The UEFA Cup final thread

[Ray de Galles]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Didn't The Absolute Game pre-date WSC?

[Duncan Gardner]

The UEFA Cup final thread

bruno glanvilla wrote:

i personally like spiers because since the sad demise of WSC's scottish impersonation, The Absolute Game, he is the only writer to adopt the splendid written style of Bruno Glanvilla (to whom i dedicate my wsc name)

Hear hear. Though my personal favorite was the guy- 'Alastair McSporran' I think- who managed to shoehorn at least one reminder of how much he hated Celtic even more than Rangers, into every article.

Tribute of sorts to TAG

PS WSC started in 1986, TAG 1987.

[ursus arctos]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Is Mr. Glanvilla our first Son of the Rock?

I really want to see a game there one day:

[Duncan Gardner]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Ultonia would be the ideal opponent. See ye there for a cerveza (I think Watney's red barrel is still en vogue, along with other 70s foodstuffs).

[ursus arctos]

The UEFA Cup final thread

You've confused me (not for the first time). Is Ultonia playing someone at Dumbarton?

And BTW, do you really think that Giants' Causeway is worth seeing but not worth going to see? I thought it was very much worth the journey (3 stars is Michelin speak).

[Banana Banana]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Wasn't Alistair McSporran a Dumbarton supporter?

[bruno glanvilla]

The UEFA Cup final thread

alistair from TAG was a falkirk and rangers supporter with dumbarton sympathies, and archie was a st johnstone supporter.

not sure what happened to archie, but alistair has a blog which contains some old TAG articles here : http://almax.wordpress.com/category/the-absolute-game/

i miss TAG. co-incidentally, Scotland havent qualified for the finals of any tournament since it went off the shelves.

dont be fooled by the proximity to the castle/rock. new boghead is a one-stand atmosphere vaccuum. old boghead had class...

[Banana Banana]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Class, mmm, like Third Class on Indian Railways (except for the overcrowding): - got you there, not very comfortable, but an experience you never forgot. Is it all houses now and did that tiny stand survive?

[Rabbitoh]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Welcome Bruno, saw you contributing to another thread recently and thought "aha, another TAG fan!" You beat me to it in posting AM's blog, many happy and hilarious memories there. Don't know what Mad Mac's up to either, haven't seen any stuff in WSC for ages but I' think he contributes comments to Almax blog.

[E10 Rifle]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Echoing all these sentiments, looking at it from afar, it seems like something of Scottish football's soul went with TAG. Much missed. Aside from the scabrous wit and bitching (Scottish football's way bitchier than it is in England), for me it was pretty much a 'paper of record' re Scotch affairs and I feel much the poorer informed for its absence.

[Duncan Gardner]

The UEFA Cup final thread

You've confused me (not for the first time). Is Ultonia playing someone at Dumbarton?

Heh, I've confused even myself there. Dumbarton, Gibraltar, easy mistake to make.

And BTW, do you really think that Giants' Causeway is worth seeing but not worth going to see? I thought it was very much worth the journey (3 stars is Michelin speak)

Aye, I'm with Dr Johnson (and Thackeray- "a hundred miles to see that?"). Wonders of the World, and its premier Heritage Sites, should be the best of architecture rather than geological freak.

I decided this on a school trip in the 70s. Possibly influenced by the dreary-steepled uber-orange towns en route (Ballymoney, Coleraine etc.).

[Kusal Flyer]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Follow Follow have just emailed me a whine about how badly Manchester mistreated Rangers.

[Hofzinser]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Christ, and what a whine it is.

traditions have been rubbished and abandoned, songs outlawed

Yes. It would be interesting to know exactly what traditions and songs it is that he is seemingly so disappointed to see the disappearance of.

In 2003, when the Light Blues visited Old Trafford on Champions League business, every pub in the city was ordered to close, yet the visits of Celtic prompted no such clampdown

Well, you sure showed them how wrong they were to take such drastic action.

Oh no, wait, it's just more evidence of a nationwide anti-Rangers conspiracy.

[ursus arctos]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Up to 250,000 now, as well.

[Kusal Flyer]

The UEFA Cup final thread

The author's own estimate was no less than 200,000- he disagreed with Chris Evans's.

[ursus arctos]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Though he described the 200K as "conservative".

I guess that means that there were a million "Tims" in Sevilla.

[EIM]

The UEFA Cup final thread

That whole article is a load of shit. "Unfriendly in the extreme"? Give me a fucking break.

[Ray de Galles]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Now now, the writer is an "experienced journalist".

Can anyone tell me who the "discredited anti-sectarianism bodies" are? Or the "butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers who adminster the game" for that matter?

[Hofzinser]

The UEFA Cup final thread

The reference is to Nil By Mouth, who have done lots of work to educate Scottish youngsters, and a lot of campaigning work against sectarianism from both sides of the divide. They aren't discredited in any way at all, apart from from the point of view of some Rangers fans who are disappointed that they can no longer sing some of their traditional "party" songs without a big fuss being made of it.

[Duncan Gardner]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Hof- Nil by Mouth have also been criticised recently in a Celtic fanzine, ETims. Their supposed offence in this case criticising Artur Boruc's wind-ups but ignoring similar Rangers' transgressions.

http://www.etims.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2199&Ite mid=29

[Outside Agent]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Christ, that is one long whine. I love the way it blames previous indiscretions on the Scottish journalists who translated the words of their songs. 'We would have got away with it if it wasn't for you pesky journalists, and all your paying attention'.

My favourite piece was this: "Any attempt to inquire about a safe route to the station was met with a loud and menacing 'Keep moving'"

That's just brilliant.

[Hofzinser]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Fair enough, Dunc - I hadn't seen that article. I'd still maintain that they are criticised far more often from the Rangers fans - although there's an argument to be made that if they aren't annoying both sides to some extent they probably aren't doing their job properly.

[Hofzinser]

The UEFA Cup final thread

Incidentally, watching Rangers is just like watching Brazil.

[Hofzinser]

The UEFA Cup final thread

"Mogwai would like to congratulate Glasgow Celtic on winning the Scottish Premier League last night. As a sober bystander it was absolutely amazing to watch Stuart hugging unknowns in the pub we watched the game in and then managing to buy the last bottle of champagne they had left.

The screen went down a few times in the bar but we decided it would be better to just wait until it went back on instead of rampaging through Glasgow, fighting the Police. I believe they call that dignity."