Thursday, January 3

View From The Wing- Celtic 3 Gretna 0

Sit doon and shut uuupppp......

Events of the last few days have changed the tact of this match review. The “theme” remains the same. When we compare the halcyon age, when the cupboards were bare but the entertainment high wie what we have seen in the last 18 months, very successful months, and the reaction, or non reaction, of the support in the last 18 months needs to be addressed.

The sad passing of Phil O’Donnell has only served a stronger need in this blogger to look to the past. The clips currently doing the rounds in Cybertimdom show what we ARE missing at the moment....... ENTERTAINMENT,

Phil, signed for his boyhood heroes and was paraded in what was the WORST CELTIC TOP IN HISTORY. That 3 Hooped number. Terrible top. That apart he was a sign of the hopeful guid times round the corner. Scottish Cup victory the following season after THAT dreadful Coca Cola Cup Final was the only bright spot in terms of winning silverware but at that time Celtic was so much more than aboot winning trophies.

Tommy Burns Celtic was a sign of a rebirth, a resurrection, and a phoenix from the ashes. A team that contained Collins, for a time, McStay, Thom, Cadete, Di Canio and Pierrie. They are the ones we remember but the were amply supported by other forward thinking players wie ability and also the time honoured lack of decent Celtic defenders...

Looking at the footage, the half built stadium is always full. Disnny matter who we were playing as PMS said “There was a buzz aboot the place” that even a game against cannon fodder was greeted like CL nights are at the moment. WE KNEW that we were going to be entertained.... today, we know that we will get the pants bored off us....

Saturday and recent hame games have been perfect examples. Had a mate up for his first game of the season moved to the Jock Stein lower so I could sit next to him. Got to ma seat at 2.40, bets placed- did take 3-0 hoops but......wie JVOH to score first..booooo- and ma nee’bour said, “Surely it will get busier.....”

A wee look around and again the “welcome to paradise” banner that hangs over the JS stand on European nights could have been changed to “welcome to the concrete bowl, were the consumer canny be arsed and the stadium is soulless”...bit big to get on a banner that, right enough.

But that is now the norm for home games. I reckon they have peeked at around 40 odd thousand for non big games this season. In December close to 30 thousand has been the norm wie Gretna and Fawkirk coming in at least 6 or 7 thousand lower than Hibs.

People bemoan the pricing and the standard of opposition. They will point to the Xmas factor as well. Fair points but for me way off the mark. Look at Man Utd, Liverpool or any other club that has had a hame game over the festive period or in December.....did you see vast empty spaces? Nah, either did I.....

What kind of fan do we attract to CP when a MUST WIN game is as poorly attended. The consumer that attends CP will pick and choose his games. I suspect that he has enough disposable income to be able to let his season book sit in his wallet when he disnny fancy it.

Then we get the ones who do bother to turn up are quite willing to sit on their bums, abuses EVERYTHING IN A HOOPS jersey, leave 10 mins before half time for a pie then 10 minutes before the end so their SUV beats the traffic, which wie on 30,000 there is negligible and the amount that leave early mean that the London Road must be busier at 4.40 that at 5.05....

Right, some might say, that CP should be an oasis, geddit?, of entertainment, of drama of passion. Canny think of much mair drama than having to beat a team to stay top of the league but I have to agree wie them regarding the entertainment stakes.

When the custodian of the managers trackie got the joab he said that he didnae bother if he lost three goals as we would score goals, we would play attacking entertaining fitba’ and would get bums off seats. Well, he has got bums of seats.....
The game at tannadeechie was one of effort and workrate. The game was not for the purist but...I CAN HANDLE THAT...as being a fan you canny ask for much more than what was giving at Tannadeechie. Saturday was different. We were playing a team that are relegated and have been since September but the players went through the motions esp in the first half.

Second was slightly better. Aiden and Skippy started to play. Aiden- THE BEST PLAYER IN SCOTLAND- again, showed he is oor only Celtic way type player- i.e swashbuckling cavalier- and Skippy has a talisman presence now, with a touch, workrate and narkiness factor, which makes the guy behind me claim that we should never have sold Kenny Miller laughable.

Oor midfield was never at the races. Massimo Donati’s performance was a worry so much so that thinking back to his claim that AC Milan would regret selling him sound like a soundbite from a deranged man. I’m sure Milan regret buying him for £10m, the director that sealed that deal has probably has a horse’s heid in his bed.....but regret selling him???

The Broony question......once again he was shipped oot wide right when the subs where happening- why did we not just bring on a winger for the terrible Deek, who disappeared straight up the tunnel...it was the quickest he moved all day- and all in, his goal apart looked anything but a £4 million player.

He reminds me of O’Donnell. A stand oot in the mediocre that is the SPL. A box-to-box midfielder that we all hope, wie all the hope in oor hearts becomes the PLAYER he can be. He has to add goals, something O’Donnell did have. He should be aiming for at least double figures wie the Hoops.

In the first half we never dirtied the Gretna’s goalies gloves.... they produced 3 wonderful saves from the holy goalie. I could handle this if we were creating and missing chances...not creating or missing and getting sliced open by a “glorified pub team”- as the lackie behind me shouted- is not on....WE HAVE PLAYERS THAT CAN ATTACK.....the question is WHY don’t they produce it on a regular basis?????

In a week that Alec Ridnose bemoaned the prawn sandwiched munchers at Trafford baw park aboot their lack of support, SOMETHING GS canny dae due to a lack of full backing from the rank and file, just highlights the problems facing fitba all over in Britian.

Yes, new stadiums have sanitised the atmosphere. But a look in Europe, esp Germany shows how atmosphere can be generated. Cheap tickets and standing areas, which are regulated. While standing areas won’t come back, Celtic really need to look at making CP a more atmospheric place and that disnny mean a DJ shouting like a hyperactive 3 year old at a Saturday swap shop convention when he just seen an eagled eyed action man over a souped up techno version of a 60’s classic….or playing bloody Chelski Dagger- sorry Jon Fratelli, I know yer a Tim but it’s bloody CP not the World darts championship or some no mark club wie nae history- after a goal ???….

The support still has that punkish passion and rebelness. 5000 away fans can out sing 50,000 home fans nae probs. Problem is that 5000 are spread all over the stadium at home games while the majority of the 45,000 that dinny want to go to the away games are appalled at the thought of standing up, singing and encouraging yer team….

The BOTTOMLINE is this……whether the “fans” are their to see a winning team or there to support their team through thick and thin if BOTH are watching attacking and entertaining fitba then the atmosphere generates itself. A wag that sits beside said the only time CP will be bouncing again will be when Roy Keane gets the managers joab….I found it hard to disagree…

Forza

26 comments:

ianinjesi said...

Football popularity goes in cycles. We may be heading into a trough! :-)
Remember Henrik, Sutty, Thommo, Lenny, Lubo and compare with the present team.
That`s where the die hards come in!
Forza
(Have the Bhoys signed anyone yet?)

sixtaeseven said...

"We don't care if we win, lose or draw, what the hell do we care.
For we only know that there's going to be a show and the Glasgow Celtic will be there".

Fans lyrics from a different era?

Updated for ra customers:

"We don't want to see us lose or even draw, and we better win in style.
For we only know that there better be a show or we'll awe run afriggin' mile".

Bring back staunin'
(oh, er, missus)
:o)

ianinjesi said...

Kevin,
you certainly cover so much.
The midfield SHOULD be solid gold but Brown, Hartley and Donati all fail to deliver consistent performances. The reasons will be irrelevant when they start to play well again. :-) Only McGeady knows what it takes to play consistently well against teams who treat games like a cup final! :-) Maybe that`s why he had so many bookings!
So the initial response from Alan Hutton is a no thanks to being the new Justin Edinburgh! (I wonder how he would have got on with referees these days?):-)
Enjoying the winter shutdown?
Forza

ianinjesi said...

Good news and bad news.
Naka hopes to return against Stirling Albion, that game is available for season ticket holders. :-)
The prices for the Barca game are £36, £37 and £38 with £3 reduction for restricted view.:-(

sixtaeseven said...

An interesting comment at the end of your article, Kevin:
"the only time CP will be bouncing again will be when Roy Keane gets the managers joab"

Somehow, somewhere that is logical thinking.
But, even during MON's time (Larsson, Sutton, et al) a cathedral like Celtic Park was not, erm, out of the ordinary.
So, I don't think it's the manager that makes a place rock.

Attacking and entertaining fitba against teams that are up for it, is what will get some of the atmosphere back.

But I think we all realize now that whatever is done (standing sections, limited alcohol available, ...), the mythical week in/week out atmosphere we all yearn is a thing of the past.
---------------------------------
Should he stay or should he go?

I hope he sticks.
Better the devil you know, than 8 zillion pounds worth you don't.

What is Boruc worth on that market?
20 zillion?

ianinjesi said...

Wilkommen Andreas Hinkel! :-)

sixtaeseven said...

Great news - a muchos needed first team signing.
Stuff yer Mutton!

Article by "Newsroom Staff" at the official site don't mention what his position is!
Is it just me but ... it is kinda important ?

Seven said...

everyone has agreed for years the atmosphere at the home games isn't the best these days but i feel the way u say bobo(the best ch at the club by me+billy mcneil who knows more about defending than me+u put together) becomes a better player through nostalga, memory etc i believe tommy burns team becomes a better one through the same logic.

i grew up watching burns team play a lot of nice football at times but when it came to the crunch, only win one scottish cup and constantly let themselves+me along with loads others down v rangers when it really mattered because they weren't good/strong enough.

burns team had a lot of really poor performances as well let's not kid ourselves here and lets not mention our european performances at that time either if we want to talk about giving the fans entertainment.

i used to hear people say when martin o'neill was there they would rather have burns than o'neill and wonder wot planet they were on.

give me o'neill's team anyday over anything i have seen in my 29 year lifetime without a shadow of a doubt.

john barnes team were more entertaining than the current team at times with henrik, viduka, lubo, berkovic, petrov, burley etc(tell me who wouldn't get a game, make a difference just now)but again they didn't do much and everything is relative to the period we are currently in.

reg the "other forward thinking players wie ability and also the time honoured lack of decent Celtic defenders...

do u mean chris hay, stuart gray, brian mclaughlin, simon donnelly etc.

come on lets be serious here.

i do agree strachan has a lot to do with his own downfall at times but give me the chance of winning things rather than back to burns entertaining team who could still be together and wouldn't have won the league.

sorry for the rant but thats how i remember it.

ps it's unbelievable when soon the 2 biggest transfers out of scotland could be gordon and hutton.

how much for boruc and mcgeady then.

RIP Phil O'Donnell YNWA.

Hail Hail.

Seven said...

great to see hinkels finally here.

great signing hopefully few more to follow now.

Keving said...

Ian- Having had a look at the present team, the young ‘uns of today seem to bestow Naka and Arfur as heroes. While me being in the older generation are more appreciative of the close control of Skippy- pal said he was Berbertovesq- the shot stopping of Arfur and the skill and I was there moments of Naka. Aiden is just Aiden.

Too old to have heroes in the hoops anymair, but disnny stop me being thankful for the finer things……

Oor midfield, maybe just isnny guid enough to produce consitant performance. Coming from Atalanta, Hibs and Hearts having to lift it against mobs playing cup finals is not common for these lackies.

The Barca tickets….wonder if I would get restrictive view rates for watching from behind ma couch….

Sixtaeseven(not baldy lol) will say I never said aboot Keane I was quoting a dear friend….yer right, his thinking is logical in a way. Under MON people got bored of the 5 and 6 nuthin tankins… they are the ones that are bemoaning the closeness and the poor standard that is being served.

I agree, unlike some other sites, it will only change when we play attacking fitba’….if we are being ENTERTAINED most of the time, thing is we have to back the team when we are poor .

Still the “fan” has changed and accepting that sometimes we may be poor and get beat will not sit well wie some at fortress CP.

Is the atmos of the past also just looked at all nostalgic thou? Sure the old CP was just as quiet at times….

Roberto Hooton- Nice for the huns letting the world know that he is for sale. £8m, bit steep for a guy who has had a decent half season. Right he is the best full back in Scotland by a short hair from Murphy at Hibs, but I dinny see Hibs getting £8m bids from the EPL for him…?

But, I like the double speak that is happening from Ipox. We don’t wish to sell him, but we accepted a bid behind his back, made it public, say it’s a great offer and nudge nudge anymair takers at the going rate? Auction anyone?

The huns overspend in the summer means Hutton is for sale no matter what they say. And he will move…what I hear Real and Inter are waiting in the wings…and Man Utd will come in if they fail in a £12m bid for Murphy……

Welcome Andreas, GS signing a player for a problem area…shockerrooney….someone should tell the newsroom staff that he is a full back…..eh?

Keving said...

Seven, you know rants are welcome!!!!

Is this the same Billy McNeill who bought Martin Hayes? Who writes for the Sun and has written some tosh in his ghost written coloumn? I’m not going to get into petty point scoring over oor GREATIST EVER CAPTAIN.

But, Mick is still the best CB at the club :-)

You call the nostalgia correctly. Yes, one Scottish cup, numerous failures and hun humpings do shape the Burns era. But that was on the park. Off the park the club was going places. We were on the crest of a wave. But that was due to how dark the days were before.

Where are we going the now? We have downsized, we are dominate but very likely to go backwards soon due to lack of investment. The club peaked in 2003/2004 10 years after McCann and Burns. Burns was the catalyst for the club getting to that point.

For us to get that buzz again..we will need to go through a period of bleakness and make winning leagues, cups and hame games against Motherwell as exciting as beating Milan. But that would not be acceptable for most. We would lose 20,000 a week if that was to happen….the PLC will not let that happen.

I had to laugh at yer list of players, from the burns era, they would get into todays team nae probs lol… they were part of the initial up sizing. You see players of the similar ilk playing and being signed just now. The players you mention from the Barnes Era were the pomp, blotted and spend easy years all whom would walk into todays team, seriously.

Keving said...

Bottomline........

We have been spoiled, the current fan is spoiled, they know nuthin better than success. We know that it can be taken away at the drop of the hat....

But the club has stagnated....and thats the problem....

Keving said...

I need to see the club going places both on and off the park, thats entertainment...just canny see it at the moment...

Seven said...

i never said he knew anything about right sided midfielders and hayes was a great player haha only kidding.

i agree reg hutton, they don't want him to go but make public the offer and accept it, then say they are delighted when he decides to stay, sounds as dodgy as one of hutton's tackles to me.

i agree with your assesment reg round about the season after seville was us our peak but i don't agree burns was the cataylst for it.

a lot of things happened rightly and wrongly after mccann stepped in and then appointed burns but i believe without martin o'neill Celtic wouldn't be the dominant team in scotland and as well thought of in europe as they are, nothing to do with tb in my opinion.

ha-ha i will admit i picked some of the poorer players from burn's team and the best from barnes team.

i totally agree the club has stagnated but it's a hard one to fix.

as u say a lot of the supporters are now just used to success and can't accept anything else but were do we/they go from here.

we are never going to win the champions league and the only way the spl etc becomes really exciting again to these people is if we haven't won it for a while which we don't want either.

the excitement of winning the league after 9 years of the hun's winning it was great but we won't ever get that again unless they become dominant again which we definetley don't want.

that's why i'd take winning the league every season no matter how poor we were as its in my opinion better than coming 2nd with a good team but i see wot u are saying.

reg the too old for hero's ive not reached that stage yet and hope i never do u old fart ha-ha.

sixtaeseven said...

I believe the feeling that we are stagnating comes from the fitba environment we are in.
The club is ambitious but is hemmed in by being in a small pond.

Last 16 of CL is great and all concerned at the club deserve a lot of praise for that, but with our resources it is probably our upper limit.
Personally I would be happier with a crack at the UEFA cup in the second part of the season. In the end, it comes down to winning things not just making up the numbers.

As for being the dominant club domestically, since the start of the SPL in 98 we have won 5 of the 9. This year's is up for grabs:
we win it and I think we can say we are dominant; they win it and it's 5 each and we're left with the hard luck stories.
And all that in a period when we are at a peak...

In an era when we get wall to wall 24/7 fitba, the entertainment value for the punters that turn up has to be special. We need cahracters in the team, guys that people will pay to see playing.

At the end of the day, we need to get out of the SPL - European second division until the real money kicks in...


PS - about dominance:
Current SPL games played/points is:
The Good Guys: 358 / 845
Stankmonsters: 356 / 791
It does look impressive, but at the end of the day it's titles won that count.
So surely, 6/10 would be our just reward - if you believe in SPL justice !
:o)

Keving said...

Seven- Burns turned the club around wie the style of fitba, however unsuccessful, he gave the place back the buzz.

Must say though Burn's was just as much a catalyst as Wim, Dr Jo and Barnes.

All failures are relevant but during that time we always clung to the hope that the saviour would come.

The board were willing to back the saviour when he arrived, MON was the last throw of the dice...

Where do we go from here? The board are quite happy qualifying for the CL every year, winning the league and cups wieoot progressing the club.

They are quite happy wie the consumer spending thousands in the shop, turning up when they want, leaving when they want as long as they buy their pie, bovirl and pizza meal deal....

When that stops happening then they will take action.

I'm sounding like an old skool snob...:-)

I get more excited nowadays in the development and appointments at youth level than the first team arrivals.

Maybe a team full of homegrown talent competing and winning in the CL would be entertaining for me.

But i still think at this team, for the squad and money GS has at his disposale then ENTERTAINING and WINNING fitba should be seen mair often....December has been bleak right enough...

Sixtaeseven- The small pond does come into it but as i have said i reckon the PLC are happy at just qualifying for the CL while spending a UEFA cup budget.

An UEFA cup run would generate long interest, widnae have minded being in the UEFA cup last 8 or 4 depending on the draw was possible.

5 oot of 9 disnny sound like the fabled GOD but....the fact we have won the league by massive margins eacch time shows we have the GOD.

Huns point that oot as if to say "aye we were pish" but i just say we were consitant and good.

Yer right if it is split 50/50 when we were at oor best just shows that history dictates apart from the NIAR era we have never been the dominate force due to the SFA and the MIBS!!!!

Characters, characters who are players..thats why the holy goalie is the FAV at the moment...

while the purist nods approval at Naka, Skippy and Caldwell.....

Meant to add...yer song made me laugh oot loud...

what the hell do we care right enough

Seven said...

u can't count from the start of the spl as us being at our best as the 1st year of the spl was dr jo when we weren't great and the next year was barnes/dalglish when we were even worse.

when i talk about dominance i mean since o'neill's 1st season in 2000.

he came in and changed everything and since the turn of the decade we are 5-2 up in terms of league's and we all know how tight the 2 they stole were.

Keving said...

On the field dominance yes, mate but...everything that went before- Dr Jo's teams werent that bad- the bad signings, bad cash decisions the penny pinching etc, from the moment McCann walked through the door was the start of the path to Boaby Petta skinning Ricksen and us gubbing them 6-2...

The reason...Wim, Jo and Barnes- THEN we went for a man that could take us forward and gave him cash...

so for me the mistakes are just as relevant...

Seven said...

fair enough i know wot u are saying but when we were beat 3-0 at home by them on their way to the treble in the infamous hugh dallas game with scott marshall at centre half we were shambolic both on and off the park same as when ict beat us 3-1 the next season under barnes and dalglish, no way were we heading in the right direction at that point.

then o'neill came in the board backed him and he totally changed how the whole club was run from top to bottom and how the whole club was viewed throughout europe/the world.

the mistakes throughout our history are relevant but in my opinion o'neill gave celtic fans their pride back not burns.

now that hinkel's in who else does anyone think we will/should sign to help us win the league?

sixtaeseven said...

Seven - I think a 10 year period is a pretty decent amount of time to look at things.
It's a bit lop-sided just to start looking at things as from when MON came and things really started to move in our direction.

Maybe a 5 year period would be a better indicator (that's what UEFA do for the coeffs). The "score" is still only 3-2.
If we win it this season, then over the 5 year period, the score will be 4-1.
That's more like it!
Especially when you consider they didnae even finish runners up once!!
:o)

Characters - yes, Artur is the man but would love to see a few more. However, sometimes I forget how young our team is, so hopefully there is still time for the likes of Mick, Skoosh, Aiden, and the like to really come out and establish themselves as hoops legends.

There's a rumour going round that the HG has signed a new contract - any truth in that or is it NIAPWJMIU material?

Seven said...

hoaly goalie meant to have signed new 5 year deal.

magic if that is true!!!!!!!

Seven said...

fair enough sixtaeseven, the reason i mentioned since o'neill came in was because i believe that was the major turning point.

u+kev were saying while we had been at our best since the start of the spl, and i didn't feel that was correct as the 1st 2 years of spl we definetley were no were near our best on or off park.

anyway if that is true reg the holy goalie that is a great piece of news.

Seven said...

meant to say i think it's better to look at things in decades rather than just pick a 5 or 10 years starting at any given point according to any individual.

the 90's was definetley the hun's and was one of the worst in our history and the best in their's.

so far this decade has definetley been ours so far and hopefully will continue to be so.

ianinjesi said...

I felt a bit sorry for Petrov and then Maloney because playing in that Villa team would frustrate anyone who wants to play football. The FA cup is on the BBC, thank goodness that Man U won!
It`s rubbish being second but it`s our own fault. St Mirren and ICT indeed!

sixtaeseven said...

Let's face it, lads, it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

They aren't going to start throwing away points anytime soon. So we are going to have to hang in there and grind out the wins.

I think that once we beat them, Gordon will have the waistcoat off his back and we will start to break away.

Until then, no more pharting about please!

Seven said...

i agree ianinjesi and i would love the 2 of them back at us.

had a fiver on ronaldo to score the 1st so was happy with that.

had lafferty today and he hit the bar when he should have scored.

some of the points we have dropped recently have been terrible.

i think apart from yesterday the last time hearts got a point was v us and hibs could be the same.

st.mirren and inverness were shockers as well as u say.

u are right sixtae they don't look like dropping many points so we need to be ruthless and not drop many at all and hopefully beat them in at least 2 of the 3 games but are we strong enough to do so?

hopefully but who know's.

depend's who is still to come in for both sides this month.

i think we have been quite unlucky injury wise and hopefully will have more luck in 2nd part of the season while they a spell of important players being injured.