PO Box 306, Glasgow, G21 2AE, Scotland
days of our lives
Porto, Rosenborg, Juventus, Valencia, Bayern Munich, Anderlecht, Lyon, Barcelona, Ajax away, Rangers umpteen times, 6:2, 3:0 at Mordor, three out of four championships. Best stadium in Europe as acknowledge by the likes of Beckenbauer, UEFA Cup finalists, UEFA Cup last eight, three minutes from the last 16 of the Champions League, 11,000 waiting list for season tickets, manager wanted by the A list of clubs all over Europe, financially the best run club in the country.
OK, them's the facts. Anyone who trooped out of Ibrox after watching Celtic being humped 4:0 in the Dalglish/ Barnes era wouldn't have dreamt the above was possible. It's all down to one man, the messiah himself. Martin O'Neill.
Gentlemen, and ladies, we are living in great times. Enjoy. Anyone who picks up the phone or writes to the papers to criticise these halcyon days hasn't the slightest clue. As the great John Lennon once said, 'You don't know what you've got till you lose it'.
Bask in these great times. As long as the Blessed Martin is at the helm we can optimistically look forward to many more great memories. This guy has provided more memories in four years than in my entire 35 years of watching Celtic. Praise be. Enjoy. We may never see his like again in our lifetime.
STUART
SUTCLIFFE
by e-mail
mad as a march hare
Dear NTV,
My friend wrote this and sent it to the News of the Screws. I don't think they will publish it but I though it was good.
Mr. McNee,
This is the first time I have ever written to a newspaper columnist. Many columnists/ sports writers or even those pompous enough to call themselves journalists have managed to offend people in the past. However, you have taken this unfortunate art form to a new level. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, however bigoted, petty or small minded that person is but I find it disconcerting that your newspaper and paymasters endorse your views when they are those of a bitter, bigoted man who thinks that stereotyping decent football fans is a fair way to make a living.
You have a job that many people would love yet you seem to take no joy in watching football matches for free (when did you last spend a coin watching the national game?). All you seem to do is put down those who watch the game and those involved in the running of it. Don't get me wrong, the SFA and Berti Vogts are there to be criticised, and it is your job to mete out criticism. But only when it is due. Rather than pointing out where people have gone wrong and suggesting what should be done instead (this is called constructive criticism - ask Mr. Speirs c/o Scotland on Sunday if you're confused) you choose only to put the boot in when, as a mere scribe, you are not qualified to do so.
Over the last couple of years your main - if not sole - agenda has been to decry Martin O'Neill, Celtic Football Club, the board of directors, Neil Lennon, Henrik Larsson's Ferrari and the Celtic support. Do you see a pattern here?
Before
you start stamping your feet please read on. I am not trying to suggest
that the above are beyond reproach. However, they should be criticised
only when it is due. Here are some examples of your contribution to
journalism:
* Gerry does his part for anti-sectarianism by calling Martin O'Neill
a leprechaun. The description varies between jumping leprechaun (when
he is jumping) and bespectacled leprechaun (presumably when he is wearing
spectacles).
* Celtic are praised by more objective sections of the media for reaching
the UEFA Cup final. Gerry dismisses Celtic as a team of cloggers, neglecting
to acknowledge that putting the ball in the back of the net does require
a modicum of skill, even if we do have the audacity to sometimes score
from headers and free kicks.
* Celtic beat a silky Barcelona at Celtic Park. According to the media
Barca are Europe's form team. In his column - Gerryland - McNee states
that Celtic will be found wanting in the second leg and the sooner Barcelona
put Martin and Celtic in their place the better. Aye, always support
the Scottish teams right enough.
* The Sunday following the Catalans' evacuation from Europe, McNee dismisses
them as a flawed team bereft of a natural striker. He makes this judgement
even though he watches a different game as the cloggers defended their
lead against a club whose expenditure on players dwarfed that of their
opponents. True, Celtic defended for most of the game, but defending
is part of the game, hence teams employ defenders.
* McNee describes the Celtic fans as 'wildebeests' who have no knowledge
of the game and the sooner they are replaced by 'real' fans the better.
You are not a sports writer. You are a wind up merchant - and not a very good one at that. I could go on at great length and cite more examples. However, as I care about the rainforests I will get to the point.
Gerry, you are a sad, pathetic figure on the periphery of journalism who thinks he knows about football. In reality the man in the street has the same knowledge, and those you make a living criticising have forgotten more about football than you will ever know. Do the honourable thing. Apologise and retire. And if you think I'm being harsh you should hear my dad. He thinks you are genuinely mentally ill.
GEORGE
DONNELLY
Paisley
paranoia
Dear NTV,
At the recent game against Kilmarnock where Celtic clinched the title the referee disallowed a Kilmarnock 'goal.' In the TV studio the 'experts' were initially ready to back Bill Brown, the Killie assistant manager, in his urge to condemn this as yet another example of refereeing bias in favour of the Old Firm.
However after watching replays of the incident from several angles Stuart Lovell, a professional player with Livingston, pointed out that the ref had called the decision correctly. The Killie player 'tackled' Balde from behind, didn't get to the ball and the ref blew for a free kick before the Kilmarnock player put the ball into the net. As Lovell correctly pointed out, tackles from the back are banned. Much to, ex-Ranger Gordon Smith's discomfort he was forced to agree with Lovell's analysis of the situation. Foul awarded, referee perfectly correct.
Imagine my complete lack of surprise when I picked up the papers on the Monday after the game to read the rantings of the resident experts in what passes as a sporting press in Scotland where they backed Bill Brown's diatribe against the referee. TV analysis clearly showed a foul had been committed but these experts preferred to put their own spin on the situation and imply that the ref had shown bias in favour of Celtic.
Am I the only (paranoid) Celtic fan who questions the underlying agenda of these journalists?
One final thought. If, in a similar situation, Bobo Balde had been the player who had committed the foul do you think the Scottish Media would still be insisting that the 'goal' stand. Funny, me neither.
P.COLLINA
by e-mail
tickets only
Dear NTV,
The Dunfermline v Inverness Scottish Cup Replay attracted a 'crowd' of 5,728. The first leg was watched by a mere 13,255 spectators. The total attendance over the two games was 18,983. When it comes to allocating tickets to Celtic and Dunfermline for the final I hope that the SFA take into account how few Dunfermline supporters attended the semi final. If they give Dunfermline half the tickets Celtic supporters will be fairly entitled to ask why the SFA want to make it easier for part time Dunfermline fans to get Cup Final tickets than Celtic supporters who by supporting their team every week put money into Scottish football and thus help keep it afloat.
Here's hoping the SFA see sense and give Celtic a larger allocation of tickets for the final than Dunfermline. If Dunfermline get 10,000 tickets - which would be extremely generous as it's far higher than their average gate - then not only would every real Dunfermline supporter be able to get a ticket but it would also make more tickets available to Celtic supporters.
T MALTHUS
by e-mail
we gotta get out of this place
Dear NTV, I set out to pen a really in depth and incisive letter about the state of Scottish football on the back of the recent managerial move in Edinburgh. However, the following stopped me: Robertson, manager of ICT, being an Edinburgh boy, says Hibs is a massive club. Granted he is making a play for the vacant job. It then struck me - where did the manager of this massive club go to better himself? Answer- Plymouth 'bloody' Argyle.
I was about to take this further and lambaste the state of Scottish football and how Celtic must get out, when it dawned on me that Williamson's predecessor in the Hibs job had gone to an even smaller club and, in choosing Plymouth, fat Boab is, indeed, being upwardly mobile. Big Eck wasn't so lucky!
Mine's a double
ALEX MUSTAY
by e-mail
away days
Dear NTV,
Lonsdale Travel are Celtic's sooper dooper, official, travel partner for European away games. For the Barcelona trip they were charging Celtic supporters £249 for a day trip. They are also Liverpool's official partner for away European games. They were charging Liverpool supporters £199 for a day trip to Marseilles. Are we getting ripped off or what?
Keep broadening the mind,
ALAN WHICKER
No Fixed Abode
hunsport
Dear NTV,
Article in the Sun today.... EXCLUSIVE by Villareal keeper Jose Reina with banner title 'My Mate Mikel has told us how to beat Celts'. Funny how he hasn't managed to tell his own team-mates how to do this!
I also seem to remember Arteta telling Celta Vigo how to beat Celts and Barcelona how to beat Celts and etc. etc...
Yours etc.
TONY HAMILTON
by e-mail