Thursday 24 December 2020

Ibrox 1971

 


Ibrox 1971

A frigid mist hangs over the dark city

Covering it like a funeral shroud,

A point of light breaks the gloom

Near the dark ribbon of the Clyde,

A shoddy colosseum, where gladiators

In blue and green grimly struggle

The baying crowd seethes and sways,

Everything staked on a winning hand,

Two mighty roars punctuate the gloom,

No victor’s laurel for either today

They must wait till the next time

To settle their never ending grudge

Torrents of humanity pour from the scene

A mindless river pushing ever onwards

Unseen, unheard, someone has stumbled

A child clings to a rusting fence for dear life

As the raging river rushes, crushes past him,

Unaware of conspiring fate’s pernicious whim,

White handkerchiefs and anguished cries

Lost shoes speak mutely on the stairway

Telling of the fragility of life and hope

A granite policeman, used to calming brawlers

Carries a covered bundle from the scene,

Ashen faced, he mutters over and over,

He’s only a little boy, only a child’

Desperate hands work on those

Caught between life and death

Then a silence which shrieks to the heavens

No Billys or Tims today… just human beings

Suffering their own Via Dolorosa

Rivalry and hatred seem tawdry and small

In the face of such immutable suffering

 

The great cranes standing sentinel on the Clyde

Turn away sadly from the scene

And drip silent tears into the dark water below

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 20 December 2020

Vertigo

 


Vertigo

In the spring of 1980 Celtic was charging towards what seemed an inevitable league championship. Rangers were to finish fifth that season well off the pace and only an emerging young Aberdeen side under their fiery young Manager, Alex Ferguson, looked as if they would give Celtic a run for their money. However, Celtic lost a 2-0 first leg lead to Real Madrid in the European Cup to go out 3-2 on aggregate and the cracks began to show. They did beat a poor Hibs side before overcoming Rangers in the derby match. New signing Frank McGravey scored an 86th minute winner to put Celtic in a strong position for the remaining league games.

Next up was a home tie against Fergie’s Aberdeen and in brilliant sunshine a big crowd turned up at Celtic Park to watch Celtic in a game which, should they win, would virtually seal the title. The game started ten minutes late to allow the big crowd in and it looked as busy as the Derby match a few days earlier. Celtic stated that 40,000 were in attendance, a suspiciously round figure, but most who were there knew there were many more inside Celtic Park. Bad luck and injuries, combined with a missed penalty saw Aberdeen win the match 2-1. Celtic was still 5 points clear with seven games to go in an era when it was 2 points for a win. Aberdeen started to believe they could win the title as Celtic started to have their doubts. A 3-0 drubbing of Celtic by Dundee United the following week and a 5-1 humiliation at Dens Park had the Dons scenting blood.

They came to play at Celtic Park again in late April knowing that a win would see them top the league on goal difference. A certain Gordon Strachan had a magnificent game as Celtic seemed nervous and error strewn. The 48,000 crowd watched the Dons win 3-1 and knew the scales had tilted in their favour. Not only were they ahead on goal difference with a few games left, they had the psychological belief that they were the better side having beaten Celtic twice at Celtic Park inside a month. Celtic would stutter past Partick Thistle and beat the same Dundee team which had hammered them 5-1 but 0-0 draw at Love Street in which saw Tommy Burns hacked down several yards inside the penalty box only for the referee to astonishingly give a foul a yard outside. It mattered little in the end as a Celtic win would have meant losing the title on goal difference rather than by the one point they did lose it by. Celtic poor form during the run in to the championship handed the flag to Aberdeen who won their first title since 1955 at Easter Road.

The reason that season came to mind forty years on was the predicament Celtic find themselves in at the moment. Last season Rangers defeated Celtic at Celtic Park for the first time since the new club’s inception and were seemingly ready to take over at the top of the league. They seemed to get vertigo though and returned from Dubai and a sunshine break full of confidence only to collapse and find themselves 13 points behind Celtic before the emerging Covid 19 emergency saw the league called with 8 games left. Celtic were rightly declared champions and Rangers left wondering what the hell had gone wrong.

This season sees Celtic well behind although games in hand could reduce the deficit significantly if the hoops find their form but there is no room for error. Rangers wobble at St Mirren in the League cup and their late comeback against Motherwell shows that they are far from invincible but like Aberdeen in 1980, Celtic need to find their form and plant a seed of doubt in Rangers’ mind. That would be best done by defeating them at Ibrox in January.

Celtic need to go on a run now and kick start a season which began with high hopes but has stuttered along with poor results and dreadful individual errors. Key players such as Odsonne Edouard look off form or disinterested and that can’t stand. He was Celtic’s talisman last season, the one guy you could rely on to show up in the important games. He is a shadow of that player so far this season. That lack of a focal point up front has affected Celtic who have lost and drawn games they dominated as their inability to turn possession into goals haunted them. Of course the whole team has suffered from a malaise this season but Edouard is symbolic of the loss of form and confidence throughout the side.

Recent performances have shown some improvement and a win in today’s cup final against Hearts would give the team a timely boost. Celtic need to show up though, as the game will be far from easy. Hearts gave them a hard game in the 2019 final when the aforementioned Edouard was on song and scored the winning goal. The lack of atmosphere in an empty stadium will hardly help Celtic who feed of their fans energy but a good professional, error free performance is required today.

Winning the cup is always nice and to complete a quadruple treble would be an incredible feat. However the title is what we all desired most this season and for that to happen we must find our form and hope the dizzy heights of the top of the table induces vertigo in Rangers again. It’s a long shot with Celtic currently 9/2 to win the title but as we saw in 1980, 1986 and even in 2008, it can be done. It’s never over till it’s over in football.

I hope Celtic turn up today and bring the cup home for the 40th time. It would give the whole club and support a lift and then we can focus fully on the league and give it our best shot.

Many who follow the Ibrox club think it’s as good as over but there’s many a slip between cup and lip. We’ll see in the fullness of time.

Saturday 12 December 2020

The Gallowgate Guevaras

 


The Gallowgate Guevaras

Back in 1994 as Fergus McCann fought to gain control of Celtic Football Club from the families who had run it for over a century, he had the advantage of the backing of most of a Celtic support which saw the old board as no longer fit for purpose. Football was evolving fast and entering the new age of satellite TV and those running Celtic were thought by many to lack the imagination and business acumen needed to drag the failing institution into the modern era. It is of course a matter of history that Celtic came perilously close to going into administration and that would have been the greatest humiliation in an era where hoops fans had to deal with a few.

McCann’s dreams were backed with the hard cash of Celtic fans who poured millions of pounds into Celtic to rebuild the club on and off the field. The club did indeed rise from its slumber and was once again challenging for honours in Scotland but it took four hard years to prise the title from Rangers and in that time Celtic fans had some tough days to endure. We dealt with the painful Tommy Burns sacking, losing to Raith in the League Cup Final and missing out on the title after losing crucial matches to Rangers as they closed in on nine in a row. McCann’s insistence that he would run the club on sensible financial lines despite calls from the fans to spend more on players led to some turning on him. They were egged on by a Scottish media which was for the most part hostile to McCann and when he did eventually deliver the title in 1998 he was booed by some of the club’s supporters as he unfurled the first league flag in a decade.

The death of Rangers in 2012 led many to reappraise McCann’s legacy as the man who in reality led the revolution which saved Celtic and set them on the road to the domination of Scottish football. The engine which drove this domination was financial probity and success on the field. Celtic has won 18 major trophies in the past 9 years, 16 titles of 20 played for in the new century, has the highest average attendances in Scotland and the biggest turnover by some distance. Their business model was rooted in qualifying for the Champions League every other year and garnering all the riches that has to offer. They also expected to be selling players they developed for substantially more than they bought them for. This twin strategy along with the support of over 50,000 season ticket holders saw Celtic dominate Scotland and continue to make a profit with regularity. The club was held up as a model of sensible sustainability and while the trophies stacked up there were few dissenting voices.

This season has been one of the most bizarre in Celtic’s history. The Covid 19 pandemic has meant matches are played in the surreal atmosphere of empty stadiums. Celtic’s bond with their fans is well known and I don’t doubt the lack of atmosphere has affected them. However that in no way excuses some of the lamentable, error strewn performances we have seen of late. Celtic are currently on the worst run of form in 25 years and have already crashed out of the Champions League, Europa League, League cup and are currently well of the pace in the SPFL. They badly miss Fraser Forster’s influence at the back and missed out on the excellent John McGinn who headed south to make his fortune in the Premiership. I still feel he was a player made for Celtic but who will now be out of their reach probably forever. Players brought in during the summer have failed to sparkle so far and established players have run into some dire form. With Rangers resurgent, it is clear Celtic is running out of time to find their form again.

It has been a bad season so far but hey some perspective, we Celtic fans have gorged on success over the past decade and when you’ve watched football for as long as I have you know the odd season from hell can occur. As a lad I watched Celtic follow the double season of 1976-77 with the dreadful 5th place finish the following year when they lost 15 out of 36 league matches. Yet the year after that in 1979 they won the title back again only to throw it away the following season when Aberdeen won the old SPL. The point is there is no divine right to win; you need to earn it every time you cross the white line.  In the past couple of months Celtic’s confidence has clearly been affected and basic errors are killing them in games. Neil Lennon carries ultimate responsibility but whoever has been scouting players in recent years must share that responsibility.

A list of players purchased in recent years for millions of pounds but who seldom if ever looked like breaking into the first team was published on social media recently. When you look at the millions of pounds wasted on players who simply weren’t up to it you could weep. The revenue spent on so called ‘projects’ who haven’t made the grade would have been better invested in experienced professionals who could have made a difference in this potentially historic season.

The protests by a handful of supporters at the stadium have gone from heartfelt concern about the team’s form to hostility and anger. Fans of other clubs must look on agog at the sight of Celtic supporters chasing their own team’s bus shouting abuse at players who have delivered 18 trophies in 9 years, 3 Trebles in 3 years, (with a fourth only one game away) nine successive championships and an invincible season. Yes their form has been abysmal of late and perhaps the mythical quest for the ten has hyped some fans up to almost hysterical proportions but come on, are we seriously suggesting abusing the players, management and board will help their confidence? Celtic is in the midst of one of the most successful periods in its long history. Only the Lisbon Lions nine in a row era eclipses the success Celtic currently enjoy.  

Some of the banners saying things such as ‘FC not PLC’ suggest some are unhappy with the way the club is run as a business but the model of liberal capitalism which gives Celtic such an advantage in Scotland was never seemingly questioned when the team was winning and stacking up trophies. Changing the political and financial culture at a football club isn’t an easy process as it is owned by thousands of shareholders. Many would like the voice of the fans to be heard in the boardroom and even some form of fan ownership of the club but that takes thought, time and logical discussion and is unlikely to be achieved by standing in the Celtic Way chanting ‘Lennon, Lennon get to f*ck.’

There are many with no love of Celtic who are enjoying the discontent around the club at the moment. Some of the scenes we have seen around Celtic Park recently plays right into their hands and gives them more ammunition to snipe at Celtic.

Peter Lawwell came in for some abuse too from the Gallowgate Guevaras but ask yourself, what is the job of a CEO at a club like Celtic? It is to run the business in a sustainable way and provide adequate funds for strengthening the team. Has he done this? The answer is yes and if his pay cheque annoys some then it is the going rate for running a club like Celtic. He turned down a far more lucrative job offer from Arsenal some years back to stay with the hoops. Yes we are annoyed by repeated failure to beat teams in Europe with a fraction of our resources. The defeat to Ferencvaros potentially cost the club £25m and there have been other humiliations along the way. But the real issue has been the poor acquisitions Celtic have brought in.  Who thought Bolingoli was in any way a decent replacement for Tierney? Shved was another who drifted out of sight with barely a sniff at the first team and there have been others. Allowing Forster and Gordon to leave and spending millions on the unimpressive Barkas was foolish. The identification and purchasing of such players remains the Achilles heel which is causing Celtic to stumble. We have not bought wisely in recent years, with a few exceptions like David Turnbull, and that combined with good players moving on has weakened the side.

The new Rangers was always likely to improve with the sort of money they invested in players. They weren’t going to stay hopeless forever and Celtic’s poor recruitment in recent times has allowed them to catch up. That, combined with a loss of form and confidence, the Covid crisis and perhaps playing in empty stadiums has created a perfect storm of circumstance which has damaged the team’s chances this season.

Managers live or die by results. Neil Lennon faces a cup final and a trip to Ibrox in the next few weeks and defeat in either of those games could be the straw which breaks the camel’s back as far as his job goes. He’s old enough to understand that and would doubtless accept it. What is less acceptable is the vitriol he has received from an uncouth minority who seem to forget all he has contributed and endured during his association with Celtic as a player and manager. He has spoken in the past of the bigotry, the bombs and bullets, the assaults, the struggles he has had with depression and if he has to leave his post he should be allowed to do so with some dignity.

It can be unpleasant on social media when Celtic is not playing well. Some lose all perspective and in an echo chamber of like-minded voices the vitriol increases. Dissenting voices are drowned out or abused until they no longer want to contribute to the debate. They are called ‘happy clappers,’ ‘panty wetters,’ 'Soup takers' or ‘Lawwell’s lapdogs’ if they offer an opinion which differs from the more aggressive voices. We all know there are serious issues to be sorted out at Celtic Park and hopefully the team will be on their winning ways again soon. Europe was a disaster this year and much ground needs to be made up domestically. To call for unity at such a time isn’t to ignore the problems the club has, it is to realise that division only helps our opponents.

In the fullness of time I hope there is intelligent discussion about the way forward for Celtic as every club needs renewal now and then. I hope there is also some perspective too; the distasteful ‘Shoot the Board’ banner was defended by some who thought it a witty reference to a similar banner from the early 1990s. We live in very different times from the 90s. Back then the old board had run Celtic into the ground, the team was failing and the stadium in dire need of rebuilding. Today Celtic has the best stadium in the land, a decent squad and sound financial results even in these difficult times. 

How we harness those things to put a good, consistent team on the field is our challenge.



 

 

 

Sunday 8 November 2020

 


Precious Cargo

Big Joe has followed Celtic for over forty years but he wasn’t a happy man when I met him this week. He muttered through his face mask at me, ‘Did ye watch that pish last night?’ He was of course referring to Celtic’s dreadful display against Sparta Prague. ‘A kick up the arse required for a few of those players,’ he went on. He then outlined what was going wrong with Celtic and pulled no punches. ‘Edouard- clearly wants away and not interested, Duffy, another player from the English league who thought Scotland would be a doddle currently getting a big shock. Lennon’s tactics are all over the shop and looking like he doesn’t know how to change a game. Don’t get me started on that defence! They couldn’t keep weans oot a fuckin’ close!  He finished with a warning, ‘If we don’t sort this out soon we can forget about the league this year.’

Joe, like many Celtic fans has seen it all in his time and isn’t given to overreaction but alarm bells are ringing for many Celtic fans over erratic form, dreadful defending and powder puff attacking. All of this is coming in a season which is weighted with historical significance. Only a fool would suggest Rangers aren’t a more solid unit this season. Their defence is the meanest in the land and they work better as a unit. They also have a hunger which seems to be less acute at Celtic Park at the moment. Anyone expecting then to collapse in the new year as they did last season may be disappointed so it’s up to Celtic to stop them.

At the start of this season Celtic seemed intent on strengthening the squad for a big push for the title. Millions of pounds were spent but that is only effective if you scout, assess and buy the right players. In recent times Celtic has paid big money for players such as Mulumbu, Burke, Weah, Bayo, Shved, Gutman, Perez De Vries, Compper, Hendry, Musonda, Gamboa, Kouassi and Morgan. None of them enhanced the first team to any degree. As supporters we’d all like to see one or two experienced, reliable pros come in to bolster the first team instead of so many projects. We understand Celtic’s policy of finding young talent, nurturing it and selling it on one day but in this season of all season’s we need good additions to the first team squad.

I believe there is a good team there, one certainly capable of winning the SPFL but it needs to be organised, galvanised and the dead wood shunted out the door in the January transfer window. If you don’t want to play for Celtic then off you go. We’ll find players who do and who have the hunger and fight required to wear the hooped shirt. Neil Lennon is of course feeling the pressure. One win in six matches is unacceptable at a club like Celtic and although some of his players have let him down, it is his responsibility to motivate and organise the tactical game plans for each opponent Celtic faces. The ease with which teams score against Celtic is hugely concerning and all good teams are built on the foundation of a good defence. Tommy Burns’ side played some of the best attacking football you could wish to see but it ultimately failed to wrestle the title from Rangers because all too often the back door was left open.  

Celtic has good attacking options when the players are in the mood and Edouard looks interested but the defence continues to undo any good work they do. Until that is sorted out the team will struggle against even moderate opponents. I believe Lennon should be given time to sort things out. After all he is one match away from being a Treble winning manager and has one of the highest win ratios in Celtic’s history. However, if Celtic continues on this inconsistent path until the turn of the year, the dream of ten in a row will be gone and most likely Lennon will be gone with it. Professional football is a ruthless sport; yesterday’s successes are soon forgotten if today’s results aren’t good enough. The rewards are high, Lennon will be receiving the sort of wages we ordinary fans can only dream of, but the price of failure is high too.

The Celtic Park trophy cabinet currently contains a precious cargo. All three major domestic trophies have resided there for the past few years and the biggest of them for the past nine. They won’t stay there forever but it is the fervent hope of every Celtic fan that the championship trophy can stay for at least one more year. In 1974-75 season Celtic failed to make it to ten in a row after a loss of form in the second half of the season. In 1997-98 the hoops stopped Rangers in similar circumstances on that tension filled last day of the season.

This season our football is being played out in the midst of a global pandemic and in empty stadiums. It really is the strangest season any of us will witness but Celtic must overcome all of that and focus on the task at hand. Sort out the best team and formation, get rid of those who are not committed to the club and remind every one of those players who pull on that shirt that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of us care passionately about our club and that they should feel the same. Save your angling for a move till the next transfer window, get out there and do the job you’re paid to do.

Playing for Celtic should never be just a job. Get the passion back, get the fight back and get the dedicated professionalism back. Otherwise the chance for a unique piece of history will swirl down the plug hole and that would be such a wasted opportunity.

The future starts today at Fir Park. Let’s make a statement of intent. There is a long way to go in this campaign so let’s see some traditional Celtic fighting spirit. We fans pour millions of pounds into Celtic to give those players lifestyles most of us can only dream about. The least every last one of them can do in return is to give 100% every game and demonstrate the same commitment the fans do.

We’re out here for you, we always have been, be out there for us.



Saturday 31 October 2020

Keep the faith

 


Keep the faith

Former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson is credited with saying that ‘A week is a long time in Politics.’ Much can change in a week in the world of football too and the past week has witnessed Celtic playing three games without recording a win. Those bald statistics may accurately inform us that Celtic are lacking in certain areas of the team at the moment but equally they disguise that fact that for periods of all three games Celtic looked as if they could record a positive result.

The Europa league match against AC Milan was one of those games in which you sensed the side was nervous and uncomfortable at the start. Whether that is down to confidence or formation is a point of conjecture but the introduction of creativity in the shape of Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie seemed to stir the team to a much more effective second half display and they game the Italians a tough time before being suckered in the final minutes. The result didn’t reflect the balance of play but a telling statistic is that AC Milan’s last two shots on goal in the 42nd and 92nd minutes were both goals. When the chances come along at this level they have to be taken. Celtic had 13 shots at goal in the match with just two on target. Milan had 6 with 3 of them on target and finding the net.

At Pittodrie last weekend defensive errors gifted Aberdeen two penalties and gave them a point their robust play on a wild windy day probably deserved but to lose a goal deep into injury time suggests Celtic have difficulty closing out games at the moment. To see Celtic streaming forward in the dying moments of a match they were already leading in had me shouting at the TV. Games need to be managed at that stage. I’m not suggesting breaking up the play with treatment for feigned injuries or sending on substitutes with a minute to go but don’t commit too many players to attack when the game is in the bag; shut the back door!

So Celtic then flew to France to face a Lille side sitting joint top of their league and in sparkling form. This was always going to be a very tough fixture and few Celtic supporters expected otherwise. The team’s performance in the first half was one of the best from a Celtic side away from home in Europe in recent times and the score line did not flatter them. Indeed there were chances to add to the 2-0 lead Celtic had. Again defensive errors hurt Celtic as Duffy gave away a needless penalty with a clumsy tackle only to see Scott Bain bail the team out with a good save.  Lille’s second half onslaught was expected and for the most part Celtic defended well with Laxalt looking very impressive. The Hoops though were undone from a set play when they failed to clear a cross and the ball broke to an unmarked player at the back post who bundled it home. The equaliser also came from a cross which was allowed to bounce around the box before a deflected shot  hit the net. For all their huffing and puffing Lille never cut Celtic open but with defensive errors like that they didn’t need to. The excellent Elyounoussi could have restored Celtic’s lead immediately but delayed the shot and was crowded out and Celtic had to settle for the draw.

In normal circumstances a score draw away to a team at the top of the French league would be seen as a good result but needless to say elements of the Scottish media portrayed it as a bad night. This chipping away at Celtic’s confidence by some in the printed media is fairly transparent and expected,  but what is more surprising is the way some of Celtic own followers use social media to berate the team. Personal attacks on the manager and calls for his sacking following a spell of games without a win is counter-productive. Of course supporters are entitled to have opinions on the team and no one should be immune from criticism regarding its performances but some of the personal abuse online of late has been way over the top.

For a minority, weaned on unbroken success in recent years, it smacks of the sort of hubris and entitlement mentality we saw in the Murray years at Ibrox. There is no divine right to win and every team goes through rough patches in a season. Celtic are clearly missing a top class goalkeeper in Fraser Forster who decided to leave and sit on Southampton’s bench and Barkas as yet has failed to look anything other than ordinary. He deserves time after coming to a new country in these strange times and having to settle in and learn about how the game is played in Scotland. More importantly though, a clutch of other their top players have been missing from the side in recent games. Edouard, Forrest, Elhamed, Christie and Jullien would be a big loss to any side. Add to that the fact that Celtic’s symbiotic relationship with their fans isn’t there this season due to Covid 19 and it’s clear they do miss their backing.

Only a fool would fail to accept that Rangers are developing into a decent team with a defined shape and fighting spirit. Perhaps some of the reaction to Celtic’s recent problems among hoops fans is based on the knowledge that they may not collapse like a pack of cards as they did in early 2020. A club with their budget wasn’t likely to stay in the doldrums forever and that challenge must now be met. This season being historically important because of the possibility of the ‘Ten’ is adding to the tension some are feeling. No one wants to blow this historic opportunity but the prizes are given out in May not October. Let Celtic get their top team on the park, sort out the defence and formation issues and they will demonstrate why they have dominated the Scottish game for so long.

 Celtic proved in that first half in Lille and the second half against Milan that if they play with confidence, a high tempo and crucially in a formation they find comfortable then they are a good team. If they can produce that form for 90 minutes then someone will be due a spanking. Injured players are drifting back and the squad will be back to near full strength soon. Tomorrow’s cup semi-final with Aberdeen is the first opportunity to demonstrate that Celtic remain a team to be reckoned with in Scotland. The opportunity for a fourth consecutive treble is there to be grasped and Celtic should take it.

I’ve watched Celtic now for literally decades and each season has its own narrative. This one will have many twists and turns yet before it is settled. No one can tell what damage the ongoing pandemic will do to this season but hopefully it will be played to a finish. I still remain confident that Celtic has the best squad in the country and as the winter progresses and fixtures and injuries pile up: that fact will be important.

Keep the faith; there is a long way to go. I remain confident that when the prizes are given out the Glasgow Celtic will be there.





Saturday 24 October 2020

Dalglish

 


Dalglish

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon with no Celtic to watch and I noticed that the excellent documentary ‘Kenny’ was on TV. I watched it a couple of years back but thought it worth another look. It details the life of Kenny Dalglish in his family during his time as a player and later manager at Liverpool. Of course, we of a Celtic persuasion need no reminding of the superb footballer Kenny was. There are those who think he became a better player when he left Scotland to further his career in the bigger pond of English football. As someone who followed his career at Celtic and Liverpool I think he was playing with a higher standard of player in England and flourished more fully but he was superb at Celtic too.

Kenny and his family allowed a lot of private video footage to be shown and it gave a picture of a normal family life with Christmas morning when his children were small being especially touching. He comes across as a decent family man blessed with incredible footballing ability. It was this ability which lifted the lad from High Possil Senior Secondary school to a lifestyle he could only dreamed of as a boy. It wasn’t all plain sailing though as both West Ham and Liverpool had him in England for trials and sent him home without signing him up in 1966. The following year the Rangers mad youngster was snapped up by Celtic and became part of that excellent ‘quality street gang’ generation of young players. The likes of McGrain, Macari, Connelly, Kenny and many others coming through at Celtic Park would have very good careers in the game although none of them, apart from perhaps Danny McGrain, reached the heights Kenny did in the game.

Having lived in England for a decade myself I know the pressure which exists to take the rough edge of the Scottish accent or perhaps lose it altogether but Kenny always had that Glaswegian gravel in his voice despite spending over 40 years living down south. He was and remains very much his own man and that strength of character helped him achieve so much in the game.  His list of honours with both Celtic and Liverpool is extensive in both domestic and European football and he holds the record as Scotland’s most capped player. He has given millions of supporters sublime moments to remember with his skill on the field of play and the documentary rightly reflects this but perhaps his pinnacle as a man and a human being came after the events of April 15th 1989.

Sometimes we remember where we were when we hear certain pieces of news. Some people refer to them as ‘JFK moments’ and will tell you what they were doing when they heard of the death of Princess Diana or the 9/11 attacks. For me one such moment came on that fateful day in the spring of 1989. I was in a carpet shop of all places on Corn Street in the Oxfordshire Market town of Witney. A group us huddled around a radio in those pre-internet days and listened in disbelief as horror of Hillsborough unfolded. It is a matter of public record that the tragedy of that day was compounded by a dreadful Police cover up and a wicked tabloid campaign to smear Liverpool fans. Dalglish was Liverpool manager that day and would have known very quickly that something awful was unfolding.

Dalglish was a young Celtic player on the verge of his first team breakthrough when the tragedy at Ibrox in 1971 claimed the lives of 66 football fans. Although he didn’t play in that game, he would have been as stunned as everyone involved in Scottish football was at that lamentable incident. Nothing, it was thought, could eclipse the pain and scale of the Ibrox disaster but even that tragedy was surpassed by events at Hillsborough where 96 human beings lost their lives. The city of Liverpool was shattered; indeed the whole of the football world was utterly shocked by the events which occurred that April day in Sheffield. For those intimately involved in Liverpool Football club it was to be devastating experience which still haunts them. The scars may slowly heal but the pain and loss will last a lifetime for those who lost loved ones.



For Kenny Dalglish and all of those involved in Liverpool football club knew they had to be part of the healing process and be there for the families who needed them in that darkest of hours. The physical, mental and emotional strain on Dalglish and his wife Marina in the days and weeks after Hillsborough can only be imagined. He attended as many of the funerals of victims of the disaster as he could, including attending four in one day. Alan Hansen recalled, tears in his eyes, that one father approached him at a funeral and said simply, ‘seventeen, he was seventeen.’ His solidarity with the ordinary people of Liverpool was described at the time as heroic and one ordinary Scouser said, ‘We’ve adopted him now, Glasgow can’t have him back.’ Dalglish’s actions in the aftermath of Hillsborough naturally took their toll on him and in one poignant scene in the documentary he gazes from a hill in Sheffield towards the stadium in the distance where those events took place. Even all these years later the pain in his voice was palpable.

As Liverpool FC took their first painful steps back to playing football, it was fitting that they visited Celtic Park, Kenny’s old stamping ground. The warm embrace Celtic supporters gave both the Liverpool supporters and their team that day was a mark of true solidarity. We were all football fans and in those days we knew that but for the grace of God the events of Hillsborough could have occurred in any of the antiquated stadiums of the time. Celtic fans themselves had near misses at Nottingham Forrest in 1983-84 season and in that league clinching match with Dundee in 1988. The bond they forged with Liverpool supporters that day in 1989 remains strong and it was no coincidence that Celtic supporters were among their staunchest allies in the long struggle for Justice for the 96 who lost their lives at Hillsborough.

Kenny Dalglish quit as Liverpool manager in February 1991 and looking back he had lived with so much stress that the break was probably necessary to his mental and physical well-being. He would return in time to Blackburn Rovers and even a spell at Celtic. Reading the stats of his wonderful career demonstrates that he was among the best footballers of his generation. A truly world class player and highly successful manager but that list of honours, caps, goals and awards doesn’t describe the decency of the man who stepped up to the plate when his people were in pain and needed him.

In memories view I see Kenny hit an unstoppable swerving shot into the top corner at Tannadice on a winter’s day in late 1976. In my mind’s eyes he turns a Spanish defender and curls a beautiful shot  into the net as a packed Hampden roared its approval.

There were a thousand moments of subliminal skill to recount in his fine career but none were as beautifully poignant as him holding a grieving mother and sharing in her pain.

Kenny Dalglish, a wonderful footballer and a better human being.



Saturday 17 October 2020

Fixing the Dam

 


Fixing the Dam

In the spring of 1993 Celtic were in the midst of one of those seasons where false dawns and raised hopes were the norm for their long suffering fans. They could go from the heights of beating Rangers and ending their 45 match unbeaten run to losing at Fir Park a fortnight later. At that point Celtic were 5 years into a spell in the wilderness which would last until 1998. Celtic’s record in derby matches that season in the SPL was 1-1, 0-1, 0-1 & 2-1. In every one of those games Celtic had the lion’s share of chances and only poor finishing saw them lose two of the games. Celtic’s problem wasn’t so much dealing with Rangers that year as dropping points to the lesser sides in the league. A dozen draws and 8 defeats in a 44 game campaign would see them finish third in the league that season a distant 13 points behind Rangers.

Contrasting the Celtic side of the early 1990s with the side steamrolling their way to nine successive titles today is probably unfair but the side containing the likes of Collins, McStay, Boyd, Galloway, Payton and Grant gave their all in derby matches because they knew their importance to the fans. Today’s performance from Celtic was probably the weakest display I have seen from a Celtic side in a derby for 30 years or more. There were mitigating circumstances in that Celtic were missing talisman Odsonne Edouard as well as Forrest, Biton, Jullien and Christie, a major loss to any side. However most of these players played in the League Cup Final in December 2019 and the League match at Celtic Park that December. Celtic won the league cup despite playing poorly on the day and lost the league match against highly motivated opponents. Add that to today’s display and it’s clear to see that Rangers currently have the upper hand in derby games. They are far from brilliant but remain a competent, organised side, which operates well as a unit. Celtic in contrast, look a little disjointed and too reliant on individuals to make something happen. The damage done today is far from fatal to Celtic’s title hopes but the Hoops will need to find a pattern of play which suits their players and show a bit more guile and fight than they did today.

It is an old cliché that you are never more than two games from a crisis at a club like Celtic but a look at Celtic’s upcoming fixture list suggests this will be a very tough spell in the season for them. Between now and the first week in December Celtic will play: AC Milan (H) Aberdeen (A) Lille (A) Aberdeen (N) Sparta Prague (H) Motherwell (A) Hibs (A) Sparta Prague (A) & AC Milan (A). That is a hugely tough schedule and Celtic will need to improve to keep within striking distance at the top of the league. Most fans would probably forgo a decent European run if they could keep the dream of a tenth straight title alive into the New Year.

The recriminations began online even before the game was over. Many blamed Neil Lennon although in fairness his injury list was a lengthy one and some on the bench today looked less than 100% fit. Some more strident voices argued the players looked disorganised and disinterested and that this lies at the Managers door. Rangers dropping into a narrow, compact formation when Celtic had the ball made it difficult to go through their midfield and Celtic were forced out wide. Unfortunately young Frimpong and new boy Laxalt had mediocre games and failed to supply much ammunition for the strikers to work with. Frimpong is still only 19 and Laxalt playing in his first game so perhaps are due some slack. Other more experienced players failed to turn up and that is more concerning. Celtic also misses their fans. Few sets of supporters drive the side on the way the Hoops legions do in those big games.

John F Kennedy once said, ‘Victory has a thousand fathers while defeat is an orphan.’ Well this defeat needs to be owned by us all and we need to learn the lessons it teaches us. Today was a warning: the dam didn’t break but the first crack appeared. Action is required now to motivate and organise this group of players. Celtic has no divine right to win and every match needs to be won on graft, fight and effort. Celtic hasn’t been firing on all cylinders so far this season and only some late winners and narrow wins have glossed over this. They need to get the players who were grumbling about leaving in the transfer window to shut up, knuckle down and do what they are paid to do. They need to get the injury list down and key men back in the squad. They need to find a cohesive game plan and players willing to bust a gut for the team.

The basis of success in football is to be found in organisation, fighting spirit, effort and adaptability. Rangers didn’t have to be brilliant to win today but they got those basics right. Celtic need to match that before they can win the right to play the football we all know they are capable of. I still think the Hoops have a better squad overall but they aren’t yet playing to their potential. It is now up to everyone at the club to rally round and refocus on the job at hand. There is no time to feel sorry for yourself in professional football; the next game is always just a few days away. Today is gone-learn from it and move on. The season is still young and those who celebrate tonight should bear in mind that Jeremie Frimpong was nine years old when Rangers last won the league. It remains a marathon, not a sprint.

Pick yourselves up, Celtic, dust yourselves down and start playing like the champions you are. There is much still to fight for!



 

 

Saturday 10 October 2020

Hidden from the World

 


Hidden from the World

 

Eastern seaboard May 2160

Hansen sat in the control seat of the small Explorer Class flying vehicle which instantly came to life when it registered his presence. The dashboard in front of him lit up and the reassuring feminine A.I. voice he always used spoke to him. ‘Greetings Professor Hansen, your planned trip has been cleared by the Board of Control and the coordinates logged into my system. The weather is clear and radiation levels in the target area are stable. You are permitted to stay in the research zone for 12 hours.’ Hansen exhaled before saying in a fairly monotone voice, ‘Switch to KAI.’ The dashboard lights blinked once before dimming and the K class A.I. Android which sat motionless in the seat beside him opened its eyes and turned its head towards him and said in a monotone but not unpleasant voice, ‘KAI fully operational, Professor and awaiting your instructions.’ Hanson glanced at the perfectly formed android beside him. It was dressed in the livery of the University and looking for all the world as human as he did. To the untrained eye it looked like a young man of perhaps 30 years but anyone who knew the K class androids could spot the tell-tale signs of manufacture. KAI had an encyclopaedic data base for a brain, never got tired and occasionally infuriated him with its cold, precise logic, but that apart it was a remarkable piece of engineering. It seemed there was nothing man could dream up, good or bad, that he couldn’t make reality.

Prepare for lift off, Kai, North Atlantic-flight lane 8,’ he said quietly. The android ran the final diagnostic checks of the ship in under a second and the Explorer glided silently off the ground and headed east over the black, brooding ocean. ‘Stream data, Kai’ Hanson said turning to look at the stream of news the Board of Control chose to plasma-cast. Moving images and text seemed to float in in the air in front of his eyes; Food riots in the cities, famine in China, the war grinding on out west and the grim battle for resources seemingly ongoing all over the planet. Mankind, it seemed, had a stupendous ability to make the wrong decisions. As the Explorer reached 90% of optimal speed and left the land far behind, Hansen pondered the mission he was undertaking. The histories of the great European catastrophe of the previous century were incomplete. It was known that the initial nuclear explosion had taken place on the west coast of what was once called Scotland but was it a first strike or a calamitous accident? The Sino-Russian forces of the time had always claimed it was an accident but the defence forces of the western alliance had immediately struck at them. The outcome was the end of Western Europe and 20% of humanity. Now only a bleak wasteland remained-uninhabitable and poisoning the surrounding ocean and the air with its toxicity. Only now over 140 years later was the radiation level reduced enough to make brief visits possible. His mission was to compliment the work of the Intel-drones which had mapped, photographed and scanned the area as if it were a distant planet. The Board of Control had pinpointed the area where the first explosion of the catastrophe had taken place and it was his job to carry out an assessment which might answer the question that had puzzled historians; was the great catastrophe started by an accident?

 Few people had visited the forbidden zone since the war and all were sworn to level 5 secrecy protocols. Hansen had heard of an academic from the Midwest who shared his research on the ether-web and had been exiled to one of the prison islands where his skill set was unlikely to keep him alive for long. Hansen turned to the android sitting passively on his left, ‘Kai what is our ETA?’  The android looked at him with perfect yet empty eyes, ‘Estimated time till arrival at research site is one hour and four minutes. Sat-link confirms moderate weather conditions and radiation levels in yellow zone.’  Hanson nodded, ‘any signs of complex life in landing zone?’ ‘Negative, single celled organisms and basic algae have been detected but the zone is still highly radioactive. You are reminded of the 12 hour rule in the zone. Longer periods of exposure to ionizing radiation may lead to cellular degradation and autophagy.’

Hansen stroked the greying stubble on his chin with his fingers as he thought. If he could prove how the initial explosion had been caused, be it a first strike missile or some sort of accident, and write it up in the journals it could have big implications for his life. The Board of Control had the power to increase his academic budget, get him out of his crummy apartment and into a better one or even increase his food allocation. This one man trip across a sterile ocean was an important one. ‘Approaching the west coast or Ireland,’ Kai’s voice said cutting into his thoughts. Hansen glanced below at a barren and empty land. Those who had survived the war had fled west across the ocean where the healthy had been separated from those affected by the radiation. Those who could work were allowed entry and allocated a life of drudgery as every acre of arable land was put to use producing food during the years of the great shortage. Those who could not work were simply dumped on an island off the Virginia coast and awaited their inevitable fate. They were harsh times and it didn’t sit well with Hanson that his increasingly insular country had treated the European refugees so harshly but then the reactionary and frankly racist government of the time played on the fears of the people at a time of great uncertainty. He had watched the surviving video footage from those days and saw the frightened faces of the Irish refugees talking to the camera with their now extinct accents.

The Explorer crossed the body of water separating Ireland from Scotland in under two minutes and dropped down to 100m before hovering above the ruins of a city. ‘You are in a yellow zone area. You have 11 hours and 42 minutes to complete your work and return to the ship.’ Kai said. His programming made it his number one priority to protect human life and he would do anything to ensure Hansen returned west in one piece. ‘Take us down Kai,’ Hanson said. ‘Find us a safe landing zone.’ The ship skimmed over the blackened corpses of buildings which were slowly decomposing. Hanson could see the channel where a river once ran but now it was a tar coloured scar on the land. Kai guided the ship gently to the ground in an open area surrounded on all sides by twisted, rusting metal and blackened concrete. It may have been a public square or sports field before the war but it now it offered a relatively flat landing zone. A light rain started to fall. Droplets of contaminated, grey water ran down the Explorer’s windshield, as if it were crying for all that had been lost. A weak rainbow arced over the ruins giving them a forlorn look. ‘Time to suit up,’ Hansen said to no one in particular as he unbuckled himself and headed to the small store room to the rear of the ship. To survive in the zone he’d need all his technology.

Hansen set up his radiation monitors amid the ruins of a dead city. His small intel-drones, no bigger than his hand, zipped over ruins taking measurements and scanning for tell-tale blast marks. He glanced around the charred piles of concrete and twisted metal looking for a vantage point to view the scene with his own eyes. Kai stayed within a few metres of him scanning for danger and monitoring radiation levels. Hansen began to climb the largest pile of rubble and found it tiring work in his survival suit. Kai’s voice echoed inside his helmet, ‘You have 8 hours and 23 minutes to return to the ship.  Hansen was nearing the summit of the pile of debris when something gave way beneath his feet. He felt the ground rushing up to meet him and crashed through it into a dark cavity below. His shoulder collided with something solid and sent a jarring pain through his body. He landed heavily on a pile of jagged rubble which impacted on the right side of his chest and knocked the breath completely from him. His last conscious thought was, ‘you stupid son of a…’ before darkness closed around him like an inky sea.

A gentle voice was speaking to him. ‘Wake up, you have to wake up.’ Hansen wanted to stay unconscious, wanted the peace of sleep but the voice was insistent, ‘wake up, wake up now. There isn’t much time.’ The voice spoke with the same soft accent of those Irish refugees from the old news footage he had watched years ago. Hansen opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the almost total darkness. He breathed heavily and slowly focused on where he was. Who had called him out of sleep? Perhaps it had been his own survival instinct? He had no idea how long he had been unconscious but quickly sensed he was in deep trouble. His body was stiff and hurt in a dozen places but his visor was still functioning despite a long crack on the face. He pushed himself to a sitting position, a stabbing pain in his right shoulder making him wince, and reached to the top of his helmet with his left hand. Even in the darkness he could feel that his communication pod was broken. He was on his own although he knew Kai would stop at nothing to find him. He reached gingerly across his body and retrieved a small torch which remarkably was intact. A beam of white light scanned the darkness. He was in a large hollow beneath the rubble pile. He shone the light onto his wrist where his rad-counter showed him that he was now in an orange radiation zone. It meant only one thing; he needed to get out of here and do it very soon or he’d absorb a fatal dose of radiation.

He shone the torch around the dark cavern he found himself in. He could see in the torch’s beam of light twisted metal contorted into grotesque shapes, shattered concrete and suddenly to his shock a human face. He gasped as his brain took a second to register the fact that it was the remains of a statue. The kindly face of a man seemed to be regarding him. ‘You stuck down here too, buddy?’ he said with a sardonic smile. ‘Looks like I might be joining you.’ Hansen eased himself towards the statue, which was three quarters covered in debris and dust. He wiped the dust from the face and regarded the features more closely. The handsome bronze face stared at him, ‘I wonder who you were, pal?’  Close to the statue and covered in dust ay a rectangular bronze plaque. Hansen carefully cleaned the surface hoping to see a name. Instead he saw an image of what appeared to be a table with some figures standing around it. Lower in the image a child appeared to be playing with a ball. On the base of the plaque were carved words which read, ‘Ignoto et quasi occulti in hoc mundo.’ Hansen exhaled, ‘Latin, another dead language. He’d have to look that up some other time.



A noise distracted and he turned slowly to see one of his small intel-drones, hovering a metre above him. It relayed the familiar monotone voice of Kai. ‘Professor Hansen, I have located your position. I need to extricate you very soon. Please stand by.’ Hanson laughed, ‘Kai you son of a bitch, I knew you wouldn’t give up.’ Kai responded with a characteristic lack of humour, ’I need to remove some larger pieces of concrete and metal. There is a danger of a cave in but we have no option.’ Hansen nodded, ‘Do it Kai and do it now.’ Almost as an afterthought he added, ‘and get the intel-drone to photograph this hollow Kai, it’ll make a helluva story.’

It was dark when Kai finally carried Hansen out of the hollow and back to the ship like a father carrying a son. He laid Hanson in his now reclined flying seat and quickly applied pain relieving medication. He carried out a diagnostic scan before saying in an emotionless voice ‘You have five broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a fracture to your right ankle and a variety of cuts and abrasions but no major organs are damaged.’  Hansen smiled, ‘Thanks Doc, now take us home.’

Eight Weeks later

Hansen made his report to the Deputies of the Board of Control on a bright spring morning. The initial blast which led to the great European catastrophe of the previous century was caused not by an incoming missile but by an explosion at a base for nuclear submarines on the coast. The data from the intel-drones was conclusive; the war which destroyed Europe had been caused by an accident. They panel listened carefully to his evidence, stopping him now and then to question him on key points. They nodded and applauded politely at the end of his presentation a clear sign his work had been well received.

Afterwards as they ate and discussed his findings more informally one of the Deputies asked him, ‘What of the statue in the cavern?’ Did you ascertain who it was?’ Hanson nodded, ‘Yes. Kai ran it through his data banks and discovered that it was a statue of a nineteenth century humanitarian. A good man who wanted to feed the poor.’ The grey haired old Deputy nodded, a slightly sad look on his face, ‘we could do with a few men like that today.’

Hansen thought of the kindly face on the bronze statue he had encountered in such extraordinary circumstances. His research had taught him that the man it represented would have had an accent much like that of the refugees he had watched in the old newscasts. It was an accent like that which had called him back to consciousness when time was running out for him. The mind played strange tricks when our survival is on the line, he thought to himself. 

That’s all it was, his survival instinct kicking in… wasn’t it?



The above story was written after a friend said he'd make a donation to a charity fundraiser I'm doing if he could decide the genre. I agreed and he then said, 'OK, it has to be science fiction!'  The story was in response to that and written with the best intentions.. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did feel free to support this great cause. Thank you. 

Sunday 4 October 2020

Beating the Bin Men


 

Beating the Bin Men

I had one of those brief discussions Scottish football fans occasionally have online. It began when I posted a clip on social media of Henrik Larsson’s sublime chip over Stefan Klos in that memorable 6-2 victory over Rangers in August 2000. A fan of Manchester United, ironically from Dublin, commented ‘Good player but he was playing against bin men.’ I put him right about the Rangers team that day which consisted of 11 internationals but as is usual with the ‘my Nan’ brigade he wasn’t listening.

It strikes me as odd that some followers of English football have an almost pathological dislike of Scottish football and go out of their way to insult it whenever they can. You wonder if some German fans do this to the Swiss or Danish League or if Italians spend their time running down the Serbian or Croatian league. I somehow doubt it as they realise that you need to compare like with like to have a true comparison. Scotland has a population of 5.4 million people while England has over ten times more people with 56 million. It is obvious that England can support far more big clubs than Scotland can and the financial benefits of having such a huge potential TV audience are obvious. A fairer contrast would be between Scottish football and leagues such as those in Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Croatia or Denmark, countries with a similar population. Historically Scottish clubs have had far more success in Europe than such countries and their average top league attendance figures are far higher. Of Course Celtic and Rangers have a huge influence on the attendance figures in Scotland but are nonetheless part of the league.

The historical and current dominance of Celtic and Rangers is one of the factors used to run down Scottish football. In truth it must be hard for fans of other clubs to watch these two clubs waltz off with 106 titles while the rest share under 20 between them. Such dominance isn’t uncommon in smaller countries; in Portugal where the big three of Benfica, Sporting and FC Porto dominate only 2 titles have ever been won by teams outside that triumvirate. (Belenenses and Boavista) That is 2 out of 88 national championships.

Scottish football for all its’ built in flaws and clannishness holds most of the attendance records in Europe. Consider the following statistics…

Record attendance at a European game: 136,505  Celtic v Leeds United

Record attendance at a domestic cup tie 147,365  Celtic v Aberdeen

Record attendance at a league match: 118,567 Rangers v Celtic

Record attendance at an International match 149,415 Scotland v England

Of course these crowds occurred in the dim and distant past and the reduction of stadium capacities means the records will probably never be broken. They do indicate though the Scottish love affair with football which still continues.

The passing game the world knows today was invented in Scotland and a look at the early international record of games between Scotland and England demonstrates that it was the future of football. Scotland’s first 15 internationals with England saw the English win just twice as Scotland’s more scientific approach gave them a few footballing lessons in how the game should be played. Scottish victories included score lines such as 7-2, 6-1 and 5-1. Most top English club sides of the era were packed with Scots, indeed the English football league was founded in 1888 by William McGregor, a Scot.

Of course Scottish supporters today know that the lack of serious competition to the two big Glasgow clubs remains a difficult conundrum to solve. The financial disparity between them and the rest of the league is stark and driven by their huge fan bases. It is frustrating though to see teams like Motherwell, St Mirren or even St Johnstone take 20,000 supporters to a cup final and play to under a quarter of that in their home league matches. It is what it is though but the Scottish game does need to look for solutions to the financial problems it has. In days past home clubs shared the gate receipts 50-50 with the visiting side. Thus, as happened in the 1970s, St Johnstone played at Celtic Park in a vital league match for the home side in front of 60,000 fans and headed home with thousands of pounds in the kitty despite only bringing a few hundred fans. Those days will not return though so perhaps a more equitable share of TV money would help? Instead of gaining a share based on finishing position in the league, which reinforces the dominance of the big clubs, why not simply pool the money and give all clubs an equal share? Or more radically give the teams at the bottom more of the TV money to help them compete?

In America, the National Football League (NFL) has a draft system which sees clubs finishing lower down the leagues having first pick of the new talent emerging in the game. It infuses them with new blood and at least tries to balance the availability of good players across the league. That will never happen in football of course, as clubs who invest in youth will never cede ‘ownership’ of a player to the league but it does show some out of the box thinking. Could we envisage a limit on foreign players to reduce big club’s power to buy in talent from abroad? Or a salary cap to reduce wealthier club’s financial advantage? A bigger league might allow teams more space to attack and entertain?

All of this speculation can’t disguise the fact that Celtic and Rangers are too big for Scottish football but as yet have nowhere to go to maximise their potential. A Scottish game minus them would flourish as Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts and others entered each new season with genuine hope of being champions. It wouldn’t, as some suggest, descend to league of Ireland status. How ironic the EPL fanboy I interacted with supports an English team as many in his native Ireland do. The domestic league in Ireland struggles to push average attendances above 2000 as hundreds of thousands of Irish folk follow the English game. That scenario may be linked to immigration patterns, Irish players playing in England or simply the sort of behaviour critics call glory hunting. For all the flaws of the Scottish game it isn’t forced to watch thousands of supporters head for England to watch Premiership sides each weekend. Our fans seem more loyal to the domestic game.

As youngsters most of us had a favourite team in England but it was a distinct second team which couldn’t compete with the affection we had for our team in Scotland. These days the English Premiership is packed with expensive foreign stars, up to 65% of players aren’t eligible to play for England, yet it leaves me cold and I have only a passing interest in it. The ‘my nan’ brigade will never detract from my enjoyment of the Scottish game. Sure it could be better and it has lacked inspirational leadership but it has an honest, raw passion about it which I love. It also has supporters who are second to none and get behind their teams.

When Celtic defeated Barcelona in 2012 an English reporter at the match commented..

Somewhere between madness and love, this fanaticism did for Barcelona on a night when the Celtic team and their disciples were indivisible. Money can’t buy you that.’