Fate intervenes in football regularly. Friday, 21 April, marks the 100th anniversary of Celtic’s UK record of 62 league games unbeaten finally ending. Willie Maley’s team won 49 of the 62 games, but took their eye off the ball on the second last game of a long season, at home to Kilmarnock.
The run stood as a European record for 70 years until the great Steaua Bucharest European Cup winning team eclipsed it.
While we will remember one of the early great Celtic teams, with Patsy Gallacher, Alec McNair and Jimmy McMenemy, thoughts inevitably turn to the tantalising prospect of an unbeaten record which would be just as incredible – that of an invincible domestic treble.
100 years and two days after Maley’s team’s great run came to an end, Brendan Rodgers’ team put their aspirations on the line in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. The weight of history will not burden Brendan or the players, but Sunday is a great opportunity to mark the passing of one incredible record by setting your sights on another.
Great records happen at Celtic. It’s time for another one.
I’ve no axe to grind with Dundee one way or another. Completely understood the decision to sack Paul Hartley. Whatever was going on, the prospect of relegation after losing a play-off against Dundee United was looming large, but good grief, appointing a rookie from the television!
Apart from saying, “Don’t take tax advice from an adult film producer”, I can’t imagine what else he will tell the players with any authority.
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We have a stark choice, live in a independent Scotland or live
under a reactionary right wing government for a generation
…..maybe two.
Nye Bevans rebel soldier a passionate no voter in 2014.
Mullet and co 2
We even have the names of 4 of the 5 EBT recipients whom Rangers admitted to paying illegally, Novo, Prso, Rodriguez and Buffel. You’re absolutely correct about the Supreme Court appeal.
I can picture being at matches with those players on the pitch, paying good money to watch a rigged game.
Once bitten, twice shy.
Mullet,
IIRC – Celtic were not the original settlor of Juninho’s trust – that was a previous employer..
Juninho asked for amounts due under his contract with Celtic to be paid into his trust.
Without going into the morality of it – simply form a tax perspective at the time such payments if they met certain requirements were not illegal.
However at the time HMRC were fighting Citibank and Chase Manhattan in London over 3 previous years bonus rounds where they had established EBT’s such that both the Company and the Employer avoided NI.
Brian Quinn was aware of this and the attendant repetitional risk to Celtic of being involved in such a scheme. When he found out he insisted that Celtic make good any tax advantage gained both by the Co. and the player.
At no time as far as I am aware has it been suggested that Celtic withheld the any details of Juninho’s contract form the SFA ? I may be wrong but I have as of yet never seen this alleged.
Nye Bevans’ Rebel Soldier
Don’t worry. A generation’s only 4 years in Scotland.
NYE BEVANS’ REBEL SOLDIER on 19TH APRIL 2017 3:04 PM
We have a stark choice, live in a independent Scotland or live
under a reactionary right wing government for a generation
…..maybe two.
###
This independent Scotland you mention.
Would it be a member of the EU?
If so, how would it get on with having 65% of its trade with a non member ie England?
Would there be a hard border at Gretna?
And how would it cope with a 9.5% budget deficit?
Would taxes be increased? Or would public expenditure be cut? Or maybe a bit of both?
The idea sounds lovely. (No one hates the English more than me, after all)
It’s the reality that’s a bit scary.
Team for Sunday…….
Beattie
Donnelly. Fallon
Fernie Evans. Peacock
Tully. Collins Mcphail Wilson Mochan
Sevensevensevensevensevensevensevensevensevencfc
Mullet
Aug 6 – 2012…. Paul67 Put the following on CQN……
“I see several “fans’ groups” are engaged on the subject of our old friend, Juninho, who played around 13 games for Celtic eight years ago and benefited from an Employee Benefit Trust before and during his time at the club.
Can you believe this is where their focus is?
As Sir David Murray and a gaggle of his former directors will tell you, there is nothing illegal in EBTs, it’s the undeclared second contracts the football authorities have a problem with. Juninho’s EBT was not subject to any contract or side letter whatsoever. Moreover, our then chairman, Brian Quinn, regarded EBTs with suspicion and instructed the club to declare Juninho’s to the Revenue. Celtic even paid tax on money paid to the EBT.
The SFA and SPL, and every journalist in Scotland interested in getting a story right, are fully aware of the facts.
I suppose running with this beats looking at links between Green and Whyte. Keep up the good work, guys!
And for the record, stripping titles is not the ultimate sanction, not by the length of Argyle St.”
Quite Clearly Saying that the issue for the SFA being undeclared contracts…. The implication explicitly being that Celtic had nothing undeclared !
Mullet
it was also decalred to SPL at the time it was paid to HMRC at the point were Celtic believed it was questionable and contacted HMRC.
We have an ex-Bank Of England chairman to thank for sorting this out as he identified the use may/may not have been legit and declared to both HMRC and SPL who both accepted tht the club had acted legally.
This alone should have been the flag that raised the issue at Ibrox for the SPL who did nothing about the huns EBT’s which were bulk included in their accounts with no individual considerations or information.
MWD
ERNIE LYNCH
Yes
The English brexiters have already told the world they will
still be trade with the rest of the EU.
Don’t know.
Don’t know.
Bit of both I would imagine.
For the record I don’t hate the English
And yes it is a bit scary,but not as scary as living
under those sociopaths.
MWD, I don’t think Juninho was signed on loan, it’s reported he signed a 2 year deal with Celtic.
Citibhoy, are you saying Celtic paid all of his wages into his EBT? To me that would mean there was no requirement to declare it to the SFA SPL. However, it seems we made one payment at the end of his contract of over £700k. Making one lump sum payment at the end of a contract would seem counter to that.
Is it not more likely that Juninho carried an EBT from Middlesbrough and we somehow carried on his contract terms from them as part of the deal?
We have an ex-Bank Of England chairman to thank for sorting this out as he identified the use may/may not have been legit and declared to both HMRC and SPL who both accepted tht the club had acted legally.
This alone should have been the flag that raised the issue at Ibrox for the SPL who did nothing about the huns EBT’s which were bulk included in their accounts with no individual considerations or information
*didn’t we alert bader tae this and he wisnae interested, effin know it all.
Ernie Lynch.
But Sturgeon claims leaving the European Union,with which Scotland does16% of its trade, will cost Scotland 80,000 jobs.
So if we were to leave the UK, with which we do 4 times that amount of trade, surely that would mean a loss of nearly 320,000 jobs?
Not that I’d ever question the SNP’s sums.
NYE BEVANS’ REBEL SOLDIER on 19TH APRIL 2017 3:20 PM
The point is there would be tariffs, quite possibly substantial tariffs, on goods exported from Scotland to England. Why would a business stay in Scotland rather than relocate to England in that scenario? It wouldn’t make economic sense.
An independent Scotland is even more of a pipe dream if the UK leaves the EU than it was previously.
And running a budget deficit of 9.5% would make an independent Scotland in the EU as independent as Greece is in the EU.
Ernie Lynch @ 3.10pm…
You really seem crippled by fear.
Maybe try and overcome your fears and live a bit and experience a day without living in the fear of tomorrow. If you can’t do that they have you beaten.
Till Later
ERNIE LYNCH
Clearly your smarter than me,but that doesn’t make you right.
Would you tell a battered wife stay in the family home, you’ve at
least go a roof over your head and three square meals……………
……the next tory government will slash the money coming to
Scotland,why wouldn’t they……..you look after your own.
Mullet
You are correct it was a two year deal. I considered it a loan due to the few games he played without checking.
However, as everything was in retrospect agreed by Celtic with HMRC and SPL informed there was no questions to answer at the point were HMRC started chasing clubs for these type of employment contracts. There were no side letters over and above that of Juninho’s contract to disguise his EBT payment from football authorities as the huns did. his contract even with the EBT details in full was lodged with the SFA and SPL. No hiding irregular payments from them as per the huns. All was above board with regards registration. SPFL confirmed this I believe in 2010 or 2011.
So really there is nothing to see or make up to compare this to the huns.
Just search for newspaper articles in the DR the DM the telegraph and you will see SPFL considered and deemed Celtic had nothing to answer.
MWD
TT- seemingly Brain Quinn told Bain at Ibrox not to use EBT’s, they would come back to haunt you….
NYE BEVANS’ REBEL SOLDIER on 19TH APRIL 2017 3:40 PM
Leaving the UK would undoubtedly slash the money coming to Scotland, so your argument falls at the first hurdle.
ERNIE LYNCH
Scare stories won’t work,need to get back to my Labour:),
nice chatting.
Mullet and Co
The Juhino ebt was a one off in territory that was not of Celtic’s choosing.
To give it any equivalence to the systemic use of ebts with side letters by RFC over 10 years stretches the credibility of the “whataboutery” aspect way beyond breaking point.
Ah well,looks like its time to give the blog a miss if we are going to be getting 6 weeks of politics,
Ernie hope yopu are stocked up on supplies,you will no doubt be doing some 20 hour shifts on here in the coming weeks
Here we go again with the Independent Scotland stuff…..
Independent from what exactly? Having any money would be the answer.
At the moment Scotland has a deficit of roughly 15 Billion every year so a little more that £2500 per person.
This is subsidised from the UK coffers and would be required to be financed by tax increases AND public spending cuts or around 15% in EACH case.
Our deficit versus GDP is circa 10% (roughly the same as Greece) which means that even if we wanted to we couldn’t apply for EU membership and to use the Euro, which since we cant use the pound anymore (already stated during the 2014 neverendum) or use the Bank of England as a central bank, means that we would have to create our own currency, lets say the Thistle which would trade on the open market at lets say 90 pence in the pound.
If we were allowed to join the Euro, which I for one do not want, we would have to agree to an austerity package drawn up by Brussels.
Add to this our share of the overall deficit in the UK it would make Scotland a financial basket case of a country.
Our onshore economy is one of the worst in Europe, our offshore economy is struggling in the extreme.
Oil revenues are neutral (it costs at least $45 to drill a barrel of oil in the North Sea versus $9 in Saudi Arabia) at best and the oil sector is in decline.
Wee Nicola has never stated what her intentions are for currency or a central bank, fundamental issues, she pointedly avoids answering these basic financial questions.
During the last neverendum Salmond never addressed these issues either, its like a broken record.
Financial Armageddon awaits an independent Scotland, I won’t wait around to watch house values, pension funds and banks collapse, I’ll be off the day that the vote in confirmed, if it ever happens.
These facts are easily available but never addressed by the SNP. Sturgeon talks about political opportunism, she doesn’t do irony, does she?
NYE BEVANS’ REBEL SOLDIER on 19TH APRIL 2017 4:09 PM
ERNIE LYNCH
Scare stories won’t work.
###
Dismissing legitimate concerns as scare stories didn’t work last time around.
Most of those concerns were proved correct.
There is no economic case for independence.
And as Scotland is not an oppressed nation, and the Scots are not an oppressed people, there’s no other reason for Scotland to leave the UK.
Ernie
I know you rely on GERS as your default to back up your opinion.
But having looked into GERS and the questionable practice they have employed over the years as a Tory setup quango I would not throw them as far as I could throw the other Gers.
But hey h. if you wish to believe Tory quango stats that have been question by many and by parties not in power over the years then you will always end with the figures you wish to believe.
Go on. Do a wee search, and I don’t mean read the swings for Scotland nutjob, and investigate for yourself how manipulated GERS figures are.
I’m too stupid to take the time to explain.
MWD
And up pops Robinboy
With a pre-prepared statement, the first of many no doubt from the usuals – each to his own – no amount of ‘facts’ from either side will shift me (from what I’m not saying) but I have an IQ in double figures so I won’t be voting Tory
Celtic and Fitba first
Have a look at this, car crash interview by Wee Nicola with Andrew Neil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVynXGj4eyA
Oot! I hate politics and politicians liars and charlatans the bloody lot o’ them!
Billy Connolly said it best “If someone would like to be a politician they should forever be debarred from becoming one”
JINKYREDSTAR
Pre prepared my arse, I’ve been a Labour voter my whole life, cant stand liars and the SNP are right at the top of the pile. Stick that wherever you like.
MWD,Citibhoy,Bada et al
Surely the fact that we sought instruction on how to deal with EBTs, registered the full contract without the use of side letters demonstrates that there was full transparency re Juninhos contract. The fact that the Deadys tried to cover up the EBTs demonstrates that they knew all along the financial impropriety of said methods. Every match they played during the EBT years should be a 0-3 loss irrespective of Sandys interpretation of the rules as all of the details of the players contracts were not registered.
Irrespective of that…… the DOS scheme they operated for 3 players (Moore, de Boer and Flo??) was illegal as a result of the Aberdeen Asset Management case. So any result in those three years should also be a 0-3 loss as those player contacts improperly registered. Celtic do not need the result of the big tax case to demand action on these matters.
SameoldhunsalwayscheatingCsc.
Aff ooout.
Went to Kilmainham Gaol this a.m. Was last there quite a few years ago. Would heartily recommend to those over on a visit.
BloodupontheroseCsc.
MOONBEAMSWD on 19TH APRIL 2017 4:21 PM
It’s been interesting to watch the nats go into full on Trump mode to deal with the GERS figures.
You realise you don’t have an economic case so you dismiss the evidence as fake news, folks, fake news.
GEAROID1998 on 19TH APRIL 2017 4:31 PM
It should be first thing on the list for anyone visiting Dublin.
Ernie
In your GERS opinion. :-@)))
Go on. Have a wee google search, overlooking the dafty Wings for Scotland nutter and come to an honest conclusion as to whether GERS stats are reliable or manipulated to the governments (in particular Tory governments) political agenda.
MWD
If you want a Scottish Nation forget the SNP. Start a Scottish Republican Party, a la Sinn Fein, and get organised locally. Stand for councils, apply for quangos, start a newsheet or weblog, but get it started. Target Education and the Law, along with Trade Unionists to get a core mix. Organise boycotts of the MSM papers who don’t report fairly on Celtic or anything else. What’s the point of independence if Her Maj is still glorified? It does not make sense, and that’s without bringing Catholic schools into it.
Stand for election–who cares if at first you don’t succeed?
Get off your knees.
Ernie
Fake news. Aye that covers it if you are not willing to have a look.
Sadly like you the majority buy into GERS without question and how they manipulate the SEPA stats exluding many economic stats to suit the political agenda.
But each to their own.
At this point I am not for or against Independence. I was a YES before but Brexit has thrown a spanner in those works. I am not an SNP supporter but intend to vote for them tactically in the General Election to put a spanner in the Brexit works hopefully since this GE is all about Brexit. SNP are untrustworthy but I still believe an Independent Scotland can stand on it’s own feet outwith Europe or within Europe.
I don’t need manipulated facts to manage my thinking without question. Unlike your good self.
But fire away with the one liner put downs while you talk about fake news. It is funny and stupid in equal measure.
MWD
Geroid
I concurr. Celtic at no pint hid Juninho’s contract from authorities and once they deemed tha tit were a questionable to employ EBT’s they sought advice from the relevant body, HMRC and acted on their advice.
It is not comparrible with the HUNS hidden side letters not passed to the authorities or the use of these once HMRC first highlighted their use as being Tax evasion.
Anyway, I’m out of here for a few hours.
MWD
Robinboy
Delightful reply
Enjoy watching the treble
ERNIE LYNCH on 19TH APRIL 2017 3:30 PM
The point is there would be tariffs, quite possibly substantial tariffs, on goods exported from Scotland to England. Why would a business stay in Scotland rather than relocate to England in that scenario? It wouldn’t make economic sense.
————–
You’re only looking considering export numbers. A company may export more goods to England than the rest of the world. But if the value of their trade in Scotland is greater than what they export down south, it makes zero economic sense to relocate to England.
As for the deficit, this includes Scottish contributions to defence which would be substantially reduced, and pensions which would also be substantially reduced, as life expectancy is of course far higher in the South of England than it is up here.
It isn’t black and white, there is a whole lot of grey. Having voted for independence and to stay in the EU, as well as the SNP at the last 2 Holyrood elections and at the last GE, my initial reaction is to vote Labour in June as a last stand against the rise of fascism in the UK. If their unsuccessful, or if the very least they don’t make significant inroads, then it is independence all the way. If that results in me paying higher taxes so be it, rather that than live under a government of far right sociopaths dancing to the tune of the vermin at the sun or the daily mail.
MOONBEAMSWD on 19TH APRIL 2017 4:41 PM
GERS denial is the mark of a cultish conspiracy theorist.