In 2006, the American comedian Bill Burr was onstage in front of a notoriously hostile Philadelphia audience which had already spent much of the night destroying the talent. He was not long into his show when they started booing him.
For the next eleven minutes, Burr subjected that audience to one of the most relentless poundings ever delivered by a comic to those who had paid to come and watch him. Even listening to it all the years later, for the hundredth time, makes me smile.
Burr is clearly a world-class wit, and over the course of that eleven minutes he won the respect of a heck of a lot of those hecklers, and he considers the show a triumph to this day … but even if he’d won back none of that crowd, Burr would still have looked back on it fondly, because he was not kidding. He might have been funny, but he was not joking.
He gave them what he thought they deserved.
Burr didn’t care because he was already a guy at the top of his game, appearing in front of people in a city far from home with whom he’d have no further interaction. Even on his return to that city and that venue, none of them were likely to buy another ticket, were they? So although I admire his bottle and wholly respect the craft, it wasn’t as brazen as it seems.
This evening, following the game, Brendan Rodgers addressed the issue of the fans booing the full-time whistle, and I don’t know if I’m misreading his comments or misunderstanding them, and I’m willing to give him some benefit of the doubt here … but the thing is, I know that Rodgers is a smart guy and knows what he’s doing and saying almost all of the time.
“I’ve had that since I’ve been here,” he said, when asked about the response from the stands this afternoon. “If it’s not the result, it’s me. If not me, the board.”
When he says stuff like that, he has to know that some people – rightly or wrongly – are going to take that as a dig, and although it’s not standing in front of a drunk Philadelphia crowd and telling them they never need to worry about terrorism because they aren’t worth bombing, it takes either someone very brave, arrogant or stupid to even seem as if he’s discounting the opinions of 60,000 people who by virtue of the season tickets definitely will be in his place of work every single second week and who very much hold his future in their hands.
Now Rodgers may be growing frustrated with the fans, but he better get it straight that we’re growing increasingly frustrated with every aspect of how the team is being run.
If he thinks we’re a little scattershot in our criticism he needs to grasp that we’re not at all, that all these things are interconnected. The board isn’t delivering the talent he wants, he’s not fighting hard enough for it and he’s taken this squad backwards. That impacts results.
For someone who is very much under scrutiny right now by a lot of the supporters, Rodgers comes dangerously close to calling us out in that statement, and in his position that would not be a particularly good idea.
Because no-one in the stands likes the look of this situation at the moment, and we pay his salary and much else at Celtic besides, and so we’re very entitled to voice our frustrations, and unless he and other people at the club start seriously upping their game he, and they, are going to hear a lot more of it.
I took it as criticism. Has taken Kyogo backwards, he is becoming ineffective, in Brendan I no longer trust, the board I trust even less.
We were awful today.
Shocking at corners – at both ends of the park, passing sloppy, crosses murder and seem totally unable to bring the best striker in the country into the game. Most weeks I get more touches than Kyogo. Only consolation is that the Govan mob are worse. But as usual they’re tooling up while we sit on our hands. Rodgers spoke a lot of mince in the post-match interview. He must have been watching a different game. I feel he might not be there much longer – one way or the other.
As for Palma.
I’d dock the wages of players who take penalties like that. We’ve missed too many this season. I’d have subbed him after the second miss “pour encouragez les autres” as Voltaire wrote.
Finally why is our playing surface no better than a public park?
Rodgers is going through the motions, today was just another of many dire performances. How the team play is down to him and right now, he’s badly underperforming.
Take Kyogo, hardly had a touch of the ball today, feeding of scraps. And using the pitch as an excuse, would he rather play at Rugby Park? He needs to pull his finger out and soon!
Hated him when he fucked off during a season. If he’d stayed til the end he would’ve been a hero. Now I realise why he left when he did. When he was appointed boss again I thought that it made sense.Good manager, good pedigree, but now he’s like a yes man. Sad, really.
Paddy power has a 8/5 dark side scenario…if you are a pragmatist and a business gambler this a not bad odds…this is season 20/21 de je vu I’m ashamed to say as a North of Ireland bhoyo
What the absolute f**k is going on at Celtic? It really does beggar belief. We must all support the team ans see this one out. But honestly. Come the end of the season if it all goes as I suspect, the gloves MUST come off. There is no other way to put it. Lawwells must go.
Quite clearly Rodgers is as much pissed off as every other Celtic fan with the way this Celtic Board is recruiting, or not. What he says in public would appear to cover up his own frustrations, body language says it all. Last time he walked away and there is a growing sense he is closer to that again. Today’s performance was pathetic. One week left for the Lawells to prove their worth, but I fear the worst.
If Rodgers and the board think that the performance today and a number of other Celtic Park performances this season are good enough, Then what World are they living in?
They have gambled with the future success of this club and that won’t be forgiven if the gamble fails
Lawwell seems to resent the Celtic support, and now Rodgers has joined him in the lack of respect.
No shame in Paradise
He’s right. And some of our fans are whinging insufferable babies. For sure, we weren’t great but booing them last night was ridiculous. What sort of environment is that for khun to walk off the pitch on his debut to? First proper game back after the winter break and they players are subjected to that? Give me peace. They have a right to boo yes, and I have a right to call those booers pathetic and the definition of not supporting the team. Not much different than the Huns when with this behavior.
You absolutely have the right to say what you wanna say, Ray. Nice hat, by the way. I’m a poet and didn’t know it
It is, however, indicative of the gerneral perception that Celtic fans have of being taken for fools by the Celtic board. I am not really sure how else that frustration can be so effectively registered. It’s right there in front of us and everyone can see it. They’re falling asleep at the wheel. Again.
Why couldn`t Rodgers just have come in and continued the Ange system? This talk about managers having certain ways of playing and needing their own players $4!t. Jock Stein went to watch Herrera to pick up some hints and also the Hungarian National team. He then transformed underperforming Jimmy McGrory signings into the Lisbon Lions. Stein`s own ideas and players would possibly have got him the sack. Rodgers has managed to turn success into utter failure. His days are long gone.
A better question would be: why didn’t the club target a replacement for Ange who was likely to continue playing the same way, rather than one who was not likely to do so? There was at least one obviously very suitable candidate.
‘Utter failure’ is miles off.
As part of the Celtic family you get a feel for things in terms of positivity, things that give us an edge, winning mentality, body language of the team and manager and I am hurting like the majority of Celtic fans right now. Optimism is low for sure, some dreadful home performances this season. Celtic have to earn the right to win football matches not just turn up.
The pitch is sh!t, WHY??
If Brendan had confidence in his CB’s he could have played Scales at LB. There is a player in Bernabei, just not a LB nor at Celtic.
Joe needs to go, they should have scored with the one over his head but then again 2 ross Co players at the back stick and no Celtic defender near them either.
I look foraward to the one paced Turnbull going and only hope we get a more dynamic replacement ASAP.
Are Hatate, Maeda and Oh really going to change the overall dynamic, I doubt it. We need fresh experienced blood and ideas.
In Bernado my current thoughts are maybe another season long loan, still unsure of the guy.
Palma is fast becoming a one trick pony and was I the only one who KNEW he would miss that second Pen. Calmac should have sorted that. The second was worse than the first.Tricky position being a winger but a little more consistency in crosses is a definite need and at pace, too much slowdown to over think things, this is a whole team problem.
Why Abada stayed on for as long I will never know. Khun (Left footer) had then to move for Johnson, shows we are playing some out of position, never a good tactic.
Taylor should be our backup left back to a quality signing. Replace Turnbull now and sit him in the stand for the duration.
Hatate seems a half season player, is he the answer? Will we get a full game this season from CCV?
Playing nowhere near Kyogo’s skill set due to no quick quality wing play. Abada is lost and Palma is too fond of coming inside.
Real lack of urgency from Brendan much like his previous spell and he has certainly lost the hunger imo.
We have lost something for sure and I personally do not know who is most to blame.
We have money to spend, ok January never the best for long term options but it does present big opportunities with the tons of quality players whose contracts are nearing end points. We have not been linked with anyone of note in that category and it is something that flashes on the various data sources all clubs access. SO why not!!!!!
I regret the day the buns overtake us in the league it is only one slip up away now and they have the 12th man of course so don’t expect any favours.
If Saturday was not an eye opener to Brendan then I do not know what it will take….. 2nd bottom of the lague with 8 player turn over from their last game and we get a fortuitous goal to win.
Brendan is not entirely wrong, for we do have a proportion of our fans who are that hard to please that they are ready to boo just about anything and looking for any excuse to do so. We won the game for God’s sake, not in the style we wanted, but nevertheless another 3 points gained. Are the supporters entitled to boo because they pay good money to watch their team? No, not in my opinion, the operative word being entitlement, are we so used to winning over the years that we think we are entitled to expect easy victories in every game? Some of us are starting to adopt hunnish behaviour, if we are disgruntled with the board, then direct our ire at them, not the team itself who are at the top of the league because of their efforts to get us there. Fan discord can have a negative effect on the players themselves if they think they are the targets, we are there to get behind them and the boo boys are not helping the situation one bit.
Something is definitely wrong in the state of Celtic.
Apparently BR is the highest paid manager in Celtic’s history, then why aren’t we giving him the funds to change? We all want the best for Celtic, but this “one of the best run clubs in Europe” isn’t true.
Who sanctioned buying all the dross we’ve signed and can’t get rid of. Who decided to give McCarthy a long term contract when he was so injury prone. BR has changed the way we play, not having the players to play that style is hampering the team, “pace and power” he wanted six months ago, a left back 18months ago, a keeper a year ago. The board are playing with fire, IF we lose the title those responsible must also go, that includes board members far too much nepotism at the club, and improve the whole structure at the club.
Absolute nonsense…..Some supporters need a reality check
Rodgers is getting used to the boos well that should tell him his tactics are pure shite
Kyogo looked deflated again yesterday , not a smile on his face , he’s obviously not happy what ever is going on behind the scenes , sevco will not drop points again this season , Var and the refs will see to that , at this rate we will lose the league and and 60 million C L money all down to big pete , a repeat of the ten season where the team was intentionally ham strung , they threw it away then and a blind man can see it’s happening again
You say the board are not delivering the players he is asking for, that he is not challenging them enough when they don’t and that he is taking the squad he inherited backwards. I am not party to the wheeling and dealing of the recruitment department and how Rogers deals with them, however what is indisputable is the regression in the performances since Rogers took over.
The whole board are complacent in thinking they can get by every season with the minimum spend, knowing it’s enough to get us into Europe and earn a decent pay off. Spend £10 million get back £40 million plus, Happy Day’s for Lawwell, who is only concerned about his Big Bonus. Inaction will lead to a reaction, perhaps Boycott home games till they get the message. Money in the Bank does not buy success. Perhaps Desmond and Lawwell are saving up to be Miser’s
He better take notice of the fans, if he honestly thinks we’ll accept that performance regardless of the results, he’s sadly mistaken. You never bite the hand that feeds you. He’s fortunate to get a second chance at Celtic. He’s responsible for the performance of the team. Ask yourself why you get booed, ….Get the team playing football on the front foot, negative and slow passes across the back four isn’t entertaining.