Of course, anything can happen on the day.
It wouldn’t be the first time that the larger club has stumbled at this stage of a cup competition.
Such an upset is much more unlikely over the attrition of a 38-game campaign.
It is a perennial cliché that the league doesn’t lie.
As regular readers will know, I have focused on the new normal that UEFA’s FSR has introduced to European football.
The utility function of these ordinances is to prevent clubs from overspending and ipso facto becoming unsustainable.
On Planet Fitba, FSR codifies Sevco’s inbuilt financial disadvantage apropos Celtic.
The Parkhead outfit has a bigger stadium, and that is a constant.
However, there are two variables.
Sevco can charge more, even much more, per ticket.
They can also play more games.
Friendlies during the international break, legends matches and the like.
It is worth noting that even after a stellar year of European revenue and healthy player trading, they still posted a loss.
Today, a well-placed source with a granular understanding of the finances of Celtic pointed out to me that the rebuilt Parkhead and the finance for the proposed Lennoxtown training ground were only cleared off in 2005.
He invited me then to look at the trophy haul since that time.
In the same year, across the city, the original Rangers secretly utilised EBTs to give them a financial advantage.
A combination of tax dodging and a never-ending overdraft put a team on the pitch that they otherwise couldn’t afford.
In my 2012 book Downfall, I called Rangers “Lehman Brothers FC”.
The 2008 financial crash led to the Knight in the Blue Room losing his special friends at the bank.
Only four years later, the original club was liquidated.
In this century, there hasn’t been a lawful or sustainable way for the Ibrox franchise to compete with Celtic.
These inconvenient facts are known to all factions in and around the Blue Room.
Firstly there are the Incumbents, the quintessentially British chaps who currently run HMS Ibrox.
Then there are the Displaced, the King across the water and his friends in Club 1872.
There is also the Want Out faction; these are pre-Covid investors mainly based in the Far East.
There is a degree of overlap in these factions, but that is the broad outline.
Then there is a fourth faction.
The shareholders who had their votes taken off them.
They might become pivotal in the weeks and months ahead if they can mount a successful legal challenge to their disenfranchisement.
A well-placed Ibrox insider told me today that “the control of Rangers is in play”.
The thing is, apart from the incumbents who are clearly emotionally committed fans with money, who would want to buy into this loss-making business that doesn’t have a credit line from a bank?
Genuine question.
One possible scenario that’s been put to me is that private equity companies in the USA are very interested in European sporting franchises.
Despite being Simply The Second Best in Scotland, folks on Wall Street might be tempted to acquire a majority interest in Sevco.
Now, the Ibrox klanbase just wants a benefactor to fund their supremacist delusions.
Well, these Stateside folks will want a rerun on their money.
If they can make a buck, they will not mind taking over a brand that is perpetually second in a small pond.
With all of the foregoing, what transpires at Hampden on Sunday will not alter any of that one jot.
It will be vital for the brethren in the Blue Room and their shills in the media to push a narrative of hope to the Ibrox klanbase.
Season ticket renewals will, to some extent, depend on it.
Ah, bless him…
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The only reason an investor would take opportunity to acquire a large holding in zombie FC would purely be a ‘punt’
A low cost punt that a potential invitation to a future Euro league may materialise.
Any such investment though will result in investment in the team.
Building an extension on bigotdome is completely out of the question as the cost would far outweigh the ROI
they should’ve done it prior to liquidation, thus burning the bill
Come on Celts give us the road to another treble.
In todays episode of Operation Soothe the Scottish Sun informs us….
“Rangers duo ‘sign new contracts’ as Light Blues fend off Premier League interest”
worth a read I thought until I saw the named duo were youngsters Jack Wylie and Calum Adamson, They’re scraping the barrel a bit here surely. Celtic know a win on Sunday finishes the tribute act’s season with zero trophies and surely no better incentive is required to go out and win the semi.
It’s highly unlikely Wall St or any private equity firm would buy Sevco – or any other Scottish club for that matter. For starters, there’s not enough money in Scottish football to make a deal like that worthwhile. Even Stevie Wonder (or an SFA referee) can see this.
There’s no hope of getting the sorts of returns that #might# be on offer in the multi-billion EPL either. Let’s face it: a Sevco v Stranraer game (say) will never bring in milliions of TV money or attract global sponsors with zillions to burn.
Correction: I suppose a small private equity firm or property developer would buy Sevco if enough money could be made turning the crumbledome into flats.
Although Ibrox is a sizeable chunk of ground, it’s not exactly a prime site for a residential development, it’s not an area of Glasgow many people would choose to live unless they worked close by. There are much smaller stadiums in Scotland on far more desirable sites.
Can’t imagine that a US organisation would actually buythe Ibrox outfit: it’s a bit small.
[Despite publicised ‘interest’ by an unknown lady from the States – Fox?]
And we all so how the loyal bears treated a potential US suitor – before liquidation kicked in.
But, in saying that, a foreign owner would be no bad thing.
They simply won’t get all the negative, non-inclusive, dicriminatory and untrustworthy manner in which the Ibrox club operates – both on and off the field.
A foreign owner would look to impose modern, socially acceptable behaviours instead?
They might employ a proper PR professional as well.
And the bears just won’t like that either! 🙂
Here’s wishing everyone a great day out for the Cup Semi-Final.
Beware of men dressed in Red, White & Blue Pussy Riot balaclavas. They are nothing other than wounded WASPs. And, as we all know, when a WASP is dying it’s at its most dangerous, so be safe.
Hail and Hail again!
“Today, a well-placed source with a granular understanding of the finances of Celtic pointed out to me that the rebuilt Parkhead and the Lennoxtown training ground were only paid for in 2005.”
Actually, that seems remarkably quick, 10 years after start of rebuild and only 6 years after completion.
Normally I’d expect this to take 15-25 years and demonstrates the power of the green and white pound.
There was certainly on-field pain in the first 5 years but, after the shackles were released with the appointment of O’Neill, they’ve been Simply Second Best (at best), notwithstanding the “odd” title.
Yes, really aside from when Rangers cheated the game and the tax man, and one flukey title for the new club due to lack of fans and lack of competent celtic manager, Celtic have been unmatched.
I do wish we would be less shit in Europe though.
When Raskin states that they must win the semi final on Sunday ,does he mean by hook or by crook ? Maybe that’s the part of his statement Sky sports cut out of the video !
No doubt in my mind that a pending takeover is behind the recent boardroom moves.
“legal”.
I know they didn’t mind, but fleecing 60,000 rangers fans out of £30M to get Sevco going on the pretence that it’s the same club, IMHO, should be deemed an act of fraud, hardly a legal way of completing with Celtic.
Weak-minded people should be protected from sharks.
How long do you feed that that gives nothing back in return when it’s all take it ends up being taken to the slaughter house to give the only thing it has n you’re left with the meat on the bone the fact it can’t make ends meet probably means there’s no meat left to be found hence the soft loans to get them through with FSR n no soft loans being available think it’ll end up being bony soup that they’ll be supping from their loving cup could there be FSR restrictions coming around the corner in return tying their hands and restricting to what they can and can’t do forcing them to find their true level and not some moonbeam level they believe themselves to be I wait with eager anticipation their implosion as reality beings them crashing back to earth pretendygers and angry bears their journey never ends n they’re still making friends the ice cream may have melted but the gift just keeps on giving oh how the gardeners own words have haunted them