Is Bertie Auld underrated as a Celtic legend?

I think it's hard to make such a call, because the vast majority of us never saw him play live and have only seen limited footage.

I think all of the Lions get huge credit to be fair, but the flair players always get the glory.

 

Think because he played in such a great team people tend to pick players like Billy, Bobby Murdoch and Jinky.



He was a big character in a team of full of big characters, a Celtic legend and remains a great ambassador for our club.

In polls people tend to pick the best from different times in our history and Tenthirty is up against the best in our history.

Not underrated but forever appreciated.

 

All were class and lennox with 273 goals is hard to argue against. Second only to Mcgrory I thinx

Lennox was much admired by his fellow professionals, such as the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_United"]Manchester United F.C. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] and England legend [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Charlton"]Bobby Charlton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] who said of him
<TABLE role=presentation class=cquote style="WIDTH: auto; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; MARGIN: auto; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; border-image: none"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style='FONT-SIZE: 40px; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; WIDTH: 20px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(178,183,242); PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0.6em; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; border-image: none'>“</TD> <TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; border-image: none">If I'd had Lennox in my team, I could have played forever. He was one of the best strikers I have ever seen</TD> <TD style='FONT-SIZE: 40px; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; WIDTH: 20px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: bottom; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(178,183,242); PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-TOP: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0.6em; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; border-image: none'>”</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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Another football legend [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Di_Stefano"]Alfredo Di Stéfano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] of [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Madrid"]Real Madrid C.F. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] said of him,
<TABLE role=presentation class=cquote style="WIDTH: auto; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; MARGIN: auto; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; border-image: none"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style='FONT-SIZE: 40px; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; WIDTH: 20px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(178,183,242); PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0.6em; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; border-image: none'>“</TD> <TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; border-image: none">The Scotsman who gave me the most trouble was Bobby Lennox of Celtic. My testimonial at the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Bernab%C3%A9u_Stadium"]Santiago Bernabéu Stadium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] was against Celtic as, of course, they were the champions of Europe in 1967, and although I remember the Bernabeu rising to [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Johnstone"]Jimmy Johnstone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame], I admired Lennox greatly.<SUP id=cite_ref-9 class=reference>[9]</SUP></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

I think the reason he didn't receive a vote in that is that he played alongside the likes of Johnstone - widely regarded as the best player every to have donned the hoops - and Murdoch and McNeil, who was a colossus. Harder to shine in such company but he's still one of our greatest ever players.

Edit: Someone's already said it. :smiley-laughing002:

 

No doubt a legend. I love hearing him talk about football, he has the same enthusiasm for the game as he had 40 years ago.

But it's like any of the great teams, there are always full of characters and great players. Personally, I don't think Jinky would have been what he was without Murdoch; spraying the early passes from deep giving him space and time on the ball to do what he done well. And Murdoch only got one vote in the all time greats. An amazing footballer.

 

This.

Of the chorus, would have thought perhaps Davie Hay, whose sheer versatility made him Celtic's answer of Cruyff's school of 'Total Football', but rarely gets talked about anywhere near as much as the others in the chorus... or even 'Jimmy McStay' was supplanted by his great-nephew, Paul. Not detracting from Paul McStay in any way, but that song far predated the start of his playing career in the early 80's and was adapted when Maestro was well on his way to being elevated to such lofty company.

With all due respect, I don't for a minute think that Bertie Auld is underrated, more the role that players of certain positions may be. Anyone whose name is still sung on any given matchday and is remembered as an integral part of our greatest ever team and was there the night of our finest hour can hardly be considered underrated.

Compared to, for instance, Bertie Peacock. The similarities between the two are all too apparent, except for the relative levels of success that each enjoyed. Peacock gave his heart and soul to Celtic all throughout the 1950's - an era in which results on the park were all too often not the driving and defining motives in Robert Kelly's goals, indeed often undermining McGrory's management. Peacock is every bit as much a Celtic hero as any that have ever worn the Hoops, but enjoyed far less success through no fault of his own. Then, like Auld in the shadow of Johnstone, he likewise was responsible for doing the fetch and carrying for Charlie Tully. Not to mention was a huge influence on the young Bertie Auld.

Flair players get the headlines and their exceptional deeds live longest in the memory and/or handed to posterity through folklore, but they also have those games were it just doesn't work for them - it is just not their day. The likes of Peacock and Auld may never have hit the heights of a Tully or Johnstone, but they no doubt had fewer 'off' days also. They were the quintessential 'Mr Reliable'. In terms of appreciation, think it is beyond doubt that both their teammates as well as those in the Jungle were aware of the invaluable contributions in doing what they did, each time these men ran out in the Hoops.