A thank you...

So, as you'll probably know if you're reading this, yesterday I took part in a sponsored bungee jump in aid of Sense Scotland. I used Twitter a lot to promote the cause and encourage people to donate, but frankly I was astonished at the success of my fundraising campaign. In total (so far!) I've raised £576.34 and much of that has been from folk on Twitter, folk I don't know but who clearly have hearts of gold.

People keep saying "oh, well done, you should be proud of what you've raised". Well, these comments are nice and all, but frankly I've not achieved anything, really. All I did was post a fundraising link and jump off a bridge. The people who should really be proud are the folk that donated whatever they had spare to a fantastic charity who will do great things with it.

So, I just wanted to write this blog to say thanks very much to everyone who sponsored, or to those who couldn't sponsor but helped in other ways, like tweeting, promoting it, RTing my links and most of all, to everyone who sent me encouraging comments when I was frankly shiteing it! You've all been fantastic.

The link, for the last time: http://www.justgiving.com/StephO-Neill

And the proof:

Craig Burley - a retort

I've just had the misfortune to read Craig Burley's column in yesterday's S*nday M*il. Now, two things I don't normally do - pay any attention to Burley, and read anti-Celtic propaganda in that rag. However, having read the mass outrage on Twitter in the aftermath of the article, I decided I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Wow.


Now, we all know Craig Burley is an attention seeking tosspot. That's not in doubt. I'm of the opinion he writes outrageous drivel in the hope of getting a response, and he manages this 100% of the time. Now that's his prerogative, if he wants to do that, fine, good luck to him. However yesterday's article was completely beyond the pail. I'm sure it would have embarrassed even the most deranged "writers".


A few quotes which annoyed me most were as follows:


"The future of Scottish football placed in the hands of a few nonentities from the lower divisions."


"Muppets in charge of clubs that draw embarrassing crowds of 200 people"


"Chairmen of part-time teams who are nothing more than afterthoughts in the psyche of our national obsession"


And those quotes just come from the first couple of paragraphs. The rest of the article is the typical nonsense we're being fed about a witch-hunt against Sevco, internet bampots, financial death if they aren't punted up to the first division, etc. I'm not going to go into all of that because it's been done and done again by writers with far more talent that I could ever dream of.


My issue with his article is plain and simple. What on earth gives him the right to think he can talk about football fans like that? The reason he is where he is is due to paying fans. What he's saying is essentially that fans and employees of SFL teams are of lesser importance than fans of bigger clubs. And that is what I find utterly, utterly disgraceful. Because they are fans, chairmen, board members of teams that haven't had as much success as SPL teams, they are automatically "muppets"? "Nonentities"? "Afterthoughts"? How dare he make such statements.


I've been to a lot of football in my time. Obviously if you're reading this, I assume you'll know I'm a Celtic fan. However I've been to watch Clyde, Partick Thistle, Ayr, Alloa, Stirling, Livingston and countless other teams in my time. Because I am a football fan. And the passion you'll find for the game from the fans, no matter what team they're supporting, is the same.


What Burley is essentially saying is that SFL chairmen aren't intellectually capable of making the decision. They don't deserve the right to have their say on a decision which will affect ALL teams in the SFL. We should just leave it up to the authorities. And the fans? Well, they don't really matter, they don't support a good team.


A great man once said "football without the fans is nothing." Mr Burley would do very well to remember that.

The Grassroots Problems

Now, I'm no Henry McLeish. I've not been paid millions to do pointless research to tell people what we all know already, that Scotland simply isn't producing the players that it used to, and if I had been I'd have spent it all on cider anyway and this blog would never happen.

We can all see the problems anyway. We have players who are average at best. For the most part they are "industrious" types, to put it generously. We simply don't produce the players that we used to. This frustrates me no end. I am a lover of football, and by that I mean the game played by Lionel Messi, not the game played by Barry Ferguson. So what are the problems? Why can't Scotland produce players that fans love to watch?

For me, much of the problem lies with inadequate coaching. I am an SFA qualified coach, and by that I mean I turned up to a couple of all day courses in which we ran about mad, and were given a certificate afterwards for. Yes, this is all it takes to become a qualified coach in Scotland. They let you take charge of groups of kids after this. Seriously. So, you are a coach, you have your badge, you know it all. You take over a team of kids. Only, you don't know how to relate to kids. You don't know how to encourage them to have fun. And let's face it, when you're a kid, sport is about fun, isn't it? Not for many coaches. From an early age in this country, there is a horrific 'win at all costs' mentality drilled into our young people. Football isn't fun, so one of two things can happen. The kids can drop out completely, which happens too much. Or, they can stay. But this fear of losing translates onto the football pitch. Kids are so scared to try anything on the pitch in case it doesn't come off, that as soon as they get the ball, they'll get rid of it as soon as possible. Players like Aiden McGeady are a true rarity in this country. They don't want to be the player who loses the ball by trying to dribble, so they don't bother. The result? Players like the aforementioned Backpass Ferguson.

Another problem, and this is purely a personal view, is the youth set ups of clubs in this country. To develop as a football player, a young person should basically play, and play as much as possible. Play with mates, play with a team, play with the school. Only if you are 'lucky' enough to be spotted by one of the clubs and invited to play with them, that's it. That's your football. That's all you can do. How is that beneficial to player development? Aye, fine. You might make it. But inevitably, you're let go. And what reasons do they give? Daft ones like 'you're too small'. Try tellling Xavi his height has held him back.

Sure, there are more basic reasons as well. We all know kids love eating cake and playing video games. And some kids just aren't good enough to make it. But for me, it would take simple changes in mentality to change the fortunes of our game. So why don't we do it? Are we too stuck in our ways? Are we too apathetic? A particularly hideous combination of both? I can't answer that. Maybe Henry McLeish can. That's why he gets the big bucks, and I get cider.

Why I hate football

Football is a game I grew up watching, playing and loving. But football, as I see football, is also dying. I realise this is a frankly dramatic statement that could be accompanied by an ominous string quartet, so allow me to explain.

Football these days is a multi-million pound industry. Clubs are run like businesses. The most important thing is the profit margins, and the ordinary supporter is pushed to the bottom of the list of priorities. Simple things like ridiculous ticket prices ensure that many fans are quite simply priced out of supporting their team. For example, Celtic are selling tickets for the forthcoming Glasgow derby for a quite astonishing £42. This for a game taking place 3 days after Christmas, at a time when people will be stretched to their financial limit. However, punters will still pay the cash required to see this game, which means the clubs will believe they can continue to charge astronomical amounts for what is, let's face it, frankly a fairly poor product, and that the dissenting voices will not matter.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the bastardisation of football began. However, one can suggest that the advent of the English Premiership in 1992 was a key moment. Sky Sports began televising live games, pumping millions of pounds per season into the game whilst charging people to subscribe and watch. However, the price of yearly subscription to Sky Sports is a price many feel they can afford. So people will pay it, watch a higher standard of football, and stop going to support their local teams, whoever they may be. With attendances in stadia dwindling, this causes clubs to raise ticket prices to make up for this drop, in turn pricing many fans out of the game completely. It really is a vicious circle. Similarly, the 1998 World Cup was a watershed in terms of commercial advertising. Nike had what was a frankly brilliant advertising campaign based around the Brazilian team. As we all know, Brazil were eventually beaten in the final that year by France, with a very off-colour Ronaldo starting that day. Nasty, vicious rumours still persist to this day as to the role of Nike in the decision to play Ronaldo that day. The power and clout of big sponsors is not to be sniffed at, these days. If the world's most famous national side can have their team selection dictated by a corporate sponsor, where does that leave our club sides?

It really is a vicious circle. Smaller clubs in Scotland going bust due, in part, to dropping attendances. Bigger clubs raising ticket prices, forcing the ordinary supporter to the absolute limit to continue to enjoy what should be, and used to be, a sport for the working classes. Can the commercialisation of football be stopped? Will clubs remember the ordinary punters that kept them going for years? Unfortunately, I think I already know the answer to that.

Team Samaras - Explained

Last night, I spent a highly amusing few hours encouraging people to join Team Samaras. Obviously, this was started as a bit of a laugh, however inevitably I did get some comments from those who were astounded that anyone could actually appreciate him as a football player. I promised an explanation, and this is it.

Giorgios Samaras is a highly frustrating player, of that there is absolutely no doubt. The reason for this frustration, for me at least, is down to the fact that, under that mess of hair, there is a player of some ability struggling to get out. When he signed initially on loan, he scored that fantastic debut goal in the 5-1 pumpfest at Rugby Park, darting down the wing and casually finishing. I immediately thought to myself "here, we could have a player here."  Sadly, as we all know, it hasn't quite worked out like that. His talent has flickered here and there, but all too often he, for want of a better phrase, makes an absolute arse of it.

And here, we get to the crux of my Samaras defence. If you were to take someone who knew nothing of football and played an audio of some of the abuse Samaras takes from his own fans, I'm sure at times you'd think he played for our biggest rivals. Errors that other players may get away with are just not acceptable when it comes to Samaras. And for me, the reason he is always so noticeable on the field is because, and I must apologise profusely for this cliché, he always gives his all. He is always looking to get on the ball and never hides on the football pitch, which is something he should be admired, not pilloried, for. The likes of Hooper and Stokes can go missing completely at times, which - some may say unfortunately - Samaras very rarely does.

Yes, Samaras makes aimless runs into players, refuses to release the ball, and is very often the definition of the "forward's challenge." However, let us not forget that with his frustration, at times comes genius. His delayed pass to Izaguirre to set up Hooper's second in the 3-0 game against Rangers at Parkhead last season. His entire performance in that game was outstanding, despite not troubling the scorers. And of course, who will ever forget the New Year game at Ibrox when we were all expecting a trouncing. The latter game showed Sammy at his best - up front on his own, with McCourt playing just behind him. Samaras is a forward who does not work well with other strikers. This has been evident on several occasions, most recently against Sion. And who do fans blame for this? Samaras, for the most part. The question I pose is this - does Samaras really deserve the blame for tactical decisions which don't allow him to perform in his preferred way?

That, my friends, is essentially it. I recognise Samaras is average as a football player, who often runs up blind alleys and borderline refuses to score goals. However, he's also a player that thrives on confidence. Is it any wonder he struggles when the fans are on his back for the slightest error? Jump on the bandwagon. Support Team Samaras.

An optimistic take on the Scottish National team

As a Glaswegian, it’s essentially my civic duty to be pessimistic. For this reason, I feel a vague sense of horror at my current sentiment towards the Scottish national team.

Now, I have the good fortune to support a club side that is relatively successful, attempt to play fairly attractive, attacking football, and win things. It is for this reason that I have seen supporting the Scottish national side as a slight penance, something which I must do in order to make up for the extraordinary slice of luck I had in being born a Celtic fan. The first World Cup I remember is France 1998 – I turned 9 that summer, and remember with vivid horror Tom Boyd’s own goal that caused us to be beaten by Brazil in the opening game. Now, I recognise this as my first experience of what has become known as “glorious failure”. The other two games in that tournament – a 1-1 draw against Norway followed by a 3-0 humiliation at the hands of Morroco – come back to me in flashes only otherwise experienced after a particularly heavy night on the lash. Of course, if I’d known it’d be the first and only time I’d remember Scotland participating on a world level for a good long time, I’d probably have savoured it more. As it was, all I took from that tournament was a frankly unfair grudge harboured against Tommy Boyd. That OG. Man.

Fast forward 13 years to 2011. Scotland have recently finished playing in another massive tournament, known to lesser teams as the Celtic Cup. As a result of this tournament, we’ve been crowned “the best team in the United Kingdom apart from England”, and finished second to Ireland as “the best team in this general area apart from England.” Now, whilst this tournament seemed pointless to the masses, and I must admit, sometimes to me, in retrospect it did benefit Scotland in several ways. Decent wins against a Northern Ireland side, albeit afflicted with injuries, drop outs and David Healy, and particularly an impressive comeback against Wales, have sown the seeds of optimism for the future. New players like James Forrest, James McArthur, Craig Conway and Danny Wilson were included in the squads. Established players, particularly James Morrison, flourished. And in the last two games, against Wales and the Republic of Ireland, you could suggest players who were missing who would have very strong claims not only for a squad place, but for a starting berth – the likes of Darren Fletcher, Alan Hutton, Lee Wallace, Kris Commons, Craig Gordon, Shaun Maloney, Graham Dorrans, James McFadden and Steven Fletcher were all missing. Combine this quite astonishing level of strength in depth with the players who actually played in those games – the likes of the aforementioned Morrison, Scott Brown, Kenny Miller and Charlie Adam – and it’s not difficult to see why I’m feeling more optimistic about the future of the Scottish national team than I ever have before.

Now, the real challenge will come in our push for Euro 2012. With Liechtenstein quite amazingly managing to defeat Lithuania, Scotland must now win their two remaining home games, against Lithuania and the Czech Republic, and win away in Liechtenstein, whilst hoping Spain manage to beat the Czechs. It is doable – but I must end this article with a bit of realism. We are Scotland. We will no doubt play our hearts out against Spain away, and proceed to be hammered in Liechtenstein. It is our way.

But I am hoping that “glorious failure” is a thing of the past.

My Best XI

I posted earlier on Twitter about having created a best XI of players I've seen in a first hand capacity. I've decided to kill time by creating a best XI of players I've seen live, without including Celtic players. It is here.

GK - Oliver Kahn
DEF - Bixente Lizerazu
DEF - Nemanja Vidic
DEF - Paolo Maldini
DEF - Cafu
MID - Ronaldinho
MID - Xavi
MID - Kaka
MID - Lionel Messi
FWD - Samuel Eto'o
FWD - Henrik Larsson (I'm allowed to pick him because he scored against us)

I'll admit, Lizerazu is only there by virtue of me not really giving a flying f*ck about defenders. Honourable mentions must go to Andres Iniesta, Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero, and maybe Cristiano Ronaldo too. Scholes and Giggs were basically too old by the time I'd seen them, but Giggs wouldn't get in anyway. Scholes maybe in his prime would be there before Xavi. Kahn is there because Buffon didn't play at Parkhead, only in the away game (WHICH WE WERE CHEATED IN) so I technically haven't seen him live.

You'll note that I've seen Deco on many occasions and he's nowhere to be seen. Just sayin'. There's also a considerable concentration of players from the same teams. It just happened that way.