So the Celtic AGM is over for another year.
Clearly, the Grey Brigade at Parkhead prefers to be unseen and unheard on Planet Fitba.
Well, certainly to the Celtic support.
For the wealthiest club in the land, and by some measure, this is a bizarre back-of-the-bus attitude.
This was demonstrated when the outgoing chairman Ian Bankier froze when asked a straightforward question.
Here is how it played out (hat tip to Joe McHugh of Video Celts, who was there).
Stakeholder: “Here’s an easy question for you then, tomorrow’s opponents Dundee United were founded in 1909 and Aberdeen in 1903.
“Over in Edinburgh, Hibs were founded in 1875 and Hearts in 1876 (actually 1874*).
“10 of the last 11 years, we’ve won the Scottish championship but we didn’t win the championship in season 2021.
“Can the chief executive or the chairman tell me what year were the club who won the title in 2021 founded?”
Bankier replied: “I’m not going into that. This is my last AGM.
“Give me one on referees maybe, but not that. This is your last question, come on, there’s people behind you.”
The stakeholder responded: “What year was the team who won the 2021 title formed?”
Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson jokingly interjected: “I think Ian wanted to answer the question.”
Stakeholder queried: “Are you afraid to answer?”
For the avoidance of doubt, the answer to the stakeholder’s final question was undoubtedly in the affirmative!
As the Celtic AGM was ending, I was in the main hall at the Web Summit listening to the unique Noam Chomsky discussing the limitations of Artificial Intelligence apropos language.
Gary Marcus (Robust AI), one of the onstage speakers, explained that having a robot that could do some vital task 75% of the time wasn’t acceptable if it suddenly buffered the other 25%.
At that precise moment, a buddy in the AGM venue sent me this image.
I cannot pass on the comments that accompanied it.
However, I’m sure Noam Chomsky would have been interested in the linguistic texture of the observation.
Regular readers will know why Bankier buffered when he was asked about when Celtic’s city rivals were formed.
A fairly simple questions.
The answer, of course, is 2012.
That was the year that Rangers died, and Sevco Scotland Limited purchased the body parts of the dead club.
The new CEO augmented the cowardice from the invisible chairman when he dodged the import of a question on the Five Way Agreement.
It was for the same reason that Bankier buffered.
Yet the year that Sevco was founded and the deal that allowed them into the professional game in Scotland is a legacy issue from the decade of EBT cheating at Ibrox that will not go away.
A key element in this issue not being addressed is an absence of scrutiny from the local media.
The Fitba Fourth Estate is a central component in the Ibrox shitshow.
Celtic competed in a decade of league campaigns that were rigged against them.
I cannot imagine Fergus McCann quietly accepting that.
Especially when he got the late Jim Farry’s head on a plate for delaying the registration of Jorge Cadete.
The Five Way Agreement is where the continuation myth starts and that summer Hampden was a crime scene against sporting fairness.
Unless there is a cultural change in the Parkhead boardroom, those questions will remain relevant at the next AGM.
In 2023 the lie that Sevco is Rangers will be one year older.
Discover more from Phil Mac Giolla Bháin
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
We don’t stop… Reminding the world sevco are not rangers
We don’t stop, till the whistle is blown on the continuation lie
Guys, I think you are all missing the point here !!
Our Chairman did not reply 1873 as the answer to the question.
That tells me absolutely everything I need to know.
HH
That’s cause I think they know what reaction they would get from all or most of the Celtic fans, but they probably believe that is the actual answer!
If events of 2012 involved Celtic
There would have been no five way agreement made .
Titles would have been stripped and the board at Ibrox would have made sure of it .
Their fanbase would have demanded it too
a billion percent, and EVERYONE would have supported them on it
This is the main reason Celtic will never get another penny out of my pocket.
Also can you imagine any other sport let alone league were a secret five way agreement would be even possible!
Aye…let’s just forget that for the majority of their former club history , they not only adopted a no RC, no RC Irish policy, they were allowed to do so by the powers that be, right across the establishment board. Again largely aided and abetted by the media. Forget the EBT,s, the 5 way agreement, the boiler room subsidiary and everything else that went with the same club mythology shitshow. Lets forget the inbuilt sense of entitlement and all that goes with it. Let,s forget the non compliance with virtually every condition that everyone else has to adhere to. Lets forget how they acquired some of their money streams. Lets forget how they conduct themselves as a club. Lets forget how their support rampaged through their own city twice, “escorted” by the constabulary. Let’s forget everything and play nice, i’m sure they would welcome such a contention with open arms. Let’s forget ..Bouncy Bouncy and all the other young Celtic bhoys that fell to their bigotry….LEST WE FORGET.
Phil, what do you make of the stories doing the rounds that Peter Lawwell is being lined up as the incoming chairman at Celtic? Surely not?
No no no, don’t ever allow the ibroaks shit show or the likes of Bankier a moment’s peace to continue the continuity myth. Lawwell shamefully said he knew nothing about the five way agreement, well…. without his signature it would have been a four way agreement between the dying RFC, Sevco Scotland (two rangers at the same time?) and the SFA/SPFL. He knows it, Bankier knows it, the press know it, we all know it… never forget and don’t let them ever forget we know the truth.
SFA, SPL, SFL, oldco (admin), newco? That’s yer five.
Droid
There’s no love lost for the tories by me. However, we are an open club and we welcome anyone no matter creed, colour or political persuasion. I think you’ll find we even have tory supporting season ticket holders. In fact I believe I know a few. So, keep your unwelcome anyone to yourself. That itself is one step away from “no blacks, no Irish” or even no Catholics. A bit like “no catholics because it’s our traditions” as some would have you believe of their old, and new, club. You don’t get to determine who’s welcome at our Club.
JS
Aye and just you keep tolerating an ideology that is once again destroying our communities. They are the 21c equivalent of the KKK and that’s hard fact. People in Germany have been warning us since brexit of the uncanny resembelence to Nazi Policies. Tory ideology should not be welcome at Celtic Park if you know yout history or is your’s one of buffering revisionism just like the board’s?
Oh dear Droid
Such is democracy and a free society. We tolerate stuff we don’t like or agree with. The alternative is a compulsory ideology mandated by people like you. You may state that something is a “hard fact” but that doesn’t make it so. KKK, Nazi policies? Really, I think you’ve lost it old chap. As I said, I have no truck with tory policies but I respect people’s right to elect whom they see fit and unfortunately that sometimes produces a Thatcher, Reagan or, god help us, a Trump. That’s the cost of democratic society.
The fact is that Celtic have no real business without some form of Rangers. Fans are not interested in seeing Celtic coasting to one league title after another. When Sevco were in the lower leagues, the top tier of that big North Stand was shut and Peter Lawwell was touring Celtic Supporter’s Clubs trying to punt season tickets. Celtic won the league at a canter every year whilst that situation endured. Having a version of Rangers around is much better as long as we’re pumping them and giving the fans what they want. The fans demanding answers are purists, the board are businessmen. They know Scottish fitbaw is as bent as a twisted paper clip, but in the bent version, the stadium is full and there is a waiting list for season tickets. Give the people what they want. It’s show business, not sport.
The fact is that Celtic have no real business without some form of Rangers. Fans are not interested in seeing Celtic coasting to one league title after another. When Sevco were in the lower leagues, the top tier of that big North Stand was shut and Peter Lawwell was touring Celtic Supporter’s Clubs trying to punt season tickets. Celtic won the league at a canter every year whilst that situation endured. Having a version of Rangers around is much better as long as we’re pumping them and giving the fans what they want. The fans demanding answers are purists, the board are businessmen. They know Scottish fitbaw is as bent as a twisted paper clip, but in the bent version, the stadium is full and there is a waiting list for season tickets. Give the people what they want. It’s show business, not sport.
I think you’ll find it was the top tier of the Lisbon Lions (east) stand that was closed.
The problem for the local media is two fold:
1. They’ve been telling the continuity lie for the last ten years and that The Rangers are a new club, and if that’s the case why should we believe anything they print.
OR
2. RFC is actually still alive and well and the local media never held the authorities to account for relegating the team that finished second in the league in 2012 and furthermore the denied the same team entry to a European competition the following year.
They cannot have it both ways.
Surgical dissection of board paralysis due to an unwanted and unwarranted presence of detestable tories within it. Notably it has taken the heat off the major shareholder. Well done The Celtic Trust keep at them.
droid – do we even know they are Torries? – and if they are is that the actual reason they don’t answer questions? – and how do we know they are unwanted and unwarranted – surely they are elected – I am not a fan of the Torries but you cannot speak for all of the fan base when it comes to politics (or much else) – we are not homologous, we support our football club and we never signed up for anything else – not a political or any other uniting factor beyond the love of Celtic.
I completely disagree, left wing politics are the genesis of Celtic FC. How else would you describe our creation?
The Celtic Trust?
Read this.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2022/01/04/an-opportunity-for-michael-nicholson-to-have-a-fresh-start/
To be perfectly honest, from someone who was also at the AGM and who also believes that Sevco should be consigned to the scrapheap I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not going to happen, no matter how much screaming and kicking and shouting is done. Not by anyone from Celtic anyway, there’s no appetite for it.
Also the board was broadly supported by applause when these questions were raised and tbh with Lawell out the way, I’m of the mind that it also time to move away from flogging this dead donkey to them and allow the new regime space to build on Ange’s philosophy.
After 9 years of pursuing Res12 which showed the Celtic Board as untrustworthy, we need some trust restoring measure to enable the club and support to move on together in a more positive way.
One such is being worked on for Christmas.
Never ever let the Celtic board away with the 5 way agreement. They condone the continuity myth, to their eternal shame. All we need is an aknowledgement from ibrokes that they are a 12 year old club, then we can get on with things! No leeway. HH.