rights in the summer for £1m cash and the £4m owed.
Close bros. will probably go for it and it will be trumpeted as fresh investment by Traynor and Arnold the accountant from leafy Kent.
HTH must Dougie Park feel about a company he has a big stake in, that owes him £ms going to the equivalent of wonga to meet normal business running costs?
Will anyone ask him?
I think Brendan should start with Edouard on Saturday and I hope Paddy Roberts gets 20 mins on the park with a lot of tough games coming up in 3 competitions.
HH
Squeeze … loved them! Argybargy and East Side Story are two of the great albums of that period … I think Rolling Stone magazine once labelled Difford and Tillbrook the greatest songwriting duo since Lennon and McCartney
What have the Freemasons ever done for US?
These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons’ Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.[31] The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason’s Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game.[31] These rules included handling of the ball by “marks” and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.[32]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football
Close Ibrox certainly has a ring to it .
Says something when my Labelled with Love post attracts more attention than Levien`s comments on Scott Brown !
Cultsbhoy
” Media and SFA now so detached from public opinion it’s laughable.”
I wish that were demonstrably true. IMO, the Media create and control `Public Opinion`.
Those wanting and hoping for justice are, again IMO, the ones detached from Public Opinion.
That, of course, does not make them wrong. Just the opposite , in fact.
JJ
Squeeze… Genius band
Am I the only one who cannot fathom why Steven Caulker has not been brought in by Brendan? Dundee?????? As a replacement for Hendry??????? Whit????????
Does anybody know if any action was taken following the pitch invasion at Dingwall recently, just wondering.
Or for the Hello hello songs.
Probably conveniently ignore I suppose
KINGLuBO
DUBAIBHOY (NEE LONDONBHOY) on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 2:27 PM
Am I the only one who cannot fathom why Steven Caulker has not been brought in by Brendan? Dundee?????? As a replacement for Hendry??????? Whit????????
*****
Perhaps the boy and/or Celtic considered the step up to us, considering the problems he has had, would be to great a risk at this stage.
I’m sure he would have been considered when he trained with us.
I think the lad is taking baby steps back into the game.
* to = too. Tut tut.
Anyone watching Sky Sports News?
Can they confirm for me that it was Chris McLaughlin of the BBC who asked Brendan the “disrespectful” question on Brown?
Cheers.
JAMES FORREST
Yes it was Chris McLaughlin
timhorton on 8th February 2018 1:54 pm
auldheid
etims articles, i thought they were the same author.
================
Could be according to by line, but so different in message/tone I thought it could not be the same author.
Even if it is, does that mean the latest is as poor as the previous?
Is a fair game something supporters should not be uniting to achieve?
DUBAIBHOY (NEE LONDONBHOY) on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 2:27 PM
Guaranteed regular game time at Dundee. Does well he moves to bigger club. With his background with BR then a good four months and he could be a Celtic player in the summer. BR seems to like the way McCann sets his team out to play from the back, maybe he’s advised Caulker it would be a good move.
We’ve nothing to gain
If we buy Harry Kane
No need for Eusebio or Pele
Cos we’ve got the man
The best of them a’
And his name is …….
Leigh Griffiths
Gary67:
Thanks bud. Thought it was.
https://thecelticblog.com/2018/02/blogs/brendan-accuses-senior-journalist-of-disrespect-over-idiotic-scott-brown-question/
TIMHORTON on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 12:12 AM
tontine tim
been a browns fan since 1964. its been a tough few years but wouldnt change colours.
*Jumped on the Jim Brown bandwagon lol. Kept an eye on them last year due tae the young quarterback they drafted fae Notre Dame, looks a good yin although his last season there wisnae that great but then again neither was the Fighting Irish’s.
GARY67 on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 2:59 PM
DUBAIBHOY (NEE LONDONBHOY) on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 2:27 PM
Guaranteed regular game time at Dundee. Does well he moves to bigger club. With his background with BR then a good four months and he could be a Celtic player in the summer.
*that’s the way I see it Gary.
starry plough on 8th February 2018 1:35 pm
Dirtier verging on criminal. It has been an eye opener and all means of resisting must be used.
The idea of Walter Smith, a guy who has done as much as SDM to damage the integrity of Scottish football, being given the Scottish Managers job , is indicative of the mindset we are up against.
BARNEY67 on 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 2:07 PM
The representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding.
*aye he moved tae Rhu and started a rowing club lol
Club??? Club???
Heresy I tells ye, heresy.
‘The company has gone to Scotland’s highest civil court in an attempt to ask judges to review a decision made by RFC 2012 plc, which before it went into liquidation was known as the Rangers Football Club plc.’
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/15964014.amp/?ref=mr&lp=2&__twitter_impression=true
Craig Levein has Scott Brown posters on his bedroom walls, and a Scott Brown mug and pyjamas.
The Close Brothers are the worsest type of Brothers you can get.
” before it went into liquidation was known as the Rangers Football Club plc.’”
What ????? Surely not? The CLUb was liquidated? We have been told for years that it was the Company which died.There must be some mistake here.
JJ
Great signing for Dundee.
I’m sure Dundee would have known the player would discuss any potential move up here with Brendan Rodgers, maybe it was even mooted during negotiations over Jack Hendry. Even if it wasnt , McCanns bleating over the Hendry transfer last week was risky at best for someone hoping for a good word to be put in to Caulker.
HH
bournesouprecipe on 8th February 2018 3:32 pm
The Close Brothers are the worsest type of Brothers you can get.
Have to disagree what about the Pirahana brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_sXp7C26CY
Did anyone go to the Fans Forum,the other night,ie toilet’s catering etc,and was it a positive response to all these questions,What about the Hotel, Superstore, Ticket Office,etc Thanks.
Cathedral View
In othe news, today I discovered the masons are actually just a bunch of misunderstood charity collectors who have had enough of being discriminated against. Bless them.
#############
I’m not surprised that these Christian and charitable chaps have finally snapped. According to some on here they are responsible for cover ups at Hillsborough, Dunblane, the disappearance of Madeline McCann and the fiasco that is Scottish football.
Just terrible so it is….