Thursday, May 15, 2008

*God (Not that there is one) is Bad

"If undiluted determination
Was A major factor
Needed to make a promotion winning side
Then we have no fears"

In Prague - Tribute to then Kilmarnock Manager Tommy Burns who brought us Good Times.

Before TB we languished in the depths and depravity of the lower reaches of Scottish Football. A once proud club slumming it with the likes of the Blue Brazil and the Red Lichties. A nice day out but hardly top quality football. Then Tommy Burns arrived from Celtic. I hesitate to say fresh, but he was certainly a breath of fresh air when it came to skill and ability. His legs may have been past their prime, but his keen footballing brain was still there. We started to see the change gradually. He would pass the ball and it would reach its intended recipient. He could do really clever things like put the ball in the net. He became player manager and you could feel the belief you could touch it even. We knew it was only a matter of time before we went up. Into the first division and then into the Premier League in 1992. First game away to Rangers at Ibrox as promoted new boys where Rangers had been unbeaten in 17 months. We won 2-1, I thought the joy of promotion was pretty good, but to be honest, other than winning the Scottish Cup this was possibly my most memorable football match ever.

Tommy left, as we all knew he would, eventually to become manager of his beloved Celtic. A tad too quickly I reckon, I always thought he should have honed his managerial skills a bit longer with us, in retrospect though, you knew that if a chance like that came along, he was always going to jump at it. For that I called him a Judas, which looking back on it was stupid, unfair and infantile. But last week that was me. This week I am deeply saddened by his demise. A truly lovely bloke who should have been around for a while yet, who brought me so many joyous memories. Cheers TB.

I was also deeply impressed by the respect shown by the team coming back from Manchester who cancelled their bus tour of the city as a mark of respect.

*Tommy, a fairly devout Catholic, constantly would say in interviews if things had gone well that "God is Good"

Labels: Sad

posted by timesnewroman at 7:29 PM  

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Sunday, August 05, 2007

Renewal

That's a good start to the season although I doubt Reidski will agree. I really really must get that season ticket.

On a less happy note, I feel the need to remark on the passing of a fairly legendary local politician of note. Once upon a time the Labour Party used to elect politicians from within the ranks of the working class, ordinary folk who were at home with their own people. Such a character was wee Jack. Difficult at times to understand with an extremely fast tongue and broad accent, he nevertheless knew his role inside out. Self dubbed Councillor for fences, he would almost, but not quite, mock the internationalist rantings and resolutions of the young vanguard. We were looking at the bigger picture and he was representing and working on behalf of the folk who elected him to fix their fences and deal with their housing issues. And elect him they did, time and time again with an untouchable majority, he was even once elected unopposed.

Every camp our Woodies ever held locally, he would walk out to the site, early on a Sunday morning and cook breakfast for 20 - 50 people, because he enjoyed it. We did too, he made a good breakfast. Fare thee well then, Mr Magnum man.


On a much, much happier note. Congratulations Craig and Maria on the birth of Kelsey (Bet that spelling is way wrong)

Labels: Good, Sad, Wonderful

posted by timesnewroman at 3:50 PM  

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