“Feeling more confident than any time in the last five years” was the sentiment expressed to me by a Newco fan this morning. And with some reason. They have gone two months without defeat, while Celtic’s blistering runs of successive wins stopped; we’ve won three and drawn three of our last six.
Reasons for any marked change in results are usually varied. With the league won, Celtic rested players, while others were injured. Opponents have also paid attention to their Scott Sinclair Problem. Stop Scott getting the ball and you inhibit Celtic’s most potent danger.
You also have to factor in the reality that Brendan Rodgers has given 52 competitive pre-match team talks. There are only so many times you can vocabularise your rallying call before its effects diminish.
The contrast in the other Hampden dressing room will be stark. Brother Pedro’s accent will still appear fresh to his players, never mind his message. His tactical talks and implorations of effort will seem innovative, whether they are or not. For these reasons, and more, Newco players will fear nothing on Sunday.
This game will be more straightforward that Ross County last week. We know Newco are there to win, to knock us out of the cup, stop our Invincibility Quest and reach their second major cup final. We’ll not face 10 men behind the ball.
Having said all of this, you and me will both be stunned if Celtic don’t prevail. We have the better players, the better manager, we’ve faced many and varied challenges this season and come through impressively.
Dembele, Griffiths and Rogic are back and available. The manager has choices on who to play, and options to change the game, or freshen things up later.
That same Newco fan this morning accused me of selective memory, with good reason, when I said I couldn’t remember Ugo Ehiogu playing for Rangers. It was no less alarming to hear a fit and active man of 44 died so suddenly. Condolences to his loved ones. There but……….
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Belief goes a Million Miles and so much more.
Ally McCoist’s ‘extraordinary’ golden contract at Rangers revealed during Craig Whyte fraud trial
Donald Findlay QC tells court the club would have been obliged to pay McCoist an “enormous” sum if they hadn’t named him as manager Walter Smith’s successor in
William Hill has Sevco at 15/2 to win tomorrow but 6/1 to lift the Cup.Those seem odd odds.
JJ
Good morning friends from a beautifully bright, clear skied, sunny and just wonderful East Kilbride.
One more sleep! But for today it’ll be ‘Mon the Hi-bees ;-)
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has sent Don Robertson a pre-Scottish Cup semi final warning just days after the official’s Ross County blunder – “don’t mess up like Alan Muir did two years ago”.
Rodgers was speaking two days ahead of the Hampden showdown with Rangers in which Robertson is a second assistant behind the goal.
It comes just a week after the ref was conned by County striker Alex Schalk into awarding a last gasp penalty against Celtic which led to an equaliser in the 2-2 draw.
Two years ago Muir was deployed as the ‘behind the goal assistant’ and missed a clear handball by Inverness’s Josh Meekings, denying Celtic a penalty in a game they went on to lose 3-2.
READ MORE
Bare-faced cheek: Assistant ref said ball hit Josh Meekings in the COUPON rages Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths
I like it Brendan..We have to put as much pressure as possible on the officials tomorrow, I would love to see the Celtic players and staff in the faces of those cheating fuds WHEN not IF they give dodgy decisions against The Celts.
Meanwhile, it appears Big Mick McManus has lost approx £500,000 when selling his Bothwell home, ….sorry to read that Mick, but it’s hardly…..
“Living in a Box” ?….one of my favourite songs from the 1980’s.
HH
Scam alert. If you use WhatsApp be warned that there is a scam at the minute. You get a text appartently from a friend (don’t know how this bit works), who tells you that there are £500 vouchers being given out by Virgin Airways to celebrate their 35th anniversary. There is a very genuine looking link to a British Airways website – don’t go there. There is even a voicemail call that comes at the same time as the text from the ‘friend’ that sounds garbled.
One Day in Lisbon – Part Four
It is the summer of 1970 and I am 9 years old. It was a crazy summer weather wise. At times, it was scorchio and at others times it suddenly rained like hell and there was violent thunder and lightning. Sometimes it was freezing and then it would be scorchio again.
On the TV we were treated to one of the greatest sporting summers ever. The World Cup came into our living rooms in full blown colour complete with slo-mo and analysis from a panel of experts on both ITV and BBC.
We got to see the great Pele, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto and the wee stocky crazy guy with the thunderous left foot shot and the mad mental moustache!
John Newcombe defeated Ken Rosewall over 5 sets in the Wimbledon men’s final to complete an Aussie one-two after Margaret Court had seen off Billie Jean over two epic sets winning 14-12, 11-9, and at St Andrews the Golden Bear defeated Doug Sanders in an 18 hole play off on the fifth day of play.
Tony Jacklin, the defending champion who had just won the US Open, trailed in 3 shots behind the winner, and one behind some funny looking wee guy called Trevino who Henry Longhurst and a young Peter Alliss found quite extraordinary because he had only been playing tournament golf for three years, held the club the wrong way, stood the wrong way, swung the club the wrong way, never stopped talking, and generally did the most extraordinary things on a golf course.
They weren’t sure if they totally approved of him at all, which meant I instantly liked him.
Funny that!
Oh, and The Commonwealth Games had taken place in Edinburgh where we saw Ian Stewart run the legs off Kip Keino in the 5,000 metres, and wee John “Lachie” Stewart from the Vale showed everyone a clean pair of heels in the 10,000.
In the sprints, Don Quarrie of Jamaica ruled supreme, and in the boxing my old man told me to watch out for a Light Middleweight from Leith called Tom Imre who had a huge left hook which was a devastating punch. Despite suffering from chronic stomach ulcers, Imre, the Hibbee, produced two stunning knockouts on his way to the final before claiming gold in his home town by taking the final on points.
He was carried from the ring on the shoulders of the local crowd.
It was against this background, that I had spent virtually every spare second of that summer running, jumping, kicking footballs, swinging tennis racquets and golf clubs, punching imaginary opponents, and racing anyone who would listen around the block of my granny’s house in Partick.
In the back greens we climbed the wash houses, or “dykes” as we called them, and jumped from one to the other with the biggest challenge of all being the jump from the high dyke in the middle of a game if tig or some such other nonsense.
Butch Cassidy and Sundance couldn’t climb a dyke or jump off the edge without a by your leave the way I could……..
That is, until the morning that I found I could no longer walk and had lost all the power in my legs!
They were completely useless. All attempts to stand up and put my weight on them resulted in me collapsing to the floor. I couldn’t feel them, couldn’t stand on them, couldn’t bend them, nothing.
I wasn’t in pain, I just couldn’t walk.
You know that look on your mother’s face when she is saying soothing words and trying not to worry you but the face shouts “Panic”? – aye well that was in evidence.
The Doctor was summonsed.
Wee Doctor Houston from Highburgh Road.
Think of Poirot without the moustache and the Belgian accent.
He was always neat and tidy, immaculately dressed and a bit of a dandy with a smart tie and a wee matching hankie. Maybe that was why he was on his third wife?
Not sure how you know these things at 9 years old but I did.
At some point I heard him say the word that my mother had dared not mention ….. Polio! Or Poliomyelitis to give it its full name.
Of course, I didn’t have that dreaded condition but for a few days they weren’t sure and I remember well the “wee talk” to say that it might be the case that I had an illness which wasn’t very nice but I should just rest up, not worry about it, take it easy and hopefully get better.
Which is exactly what I did.
However, thereafter my mother always said to me when I was going out “Take it easy if you are going out. No running about mad, and especially no jumping dykes or climbing mad fences and all that stuff!”
So, 45 years on and after a lifetime of playing football with duff legs, and only a number of weeks after an operation to improve the crocked knees, I find myself standing in The Estadio Nacional with a young whipper snapper seriously asking me:
“Do you want a hand climbing over this fence, old yin?”
Did I think of yon day all those years ago when I discovered that I couldn’t walk?
Or the advice from the mother about taking it easy, or the suggestion from the surgeon at the Victoria not to be doing anything which might bugger up his keyhole handy work?
Nah! Not for a second.
I had climbed over bigger fences in my sleep while wrestling a tiger which was out of its head on a mixture of Buckfast and Frosties!
There was no way I was missing out on getting on to that platform.
“Here, hold my bag for me would you, and I will just climb over this oul fence” I said to the whippersnapper.
And so, with all the grace of Corporal Jones I scrambled over the fence.
And there I was, where big Billy held up the big cup.
I stood there like a big wean who had climbed the high dyke for the first time and looked out over the stadium and beyond towards the parkland outside, towards Lisbon and the rest of Europe beyond.
This was what it was like to be King of the World.
Taking no notice at all of the family who were on the Dais with me, I looked out and in my mind’s eye I could see all the Celtic fans on the pitch.
The terraces of the stadium swept round in front of me like two great big arms which never meet, leaving that gap on the far side which lets you see Lisbon itself beyond, and beyond that Spain and the rest of Europe.
The stadium arms reminded me of Bernini’s columns which wrap around St Peter’s Square in Rome, and how, if you stand at the top of St Peter’s Basilica, you can look into the square, straight down the Via della Conciliazione, and out beyond into Rome itself.
I wonder what big Billy thought when he stood up here and received the cup?
I wonder if Cesar felt the same comparison to Rome when he stood on this dais?
I wonder if he fully realised what he and his team mates had achieved that day, how they had played as a team, defeated catenaccio for good, changed the style of modern football completely and how the appearance of all these fans down below would have a lasting impact on the game and how it is supported?
I wondered if, when he was given the trophy, that biggest of cups, and had to turn and hold it aloft, did he turn towards the stadium below, Lisbon in the distance and the rest of Europe beyond and think:
“Urbe et Orbe …… To this city and the world …….. WE are the Champions and you will always remember us!”
I must have been away in my own wee dwam because all I heard next was someone say to me:
“Its some view isn’t it?”
Standing there with people I had never met and didn’t know all I could say was
“ Aye, its some view right enough, and it is a view you only get to see and really appreciate when you realise that we were Kings …….. the Kings of all Europe!”
To be continued
I was watching some clips of celtic games this morning and one was the 2-2 draw at Orcland, when Broony scored Celtic’s 2nd and stood looking at that cheating lying fud Diouf.
i had forgotten that we had went down to 10 men after our goalie Forster was wrongly sent off, after Naismith deliberately put his left foot into Frasiers face ?
One of the Huns scorers that day was a guy called “Jamie Ness” who to be fair scored scored a screamer. Afterwards he was lauded as the next great Hun hope to come out of Murray Park…..what happened to him ?
Is the new great Hun hope Billy Gilmour actually Jamie Ness in disguise ?
HH
BRTH 7.54.
GREAT STUFF MATE.
My memory of “Jumping the Dykes” was in “TOONHEID” Glasgow in the early 1960’s.
It was the auld “Wash Houses” and “Middens” ( Dustbins to you snobby Celtic fans), in the back of the tenements, and they were rat infested, mankie etc, etc…but me and my cousins didnae care.
Many a scrapped knee mind you !
HH
CHAOS and carnage at work. Tension and trauma at home.
All of that, as well as having to make the biggest decision of his life.
That was the predicament Jamie Ness found himself in three years ago at Rangers. A talented midfielder who hadn’t reached his 21st birthday. With a dilemma which could affect the rest of his career.
In the end, Ness chose security over loyalty. And who could blame him?
Rangers fans still haven’t forgiven him for deserting the club in its hour of need in favour of a move to Stoke City.
He refused to join Charles Green’s new regime following the club’s administration and subsequent liquidation.
Along with the likes of Steven Naismith, Allan McGregor and Steven Whittaker, Ness bailed out – uncertain if Rangers would even have a league to play in.
He has kept his counsel since leaving Glasgow. Well aware of the strength of feeling that still exists from supporters towards the Rangers ‘rebels’, Ness has stayed quiet. Until now.
For the first time, the Scot has revealed why he felt he HAD to quit Ibrox – and spoken about the abuse suffered by girlfriend Heather as a consequence.
What people don’t know is that, aside from the anguish he was suffering at Murray Park, Ness was also dealing with a crisis at home.
His father Graeme was diagnosed with cancer at the same time, which turned the youngster’s world upside down. Thankfully his dad has now made a full recovery but Ness admits it was the toughest period of his life so far.
In a perfect world, he would have stayed at the club he supported as a boy.
But in reality, a move to the English Premier League – and job security – was too much to turn down.
In his first major interview since leaving Rangers, Ness told MailSport: “It was a crazy time. No other club will go through what Rangers did at the time.
“I couldn’t get my head around it. I still can’t. It was such a massive decision and I was only 20 when Rangers went into administration.
“It all happened so quickly and I didn’t really have a chance to think about all the factors. For me, it was just about security. At one point there was talk about Rangers not being allowed into any league, never mind the old Third Division.
“And it was a difficult period for my family because my dad had also been diagnosed with cancer.
“So everything was a mess. In my mind, the most important thing was to look after my family and give them security.
“Transferring my contract over to Rangers was something I couldn’t risk. Who knows what may have happened?
“It was too big a gamble not to accept Stoke’s offer. We’ve been very lucky because my dad has been given the all-clear now.
“My parents were great, they never pushed me. They were always there if I needed advice. But for my own peace of mind, I needed security. Especially after the injury problems I’d had at Rangers.
“A top English club were in for me so it was a huge decision. I’d have loved to stay at Rangers for a long time if the administration hadn’t happened. But that’s football and life. Things change so quickly.”
In the aftermath of his defection, Rangers fans reacted with fury.
Team-mate Whittaker was in tears at a press conference as he tried to explain exactly why he left for Norwich City, alongside Naismith who was Everton-bound.
Ness knew what was coming his way but tried to keep his head down.
He treasures his family’s privacy but confessed partner Heather couldn’t escape vile abuse from internet trolls.
And despite everything that has happened, the 23-year-old HASN’T ruled out pulling on a light blue shirt again.
He said: “Naisy and Whitts got hammered after it. So I was wary of the backlash. We could have said anything and still got pelters.
“At that time everything was still raw and emotions were running high.
“After leaving, I was worried about the impact it might have on me and my family.
“Now I realise there will always be people who judge me without actually knowing me.
“It’s water off a duck’s back now. I didn’t have a Twitter page so the criticism wasn’t too bad for me. But I felt for Heather because she took a lot of abuse on social media.
“That was hard for her because she’d never experienced anything like that before.
“We were down in England so we were out of the way. But I knew all sorts of stuff was going on up the road.
BRTH – Just brilliant. Eventually you must do something to have this complete short(ish) story all together in one place (…a generation lost in space…)on the CQN Site. BRTHs corner or something ;-)
Lachie Stewart – the imahes remain clear in my mind!
… as do the images ;-)
Living In A Box – Living In A Box (1987) HD
If someone would be kind enough to put the link for this 1987 song on here that would be great, especially the link with the group miming on stage, with the great looking Tessie Ness (?) as the sexy backing singer ?
AAAAHHHH….those these boys knew how to wear the suits of the time, the double breasted that I used to have….those suits WILL come back, you mark my words !
HH
Jamie Ness …” A TOP English club came for me “….Sorry but Stoke City ?
Anyways, fair play to the lad for thinking of his family and girlfriend etc., and getting himself out of the Nut Hoose along Govan way.
Big Jimmy ….this wan??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guBsPkUkPQg
*** GFS2 – WEEK 5 ***
Earlier than usual roll of shame this week. But if the following 21 competitors wouldn’t mind narrowing down their selection and letting me know their team I might get everything sorted in time to watch the first semi final. Please.
LogicAl
GSC Bhoy
Bjmac
AuroraBorealisChumps
Danny Mac
dessybhoy
Smashing Milk Bottles
jamabhoy
jimbob71
jtsTICks
ABsAuldDaa
Fess19
Jonny the Tim
Bada Bing
QOTSA75
Neilbhoy
Cosy Corner Bhoy
BeCeltic
Koln Celt
BhoingBhoingBhaggies
pogmathonyahun
Goooood Morning CQN :-)
BRTH, hope you ran that past big Torontotony first !
Right need to take wee Hector ooot before Jobo’s run :-)
Hail Hail
Nervous about tomorrow. I think the officials will play a big part and I don’t trust Collum at all.
Must run…..
Petec
Thanks for your greetings, hope to have a great day tomorrow when we pump Der Hun.
Hail! Hail!
Jobo I sent my pick in on the 17th
Early Bird special
HH
Jobo- sent mine during the week but sent it again , thanks.
Foderingham out the morra, that’s a shame:))
Mon The Hoops
CQN Saturday Naps Competition
Lads, for those in the CQN Naps Competition, please post your selection here :
http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/whytes-criminal-trial-5088-and-the-summer-of-love/comment-page-10/#comments
All the best, fleagle1888
–NZ Auckland CSC–
Top Tim Martin Compston on Soccer AM
BRTH
“You know that look on your mother’s face when she is saying soothing words and trying not to worry you but the face shouts “Panic”? – aye well that was in evidence.”
*****
The type of feelings your mother must have had at that moment are convincingly evoked in Philip Roth’s novel “Nemesis”, set in 1940s New Jersey during an outbreak of polio, years before any vaccine was available.
MC on Soccer AM batted away the standard Sky Sports question…’you really need Rankers to be back flying…’
MC ‘i don’t….’
Top man
Don’t they say, good shall triumph over evil???? I’m waiting!!!!
4 – 0 tomorrow
KINGLuBO
Bada,
OK I give in. Who is ‘MC’? Too early on a Saturday morning for conundrums.
EMERALDBEE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!!BADA BING!! on 22ND APRIL 2017 10:10 AM
Top Tim Martin Compston on Soccer AM
Bada Bing , I agree, Martin dealt well with the leading question about ‘Rangers’ .
When asked about us being a top six EPL club , he responded well to that also telling them with our fan base and fortunes paid out to top tier English clubs , we would prosper.
He also added that when players leave for teams down the road, they then realise how big a club we are and regret their move.
A poster on here a few years back was saying Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson , career wise regretted leaving. In Kelvin’s last season with us , I thought he played really well.
Bada Bing check your e-mail.
Eurochamps 67 — drop me a line or contact me somehow if you are lurking somewhere about these parts.
Dallas -he is a top Celt.HH
By the way, some very VERY interesting wee snippets appear to have come out of the court testimony yesterday.
Myself and that auld bugger were exchanging views on that in the wee small hours.
Very Interesting ………… I hope the SFA have a watching brief there.
Brendan interview…
https://vimeo.com/214208278
Lisbon Update
For the dinner on the 24th of May by my calculation we have 3 seats left so if anyone wants one they had better come forward ASAP.
Cheers
BRTH
Bobby,
Cheers for that. Didn’t know Martin was a Tim – every little helps, eh?
So the Hun superstar keeper is allegedly out. Their back four and keeper will be made up of 3 rookies playing alongside Danny Wilson and possibly Tavernier. The replacement keeper will be a bag of nerves as will Bates. Communication between goalkeeper and defenders is critical, especially in this type of game. Surely to goodness we will destroy them.