I know I’m not the only one who was keen on a league challenge this season, preferably from Aberdeen, not the effervescent Hamilton Accies, who made some early running. Aberdeen, of all other Scottish clubs, have the potential to push Celtic further.
That all came tumbling down during the steak pie yesterday, as I watched scores on my phone. A challenge is OK, but the temerity to go top of the league in January is something else.
Celtic had largely sorted their early season performance problems but an undeserved defeat at Dundee United and a wholly deserved point for Ross County opened the door to Aberdeen, who have threatened to get their act together for 18 months and finally appear to be delivering. The frustrating thing for Ronny Deila and his squad, is that Aberdeen will fancy their chances in all of their upcoming games, while it’s another 8 weeks before Celtic will have an opportunity to take points off them.
Some of us pondered that we need competition to sharpen wits and muscles. It’s welcome, although I may reconsider if we’re not back on top after the Aberdeen game on 28th Feb.
Anyone fretting about the prospects of Four-in-a-Row is respectfully invited to get a grip of themselves.
Neil Doncaster, what a wit*. He sat in the meeting which rejected newco Rangers’ (then Sevco Scotland’s) application to join the SPL in place of oldco Rangers, who were then on their way to liquidation.
Doncaster met Craig Whyte along with SPL chairman Ralph Topping, in London in October 2011 when Whyte laid his cards on the table – and co-opted Doncaster into selling his doomsday scenario:
‘We’re going down the lavvy, the world will end, but you two can sort it all out, let me flush the detritus and nip into the SPL as though nothing had happened.’
He even suggested the whole episode would be over and done with within three months. Doncaster was caught in the headlights, dreading having to lose a club midseason, and no doubt had genuine doomsday fears, he folded in the face of that cunning operator, Craig Whyte, and tried to sell Whyte’s plan to SPL clubs. He failed, after considerable fan pressure.
Yesterday’s interview contained nothing he didn’t say two years ago, but it’s timing raises questions over what exactly he’s doing for his salary, that an inexperienced gardener couldn’t do.
For the record: Rangers appointed a liquidator and changed their name. Sevco Scotland applied for and received conditional membership to the SFA and Scottish Football League. They received permission from Rangers administrators to use the name ‘Rangers’. The newco played its first game against Brechin City….. then oldco Rangers had their SFA membership rescinded. Oldco and Newco existed as two separate members of the SFA at the same time.
Not since the Big Man explained transubstantiation has anyone tried to sell the same story. Until Whyte and Doncaster. Explain the simultaneous memberships – and we might take you seriously, otherwise, leave that patter for off-mic. comments to eager Bears.
*edited for appropriateness.
251 Comments- Pages:
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Celtic Fc
Boom
good afternoon.
Still The Champions
Well done Starry
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers
15:43 on 2 January, 2015
THEGREENMAN
The ‘trolls’ are rapidly becoming a majority on here. And this is a site which historically has been largely pro-board.
That SHOULD set off alarms. But it won’t.
As I said us Ayrshire folk are far advanced
Ayrshire is Green and White
Celticrollercoaster supporting Shay,our bhoy wonder along the way
The years of trolling have sharpened my keyboard CRC:))
MINCEYHEIDMAN
Killie Pies are,well,BRAW.
Mibbe not up to BRAW Forfar Bridie standard,but any cops in my vicinity are safe when I’m eating one!
But if yer feeling really adventurous,try the pies from The Kandy Bar.
Bollocks,I feel like booking a bus home on the spot,mooths watterin’ so it is…
Paul 67
Do you think that Doncaster has wittingly or unwittingly opened the door to putting the same club myth to bed forever??
Cunningplan CSC
TGBS
Yes, agree. I would prefer a few development bhoys to those loanees and feel RD will do that given time. ( yes I know ;-)
Slightly different take on the press conference: I see that as an endorsement of Callum by manager and a wee test of his mettle (I expect he had a few fortifying words of wisdom before entering that bear-pit)
HH
green man
15:38 on 2 January, 2015
I didn’t actually call you a troll but ‘if the cap fits’ ……. Whatever you are, you don’t half talk some ill-informed shoite about the Famous Glasgow Celtic”s (non-corrupt) Board ……
Did it ever occur to you that he may have been persuaded to make yesterday’s statement to stop a certain taped private conversation being made public – #craigtapedeveryone :-)
BMCUWP
There are of course trolls on every site, but id say the majority who criticise PL and the PLC, are the people who are missing from CP.
Football fanatics will get upset when they feel they are being ignored.
Personally, I think if you happen to be the CEO of a massive football club like Celtic, and are rewarded handsomely for that, the you should of course be subject to criticism like everybody else.
HH
Do not agree with 99.9 per cent of what Neil McCann says but he did mention something a few weeks ago that made me think he may be onto something re James Forrest.
He said that watching him run he is like an Olympic sprinter or something similar.
Therefore he said that looking at his gate and upright stance when setting off from a standing start , that he should maybe be getting different training methods similar to sprinters.
Makes a lot of sense as explosive players are susceptible to groin and hammy strains.
Do we know if all our players do the same routine for fitness, or if some have either additional sessions apart from the keepers of course, or their own customized training?
If not then why not?
BMCUW.
The volume of smoke at West Ham v Arsenal was a surprise for me. 90 plus minutes of sitting watching fitba and you end up with your clothes stinking like you have been at a Jah Shaka v Fatman Hi Fi soundclash.
starry plough
15:47 on 2 January, 2015
Paul 67
Do you think that Doncaster has wittingly or unwittingly opened the door to putting the same club myth to bed forever??
Cunningplan CSC
——-
Yes. could see someone else putting him up to that one :-)
the green man
15:53 on 2 January, 2015
Not gutter / hunlike “criticism” …….
67Heaven
You are being particularly annoying today.
And because of that, I will just ignore you.
Unless I happen to think of something insulting while reading your posts.
I may be a lot of things, but ” ill informed” wouldn’t be one of them.
XXX
I love you too:)
HH
Very grateful Neil Doncaster may have forced Celtic to generate the first real reaction, on the absurd, same club notion. Not to mention his idiocy, in relation to insolvency the creditor’s and how he’s damaged Sevco’s chances of survival.
Anybody that didn’t know that the SFA/SPL’s view was business as usual, same club and goodnight was the mantra, must however have been living on the moon.
It was posted in 2012 on these very pages, and when Charles Green amidst his faux indignation grabbed the Division Three license, the game was already over, the cheats and bankrupts had survived, regardless of what they were called.
The rest is a continuous re enactment of more than a century of deception and fraud, with an interlude for ‘the journey’ until they are face to face fraudulent, in the top division again.
There are those that will pledge their undying love to Celtic on the Internet, but offer no reasonable workable Celtic solutions.
They’ll suggest you to distrust Celtic, call for change and boycott, when they wouldn’t for all we know ‘be there’, even if they could.
Celtic by default remain in a no win situation, the club is based upon deprivation and flourished despite it, within a demographic that hasn’t and will not change after the death of the original Rangers.
The inevitable emergence of their offspring was granted in 2012, as the world stood idly by. If Sevco die tomorrow, some of the same Celtic detractors within, will blame Celtic, because that’s what they do best.
The rest will be supporters almost all of us outwith office, or authority for the necessary change, and will be faced with the stark choice, go and see Celtic, or don’t because you don’t like the board, or the PLC, or a new club allowed in the SPL.
Wit*
*Wee Insignificant Twit
HH HNY
I collected my Milan ticket today from ticket office. Tickets sales seem to going well.
Next Wednesday for your extra ticket i was told.
I just noticed the large gold star above front entrance CP, is it just me or has that been there for some time?
green man
15:58 on 2 January, 2015
Good retort, if you ARE, indeed, a Tim. ….!!!!!!!!
67Heaven
Ask Bognorbhoy if im a Tim.
Im sure he will be delighted to tell you:)
HH
FourGreenFields
14:55
I want a more competitive league BUT I want it because other teams have raised their game to our level NOT because we have dropped down to theirs .
Downsizing is part of the reason supporters are not attending Celtic Park , whether we want to accept that or not .
———–
But they have raised their game. Aberdeen have the same number of points after 19 games as we did in both GS and NLs 3rd seasons. We won the title on both occasions. If you don’t welcome the competition from Aberdeen or United, then you’re de facto saying the only challenge can come from the Zombie Rangers. Isn’t that the opposite of what we all claimed 3 years ago. It seems that now the competition has arrived, some fans have lost their nerve.
As for downsizing, it’s simple mathematics, the fewer supporters that attend, the more ‘downsizing’ we will do. Take a look at Sevco this month for an accelerated view of what that looks like.
Paul67,
I am not worried about four in a row but I am concerned about qualifying for the CL in the summer that is why this transfer window is so important.Do you agree ? I think the game against Inter will be a good indicator of what is possible come the summer
Also I think the timing of Doncaster’s statement raises far more questions than just what he is doing for his salary. I hope but suspect it probably will that it will not be glossed over by our plc. Rory Bremner’s professional inclination will not suffice here. Again do you agree ?
HH
Paul67, while it’s easy to refute Doncasters statements, he is a *wit, but he may have made his job attracting sponsors, given he has openly stated Clubs in the league he administers can dump debt and start again without consequence, astonishing behaviour.
I wouldn’t want my product associated with an organisation headed by a man with no integrity. How could you ever trust him.
If I were doing business with any club/business associated with such a man I would want to be paid up front, no matter the individual business/Clubs reputation.
MSM are luxuriating in Doncaster’s utterances
He needs brought to book for this nonsense …he is accountable ….will we make him so
Well worth a wee look if anyone could do with a laugh…..
Courtesy of…..
weet weet weet(GBWO)
08:25 on
2 January, 2015
Just in
CQN 5 a sides
http://youtu.be/Spjx7L7Jpow
HH
I’m not fretting about 4 in a row. Just a bit concerned. We need to get out act together quickly. I expect us to make a statement on Monday at Kilmarnock. If we don’t, then i think Ronny Deila will find out what being the Celtic manager is all about.
Paul67;
Instead of wit* you could’ve wrote “what a Richard”, then again your way we can all choose our own word to add.
I am glad to see Aberdeen putting in a title challenge, they could make a good claim to have suffered the most from rangers(IL) exploits, cheating them of their place at the top of the Scottish game, and plundering their team of the best players.
The way things are moving things look good for the National team and the current group of Scottish youth coming through the ranks within the SPFL. Things seem to be heading back to where they were before rangers mucked* up the game in Scotland.
We have lost ground to the English Premiership over this time but I often wonder.., had we had good competition and held our own European competitions we might have got on to the crest of the surf that was TV deals and sponsorship when they were pouring into the game we might have had and sustained a better product – Thats just my thoughts on things.
* wanted to use another word ;)
67Heaven,
That will be the trolls who go to Celtic Park on a regular basis that have watched the team being weakened by our illustrious CEO over the last 6 transfer windows. At this rate there will be 20k season tickets sold next season.
We have a cost cutting CEO downsizing all aspects of the club except his package. We have a CEO who has too much power. He decides who comes and goes at Celtic ; Strachan, Lenny and Delia have all experienced that.
We also have a CEO who has done more in the last 3 years to sanitize the Celtic support by aiding and abetting young Celtic fans ending up with a criminal record.
We also have a CEO who sits on the SFA Board and is party to all the efforts to help a dead club back asap.
Now you may be happy to have such a person lead the club ; however there are plenty who do not.
We are sick of this one guy running Celtic from top to bottom. The last time anybody challenged was John Reid and he helped secure the investment to deliver Strachans 3 in a row. That would never have happened under a Lawwell.
Under Lawwell the downsizing will continue. We will be weaker at end of Jan because of Lawwell. Inter will beat us home and away…easily. We will win the league but fail in CL qualifiers..even with £30M BT money. That will be £50M Lawwell has blow with his poor decision making. Europa League may even to much of a stretch as VIrgil will be long gone by then and the replacement will be a low cost project.
Lawwell must be desperate for Sevco to come up or version 3 as without them you can close the top tier for all league games.
There is some good news….Lawwell will make his bonus again and hits the £10M mark in compensation for taking Celtic to its weakest position in 10 years.
I need to go to the sales and look for some green tinted spectacles or can I borrow yours.
Paul67
Happy New Year to you and the family.
Doc@16:08
good post agree with you 100%
sunny calmachie
15:18 on
2 January, 2015
I am personally expecting a lot of positive news about Sevco, and a lot of bad news about all things Celtic, from now until we play them,
as always, every dirty gutter press tactic possible,
Just stay on here.Alot more negativity about Celtic than you will find in the SMSM.
Fact.
Paul67,
Hope you are well and had a great NY.
As we are now into 2015, do I detect a slight change in your view towards RD, and an increase in concern that we may not be top of the league by cop on 28th Feb?
Made his job of attracting sponsors more difficult.
There is some thinking and reasoning behind sleekit Donkeys utterings what they are is the question.
If he is not called to account by the SPFL clubs am I to accept that they agree with his statement, as someone said yesterday the gloves are of and wee funny quips wont suffice (for me anyway0 A line in the sand moment for me.