Trending
Celtic News Now
Celtic Quick News on News Now
Celtic Quick News
You are at:»»Write your own headlines as Celtic work below radar

Write your own headlines as Celtic work below radar

1442
By on CQN BLOG & Comments

Peter Lawwell told Sky Sports he’ll not be rushed into making an appointment.  Football goes on holiday for the next few weeks as players, managers and (under normal circumstances) CEOs kick back before minds turn to preseason and transfers.  Even if Celtic appoint a manager tomorrow, his plans for next season will progress little in the immediate future, but the task is being addressed with some urgency.

The best insight I can offer is that the bookies and media know Sweet Fanny Ally about what is going on.  Know that when Celtic start to talk to a candidate, the first thing they will insist on is radio silence, so if the aspiring manager is talking to a jouno, chances are he’s not talking to Celtic.  The club will attempt to do as much work below radar as possible, but between now and the day of an appointment, newspapers will splash their latest ‘favourite’ to get the job over their covers in an attempt to get you buy.  You’d be better picking your own candidates and writing your own headlines.

I’m going to wallow a bit in European glory tonight.  All those photos of the Lions back in Lisbon has been inspiring.  What great man, what a great history they’ve given us.

Order your dedicated copy of Tommy Gemmell’s All the Best at the fancy new CQN Bookstore.

[calameo code=000390171873c910154bd lang=en page=106 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

1,442 Comments
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. ...
  13. 38

  1. The Comfortable Collective on

    Spanish league teams are always playing for something till the very end of the season and have been doing so season in season out.

     

     

    The national team seem to be involved on some tournament every summer. World cup, European Championship, intercontinental cup.

     

     

    Year in, Year out. Year in, Year out.

     

     

    When do their players get a real prolonged period to relax and physically and mentally unwind.

     

     

    I wonder if there is any chance of them crashing and burning at the group stage of the upcoming World Cup?

  5. Zbyszek on

    Thank you for congratulations, guys. The more double in row the more chances for big party :-)

  8. Tom Molach on

    If I was the bhoys waiting to enter the pitch tomorrow I’d belt out The Celtic Song. Inter won’t know what’s hit them.

  11. sipsini on

    Tbj,

     

     

    Nizzy is a gaffer noo lol, I put my right hand in and shake it all about…he’s taking to putting the black cherry blossom on his head as well.

  13. 16 roads - Celtic über alles... on

    See it’s the same old ignorance again.

     

     

    Franco was never considered to be a Fascist, and Spain was never considered to be a Fascist country when Franco was in power.

     

     

    Franco ruled the roost for over thirty five years, during this time, Spain became a relatively prosperous and peaceful country.

     

     

    The Saviour of Spain.

     

     

    Communism, anarchy and the infamous Red Terror was the alternative.

     

     

    Just because Christy Moore didn’t like Franco…

  15. John O'Neil on

    Evening all.

     

     

    Changed my mind now(thanks to singing D’s timely reminder). Forget politics, cmon Real!

     

     

    Congratulations Z.

  20. valentinesday on

    sipsini…it will be retired in the new season.

     

    a more wag friendly moniker will come into

     

    play…..still struggle to get ma Nat King Cole.

  21. jamesgang on

    auldheid, Praecepta & Weeron

     

     

    I too would like a ‘definitely August’ strategy. Seems financially basic sense to try our utmost to make groups every year.

     

     

    A good account of ourselves there and a consistent level of results. Allied to some sparkling, youth- infused domestic displays.

     

     

    Not too much to ask for is if?

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  25. dr ramesh and the love potion on

    16 roads – Celtic über alles…

     

    19:04

     

     

    Eh? You serious? Clearly a fascist and responsible for a lot of the terrible corruption and abuse of power that exists in Spain to this day.

  30. Delaneys Dunky on

    BB

     

     

    Think it will be tight but great to watch.

     

    Diego Costa is my fave striker in world fitba.

     

    Would love him at Paradise with his gaffer Simeone. Sweet Dreams! :)

  32. jamesgang on

    Zbyszek congratulations Fhriend!!

     

     

    Italiabhoy @ 6.30 funny and spot on at one and the same time!

     

     

    HH jamesgang

  33. 16 roads - Celtic über alles... on

    dr ramesh and the love potion

     

     

    19:10 on 24 May, 2014

     

     

    ——————————————–

     

     

    Are you serious?

     

     

    Franco’s Spain was recognised by both Britain and the United States.

     

     

    Red Terror was the alternative, so how can you seriously speak about abuse of power and democracy, when the counterparts were Communism and anarchy?

     

     

    You would be better asking the Spanish people which system of governance they preferred to live under.

  35. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Most of the major players for Germany have been injured since February and have made a return in the last 3.4 games of the season. Coincidence ?

     

     

    HH

  38. winning captains on

    The atmosphere was so relaxed that you could have been forgiven for thinking we were preparing for a friendly game, not one against Inter Milan in the European Cup final. The week before we left for Lisbon, where the final would be played, was spent at the Seamill Hydro Hotel, our second home. It was May, 1967 and, in the six months I had been a Celtic player, I had spent a lot of time with the team in camp at the Hydro. We were there before the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen and now here we were back again, preparing for a match that could make us the first British side to win the European Cup.

     

    We played our golf as usual at West Kilbride golf course. I normally teamed with Tommy Gemmell, Bertie Auld and Billy McNeill while hiding behind bushes and in bunkers were Jimmy Johnstone, Bobby Lennox and Willie O’Neill, whose aim was to disrupt the game as much as possible by throwing balls into the bunkers or the rough or talking just as you were about to play your shot. Today Bobby Lennox, or “Lemon”, is an excellent golfer and actually becomes annoyed if anyone puts him off his shot. Changed days! As an aside, Bobby earned his nickname due to a misprint of his name in a newspaper, i think when we were in Serbia for the Vojvodina match. The others all had their nicknames by the time I first arrived at Parkhead.

     

     

    The weather that May was very pleasant and we trained at the local amateur club’s facilities at West Kilbride. The surface wasn’t fantastic, there were no markings and just a set of goalposts. We worked hard without over-training and spent time on a few things the Boss wanted us to do in Lisbon. The Boss had a very clear picture of how he wanted the team to play. We knew Inter would be more defensive but were very good on the break, with Alessandro Mazzola up front. However, the Boss stressed that if we performed at our best, we were in with a chance of defeating the European champions. All that week and for the first couple of days in Lisbon, no one but the Boss had any idea of the selection of the team. The goalkeepers were Ronnie Simpson and John Fallon, full-backs Jim Craig, Tommy Gemmell, and Willie O’Neill, the two central positions were set with Billy McNeil and John Clark, midfielders were Bobby Murdoch, Bertie Auld and Charlie Gallagher and up front were Jimmy Johnstone, Steve Chalmers, Bobby Lennox, John Hughes and yours truly. What a squad it was for the Boss to choose from, as a combination of any of these players would have made a great team in any match against any competition. This had been proved many times during the season and was underlined again two weeks after the Lisbon final, when we played Real Madrid with two or three changes and won 1–0 at the Bernabéu stadium in Madrid.

     

     

    The week at Seamill before leaving for Lisbon was relaxing but the four days in Lisbon before the game were also quite laid back, until the day of the match. That was when nervous thoughts started entering my head and butterflies took hold of my stomach. Trying to stay calm proved impossible – until the nerves disappeared in an instant when I was walking down the tunnel leading to the field and heard the singing. We came out to tumultuous applause from the thousands of Celtic supporters who had followed us to Lisbon. It was an unbelievable sight and an indescribably welcome one!

     

     

    I felt the team were very relaxed and confident during our warm-up before the kick-off. When the referee called together Armando Picchi and Billy McNeill, the team captains, for the coin toss, I experienced a bit of nervous tension but was ready to go. Then I had my first touch of the ball and the tensions disappeared – no fumbles or mistakes – and, along with the rest of the team, I settled down quickly. What did surprise me was the apparent lack of real urgency from the opposition. Inter Milan appeared to be waiting for something to happen.

     

     

    We were playing well and mounted a few good attacks on the Inter goal. Jinky Johnstone headed the ball at goal, which was unusual for him, and TG had a strong shot which just cleared the crossbar. I had what I thought was a good, strong shot but Inter’s goalkeeper Sarti plucked it from just below the bar as if it was a back-pass. In the first few minutes, we had most of the play and were creating chances but, in one of the few attacks by Inter, Jim Craig brought down Renato Cappellini. Inter were awarded a penalty kick and Sandri Mazzola scored. This was gut-wrenching but the team pulled together strongly and were soon attacking again, in the fashion which was Celtic’s trademark at that time. However, Inter’s goal kept them in front right up to half-time.

     

     

    The half-time team talk from the Boss was short and simple: Keep playing as we were and we would certainly score. Our plan up front was to push Inter’s back four into their own box and create chances from outside the box for Bertie Auld and Bobby “Chopper” Murdoch. The longer the second half went, the Inter players seemed to be tiring and they were finding it difficult to cross the halfway line or even get out of their own penalty box. There was one incident midway through the second half where i chased the ball to just outside the goalpost, almost on the dead ball line, beat Sarti and another Inter defender and slipped the ball between them. I was just about to roll the ball into the net when Sarti grabbed both of my legs and held on to them, pulling me down. To my amazement, the referee waved “play on””. I questioned his decision and he replied that he hadn’t had a clear view so he couldn’t give a penalty! Looking at replays of the game, it was a “dead cert” penalty and if the referee or his linesman couldn’t have seen that, then white sticks should have been issued as part of their gear. The incident was extremely disheartening – but I realised there and then that we would have to score goals that couldn’t possibly be disputed.

     

     

    As things turned out, it wasn’t long until we scored a goal that was not only indisputable but was one of the best goals i saw throughout my career. Tommy Gemmell ran on to a good cut-back from Jim Craig just outside the box and hit it hard and sweetly into the top right- hand corner of Sarti’s net. What a feeling! Now we had them and the Inter players were looking dejected and their heads had dropped. Not long after TG’s goal, Stevie Chalmers glided home a shot and made the score 2–1 in our favour. His shot was from outside the box, so the Boss’s tactics worked to a tee. After that, we went on to change the play a bit by keeping the ball as much as possible. The minutes dragged out like hours until, finally, the referee blew the full-time whistle.

     

     

    What a fantastic feeling – exultation and relief. We had just won the European Champions’ Cup. We tried to congratulate each other but the field was suddenly invaded by supporters and it was just about impossible to find each other. A couple of unusual things happened then. Firstly, still on the pitch, I was mobbed by a group of people who, to begin with, I thought were Celtic supporters who had jumped the moat around the playing area. Unfortunately, I realised pretty quickly they were mostly Portuguese and were ripping my jersey and shorts off. I was becoming concerned as I couldn’t free myself when a couple of Celtic supporters came to my rescue and helped me out of the fray.

     

     

    I was left with my jockstrap, socks and boots, so I took off as quickly as I could for the safety of the tunnel and the dressing room. As I reached the tunnel, I met Neil Mochan, who said: “What happened to you?” I didn’t stop to answer; I just kept going down the tunnel! Then, just before i reached the dressing room, i met a couple of my friends, who had travelled from Kirkintilloch for the game; in fact, I had actually obtained tickets for them. Their names were Ian “Budgy” Martin and James “Doc” Docherty, who had extremely bandy legs. ian told me they’d been robbed during the game and they’d lost their passports and all their cash. Could I help them?

     

     

    There was i, having just won the European Cup, standing in a jockstrap, socks and boots feeling not a little conspicuous and someone asks me that! My immediate thought was: “Where does he think I keep my money?” However, just at that point, Jock Stein arrived and asked me what the problem was. I explained everything to him as quickly as i could and he took some money from his pocket and said: “Fix me up when we get back home”. I gave the cash to the boys and hurried off to the dressing room. To the lads’ credit, they repaid the money a few days after we returned.

     

     

    Once back in the dressing room, away from the celebrations and confusion on the playing field, I was able to sit quietly – for once – and i gave thanks to my Maker for the good fortune he had bestowed on me. In my mind, I raised a glass in tribute to the many people who had helped me in my life, which, similar to most of my Celtic team- mates, had begun in fairly humble circumstances in a small town just outside the Glasgow city boundary.

     

     

    From Willie Wallace, Heart of a Lion. Signed copies available now at http://www.CQNBookstore.com

  40. valentinesday on

    bamboo

     

    19:18 on

     

    24 May, 2014

     

    If you watch in non HD you the goal scored half a second earlier.

     

    ________________________________________________________

     

     

    Aye, but you’ll SEE it better!!!

  41. Delaneys Dunky on

    Bamboo

     

     

    Keano as Tic manager, would devour the SMSM & the MIB. Would not be dull!

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. ...
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. ...
  13. 38