{"id":8240,"date":"2015-12-03T17:10:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T17:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=8240"},"modified":"2015-12-03T17:10:32","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T17:10:32","slug":"bending-a-ball-around-a-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=8240","title":{"rendered":"Bending a Ball Around a Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the Provocative H<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am alarmed at the ease at which some fellow Tims (and I include some well respected ETims scribes in this) seemed to think that it was fair game to continually stick the boot into our assistant manager, John Collins. My problem is that most of the assessments seem to me to be based on quotes that have been read in the Daily Record , the paper that most of all has consistently taken the most soup served from the PR machine at Ibrox\u00a0 (in both their incarnations), and is mutually accepted in Tim Land as being \u201canti-Celtic\u201d. This manifests itself with a conclusion by some that Monsieur Collins is always talking, as the good people of Monaco would say, merde. Some go further, and conclude that our former Predator wearing Hunskelper of the 90\u2019s is arrogant, aloof and only interested in showing off his stomach muscles to those poor fragile souls who inhabit the Celtic locker room and should therefore be sacked.<\/p>\n

Before I start, its worthwhile remembering John Collins as a player, and his Celtic credentials. I\u2019m sure that I read years ago that his dad used to drive him all over the country to represent Celtic Boys Club (pre Hutcheson Vale days), but given my memory has suffered due to excessive alcohol over the years, I cannot represent that as fact. What is certainly known, is that just before he signed for Celtic in 1990, he was approached by Rangers and offered better terms to sign for them. However, being a man of his word, and a Celtic fan, he ignored this and signed on the line for his boyhood heroes.
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