I’m a bit confused at the chat this morning of reintroducing the sale of alcohol at football games. Alcohol is available for sale at games at Celtic Park, you just need to have a ticket for an expensive enough seat. If you’re in the cheap seats, you get to queue to pay for some cola. Is people’s ability to pay an indication of their likelihood to behave in a dangerous or criminal way with some alcohol in their blood?
This implication has always troubled me.
Alcohol, wherever it is sold, inevitably leads to over-indulgence and potentially dangerous behaviour, and requires strong stewarding, whether that is at a night club, or in the No. 7 restaurant. Scotland’s licenced premises have changed beyond recognition in recent decades. They are increasingly well-lit, family friendly and safe places to be. They now sell better beer too, but our nation’s problem with alcohol remains acute.
Society needs to be educated on how to use alcohol responsibly; good venues are part of the solution.
While we are on the subject of facilities at Celtic Park……. I go months without buying food or drink in the North Stand, Upper, for good reason. Last week (pestered by one of the boys), I left for the kiosk with 40 minutes on the clock, didn’t get served until the second half started, only to be told there were no hotdogs or pies left.
You know me, I’m not one to get angry at Celtic, but the sheer frustration pushed me over the top, and I didn’t have a drink! If you’re charging circa £4 for something that’s costing less than £1, make sure stock is sufficient. Have two people serving each side of the kiosk, not two on one side, with a single person making hardly a dent on the queue at the other.
Needed to get that off my chest.
The ‘news’ this morning that Rangers International are trying to sack commercial director, Imran Ahmad, is more curious for being news than in itself. Is it even possible for this news to be anything other than a leak from a director against another director? These newspaper people don’t do irony, they just take careful notes and go write up their story.
This whole episode is beginning to feel a bit like sitting out the back when the neighbours don’t realise their bedroom window is open. You can hear the noises and you looked up and caught a glance at something horrific looking. It’s something you’ll laugh about later with your friends but these people really need to acquire some dignity.
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BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
I’ll look after you tomorrow, I’m up at 7am Sunday. ;))
Maybe we should quit drinking at 6am then.
Kenny Shiels is a mega Goodwin.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
12:51 on 26 April, 2013
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I appreciate that Bobby – Thank You.
Hail Hail
Could pre-payment chip and pin season tickets not be introduced?
I always wonder why people can’t go without eating or drinking for 90 minutes and just watch the game. Surely you can eat and drink to your heart’s content before or after the match?
Maybe it’s just me but people constantly pushing past and obscuring your view is a pain.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP, I’m at another do tomorrow….
Burghbhoy, that sounds perfectly civilised.
Mrs Googy. Close the windows that nosy pervert next door is peeping again.
BMCUWP
Bobby were are you holding the CQN convention ? might like to pop in and meet some fellow CQNers
Off out now. Thers only one Oscar Knox!!!!
H H
Had to laugh :-D
Celtic fans “coming in at the last minute”. When did that start?
Er……since forever
ScotPatsFan
Yes. I was 1st in Q. Were u 2nd?
MWD
petec
12:53 on 26 April, 2013
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I’m sorry I’ll miss ye the morRA again :(((
Bobby tried his best wi the arrangements before the – FAC Demo and, it was days later before I was on CQN again and – missed an open goal after his winklepickers picked oot a perfect pass as well too. Bummer.
There will be a next time – CSC
Htb
And they P mare!!
See if they introduce the bevvy back to the games and say limit u to 4 pints , could I use my teetotal comrades allocation, or would exceeding my limit endanger me to the wrath of Big Peter?
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
Yep
More drink = more pee = more movement.
Headtheball,
I don’t usually buy food or drink during the game, truth be told, I cannae be bothered waiting in massive queues.
Central seats will be at a premium if alcohol is allowed back in for attendees like your good self, although end seats will also be at a premium for those that would like a beer.
Win, Win with a little re-adjusting of seats? ;))
SSN – “Ally McCoist admits he has several signing targets on his radar, including Dundee United striker Jon Daly.”
KevJungle – “Walk-On” in the Jungle = Bliss
12:58 on 26 April, 2013
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No Problemo, just attend the next FAC demo. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm8th01dKrM
HH
And god bless my neighbours… They never ” hear ” a thing..
I reckon we’re the neighbours from hell..
Catering at CFC does need to move forward to the 21st Century..
MAH
pm me and I will pass on details..
Good Afternoon.
A number of years ago a group of business men of my acquaintance were considering doing some pretty chunky business with a PLC. The PLC concerned appeared to be well funded with institutional investors including HBOS and other financial bodies who had all thrown in some money to get the PLC business moving.
In turn, the PLC was in the business of part funding projects along with either individuals or companies who could also bring assets and or funds to the table.
So far- So good.
Well, these guys I knew wanted to get involved with them and participate in a joint venture which meant all the usual rigmarole of chunky documents being despatched from big respectable firms of solicitors ( who at the time were very Edinburgh based ) together with business planes and projections that were wheeled out by equally impressive accountants.
However, these were not the only people who provided the kind of investment that these businessmen were looking for, and having been to a few meetings and done some digging about I wrote to the businessmen advising that I thought they should avoid this PLC like the plague as I could not figure out how they would have any money left from what little I knew and besides I did not like the way that their “people” went about their business!
You could not see what they were doing, could not figure out what their true business model was nor see clearly how, when and why they would release the funds needed for the project at certain stages, and overall there were just to many unknowns for it to make sense to go into business with these folk at a level of millions of pounds.
For whatever reason, my advice was unheeded and the company concerned was chosen as the preferred funding partner— and of course as the funding partner they then gained a voice about how the business and the project was run.
Eventually, it became plain that they were a nightmare to deal with. They prevaricated here, did strange things there, and made no sense all over. It also became plain that whenever they signed up to a new project, their own line of funding increased via HBOS.
Well, of course, eventually the whole project floundered and those who had come to see me lost their assets and their money– and generally rued the day they chose to go down this road.
I do not say this to suggest that I am any all seeing sage– I just personally didn’t like the company that they wanted to do business with and I said so.
It would also be unfair to go on without saying that the overall bank crisis played a part in scuppering the whole project which remains derelict and unfinished to this day– a situation which was repeated up and down the country a thousand times over.
However, the purpose of this tale is to explain what happened next.
The PLC concerned was backed by the institutions and one of these– perhaps the largest investor was HBOS. HBOS is, of course, one of those institutions where the lunatics had taken over the asylum– and we are still reading about that to this day as it becomes more and more plain that the guys at the top were ego driven maniacs who have no place in banking.
However, eventually the guys at Lloyds came in and they brought with them a degree of pragmatism and the ability to solve a problem or two even if it would take some time.
The Lloyds guys looked at the PLC which mu guys had done business with and found that they did not like what they saw– they did not like it at all.— so much so that after a while they told the main director of the PLC that he had to go! They stepped in by way of their rights– they did not appoint a liquidator or an Administrator but literally exercised their “step in” rights all of which was done in private, away from the public eye and outwith the scrutiny of the courts– who oversee Administrators and Liquidators.
Lloyds then discovered that the project such as the one that my guys had was only one of thousands which had been run pathetically and wastefully– although it became clear that this had never really been discovered before because the PLC had been successful in constantly bringing on new projects and new sources of funding which covered up the fact that the company was crap at actually finishing and making money from its core business— it simply never appeared to make a profit on any individual project– and survived on blurb, positive press releases, and spin which brought in new business on the basis of the blurb that proclaimed the company was the greatest thing since sliced bread— although it clearly wasn’t.
So, the Lloyds guys binned all the Directors– kicked them all out with nice press releases that thanked them for their time and praised them for all that they had done– but which still meant adiós and don’t close the door on your way out!
That happened to all the Directors except two.
One was the main man– who was effectively retained but only in name. He was removed from his desk and took no part in the running of the business at all– but was technically kept there so that he could still be held accountable for everything that had happened from day one until the end of time.
The second was the Finance Director who, of course, had been and was responsible for all the machinations that lead to each and every project being funded and all the fundraising rounds with the institutions and others.
He may well have been excellent at his job in many ways, and may well have not been responsible for the idiocy of the project managers on each job, but at the end of the day, he was responsible for proper governance and ensuring the proper reporting on each financial project. This was a job at which he had undoubtedly failed miserably!
It may well be that the FD had been mislead by his Managing Director and by others within the company. It may well be that he had been negligent himself. It may well be that he was actually a pretty astute guy and had lost some money that he had invested. None of this mattered.
It will be years if not decades before Lloyds and the other investors get their money back if at all. They will have to work abandoned assets when the time is right to try and recoup losses over the course of years.
Meanwhile, the main Director still sends out a report each year which is prepared by his Finance Director– and it says all the right things in so far as it can— but the Managing Director gets very little money and has virtually no financial interest any more.
The FD on the other hand is well paid. So well paid that the nice bank helped him with a mortgage on a nice new house a number of years ago– a big house too— and he has all the trappings of a very successful FD– which to an extent he is.
However, he can never look at the jobs pages and consider applying for a new position because he is trapped– tied in with this business until such time as the mess is sorted out. Oh he can maybe walk away but if he does so then he has to guarantee personally certain returns and financial information for the business and it is all secured against his personal assets including the nice house and so on so he is well and truly trapped until every last penny is back in place– or at least as many pennies as the bank considers appropriate.
He cannot do walking away.
I tell you this story because eventually institutions and regulatory bodies will eventually catch up with those who want to play fast and loose with OPM— Other People’s Money. There is a reason why there is a network of regulations that surround what you can and cannot do with other people’s money.
Sometimes, it is a good thing to boot some directors out of the door– and there comes a time when some directors actually want booted out summarily so they can go on to pastures new having severed the ties with the old job.
However, sometimes, clever folk– and I mean genuinely clever folk— simply say to Financial Directors and Managing Directors who might be responsible for a complete mess– ” Sit down, take a seat till we work this all the way through, and don’t even think of leaving until we tell you to!”.
I am sure I recall a judgement from somewhere and someone which dealt with negligent directors performing their duties in the face of a crisis by saying “Doing nothing is never an option” or words to that affect.
It can be a funny old world being a Director of a PLC— especially when you are forced to stay just in case the Sh*t hits the fan— or fans as the case may be so to speak!.
Have to go
Would every CQNer attending Bobby’s do the morRA
please be on yer best behavior and appreciate the great
lengths that the Big Fella has gone to to make it all possible.
Oh, and don’t be thinking aboot me :)))
God Bless Yeez AWE and Stay Safe
Off oot.
BLANTYRE TIM
Good bhoy.
That port kicking in yet?
Do you think the LL will EVER realise that their persistent negativity towards all things Celtic actually makes us stronger and them weaker / more bitter…… The huddle should have given them a hint…!!!!!!!! ……….. Silly LL ……. WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED……
KEV J
Best behaviour?
Nae chance…..
Are you feeling better, BLANTYRE TIM……..? …….. Did PL visit you in the hopital…..? ….just kidding, you are in my thoughts…..!!!
petec
13:07 on 26 April, 2013
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I don’t know how to do the link-thing(old foggie)
So…I’ll just say – Love n Peace My Mhan.
God Bless
Off oot.
Paul,
Under staffing leading to poor quality service is endemic in the Britain’s service and retail industries.
On occasion, especially in a situation of closed checkout points, I have simply abandoned goods and left them to it.
Friesdorfer
The lessons are available anytime but don`t be expecting conversations every game. That particular “pleasure” is reserved for Title winning days 0:-)
JJ
PS If your circumstances change and you can make the shindig tomorrow, let me know. I am travelling down with Gonof Rust but coming back by train.
At long last…..made it Minx……HH !!
BRT&H
It must have been really badly-run for it not to be taken over by HBOS Reading operation….
Paul67
Good point -beer should be available to everyone over 18, or not at all.
Dear seats v cheap seats- The implication, as you rightly point out, is unacceptable!
HH
headtheball
13:02 on 26 April, 2013
Lateral…..????????
If we canny get the pies and bovril right what chance the booze
BOOTBHOY
Jee-zoh….
I near had a hearty there.
I thought your moniker was Bontyboy!
67 heaven
I rebuked his constant calls …o))
BT messaged you on FB
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 @13:09 do you remember the line in Jackie Brown when she ponders running off with the money and the bail bondsman says to her something like;
– No Jackie. Half a million dollars will always be missed. Eventually someone will come looking for it –