Good luck to the Development Squad for their Uefa Youth League one-off cup tie against Valencia this evening. A win would see Celtic proceed to the quarter final – no mean feat when you consider the way some bigger league clubs harvest scores of youth players from across the globe.
Kick-off is 5pm, if you can get to Celtic Park. It’s not THE Champions League, but it’s an important metric we should follow.
Delighted Davie Hay and Tom Boyd are Celtic Ambassadors. I see enough of what the Celtic support to here to know the value of the club, but we can never take these values for granted. The Celtic Movement needs leaders. Davie and Tom have been informal ambassadors of the club for years, as many of you can testi
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beatbhoy on 10th February 2016 11:38 pm
You mean…
Mascota de la maestra…………………..Had to google that,but seriously you could understand that almost without knowing any Spanish.
Thanks lads for the link(s). Not sure of the Catalan or Basque for thanks and too late to try Google Translate.
Away to listen to Christy. Hope to see you on Saturday.
WITs, I’ll check out the link thanks.
Mcjay1
Paul McStay’s wife’s mascot??
16 roads – Celtic über alles… on 10th February 2016 9:25 pm
The inspirational James Connolly.
James Connolly didn’t ask for a copy of The Communist or Das Kapital just before he faced the firing squad.
James Connolly instead made his peace with God and found solace and comfort in his Christian faith.
I think that it can be safe to say that Connolly,during his final hours on this earth totally rejected the teaching Karl Marx and his literary work.
HH.
……………………………………………………………………….
You just Nailed it.
Quite the thing with all the AntiChristian intellectuals misleading, och a cannae be bothered any mair. Thank the Lord Almighty for people like JJ.
JC is POWER on this Earth, as it actually stands, never be afraid to use it, especially when you are Actually afraid.
So many self centred.
Kojo was a hard hitting person who spoke Truth, the Celtic intellectuals on here were not at all interested in listening to him. I Believe in noone on this Earth, Every last One is a Sinner, apart from God, well Yeshua/Jesus when he stepped into his own Creation, to Save Mankind.
All those Deluded Atheists, What about Apple and the Knowledge, the symbolism of the Apple.
Anyone who is hurting and came away from God the Father. The Door is never closed, it is just a shame that so many have to reach Rock Bottom to actually realise it.
I won’t go on and on but I reckon we are in the end times, how many generations does it take to wipe out belief in God.
Make the Lie humungous!!!!!!
The Gnostics, and the Gospels ommitted from the Bible are telling, especially when brought back into the public domain, in the Conciousness……
Well the Gnostics believe that God is Evil and vindictive, their crap – dinnae blame me.
The Gnostics get promoted, usually by well, take yer pick ffs.
The Gnostics Are Believers in Satan and Mankind BEING as God, oh and Red Hot Chilli Preppers ;),The (G)nostics unfortunately are deceiving so many and really getting close to their Stated Goal in the Garden.
Transhumanism is being implemented, Oh so that’s what Stanley Kubrick with the Stone touching about Knowledge was all about. eh ed.
Posthumanism is being fed to the populace via so many films now.
Wake up Wake up.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Ronny Deila Needs Support – Celtic Support.
If Ronny gets the Support he deserves, Ronny Deila will deliver so much for Celtic, just my little opinion.
We need to be Patient. A big ask these days.
BEATBHOY on 10TH FEBRUARY 2016 11:51 PM
Mcjay1
Paul McStay’s wife’s mascot??
=========================================================
Spot on.
Couldn`t be easier,mate.
Good to see so many Valencia fans on the blog tonight, discussing tonight’s game, even though I don’t agree that they deserved to win! :>)
Bwenas nawchayz!
Batterista
And you,Tam Be Enn .
WITs,
Thanks for the post. His mother moved to Swilly Road, Cabra. There’s a good chance Mrs C’s family knows them.
Thomthetim,
Hola,
Are you going to the ROI v Switzerland game on March 25th?
Clogher,
As of now, no.
I have been to two or three matches at the Aviva and enjoyed the experience.
The Good Friday business is a bit of a damper on your plans, which is a shame, but going to the game should help make up for it a bit and hopefully the bars will be open in your section.
However, I have just discovered that I will be in Edinburgh on the night that the Huns are at Easter Rd.!
How unlucky is that.
Interesting choice of photograph . Associates Celtic with the issue.
Gives the probably wrong impression that it`s a Tim who is being lifted.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35544730
THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 11TH FEBRUARY 2016 12:24 AM
Clogher,
As of now, no.
I have been to two or three matches at the Aviva and enjoyed the experience.
The Good Friday business is a bit of a damper on your plans, which is a shame, but going to the game should help make up for it a bit and hopefully the bars will be open in your section.
However, I have just discovered that I will be in Edinburgh on the night that the Huns are at Easter Rd.!
How unlucky is that.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Watched the first game,Thom.
A real cracker of a tie. Some unfinished biffo business for both sides.
I`d be grabbing tickets for the replay.
Thomthetim,
Yep, I have been assured that the tickets are for areas in the stadium with access to bars etc. Between that and a drink in the hotels or even the dogs at Harolds Cross, I think we won’t go thirsty on the Good Friday :)
I got an e mail from the Pro Cathedral yesterday with Mass Times for Easter Sunday. So trying to cover every contingency.
Night all.
HH
Saint Stivs says SACK THE BOARD on 10th February 2016 11:01 pm
Brilliant!
Love!
I’m just a passenger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWU1xMyxFIk
The SFA are fighting for sevco
Just another statistic for the Lawwell/Board-sackers to digest.
Celtic has a debt of around £10 million – this is almost like a mortgage from our loan facility at the Co-op Bank – this has been, and will be, used for capital spending and infrastructure improvements – e.g. Lennoxtown/Celtic Way/Wi-Fi/Rail Seating.
If we had not had player sales to supplement our revenue, we would have had a cumulative loss of £30 million from 2007 to 2014 – ergo our current debt would have been at least £40 million at this moment in time.
We are criticized for selling, but we all know that when players want to go – they have to go – however just supposing we had been able to persuade the likes of Wanyama, Forster, VVD…etc to stay by matching their EPL wages – then I believe our debt would have been closer to the £50 million mark. In fact even if we had kept pace with inflation, our 2007 wage bill of £36 million would have been around £47 million in 2014 – in fact it was £38 million.
Selling-on allows us to keep a wage bill that is greater than all other Scottish clubs added together – with no player sales we would have to be slashing our wage bill year on year, to limit the debt. This would seriously diminish the squad, year on year.
An overall debt £50 million would cost us around £5 million per year to service – and that would mean going into each new season £5 million down, even before before we start.
So you see we have to ‘cut our cloth’, shop around for potential stars of the future.
Although we have a frustrating number of incoming players who do not ‘make the grade’ – under scrutiny we have been very successful in our operations – in essence, our CEO and scouting department have managed to keep our operating losses at almost zero over the past eight years, whilst delivering:
5 Titles
3 Scottish Cups
2 League Cups
4 CL Group Stages
2 CL Last 16
3 EL Group Stages
1 EL Last 32
In today’s world of crazy football finance – I say a damn good record – TWENTY measures of success over the EIGHT years – of course we would all want it to be better – but we have achieved this with a professionally and honestly run club, and with negligible TV income. Nearly every penny we raise is through our own efforts – roughly half comes through the turnstiles and the other half comes from the merchandising and commercial deals that we put in place.
As I have stated before, if we had managed to get through in our last two CL qualification campaigns, from eminently winnable positions, the picture of our success would be dazzling over the last eight years.
The shortfall is squarely in the football department – we are not getting enough ‘bang for our £38 million wage-bill buck’ – that is why I have been so critical of Ronny – however as he is destined to stay until at least the end of the season, I am fully behind him and the team for the run-in.
If we were in the EPL, we’d be up there with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool – but we are in Scotland, and we must survive until the opportunity to assume our rightful place in the football world arrives – it will come, and we will be in a good state to seize it with both hands, when it does – Hail Hail!
Mr Pastry on 11th February 2016 4:35 am
Yes.
The dilemma was…………………….. keep our stars ( some of whom may have been given assurances of moving on under the right circumstances ) ,which would have improved our chances of progress in the C.L
Or cash in our chips for reasonably assured financial stability.
The problem was onfield results and , as you say, the causes thereof.
Had Lenny felt able to stay,I feel confident the gamble would have paid off.
Good morning ladies and gentleman. An identical situation from yesterday morning here in EK – clear skies, dry, frosty and a requirement to scrape the windscreen before mass ;-)
Jobo: Pretty similar on the Nortside of Dublin too.
Good morning CQN
This monopoly should be brought to an end, time for the politicians to step in
It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view, wrote George Eliot. That approach is needed as football fans seethe and vent over news that next week’s Scottish Cup replays will not be televised due to Uefa constraints and the uncompromising desire to leave the stage clear for Champions League football.
It means thousands queued up at Easter Road and Tynecastle to ensure they get the chance to see what unfolds as their teams meet on Tuesday to finish what they started in Gorgie last weekend. It means thousands more will be bereft as their wheeling and dealing amounts to nothing and they are left on the outside, with no means of looking in.
There is one solution: scrap the replays. The fixture list is congested enough and Britain is the last bastion of the two-match process
Although the scramble for tickets will be less intense, there will still be disappointment for some that round two of the tussle between Kilmarnock and Rangers cannot be watched from the comfort of their sofa. Those frustrated fans deserve sympathy. But, before things get magnified to the extremes, there is still the chance to zoom back out, alter the perspective and ponder the bigger picture.
While the Scottish FA has borne some of the brunt of the supporters’ frustration, with almost three-quarters of Hearts’ season-ticket holders set to be shut out of the capital derby replay, the majority of the ire has been reserved for Uefa.
While both Sky and BBC could have split the ties, bolstering their viewing numbers and satisfying the demands of those without the loyalty points needed to secure the golden ticket, the fact that the cup replays clash with Champions League fixtures means they cannot take up those options.
Uefa rules dictate that no other major domestic match can be scheduled on a Champions League date – with the exception of cup replays. But the caveat stops short of granting permission for these matches to be televised. For Uefa that would be a step too far and prising open that can of worms would prove an expensive precedent. Pertinently, though, it wouldn’t be just costly to the men in the corridors of power looking for a cosy existence, but to football across Europe, from grassroots to league level and up to the national team.
With the agreement to steer clear of the Champions League fixture dates comes financial remuneration. Some will call it a bribe, others will see it as a way to compensate nations who have little input, especially in the latter stages of the illustrious competition, but are unable to get on with making money in their own backyard. Last season, that Uefa solidarity payment amounted to around £2 million for Scottish clubs, which puts into the shade the projected £80,000 being missed out on by both Edinburgh clubs as a result of the TV blackout. Clubs who flout the rules risk being fine and when it comes to protecting their prestige event/cash cow (delete where applicable) Uefa has shown a willingness to get tough.
The English FA thought itself above the rules, ignoring the warnings, citing fixture congestion and ploughing on with the scheduling of games whenever it suited them. In 2013 they were fined £42,000 as a consequence and saw their £1.1m solidarity payment withheld.
To be fair the blow was probably cushioned by a TV deal that really does set itself out as god and arbitrator down south. For all we think that TV props up the game here, the big- pocketed father, dishing out pocket money to all the game’s dependants, that is not the case. For all the SPFL herald new deals, as if they are the only lifeblood, there is also the small matter of around £50m over four years which is dolled out by Uefa, who do earn massively thanks to the Champions League TV deal which is astronomical due to the exclusivity broadcaster BT Sport is afforded. BT knows it will not face competition from a rival broadcaster airing a more tantalising game and pay big for this peace of mind.
While the capital derby will be the biggest game in the universe for those seeking tickets, even Uefa would probably acknowledge it is unlikely to trouble BT’s viewing figures if Sky were to get the go ahead. But it would open a door and instead of watching Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg sometime in the future, they could be up against a Manchester derby or a Copa del Rey encounter between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Given the worldwide audiences, that could prove a major clash.
For Uefa it is all about protecting the brand and seeing the bigger picture. Without the brand, there’s less income, without that cashflow, grassroots football as well as the elite suffer.
There is one solution, though. Scrap the replays. The fixture list is congested enough and given that Britain is the last bastion of the two-match process, a fact highlighted by an incredulous Jurgen Klopp earlier this season, why bother? Surely the excitement factor rises if games are played to a finish and TV companies would have free reign? Or is the uncomfortable truth that clubs who could change the rules on replays prefer not to because they like the idea of stashing the extra income that comes with a second tie? If that’s the case, then maybe the punters need to reassess who has their best interests at heart and who is putting money first?
Wow the daily rectum
Praising the orange order
Macjay1
————-
Thanks for your answer and further points.
Running the club is not easy and those who constantly ‘flag-up’ Peter Lawwell’s remuneration.
Without his stewardship we may be having to service a £50 million debt, at a cost of £5 million per year – as it stands we pay only around £800k per year, do PL’s salary at around 900k saves us around £3.3 million per year – of course he is also chief negotiator in all our transfer deals, shirt sponsors, kit sponsors and all other pertinent financials. The deal he got us with Lennoxtown alone is priceless.
We know by looking over at the south side of Glasgow – if you don’t manage your debt, your debt manages you.
So as the saying goes , some people “know the price of everything and the value of nothing”
We get good value with Peter Lawwell and the board, even if thay all had heated driveways, which of course they don’t….I think!
Mr pastry. Wow made up figures. Brilliant!
Why didn’t you include how much DD drains from the club every year?
And you forgot to include the most important KPI.
Successful collusion in. Racism and corruption.
How about that?
Less vodoo accounting and more making it up as you go along.
Sorry for the typos – on the train and sitting opposite a fantastic looking woman – been caught looking a couple of times….trying to be nonch!!!!
Mr Pastry on 11th February 2016 4:35 am.
A good reasoned assessment of our footballing and financial situation.
You have raised the bar, the challenge is now upon the detractors to provide equally detailed analysis.
Hail, Hail.
MR PASTRY on 11TH FEBRUARY 2016 7:36 AM
Sorry for the typos – on the train and sitting opposite a fantastic looking woman – been caught looking a couple of times….trying to be nonch!!!!
nonce…………………..
Neg2
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No made-up figures – all per accounts – they have obviously taken you by surprise – check them out when you get the time.
DD is an investor, albeit benign – remember, Fergus was also an investor, he, like DD, put his money where his mouth was – took a risk, and made a very handsome profit – that’s capitalism, the way if the world – even Russia(USSR) realised that it was the only way to go.
Greenpinta
—————–
Cheers – fans must face facts and stop ‘parrotting’ the mischief-makers among our support.
Greenpinata on 11th February 2016 7:40 am
______________________________________________
Clique backing for the twisted verses of Mr Pastry ……fools no-one.
Bottom line is…..who’s actions, chased 30,000 Celtic supporters out the stadium?
What action was taken against the guilty perpetrators who, pursued this much flawed policy which….since the departure of MO’N….has reduced Celtic to a level were they probably wouldn’t be deemed attractive enough to get an invite for the ‘fabled’ Atlantic League ?
Celtic FC….A Rudderless Ship….heading for the rocks.
Only the positive realization of the campaign by Auldheid and his rebel band, will save Celtic as a club and….probably get them out of Scottish Football.
Failing that……”The game, the game is over….the rebels have gone.”
Really good post Mr Pastry. On the wage bill side, I wonder if we will reduce it or cap it by slimming the squad in the next 2 years , bring on youngsters and keep the same pay rates; or offer lesser contracts. I think the former is more likely
Greenpinata,
How much would the club earn from qualifying for the group stages of the ECL each season? Which, in itself, should not be outwith the expectations of a “well run” club like ours.
KEVJUNGLE on 11th February 2016 8:19 am
Hope you are well :-)
Do you really, really think Im in the clique. ? Im in the clique of no clique.
Now to the point. Ranting is fine, however do you dispute the figures ?
If so, please provide rational alternatives, then we can compare.
HH.
Clogher (last night)
That event at Glasnevin on Sat(Frank Ryan) sounds really interesting but I am off to Glasgow for the game and Valentines night out(in that order)!
I don’t want Charlie mulgrew to leave. He is undervalued by some of the support
Greenpinata on 11th February 2016 8:34 am
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Hail Hail cliquey:)
Nah, no alternative figures from me, just the continued occupation of a stance from which, I perceive Celtic FC to be a, Rudderless Ship….run by a bunch of collusive, deceitful, dodgy liars.
That’s it in a nutshell.
HH
Charlie Muldini, blew the league up in Inverness because, the 1st ICT goal…deflected off him and ito the net but…..it caused CM to get the jitters which he coudn’t shake-off and, this jitteryness went through the rest of the team for therest of the game.
Just like a Celtic team with 11 Efe’s.
ito=into