Celtic’s Annual General Meeting took place at Celtic Park today as the club and shareholders reflected on a year in which the Scottish Premiership trophy was secured for the 10th season in 11. Chairman, Ian Bankier (70) confirmed his decision to step down as at the end of next month, 11 years after replacing John Reid in the job. An announcement on his replacement will be made to the stock market before then.
The most illuminating part of the day was Celtic FC Foundation chief exec., Tony Hamilton, explaining the work your Foundation has done in the past year and has planned for the difficult winter months ahead. The Foundation continues to feed, educate, aid those in need of medical assistance and help those struggling in poverty. Whatever happens on the park at Celtic, the Foundation is your proudest boast.
Ange Postecoglou pinned his familiar colours to the mast. If we are to reach the highest levels of European football, we will not do so playing defensively in the Champions League. It is an admiral conviction and Ange had more than enough affection to carry this or any other room full of Celtic supporters. Other outcomes are possible.
It was not overtly clear to the room, but much of Celtic’s planning in recent times has been to be in the right place when Uefa change the Champions League in 2024. Next season’s competition will feature the last of the Group Stages, a status that has occupied our hopes and dreams for so many years.
Instead, an open draw from 36 teams will see participants play four home games and four away, all against different sides. Getting into this 36 team contest and remaining is a huge objective for the club.
Chief executive, Michael Nicholson spoke to on-going stadium developments. The new sports bar opened recently in the Jock Stein Stand, which will help fans who travel from distance in particular. Lots more work is needed here. We have a fine 20th century stadium but the more Celtic fans travel to great European stadiums and come back with tales of extravagances, like catering facilities you can reach during halftime, handtowels in the toilets throughout the day, merchandise outlets you can spend money at, from the largest seating area at the group, the more we will realise there is work to be done.
Fan liaison chief, John Paul Taylor spoke about the fight he led (although he took no credit for it) against the regime at Glasgow City Council, who planned to impose a 1m parking exclusion zone around Celtic Park on match days. This would have displaced the nearest drivers to park 1m away, while many would be forced multiples of this distance.
It was a beyond crazy idea that only a local government/Holyrood/Westminster politician could have suggested.
Chief Financial Officer, Chris McKay dived into the numbers, indicating some significant relief that the years without fans were behind us. He and former chief executive, Peter Lawwell, had a significant influence on the new Uefa Financial Fair Play regulations. An understated indication of the soft power the club has amassed in the game in recent years.
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GGH 3.07
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AIPPLE on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 2:45 PM
We made it to Friday!
Breeders Cup in Kentucky this weekend Big Jimmy. Perhaps the greatest horse to ever run over here, Flightline is the overwhelming favourite. Goes off in green silks white white hoops on the arms.
Life Is Good at 6-1 the only horse that will perhaps to make a race of it.
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Aipple – Stick 25cents on Seabiscuit for me please and I will send a postal order.
Cheers
D :)
DENIABHOY
No change from how it’s worked out now, really. An extra place from the champions qualifying route might mean we have fewer rounds to get through if Scotland loses an automatic place.
CELTIC40ME – I think the least Peter Lawell’s influence should have achieved was a maximum of one qualifier if you have previously won the Big Cup and a minimum of three rounds if you haven’t won it . . . :)
AIPPLE on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 2:45 PM
………….
Some of the Yankee Racing will be shown on ITV3 Tonight ( Friday)…and again Tomorrow, I assume ?
Ooops…I shouldn’t say Yankee when in KENTUCKY.
HH Mate.
DENIABHOY on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 3:31 PM
He vetoed that, worried it might put us too far ahead of them.
I am struggling with how the 36 teams with each having 8 games can actually work.
Arithmeticallly how can it ?
And will it be an actual full league table format ?
I have to go research.
Bigrailroadblues
😁😁
GREENPINATA on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 8:15 AM
A fine post.
DAVID66 at 3:19PM re: Seabiscuit
For you friend? I’ll stick on 2 folding dollars!
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BIG JIMMY at 3:36PM re: Yankee racing
That’s cool they are showing it over there. It’s a big deal over here in KY.
Have got myself in trouble once or twice calling folks ‘yanks!’
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotrail-strikes-suspended-as-staff-enter-new-negotiations-over-pay-deal?utm_source=app
Aipple- 😂
Good luck if you have a wee flutter.
Hail Hail
D :)
Here is a story that appeared in Alicante Today a Daily Newspaper on 1/11/22:
https://alicantetoday.com/40_celtic_fans_kicked_off_spanish_train_for_causing_1_hour_delay_with_antisocial_behaviour_1875371-a.html
Just totally denigrated those fans by using “hooligans” right at the start of the article.
Haven’t even tried to get the other side of the story.
Does anyone know anybody who was on that train or is anyone on here involved?
They’ve just used Police sources to confirm this, nothing from Staff on the train or passengers.
Would be great to contradict this so maybe somebody on the train who can say what happened would be advantageous in helping to do so.
Of course, it may have happened the way they state, but, surely, especially in Spain, only using the Police source to confirm what went on is highly suspicious, por cierto
Shitebags on the Board yet again, re the serious assault on a Celtic employee, they must be waiting for the SFA to deal with it……..what’s that Skippy?….
“DENIABHOY on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 11:55 AM
` someone once said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”`
I don`t know if anyone on here wants us to do `the same thing`. What about `playing the same way but taking our chances` ?
`A suggestion of playing more defensively will see you burnt at the stake as a heretic . .” `
I know you don`t meant that literally but it is still a bit over the top. Some supporters ( and I am one of them) like watching our team play the way they currently are and believe , if we continue in the same manner,that a positive outcome is likely.
`Most seem content to see us taking a hiding as long as we keep playing open and attacking football and creating a load of chances that go a begging.`
I don`t think `most` are content at all that chances go a begging. Maybe more accurate to say that `we` believe we will eventually start putting more away if we continue to create the chances. ie keep playing in the same style as we are at the moment.
Hot Smoked – I was writing in response to St Tams who was at the game and said if we play the same way, with the same players we can expect the same results. I agree with him and thought the quote, normally attributed to Einstein, hits that on the nail.
If we had better players, who knows, maybe we’d get some more points on the board.
Ange absolutely deserves the chance to improve the team over the next couple of seasons and hopefully then we’ll see better results.
As far as being burnt at the stake, maybe not. How about a custard pie in the face?
Or even hits the nail on the head.
AIPPLE on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 2:45 PM
We made it to Friday!
Breeders Cup in Kentucky this weekend Big Jimmy. Perhaps the greatest horse to ever run over here, Flightline is the overwhelming favourite. Goes off in green silks white white hoops on the arms.
Life Is Good at 6-1 the only horse that will perhaps to make a race of it.
……………………
Ive just had the WINNER of the 1st Race at Keeneland…..” Business Model” WON at odds of 9/1.
Good start to the Racing in the USA !
HH Mate.
I think we might have been addressed by one of the oldest Celtic supporters at the AGM. He actually saw Jimmy McGrory playing in 1937.
Right, signing off, time to take my boy to his basketball game. Have a great Friday evening,
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 4:20 PM
Ffs. D66
Were you not supposed tae be @ work tday ?
Deniabhoy
Missed your reply as I was in the shower.
If by the `same way` you mean exactly the same way ( which is what Einstein meant), then sure, same results. But my main point was ( and is ) what about playing the same way BUT TAKING MORE OF OUR CHANCES?
David66 work? A likely story.
BTW, I like the fact the the bold Albert has `Stein` in his name :-))
Anyway, must go.
Cheerio for now.
whit, no celtic , ffs.
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How will they decide the fixtures?
UEFA is expected to create four pots of nine teams, almost certainly based upon the five-year club coefficient. Each team will play two teams from each pot (one home, one away) to create an eight-match fixture list of roughly equal strength.
More “big matches” are created by the teams in the top pots being drawn against each other, which wasn’t possible under the current system.
For instance, the teams in Pot 1 would draw two other clubs from Pot 1, 2, 3 and 4. Teams from the same association still cannot play each other in the group stage.
This is how the seeding pots would look, based on a 36-team Champions League intake using the new system and last season’s final league tables.
Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Lille, Sporting CP, Real Madrid
Pot 2: Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, Ajax
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, RB Leipzig, FC Salzburg, Benfica, Atalanta, Zenit St Petersburg, Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv
Pot 4: Dinamo Zagreb, Club Brugge, Young Boys, Leicester City, AC Milan, Real Sociedad, Malmo, VfL Wolfsburg, Sheriff Tiraspol
So, Premier League champions Manchester City could have a “Swiss Model” fixture list of: Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, FC Salzburg, Young Boys, Sheriff Tiraspol.
So who goes through to the knockout rounds?
The top eight go directly through to the round of 16 and will be seeded in the draw. Clubs placed 9th to 24th will go into two-legged playoffs, with the winners going through as unseeded teams and the losers going out. There will be no dropdown of teams into the Europa League knockout rounds as of 2024-25. Clubs ranked 25th to 36th will be eliminated from Europe immediately.
It means the team ranked 24th in the group stage, only good enough for an unseeded place in Europa League under the current system, could actually go on to be European champions.
The competition then returns to the traditional format from the round of 16 onwards.
I’m sure PL said about 4 or 5 years ago at the agm that a new main stand would cost up to 40 or 50 million.
Nicholson today quoted 100m. If this is the rate of construction inflation we’ll never get there.
I get that the priority spending (as he rightly said) is on the team, but I can’t help think that between building costs rising, and a substantial lack of income generated from modern facilities, we’re not trying hard enough here. The main stand is dilapidated. I recently looked at new stadiums and upgrades being carried out in Europe (YouTube) and many clubs without our potential are not holding back.
I think Michael Nicholson exaggerated the costs to stop any debate there and then.
One of the better AGMs though.
“Build the cafe, they will come”. Almore, standing freezing at CQN corner. 😂
ADI_DASSLER NOT FOR 2ND BEST on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 4:30 PM
PARKHEADCUMSALFORD on 4TH NOVEMBER 2022 4:20 PM
Ffs. D66
Were you not supposed tae be @ work tday ?
——-
Adi – Shhhhhhh.
You going to get to watch game tomorrow from your trip?
D :)
BRRB – Slanderous accusations.
Me and work.
D :)
Down the auld Renton later with the grandson for a game.
D :)
D66…Yes @ dubai CSC @ MCGETTIGANS
BLAKEY
I was seated in the south-west corner of the Jock Stein Stand, right next to the South Stand — a favour for a mate — for the recent 2-1 victory over Motherwell.
Apart from the restricted view caused by the pillar at either end of the stand, I had a look at the roof of the South Stand which extends over the south-west corner of the JS Stand. It is mainly a perspex covering allowing extra light. The perspex is absolutely filthy with grime and looks dreadful.
Even if they can’t afford to rebuild the stand, surely they can keep it clean and well-maintained.
It appears that Big Cammy Vickers was training WITH the squad Today.
HH to CCV.
AIPPLE…
Ive got TWO Winners out of the 1st Three Races at KEENELAND.
Both on the same line at Odds of 9/1 and 11/10 ( Early Odds)
Two more to come in the 4th and 5th Races on that SAME Line…with other selections in the 6th Race onwards on separate line.
HH Mate.
Rebuilding the Main Stand: Board-penny wise, pound foolish?
As someone who sits in the North Stand, the facilities there need to be improved too.
Pretty slick AGM. Some decent questions…apart from the guy complaining about how loud a drum was, Ange was a joy to behold, total leader of men.
The new Sports Bar looks great
BIG JIMMY
Love it! Keep it going. I have spent many a fine day at Keeneland. It’s also one of the most scenic settings for a racetrack I have seen.