 Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Rangers leave Celtic behind – Murray interview March 2000
Don’t you just love hearing a bit of bombast coming out of Ibrox?
“Believe me when I tell you that we are going for it this time”, was the message from David Murray given to The Herald back in March 2000. I thought it was worth revisiting the positive outlook put on what was to become an era of sharp decline for the Ibrox club, especially with so much media coverage of his latest positive pronouncements. I have highlighted my favourite snippets.
Murray's Blueprint
The Herald, March 2000
KEN GALLACHER
Just as promised, Rangers are moving on to another level from the rest of Scottish football, as chairman David Murray announced a new investment of £53m for the Ibrox club, with a further massive cash boost soon to follow.
The eventual cash injection could soar as high as £80m as Murray guides the club into what he believes will be a new, golden era for the Scottish champions. The money involved, the biggest financial boost for any Scottish football club, will enable them to move into Europe's elite over the next few years. Yesterday, however, Murray maintained, as always, that he will not turn his back on Scottish football to play in any other league, and that while he remains in charge of the club, he will retain a responsibility to the domestic game."
It is clear from this latest move, however, that the Glasgow giants are setting an agenda that no other Scottish club can match - and that appears to include their Old Firm rivals, Celtic, who are trailing by 15 points in the Premier League championship and are now looking at a financial gap which the Parkhead club might not be able to bridge. There have been hints around Glasgow that Celtic could be ready to attempt a share flotation of their own, but it would seem unlikely they would be able to match the financial clout that Murray has put together. The Ibrox chairman promised his shareholders good news and a more prudent financial strategy at the last annual meeting of the club. He has now delivered this by taking on board several very heavy financial hitters, South African-based David King is worth around £300m - £20m of which he is investing in the club he followed as a young man in Glasgow."
The Ibrox chairman has spent several months and many sleepless nights piecing together the plans which will eliminate Rangers' debt, currently sitting at around £40m, provide finance for the new training centre and the soccer academy which will be housed there, and still allow cash to invest in new players. He said: 'I want to make it clear from the outset that while our small shareholders, our supporters who have an interest in the club, will have the opportunity to invest again if they want, there is no pressure on them to do so. The bulk of the rights issue is being taken up by myself and David King and some other smaller investors, including Alastair Johnston, who is a long-time Rangers' supporter.'
'We also have Trevor Hemmings coming in as an investor and Tom Hunter will join us some time in the future. Essentially, the investment we require is in place and we also have a major media deal in the pipeline which is very exciting and will bring in further serious investment to the club. I told you earlier this week that I had run the club up to now on a high-risk strategy which has involved carrying large debt. These days are over. The whole method of running the club is going to change, because we are in a situation right now where we do not need to take the risks we have had to take in the past. We don't have to spend the same money on players, for example, as we have had to do over the past two years when we were restructuring the team after the arrival of Dick Advocaat. At the moment, we have two new players set for next season, Allan Johnston and Fernando Ricksen and Dick is looking for another quality striker. He is working hard on that right now.' 'Dick and myself know what we are aiming for.
We want to be in the Champions League every season. This is what we want for the club and this is what we have been working towards. However, we shall not be going on any wild spending sprees in the transfer market.' 'We have a player or two to add to the squad - a top-class international front player, as I said, but we don't need to buy Numan, van Bronckhorst, Mols, Reyna, or McCann - because we have these lads in place already. Believe me when I tell you that we are going for it this time - we want to be successful in Europe, and the money we are raising now will take us there.'
'This is the last part of the jigsaw for me, but we shall always be a part of Scottish football and we will take our domestic responsibilities seriously. We respect the other teams in the Premier League and we know this news will make them try even harder against us. But, so be it. 'Barcelona don't win every week. Bayern Munich don't win every week. Manchester United don't win every week. Yet, our supporters expect us to do so and we shall always try to do that. What we do know is that to be in the Champions League, we have to win the Scottish title, and that is our aim every season. We shall always be here with our roots.'
However, the mega-deals Murray has been working on are sure to carry Rangers out of the reach of their rivals here at home and unless Celtic can somehow find the means to strengthen their own financial standing even the age-old rivalry between the Glasgow giants will be threatened as the Ibrox men grow ever stronger.
64 Comments:
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yahoo!!!
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2nd
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had the radio on straight after the game.
Richard Gordon supported his comment with "neil lennon knew exactly what he was doing" is this not similiar to he should know better.
he only seemed to back down when trainor started to berate him.
maybe i missed the irony
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can it really be the end for murray as a football tycoon though? or does he have a rabbit on the hat ? The test will be the quality of manager he can hire to take over and the financial backing he can give him and finally that managers performances.
I cant see him doing any better than exk did to be honest!!
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am i 3rd?
I have this article and others like it stored on my pc...always makes a good read!!
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excellent timing paul67 on the infamous gallagher interview.....here's a fun idea...if we all chipped in a fiver we could buy some advertising space in the herald and others and run it again....or maybe we should run in in le figaro so monsieur le guen would know which fairy story he was considering taking part in....
from the previous blog....paul's timing caught me mid prose...
chairbhoy.....in my experience, which is fairly widespread, there is little evidence of bias in business nowaday's......
the masonic connection operates mostly at a low level.....personal connections always play a large part in business.....the private schools network particularly in edinburgh and to a lesser degree glasgow is much more important than the masons.....and masonry is almost non existent in edinburgh private schools circles.....
large business nowadays have more important fish to fry than helping the funny handshake brigade....investors want share prices rising, dividends increasing, and they don't care what faith or creed gets the result......
there is in fact a general dislike of anyone who makes religion a basis for decision making criteria, and ethnicity is going this way as well......
business is too tough to be prejudiced.....serious business does not operate that way....which is partly why murray is not liked...he is too closely associated with the behaviour of some of his support and some of his infrastructure.....business leaders know that his platitudes about not tolerating sectarian values are weasel words.....
only last week he met with the rangers supporters trust, including mark dingwall...the editor of the follow follow magazine......that is akin to sir fred goodwin holding a meeting with the head of the medellin drugs cartel , just because the Royal bank of Scotland invest in Columbia.....it was completely unacceptable, but it shows murray's statements about sectarianism as a mere hollow sham...
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This article is stunning in demonstrating Dodgy Dave's hypnotic hold on the lapdog laptops. As for LeGuen, he is clearly looking into the possibility of joining Rangers, but as todays Times article says, he did the same in Italy, Ukraine and Portugal and didnt take any of those jobs.
If Murray doesnt deliver LeGuen to Ibrox, I fear exit visas are imminent at greyskull.
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Darnit I was in the middle of a long post!
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isn't hindisght a wonderful thing......reading that put me in the twilight zone...sounds awfully familiar and surprise surprise the same name pops up...mr Tom Hunter..I wouldn't be surprised if Hunter was scared off by his name being publically mentioned by Murray - hence no investment.
As for this Barrs guff, does anyone really think they'd be dumb enough to plough money into one half of the old firm leaving them with potentially cutting off a huge portion of their cutomers? I can't see it myself.
And as for this golden era.......Is this the same Age of domination Paul keeps wittering on about? Golden..true...but for who?
Edward? Comment please?
Finally...can anyone settle a conversation between Baldy meister and myself...is David King still in the clink in SA for tax evasion/fraud or whatever it was he went in for?
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And that article was before the "succulent lamb" Paul67. It really demonstrates how deluded they really are. The question is always raised is it based on there love for Rangers that makes them this way or their hatred for us. The truth is that they believ that THEY are the people. Sorry Edward but how any decent minded person wants associated with that is beyond me. I reckon as Jack Mc Connell and his "slut vote" cronies try to implicate us with their putrid mind (and I include all of Scotland in that I mean who booed the Pope´s minute silence) History will see us straight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville
Just a PR excercise or lasting impressions. I wonder if the internet was around in 1975 what the sport section for Barcelona would read.
Xavier,
you at it again
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Incidentally mentioned long post was in response to p8ddy opening the long debated issue to the CQN masses. Both gents involved might wish take a wee look.
Anways night folks, it's rather too late by far still to be up here so I'll leave y'all to it.
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Paul67...
What do you mean! Neill Lennon should never be smiling! He's abrogating his responsibilities by smiling! :-D
On a more serious note - Great post. It's nice to read the article again and to reaquaint ourselves with the smoke and mirrors approach of Chairman Murray.
BarcaBhoy...
I'm more of the mind that we all chip in a fiver each and buy Ibrox! Clydebank need a stadium - you see where I'm gong with this? :-)
Of course, maybe Murray has plans to erect grandstands on the roof of the casino to match the football pitches there.
/p
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Chipping in a fiver to buy Ibrox won't be that easy. As mentioned on Scotsport last night if Hibs beat Rangers again they get to keep them.
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David Murray is a short termist. His disdain for his own customers is all too apparent. He was never a football man or a bluenose. His involvment with Rangers is his attempt at being Andrew Carnegie but due to his character it is flawed.
We should all realise that his most recent filibuster is not an attempt to trump Celtic but to stave off Romanov and Hearts. They both move within the same Edinburgh banking circles.
Murray just being a buisnessman. Dont let the wool be pulled over your eyes again. Leave that to those who easily compromise their principles.
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That's really out of character for Murray to throw the Scottish press some fiction & they take it in - haha.
Here's another one to keep you all going. You may have to read it a few times & try not to fall off your chair:
from the Scotsman april 21, 2004
Rangers must pay for youth
STUART BATHGATE
FROM now on, Rangers will have to pay a fee for their own young players who graduate to the senior squad at Ibrox under a scheme designed to ring-fence funds for youth development. Rangers Youth Development Limited, officially launched yesterday but up and running since the start of the year, will be the beneficiary of the new system, which aims to lessen the need to buy in talent from abroad.
Essentially, the scheme is a belated recognition that, while Murray Park is a state-of-the-art facility for young footballers, the set-up at the club did not do that facility justice. While credit for the venture has been given to Martin Bain, the club’s director of football operations, the key figure over the next four or five years will be George Adams, Rangers’ head of youth development.
Although he took up his present post in February 2003, Adams said yesterday that it had taken some time to sort out the structure of youth activities at the club. Ensuring a ready flow of talent from the youngest age groups all the way through to the first team, he warned, would take somewhat longer.
"I’ve got to be honest, when I came in my eyes were opened a wee bit," he said. "The first six months we had to do tidying up, bringing in experienced coaches, looking at development centres. We now have centres - and scouts - in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee and Edinburgh.
"Experience doesn’t take overnight. It will take a long time before we get a number of young boys breaking into the first team. We’ve got some talented boys here aged 17 or 18, but not enough: we need a constant supply."
As RYD Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the football club, there is unlikely to be serious disagreement over the size of any fee to be paid for young players. RYD Ltd will also receive the fee when a player leaves it to join another club.
Rangers have put in an initial £2.5million to the new company, and four individuals have contributed £1million between them. There will be pressure from both the club and the quartet for RYD Ltd to become commercially viable, but club chairman John McClelland - who is also a director of the new company - said he was confident of success.
"It’s an innovative scheme to set aside the money for youth development, but importantly, we’ve attracted some astute investors," he said. "We would pay a fair market value for the players.
"The investors are not philanthropists: they have invested and they will be expecting a return. And I’d be surprised if they don’t get a return, because we have an infrastructure that’s second to none
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great bit of laptop loyal, paul
someone should email it to spiersy for his diary piece
remember the crap we were asked to believe from the kellys about new stadium in cambuslang, guiness family investing, major deal from coca -cola.
desperate men acting desperately in business is never a pretty sight
however, my ranger's mole assures me £150M on way from coca-cola
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p&ddy
You will have me in big trouble if I don’t start to pay the wife as much attention as I’m giving to your posts.
As you say re contract values you aren’t privy to them so you have no Facts to support you opinion. My opinion differs from yours and I believe the cost of either Camara or Telfer will be less than it would have cost to retain Mc Namara. Relying on a consensus opinion from CQN posters is an oxymoron isn’t it?:>)
The point is that Mc Namara was made an offer and rejected it. It was his choice to go. This combined with the pre-season injury to Gary Irvine to create the need for cover in the full back positions which answers the question of why we signed them. They weren’t meant to be the long term answer but to answer a short term need.
So please continuing with the inference that WGS chose to ditch Jackie Mc and replace him with either Paul Telfer or Mo Camara isn’t worthy of you. Chris Sutton is a similar red herring. Its time to move on.
You asked “How many championship players have Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal or Blackburn signed (and played regularly in the first team?) “ Premiership clubs such as these operate in a different marketplace and have greater purchasing power than Celtic as a result of TV revenues. They therefore have greater choice.
You say that “if there is a strategy I cannot fathom it.” Ok I can accept that.
You asked originally “why do we sign players we know are not good enough” I don’t think anyone does sign players they know are not good enough. MON signed a significant number of players that he then decided weren’t good enough, if their first team appearances are anything to go by. Overall however for Celtic he got a lot right.
You said “This being said, the manager may be onto something with Wilson - there are many historical examples of full backs switching sides incredibly well. One Tommy Boyd springs to mind! If Wilson is as good as Boyd, I'll be a happy man!”
Quite right so we won’t know till the fat lady has sung as with so much else. All else is opinion.
You said reference the youth setup “I'd just like to take a risk rather than signing someone you know not to be of the required standard” but also said “I don't know just how much seeing players in the reserves tells you. I've played with any number of wonderful youth players who just couldn't make the grade. Equally. some of the guys I thought had little to offer went on to have very decent careers at a number of clubs. You’re honest enough to admit your judgement may be wrong as may Gordon Strachan’s. The difference is he is being paid to make the decisions and will stand or fall job-wise by whether or not he gets them right, on balance. So far he seems to be doing quite well. Perhaps after 5 years as with MON you’ll be able to accept the poor decisions more readily? I’m a firm believer that the man who didn’t make a mistake didn’t make anything. Its how you deal with them and in the case of Aliadiere I think there was swift rectification and good judgement if subsequent events are anything to go by. How many would not have taken him on loan originally? Wonder if he’ll get a game before Kenny Miller:>)?
Value for money - agree entirely. Whether one player is over an other is however a subjective judgement is it not?
My guarded answer is to an extent. :-) Excellent humour p&ddy.
You clearly are a clever and resilient individual P&ddy. Have you ever managed or owned a business?
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kirsty.....
the problem with moles is they are completely blind and incapable of intelligent thought.....
if Rangers get £150 million from coca cola then it will far exceed anything that has gone before..
"Arsenal announced on October 5, 2004 that the Emirates Stadium will be known as such for at least the first 15 years due to a £100m sponsorship deal with the Emirates airline company. This sum also includes payments for an eight year shirt sponsorship by Emirates, starting in the 2006-2007 season."
now put that against what is possible for a much less high profile club(rangers)...in a tiny league by comparison with the EPL....
never going to happen at those numbers.....if you went to murray just now with a cheque for £75 million, or probably less, you could own the whole shooting match, why pay double to get naming rights
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Paul,you are really enjoying this last week or so aren't you?
Never seen you quite so joyous before.
Does it have something to do with Rangers being mince and us about to claim the title?
Kano
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Barcabhoy,
Agreed the Global economy and financial prudence ensure the playing field is more even, RBoS is a great example of a prudently run company who have adapted and flourished in the modern markets, but bigotry exists, most English people Banking at Nat West, don’t even know their members of a Scottish Bank.
The small minded self seeking bigoted hand shakers may have been marginalised but there are many levels within these organisations (7 being the norm).
I don’t want to be contentious so if we keep away from Scotland and use a different example. The American constitution is the embodiment of Masonic philosophy; the signatories are predominantly members and their Dollar Bills full of iconography. Recently for the first time the majority of Supreme Court members are Catholic, yet who control the wealth, armies, and more importantly who sits in the Oval office.
It’s great to see things improving, but it’s good to be vigilant.
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Reidy...
Never in the history of CQN has one little comment provoked such uproar! The Mark Wilson comment was used to illustrate a wider point. Clearly I'm nowhere near as concise as I'd like to be.
I agree with you that no harm came of Mark Wilson running up the park with the ball on Saturday. That one off situation is syptomatic of a wider malaise vis a vis the team not having discipline however.
In three months we have kept a clean sheet once.
We labour the point that defenders should clear their lines.
Now, Mark Wilson is a great prospect of that there is no doubt. His place in the team on Sunday and the Managers decision to play the player at right back have both been vindicated.
My point is what might have happened and what might happen in the future. Just as Boruc going up for corners when we are drawing a league game is novel on occasion, in general it's not a good idea to accept this as the norm. At some point, and usually at an important time it'll hurt us.
I like the idea of marauding full backs, but I think it leaves us exposed when we play a 442. If playing 532 then attacking fullbacks can have more freedom to exploit space and can be utilised incredibly well. Playing 442, if Wilson loses the ball there is a chance we'll be exposed to a quick counter attack. Even more worrying because he's one of our pacy defenders.
I have always thought the "same old Celtic" criticism was a strength of ours. That our players (including Didier) held their line incredibly well. I think it's one of the reasons we were so successful. I also think it's what the Dundee United and Aberdeen 80's successes were build on.
/p
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For thouse who ask about Artur's "gesture". Fortunately no one of the Polish media even mentioned about that.I've noticed only news about Zurawski's goal and good play from Boruc(I was suprised by a few poor passes, sent off).I can't belive that polish media do not know nothing about Rangers supporters claim.Is Artur's case something important to us?Yes and no. There is lot of Poles working and looking for a job in Great Britain. Lot of Poles live in there since the second world war. My first question when I heard about that, was: what about the Poles there? Perhaps taking everything into the consideration there is no reason to write here to much about the STUPIDITY. Let the stupidity dies naturaly. If the cross sign offends, than what can we say about people offended this way . Poor, poor people. Humanity is great and beautifull because we are different.And let us be different.
But why it's not good for me and for you. If there will be any article about that ( personaly I doubt it) I'm afraid this will be bad publicity to Great Britain generally. This will not change our warm relations, and a splendid opinion about all your nations.But some people will ask themself, how do you see Poles there. What is the picture? So "Carefully with that axe Eugene".
P.S.Artur Boruc is today a special guest in Legia pub here in Warsaw. Be informed, we will not give him back. .... OK we will think it over again.
Zbyszek Legia fan
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come on darich 67 post a few more of them for us !
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Thanks for the response zbyszek.
Great new pictures added to arturboruc.com...seems to be the Boruc family christmas!
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Lennon was smiling with the intent to laugh, I would birch him now before this fiend tries it again. Ridiculous eh.
Kano and P8ddy, fair play to you two for continually fighting your corner but neither one of you is going to back down, ever! And your replies to each other will go on and on and on and on and on......... Just call a truce lads, agree to disagree, dont get personal and discuss Celtic again.
Hail Hail
Bhoy O'Bhoy
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chairbhoy...
i guess it depends on one's background as to who we believe runs things.....
the muslim world believe everything is in the hands of the zionists....the catholics believe it's the masons......the protestants believe opus dei calls the shots.....
me ...i prefer to believe that the cream rises to the top.....regardless !!
the queen is our head of state....we are all officialy her subjects....i am not a believer in monarchies, and i certainly am not anyone's subject.....it hasn't hindered me.....but then i don't care what religion or creed a man or woman is....if you can give me the service i want at the price i want to pay....we have a deal.....
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Carfincarp,
never called them shrimps,nobody does here.
Don't know any Aussies who drink Fosters or XXXX
I still have my 'Tic.
Just haven't seen them "live" since September.
Still do get to see every game they play.
You keep posting,I will continue to have a dig "mate"
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A few posters have stated that they will reserve judgement on WGS until next season and how we cope in the Champions league, could I ask anyone of that opinion what they will class as success.
Is it qualification into the second round?
Is it a win away from home?
Do we have to be near to qualification to the second round but just fail unluckily in the last game?
Finish third to qualify for UEFA cup?
Do we have to win the tournament?
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The Manchester United view on stadium naming rights :
Speculation surfaced earlier in the week that Manchester United were offering the carrot of a potential stadium name change in a bid to attract a lucrative new shirt sponsorship deal.
Chief executive David Gill is known to be annoyed by the rumours and club officials were quick to condemn the story as nonsense, pointing out there was
virtually no value in any company putting their name to United's historic home as no-one would call it anything other than Old Trafford.
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Giz A Huddle -
I'd say to be in it, to be unbeaten at home, to get a point away and look as if we have the potential to progress is all we can ask.
After all, we're not even in it this season - how can we expect to progress from that point to the last 16 in one step?
Unless we get the Rangers group that is...
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Giz A Huddle,
Soryr to drag out the cliches bit for me its about performances. If we can compete with the best in Europe without being humiliated then I would deem that as a success.
It also depends on the makeup of the team next year.
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barcabhoy,
You have a good attitude, cream does rise to the top and there is many opportunities. We live in good times. Especially if you’re Celtic!
NB: Just one point 'the queen is our head of state' what institution is her husband the head of.........?
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Just checed the Offishel site and it says the reserves game is on at Broadwood, K.O. 13:00............... See you there.
pablophanque
No.1 This day in History
A Town Called Malice/Precious - The Jam. 1982
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giz a huddle - I'm reserving judgement on Strachan until the end of the season. If he can deliver the SPL trophy then that is success. If he can compete with Champions League opposition like MON's teams did, then that is also success.
Scottish Cups & League Cups come & go, but success is winning your domestic league & competing in Europe.
Mon's first jaunt with Celtic seen us put of Europe before Xmas at the hands of Bordeaux in the UEFA Cup. He had a couple of runs at the Champions League, where we never progressed from the Group stages, however his teams always competed with the opposition.
Seville aside, i would be happy with the same report card from Strachan
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a few choice comments on www.arturboruc.com under the match report
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CQN & Paul67, My apologies for cluttering up the board with a petty squable. Paul67...I'm repeating to myself "must not feed the troll...must not feed the troll". I've deleted my part in it. Hopefull the blog will be a slightly easier read..
Derbyshirebhoy...
So please continuing with the inference that WGS chose to ditch Jackie Mc and replace him with either Paul Telfer or Mo Camara isn’t worthy of you. Chris Sutton is a similar red herring. Its time to move on.
I don't think that the original plan was "ditch Jackie, get another player" but that was the end result ultimately. My point isn't that it was a one in one out, but that we had better at the club and squandered it, leading to having to panic buy Telfer or Camara. I'm not blaming WGS for this in particular, although the signings of both of the players leaves me cold.
I do understand what you are meaning though - and I agree with the general point that it was not a strategy. That Jackie felt poorly treated is beyond question however. The underlying problem is that in the summer we bought/loaded 4 defenders. We are still looking for another three.
Anyway, I've a meeting to go to, will continue when I get back! :-)
/p
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chairbhoy.....
i know he is handshaker in chief...but imo that is largely symbolic....i have also realised that the statement "the queen is our head of state" is probably factually incorrect, and offensive, for many posters on here..apologies for that....
things are changing.....who would have thought that of the last 3 prime ministers in the UK the only one with a public school education would be a labour pm....regardless of political opinion, the days of going to eton , harrow or the like now carry no weight when it comes to political leadership....possibly it is now a disadvantage....
business is now : new technology,new media,innovation,creative thinking and hard graft.....funny handshakes cut no ice in that....a good track record counts....a poor one is like painting a black plague cross on your companies front door...try taking an idea that requires funding to edinburgh or london and talk to the fund managers....if the expectation of support depends on a leather apron you are dead in the water.....these people are hard nosed professionals.....they make investment decisions with one criteria only....return on investment for them.....if paddy the tim or solly the jew offers a better bet than sammy the mason....thats where the money will go....every time...and long may it continue....
as in all things ...may the best man/woman/team win......
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"Yesterday, however, Murray maintained, as always, that he will not turn his back on Scottish football to play in another league, and that while he remains in charge of the club, he will retain a responsibility to the domestic game" - gets me every time, just such, well, MAGNIFICENT MAGNAMINITY.
The bit about the poor sod spending "several months and many sleepless nights piecing together the plans which will eliminate Rangers debt," brings a tear to my eye every time too, such self sacrifice though somehow suspect he's it's a bit of poetic licence and that the rascal didn't spend ONE sleepless night piecing anything together.
Just the West of Scotland cynic in me no doubt.
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Giz a Huddle,
This season :-
Win the SPL
Win the CIS Cup
Next Season
Win the SPL
Compete in the CL.
Drop to the UC if thats how it is ..
Increase our 5 year Co-efficient points tally.
IMHO WGS is doing a good job (7/10) and should be allowed and encouraged to continue.
Hail Hail
Phob
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I managed to get a photo copy of the Rangers News article 1997 which was headlined..NEWS WORLD EXCLUSIVE...We speak to theman who put £ 40 million into Ibrox. The report then goes on to show where the money will be spent..
£ 10m IBROX HOTEL
£ 10m New players
£ 10m Training complex
£ 10m Bank payements
Now that Murray is claiming he stumped up the cash for "Murray Park" which cost £ 14m
Why did the 150 bedroom hotel not get built, especially as they saved £ 10m from another project ?
And the next mug investor please.....come on down and empty your pockets ho ho ho
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Wagthedog, further to evil rhum baa baa's sound advice, if you have to be Kensington way, there is a good shop at West Brompton tube st. Come out the station turn left and the pub is roughly 100yds down the road. Its known locally as the Wee Hoose and is run by a big tim, a lot of the Fulham bhoys get in there on match days. The actual name above the pub is The Imperial Arms. yours John-b.
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An article as funny as this could not have been written by ken gallagher - must have been ghosted by a comedy genius such as Armando Ianucci.
Off topic - I'm heading off to Prague at the weekend. No suggestions on celticbars.com. Any thoughts on where I might see the Dunfermline game?
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Thanks Evil rhum baa baa and john-b
for the info.
Incidentally I hear that Ibrox is to be renamed after a low cost Airline rhyming with Peasy, apparently Rangers liked the colour scheme!!
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Thanks Evil rhum baa baa and john-b
for the info.
Incidentally I hear that Ibrox is to be renamed after a low cost Airline rhyming with Peasy, apparently Rangers liked the colour scheme!!
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Paul
One of my favourite articles and I'm glad you brought it back after I mentioned it on Sunday night. As I said someone sent it to me after the Martin O'Neill Treble season and I've kept it on my PC since then.
Always an excellent read when the Laptop Loyal are gearing up with stories of massive investment and European domination.
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Paul le When ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/4712098.stm
Not Wednesday !!! They´ll have to have another look
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Not read all the posts today, so apologies if this has been covered.
IF Chairman Dave produces a rabbit from his sleeve, and IF he is planning to sell the stadium and lease it back, two questions come to mind.
ONE
Assuming Chairman Dave is wanting the oft quoted price of 118 million, why, given his precarious financial position, would any potential buyer, give him what he is looking for?
Would any hard - nosed businessman, not try to take advantage of the situation, and subsequently drive down the price?
TWO
What would any potential buyer actually gain from purchasing I**** and leasing it back?
I know that he/she would get their money back with interest, but would they be able to take money out, a la Chairman Dave with the catering, security etc ?
Would/could I**** be re-named?
Just think, if I bought it, I could rename it the"PlatowasaTim Stadium", or "Stadium Plato"!!!
Any thoughts/answers, welcome!!
Cheers!
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new article posted
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The Stadium of Moonbeams
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Frank Prague
I managed to catch the game in these bars a few months ago - the only show
CARREY`S IRISH BAR, STAROMETSKE NAM, PRAGUE (Old Town Square)
ROCKY O'REILLY'S, STIPANSKA 32, STARE MESTO, PRAGUE (Tel: 2223 1060)
If you are living near the centre then go to carreys. Rocky O reillys is a wee bit out of the Centre.
If you haven't been to Prague b4 then get yourself a travel pass at the Information desk at the airport, you can buy a 3 day one or a 7 day one. Fantastic Value - will cover your Bus into the centre, all your metro stations and buses and trams. http://www.czechsite.com/gettingaround.html
Also make sure you take in one of the few original Beir halls left in Prague, U Zlateho Tygra on Husova 17, big sing with 2 Bier Pumps coming out it, one guy constantly pouring pints, the other delivering them to tables. If they see your nearly finished they put another pint down and make a note on your beer mat, great place !
Enjoy !
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Just read todays daily's and see that some huns are "upset" that Boruc blessed himself in front of them. The Polis are looking into it we're told! They should be charging the intolerant bigots who are complaining. Scotland 2006!
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Xavier
My uncle used to run www.playbh0y.com and between us we came up with some decent articles.
I'm at work just now and my other articles are at home so i'll post one when i get home. I have several so rather than flood one topic i'll spread them. they might last a week....maybe 2...but no matter how long, they make for interesting reading!!
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paul - you have excelled yourself with that historical scoop.
priceless. absoluteley priceless.
ternar
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Waller1888 Maybe Mr Lennon did know what he was doing, and meant it, before anyone thinks I'm attacking him here I'm not, if I spend an hour insulting and abusing a bloke I can'y complain if he walks off with a grin the size of the clyde tunnel, nor can I see any grounds for complaint from others about it, but I would still say he set out to acheive the wind up that he did.
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DerbyshireBhoy...
You will have me in big trouble if I don’t start to pay the wife as much attention as I’m giving to your posts.
:-)
You asked originally “why do we sign players we know are not good enough” I don’t think anyone does sign players they know are not good enough. MON signed a significant number of players that he then decided weren’t good enough, if their first team appearances are anything to go by. Overall however for Celtic he got a lot right.
I think by their very nature squad players, when signed as expressly that, are by extension not good enough. Any player singed should be regarded as at least as good, if not better than what we have already. Our resouces may be limited, but I'd like to see each penny a prisoner, and players signed when there is a business case as well as a playing one.
Fergus McCann maintained a number of critera had to be met by any players signing for Celtic. He had to be better than what we had (the manager had to make a presentation on why we should sign him), he had to pass a behavioural test - ie not be a drinker etc...and he had to have a solid business case. That way, should anything happen to the player we would, at least get a return on our investment.
Camara, Telfer, Aladierre and Du Wei did not pass those litmus tests. Further, I think it should have been obvious that Telfer and Camara, given their age and media exposure, were not up to the task.
Quite right so we won’t know till the fat lady has sung as with so much else. All else is opinion.
Believe me, I have fingers and toes crossed for Mark Wilson.
You’re honest enough to admit your judgement may be wrong as may Gordon Strachan’s.
I've been wrong about any number of things! :-) Football is a difficult game. And as strange as it may seem, I don't think Strachan is doing a terrible job. I just don't think he's top drawer management material. It's a shame, as I like him personally. He's a very likeable guy - and I also identify with the spiky nature of his character ;-)
To be realistic, I'll probably never be 100% happy with how things are done at Celtic Park, but the MON era came close. It's the only time where I've had confidence that the off field activities were as solid as the on field ones. For instance - there were rarely whispers from players, or briefings to the press during MON's time.
To be fair, WGS has an awful job too - It's the classic poisoned chalice. Taking over from MON is like taking over from Jock Stein. But this is why I thought we should be getting absolutely the best manager we could afford.
Its how you deal with them and in the case of Aliadiere I think there was swift rectification and good judgement if subsequent events are anything to go by.
I'm not a big fan of loan deals. If it fails you lose 100% of your investment. Although I guess the maths on this one is difficult. Sign and sell or loan? Which way loses most? I'm probably harsher on the powers that be than I should be, but I can't help but feel that sometimes we're looking at these deals as short term fixes rather than long term plans.
You clearly are a clever and resilient individual P&ddy. Have you ever managed or owned a business?
After not being very good at football, I work in multimedia - part of that involves designing stuff that is accessible for the visually impaired - hence my liking of bold for quoting over italics.
Thanks for the compliment though. :-)
As always, it's been a pleasure. We might have different viewpoints but are gunning for the same end result.
/p
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Paul
Surely this article deserves a link of its own? Or even a CQN Oscar of some sort?
It is a classic.
You could not make it up even if he did!
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