Today I could sit back, not even a whiskey in hand, and enjoy rather than endure what was unfolding in front of me. With absolutely not one emotional Red cent riding on the winner, the outcome didn’t much matter. I even took the time out to nap on the settee, roused every few minutes by my son howling. He would ask me did you just see that? I would mumble yeah, yeah, to which his dismissive response was no you didn’t, you were sleeping. I even considered ringing my friend Gary in Scotland on the game’s conclusion to ask him who scored Celtic’s winner. But no point in adding to the woes of his Easter Sunday. His was, after all, the first Happy Easter wish I received on my phone this morning.
I did manage to fall asleep once at a live Celtic game in Glasgow many years back. How myself and the late John “Big Scooby” McCabe managed to walk upright and make it into the stadium has to be marked down as a failure of Clydeside police! We each had consumed about six pints and the same number of shorts in a bar before setting out for the game. Scooby knew all the pubs not only along the route but off it as well so easily enough found one that was not full to the rafters and where we could comfortably fill the tank and hit the road.
Inside the ground, when the first goal went in, I came out of my inebriated sleep, clapping and cheering along with the rest of them, agreeing that it was a great strike. That’s booze for you. You pretend to you see what you didn’t see and hope the contents of a heaving stomach don’t spew over the shoulders of the fan in front.
Yesterday’s English FA Cup semi final was not an enjoyable affair. When Sadio Mané volleyed home beautifully in the closing minutes of the first half to put Liverpool into what should have been an unassailable 3-0 lead, I began to relax without the aid of my whiskey. My sole thought at half time was that the remainder of the game could be enjoyed, the only thing that could possibly rain on the victory parade would be an early goal by Manchester City in the second half. The chances of that happening after Mané had performed that very feat for Liverpool against the same opponents six days earlier seemed remote. That’s precisely what happened. I groaned and from that point on the game became an endurance test, with whiskey the sedative of choice. Infusion upon infusion worked tirelessly to prevent the patient succumbing to death by disappointment. It was the final whistle rather than the final whiskey that made resuscitation possible.
That is three times in six days that I have watched Liverpool make hard work of their trade. Nothing is plain sailing until the journey is complete and the anchor dropped. There is something moody in the water of the Mersey that can transform calmness into turbulence in a flash.
All credit to City for the comeback they almost made. They are a superb side. The same cannot be said for that section of their fans that opted to be disruptive during the one-minute silence for the 97 dead of Hillsborough whose 33rd anniversary occurred one day before the game. The unlawful killings in Sheffield took place at a FA Cup semi-final. It might have been expected that the same stage of the tournament would have brought some added somberness to the occasion. Of all the goals conceded by Manchester City yesterday the most odious was the own goal of raucous callousness scored by some of their fans.
I did manage to fall asleep once at a live Celtic game in Glasgow many years back. How myself and the late John “Big Scooby” McCabe managed to walk upright and make it into the stadium has to be marked down as a failure of Clydeside police! We each had consumed about six pints and the same number of shorts in a bar before setting out for the game. Scooby knew all the pubs not only along the route but off it as well so easily enough found one that was not full to the rafters and where we could comfortably fill the tank and hit the road.
Inside the ground, when the first goal went in, I came out of my inebriated sleep, clapping and cheering along with the rest of them, agreeing that it was a great strike. That’s booze for you. You pretend to you see what you didn’t see and hope the contents of a heaving stomach don’t spew over the shoulders of the fan in front.
Yesterday’s English FA Cup semi final was not an enjoyable affair. When Sadio Mané volleyed home beautifully in the closing minutes of the first half to put Liverpool into what should have been an unassailable 3-0 lead, I began to relax without the aid of my whiskey. My sole thought at half time was that the remainder of the game could be enjoyed, the only thing that could possibly rain on the victory parade would be an early goal by Manchester City in the second half. The chances of that happening after Mané had performed that very feat for Liverpool against the same opponents six days earlier seemed remote. That’s precisely what happened. I groaned and from that point on the game became an endurance test, with whiskey the sedative of choice. Infusion upon infusion worked tirelessly to prevent the patient succumbing to death by disappointment. It was the final whistle rather than the final whiskey that made resuscitation possible.
That is three times in six days that I have watched Liverpool make hard work of their trade. Nothing is plain sailing until the journey is complete and the anchor dropped. There is something moody in the water of the Mersey that can transform calmness into turbulence in a flash.
All credit to City for the comeback they almost made. They are a superb side. The same cannot be said for that section of their fans that opted to be disruptive during the one-minute silence for the 97 dead of Hillsborough whose 33rd anniversary occurred one day before the game. The unlawful killings in Sheffield took place at a FA Cup semi-final. It might have been expected that the same stage of the tournament would have brought some added somberness to the occasion. Of all the goals conceded by Manchester City yesterday the most odious was the own goal of raucous callousness scored by some of their fans.
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| ⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre. |
Honestly Bobby Madden should never referee another Celtic game. Chris Sutton described him as “Embarrassing” which Is certainly one way call it although I had a few more colourful phrases of my own. A lacklustre performance by Celtic in the first half, slightly better in the second but a long way short of the level we saw at Celtic Park and Ibrox. As for Liverpool they’re looking formidable, fearless and the quadruple is very much a possibility but it’s Easter, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. I did that yesterday and Starfelt really ruined my International chocolate egg day by nestling one right in his own net.
ReplyDeleteMy son thought from the outset that the ref should have been wearing a Rangers scarf.
DeleteQuadruple will be a hard nut to crack Gary - Chelsea are certainly not going to roll over in the FA Cup final.
The bias was blatant, your son 100% correct. Indeed I’m surprised Madden didn’t appear at full time in full kit singing “the sash”. As for Chelsea, one fluke result against Southampton but otherwise they’ve looked pretty ordinary, internal struggles perhaps, uncertain futures? who knows, but if I was a Liverpool fan and could hand pick my finalist opponents I’d have picked Chelsea.
ReplyDeletewas talking to another Pool fan yesterday and both of us were hoping for Palace. That said, the Cup is a strange and unpredictable old beast - it can bring the best out in the worst and the worst out in the best
DeleteIt's always a laugh when Celtic fans claim bias against them.
DeleteSteve R
ReplyDeleteApparently Madden reffed a previous 3-0 victory for Celtic against Rangers with zero complaints, but now he's suddenly part of a masonic/orange conspiracy
My son would be pretty neutral in the Old Firm - he is Man Utd fan. He thought the ref made some terrible decisions, all of which favoured Rangers.
DeleteAM
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch it, but noticed the usual masonic conspiracy theories on Twitter. Maybe Frankie could write an article LOL
Is Madden even a Mason? I saw a bad photoshop of Madden outside a rangers bar and everyone was losing their shit! VAR has just been approved I hear so we will see.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, Manure UTD? Did ye no have a word with him early on??