This is a massive week for FC Replica.
Last season it was the qualifying tie against Malmo.
Then it was the penalty drama in Seville.
Now it is PSV.
This is high-stakes poker.
Senior hurling now, lads.
The revenues of the Champions League can make life much easier over the next 12 months for the brethren in the Blue Room.
Of course, Celtic are already there with the revenues guaranteed.
I was saddened to hear that the in-house PR superhero may have been somewhat demoted within the Sevco High Command.
Apparently, a Stateside sage has decided that there can be no more media missteps in the run-up to the AGM and the publication of the year-end accounts.
Consequently, Statement O’clock might not be as entertaining in the future.
Shame that, as I much preferred Sevco communiqués in Ulsturr Scatch.
It is almost as if the sensible chaps in the Blue Room are trying to present the best possible face to the business world about a company that has made a loss for the entire ten years it has existed.
Not so much year-end accounts as a hopeful sales pitch to prospective buyers?
Just a thought.
Getting past the Dutch over the next two legs will make Sevco a much more sellable proposition.
Another Euro issue that is concentrating minds in the Blue Room is the new Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR).
They’re the replacement for the Financial Fair Play (FFP) ordinances.
Interestingly the person leading this change is none other than Andrea Traverso.
Regular readers who have been following the Resolution 12 saga will recognise the name.
All the background to that shameful episode is here.
For some reason, these new rules have not been greeted with unbridled joy by the Sevco High Command.
I can’t think why…
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“Sellable”.
The real rangers was only worth £1 when it was actually in the champions league and even then no one wanted it bar a billionaire from motherwell.
If my understanding of the new rules is correct, the men in the Blue Room have good reason to be worried. It looks to me as though these new rules completely remove the protection they’ve been getting from the SFA, regarding anything and everything to do with financial governance.
They will now have to prove to UEFA that they are a viable club/company.
Of course it’s worth remembering that the Brotherhood are a powerful and INTERNATIONAL organisation, with tentacles in every level of every other international organisation. They might be endangered, but STILL be a protected species.