An Old Firm game to forget
It was a task right up there with emptying Loch Lomond with a teaspoon; finding the highlights of the Old Firm game to edit for BBC Scotland's Sportscene. (but we managed...see below - ed)
I wished the television pan-handlers well in combing the nuggets from that dross. They were as rare as blades of grass at Fir Park.
In August of this year I will have completed a 40-year shift at the coalface of this business and that first 45 minutes of Sunday's Churches' League fixture was just about the worst engagement of Celtic and Rangers I have seen since I first set out fresh-faced and eager with my sharpened pencil and reporter's notebook.
Age brings cynicism, of course, but, if that was entertainment, Artur Boruc is a diplomat.
Still, at least the Polish goalkeeper of Celtic earned back page headlines. He had two saves - one run of the mill and one wonderful, on the end of a wicked deflection off his own captain.
Such was the dearth of genuine quality in the 90 minutes, that was enough to win him the man-of-the-match award.
The television listings lied. Highlights? Lowlights is the word you require.
My colleagues may have seriously considered replacing the alleged action with something more interesting. Say, the test picture?
It was not a thing of beauty. In fact, the teams may have coined a new phrase: drawing ugly.
Not that we went into the match with a bounce of optimism in our step.
Gordon Strachan talked about his fear of losing, Walter Smith confessed that a draw would not be a bad result, despite trailing the champions by two points.
The hints hung heavily in the air.
Clearly, Smith sees a grand plan for Rangers. On the basis that the two rivals will score the same points from the remaining fixtures against other teams in the league, he will gamble everything on defeating Celtic in the single remaining Old Firm league match at Ibrox.
If it comes to that, a 4-1-4-1 formation will hardly herald a cavalier approach and at least on that spring day we may yet have the salvation of the game which is supposed to most titillate this nation.
And here's a thing. With the Co-operative Insurance Cup final to come next month and a Homecoming Scottish Cup tie between the two still possible, will they go about their business at Hampden like chess masters?
Smith and Strachan were Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer, or at least that's what I assumed. The teams eyed one another like nervous teenagers on a first date during that first half, but it turns out that was not at all what the Rangers manager wanted.
He stormed the visitors' dressing room at half-time like a man possessed. Walter's cold stare can be a scary thing: this, though, was a man in a rage.
We can therefore deduce it was the players who rearranged the plot, while not exactly losing it.
Curiously, it seems to be Rangers who are more satisfied with the conclusion of events, despite trailing their great rivals.
Celtic will argue that there is one less fixture available for their old chums to close the gap, but the truth is that Sunday produced the square root of zilch.
If that is the best our league has to offer then things may be worse than we initially suspected. The game was beamed round Europe.
Europe, I suspect, is not quaking in its collective boots.
"Tell them who you are and what you are about," they said. To be honest, there are days when I struggle to remember myself. Forty years toiling at the coalface of football journalism does that to you. But I have reason to believe that I have reached the heady heights of the title of Football Correspondent of BBC Scotland which gives me a renown, in Scottish terms, of somewhere between Alex Salmond and the deep fried Mars Bar.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~01~RS~)
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BBC's highlights of the non-event are almost twice as long as St Mirren and Falkirk's 2-2 draw... its time you gave fair coverage to the smaller teams and stopped hyping the Old Firm.
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Chick seems to have missed the very obvious point - that both Celtic and Rangers have been reduced to this. They've gone from genuine contenders for places in the knockout stages of the Champions League to European also-rans in a very short period of time thanks to questionable purchases and questionable tactics. One team has been as boring to watch as the other in recent months so Sunday's match was of no surprise to me at all.
And yet, despite all this, none of the other SPL teams can put together a consistent run long enough to compete with them. They're clearly good enough to take points off both of them this season, why can't they take points of the others too?
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It was Gordon Brown's fault (everything else would appear to be), how bad is it that the old firm match passed without even an eposide of handbags at 5 paces.
Bring back the fights of old that we all fondly remember, my favorites were Chris Sutton v Amorouso (may not be correct spelling), I think that the referees let them get on with it on the basis that both were fouling, it was great to watch.
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Personally i don't know what we else we could expect. Skippy having been halfway round the world and back finds himself paired up with JVoH, who has clearly forgotten his way to goal. He's already fired off both barrels this season so now he's done. At the other end Kyle Laffable finds himself supported by poor wee Fleck, himself struggling under the weight of Rangers' title hopes.
I was just glad Boruc didn't chuck the ball into the back of his own net and walk off.
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Another piece of journalism at its very worst! Old Chick and his weekly drivel made up of a series of poor cliches!
It was a dire old firm but its hardly the end of the world! Theres been more great games between the sides than bad ones in recent times!
I also cannot believe its taken until 48hours after the game has passed for any mention of the away support singing the famine song!
Why has it not been in the papers? Its now on the BBC site as it will be 'investigated'. I suspect another verbal slap on the wrists will be the outcome!
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It was a cagey game, not pleasing on the eye but then the of games rarely are. What i found strange was that with celtic off form this was an ideal chance for rangers to go for the win and putting celtics dodgy defence under pressure, instead walter smith played it safe to ensure they didnt go 5 points behind. As a Celtic fan i was pleased with a draw although we scarcely deserved it, but with so many players off form at present im not optimistic about the run in. I also get annoyed when guys like Chick and his sportsound chums defend wee gordon strach cos hes won 3 in a row and two last 16 champs league places. Well what about this season? And what about Strachans signings? Donati, JVoh, Gravesen, Hinkel, Naylor the list of duds goes on. Hopefully we'll see a mass clearout at Celtic in the summer with Strach leading the way, what we need is a manager who can work on a budget but can also put together a team that at least gives some sort of value for money. In a way id even sacrifice this seasons championship at least it'd give the fans even more reason to want him out.
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#7. What a series of ludicrous statements. Gordon Strachan has been our most successful manager since Big Jock Stein. At times it isn't pretty, I agree, but if we are not champions come May, I will be very surprised.
He has made some great signings, too, and is on a very limited budget compared to most of the European teams who also have featured in two of the last 3 Champion's League Knockout phases.
One hum-drum draw against a mediocre Rangers side and you are calling for his head. Grow up.
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He's made one/two good signings - boruc, nakamura, crosas...
but the rest are just average at best.
scott brown - how overated is he, he does the odd good thing but struggles to keep possession simply. No way he would be any good in the EPL>>>
im not saying Strachan's done badly on the budget he has, but he's not done that well either.
he's not had any competition in the SPL apart from the last two years of very average Rangers teams, and we struggle to match even them at times.
and his record in the Champs league has been good i admit - but you have to be honest and say the performances have really detoriarated and this year was a more honest assessment of where we now stand in the comp. we're one of poorer teams.
he's not done badly, but time for a change and give someone else a chance - as there are a lot of people out there who could do better i think
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Rangers and Celtic are at the weakest either has been for over 15 years, and if the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hibs and Hearts can't catch them now, they never will.
That said, I've heard a lot made of Rangers "negative tactics" on Sunday. Since when was the onus on the visiting team at Parkhead to attack and win the game? Apart from the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and AC Milan, almost every other team comes to hit Celtic on the break. That is not to say Rangers played well; I felt their second half performance was only improved when they brought on the pace of Kenny Miller (and unfortunately the hopeless first touch he brings with it), whereas Celtic just never looked like breaking down Bougherra and Weir. All in all, a tactical victory for Rangers in this sense I guess. However, Rangers will have to do far better at Ibrox if they are to wrestle the title back.
As for Celtic, it's about time Strachan told Scott Brown to calm down before he seriously hurts himself and others, and that Strachan himself was told that Paul Hartley is simply wasted in that holding role.
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Houstonslydog, is it really over 15 years since John Barnes was in charge at Parkhead? How time flies...
But I take your point. It's been a long time since I was less excited about the game.
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Ah, the Celtic supporters obviously have their unbiased and impartial views on Chicos blog once again.
Your nay saying does you no favours with regards to making you feel big and clever.
Its no wonder Chico skips through the comments.
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13. Real Rugby....
And are the Scotland Rugby team a great advert for Scottish sport? I don't think so, the whipping boys of international Rugby is closer to the mark. Why not save the snippy comments for a rugby blog?
I'm not a fan of either Old Firm side, but the vast majority of games over the last few seasons have been great for the neautral to watch. One poor showing isn't the end of the world.
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Maybe it was just the case that neither side wanted to lose? Everbody (particularly the English media) is panning the SPL for this game, when it was just a very cautious match from both sides. I'm sure the so-wonderful English Premiership AKA 'The most-exciting league in Europe' (TM) always has incredibly exciting games, every single match - Hull v West Brom must have the world's media drooling, or another mind-blowingly dull 'London-derby' (how many are there?), but then they have 10 times the population of Scotland and 20 times the transfer budget. Why don't people say something positive for once and stop comparing the SPL to that money-obsessed Disney league down south. If Platini's plans for wage-caps come in, they won't be able to import so many players anyway.
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Yes, it was a dreadful game must admit there was a severe lack of quality from both sides.
Surely Walter Smith must open up when he sees an opportunity to gain a victory. i.e had them on the rack with about ten mins to go.
Cannot think of many teams where there top goalscorer by a long shot sits on the bench, cannot even get off the bench to play in big games it's ludicrous.
On a positive note good to see Rangers bringing in some youngsters over last couple of games i.e Fleck and Niguez.
It's going to the wire but Celtic still have that edge that Rangers don't I think. More attacking midfielders are always an advantage and Celtic have that. Barry Ferguson's shooting at times is woeful.
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Oh, the irony!
Not only did the media hype up the game as usual, the BBC have surpassed themselves with their cup coverage.
Showing Rangers v Hamilton in the quarter-finals of the cup is sheer lunacy. Hamilton v Rangers I could understand, but Rangers at home to one of the smaller teams in the league? Come on! Sky have their critics, but at least they go with the tried and tested "small team at home to the big team" format in both England and Scotland. After showing Rangers at Perth in the fourth round, why do the BBC think that people would rather watch the boring Old Firm again, especially when there is a good looking tie at East End Park - Dunfermline v Aberdeen. I'm a Pars fan and actually glad it's not been picked, since we'll probably get a bigger crowd and atmosphere but this decision just reinforces the view that BBC Sport Scotland should just be renamed BBC Sport Glasgow (you even failed to mention the scores in the cup on Tuesday night's Reporting Scotland by the way).
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# 6
With regard to the 'famine song' Whilst I can't condone the singing of it, it did seem slightly bizarre that the advertising hoardings around Celtic Park kept flashing up adverts for Rooster potatoes!
I mean, in that game!!! What did they expect the response to be?
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Brilliant Chick back at that coalface . Hows that toiling going? I think after 40 years you could stop producing those half baked lines.
Drawing ugly? Is that one of yours? Rubbish games happen no matter what country's league you watch. But it's good the negative vibe is back. How can one match reflect Scottish football or Celtic and Rangers as a whole?
Chick next time you head down that coalface - leave the budgie.
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don't listen to JohnnySanDiego he's a hearts fan
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To southpar (#17) :
Hiya Southpar, Dons fan here. You are absolutely right with your sentiments regarding BBC coverage of the SCQF. Rangers v Hamilton is a joke and proves that we have to deal with BBC Glasgow the whole time. It is an absolute disgrace that they are not showing Dunfermline v Aberdeen. Here we have a potential rip-roarer of a cup tie at the coalface of Scottish football right next to real coalfaces in the heart of Fife (how was that for a coalface of a metaphor, Chick ? :-)). But seriously we have all the ingredients for the cup tie of the year - Dunfermline at home looking for sweet revenge on a manager who deserted them a few years ago, home advantage and a good scalp behind them to take them into the semis; Aberdeen away from home knowing that Dunfermline would just love to stick one up JC, on a potential hiding to nothing and everything to lose after embarrasing defeats in cup competitions to 2 Queens teams in the past 2 seasons.
This tie promises to be the tie of the competition so far but the BBC are not interested, which sums up in a nutshell everything that is wrong with Scotland and Scottish football.
I live abroad and will continue to do so because our country has totally gone down the pan and our football authorities and broadcasters are archaic and arrogant in their thinking. We are the joke of Europe and will continue to be for a very very long time with such eejits at the helm.
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I didn't realise that the beeb had decided to show the rangers game. I cannot believe that they have not picked the pars game against aberdeen. Would chick be brave enough to challenge his employers on this decision as a neutral journalist on behalf of the neutral football fan. I'd be willing to bet that even honest minded rangers fans are surprised at the decision, will ibrox be even half full when they are more focussed on the title?
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I don`t agree with the B.B.C. Glasgow comments,more like Rangers B.C.
The Pars versus Aberdeen is the tie Lodge B.B.C. should be showing,ah well,at least wee Chick will have a plausible excuse for not being at St Mirren`s game.
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