Motherwell fought tenaciously for most of the game at Celtic Park this afternoon but a momentary lapse was all that Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper needed to settle the contest. Celtic moved an astonishing 23 points clear at the top of the table and are odds on favourite to become champions before the next return to Celtic Park.
Samaras was first to show after 9 minutes when he latched onto a Matthews flick but Darren Randolph was quick off his line to block. Player of the Year elect, Charlie Mulgrew, then jinked past a defender before slipping the ball to Samaras. The Greek’s shot was block and Mulgrew blasted the rebound wide. Randolph then saved well after Samaras shot from inside the D.
While Celtic always looked dangerous, Motherwell were in no mood to concede, so the goal was surprising in its simplicity. Adam Matthews fired a throw-in to Samaras, who chested the ball into the path of unmarked Gary Hooper. Hooper put his laces through the ball from a narrow angle to give Randolph no chance.
Samaras, Hooper and Forrest all had chances to finish the game off but the second goal never arrived.
Good defences are a lot harder to quantify than poor defences. Today Celtic strolled through the game at the back. No one was stretched and Fraser Forster didn’t have a save to make until the 77th minute.
Issue six of CQN Magazine, the Fit and Proper edition, is set to become a landmark collectors item. You can browse the magazine online here but you can buy your own hard copy by clicking on the link below. Read with 20-20 vision…..
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Tom English has been reading RTC it appears.
bit.ly/wlpqtF
seventyxseven
Always passionate mi amigo.
Just wish I had the writing prowess of the likes of James Forrest, Brogan and the like.
I remember about 18monts ago reading one of JF’s posts, it was as ever superb, and it was long as ever.
I said the same thing in three lines, just the way it is.
I love Celtic, I love the feeling Celtic gives me, the football in many ways is secondary, the belonging to the family is, IMO is what Celtic is all about.
HH
ernie lynch says:
25 February, 2012 at 23:53
Where’s Whitey?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lx4RTsw6QA
Change Vic for Whitey and you get the picture :)
Rico
In Dublin right now, visiting the outlaws
what have i missed? Oh and loving this free wifi in bewleys
Hail Hail
I support intersex people, they are as valid as anyone else.
Pease do not let any bigotry cloud judgement on sexuality. just saying, like.
Mick.
I also should point out that neither Greig nor Dougie MacDonald were wearing the Mason’s apron.
Don’t know why old Mutton Chops posed for the sketches Stevieboy66 .
Philvis,
“Puckish Awesomwness”
You have a lovely romantic, almost socialist, turn of phrase
You’re not turnin all pinko on me now? ;)
Auld Neil Lennon heid says:
25 February, 2012 at 23:55
I’d go with much of that. At the moment, my input is next to nothing other than the C67 subby. I’ve no feasible way to regularly attend matches due to family circumstances and miss out on, well, every single SPL match (unless I grab a pathetically crud stream) and much else besides.
I’d be very much a happy chappy if a proper CTV got off the ground (either Cable/Broadband or a sat channel – whatever) which allowed me to access all of our matches on a high quality stream. As Neil Lennon (??) might say: I’m not the only one.
I like the idea of a same pricing structure for it, however: how would this work when, lets say 150,000 good ghuys decide to shell out say £450 each for an ‘ST’ and 100,000 want tickets to a ‘Dundee 88/St Mirren 01’?
TopCorner says:
26 February, 2012 at 00:12
////////
Brill…HaHaHa…The mrs and the bairns will love that one..
Gers in crisis: Player deals uncovered
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4154479/Gers-in-crisis-Player-deals-uncovered.html
ExclusiveBy PAUL THORNTON and EWING GRAHAME
Published: 4 minutes ago
THE Scottish Sun today reveals details of the controversial player payments made by Rangers — which have dragged the club to the brink of extinction.
Fans want talks over cash gifts
By PAUL THORNTON
RANGERS fans’ chiefs are to meet administrators for crunch talks about the club’s future.
Supporters will demand to know what will happen to cash they raise — and they want answers before next week’s home game against Hearts.
Andy Kerr, head of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, revealed he hoped to hear from the money men within a few days.
He said: “We need to know if we provide cash whether it is protected or not. We can’t just throw money down a black hole.
“And we need to know whether we can decide how the money is being used — can it retain our players and is there any impact on what happens in the future?”
He added: “The best thing we can do is to keep filling the stadium.
“We need to know if we can say to 40 or 50,000 people next Saturday that if they pay an extra tenner, then Steve Davis will be there until the end of the season.
“That’s the kind of clarity we are looking for.”
Our hard-hitting investigation explains to football fans AND the taxpayer how the Ibrox giants apparently offered ‘tax-free’ bonuses as a lure to players it was eager to sign.
A bombshell letter sent to one former ace — who joined the club in the mid-2000s — tells him that on top of his salary he is entitled to a £122,000 payment spread out over two years, plus additional four-figure appearance bonuses.
It is believed these payments may fall under an Employee Benefit Trusts scheme which is likely to have sparked Her Majesty Revenue and Customs’ £75million tax battle with the SPL giants.
EBTs are NOT illegal and are usually used for pensions, charities and families.
But last night three experts told The Scottish Sun the letter to the player — who we are not naming — may have broken strict financial rules by not paying revenue on what is effectively wages.
It is in draft form but shows the nature of the arrangements.
Last night a financial advisor told us: “If a client showed the letter to me, I would tell them to rip it up. The killer points are one and two.
“Number one, you are going to get £122,000 and number two you get £1,200 for a first-team game.
“It equates to salary as far as I am concerned. I would say this sort of letter will be a central thread in the big tax case.
“This would be manna from heaven for HMRC if they have this. If there are 10 like these and there are matching payments, I’d find it difficult for the courts to do anything other than find in favour of HMRC.”
Meanwhile a jobs lawyer also warned that the bonuses offered look “a hell of a lot like employment”.
He said: “What we have here is a fairly basic contract between Rangers and a player — it is not very different from ones I have seen in the past for other clubs.
“What makes it very different is this letter appears to introduce all sorts of other provisions.
“What I understand is Rangers are trying to say there was money paid to the people, but it was not wages — it was something else.
“If you look at the back letter it says you will get this money for each competitive first-team match for which you’re selected.
“It seems they are getting paid for the job Rangers employ them to do so the likelihood is that that is employment income.”
An accountant who we showed the letter to also hinted the payments offered to the player were “illegal”.
He added: “This appears to be a contractual obligation to put money into an Employee Benefit Trust. The implication is that there is a pot of money going to an individual.
“I have been shown a contract of employment showing how much money players were going to get but also a back letter which I presume that individual has assumed is part of his salary. It seems like a contract.
“If the two documents are handed to someone together, is that seen as being his overall package? If the answer to that is yes then there is a problem because the money that goes into the trust really should be getting taxed because it is his salary.
“The fact it is there as a back letter at all suggests it is dodgy.”
During Gers’ big spending days top players like Arthur Numan and Ronald De Boer starred for the club — but it’s not known if they were offered EBT deals.
It’s been reported that a total of £47million was contributed by Gers to the EBT fund. At its height in 2005/06, the club gave out £9.2million — and used EBTs right up until the HMRC probe kicked off over a year ago.
HMRC have tried to call in a bill for the payments.
Rangers contested the tax tab and when Motherwell tycoon Craig Whyte took over the club from Sir David Murray last May he insisted he was confident of beating it.
The case has been heard in Edinburgh and a result is understood to be due at the end of next month — with many predicting a bloody nose for the Light Blues.
Letters like the one we’ve seen are likely to have been used as evidence.
Administrator Duff and Phelps is trying to save Rangers but it’s feared a massive tax bill could tip them into insolvency.
Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4154479/Gers-in-crisis-Player-deals-uncovered.html#ixzz1nRWWDVhF
hah – watching the football league show – Diouf is a fat **censored** **censored**
racist little pr*ck.
Exiled Tim
There are some fine scribes on here, for sure.
But sometimes a wee heart-felt piece hits home. Funniest poem I ever read was by Spike Milligan and it wasnt long .
Ode to my goldfish.
Oh wet pet!
Did it for me.
@Ernie – don’t post links to that pile of scumsh*t – just C&P the article (like you did a minute later) and reference it somewhere.
I abhor the thought that my click (before I closed the tab) added to their ‘unique hits’ for tomorrow.
justsayinglikeCSC
TopCorner says:
26 February, 2012 at 00:01
In technology terms the day is already here when anybody who wants to watch Celtic in person or remotely as long as a camera is pointing at the game, can do so , but there are broadcasting rules and collective TV deals in the way that stop watching Celtic by whichever method suits the watcher which is what I mean by universal.
At present SB holders pay a lot more than other watchers and so bear most of the cost of putting a team on the park that non present watchers can watch more cheaply by comparison.
My thinking is the load can be more equitably shared right across the support spectrum. In an ideal world if we sold 100,00 universal SBs we could bring the cost of physical attending down, which brings attendances up to compensate for those who switch to virtual attendance, and keeps the game atmosphere.
In passion terms there is no differnce from one supporter to the next, in contribution terms a whole host of factors like geography, broadcasting rules, personal circumstances mean the support load in financial terms is uneven. This cannot be helped, it is where history and geography have brought us to date, but technology is rewriting both pages every day.
They wish they could walkaway,.
seventyxseven ‘gelee et glace’
have you read Spike Milligans war memoirs?
Absolutely hilarious!
ernie lynch says:
“Motherwell tycoon”. I prefer tornado, or maybe reaping a whirlwind
seventyxseven ‘gelee et glace’ says:
26 February, 2012 at 00:23
Exiled Tim
There are some fine scribes on here, for sure.
But sometimes a wee heart-felt piece hits home. Funniest poem I ever read was by Spike Milligan and it wasnt long .
Ode to my goldfish.
Oh wet pet!
Did it for me.
………………………………..
William Hershaw the Fife poet in his book of poems entitled Cowdenbeath Man came away with one as good as Spike’s.
Title: Turner Prize.
“A coo and a cauf
Cut in hauf”
Just back from Simple Minds great night met Jim Kerr big Celtic fan
need help. who was the drummer that has become a tv sports presenter
The PoppyThief
THE Scottish Sun today reveals details of the controversial player payments made by Rangers — which have dragged the club to the brink of extinction.
Fans want talks over cash gifts
BY PAUL THORNTON
RANGERS fans’ chiefs are to meet administrators for crunch talks about the club’s future.
Supporters will demand to know what will happen to cash they raise — and they want answers before next week’s home game against Hearts.
Andy Kerr, head of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, revealed he hoped to hear from the money men within a few days.
He said: “We need to know if we provide cash whether it is protected or not. We can’t just throw money down a black hole.
“And we need to know whether we can decide how the money is being used — can it retain our players and is there any impact on what happens in the future?”
He added: “The best thing we can do is to keep filling the stadium.
“We need to know if we can say to 40 or 50,000 people next Saturday that if they pay an extra tenner, then Steve Davis will be there until the end of the season.
“That’s the kind of clarity we are looking for.”
Our hard-hitting investigation explains to football fans AND the taxpayer how the Ibrox giants apparently offered ‘tax-free’ bonuses as a lure to players it was eager to sign.
A bombshell letter sent to one former ace — who joined the club in the mid-2000s — tells him that on top of his salary he is entitled to a £122,000 payment spread out over two years, plus additional four-figure appearance bonuses.
It is believed these payments may fall under an Employee Benefit Trusts scheme which is likely to have sparked Her Majesty Revenue and Customs’ £75million tax battle with the SPL giants.
EBTs are NOT illegal and are usually used for pensions, charities and families.
But last night three experts told The Scottish Sun the letter to the player — who we are not naming — may have broken strict financial rules by not paying revenue on what is effectively wages.
It is in draft form but shows the nature of the arrangements.
Last night a financial advisor told us: “If a client showed the letter to me, I would tell them to rip it up. The killer points are one and two.
“Number one, you are going to get £122,000 and number two you get £1,200 for a first-team game.
“It equates to salary as far as I am concerned. I would say this sort of letter will be a central thread in the big tax case.
“This would be manna from heaven for HMRC if they have this. If there are 10 like these and there are matching payments, I’d find it difficult for the courts to do anything other than find in favour of HMRC.”
Meanwhile a jobs lawyer also warned that the bonuses offered look “a hell of a lot like employment”.
He said: “What we have here is a fairly basic contract between Rangers and a player — it is not very different from ones I have seen in the past for other clubs.
“What makes it very different is this letter appears to introduce all sorts of other provisions.
“What I understand is Rangers are trying to say there was money paid to the people, but it was not wages — it was something else.
“If you look at the back letter it says you will get this money for each competitive first-team match for which you’re selected.
“It seems they are getting paid for the job Rangers employ them to do so the likelihood is that that is employment income.”
An accountant who we showed the letter to also hinted the payments offered to the player were “illegal”.
He added: “This appears to be a contractual obligation to put money into an Employee Benefit Trust. The implication is that there is a pot of money going to an individual.
“I have been shown a contract of employment showing how much money players were going to get but also a back letter which I presume that individual has assumed is part of his salary. It seems like a contract.
“If the two documents are handed to someone together, is that seen as being his overall package? If the answer to that is yes then there is a problem because the money that goes into the trust really should be getting taxed because it is his salary.
“The fact it is there as a back letter at all suggests it is dodgy.”
During Gers’ big spending days top players like Arthur Numan and Ronald De Boer starred for the club — but it’s not known if they were offered EBT deals.
It’s been reported that a total of £47million was contributed by Gers to the EBT fund. At its height in 2005/06, the club gave out £9.2million — and used EBTs right up until the HMRC probe kicked off over a year ago.
HMRC have tried to call in a bill for the payments.
Rangers contested the tax tab and when Motherwell tycoon Craig Whyte took over the club from Sir David Murray last May he insisted he was confident of beating it.
The case has been heard in Edinburgh and a result is understood to be due at the end of next month — with many predicting a bloody nose for the Light Blues.
Letters like the one we’ve seen are likely to have been used as evidence.
Administrator Duff and Phelps is trying to save Rangers but it’s feared a massive tax bill could tip them into insolvency.
Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4154479/Gers-in-crisis-Player-deals-uncovered.html#ixzz1nRXOU9Wb
Kittoch says:
26 February, 2012 at 00:27
Vipeond
say what you like, Leo Sayer’s a canny chanter!
otherwise, they are absolutely Donald ducked! incidentally who has the history, MK DONS or AFC Wimbledon?
Dougie Vipond thanks mate what band was he in, met him as well not a bad guy
If the little ole poppy pushes them over – I might have to wear one, just for the rest of the season.
Lucky 7
Just for brevity, you call me 70 an I’ll just call you 7. If Sean Connery joins the blog, we’ll work something else oot.
Yes I’ve read Spike Milligan alot. Funniest moment in my life, ever, without exception, was when they were giving him a life time achievement award. They built it up with trumpet blasts then brought on a letter from Prince Charles on a purple bloody cushion and Noel Edmonds or somebody read the letter out saying that his highness thought Spike was the funniest ever person on the planet.
Spike said, “What a crawlin bastard!”
Never laughed like it.
Until this week.
Can’t believe I left this so late, ahving made a few posts prior to this.
Congrats to my oldest daughter, Alexandra-Rose, for taking to the stage at the Webster Memorial Theatre tonight at the ripe old age of twelve.
Her company (hark at me) were competing in Scottish Community Drama Association festival for the first time and whilst the adjudicator judged them to be of the highest standard he’s seen for a first time entrant, there were a number of flaws in the delivery (volume of dialogue being the main one).
Sadly they’ve not progressed to the next round and yet she’s bouyed (bhouyed??) by the experience and insists that winning through didn’t matter as she’s thoroughly enjoyed the hard work put in over the past few weeks and the experience for what it is/was.
Couldn’t help feel, when she said that, that it was a Celtic attitude – it’s the journey in life that counts.
Clever girl is Allybop :-)
Poerty??
Matt McGinn –
” A dug frae ra port
Wis up in ra court
Accused of molestin’ has father.
Said the Judge to ,the pet
“How low can you get?”
Said the pet to the judge
“A chiwawa”
Nakagod 00:05
thanks for the highlights
big Georgios looked terrific in that compilation – some driving runs – great to see
We need to know if we can say to 40 or 50,000 people next Saturday that if they pay an extra tenner, then Steve Davis will be there until the end of the season.
A very prescient observation.
my thanks to reilly1926. nakagod, danso 1888, jimmibhoy, saint stives. for the IT assistance .
Also had a look at the naps table , dear oh dear the CQN hierarchy at the foot of the table .- £19.00 tommytwisttommyturns (1)
-£19.50 hunza rugli (2)
-£20.50 PFayr (2)
-£29.00 oldtim
-£29.00 The Token Tim. must do better bhoys . you to twisty .
With regards to tony fae croftfoot. , like green oak tree i also thought he was a plant , only by reason that he got the best of order and was allowed to make his point , let me say this . My late father worked down the ayrshire pits for over 50 years . we were raised on his tales of how it was to work in the mines when you were a roman catholic, and how the lodges ruled within them orange and masonic. He vowed that none of his sons would work in that environment . But bad as it may seem he maintained that although the bigot hand was in evidence in the mines ,it was alleged to be even worse in the police force and the law courts. I listened to tony ,but i dont share his view that all will be revealed after the s f a instigated enquiry. I do not have one shred of confidence in the sfa/spl .in fact many things have happened throughout the years to make me ask the question . WHO IS GOING TO INVESTIGATE THE SFA..
hail hail
jimtim
Thanks for a wonderfull night bhoys.
An education as always, can things get any better ?????
See what tomorrow brings, will sally rouse the troups to a glorious victory against the mighty ICT ? or will the mighty ranjurz be on the receiving end of honest mstakes, no that can’t happen, the mighty ranjurz are the peepil…..
Enjoy while you can mighty ranjurz, you never know, it just might be the last time……….
Take care and god bless all of Timdom.
HH
KTF
Somos el Celtic
Just logged on…what have I missed and what’s with the poppy?
BRAVO BRAVO Alexandra-Rose
dirtymac \o/ says:
26 February, 2012 at 00:18
I keep telling Celtic there are guys like you but they need a stronger indication of numbers. That is why they contacted overseas subscribers (and perhaps UK only ones too) recently to get a feel for numbers and what services they would like. I refreed to the survey before I went on holiday.
I think there are even more who do not subscribe in any way but are very Celtic minded and somehow we have to find a way of reaching and involving them.
In the scenario I have in mind Celtic onky sell SBs for their games but the opposition get a share of the proceeds. It requires ending collective bargaiining but with the money from that source possibly dropping clubs might be prepared to take part if they get more from playing Celtic 3 or 4 times a season and 100,000 watching Celtic.
Steve Davis will need to be there…snookers required!!
Jimtim
Ogilvie holds the key.