FAREWELL then Sean Fallon - with a departing: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant". Not a great Celtic player, but truly a Celtic great and a sterling example of what was for so long an Old Firm staple: "the fan on the park".
The relationship between Fallon and Jock Stein must have seemed at first an unlikely one - the Catholic boy from Sligo and the Blantyre boy from a staunchly protestant family - but, they hit it off from the start, found common ground and mutual respect and, particularly once injury ended both of their careers, their coaching and management partnership was just about the best thing which ever happened to Celtic.
Stein could be prickly, but the laid-back Oirish charm which Fallon exuded calmed stormy waters and made for some great craic. Methinks the Celtic squad in the Heavenly Champions League just got a wee bit stronger - provided God accepts being demoted from his position as Stein's assistant to make way for Fallon.
SO, Danny Wilson has joined Hearts. I cannot help feeling, the way his career has stalled at Anfield, that: a) - he was badly-advised in opting to leave Rangers so early-on in his career, a wee bit longer at Ibrox, then a swift exit when the wheels came off Craig Whyte's bogie might have served him better; and b) - The old Liverpool system whereby promising young players such as Ray Clemence, Kevin Keegan and Stevie Nicol had to serve an apprenticeship in the Liverpool reserves, but were encouraged to learn and improve before promotion isn't so-much broken as expired, bereft of life and gone to meet its maker.
A central defensive pairing of Webster and Wilson - just might interest WGS methinks.
INTERESTING piece on the Scotsman website today, written by young Barry Anderson of the Edinburgh Evening News, about Livingston's youth development boss, Rickie Burke. In my view this should be required reading for every club chairman in Scotland.
Barry's excellent feature outlines how the American-trained Scouser (Burke), with the active encouragement of the much-maligned John Collins, is trying to change generations of learned behaviour when it comes to rearing the next generations of Scottish footballers.
The key phrases are: "ball retention" and "ball recovery", two facets of football where Scottish players have been distinctly poor these past two generations, at least. It will not happen overnight, but, at Livingston they seem, to me, to be on the right lines for a bright future, I wish them well.
PETER Houston on the way out - apparently Derek McInnes on the way in. Well, that's the paper talk anyway.
Del Boy, being something of a flash Paisley boy, will obviously fancy his chances of succeeding at Tannadice, should the call come - mind you, he'll maybe feel like changing his name to Tom Cruise, because with the cost-cutting Master Thompson is putting in place, keeping United competitive does sound to me like Mission Impossible.
The glaringly obvious only way to have a competitive team in Dundee is to amalgamate Dundee and Dundee United to form something like Dundee City - but, this is Scotland, it will never happen.
Yet another truly great gentleman of his time plucked from full time service and dedication to his beloved club. The list grows ever longer. Bonnar, Haughney, Fallon, Evans, Stein, Peackock, Collins, Fernie, McPhail, Mochan, Tully. My faither never stopped talking about the heroes of a near forgotten era, he respected them as he stood amongst other decent hard working Glesca men long before the plastic IRA gnashing scum slithered onto the terraces at Parkhead.
ReplyDeleteSean Fallon was a man who respected everyone around him, especially the opposition, namely Rangers FC amongst others. A proud Sligo man, he brought a smile to the face of everyone who had the opportunity to meet him. The last, spare a few, of footballs greatest gentlemen has kicked his final ball.
Wilson has returned home eh? He should never have left. A decent centre back if I remember correctly, and a calming influence to those about him. I wish him well, but doubt he was ever worth the six figure number that took him south three years ago. He has youth on his side and six months to convince his manager that he should stay on. Good luck son.
The distance between Dundee Utd and Dundee as the crow flies would cost less than a shilling if one was to take a taxi. However, the void between class and determination is wider than the first and last spans on the Erskine Bridge. An amalgamation would be beneficial to all concerned, namely the city and the hopes of retaining some greatness for at least one club as the other slided closer to financial oblivion.