Apologies for absence yesterday, the day got away from me. The blog would have said something like, “really pleased Celtic pushed back so vocally against the illiberal and ill-conceived Offensive Behaviour Act”, but with less brevity.
Shortly before Christmas we launched the campaign to fund the construction of a school kitchen in Malawi through Mary’s Meals to mark the 10th anniversary of Celtic Quick News. The project would cost £7000 and to get us there we scheduled a St Patrick’s Day dinner dance for next Friday, 14 March.
8 days out I am delighted to inform you the target money has been raised, Mary’s Meals already have £7000 in their bank, the project is officially funded and construction plans are underway.
That the money was raised ahead of the event was a surprise, although after 10 years of watching Celtic fans go about their business in this manner, it shouldn’t have been.
We received a remarkable donation from Patrick Foley’s Irish Bar & Restaurant in Gent, and Barney Vallely’s Irish Pub in Cologne, who between them raised €2600.
You don’t think of Gent and Cologne as being big ‘Celtic towns’. I’m sure they are not, but there enough Celtic fans in each city to form a proper community. Their work has been incredible and a real inspiration. Thank you to Patrick, Charlie and their patrons. Special thanks to Kolncelt, who orgainsed the entire effort, but has had to cancel his trip to Glasgow next week.
This gave us a problem, of course, The Show is going ahead next week, but the kitchen at the Kholoni Primary School is already paid for, what will be our focus next week. Here is a remind of what that £7000 is going to achieve:
Mary’s Meals feed 822,142 kids each day across some of the most impoverished areas of the world. The global average annual cost per child is £10.70, and is only £7 in Malawi, where the Kholoni Primary School is.
Kitchens are brick constructed and fully stocked with stoves, pots, serving utensils, mugs and cutlery. They also have a wall-mounted blackboard, so the room can be used as a classroom outside of meal times.
The charity started in 2002 when founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow met a mother dying of AIDS, and her child, whose only ambition was to have enough food to eat.
93% of money raised goes directly to the needy and, where possible, the 65,000 volunteers who keep the project running are drawn from parents and relatives of the children being fed.
The impact in Malawi, 17th poorest country by UN measures, is significant. Mary’s Meals provide a daily meal to 20% of the countries primary school aged children. The impact is more than just feeding the hungry, two years after a Mary’s Meals project in Malawi starts, school enrolment is up an average of 30%, leading to higher educational achievements, and a better chance in life.
I’m open to ideas on what to focus on next week but my instinct is to get back onto Mary’s Meals and ask where they next need a kitchen.
A couple of pairs of tickets have become available for Friday’s CQteN St Patrick’s Day at the Kerrydale Suite, Celtic Park. £50 per ticket, dinner, dancing, two acts, Irish dancers; it is shaping up to be quite an event. Email Tony if you want to be there, cqnbooks@gmail.com
We have a donations page for CQN Mary’s Meals’ projects, if you would like to help out, you can do so here.
Seville, The Celtic Movement, launches this month.
Order yours below:
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BMCUW
Choice of reading…Daily Mail & Telegraph. And you said yesterday, can’t remember who, was the first Tory on this blog. I presume closet Tories don’t count.
Good luck next week at Cheltenham
Post from a shareholder/supporter (?) on the RIFC Shares discussion Board.
“Due to the Disapplication of pre-emption resolution being defeated at the AGM, King cannot currently buy additional shares. He is on record that he would not line the pockets of the current board. His only strategy is to starve the board out and force an insolvency even and liquidation if he wishes to break the Laxey stranglehold. He is meeting with current shareholders, not aligned to Laxey, next week. If they were to back him, he might be elected to the board at an EGM. However if he truly wants control, liquidation would be his preferred option. One more point. I believe that the current board are considering an insolvency event some time soon. They must reduce the costs by breaking contracts. If they waited until the close season, the penalty would be incurred next season. If they take the hit now, then they still win promotion, I believe that the £1.5M will be used to get them over the 25 point differential, so any hit will be of no consequence. Imran Ahmed’s court case in April could also be the catalyst for an insolvency event.”
Then a reply from ‘JoantheBear’.
“Thanks, well delivered response. If people think that it’s been messy thus far, then they should prepare for what’s coming.”
ST,
Aye, those were the days :))
My mistrust of the board makes me sqeamish when I see here players getting slated because they chose to go to feckin Norwich or similar. No mention of the wage negotiations.
Am I right in thinking Sammy’s contract was delayed as he was asked to take a pay cut? Joe Ledley?
As much as I admire the negotiators on this site, such as BRTH and Auldheid, I find myself having not a smidgeon of trust in this board. Patronising comments from Bankier and other more serious issues regarding the treatment of the support don’t help me.
If you invite Macjay to one of yer barbies, give him a beer on me, and tell him he’s full of pash :)))
SideboTtom
You just don’t get it. Players are sold to make sure the quality does not deteriorate not to make it better.
Celtic have been having to run faster and faster just to stand still.
If the power that drives the treadmill from England does not blow a fuse. Keep an eye on Man Utd btw, then Celtic are going to fall and go backwards at a rate of knots that will give your views credibility.
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma
09:09 on
Interesting, even more so as recently I had a conversation with a guy that organised the SNP’s online strategy prior to their last election success.
He’s is in no way a football fan but is one of Scotlands leaders in computer programming etc. He also wrote the programme for Direct line Insureance a few years ago, a really smart cookie who knows all about digital media and it’s potential.
Anyway we were talking and he casually mentioned that he and his buissness partner had done a presentation to senior Celtic executives on the very issues you were talking about.
Apparently part of the deal was either he or his partner was to be given a seat on the board which Celtic flatly refused. His understanding was though that Celtic were very interested in the proprosal.
Candle lit for Mary and Minx. Hail hail and hope everything goes as well as it possibly can at a time such as this.
SideboTtom was my tablets version of Sidney Tim.
Sorry SideboTtom.
Billy Bhoy 05
Most Tories are in the closet. When they are sprung, they jump out wearing national football tops.
Auldheid
If I can interject, before Sidebo beats me to it :))
It was proven this season that we sold players, not only at the risk of advancement in the CL for more money, but even at the risk of competing in the tournament at all.
Yes, we can argue, bank £10M and risk the CL.
Do you think that was the right decision?
FFM – I’m the only conspiracy theorist in the village)
I think you are being harsh on the board.
They have learned from the days of huge wages and depreciating assets that in our environment they must sell to survive.
MON had a team that devalued hugely. We shelled out £6m for 3 players.
Chris Sutton
John Hartson
Neil Lennon
Our return on these players was very little. They gave us great service in a Celtic jersey but they also picked up huge wages. Dare I say even Henrik Larsson was allowed to leave when we could have demanded a huge fee a few years earlier. That was a good decision though. He was allowed to leave for free after some amazing years service to the club. We have had many other players in a similar situation. We had big money players that didn’t work out either.
Sheidt
Berkovic
Fortune
Spring to mind as players who were big buys but didn’t really deliver and we lost pretty big money on them. There have been others.
Petrov was probably the first player we made real decent cash on. Stillian decided to sign a new deal to allow the club to make real decent cash on him. Petrov should be applauded for that.
The board are also in a situation where players want to leave the club. I reckon we could have offered Victor similar money to what he is on at Southampton and he would still have knocked it back. He wasn’t signing a new deal. Do we allow his value to depreciate and lose him for very little whilst also having an unhappy player on our books? I think it was a no brainer to make 12 times your money on a guy who wanted to leave anyway.
The board have made mistakes. Every board does. They get more right than wrong though. Our lack of funds outwith our season ticket sales is a huge issue. It’s difficult to compete with other clubs in Europe to get the top players we would all like to see in a hooped jersey.
Celtic have a plan and are sticking to it. It may not please everyone but the club is in a good place. I spoke the other day about impatience. We are all impatient. We want to buy winning everything. Who wouldn’t? Should we have won a treble in the last couple of years? No doubt we should have. We haven’t though. The players don;t seem to be motivated for the domestic cups. Personally I am annoyed at that but the players are motivated for the league and the European competition. That is where the money is. Is it bad for the game that other clubs have won trophies? In all honesty no it isn’t. The cups have been spread across a few teams recently and after the doom of armegeddon many clubs fans have had their day in the sun. Maybe this season another two clubs will win a trophy for the first time in a very long period. This doesn’t make it easier as a supporter. Certainly not in my eyes as much as the next Celtic man. I want to be in cup finals. We are not though.
The board are overseeing the biggest piece of building work since Fergus departed. Allbeit outside the ground but it takes their time and the club are spending a lot of money. These are foundations. The plans look superb. The club are increasing revenue streams by opening a new museum and also a cafe which will improve matchday experience. They are also changing the car park area to a avenue and preparing for the CW games which will see our stadium viewed by a world wide audience and prove that Celtic have the infrastructure to host a major event. Hopefully UEFA will be watching and a European final may come our way.
Does it excuse taking the eye off the ball on the playing side? No. Not for the average fan but by putting these foundations in place it ensures an even brighter future. I have said many times before that the short term philosiphy doesn’t work and we have seen what can happen to other clubs with this style of thinking. I am not just talking about our dead rivals. Look at the figures from down South of clubs who are throwing money at it to buy success.
Our patience will be rewarded. It’s easy to just pan the board at every opportunity. The board are Celtic men. Just like at your work sometimes you are not privvy to the grand plans and the direction and it is not always ideal to make it wholly public. Celtic are operating in a cut throat business and keep their cards close to their chest. As a supporter and a shareholder I applaud that.
I have an idea of the vision they have and they direction they are taking. It requires patience and the belief that they will get it right for the good of the club. These guys are the best in their field.
In five years time I hope you look back and admit you were wrong about the board.
If I am wrong I will be the first to apologise.
LB
BRTH
Of course the, hypothetical, Europa League final in Glasgow in 2019 would be held at CP.
HH!!
Aulheid
Are you saying SydneyTim is Sideshowbob!!!!!!!!!!!!
It all makes sense now!
Aulheid = Auldheid….
Bloomin tablets……
Tallybhoy
2017 will be 50 years since we lifted the European Cup. As the first British and first non Latin side to do so I think it would be fitting that final is held in Paradise. I think many football men all over Europe would agree. Let’s start the campaigning now.
LB
BILLY BHOY 05
You left out TIME and The Economist.
My choice of reading does not dictate how or what I think,nor how I vote.
I read all the Harry Potter books,for example. I didn’t even want to buy a Bradford City scarf,a Ford Anglia or even a wand.
As for the snide Tory suggestion,come now,you can do better than that….
Who else is on Table 31 next week?
Yurcl
Twists n turns
07:44 on 7 March, 2014
………Remember Bob Massingbird from Blackadder?
“I remember Massingbird’s most famous case, the case of the bloody knife. A man was found next to a murdered body, he had the knife in his hand, thirteen witnesses that seen him stab the victim, and when the police arrived he said, “I’m glad I killed the b*******d.” Massingbird not only got him off, but he got him knighted in the New Year’s Honors list, and the relatives of the victim had to pay to have the blood washed out of his jacket.”
______________
That will be the same Bob Massingford who defended the thug who attacked Neil Lennon at Tynecastle.
Joe fillip pis haircut.
Pray we said for Mary.
God bless her.
Livibhoy,
Thanks for the reply.
Generally, I agree with what you say. A few years ago I’d have been shouting it from the rooftops.
But that outlook has changed.
Now, we sell players as soon as they reach a premium, which affects team development. This in turn affects Lenny’s management of the squad. Give that mhan a team for a few years and he will turn them into Euro stars. But keep picking the best off from him every year, and we will go nowhere, thus risking not just the immediate money available from CL campaigns, but the indirect gains to be had from it, particularly with regards to our own support.
If we’d kept VW another year, for example, it might have been enough to see us compete in the very latter stages of the CL. The income is surely comparable, if not better, when we go further in the CL and our supporters make an impact again in Europe. The confidence could have been maintained into this season even after selling VW this coming June/ July. Instead, he was picked off like by PL like a Blackpool toy puggie.
We need to consider how this affects Lenny’s team as well. Do they know who’ll be there next season? No. None of us do.
A balance needs to be found.
But of course, before that, the priority is surely to protect our supporters, some of whom are in fear of arrest by merely making their way to CP.
As for you conclusion – it’s not a case of hoping I’m wrong. Our supporters are being decimated.
But I genuinely appreciate your post and you have no need to apologise should you be wrong.
I’ve read your posts over the years, and love the stories you’ve told. Without a doubt, you’ve been to far more games than me, and helped others to get there as well.
A pleasure to discuss this here with a genuine Tim, and I say that with sincere humility.
Livibhoy. Those 3 mon players stayed in the 1st for about 15 years between them
We have shelled about about 15m on duff forwards over last. 6 years who have not lasted a season
Kilbowie Kelt will vote YES
10:58 on 7 March, 2014
‘That will be the same Bob Massingford who defended the thug who attacked Neil Lennon at Tynecastle.’
###
That decision, which was perverse, was the responsibility of the 15 randomly chosen Scottish people on the jury.
Minx.
Prayer said for your good intention.
Eddieinkirkmichael
The marketing guy Kevin McQuillan Celtic appointed last year is well clued up on the potential of technology.
One of the things I would consider is bringing blogs like CQN into a Celtic technology circle whilst ensuring they retained their independence that makes them what they are but Celtic bearing the cost of running a blog but sharing any increased revenues from advertising.
The Celtic on line community is a vast resource providing a service to all Celtic Supporters.
I think it could be harnessed more to that end but keeping its own unique identity/identities.
ST
FFM. It’s all about opinions When we found Henk , were we immediately saying. Wow thats 10m we can sell him for. No we were saying what a player what a future !! For the team
Things have changed now
When we had Henrik our wages were not too far off a middling EPL team, but now Man City are paying 17 year olds £5,000 a week… Too many footballers believe the EPL is where you have to go unfortunately
Not sure if King wants liquidation, I doubt the scum Huns who are warming to him now would fancy that idea, as in there is any chance of him getting on the existing board that’s a non starter too I think, to me he’s just another hanger on Hun with no plan at all just hanging around like a bad smell, but an unwelcome advisory for the present board, anyone, and I mean anyone, who is one of the so called rangers men (and we have seen them all come and go in the last two years, even the best player EVER to play for the old club) could have came out with rant about the crises loan and had the nutters backing him, it looks like an interesting two weeks ahead for Sevco and the SFA / SPFL ,
PS
A question.
If say for talking sake Sevco get to the SC final and beat Aberdeen , and Aberdeen finish second in the league, who would represent Scotland in the Europa cup with that spot, and for talking sake, Aberdeen lost to Sevco and finished third in the league, same question? Has this been sorted yet? Or are we not to talk about it?
That decision, which was perverse, was the responsibility of the 15 randomly chosen Scottish people on the jury.
_____________
I thought it was the cops fault, for making the wrong charge?
Ernie,
I know where the fault lay in Neil’s case.
I was unsuccessfully trying to be funny.
In our great wee country an attack on NL does not need to be defended. He obviously brought it on himself.
tonydonnelly67
A question.
If say for talking sake Sevco get to the SC final and beat Aberdeen
It’s Friday and I’m looking forward to the weekend, please don’t ruin it with such thoughts.
FFM – I’m the only conspiracy theorist in the village)
Do you really believe Victor would have stayed? The board would have been slated if he did stay a year or more and his performance dropped and we lost him for pennies.
The Victor deal was right for everyone.
I agree with your frustration for the manager. We all get frustrated when the good players we have are sold off but the market we are in dictates that we have to operate in this way. At the moment we will be able to compete at CL group level. The last 16 round is a step too far at the moment. We are up against giants of the game with budgets that ake your eyes water. Do we risk £20m-£30m just to get there and still lose to a team with £200m worth of talent to pick from? It’s all about taking calculated risks and the board strategy at the moment is not to. If the FFP is adhered to Celtic become a big player. We have the cash in the bank and the model to cope. Meanwhile many other clubs are flapping because they can’t sustain their spend. The board are taking the route they believe is best for the club in the long term. Like I said patience is an issue. We all want success yesterday.
I agree with a lot of your points. We all want the best for Celtic.
SydneyTim
Totally agree that those players gave us service that not many others have over the last 20 years but it came at a huge price. We paid EPL transfer fees and EPL wages. We just can’t do that now. Look at the debt the club was in when WGS came to the club. He had to cope with severe financial cuts to the squad and the transfer budget and still delivered success. That is the model the club strive to for now. WGS stewardship may have been one of the most vital in recent times. We cut our debt to almost nothing in 7 or 8 years. I would reiterate that it’s not always easy to see our best players leaving and I would love players like Victor, FF, Hooper, Ledley, VVD, etc to stay at the club for years but the reality in most cases is that they want to play in the EPL. You can’t keep players who don’t want to stay. You must ship them out at the right time and get top dollar for them. It’s not easy to accept that players don’t want to stay at a great club like Celtic but this is the reality we are faced with at this time. If any player who can hold down a first team place in the EPL stays at Celtic for 3 years we have done well.
LB
For any budding Celtic film makers or photographers out there you can get top results on a budget with vintage quality prime manual focus lenses that range from £40 to £100 on ebay
These Pentax Takumars are class and their modern equivalents will cost easily 10x as much or more
All you need is a cheap adaptor to get them working on your dslr camera
Video demo of a Takumar lens on a Canon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCMEJKM4DE
Forum with the lens details and reviews
http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/Pentax-Takumar-M42-Screwmount-Lenses-i3.html
Livibhoy
If love is patience then patience must be love.
How many love Celtic in that way.
Infinite patience produces immediate results is a second favourite patience saying of mine ((after the Corinthian’s version.)
It stops you being trapped in time.
One other quality needed is trust.
I don’t have a saying for that so I’ll make one up.
Trust is a two way tango. Toes may get trod on occasionally but to stop trusting is to stop dancing.
tonydonnelly67
11:16 on 7 March, 2014
‘I thought it was the cops fault, for making the wrong charge?’
###
Well it would have been the fiscal, not plod who would have decided what charges the guy faced at trial.
Leaving that quibble to one side, there was nothing wrong with the charges, which were breach and assault, both aggravated by religious prejudice.
The jury convicted of breach, but deleted the part about religious prejudice.
They acquited on the assault charge.
They could have convicted on assault and deleted the part about religious prejudice.
The jury knew exactly what they were doing.
LiviBhoy
I think uncertainty regarding their future affects the way our players perform.
It’s ridiculous to try and create a conveyor belt of players who see themselves being picked off any time in the next 12 months.
The buy/sell model should be based on a 3-5 yr period, not 1-2 years.
Why are we desperate to claw in every penny so quickly and shun the small gambles of CL progress?
It might seem like a small point, but it is contributing to concerns throughout the club – along with other things.
Quick bucks? Or part of a long term plan?
This is where we meet – we hope for the latter, but not at the expense of the future of our young supporters.
BRTH,
Been out all morning and just read back your very informative contribution about VOD. Hope to Ghod that Celtic are in on this.
Said a wee prayer, too, for your father. Sr Rita and the others there do wonderful work.
Auldheid
A cryptic response.
Thanks for that.
FFM – I’m the only conspiracy theorist in the village)
If Celtic have a bid of over £8m for a player it is more than 4 times what we can hope to gain from winning the league title.
Any other club in Europe would find it hard to knock back an offer of 4 times what they are earning for winning the league title.
In an English clubs case that would be a bid of over £240m for one player.
That is the unfortunate reality of what we are dealing with.
LB
Minx1888
Said a wee prayer for your special intention.
Best wishes.
Joe F…..
Said a wee prayer for Mary!
She sounds like a lovely lady.
LiviBhoy,
We risked £20-25M this season to bank c£10M.
We could have been confident enough to make more.
My point is that a confident, familiar team will work wonders, particularly at CP.
With all due respect, I think you’ve been caught up in this financial “let’s make money to progress” myth that is spilling out from CP over the heids of the 70,000 rozzers sent there to contain us….
I also would like to re-emphasize my point about players that have left us to play in England.
Where did we assume that they chose to play there to “progress their careers” by moving from Celtic to, er Norwich etc..?
Why is no one asking the question, “well, what did you offer them in the contract, Peter?”.