frances ---------------by BILL McMURDO To Think Again Posted on July 29, 2013 by billmcmurdo An emphatic win over Albion Rovers in the Ramsden Cup was a great way for Rangers to begin the season in earnest yesterday. The Light Blues dusted off the summer cobwebs to win their first competitive match of what will be a defining campaign. Rangers certainly look as if they mean business and a decent close season has set the team up for the trials ahead. Meanwhile, Celtic’s miserable pre-season form continued on Saturday with another loss, this time at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Fans of the German outfit must have thought they had inadvertently stumbled onto a Glasgow Ghost City tour as they sat in Tumbleweed Towers, looking at the masses of green seats eerily on show. Celtic have a massive problem in getting the “faithful through and through” to turn up to watch the team. This is why the season tickets sold figure is the most closely guarded secret in the Western Hemisphere. Rumours that Peter Lawwell wants to release the figure using the Enigma Code machine are unfounded. Especially when the Seville calculator is still in use. Joking aside, a crowd of 6,500 for a glamour pre-season friendly is woeful and makes it absolutely necessary that Celtic make the Champions League proper – no mean task, especially when the club have sold their best two players. The delicate balancing act of investing in new players to compete effectively in Europe or using the cash in more prudent ways and leaving the team weaker is now the responsibility of Peter Lawwell to face. Celtic fans will likely want to see fresh faces but fresh faces doesn’t mean that Celtic have bought quality – something they simply MUST do in order to keep their buy low, sell high policy on track. And, of course, the vicious cycle is made all the worse by the club’s number one problem – they simply can’t get the fans to turn up for games unless it is the Champions League. This puts a huge dent in the club’s revenue and opens Celtic up to ridicule. And with the supermarkets offering school uniforms at bargain prices, Celtic fans have few excuses not to support their team. —————– Another survey that shows the Unionist cause is still well ahead of the separatist campaign for the forthcoming referendum. While the Panelbase poll shows a slight increase in support for the Union, it is vital that no complacency be allowed to set in. Especially as the survey findings indicate that fanatical separatists are more likely to turn out on polling day than those who want to stay British. It would be a real tragedy if the nutters won because the sensible stayed at home on the day that matters. It is vital that those of us who want to remain in the Union do all we can to deliver a resounding message next year. That message being that we don’t support the presidential aspirations of our megalomaniac First Minister and that we don’t want to live in a country birthed out of petty jealousy and racial hatred. Whether you are a political Unionist or a heart and soul Unionist, get yourself into the polling booth next September and send those who would divide us and weaken us a message they will never forget. Or, to paraphrase their rebel dirge, send Wee Eck and his band of haters homeward to think again.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 12:23:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015