Our enormous thanks to John Hughes for spending time on the blog this morning. He was at Celtic throughout a very special time, making his anecdotes and stories all the more valuable.
Here’s an extract from his book, Yogi Bare, which is due out soon:
“Jock Stein and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye. I recall receiving a ferocious verbal volley after a game against Hibs at Easter Road in January 1968. My offence? I went to offer my condolences to their right-back Bobby Duncan in their dressing room.
Unfortunately, Bobby had suffered a broken leg when I slid it to try to block the ball. His ankle got caught up in my outstretched leg and he collapsed to the turf in obvious pain. It was a complete accident, I hasten to add. The conditions were slippy that afternoon and we just collided with neither of us able to pull out.
Unhappily, the defender had to be stretchered off and I felt sick. I never went out to injure an opponent; not once. Frankly, I wouldn’t have known how to, but I did know some players who were well versed in the black arts. No names. No pack drills. No lawyer’s letters! It just wasn’t the right-back’s day because he had also sliced a clearance into his net to give us a second minute lead.
Bobby Lennox added a second shortly afterwards and it was game over. But Bobby Duncan’s game, unfortunately, didn’t last until the ninetieth minute and I headed for the home dressing room as soon as the referee blew for time-up. I was concerned for the player who, although he was a gritty campaigner, was never dirty.
I mixed with the Hibs players and told Bobby I genuinely hoped he would make a fast recovery. He accepted my good wishes and I thought that was the end of it.
Suddenly, though, Colin Stein, who would later join Rangers, barged through his team-mates to have a go at me. He accused me of deliberately trying to injure Bobby. I wasn’t having any of that and told him to get lost. I didn’t stop to think I was actually in the Hibs dressing room.
The usual pushing and shoving ensued before I was thrown out into the corridor. Jock wanted to know what all the commotion was about. I gave him my version of events and he blew up.
‘What do you want to do that for?’ he bellowed. ‘It’s bad enough the boy’s got a broken leg, but you’ve got to go and make it worse!’ I protested my innocence, by which time he was in full flow. ‘What a daft thing to do.’ And so on.
I thought it had been a meaningful gesture from one professional to another, but Jock, clearly, disagreed. Sometimes you couldn’t win with that man.
Please don’t get me wrong. This is not a Big Yogi versus Big Jock chapter in my life story. I just want the supporters to be aware of the facts. For a start, I think he did me an enormous favour by pushing me out from centre-forward to the left wing.
I was happy enough in the central role, but Jock thought I could be more effective when I was taking passes on the half-turn. I would be off and running within seconds of the pass arriving at my feet. In the main striker’s role, though, I would often have my back to goal. Controlling the ball in those circumstances would add vital seconds onto the manoeuvre. A centre-half could be breathing down my neck, forcing me to push the ball back for a midfielder. At outside-left, though, I could skin a right-back if he got too close. And once I was away, there was no stopping me.”
You can order a signed copy of the book by clicking on the graphic to the right of the page.
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Delighted for Boydy being named the player of the year.
God bless wee Oscar and his family
Thoughts and prayers are with them
Matte
And well deserved, I think :-)
HH
CRC
MattE
You’re very welcome.hh :o)
Forgive my vanity and spelling mistakes!
When was the last time the stadium did the huddle???
Listen to what ‘they’ say, read the words, read them…
Celtic v Rangers – Reasons to Support Celtic, Part 4.3
3’sy
Yev no been on much this week. Told you it was a bad idea taking the full week off to watch the great grandkids, more tiring than you thought eh?
How cute was Smith? What was he so ever hoping for?
Tonights Libertadores.
Only one match tonight (and one worth watching too)
The Strongest, Bol ( 12 ) v Defensor Sporting, Urg ( 5 )
Bolivar’s city rivals Strongest, currently in second position of the Bolivian Clausura, three points off the leaders had a comfortable 4-1 home win over midtable, Aurora at the weekend. If Bolivar’s Basque manager is lauded as the father of Bolivian football, his natural protegé is Strongest manager, Eduardo Villegas who has won four out of the last five Bolivian championships. However, unlike Bolivar, Strongest gained nine out of their ten group stage points at home. Strongest hoping to do enough in this leg to see them thru have pretty much a full strength squad for this one.
Defensor without de Arrasceatta and Godoy went down 2-0 away to a very physical Nacional team who had previously only one match out of eleven at the weekend. One of the casualties of that game is experienced left sided midfielder, Nico Oliveira (35) who adds the “experience” in the blend of youth and experience this team is all about.
Defensor another team to adopt the “fly in fly out” method of dealing with playing at altitude have chartered a plane to fly a squad of 80 (team, officials and fans) from low lying Santa Cruz to La Paz at a cost of 82kUSD and hopeful of “keeping the game tight and not giving anything away”
Most expensive tickets for tonight’s game – 100 Bolivianos (about 8.50 GBP)
Prediction – Despite Defensors’s best efforts, altitude to play it’s part. However, it will probably be a close one.
HOME WIN (60%)
lionroars67
15:58 on
17 April, 2014
Kris Commons, Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk have been nominated for the Scottish Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year awards.
And the Celtic trio are joined on the four-man shortlist by Kris Boyd, who is enjoying a new lease of life back at first club Kilmarnock.
======
No nominations last year.
Three this year.
Split vote and Boyd wins it.
Me, cynical?
Always.
A wee tonic for fading memories
Top Tip
Keep people away from your stationery store, by putting a post it on the door ‘Angry Sevconian inside ‘
Kojo..
Alwiz..
Bases his Admiration o’ a Soccer Player’ s Value tae the Team.. besides, the Obvious Skill Qualifications..
on..
Mainly..
A Player’s Over All.. Wire tae wire.. Season Long…
CONSISTENCY!!
Jist Like the Legendary.. Real Estate Criterion of Value..
Kojo’s Consideration o’ a Player’s… Over All Value tae his Team..
is based oan ….THREE THINGS…as well..
n … Those.. Three Things..Ur..
CONSISTENCY… CONSISTENCY.. n.. well.. CONSISTENCY!
in Turning in an Excellent Performance.. in Game efter.. Game.
N… Fraser Forster qualifies.. as Scottish Player of the Year..
based oan..
Those Three… Paramount Attributes of Importance.
Maks sense tae Me..!
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
kojo
16:50 on 17 April, 2014
Not often I say this but you could be right there about FF.
Cheers amigo.
Iki
You are being .. Cynical?
Not at all…
You are being .. well.. Practical?
Mebbe.
Look.. Pal..
Most of the Voters.. wull Be Basing ….Thur..well. Votes fir thur Choice..
oan..
Common Sense…
Not Kojo..
Fur he is Basing HIS SELECTION.. ( Fraser Forster)
oan
His..
UN-COMMON SENSE!
Which.. Makes Fur a Hellava Difference..
Right?
Kojo
Still Laughin.
BSR
I believe ‘sevconian’ would have sufficed ….everyone relates one with the other.
Hope helpful .hh
Andy Carroll £36m
John Hughes £360m
Kojo with respect saying the same word 3 times does’nt make it 3 things just 1 thing said 3 times. Good choice though. Hail Hail Hebcelt
Celtic Mac
Incidents like that were much more common then in the late 50s/early 60s. I remember when I was 12 being terrified that two young cops were going to get lynched in the Celtic end. At times the air was dark with bottles such as at the cup game against St Mirren and when the ref quite wrongly ruled Bobby Lennox offside against Dundee in his debut game. We won 2-1 but Dundee won the League.
Celtic Mac
But what a change when big Jock turned us into a winning side. The Celtic support became ultra respectable – crowds parting to expose hooligans etc.
voguepunter
14:07 on 17 April, 2014
BobbyRussell
Boaby I was saying to big G64 last week ,after reading yirsel ,threesy ,Matt n Emu’s on blog
I came to the astounding conclusion that Smashy is the sanest oot the lot of ye :O(
==========================================================
Are you INSANE!!!
Evening Timland from a very warm hun free mountain valley.
Been a forgetful day, forgot John was on the blog, and forgot all the shops are closed till saturday, Oh well.
HH
Googybhoy
Thanks,Pally..
NIce of Ye.
This Thing Aboot .. Consistency of excellence in Performance..
is ..tae Me.. the ONLY WAY .. tae Judge the Value of a Performer..
Not only in Soccer. . but.. in well.. Everything.
Fur some strange reason.. that kinda Valuation is Over- Looked..
Mainly.. Ah suppose..
Because.. Maist guys .. Base thur Valuation of a PLayer’s OVER ALL PERFORMANCE..
only..Only..
One or Two.. Three Tops.. of a Player’s Team Performance.
As in..
a
Recent..or.. from a Coupla Past .. Performances.
Seldom, Do Ah read of a guy.. Using.. Kojo’s Well Known Criterion..
which is.. like Ah hiv written..
CONSISTENCY ..of Excellence.. in HIs Performances…
OVER A SEASON.
In the Past..
I have Disagreed with Several Chaps oan Here.
Regarding the Over All Worth of
JOE LEDLEY in his Time at Celtic..
Based oan Ma Stated Criterion of A Player’s Worth to the team’
Joe Ledley, wiz a Failure..n did not Meet that Criterion..
No Way..
Neither ..
Diz..
Sammi..
Again.. Sammi is a Hot n Cauld Performer..
He is NOT by any Means…
Kojo’s .. Conception of a Great Player…
If a Player is Not showing Me..
Constency of Excellence..or Near Excellence ..in his Team Performances..
Over the Season.. From the Beginning, In the Middle…n…. At the End…
Then..
In Kojo’s estimation..
That Player, who has failed tae Maintain the Kinda Consistency which is
in Kojo’s Opinion.. IMPERATIVE..
then, That Player…Can be..n.. Should Be..
LET GO.
in Short.. he Should be REPLACED..
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Rangers tax case back on twitter , having a wee ding dong wi Keech “jingle jangle”Jackson , wonder why he’s re surfaced hmmm!
Is this the Kojo Show …?. :)
Hebcelt..
Of Course, You are correct,pal.. in What ye Point oot.
Howevahhhhhh
Ah Believe ..Implicently that..
In .. Real Estate.. in which Ah hiv some experience…
there ur
REALLY only THREE THINGS ,which Govern the worth of a Property..
n
those THREE THINGS ur.
LOCATION! LOCATION!..n.. well.. LOCATION!
so..
Keep that in Mind..
The Next time ye are Prompted tae Dip yer Toe into the Real Estate Market.
NIce Chatting,pal..
Kojo
Still,Laughin
From oor Phil
The Ibrox Legacy
20 Replies
The current marketing campaign exhorts The People to secure their legacy by buying a seat at the stadium John Brown played for.
That certainly is an issue at the moment for some of the home crowd at Ibrox.
Many of them are in a quandary.
Deference is their default setting.
They live to obey.
However there are now two centres of authority competing for their fealty.
There are the folks at the top of the marble staircase and the King across the water.
Many of the Bears are confused and that is causing them emotional discomfort as their worldview is an essentially simple one without any intellectual complexity.
The marketing people at Ibrox were very clever to use the “L” word because it taps into the need to believe that Rangers didn’t die in 2012.
The legacy issues that Graham Wallace inherited are not the kind you would like to leave to your children.
The crippling costs base is essentially made up of two main components.
Firstly, there are the staff costs that TUPEd over in 2012 from Rangers (1872-2012).
Then there are the fixed costs that Charles Green put in place during his period at the helm of HMS Sevco.
Chairman David Somers was moved to state publicly that the nine players signed last summer by Super Ally on very generous personal terms was “unsustainable”.
These players are on upward only contracts and everyone on these deals will get a fatter pay cheque after July 1st this year.
I am reliably informed that if the full unexpurgated version of the 120 day review is published in its entirety then it will be explosive.
This is what Graham Wallace wants.
However, some in the Blue Room would just like a sanitised summary to be published.
Bullet points, but no shots fired.
The logic of the situation screams out for a controlled administration, but everyone with a major shareholding needs to agree to this.
Getting that unity has proven very difficult and time is running out for this cost cutting move to be achieved in the current season.
The same club fiction has to be kept to which means that this would be considered a second insolvency event and hence a twenty five point penalty would be incurred.
Of course it would be better to do that this season, with the league won than in a Championship next season with full time teams like Raith Rovers having a go.
Moreover, the shareholders will have to fund any Administration which is something else they didn’t sign up for.
Like going to Galway they really shouldn’t be starting from here.
The home crowd at Ibrox have, of course, bought into the club/company fiction.
It helped them to remain in denial about the death of their club in 2012.
They believe it to such an extent that it is enabling them to take part in the killing of another club at Ibrox.
Dave King has put a match to the Light Blue touch paper and some of the faithful now apparently believe that they can kill the company to save the club.
Meanwhile the people who run RIFC/Sevco have to deal in reality.
The company/club/celestial entity has a crippling cost base, insufficient revenue streams and major assets encumbered by a contingent liability which prevents access to normal borrowing.
Oh, and the stadium that John Brown played for is in serious need of major refurbishment.
All of those problems originated before Graham Wallace walked up the marble staircase last November.
Now that is quite a legacy he has been left to deal with…
If I were him I would take a seat.
Great memories stirred by the Q&A with John Hughes.
My first Celtic game was the 65 league cup final in which Yogi scored with 2 pens at won the cup. The lap of honour is another black episode in the old rangers history which has ,as usual almost been written out of their history. Celtic player had to fight their way off the park throwing the cup from one to another as they went. The crowd was 107 ,000.
I recommend taking a look at the excellent photos on Celtic wiki including the hun attack.
But also Ive just been watching a gem of a u-tube of the game. Really good quality and quite lengthy. Celtic have a Lennox goal disallowed before the first pen. And take a look at rangers goal. Its makes the challenge on the Albion Rovers keeper pale into insignificance. Its a must see. Sorry I cant do the link.
fritzsong
Certainly there was no shortage of talented players back in those days, or strong characters for that matter but it did need Big Jock to channel their abilities into a winning mentality. That is not to say we couldn’t play, two Scottish Cup finals, in 1961 and 1963, lost after replays, then of course 1965, winning both the Scottish Cup and League Cup, (thanks in no small part to Big Yogi) and if my memory serves me well, also the Glasgow Cup at Parkhead. The latter being my first ever Cup final. Not sure the bottle throwing brigade quite disappeared as early as you think, talk to Oldtim67 about Anfield 1966, or me about Hampden 1970, you will reach a different conclusion, but as a general rule you are probably correct.
VP
Especially if you refer to them as Sevconian, to their face.
HealthHazard CSC
The Onion Flans getting more free publicity in the ET
Father Dougal: “But even if there are, say, 1,000 or 2,000, why does the club not engage with us? It seems bizarre not to act even if a portion of your customers are taking this action.”
Less than a week into Operation Numbskull, and Father Dougal is already sounding desperate.
steinreignedsupreme
17:37 on 17 April, 2014
The Onion Flans getting more free publicity in the ET
Father Dougal: “But even if there are, say, 1,000 or 2,000, why does the club not engage with us? It seems bizarre not to act even if a portion of your customers are taking this action.”
Less than a week into Operation Numbskull, and Father Dougal is already sounding desperate.
—–
That would be an ecumenical matter :))
NearfarfarawayCSC
Boydchencko to come fourth, and last, in the SPFA POTY award.
Shouldnae even bein the recko
Bamboo
Is this the game?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HzmBnB9sx0E
ning.
FF, VvD and KC joint winners!
HH!!
Celtic Mac @ 17 31.
Bottle throwing -Anfield 1966 .
I was there .A mate and I hitched it from Glasgow .My mate didnt hitch it back to Glasgow, he couldnt , he was in hospital having been hit on the head with a bottle . .
Absurd behaviour !
Saturday 19th April .
RECORD STORE DAY .
Get yourself to a proper record store and buy some choons .
You dont know what youve got until its gone CSC -way down south .
Torrential rain / mega hailstones .-so much for spring . !