The weekend went just as I feared then.
Having written a long and frustrated piece for On Field of Green last month on why I viewed the Ross County fixture with some dread, I was not surprised when a handful of moronic “fans” behaved exactly as I knew they would.
What is it with these people?
Is there truly a part of their tiny minds that thought they were defending tradition here? Of any kind?
Can they really be under the absurd, and offensive, illusion that this was some kind of political expression?
That they were making some kind of point, that it carried any greater weight than simply being idiotic behaviour?
You know, debate can, will, and does rage over the section of the Celtic support that sings Republican songs. I understand both sides of the argument to a certain extent whilst coming down firmly on one of them.
When I was a regular at games both home and away I didn’t do it myself, but I never had a problem with those who did.
Those songs are about a political-military struggle for national self determination and if it’s valid to sing Flower of Scotland, which is about the same, and The Star Spangled Banner, then the issue is one of personal interpretation. It’s grey area territory; some people will find it offensive but that’s par for the course with any political view.
There’s no grey area with booing during the silence on Remembrance Sunday.
It’s simply disgusting, and I see no need for fudging or compromise on that point.
The people who did it are ignorant, arrogant, self regarding clowns who don’t belong near a football ground or anywhere else civilised people gather.
I don’t even want to hear the argument that this is somehow about freedom of speech, and how the soldiers of World War I and World War II died for it.
That sacrifice was unequivocal and those who made it weren’t asking for applause or even respect, but they earned it, and they are due it, and only a complete nugget would argue with that.
There is no argument in their favour here, and anyone attempting one is wasting their time.
This wasn’t blown out of proportion by the press nor the fault of the SFA or SPFL.
That silence is observed at every football ground on this island. It’s commemorated across the water in Ireland too.
It’s not a new thing either, and it wasn’t done to insult the sensibilities of the easily offended.
This is about remembering the dead. People who died for all of us.
The media milks this, but if certain people weren’t so goddamned ignorant they’d have nothing to write about. This isn’t the media’s fault, and aiming at their coverage is a deflection that offers undue protection to the people who were actually to blame, and that was those who booed.
Don’t even get me started on this ridiculous notion that this is a “protest” against what the British Army has done in other eras or in other parts of the world.
It’s cobblers, frankly, and is an insult to the intelligence of anyone smarter than a snail.
That argument might stand up against wearing having the poppy on the shirts, as it has become a blatantly political symbol, and one which aims to “honour” the role of the British military throughout history. Honouring that will be hard to stomach for many, for obvious reasons, and that’s one of many reasons it doesn’t belong on the shirt of a multi-ethnic club like ours.
But that reasoning doesn’t apply here.
The act of booing during a minute’s remembrance for those who gave their lives in defence of freedom is an abhorrence.
The people who did it are lowlife, lower than pond scum.
There’s no justification for it, and the club is right to want to root them out.
A press statement from Celtic has called them an “embarrassment to the club” but I disagree. They don’t represent us or the vast, vast majority of our fans.
They don’t represent humanity as far as I’m concerned, because even if they can’t stomach the idea of standing for British servicemen they can put that aside and find another reason to keep their mouths shut, like honouring the players who wore the famous hooped jersey and went off to fight, or just to honour all the dead, from all the wars, that have happened throughout history.
That their intellect doesn’t extend to finding a reason for keeping it zipped tells you everything you need to know about them.
That they lack the basic decency makes them bigots, every bit as bad as those they abhor on the other side of the city.
The harm done to the reputation of Celtic over this must make them so proud of themselves, as must today’s headlines in a press that purely and simply couldn’t wait to write these stories.
Because as much as anything else, this has given the media a wonderful counterpoint to the campaign which is now underway to have Rangers stripped of titles they won by deception, cheating and fraud.
It lets The Daily Record put an anti-Celtic story on the front pages whilst inside it urges Scottish football to “move on” from the EBT years.
So if you’re reading, morons, you did that.
Congratulations.
At a time when we have these people right where we want them folk have to waste time, and effort, arguing the toss about this crap.
About a small bunch of people who elevate ignorance to a new height.
At a time when some folk are trying to build a cross-club consensus against a decade of financial doping you’ve given those who were swaying a reason to distance themselves from it.
You stupid, selfish arseholes.
On the match itself, we’re still proving that we’re the best club in Scotland by miles, and Griffiths the best striker we’ve had on the park since The King of Kings.
I thought we played well yesterday, as we did against Aberdeen and Hearts.
It’s not enough.
Ronny has failed the big test again, with a deplorable performance and a scandalous result on Thursday evening which got me so downhearted I couldn’t even be bothered to blog on it. I stayed offline for the whole of the weekend as a consequence of it.
We’ll win the title. We may even win the treble; in fact, I increasingly think we will.
That will certainly buy Ronny another year, and you can’t realistically sack someone who’s just done that, but as far as our ability to progress in Europe goes my confidence is shot, completely.
Speaking frankly, I don’t expect to win either of the last two games in this tournament and I don’t believe he’ll get us to the Champions League groups next season.
Whatever’s necessary to win big games at that level, well it’s just not there. Lessons haven’t been learned, the players don’t look fit or willing to die in the ditch and I’d prefer, speaking for myself, that someone else be in charge by then to give us a chance.
For all that, there are positives to be sure.
Tom Rogic, Leigh Griffiths, Kiernan Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, Nir Bitton and a couple of others.
All with the potential to go far, and folk we should be building the team around.
For others, like Stefan Johansen, a player I’ve praised fulsomely on this blog in the past, a change of attitude is long overdue. He’s at risk of becoming a major irritant to the Celtic support who see him walking into the team every week when he’s blatantly not performing.
All that is to say that I was pleased with the result, with the performances of a lot of the players and with the six point advantage we opened up at the top.
We’re in a good place domestically, although I more and more grow concerned with how we’re perceived in European football.
I want to see some sign that we’ve not just chucked it on that front.
More on that later, I’m sure.
I have a feeling this will be a busy week.
I agree what ever the rights and wrongs about wearing a poppy that is in the end personal choice and if someone does not wish to wear it then that is what freedom is about.
The one minute silence on the other hand is an accepted form of showing respect and there can be no excuse for deliberately attempting to disrupt it for what ever reason.
Well said James, we need to weed out those that blacken our name. Our club history demonstrates Celtic’s contribution to winning the peace and the sacrifices our players gave to the defeat of fascism.
They have a 2 minutes silence at 11am. Why don’t the sanctimonous go and bow their heads in solemn prayer then.
I pay to get into football grounds to watch football, not to glorify wars past or future wars.
The question that should be asked is why is this being foisted upon football fans? Wonder how the German / Argentine players feel about standing in observation to those who murdered their antecedents.
Remembrance Sunday is just another way to rope in the gullible and uneducated amongst the populous and to get them to toe the line like sheep.
Keep the silence. Poppy voluntary
What makes you feel that this may be a busy week…wiping shit from your nose? I’ve never once not observed silence for the fallen, and nor shall I ever, but please don’t patronise, nor insult my (sic) intelligence
H ×2
Agree totally James.
To the arseholes from yesterday: Keeping your mouth shut for 1 minute costs nothing. Don’t like poppies, don’t wear them. Don’t want to pay respect, stay outside with your mouths shut.
Stop fucking dragging our club through the shite with your selfish and idiotic disrespectful behaviour. You give an open goal to the MSM. You’re not Celtic fans.
As far as booing poppy day is concerned – what a load of half cocked twaddle. appeasing ones principals so you don’t give a rag a story. The scum are those murdering politicians who continue to send young working class british lads to maime torture and murder in foreign lands and also nearer home in the six counties. They are happy spending billions in weapons and troops but when they come back maimed the government then get Joe public to contribute via help for heroes. It is an absolute disgrace. Those in power should be grateful it is only booing.
So that would be 4 morons on here now.
#SoupTakers
Shug
I know what a souptaker is but please explain the context here ! I know I was brought up to be a tolerant person with common decency, that is what my faith taught me.
We often say no-one is bigger than the club, to me the fans who booed during the minutes silence think they are bigger than the club. As has been said in the article, don’t go to the game or if you do stay outside.
Why should i stay away. I follow Celtic all over Scotland, do you think that poppy fascism is going to keep me away? Certainly not, and you would be deluded if you thought or suggested as much.
My point was in relation to your souptaker comment and my response on what I feel my faith taught me.
I have no issues about your views on a poppy and personally I agree with it. In addition I have no issues with Irish Republicanism songs being sung at our games, but that’s a different point.
I am not asking you stay away but I would say that ‘booing’ or whatever during a minutes silence is not what I feel Celtic fans are about. I state again my faith has taught me tolerance and decency.
Kudos to you Hugh.
I was at the match yesterday, decided to stay in the pub until 3.40pm and ambled down to the ground then.
If those supporters hadn’t observed this bullshit 1 minutes silence and the entire Celtic support stood in impeccable silence we would be here today talking about the IRA songs that were sung during the entire 90 minutes. (A great rendition of a Sniper’s Promise, one i haven’t heard in a while)
So today the MSM would have zeroed in on that, they will find a stick to beat us with, and sticking up for this sort of fascism makes my skin crawl.
Shug:
We all know they’d have found a reason. That’s not the point mate.
If people have their personal reasons for not WANTING to do it they could have done what you did.
But I get the impression a lot of folk were just doing it to offend our enemies. And they armed them instead.
We know they’ll try to screw us over. Of course they will. And we know this a smokescreen to deflect from the REAL story of the week … a club that cheated for ten years.
I hate that we give them ammo. They’ll find something anyway, but this handed it to them on a plate.
Besides that, I genuinely don’t get it. I don’t get why people didn’t just stand in silence, and pick their own reason for doing so. Family. Friends. Anything.
You know what I suspect? Peer pressure. Standing with their mates, wanting to be “one of the lads.”
Absolutely idiocy in other words.
As Jeanette Finlay pointed out in her article:
“The response of some Celtic fans may have done them no credit, indeed it did not, but when you force something down a persons’ throat, it is not uncommon for them to puke it up”.
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2873/jeanette-findlay-why-forcing-remembrance-day-into-football-results-in-dissent-from-fans
What seems to be forgotten is that poppy day does indeed remember both wars but don’t forget in WW2 Irish soldiers were also killed or Injured. As a Celtic supporter I am ashamed that this band of numpty’s couldn’t put their views aside sor one minute sad day!
Actually said other conflicts,
So your asking people to observe a minutes silence for those who died fighting in the 1st world war but also realising that during the 1st world war in Easter 1916 there was a war in Ireland to end British rule in Ireland,
why don’t we have a minutes silence for the brave scottishmen who died trying to fight off the English from our land?
Why don’t we have a minutes silence every game for the men woman and children killed every day in wars around the world,
I have friends and family in the armed forces before you think in being a wee sectarian bigot or what ever view u have for people that disagree with your views,
just because u have a blog and a different view doesn’t give you the right to throw that kind of name to someone who doesn’t agree with a minutes silence for what ever reason,
If you don’t like the songs that have been sung for a hundred years or have a problem with us being Republican don’t go SIMPLE sick o these middle class maggots with nothing to do on a Saturday trying to dictate to us. WE will never stop being who we are for anybody , go watch Hibees or something with the other sticky’s
We hate the British army end off, don’t like it ? go watch the HUNS
You should try it yourself.
You have a lot of the behavioural characteristics of one.
Anybody that goes to the games will know that the majority of the “minority” are purile neds approximately first shave age to 20s.. these articles ruin game day experience for “proper decent” fans.. I would advocate naming n shaming but notoriety is “their” badge of honour.. the game in Scotland is dying n morons are part of the cancer.
James….a good piece about the people who disrupted the 1mns silence yesterday, no need to embarrass our club and give the media a chance to deflect the “Tax” story
Wondered where your blog was after the catastrophe against Molde 🙂
One thing I do disagree with is the current performances of Armstrong, I don’t think he is performing at all ….Johansen we know should be out of the team.
Armstrong like Stokes before him played out of position hugging the left wing and doing……nothing
Ronne again says he is looking at next year…..Murdo is right fix the current problems now.
Unfortunately like others I am giving vent to my feelings and helping give these people who attend Celtic matches (they are not Celtic fans) the oxygen of publicity. They cannot be educated, they are nonentities in today’s society, and we flatter them by discussing them at all.
Shouldn’t you be out arresting children and Water Protesters.
once again the poppy issue has been brought up again i thought our country was democratic free speech and all i wear my poppy with pride to remember the fallen of ww1 and 2 only to me the poppy is now a political statement and it gives not only our club but also our religion ridicoulus press from the tv and the gutter press as most of us on this page derive from irish catholics it brings it back to me when our people came over to make a better life and we were shunned with adverts in newsepapers catholics need not apply during ww1 irish catholics played a large part in that conflict and ww2 as well because a few morons booed during the 2 minute silence we are tarred with the same brush dont they forget a team that is no longer refused to employ catholics for over 100 years
An interesting article, James. I am normally in accord with the material that you write but I find this area very difficult. My uncle, my namesake, died in World War Two, the only war I would have personally fought in myself in the past hundred years or so. If I was at the game, I personally would observe the silence. The reasons are twofold: firstly I know who I am personally paying respect to – and it does not include those who murdered innocents in Ireland, Iraq et al.
Secondly, I know that the MSM are going to go to town on the tiny minority that chose not to observe it – which allows deflection from what is happening at Ibrox.
If I felt that strongly myself about not observing the silence I would choose not to enter the stadium until it had passed.
Again, this is what I would do. Do I wish that those who boo wouldn’t do it? Yes, unequivocally! Do I have the right to make them not do it? Now we are into the realms of freedom of expression – a subject close to your heart, and mine also, incidentally.
Were any laws broken by those who booed? I don’t think so.
As I said at the beginning, James, this is a very difficult area to conclusively come down on one side, especially when the freedom of expression issue is brought into the debate.
Like you, I wish the silence was observed by all the Celtic support – but I don’t have the right to impose a silence on those who choose not to.
I thoroughly enjoy reading your blogs, James.
Keep up the good work!
Patrick, thanks for that mate.
I absolutely agree that the silence should not be imposed. Not in a hundred years. That would piss all over the freedoms these people died for.
But I find it incredible that anyone, far less the number who have today by email, Twitter and comment, would actually try to find a rational justification for their own ignorance.
As I said in the article, for those who’ve suffered at the hands of British imperialism, and I know that’s a HUGE number, they can choose to observe the silence for them.
But that silence is meant to represent those who died FOR those freedoms. I think it’s trawling the gutter to piss on their memory because other people who wore the uniform have done so with less honourable intent.
If you want an example, there’s an easy one. A lot of the scummier Sevco blogs would equate every individual in the preisthood with a handful of bastards who’ve betrayed it.
Silence and respect are all that was asked here. Nothing more. Some people couldn’t do the first cause they are incapable of understanding the second.
I try not to approach any subject from the default position of uncompromising hate. That’s just me.
The world is too full of it as it is. And that’s what causes wars in the first place.
I agree with the vast majority of this, James.
Those imbeciles who booed during the silence are not Celtic supporters and you are correct to indicate that the club missed a trick by suggesting that they are. Yes, the appropriate words of apology were needed but utter condemnation of those responsible was also necessary. I assume that they cannot be identified from the TV coverage. If they can then the club should withdraw their season tickets and ban them for life.
I become more and more frustrated with Johansen game by game. Like you I was once fulsome in my praise. Not now! As well as producing next to nothing he commits petty and petulant fouls leading to cautions putting himself and the team under pressure. Drop him! Like a hot brick!
Ronny? Now there’s a problem. I become more and more convinced that there is at least friction in the dressing room. Anything less than the league and one of the cups is totally unacceptable. In my view even the treble which I wish for with all my heart is not enough if we cannot go to the next level. Again like you I cannot see a realistic chance of winning either of the remaining games in Europe. I hope I am wrong because it breaks my heart to say that. Where does qualification take us? I am convinced that if either Mokde game had been in the SPFL we would have won and perhaps comfortably and that is probably the case with the Malmo ties. We seem to have a mental fault when it comes to Europe. The last 32 of the Europa League or group, stage of The Champions League raises the level of opposition by how many notches? I do not see how we can cope yet I long for it as we need the experience. So where now? I do not see Ronny cut it. I think of the late, great Tommy Burns. “The fan who got lucky.” He gave his all in so many ways. When he resigned and indicated that in part his decision had been driven by his feeling that he did not have it to achieve that extra step required to win the league I felt humbled by his humility and honesty. We need a barrow load of that from the directors, back room staff and players.
Time to step up to the plate Celtic. The worldwide family is waiting, praying and cheering you on. Faithful through and through!
I agree with the lad who just came into the game late, that is what I would have done and I agree we shouldn’t give our enemies a stick to beat us with. However we all are influenced by our own life experiences. There are many Celtic Supporters from the 6 Counties who would have had relatives murdered by the British Army. Some of them might feel (a) They are entitled to go to a game of football without having to be forced to respect said Army.
I am not at all trying to justify those who made noise during silence just it’s hard to understand people’s attitude unless you have walked in their shoes.
I do read and enjoy the blog but didn’t like this particular article, I dread this time of year, when for some strange reason Celtic always have an away game whilst the Huns are given an opportunity to show how much they love their British Heritage, of course this love doesn’t extend to paying their taxes,
I don’t see the point of the article James it’s just keeping the shit stirred.
Hi Jim,
Couldn’t agree moe..
What really bugs me about these people is that they think they are in some way they are the true voice of Celtic fans.
James, I’m disappointed for the same reasons you state but I cannot get exited anymore about this. I am unaware of any year in the last decade where Celtic have not been subject to scrutiny re remembrance respect issues. This coincides with the advent of poppy fascism and the sad and stomach turning military trainspotting at Ibrox. The SMSM even tried to haul us into the gutter when someone coughed during the Ibrox disaster silence. They hate us and will stop at nothing to bring us down. 99% of the time, we’re ahead of the game, some you just can never win.
We’ll be having this debate around same time next year, my guess is Celtic will be away from home and on the telly.