At around 13:16 tomorrow afternoon Fraser Forster will hopefully break the 40-year record of Aberdeen’s Bobby Clark for not conceding a goal in Scottish league football. Clark’s record is next up for the Celtic keeper but the British and European records are not too far away.
Apart from Celtic Park itself there would be no better place to break this record than at Tynecastle, but the most important part of the day is to secure a win. Concede early but win the game and we have done our job. Break the record and leave pointless and we will have nothing to celebrate.
Clarity has never been a prominent feature when it comes to the analysis of football finances. 2012 threw up a slew of ‘experts’, practically all of whom swallowed lines from PR people instead of explaining HMRC’s published rules on voting for or against Company Voluntary Arrangements.
Journalists were briefed on HMRC’s intentions, which filtered to the ‘experts’, soon this PR version of events was accepted an a reality. The same was going on inside football. One journalist called me back then to dispute my challenge to his assertion that Celtic would have vote to allow Newco Rangers into the SPL, and that the SPL itself was absolutely certain to vote them “back” (sic.). Celtic were never going to that way and by then the SPL tide had turned.
It was not in Celtic’s interests to have Newco parachuted into top flight football, which has become clear in the subsequent years, although many in Scotland, including a sizeable chunk of the Celtic support, thought otherwise, and that the club would vote in favour.
It was, therefore, refreshing to watch BBC Reporting Scotland last night without the 2012 flops. A new expert was found to ask the pertinent question, a £1.5m loan is fine for a short-term fix but what about the enormous long-term problems?
Many thanks to everyone who participated in the CQteN Dream Team. We have now passed the 125 team target, which has triggered a £1000 donation from a longstanding CQN’er, who is a shining example of what Celtic is all about.
The Dream Team is your chance to select your team from those who have played 10 or more games during the CQN decade.
Select 11 players in either a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation; you’ll need a goalkeeper, two full backs, two central defenders, 3 or 4 midfielders and 2 or 3 forwards. You also need to select a manager from the decade.
The team judged as the strongest will be announced at the CQteN St Patrick’s Dinner on 14 March. The event is open to bloggers and lurkers but you can only enter ONCE. Closing date is 3pm, Sunday 9 March. There will be prizes!!
For a comprehensive list of players who are eligible for selection, see CRC’s comment here. Email your entry to Doc here, and remember to include a manager: doccqten@gmail.com
If you would like to read the new CQN Magazine, GO HERE to read properly, and for FREE, the graphic below is just a taster.
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what absolute shite to suggest the gb are run by the UNI csc or JF to a political agenda.
provide proof or cease with your absolute nonsense.
Sammi,is oan the Bench.
Why?
Diz that mean that he is gonna Re-sign?
Bad noos,chaps.. Bad Noos.
Ah thought that we wur gonna Get rid o’ Him..
At Last.
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Probably our strongest team today.
No excuses bhoys – clean sheet – 3 pts please – I live here!
Tallybhoy
Charlie Mulgrew better than both, in my arrogant and confident opinion.
TBB
it was not for me an inability to cook a piece of fish and staff who felt they were more important than the customer bored me.I could forgive the fish more so as I know the fella who cooked it is no longer there but the staff attitude comes from the top and will not change.
eddieinkirkmichael
There is one other thing that has just struck me and should be an alarm bell for all.
Can you recall any instances in GB politics (excluding the six counties) when religion has been an issue, a fear factor ?
I’m sure there will be of course, but it’s a central issue that will be of import in any independence debate. It will be a factor in many things should we go it alone.
How sad.
Kayal33
Cause he’s too good for the stand!
HH
tonydonnelly67 11:50 on 22 February, 2014
Not sure what you think I was trying.
Just an observation.
!!bada bing!!
11:42 on 22 February, 2014
Ally McCoist is on his way to scout Brighton & Hove Albion before they meet in the Scottish Cup
………………………………….
I heard Sleekit was away yo scout the West Brom game :-))
kitalba
11:49 on
22 February, 2014
macjay:
If you didn’t want to talk about it then why post “game, set, and match”?
—————————————————————————————————————–
Sorry,Kit.
Misunderstanding.
I post what I feel needs to be said in defence of Celtic when I feel we are under threat.
I know where you stand and you know where I stand.
What`s the point in boring repetition?
Neg Anon
You Say The GB ur no at War Wi Celtic.
Ah say
The ur..
Wait a minute.. Ah didnae mean that..
Let’s dae it ,wance mair..
Ah say the Celtic ur No Are War ,wi the G.B.
You, say that they Ur.
(Still,no right,pal.. ed)
Hmmmmmmm
Ah goata thing aboot this..
Don’t go Away.. Ah wull be back
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Like the starting 11.
4-0 the Hoops.
HH!!
Gold Coast:
Yes, I realise CEOs don’t generally broadcast their business’ imminent demise.
That in fact, is my point.
By making such a big deal about the negotiations for a possible 1.5 million investment, actually confirms the fact that the business is rooked.
Apologies
I thought I’d read it on the thread that they had sent their apologies!. Must be an age thing……
TD you would be surprised at my general positivity in many things and my ability to laugh at everything. It doesn’t suit your agenda though and you are scared to engage your brain in general so I will leave you to spin around endlessly hating your fellow celtic supporters
___________________________
I have never used the word hate on here concerning anyone, your tripping mate, you sound like Staley Unwin on crack. http://youtu.be/8T-AYKo_ygk
Murdoch, McGrain and Larsson,
Got your mail and replied re Blackpool CSC
HH
Macjay:
I don’t know, what is the point in boring repetition bearing in mind I only posted in response to your post. But if you don’t mind, can you prove to me that the Green Brigade are Celtic Trust puppets?
3-0 Selik today.
Griffiths to notch a brace,Anto the bridesmaid today with the other goal.
As I said macjay I’m taking a break from arguing for the period of the match. However in a final response to your post at 11.49, firstly Celtic have made a lot more from The Green Brigade than what it has cost them on fines. Secondly though I do support The Green Brigade, I accept they have made serious errors in judgement. Celtic are my Club too, I don’t want to see the Club losing money either by fines or by empty terraces. I believe an “honest broker” could hammer out an acceptable compromise, where we can have the colour and vibrancy that The Green Brigade brings without the fines.
Brilliant sunny day along the Fylde coast, pity about the wind though.
Has the team been announced yet?
3-1 the hoops today.
I’m off to pick up ton Che Dan for the fitba ✊
Really really disappointing responses to questions at recent select few meeting.
Get your head oot the sand Celtic PLC, you are obviously not listening or taking head to what is going on around you, with regards your own fan base
Hugely frustrated after reading that
Hail hail
Talk of great Celtic defenders from the past . I give you maybe the most unsung hero in the Lisbon Lions -John Clark – the brush . Quietly efficient ,a great reader of the game , he could be hard when he had to be but he was also a polished passer of the ball. Cant remember him scoring a goal though.
NegAnon2
11:48 on
22 February, 2014
My last remaining hope is that celtic realised they have made massive errors and were learning. But the complacent responses are not encouraging. We need to hope guys like Auldheid can help us improve things.
—————————————————————————————————————
Any risk that the G.B. will admit their errors?
Can`t see it myself.
Buenas noches and best wishes to the Ukrainian people.
kitalba
12:00 on
22 February, 2014
Macjay:
I don’t know, what is the point in boring repetition bearing in mind I only posted in response to your post. But if you don’t mind, can you prove to me that the Green Brigade are Celtic Trust puppets?
———————————————————————————————————
No.
Just passing through to say…
________________________
ryecatcher
11:33 on 22 February, 2014
Thinking back to the days when I followed Celtic everywhere…..70s /80s…..I can’t think of even one set of away fans who were particularly welcoming in Scotland.Even Hibs were every bit as scummy as their city’s Ugly Sisters.
____________________________________________
Exactly amigo.
Although….I was in amongst the Hibbee’s fans at the
SCF replay v’s the huns at Hamdump in 1979 and, there
were a guid few Celtic scarves on view as well. It was the
2nd replay and, me and a few fellow Tims from Blantyre
were made more than welcome. Also…about 30 mins into
the game, a few Hibs ghirls came in late as, the tunstyles
shut and they were made to wait outside until sumdy opened
them again. unluckily for them…some ‘stragler’ huns were ootside
and gave the ghirls a ‘kicking’ dirty bassas of the highest order. imho
Hail Hail n C’mon the Sellic the day.
corkcelt- supporting the dam 5
11:31 on 22 February, 2014,
Spat my can out when I read that and I’m sure TD did too ;-)
bamboo, Your post at 12.04 awoke the statistical gremlin in me. I looked it up, in a total of 242 games of which 182 were for The Celtic, John scored 1 goal and yes it was for Celtic.
WDH
Happily, I had an entirely contrary experience. The service was unobtrusive, prompt and attentive.
Foodwise: I had the braised beef which was bang on the money. Those who had the grilled bream were beaming.
Maybe give him a second chance.
TBB
The Battered Bunnet
Whit’s Bream?
n.. Wid Ah like it?
Kojo
Still,Laughin
Good Morning.
It will come as no surprise to many of you that I have the occasional chat with Auldheid.
At a fairly recent meeting, poor old Morrisey 23rd expressed his — well hatred is the wrong word as is confusion but the correct word lies somewhere between the two — because Hugh is forced to sit and listen and occasionally he gets a word in edgeways while Pat and I gab at a furious rate of knots.
Anyway, I read Auldheid’s post at 02:39 and then the minutes from the meeting with the board, fans reps, supporters clubs and so on.
I have also read the comments up till now.
I have no doubt that the board of Celtic PLC do their earnest best to protect and further what they see as the aims and fabric of Celtic Football Club. However, they perform that function in exactly the order i have written them — protect and further —- as opposed to further and protect.
If you look at many of the most successful and proactive companies in the world, you will see that one of the reasons that those companies are so progressive is because of…… YOUTH!
The entire internet revolution is inspired by youth and new technology which changes the boundaries within which “traditional” businesses do business.
Equally, many of those same businesses are referred to collectively as part of SOCIAL media, or the electronic ENTERTAINMENT business.
Now, here are three bold words which require a business to run them.
CELTIC FOOTBALL CLUB.
Again I ask which of those three words is most important?
The answer, for me at least, is CLUB.
There is a club, which plays football, and it is called Celtic.
Without the notion of CLUB, there is no business for any PLC to run, invest in, buy or sell assets for, create income for and so on.
CLUB — is all important in this business and the word CLUB has no significant social or even commercial value if it does not mean PEOPLE or MEMBERS.
The Board of Celtic Football Club can build and develop all around the Celtic triangle till the cows come home– but unless what and how they build it is attractive to the “club” then all they are building is a white elephant!
Buildings — Hotels, pubs, cinemas, museums, etc — all cost money and immediately mean overheads — maintenance, security, rates, electricity, gas, insurance and so on. They also need staffed and stocked. The only way you make money from any such buildings are if they are rented out and even then the tenant will only pay the rent if they are making money from the people who go there to spend on meals, tickets, rooms or what have you. If they don’t spend the building will eventually sit empty— costing someone money!
So–Why would people go there — to this new Shangri La Celtic triangle?
Well you go to a cinema to see a good movie, to a restaurant for a nice meal, to the pub because it is a good pub or because it is in a good location or handy for an attraction — although that then means the success of your pub is fatally linked to how popular the attraction is.
The point here is that balance sheets, the value of bricks and mortar, and all the other headings you get in a standard set of business accounts does not tell you the story of a football club and certainly not THIS football club– which to a very large extent is about people.
Accountants, lawyers and business types have standard practices which they follow when they go about their daily business of protecting and furthering any business.
Entrepreneurs and Creatives have a completely different mindset — they are much more concerned about the result — the asthetic, the social response, the wow factor, the feelgood experiences flowing from both themselves and the customer — than they are about the balance sheet.
The same goes for the philanthropist, the charity worker and dare I say it the saint.
Balance sheets are not their concern — though they cannot be ignored completely for obvious reasons.
It is when you marry these two mindsets successfully that you get a business and a social phenomenon.
Celtic Football Club has a database of some 700,000 people. That is a far more significant statistic than any number of shareholders or season ticket holders.
700,000 people paying £1/week to the club for something gives you an annual income of £36,400,000. That is turnover that is different to season ticket sales or existing merchandise revenue or advertising — though I admit these would be affected by proper “club” income — possibly for the better.
What kind of club would you want to join for £1 per week?
What could a club give you for £1 per week.
No one would expect to get a season ticket for £1 per week, nor I suspect a TV subscription.
Would you be happy with a strip?
Or an annual meal for two at Celtic Park?
How about a quarterly magazine?
Or just about any other physical thing you can think of?
Or how about just being treated as a member of the club??
A member? Now what does a member look like, or sound like?
Well in this day and age membership does not need to be physical, local, or even commercial.
It can be virtual, international, charitable and most of all social.
The minutes from the meeting seem very defensive, very formal, very rigid — yet when I have attended meetings at Celtic park about anything the actual people do not come across that way– so why are the minutes and perhaps the actions of the board that way?
Take a look at the “Motherwell” issue.
Damage to seats at any ground should never be tolerated. If a spectator damages a seat then they should pay for the damage unless there was something wrong with the seat. Deliberate damage to another’s property should result in a ban. If someone rents a holiday house then they are responsible for breakages — so it should be with a seat in a football ground.
Yet, an examination of the minutes reveals that so many people were suspended for some reason, and then reinstated because the Police did not charge them! So — why were they they suspended in the first place, what would have happened had they been charged, tried and acquitted, and where in that whole sequence of events did the idea of those people being “members” of the club kick in — if at all?
The whole thing looks as if it has been mishandled and that the club were afraid of reaction from the police and so jettisoned the interests of the club members to make sure there was no adverse reaction from the police.
Is that a fair interpretation of events?
I spent years dealing with the Police acting in a licensing and administrative capacity and there is a way to deal with such a body — politely, cordially, resourcefully, firmly and at all times maintaining a good relationship with them whilst at the same time occasionally challenging their views and actions and sometimes simply refusing to go down a certain line or following their requests.
On those occasions, you argue the law knowing full well that Police Scotland are just as subject to the rule of law as you are.
The business of the board is absolutely people dependent — and to engage with people in the 21st century still means meeting them, understanding them, talking to them ( not at them — though there is always a place for talking at an audience ) and listening to them — two ears and one mouth are not accidental proportions!
Auldheid asks about TV rights.
By 2017 there will be 1.7Billion broadcasters in the world — all broadcasting on the internet. These will range from large traditional broadcasters, through business of every size, down to kids broadcasting from their bedroom,
This year, of all internet connected devices sold — 87% will be mobile and 28% of all internet traffic came from Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Of the mobile phone traffic– in 2013 50% was video — the single biggest use of the smartphone is to carry video — not phonecalls, not texts.
Yet that volume as you can see has plenty of room for improvement and growth, plenty of room for business — think of the branding and advertising opportunities that goes with the clever use of mobile technology?
Not only that, you are about to see the introduction of mobile hubs — strategically placed units which will identify your phone and send you information (text, video, audio) which you are likely to be interested in —– scores, goals, substitutions as they happen, signings, interviews, articles whatever — the kind of thing you might just pay £1 per week for if you felt like being a member!
But you won’t want to be a member if the people running the “club” do not engage with you, are not seen to engage with you, are not perceived as being on your side, or one of you, are not approachable and are not part of the club itself but are more like wardens or lifeguards who will blow their whistle and wave a finger if you make too much of a splash in the pool.
The business of Celtic PLC is in Celtic Football Club and its “members” and the modern technology is there to connect to that membership like never before whilst at the same time offering the club fantastic financial opportunities which any Board PLC cannot afford to ignore.
80% of all the clubs in the English Premier League have nothing like the potential commercial pull that Celtic Football Club has. Spread the net over Europe and the figures get higher still.
The only thing that holds Celtic back is the regulation of broadcasting AND the collective league agreement that in part specifies that broadcasting rights are to be a league or association concern.
The internet, in many respects, does away with that situation in reality, because Celtic can broadcast their club — their membership, the merchandise, their games, their hospitality, the uniqueness, history, romance and all that should be a key asset of the club ( though never mentioned in any set of accounts ) to anyone with a connected device — and they can do that without the consent of anyone at all!
Yes the club should build the triangle and the hotels and the bars. It should create a destinational museum with all the interaction there is ( The Camp Nou museum has more interactive screens than anything else and utilises all the club’s digital assets ), it should have a huge shop which you have to pass through to get to the ticket outlet and oh so many more things that the “traditional” conservative business person would think to build.
BUT
It should also exploit the digital age for commercial and social purposes with the intention of putting the word “Celtic” on the lips of as many people as possible– grow the brand, expand the market, create an image — all the buzz words—- but in so doing speak to and LISTEN to the club members — the ordinary Joes, the people who have Celtic at their core and in their daily lives and don’t make them feel like outsiders staring in, or people who have to don a shirt and tie just to have a word with one of the “officials” of the Club.
Don’t ignore the economic effect of the “feelgood factor”, the asthetic, the emotion of those who follow Celtic Football Club — and the only real way to do that — heading up the developed buildings, the use of the net and all that technology, and all the social structure that spreads from pole to pole and can connect you to all those folk who might just pay the £1 per week — is to build up and maintain a bloody good football team who plays great football on the park which takes the breath away and makes you leap out of the seat.
Do that — and if you have the right business types on the board– and more importantly in your club — and the rest will follow.
The club is very proud of the fact that it is one of the very few who have been awarded “Investor in People” status.
That is a great phrase —- but does anyone actually stop and think about what it could mean and what the results would be if you did it properly?
HH
BRTH
No Excuses
11:44 on 22 February, 2014
If Celtic park is still the place where players are judged on their football alone , Tony Watt is surely our starting number 9 for next season.
_______________________________________
I think you may well be right there.
It takes a lot of courage on both sides, to be so bold to send a kid to Belgium.
fingerscrossed.csc
Any kind soul point me to the answers to the Forum questions?
Blantyre Tim
I hope all is well with yer ‘Grand Ole family’ and
that ye don’t work too hard the day :)
God Bless Ye Fella
Gold Coast Tom – YNWA
Off oot.
Jobo Baldie 08:57 on 22 February, 2014
Good morning friends from a damp but brightish East Kilbride.
Really looking forward to this lunchtime’s encounter and hoping that we start with the same front 6 as last week.
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Jobo’s happy!!
Petec – CSC
Hail Hail n KTF
Off oot this time…..laters
corkcelt
I thought he must have got a goal at sometime in such a high scoring team . Apart from JC and Ronnie Simpson all the rest knew the way to goal. Even the dentist ,the other JC scored a few.
John Clark played 284 games for Celtic and scored 3 goals in competitive matches.
HH!!
The Battered Bunnet Guide is a series of annual guide books published by the TBB company for more than one hundred years. The term normally refers to the TBB Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant reference guide, which awards Bunnet stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a Bunnet can have dramatic effects on the success of a restaurant. The Battered Bunnet also publishes a series of general guides to countries.