This could all really be an unethical social psychology experiment devised by some 21st century Stanley Milgram.
I am referring to the behaviour of the Sevco High Command and the chaps in the Parkhead boardroom.
The former is keenly aware of the aspirations and desires of their customers.
Whereas the latter appears to be in a “couldn’t give two copulations” for what the Celtic support want.
The contrast is stark.
This week saw the appointment at Sevco of the fan’s clear choice of manager.
Let’s say that there was another strong candidate in the running.
Someone, say, from Liverpool who would, in effect, be a direct replacement for Michael Beale’s tactical brain.
However, the fans wanted a name replaced with a name, and they got what they wanted.
In a strange development, this was a managerial choice by the Sevco High Command that actually saved a substantial amount off the wage bill.
It cannot go unmentioned that when Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst played for the original Rangers, his countryman, Dick Advocaat, was effectively allowed to bankrupt the Ibrox club.
Sevco’s new manager played for EBT FC as David Murray sought any financial advantage over a rejuvenated Celtic.
You know how that ended.
The good news for the Ibrox klanbase is that the new guy in the dugout is there with eyes wide open.
The contract discussions were conducted in a way that would have been unthinkable if Mr David Cunningham King had been in the room.
By that, I mean that the Sevco High Command were entirely honest with their new manager.
The ex-Guangzhou City boss knows that he has to work with the squad he has inherited, and he should be prepared for some to leave in January.
Of course, the caveat that there have to be willing buyers remains in place.
I’m told that the Dutchman has been assured that he will be given time in his new role.
Overall, a strategy of buying low and selling high will be brought in from next summer.
In his first stint at Ibrox, the new Sevco manager was part of a highly regarded ensemble that the club simply couldn’t afford.
He is now in charge of a squad of players that have been assembled on the same basis.
Across the Clyde, financial prudence is a constant from AGM to AGM.
However, the degree of sneering disregard emanating from the Parkhead boardroom for the Celtic support is truly breathtaking to watch.
Here is mine from January of this year on the subject of the need for regime change at Scotland’s richest club.
Ian Bankier’s business connections with David Murray’s Rangers in the 1990s is not a good look at all for a Celtic chairman.
I think that the case for boardroom change at Parkhead is now utterly unassailable.
However, unlike the old board in 1994, I don’t see how that happens any time soon.
The only thing that seems to matter to this Celtic board is that their Old Firm business partners somehow stay afloat.
When the Ten was lost last season, the agony among the Hoops support was palpable.
However, in the Parkhead boardroom, I suspect that they had to pretend that the pain they were feeling was real.
In fairness, perhaps the electric shock machine was just short-circuiting…
Wow! Just listened to the post match commentary on BBC Sportsound! Missed the actual match but gathered Hibs were pretty lucky as The The Rangers were not at there scintillating best! This according to neutrals’ Kenny Miller and Wee Doddsy so it must be right. Hope Hibs don’t get so lucky in the final—-or should I say that we aren’t as ‘underperforming’ as were The The Rangers.
Hi Phil, you could write the same thing after every AGM. How many times have you said follow the money? How many times have I written the same thing here? Without the bigot twins being in cahoots there would be no richest club in Scotland, well maybe there would, but it would not be Celtic or Sevco.
The two clubs have for years fed off the hatred and bigotry of both sets of fans, and as much as you and Celtic fans try to deny it it’s a fact!
When Sevco were rightly put down, Celtic was the ONLY club to see gate returns drop. What does that tell you? Well it tells me that without Sevco, Celtic are nothing.
So forget the crocodile tears and wake up and see that your all your board are doing is keeping the money rolling in due to rivalry with Sevco, so it’s only natural they would try to keep the money tree healthy.
“When Sevco were rightly put down”
Oh dear…
Well, perhaps in the veterinary sense…..
Lets face it James Thomas is correct.
Ce;tic need the Old Firm brand and have now reaped what they have sown. Who supports the 11-1 majority voting rigging in Scotland’s Premier League to stop any change to system?
I have been a Dundee supporter for more than 50 years and like vast majority of non Old Firm supporters i will support whichever Scottish club is playing either of the Ugly Sisters. In Europe I tend to support all Scottish clubs but admit Rangers {either previous or current incarnation can stretch this loyalty}.I have been a Scotland supporter since I could talk and will support any player, regardless of club, when playing in dark blue – this does not exempt them or criticism for performance.
I do find Celtic fans holier than than thou attitude tiresome and would like to point out to all your followers that the Dundee United ({our rivals} are the only team to win a UEFA Fair Play award and therefore deserve {however painfully it is for me to admit) the to be regarded as fairest fans in Scotland.
I may add that Ian Bankier’s recent comments on referees ahead of a game against St Johnstone were pathetic, playing to worst prejudices of Celtic support and only sowed how weak he is.
If only Celtic fans could actually see what life was like for non Old Firm teams when it comes to referee;s descisions but I i am wasting my time with this subject with clientelle on this forum whose only concerns are around a 10 year old rival/ VAR is best way forward for improving referee’s along with declaration of affiliation for any individual team. Just watch all these Dundee supporting referees confessing how they have cheated Old Firm over the years!
Apologies for rant but I do think a dose of reality from the large number of fans who don’t give a flying for Old Firm rivalry but are more concerned with supporting the clubs in their local community {regardless of religious or political background} would not go amiss for this website.
Football is a beautiful game which is best appreciated by actually playing the game rather than getting all partizan watching other guys playing it.
Celtic fans rewarded for behaviour in Seville
Fri, Dec 12, 2003, 00:00
FIFA have awarded the 2003 Fair Play Award to Celtic supporters for their conduct at the UEFA Cup final in May.
Over 80,000 fans descended on Seville for the game against Porto, which the Hoops eventually lost 3-2 in extra-time.
But, despite the loss, Celtic fans behaved well enough to earn the Fair Play award from both FIFA and UEFA this year.
Celtic executive director Peter Lawwell said: “This award is a superb and fitting tribute to the friendly army of Celtic supporters who followed their heroes to Seville in the summer.
“The 80,000 fans lucky enough to be there created one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles and, personally speaking, it’s one which will live in the memory for a lifetime.”
Meanwhile, the Tartan Army have also received praise for their behaviour in Holland despite the battering received by the team on the field.
Scotland were crushed 6-0 by the Dutch in the Euro 2004 play-offs in Amsterdam. But the Dutch Football Association and the management of the Amsterdam ArenA have written to the SFA to applaud the behaviour of
ArenA chief executive Henk Markerink said: “Although the score didn’t permit an instant party atmosphere for the Scottish fans, we feel that the idea of sportsmanship was perfectly expressed by your fans.
“We enjoyed every minute of it, and hope that the thousands of Scottish supporters will continue to show this exceptional positive behaviour throughout Europe and the rest of the world in future.”
“A dose of reality” would be that you don’t have a clue what the vast majority of “non Old Firm fans” think, its simply projecting your prejudices on to others.
Not only have Celtic fans won the UEFA Fair Play award, we have also won a FIFA one too!
My sympathies to anyone near you who witnessed your non-bigoted reaction on learning this. 😉
Check your facts. The Celtic fans won the award in 2003. The sevco are likely to be in with a shout some time AFTER hell freezes over.
I also find it strange that Celtic are continuously hammered with fines from UEFA for making “political statements” regarding their support for Palestinian refugees when, in 2015, the fair play award went to, “All club organisations supporting refugees.”
Can’t quite get my head round that one.
Celtic ( Fans) received the UEFA Fair Play Award in 2003. 👏👏👏
Correction.
Celtic received FIFA Fair Play Award 2003
👏👏👏
Absolutely correct decision for A newco to start at the bottom aka FC UTD of Manchester, Gretna 2008 , so only right to relegate the rangers fc, and were very fortunate to be allowed entry to the 3rd division league ahead of the highland league champions by courtesy of cfc Tories hiding from view on resolution 12
“relegate the rangers fc”
Oh dear
Without them Celtic are nothing?
9 in a row 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Two Doubles 🏆🏆 🏆🏆
A Quadruple Treble 🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
Tens of millions made and banked over the piece.
Away and raffle yersel 😂
🤡👞
No, that’s not a fact, its an opinion and a particularly bigoted one.
It would also follow that Sevco need Celtic which begs the question of why do the latter’s board submit to the blackmail. “We will overspend, corrupt the media, the officials and governing body and if you complain we will go bust.”
What the rangers support wanted lead to the death of the club. What the sevco support want is swiftly leading to the same conclusion.
Want the Celtic support are getting is tough love and the club just came off one of the most successful periods in their history. Why try and compete with a smash and grab company that’s not operating sustainably? Let them burn themselves out and then dominate the league again. Win the league this year it’s a long road back for sevco running on fumes.
No, this isn’t correct, this isn’t the nineties where the Huns were “forcing” others to spend recklessly to try to catch up.
They don’t spend more than us on transfers nor wages and we spend at a sustainable rate ie income or reserves cover any shortfall.
They obviously got more “bang for their buck” last year and this is where we need to improve substantially, we should be comfortably ahead of them, everything else being equal.
Getting the manager the fans want is NO guarantee of success. In fact outwith other than a few, occasionally spectacular cases, it generally results in a sacking sooner rather than later.
“signs off with WATP………He really gets it and understands what the club is all about”
What a damning statement. So do we get what the club is all about.
Terencenova et al. The trauma of the quad treble must have been too much for you to take. Granted the board has its issues but it is running the club in a sustainable way. Maybe you want the board from the 80’s and early 90’s? Maybe you want a carbon copy of the sevco board who are running their club into the ground with debt? What exactly do you want?
JS.
“Granted the Board has its issues”….??
Well at least you got that bit right.
I would remind you, however, that running the Club in a sustainable way only takes care of the financial side .
To collude with the Govan Club, to the detriment of the core supporters wishes, is, however, unforgivable.
So I guess it comes down to where your values lie.
Have a good day.
I would suggest I also got the bit about running the club in a sustainable way right too. It’s there in black and white every year in the annual reports. Running the club in a sustainable way is first and foremost. Without that there is no club. Much like there is no Rangers because they were unsustainable.
Have a good evening.
JS
Justso…You come across as a happy clapper from the faithful through and through brigade…and as I do not fall into that category…we’ll just have to agree… to disagree.
Have another good day
And you come across as an idiot who has no reply to his point, hence you resorted to an ad hominem attack. Childish, immature and the mark of low intellect,
What I want is for the club to do as well of comparable clubs on the continent eg the top ones in Portugal and Holland and, in that respect, we’re performing abysmally.
Simply comparing us to a financial basket-case may be your measure of success but I and hopefully most fans have far higher ambitions than that.
He wanted what we all wanted. Ten in a row.
Funnily enough, I sent this to a mate earlier.
Y’know, we can slag Sevco off all we like, and believe me we will, but THEIR board did in TEN days what OURS took FIVE fuckin MONTHS to do.
Exactly why we did not renew this season. Not even the back of the bus anymore. We are sitting in the boot.
He’ll get to buy low, sell high… If they make the champions league, else it’ll be buy nowt, sell everything.
Next season ticket renewal is going to be interesting because inflation cometh and there are going to be a lot if bears with no honey come June 2022.
Financial prudence is a good thing, people are about to find this out the hard way.
“Overall, a strategy of buying low and selling high will be brought in from next summer.”
Hasn’t that always been the strategy (the hoped for 8 figure sales of Kent, Morelos, Kamara etc); its just the execution has been poor?
To be fair, they’ve never had the quality of a Virgil, Tierney, Mousa, Kris or Eddy.
I’m not sure that’s improved that much, perhaps Patterson but that’s currently based on promise, which will evaporate and performance will be the determining factor and that’s not a given.
I can’t imagine that any of the others will fetch big bucks else they would’ve already been sold unless Gerrard threatened to leave if any were sold and that obstacle has now been removed.
I’m on record here as stating that, after more years than I care to remember, I won’t be back either.
My cherished Season Ticket is gone.
Why did I give it up…?
Plain and simple…The Board.
Totally out of touch with the support’s views on a host of subjects…and totally uninterested in doing anything about it.
From my former seat just outside the Director’s Box…I saw DD “up close ” and he always came over to me as ” arrogant”.
Now perhaps those who know him personally will tell you he isn’t…but going by the way he operates…he is.
Why he continues to “control” our Club is a total mystery to me…because he treats it like an “after-thought.”
When it becomes clear and obvious that ordinary Celtic minded shareholders have issues they want resolved…but are then treated like second class citizens and basically told to feck off…Then…yes …We have problems.
And your “comparison” with the Sevco Board is well made.
We all know that the only way to achieve change is for the support to withdraw its financial backing of the Club…and we all know that ain’t gonna happen.
So…I’m sorry …but if you aren’t prepared to make big sacrifices…then you’ll get the Board you deserve.
Oh wait a minute…you’ve GOT the Board you deserve.
Two things:
Why he continues to “control” Celtic is fairly straightforward.
Every year over the past decades and beyond Celtic raises almost £30m in preference shares in order to raise Capital at favourable rates.
Then at the end of the year that Loan is repaid in the form of Ordinary Shares.
Only 2 years in the last 10 was this setup not a requirement.
2017 and 18.
Both were lucrative Champions League years if you remember.
So in effect whoever is providing the hard cash has effectively been lifting around £5m per annum in shares whilst decreasing the hold of other major shareholders.
Second point:
There is another way to remove this Board and it doesn’t need to be through starving the Club of vital income.
You get the entire fan base involved and you buy them out.
That way the Club doesn’t suffer and the leeches get an amicable way out.
The 50+1 model in Germany seems to work just fine for smaller Clubs than ours so I fail to see how it wouldn’t at Celtic.
If this could be achieved then we would see an end to being held back by what are nothing more than Corporate leeches who’s only genuine interest is making as much money as they can from Celtic.
Both Phil and you are totally correct in saying they don’t care about Supporters because the simple fact is you are merely customers who can and will be replaced by other customers when you chose to as you have give up paying into it.
They love nothing more than a happy clapper who’s obsession with Celtic blinds them to the reality of what the modern game actually is and or has become.
Now whilst most won’t like hearing that I know deep down they know it is the truth.
If our numbers are as big Worldwide as we seem to claim them to be then the burden of raising the amount needed to get rid of them will less than some think.
What needs to happen is someone within the CSA needs to ascertain just how many Worldwide are actually interested beyond watching games via whatever channels they do so.
I believe that the numbers will be quite surprising and that there is now a viable want among a high percentage of Fans for genuine change at Celtic.
Put it this way,if you don’t change it then nothing will change long term except that is the faces who come in to rinse and repeat.
I think with a wealthy spokes person or Group spearheading a genuine push for change then this would generate enough traction in the fanbase for it to actually happen.
The likes of Dermot and Co won’t be around Celtic in 10 years but there is a high likelihood they will be replaced by similar.
Now is the time to act.
It won’t be easy and it wouldn’t be straightforward but it would be worth it.
Had Celtic been a fan owned entity the shambles off the Park in the last decade would never have been allowed to happen.
The success I believe would and probably even more so in Europe with proper Investment and speculation in the Transfer Market.
Duncan
Can you explain your assertion that £30m in preference shares are raised each year to raise capital?. Then ordinary shares are issued to pay that capital back?. I just don’t understand that claim. Can you cite evidence of this? I’ve ploughed through annual reports and can see no evidence of this. Where does the “lifting £5m per year” come from? There have been no significant share issues for some time as far as I can see. I’m open to be put right on that though. I would imagine such a share distribution would need the agreement of shareholders and all would be consulted.
If I recall this is the second time you have made this assertion with absolutely nothing to back it up.
If my shareholding is being diluted each year by this process I’d like to know where it is documented and I will certainly raise the matter.
Now if you made this assertion on a sevco board it could be believable. Hardly any time passes and they’re issuing further share confetti to get capital. Their directors provide the capital and are paid back in shares they hope will rise in value and return their money whilst diluting the shareholdings of other people.
JS
I agree with your take but unless there’s any financial whizzo on here, its probably more of a question for the likes of David Low and/or the Celtic Trust.
If there was malfeasance going on here then I’d expect Rugger Guy, Swiss Rambler or others with financial nous, that regularly review our figures, to mention it and far as I’m aware none of them ever have.
£30m sounds like the total value of Preference Shares than fans and others bought about 25 years ago.
As these attract a fixed 6% dividend a year, perhaps its an accounting practice to recast these every year ie its not new shares, simply the same £30m ones that’s always been there.
Hi Phil. Good piece as ever. I had exactly the same conversation with my fine young son. Shame on the board and yet they know the majority of us can be taken for mugs.
I’m glad you said the majority, I for one won’t be back as much as it pains me.