My instant reaction to the latest Celtic statement was probably typical of many on the green side of Glasgow.
After a period of reflection overnight I cannot say that I am differently minded about it.
For the avoidance of doubt, I do not disagree with the observations made in the short statement.
However, like the road to Galway, I wouldn’t start from here.
The problem is that Celtic as a club have, by their public silence, displayed shocking acquiescence to things they should have been publicly confronting.
The shabby treatment of the Requisition 12 requisitioners since the AGM of 2013 is a case in point.
None of this makes any sense unless you know of the in-depth discussions between senior people at Celtic and the original Rangers in the year before the Ibrox club died.
It was all about selling the “Old Firm” package to the football authorities in England.
I have seen communications that clearly indicates the extent to which they were working in tandem back then.
Anyone who reads it and doubted the existence of the “Old Firm” would have to have a severe reasoning deficit.
Indeed, when I looked at the date of the communication (February 2011) that was right in the middle of the R12 timeline.
Now dear reader please accompany me on some wild speculation if you will.
You have to pretend that you are in an important position at Celtic.
Can you do that?
Excellent!
Then let’s begin.
Imagine that nine years ago you think that you are well on your way to getting Celtic into the riches of the EPL.
That is quite an achievement worthy of a statue on a plinth along the fabled heated driveway.
Of course, the Parkhead club can only arrive at the Promised Land down the M74 if the city rivals are also on board.
How would you react if you then found out that your partner in this highly lucrative venture might be in danger of not playing in UEFA competitions the following season?
Some tax thingy.
How would you react?
Yeah, that’s right, you might think that it would be best to remain schtum.
After all, you’re part of a double act that wants to be allowed into that rich sporting cartel in England.
Then late that year you are told that your partner is about to go bust.
This is awful news.
However, there is a cunning plan to drop a new club in old clothes into the top flight in Scotland.
How would you react?
Of course, all idle speculation on my part dear reader and thank you for playing along.
However, if ANY of that scenario is true then what chance does Ryan Christie have?
If Celtic have gone along with financial doping and tax scams in the interest of the “Old Firm” brand then everything else is a charade.
The Resolution 12 requisitioners have, by their dogged diligence, slowly stripped away all the excuses and delaying tactics.
The entire Ibrox saga covering both Rangers and Sevco can come down to one thing:
A lack of governance from the SFA.
The chaps on the 6th floor at Hampden did not ask too many questions during the financial doping of the Murray years.
They probably believed that Craig Whyte was a billionaire.
After all, they learned of this world exclusive from an award-winning journalist.
Please, please, no laughing at the back there!
Then the Hampden chaps blinked when Charlie and the boys said that they could run A Rangers.
After all, a club paying at Ibrox and pretending to be Rangers was needed for the continuation of the “Old Firm” franchise.
In the summer of 2102 with the new season looming folk were getting desperate so ANY Rangers would do.
Meanwhile, across the city, our hero looked on hoping that the other half of the “Old Firm” duo would get their act together.
When you look back at that over the past nine years then you start to think that someone has had Celtic by the balls this whole time.
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Catching up as usual here. Always found the silence baffling at Celtic. This piece is perfectly believable for me. Expect more silence to follow but at least I will feel I now have some sort of an explanation for it. And a strange kind of understanding. Yes this explains a lot for me. Thanks Phil
Picture the great scene from the film “The Untouchables”. The beat cop Jim Mallone (Sean Connery) is sitting talking to Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) about his choices. Paraphrasing a bit here but Mallone asks Ness how far he is willing to go, and was he willing to go all the way. Ness says yes, but not overly convincingly. So Mallone tells him that once you start you can’t stop. Tells him that in order to get Capone you need to be ruthless. If they pull a knife, you pull a gun. If he sends one of your guys to the hospital you send one of his to the morgue.
In this new version, today, Celtic face that same dilemma with all the stuff that is going on with the SFA, the referees and the Compliance procedures handling. How far are they willing to go to fight the fight because just like in the film once they start they can’t stop until its all out in the open. If they fight this they have to open up the whole can of worms once and for all.
Unfortunately, that is a fantasy. The club (at the direction of DD and PL) will do nothing about taking on the suits at Hampden or the bunch at Ibrox because it would be bad for THEIR common business interests!
Off topic but LOL Grezda let go for an undisclosed fee by the BENNY’S but here is real funny side of it they have put in a sell on clause. You could not make it .
Well, according to the Daily Retard, when he signed it was reckoned he had a sell-on value of £20 million. Stop laughing!! If that arserag said it, then it must be true. 😂😂😂😂😂
That Benny’s patter is stinking
Question for you. How much has DD taken out of Celtic after his initial investment all those years ago? I don’t know but I’m going to hazard a guess and say he will at least have doubled his money. This has been a golden age of feasting at the dripping roast for DD and PL . 3.5m in a year for a company with a turnover of 100m. Does such a salary exist in any other PLC? When the easy money has been made people like that tend to disappear into the sunset.
Old cockeye may be a crook but end of the day he has been tossing money into a sinking ship. Our man has been bailing cash out of the golden ark.
Indeed but all the while we’ve been collecting Silver for the Chest.
How much weight in Silver does a Petrol Cap Cup actually make at a Scrap Yard?
Aye. A smattering of lower league titles and a Petrofanny Cup. But they DO HAVE THE DISTINCTION of being the ONLY TEAM to LOSE a Scottish Cup Final to Hibs in 114 (ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN) YEARS!!!
NOT quite true. Old cockeye has been putting other people’s money in.
Dermot Desmond seems to be accorded the same Teflon coated protection as David Murray. Peter Lawwell is “an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill”
Who Governs the SFA and the SPFL?
Well it’s always been a bugbear with me that both were not on the stock exchange and governed by the LSE. However both are still limited companies and must abide by such legislation and Companies House.
The clubs are the shareholders of the SFA and SPFL and the office bearers/directors must run both according to the law.
In addition there’s UEFA. Other Stakeholders include fans and players, managers, club shareholders and advertisers. The most powerful advertisers have been bookies with a bookies executive on the game board. The TV broadcasters are large stakeholders and influencers.
Traditionally, club shareholders, fans and players and managers have been ignored. UEFA leaves national associations to do their own thing unless it’s really embarrassing. No governance there.
That leaves the SFA and SPFL to do the bidding of bookies and tv broadcasters. The only football influencers of note are CELTIC and Sevco.
The tv companies and bookies wanted the same continuous Rangers. TV could Have actually leverage UEFA on board with that. UEFA income is from tv rights. If foreign tv companies force uefa to declare it a new Rangers then that might work.
Alex Salmond and Prime Minister Cameron messaged the same club on tv at the time. Dermot Desmond messaged same.
I walked away.
You are all slaves to bookies and tv commands. Ironically as consumers you provide them with their power and wealth.
This is how you complain about a Limited Company being unfair or treating people or parties differently. The SFA and SPFL are incorporated to govern and run football competitions with honesty, integrity and
Equivalence:
https://www.gov.uk/complain-company
If they’re not doing their incorporated activities to the required quality then complain.
This is the national sport ffs. They get millions from Government.
Indeed complain to Scottish Government Sports Minister too. Why did the SNP Govt allow SFA/SPFL to call it same Rangers with all titles intact against the law?
Bit of a leap but entirely plausible.
With certain assaults on Celtic players , if i punched someone at Celtic park , i wonder what my punishment would be. Yes, a lifetime ban and rightly so. Why has sevco player mr kent not been banned.
It’s not called the “Old Firm” for nothing.
The name dates back over 100 years to a time when press and supporters were a damn sight more clear-sighted and outspoken than nowadays.
A key event in the history of ourselves and our rivals was the 1909 Cup Final. Supporters of both sides joined in a riot when it became clear that there would be a second replay after two drawn matches. It dawned on the spectators that BOTH clubs were glad to fill Hampden for a third, lucrative, game, squeezing the Glasgow working classes dry, and tiding over the two clubs until the following August.
There is a permanent tension between a club’s board of directors and the supporters.
There is a constant Tension because of the simple fact Supporters are emotional Investors whilst Board members are Financial Investors.
As Supporters you pay into something that actually doesn’t exist in their minds.
Anyone who buys a ST or Matchday Ticket is classed purely as a customer to the Business that they run.
A Supporter looks at a Board as a Custodian of a Club that they own.
The reality is probably somewhere in between in the Modern game.
Hence why every decision THEY take (The Board) is done so with Finances at the forefront of their thinking.
I’ve said this previously…
If Dermot Desmond had the love for Celtic the Football Club as some seem to suggested he would be putting some of his vast wealth into it.
The fact is he’s is Cheif Shareholder at Celtic to make money NOT spend it.
If you look at the current Share Prices those who Invested in Celtic stand to make a decent profit for their Investment.
It is my opinion these guys will bail out when it suits them.
That is when they can maximise their returns and most likely retire on the money.
I have long suspected that this was always the end game for the likes of Lawwell.
Everything they have done has been done to Maximise the worth of Celtic regardless of what the affect this has had on Supporters or the team.
Having no Rangers was a double edged sword.
In one respect it gave them a clear path to Europe without fear of losing the League.
This enabled them to change the approach from a Club that bought to build to one that bought to sell in the Transfer Market.
This has reaped good rewards as we know.
The result of that was the Board changed PL’s Bonus Structure to the farce that we have now.
The other side of the issue regarding Rangers demise was the inevitable loss of GUARANTEED Revenue that the O/F brought in.
Lawwell said it was around £10m at the time.
Hence why the sudden dramatic change in policy.
Now they that is the Board find themselves in a Situation where a “2angers” are back in the Top Flight and with it comes the missing millions-Hence the extra dough currently sat in the Bank- and a chance to also Capitalise in the Transfer Market AND Europe.
The Customer base has now got used to the concept of buying players to sell.
This is fine while thou are collecting Silverware regularly on the Domestic front but the danger is now for them that this is no longer guaranteed without having to speculate more in the Market.
I fully expect we will strengthen this month to placate those in the Support who aren’t that bothered about Res 12.
I suspect they think if we keep winning then they can keep kicking that can down the Road.
The money to do so after all is sat there.
They know 2angers cannot compete in the market.
Celtic have the option to borrow but are in the unique position now where we don’t actually need to.
The Board although a set of cunning bar stewards have actually done a great job in putting Celtic in the position it is now in.
They have guaranteed themselves Financial reward whilst simultaneously improving the Ground,maintaining Success AND placating the Fab/Customer base.
We will never see eye to eye with these people no matter what they do.
They see Celtic as one thing and we as another.
If you truly want to change that then there really is no other option than a Supporter owned and controlled Club.
As opposed to a Board owned and controlled Businesses that runs a Football team as its main source of income.
If you truly want transparency in Football then you really need to start seeing things for what they are folks.
Celtic is no longer a “Club”.
That is not to say it cannot revert back to being one.
That’s up to you and me.
They WILL SELL provided the price is right.
You can take that to the Bank.
The only way to sustain the SEVCO club is EPL entry and money and CL entry and money.
4 qualifiers to CL with honest Refs might be too much for the basket of assets.
This leaves EPL entry as a lifesaver, where their overspends are a pittance.
Player trading is an abject failure for them. It brought King to his greeting snotter tears resignation speech at the AGM.
I thought Celtic was getting the better of them. Another 15 minutes and SEVCO would have dropped two points and Celtic gained a point. Celtic remaining 5 ahead.
Getting stuck into the SFA is the way ahead. Where is the Celtic equivalent of Club1872 press releases? Where is the Herald one page advert?
Chortle.
Clancy certainly did his best to add on those 15 minutes you think were required.
No mention from Celtic of Morelos running his studs down Julien’s Achilles’ tendon at the LC final.
No mention of goalie McGregor booting Ajer twice on the ground. No SFA punishments on both counts. McGregor assaulted another player the week later from a third club with no charge!
Kent punching Brown to the ground. Slippy said it didn’t happen! It didn’t happen!
It’s time to come out with the dreadnought battleships. This new outfit needs brought down a peg or two. Declare them a new club.
In my view it was skint broke SDM that needed the EPL money more than anyone in 2011. He had been trying to flog RFC since 2008.
An “Old Firm” brand into the EPL was SDMs last punt at survival. Perhaps it was just a working story Unique Selling Point (USP) for a new buyer? And Celtic swallowed it was real.
A lot of folks got duped by SDM.
As I have said on this blog previously, the only way to get Celtic to act is for the shareholders to bring PL to court personally. As the director of the club he has not acted in the best interests for its shareholders. That is the ONLY WAY to get this out in the open once and for all. For a man with an excellent reputation he would not like to have such a high profile question mark over his head at this stage of his career. He would have to provide exactly what has being going on in the background for him not acting.
Such a scandal could automatically have Celtic kicked out of all European competitions for bringing the game into disrepute. Would DD stand by and watch such a scandal unfold? Or would he say enough is enough and go back to the SFA and tell them they must act and put this thing to bed before it brings down Scottish league football beyond repair!
I would ask for nothing less than tittle stripping of the dead club. But that would probably be all that could be asked. As any fines would be passed to the club in liquidation so the money involved wouldn’t be worth giving to a beggar.
One has to wonder what Craig whyte has up his sleeve to make his book a best seller!! When he was in negotiations with Charlie and the boys about starting a new club, exactly what big promises were given from the SFA. When he seen the paperwork of the tax cases what communications were had with him and the governors of football in Scotland?
Lawwell is 61 this year.
He’s been Celtic CEO since 2003: 17 years is a long time.
I’d guess he’d retire well before he was asked any difficult questions.
But, I’d also guess that difficult questions won’t be forthcoming either – well, not from within the Celtic hierarchy anyway!
Thank you once more for a superb blog. I find that I cant add to
things others have said apart from a couple of obvious points,
This board are treating us the fans as morons, but always
remember it is the FANS not the board who will always be there.
Also I have said before how much respect I have for the res12
guys but as I have also always said this board will just carry on
as before ignoring them, the answer has been in their hands all
along. GO TO COURT then watch them panic.
I seem to remember crowdfunding proposed for a Judicial Revue some time ago.
Is that a non-starter, and if so, why is that? Can anyone enlighten us?
Beaton is on record saying he saw the Morelos incident on Christie and decided it was not illegal. Morelos gets done at Motherwell for gesturing to the crowd. Inconsistencies all caught on camera.
Have to laugh at the outrage of Celtic fans over the SFA dealings. Celtic ,Sevco and the SFA have been doing this to all the other clubs for years, and I for one can’t understand why the rest of the clubs stand for it.( my club has been petitioned and won’t reply either )
Celtic fans moaning about the R12 when the Celtic board have been in cahoots all along. Stated many times before, Celtic were the only club to see gate receipts fall when Rangers went bust, two cheeks of the same ar’s. Can’t live without each other and money driving the bigotry to keep the shareholders in clover.
The boards of both clubs couldn’t care less about the fans and their R12 as long as the money rolls in.
’CHARADE’… Machiavellian skullduggery,
Thanks for this Phil,within time this will all come out.
We have All been sold a pup,for dirty rotten money,sleeping with the enemy.
Sack the lot of them.Fan ownership now seems the only way to go,
Bit of a leap but entirely plausible.
Great article Phil you could not put a cigarette paper between sevco and celtic they both need each other but its Celtic fans that get CHISELLED all the time . The people in charge at celtic are no different from the Whytes years past . So as I have said before as long as celtic fans buy season books and sell out Parkhead on European nights the conmen at Parkhead will continue to bleed the fans dry . And we have the cheek to tell Rangers supporters they are thick . OH DEAR. Boycotting games and starve them out the money they crave so much is the only answer if not then fans can’t complain about
Never a truer word spoken.
Or maybe we are guilty of having some outstanding tax debts of our own at some point in our History and Sevco and the SFA knew/know about it?.
Justice at Hampdump does not exist for us. We are letting that mob tramp all over us and we have said hee haw. I just wish Wee Fergus was here because I wouldn’t be needing to write this. Spineless rats on our board.
I want Celtic to despatch a strongly-worded, no-holds barred statement to the muppets at Hampden. I want Celtic to DEMAND answers asap, and I want heads to roll.
Clare White is not fit for purpose. She seems to have a selective viewpoint on what she seems worthy of retrospective action. When Ryan Christie, rightly or wrongly, gets a 2-match ban for grabbing Morelos, whilst Morelos (and Kent) escape sanctions for gesturing to the crowds, and that allegations were made about a pensioner being injured by a coin thrown from opposition fans, without evidence to back up that ridiculous claim by the sevco board, again with no action taken, then her position has to be looked upon as being untenable.
The entire SFA are unfit for purpose, and it now looks like Peter Lawwell is no longer fit for purpose either. Mr Lawwell – prove me wrong!! Grow a set!! RIP certain people a new arsehole, and let us hear them all fart in stereo to prove that, indeed, they have been ripped a new one!! If you cannot do that, then it is time to stand aside, and let somebody who will take over the reins.
OMG .. Far from fantasy Phil,
Thank you for another excellent read ,
I cannot get my head round why my club would treat its supporters in such an awful way, we are nothing more than money to them.
Season 20/21 will be quiet at home games , I don’t think there is any avoiding that fact.
You mean your club that have just won a treble treble, have won the last 10 domestic trophies and have just finished top of a strong europa league group. Your right mate, how can a board treat supporters like that, its a nightmare. Sack The Board.
This isn’t remotely about ON-FIELD matters…or how many trophies we’ve won….it’s about our Club’s refusal to get behinds its support and expose the bias and corruption that goes on in our game.
John Beaton cheats us ( only words for it ) in a game against Sevco…then is seen that night drinking with Sevco supporters in a Sevco bar.
No other country would accept that as being ” reasonable” …and he would have been sacked.
What do we do about it…?
Well apparently we received a letter from the SFA in response to our ” protest “…and we were told…
Oh…wait…we don’t know what we were told …because PL decided to accept the findings in the letter…and keep them to himself.
They are pissing on us from a great height…and will continue to do so .
Our Board are not fit for purpose.
Success on the park tends to suggest the board are doing their job and providing the manager with the finance to buy decent players, which they are.
Every supporter of every other team claim referees are against them. Rangers supporters claim there’s a conspiracy against them, as do we, the truth of the matter is that our referees aren’t too good and all teams suffer from poor decisions.
But my main point is, what exactly do you want the board to do? They’ve released a decent statement calling out the sfa decision, I’m not sure there’s anything else that can be done.
The answer to your question, success depends from which perspective you are viewing things and what value it provides. Both the shareholders in club and the fans of the club are stakeholders in the continued success of the club. It is a symbiotic relationship.
However, what is seen as being beneficial or prudent financially may not be seen the same way by each. And it is only one part of that relationship that gets to make the decisions.
They are not just ripping the piss, they are turning it into a fizzy drink they sell back to the support who drink it, in spite of it smelling off.
I don’t drink Appletize either. 😉
Spot on Auldheid…You must be really pissed off with them.
Good luck in all you do ‘though.
At least you have chicken in your name. It doesn’t matter a toss how successfull the team are on the park. If our players are being punished for doing something another teams player arent being punished for that’s a lack of consistency, and should be brought to the sfa’s attention. Then theres everything else we’ve seeing el buffoon get away with in Glasgow derbies. Do you believe Celtic should just sit back and let our players be stamped on and the offending player gets no punishment? And if you believe that because we have a winning team that it’s acceptable our players are kicked stamped by opposing teams and yet our players are punished for sometimes less serious incidents then mate I think your completely fucked up in the head and need to grow a set of balls.
All I have to say about the above blog is;
Ooooffftttt!!!!!!!!
Your best for some time Phil
I disagree.
Your best for all time?
No.
I know of three guys who won’t be buying SB next year,had enough of PL and the rest.
Let’s be honest it’s rigged,what’s the point of playing.
Win,lose or draw,I Right.