Celtic 1-0 Inverness

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Joe Ledley scored the only goal of the game as Celtic restored their four point lead at the top of the SPL but although the visitors didn’t force a save from Fraser Forster this was a tight encounter for most of the afternoon.

The opening minutes firmly belonged to Celtic.  Georgios Samaras had a first minute shot deflected wide and Victor Wanyama headed narrowly over from the resultant Charlie Mulgrew corner kick.  Inverness’ first venture up-field forced Mulgrew into an important interception on the edge of the area to deny Nick Ross.

The best move of the game resulted in the only goal.  Gary Hooper combined with Adam Matthews before James Forrest collected wide on the left.  The winger raced forward and fired the ball across the face of goal for Joe Ledley to meet it at the back post and knock the ball home.  Back post runs have been particularly profitable for Ledley this season.

Four minutes later Charlie Mulgrew worked the goalkeeper with a free kick from just outside the angle of the box but Ryan Esson turned the ball over.

At half time Celtic could have reflected that despite enjoying the vast majority of possession their lead remained narrow; twin strikers Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper didn’t have much of an opening.

Early in the second half referee McLean had his first major decision of the day when Richie Foran wrestled Scott Brown to the ground, after play at stopped, with an arm around Brown’s neck.  The incident deserved a yellow card but Foran was already booked and the ref took no action.  Five minutes later Daniel Majstorovic ambled towards a ball played over his head but Inverness striker Jonny Hayes flew past the Celtic defender forcing Majstorovic into a sliding tackle five yards from his box.  Despite making clear contact with the ball, and no protests from Hayes, who continued to chase, the assistant referee indicated to the ref McLean that Majstorovic fouled.  McLean showed the Swedish central defender, who was the last man, a straight red card.

Inverness pressed forward and forced Celtic to defend deeply but the visitors were unable to create a genuine chance.  On 73 minutes an Adam Matthews free kick from near the corner flag was cutback to Ki, who mishit his shot, which appeared to be going out for a throw in but Georgios Samaras chased the lost cause with some effect.

Catching the ball on the line Samaras spun and darted past Williams, who, already on a yellow card, bundled the Celtic striker off the field.  The referee, perhaps mindful of his earlier trigger-happy moment with Majstorovic and failure to punish Foran, gave Williams a second yellow.

Back on an equal man-count Celtic were never again put under pressure although Hayes caught the defence napping to latch onto a 40 yard pass but fired over.

Jinky Samaras could have wrapped up the points late on with a mazy run but he was unable to convert.

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  1. celticrollercoaster says In Neil we trust on

    Well done Taggsybhoy

     

     

    a fine pop quiz and a great effort from you and your family tonight. Total respect.

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

  2. Margaret McGill on

    No wonder he doesnt like the Green Brigade or free speech.

     

    I wonder what the rest of them think????

     

    Like I dont know already.

     

     

    Lord Reid (the heed), former new Labour enforcer, chose the recent debate on electoral registration and reform to ask: “Is the minister aware that the best protection against misuse or fraud on cyber issues is biometric protection?”.

     

    The one-time home, health, defence and Northern Ireland secretary went on: “It is…about protection of the individual.” But he forgot to mention that in his case it was also about plugging the biometric wares of his employer, G4S.

     

    The UK security giant put Reid, now a director, on the payroll at 50k pounds back in 2008 when he was a back bench MP. As G4S says: “A card can be duplicated or stolen, but a unique physiological characteristic cannot. ” Or as Reid told his fellow peers: “With identification by your own iris or fingerprints, no one else can pretend to be you.”

     

    G4s must have been delighted.

     

     

    Its good to see that the Celtic bored associate themselves with those who endeavour to protect the individual.

  3. Ps I fully accept my chronic lack of interviewing skills ;-) Thankfully JP comes across very well indeed

     

     

    hh

     

     

    bjmac

  4. bjmac

     

    great interview

     

    and very good to meet the Kano team today

     

    wonderful job !

     

    and 3pts into the bargain

     

    :)

     

    TC

  5. Sixteen roads to Golgotha on

    antrimkev says:

     

    12 February, 2012 at 01:56

     

     

    No doubt about it our kid.

     

     

    Do ye go on to oddschecker atall? There is a cracker wee promotion on it now – Skybet,Hills and Ladbrokes.Depends on how heavy ya bet,but there is 180 quid worth of free bets available.

     

     

    Even if yer just a 10 or 20 squid man – they will match ur bets up to 50quid. Just means that ye can have a punt,and if yer bet is beat ya get another dig at it.Not encouraging anybody to gamble,but if you do like a punt,take whatever those greedy bookies are offering.

     

     

    Have yer horsey,football bet or whatever – if it wins,it wins – then take yer free bet – and then just close yer account,if you so wish.2 chances of making a profit.

     

     

    Gone.

  6. Setanta Australia showed the Dunfermline v Rangers game last night. They did not show the Celtic game; instead they advertised a Celtic v Rangers game and what do we get to watch… Aberdeen v Rangers. Setanta Australia have previous on this.

     

     

    Aulheid is away on holiday in the Caribbean I think. He is still enthusiastic in seeing a Global Celtic Supporters Membership Scheme introduced. Celtic are warm to the idea and would like any Celtic Supporter, domiciled in Scotland or anywhere who has an opinion as to what the membership should include, or not, to send them your thoughts. You could do this by sending any ideas you may have to Auldheid or if you would like a copy of the recent survey conducted by Celtic I’d be happy to send you the link via e-mail.

     

     

    There are heaps of clubs with membership schemes but very few of them has the potential to be truely ‘global’. Manchester United and Barcelona could arguably be the two with the most structured and mutually beneficial organisations.

     

     

    They vie with each other to be ‘global’ top dog.

     

     

    We don’t have such a scheme yet but we do have an extensive and diverse fan base which is a starting point if only we could organise to begin to compete with the ‘big’ clubs. One thing is for sure, if we don’t make a start we will never know how big we could be.

     

     

    I’ve got my own opinions of what such a membership scheme should deliver and promote but it is not my ideas that Celtic is interested in… it is yours.

  7. Margaret McGill on

    punkrockbhoy says:

     

    12 February, 2012 at 02:28

     

    yw

     

     

    kitalba says:

     

    12 February, 2012 at 03:43

     

    does auldheid advertise his email address?

  8. Margaret McGill,

     

     

    No but I could put you in touch if you wanted. Either that or you could ask our host to forward your e-mail to him.

  9. .

     

     

    “Samaras is involved in the incident that gets one of my players sent off again. I’m not blaming him, I’m just saying he was involved in the incident. You can draw your own conclusions from that,” the Inverness manager declared.

     

     

    Aye right Tel..

     

     

    Summa

  10. summa tel just a big beelin bluenose . whos team could not stop the big green machine even with 14 men, hail hail

  11. Whyte wash

     

     

    Richard Wilson Sports writer, The Herald.

     

     

    The accusations continue to gather around Craig Whyte.

     

     

    On Friday, the day after former chairman Alastair Johnston called for the Insolvency Service to investigate Whyte’s takeover of Rangers, Sheriff Nigel Ross described the businessman’s evidence during a court dispute with a roofing firm as “wholly unreliable”. It is nine months since Whyte completed his purchase of the club for £1 from Sir David Murray, but he remains an aloof figure, defined by pledges that cannot be verified and a clutter of legal disputes, unpaid bills and inept transfer dealings.

     

     

    THE TICKET DEAL

     

     

    Whyte continues to insist that the £24.4 million borrowed from Ticketus against future season ticket sales was not used to clear the £18m owed to Lloyds Bank when he purchased the club. Yet he also previously denied that any money had been borrowed at all against season ticket sales.

     

     

    When he took over at Ibrox, he stated he would invest £5m per season for five years in the team, but an estimate of the summer transfer dealings suggests that Rangers earned around £5.45m from the sale of Madjid Bougherra and payments due on deals involving Charlie Adam, Danny Wilson, Pedro Mendes and Kevin Thomson, while the outgoings were around £5.2m on the signings of six players and fees owing for the Nikica Jelavic and James Beattie transfers.

     

     

    The MIssing millions

     

     

    Whyte claims that £33m was lodged in an account in November 2010 to fund the Rangers deal, and that the club currently faces a £10m revenue shortfall each year with running costs at £3.5m a month. If the Ticketus money is for day-to-day operations, then why was Jelavic sold at an undervalued £6m to Everton on the final day of the transfer window?

     

     

    It has been reported that the £24.4m was deposited in a client account of Collyer Bristow, the law firm Whyte used during the takeover. The chairman insisted during a minuted meeting with a supporters’ group that the Ticketus money eventually went into Rangers accounts.

     

     

    The club have also missed two deadlines – one by the Plus Stock Exchange and one declared by Whyte himself – to publish audited accounts.

     

     

    The Tax issue

     

     

    The expectation is that a judgment will be delivered in the tax dispute with HMRC over £49m in taxes and penalties next month or, at the latest, in April. The sense is of an embattled situation, with Whyte an enigmatic figure at the centre. He does not convince, either as a saviour of Rangers nor as a businessman with the financial resources to fund the rebirth of the club.

     

     

    The insolvency service

     

     

    If the Intelligence and Enforcement Directorate of the Insolvency Service were to launch the investigation that Johnston has called for, it would be a further inconvenience. The government body has the power to scrutinise the finances of businesses whether they are insolvent or still actively trading.

     

     

    “The Insolvency Service tend to look at matters of public interest,” says a financial expert. “The objective is often to go to court to present a petition to appoint a liquidator with the sole purpose of closing [a company] down. Then of course, if the liquidator finds any wrongdoing he will report that to the Crown Office.

     

     

    “They also look at people’s history and the circumstances, and say, ‘should this company be continuing and should this guy be continuing as a director, do we need to investigate as a matter of public interest?’ That can lead to civil or criminal matters.”

     

     

    There has been a lack of transparency about the takeover deal, Whyte’s personal wealth and how Rangers are currently being funded. The owner would argue that he need only reveal information in the club’s annual accounts, but they remain unpublished. In the meantime, Rangers supporters are left confused about the club’s circumstances and Whyte’s intentions. Any Insolvency Service investigation would be painstakingly thorough, and might also take too long to complete when the tax case verdict is looming, but one potential outcome could be the appointment of a liquidator.

     

     

    “At the moment, there’s no proof of anything, so it’s just noises,” the financial source said. “If it is a public interest matter, what could happen is a petition for the appointment of liquidators.

     

     

    “But they could also look at the potential HMRC debt, the history of the present directors, and present a petition to appoint a liquidator to take control of the company, in which case HMRC would have a big say because they would probably be the major creditor. But the club will be overtaken by other events before it reaches that stage.”

     

     

    What next?

     

     

    If Rangers lose the tax case, administration seems the most likely outcome. To exit administration, a majority of the club’s creditors would need to accept a dividend on their debt, at a time when HMRC are keen to take a hard line on football clubs.

     

     

    If an agreement cannot be reached, Rangers would be liquidated. As the secured creditor, Whyte would then be in a position to accept ownership of the stadium, the training ground and any remaining assets – the players and other staff – in lieu of his debt. By setting up a new company, and applying for membership of the SFA and the SPL, Whyte could then, conceivably, own a debt-free Rangers.

     

     

    Yet all the possibilities remain only theories. Since his emergence, Whyte has created only questions and doubts, leaving an uncertainty shrouding the club’s future.

  12. Why tax case casts long shadow over Rangers and beyond

     

     

    By ANDREW SMITH The Scotsman Published on Sunday 12 February 2012 03:36

     

     

    CASH flow issues, a tax tribunal and questions over funding sources have given rise to all manner of conjecture over the future of Rangers under Craig Whyte. Here we look at the three possible outcomes. None of them offers much comfort to followers of the Ibrox club.

     

     

    Scenario 1. Rangers win tax tribunal over the use of employee benefits trusts (EBTs) and manage their cashflow successfully.

     

     

    This is the best possible scenario but would depend on so many elements coming together in Whyte’s favour. In the recently concluded tribunal, which is expected to produce a decision in the next three weeks, HMRC’s case centred on there being documentary evidence the Ibrox club operated their EBTs in a manner that modified the scheme from being about tax avoidance to tax evasion. Instead of EBTs being paid on a discretionary basis, as would prevent them being subject to PAYE or NIC, they are understood to have been written into the regular salaries of players, and officials. That could leave Rangers subject to unpaid taxes of up to £35 million, plus penalties in the region of £14m.

     

     

    However, even before this potential tax bomb has hit, Rangers have appeared to be running into problems with creditors. “It never looks good for a company when they starting delaying to the last minute all transactions and [it] suggests underlying issues with their cost base that might only be resolved by administration,” said one insolvency expert.

     

     

    Those who want to believe Whyte has a cunning plan have suggested his determination to take in money – whether that be from transfers or his controversial securitisation of future season ticket sales – is a sign he is attempting to hunker down and weather the financial storm caused by the need to plug a £10m hole in annual funding of the club.

     

     

    Consequences

     

     

    Even in the unlikely event administration could be staved off, Whyte would still require to embark on a painful period of cost-cutting that would inevitably diminish Rangers’ on-field competitiveness.

     

     

    Scenario 2. Rangers lose tax tribunal but are ordered to pay only around £15m and enter administration.

     

     

    Ibrox sources, perhaps thinking wishfully, have been saying privately that the amount they may need to pay back to HMRC might be closer to £15m than £49m. “These tribunals take so long because there are such complexities about how the rules were, or should have been, interpreted on such schemes,” said the insolvency expert. “There won’t necessarily be a blanket decision that says all Rangers EBTs were ‘bad’, or alternatively that Rangers didn’t underpay any taxes. They could well win on some points and lose on others, so how much the final sum due might be could vary greatly. And the matter of calculating penalties is notoriously difficult.”

     

     

    Whyte has talked about the need for Rangers to start afresh. Even a lesser tax bill would require him to stem the club’s haemorrhaging of money because even £15m is a sum that could trigger administration. The Ibrox hierarchy is said to have been preparing for that eventuality for some time. “Administration allows you to freeze your liabilities and gives you a time period to take stock and work out how you move forward,” the insolvency expert said.

     

     

    In his takeover, Whyte essentially bought Rangers’ £18m debt from Lloyds and parked it in his company, then called Wavetower but now The Rangers FC Group Ltd. By doing so, he secured himself the position of preferred creditor status in the event of bankruptcy.

     

     

    That can only be a chip to play if supportive creditors cover 75 per cent of Rangers’ liabilities. To come out of administration to satisfy the football authorities, a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) would have to be obtained. That is when creditors agree to take a pence-in-the-pound portion of what they are owed. HMRC has a policy to vote against CVAs, so debts owed to those who would vote for a CVA would have to be three times what HMRC were owed. This becomes complicated by the £24m owed to Ticketus, which Whyte says has been underwritten by another of his companies. “It is impossible to know how all this could pan out for Rangers but exiting administration could be the real difficulty for them,” the insolvency expert said.

     

     

    Consequences

     

     

    As well as cuts even more savage than those outlined in the first case, Rangers would automatically be docked ten points from the Scottish Premier League. It is unlikely they could meet the SFA licensing criteria and so they could not compete in Europe next year.

     

     

    Scenario 3. Rangers lose the tax tribunal and face a bill in the region of £49m and go down the pre-pack administration route.

     

     

    If HMRC becomes Rangers’ main creditor to the tune of £49m, the club as we know it are frankly stuffed. The only end game then would be their liquidation. They can, though, strike pre-emptively. Before liquidation becomes reality Whyte can effectively agree to transfer all assets – players, stadium and training ground – from Rangers FC to The Rangers FC Group Ltd and form a ‘new-co’ or phoenix company. Creditors can whistle.

     

     

    “I see this as the most likely outcome,” said the insolvency expert. “It is perfectly legal, but brutal and so often the poor tax payers are the losers. However, thousands of companies carry out pre-pack administrations each year.”

     

     

    Consequence

     

     

    Cataclysmic for the entire Scottish game, potentially. It would be unprecedented for a football club in Scotland to take the new-co path. It is expected Rangers would do it quickly if they thought they were out of the league race, negating the impact of a ten-point penalty. Assets can be transferred in a matter of days and if Rangers made the move this season, the insolvency expert says it would present the SPL with a major headache. “Rangers could risk doing the pre-pack without knowing for sure the SPL would allow them to transfer their league share from the ‘old’ Rangers to the ‘new’ Rangers. They could risk it because if the league didn’t, the whole season would be destroyed, with all results involving Rangers having to be wiped or become 3-0 defeats and TV and sponsors deals having to be recalculated. It would be a nightmare, and to know just how much the SPL would want to avoid it, look at their efforts to keep Gretna going to the final day of the season four years ago,” said the insolvency expert.

     

     

    It is a decision for the six-strong SPL board “on which basis the transfer of a league share” is allowed. Even if there are no set rules governing a new-co, by rights a new Rangers should apply for SFA and SFL membership and join the Third Division. Yet there is an inter-dependency among SPL clubs, and a reliance on the four Old Firm games per season believed to be worth 30 per cent of central revenues. It is so great that the SPL board would be unlikely to destabilise the league by preventing the new Rangers taking the place of the current club.

     

     

    However, to prevent other SPL clubs following this Whyte blueprint, sanctions beyond the ten-point penalty would have to be placed on the phoenix company. It has been suggested that Celtic would press for the new Rangers to be docked 15 points for the next three seasons. That probably would still allow the Ibrox club to claim second place. Therefore, other clubs would demand central monies being distributed more evenly.

     

     

    In addition, the new Rangers would be prevented from playing European football for three years by UEFA, which has strict rules on new-cos, to stop clubs benefiting from the ‘financial doping’ that has become a crusade for president Michel Platini.

     

     

    “It couldn’t be just a ten-point penalty for a new-co because if Rangers lose the tax case it will amount to them playing players they couldn’t afford and costing Celtic titles and other clubs television money,” the insolvency expert said. “Yet even ten points for the first season and 15 points for the three following seasons is unlikely to stop other clubs looking to clean up their balance sheets, and maybe that is no bad thing.” Hearts, for one, could follow suit, and who knows beyond that.

  13. Threadybares are running on empty

     

     

    By Tam Cowan on Feb 11, The SundayMail

     

     

    At Fir Park last Saturday, poor old Morton got a right good humping. Is that what they mean by the romance of the Cup?

     

     

    The mighty Motherwell won 6-0 and the Greenock punters must be relieved Ton boss Allan Moore parked the bus – otherwise they might have got a doing.

     

     

    Yep, that was wee Allan’s pre-match plan – to park the bus. Unfortunately, it appears he got his missus to do it.

     

     

    Park the bus? Stevie Wonder could have driven a double-decker through the heart of a Morton defence that was at sixes and sevens.

     

     

    Motherwell scored six but I’d have preferred seven as that’s the magic number required to get your score in letters on the BBC vidiprinter – 6 is 6, but 7 is seven.

     

     

    Actually, if I’m being greedy, I wanted Motherwell to hit double figures.

     

     

    Don’t get me wrong, 6-0 is hardly a sacking offence for wee Stuart McCall, but how many neutrals could we have attracted to the next game at Fir Park if, after hitting five in the first half, we’d kept the foot on the gas and scored 10?

     

     

    It was definitely a sore one for the poor Morton fans but I’m going to salute the 1500 Greenock punters as the greatest fans in the country.

     

     

    How else can you describe this merry bunch who, with Motherwell leading 5-0, started shouting “Ole!” every time their players strung three passes together?

     

     

    Anyone who’s read The Hans Christian Andersen Book of Football will know Celtic took 800,000 fans to Seville, while half a million Rangers diehards travelled to Manchester in 2008.

     

     

    But listen, please don’t believe that tosh about the Old Firm having the best supporters in the world.

     

     

    They don’t even have the best supporters in Scotland.

     

     

    The Celtic fans famously deserted their club in its hour of need pre-McCann when the AVERAGE attendance at Parkhead was 11,000 (or 11,001 if you include the fox).

     

     

    And what happened to the Rangers supporters last Sunday? Had 30,000 of them been sold in the transfer window? At a time when the club really needed their support (aka money), only 16,000 stumped up for the Dundee United game.

     

     

    And Craig Whyte says he doesn’t fear a season-ticket boycott? How come, wee man?

     

     

    As last Sunday proved, season ticket-holders have already turned their back on the club. What’s going to happen to the Rangers fans if/when the club plunges into administration? Hopefully they’ll take a leaf out of our book.

     

     

    When the Eartha Kitt hit the fan at Motherwell in April 2002 the supporters rallied round. We packed out Rugby Park for our first game after the announcement. At Fir Park, season ticket-holders who could afford it kept the vouchers in their pocket and paid cash at the gate.

     

     

    And we even famously donated our long-sleeved replica jerseys when the team was running low on kit for a chilly cup tie at Arbroath.

     

     

    Can Rangers FC count on the same sort of support? These are incredibly tough times for the Ibrox club – Hamilton reader Bob McFarlane reckons their new nickname should be the Threadybares – but I believe Rangers can still win the SPL title. Then again, I also believe Daniel Cousin turned down £20,000 a week to sit on the bench at Birmingham.

     

     

    Daniel Cousin? With Rangers skating on thin ice, they’d have been better off with Robin Cousins?

     

    PS. Juan Ortiz has announced he intends to return to Ibrox when his loan spell at his former club ends. Never rains but it pours, eh?

  14. 001:

     

     

    My connection is very erratic at best at the moment too, and Setanta put on a Huns double, Bummer. It sounds like Celtic dug deep for the three points and that is both pleasing and encouraging.

  15. Sixteen roads to Golgotha on

    The Celtic fans famously deserted their club in its hour of need pre-McCann when the AVERAGE attendance at Parkhead was 11,000 (or 11,001 if you include the fox).

     

     

    :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

     

     

    Lies.

     

     

     

    I detest that fat,obnoxious,bigoted mess.

     

     

    It’s about time he was taken to task,for once and for all.

     

     

    One last thing – If that toad is a “Motherwell” fan – then I am an Australian-based billionaire.

     

     

    Over and out.

  16. Was it October 2011 Rangers banned the BBC from Ibrox?

     

    Was it November 2011 the ban was relaxed so Rangers, playing in the cup, could take the BBC coin in good faith and grace?

     

     

    Well the huns are now out of all cup competitions that they entered this year so maybe it’s time to….

     

    Rangers bans BBC from press conference

     

     

     

    Published on Sunday 12 February 2012 The Scotsman

     

     

    THE row between the BBC and the Rangers owner Craig Whyte escalated yesterday when the club banned the state broadcaster from recording a post-match press conference.

     

     

    Rangers had already withdrawn co-operation from the BBC after what the club claimed were “repeated difficulties” over its treatment at the hands of the broadcaster.

     

     

    Until yesterday the club had allowed the BBC to attend post-match press conferences, which are normally open to all accredited media, but had not provided interviews with players or the manager.

     

     

    After the club’s 4-1 victory over Dunfermline Athletic, listeners to Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme heard BBC reporter Chris McLaughlin state that a Rangers press officer had stopped him recording. A witness said: “He was asked to remove his microphone and the conference carried on.”

     

     

    The dispute with the BBC follows an apology over the way the broadcaster edited manager Ally McCoist’s remarks about sectarianism, a documentary focusing on club owner Whyte’s financial history and allegations that the club’s owner had lied in a court case about his financial dealings. Last week, Whyte denied the allegations and accused the BBC of conducting a “witch-hunt.”

     

     

    Meanwhile, the Crown Office said last night that it would “consider the Sheriff’s findings” after Whyte was described on Friday by a judge as giving “wholly unreliable” evidence at a civil trial over unpaid bills.

     

     

    Sheriff Nigel Ross said he could not decide whether Whyte had lied or had been forgetful in the witness box during a legal row with a roofing firm owned by Albion Rovers manager Paul Martin.

     

     

    His testimony before Glasgow Sheriff Court was “contradicted by virtually every other piece of evidence”.

     

     

    Whyte was ordered to pay £86,000 plus eight per cent interest.

     

     

    In a statement on the court case yesterday, the Crown Office said: “We will consider the Sheriff’s findings.”

     

     

    Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer and whatever you do, don’t swing your handbag in anger at your establishment benefactors. London is watching.

  17. merseycelt loves Neil Lennon and the Green Brigade but despises the anti irish/catholic bigotry inherent within the organisations who constitute the scottish establishment on

    Tricoloured Ribbon says:

     

    11 February, 2012 at 23:41

     

     

    Gordon 64

     

     

    Since I was a wee boy have always have had a great feeling for Everton.

     

     

    My son is at Uni there and has been at 3 Everton games in the last 5 weeks wae a Celtic tracksuit on and greeted brilliantly.

     

     

    The old hardcore Liverpool support,and before anybody takes me to task are Orange to the core.

     

     

    Times have changed I know but the Orange Lodge is still strong in Liverpool and their allegiance is to them not Rangers.

     

     

    —–

     

     

    Ok! Let’s nip this in the bud.

     

     

    Yes, we all know of Liverpool and Everton’s historical associations.

     

     

    Yes, there is a Ludge in Liverpool and a couple of Orange walks. But the people who are associated with this activity are generally regarded as the neanderthal retards that they are. And they are very small in number.

     

     

    Liverpool is a city (yes, 16 Roads, a proper city, whatever that is! You felt free last night to list what classifies, and what doesn’t, in your esteemed view, without saying why. Pure nonsense!) which was and continues to be very welcoming to the people of the Irish diaspora (unlike Glasgow, my hometown, btw).

     

     

    And, as for the fans, both sets of supporters overwhelmingly favour us over thems and, many, from a point of view of knowledge and understanding!

     

     

    Dont get me started about scousers. I feel a lot more comfortable and safer supporting Celtic down here than I ever did in the sectarian cesspit which is Glasgow!

     

     

    Get your own house in order before you start spouting claptrap!

     

     

    HH

  18. kitalba says:

     

    12 February, 2012 at 04:59

     

     

    There was a sentence from the Herald report that jumped out at me …. :-

     

    The Insolvency Service…….“At the moment, there’s no proof of anything, so it’s just noises,” the financial source said. “If it is a public interest matter, what could happen is a petition for the appointment of liquidators.

     

    “But they could also look at the potential HMRC debt, the history of the present directors, and present a petition to appoint a liquidator to take control of the company, in which case HMRC would have a big say because they would probably be the major creditor. But the club will be overtaken by other events before it reaches that stage.”

     

     

    If the report is factually correct then it would appear that Alastair Johston’s move to get the Insolvency service involved was a clever device to deny Whyte as it could lead to HRMC becoming the ‘MAJOR CREDITOR’. Johnson must be really peeved and obviously works on the principle of never give a sucker an even break.

  19. murdochbhoy says:

     

    12 February, 2012 at 07:14

     

     

    Mate to be honest I try and keep up but most of what is going on is beyond my comprehension. I have been told that the City of London Police is still sniffing and that criminal charges are not to be ruled out. I’ll wait and see. Will the people who know where the skeletons hide be willing to stop the back-stabbing and confront their responsibilities and justice? I doubt it.

     

     

    With in-fighting, a toxic can of worms has been opened and now, in February 2012, the media, for whatever reason, are no longer looking the other way. I wonder why.

     

    Is the writing now 200 feet high on the wall?

     

     

    All I want at the end of it is appropriate punishment and a level playing field for every team in Scotland. Sometimes I think that is a forlorn hope and I’m not qualified or educated enough to make a prediction.

     

    It will be a crying shame and a social and national disgrace if they are allowed to emerge ‘cleansed’, unhindered and smirking five stars at a token slap on the wrist.

  20. The city of Liverpool?

     

     

    I first went there in the mid 80’s for the Grand National 3 day meeting. I went to my hotel, was having a drink at the bar awaiting the rest of my mates, and as soon as I spoke, a local enquired as to the reason for my visit, had I been before etc. As the rest of the group joined us, fairly evenly split between the hoops and the thread bears, the local fella who by now had a few more mates with him, offered to take us all out and show us around the area.

     

     

    We had a brilliant night. I have lost count of the number of times I have visited Liverpool since then, but in all those visits, I have been treated brilliantly by anyone I have encountered, regardless if they were a blue, a red and those with no football interest.

     

     

    I take as you find, and I have found nothing but heart warming kindness. I love the place.

  21. When you stop and think about it, did the Sun’s employees really believe they could behave that way forever, with impunity from authority?

     

     

    There comes a day when everybody has to answer for his/her deeds.

     

     

    In the case of HMRC v Rangers, if it does go to appeal, regardless of whom wins, in which country would the appeal be heard?

     

     

    Hopefully England, I would imagine that all at Ibrox would be more comfortable with their case being reviewed by an impartial, unprejudiced body as opposed another Edinburgh Jury type.

     

    Alastair Johnston the schooled albatross that Ranger’s dare not kill?

  22. kitalba :

     

     

    I’m a bit like yourself with most of the machinations of the Rangers demise beyond me, I’m sure we all share the same sentiment in we wish for justice and that those that deserve the biggest comeuppance get it in spades.