When Juventus scored in the opening minutes in the away leg of their last 16 Champions League tie last night it felt familiar. It’s just three years since you and I saw them in person do the same thing at the same stage of the competition.
It took Bayern Munich 70 minutes to rebound but we’ve not really recovered from a lapses in a tie which could otherwise have been far closer than the five goal margin it turned into. Getting back onto the same field with the likes of Juventus after Christmas (or even after August) is now the big challenge. It will take some doing.
I liked Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as a player but as a Usurper of Meritocracy he’s falling well down my list. He celebrated both teams after last night’s game before asking how long Uefa would countenance teams like Juventus exiting the competition at this stage? Not only would he like clubs like his get guaranteed entrance to the competition, he feels that elimination in March should is too harsh a consequence for losing.
I’m sure Rummenigge was being deliberately absurd last night. He’s trying to provoke alarm before playing his hand.
John Clark, on Scottish Football Monitor, attended SFA chief executive Stewart Regan’s presentation at Edinburgh University yesterday on values and integrity in football. Mr Clark questioned Mr Regan on whether Rangers failure to pay overdue social taxes in 2011 broke Uefa competition eligibility rules. Clark informs us Regan said he would do “Nothing” if incontrovertible evidence was available that social taxes were unpaid and that debt collectors had been employed.
We have a criminal lack of oversight in Scotland, not just in football. This attitude would not be possible in London.
The spirit of Jack Warner, Sepp Blatter and so many others is alive and well at Hampden. This is what we’re up against, and remember people, Blame the Victim is the hottest game in town, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the background, anyone can play.
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Ned Daly…25 years old.
What a man he was.
HH
Andrew Jennings was the man who stood up to Blatter and Warner. Pity he didn’t investigate the corruption in Scottish football.
Regan was a placeman put in by Murray to run SFA for huns. shed debt.. carry on as before. Celtic do nothing to get rid of him. I will never be back at parkhead until DD and PL are gone and we stand up to corruption.
Dallas was proven as a bigot and a cheat. he got promoted!
Why the heck does St. Patrick’s Day have to occur during Lent? I’m well on the way to completing my first ever alcohol-free Lent but today I am being tempted by a thousand Devils.
My utmost respect to those who have to negotiate their way through life with every day having to be alcohol-free.
Paul – direct question to you.
Why are Celtic not formally taking this up with UEFA?
Why are they leaving it to shareholders?
Do you know the answer to these questions?
And I’m not looking for “…because, in their estimation, this is the best course of action…”.
Why are they NOT officially serving notice, in writing, to UEFA that they have clear evidence of wrongdoing by our national association, and that they require UEFA to investigate?
Why are they not doing this?
If the ‘time-barred’ rules described recently are accurate – only 14 days left for Lawwell to ignore / deflect / obfuscate, then he is in the clear.
HH
BGFC
LAWWELL OUT !!!
weebobbycollins on 17th March 2016 1:36 pm
TET @ 12.37…the person who had the balls to stand up to Blatter and Warner was the fat, cowardly Chuck Blazer who only did it to save his own cowardly skin
*absolutely but only after the FBI went after him. God bless Loretta Lynch a native of North Carolina who probably never went tae a fitba game in her life but fought corruption in all positions she served in.
John James.
James.
Regan’s Reformation & Revisionism
John Clark, who contributes to The Scottish Football Monitor, followed up his formal meeting with Alan McRae and Darryl Broadfoot with an impromptu meeting with Stewart Regan. The occasion was a lunch time presentation at Edinburgh University where Mr Regan was a guest speaker to an assembled crowd of 60 students. Mr Regan evidently thought he was on safe ground. Oxford university have a reputation for inviting football legends, such as Diego Maradona, to address them and engage in a Q&A. Surely yesterday’s presentation would be a walk in the park?
Mr Regan, who is a legend in his lunchtime, chose to recycle an old Powerpoint presentation on former Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish’s reforms, prior to seamlessly presenting on UEFA and FIFA reforms. The theme was reformation. If he could have found a way to have incorporated Martin Luther in his presentation, I posit that the students in attendance would not have been surprised.
Mr Regan opined on values, integrity, transparency and the governance issues at UEFA & FIFA. The SFA executive was in fine form. The audience were eating from his hands. If he had delivered his speech in The Meadows, which is a short walk from Potter Row, he probably could have envisaged that the students would gather daisies to create a makeshift Lei as a token of their appreciation. However there was a snake in the grass. Mr Clark, who asked the first question, stated that the SFA had problems with its own governance. He stated that UEFA had been misled, either intentionally or by incompetence, apropos Rangers social tax indebtedness, and as a result the member club had been granted a UEFA licence that they were not entitled to.
The host of the presentation, Professor Grant, noting Mr Regan’s discomfiture, interjected by stating that the question should be interpreted through the prism of Rangers/Celtic rivalry. This is the academic euphemism for ‘Rangers Hating.’
However Mr Clark deftly dismissed Mr Grant’s objection handling techniques by stating:
“It was not a Rangers/Celtic matter. I invite Mr Regan to state categorically that RFC was not in debt to HMRC at the UEFA deadline date.”
Mr Regan, regaining his composure, replied that the matter was complex, and with a smile to the audience, he stated that the West of Scotland raised particular problems. As I know from my experience presenting to audiences of up to 250 delegates, the last resort of objection-handling is an invitation to take the matter offline. Mr Regan invited Mr Clark to keep his powder dry until after the presentation. Mr Clark waited patiently for the students to ask the anticipated academic questions and for Professor Grant to conclude the two hour meeting by leading the audience in the applause.
Mr Clark then approached Mr Regan, who was accompanied by an SFA assistant, to repeat the question. Mr Regan stated:
“The SFA had met the requirement of UEFA Article 66 and that the club, at that time, had been in negotiation with HMRC.”
Readers of my site will recall that Mr Regan wrote to Craig Whyte’s board seeking permission to release this statement to the press. Mr Whyte told him in no uncertain terms to spike it as he was digging a hole for both parties. When he later met with Regan at Hotel Du Vin, he almost certainly informed him of the impending administration. Mr Whyte referred to this as ‘matters of more import.’ The UEFA licence was the least of their concerns.
Mr Clark refuted Mr Regan’s assertion:
“No, in fact, the club was actually in debt in respect of social taxes. The SFA were derelict in their duty, intentionally or otherwise. If I were to provide incontrovertible evidence that the club was actually owing money to HMRC, and that the debt collectors had been in, what would you do?”
Mr Regan’s response, as Chief Executive Officer of the SFA, beggared belief. The man entrusted with Scottish football governance blithely stated he would do ‘NOTHING.’
Mr Clark stated that he would report back to his people (colleagues and readership at The Scottish Football Monitor). Mr Regan sneered:
“Who are your people? People who don’t use their real names?”
Mr Clark highlighted the fact that he had always used his real name and that he had written to UEFA using his real name, so that there would be evidence that at least someone had raised the issue before any artificial deadline.He then added that he and others who pay money to support football, are the people.
Mr Regan responded : “If you’ve made your mind up, and that’s your opinion,there’s no way I’m going to convince you.”
Mr Clark stated that it was not a matter of opinion, but of fact, and it won’t go away.
Those like Reiver who organised a petition, and those advocating a season ticket embargo, won’t galvanize Regan to act. Everyone knows about the outstanding taxes. Everyone knows the licence should not have been granted. The only issue in dispute was the 50% penalty for late payment. £2.8m was owed and never paid. Not my opinion, just a matter of fact.
When Craig Whyte sold more than three years of season tickets to acquire Rangers, the only way he could sustain the club was via UEFA group stage income. The SFA kept their part of the bargain with the 2011 licence.
From celticresearch.
Given the lack of comment from the SFA here is Stewart Regan speaking on the Res 12 matters & Club Licensing in 2013 https://t.co/9lQqzLl7Tu
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on 17th March 2016 1:47 pm
Why the heck does St. Patrick’s Day have to occur during Lent? I’m well on the way to completing my first ever alcohol-free Lent but today I am being tempted by a thousand Devils.
My utmost respect to those who have to negotiate their way through life with every day having to be alcohol-free.
*been abstaining for Lent for 44 years now. Best piece of advice I got was from my mother after getting blootered on Easter Sunday first year I did it.
She told me that in future I should wait a few weeks as all the non-believers would revel in my resuming festivities. So in later years I did and went as much as 4 months before a drink.
Incidentally didnae resume at all last year and it’s now 14 months. Feel great tae.
Rather than the fans boycotting (or whatever), why are none of the other clubs doing anything? Not just Celtic. This is about the governance of our game. Everyone knows the SFA is corrupt and blatantly favouring one club, doing all they can, bending and breaking their own rules to accommodate them. Why do Aberdeen, Hearts, Motherwell, right down to the Albion Rovers, Brechins and Montroses not challenge this situation, and demand clarity, honesty, and answers?
SFA – Corrupt to the core.
More chance of our shareholders suing Celtic,than getting anything from Regan or UEFA…
Paul67
As the custodian of this popular football blog and a respected commentator on (and influencer of) the game in Scotland: what do you think we (as stakeholders in the game here) can do to effect the necessary change to the governance of Scottish football?
And what do you think the board of Celtic PLC can do … and what should it do … ?
VIP
The Johnatron you would be best posting that on the other clubs websites/blogs and see what response you get. Of course it is better we work in tandem with each other but just because we don’t at the moment should’nt mean we do nothing. I personally will not give the SFA a “thin dime” other supporters will have their own ideas. H H Hebcelt
Blaming the victim is of course a symptom of the racism. It’s a common thing and leads to the who “they bring it on themselves” dialogue which of course serves to justify the racism itself.
I was going to ask Paul why Celtic aren’t progressing with res 12 and whether this is calling his views on the Celtic board into question but I see others have already done so.
I think for many we are now at a crossroads. If the board do not act and nothing changes then many will walk away. The only credible alternative is to begin a campaign to bring the board down. This will hurt our club but perhaps surgery will save the patient rather than us leaving the patient to die.
Do you remember when Paul said things will never be the same again? Well he was right. But we didn’t question what would be so different. The answer appears to be Celtic.
Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone!!
For those making their way to Ireland in the next few days here’s some details of what’s on in Dublin over Easter 2016.
I’ll send a mail later to all those coming over.
https://webmail.eir.ie/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en_GB&id=220387&part=2
Hail Hail
Comments from a shareholder in Celtic Football Club regarding the board & Res 12.
I bought shares at both the IPO and additional offering when shares were diluted. I spent over £2k buying them just to have them. I will be writing to Club as both a shareholder and fan. CFC board are spooked for one reason. The evidence gathered is compelling to prove the case. That evidence proves beyond doubt that the company was denied additional significant income due to the clear mismanagement/corruption of the SFA. With that evidence having been presented to them. It is the absolute responsibility for company officers to investigate to the fullest. If not, they stand accused of failing to provide proper director responsibility with regard to the company and it’s shareholders. Remember this is something that has happened on CFC board’s watch. They are also concerned at the image of the game in Scotland scaring off sponsors and tv companies if such a fraud becomes public. Uncertain how long that damage would last for and or worse case it could be irretrievably damaged. They know negotiations for commercial deals would hand upper hand to sponsors and tv companies. I am concerned that Lawwell has accepted a deal on this and CFC have or are being given some financial concessions. While back CFC got a couple of semi finals and home international matches etc. What people don’t know doesn’t hurt them is the angle Lawwell has decided to take. Before anyone goes crashing in there we have to gauge and know what waters we are sailing in first. I’m just explaining it from Lawwell’s most likely point of view and position. Scottish football presently isn’t a great commercial enterprise and attracting investors and sponsors is difficult. Lawwell will feel Res 12 becoming public will make that task even harder. Me? I couldn’t give a toss for the consequences. I am outraged at this as much as anybody. I want the perpetrators of the exercise to defraud CFC from CL income in order to aid an Ibrox Club publicly strung up and executed. This is a culmination of decades of favouritism and down right cultural bigotry towards CFC.
Motherwell have a sickness bug and might ask for game v the Sheep on Saturday to be postponed,the SFA will tell them to put the wumman’s team out…
Getting incredibly peed off trying to log in – if it isn’t leaning tower, Dave or a.n. other advert – latest is WordPress 4.2.2 is available. Please notify site administrator…….grrrrrr ☹
H.H.
NegAnon2 on 17th March 2016 2:26 pm
There’s an issue here though – what if the current board state there’s really nothing effective they can do – and it’s the truth. There’s a large element of the support that simply cannot and will not trust them. They may well gather enough support to oust the board, even if it’s detrimental to the club overall. Only for the new board to realise it was the truth all along. What then?
Can I just state that this is utterly hypothetical and not something I necessarily hold to be true. Nevertheless it’s a risk.
That said I’d like the board to come out and state why it can’t be pursued, if they genuinely feel that’s the case. If the board give us nothing to even try and believe we will inevitably believe there is a cover up in play.
TheLurkinTim on 17th March 2016 2:36 pm
Use Chrome install the Adblock Plus extension. Problem solved.
Rubbing it in.
CEO of Juve , Beppe Marotta , on the radio again – still bumping his gums re last night’s Ref..- Marotta thinks he cost Juve money and ranking points..
Reporter man couldn’t resist asking Marotta if he regretted allowing Llorente to go to Seville ( and then scoring the goal which meant that Rube were in the harder side of the draw) .That done , he then asked Marotta how it felt to watch a Juve player ( on loan at Bayern ) create a goal and score a goal v Juve..The normally verbose Marotta offered a terse – No comment – to both of those questions..
Lovely afternoon – way down south – off oot to a beach with the dogs.
Paul67
In asking my earlier questions (@ 2:21), I was influenced by my strong view that there’s finally a head of steam building up (due to the wider publicity about this) amongst the Scottish footballing community at large, regarding the scandalous lack of integrity in the governance of the game here in Scotland.
(Ironically, perhaps, the recent publicity given to the Res 12-related apparently shocking lack of openness and accountability by the custodians of our very own club has contributed to this suddenly rapid growth in interest.)
Not since the ‘fan revolt’ at the time of our football authorities trying to shoe-horn Sevco into the upper reaches of our league has there been such a groundswell of shared opinion.
Commentators such as you have both a rare platform and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help press for meaningful change to the running of our domestic game.
How about it … ?
VIP
Happy St Patricks’ Day
Absolutely incredible report of the conversation with Reagan. Not sure I have the vocabulary to fully express my disgust at his blasé attitude…..you would think that he already known the outcome…..i.e. there’s nothing any Club in the Association can do, and as for the fans, they’re an annoying irrelevance.
Fans of all clubs, who care about the governance of the game in this country, should be considering their future support if nothing is done about this shocking episode.
FTSFA
H.H.
The John 3 16 signs caused a lot of people to ask – WTF.?
Maybe a Resolution 12 campaign would have the same impact.
Same ole Celtic always cheated
Same ole Celtic always cheated
I would love it, love it, love it (c.Kevin Keegan), if Stewart Regan’s glib and shamelessly provocative assertion to SFM’s John Clark (that he’d do ‘Nothing’ even if he were presented with incontrovertible evidence of a member club’s mendacity) were his undoing …
Weeminger,
Thanks, but seems there is no ad blocker for WP…..guess I’ll just have to learn to be patient
FTSFA
H.H.
One mans liquidation is another mans financial crisis.
Jungle VIP,
Reagan has had access to incontrovertable proof and has done nothing…..and therein lies the problem
FTSFA
H.H.
WITS
Stuck my biggest ever stake on Vautour. Dublin next week paid for. Easy! :-)
Neganon,your recipe for everything is to “Hurt the club”.Someone mentioned earlier,that it may not be possible for Celtic to take the SFA to UEFA,as it is illegal,in their rules.I know this is the case in certain circumstances,but in this on,I am not sure.But it could be.Has anyone,you,even,checked this out,or is it just another arrow for your bow to whip up people to “Hurt the club”
I am not against boycotts.I was calling for one at the League Cup games at Hampden,but I will be damned,if I am going to let my team face the Hun hordes alone.Gub them,then have a massive anti SFA demo at the final,hopefully with our opponents Hibs joining in.All on National TV.You wont like this as it does not”Hurt the club”.
You keep up the rant of get PL and DD out.Who will buy DDs shares?.If he stays and PL goes,what would be the difference?.You have been asked these questions before,but although wittering on for at least a paragraph,never gave an answer.Takes me back to when the Hun support were sure there would be a line of purchasers of their club lining up to buy.How did that work out for them?.I said earlier today,I have witnessed many boards at Celtic.None really impressed me,in fact the opposite.Get rid of PL and get in another Terry Cassidy,or Jock Brown.No thanks.Get rid of DD and get a Charles Green,an Alan Sugar,no thanks.Give me names to your wonderful solutions.You like the rest of us have no idea what the future could hold.I am not happy with a lot of what this board does,but most of us have been the same with past boards.We are solvent,and in this financial climate,that is a big plus.Your ideas about hurting the club would soon put an end to that,and the only people happy,apart from you would be our mortal enemies.
Delaneys
Well done
My info a couple of weeks ago was that Vatour wouldnt run in the Gold Cup and Yorkhill was flying
Had a good bet on Yorkhill yesterday
WITS
I bookmarked your post and got Yorkhill yesterday and Vautour today. Thanks for the knowledge.
Mon the Thistlecrack!
Lurkintim said:
‘Reagan has had access to incontrovertible proof and has done nothing…..and therein lies the problem’
Indeed.
But what are we (the stakeholders) going to do about it … ?
Therein lies the answer …
VIP
Thistlecrack
Boom Boom
WITS
Brilliant stuff, two brilliant winners for you, a joy to watch
A lot of trebles riding on Limini now in the 4.50
Away from Cheltenham for the degenerate gamblers
Got word for Miracle at Medinah 5.15 Down Royal and Penny Dreadful Chelmsford 8.20
Is it merely coincidental that the “announcement” by Celtic Board on Resolution 12,and the deadline date,was in the month where no Home league games were scheduled for Celtic Park?
I dont know MachiavelliCSC