Blogs

GUEST BLOG: THE TOMMY BURNS STORY PART 2: THE MANAGER

|

Paul T’s series on Tommy Burns continues with a look at TB’s managerial career:

Tommy Burns: The Quadrilogy
Part 2- The Manager

Sometimes, with hindsight, you can see why something wasn’t meant to be.

Fergus McCann invited Tommy Burns back to Celtic under subsequently controversial circumstances, in 1994. On an emotional level it was a genius move- the Prodigal Son back to lead the resurgence of the club following the on-field disasters & off-field drama that had been the mark of Celtic during the early 1990’s. On almost every other level it was a risky move, a young manager moving from a smaller club and, despite huge respect from the fans for his contribution as a player, potentially ill-equipped to deal with a club still going through massive transition & internal upheaval.

Tommy’s first season was hampered from the start by the decision to play our home games at the soulless Hampden Park due to the massive reconstruction plans swinging into place at Celtic Park. I don’t think it can be overestimated just how difficult it was for players & fans that season, with a side going through much-needed upgrading having to play in front of patchy crowds in a terrible ground. I’m not one for using excuses but that was easily my least enjoyable season as a Celtic supporter enduring that hellhole on a semi-regular basis. On the field it was clear that a League challenge was a long-term plan, so the quick fix of a Cup was the desired way forward, after 5 barren seasons. Right on cue we made it to the League Cup Final to play Raith Rovers, overconfidence amongst the supporters kicked in and probably spilled over to the players on the day. Talking of spilled, Gordon Marshall…..the penalty shoot-out that followed the unlikely 2-2 draw will forever be etched in the memory of those who witnessed it. Me, I just remember Paul McStay being consoled by Tommy, both great Celtic men devastated by one of the biggest humblings in our history.

Plan B was the Scottish Cup. Tommy’s signings were by the turn of the year starting to make a real impact on the performances of the team, with Tosh McKinley & Pierre van Hooijdonk in particular in stunning form. And so it would be these two men who would combine to create the solitary goal in a win over Oldco Airdrie (the one Jim Traynor supported) which was marked by Peter Grant’s best ever game in a Celtic jersey & Tommy Burns & Billy Stark’s wild celebrations at the end. The drought was over- time for the title!

Except life isn’t like that….off the park rumours were rife of a bad working relationship between TB and the autocratic Chief Executive who, having put his own money on the line to save the club, had no intention of letting a football manager lecture him on how to spend it. Tommy’s second season was marked with inconsistent results and small steps forward in squad strength & team cohesion, but no trophies. Meanwhile Rangers racked up their 8th consecutive title & the real risk became apparent that Jock Stein’s glorious 9 In A Row record was starting to look vulnerable. 1996/97 was a vital season for Tommy, the club, and the fans.

I might as well declare at this point where I diverge from most of the Celtic fans I know: I hated the 1996/97 season from start to finish. In particular, I detested the cult of personality that sprung up around Paulo Di Canio, whom I regarded as an objectionable on field presence capable of utter genius and rampant stupidity, often within seconds of each other. His sending-off at home against Hearts was a perfect example: 2-1 down with minutes left, we were awarded a penalty, which PDC coolly dispatched past the keeper. However, in the act of retrieving the ball from the net he managed to get into a fight with Craig Levein and was red-carded before we even had time to push on for the inevitable late surge for the winner. Add the off-field divisiveness between ‘south’ and ‘north’ Europeans, the Ian Ferguson nonsense, the subsequent “leetle problem”…the guy let Tommy’s faith in him down over and over again.

The 1996/97 season nailed the Tommy Burns era as manager perfectly for me. At our best we played breathtaking, flowing football & scored goals for fun: however inevitably we’d need to as we were equipped with one of the most terrifying defences in living memory, capable of moments of utter comedy at any time. Results-wise we were much improved on previous seasons & genuinely challenged Rangers for most of the season- however, three defeats to them, one in each domestic competition, were ultimately to be our undoing, and yet another season ended trophy-less. Almost more importantly, the mystique of 9IAR was gone.

The inevitable followed quite soon after the end of the season, with Tommy at first being offered, and refusing, a post overseeing the club’s Youth Development setup (especially ironic & bittersweet given his success in an identical role on returning to the club some years later), followed by his dismissal as manager soon after. For those of us who loved Tommy it was a painful time, seeing him try to act with dignity through his obvious hurt and devastation. However, as with most of Fergus’s big decisions from 1994-99, it was subsequently proven to be the right one for everyone involved. Tommy loved the club, everyone could see that, but he was the right man for the right job at the wrong time.

Tommy would return to Celtic some years later, firstly as an interim addition to the coaching staff under Kenny Dalglish, then as an integral part of the development of the club under Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan. I’m personally convinced that Tommy would have been a great Celtic manager if he’d taken the job at a more settled time- unfortunately history books will show only one trophy won during his time at the helm, however his important role in steadying the club following the traumatic events of early 1994 was crucial, and went some way toward creating the foundations that others, MON in particular, would build upon.

This series of articles on TB will continue with Part 3- the Tommy Burns Supper.

You can find the author on Twitter: @pault1888

Share this article