Thanks to everyone for leaving such fine sentiments today.  They were a compelling reminder that not all people are the same and that some even manage to be an inspiring example to the rest of us.

We lost a fine example of how life should be led today, so maybe you and I should aspire to fill the gap.

I thought Peter Lawwell spoke well on our behalf and the media, as they often do on occasions like this, came into their own.  For future reference, illness does not need to be reported regularly or in detail, or in pictures.

Well done to the Rangers fans who paid their respects at Celtic Park today.  They've endured international condemnation over the last 24 hours and it's going to get tougher still in the weeks to come, including on these pages, but they are a credit to their club.

Gordon Strachan lost a close friend today and it showed.  I heard he left Celtic Park after the recent 3-2 win over Rangers and instead of celebrating went straight to St Mary's in the Calton where he lit a candle and prayed for his ill friend.  You don't need to be born a Celtic fan to be Celtic minded; maybe spending time around Tommy Burns is enough.

I will establish a prominent link to the previous article so if you would like to leave an enduring message please do so there.

I'll leave you tonight with words from our friend, Estadio:

"Many many times in my years stretching out the seconds minutes hours and days as I wander across God's sod, I have tasted the joyful sweet tears of victory, the bitter acid tears of defeat and the defiant cold-steel tears of determination.

In only a few cases have I ever experienced the kaleidoscope of sadness, laughter, admiration, regret and inspiration that comes with the passing of Tommy.

Celtic Park this morning was like one of those time lapse photographs speeded up even more than normal, as scarf after scarf, bouquet after bouquet, banner after banner, and tribute after tribute gradually consumed the railings and pavings surrounding Brother Walfrid culminating in a massive white standard laid out across the small car park outside East Main Stand, bearing an Celtic-green inlaid image of Tommy and the simple but revealed truth - 'Tommy Burns Celtic legend'.

As this huge emotional jigsaw of respect, farewell and love flowered in front of my eyes, the sadness was palpable! As I walked past the tributes and thought of Tommy running to the crowd I smiled and laughed. As I looked at the pictures of him as a boy growing to a man but always a bhoy, I grasped again the admiration. And as I read the words written by a thousand hands on Celtic, Rangers, Kilmarnock, and St Mirren colours and remembered in turn his own words, I breathed deeply as I sensed again the inspiration that he provided to so many youngsters that have passed through the doors of Celtic Park, of Barrowfield, and now of Lennoxtown.

And then as the cameras and radio mikes behind me swung into action and the victims for 'just a few words' were summoned and asked 'what are your memories of Tommy', all those emotions and memories of my own became no more than a blur as I tried to think just what I would say if anyone was daft enough to ask me (they weren't!).

I was stuck for words!

I just couldn't come up with a coherent view of Tommy as a player, a manager, a coach or even as a man, without seeing him in the context of the club whose founder and home towered above and in front of me, and it was as I stared at Brother Walfrid that I suddenly knew just what I remembered of Tommy.

For 120 years football has been played by those sporting the colours of Celtic Football Club at the current ground and the previous one just over the back where the ginger factory now stands. During that 120 years, sometimes glorious, sometimes desperate, sometimes victorious and sometimes vanquished, an occasional man or woman of substance has arrived on the scene like a shaft of sunlight on the dullest of days to illuminate and remind us of exactly why any of us are bothered about this club, why it ever mattered in the first place and why it should matter in the future.

Few lights have shone brighter than Tommy, and none have lit up so many dark corners for so long as he has done in is all-too-brief 51 years, and none came with the smile, the laugh, the raised hand and the unbowed shoulders that said to us all, 'this matters you know, this club means something, how we represent this club means as much, and how we represent ourselves is the foundation upon which the first two are built'!

But there was more.

Tommy Burns as a player was also Tommy Burns the supporter.

Tommy was no badge kisser; he never needed to be one.

Tommy was no chest-thumper; he never needed to be one.

Tommy was devoid of platitudes; he never needed to spout them.

Think now of Celtic Park and European nights in particular. Think of the support - the twelfth man.

Think how, as backs to the wall, the passion, desire, and urging of the whole ground in full song inject adrenalin into those who may not fully understand this club, and how they suddenly produce that extra step, that extra leap, that extra sprint to pull the rabbit of victory from the dark deep depths of defeat!

Tommy never needed that support from the terraces and stands!!

Tommy had his own Celtic support system raging like a furnace inside him and even in the lowest silent moments of our despair that burning desire lit up his team-mates and lit up the crowd and the fire would spread on a breeze of confidence, pride and perseverance.

Victory or defeat? It didn't matter. We knew who Tommy was and he knew who we were.

We were the same! It was just that he was better at being the same than we could ever manage!

And for those who say that Tommy's passing demonstrates just how unimportant football really is, could I just say that somehow Im not sure that Tommy would have totally agreed!

The power of football, the dream that is Celtic and the smiddies of poverty in which they were forged, enthralled, captured and inspired in Tommy Burns the desire, determination, and imagination to become the man that we all grew to cherish.

At the core of his soul was his Catholic faith, but a faith that was not exclusive or blinkered; a faith whose true founding principles of faith, love and charity guided just about every step of his waking life, and a faith that nurtured the seeds of respect that he had for colleagues, opponents, and peers from every walk of life.

I know that undoubtedly Tommy would have been the same man even without football! But without football, I doubt if he would have been known by so many for the man that he was. More importantly I doubt he would have influenced so many to become the people that they now are, and left a legacy that enriches so many people worldwide.

To me Tommy Burns did not just epitomise Celtic, Tommy was someone through whom you could view the essence of Celtic and in Celtic you could see the reflection of Tommy! After all how many can say that they supported, played for, managed, coached and represented this club. All of those who did were and are giants and Tommy was and always will be a giant among even them, for he did all that and even more.

And so as I close my eyes to think again of what my memories of Tommy Burns are and just how I would answer such a question, I can see my own minds-eye appearing as a u-tube video!

There's a brash young smiling red-haired Glaswegian running towards me across the Celtic Park turf, hand raised in triumph, his stride shortening as he looks around at the cheering and rapturous crowd; the colours on his top begin to fade and his garments are gradually replaced by club suit and tie; his hair fades from that brilliant red to a distinguished grey, and a hundred different players hug him and he hugs them as he takes another step towards me standing at first in the jungle and then out of my seat beneath a towering north stand; a change again to a track suit and as Dalglish becomes Aitken and then Stubbs and then De Canio and finally McDonald, McGeady, Boruc and Caldwell, with one almighty leap, as Celtic get to the Champions' League again, he flies through the air to land on the pyramid of celebrations!

Is it a bird?

Is It a Plane?

Is it Superman?

"Naw - It's Tommy Twists, Tommy Turns, Tommy Burns!"

Thanks for the smile Tommy! Thanks for the memory! But most of all just thanks!

I'll be seein you wan day!

Hail Hail

Estadio"

Tommy Burns developed a particularly intimate relationship with the Celtic support during his time as manager from 1994 - 1997.  Those were not successful times for Celtic, but unlike normal fallow periods, those were years of belief; belief that Celtic were in the hands of someone who cared as much as you did. 

Tommy was born into the same community Celtic were in 1888, the parish of St Mary's in the Calton area of Glasgow in 1956.  Jock Stein signed him for Celtic in 1975, where he would remain until he accepted a post with Kilmarnock in 1989.

He had an enormously gifted left foot and was a tall, strong and intelligent footballer.  As a manager he was renowned for playing attractive passing football.

In 2006 he was diagnosed with melanoma, although news that his treatment had been successful soon followed.  It was announced earlier this year that the cancer had returned but on this occasion the disease would not abate.  He passed away at 4am this morning.

His death will sadden many who never knew him personally and will devastate those who did, including all his friends at Celtic Park and Lennoxtown, and that means everyone at Celtic Park and Lennoxtown.

He evangelised by the way he led his life and bore witness to his faith. 

My thoughts and prayers go to his wife Rosemary and his family.

My friends in Celtic it will be eight days before we see our team play again, but during this time our emotions will be subject to sunshine and shadow.  You and I, just like Celtic, need to maintain focus on the job in hand; beating Dundee United.

Before Celtic play opportunities to further out cause will arise, just as our lead can come under pressure.  We will not have it all our own way; Rangers will win again before the end of the season, but I sincerely believe that if Celtic maintain focus, we'll win the league.

The pantomime that Scottish football has become recently will continue to play, but we must leave it to others to become consumed in that, we have a game of football to prepare for.