Tuesday 24th November 2009
It
would be easy to mock Tony Mowbray, so here goes!
Dundee
United won the match this past Sunday because they were the superior team. Goals
are what count and despite the obligatory penalty to Celtic, we beat them in
the dying moments of the match just like they’ve done to us so many times when
we’ve outplayed them for 89 minutes.
Nobody
likes to lose, but some people go about it with a bit more grace than others
and it would seem ‘Mogga’ is a sore loser.
The
Celtic gaffer claimed after the 2-1 defeat that there was "huge gulf in
quality and class between the sides".
As
if us Arabs weren’t happy enough with the result, the comedy quotes coming from
Mowbray on BBC Radio Scotland just made the whole occasion all the more
sweeter.
"Whether
they can continue to score from set-plays I don't know.
"I don't
think we got what we deserved from the game but if you don't defend your
set-plays properly then goals are what the game is about.
"But
generally, for about 85 minutes, it was one-way traffic.
"We totally
dominated the match. The first half wasn't a problem for us. I never felt they
could get near our goal.
"I didn't
think they could hurt us other than set-plays and ultimately they did which is
sore.
"But they
didn't create any other chances."
One
would have to assume that he was watching a different match.
It’s
true that the first half wasn’t exactly a ‘barn burner’ and United were on the
defensive for large spells. But shortly after the interval, Prince Buaben
forced an acrobatic save as he won the ball in midfield and booted a screamer
which was on target before Zaluska managed to knock it out of play.
From
the resulting corner, United came agonisingly close to scoring as Darren Dods
headed Craig Conway's kick back across goal for Damian Casalinuovo to nod the
ball off the underside of the bar. It was the first clear ‘should have scored’
moment of the whole game.
United
then had all of the momentum until Dods gave away the penalty.
Enter
the lean, mean Jon Daly machine who came within a whisker of scoring with his
first touch. Alas, he couldn't get his header on target from three yards after
Dods had nodded the ball into his path for another painful ‘if only’ moment.
For
the last 20 minutes, Celtic were on the ropes and drowsy as United had the upper
hand.
On
82 minutes, Daly scored the equaliser as a text book corner was taken by Danny
Swanson and seconds later, the first irrepressible goal celebration began from
the Arabs.
As
United pushed for another goal, ‘Swanaldinho’ forced another Zaluska save from
a long range free kick. The following corner resulted in possibly the biggest
eruption of pure hysteria that Tannadice has seen in years as another picture
perfect Swanson delivery resulted in yet another pulsating header, this time
from ‘Robocop’ Darren Dods to claim all the marbles.
This
is obviously a pro-United article, but I can’t see how Mowbray or anybody else
could call my above assessment anything other than stone cold fact. ‘A huge
gulf in quality and class’? Be serious.
.
The
only other thing more laughable was The Scottish Sun coverage of the match in
their Monday edition.
‘The
Scottish Newspaper of the Year’ (as voted for by who?) placed much emphasis on
Andy Webster’s arms being around Loovens just before the winner was scored with
a blurry, enhanced TV footage still. Yet amazingly, in the main photograph showing
the Dods goal, Fox is holding Mihael Kovacevic!! Funnily enough, that
wasn’t highlighted.
Having
watched the goal footage repeatedly with a huge smile on my face, it’s crystal
clear that Webster holding Loovens (who broke free before the corner was actually taken)
had absolutely no bearing on the goal. Loovens may as well have not been on the
park all game anyway, such was his influence and contribution to the match. Why
Sun reporter Derek McGregor tried his best to imply foul play in a fair and
square victory is beyond me.
Interestingly,
if you turned to the page after his report, there was an advertisement for official
Celtic merchandise. I guess I have my answer.
It never ceases to amaze me
how pro-Old Firm the tabloid is. When you enter ‘The Scottish Sun’
into Google, links for Sport - NEWS - Celtic – Rangers come up!
I
only bought The Sun on Monday to amuse myself over what would no doubt be a
bias take on the match. Sure enough, it was all about how Celtic lost it, not
how United won it. Glasgow
tabloid journalists just can’t help themselves.
The
most overdue result in Scottish football has now happened and all Mowbray, the
players, the media and the Celtic fans had to do was make pathetic excuses to
amuse us Arabs even more and put the icing on what must have been a very bitter
46th birthday cake for Mogga.
The views expressed in Arabic are that
of he author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of ArabTRUST.
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