Football criticism
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2016 10:42 am
I can recall, as a sports journalist, being chided by the theatre critic of the newspaper for which I then worked, for my use of post-match quotes.
"I don't go round backstage after the performance to ask Ian McKellen how he thought he had played - I tell him what I thought in print; I wish you sports guys would remember, you are critics too", he told me.
That thought came back to me this morning, when researching the Glasgow Herald archive on Google News. I wish I knew how to cut and paste it for you, for there was a great piece by the late Cyril Horne, the Herald's football writer, best-remembered for (after apologising to the other Scottish reporters for what he was about to do), decking a gloating Uruguayan journalist during the 7-0 World Cup thrashing in 1954.
In reviewing Rangers' 1958-59 Scottish League win, the bold Horne described the winning team as: "The worst Rangers team in living memory". He then went on to suggest, to prevent embarrassment, Rangers ought to withdraw from the following season's European Cup, as they would surely be thrashed by the likes of Real Madrid.
Well, fair enough, Eintracht Frankfurt did beat Rangers 12-4 on aggregate in the European Cup the following season, but, that was in the semi-final.
And the Rangers squad Horne so disparaged: Niven, Shearer, Caldow, McColl, Telfer, Stevenson, Scott, McMillan, Murray, Baird, Hubbard, with the likes of Millar, Brand, Wilson, Harold Davis, Billy Simpson and Johnny Little also making appearances.
Imagine what Cyril Horne might have made of Lincold Red Imps 1 - Celtic 0.
"I don't go round backstage after the performance to ask Ian McKellen how he thought he had played - I tell him what I thought in print; I wish you sports guys would remember, you are critics too", he told me.
That thought came back to me this morning, when researching the Glasgow Herald archive on Google News. I wish I knew how to cut and paste it for you, for there was a great piece by the late Cyril Horne, the Herald's football writer, best-remembered for (after apologising to the other Scottish reporters for what he was about to do), decking a gloating Uruguayan journalist during the 7-0 World Cup thrashing in 1954.
In reviewing Rangers' 1958-59 Scottish League win, the bold Horne described the winning team as: "The worst Rangers team in living memory". He then went on to suggest, to prevent embarrassment, Rangers ought to withdraw from the following season's European Cup, as they would surely be thrashed by the likes of Real Madrid.
Well, fair enough, Eintracht Frankfurt did beat Rangers 12-4 on aggregate in the European Cup the following season, but, that was in the semi-final.
And the Rangers squad Horne so disparaged: Niven, Shearer, Caldow, McColl, Telfer, Stevenson, Scott, McMillan, Murray, Baird, Hubbard, with the likes of Millar, Brand, Wilson, Harold Davis, Billy Simpson and Johnny Little also making appearances.
Imagine what Cyril Horne might have made of Lincold Red Imps 1 - Celtic 0.