Bearman

There really is only one place to start when discussing Ferenc Puskas – with possibly the greatest anecdote in the game’s history. “I was with Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and Puskas, coaching in a football academy in Australia,” George Best once recalled. “The youngsters we were coaching did not respect Puskas, making fun of his weight and age, so he decided to try and hit the crossbar ten times in a row with a shot. “Law asked the kids how many they thought Puskas would get out of ten. Most said less than five. Best said ten. Puskas stepped up and hit nine in a row. For the tenth shot he scooped the ball in the air, bounced it off both shoulders and his head, and then flicked it over with his heel and cannoned the ball off the crossbar on the volley. They all stood in silence and then one kid asked who he was. I replied, ‘To you, his name is Mr. Puskas.'” Wonderful. Mr Puskas was one of, if not the, greatest goalscorers in the history of the game. He scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, and 616 in 620 games for Budapest Honved and Real Madrid. When FIFA were looking for a name for their award for the most aesthetically significant goal of the calendar year, Puskas was the obvious choice. Known as the Galloping Major – after Budapest Honved were taken over by the Hungarian authorities every player was given a token military rank – the kindest way of describing Puskas’ physical appearance would be ‘ample’. ‘He was short, stocky, barrel-chested and overweight, could not head the ball and could use only his left foot,’ the first lines of his BBC’s obituary read. Tom Finney called him “a roly-poly sort of figure”, while England manager Ron Greenwood called Puskas “a fellow who looked as if he did most of his training in restaurants”. Both also described him as the best striker they had ever seen. He might only have been able to use his left foot, but what a left foot it was. Those English opinions were shared by Puskas’ team-mates. “If he kicked the ball once, he scored two goals,” said Zoltán Czibor of his friend’s scoring ability, while Francisco Gento described Puskas’ left foot as “like a hand, such was the control”. “He is not only world class,” said Gyula Grosics. “He belongs to the realm of dreams.” When Puskas died in 2006 after a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s – if the one-sided and ultimately futile fight against such a horrifying degenerative condition can ever be called a battle – an entire nation went into mourning. “There is not one Hungarian who would be left untouched by the death of Ferenc Puskas,” Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said. “The best-known Hungarian of the 20th century has left us, but the legend will always stay with us.” If those tributes marked Puskas’ status as Hungarian icon, it was a long and winding road to national hero status. It was in 1993 that Puskas finally returned back to his country, 35 years of exile pierced only by an exhibition match in 1981. As part of the Honved squad that decided not to return back from a European trip to Bilbao after the outbreak of Hungary’s October revolution, Puskas was banned from football for 18 months and exiled in Spain. He returned to coach the Hungarian national side on a brief caretaker basis, but then shied away from the public eye. “When I arrived at the airport it was packed with people who gave me the most warm welcome I could wish for,” Puskas wrote in his autobiography. “It was unbelievable. There were people screaming and shouting as if a pop star had arrived. As soon as I could, I visited the Kispest cemetery where the graves of my parents lay. I had never visited my mother before.” That 18-month ban split Puskas’ career into two distinct sections, but it would be more accurate to describe him as having two careers in one. Between 1943 and 1956 he was the homegrown hero and Mighty Magyar. Between 1958 and 1966, he was the trailblazing foreign superstar. It could easily have been so different. Almost 30 when the ban began, Puskas described it as a “virtual death sentence”. Rejected by Italian clubs because of his weight issues, the striker turned up at Real Madrid 18 kilograms overweight, with supporters unconvinced by a portly new signing who described himself as “the size of a large balloon”. Eight years later, he had won five La Liga titles and three European Cups, lifting Spain’s Pichichi trophy on four separate occasions. Between the ages of 33 and 36, Puskas was named in the World Soccer World XI four years in succession. Both halves of Puskas’ career have their own defining performance, the first coming for his country at Wembley in 1953. Hungary’s 6-3 victory (and subsequent 7-1 thrashing) became a defining moment in English football’s progression from the darkness of post-war football into the bright sunshine of the modern game. England’s first Wembley defeat to an overseas nation was followed by their heaviest ever loss. As centre-half Syd Owen said: “It was like playing people from outer space.” Puskas, Hungary’s captain, scored four goals in those two games. It was his second goal at Wembley that is replayed most, his dragback sending England captain Billy Wright flying into a tackle on only thin air and Wembley turf. As Alex Ferguson recalled after Puskas’ death: “He cut back inside and took Wright so far out of the game he had to pay ‘three and six’ to get back into the ground.” It may seem alien now, but that one skill had shown the world a glimpse of the future, like Johan Cruyff’s turn 21 years later. England had previously been tactically rigid, each player trained to a particular specification, technical coaching a virtually untested strategy and mesmeric tricks simply not used. “We demonstrated the golden rule of football, and that is: the good player keeps playing even without the ball,” Puskas said. The Mighty Magyars were the prototype for Rinus Michels’ Total Football. The second definitive Puskas performance came at Glasgow’s Hampden Park in May 1960 in the European Cup final. He scored four goals to Alfredo Di Stefano’s three as Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 7-3. It was Real Madrid’s fifth straight European Cup victory, and Puskas and Di Stefano’s goals account for two of the four hat-tricks in European Cup final history. The third came two years later, as Puskas repeated the feat against Ajax. There is a distinct danger of overlooking Puskas’ greatness. Football is guilty of availability heuristic bias, whereby we place importance (and therefore preference) on recent players and managers, ranking them above those of yesteryear through familiarity. To give a brief example of his ability, Puskas was named by L’Equipe as the greatest European player of the 20th century. He was the captain of one of the world’s greatest international sides and, almost a decade later, the top goalscorer for one of the greatest club teams. The game may have never seen a better finisher, and may never do again. Most of all, Puskas was a gentle, kind man with a breathtaking talent, one who lived to immerse himself in football. He enjoyed socialising with his supporters but lived a modest existence with no delusions of grandeur. Neighbours in Madrid remember him giving out footballs to the children of the neighbourhood, while former team-mate Ferenc Kovács recalls Puskas buying medicine that was not available in Hungary for local pensioners on an international trip to Austria. He handed out the packages upon his return to Budapest, refusing payment. “Everything nice that you can say about someone can be said for Puskás, as both a player and a person,” Kovacs says. “I wasn’t all that interested in politics, inside the bubble of my football world, playing and training, and leading a happy family life,” Puskas wrote in his book, but it is a quote shortly before his death that epitomises the man. “I will write of my life as a footballer as if it were a love story, for who shall say that it is not?,” Puskas said. “It began with my great love of football and it will end the same way.”

I think that's you mate in the video innit?

Sorry false alarm fellow bears, about 4 mins left of the programme before they brought it up. Answer to the question: It won't be good for the lower league teams after what they've been used to.

When asked last night about Rangers promotion after watching his own team stutter again, he looked bored and uninterested.

Wish the DR and others for that matter would stop going on about Rangers having to spend money to win the league. Football is all about how a TEAM plays under good managerial skills, Rangers have that, they don't, simples. A bunch of stagnate overpaid individuals, they have that, we don't, simples.

The question tonight on STV's Scotland Tonight programme. Stupid question really. Not sure who'll be in the studio, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Odious one or English get an invite. Programme begins at 10:30pm after the ITV News At Ten.

My neighbour called his dog 'Bolt'. He never saw it again!

Worth noting the tims are worried about having him officiating too...he's not biased, just yer typical Scottish ref. HOPELESS!

Ah, thanks Scott, my mate's was exactly the same then, must have been the plain reefer you speak of, as his dad, although certainly a top guy wasn't in the way you mean, he was a humble painter & decorator. Thanks for the info mate.

Unfortunately these don't belong to me... These old Rangers scarves, most of the guys of a certain vintage will remember them well. Has anyone still got theirs? My mates Dad gave him the one on the right (silk) and gave me the one on the left with the Rangers Football Supporters motif and white frills on the ends. The silk scarf had a diagonal finish at each end in line with the diagonal red & white pin stripes. We both wore them throughout the late '60's early 70's but unfortunately we don't have them now and can't remember what ever became of them, must have lost them or replaced them with more modern versions. I think at the time these scarfs could be purchased from menswear shops in and around the city centre, would love it if these went into production again, I'd be first in the queue. If anyone on here has indeed got one of them and it's lying up in your loft gathering dust or in an old box, PM me and I'll relieve you of it. Pure smart...any of you gentleman still wear it to the game today?

Somebody has come on and said they are OFFENDED!

The journey isn't over but it will be next season, just my feeling.

Filth failed to score yet again against Dundee dropping two more points in a dour 0-0 and Scumdee missed out on their game in hand to reduce the gap after a 0-1 at Plastic Whistle. It's round 33 next time, the last before the 'split'. Sheep play at Hertz on Friday evening, Filth at revamped M'well the following day at 12:30pm (both games shown live), five points separate the top two... Same situation at the arse end...5 points separate the two bottom clubs Killie and Scumdee. 3rd bottom Accies a further 4 points ahead. Next fixtures: Accies entertain Dundee, Killie are at home to St Johnstone while Scumdee welcome ICT (all 15:00pm ko's)

I don't mind admitting ian I was filled up at the end don't know how I kept myself crying my eyes out, could see by looking around me others (mostly old guys like myself) struggling too. I think tissues will be the order of the day when it's 'The Big One' 55 we win.

Nice one from Andy Andy going into the crowd to celebrate with them at the end...just seen on Sky

When will the league fixtures for the 2016-17 season be announced? Seriously though...job done 4 years that seem more tbh, next 3 jobs Hampden Hampden and Hampden.

WATP!

Team news: One change from Saturday, King for O'Halloran. Foderingham Tavernier - Kiernan - Wilson - Wallace © Holt - Halliday - Forrester King - Miller - McKay

£45,000 pw

He was on 1mill a year (£19,500 pw) according to this.... http://tsmplay.com/football/celtic-players-salaries/ No idea if these figures are accurate, but it's peanuts to what Commons takes home.

After a season on loan with Scottish club Rangers FC, Gedion Zelalem will reportedly be given every chance to assert himself with Arsenal next season. The Telegraph is reporting that Zelalem will be given the chance to earn a spot on the Arsenal first team this summer. The club is expected to part ways with midfielders Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky at the end of the season, opening the door for Zelalem to lock down a consistent role with the senior squad. However, the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team midfielder will have competition. Arsenal is hoping to add Borussia Monchengladbach star Granit Xhaka in the summer window, while younger players like Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny have shined throughout the season. Still, the hope is that Zelalem will follow the path of fellow Arsenal prospect Alex Iwobi, who has made seven English Premier League appearances for the Gunners while adding two goals. Zelalem has made 22 total appearances for Rangers since joining the team on loan, but has started just once since February. Manager Mark Warburton has been left impressed by the midfielder’s stint at the club. “I said right from the start I wanted players who could dominate the football,” Warburton told the Daily Record. “Others may use different terms but I want players who are comfortable in possession, enjoy possession and always look to get on it. “And if they make a mistake, show again. Look at Gedion Zelalem, a couple of games the crowd got on his back when the first couple of passes went astray but the next thing he does is go straight for the ball. He’s 18 but that’s great character, great courage to get on the ball and play in that sort of arena. That’s the type of player I’ll always go for.” Zelalem and Rangers are back in action on Tuesday for a clash with Dumbarton. http://sbisoccer.com/2016/04/report-zelalem-to-be-given-chance-to-make-arsenal-first-team

MW's words remind me of the time Martin O'Neill took over a shambles of a team that had finished 21 points behind us the previous season. He came out with "Rangers are the benchmark" or something like that...look what happened! I have every hope we can win the league next season with 3 or 4 decisive signings.

Could always throw us into the 4th tier again and see how that pans out!

Leicester City have adopted a style of closing the game down, a young sub guy came on late in the game and held the ball up cutely at a corner of the park getting throw-ins wasting about 5 minutes. They've had five 1-0 wins in their last six games now using that idea, dangerous of course but successful so far. Sider: Exactly one year ago - Leicester were 7 points from safety, today, now 7 points ahead at the top.

The rest of Scottish football will be holding their breaths hoping Rangers can finally do it tomorrow night, the club with it's incredible support has been so missed and the game has spiralled to new depths since demotion to the bottom tier. Tomorrow night will be the turning point for Scottish football, football fans from all over the country will all sleep well after the news filters through that the Rangers are back, street parties will be held over the coming days in celebration from Dingwell to Inverness, Aberdeen to Perth, Dundee to Edinburgh...fans of the City of Glasgow will feel proud once more as Scotland's most successful club will be back to represent them, fans of the Partick team and the other club will have most reason to rejoice as it will be seen as a boost to the city in particular as fans stream back to witness the re-birth of the product again after 4 long boring years . Newspapers and tv media led by BBC Scotland will run stories for weeks reminding people of what has been missed, representatives from the SFA (the governing body) will be clamouring in front of cameras to announce the game is in safe hands and on the up...the Rangers are back everyone!