The heat was suffocating, it was 35° and city was heaving. On the long walk out of town some enterprising locals were selling water or cola to the increasingly dehydrated caravan of people. I passed a few, not willing to succumb to extortionate opportunism, but soon gave in.
I walked into an orange tree earlier that day. Caught between taking directions from a policeman and setting off in a new direction I’d overlooked the towering obstacle a yard in front of me. There’d been a spring in my step, I must have bounced into the bark. Trees are hard. I fell.
The return journey was made in the cool of the night. For the first few miles we were a uniformed flow of humanity but eventually the crowd thinned. We walked through residential streets with locals at their doors and windows. They applauded as we passed. Few of us are ever part of something substantial enough that uninvolved observers openly applaud you. Such memories endure.
I’d an early rise and a long drive with a full car ahead the next day. The bedroom was packed, floor space was given over to spare bedding, the hotels must have shipped mattresses in from a hundred kilometres radius, so with the others in the bar, I took myself off for a shower.
I met a German couple in the elevator. “Are you disappointed?” the woman asked. “No, we played well and were beaten by a good team.” It was the perfect answer. These people must have been horrified when they noticed the throng which would dominate their trip, but they’d become part of the story, part of the throng. The answer was honestly given, although disappointment would come later. I went on, “We lost a minor cup final nine years ago, that was real disappointment”.
I surprised myself by what my memory spontaneously threw up when asked about disappointment. Looking back now, that minor cup final is no more than a touchstone, and indicator of where we were before the Generation of Domination got underway. It’s lost its power to inflict negative emotion. If I met the German couple once more I could again tell them I wasn’t disappointed with that day in the blistering heat. It’s one of my proudest memories, and we soon learned we were beaten, narrowly, by a great team.
This, my friends in Celtic, is what you call a journey.
I spoke to fan liaison manager John Paul Taylor yesterday and mentioned I’d not renewed my season ticket yet. I promised him I would today and that I’d pass the message on. Deadline is tomorrow, after that people can ask for a move into your seat. Consider yourself reminded! We walk the next mile of the journey soon, with hope in our hearts, as always.
Many thanks to those who donated to Mary’s Meals yesterday, and to Magners. The money raised in one day alone will feed over 30 of the world’s poorest school children for a year.
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ConstanceCumbey.csc
Beatbhoy
Just catching up from yesterday
good point -my bad
They can’t come back to SPL, coz they’re deid.
Different jobby, same smell :-)
So all the Secular Atheistic Scientists conducting the Particle blasting thingymajig, they have a goddess outside their workplace? and they are happy to have any sort of god, just not a real God?
Shiva, sorry about that Nepal, sorry for all the incredible after shocks as well that are not being reported, unbelievable. Download an eartquake monitor and you will see a terrible happening, dinnae worry apparently Restoration is coming soon. Mair Theosophist Bullshit.
Creative Destruction, Alan?
Pray for Everyone.
Petec,
Shiva is a male god, the god of destruction and chaos, or change to some.
He used to drink in the smiddy
Have awoke to read the blog for many a year now, and been greeted with a wide range of subjects outwith Celtic, or outwith football, even outwith sport and politics………but today is a first………..how to blow up a seagull. Bizarre:-)
Good morning friends and a Big Happy Friday from a rather damp and disappointingly grey looking East Kilbride.
Morrisey
Yes we have been cheated.
Yes we are being cheated.
Hold firm old Bhoy.
Good will triumph over evil.
Don’t give up on Celtic.
Renew your ticket.
It’s what we do.
It’s how we’ll win.
It’s how we get it right up them.
Hail Hail
Good morning troops.
Can you help make today the day the petition reaches 6,000?
https://www.change.org/p/the-scottish-government-repeal-the-offensive-behaviour-at-football-threatening-communications-scotland-act-2012?just_created=true
Football fans not criminals.
What is the landline number for renewing your season ticket at Celtic ticket office ?
West end Bhoy
08712261888
Or
0141 230 1967
HH
WEB
0141 230 1967
WESTENDBHOY
Try
0141 230 1967
west end bhoy
Or the secret one 0141 551 8653 shhh don’t tell anyone ;)
HH
SAINT STIVS 0055
I was at that the game as well. Not on the pitch,never been my thing.
The boot in the baws on McAdam was even more blatant from behind the goals,yet Archie said the player ‘ran into the keeper there’
Mike Conroy’s debut after signing for us from yer Port on Monday. No faffing about wi the reserves for him,we had a crisis on!
MORRISSEY THE 23RD
I’m with the majority on this. Stay with it,mate. Two fingers of defiance,get yer ticket.
Good to see you posting a bit more too. Yer Twatter account been twatted?
WEEFRATHETIM
JAMESGANG
Thanks,fellas. I’ve got a Feelgood Friday Feeling now,all aglow wi nae Guinness!!!
Morissey,
That’s right pal just you keep on filling the pockets of people who think less of you than they do the hun, continue ti be a useful idiot
Jobo Baldie’s weather updates crack me up -)))
It should hit 38 deg here today at mid-day.
From a beautiful sunny morning in downtown Berlin
I took 3 season tickets this season in sec 440 , up from 2 last year as oldest bhoy is back from London
Still keeping a watchful eye on our illustrious CEO. Key questions
– will Lawwell strengthen or weaken the Team in advance of CL Qualifiers
– can we keep Virgil until CL qualification secured
– from the core of key players Gordon, Johanssen, Brown, Bitton, Virgil can we wheel and deal to find another 5.
– will Ronnie be able to rely on Lustig and Forrest. I have high hopes for Forrest next season as do others I hear.
CL Qualification will secure the club the guts of £30M and will significantly raise the bar for Ibrox based club
This transfer window and CL Qualification will set the agenda for Celtic for the next 3 seasons. So Mr Lawwell please act like a strategic beancounter , align your objectives with Ronnies and make it happen
ps. it’s now cloudy in Berlin
JAMES FORREST
Excellent article,mate.
http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/dying-in-the-ditch/
Repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012
Fans Against Criminalisation
Regards & Jail Jail
TBM
United Kingdom
5,895
Supporters
We, the undersigned, call on the Scottish Government to repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 on the grounds that it is fundamentally illiberal, unnecessarily restricts freedom of expression and more importantly has achieved nothing other than to criminalise otherwise law-abiding citizens and discriminate against football supporters in an unwarranted and unjustifiable way.
LETTER TO
The Scottish Government
Repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012UPDATES1 week
Fans Against Criminalisation started this petition
burgas hoops
07:39 on 22 May, 2015
Jobo Baldie’s weather updates crack me up -)))
—– work of a genius!
It should hit 38 deg here today at mid-day……same here. (Fahrenheit) so stop yer boasting!!!
;-)
Bobbio – thumbs up thingmie!
HH jamesgang
LATCHFORD
PL got away with ‘the strategy’ two years ago. He should have learned from that,but reckoned that as it worked,it was the way ahead.
The new Moneyball,if you like.
Well,he kens better noo. And I expect him to act accordingly.
In his favour are Armstrong and GMS signed in January. That should not be the limit of his ambitions.
Latchford @07:40
all just my opinion of course
Q – will Lawwell strengthen or weaken the Team in advance of CL qualifiers
A – the team will be weaker during the qualifiers than it is now, whether people say thats down to Lawell weakening it is another matter
Q – can we keep Virgil until CL qualification secured
A – see previous answer
Q – from the core of key players Gordon, Johanssen, Brown, Bitton, Virgil can we wheel and deal to find another 5.
A – we can wheel and deal to find another 5 players, whether they end up being key players we wont know until later in the season
Q – will Ronnie be able to rely on Lustig and Forrest. I have high hopes for Forrest next season as do others I hear.
A – no, both far too injury prone. he will be able to bring them in at certain points in the season and they will do a good job, but ‘rely’ is too strong a word
latchford
I’d add Izzy to your 5.
Ronny said that they’ve now managed to keep Forest injury free for close to 6 months now through careful management of his training style etc. I agree, I think Celtic still have high hopes for the boy.
VVD thinks he’s good enough for a top, top club and won’t be leaving unless a club of sufficient standard and standing come in for him.
Time will tell.
BMCUW….
Mail and link received. Thanks.
Just need to figure out how to play it now.
Regards & Hail Hail
TBM
Am I wrong to assume that all those now refusing to put money into Celtic will no longer comment on any transfer activity?
Well done,fella! Wee moneybags Rupert will be scunnert!
21:10, 21 MAY 2015
BY DAILYRECORD.CO.UK
PETE Swift, from Leith, was plunged into a debt collection nightmare after Sky failed to cancel his T and broadband account when he moved house.
BATTLING Pete Swift has scored a victory for frustrated and fed-up consumers by winning a £1500 payout from telly giants Sky.
Pete, 30, was plunged into a debt collection nightmare when Sky failed to cancel his TV and broadband account when he moved house.
And after they finally admitted they were in the wrong – two years later – he turned the tables by demanding compensation for the time he spent fighting the case.
Pete, from Leith, Edinburgh, took legal action after 18 months of being hounded by debt collectors.
At the end, he counted up the hours he had spent on the phone and exchanging emails, as well as meetings with lawyers.
Producing an itemised list of his hours at a rate of £25 per hour, Pete billed Sky for £1395, plus court costs of £72.
Pete, who works as a research consultant, said: “It was exceptionally frustrating being contacted again and again. I grew more and more infuriated with Sky’s inability to correct their error.
“The customer service I experienced was abysmal. There was just a complete disregard for the situation they had put me in.”
Pete moved house in October 2012 and as a result tried to cancel his broadband and TV package with Sky.
When the debt collectors got in touch a few months later, he showed them proof he had paid his final bill to Sky and told them to pass the information over.
But that didn’t stop him being contacted by two other agencies – even after he complained directly to Sky.
He also began to fail credit checks and feared his rating had been damaged.
After mediation through the Ombudsman, he rejected an offer of just £60 compensation and launched his legal action.
And just two days before his court date last month, Sky agreed to pay £1500.
Pete said: “I was pleased to have the £1500 and some form of resolution but I was still very resentful of the lengths I’d had to go to and the way Sky had dealt with the situation.
“It felt like I was being fobbed off with the bare minimum they could get away with.”
Sky said the issue was due to a technical fault with their systems.
A spokeswoman said: “We are really sorry and have apologised, offering a gesture of goodwill.”
Pete added: “As a single customer you often feel like there’s nothing you can do. I would encourage people to follow it through until they receive a
proportionate resolution.
“Everyone I have spoken with was really supportive and seemed delighted with the outcome.
“I guess a lot of people have been subject to really poor service at some point or other.”
burghbhoy, hamiltontim, Bmcuwp & lymmbhoy thanks for the info. hail hail
Weeminger,
Why should they ?
Good morning from a sunny Paphos – off to the golf -hh
Be good and don’t make chips! :)
weeminger
08:03 on
22 May, 2015
Am I wrong to assume that all those now refusing to put money into Celtic will no longer comment on any transfer activity?
—————————
yes, i would think you would be wrong
if football could only be discussed by those who go through the turnstiles it wouldnt be the biggest sport in the world
for example when gareth bale signs for sevco for 150 million quid, i am likely to make comment on it, as are you
johann murdoch
Beware the seagulls!
Canamalar
Whilst I agree with you in a lot of things, how can not renewing a season ticket help Celtic prosper?
Surely that is what we all want?
I’m raging at the cheating , corruption, living wage etc. but just don’t see how hurting Celtic helps?
Are we not better on the inside of the tent peeing out than on the outside peeing in?
THEBARCAMOLE
Just looked into it. Very difficult to cancel after the free trial,I reckon.
Sorry for the bum steer,can only find clips of it on Youchoob.
burghbhoy,
I refuse to equate how people spend their money with hurting Celtic, that is exactly how those who think less of you than they do the hun want yo to think, they are all corporate animals we mean nothing to them and they have shown us that many many times over the last decade.
My alarm went off on my phone yesterday to remind me to renew my SB. I thought I should also tell my brother that Friday was D day just in case. He and his daughter are apparently on a auto scheme however what he did not notice since his daughter is a student she is to be punted to another part of the stadium. A call to the ticket office today……