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Maybe Celtic were somewhat fortunate to win the game with a late goal after having looked second best for much of the game but that didn’t give Flitcroft the right to have a go at them. Probably assuming that they would knock the Scottish club out after turning it round in the 2nd leg Flitcroft suggested it was men against boys, a remark that clearly upset the Celtic players.
Chris Sutton said as much whilst Henrik Larsson was later to explain that they were only second best because they played shit and not because of the opposition.
But Flitcroft did Martin O’Neill’s team talk well enough and Celtic just went and outplayed them in the second leg at Ewood. Surely Flitcroft should have realised this would happen, he more than most should be aware that players (himself definitely included) can play better away from home.
Sourness of course tried to defend him and suggest that he hadn’t said it so they played the interview again on radio to make the manager look just as stupid as the player.
And finally just for the record, and having checked and re-checked the draw for the next round of the UEFA Cup, it is definitely Celtic who will be playing Celta Vigo in the next round and not Flitcroft’s lot.
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It’s his choice to go out and play football in the way that Rotherham did but his comments after the game were without doubt unacceptable.
He had a go at referee Andy Hall, no problem with that. But he dared to suggest that Hall was on our side, that he had given decisions our way so much that he thought Stan might have given him a season ticket for the Turf. He even had the nerve to comment on the way we play and accused us (yes US) of being over physical.
He thought the referee was after Alan Lee and so he brought him off before he was sent off. That’s how we all saw it Ronnie but if Lee had been sent off then there is no doubt that it would have been well deserved and if anything Hall had been over lenient with the former Burnley striker. If Lee wants to play the game in such a physical way then he can expect to see red cards on a regular basis.
But he has some strange views on Alan Lee and somehow thinks he is an international class striker. Apart from putting a £5 valuation on him he this week turned his anger on the Republic of Ireland’s temporary boss Don Givens for not selecting him for the game in Greece.
Now having seen that game it was clear that the Irish were struggling up front but surely Moore must be the only one who thinks that Alan Lee would be able to do a job at international level.
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They said they would look after loyal fans but in the end decided to sell tickets to whoever turned up first, Burnley fan or not, as long as they were prepared to buy a ticket for the Norwich game as well.
We understand that the club has financial problems and as the ticket office manager told us they had to maximise income from this game but there is no reason why they couldn’t have been honest about it and said that.
We have tried to help wherever possible and have been able to acquire tickets for some fans who had initially missed out but many regulars, particularly those who have struggled because they live some distance away from Burnley, have missed out.
And apparently, the club has told us, the man who bought seven tickets with a Manchester United credit card was in fact a Burnley fan. Yes we believe you.
Most of the other nominations went to referees and that can be no surprise after a weekend of mistake upon mistake. Needless to say Andy Hall came close to the top three after yellow carding Gareth Taylor after just six seconds in an incident that saw Gareth play no further part in the game.
But he wasn’t the only referee and amongst others were Dermot Gallagher who chose not to give a penalty when Igor Balis brought down Mark Delaney right in front of him and Clive Wilkes who missed another blatant penalty when Alan Shearer was fouled by Antti Niemi.
It was a weekend where just about every game had some strange decisions with many of them (as was the case with Hall, Gallagher and Wilkes) being made by the professional referees.
That’s it for week 15 but keep a look out over the next week for our next winner. Send your NOMINATIONS to us any time before midnight next Thursday and all will be revealed on Friday morning.
The winners so far:
Week 1 – Roy Keane (Manchester United)
Week 2 – Jeff Winter (Referee)
Week 3 – Football League’s Football Disciplinary Commission
Week 4 – Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager)
Week 5 – Luton Town supporters
Week 6 – Barry Knight (Referee)
Week 7 – Burnley FC Showboaters
Week 8 – Tony Livesey (Editor Sunday Sport)
Week 9 – The Directors and Owners of Franchise FC
Week 10 – David Sheepshanks (Ipswich Town Chairman)
Week 11 – David Davies (Football Association)
Week 12 – George Boeteng (Middlesbrough)
Week 13 – Andy Hall (Referee)
Week 14 – Craig Hignett (Coventry City Loan Player)
Week 15 – Garry Flitcroft (Blackburn Rovers)