The match tonight at Celtic Park against Ferencváros is almost certainly the biggest test that Neil Lennon’s men have had so far in this fledgeling season.
In these strange COVID days, it is a one-off cup tie rather than a two-leg affair.
Without any fans at Celtic Park, the home advantage is minimal.
Writers on Hungarian football are in agreement that this Ferencváros side is the best ensemble to come out of Hungary in a generation.
I’m not minded to question that assessment.
When I was first taken to Celtic matches in the 1960s as a small child the generation of men on the terraces had lived through the glory days of Hungarian football.
Many of them also saw the finest example of that golden generation Ferenc Puskás.
When I heard of that triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt by Real Madrid, there was a reverence in their voices.
They knew what they had watched was special, was historic.
Puskás remains the only player ever to score FOUR goals in a European Cup Final.
Special…
Anyone of my generation of football fans knows the name Puskás.
Thankfully, it is now passed on since the creation of the eponymous award by FIFA in 2009 for the “most beautiful” goal scored in that calendar year.
I think it is a safe assertion that since the days of the Galloping Major Hungary has not produced a player of his sublime quality.
What happened?
The demise of the Mighty Magyars is generally accepted to have happened in 1956.
That is a momentous year in Hungarian history and not in a good way.
Did the Soviet tanks crush the spirit that had produced such a beautiful flowering on the field of play?
Certainly, Puskás emigrated from his homeland that year, as did several of his international teammates.
What is not in dispute is that Hungarian football never reached those heights again.
The Glaswegian men who watched Puskás destroy his German opponents at Hampden that day could not have imagined that their own city would, within that decade, produce a local select who also lift that glittering prize.
However, there is a crucial difference between Hungary and Perfidious Alba.
The Lisbon Lions as a group had very few appearances for the national team.
With half a century under the bridge, it is clear that the 1960s was the golden age of Scottish football.
As well as the Lions Scotland also produced glittering impresarios like Baxter and Law.
However, how many countries can boast of a European Cup-winning side comprised solely of their own nationals?
Quite…
For the uninitiated Scotland achieved incredibly little on the international stage in the decade of the Lisbon Lions.
The Hungarians had their golden age, and it almost certainly will not return.
Fair Caledonia also had a blessed generation of footballers.
Unfortunately for the governing authorities too many of them played for a club formed by Irish immigrants.
In 1952 the Hungarians told the world that they were a force to be reckoned with at the summer Olympics.
That was the same year when the brethren at the SFA told Celtic to take down the Irish Tricolour.
I’m sure that the nice new fluffy modern SFA must have found it in themselves to apologise for that shameful episode.
I just can’t find any mention of it.
Those same chaps who were so affronted by the Irish flag were in place at Hampden when Stein’s men became immortal in Stadio Nacional.
Now all is changed, changed utterly.
Indeed, it is now even possible for a Hoops player called Kieran to captain Scotland.
However, looking back, it is hard to shake the view that had Scotland has already had its very own golden age in the beautiful game, and they dark blew it.
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The Court of Session has awarded an interim payment of £600,000 to two Rangers FC administrators after the Crown admitted a “malicious” prosecution.
David Whitehouse and Paul Clark were appointed as administrators of Rangers in February 2012 and the club was liquidated in October 2012, shortly before both left their positions.
Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were both arrested and charged in relation to their positions as administrators for Rangers FC. The charges were later dropped and the two men allege that the Crown Office and Police Scotland subjected them to wrongful detention, arrest and prosecution.
The pair are claiming for a total of £14 million in damages and although the case is still ongoing, Lord Tyre in the Outer House ordered an interim payment of £600,000 after new revelations from prosecutors.
Lord Mulholland was Lord Advocate at the time and had previously denied any wrongdoing.
However, this week the court was told by the former Lord Advocate’s lawyer Gerry Moynihan QC that the Crown was now admitting liability for wrongdoing in parts of the prosecution.
Mr Moynihan said that the Crown now accepted that the treatment of Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark during the prosecution was in breach of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the prosecution – beyond the initial hearing – was “malicious”.
Lord Tyre continued the matter for a further procedural hearing next month, and a full hearing is scheduled for January 2021.
Further to my earlier post…and my criticism of our “Signing Policy “…we’ve just announced the signing of David Turnbull from Motherwell.
It’s all in the timing lads !!
What a shambles.
I actually went back and checked but on the 11th Aug, I stated we should budget around £10,000,000 for a two year contract for a top-class manager, someone tactically aware but perhaps out of favour at the moment. Even a 1yr contract if he so wishes and who wouldn’t want to come in for the party. The players are there, to some extent, and he would galvanise the team for the big push if you will. Lennon might be the wittiest, brightest guy in the room in a private situation but on the bench he appears disconnected to what is happening on the pitch until it is too late. Lennon’s comments about players wanting to leave only reflects on him.
I genuinely feel, if he has Celtic’s best interests at heart, he should resign although I can see the job being given to John Kennedy!
Didn’t Craig Levine try putting out a team with no recognise striker? I’ll leave it at that…
Fault lies fundamentally at Neil Lennon’s door for last night’s result. Formation/lack of strikers/square pegs and round holes. Step back from the kerb here comes a bus driven by the man himself.
Given that he is to blame for the team selection …and the use of the players…and coupled with the fact that after the game he lost the plot …and with it potentially the dressing room…there’s grounds for thinking he won’t survive this.
Interesting times ahead.
Last nights result angered me, specifically for the lack of preparation by NL and his coaching staff, basic lack of tactics or being able to motivate a group of players, this was compounded by NL moaning in post match interviews and using social media to highlight specific players. Have some class and dignity and do this privately.
We’re continuing reminded that PL’s focus is money, what I fail to understand is why he is allowed to repeatedly gamble on the CL qualifiers when that is the most significant source of revenue for the club. That’s four times we’ve gone out in the early stages to clubs we should have beaten, break the pattern and replace NL and get a recruitment strategy in place that allows us to be ready with a strong squad of fit, focused and motivated players and a coaching staff who have the tactical ability to put in place an effective game plan. I’m under no illusion that we can win the CL but if teams like Ajax can progress then we should have the ambition to progress. This in turn will give the club and players the profile to both sell and recruit.
Hi Phil,
A thought-provoking piece.
You might find the following article interesting:
https://emagcreator.com/GCU/BMM01039_ALUMNI_MAGAZINE_sp/page_15.html
With kind regards
Paul
After last night’s debacle ( only word for it ) I was left with a range of emotions…
Gutted that we lost another CL game when we shouldn’t have….
But not really surprised at the end of the day …because as I’ve said often…we are not CL standard and need to accept that.
And angry at Neil Lennon for both his team selection…and after match comments.
To play without a recognised striker while having two sitting on the bench ( that cost us millions btw ) is utter folly and is inexcusable…and he needs hauled over the coals for that.
However its his comments that have really got me angry…
For a start…Not one player …in my opinion…didn’t work their socks off to try and get a result…so why muddy the waters by inferring otherwise ?
Also…he suggests that its been a bone of contention for quite a while…So why wasn’t it sorted before now Neil ?
To wait until after last night’s game is unforgivable.
But my main anger is directed at whoever makes signing policy ( Peter Lawwell ?)…
The Club has known for quite a while the dates of these qualifiers and yet we find ourselves in the weeks leading up to this critical fixture …still scrambling around trying to sign people !!
The Ajeti saga is indicative of how every transfer window goes…We sign him eventually…but he’s not match fit..?? An utter shambles.
We’re now also possibly on the verge of signing two players this week…?… A bit late if you ask me.
Who runs this side of the business…? It’s an absolute disgrace the way we handle it.
Finally…Its reassuring to know that despite the loss of CL revenue…we have an owner who is a billionaire and will see us through.
And we’ve got the cheek to laugh at the Gulllibillies.
terencenova. Bravo very well said. I was thinking along those lines.
You are 100% correct. The manager has said it to take away the heat from
his inadequacies, simple as that,but it just will not wash this time.
Phil, enough with the history. We all know it. Fast forward to the here and now and the future. You were talking of golden generations in this piece, well what I saw last night was a rusty bucket. Actually disgraceful, and that’s not too strong a word. This was supposed to be a big year for us and the club possibility of a quad treble, a good run in the champions league and blowing everyone away on the league on our way to the 10. We’re actually in a mess already. It has the same atmosphere as the start of the season when Brendan left. The way this is shaping up this certainly won’t be a “golden” generation we’ll be talking about, in fact looking to the future with Lennon at the helm it’s about as bright as a solid bar of tin!
Put Out of the Champions league effectively by A Ross County equivalent
There isn’t a Ferencvaros player that would get in the CFC team on a good day .. unless perhaps at left back where the Taylor fellow is so substandard it isn’t true .
Completely suckered yet again !
The waste of All the talent that was available to Lennon in that match was disgraceful
Eg Callum McGregor was anonymous And marginalised !
Also A centre forward anyone ? Playing at home and you only get 15 minutes with a centre forward???
Also Brown is done let’s just admit it .. get turnbull In there beside McGregor ASAP
Lennon blaming players who dont want to be there ?dearie me .. and so to completely compound the felony tonight he probably just lost the dressing room as well .. really Augurs well
Get Steve Clark in there !
As a footy fanatic, I’ve been totally apathetic towards the national team since c.1998.
Never spent a penny on merchandise, or tickets since.
I’ve happily declined the offer of hospitality freebies for Scotland games over the years.
Whilst I attend club games and watch live club games regularly, it’s been years since I even watched highlights of a Scotland game.
The shameful SFA actions around 2012 just reinforced that disinterest.
I’m guessing that a fair few others have similar views…?
50 years later, the SFA is still a blight on the Scottish game! 😦
Kieran Tierney is actually an Englishman by birth.
He was born on the Isle of Man. That’s officially England.
He was raised in Motherwell, Scotland, and identifies through upbringing as Scottish.
He is not Irish. Was not born there and has never lived there.
If Scotland was independent, he would qualify for an English passport. He could play for England.
He was still a Celtic player called Kieran. Which is all that was claimed.
Yes but the above is factually correct and improves upon any skewed perceptions.
Kieran is an Englishman who could play for England.
On the Isle of Man: “In 1266 the island became part of Scotland under the Treaty of Perth, after being ruled by Norway. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal lordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1765, but the island never became part of the 18th-century kingdom of Great Britain, nor of its successors, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the present-day United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It has always retained its internal self-government. ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man
Beat me to it and his notion of an English passport is equally fallacious, as his assertion that Tierney could play for England (apart from playing for Scotland at senior competitive level and not being English).
Not bad, 3 glaring howlers and an irrelevant point no one said while claiming factual correctness and improving on skewed perceptions!
Was listening to radio shortbread recently and one of the talkers, I think
it may have been Scott Allen, who played under Neil at Hibs, said something quite
alarming. He was asked what Neil was like tactically, he answered that Neil
does not do much tactics he is more of a coach who fires you up before you go
onto the field. That is frightening. I hope we go through tonight.
Why would it be frightening grant. Almost all modern thinking teams have coaches to handle the coaching side of things. Lennon is a manager, not a coach. Gavin Strachan and John Kennedy coach the first team with Lennon intervening only if required when he’s present.
John perhaps I never made it clear. I was not referring to anything about coaching.
I was talking about a player telling us that Neil does not do tactics.
I can think of no top manager who does not do tactics.
Tactics are crucial in the modern game.
As to last night their manager summed it up perfectly after the game,
he said he could not believe Celtic played without a striker.
The manager is useless. The support need to wake up.
We deserve better.
So was Martin O’NEIL.
Allen has an axe to grind with CFC.
Never got played. Not good enough.
He has previous for being negative about CFC after he left.
He is a dyed in the wool SEVCO fan.
He has had dubious performances when playing against SEVCO.
If Lenny keeps doing more of the same, Winning trophies, I’ll be delighted. He has won every domestic trophy since returning. Lost none.
Puskas scored four at Ibrox😘in his thirties
Hi Phil, too true i am afraid, this carried on right into the 1980’s. i have never watched the Scotland international team since May 1981(no matter how many Celts or ex Celts are involved).as a 14 year old i was at Hampden when the Norn’s belted out the sash from the old enclosure under the main stand. Being in the traditional Rangers end with friends when the majority joined in with the Norn’s rendition i started to object until being told to shut my Fenian mouth and to gtf out of our end. i used to wonder why my family never watched Scotland, i knew that night. On returning home i was filled with “facts” about how the Lisbon Lions didn’t have 100 caps between them (have checked since the invention of WWW, not far off the mark). Hope to see a good attacking game tonight with both teams going for it. C’mon the Hoops!!
Magical Hungarians were influenced by English coaches Rowe and Buckingham chief amongst them. Tonight, keep 11 on the park, sub well, manage the game and point the gun away from your foot. C’mon Celts.
How did that work out. Didn’t create near enough. No brains up front, (where were the strikers?) No awareness at the back. (First goal was a defensive disaster). Lennon not at the races
Very prescient Phil on a day the SFA announce a Scotland squad bursting at the seams with anonymous mediocrity. It’s almost as if a national team reflects it’s governing body’s competence