With the Lisbon Lions ‘acting in concert’, as is often the case in Glasgow football circles these days, I hope Celtic plan to mark the 50th anniversary of another of their achievements this Saturday. The St Johnstone game marks 50 years to the day the Lions won Celtic’s very first treble.
A Bobby Lennox goal won the League Cup against Rangers on 29 October 1966, before two Willie Wallace goals took the Scottish Cup on 29 April 1967. The treble was completed at Ibrox, when Jimmy Johnstone scored twice to secure the point Celtic required.
Given the 50 years that we have enjoyed since that season, it is unimaginable to believe that this was the first occasion Celtic retained the league title for exactly 50 years. Last doing so with a win at Dumbarton on 7 April 1917.
It has been said here often before, but it cannot be overestimated what Jock Stein and the Lions did for Celtic. The European Cup and nine-in-a-row are merely the headlines. The titles are trophies you have enjoyed since are the substance. The story would more resemble that dark half century without retaining a league, without them. When the club and New Balance launch next season’s strips later today, they homage they will pay to the men of ’67 is fully merited.
Thank you to all who have sponsored me for the Celtic Foundation. I’m running the Stirling Marathon on 21 May. I know there are a million demands on you but all support is appreciated.
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James Doleman @jamesdoleman
Lady Stacey tells the jury no-one can tell either the Crown or the defence what evidence they can put before them
#whytetrial
3:07 pm · 20 Apr 2017
I would have thought that the above statement from The Judge is FAVOURABLE to Craig Whyte ?
HH
ERNIE LYNCH on 5TH MAY 2017 9:44 AM
GREENPINATA on 5TH MAY 2017 9:31 AM
Did the trigger happy country ” Gent” who shot the pet dog ever get his just desserts, or even taken to task. ?
####
Do you mean the farmer who shot the dog that was running wild among his livestock?
———————————
No I mean the pet dog of an esteemed CQN’er whose dog was executed by a trigger happy ( possibly unstable, ) gun owning farmer.
A big difference, but of course you already knew that.
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 5TH MAY 2017 8:59 AM
And what is hilarious to watch, is how the rest of the parties cannot cope with the repetitive stupidity from May.
Its the politics of idiots.
Strong and Stable Government….Coalition of Chaos….repeat to fade.
Its laughable, yet nobody can lay a glove on Teresa May, who happens to be one of the least able to debate.
Its beyond a joke.
Tory numpties run the country……and nobody can challenge them.
Its really easy for the Tories, so easy.
You are 100% CORRECT “GREEN MAN”,
When I watch that ” Praying Mantis Figure” of Theresa May on TV….it’s like watching Martin Waghorn trying to control a feckin baw…..and yet NO ONE can get the ball off Theresa May…because of weak opposition who neither have the Will nor the feckin Savvy to play a clever game !
I feckin despair !
HH
See that ” Gun Tooting Trigger Happy Farmer” who like to shoot DOG’S ?
Any chance he points his Shootah at another DOG…………. Theresa May ?
HH
If that Framer has a Double Barreled Shootah…..can he not use 2nd barrel on another DOG….. Ruth feckin Davidson ?
HH
Big JImmy,
It is very difficult to disagree with anything you have said this morning.
It’s not rocket science, if the message is correct and voters agree with it, but still won’t vote for it then it is the messenger that is the problem.
To recognise this and To ignore it is a betrayal of millions of people who want and need social justice.
It really is that simple and painfully sad.
HH.
GREENPINATA on 5TH MAY 2017 10:45 AM
‘No I mean the pet dog of an esteemed CQN’er whose dog was executed by a trigger happy ( possibly unstable, ) gun owning farmer.’
###
As I understand it, the dog was out of control running among livestock.
If so the farmer was within his rights to shoot the dog.
And, on balance, from an animal welfare perspective it was probably the most humane thing to do, however upsetting that might be.
The fact that the dog’s owner posts on any particular website is totally irrelevant.
If only Craig Whyte had walked away and given his pound to somebody who needed it, how then so hard, the mighty and the sly, and greedy, and arrogant, would have fallen.
“If only”,
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 4m4 minutes ago
More
Agreement includes a “statement of non-embarrassment of each other”
1/2
##
Bit ironic that, given it’s being read out in court with C.W. in the dock.
You see, this is the problem.
People are conned into thinking that their ‘vote’ can achieve something.
This whole parliamentary system is rigged, and always has been.
I ask this. Do we really believe that the majority of people in England support the Conservatives?
Of course they dont……yet, the Tories get in with maybe 30% of the vote.
This isnt democracy in any way,shape,or form.
I wish people would get that.
Its not designed to be fair…..its a mechanism of control for a small political elect.
Parliament….is for the RICH to plunder the coffers of the state.
Its not for you or me.
HH
Ray Wilkins, Wilko, Butch, The Butchbawbag
If you read this blog
You made a right James of yourself on TalkSport this morning
Trying to act the hard man and wide-o
About a completely trivial incident that only Celta Vigo fans would possibly get upset about, and most of them would likely think you were talking pash as well
And your completely misplaced emphasis on how you were right because you played the game was cringe-worthy, that had no bearing on being able to analyze the specific situation
Did your wife run off with the neighbour last night?
Or Craigy Craigy White?
Go have a lie down now
Tory rule in Scotland is inevitable unless you vote the only party who will go flat out for self governance , an independent Scotland. After that vote who you really like, shape Scotland to the will of Scots , not Westmonster.
ERNIE;
It is all going to end in tears. Some of what is coming out is damning in the extreme against one who walked away.
Results just in!
Apologies for straying away from politics..
Scottish league Championship winners/Scottish Cup Winners* (Even Balance)
Summary of 13 decades:
Celtic 7/6
Rangers (original version) 5/4**
Same number won (Even Balance). 1/3
Total. 13/13
League Championships:
Celtic have dominated 7 decades, including the current incomplete.
Rangers (Original version) have dominated 5 decades.
Decade 1901/1920, both teams won 5 league championships.
Scottish Cup:
Celtic have dominated 6 decades.
Rangers (original version) have dominated 4 decades.
3 decades equal: 1891-1900 (3 each); 1951-1960 (2 each); 2001-2010 (4 each)
Note:
*Does not include Scottish Cups pre- 1892, when Celtic won their first trophy. Rangers (original version) won their first Scottish Cup two years later when there was insufficient space on the cup to engrave their name!
Queens Park had dominated both previous decades: 1871-1880 & 1881-1890
** Data does not include forthcoming title stripping of Rangers’ ( original version) titles won as a result of fielding improperly registered players. Results will be amended in due course.
*** Rangers (original version) were liquidated in 2012. Therefore, can no longer win, by fair means or otherwise, any further Championships or Scottish Cups. Celtic, with an unbroken history since 1888, are expected to continue with ongoing domination of both trophies for the forseeable future.
AmenCSC
Taurangabhoy on 5th May 2017 11:02 am
Seconded!!
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 10m10 minutes ago
McGill says Murray didn’t want Whyte to be publicly “critical of his time at the club” agrees is “unusual” clause.
Ach, poor wee Minty, such a sensitive soul
TAURANGABHOY on 5TH MAY 2017 11:02 AM
An independent Scotland would be running a budget deficit of about 10%.
Public spending would be cut to the bone.
There is no economic case for independence.
That’s the reality.
And as Scotland is not an oppressed nation (unlike Ireland was) there is no coherent, rational reason to vote for Scotland to leave the UK.
So how can an outgoing “owner” put obligations on a new owner of a new company that doesn’t exist but may exist if the company he sold was liquidated and a new one created?
Smells like 🐎 💩 to me!
KTF
Ernie Lynch
Thats nonsense….and if my granny had b***, she would be my granda:)
You want to vote with the Tories and prop them up in a Union, where we have no say.
Its not happening…..Stalin and Thatcher are long gone.
So its a huge raspberry to the Hun Union from me:)
HH
VFR800:
Aye, selective respect for the signed papers; pity they didn’t honour their own signatures with regards the 5 Way Agreement.
The 5 Way Agreement… when so doust thou rear your glory to damn us eternal in our deceits.
iki / bhoy@55, I’ve emailed BRTH to let him know there’s a problem with the raffle page. Raffle is running until the 17th May.
Hopefully he can resolve the issue this afternoon.
HH
Ernie Lynch
Let me just say this. If you in any way represent the reality of the Labour Party, no wonder people vote SNP:)
Its your fault:)
HH
Taurangabhoy on 5th May 2017 11:02 am
I was keeping away from the politics tis morning, but your post piqued my interest.
So how do you square away independence with:
1. Keeping the British pound
2. Signing over (part of) our fiscal policy/management to a foreign governments bank
3. Signing over (the other part of) our fiscal policy/management to Brussels
4. Ceding a significant portion of our political control to a bigger union than the UK
5. Paying to prop up the British Monarchy
Just wondering, because that is what this SNP’s independence will give you.
KTF
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 9m
Share Purchase Agreement states any dispute is to be “governed by English Law”
So did the Tories increase their vote in Scotland???
O.G Rafferty
Successor entity
Interesting, meaninh prepack….ach liquidation eh
lol.
———————
Sputh of Tunis
Hi mate you mentioned The Grapes Bar on paisley rd west,
My mate used to live in flat opposite.he picked me up 5am every sat morn.asked him how come he was never late? Ornj bond start outoftuning at 4,30am,shreeking wolf loyal he called them lol
HH
South obviously
Fumzcsc
VFR
Maybe we should have a revolution:)
Who knows, we’ve tried everything else.
Im sure i could send to Paris for a spare guillotine:)
Why not indeed.
Why dont we just guillotine all the politicians:)
HH
a ceilor ganof rust
thanks
HH
The economic reality of an ” independent ” Scotland cannot be ignored. More cuts, more austerity all controlled by Brussels or Germany to be more precise.
That is exactly what the Germans have now demanded of Greece .
The poor and most vulnerable who have already been hit hardest, will suffer again.
This is the reality of an “independent” Scotland. Think before you leap has never been truer.
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821 on 5TH MAY 2017 11:13 AM
Because it’s a personal contract between two individuals, albeit for the sale of shares in a limited company.
THEGREENMAN 1100
Aye,democracy.
For the few,decided by the few.
(Which should make Labour a shoe-in,I suppose…)
May complained about Brussels trying to railroad ‘our’ election the other day. These unelected officials with far too much to say for themselves and more power than responsibility or nous.
Which was headlined in the Tory press with no recognition of irony or self-awareness.
There’s your problem right there. The press still have the power to influence by how they report events.
And don’t they know it.
Having said that,even they couldn’t have invented Diane Abbott.
AN TEERMANN
Word of the day.
Successor
suc·ces·sor
səkˈsesər/Submit
noun
a person or thing that succeeds another.
A replacement then, not a continuation, of the entity
Ernie, do you cut n paste these posts?
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 10m10 minutes ago
More
The reading out of the Share Purchase Agreement has ended. Was signed on 6 May 2011.
David Murray ends a 23-year association with Rangers
By Andy Burke: BBC Scotland 6 May 2011
Sir David Murray has sold his majority stake in Rangers to Craig Whyte
They say a week is a long time in football, so quite how Sir David Murray sums up his spell as Rangers owner only the man himself could say.
Craig Whyte completed the protracted, and at times painful, negotiations this week to become the new majority shareholder at Ibrox and brought to an end Murray’s near 23-year ownership of the club.
Rangers have came a long way under the steel magnate’s stewardship, but in some respects they bear many of the hallmarks of the club Murray bought for £6m from Lawrence Marlborough in November 1988.
Back then, a transitional period was taking place at Ibrox, with the arrival of Graeme Souness as manager sparking a revolution in Scottish football. Souness lead Rangers to the title in 1987, his first season in charge, but this was their first championship in nine years.
The following season, Celtic comfortably won the title ahead of Hearts, with Rangers finishing a distant third.
The team, just like the present-day squad, were in need of a cash injection.
Once Murray, who previously made an unsuccessful bid to take control of Ayr United, had secured power in Govan, he maintained Souness’ policy of signing top international stars from south of the border.
Before Murray’s arrival, Rangers had taken advantage of the post-Heysel ban on English clubs entering European competition by snapping up Terry Butcher, Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins, Mark Walters and Gary Stevens.
Top English clubs struggled to compete and Murray financed the arrivals of Trevor Steven and Mark Hateley, among others, during this period.
After Rangers recaptured the league title in 1989, Murray sanctioned what was, and remains to this day, the most astonishing transfer in the history of the Scottish game – the signing of Maurice Johnston.
Murray and Souness rocked the Scottish game by signing Johnston
Johnston was the flame-haired Scotland international who was a proven goalscorer and already a hero in Glasgow – to the fans of arch rivals Celtic.
He had moved to Nantes after a successful spell at Parkhead and, when the time arrived to come home, it seemed a natural move for him to return to Glasgow’s east end.
Indeed, Johnston was paraded by then Celtic manager Billy McNeill and “MoJo” appeared thrilled to be back in the Hoops.
However, no contract was ever formally signed – and Souness and Murray pounced to offer Johnston more money to cross Glasgow’s great divide.
The signing flew in the face of almost 120 years of tradition at Rangers, a tradition that dictated that the club rarely signed Catholic players.
Together, Johnston, Souness and Murray had broken down a significant barrier while also driving a dagger into the heart of their old rivals.
This signalled the beginning of the most successful period in Rangers history; with Souness attracting top-quality players and Murray bankrolling the transfers, it seemed like the perfect fit.
The lure of returning to take over the club where he won three European Cups proved too strong for Souness though, and in 1991 he departed to take over from Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.
Resisting the temptation to scour England or further afield for a big-name replacement, Murray promoted from within, handing Walter Smith, Souness’ trusted assistant, his first crack at club management.
It is a decision every Rangers fan is thankful for to this day.
Smith carried on seamlessly from where Souness had left off, guiding Rangers over the line in 1991 and the following season, then to a domestic treble in 1992/93.
Murray brought world renowned stars like Laudrup and Gascoigne to Rangers
It was during this campaign that Murray’s appetite for success in Europe was whetted by the side’s thrilling run in the inaugural Champions League.
Rangers were a match for the continent’s top teams and went agonisingly close to reaching the European Cup final, losing out narrowly in the group stage – the winners of the two groups went straight into the final – to Marseille, who went on to win the competition amid accusations of bribing referees and opposing teams.
Smith continued to deliver domestic silverware, with only a shock Dundee United win in the Scottish Cup final denying Rangers successive trebles.
Murray continued to back his manager in the transfer market too, paying a British record fee of £4m to sign Duncan Ferguson from United in 1994.
But, despite securing six league championships in a row, Murray had eyes on Europe’s top prize: the Champions League.
To this end, Murray looked to entice stars from the continent to add the necessary skill and experience to deliver the greatest trophy in club football.
A landmark signing was world-renowned Danish star Brian Laudrup in 1994, followed by the sensational arrival of Paul Gascoigne in the summer of 1995.
Smith blended his string of foreign stars with a strong core of home-grown players, such as the free-scoring Ally McCoist, midfielders Stuart McCall and Ian Durrant, defenders Richard Gough and John Brown, all in front of the incomparable goalkeeper Andy Goram.
The anticipated assault on Europe failed to materialise, however, with a succession of underwhelming Champions League campaigns leaving Murray and Smith frustrated.
Murray financed the arrival of the stars who clinched nine titles in-a-row
Smith still had a team to strike fear into the rest of Scottish football, however, and focus soon turned to equalling Celtic’s record of nine league championships in-a-row.
Rangers held off a resurgent Celtic side, managed by the late Tommy Burns, to win their eighth title in-a-row in 1996 and, the next season, Murray witnessed the landmark ninth championship victory on the trot.
Wim Jansen’s Celtic prevented Rangers from eclipsing their record of consecutive league championships, coming out on top in a thrilling title race that went down to the last day of the 1997/98 season.
With this, Smith departed from the manager’s position and Murray appointed the first foreign manager in Rangers’ history, Dutchman Dick Advocaat.
With the “10-in-a-row” issue now consigned to the past, progress in Europe was firmly back on the agenda. Murray handed Advocaat tens of millions to bring in a raft of stars, with notable arrivals during his tenure including Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Andrei Kanchelskis and Ronald de Boer.
The Ibrox chief shocked Scottish football when he sanctioned the signing of Tore-Andre Flo for a mind-boggling fee of £12m, a club-record fee that is unlikely to ever be matched.
Flo, despite a decent scoring record, largely failed to justify the huge price tag, and the deal is still held up by some as evidence of Murray’s lavish spending contributing to the club’s current financial plight.
Although Advocaat’s side brought some stirring European nights back to Govan, and largely dominated the domestic scene, they ultimately failed to make the latter stages of the Champions League during the Dutchman’s reign.
Advocaat departed in the wake of Martin O’Neill’s transformation of Celtic from also-rans into treble-winners, making way for Alex McLeish.
Murray realised at this stage that the financially gung-ho policy that had defined his reign – he famously vowed to spend £10 for every fiver spent by Celtic – had to be curtailed amid enormous debts at the club.
McLeish worked miracles to deliver championships in 2003 and 2005 while vastly reducing the club’s wage bill, but Celtic took advantage of Rangers’ inability to compete in the transfer market by winning six titles in eight years.
David Murray (left); Walter Smith (right)
Murray brought Smith back to Rangers in 2007 for a second spell as manager
When McLeish left Rangers, Murray felt he had pulled off a major coup for the club by capturing former Lyon boss Paul Le Guen, despite interest from several leading clubs around Europe.
Le Guen’s spell in charge proceeded to be nothing short of a disaster and Murray turned to trusted lieutenant Smith to replace the Frenchman in January 2007.
Smith guided Rangers to the Uefa Cup final in 2008, and is on the brink of delivering his third consecutive SPL title, despite having very little money available for transfers and wages.
Rangers have endured a decade of down-sizing on the back of more than 10 years of unprecedented success when money was seemingly no object.
Murray let it be known as far back as 2006 that he would be willing to sell Rangers and twice stood down as chairman, but prospective buyers have been thin on the ground.
Now, after nearly 23 years at the helm, Murray no longer owns Glasgow Rangers.
When analysing his legacy, Murray can point to the superstar players he put into Rangers jerseys, the millions of pounds of his personal wealth he committed to the club and the numerous trophies won under his leadership.
His detractors will point to one thing – the financial mess that has threatened the club’s very existence.
Rangers fans may well wonder as they look back on the era of Sir David Murray at Ibrox, was it worth the ride?
TIMMY7_NOTED on 5TH MAY 2017 11:38 AM
‘Ernie, do you cut n paste these posts?’
##
No.
Do you?
TIMMY7_NOTED on 5TH MAY 2017 11:38 AM
Other than the ones that are attributed of course. Like James Doleman’s tweets.