Another Legget Gem

[CammyF 8,399]

Just saw this on another forum and thought that I'd post it here - a great read and shows more unbiased, fair and impartial reporting from Legget;

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The Myth of Mart?s Celtic dominance

 

 

To the Camelot of King Arthur and the Loch Ness Monster must be added the

legend of Martin O?Neill?s dominance of Scottish football for the last five

years.

 

For as far as fables go that one is right up there with the Knights of the

Round Table, not to mention auld Nessie herself.

 

And if it continues to go unchecked then the myth will grow into a warped

reality, especially for those seeming illiterates who cannot consult the

record books.

 

Not to mention those who may not be sufficiently numerate to be able to

work out the mathematics of those five seasons during which Celtic and

their fans were completely under the spell of the Ulsterman.

 

Therefore, for the record, let this column state, of the 15 domestic

trophies which were competed for, O?Neill?s Celtic won 7.

 

That is precisely the same amount of silverware captured by Rangers since

the summer of 2000.

 

And before those of a Parkhead persuasion point to the 3 championships

included in the O?Neill haul to just 2 taken by Rangers, let?s examine

another aspect.

 

During the 3 full seasons which saw O?Neill and McLeish in direct

confrontation, Rangers won 2 titles to Celtic?s single success.

 

In fact, in the half of the season to play out when McLeish took over at

Ibrox in December 2001 ? with O?Neill having outstripped Dick Advocaat by

14 points ? Rangers beat Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup on

their way to winning that trophy, and then in the final of the Scottish

Cup.

 

Therefore, the fact of the matter is that while Celtic enjoyed greater

overall silverware success under O?Neill than at any time since the Jock

Stein era, they were far from being the dominant force.

 

Indeed of the eleven trophies at stake during the O?Neill-McLeish rivalry,

the Scot took 7 to the Ulsterman?s mere 3!

 

But if the true measure of domination is to be taken as the championship ?

as it must ? then O?Neill?s record of 3 titles in 5 years is exactly the

same as Billy McNeill achieved between 78 and 83.

 

Big Billy also lifted 2 Scottish Cups and a League Cup for a haul of 6

trophies, just one fewer than O?Neill, yet nobody spoke of dominance then.

 

In his first 5 full campaigns, Jock Stein won the title every year for

Celtic, while over a comparable period Walter Smith did exactly the same

with Rangers.

 

Now that is dominance and puts any outlandish claims for O?Neill and his

misguided disciples firmly into the context of history. No doubt those

poor souls will hark back to Seville and quote it in the manner of some

Holy Grail.

 

Let this column therefore put that into historical context too, and remind

them O?Neill and Celtic actually lost.

 

Stein never harked back to the losing 1970 European Cup Final, and neither

did Scot Symon, who took Rangers to the ECWC Finals of both 1960 and 67,

only to end like O?Neill, a second best loser.

 

What O?Neill?s greatest achievement as Celtic manager seems to have been

was to give the club?s supporters back a guid conceit of themselves.

 

Though as so few appear to see themselves as Scottish as their great Lisbon

Lions captain, that phrase may not strike a chord with them.

 

Restoring self esteem to the green and white hordes was in itself a mammoth

task, and for achieving it O?Neill must be congratulated.

 

Just 2 titles in the 14 years before his arrival had left Celtic and their

supporters bereft of anything except bluster.

 

That though is a major positive side of the legacy which MON left at

Parkhead. On the negative side is the fact he allowed a team to grow old

together.

 

And in building that team he switched from the traditional slick passing

Celtic style to a bruising bullying brigade of big men.

 

That those many Celtic fanatics have long romanticised about the way they

like to see their team play, accepted it goes a long way to underlining my

point about lack of self esteem.

 

But it is in the darker reaches of what may have gone on within Parkhead

that there must be suspicion about the legacy left by this complicated,

brooding Ulsterman.

 

One London journalist who claims a close friendship with him, and who only

last week alleged he was being touted as the next England manager by senior

FA sources, recently wrote that MON was a conspiracy theorist.

 

This view did not come as a surprise to those of us who observed him at

close quarters for 5 years.

 

MON has often given the impression of a man who could spot a grassy knoll

at half a mile ? even without his specs.

 

Indeed, just before he took his leave of Glasgow, he made some strange and

disturbing remarks claining there were personal vendettas against him. He

certainly seemed to know all about vendettas and gave one a new lease of

life with his treatment of linesman Andy Davis at the Scottish Cup Final

when it looked as though he refused to shake the official?s hand at the

end.

 

Then there was his infamous BBC interview when he would not answer a

straight question about whether he felt he could have an influence on

sectarian behaviour by making a direct appeal to Celtic supporters.

 

This column has always taken the view ? and it is not alone ? that MON

always seemed to believe any sectarian problem was not Celtic?s fault.

 

Perhaps that was something to do with the fact of which side of the Ulster

divide MON was brought up in.

 

But here is where the water becomes too deep to enter.

 

In fact, down in such murky depths lurks more danger than even Nessie. And

she is one of the few bigger myths in Alba than the one about MON?s

dominance of Scottish football.

[Wija 0]

An excellent read Cammy...... Legget is a breath of Fresh Air!!

[theboyharley 5]

Fantastic article Cammy, if only there were one or two more out there like him

[nokiss 0]

That is a F*****N' great read.

 

Really puts the over exaggerated success of the wee specky tramp into perspective when written down like that. Two other interesting points in the story as well. Andy Davis after the SCF and the failure to answer the question about sectarinism and the septic fans.

 

Great find Cammy and well done Mr Legget.

[geo1873 0]

fookin brill piece! wheres this guy been all our lives ?

[stewarty 2,060]

Anyone got a number for the Sunday People subscriptions?

[Falkirk Jim 0]

Brilliant ..... absolutely brilliant!

[Wija 0]

That is a F*****N' great read.

 

Really puts the over exaggerated success of the wee specky tramp into perspective when written down like that. Two other interesting points in the story as well. Andy Davis after the SCF and the failure to answer the question about sectarinism and the septic fans.

 

Great find Cammy and well done Mr Legget.

 

 

 

Fook me that is a cracker no fookin doubt!! LOL