Older Celts will remember the great Double season of 88, our club was 100 years old and things were good. I remember as a teenager listening to Radio Clyde report that Celtic would be splashing the cash, to back Billy McNeill in signings of Stevie Kirk, John Collins and other Scottish players. Alas Clyde then as now were talking pish, very little investment was made by the club.
25 years ago though things were different, we could sneak in and sign players on a Friday night, which the club would do to get people into the terracing. My late father told me this was common practice from the 60s and also said it was done on a Friday so the cheque would talk longer to clear, and the biscuit tin would have a few days of the fans hard earned cash to get the interest off.
Our manager recently during an interview corrected the BBC Chris McLaughlin, who told Neil Lennon that he had the strongest squad in the league. Lennon corrected him by saying he had lost 8 members of the squad during the summer.
After watching the game against Aberdeen on saturday, I feel the clubs most prized possession big Victor is being wasted in his shoe-horned role of Centre Half, not until he was repositioned in the middle of midfield did we grasp control, against a robust Brown brainwashed kicking Dons team.
I think we all agree that the squad needed a cull during the summer months, but certain positions we all know what they are need filled, a Bobo type centre half, and I’ll be greedy and say a Stubbs style one too. Up front a big manky centre foward who will bully, bite and win us headers.
“We have great hope for this young team” when I hear these words I think of the great Man City team of the 80s, that were gonna dominate English football where did they end up? I realise as a club we are limited to what players we can bring in, signings like Kayal, Izzy, Wanyama have been superb. The main problem I feel we face as a club is that certain managers Mark Hughes, Owen Coyle , Big Sam and more recently Nigel Adkins hover around watching our moves, waiting to gazump our signing targets/players already at our club. I will be sad to see Ki go, as I believe if we qualify he would be like Veron was at Man Utd, only really flourishing on the chess board that is Champions Leagues football. With his dynamic passing and freedom to move without the Honest Journeymen of Scottish Fitba persistenly fouling him.
Love the Parrot (twitter @Machrie72 and for podcast and website updates @TheLostBhoys & @HailHailMedia)
