I read John Barnes’ comments about Brendan Rodgers this morning.
It reminded me of my own experience of meeting the England and Liverpool legend.
They Say “Never Meet Your Heroes”...
Of all the people connected to Celtic I’ve met over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as painfully out of their depth at Celtic Park as John Barnes,
I’ll open by saying that on the single occasion I met John Barnes, he couldn’t have been nicer. He was warm, friendly, and took the time to chat with me and my dad as he signed autographs outside Celtic Park.
A Nice Guy, a Terrible Celtic Manager
Unfortunately, despite my admiration for him growing up, as one of the great English footballers of the 80s and 90s, meeting him while he was Celtic manager was such a deflating experience.
It was sad, but through his words and actions, it was evident the man clearly had no idea what Celtic is about, or what the privilege of managing our club means.
Our Prized Possession
My dad and I both collect football memorabilia, but obviously, the majority of our items are Celtic related. Of all our possessions, the most treasured is a poster my dad received back in the 1960s.
The poster has been signed by the entire Lisbon team, and The Celtic Chairman at the time, Sir Robert Kelly. This autograph is especially rare as Kelly was only known as “Sir” for the final 18 months or so of his life.
However, what makes this poster especially valuable, is that every Celtic manager since Jimmy McGrory has signed it.
An Autograph Request Shows John Barnes’ Ignorance
So, of course, we wanted John Barnes to sign it. In hindsight its lucky we picked this particular day to do it, as he was sacked about 10 days later.
I was also really excited to meet not just the Celtic manager, but also someone who was one of my favorite players in those early days watching the EPL on Sky Sports.
But as you will see, things didn’t quite go as I had hoped.
Who’s He? Was He a Left Winger?
When presented with the poster to sign, Barnes was happy to do so, but what he said next left my dad fuming and me confused.
“Hey, who’s this in my place on the left wing?” Barnes said, pointing a prominent signature on the left hand side of the page.
My dad said: “That’s Jimmy McGrory. Celtic’s all-time record goal scorer and former manager.”
Waving his hand dismissively, Barnes said: “yeah, yeah, whatever, but was he a left winger?”
My dad just shook his head, as Barnes signed the poster. We thanked Barnes for his time and made our way back to the car.
“Son, He’s Never Going to Make it as a Celtic Manager”
I’ll never forget the conversation we had in the car on the way home. As a naïve 16 year old, I still believed that somehow Celtic could turn that season around, that the league wasn’t done.
Dad knew better, and he knew what lay ahead for Barnes.
“Son, that man is not going to make it at Celtic,” my dad began.
“Look, I don’t expect him to have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything in Celtic’s history, but even if you don’t know the history, you need to respect it.
Dad concluded: “He’s got no idea about the size of this job, the history it carries or how many people are depending on him. This is going to end badly.”
Sadly Prophetic
In the end, dad was absolutely, right. Later that month we lost to Inverness Caley, Barnes was shown the door, and that was the end of his time at Celtic and indeed his managerial career at any meaningful level.
Yesterday Proved, He Still Doesn’t Get It
Fast forward 25 years, and here is Barnes claiming that “Brendan Rodgers has it easy” as Celtic manager.
I can’t believe someone who so publicly and spectacularly failed to grasp the level of responsibility that comes with managing Celtic still doesn’t understand, even a quarter of a century later, how stupid his comments make him sound.
No Anger, Just Sadness
I’m not angry with John Barnes. As I said, he was an absolute gentleman on the one occasion we met. I’m just sad. I’m sad that such a great player, a hero of mine, could not only fail so badly as a manager, but also totally fail to understand why he did so.
Reading his comments this morning, I felt like that same disappointed 16 year old all over again.
As one of my teachers once told me. “Stupidity is unfortunate, but ignorance is a choice.”