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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West Ham miss
THE EXILED TIM
21:32 on 13 January, 2015
No been on much the past few days, are the corrupt ones still stumbling along, stupid question, of course they are.
HH
PS
Mrs TET is out of intensive care, tests in the morn to decide what next, never been so happy, relieved….. you name it in ma puff, and it was puffin that put her in there.
Thanks mucho for all your positive thots and good wishes, we were both overwhelmed seriously.
Wimin Eh, needed a feckin heart attack to give the fags
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All the very best to Mrs TET.
Mr & Mrs
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
22:25 on
13 January, 2015
Tontine
Indeed it is
Tom B passed away today after a short illness.
*thought so…great wee lhad…..sorry to hear about Tom….I was in the BCSC in the summer….had a nephew over….unfortunately Leiga was 1 of the games
TheExiledTim
Very glad to hear she’s on the mend.
Excellent!
Downing misses
4-4
Go, Roberto!!!!!
as i recall, the league cup final of 1973/74 season had an elongated 18yard line, denoting the offside “zone”. it may hav been used in the dryborough but was defo used for the league cup and dixies hat-trick
Sudden death
Sudden death at Upton park
6-6
Soon be the goalies taking them.
Roberto plays fitba the right way.
Sips
;-)
HH jamesgang
Marty
My son in law laid the Killie pitch. He told me it would suit Ronny’s game to a tee. He says the Hamilton pitch is totally different.
Mr Boruc
Frantic07
Hope things going well. Nearly there. Roll on January 30th.
HH friend
He aint no Artur.
Everton oot
west ham through pens down to the keepers very enjoyable game
Great drama
Goodnight Cqn
KTF
The Irons go through.
Top game.
Always a sore way to lose especially for the missers, still it adds to the excitement.
Alf Garnett will be happy (for older readers):)
Gordy
Any time bud. You know me! Literally :)))
DD
Hopefully we are good enough to make the pitch incidental,
Great game at Upton Park. Everton unlucky.Mirallis some player. McGeady playing well then stupidly redcarded. Lucky to bet the draw.
Petec
My ticket for Oz Pink Floyd never arrived. Checked my bank account, no £38 to Ticketmaster. Wont let me log on the site? Lookin grim? :(
Goodnight BT
hope you are still taking it easy
HH
frannyb67
hopefully sudden death at Ibrox soon too! :-)
Cheers Dena
Goodnight god bless
hamiltontim
22:24 on 13 January, 2015
big georges fan club – hail, hail, wee oscar
Anywhere along Prospecthill Rd from the ground to Rutherglen and you’ll both be safe.
——-
Thanks pal. I’ll make sure we get there good and early – don’t want to be scrabbling about for a space at the last minute.
And, like you, I’m there to see Celtic – would much prefer we were playing Dundee United or St Johnstone, or anyone else really.
Uncomfortable with Wee BGFC being exposed to the unreconstructed bile that we will hear from them (as I was with some of the stuff we have heard from Aberdeen and Hearts this year), but hopefully we can just get in, get a victory, and then get on with looking forward to the final.
HH
BGFC
CanOnlyBeatWhatsInFrontOfYouCSC
TET
Great news and hopefully a speedy recovery.
KTF
Marty
We are, but we need to want it more than the opposition. That is my doubt about this Celtic team, at times. Anyway I fancy a 3 goal victory! :))
mike in toronto
22:21 on 13 January, 2015
sipsini, if you dont mind me butting in…
____________
Sorry about the delay Mike, was watching the closing stages and penalties.
Re: Kris/Shaun, we should be in the position to have both in our team, how many have we tried on the left wing this season?
We’ve even got stokes playing there, yes, we need to get rid of the dross and buy players that can walk straight into our team.
There is far too much money being wasted.
As for Toronto, I’ve never been, but have family in Islington, I hope to be over to see them within a couple of years. Hail Hail
Any positives from today’s game?
Didn’t see or hear anything but notching 2 must have some positive aspects
DD
I will settle for that;)))
scullybhoy
22:04 on 13 January, 2015Really disappointed, nay angry that Shuan is not coming home – even if he is injury prone.
more transfer spin that the club were quite happy to go along with,next week will be the £6 mil striker BS from last season….