luck wasn't with celtic in spain

Jim Craig
EVERY Celtic fan throughout the world will have felt a sense of disappointment that their beloved club failed to pick up a valuable point on foreign soil on Tuesday evening.

At least the fans abroad can lick their wounds in silence. Here, we have to put up with the rather smug reports on the national TV and radio stations which tend to treat Celtic’s position as some form of joke.

The other evening, after mentioning – in solemn terms – that both Manchester United and Arsenal had comfortable wins in their respective ties, the newsreader then broke into a broad smile as he intoned “and once again Celtic have failed to win away from home,” Don’t we all know it!

The run will come to an end at some point. Sheer logic dictates that. And I for one hope that day is soon.

By this time, you will have read all the reports and assessments of our collective and individual performances, heard from the managers and players on both sides and have had the chance to reflect on what you think went wrong. My own view is fairly simple and straightforward.

We did have a definite chance to break our losing sequence the other evening. The outcome of football matches, though, can turn on little incidents and in Villarreal, two moments made all the difference.

The first came in the opening half, when Georgios Samaras was through on goal after a slip by Villarreal’s Diego Godin. Had he scored then, the Spanish team would perhaps have had to change their thinking and that might have been to Celtic’s advantage.

The second incident came in 67 minutes, when the referee, who I thought had a reasonable game otherwise, awarded Villarreal a doubtful free-kick.

With a previous attempt he had been wide but this time, the very classy Marcos Senna scored the winner. Two fateful moments, both of them going against Celtic, and the match was lost.

Over the piece, Villarreal had more goal-mouth opportunities and, though it sticks in the craw as I say the words, probably deserved to win.

Celtic return to domestic action this Saturday, October 4 when they host SPL new boys Hamilton Accies.
Channel 67+ and Premium subscribers outwith the UK and Ireland can watch the whole match against Hamilton LIVE this Saturday, October 4, while Channel 67 subscribers can listen to match live and watch it ‘as live’ from midnight on the day of the game. Join me in the studio from 2.30pm (Celtic Park time) as we look forward to the game.
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WHY anyone would want to be a referee is beyond me but thousands take up the challenge every year throughout the world, even though they surely know that their performances are rarely accepted as competent and their personal lives might even become the subject of articles in the national press.

During my own career, I was under the jurisdiction of many referees, most of them okay, a few objectionable, one or two incompetent. And I can recall some interesting moments.

When I was ordered off against Rangers at Ibrox, for instance, Tiny Wharton was polite to a fault. “Number Two, (he always referred to a player by his number) I have warned you before about your conduct and I have now no option but to ask you to leave the field.”  What a nice man – for a ref!

Then there was the guy in England - whose name I cannot remember – who would comment on the performances of the players during the match.

To have a friendly, chatty ref is one thing but I objected to him saying “you made a right mess of that” when I was running back to my position after missing with a header at a corner in the opposition half.

The poorest referee, of course, was the one in Lisbon, you know the one who made the worst decision in the history of football.

I have had to reply of thousands of queries through the years as to the legality or otherwise of the decision.

Well, I’ve made arrangements to keep the public informed long after I have gone, via some information on my gravestone.

While it might not be in the same class as Spike Milligan’s ‘I told you I was ill!’, my choice of ‘It was never a penalty!’ should answer a lot of questions.
Hail! Hail!