Yesterday the British Prime Minister felt the impact of what I had last year labelled a “slow moving Suez Crisis”.
She turned up at Salzburg in Austria thinking that she was the political leader of a major power.
Today Theresa May is almost certainly is staring into the abyss of reality.
Her only friend in the room was the openly xenophobic Viktor Mihály Orbán of Hungary.
He was swept to power on a Famine Song vibe.
The other leaders of the EU 27 told the British delegation that their plan for a future trading relationship with the European Union was a non-starter.
This did not come as a surprise to any knowledgeable observer of the Brexit shambles.
However, reporters on the ground are saying that Prime Minister May was taken aback by this.
Hubris is a terrible affliction and it seems to be abroad in Blighty.
Around the same time, the klan were inflicting their hatreds on the ears of the good people of Villareal.
They deserve better.
Of course, regular readers will know that hubris reached terminal proportions at the original Rangers in 2012.
The new club at Ibrox is clearly going the same way.
I was not surprised yesterday to learn that Close Brothers had turned down the generous offer from the Sevco High Command to have a serious sit-down.
This has left the Blue Room chaps with the task of seeking out alternative sources of external finance.
However, there’s the rub.
They currently owe £4m to Close Brothers and that is payable next February.
That is public record, as are the security documents in the public domain.
However, let’s just say that if the Sevco High Command wants to borrow money to pay back Close Brothers because of the spending spree by Mr Gerrard then they have precious little by way of available security.
Close Brothers pretty much have everything that isn’t nailed down tied up in their loan.
See the problem?
This is the sort of headache that the Serious Professional has to deal with on a daily basis.
What he also has in his in-tray at the moment is a rather troubling missive from General Ashley’s people.
Another court date could be looming…
any chance of a Celtic thread Phil so we can get views and opinions of what is wrong with our team?
2-1 It’s not rocket science. Throw up a brick wall and mark Brendan’s most creative players out the match and its game on, or is it game won?
I believe Sevco will get the money off close brothers……. as per last comment I made on this subject.
If they can make a payment, (I said previously £1m) then close will kick the ball down the road with increased interest rate.
If what you say is bang on the money, then I believe In rebuffing the approach from ibrox, close have created conditions that will allow a higher rate of interest and increased security. It may also be looking for more cash up front, say £2m.
Mere tittle tattle on my part but remember, close brothers is in the business of lending money. If they get say, £2m back, by way of an asset sale in January or even some cash that will be due at some point down line from Europa league.
They then have themselves in position, to increase rate to 50%. Loan back out another £2m. Increase the security by ways of more onerous terms on how things work. They may even get an employee a foot in door at ibrox. As Lloyd’s did with Donald Muir in the days of rangers.
They already have the keys to ibrox with the Albion car park secured.
Make no mistake this close bros company are brutal. They will make Ashley look like a nice old school building society manager.
Big Mike’s court date anything to do with their new popup online site selling the official kits?
Anyone willing to put a few notes on who will be gone first, either May or Ibrokes?
It’s getting CLOSE to that time when the gullibillies will have to sell their kidneys…..and old squinty will take them. HH
Well tonight brings the latest scheme to bring in a bit more cash. Wait until 5:30 Friday evening when everyone has gone home for the weekend, then announce a ‘non-exclusive’ sale of kit from a retail partner no-one has ever heard of. Via a website registered through an Italian domain seller and hosted in the US. Anyone would think they had something to hide. I predict an emergency injunction at some point in the next few days, followed by cash resting in someone’s account for a prolonged period of time.
It really is strange times seeing guys like Phil of the supposed left siding with the Globalists, championing the power that the EU can wield to any country that dares step out of line. What happened Phil?
The vast majority of the left have been sabotaged, twisted, softened up to the point of being a bunch of merely politically correct virtue signalers more concerned with things like the rights of transgenders being labelled correctly. Whereas issues like why are Global Corporations hoovering up countries national resources (the purpose of the EU) are not considered important.
And how noble of the SNP Braveheart brigade wanting freedom from the terrible English, to rise and be a nation again so that they can willfully put themselves under the jackboot of Brussels. Great stuff. And while at it why not hand over what little is left of our natural resources in the process. Should keep them happy & everyone will like us. After all thats what those in the new left/politically correct/virtue signaling twitter brigade want, is it not ?
Spot on Bob.
Welcome to Neoliberal Nirvana
Wee Maggie Tampon will be looking up with a wry smile on her worm ravaged fizzog
Totally agree with you Bob. I want Independence for Scotland. Yet I cannot fathom how anyone sees that being achieved being under the yoke of Brussels. Become another Iceland .. etc but a Spain/Greece/Ireland … I understand the greedy politicians wanting their noses in the trough and boarding the gravy train.
It’s not Independence in any shape or form.
superbly scripted Bob, best piece of writing I’ve seen on this Blog in a long long time and no need for paragraphs after every sentence!! Keep up the good work Sir.
Your claim about the EU facilitating global corporations’ exploitative tendencies is – how can I put this – the polar opposite of reality.
In reality, successive right-wing UK governments have found themselves bridling at EU directives which granted British workers *more* working rights than the UK Government wished to give them, which granted UK citizens *more* human rights than the UK Government wished them to have, and which restricted the predations of multinationals in ways that their friends and enablers in the UK Government did not wish them restricted.
I’d be a rich man if I had a quid for every time a right-wing UK politician crowed about how – in a post-EU Britain – human rights directives would be rolled back, workers rights would be “modernised” (i.e. reduced towards Victorian levels) and how “red tape” for big business would be reduced – i.e. how the unscrupulous dregs of foreign companies would be encouraged to locate here, with the promise of a free hand to exploit British workers and despoil our environment.
So to pretend instead that it is the EU (!) which has all this time been enabling predatory multinationals – against the will of the UK Government – is positively Trumpian in its falsehood.
Either you are disturbingly ill-informed, or you’ve got a gargantuan axe to grind. I’ll suspend judgment on which.
The EU receives funds from member states following long negotiations, and returns a proportion depending on the member states application for funding. The UK appropriates all of Scotland’s revenues with no negotiation and returns a proportion based on an outmoded formula. There are no jackboots. The UK has been continuously involved in making and agreeing EU rules ever since it became a member.
Phil, there’s no need to worry – Dave King assured everybody that he will be putting £50 million in. Everybody knows that Squinty’s word is his bond – don’t they? 😆😆😆
Talking about money has Stevie Geeeeeeeee paid for his European coaching license yet ???????
And has he achieved the level of education needed for his license. HH
Sevco indeed appears to be heading for a similar date with financial reality. Wonder how their accounts are going to spin the numbers, as well as circle the square around paying back Close Brothers. Also, that there is no magic money tree in the form of a side share issuance by the Glib and Shameless one to cover his inability/unwillingness to dip his hand in his own pocket. I wonder if the SFA have contingency plans in case of them hitting the skids before season end?
Where does an ‘institution’ of stature go for a loan when the lender of last resort refuses any further business with you?
If only ‘Klub 1872’ had called themselves ‘Klub 2012’ …. they could have tapped the loyal bears for an extra £1.40 each month that they could then have given to Squinty to pretend he’s investing in the club.
I see some ‘creative fundraising’ on the horizon…
A kind of iBrokes based ‘Milk (the Billies) Marketing Board for the 21st century.
Cue very many ‘charity days’ and ‘squaddie saturdays’ during international breaks etc…
Cue a new debenture scheme to fleece the wealthier bears of their cash on the dream of a ‘seat for life’.
Cue a 4th and 5th kit launch ( once the kits 1-3 have been issued and sold in their tens of thousand assuming they ever appear in the first place ) to commemorate a famous draw at Villareal and McGreggor escaping sanction for ABH.
Cue many many fortuitous home cup draws to top up the war chest..
Etc etc etc…,
Unfortunately there can only be so much cash to be rinsed from selling xxxxxl ‘Fitba taps’
Meanwhile the wage bill rises rather than decreases. The Scottish leagues best defender won’t have signed on for another 4 years without a decent uplift.
Looks like they’ve banked and spent the Europa groups money already and are now trading on advancement to the knockout stages…
Somethings going to crash and burn cone January February time….
I cannae wait!
Well done the bhoys last night. Looked like a repeat of the st Mirren game ( or sounded like as I was listening only) but Leigh took his chance and did the business.
You can’t fault Celtic for possession and effort right now but somethings just not been clicking at the front to get the ball in the net.
Maybe about time to give LG a decent run and a few starts more importantly…
I can’t say I heard anything on TV but I am sure the whole song book had a airing, however I did hear a pro IRA song from Celtic park later that day. Time for both Glasgow teams to stand up to the neanderthals who are dragging the game back 100 years. No team is without the trouble makers and more has to be done to weed them out.
Well, there’s hubris concerning May’s negotiations, and there’s hubris.
Yanis Varoufakis, the then Greek Finance minister, predicted that the EU would use the negotiations with Greece to push for regime change, as they had done already in Italy.
And he was right.
From Yanis Varoufakis’ web site concerning his book-Adults in the Room:
“Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history when, as finance minister of Greece, he attempted to re-negotiate his country’s relationship with the EU. Despite the mass support of the Greek people and the simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite. But the true story of what happened is almost entirely unknown – not least because so much of the EU’s real business takes place behind closed doors.
As is now clear, the same policies that required the tragic and brutal suppression of Greece’s democratic uprising have led directly to authoritarianism, populist revolt and instability throughout the Western world.”
Why can’t they just ‘re mortgage crumble dome.or is that not within there reach wurz ra deeds