A Tribute, Turkish Delight & More Police Harrassment
On Sunday, Celtic triumphed at Perth with a workmanlike footballing display that was notable for three things; Izzy playing to honour his fallen friend, Arnold Peralta, tragically murdered in his homeland; Nadir Ciftci scoring two goals in a Celtic shirt and another scandalous example of Police Scotland over-reach.
In the first instance, what Izzy did was excellent.
The manager was right to praise him for his mental toughness and dedication, but it was more than that.
Peralta was Izzy’s good friend, indeed he called him a brother.
The last few days must have been appalling for him, as it was appalling for everyone who knew the Honduran footballer.
It was a truly shocking event, and I can’t even imagine how his people must feel.
Momentarily, everyone in the Scottish football community forgot their animosities and rivalries and came together to pay tribute to him.
A tragedy like this always does that.
For a whole day Twitter and Facebook were filled with tributes, many of them really heartfelt.
It shows our country and its people in a very good light.
These kind of tragedies are, thankfully, very rare but you sometimes wish people would hold onto that feeling of togetherness just a little longer, that it was a much more common phenomenon and that it didn’t take a horrible event to bring it about.
The game itself was nothing to write home about.
Celtic won easily, without really being spectacular.
It was a workmanlike performance from a Celtic team playing against a side who turned up with high hopes but not a lot of expectations.
I didn’t have many either, I have to say, especially not in our Turkish striker.
But he answered some of the questions.
Nadir needed this. He needed goals. He needed to look like a player, and with Leigh Griffiths out with an injury the chance presented itself and he did well.
He got into the right places and did the right things.
Most important, he produced the goods.
Scoring twice will have been a huge relief to him, and hopefully we’ll now see some signs as to why Ronny Deila thought he was a worthwhile signing.
The best man on the pitch actually wasn’t Nadir Ciftci but Aussie midfielder Tom Rogic, whose re-emergence in this team – and as a real star – has been one of the tremendous upsides of an otherwise lacklustre season.
It is as unexpected as it is welcome, because I thought we’d seen all this kid had to offer and when he was allowed to leave on loan last year I would have put good money on his never coming back.
I am delighted with how well he’s doing.
He’s one of those players who clearly works for every privilege he gets as a footballer, and he has heart and determination to succeed.
He will be a great asset to our side for many years to come.
The jury is still out on Nadir, but a double has helped and if he can keep on doing it then people will soon put aside his less than impressive start.
The fans want him to succeed.
They want him to come good.
Their support will help him forward.
The other talking point was the actions of the police; their over-reaction, actually, and another in a long line of confrontational moments with our fans.
There are people within Police Scotland who simply do not like Celtic supporters.
That’s pretty clear-cut now, and as long as these guys have the authority to constantly harass us serious issues will remain and hard questions will continue being asked of the Scottish Executive.
Sunday’s issue was a banner the Celtic fans brought to the game reading “Police Everywhere Justice Nowhere.”
That the authorities reaction to this piece of criticism was heavy handed and reactionary makes the case for the fans more resoundingly than a hundred banners could.
There is little doubt that relations between our supporters and the police have now broken down completely, and this isn’t good for anyone.
The decision to move into the crowd and grab this banner was a lamentable one, a disgrace in a country where there is still, allegedly, freedom of speech.
Police Scotland’s behaviour is becoming an embarrassment, frankly, and the continuing silence of their political masters is bubbling into a scandal.
If Fans Against Criminalisation take their campaign to the European court – as they fully intend to – the Scottish government is going to end up in the unenviable position of having a law over-turned because it is in violation of the ECHR convention.
That will be a shameful moment for them, but it’s one they can still avoid by putting the leash back on their police force and putting this law in the bin.
It’s well overdue.