Shortly after he’d been caught by the papers having it off with an American socialite, the Blairite cabinet minister David Blunkett was forced to resign over the allegation that he had used his position as Home Secretary to fast-track a visa application for his nanny.
He quit in the hope that he could resurrect his career.
Blunkett would have noticed, had he been properly paying attention and not distracted trying to spin to save his skin, that not one of his cabinet colleagues had appeared on TV or radio in the days prior to his departure to plead his case.
That may have had something to do with the damning comments he had made about some of them, and which had likewise made the papers.
On the night he resigned, he threw a “party” at his grace and favour home, and it was attended by all the cabinet members he had stabbed in the back and who had failed to speak up in his defence.
Blunkett had provided some sheet music as entertainment, and to the bafflement and embarrassment of some of the guests, he sat in front of the piano and started to play a downbeat version of Dorothy Field’s famous “Pick Yourself Up”.
Blunkett reached the chorus, expecting everyone to sing along; “I pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again …”
No-one did.
Instead, one grinning MP scribbled a quick note on the back of his copy of the lyrics and held it up to great amusement.
“In Sheffield,” it said. Which turned out to be more or less accurate.
I thought about that today when I saw the options Ryan Christie’s genius agent (and father) had secured for him after a year of looking for a top club, and having been able to sign a pre-contract deal with one for more than three months.
Bournemouth and Burnley, on the last day, battling for his signature. Wow. And all the while a deal with Celtic sits on the table, considered and rejected.
There will be more money for him in England, of course, but the only real credit Charlie Christie should get for that is if he’s able to keep a straight face when he tells the press that he advised his son to make the move “for footballing reasons.”
It’s a career step backwards. It’s a dreadful move, against what I suspect is the player’s own better judgement, and is motivated solely by money.
I understood Christie wanting to leave the club under Lennon.
We were going nowhere fast, and he was in decline as a footballer.
But his dad wanted him to leave when Rodgers was at the club.
I remember watching him give an interview where he boasted about “Ryan” being a match for any player in the Premiership, and how he could shine there.
I thought, seeing that, “he’s thinking like an agent advertising his player.”
I knew that guy had smelled money on the air and from there on in, I thought Christie’s departure started to look more certain, especially as time went on and no new deal materialised.
Last season, Christie was so poor that few of us would have cared that a day like this had come.
His performances since this season began have been better, edging towards the old Ryan Christie again, but at the back of our minds was that this is where we might end up, with him rushing for the door on the last day of the window, with the clock ticking down.
And so we pick ourselves up, and dust ourselves off and he starts all over again.
In Burnley, the home of the Nigel Farage fan club, or in Bournemouth, land of blue rinse Tories and bed and breakfasts; Blackpool without a tower.
I wish him all the best.
Big things are waiting for him.
Relegation battles and Championship football.
He’ll have the money though, and his dad will get the sweet ride he always wanted.
We, on the other hand, have a title race and battles in Europe to win.
And fair play to him for going and wanting more money. After all the leaders at our own club are motivated by nothing else but money.
It is actually a terrible reflection on our club that we lose a player to Bournemouth. Instead of criticising him we should be asking “what is going on at our club and what are we doing to fix it?” Frankly the Rangers Board are doing a better job than ours and THAT is saying something. They prioritise the right things and have put millions of their OWN money in. Contrast that with our lot. All they seem able to do is sell sell sell and pay themselves well. Its’ an utter disgrace. Being on the Celtic Board is a a privilege that should carry low salary, a focus on stewardship and building the team on the park. In my view Board members should also invest. I am disgusted by the state of our club.
Mark
Rangers are dead pal.
It happened 9 years ago.
Get over it
I am sure you are restricTED in what you would like to say
I’ve been a Celtic season ticket holder for 30 years and my father and grand father before that. If you think our club is being well run I respect your view but disagree. Another window, we sell three first team players, get in nearly £30m yet we spend little. The facts and the numbers never lie.
First of all we’ve not spent “little”, go and do the sums. The most important thing is we get in the right players that the manager wants and will fit in to the system and the club. If we bring in £30M the relative spend is irrelevant, less or more. The facts and the numbers never lie.
I suspect that, as JF suggests, his agent-father and money were behind this move. Of course this is not an unusual scenario. Footballers have a short career and RC is already 26. Celtic clearly didn’t offer him enough for him to agree a new contract so you reap what you sow. I’m not too disappointed after his performance during Sunday’s game although I was advocating for a new deal after his earlier performances this season. But two things:
(i) Bournemouth (as opposed to the place) are not a dead-end club. It’s not impossible that they and RC will be back in the EPL sooner rather than later.
(ii) I imagine RC sees this as a stepping stone, although a big step up seems rare for former Celtic players. VVD did it, V. Wanayama did it, Larsson did it in a limited way. But can’t think of many more. More often than not they go down the leagues after a period of bench-warming. But anyway, good luck to him.