Storm clouds over Paradise
That arrogant man from Canada, Celtic Managing Director Fergus
McCann is at it again. His appearance and speech went
unappreciated at Celtic Park on the first day of the season,
during which he was constantly heckled, and a banner saying Irish
Celtic fans were not bigoted was passed around. The banner
belonged to Belfast Celt Joe McCratten and for his peaceful
protest Joe had to leave the ground. Joe is now worried his
season ticket may be revoked.
McCann is now clashing with the players. He has even managed to
insult Dublin side St Patrick's Athletic, putting down their
credible performance against Celtic in the European Cup by saying
``we beat a team whose salaries in total did not match one
player's weekly tax here''. Earlier this week he clashed with
players over money. McCann launched an attack on the players
after they refused to turn up for the launch of the new away team
strip. He accused them of ``holding the club to ransom'' and ``we
will not be blackmailed by an individual player... There is no
possibility of us changing this stance. I'm not sure we should do
anything after the approach taken by the players.'' The players
are, however, highly paid and McCann is prbably not totally to
blame for this particular incident. An uneasy settlement,
however, was reached on Tuesday, with players agreeing to pay
pool money to local a charity, although players still remain
unhappy.
How much money will McCann take with him when he leaves the club?
It's the same old story, Rangers spend £27 million, while Celtic
refuse to spend the money required on players for European and
domestic success. At this stage McCann surely must realise that
to both fans and players he no longer holds any credibility and
should resign immediately. Celtic is bigger and more important
than one arrogant man.
Four-year ban for Smith De Bruin
So, it looks like Michelle Smith De Bruin is not all she makes
out to be. A shock to the Irish public who cheered on her efforts
in Atlanta; it now seems it was all a con.
Speaking on RTÉ's Question and Answers, Ireland's former
international swimmer Gary O'Toole conceded in an emotional
debate that all is not well. He came in for stick from some
studio guests as he stated the facts. They reckoned he was
delighted to see it happen to her because his career was not as
successful. He quickly pointed out that he was a Student
champion, a European sliver medalist and twice competed in the
Olympics. He correctly pointed out that his career and
achievements were clean from any form of drugs. Some commentators
have called for Smith De Bruin to give back the gold medals she
won in Atlanta.
Smith herself claims she is the victim of a vendetta and has
vowed to sue the swimming body FINA. The Irish Amateur Swimming
Associations Seán Gordan said: ``The verdict indicates wrongdoing
on the part of the swimmer Michelle De Bruin. The people of
Ireland have been led a merry dance, not all by accident. Irish
national radio and television and elements of the Irish media,
purporting to have superior knowledge to the rest of us, have
blissfully ignored the obvious and unpalatable in favour of the
feel-good factor.''
It is a problem increasingly coming to the fore in sport, as the
recent drug seizures in the Tour De France proved. When an event
is tarnished by such activity it ceases to be a genuine sporting
event. And I'm sure the game of football is not totally clean of
its influence. Anyone found dabbling in such activity should be
dealt with severely and banned from their respective sports for
life.
Clare vs Offaly
The first All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Final Sunday finished with the
players from Clare and Offaly sharing the spoils at Croke Park.
For the second time in this championship the Banner County was
taken to the wire, the tense game finishing 1-13 each. The replay
takes place on 22 August.
Congratulations once again to Brian Kerr on yet another trophy
for Irish under-age soccer. The under-16s defeated England 3-2 in
Akureyri, Iceland to claim the Nordic Cup last weekend.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
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