Celtic will face their first Champions League qualifying opponents on either 31 July or 1 August but heartbeats among the scouting staff will quicken tonight and tomorrow when every potential opponent will play in the second qualifying round.
A number of potential opponents from eastern and northern Europe are mid-season but all will benefit from successfully coming through two qualifying games before tackling seeded opponents two weeks from now.
It is crucially important that Celtic are ready for this tie.
The final qualifying round, scheduled to take place during the last two weeks in August, will offer a greater challenge on paper but European qualifying games in July are notorious for catching better teams unprepared.
After a credibly, though ultimately unsuccessful, Europa League group campaign last season Celtic’s domestic form clicked into place and we looked like a team capable of becoming champions. There was some regret that we didn’t hit form early enough to make the most of our European adventure. Neil Lennon will also be keen to avoid the anaemic performance against Sion, who beat Celtic on aggregate but were subsequently awarded two 3-0 defeats for failing to observe rules.
These Celtic players found hidden depths last season but they have a point to prove in Europe. There is also the nagging suspicion that this Celtic team is more talented that the two Gordon Strachan took to the later stages of the Champions League.
Bring it on.
Get your season ticket and saddle up for the ride.
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Careful- Links to Daily Record
Ally McCoist provides sporting advice to Andy Murray
starry plough on 18 July, 2012 at 09:31 said:
Take a bow Petzer Lawwell you certainly did a lot
jake the snake @celticservant
Peter Lawwell a man deserving of his bonus for all he’s achieved. http://pic.twitter.com/JBcQv8yR
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The best bit about that is that:
-they were not relegated
-they do not have a license, so…
-missing European football was always going to happen
-they were helped directly into the 3rd Division, not put further down into it
-they still don’t have a license
-they cheated to win the titles they will be stripped of
-they still don’t have a license
-they are lucky we aren’t pursuing them for damages
-they are an ex club
-they are confused as to which club they support: the ex club or the new club (who do not have a license)
hahaha, did I mention that they still don’t have a license?
setting free the bears on 18 July, 2012 at 09:46 said:
Careful- Links to Daily Record
Ally McCoist provides sporting advice to Andy Murray
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Without reading it, does it mention pies, Greggs Steak Bakes, adulterous relationships and dignified cheating?
So we won a pre-season game – and the blog went down. Were the two connected?
What’s the signing deadline for the European qualifiers? I think there are seperate ones for each round and then another for the groups, assuming we get through,.
ahh, couldn’t resist; clicked the link
pmsl
FROM THE DAILY RECTUM
Revealed: Football chiefs’ secret plan to strip Rangers of nine trophies over EBT tax dodge
Jul 18 2012 Exclusive by Keith McLeod
rangers spl scottish cup Image 4
FOOTBALL chiefs produced a secret plan to strip Rangers of five SPL titles and four Scottish Cups.
The bombshell document, seen by the Daily Record, was drafted after talks involving the SFA, SPL, Scottish Football League and representatives of Charles Green’s Sevco.
It outlines a range of punishments for Rangers for the Employment Benefit Trust tax dodge used by Sir David Murray’s regime to pay players.
If enforced, the penalties listed would be the harshest ever seen in football. They include:
● STRIPPING the club of their league titles from 2002/3, 2004/5, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11;
● WIPING OUT Rangers’ Scottish Cup triumphs of 2001/2, 2002/3, 2007/8 and 2008/9;
● FORCING Rangers to accept the one-year transfer embargo imposed by the SFA and overturned by the Court of Session;
● ORDERING Green’s newco to pay Rangers’ old football debts to clubs in Scotland and Europe.
The draft plan was clearly designed by the football authorities to parachute Rangers into Division One of the SFL and protect Scottish football’s TV and marketing revenues.
SFL chairmen voted overwhelmingly last Friday to place Rangers in Division Three, but the Record understands that does NOT mean the punishments in the secret plan will never be imposed.
The SFA will decide on August 10 whether Rangers broke their rules by using EBTs and “dual contracts”, and the document sheds light on the football authorities’ thinking over possible penalties for the club.
It remains a draft, and no agreement has been reached between Sevco and the authorities.
But it appears Green’s firm were willing to accept some if not all of the draft – at least when the prospect of Division One football was on the table.
And the scale of the penalties listed – before Rangers have even been convicted over EBTs – will horrify fans of the club.
Many Rangers supporters will also believe the document undermines the SFA’s judicial process.
The killer section of the document states: “EBT Sanctions means (i) the withdrawal of Rangers FC, RFC and Sevco of the award and status of Champion Club (as defined in the SPL rules) of the Scottish Premier League for each and all of seasons 2002/3, 2004/5, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11:
“(ii)The withdrawal from Rangers FC, RFC and Sevco of the award and status of winner of the Scottish Cup for each and all of seasons 2001/2, 2002/3, 2007/8, and 2008/9.”
The document also contains an ultra-strict confidentiality agreement. It states: “Neither RFC nor Sevco may make any disclosure to a third party, press release or public announcement whatsoever about, concerning or relating to this agreement … except with the express prior written consent of each of the SFA, the SPL and the SFL.”
The loss of five league titles would cut Rangers’ total from 54 to 49 and strip them of their status as the most prolific league winners in world football. Northern Irish club Linfield, with 50 titles, would take over.
Celtic finished second in all five of the SPL seasons listed. If the titles were stripped from Rangers and awarded to their Old Firm rivals, Celtic’s total number of championships would rise to 48.
The runners-up in the four Scottish Cups listed were Celtic, Dundee, Queen of the South and Falkirk. The document is silent on the issue of whether the clubs would be named as winners in place of Rangers.
The idea of stripping a club of nine trophies is unprecedented in modern football.
Italian giants Juventus were relegated and stripped of two titles for match-fixing in 2006. They continue to dispute the decision.
Another match-fixing scandal, in France, saw Marseille forfeit their 1993 league title. But they were allowed to keep the Champions League title they won in the same year.
The draft document also insists that Rangers must drop their legal challenge against the SFA transfer embargo, imposed largely as a punishment for the failure to pay tax under Craig Whyte.
The club went to the Court of Session and got the ban overturned. Judge Lord Glennie ruled that the association acted beyond their powers, and ordered them to reconsider.
The club enraged the SFA by going to law. The move also angered FIFA, who insist that clubs should not take their associations to court.
Experts warned that the world governing body could impose bans on Scottish clubs or even the national team unless Rangers backtracked.
The document says that as well as accepting the embargo, Rangers must pay the SFA’s £31,000 costs and the £160,000 fine imposed at the same time as the transfer ban.
The draft deal goes on to state that the Rangers newco will take responsibility for all the football debts run up by the “oldco” – a long list of unpaid bills owed to clubs in Scotland and on the continent.
The oldco went bust owing Hearts £800,000, Dunfermline £83,000, Dundee United £66,000, Celtic and Inverness Caley Thistle £40,000 each, and Aberdeen an undisclosed amount.
Another £1.8million is owed to clubs in England and Europe, including £1million to Austrian side Rapid Vienna for striker Nikica Jelavic.
Green has set off to meet officials from UEFA in a bid to settle the issue of the football debts.
He accepts that the problem must be resolved before newco Rangers can be accepted as members of the SFA. But he wants to strike a deal to make it easier for Sevco – and the club – to shoulder the burden.
He said: “There are certain old club debts to European clubs. It is about £3million, accumulated as part of the historical baggage.
“These are oldco debts newco has got to face up to.
“We want to be honourable. We are people who face up to responsibility. We don’t want them to be waived. We don’t expect them to be waived.
“But we want some help in meeting these because we do want to get Rangers back to the top of the pile.
“And when we do get back into Europe – whether it’s five or 10 years or 20 years – we want to walk back with our heads held high.
“I would like the clubs and UEFA to recognise these are not my debts, and for them to work with us where we can come to some amicably agreeable settlement and move forward together as friends.”
The SFA will consider Rangers’ application for membership next week.
As part of that process, the club’s new chairman, Malcolm Murray, met officials from the governing body yesterday to give more information on the identities of Sevco’s investors.
The SFA confirmed they had received information and requested more. They added that Rangers’ administrators, Duff & Phelps, had been carrying out “fit and proper person” checks on the proposed new directors of the club, alongside the SFA’s own investigations.
The SFA said they were “in dialogue” with Rangers over the transfer embargo row.
They added: “Now that the club’s status has been confirmed by the SPL and SFL, we will consider the award of transfer once Rangers FC satisfy the necessary criteria.”
If newco Rangers are accepted as SFA members, they will start their new season away to Brechin City in the Ramsdens Cup at Glebe Park on July 28.
According to the Scottish Paper I picked up in the supermarket to read, without paying, the first ever goal for Sevco was scored by Lewis McLeod.
Was he not the guy that did voices for Only an Excuse? They must be short of bodies right enough. Wonder where they played Jonathan Watson?
Sevco beat Airdrie United 2:1, with their 2nd goal scored by a player who should be owned by Hearts.
Sevco are now the proud holders of the Transferred Shares Club Bent Rules Trophy which will be contested annually by these two clubs until Hearts or Kilmarnock go bust as well.
dirtymac » fast forward to the G.O.D on 18 July, 2012 at 09:49 said:
They don’t deserve a club…
For the qualifiers, I think the transfer deadline is normally 11pm on the Monday of the first leg, i.e. Monday 30th July then Monday 20th August.
This is for List A players.
Pleasant overcast summer’s morning here in the Chilterns…
Great to read about a Celtic performance, seems the bhoys are winding up nicely.
Hooper and Stokes on the score sheet, JF MotM the Kenyan Lion looking to have a rip roaring Season.
My prediction – NFL will come into his own this Season.
Was getting a wee bit pre-occupied over the OldCo/NewCo, Sanctions/Facilitations, Penalize/Remit nonsense. Now that the Football is on the horizon I realize their demiseis complete, whatever happens there is no R@ngers Restitution.
One of my first posts on CQN many moons ago stated that RFC should not be our yard stick, for Celtic to fulfill their potential we had to measure ourselves against our European peers. Like GoD this vision was then inexplicably* eclipsed by R@ngers’ resurgence.
I’m looking forward to a unique Season, we will for the first time in our history be measured solely on OUR ability to fulfill OUR aspirations.
Hail! Hail!
*Then no now.
Help……
does anyone on here either have, or know anyone who has Celtic matches from 80’s, 90’s etc… on video or DVD?
Moved house recently and noticed the majority of mine have went missong over the years…. Would dearly love to re-stock the old Celtic library… Will obviously pay for any copies or can copy them myself…
Any help would be greatly appreciated….
Thanks.
Are they trying to save their vile history ? Is it the DR or the SFA who are saying that the SFA membership was purchased from oldco and that under 14.1 the SFA board or Ogilvy are ratifying the transfer of the membership. Does that mean no Euro ban for three years and a debt free cheating club with almost no penalties.
Should the creditors and hector still expect the 134 Million or is this all SFA , SPL complicit tax evasion and legitimised cheating of Scottish Football rules. It is stll happening if the SFA accept that the membership was purchased and the team was relegated. Something about these talks feels wrong.
From Uefa, last year’s regulations:
18.13 List A has to be submitted by the following fixed deadlines:
a) 20 June 2011 (24.00 CET) for all matches in the first qualifying round;
b) 7 July 2011 (24.00 CET) for all matches in the second qualifying round;
c) 21 July 2011 (24.00 CET) for all matches in the third qualifying round;
d) 8 August 2011 (24.00 CET) for all matches in the play-offs;
e) 1 September 2011 (24.00 CET) for all further matches from the first match in the group stage up to and including the final.
They can also register one player on the A list by 11pm the day before the first leg if they have not used their full quota of A-list players and assuming they’ve fulfilled the home-grown criteria. I thought that it was the full list that had to be submitted by that time.
Thanks dirtymac. So we have a week or so to get anyone else in for the firt games.
Celtic have earned the cash strapped SFA an unexpected £543,000 European bonus.
The money has been paid out for the performances of Scottish clubs in Europe last season- with Neil Lennon’s side the only ones to survive beyond August.
Rangers crashed out of Europe twice, to Malmoe and Maribor, Hearts were hammered by Spurs and Dundee United lost out to Slask Wroclaw.
Celtic knocked Sion out on a 6-0 aggregate to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League where they were drawn with eventual winners Atletico Madrid, Rennes and Udinese.
As well as the gate money from the three matches the hoops picked up £503,000 for participating, £283,000 match bonus, £275,000 performance bonus and £512,000 from the marketing pool to provide the club with a payout of £1.6m.
Atletico were paid £9m for winning the tournament in addition to the gate money generated from their home matches.
In contrast Chelsea collected £47m directly from UEFA for winning the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
The pay-outs are calculated on a sliding scale dependent on television deals and the success of other clubs from the same country.
Winning the final earned Chelsea a direct bonus of €9m . In total a prize fund of £595 was split between the 32 teams that qualified for the group stages of the competition.
Despite failing to make the knock-out stages Manchester United picked up the sixth largest cheque getting £28m for their efforts in the competition thanks mainly to the television deals struck with Sky and ITV.
Every club that reached the group stage collected €7.2m for taking part plus performance related bonuses.
UEFA anticipate that prize money will rise by 22% over the next three season with Celtic in Friday’s draw for the third qualifying round.
I don’t know how to explain this but, I get this feeling that we are going to experience another – Michael Gray – Willo Flood – type of transfer window.imo.
Damn it, they’ve found out about our secret Tim conspiracy.
And SDM was Celtic’s secret agent all along.
Many years ago we had a secret meeting with him, set up this incredible scheme in which he would takeover TFOD, bring them unknown success but unbeknowns to the great unwashed, he would use unlawful means (both in terms of SFA rules and certain tax laws etc…), all the while undermining the very existence of TFOD.
Then when SDM began to flag, CW would be thrown into the fray and finally CG to ensure the grand plot is successfully completed.
PL’s stupid idea of using agents Green and Whyte has given it all away.
I told him it was a stupid idea!
But, you must admit, he has a wicked sense of humour!
Keep cranking up the Big C
Can’t have too much of this positivity now, can we?
I’m away to work.
Does the ‘rangers for spare change’ have a donation site yet? Hector and Sir Minty Moonbeam are waiting to make their pledge. :0)
Just checked and it is the 18th of July today, the transfer window closes 31st of August.
If this team cannot get by a qualifier we may as well chuck it now. Neil Lennon has been building this team for 2 seasons and we have not lost ONE of our star players.
Mea cupla
Class
And just for good measure he made sure there last signing was sellik !
Ol’ Charlie Green lying through his teeth again regards moving from ‘safe house to safe house’
Since when did sitting in the bar of Menzies Hotel from Monday to Thursday at circa 1700, count as a ‘safe house’
ASonofDan-Interesting!
I remember all the doom and gloom merchants in the media predicting that Sion getting booted out would be an overwhelming burden on Celtic. Keevins and Dalziel in partcular, in fact there is a clip that reveals Dalziel’s stinking hypocrisy.
So what happened?
An encouraging EL run where many of our young players “grew up” in stature
SPL title delivered
£1.6m in the coffers.
What’s not to like?
new article posted.
Good morning CHAMPIONS
This retirement lark is brilliant. Can stay on CQN all day. :)))))
Weefra HH
goldstar10 on 18 July, 2012 at 10:31 said:
ASonofDan-Interesting!
“An encouraging EL run where many of our young players “grew up” in stature”
_______________________________________________________
Hopefully, IF, we get a euro-run this season then, our young players will have, “grown up” enough to, take care of – Killie in a cup final and, Hearts in a cup semi – final.
SSN……..,,.Sevco 2 Airdrie United 0
last night in the first ever Scottish Liquidated Clubs Cup Final.
Jumpers for goal posts CSC
Here is the situation as I see it today.
Sevco Scotland Ltd are currently a property company with a letter allowing them conditional entry to play professional football in an organised league.
Now the condition is that the governing body accepts them as a member. They have 2 ways to get membership. Request transfer of the old membership or get a new one.
They patently do not qualify for a new membership on their own. Any attempt to award them one would result in immediate, and successful, legal action from the likes of Spartans or Linlithgow Rose. Whilst that legal action is proceeding Sevco Scotland Ltd would be unable to play football and therefore unable to get any income. This is a non-starter that would result in the administration of Sevco Scotland pretty rapidly.
Requesting the OldCo’s membership is the same as requesting a continuation of “Rangers” from the SFA. We would have a team in blue, playing at the same stadium, calling themselves the same name with the same trademarked logo’s. If continuation is what is requested sanctions must also continue. If they want an unbroken line (in their minds) they must have precisely that. The issue I see is now that Sevco Scotland have an invitation into the bottom tier of Scottish Football this has taken somewhere in the region of 75% – 80% from the turnover of the previous company, putting their best effort, fair weather turnover below the basic requirement to run their operation. Accepting these sanctions, particularly the transfer embargo, makes an impossible financial situation, well what is worse than impossible?
I fail to see what the SFA were “negotiating” with Sevco about for 5 hours yesterday. Sevco have absolutely no grounds for negotiation as they have absolutely no options. They must roll the dice on being able to survive Division 3 football, which from the numbers a few of us crunched earlier in the week seems utterly impossible, as the only alternative is pull the shutters down now.
The chances of Rangers playing at all next year in my mind are slim. The chances of Rangers ever playing football again grow by the day and unbelievably I would right now put it at evens. Flip a coin stuff. Who would ever have thought this would come to pass?
Whilst we once again look past the spin and lies, crunch the numbers and await our predictions once again being sage like in their accuracy, the Rangers fans are frothing at the mouth regarding stripping titles. Their ability as a group to be manipulated by sleight of hand is breathtaking. They have taken their eye off the ball. These matters are utterly insignificant as the club they love is as close today as it has ever been to being utterly and completely stone dead. Make no mistake Celtic were never this close in 1994.
In fairness to them though I suppose the past is all that matters when you have no future.