CLEARLY, the
Offensive Behaviour at Football Act (OFBA) works. Two Rangers fans
have been lifted for singing offensive, sectarian songs, during Friday
night's SPFL game at Rugby Park.
These guys are wasting
their time following, following – with that sort of ventriloquism
ability, they ought to be on TV. I could have sworn, from the volume
which came across during the BT TV broadcast of the game, most, if
not all of the estimated 8000 Rangers fans at the game were giving it
big licks.
Now, it appears it was
Celtic supporter Juan Guys two Rangers-supporting cousins, the
Twoguys. Amazing.
On the subject of their
arrest, as ever, constrained by the notion – everyone is innocent
until proven guilty, the papers have reported the arrests as for
“alleged” sectarian singing. So, myself, every other TV viewer,
not to mention the rest of the crowd at Rugby Park, and the residents
of the surrounding streets, only thought we heard Ra Peepul, wearing
their sashes, guarding Derry's Walls and most-definitely up to their
knees in Fenian blood. Aye right.
What will the two
arrested guys plead: “Honest Sheriff – Ah wisnae singin' Ah wis
jist miming”?
SO, Craig Gordon has
been dropped/rested (please delete according to how much of
“Pravda's” output you believe.
Once Brendan Rodgers
signed Dorus de Vries, big Craig's jersey was always heading for the
shoogly nail in the corner of the dressing room. As a fully-aid-up
member of Lodge Number One, the goalies' ludge, I have every sympathy
with the big man. Goalkeeper is the most-solitary position in the
team, there can be only one and all that, and, Brendan clearly
favours de Vries.
I don't think Craig was
entirely blameless in midweek. Certainly that daft second goal wasn't
all down to him, but, had he been old school, and allowed the ball to
come through to him, jumping to clutch it to his chest or stomach,
then it would have stayed there, regardless of collisions with daft
defenders. I agree with Chris Sutton – and there's a first –
most, if not all the blame has to go to Gordon. He was the guy facing
play, it was his call as to how to deal with that innocuous-looking
ball, and he blew it.
When he first broke
into the Scotland team, Craig looked as if he could be our best-ever
goalkeeper, but, injury, and his long lay-off have blunted that. He
is still a good 'keeper, he is still capable of the sort of brilliant
reaction save which has him as the holder of the Best-Ever
Premiership Save, but, in terms of command of his area, comfort with
the ball at his feet and organisation at set pieces, he is some way
off the top level. He has a good bit of extra work to do to get back
to being Celtic's, and Scotland's, Number One.
At least, he is still a
better goalie than Joe Hart.
SPEAKING of goalkeepers
– what does Jamie Macdonald of Kilmarnock have to do to get into
the Scotland squad, even as number three 'keeper?
He has the experience,
he was wonderful on Friday night, but, he is not “showy”, he just
does his job. As a long-term Killie fan, he is, for me, a worthy
successor to the many great goalkeepers I have seen in my nearly
60-years of going to Rugby Park.
In that time, we have
had: Jimmy Brown, Sandy McLaughlin, Bobby Ferguson, Campbell Forsyth,
Jim Stewart, Ally Hunter, Allan McCulloch, Bobby Gedess, Dragan
Lekovic, Gordon Marshall, Alan Combe, Cammy Bell, Craig Samson, and
now Macdonald. A long line of good, occasionally great 'keepers, all
of whom, with the obvious exception of big Dragan, have appeared for
various Scotland sides. Jamie is in good company there.
AILSA, one of my Silver
Foxes – a group of 60-70-something ladies, who have gone from cutty
sark-wearing Bonnie Lassies, via Ladies who Lunch to fiesty grannies,
still able to kick-up a storm, has a secret passion – she is a
Kilmarnock season ticket holder. As such, she was in her usual place
in the Frank Beattie Stand on Friday night.
She says: “Boydie
“sprinting” through the middle of your defence to score is God's
way of telling you – you need a centre-half”. There is no need
for further comment.
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