You've got the undivided attention of Jock Stein.
You can ask him anything that you want.
Yes, Mr Geary, what's your question for Mr Stein? ..........Doh!
Your big chance to question the Celtic Stars
This weeks guest: JOCK STEIN
Manager Jock Stein completes today his two-week guest appearance on the Hot Line, which rang busily for him, the calls coming from all over the country. Other officials and players will be featured in the coming weeks and we ask you to keep the questions flowing to them.
Here then are the questions readers posed to the Celtic manager. . . and his straightforward replies:
Robert Geary, East Barns Street, Clydebank.
Q - When is something going to be done about the public address system at Celtic Park? In the north-east corner it is impossible make out team announcements or half-time scores.
A - The attention of the ground convener has been drawn to this and it is being looked into.
Thomas McLaughlin, Fife Drive, Motherwell.
Q - Many people believe that if football grounds were all seated, it would be easier to contain hooliganism. What plans have Celtic for seating at Parkhead?
A - All-round seating at football grounds is a theory. Go to one of these big pop concerts. The audience is seated.. . to begin with! It requires re-education of football fans to eradicate rowdyism. A hooligan is a hooligan whether ,he is seated or standing on a terracing I don't think a seat would make any difference to him. He seems to become a hooligan once he gets into a crowd. On his own he is quite different.
James Higgins, Byres Road, Glasgow.
Q - Couldn't Celtic have an "open day" like some other clubs? It would be terrific to see behind the scenes' at Parkhead.
A - There is not a closed door at Celtic Park at any time. There are people from all walks of life, and from all parts of the world, arriving to see the stadium, and how things operate inside. But it would have to be "open days" very often for our large support and that could pose problems. In smaller centres, the open day idea can be worked much more easily than in a city like Glasgow.
Kevin Gilhooley, Mavisbank, Loanhead.
Q - Do you have any unfulfilled football ambitions with Celtic?
A - The main mission we have today at Celtic Park is to try and attain. the standards the club achieved in the years between 1966 and 1970, in which the European Cup win was the highlight. It could be regarded as an impossible dream but to get halfway to that mark would be an achievement
Andrew McKendrick, Ladysmill, Falkirk.
Q - How do you think Celtic would fare in the English First Division?
A - If we had the finance of these clubs coming in, we would compete favourably, I'm sure. However, we can only go on our games against top English clubs in the past, and we have come out more than well against them. The real yardstick must be our 1970 games against Leeds United, when we won in England and at home.
Abercrombie Crescent, Bargeddie.
Q - Who was your most difficult opponent in your playing days? Do you think the clean sweep, including the European Cup, can be achieved by a Scottish ,club again?
A - My most difficult opponent when I was playing at centre half was Johnny Crum. And I don't say that because he was an ex-Celt. He was then playing with Morton and I was with Albion Rovers. He was nippy, difficult to mark, difficult to get at. He was elusive for me at that time and I often wondered just how good he was at the highlight of his career.
I would hope the clean sweep, plus the European Cup, could be gone again and I hope we would be the club to do it. Yet I doubt it. What Celtic achieved in 1967,was something special and I don't think that people in football ever, ever really recognised the feat. That was a wonderful achievement and it is something obviously we have got to aim for. It will take time, lots of time, and it will be very, very difficult. Some teams have won the European Cup but didn't do so well in their domestic competitions the following year. They rested ,on their laurels a bit. Celtic still went on to do well in the various domestic competitions. I don't think it will be possible for another British team to reach two European Cup finals in four years as we did.
Denis Boyce, Belmont Crescent, Edinburgh.
Q - Do you think Celtic require a scorer in the Joe McBride or Willie Wallace class as the team is missing so many goal chances?
A - Yes, of course we need that. I would like Denis to answer as well what team in the whole country, from North of Scotland to south of England would not welcome players in the same mould. as Joe McBride and Willie Wallace? All the great scorers down through the years would find goal-getting more difficult under the present system of tight marking and massed defences. It is not so easy as it was in their day. Football then was a game of expression. Now, in some cases, football is a game of prevention. It isn't so much now a case of "Away out and see what you can do," it is more a case of stopping their good players from expressing themselves. I wouldn't say that Jimmy McGrory wouldn't get his quota of goals, but it would be less easy for him.
Craig Fraser, Bellfield Road, Aberdeen.
Q - If you weren't manager of Celtic which team would you like to handle?
A - Obviously I have had opportunities to go elsewhere from Celtic Park but the fact that I am still here answers the question.
Mrs Anne Marshall, Kirkton Avenue, Knightswood.
Q - Why are only eight invalid carriages allowed into Celtic Park on match days. And why not have season tickets instead of applications having to be made for each game by carriage owners?
A - We limit it to eight for these reasons. The place could be packed and they could block the view of other spectators on the terracing. If season tickets were issued it would mean the same people would be at every game. We try to spread the issue of tickets.
Ian Jamieson, Braeside, Barrs Brae, Port Glasgow.
Q - How do you view the increasing fan violence in football?
A - I can understand the way people abhor this violence. It sickens me when I see fights break out for no reason whatever, even among our own supporters, or so-called supporters. It is obviously a reason why lots of people are staying away from football. It is also a reason why people in football should be trying to make sure it is not encouraged or provoked in any way. We as a club wouldn't stand for our players doing anything on the field which would provoke or cause violence on the terracing. It is a violent era we live in. There is still violence in the whole of the country throughout the summer when no football is played. I feel that football is only an excuse for the thugs.
Tom O'Hare, Walton Avenue, Newton Mearns.
Q - How do you view sponsorship in football? Do you ever see the day when there will be an advert on the Celtic team strips?
A - At the moment attendances at football matches in Scotland are not on the upgrade. In places where football is successful at the moment, such as West Germany, Holland and Belgium, there is sponsorship. Clubs are being adopted by large companies in cities and towns. In the Bundesliga in Germany, reckoned to be the most successful of all, most teams. are sponsored. In Holland the Philips people sponsor. the, successful PSV Eindhoven. I do see the day when we have to keep in step with the rest of football concerning adverts on strips... but only so long as they would not, in any way, deface the jerseys and it was in keeping with laws and rules of the Scottish FA. No, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't have adverts on the jerseys worn in a match.
John. Lyon, Kirktonholme, Crescent, East Kilbride.
Q - Which player did you most regret leaving Celtic Park?
A - I very much regretted David Hay's departure. The club did everything in its power to ensure he stayed at Celtic Park. And I regretted the going of Lou Macari. But it is no use going over old ground. We have to look forward.