The Ankle –One Day On
The ankle was pretty painful on the Thursday morning, stiff and solid, a slight throbbing sensation as well. I found getting ready for work a bit difficult – my bedroom and bathroom were upstairs – and driving to the Dental Hospital was also quite uncomfortable. For the first time in ages, in fact since my last injury, I used the lifts at the Dental Hospital.
At lunchtime, I drove over to Celtic Park, where physio Bob Rooney gave me the hot/cold treatment so prevalent for ankle injuries in those days. The procedure was quite straightforward ;-
- Fill the small bath with hot water, so hot that the player cannot put his leg into it!
- Take the large hosepipe used to fill the big bath, turn the temperature control to very cold and fire a stream of water at the patient’s ankle, making sure that he is crying, if not sobbing at the end
- Tell the player to put his leg back into the hot bath. Naturally, because his leg is numb, the player will not initially feel anything but gradually the heat will come through. When that happens, and before the pain from the heat becomes too great, repeat the blasting with the cold water.
- Repeat this process a number of times, or until the player faints.
Eventually, Doc Fitzsimmons arrived from his morning surgery and put a stop to the torture – sorry, treatment – had a look at the ankle and diagnosed torn ligaments on the outside. Unfortunately, he also told Bob Rooney to continue with the treatment as often as possible. I’m sure I saw a gleam in Bob’s eye when he heard those words!
Anyway, the treatment was repeated on Thursday evening, Friday lunchtime and late Friday afternoon.
The Reserves
On the Thursday afternoon at Barrowfield, Celtic beat Queen of the South 4-0 in a Combined Reserve game, where the team was Fallon, Cunningham, Halpin, Henderson, McCarron, Hay, Connelly, McGowan, J Quinn, Sweeney, Taylor
And on the Thursday evening, Celtic Reserves had beaten Stirling Albion Reserves 2-0 at Celtic Park. The team was Martin, Young, O’Neill, Cattenach, Cushley, Brogan, Gallagher, H Quinn, J Quinn, Lennox and Taylor. Well done to Jimmy Quinn, Gerry Sweeney and Tony Taylor. Two games in one day, two victories; not bad!
Wilbur
On the Friday night before the match against Stirling Albion, I had a word with John Cushley (nicknamed ‘Wilbur’, after the NI internationalist Wilbur Cush) with whom I had something in common. He had graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in Spanish and, of course, I was studying dentistry at the same establishment.
We had something else in common. We were both students of a technical subject called ‘What Coaches And Managers Did Say Instead of What They Meant to Say’ and we met occasionally to catch up on our researches.
For instance, Wilbur had noted that one of the staff would come across a word or phrase and then flog it almost to death. Recently, though, the guy on the staff had surpassed himself. His expression of the moment was “in abeyance” and he used it all the time, like “can’t help just now, son, let’s leave it “in abeyance”.
But one day the previous week, he had gone one better. When asked if he could have a word, a young player received the reply “I’m a bit busy just now son, let’s leave it in abeyance….till later!”
My contribution came from a reserve match on a particularly bad night at Parkhead the previous year. When giving the half-time team talk, one of the staff said “It’s a bit windy out there tonight, lads, so remember to keep your high balls low!”
On that Friday night, though, Cush came out with another cracker, from the reserve match the previous week. One of the backroom staff, giving the half-time talk, said in all seriousness “I only want 100% from you guys; I’m not asking for more than that!”
Question
Last time round, I which two players in the reserve side which played Hibs in the 2nd Eleven cup tie at Parkhead on 16th February – Martin, Young, McCarron, Brogan, Cushley, O’Neill, Connelly, Lennox, J Quinn, Gallagher and Taylor – went on to play for Carlisle United. The answer was Willie O’Neill and Frank McCarron.
This week’s question is about the reserve side which played against Stirling Albion at Celtic Park (listed above), Which of the eleven went on to play for Coventry?
Naughty Students
The price of drinks at York University College bars may go up by thruppence because students are not returning glasses.
Out of Power
An army revolution in Ghana swept President Kwame Nkrumah from power while he was 10,000 miles away in Peking, being feted by the Chinese.
In Peking, Nkrumah looked grim-faced as he attended a state banquet and began his speech by saying “I am happy to be here”.
Another scene, another day
British actor Nigel Green was all set to perform a battlefield death scene at El Centro, California, when a doctor pronounced him too sick to die and sent him to bed with ‘flu.