n the aftermath of the scenes at Rugby Park it did seem to me like a very timely story if you were in the deflection business.
The story ticked a lot of Sevco PR boxes.
Any misstep by the Green Brigade is tabloid gold.
Throw in that their alleged victims were female and you’ve got a front page.
I didn’t comment when the story broke as I wanted to wait until I had checked it out.
The Celtic ultras group have been a bête noire (bête vert?) In dignified circles since they were formed.
Moreover, they are not without fault at times.
That said the allegation of sectarianism and misogynistic abuse seemed to be entirely at variance with the political stance of the group over many years.
Serious allegations require serious evidence and this is where this particular squirrel fell from the branches of the PR tree at Ibrox.
Firstly Celtic issued their own response to the allegations:
“We are surprised by these claims which have been made today. We have no knowledge of any incidents at all and nothing whatsoever has been raised with the club either at the time or since Sunday’s match.”
Earlier today I was told by an impeccably placed source that Celtic FC also sent a very stiff letter to the basket of assets about this matter.
The Parkhead club explained to Sevco that they have video of the entire match.
Indeed the Celtic has footage of the 30 minutes before the match and for the quarter of an hour after the final whistle.
Moreover, there was no mention of this abuse by Gregory Vignal during his post-match interview to Sevco vision.
I’m told that the Celtic letter invited the Ibrox chaps to watch the video and then point out where the abuse had taken place.
My information is that on receipt of the missive the Dunkirk Spirit was in evidence.
The ultras group also set the record straight from their point of view and they were unequivocal:
“On Sunday, we offered our support to the Celtic Women’s team, enjoying a familiar victory over our inferior Glasgow rivals. Neither action was monumental however merely a continuation of the small, humble steps we take to tackle discrimination and promote inclusivity.
“Clearly, we treat recent allegations of misogyny and sectarianism with the contempt that they deserve. We are content that our efforts across the weekend have been well received and would encourage the offended party from Sunday to re-educate themselves on misogyny and sectarianism. Given their vast experience of the latter, we would expect them to be better informed.”
Therefore, the allegation was made, but couldn’t be substantiated in any way.
However, the deflection operation happened.
Therefore, in high-Level circles that is very much job done!
Of course, it helps if you have obedient hacks to call upon.
Now, there was a time when newspapers had grumpy gatekeepers called “editors”.
They wanted stuff checked by their reporters before they would run a story.
Changed days indeed…
Discover more from Phil Mac Giolla Bháin
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Wow, looks as if STV has joined the Stevie G club of thinking, big time.
Two hours after the final whistle at Ibrox today STV news is reporting a 4-1 win for the home team, with the two 86 minutes plus goals non counters.
I think we are getting into dangerous waters here and perhaps the SFA will adopt this school of thought, God knows one is better than none at all, eh Mr Maxwell?
Mr Maxwell and school. Won’t see those 2 words in the same sentence again. HH
Aye! Well if the 86 minutes rule had been applied across the board in the opening games, Celtic would still be on 6 points with a GD of 12. Sevco would be on 4 points with a GD of 4.
SG should be careful what he wishes for.
The Scottish media will go to any lenghts to blacken Celtic’s name at every opportunity, real or imagined.
With their pet team heading for 10 years without winning a major Scottish trophy they strive to protect their ever diminishing demographic with fake news.
With the English window closed they should be asking serious questions about where the funds will come from to see out the season.
The arithmetic is quite simple and even the most stupid of our football hacks could do the numbers.
From the last audited accounts we know the running costs were £3.3m per month. With a full year of Davis and Defoe and other additions to the payroll we are probably looking at £3.5m per month, thats £42m in a calendar year.
Lets be generous and assume 50,000 ST’s @ £600 a head,
That gives us £30m gross, approx £25m after deducting VAT.
Mr Bennett has already made it clear that the soft loan days are over. No more exchanging debt for equity in a company that has lost tens of millions since its inception.
Contributions from even the most generous of sponsors won’t fill the financial gap.
The merchandising clusterfuck is going to cost money instead of bringing in much needed income.
The Close Bros loan has to be repaid or rolled over at likely penurous rates.
That’s why Europa Group Stage qualification is a must have to fill the gap between income and expenditure.
Of course not one of our hacks will go anywhere near the subject but would rather fill their pages with drivel.
I was with you until you mentioned Sevco paying VAT… very funny !
I do wish people who profess to understand the numbers would stop quoting Europa income as significant…. it’s not. The money barely exceeds participation costs and Amy payment is 11 months away…
Sevco need money NOW.
ST money won’t last into 2020 even without factoring in the SDRI merchandise fiasco.
When it happens…. the media will tell you they knew all along that there was financial trouble but couldn’t (read as wouldn’t) report on it.
The fans will cry …
“why did nobody tell us?”
“Whose done this to our club ?”
We will have known the answers all along.
5 home Europa games, 50,000 sell outs @£25 a pop, is over £6m in gate income.
No way does the participation costs come anywhere near this.
It’s THREE home games.
2 prelim rounds, 3 group stage.
Europa group stage will do NO more than dent the gap. In the wonderful Seville year it was revealed that in reaching the final of the secondary tournament Celtic still did not make as much money as they would have by merely qualifying for the group stage of the CL. That differential has widened considerably in the intervening years.
SG and the players may have all sorts of on-the-park ambitions but I suspect, no I’ll go further, I believe, the only ambition the Board have for this season is the survival of the club. If the club go under, their own personal survival might involve emigrating.
Your correct, but they still have to pay transfer fees from last year for players like Murphy plus any outlay on players this summer. Say that is in the 2-3 million range, they need to pay £444000 by end of play Friday.
Last year they needed money before Christmas to see them through and then in January they had to go to close brothers.
They will be lucky to get to November before the money runs out.
Eight years. Sevco have NEVER won a major trophy. Their biggest claim to fame so far is becoming the FIRST TEAM in 114 years, that’s right, ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN YEARS, to LOSE to Hibs in a Scottish Cup Final.
What the PR Tree at ibrox don’t perhaps realise, or do they?, is that they have probably stirred up their knuckle dragging followers into a revenge reaction, and that the next ladies game will probably attract the Klan members en frothing mass. They will be hell bent on causing trouble and turning the game itself into a mere aside spectacle as they force feed everyone within touching distance with their sectarian staunchness.
Keeps them off the streets!!
Exactly that’s what’s going to happen
That lot from should be made to RETRACT the statement or prove it.
Perhaps they should try showing off their staunchness to the Legia fans, if the Poles progress to the next round of the Europa.
I vividly remember coming across a few hundred of them when we played those couple of games at Murrayfield.
If the Poles get the usual red carpet welcome from the Blue Order and their ilk I know who my money will be on.
That reminded me of a conversation with my son, who’s twenty now, at the end of his first term in secondary school. I asked him what he thought was the most important thing he’d learned so far. His response was immediate. “Don’t get into a snowball fight with the Polish boys! They make them faster, bigger and harder than we do!!”
Forgot the “Throw them much further and more accurately.” bit!
Phil, if it’s any consolation, the quality of sports journalism was just raised this month by the entrance into the UK market of North American based The Athletic. They are primarily covering the EPL, but they are also covering the SPFL with dedicated writers covering both Glasgow clubs as well as occasional articles on other SPFL clubs. Crucially, the business model does not rely on advertising and is a subscription model. No need for an ad-blocker on their website!!! The upshot is that to justify a subscription, the writers actually have to provide value well beyond parroting free online sites or official press coming from the clubs themselves.
I’ve been a long time subscriber, and although I hadn’t previously read anything from the two SPFL writers, I have been impressed by the quality of their journalism thus far. As a quick example, the Rangers beat writer inquired as to the £10m bid from West Brom that was supposedly turned down for Morelos; he quickly found out that no official offer had been made and wasn’t gun shy about saying so. And for the record, both the Celtic & Rangers focused reporters have been season ticket holders at their preferred clubs in the past, but that hasn’t inhibited these guys from publishing facts about the clubs that wasn’t spoon fed to them by the press office, even when those facts aren’t convenient to the daily squirrel.
For my money, a subscription is well worth the nominal fee.
https://twitter.com/jordanc1107/status/1159583667695575045?s=21
The other good thing The Athletic has is collaboration between the journalists, at least in North America. Would be surprised if that doesn’t translate to the U.K. as well though. Meaning that any random squirrels involving make believe bids can be quickly researched with the truth published in a matter of minutes or a couple hours. The Athletic is starting with over 50 reporters across the U.K., including dedicated reporters for each EPL team, and I believe eventually each Championship club as well. So each of these phantom squirrels will be checked out not just by the Glasgow writers, but also the ones covering the applicable clubs down in England as well.
Big problem is they’re NOT checked out by the Glasgow writers.
Aye wonder why
Meant to say…
My brother is a qualified and practising Psychologist and has offered his services free to any Celtic supporter.
It would appear that Sevco’s signing of Brandon Barker has psychologically damaged us …due to the fact that were desperate to sign him…and he chose Sevco.
There is no doubt that its a crushing blow to our confidence…so let me know if my brother’s skills will be needed.
Phil…I was coming on to post about the word ” surprised ” which appeared… again… in the Club’s public statement.
I have already “done my nut” about this word when it was used in a previous communique regarding Sevco.
I said then…and I’ll say it again….tae feck wi’ bein’ surprised…
Be ANGRY…Be SERIOUSLY ANNOYED…Threaten LITIGATION… Be ANYTHING but surprised.
Its no wonder that this mob carry on regardless …when this is the best we can come up with.
As for the very stiff letter that you’ve highlighted….
Why do we have to find out about this from your good-self ?
Is it beyond our Board to publicly inform us of this instead of issuing pathetic statements.
At least the GB nailed them to the wall.
When it comes to situations like this…we’re as bad as the “Scottish Meeja.”
And Sevco will keep on deflecting.
“Surprised” is corporate speak for “you’re a bunch of lying b’stards”
Spot on! When something happens right out of the blue, no pun intended, you can be surprised. If it continues to happen on a regular basis when does the surprise element stop. I’m 64 and I stopped being surprised by ANYTHING coming out of Ibrox before I reached puberty.
Celtic are using the word “surprised” merely as the language of diplomacy. To do otherwise is to stop to their level which, I’m my opinion remains in the gutter along with other detritus.
That said, I do sincerely hope that Ian Maxwell and the compliance officer were cc’ed in on the memo.
That would only be useful if he can read a helluva lot better than he writes. Oh aye, and grows a pair.
Does Ian Maxwell actually exist and if he does what has he brought to the table since his Coronation.
Apart from the fact that he would struggle with an O Level English exam, what else do we know of the CEO, following in the footsteps of the many clowns who have served before him!
The saying: Never argue with idiots,they will only bring you down to their level,then beat you with experience. Greg King
That saying springs to mind and is as good a reason as any to keep your powder dry and keep silent.
Thanks Phil🇮🇪
Steven…I think you may have missed the point of my post.
Instead of the mealy-mouthed ” surprised ” statement which we were privy to…perhaps the following might have been considered.
” Celtic Football Club would like to reassure it’s supporters, that a strongly worded letter has been sent to R****** FC. in connection with scurrilous and unfounded statements regarding the Green Brigade.
The contents of the letter will remain private…but be assured that we will not be prepared to put up with this type of attack on our Club now or in the future.”
That is better than “surprised” I’m sure you’ll agree.
Hail hail.
I understand the desire to ‘hawd yer weesht’ but I wish Celtic would be more forceful in their denials of such obvious lies.
See my post John…
Hail hail.
Jason Robards…superb actor.
So is Dave.
But an even better swindler. HH