I remember getting annoyed at the grief Gordon Strachan took after David Fernandez inspired Dundee United to a draw at Celtic Park. It was disproportionate, despite the poor performance, and ignored the sporting reality that weaker teams can get it right and leave Celtic Park with a point. As well as a lot of credit for their efforts.
Positives first. Many things didn’t work for Celtic yesterday but James Forrest looked to be back to his best. There was only one occasion he didn’t get past the Killie fullback all day, and he recovered to dispossess two opponents and win the ball back.
For James, it’s all about fitness and confidence. Right now, he has both.
I looked at the clock: 3 minutes had gone, Jozo Simunovic was still on his feet. ‘We’re breaking new ground’, I thought. Kilmarnock defended their penalty area all day, so we were seldom troubled, but you and I have seen enough football to know that’s not the whole story. Jozo was immaculate, didn’t put a foot wrong, covered ground with pace and precision. Threw himself into tackles and won the ball.
The contrast with recent defensive performances could have scarcely been more marked.
Elsewhere it didn’t go so well. Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton were both inhibited. Stuart Armstrong prodded but seemed out of sync with his team-mates. Passes regularly found an opponent. From my seat, it looked like our movement and use of space was inefficient.
The last 30 minutes of the game saw Kilmarnock clear their lines and regroup under sustained pressure. During this period, I was confident the goal would come, it usually does. Maybe the extra dimension we hoped we’ve recruited in Carlton Cole, out ill yesterday, would have given our wing play more of a target.
Since writing on the subject on Friday night I’ve seen some of the sectarian abuse left on Facebook about our director, Ian Livingston, amid a diatribe against refugees and all sorts of people who are minorities in the UK.
Years ago I wrote that there are few values we can anchor the club to. Scotland is changing, as are peoples’ sense of identity, no more so than when it comes to religious identity. We can’t, nor should we, impose restrictions on who becomes a Celtic fan. Our demographic is largely left of centre, but a Lisbon Lion went on to become a Tory councillor, so there’s no political bar to supporting Celtic.
I also know an Ulster unionist, who for several years joined his family and friends as a Celtic season ticket holder. He was always made welcome, and didn’t find the celebration of Irish heritage at Celtic incompatible with his identity. As the generations pass, we’ll see more of this. People will care less about 20th century politics (not to mention 17th century) and your view on transubstantiation.
Our founding value is that we are open to all. You will find a welcome at Celtic irrespective of colour, race or religion, you don’t need to care about Scotland or Ireland, we have Poles, English, Norwegians, Americans, Aussies and many more. Few of them had an Irish grannie.
These values are under threat across Europe. We should take every opportunity to reinforce them.
I took some advice on whether to out those behind the racist abuse yesterday, but I’m glad Ian Livingston did so direct on the Affiliation site (and apologies for the direct quote appearing on a CQN article, I pulled it as soon as I saw it).
I was also challenged over the weekend for criticising the chairman’s right to use any available platform to call out racism. I don’t feel qualified to say that’s not allowed.
1,057 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 28
- »
It was the Courts that let Neil down, not the Club. But hey ho, fill your clogs.
When was the last time Celtic FC had to make a statement on a Sunday night?
Anyway,enough of listening to supposed Celtic fans ripping the club to shreds,calling for fans to stay away.Great thinking,to satisfy this fekin blood lust,we will put the club in turmoil.Makes me sick.Bigots now wanting to take over the club.
Why not stick a big banner across Celtic Park with
“No Tories,No Jews,need apply”
Oh,and anyone who dares answer demands from The Celtic Trust,or any other halfwit who thinks they know how to run the club,be sacked or resign.
As I said earlier,seems like we only want,
“Real Cellick men”in charge.Green Huns indeed.
I will take a break until after the Ajax gam,but only if we win.This place will be like a slaughterhouse if the result goes against us.
RD,Collins,PL,Bankier,Livingstone,the rest of the Board,half the team(minimum)will all be told to GTF.
The thinking Celtic fans answer to everything.
SANDMAN,
that doesn’t matter as far as they are concerned.
Whataboutery … what do you expect with a hun plc ?
Mair masons on our board than Sevco and the Jamboes together
HH
Sandman on 23rd November 2015 2:13 pm,
You missed out Chelsea fans there.FFS,listen to yourself.
“Big bad boys did it and kidded on they were Celtic fans”
Pathetic.
magine any of you taking a ticket off of a young Celtic fan so that you can sell it onto a Sevco fan for a slight profit ?
That is what all you board lackey´s are about. …. oh and the board
HH
oops
Imagine any of you taking a ticket off of a young Celtic fan so that you can sell it onto a Sevco fan for a slight profit ?
That is what all you board lackey´s are about. …. oh and the board
HH
The wider problems of racism and bigitory in Scotland is for the government to get on it, the point now is that parts of the Celtic Support do not want a man on the board who is a Tory, seriously? And don’t be tossing the poor card in, it’s got nothing to do with that, and you all know it, it’s strictly politics, plain and simple as that.
Left wing crack pots at it as usual.
If Celtic played in Iraq…the directors would be sunni, the support would be shea and Tony Donnelly would have surrounded the tanks
I thought Bankier was actually pretty clever at the AGM. He managed to completely redirect the conversation from the original issue (the Tax Credits vote) to Livingston’s political affiliation.
I, like many others, signed the petition against Livingston. I signed it because he made a decision that goes completely against the Social Charter of our club.
Reading back, I noted certain contributors criticizing and slating HamiltonTim for his work with the Trust.
If ever there was a man that represented all that’s good about Celtic a Football Club, it’s HamiltonTim.
Those bumping their gums about “socialism” etc need to have a look at themselves. Who cares about political entrenchment when those involved are working tirelessly to support and prosper those around them?
Your critique merely says more about you. Reflect on that.
I’ve heard that Scott Brown & Leigh Griffith’s might be closet Tories!
Maybe we should start a petition?
SO that´s is why Lord Livi is on the board to stop the kids getting abused at home games.
Disnae seem to be doing a good job for his 50k a year ?
ELLBOY
most professional players are tories after their first wage packet. It is their agents decision.
HH
Not every Jewish person supports the terrorist apartheid state of Israel. Ian Livinsgton does.
Just saying.
Floridabhoy
Those bumping their gums about “socialism” etc need to have a look at themselves.
everyone of them as thick as pig shi*
That is what the board is depending on…. and Sevco … the bigots
HH
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
I don’t know if you have had a look around Celtic Park lately but it’s got plenty of spare seats. Despite the fact that the big evil board lowered season book prices by £100
Have I offended the best fans in the world(tm)?
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/someone-is-prepared-to-spend-many-millions-on-sevco
Phils up
Hitler was a Rapid Vienna fan, fact.
Rudolf Hess on the other hand was a tim, who was arrested when he crash landed in afield near eaglesham in 1941, on his way to see the celtic under 19 boys play a full strengh reserved occupations Rangers 11 at ibrox.
The crash it seems was due to the fact that celtic had not yet built floodlights to guide him in.
Never the master of disguise, his SS uniform was a give away that he was a green “hun”.
Thats a fact
TD67
If the majority of the Celtic support don’t want a Tory Lord representing Celtic….Who are you to disagree.
Isnt it fair, that the people who fund the club should have a say in how Celtic is being run?
You better believe it is.
Don’t be sidetracked by the issue of racism directed against Ian Livingston – as a support we stand up to racism constantly and it should always be condemned.
My original point is : how can we keep marketing ourselves as a club set up to help the poor when our Board includes someone who voted to put them deeper into misery? It’s completely hypocritical. The argument over the Living Wage further highlights the Board’s hypocrisy.
Tangbhoy@1.41…”If you go to every primary school in the West coast of Scotland you will find that the majority of young boys are Celtic fans.”…not a criticism of your post, but how do you know this?
The Green Man@1.44…”Mr Livingston, a beneficiary of the inclusivity of Celtic, has no right to use Celtic as a vehicle to inflict misery on the poorest.”…can you explain how he uses Celtic to inflict this misery?
Thanks guys…
” I think we should shut the Club down immediately, forfeit ALL our Leagues an’ Cups, ghuys we should disband, demolish the stadium and re-form (on a collective basis only), as an amateur shove-ha’penny outfit.
I’m that mad.
Playin’ Shove-Ha’penny will allow us to re-focus our values – also – and furthermore, to keep it real, we’ll base ourselves at the old Bairds.
Seriously.
Initially, we will work the lower shove-ha’penny leagues of Lanarkshire and in aboot ten year, wull be ready to return, rebbed -up an’ rarin’ to go!
Now, I realise that some fancy-dans will regard this as a strange move, but by no existin’…….
wur bein’ clever. Right?”
Every time I come on here somebody is getting a kicking, if its not the board its a player, if its nots a player its the manger, if its not the manager its the assistant managers, if its not any of them its an unfortunate poster, or maybe Paul67, or the away support, or the team, etc etc etc. Must be a Celtic thing.
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS
Mr Livingston cannot divorce himself from the Tory agenda…He is responsible in the collective sense for the attack on tax credits.
He is a millionaire, who wants to deprive the poorest.
That’s not acceptable to me.
In any way, shape, or form.
That’s not what Celtic are about…..and plenty of Celtic fans are pointing that out that fact.
HH
I claim Godwin’s Law on The Green Man!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_Law
TIMALOY29 on 23RD NOVEMBER 2015 2:25 PM
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
I don’t know if you have had a look around Celtic Park lately but it’s got plenty of spare seats.
I am not surprised ( I count for two of those empty seats)
AND going back to what I was saying about being thick as pigshi* those seats that they wanted to sacrifice for their sevco customers were not empty. In fact they might have been occupied for the next 50 years. Kids eh ? who cares
HH
HERBO on 23RD NOVEMBER 2015 2:24 PM
Not every Jewish person supports the terrorist apartheid state of Israel. Ian Livinsgton does.
Just saying.
————————————————————-
Not every non Jewish Celtic supporting person believes Israel is a “terrorist apartheid state”
Shall we get rid if all them too?
Just saying.
Paul
At the risk of taking the conversation back to football: Re: Saturday’s performance:
I must say I’m heartily fed up with the sidey-ways stuff that we’re being served up at the moment. It’s predictable and largely ineffective against well organised opponents.
I take it the ‘high tempo’ pressing game we’re trying to adopt has its roots in Barcelona.
However, I note that when teams like Barcelona have the ball, they seem to have forward, as well as lateral options, and have midfielders primed to run into the gaps between the opposition back line and to look for lay offs and short through balls to on-running team mates.
Celtic’s style of play/team selection/tactics don’t seem to allow for the quick through ball, or one-two lay offs for on-rushing midfielders.
My assumption would be that this is down to the instructions our players receive and what they practice at Lennoxtown,
On Saturday, I notice that when Ciftci and Allan came on, both were (instinctively perhaps) looking for 1-2s and the short ball over the top of, or between, the last line of defenders.
Ciftci dropped deep to show for the ball and to make space for the obvious plays. In the short time he was on the park, Scott Allan several times dropped deeper to show for the ball, and made a few speculative runs inviting a through ball. But to no avail: the player on the ball either didn’t see him, or chose another ball.
Lateral progression is also not playing to one of Griffith’s strengths, namely his speed: he can (and sometimes still does) make ‘speculative’ runs across the defensive line, inviting a long forward pass (cf. the ball from Lustig, early in the game, which Leigh might have scored on another day). We very rarely mix up our play enough to take advantage of this part of Griffith’s armoury.
Moreover, the worst ‘culprits’ for this lateral approach seem to be Brown and Johansen, so their absence on Thursday could be a blessing – though we may otherwise miss Brown’s experience and industry.
On the bright side, I don’t imagine Ajax will think they need to adopt the same tactics as Kilmarnock, so (curiously) Thursday’s game may suit us a bit more. Time will tell …
VIP
Ellbhoy
We can but dream.
What I find very curious in all this racist Celtic supporter stuff, is that this board have had zero tolerance with the Celtic support for quite a few years now, they have been systematically handing over Celtic supporters details to the police on demand without even the mildest request for justification, helping police with their Inquiry’s is/was enough justification for our board, and all don’t on the QT
Now when we are told one of our board have been subjected to sectarian abuse from a Celtic supporter or worse some Celtic supporters and the board do not press charges or demand theses sectarians feel the wrath of the law, I expect there will be very few Celtic supporters who would give a monkeys if this board turned to the police and demanded investigation and charges brought against the culprits, I know I fully support such action, there’s a time and place and this is exactly that time and place.
However, that is not what happened, why ?
Just think about that, why are there not charges being brought or a complaint to the police to investigate, are the police investigating ?
I hope they are and I hope they jail whoever is responsible for this sectarian bile.
Now I only expect people who have an elementary education to understand what I have just said, I expect we will need to be patient with those who have trouble with interpretation.
Saint Stivs
You had me PMSL at that post
TIMALOY29
Resorting to foolishness wont help.
If you want to rebut my arguments, by all means do so.
Less of the hysteria though.
Lets hear you then.
THE GREEN MAN on 23RD NOVEMBER 2015 2:28 PM
TD67
If the majority of the Celtic support don’t want a Tory Lord representing Celtic….Who are you to disagree.
Isnt it fair, that the people who fund the club should have a say in how Celtic is being run?
You better believe it is.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/saturday-agm-afterblow/comment-page-3/#comment-2724015
Of course everyone should have his or her say on how the club is ran, but for the stupidity of the reasons why he shouldent? Beggars belief, I’m fed up saying it, it’s political grandstanding at its best, Celtic Trusts paw marks all over it.
Herbo
How very Martin Luthar of you!
Herbo
never going to happen google .. thick as pigshi*
HH
Luther
HH
St Stives,
I was told that by a hun, I had my suspicions, thanks for confirming :oD))))))