Pride - in the Name of Celtic

Like many others in the Celtic support, I was brought up in a deeply-religious, Catholic family.

My mother was from County Donegal and an enthusiastic advocate - aka enforcer - of Catholic doctrine and dogma.

There were barely enough Masses in the year for mum, who grudgingly accepted the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council through deference to Papal infallibility, whether invoked by the Holy Father or not.

You could have accurately referred to her as a Catholic fundamentalist, well-versed in the Catechism that declared the only valid sexual activity as being "open to procreation within the confines of marriage".

I even once heard her quoting the American spiritual, "Give me that old-time religion".

I never said it was easy.

And like most brought up in the years before Eastenders scandalised British society with a pre-watershed Gay kiss, the idea of Gay equality was anathema to me.

Yes, I held the same prejudices as the vast majority of my peers and I doled out the homophobic epithets with the same frequency most "normal" people of the age.

I am not proud of that.

Though I refer to my Catholic upbringing, seeing homosexuality as some form of social disease was very much the accepted view of the time, outwith the extreme fringes of society.

I even remember a story of a young man who killed his cousin because he tried to kiss him. The charge was reduced from murder to manslaughter and he was given a short sentence as that sort of thing was considered extreme provocation outraging common decency.

Likewise, two men holding hands - never mind kissing - would be at a high risk of assault with charges unlikely to be brought against their assailants.

In my case, I gradually changed and I found myself a subject of grave concern when, as a supporter of the Scottish Fight the Clause campaign, literature arrived at the family home, the envelopes conspicuously stamped.

Ironically, the subject was considered too awful to talk about, so I was spared a grilling, which would likely have comforted my parents as I would truthfully have said: "I'm not Gay; I just don't think what's happening is right and I want to know more."

In 2018, we don't have to tiptoe around the subject of sexuality any more and many younger people may not recognise how different that is to the experiences of previous generations.

Sexuality is, in most societies, still one of the most vexed subjects in terms of morality and social norms.

One way or another, there always seem to be people looking to police what goes on it the bedroom (or other available venue) and we are usually brought up with values from our parents or others who we love and respect but whose values do not necessarily match ours.

My view is that we all retain the right to our own values and opinions but that we should not project our moral values on others who are doing no harm.

By that, I mean that tolerance means accepting the diversity of moral and religious or areligious values, most of which are genuinely held, as well as according equal respect to those whose expressions of their own selves are "different".

Celtic is "a club open to all". The Irish Catholics who landed in Scotland in the 19th century were "different" and branded unacceptable due to their beliefs, customs and behaviours.

And yet Celtic is  a club for Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Sikh, Atheist, Agnostic or any other believer or non-believer.

I'm proud of that fact.

I'm also proud that Celtic can openly offer an equally welcoming environment to people of any and all sexualities.

Anyone who wishes to support Celtic should be embraced with equal respect and, if the first high-profile Gay footballer in Scotland should happen to play for Celtic, I am confident that he or she would find that support from the Celtic family that has sustained many in the past.

The words should be synonymous.

Pride in the name of Celtic.
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End racism - and Show Shay Logan the Red Card

I have a pal (really), Eamon, who has devoted most of his adult life to socialism.

He's one of those guys who left Labour behind years ago, as being a party incompatible with his socialist ideals. He is also the sort of guy who does unglamorous work in his community, like volunteering to referee kids' football matches that might promote integration and understanding between communities.

He is unlikely to ever get a medal for this and he would never seek one, despite doing more for the public good than many - more celebrated - elected politicians.

We broadly agree on the vast majority of subjects - politics of the left, trade unionism, anti-Fascism, ant-racism, a loathing of the Conservative party, disdain for Labour, being unconvinced by the SNP, etc. And we are both passionate about Celtic.

But we are also both forthright with each other and willing to let the other know when we disagree with certain opinions or actions.

One such occasion centred around one of those very matches that Eamon was giving up his free time to referee.

He recounted an unpleasant incident, when one boy accused another on the opposing team of using a racist epithet, during an increasingly niggly game.

Eamon immediately asked the other boy to apologise, which he refused to do, pleading his innocence. Eamon asked who had heard it and nobody else had.

The boy continued to deny using racist language and refusing to apologise until Eamon asked him, "Will you just say sorry, anyway - for me?"

The boy acquiesced, though still proclaiming his innocence,  which Eamon thought a good outcome.

But I disagreed and I said so.

Was that because I thought racism a trivial thing? No.

It was because I considered Eamon to have, in his well-meaning way, confused two fundamental principles - the right of someone claiming to be a victim to be taken seriously and believed against the right of someone facing a harmful accusation to defend his reputation, when faced with nothing stronger than the word of the accuser and innuendo.

These are sensitive situations and there are no perfect solutions.

But my point to Eamon was that some happenings are simply unjust and while nobody has a right to abuse another person, being coerced into apologising for something that you know you haven't done is intolerable to most people and, especially to a child, may leave a lingering scar and even plant the seed for an antipathy that was not previously there.

And so we come to Shay Logan.

We all know that Logan was racially abused by Aleksandr Tonev as it is a matter of official record with that redoubtable body, the Scottish Football Association.

Tonev was, you may recall, banned and his loan deal from Aston Villa cut short, based only on Logan's certainty that he had heard the words he claimed were uttered, though there was no corroborating evidence.

This decision was lauded by the likes of Tom English, to whom an accusation is as good as a conviction.

Now, if Tonev did make racist remarks, I would be the first to say that he should have been kicked out of  Celtic. And, even without that, I can't say that losing him has kept me up at night.

I know what it's like to be abused for my background and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I also don't believe that people from certain minorities should keep quiet for fear of drawing bigoted attention to themselves. After all, we heard the Scottish media saying that about Neil Lennon, who was undoubtedly racially abused on a regular basis.

But I do object to the good name of Celtic being smeared by any unsupported allegations, as is happening now - coincidentally on the say-so of Shay Logan.

I intended to ignore his latest accusation as the attention-seeking it clearly was.

Because, let's face it, Logan is an insufferable idiot who, when not getting attention, uses his Twitter account to send some antagonistic message to Celtic fans and who declared the derisive boos that he so clearly seeks to be racist, when nobody was talking or even thinking about the dishwater-potent talents.

In doing so, he evokes the same logic  shown by Neymar, when the Tartan Army were ahead of the curve in booing his cheating in a friendly international. Neymar, apparently unable to think of any other reason for his being booed, declared the reaction to be racist.

And that was what the first and most-read headlines said.

But, today, Show Racism the Red Card Scotland, decided to pipe in, days late, with remarks decrying the Celtic supports reaction to Logan as "racist".

Of course, SRtRC offers no evidence, as they don't need to. The slur is enough and SRtRC, who not for the first time, appear to be a selective Scottish imitation of the more respected UK-wide group, have decided to sling mud when it suits them.

Are there racists within the Celtic support? Undoubtedly, and sadly, yes, as with every other type of buffoon.

Is it fair to describe fans as racists because they boo a player whose very raison d'etre seems to be to make the news by goading Celtic fans? No, it is not.

Logan simply follows in a line of players such as Ally McCoist and Nacho Novo, who get a kick out of annoying Celtic fans.

Steven Naismith and his manager Craig Levein are currently doing the same at Hearts.

Most clubs have players who enjoy the notoriety of seeing opposition fans getting angry and we have had our own.

When the new season starts, you can expect to hear the fans rain down abuse on Naismith, Levein, Kenny Miller, half the Motherwell team and management, Graeme Shinnie and Logan.

There may well be idiotic remarks amongst them and I would call on any fan who hears racist abuse to challenge it whenever they hear it. They will be strongly supported by fellow fans.

Logan and SRtRC have reduced the serious issue of racism in football to the level of a Sasha Baron Cohen Ali G routine.

You may find this hard to believe, Shaleon, but few Celtic fans care about you at all and those who do - almost without exception - simply think you're  a fool.

And the same goes for the Scottish branch office of SRtRC. --

Celtic in for John McGinn? If you know the history, the move would make sense

Anyone who reads this irregularly-published blog more than twice a year can tell you that I never shy away from saying, "I told you so".

I make no apology for doing so as I simply have a near-perfect memory for those occasions on which I have been proved right.

A cynic might suggest that's because they are so few in number but that's not true.

In fact, they are too many to count on the free fingers of my hands while I type this.

One of those times was my enthusiastic support for Scott Brown, from the outset. Scott's critics are a lot quieter these days but I still have their names in a sealed envelope in my desk.

But the memories some hold of the days when Scott signed (for ten times the price of Kenny Dalglish) seem to have dimmed.

It went like this. Neil Lennon, the most-targeted player in Scotland - by opponents, fans and media alike - was coming to the end of his historic captaincy of Celtic and Gordon Strachan was openly musing that he would leave a gap that would be extremely difficult to fill and perhaps impossible for one man to replace.

What Gordon meant was that he wanted the talented, battling young engine-room of Hibs - Scott and Kevin Thomson - to provide the foundation for the future of Celtic.

We now know that Celtic's Peter Lawwell allowed himself to be beaten to the punch by Walter Smith, seeing Thomson head off to Ibrox, by his own admission, taking the first offer to get away from John Collins.

Many - not least Derek Johnstone - expected Scott to follow his close pal and team-mate but the player had other ideas. Massimo Donatti - a good servant to Celtic - was recruited by Celtic's clever scouting operation deeming him a player who could do what Thomson did.

Apparently, this cleverness had omitted to account for the impact on both players and Celtic's ability to replace Neil with what might have been to Celtic and Scotland a midfield partnership to be spoken of with the same relish as the centre-backs, Miller-and-McLeish, was to Aberdeen and Scotland fans in the 1980s and 90s.

Personally, I had always quietly admired Thomson, though I much preferred Scott. (I recall an English friend spluttering that Thomson must be a player if I was complimenting a guy who had played for Rangers.)

While I may have digressed, Celtic are coming to another watershed moment, though planning for it with rather more foresight than when Scott was thrust into one of the most unforgiving positions Scottish football could offer and basically told: "Perform!"

Referees and a minuscule sense of fair play permitting, Scott's legs have a few seasons left to run but the void that he will leave will be no smaller than when Neil hung  up his boots for Celtic.

He is Celtic's captain, unquestioned leader, icon and, in this blogger's opinion, still our best player.

So, we do need to plan for that sad day when Scott finally takes his last bow for Celtic.

And it would be utter folly to try to find a replacement at the time. A comparable player would be far beyond the means of Celtic and, even then, by no means guaranteed to make that step  successfully, never mind immediately.

So, we absolutely must plan for a slow transition. And that's where John McGinn comes in.

Forget false comparisons between McGinn and Stuart Armstrong, which many have made. Armstrong has all the technical tools to be a top footballer but had never shown the stomach to be a Celtic captain or midfielder ready to take responsibility for all the good and bad that may happen to the club.

And, aside from that fact, they are players of very different styles.

The more direct comparison with Armstrong would be the vastly-superior Olivier Ntcham, who is a footballer of the highest quality. So much so that I believe that next summer's clamour will be for the signature of Olivier.

To turn a metaphor on its head, Olivier could be described as a velvet fist in an iron glove. He has such a good touch with both feet, as well as superb balance and reading of the game, yet his powerful physique enables him to show these skills when under intense physical pressure.

He shares many of these attributes with Moussa Dembele and these are highly-prized at the top levels of the modern international game.

So, appreciate Olivier while he is here, as I expect Europe's top clubs to be using a battering-ram on Celtic's front door, rather than knocking.

That leaves Eboue Kouassi, for whom I still retain hope. Eboue has made two massive cultural changes in just a few years, going to Russian and then to Scotland before he was twenty.

So, it shouldn't be a great surprise that he hasn't made a major impact in a year-and-a-half.

Eboue is another obvious contender to assume the mantle of Scott but, as with Neil Lennon, replacing our captain may be too big a job for one man (even, if for some different reasons).

So, we come to Hibernians' John McGinn.

Is he as good as Scott? Let me join in with those wailing, "No!", as if any player in Scotland could be, with Scott having swept all awards last season.

Could McGinn be as good as Scott? With similar dedication and excellent coaching, I think it's possible.

I do think that Scott had a bit more than McGinn when he came to Celtic. Then again, I had rarely seen a player with that unstoppable dynamism that Scott possessed, coupled with his instinct to create an attack when, in those days, he invariably rose first from a crumple of bodies and immediately looked to play the ball forward.

But I do see huge potential in McGinn and, given great coaching and top-level experience, I think that he has what it takes to develop into a future Celtic captain.

It's easy to forget that the coaching of Gordon Strachan and Brendan Rodgers, in particular, coupled with Scott's own maturing and intelligence have combined to produce a player who I wouldn't swap for anyone else in the world.

The criticism of McGinn saddens me, not least because of its merciless negativity.

As the great Tommy Burns once said, you should always focus on what a player CAN do for you, instead of what they can't.

John McGinn - the best player in Scotland last season, outside Celtic - can already do plenty of things in midfield.

Learning from Scott and coached by Brendan, I would like to see what else his game has to offer in green  and white.

The Hooped kind, of course.
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