Celtic have played Blackburn Rovers 19 times, 17 friendlies and two very memorable competitive games. The English side travelled north for the first leg of a Uefa Cup tie, on Halloween 2002. Manager, Graeme Souness waited until after kick-off before walking out of the tunnel, an indication that he expected a hostile reception. His players were less intimidated.
Blackburn bossed the game, so much so, that Souness felt comfortable enough to overlook the fact that Henrik Larsson scored the only goal of the game in the 84th minute, to declare the match “Men against boys”.
That was a decent Blackburn side; Champions League winners, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole supplied the cutting edge, with Damien Duff, ex-Rangers Tugay in midfield and a host of solid internationals and Premier League professionals. If football success was about unconverted chances and unproductive possession, Blackburn won hands down. Souness was blind to his side’s failure.
Celtic shredded Blackburn in the return two weeks later. Chris Sutton didn’t mind celebrating his opener on his return to the ground he became an EPL champion at, while Henrik scored a peach to secure the tie 3-0 on aggregate. The game went out live on terrestrial TV across the UK, allowing Henrik to tell the nation, “We knew we played s### in the first leg.”
We tasted Champions League football for the first time a year earlier, then felt the disappointment of elimination in qualification to Basel. That win over Blackburn gave us hope that we may be able to remain in Europe at Christmas for the first time since 1979.
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CF @ 1.25
GS — in his ego driven 30’s he was a bit of a walloper.
However he is / was the nearest football successor to our own BM.
Some of his movements / positioning reflect what I remember of BM.
Still a thug although souness did come through at Middlesbrough at same time as Sam Murdoch was nearing retirement
CF @ 1.32
“Sam” — are you sure?
What wee jinky called him
CF @ 1.34
What about JS and the rest of the team?
You tell me you seem to know everything else
Except perhaps where Celtic Park is
CF @ 1.34
If you know that much about BM then you will know the influence that he had on GS when they were both Smoggies?
GS modelled his play on BM — closest to a successor that BM had.
CF @ 1.36
And breathe …
Sadly, the horse ” LISBOA” could only finish 5th at Newburys 1.33 Race.
Back to the drawing board.
To be fair it ran well for a first timer, and I will certainly back it again the next time.
HH.
Mid July and still no signings As the champions league qualifiers begin.
Disgraceful situation for our club to be in.
Lawwell must go…
No bus for us on Saturday either. Games a sell out but many season ticket holders will be on holiday
We will be there, can’t wait
KGV?.Would that be,
Kenneth Gerhardt Volstenhome,the commentator at the 1936 Berlin games,who had a son,that changed his name after the war,and worked for the BBC,famously commentating in 1967 on the European Cup Final in Lisbon,where,rumour has it,he secretly met up with his father,who had escaped to Neutral Portugal after the fall of the Reich.
That KGV?
The beast went over the top on the young Icelandic player Sigi Johnssonn , nearly ending his career.
Also did Martin, O when he played for Norwich, George mccluskey, Billy stark and a Romanian player whose name I can’t remember.
No doubt there were numerous others.
Back in?
Murdoch left Celtic for Middlesbrough where he quickly established a reputation as one of the best players that club ever had. Indeed, the man who signed him, Jackie Charlton said: “Bobby Murdoch was the first player I ever signed and he was also my favourite. I played against him for Leeds when he scored to send us out of the Eutropean Cup… but I forgave him for that! Yes, he was a smashing lad and there´s no doubt that he went on to become a major part of my team at Middlesbrough.
“Bobby was an amazing passer of a ball who could drop a ball on a sixpence from any distance and, although I´ve had players who covered more ground, I never worked with anyone who could strike the ball as well as he could.”
And Graeme Souness, a team-mate at Middlesbrough as a young player, said: “He came along at just the right time, not only for me but for the whole team. His experience settled us down as we went for promotion and he also proved to be a big influence on my career.
“Bobby was an excellent passer of the ball and he had an excellent attitude. He would always pull me to one side to pass on advice or to tell me when he thought I was acting wrongly.”
GGH,
after the tackle on the Romanian,he still can’t remember his name to this day.
Souness saying Bobby would take him to one side and tell him what he was doing wrong,
“Worshipping in the wrong Church”
The repeat of Bhoys From the Blackstuff the other night had the iconic Yosser meeting Sounness scene.
As Yosser appears, Sammy Lee and the host sink into the seats while Yosser slides in, their faces etched with fear they make signals to Souness not to engage.
People say you look like me …………..
Years later in an interview Souness said he got genuinely frightened.
Turkeybhoy @ 2.12
😂
SS- was a very powerful programme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVgxYa3mlo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDi2SW2FzP0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvdesakrwn0
Souness was a thug.
!!BADA BING!! on 15TH JULY 2022 2:27 PM
SS- was a very powerful programme
————–
watching again, I forgot how grim things had become, the back-drop of Liverpool under thatcher and the industrial wastelands actually had me ready to hit the remote button in a few scenes,
the pub scenes, very akin to many a day up here going to the football.
what a comfortable life I haave now compared to what we grew up with.
The youth of today — no blood no foul was the way the game was played.
He just did it with more self publicity.
Madmitch
Forty odd years since I was considered the youth of today. 😂
Looks like Tiger won’t be needing the red jumper this Sunday.
A pity. Might be his last Open at St. Andrews.
GGH- He looks in a lot of pain,huge respect for him giving it a go,tries for every shot.
GS vs RK — discuss.
GS = better passer?
RK = more dynamic?
ZIGGYDOC1 on 15TH JULY 2022 12:46 PM
CELTIC40ME on 15TH JULY 2022 12:11 PM
Sounness always gets a laugh in my house when he’s on Sky – anger simmering away just below the surface, always talking about aggression.
I showed my kids videos of his famous tackles, the “tackle tackle” as it’s known now. He’s a dinosaur…
—-
Indeed. He’s full of himself. I always remember his macho bullshit quote, ‘Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser”. Did he ever say anything about having an ebt from Rangers, while he was working elsewhere?
……………………….
That quote originally came from the great Vince Lombardi of Green Bay Packers fame. Jock Stein used it too.
Bada Bing
Absolutely. After the car crash it is a miracle he can swing a club, never mind play in the Open.
I would have liked to see him make the record for Major wins but sadly it wasn’t to be.
He has done a lot for the game over the years.
dearie me. login is bloody tedious agian
Amazing ovation for Tiger
I am thinking of opening one of those wee fancy ice cream parlours on wheels but i want to just park it up somewhere.
because i go to football sometimes, i think it would be really good custom to have situated on the celtic clover at celtic park, for the passing tourist market,
i think i am onto a winner there.
you know park it and they will come.
KGv
Souness emerged late from the tunnel on 31/10/02 because he wanted to make the event about him. A man driven by ego. And then there’s the vanity.
New hair, check.
New teeth, check.
Botox, check.
Wishes he could speak more from the heart like fellow Sky Sports pundit, Roy Keane. Check.
Hang it from stand,🤣🤣
Use some of your old fellas “galluses'(braces)for extra support.
Pies are so in the past,pokey hats are way forward
🤣
HH
Good afternoon all the Laurieston Bar. Limbering up for a visit to Paradise tomorrow to watch the Green Machine. Then back to city with Big Jimmy and Friesdorfer for gin and tonics and canapés.
BRRB
Hahaha, look forward to it J 😄 😆
Hi Guys
I will be setting up my Superbru Predictor account again this season. All of last year’s participants have been notified and some have re-joined already. Everyone is welcome. There will be a participation fee for those involved in the fundraising competition and I will announce costs and prizes very soon. I am thinking of using a July- December set of prizes and a January to May competition following on from this. I am suggesting a £15 entry for each of the two halves of the competition, making £30 in total. People can enter for one, both or neither halves of the competition but only those who have paid in will be eligible for the prize pay outs. You can pay the £30 up front or pay £15 now and pay £15 again in January or opt out then.
We will pay out, determined by how much we take in, with the following prizes
Aug-Dec Prize money for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the table
Aug-May (inclusive) money for 1st, 2nd and 3rd plus a prize for the highest weekly score obtained. We even offer a wooden spoon for whoever finished last (someone will need to remind me who I owe this to for last year).
Around 60% + of the money we raise will be paid directly to charitable causes, we used a local Glasgow charity helping people in financial difficulty last year). We will use the WalkwithShay account again for donations or entry fees. This will be administered by Marc (Celticrollercoaster) to provide independent scrutiny. I will submit details of this soon, when Marc returns from a well earned holiday.
You can enter if you register with Superbru and elect to join the CQN Sentinels pool. The pool code is
paysgoon
I look forward to old and new joining in again. If you have any suggestions as to how to improve the competition, please let me know. I will communicate more details shortly. Thanks for your continued support.
Tony (SFTB)