The Daily Record has turned to John McMaster for a new angle to trash the Lisbon Lions.
Last May they turned to Kevin Thomson who claimed that a squad containing Borna Barisic, Ryan Kent, Scott Wright and Steve Davis would eclipse the Lions if they were able to beat the 10th best team in Germany.
Unfortunately Gio’s warriors crumbled in Seville, Aaron Ramsey missed a penalty, they returned with losers medals with the management team sacked six months later.
McMaster was a very good player, Alex Ferguson put together a functional side but they aren’t at the races with the Lions. If they were so good they might have won the Premier Division in 1982 or 1983 instead of finishing second and third.
That won’t deter the Record, with no club football until April 1 they will have to dig deep for comforting stories for their elderly readers with the McMaster story fitting the bill perfectly.
Not only were Aberdeen’s 1983 side superior to the greatest Scottish side of all time but the article bundles the Lions alongside the serial losers that bullied their way to the 1972 Cup Winners Cup!
Between 1966 and 1974 the old Rangers never won a single League title, in season 71/72 they entered the European Cup Winners Cup through the back door as Scottish Cup losers.
Twice during their final against Moscow Dinamo in Barcelona their fans were on the pitch fighting with the police. When the Russians scored in the 87th minute through Aleksandr Makhovikov to make it 3-2 that was too much for the travelling bears who came on the pitch again with the referee finishing the match before the 90th minute.
Captain John Greig was presented with the trophy in a cupboard by an embarrassed UEFA official with the club banned from playing in Europe the following season.
Going into the final Willie Wallace’s side had finished third in the 71/72 Scottish League, six points behind second placed Aberdeen and 16 behind the champions (Celtic, for Record readers). At that time the league consisted of 34 matches with two points for a win, in today’s terms that would be the equivalent of finishing 27 points behind Celtic.
Clearly Aberdeen’s achievement in 1983 is superior to the Ibrox effort a decade earlier but only the Gullible & Deluded would try peddling the claim that either trophy win is in any way comparable with the Lisbon Lions.
In 1999 UEFA ditched the European Cup Winners Cup.
EXCLUSIVE! Aberdeen European Cup win tops Celtic and Rangers triumphs as John McMaster crowns best Scottish football achievementhttps://t.co/b8XNuP2oMX pic.twitter.com/8M7iMYmkQz
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) March 20, 2023
What Celtic have achieved this season with the Rangers version of the Lisbon Lions chasing them down, is nothing short of remarkable. https://t.co/Y7lROfTeO8 pic.twitter.com/nuQ8wGoAIM
— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) March 20, 2023
For the love of the wee man Celtic will you not just ban this rag from Paradise for good?
These writers need to be tested for substances that would have average Joe in Barlinie