We have a recurring theme on here: never make excuses before an event. Allow players, the manager, or anyone connected with a performance an opportunity to make an excuse for a failure, and they will take it. Before a game, I don’t like to hear complaints about a plastic pitch, hopeless referees or injuries. Be ready, or don’t be at Celtic.
Yesterday, Mick Beale told the media “We’re competing against the odds if you like. In general, if you look at any league in the world, the team that spends the most is first. So, we have to compete against the odds because we’re not going to spend the most money.”
This is sport. If you want to compete with only 50/50 odds, go home after the coin toss. There are some narrow openings for this kind of chat in football. I would let Ange away with it in the Champions League, where we have no expectation of winning. But here, in Scotland, I’d march any Celtic manager out of town for throwing excuses for failure around.
Losers lose not because they have fewer resources, but because they have a loser mentality – and that’s a few days after listening to a self-help coach who recently picked himself up from a cell bunk after a DUI conviction! Can you imagine what they would the mood would be like if they didn’t have that pep talk?
While we’re on the subject of the other lot measuring themselves against Celtic…. John Lundstam gave a really nuanced interview yesterday. “It is one game, they turned up and we didn’t. I think the combination for that didn’t complement each other well. It looks like there is a massive gap but I don’t think there is a massive gap.”
Compared to his manager, this is faultless. To you and me, Celtic dominated, but there was only one goal in it, they hit the post and really should have converted the rebound. By objective measures, the gap was narrow.
There is a problem here, though. Being narrowly worse than the team you need to be better than is almost as bad as being miles worse. Winners can have planned improvements, losers have a responsibility to break-up even good teams, sometimes sack even good managers that reach European finals, because being narrowly worse is to fail.
There is a combined message from these two interviews: a team that is worth less money came close against powerful champions, which is respectable. Being second to this Celtic team is respectable. It is where they are in the food-chain and where they are likely to remain unless something incredible happens. Maybe the Qataris will buy them! (Joke, honestly, no one with real money is interestined in Scottish clubs). Ibrox has had a buyer from Motherwell, then Hamilton. Can’t you see, it’s circling the Larkhall sinkhole!
There is a few years of this type of chat to come before someone levels with their fans. Second place with a puncher’s chance is where they are. Take it or leave before your side’s runner up medals are awarded.
535 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 15
- »
Reo Hatate presser
https://youtu.be/RQMod-2w1Cs
HH
love ellie dixon @ 1 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmaDeNj_TMY
CAMUSBHOY on 3RD MARCH 2023 7:17 PM
Saint Stivs
Loving the old Calton pictures and stories, my mother was from Stevenson Street and my dad Green Street.
you got any tenement numbers, there is a right good few dozen pics on the virtual mitchell i can pull.
TOBAGO STREET,Were you around when the son of the Billy Boys Billy Fullerton messing about with a gun in the Cottage Bar when he tragically killed himself with a gun,also the Police raided a house in Stevenson Street were a gunman was in hiding,can’t remember his name .
I told Gerry the Andy Richie stories of Thomas Burns from the Burns supper at Geenock CSC
He finished them off for me, what a charachter.
————————-
‘Thomas always said he was just a supporter who got lucky…he played at Celtic for 14 years…that’s not lucky’: Gerry Collins remembers Scotland legend Tommy Burns ten years after his untimely death
Driver Collins was a lifelong friend of Celtic and Scotland legend Burns
Burns spent 16 years as a player at Celtic Park and also managed the club
He was also caretaker manager of Scotland for one match in 2004
By HUGH MACDONALD FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 23:45, 14 September 2018 | UPDATED: 23:47, 14 September 2018
e-mail
1
View comments e-mail
Top
+99Home
1
View comments
It seems a far cry from Soho Street. It seems a long way from The Gravy. The gleaming structure of the Emirates Arena appears to nod to the sunny present rather than a cloudy, grimy past. But the playgrounds of the great, the testing grounds of the survivors and the lost are only a taxi drive and a lifetime away.
A black cab sits in the car park as preparations are made at the stadium for a Davis Cup tie. The car is ready to take its occupants back to the era of football on the street, lives on a knife-edge, fate largely decided by choosing one road and shunning another.
It was a world inhabited by such as Hughie Farrell, Jamie McGoldrick, Willie Howie, John Rice, Wee Mick, Father John McGinlay and Thomas Burns. It is recalled by the cab driver who glides through its passageways with a familiarity born of experience.
Gerald Collins, known as Gerry to everyone outside Mile End and Calton in the East End of Glasgow, is both driver and guide.
‘John Rice was the jannie at Kerr Street,’ he says. ‘He told us: “Remember you have two roads. If you go the right road, you will have a good life. If you go the bad road, it is drink, drugs and a bad life. Try to stay on the right path”.’
The school was opened every night during the week more than half a century ago for boys to come in to train by running up the stairs or play by hitting a ball against a bench.
‘Some people said: “That’s not for me”. It was for me and Thomas,’ says Collins. ‘God rest Thomas, but he would have told you. The fitba’ thing for us was the saviour. We didn’t hang about street corners, we went to the club. The polis didn’t come to my door for me. They never went to Thomas’s door.’
A time for formal introductions. These doors were at 43 Soho Street. Thomas was to be known to the world as Tommy Burns, Celtic legend. The street is gone, replaced by a school. Burns died ten years ago but his flame-haired presence burns on in the memories of football fans and friends.
Gerry Collins shared a bedroom with him on Soho Street when Thomas – always Thomas in Mile End – came down from his home upstairs to spend the weekend with the Collins’ family.
The life of Tommy Burns is celebrated by an emotional, powerful film that will be broadcast next week. The day after its premiere, Collins – a taxi driver to trade, a former pro footballer by inclination and a storyteller by vocation – picks up this hack and so begins the investigation of games played and won, lives lived and lost.
The preamble must be fuelled by Thomas anecdotes. Two are delivered at a pit stop over a roll and sausage at Coia’s in Dennistoun.
‘I was assistant manager at Partick Thistle and we were playing Celtic at Hampden when Thomas was the manager and Parkhead was being renovated,’ says Collins, 63.
‘We beat Celtic 3-1 and Thomas was not pleased. He was blaming the ref. I told him he should put his hands up and admit that Celtic were outplayed, outthought and outfought, which is unusual for a Celtic team.
‘He put his finger right on my nose and said: “Don’t ever tell me about Celtic Football Club. You never played for this club”.
‘I said: “Don’t point your finger in my nose”. It was sort of broken up. Remember, our wives would be sitting together in the boardroom. We were more than just pals.
‘Anyway, the phone rings at two o’clock in the morning and it is Thomas. I am thinking right away that there is an apology coming. He says: “You know why you never played for Celtic, Gerald. You weren’t good enough”. And then brrrrr… he’s put the phone down.’
Collins takes a bite of the roll and his face creases in laughter in remembrance of a shard of East End penitence.
The second story illustrates how darkness is no defence against the brilliance of Glasgow humour. Burns was in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow being treated for the skin cancer that was to take his life. Collins visited him most nights.
‘One evening Father John McGinlay came in to say Mass for Thomas,’ says Collins. ‘Halfway through it, the fire alarm goes off. Thomas has to leave his bed and he is standing in the corridor holding on to his drip and it is mayhem with people running everywhere. A wee wummin comes out of a ward. She has just been woken up. Thomas asks her: “Is it your birthday”. She says: “No”.
‘Thomas looks around at the priest, policemen, firemen and nurses and says: “Well, somebody has ordered a lot of kissograms”.
Coia’s is left behind and The Gravy is approached. It is a patch of ground behind St Mary’s church in the Calton. Collins peers through the fence at the overgrown grass that almost licks at the crossbar of a dishevelled set of goalposts.
‘Aah, The Gravy,’ he says. ‘It was named that because it was the graveyard. We played every Sunday after Mass against boys who were bigger, stronger.
‘This is where Thomas became a coach. He used to organise us, set us up.’
It is only steps away from Kerr Street.
‘In the gym hall, there was a bench. The rule was three-a-side, one and off. That is, if the other side hit the bench with the ball, it was a goal and you were off. It was Thomas, Hughie Farrell and me. We could be on for 30 minutes. Nobody could get the ball off Hughie or Thomas.’
Collins is dismissive of his role but he was good enough to play with Thomas at Maryhill Juniors when his pal was loaned there by Celtic to toughen him up. Collins went on to play for Albion Rovers, Ayr United, Partick Thistle and Hamilton.
‘My best day was beating Rangers in the Scottish Cup at Ibrox,’ he says of Accies’ 1-0 win in January 1987. ‘We had a free-kick in their half and Lambie (Accies boss John) was screaming for me to pass it back to the goalie to waste time.
‘I hit a diagonal, Davie McPherson (Rangers centre-half) missed it and Sprotty (Adrian Sprott) scored.’ Collins, of course, managed Partick Thistle and when that ‘went pear-shaped’ he coached Glenafton to a league cup and a West of Scotland Cup.
‘I signed Willie Howie for them.’ he says. ‘Hard as nails. From the East End. Things hadn’t gone right for him. He was hit with an axe in a pub and spent a long time in hospital and that impacted on his career. He was brilliant for me.’
As the cab wends its way back to London Road, Collins recalls such as Jamie McGoldrick who emerged from these streets to become an influential figure at the United Nations and others who forged successful lives. But the road always leads back to Thomas.
‘This is the guy I grew up with,’ he says quietly. ‘Thomas Burns. He doesn’t walk by people. He would phone me up. “Wee Mick’s died,” he would say. “I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to the funeral”.
‘That would mean a lot to people. They would see the Celtic manager and say: “That is my dad’s pal”. But Thomas didn’t do it for that. He did it out of respect. He did it because that’s what you should do.’
He adds: ‘Thomas always described himself as the supporter that got lucky. He played for Celtic for 14 years. That’s not lucky. The way he lived his life was geared to doing that. The only luck he had was having Rosemary as his wife. It was all about family for him. He met a person that he loved and brought the kids up brilliantly and they shared that family life.’
The cab rolls back into the Emirates where I am to be dropped off. ‘Thomas had dedication, application, determination. You are made of ations,’ he says.
Thomas Burns and Gerald Collins, of course, were made of more. The precise ingredients remain elusive. But they can be glimpsed through the windows of a cab and heard in the words of a friend who still grieves and who will always love.
Produced by purpleTV, Tommy Burns will broadcast on BBC ALBA on Friday, September 21, at 9pm
Not sure if many on here were lucky enough to be at the Foundation dinner last night but if you were not the I can assure folks that the spirit of Bro Walfrid, Willie Maley, Jock Stein, Jinky Big Billy, Wee Fergus and the one and only Tommy Burns is alive and well and was in that room last night.
The charitable works of the foundation, the generosity of those attending, the representation from the club and the way in which the modern players embraced that and what we are about was a credit to all.
Good to get a reality check from the guys who has a tough time against our overspending rivals in their 9. Peter Grant, John Hughes and Tom Boyd. Not even a handful of league wins amongst them.
It makes us appreciate how good these times are even more.
Credit to Peter Martin for his humour and skill at securing as much from the audience as possible for the charity. Credit too for the Down’s syndrome representative who spoke well and from the heart about his personal family’s journey and what the foundation contribution means to them.
My feeling at the end of it all may be influenced by my emotions but my sense was that Ange time here is just beginning and not close to the end.
A great Celtic night.
From earlier, Greenpinata mibbe…
Robert and May Millar….they can’t still be going can they?
I used to see them in various venues in the West End in the mid eighties!!!!
Would be fun seeing them again…. nostalgia an that.
The boul’ Mick shoulda stuck wi’ the trackie…..
the down-at-heel brown Brogues are startin’ to cramp even his style.
The Red-Neck Red Tops would waste no time in filleting Big Ange if he spouted such vague an’ spurious guff.
Hell mend ‘im….
HHH.
Evening all.
Just back from the Shipwreck conclave. OUCH!!
Fantastic day with fantastic people.
RON BACARDI, lovely to meet you, keep the positive vibes going.
BIG JIMMY = LEGEND.
First faller = Leggy.
Nite all.
A tune for BIG JIMMY
Paul Simon
https://youtu.be/9HKNAhAxMAk
HH
Thanx for the roast…crying inside ;-))
H.H.
TIMBHOY163 on 3RD MARCH 2023 7:41 PM
TOBAGO STREET,Were you around when the son of the Billy Boys Billy Fullerton messing about with a gun in the Cottage Bar when he tragically killed himself with a gun,also the Police raided a house in Stevenson Street were a gunman was in hiding,can’t remember his name .
TIMBHOY163. I remember there being a shooting at the cottage bar in the early 1960’s. Was it called the cottage then? Milky Way or Milky Bar maybe. It’s very hazy, I was about 7.
I DO remember the raid on the house on Stevenson Street. Above a shop called Sadies I think. Between Tobago and Abercromby streets. I remember the whole place was humming. Seems like everybody knew who was there days before the police raided.
There was a dead body found one Sunday morning in front of 149 Tobago Street beside the ‘big shed’ at the swings. That was a bit of a shock for a young lad!
T
twins, 67 years apart, flick to screen 2 for the details
https://twitter.com/yogijunior3/status/1631672031845515264/photo/1
AN TEARMANN on 3RD MARCH 2023 6:38 PM
RTC investigates this unfair advantage!!
https://twitter.com/rangerstaxcase/status/1631713672321175552?t=PHSexFA2hrcxfmv2L-8YUQ&s=19
HH
———%%
AT this should be mandatory reading.
Willie Collow
@CollowWillie
·
8h
ON THIS DAY 3RD MARCH 1962:
Bobby Lennox makes his Celtic debut in a 2-1 home league win over Dundee.☘️☘️
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FqS4IT8XsAIgy2d?format=jpg&name=small
BURNLEY78 @ 8:02 PM,
Fine post…
Great to hear…
It is organiseations like the Foundation, that pull us together but makes us better than the sum of our parts
Sounds like a great occasion
Hail Hail
TOBAGO STREET,Isn’t great some of the bhoys come on here and talk about the east end,all the old memories of some of these places come back , talking about Kerr Street my mother worked in Templetons Carpet Factory sadly a lot of them places are long gone
Tobago Street on 3rd March 2023 7:04 pm
Gerry Collins, I don’t remember I don’t think. Collins name is familiar though. I played with Tommy on the St Mary’s junior team before leaving for Canada. Blue and Gold jerseys, playing on the bloody red ash pitches down near Shawfield. Great way to spend a Saturday Morning.
—————————————————————————————————-
Did you know someone called Harry Leighton. I work with him he was brought up in that area. Says he got hand me down trousers from Tommy Burns’s family. He’s not a tim by the way.
KEEP THE FAITH
Celtic Quick News
…….The Dear Green Place.
HH.
The Larkhall/Shankhill sinkhole
I passed through it on my way to Chatelherault country park. On the main street there is a house with a flagpole with a stand with soldier F rag hanging from it in the front garden . not sure why any council has not told them to get it down.
The place is rotten.
Good evening all.
Can I just say that was a lovely day …
What a bunch of…..lovely guys, no one to argue or converse in a heated exchange with…….enough about the regulars, cqn was not portrayed well…. a bunch of louts, something a quiet bhoy from the Garngad is not used to….
D :)
Aye the Garndad….squeejy clean….where u can buy a politician…;-))
H.H.
Saint Stivs,
I have an address for my dad, I was always told it was Green St, however it was the unfortunately named 3 Bankier Street.
BRRB where is the role of dishonour?
D :)
BELMONTBRIAN on 3RD MARCH 2023 8:21 PM…
Thank You Mate.#
i was the last man to leave the Pub Today i got home with Taylor Swift and KLYIE around 9.25pm
LOL…Okay that was a wee lie……LOL.
There are other Videos of Paul Simon Videos out there him singing/playing THE OBVIOUS CHILD in front of 80/100 African Drummers….its SUPERB.
God Bless you and the family…and ALL the other good Bhoys.
HH
NAPOLI FFS, bunch of useless feckers, gone and cost me a couple of grand, had seven other results correct on the acca, didn’t have the chance to cash out as I was elsewhere and no internet, totally miffed, gambling sure is a mugs game.
#fake
It was GRAND to meet up with BLANTYRETIM once again.
Whit a Bhoy. !
A good man.
HH
I had a great Day Today, the Beer and and the Patter was flowing.
I hope ALL the BHOYS got home safely.
My Big China…DAVID 66.
What a Bhoy.
SFTB ….Great to see you also.
HH
Big Jimmy
Don’t you mention grands >:)
Next time you see BT tell him I am asking after him
HH
Hello again all you young rebels.
Glad the shipwrecks had a great day, and of course all got
home safely.
31 degs here today and our senior teams have friendlies against
Chelsea at home, teams from up the coast where Quadro lives.
Where are you Quad ?
Looking forward to a cold Guinness or two, after spending days
lining the parks lol.
I know some of the young dudes who I coached from U 11s up
will stick me up a can, they love saying “ SLANGE “ 🥰
BURNLEY 78
Lovely post there, very inspiring.
H H. Mick
Morton’s Rolls reportedly going out of business.
Thousands of square slices looking for a place to go.
Oh Father dear why do you look so sad….
corkcelt on 3rd March 2023 4:34 pm
Agree about Beale, His soundbites are irritating,
First comment I read from him once he had been appointed was , we are going to take off the handbrake.
What exactly does that mean ye fecking clown.
you might as well have added ye were going to wash the windscreen as well.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Superb.
I know that anyone, slightly different as I work in a shipyard, who comes out wae that sh!te gets ridiculed…It is management speak from going on endless sh!te courses.
This is gonnae be a riot watching Beale come away with more and more strange comments. The Huns, as they always are, are revolting, and they are already revolting against Beale.
As it’s Friday – playing right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWOtCXu6dCE
CelticTV have some awesome footage frae last Sunday. :)
My Legs are bruised still big time efter acting like a teenager for hours on Sunday.
CypressHill.CSC
Burnley78 on 3rd March 2023 8:02 pm
Not sure if many on here were lucky enough to be at the Foundation dinner last night but if you were not the I can assure folks that the spirit of Bro Walfrid, Willie Maley, Jock Stein, Jinky Big Billy, Wee Fergus and the one and only Tommy Burns is alive and well and was in that room last night.
The charitable works of the foundation, the generosity of those attending, the representation from the club and the way in which the modern players embraced that and what we are about was a credit to all.
Good to get a reality check from the guys who has a tough time against our overspending rivals in their 9. Peter Grant, John Hughes and Tom Boyd. Not even a handful of league wins amongst them.
It makes us appreciate how good these times are even more.
Credit to Peter Martin for his humour and skill at securing as much from the audience as possible for the charity. Credit too for the Down’s syndrome representative who spoke well and from the heart about his personal family’s journey and what the foundation contribution means to them.
My feeling at the end of it all may be influenced by my emotions but my sense was that Ange time here is just beginning and not close to the end.
A great Celtic night.
……………………………………………………………………………….
👍
Where are the lads who stood with me when history was made
Oh Ghrá Mo Chroí, I long to see the boys of the old brigade
From hills and farms the call to arms was heard by one and all
And from the glen came brave young men to answer Ireland’s call
It was long ago we faced the foe, the old brigade and me
And by my side they fought and died that Ireland might be free
Where are the lads who stood with me when history was made
Oh Ghrá Mo Chroí, I long to see the boys of the old Brigade.
Tobago Street,
No problem,glad you managed to get a ticket.
Hope you have a great day. HH
‘GG on 3RD MARCH 2023 10:44 PM
Morton’s Rolls reportedly going out of business.
———
Genuine bummer.
One of life’s simple pleasures.
Back To Basics
Aye indeed.