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Celtic Diary Friday November 24: This Brendan Cult

No no, cult 

Like some kind of political or religious demagogue, it seems one is not allowed to criticise our glorious leader.

I like him. I think he’s doing a great job, but he gets things wrong sometimes, like the rest of us, in fact.

It won’t do him any harm to admit that now and again, and it won’t do the rest of us any harm to admit that either.

According to him, apparently its perfectly acceptable to check an opposing teams bank statement, and if it confirms a bigger balance than that of Celtic, then all of our players can have the night off as its no shame to concede seven goals to them.

Even Snow White didn’t let seven in.

And she was asleep most of the time.

Mind you, she probably adopted a better defensive position, however, which meant she at least emerged with her pride intact in the morning.

Somehow, though, in the eyes of many supporters-by no means all, which made the diary comments extremely entertaining yesterday,- Rodgers, despite overseeing a few insipid performances in europe, is beyond criticism.

Not here he isn’t. We’ve always told it as we see it, and right now what we see isn’t acceptable.

Part of it is because of the shambolic performance on the field, but part of it is the way that PSG management and players laughed at Celtic during the game.

If that doesn’t help to get the hackles up, then there isn’t a single player in our squad worthy of the shirt.

Looking back, Paris St Germain is a horrible club, staffed with horrible people who may excel in their chosen professions, but like the Leeds united side of the seventies, are never going to be anyones favourite team.

For instance, last Halloween I decide to go out guising as a vampire, or a venture capitalist, as they are known in the business world.

The lass in the fancy dress shop went into the back of the shop to get my outfit, and came back with a full PSG kit which had the name Neymar Jr on the back.

” I’m sorry, ” I said, ” You must have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count ”

Neymar is un petit merde, and he and the rest of his team mates were laughing at us and our club.

They were, to use the vernacular, taking the piss.

And not just out of Celtic…

November 22nd will be a day to forget for a number of people, including Celtic players, their fans, Brendan Rodgers, but also the French print and radio media present at the Parc des Princes.

 

The reason for the first three is pretty obvious, considering Paris Saint-Germain thumped the Scottish Premiership champions 7-1 in the Champions League, but for the latter, it’s because they went home completely empty handed.

The match report wrote itself, really, but the exclusive quotes after the game, those gathered in the mixed zone, which the players are normally meant to go through, but on Wednesday night, none of the Paris Saint-Germain squad stopped to chat.

In fact, most of them left through a side door after the Celtic match, with only four walking past the journalists: Layvin Kurzawa, Julian Draxler, Neymar and Dani Alves.

The former Juventus and Barcelona defender stopped to have a brief chat with the Brazilian media, and then skipped past the French lot screaming “Youuuuuhouuuuuu!”. 

This is, at least, what 20minutes recall on Thursday, writing an entire article the ‘story of that time the Paris Saint-Germain massively blanked the journalists’.

After all, that’s all they had to write about.

When midnight came and went, jokes started to fly around, like “Well, maybe we’ll interview one of the security members”.

Quickly, though, humour turned to frustration, and when the press officer turns around quarter past midnight and says “they won’t come, I’m sorry”, a few lose it.

“It’s a scandal. I’ve never seen this. Sh***y club” is overheard, with one journalist even asking out loud: “What am I going to write for tomorrow? I can’t really write about this ‘nothing’”.

Well, that’s exactly what 20minutes did. PSG may have beaten Celtic, but they lost a few fans in the French media.

There’s no word whether Dedryck Boyata, given 1/10 by French newspaper L’Equipe, stopped for a chat.

Yeah, thats about right.

Shitty club indeed.

 

Undoubtedly they are better players, but for an hour and a half on the pitch, they need to be reminded there is more to football than just being a better player.

Would Davie Hay have put up with Neymar’s antics ? Or Bertie Auld and Bobby Murdoch ?

Roy Aitken and Mick McCarthy would have taken it in turns to make Cavani save his best stuff for the next game…

This current lot simply stood back and admired them.

And thats because the manager has consistently refused to add that little bit of meanness that all good teams need when faced with superior players.

I’m no longer confident about beating Motherwell, let alone holding out against Anderlecht.

I’m worried how this team will respond to setbacks.

If they can’t get their dander up when the opposition are openly laughing at them, what will it take ?

And why isn’t the manager tearing their heads off ?

Post match, his responses were as limp as his players had been..

It is a sore one. We conceded seven goals in Barcelona as well but there were lots of moments here where we were very good I felt. You have to admire their quality,” 

Er, no you don’t. You have to find ways of preventing them from showing that quality.

They always threatened and scored some outstanding goals. I was proud of the players. We are disappointed with the goals we gave away and you can’t give away cheap goals at this level. The ball is everything, we gave it away and we were punished.

Proud of the players ? They’d have still been in the dressing room if I was manager, ducking flying objects ahead of being made to go out to the travelling support and apologise for not showing up.

 

“But it goes to the final game and we can still qualify for the Europa League.

“We came here to play against the best of the best. I’d be very surprised if PSG don’t make the final of the competition. 

Does that matter ? Really, does that matter ?

“We played five at the back, what do you want me to do? Play seven? Sometimes you have to take your hat off to their quality. Our players ran themselves into the ground but made mistakes.” 

It doesn’t matter how many you play at the back.

Not when they defend like this..

And that, Mr Rodgers, is down to you to sort out.

Your job is to manage the team.

To make the best of what we have, which means instilling first of all a wee bit of pride and a wee bit of fight at this level, to at least try to counter any technical ability that the players cannot match.

When Gordon Strachan lost five to Artmedia, and when Neil Lennon lost four to Utrecht, they made sure it didn’t happen again.

It’s known as “tactics “.

Google it if it helps.

Football isn’t just about scoring goals at the end of a free flowing passing move.

It’s about stopping other teams from doing that, its as much about defending as it is about scoring, and its as much about gaining possession as it is about keeping it.

For all they are unlikeable, PSG work just as hard to get the ball back as they do in keeping it. Celtic did neither , and consequently only really gained possession when the French side put the ball beyond Craig Gordon.

Ah, Craig Gordon.

An oddly apt photograph there, considering he’s just been well and truly violated.

I don’t think there was a great deal I could have done about the goals. Every one was of tremendous quality. You could go through them all.

“I had a few decent saves in the game, I would have liked to have had more, but the quality of the finishing was so good I wasn’t able to do that.

“I’ll watch it again. I watch every game. There’s always things to try to improve on. I’ll go through it with my goalkeeper coach Stevie Woods but I don’t think we’ll have too many talking points from the game, to be honest.

“That can happen. You can go through a game and not make too many saves, but still lose a few goals. When the finishing is of that standard, you have to accept that’s the life of a goalkeeper. You need to move on.”

There it is again, that pitiful acceptance, a mental shrugging of the shoulders like the wee boy who has had his dinner money taken off him.

If that is his attitude, an acceptance that he has peaked and a refusal to even attempt to improve, then he should indeed move on.

Now, have a look at this image…

Celtic star Kieran Tierney insists the team owes something to the fans

He’s shattered, and he’s very, very disappointed.

But his take on the game is completely different…

“The fans gave up their hard-earned cash to travel to Paris to watch us,” 

“They are a great support and we let them down but hopefully we can repay them on Sunday.”

Simple and straightforward, and an acceptance of responsibility.

No sign of that from the manager though…

Image result for jersey doesn't shrink to fit the player

Perhaps i’m being a little harsh on Rodgers, and no doubt a few will remind me that I’m not a football coach, or a manager…but it pains me to see even Theresa May is getting better results in Europe.

Image result for you've taken that too far

 

Alright then.

I’m no coach, not professionally at least, but i  do have a fair understanding of the basics, though, as do we all, and I think I can agree that to concede seventeen goals in four UCL games is completely unacceptable.

Something has to be done about that. Urgently.

And yet… I did used to do a bit of coaching, and at least one lad from the youth side I helped to  coach has done alright for himself.. and will have done even better than that come January…

Louis Moult was born ten minutes away from Burslem in Stoke,[43] and has an older brother, Jake.[44] He grew up as a Stoke City fan.[43] He attended Sir John Offley Primary in Madeley and Madeley High School. When he was 15 years old his mother Vicky died leaving him with his dad Arthur and brother Jake.[44] His brother works at Stoke’s academy as an under 12s and under 7s coach, and also plays for Alfreton Town, having previously been at Plymouth ArgylePort ValeKidderminster HarriersLeek Town and Stafford Rangers.

Though not actually at the same time he was there. I’d long since gone. Though I do remember his brother being in the team, or at least someone called Jake.

Or James , or something.

 

The memory plays tricks these days…

Speaking of memories, its time to remember an old friend, now departed..

Maybe its an age thing…

Thats right Barry, they’ve taken the assets and registered them to someone else.

I’m sure he understands how that works…

I’m not sure if there’s any hope for this one though…

Replying to 

You do realise we have dearer players than Celtic at the moment? 

No, come to think of it, I don’t.

It’s Frdiay, of course, and that means that its time for the unveilig of the Etims

Knob of the Week 

No doubt after criticising the our glorious leader, a few of you will want to nominate me.

Fair enough, but the edotors decsion is final and I’m going to nominate Brendan.

He knew exactly how PSG would play, and decided to let them do it, thus embarassing the club on the continent yet again. mind you, s did the players.

Brendan Rodgers, step forward, and accept if you will, this weeks Etims

Knob of the Week 

award on behalf of all of those who surrendered the honour of our club so meekly in a  city famous for its  cheese eating surrender monkeys

Image result for white flag gif

The last caption competition was on Wednesday, before the world darkened and the mountains crashed into the sea..

Paris 1950s by Robert

desdamoaner November 22, 2017 at 12:53 pm · Edit · Reply →

Lavideal, because by 19:45 tonight one just wont be enough. 

Today..

 

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Bigdunno
6 years ago

I disagree Ralph, sitting writing this in Charles De Gaulle airport. I was also in Molde, that was the lowest of the low and couldn’t have been any worse. We have moved on, yeah we got pummelled yeah we were awful, but at least we are there. Rome wasn’t built in a day, these things take time, give him time.

6 years ago

Caption: sevconians march on Ibrox, demanding that this Mr Beer is appointed as their new manager with immediate effect. When they find out that the guy they’re after is actually a STOUT fellow called MURPHY, the usual cry of “no Fenians here!” send them into an apoplectic rage.

mike
6 years ago

Big Billy, Boaby Murdoch, Berti Auld would have been sent of in Paris if they had taken your advice and then might not have been available for the Europa cup. The game has moved on from those heady days, its ok for supporters to criticise a manager, after all what happens on the park is his responsibility, but we don’t always know what is going on behind the scenes. But then again, the players would have been asked to keep their discipline.
Money,
Injuries,
Tactics,
Strategy,
Player available.
Players form.
All kinds of various outside influences affect what goes on behind the scenes, we as supporters are allowed to criticise despite the fact that our knowledge of the game is limited, but we also have a responsibility to SUPPORT the manager and the team, after all that’s what supporters do.

mike
6 years ago

Post gone shot down over Paree.

bawsman
6 years ago

Remember the last time Broonie gave Naymair a wee dig?

You don’t get away with tackling anymore – if you are not an elite club that is.

These harlem globetrotter style teams are protected by the refs.

Do you not notice that every time we are putting a move together they cynically take the player down. Forrest, Dembelle and McGregor constantly get fouled.

You tackle them and it’s a booking.

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  bawsman

Well said bawsman, I said the same in my post, relating to the Boabby Murdoch, Davy Hay, Berti Auld, these players would have been sent of if they tackled anyway like those days of old. They would be unavailable for the Europa league. The game has moved on and players today are not allowed to breath on fuds like naimair Neymar, the top players enjoy a fawning relationship with todays referee.

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago

Excellent talk today Ralph.Some things have to be said however unpalatable.You’ll have the screwballs on calling you a Hun etc etc but they are to be pitied,they have the blinkers on.Well done.HH

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  Rob O'Keeffe

Pitied…. Is that because we don’t agree with your opinion, I would say that, that sounds a bit like hun talk wouldn’t you?

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

You don’t agree with Ralph,pity……

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  Rob O'Keeffe

Mostly, but not always as far as Celtic and the team is concerned…. but is that a bad thing, a thing to be pitied?
When his Mrs asks him to paint the walls and shows him the colour, does he sometimes not go wtf. So I have my opinions and others have theirs but I respect the opinions of others, I do not PITY them, unless I think that they are being disrespectful, that sometimes makes me angry, but I never ever pity them.

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

But I surely admire him, for his skill, his dedication, his love of the Tic. same as you, I don’t always agree with you, as you will have noticed, but we are all different with different views and outlooks, but imo we are all the better for that.

Puggy67
6 years ago

A bit like Devon Loch you fucked that up in the last furlong Ralph. Cheese eating surrender monkeys is full blown Hun talk. The martyrs of the resistance deserve better and there’s an Auld Alliance that predates little England narrow minded xenophobic bullshit. Brendan for knob of the week is harsh too when a BBC employees said Peeness and Smith should take of their tenna pants and put on their brogues.

6 years ago

Ralph you are on the money. Too fucking right. We are caught up in a cultish deifying of rodgers it has to stop he’s a paid servant of the club giving the responsibility of making our club as good as it can be . He’s nearly there but this rabbit in the headlights approach to Europe isn’t cutting it. He should be held acountable for not having a team ready for these games. I don’t look forward to champions league games not because we aren’t good enough. But because of a lazy approach to these games we can get better results

mike
6 years ago

The Cult of BRENDAN.

He stands aloft on his elevated plinth,
towering above us while he chews on his plate of tatties and minth,
He plots the downfall of all he can see,
pity the fud couldny dae it to PSG.
but we love him dearly, this we know,
cos Brendans here for ten in a row.

6 years ago

Also think he’s been given a remit just to get in the ucl for the financial benefits. The club needs a mission statement that aspires for European success while keeping our brand intact. Up to now that’s not happening

jpm 88
6 years ago
Reply to  Iancelt67

You make an interesting point Iancelt67 ; weren’t 9 of the starting 11 on Wed already at Celtic before Rodgers came ?
In that time we’ve qualified to CL twice generating circa 70m .
The 2 “newcomers” cost less than 5m.( I know they’re not the only newcomers but the point still stands).
Rodgers has done fantastic to elevate what he inherited but that shouldn’t be an excuse to not invest.
Wed showed that investment is needed in Jan .
I’ve read a lot the last couple of days ; conflicting opinions yet most making a valid point somewhere in their post .
Strachan and Lennon had success with lesser players against CL champion sides (PSG have won nothing yet re-CL) so the question of tactics/style is valid.
On the other side of the arguement ; Rodgers believes he knows what he’s doing , and despite worries over his approach to these games (naive?) I would hold my nerve and “go with him”.
I think he’s earned that.
Also , as to where we are right now ; it should be noted that ourselves and Anderlecht had very similar outcomes to our games against the ” big 2″ whilst we gubbed them 0-3 . That’s the Belgian champions .
We also eliminated Rosenburg champions of Norway , who in turn eliminated Ajax , EL finalists back in May.
So if “where we’re at ” is better than the champions of Belgium ,Norway and EL finalists Ajax then that’s not a bad platform to build on , AS LONG AS IT IS BUILT ON .

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  Iancelt67

“Also think he has been given a remit just to get into the C.L. for financial reasons”. Where is this huge pot of money to turn the club into a C.L. team, because its surely not showing up in the accounts. He has been giving out better contracts to the existing players and paid £6.00 mill. for Ntcham and Hayes.
Presumably he will purchase another central defender and 1/2 new players….mibbee. There is no huge amounts of cash swishing around in the SPFL and it costs millions of pounds for players salaries stadium and ground maintenance. C.L. entry, Europa league and that is it, some clubs spend more on one player that could buy the whole Celtic business and we cannot compete with that. He is on record as saying that he has to Develop players that might be good enough to get us into the C.L. You cannot build on something that isn’t there,
Look across the river they couldn’t do it with other peepils money.

6 years ago
Reply to  mike

I’m saying that’s where it ends mike. I don’t think the ambition teaches beyond just qualifying

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  Iancelt67

Ian nobody, nobody wants to see us getting turned over like the other night, we have had a centre-back problem for years and its still waiting to be resolved. We lost our only fit r.b. inside 10 minutes, what happened thereafter was as predictable as the score. They had about 10 attempts on goal and they took them brilliantly, you pay a huge price for that skill a price we cannot compete with. Do I think that we could have done better…definitely, silly costly mistakes, centre-backs who are absolute mince, even K.T. Remember our home game when Lustig scored an own goal and Sumo gave a penalty away. Its that auld problem of balancing the rope between the SPFL and the giddy heights of the C.L. Short of buying in big players I think that we are caught between a rock and a hard place, too big for Scotia. but minnows in the C.L. the only other similar circumstances was when Rosenberg achieved qualification 13 times I think. How I wish that we were not in the same situation.

jpm 88
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

Hi mike ,

Wed night was a bad night for sure , but needs kept in perspective.
PSG has been a nightmare and there’s no ducking the pain and hurt caused by those results ; however IF we win our last game , then PSG aside , this won’t have been a bad campaign for me .
Beating the Belgian champions twice and going toe to toe with Bayern in Glasgow is , as they say , ” not to be sniffed at”.
I noted in my earlier post our position right now in the ” pecking order” of European football re – the likes of Anderlecht ,Rosenborg ,Ajax ;also consider our results/performances v Man C and some of the EPL teams results this week against “lesser” teams , and I don’t think we’re as far down that ” pecking order ” as some believe.
We were thrashed in Paris , but so were Barca ; we were thrashed in Barca ( last year) but so were PSG.
We were well beaten in Munich , but so were Arsenal , home AND away. I’m just saying ” some perspective “.
We can’t spend 30m on a player but hey , we’ve already got TWO 30m players anyway.
We pulled in 90m last season and are estimated to hit 100 m this year ; there’s room for investment in the team and IF it’s forthcoming (albeit in sensible amounts) then as I said in previous post I think we’re currently sitting in a not bad position in the pecking order , with room for further growth.
I also think Rodgers will bring that growth.

mike
6 years ago
Reply to  jpm 88

Your right about that jpm we have to keep a sense of balance,
its great to dream and sometimes dreams come true, but that doesn’t happen very often. A sense of perspective, 2/3 new players, central defenders and a, well take your pick.
Fingers crossed we get into the Europa and truthfully I am not very confident of much else, but we will see.
Good talking to ya!!

greenmaestro
6 years ago

We’re here,
We want beer,
Get used to it.

DannyBhoy
6 years ago

Taking a player out as the press refer to it simply is not allowed; look at the number of times Rogic was fouled, nothing given and the penalty shout nothing; look at a PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona player free kick and almost always a yellow card. Referees know their place in Europe and it isn’t applying the rules fairly, these teams must win through at ALL costs.
Poor call on Rodgers, his public utterances may well be very different to the private ones with the players. Knob of the week? Yourself I’m afraid…..

BJF
6 years ago

Good diary Ralph, I’m a Brendan fan and a fan of his football and his team but Wednesday hurt and he didn’t get it right with his media response. Can they make it up to us, yes starting Sunday stand up to the steelmen, see off Anderlecht and a nice run in Europe after Christmas. We won’t win it too many better teams like Arsenal, yes Arsenal, await us but a good run to show we can play well in Europe and not just on a one off basis. Wednesday was not a freak result, look at PSG at Celtic Park or Barcelona at the Nou camp that’s 3 in 11 group games. I don’t agree with Brendan being the knob that is too disrespectful for me.

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  BJF

BJF,measured and very reasonable statement…..

CarlJungleBhoy
6 years ago

Constructive criticism does nobody any harm. I’m also a big fan of Brendan but I was embarrassed at how poor we defended on Wednesday (although in attack we weren’t too bad IMO against a top class side ). Hopefully what Brendan say’s behind closed doors to the players who let us & themselves down, isn’t what he says to the media under fire and we’ll see higher levels of concentration & aggression on Sunday.

johnny
6 years ago

I read etims every day; having lived through the nineties in particular i’d say: lay off. It’s a – cliche – funny old game so don’t assume BR will stay and do 4 years with us. Yes, he has emotional buy in but what he’s achieved is beyond certainly my wildest dreams two years in for Celtic.
Did I enjoy getting watching Celtic getting sh*****ed by PSG? Nah.

CarlJungleBhoy
6 years ago

Caption: Bravely ignoring a spelling glitch on their plackards, protesters against the ban of venison from the Kerrydale Suite menu march on Celtic Park?

6 years ago

Caption yeah we want beer to self medicate to remember where you should be and not accept shite we are being dished out only to be placated by winning the league cup against Motherwell Neanderthals hell bent on bully and violence to get their point across . Yeah let’s all get cirrhosis livers and in our alcoholic haze we will all tell ourselves it’s all going to be alright until some numpty from red bull Salzburg makes boyata and Bilton look like laurel and hardy

portpower
6 years ago

Early up in the morning.Celtic up 1-0.Time for a shit while the kettle`s brewin` and a smoke.Come in to sit down and it`s 3-1.

Can`t defence thy defense.I`d get a game back there.

Caption:
Oh thee of little faith.We want oil.

BondiBrian
6 years ago
Reply to  portpower

Ah watched the first 8 minutes, went ti work. You know the rest. No seen the gemm canny be arsed but ah ah agree that “in Brendan we trust” shite isny doin us any favours. Hopefully first trophy in the bag this weekend. MON THE HOOPS!

Mike Annis
6 years ago

Ok he doesn’t always get it right, Brendan and Ralph but we got there. Reading over all the comments we would have got thumped anyway,mits justvthe margin we’re discussing. It gets annoying being thumped by big teams, now we know how a lot of other Scottish fans feel. Solution, not a clue. We will never compete in skill level and finances, just have to hope.

Caption. Rangers players, realising they’re getting paid noting try a new tactic.

Martin67
6 years ago

Comparing PSG to Artmedia or Utrecht is beyond a joke. A couple of years later Lenny’s team lost 6 in the nou camp.Strachans team consistently lost 2 or 3 goals away from home in Europe….these things happen against quality teams. Im sure behind closed doors Brendan’s words weren’t as complimentary about our players, its soundbites for the MSM. Why would Brendan want to give them another negative story to write about before a cup final or at any othertime for that matter.

Martin67
6 years ago
Reply to  Martin67

May I add it wasn’t always against quality teams so what lessons were learned?

Tourtenay
6 years ago

Today is another day although the hurt is still there, no one on here is a knuckle dragger and no one is a hun.
The one thing that binds us together is our love for CELTIC, honed in our early years and infused into our DNA, we carry it with us all our lives with pride and we will take it to our graves, that is what CELTIC is to us.
When we qualify for the Europa League and discover our first opposition they will look at our performance in the SPL for a brief second and move on but when they look at our performance in Europe over the past two years they will say “Ah good we’ve got CELTIC”
That is what we have become.
We do not need to be a world class sprint coach to know that Usain Bolt is brilliant, we do not need to be a rugby coach to know that Stuart Hogg is a brilliant full back and we don’t need to be a football coach to know that CELTIC’s performance in Europe is piss poor.
If our signings in the January window are average SPL recruits then the writing is clearly on the wall as regards ambition of the Board.
C’mon Celtic step up to the plate and raise our game in Europe to a standard we can at least be proud of.
HH

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Rugby?says it all.

Tourtenay
6 years ago

Great game, watched Scotland against the AB last week-end brilliant advertisement for international rugby.
Scotland welcome Australia tomorrow to Murrayfield, I think the Aussie’s might just have the edge with there free running backs, but hey who knows with a bit of extra effort Scotland may well beat them again.
HH

Monti
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Rugby?
What the fuck?

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago

??

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Well said,is Stuart Hogg a defender?….

mike
6 years ago

Killing me softly with his…Pies.

Eating his pies with my fingers,
touching his pies with my lips,
killing me softly with his pies,
killing me softly with his pies,
adding the pounds to my hips,
killing me softly with his pies.

I heard he made a great pie,
and so I came to his place, to talk for a while,
and there he stood in the door way,
tempting me with his pi de pi de pies.

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

What’s his name, Gregg?

mike
6 years ago

Harry Gregg, The hero of the Munich air disaster, the goal keeper of the Busby Babes. “Come back you bastards there’s a child crying” I found the mother who was in a bad way and the infant, kicked a hole in the fuselage and got them out. Albert Scanlon to I got him away.
I ran to the back of the plane and found Bobby Charlton and Denis Violet lying still, I thought they were dead, I dragged there bodies 20 yards away from the plane, they looked like rag dolls.
I started looking for Jackie and I found Matt Busby, I propped him up he was crying “My legs, my legs”, Roger Byrne was lying across him…Dead. I stared in horror and stood in disbelief as Bobby Charlton and Denis Violet stood watching the plane.

D J Smyth
6 years ago

Ralph what side of the Celtic family have you been thrown out of .
Nobody needs a self acclaimed comedy writer to know Celtic’s performance on Wednesday night wasn’t good enough .
We don’t need trouble makers trying to destroy the reputation of the manager who got us into Champions League . If we have to resort to Ralph’s enlightening plan to play players in their 70’s & 80’s to cripple oponents then honesty I don’t think that ever was the Celtic way .
We don’t like PSG ,but their team are a complete different standard than we have reached yet , & we don’t need half baked unproven tales about their players behaviour after match to dislike them more .
Ralph , when it suits you , you have been part of the one big Celtic family .
Of course English families are different & in England u run to fuck at the first sign of difficulty where as u Celts stick together & in unity we are stronger

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  D J Smyth

There’s the screwball,pity…..

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  Rob O'Keeffe

Racist as well,oh dear. Uncle Phil….

charlie
6 years ago

no a bad article ralph very funny ile be using that snow white wan later eh …..that never came oot right a hope mrs charlie disnae read this

charlie
6 years ago

ide like tae apoligise tae any tims a might have annoyed the other day ma only excuse is some ae the comments were bringing oan ma reflux ….lurkin huns kiss ma arse

Monti
6 years ago
Reply to  charlie

Charlie,
I should think so tae ya fanny 🙂

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  Monti

he he

charlie
6 years ago

a wis doon the boozer last night talkin tae tim and a zombie anyway the zom kept talin aboot paris the tim said it wisnae the club that lost it wis the company ha ha

BondiBrian
6 years ago
Reply to  charlie

I’ve just watched live Dundee beat huns 2-1. By krist the huns are atrocious. Put a smile on ma coupon but.

charlie
6 years ago

anyway ime away oot mrs charlie wants me tae go christmas shopping ………….ffs a can feel yon reflux cummin oan again he he

Melvin Udall
6 years ago

Giving our manager knob of the week is out of order.

He’s hardly going to criticise his players in the media is he?

Get back to winning ways on Sunday and forget the PSG game. They’ll destroy better teams than us by huge score lines.

A few people need to get real and realise we are lucky to have Brendan as our manager and will not be able to replace him when he goes with someone of similar quality for some time, if at all.

MU

Konrad
6 years ago
Reply to  Melvin Udall

He already has criticised them in the media – “You have to look after the ball and make it work for you and, first half, we didn’t do that – we played like under-12s at times,”. This time it was maybe under 9’s.

charlie
6 years ago
Melvin Udall
6 years ago

Ps you lost my respect as a knowledgeable football person yesterday when you predicted PSG players would freeze if we scored an early goal.

One of the most ridiculous things I’ve read until today and your call for a Souness or Hurlock type in the current Celtic team.

Laughable really.

Tubbytubthumper
6 years ago
Reply to  Melvin Udall

Where are you reading Souness or Hurlock Type? (besides Souness was a fantastic footballer during Liverpool’s heady glory days – yes a rabid hun – but he was a good footballer too)

I read that we need some steel – Hay, Auld in particular were not just hatchet men. Personally feel a Wanyama type is what we miss – protection of the back 4 – they were exposed in there at times. What a difference a Wanyama and a Van Dijk would make.

sajfraser
6 years ago

bawsman I noticed that said they are bringing are players down and there in no booking. The refs are protecting the super rich clubs.

Devoy45
6 years ago

Ralph, your writing and work puts some zing in the days of this old pensioner. Congratulations on your work ethic. You/we have every right to criticise our team and its management. “Knob of the Week” is unfair though. Bold, but unfair. The Tory Party in Scotland is so full of knobs that you could have your pick for the next decade or two.
Our task is always to support our manager and team but being free to speak our minds. We need to find a way to compete with the best in Europe. In Paris, we were giving the ball away in tight situations, making bad passes, and making life far too easy for our opponents. After one minute, we had them doubting their divinity. We need a quick second goal and then the game would have been very different.
Motherwell?
If we want to play our usual 4-2-3-1 then we will probably need a right back in for the injured Lustig and Ralston.
Gordon
Armstrong/Boyata/Bitton/Tierney
Brown/Ntcham
Roberts/Rogic/Sinclair
Dembele
subs: McGregor/Griffiths/Simunovic

If 3 at the back:
Boyata/Simunovic/Tierney
Roberts/Brown/Armstrong/Ntcham/Sinclair
Dembele/Griffiths

We also need to forget talk about enforcing, stamping our authority, etc. Bowman is a marked man and one other bad tackle and he’ll be off in two minutes. Long balls will be coped with by Boyata and Simunovic and Ntcham and Brown can contain Moult.
Let Motherwell foul us to death when we run them ragged. We’ll get the free kicks and corners. Let them risk yellow cards, then red. We don’t even need to get physical with them, just play our better game. What didn’t work against PSG will work against Motherwell and they will be on the back foot throughout. The Bhoys will lift the cup 4-1.
Another thing: Sinclair has what 9 goals so far, why are the ‘pundits’ talking about sub par, poor season, etc. He’s on target for 20-25 goals. Sub par? Sometime 30 years ago or so, we finished about 5th in a 10 team league and were only 5 or 6 points off relegation. Let’s just put it all into some kind of perspective. I’m gonna enjoy the ride. Y’all can come along if you like! Celtic, lift the cup then figure out how to beat Anderlecht at home. Hail, hail…

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago

Ralph I disagree with most of your post today outside the him stuff. There is no cult here. More support and understanding that football clubs have moved on from kicking great players into the stands and calling that a virtue. The Celtic of the sixties and the type of football club across Europe then has changed beyond recognition. Refereeing in Europe has changed beyond recognition. I remember the outcry about Broonie being stupid for getting sent off against Barcelona. The manager and the players made mistakes for sure and those mistakes were brutally punished by a far superior football team – dislikable as they are. No need for a rant about a cult or Brendan. We all know that no one is infallible including ourselves and your good self. I’m sure there will be the appropriate review at Celtic Park by Brendan and the team. It is needed and that said we are on to Motherwell. Let’s show them a good thrashing.

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  Broxburnbhoy

I take it you never watched ten thirty or the silent assassin in action.Kicking players into the stands,wasn’t their style….

Stiofan
6 years ago

I see you are still hurting Ralph – me too. I was dismayed at the meek acceptance of the PSG defeat just as much as the manner of the defeat. I agree that we should have at least let them know we were there , should have been in their faces an tackling hard. Sure there would have been a risk of red cards , as these clubs are well protected. I am not suggesting that we should deliberately foul opponents but should be capable of holding our own with anyone , no matter there perceived worth. I am not convinced that we will have the bats to deal with Motherwell on Sunday. Any of our opponents who watched the PSG humpin would be confident of getting something from Celtic. Disappointing, embarrassing, cowardly display. Brendan doesn’t think it was as bad as the Barcelona humpin – it was much worse, had he learned nothing ? ‘ The hard days make you stronger’ (Aly Raisman – paraphrased) BOI only if you learn from you mistakes. UFB

desdamoaner
6 years ago

Caption – Jan 1st 2025, After the successful implementation of the football ban the year before, President Sturgeon announces prohibition.

Fr7ank
6 years ago

The knob of the week is seriously out of order!

Monti
6 years ago
Reply to  Fr7ank

Ok you win it!

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  Monti

he he he he

Konrad
6 years ago

I like Brendan Rodgers a lot. I thnk he is a good manager & domestically he clearly knows exactly what he is doing.

On a European level however, he does not do one of the things he is always talking about, developing.

As a manager he needs to develop too. He needs to learn that sometimes you need to change your style and tactics to avoid humpings like the other night. It is no disgrace to alter your usual style to combat a team that has better, more expensive players. Indeed, it should be seen as a bonus if a manager can adapt his team to different styles, formations and tactics to suit the different teams he faces.

Rodgers is showing that he doesn’t have that in his locker. Ronny Deila had a similar attitude and got slated for having no proper plan B – his plan B being to make plan A work. Rodgers is exactly the same in that his plan B, C, D & E are all simply plan A. Imagine the reaction if Deila had been in charge of the humpings we’ve been given off Barca & PSG. Rodgers should not be above criticism and it’s about time some fans, and himself (going by his post-match interview) realised that.

mike
6 years ago

A wee bit of perspective, Brendan has been at Celtic for 17 months, he took over and with the same players has……
Won the SPFL by a huge margin.
Won the League cup.
Won the Scottish cup.
Undefeated in all domestic matches.
Got us into the group stages of the C.L. something that we hadn’t achieved for two seasons, we received £25 mill pounds and gave each SPFL teams some £375,0000 pounds, plus raised the co-efficient.
This season we gained once again entry to the Group stages of the C.L. achieving £30 mill. pounds plus probably gaining entry into the Europa league which is progress, raising the coefficient again and once more achieving more funds for the rest of the SPFL.
We remain unbeaten in the league and top the table and look forward to the final of the league cup. All this has been achieved on a tiny budget with basically the same playing staff.
Its not a cult, its just a deep appreciation for a manager who has delivered so far everything asked of him, in Brendan I trust.

mike
6 years ago

Awaiting moderation…mmmmmm.

Monti
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

About time too…ya foul mouthed cunt 🙂

Kenny
6 years ago

Not often that I disagree with you Ralph but I do today , yes we got pumped and yes the buck stops with the manager but although it doesn’t make it any easier to take PSG will hammer better teams than us before the season is over and don’t forget we’re still favourites for the Europa League place, I agree the defence were awful but that hopefully will be put right in January but to call the manager knob of the week is a bit much, Anyway I’m still confident we’ll win on Sunday so let’s just get behind the team and manager HH

Wisnae me
6 years ago

Germany has a few bad years with the old guard and decided to try something new and stick with it. They had a few embarrassing kisses and slipped down the ranking reaching their nadir with a 5-1 defeat to England. But stick with it they did. Since that defeat they went 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 1st.

Just saying sometimes you have to go through some bad times and keep the faith that you’re doing the right thing and believe it will pay off in time.

Of course if we lose 8-0 4 times next season a rethink might be in order.

Could be worse, we could be Everton fans.

Tourtenay
6 years ago
Reply to  Wisnae me

Wm, I don’t think Germany is a fair comparison with Celtic as the 5-1 defeat was it, no more humiliation.
Our demise in Europe has been going on now for more than two years with 5, 6 and 7 goal defeats with no sign of any improvement and the Board must ake some responsibility for that.
If Ronny D was the manager at the moment he would be getting slaughtered from all sides.
The problem with us at the moment is that we have a manager who is brilliant in the SPL but that’s it, lets hope we get a really good run in the Europa and gain an little more respect as a European force,but the jury is still out on BR in Europe.
HH

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

demise in europe ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ffs gei yersel peace

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Stick to your rugby cause you’re talking shite.

Wisnae me
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Okay, but what if the aim is to become comfortable enough playing that style to beat teams comfortably in the qualifiers and more than hold our own against third seeds? Over a couple of years we have decent runs in Europa and eventually start being competitive with style against the big boys and get a last 16 on merit playing passing football. That’s the dream.

I loved the Barca game as much as anyone, apart from Rod Stewart, but it’s a total one in a hundred result and anyone wanting to April the bus and hit on the break every game in Europe can watch Walter Mitty’s Huns journey to The Desolation of Manchester. Not saying we don’t need more fight and less respect, and some defensive awareness would be good too, but you can’t get better at playing good football against good teams if you just park the bus against them. We want to beat them at football, the Celtic way, not by any means necessary. I’ve had it up to here (ma heid) with so-called Celtic fans shouting for us to dive, feign injury and try to injure better opponents. That’s not what Celtic’s about and if it ever is then you’re welcome to it and I’m off to watch English football where at least I hate everyone.

6 years ago

Abswolutley superb. At last someone who appears to know what it is to support Celtic. If any person associated with the club does not think that Wednesday was shameful they need to rethink why they call themselves Celtic supporters kn I have said for months that there is something rotten at the club and it is the acceptance of everything as if we are all supposed to be one entity. The support have became almost rangers-esque with the ‘we all think the same’ mentality if you do not you are a Hun. Rodger’s has had it easy at Celtic but he knows as do his players that beating everyone in Scotland is not that much of an achievement. It has done nothing for the confidence of the Celtic team. They know they are not that good and crap themselves whenever faced with a real challenge. Another thing that needs to be examined is Brendan’s record in Europe and in big games, when put under the spotlight it is not good. Rodger’s came to Scotland to repair a tarnished reputation. I think this reputation was a little unfair on him. However, 64 games unbeaten in scotland has not improved his reputation at all, where he wants it to, in England. Rodgers is using Celtic to repair his rep to get another crack at the EPL. He has enjoyed fantastic success but no one is head-hunting him for a big job because of what he has achieved in Europe. He struggled at Liverpool in Europe and has done so at Celtic. The Anderlecht game should be a foregone conclusion but I dread them scoring first and the crowd turning on the team because Celtic might just crash. You learn nothing from victory only through adversity do you improve. Rodgers learns nothing from beating the amateurish opposition in Scotland but his comments after absolute hammerings are either delusional or he is a liar. This kind of acceptance of absolute humiliation with a ‘what I am supposed to do about it’ attitude is frankly pathetic. If he says it is the money taht is the cause and he should not be criticised for such defeats then he deserves no praise for beating the dross in Scotland because there is a bigger discrepancy in finance between us and Hamilton than between us and PSG. We have 20 times the paying customers than Hamilton do. And it is good that people are willing to speak up and say things are not good enough at times. Another Celtic supporter spoke today about Celtic supportersw welcoming investigation and criticism of Dermot Desmond as the club has monetised this ‘more than a club’ idea and are only too willing to praise the fans who keep links with he original ethos of the club, while people who are involved with he club could not be further away from what the club is all about. We are doing the same with our claims to be a CL team. Clearly we are not a CL team. And the mockery of the PSG players demonstrated what they think of us. It is time that the board supported the idea that the club deserves to be in the CL and stop with this gutless attitufe that it is enough to be in it (the fat kid participation syndrome). Nothing will kill the club faster. It might save the manager from having to make an arse of himself blabbing defeatist nonsense every year after we have been openly humiliated by those we consider to be bigger and better than us. There is also a ludicrous point made above about getting players sent off for being too physical. Do you realise that Celtic made about 3 tackles on Wednesday. There is a world of difference in kicking a team off the park from standing around fiddling with yourself at how good they are. I was surprised half the Celtic team could not run because of the autograph books in their shorts.

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  john

Excellent diary today John.The blinkered mob won’t be happy but who cares?…..

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  john

Oh John – more grade A pish. You really are an Olympic standard malcontent.

charlie
6 years ago
charlie
6 years ago
6 years ago

I like Brendan Rodgers. And domestically he has worked wonders but so what? Look at who we are playing, 11 penniless teams!. We squeal like stuck pigs about the financial gap between us and Bayern and PSG yet we lap the applause for beating teams who have less cash than us if they clubbed together. We can’t have it both ways. We spent 4.5 million on Ntcham in the summer. How many other teams in Scotland can afford to pay 4.5 million for one player. the new Huns are in big trouble having spent 2 mill they did not have on Pena. Celtic are not lucky to have Brendan Rodgers, as the man himself says he is lucky to manage us. And he gets paid 50 grand a week fro the privilege. He managed us to two CL participations however the point of this is surely to strengthen the team to play in Europe. What has happened? A weak, shambolic defence, where Dedryck Boyata has miraculously become a good player and the summer swoop for Johnny Hayes who is clearly past his best. But the real scaqndal is that the board and Rodgers are getting away with this because a sizable proportion of our supporters don’t think it is bad and don’t seem to take it too badly. Brendan Rodgers is in dream land he has never been in a job with so little pressure, except one week in August. Gets us to the CL Brendan and then you can put your feet up for 10 months. Celtic’s reserves could win the league. Only stipulation you have 5 million to spend! This will not change until Rodgers forces the change by demanding cash to improve. I don’t see him being involved for 10 in a row. Any more of these results and he will never get a big job again. I still think we will get one tie after Christmas but it is by no means 100% certain. Anderlecht will fancy saving their entire season and they have an opportunity because Celtic will be worried. Lose an early goal and it might not be comfortable viewing. Same goes for Sunday. When we lose one we inevitably go on a wee bad run. Only then will we find out what BR is made of. Let’s hope the one is not on Sunday but they will be inspired by Wednesday. Motherwell would have beaten us on Wednesday.

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  john

the only wan squealing like a stuck pig is you as usual

Tourtenay
6 years ago
Reply to  john

Very good observation John, prior to our yet another demise on Wednesday none of these comments regarding BR inability to succeed in Europe would have surfaced but reality is setting in especially with those of a more reasoning disposition.
Lets hope we do well on Sunday.
HH

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Bit harsh,some very good points made.Freedom of speech without abuse would be appreciated….

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Quite so!

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  john

You keep wishing or is that hoping that we go on a bad run. Fuck off.

Tourtenay
6 years ago

Ah, I see lose the argument and resort to verbal abuse and insults.
I thought this was a forum for debate not abuse!
HH

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Lose the argument? You are clueless you roaster. As I said stick to rugby because you know hee haw about football.

Tourtenay
6 years ago

Oh Dear,
None so blind as those who will not see.
I’m off out to dinner, enjoy your evening.
HH

charlie
6 years ago

are ye away tae stick yer snout in the level 5 trough

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago

Keep telling yourself that and don’t choke on anything too small.

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  john

John why do you dislike Celtic so much? You are full of criticism of everybody at Celtic today. Were you associated with the old Board? The ones that ran the Club to the brink of bankruptcy? Is that it? You revel in Celtic defeats and you are critical of Celtic wins. So tell us John – what would you do? What money would you bring in to compete in Europe? Who would be your manager batter than Brendan Rogers? Serious now – no pie in the sky answers here. No if this and if that – concrete plan for success for Celtic the John way. Tell us.

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  Broxburnbhoy

He wants to spend squillions and then take over the universe before moaning that the universe is not enough. Wonder what he thinks of God?

Salad Queen
6 years ago

Own goal for you Ralph.
Brendan has got us top o’the jocks, Europe is just a bonus.
We need new and better players in January for another go to get the £30 million next season.
It’s only Motherwell on Sunday but I would take the centre forward from them.

Tourtenay
6 years ago
Reply to  Salad Queen

SQ.
Europe is just a bonus!!
Since when?
HH

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago
Reply to  Tourtenay

Exactly,it’s in Europe that people sit up and pay attention.We don’t want to find ourselves shut out from the C.L. due to a failing reputation through multiple defeats….

Macca
6 years ago
Reply to  Salad Queen

Nonsense!! With the resources we have top of the Jocks (a poor league indeed) is now a given. Brendan will now be judged on our performances in Europe

Monti
6 years ago
Reply to  Macca

PISH!

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  Macca

Pish and more pish

SteveNaive
6 years ago

Difference between a hard and fair tackle and a foul tackle. We should be able to do the former but many opponents fall as if shot in Europe as they nearly always get it. Watch the difference on Sunday. Hard and fair… let’s try it in Europe.

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago

You think Motherwell will be hard but fair? I think they will be hard and dirty and I’m pretty sure one if not more of them will be sent off. That’s going on previous observations.

Macca
6 years ago
Reply to  Broxburnbhoy

Indeed they will. It’s called giving yourself the best chance with the resources you have. Brendan could learn something.

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  Macca

Candidly Brendan has nothing to learn from Motherwell, unless kicking the opposition of the park unless that is playing football the Glasgow Celtic way – that isn’t the Celtic I want to see

Broxburnbhoy
6 years ago
Reply to  Macca

Oh and Macca we will hump Motherwell no matter what they try to do. Hack us, park the bus, try and play us at football. We are just so much better. Personally I hope the referee is ready to quickly stop the violent on field assaults Motherwell have been quilty if so far this season. As I said nothing to learn from Motherwell – nothing at all

mike
6 years ago

Well I’m of to laugh at the huns, the blue ones.

henkesdreadlocks
6 years ago
Reply to  mike

Lol.

mike
6 years ago

😉 As opposed to the maroon ones.

Rob O'Keeffe
6 years ago

Caption: Charlie and his chinas go Christmas shopping…..

KOTW should be Ruth(demoted)Gilfillan of polis Scotland,a bitter,sectarian bitch…..

charlie
6 years ago
Reply to  Rob O'Keeffe

that fuckin better no win it ralph he he

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