Football Orphan: Motherwell still heartbroken about “Uncle Phil”.
Photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk
Born in North Lanarkshire, Phil O Donnell proudly represented his home town club Motherwell in two separate spells. He was voted PFA young player of the year twice, won a Scottish Cup medal and earned himself an International cap all within his first spell at Fir Park. His ever-growing status earned him a move to Glasgow Celtic where he won a Scottish League title, and another League Cup winners medal for the trophy cabinet.
Having failed to agree terms on a new contract with Glasgow Celtic, O Donnell moved south of the border to Sheffield Wednesday. O Donnell was a player who showed much promise to play at the very top-level of football, but he was plagued with a series of injuries which would deprive him of many appearances to facilitate his road to success. Motherwell were to finally offer O Donnell a return to his perfect fit, where he would appear alongside nephew David Clarkson and earning the nickname “Uncle Phil“. He began the final leg of his playing career coming full circle playing for his hometown club once again. This time around O Donnell was unable to add to his silverware losing out in the Scottish Cup final to Glasgow Rangers in 2005.
It was in a Scottish league game against Dundee United on 29th of December 2007, just as he was about to be replaced that Phil O Donnell collapsed and was treated pitch side. He was then rushed to Wishaw General Hospital were he would be pronounced dead at the age of just 35. Phil O Donnell had suffered left Ventricular failure. Thousands of tributes came flooding in for Phil O Donnell from throughout the football fraternity. Motherwell went on to honour O Donnell naming the main stand at Fir Park after their hometown hero. Only O Donnell’s nephew David Clarkson has worn his number ten shirt since his death, as the club from Lanarkshire continue to mourn the untimely death of “Uncle Phil”.
Football Orphan: Champions League is back… with a whimper.
Champions League football came to the fore once again last night. It hardly seems that long ago since Barcelona handed Manchester United another lesson in football. Yet it’s all consigned to the history books now. I can’t help being cynical about these early stages of the tournament given that over the six game league format we usually see the group favourites make it through to the knock out stages. At very least we have a few new clubs and a handful of re emerging ones to shake it up a little this season.
Barcelona are the team that most would mark down as favourites, once we look to the chasing pack it becomes all too predictable thereafter. In my opinion the Champions League is becoming increasingly in danger of stagnation. Did any of last nights games set the world alight? Will they have any major bearing on the outcome of where the trophy ends up? Will tonight’s games be any different? The answer for me is a resounding, No.
Ask anyone what they think of the Scottish league, the answer is rarely anything other than negitive because the same teams always contest for the silverware. The Champions League is starting to closely resemble this pattern. If you happen to be a supporter of Barcelona and Manchester United in particular that’s all well and good. Both clubs have featured in three finals each from the last six seasons. The system has always been kind to the big clubs. They never really have to break sweat until the knock out stages any way.
I have touched on the motto of our friends at Fifa before, but the way this tournament is structured under the guidance of Uefa, is far from “Fair Play” for all the clubs hoping to be involved. The most important component in football is the supporters. Without the interest of the people in the stands or the folks watching at home, the commodity of football is worthless. I think it’s high time that something is done to invigorate the format of this meandering tournament before fans tune out until the real competition begins.
Football Orphan: Back in the saddle again
Welcome back to Football Orphan for another fix of our favourite addiction!
I’d like to thank everyone for their unrelenting support and for making Football Orphan a terrific success. My humblest apologies for the abrupt end to last season’s coverage, unfortunately other commitments needed my attention more urgently.
This season has already started with a bang, and I look forward to all the twists and turns, heart-break, and success that will ensue. This season I will be running daily articles just like last, this time with the exception of weekends. As always I encourage feedback and comments as frequently as you can manage it. There will be polls included with each article with the usual humour and intensity as you’ve come to expect. The first article of the season will be published on Monday 15.8.2011.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Regards, Football Orphan.
Football Orphan: Instant Karma is lost on Lennon.
Neil Lennon has finally proved beyond any doubt that he is a liability for Glasgow Celtic. Lennon was sent to the stands just after the half hour mark by Spanish referee Iturralde Gonzalez during a friendly match with Athletic Bilbao last weekend. The Spaniard revealed that Lennon had been berating him for decisions from the first minute. The Ulsterman had also demanded to speak with the referee through the fourth official before a foul mouth tirade culminated in him being ordered off.
This again calls into question the respect or lack of, being shown by the Celtic manager towards match officials. Lennon has stumbled from one disciplinary hearing to the next all season. He was also embroiled in the centre of the referee’s strike that caused mayhem in the SPL earlier this year. Further controversy ensued when Lennon clashed with Glasgow Rangers players and assistant manager Ally McCoist in the Scottish cup earlier in the month. This resulted in Scottish police being brought in to discuss a strategy to contain the aggression of the Old Firm clashes. The number of arrests were significantly higher after the game in question.
The incident at last weekends friendly was described by Lennon as an over reaction by Iturralde, and will not be reported by the Spanish official. This means Lennon will not face any further disciplinary action. This warning must be heeded by the Glasgow giants as alarm bells are surely ringing around the boardroom at Celtic Park. On the football side of things Celtic had been going well this season despite an early exit from European competition. Celtic had been on course for a domestic treble until beaten in the league cup final by bitter rivals Rangers in recent weeks.
Football Orphan 