You and I have been in some dark places. While we remember winning nine-in-a-row by brilliant scouting, tactics and athletic endeavour, we also remember when that proud achievement was violated in 1997 by a considerably less wholesome achievement.
At the end of season 1995-96 Celtic finished second but lost only one game. I convinced myself that our world was about to be put right. Tommy Burns’ team would go one step further and win the league in 1997; it had to happen.
It didn’t.
Today I don’t want to talk about the reasons why we didn’t win the league in 1997, we will discuss that in the weeks ahead, but that season taught us the lesson that simply wanting something to happen doesn’t make it likely.
I thought of those dark days yesterday when I hear Ally McCoist’s rallying call:
“We’re going to march right through it
“I’m as positive today as I have been in a long time.
“This institution has been around for 140 years and I want it to be here for another 140 years.
“You’ll see what Rangers mean to so many people. We are really looking forward to the game.
“We have the best fans in the world.
McCoist loves his club the same way his good friend Tommy Burns loved his, but irrespective of the challenge he faces in the league from Neil Lennon’s awesome team, there is nothing McCoist can do to ensure his club survives until the end of the season.
When you’re on the wrong end of history there is nothing you can do about it.
Fancy writing something for CQN Magazine? Drop me an email and let me know what you would like to write about before you get started, just in case someone else has the same angle covered: celticquicknews@gmail.com.
I think we have all been blown away by the bidding on eBay action for the signed Celtic top in aid of the Vanessa Riddle Appeal. The auction ends today and currently sits at an incredible £5000. That’s three zeros, count them! I am very proud of you and your club.
Check out the events on eBay yourself by clicking here.
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Celtic 6-0 Hibernian
murdochbhoy says:
19 February, 2012 at 06:14
South.I said West.
Pound for pound,i still maintain that there are more Celtic supporters in West Belfast,than there are anywhere else on the planet earth.
South.Come again?
There are lots of good football clubs, there are some great football clubs, we wish those teams well but it does not need me to remind the world that there is only one Celtic, but I will.
You’ll Never Walk Alone! Live! Celtic vs. Liverpool
You’ll Never Walk Alone! Live! Celtic vs. Barcelona
58,000 Celtic Fans doing the Huddle
Margaret McGill says:
19 February, 2012 at 04:07
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Love Ya!
Hail! Hail!
kitalba
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Love Ya!
Hail! Hail!
Timdom
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Love Ya!
Hail! Hail!
Off te bed noo!
May God Bless ‘Every’ Celtic Fan.
Hail! Hail!
Sixteen roads to Golgotha says:
I understood your post, I wasn’t boasting, simply pointing out there are Celtic supporters worldwide, some who rarely get the opportunity to meet with fellow Celts and some who live in unfriendly environs where being a Celtic supporter can become an act of bravery.
What odds Scott Brown to score?
Broonie
Don’t know if this has been posted or not but if true it could be significant.
http://twitpic.com/8lp923
Victor Wanyama
All these players and we still turned a profit and the honours, flags and trophies, yet to come….
Celtic FC January 2012
This was a player I really admired; always think he was like Hoddle, only better. I wish we had gotten him when he was young.
Alfie Conn scores for celtic – 1976
Morning all.
Had visitors last night and wasnt able to keep up with the blog. However I did catch the McCoist interview and the lack of smirking, specifically the smirk he wore when leaving Hampden after being let off for his confrontation with Lenny at the infamous 3-1 game.
I also noted the gigantic freudian slip when he mentioned the “inevitable possible” redundancies. Anyone comment on that last night??
Browsing the headlines this morning, I am still laughing at their misfortunes, usually out loud too. Mrs Malc just asks what am I laughing at, to which I replied, “The Huns… They couldn’t buy themselves some good publicity just now.”
I laughed… :)
Hamiltontim
Deserve it you have.
Ticket get me you can. :-)
MWD
Can sense a party at Easter road today
HH
Morning all in Timland.
Thought I’d get the boot in early.
Oh how we’ll laugh
Every Celtic goal v Rangers from 1997 to 2011
Kit
some wonderful stuff there. That will be my evening sorted out. Much obliged
I see that the Cousin story has Tom English contemplating it this morning.
Either the adminstrators are bonkers (which I seriously doubt) or else they are pushing to register him as he has been fully paid already, by Rangers prior to the shutters coming down.
What do people think?
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/daniel-cousin-mystery/
Morning All,
From this mornings mail….
RANGERS left an empty seat for their chairman Craig Whyte yesterday – and furious fans made it clear they want it to stay that way.
Thousands of supporters marched on a sold-out Ibrox demanding an end to Whyte’s time in charge after he took the club into administration last week.
And in a new blow for the chairman, the club’s administrators admitted the businessman might have broken the law when running the club.
Fans turned out in force to support the club and their chants demanding Whyte must go could be heard inside the stadium’s boardroom.
There, administrator David Whitehouse opened the door to the possibility that the businessman might have been guilty of trading when knowingly insolvent.
Asked if Whyte’s dealings at Rangers could be described as illegal, Whitehouse, of Duff and Phelps, replied: “Could do.”
The possible offence relates to a failure to hand over £9million PAYE and VAT to the taxman and using that money to run the club.
Whitehouse’s colleague Paul Clark said: “The simplest way of looking at it is that these taxes would ordinarily be paid one month after the deductions.
“It’s more complex than that. But some of these taxes go back many, many months.”
It is the first time the administrators – appointed by Whyte before the taxman could impose his own – have left the door open to the possibility of illegality.
As they spoke it was clear from the chants and shouts outside the ground that Whyte had lost the support of the vast majority of Rangers fans.
Many also turned on former chairman Sir David Murray and ex-chief executive Martin Bain, who they blamed for years of overspending.
The Rangers Supporters Trust printed a leaflet featuring manager Ally McCoist’s call for unity, which read: “This is my club, the same as it is for thousands of supporters. We don’t do walking away.”
Yet Whyte’s was the only spare seat as 50,268 fans packed into the stadium to watch their side lose 1-0 to Kilmarnock.
It meant he didn’t see a banner that read “Murray, Bain and Whyte your crimes against RFC will never be forgiven or forgotten.”
Rangers Supporters Trust Mark Dingwall said: “Fans were determined to turn today into a positive occasion.
“These are very dark times for the club but we are determined to show our loyalty and support to the players and the manager.
“Fans are angry that Whyte has chosen not to attend today’s match because there is a feeling that if he had nothing to hide then he would have been here.
“But the support also know that Whyte would never be in charge at Ibrox had it not been for Murray.
“He’s Murray’s creation and that’s not something that’s lost on the fans.”
Whyte travelled to London after putting the club into administration on Tuesday and did not return for the game amid fears for his safety at Ibrox.
A source said: “He will be back eventually but it might not be as early as next week.
“He still has an important role to play liaising with the administrator and he’s determined to do all he can to help.”
Around 2000 fans met in Lorne Street in Kinning Park at 1.30pm after a rally had been organised on fans’ website Follow Follow.
Decked out in red, white and blue, fans brought banners and flags bearing slogans like “Our Team Will Never Die”.
In a separate march organised by hardcore supporters group The Blue Order, 3000 fans headed towards the stadium from the Corkerhill Social Club.
Both groups met outside the main door at Ibrox where they started a defiant sing-song. Gers fan Graeme Clarke, 53, of East Kilbride, said: “I wouldn’t have missed this game for anything today. I wanted to come to show support for the team.”
Kelly Watson, 37, from Stevenston in Ayrshire, said: “I come to Ibrox every week and this is by far the most important game I’ve ever been to.”
Kilmarnock fans taunted the home support by chanting “there’s only one Craig Whyte” and “let’s all laugh at Rangers”.
Whyte is facing investigations over how he purchased the club and what happened to £24.4million he received from Ticketus as an advance on season ticket sales.
Administrator David Whitehouse yesterday said the money had been traced.
He said: “The cash (from Ticketus) has not come into Rangers’ bank account. It went through a lawyer’s bank account.
“We now have some visibility of that money. We will clarify it all next week.”
Strathclyde Police are studying papers on Whyte’s takeover at Ibrox while the SFA are also looking at his running of the club. Whyte has denied any suggestion that he has committed a crime.
On Friday he released a statement, saying: “I have nothing to hide and been involved in no criminal wrongdoing whatsoever.
“I have always acted in the best interests of Rangers.”
Mac
and a little something from our Neil…..
CELTIC boss Neil Lennon admits he would be happy to see the back of the Old Firm fixture as a manager.
But he remains torn on the need for Rangers to survive in the Scottish game because the Glasgow derby means so much to so many.
Lennon insists he is right to comment on the cash crisis at Ibrox because it affects his biggest challengers.
Celtic go into today’s match at Hibs with a 14-point lead in the SPL after Rangers were docked 10 points last week for entering administration.
Lennon said: “Does Scottish football need Rangers? I don’t know. Most people would say yes.
“I have been asked if we need a strong Rangers and our answer is no.
“However, if you lose the derbies you are losing the best fixture in Scotland and one of the best in the world.
“As a player I’d miss it but not as a manager. They are pretty fraught as a manager.”
Lennon took to Twitter on Thursday to say the press conference involving Gers’ administrators was as clear as mud.
He said: “People say it is none of my business but I have a vested interest as boss of their biggest rival.”
What’s the bottom line?
more from Neil…….
NEIL LENNON will take another step closer to his first title as Celtic boss if his team secure a victory at Hibs this afternoon.
The Hoops are on course for their first Treble since 2001 and only their fourth in history – and their ecstatic fans are beginning to anticipate season after season of unbroken success.
Rangers are staring into a financial abyss after entering administration last week. Even if they survive they could be weakened indefinitely.
Wisely, Lennon is refusing to look too far beyond the end of May but insists a virtual monopoly in years to come would not necessarily harm his club or lead to complacency.
Asked if nine-in-a-row could ever be achieved again, were Rangers to be holed indefinitely, he said: “Nine? Listen, I’ll be bloody happy with one
“I am not saying we are going to do nine or 10-in-a-row or anything like that. But would it damage us? History tells us it wouldn’t.
“Lyon won the league seven years in a row in France because of Marseille’s problems and with PSG falling away.
“It didn’t affect them too badly or cause French football to suffer.
“Lyon made the semi-finals of the Champions League and produced some great young players who made the club a hell of a lot of money. Celtic and Rangers have won nine-in-a-row at some stage in their history. Did it affect the clubs then? Did it affect crowds?
“During our run of title wins Celtic won the European Cup and went to another European Final.
“During Rangers’ nine they almost made the Champions League Final and competed at a high level in Europe.
“There was no complacency then and it certainly didn’t damage their reputation. If anything, it enhanced it.”
Lennon praised his club for showing financial restraint and prudence while their arch rivals were using Employee Benefit Trusts to attract some of Europe’s biggest names to Ibrox.
In the eyes of most Scottish fans, Rangers are receiving their just deserts for failing to pay their taxes.
Celtic fans, on the other hand, will turn up at Easter Road today and sing about partying on jelly and ice cream.
Throw these salad days in the mix for Hoops followers, who went through their own turmoil before Fergus McCann arrived in 1994, and you have the perfect recipe for a great Glasgow gloat.
As he mulled over the move to put Rangers into administration, Lennon admits it was a day he always anticipated but one that still came as a shock.
He added: “My first emotion was disbelief that a club of that stature could fall into administration.
“You knew it was coming but you never really believe it until it happens.
“It has been interesting watching the fall out since then.
“People say it is none of my business but I have a vested interest because I am manager of their biggest rival and what is happening at Rangers will have an impact on Scottish football.”
The Celtic board were pilloried in the past for a biscuit-tin mentality that once saw lower league journeymen such as Wayne Biggins and Carl Muggleton paraded as players of promise.
The reputation has stuck, particularly in recent January transfer windows when the board have come under attack for not pushing the boat out further in a bid to land the title. History may well show the short-term pain will be worth the long-term gain.
Lennon added: “We’ve cut our cloth accordingly and it hurt. We had to bite the bullet on quite a few occasions and it was the right thing to do.
“Nobody really saw the recession coming. It has bitten in to society in more ways than anyone could imagine, but this club has been prepared, better than any other club in Scotland.
“There have been instances when the board has said: ‘No further, no more money’. Before my time as manager there was an interest in Nikica Jelavic.
“However, the club didn’t want to pay the kind of money that was being asked.
“Even in the window just past we looked at English players and it was a case of ‘too much money’. We’re not prepared to pay above the odds because we don’t want to disturb the wage structure we have here.
“We’ve just thought: ‘Right, we’ll get on with what we’ve got then’. Sometimes you must get players out to get others in but it isn’t always possible. That’s the financial situation in which we work.
“It can be frustrating because you’d always like a bit more quality but I’m really happy with what we’ve got.”
Celtic are certainly in a rush to land the title and they remain on course to claim another record after Rangers were docked 10 points for going into administration.
The earliest an SPL title has ever been won is April 6 – the date in 2006 when Gordon Strachan’s team claimed the first of their three-in-a-row.
Celtic won the league with six games to spare that season, a feat also achieved by Martin O’Neill’s side in 2004 and Dick Advocaat’s Rangers team in 2000.
Lennon said: “The players take a bit of pride in this run and they should because it is very good. That is the motivation more than anything now.
“The players have been handed a gift, a present, but the atmosphere is the same. If I see any sign of complacency in any player, they won’t be involved.”
Mark Dingwall and his ilk are as guily as Sir Murray, Bain, Whyte, John Greig, Paul Murray, Jabba, Chick, The BBC, STV, The Record, Alastair Johnston, Campbell Ogilvie, John McClelland. All of them and some more too are the ones who deceived Rangers Football Club and the wider sporting fraternity of Scotland.
You reap what you sow. Lolium temulentum is your harvest.
PaulMc – another very good piece. I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess at what is happening over there. Too much that has happened has been incredible to discount anything. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if interested parties were again having a chinwag with Lord Menzies.
I want to thank you for the work you have been doing on your blog.
Hail Hail
Despite all the advance tub thumping yesterday was a really bad for Rangers.
They had an opportunity , in the fullest glass of the public spotlight , to galvanise themselves on and off the pitch. Instead , as well as losing the match itself, the fans shamed themselves by reverting to a depressingly familiar rhetoric.
Glad to see its all over most of the papers.
On the wider issues Tom English doesn’t always get it right but he’s bang on here-
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/tom_english_someone_with_a_conscience_had_to_say_it_s_not_right_to_sign_him_when_redundancies_are_in_the_air_1_2125647
Anyway…
Its now about us for a wee while at least.
Three points a must BUT no add ones , no stupidity please.
After their performance yesterday this is absolutely the day to prove what the club have said all week.
Were not dependent on them . We’re different . We’re Celtic.
A really bad = a really bad day
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/daniel-cousin-mystery/
Cousin paid his 50k in advance? Dear oh dear… if Rangers had £1 for every cock up they made, they wouldn’t be in administration for long….
Glass = glare.
Ps ah huvnae gone and broke the blog huv ah?
Popped onto a Hibs fans website to have a look at their chat and there is no feeling of brotherhood with us. One of their banners for today: ” One down one to go. OF GTF”
Todays Sunday Mail prints the irony of all ironies when its editorial question poses the need for “investigative” journalism, particularly in the cases of banking and latterly of newco fc,
at the same time guidi and keevins still skirt around the issue,
just on the off chance anyone from that newspaper group is reading CQN today can I just point out that in relation to the rangers tax issues,
You were told over a year ago and you refused to listen
You were told continually by email, by blog, by radio show and you refused to take up the baton
YOUR journalists refused to bite the hand that was feeding it, your newspapers and their individual cowardly inactions are un forgiveable, make no mistake you as a newspaper group and those journalists must share part of the blame for refusing to investigate, for refusing to print the truth which was staring you clearly in the face,
As a group you can now wring your hands and blame murray, whyte and whomever,
You as a media group are as culpable for allowing this disgrace to go on for as long as it did
Beautiful sunshine and clear, blue skies over North Ayrshire this morning.
Come on the Bhoys!
PS. I wonder why the Herald felt the need to “asterisk” the word, “fenian”.
Is it dirty and unacceptable?
My Team for today….
Forster
Matthews Rogne Mulgrew Izzy
Brown Wanyama Ledley
Forrest Hooper Samaras
Think Neil will play Mulgrew at left back and bring Kelvin Wilson in though.
Whatever Neil decides will do for me and as usual any win will be a good win.
Mac
Beautiful morning over the Dechmont Massif.
Just time to slook down a coffee before heading over to Brancumhall for the bhoy’s game.
50:50 I’d say that the pitch will be playable given the temperature.
Oh what a beautiful morning…
..I’ve got a beautiful feeling.
SUNSHINE ON GRIEF
Hamiltontim
100% with you.
After all we’ve suffered there, not a chance I’ll be missing March 25th.
Presuming theyre around to fulfill the fixture.
Hail Hail