I’ve never treated the Ballon d’Or seriously, but would you be alarmed if your manager overlooked two of the most outstanding footballers of all time, to vote for one of the poor relations in an outstanding, if waning, Barcelona team.
England manager, Roy Hodgson, is entitled to his opinion but in nominating Javier Mascherano, he’s started a debate which will not reflect kindly on him.
I remember when Martin O’Neill was in charge of Celtic, he could do or say anything and no matter how incongruous it seemed, we all looked for hidden wisdom. Martin knew much more about the game than all of us but this authority was uniquely evident. I don’t remember any other Celtic manager being regarded with such awe, and I go back to the latter Stein days.
Whether Mascherano is fit to pass the ball to Leonel Messi is beside the point, Roy’s opinion is a prisoner of fortune. He’s dead meat to his critics.
For all of Martin’s brilliance he wasn’t one for cutting edge tactics. He knew what worked for him and stuck to it. So when Gordon Strachan came along with some new, ‘ideas’, the reaction was not appreciative.
Gordon’s early days (years) were remarkably hostile but it’s what I’ve regarded as The Ross Wallace Deployment which remains in the mind as an unfinished debate.
Ross was a left winger. But, five goals down after a first leg capitulation in Bratislava, Gordon deployed him on the right. The outcry was palpable. We’d never heard of playing a left footed player ‘out of position’ like this. What is now commonplace – to mix a left and fight footed full back and winger on the same side – was both new and proof positive that Gordon Strachan was a deluded simpleton.
There’s value in the opinions of the outliers, so my vote for the Ballon d’Or would have gone to Efe Ambrose. Gordon Strachan was a better manager than any of us knew at the time.
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2-2 at Upton park 8 min from pens
scullybhoy
do you think selling kris commons and bringing in wee sean is strengthening the team?
just seen two DDs on the blog,confused,
my replies are to Delaneys,
you still frequenting the H and B
TET
Pleased to hear the good news.
The Irons equalise.
First game from down south I,ve enjoyed for a while.
HT
A nun will always go blue if you twist her!
Leave them be you rascal!
HH jamesgang
Tontine
I visited the martyrs shrine in 1992 first time I was in Canada
Not long after st Jp said mass there
Went down to Huron (?) village
The sky top view over the trees was fab
Tonetine Tim
I have a great book about Monte Cassino which shows the pecking order for Monty.
First big battle to be filmed
Polish, Moroccans, French etc thrown in early.
I think the American was Mark Clark and he and Monty crossed swords to get headlines in progress.
Sickening story but great book
Tontine, a canadian tank crew also destroyed nazi tank ace, michael wittman(spelling).
He was a very effective tank commander for the nazi war machine. Thankfully, he did not cause any damage to allied soldiers.
My dad was based in aldershot in1946.. There was a battalion of canadians garrisoned there. Some had not been home for five years. My dad kept clear of them as they were in a lot of fights, understandably, as they were desparate to get home with the war being over for well over a year.
Definitely time for my kip.
Masty
You’ve no been East often enough :-)
Tontine Tim
21:16 on 13 January, 2015
Some of the older readers will recall the Dryborough Cup, it was held in the summer months prior to the League and League Cup kicking off between 1971 and 1974.
Summer nights watching a young Kenny making the breakthrough, beating the sheep after extra time at CP, even watching Larry Marshall’s da making an unusual start for us at Firhill.
Great going tae games that didnae need the floodlights on without a jaiket.
Wisnae really that kind tae us as we were runners-up 3 times before gubbin the deid team via penalties at a sunny humpden when the wee mhan ran from almost the halfway line tae win it for us intae the Celtic end.
The real hero that day was Denis Connaghan who saved 2 of the hun penalties after they scored with their opener and we missed ours.
Even though it was the summer 2 of the finals, hibbees both lost aet, had 50,000 crowds while there were 60,000 against the deid team.
Compare with the 1973 League Cup Final played after a heavy snowfall during the 3 day week caused by the miners strike when only a measly 28,000 saw us lose 1-0 to a Tommy Gemmell led Dundee, this after gubbin again the deid team 3-1 at humpden in the semis with Harry Harry being the hat trick hero….only 55,00 at this game as well on a dreich December night 10 days earlier.
Summer fitba, what’s not tae like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for that and I agree, we should get Summer fitba going for the next 5 – 10 years so we can rebuild back in to a good Fitba playing Nation again. I’m very heartened by Aberdeen and Dundee Utd and a few others this season, the acid test will be getting into the Europa League.
If we gear our competitors to get into the Group stages of Europe, we can then build things up so we, Scottish Fitba, doesn’t have to go through so many qualifiers. Review it at the end of the process and if it makes more sense to get back in line with mainstream Europe. Do it.
A wee small problem… The SFA… Hopefully they will be dismantled and exposed, going to be difficult to bring down such massive corruption, if all the Supporters in Scotland combine, there is a chance it can happen.
jamesgang
22:09 on 13 January, 2015
HT
A nun will always go blue if you twist her!
Leave them be you rascal!
HH jamesgang
——
Personal experience? :-)
Tontine, i meant to say wittman did not cause any more damage to other allied soldiers.
Masty,
I said before Sean signing for us would have been used as an appeasment for Kris being let go.
It’s back in our boards hands to extend kris’s contract or feel the wrath of a lot of supporters.
Great game goes to pens
Marty
Due to change of job, I can get to more away and home games. Maybe returning to the days of home, away, Europe away again hopefully. Ryan always the same, great kid! We are both going on Saturday. Good match and Celtic win required. :)
sipsini
22:06 on 13 January, 2015
jamesgang,
Word on the blog…is that you were elbowing old ladies out of the way to get a seat on the train today :-)
——-
She was getting off at the next stop anyway.
Standing is good for posture.
Was it you???
;-)
HH jamesgang
Pens at upton park
Great entertainment from England for once
What a game pens
Early start for me tomorrow ,so time for my cot,
a wee tune before I go though
http://youtu.be/Aw7kvqk-v4s
OK chaps – looking for safe, Celtic-friendly car parking for me and Wee BGFC for the semi. Not as easy now Toryglen Centre is there.
Suggestions??
HH
BGFC
HT
I was actually a teacher a long time back.
But in service days have apparently changed – considerably – since my days!
HH jamesgang
sipsini, if you dont mind me butting in…
do I think KC is a better scorer than SM? Yes!
Do we need KC’s goals for the SPL at the moment? yes.
But, do I think SM would be more effective in a RD team than KC? Also, yes. His passing and movement is far superior to KC.
And do I think SM would be more effective than KC in bringing the best out in our other strikers? Yes.
Problem for both is that RD seems to favour SJ in the false no. 10 role (or whatever they are calling it now). So, what makes it hard for KC to get a start would also apply to SM.
HorsesforcoursesCFC
COYB NSNO !!!
For it’s a grand old team…….
Gordy
To confuse you further, Dallas Dallas and I are old mates who grew up together in Knightswood.
Anaw there’s 2 of them. :))
West Ham Everton gone to pens… DJ plays ‘Teenage Kicks’.. Class
DD
Very important game and won’t be easy never is, all our recent victories have been by the narrowest of margins
Naismith misses
Naismith misses
Naismith the Hun misses
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
22:10 on
13 January, 2015
Tontine
I visited the martyrs shrine in 1992 first time I was in Canada
*Huron Village right enough….BTW is your cousin called wee Jim and his mother Betty B…..if so he was at St Thomas Aquinas with one of my daughters
Naismith misses
big georges fan club – hail, hail, wee oscar
Anywhere along Prospecthill Rd from the ground to Rutherglen and you’ll both be safe.
jamesgang,
Ha Ha, It was the high upstanding Sanna that spotted you.
It was actually my burd :-)
pod i
21:39 on 13 January, 2015
celticquicknews@gmail.com
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Tontine
Indeed it is
Tom B passed away today after a short illness.
West Ham 3 out of 3
The Everton keeper is diving early and in a forward direction.
Delaneys,
2 sets of DDs on the blog,next minute Miss Hendricks will pop up,
been off the swally for a wee while but will pop into Dalmuir soon to finally
put a face to the name