Celtic’s revenue bounced back from the year without fans in the six months to 31 December 2021. Income was up almost 30% to £52.9m, only £8m below the full year earnings to 30 June 2021. The club reported a £7m trading profit before intangibles in the interims, released this evening. But wait for it……… Add in the profit from player sales of £25.9m and you get a pre-tax profit £27.6m (intangibles, like amortisation are deducted before the pre-tax position)!
Player acquisitions during the period totalled £16.8m, which will push our running annual amortisation charge up a tad from it’s trend of £13m.
Cash in the bank on 30 June was £25.6m, which goes some way to explaining the splurge of signings we have enjoyed in the intervening period.
Manage your assets
The first take away for me is the contrast between our £25.8m earned in player sales to the £1.0m earned in the corresponding period a year earlier. We kept Edouard, Ajer and Co. in order to chase another milestone. Player trading is where it’s at. Sure, it is risky, do not expect the kind of value and performance we have seen in the last two windows forever, but we trade or we fail. I remember the good old days on here, when managing your assets was a controversial aim.
Win the league
The second observation is that this was a season with Europa League football. Imagine, for a second, we got to the Champions League next season. The possibilities are really quite interesting!
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his is a government that lies. It lies because it is led by a prime minister who long ago forgot the difference between truth and falsehood, assuming he ever knew it to begin with. It lies because the prime minister has always said whatever he needs to say to get a laugh, a vote, a cheque or a reprieve. It lies because the prime minister found that lying was easy – when he lost one job on the Times for lying he got a new job on the Telegraph, where he lied some more.
This is a government that lies. It lies because lying never harmed its leader’s political career and, when he was fired from a shadow junior ministerial position for lying on a small scale in 2004, he went on to win the Brexit referendum in 2016 by lying on a grand scale and then became prime minister in 2019 to lie on an epic scale.
This is a government that lies. It lies because it is a lame-duck administration of charlatans and clowns, an echoing void where the government of the country ought to be. It lies to make it from one scandal to the next, from the scandal about wallpaper to the scandal about lobbying to the scandal about the partying to the scandal about Jimmy Savile to the scandal that will break this week and every week after that.
It lies because it knows it can never admit that the prime minister, his wife, aides and civil servants giggled and guzzled as millions suffered
This is a government that lies. It lies because none of the stories it tells itself make sense. It lies because Brexit has not made Britain great again, but brought nothing but trade barriers and clinging bureaucracy. It lies because austerity was a blunder and levelling up will be a chimera. It lies because it says it is the party of tax cutters but is raising taxes, and says it is the party of sound money but is allowing inflation to soar, and says it is the party of home ownership but is letting landlordism rip, and says it is the party of enterprise but is crushing productivity. It lies because it is easier to lie than accept the truth that its hopes have turned to ashes.
This is a government that lies. It lies because it knows it can never admit that the prime minister, his wife, aides and civil servants giggled and guzzled as millions suffered isolation and loss. It lies because it did not listen when the prime minister’s own adviser warned that attacking the leader of the opposition with lies about “a horrendous case of child sex abuse” would be seen as the scurrilous act of a scoundrel leader.
This is a government that lies. It lies because it knows liars can game a quaint system whose rules mandate that the Speaker of the House of Commons will allow a liar to lie but will expel MPs who point out that the liar is indeed lying. It lies because broadcasters place balance above truth and if one guest says the world is round, they must rush to find another who will say it is flat.
It lies because the prime minister is the creation of the Tory press and its editors can no more bear to tell the truth about him than Caliban could bear the sight of his face in the mirror. It lies because thoughtful people think twice before condemning a liar for lying and provide cover for the prime minister whenever they wonder if he is just confused, or ill-informed or so lost in delusion he believes his lies as he tells them – as the best liars always do. It lies because respectable society fears that throwing accusations of lying around will create a vicious, foul-mouthed country – without realising that they already live in the future they fear.
This is a government that lies. It lies because it knows that most people pay next to no attention to politics and will let it get away with lying. It lies because it knows many people think “all politicians are liars” and expect to be lied to. It lies because too few have learned the difference between politicians who stonewall, twist, brag and fall into groupthink and the Putin and Trump wannabes, who think that if leaders destroy trust in everyone and everything voters may stop believing that change for the better is possible and stick with the liars they know. It lies because it is gambling that a society where trust has evaporated will be easier to govern than a confident country that insists on high standards.
This is a government that lies. It lies because, despite all it says to the contrary, it quietly despises Conservative voters and thinks they are either such fools that they believe their leaders’ lies or such cynics that they admire the rat-like cunning their leaders display when they lay their false trails. It lies because a generation of amoral commentators assured it that the truth no longer mattered as the electorate had “baked in” the prime minister’s willingness to lie.
It lied last week as it lied every week. It lies to the Queen. It lies to Parliament. It lies to the electorate. It lies to itself
This is a government that lies. It lies because it instinctively understands what sociologists call “strategic lying” and the rest of us call “shit sticking”, shifts the news agenda on to its preferred territory. It lies because it knows Dominic Cummings was right to agree that when he told the lie that Brexit would deliver £350m a week to the NHS in 2016, or the prime minister told the lie this year that Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile, they “trapped” their opponents into spreading the lies as they refuted them.
It lies because it cannot admit the existence of the world in front of its eyes. It ignored a fraud epidemic last week, so it could pretend that crime is falling. It went on to ignore the sharpest collapse in living standards in 30 years so it could pretend the economy was booming.
It lied last week as it lies every week. It lies to the Queen. It lies to parliament. It lies to the electorate. It lies to itself. It lies as a matter of policy. It lies as a matter of course. It lies when it doesn’t need to lie. It lies because it doesn’t know what else to do. It lies because it is all it can do. This is a government that lies.
L67
👏
LIONROARS67
13TH FEBRUARY 2022 8:41 AM
his is a government that lies…
—-
👏 and that’s the absolute truth.
AN TEARMANN on 12TH FEBRUARY 2022 10:39 PM
Bridie is good but Margaret Barry is even better…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWylhRo3UJY&ab_channel=Erryday
Good morning all.
It’s game day and there is a buzz about the place thanks to ange and his Bhoys.
L67 👍
Came on looking for Footy related stuff about Celtic. Seem to have ended up in Soapbox City. Are there no other sites where people can grind their axes on the politics of the day? Getting really tedious wading through all this keech!
L67. Bravo. If this is your own work it needs to reach a wider readership.
I don’t reckon it’s tempting fate.
Return Flights from Stansted to Tirana at the end of May we’re too good to resist.
Worst that can happen is a visit to a lovely riviera coastline in a country with a sensible covid policy which is super safe country for a week.
The best is to be there to celebrate an incredible achievement by an astonishing manager with a team which is only going one way.
I meant super safe as in low crime for tourists to be concerned about.
Winning approx 19 of our next 23 games would give us an incredible quadruple.
Not impossible with our manager and his ever improving squad. Loving this journey. Loving that we are seeing a team evolving before our eyes who want to be here.
Glass gone at Aberdeen
Are the Glaziers taking over??….
Burnley78
Too true. It has been an absolute joy to watch this team evolve over the course of the season. They have epitomised playing “The Glasgow Celtic way” and whilst there have been a few hiccups en route the trajectory has always been upwards. Looking forward to plenty more swashbuckling performances, a hatful of goals, and Ange being let loose with the £30-40M CL money to propel us on further. Happy Hoopy times. HH
Don’t be a pane 🤔
The parting glass
will julienne get any game time today or will he say its to wet to play.
Curtains for glass.
H.H. Mick
Broony must be in with a shout as player/manager if he fancies it?
TIM MALONE
Think that’s the plan right from the start.
H H. Mick
FOURSTONECOPPI on 13TH FEBRUARY 2022 9:11 AM
AN TEARMANN on 12TH FEBRUARY 2022 10:39 PM
Bridie is good but Margaret Barry is even better…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWylhRo3UJY&ab_channel=Erryday
——————————————
Cheers for that fourstonecoppi.
When I was younger songstresses like Margaret Barry
were playing or tapes being made available
Rita Gallagher was one such stalwart,singing unaccompanied by instruments her voice lilting powerfully as she carried the story of her song.
Her version of “cruel john adair” is haunting
I only have a tape of it and it was made years ago.
Hope garygiilespieshamstring enjoys too.
Matchday now,so lookin forward to today and going forward in the cup.💚
HH
The Aberdeen situation is perplexing to me. The old adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” comes to mind. I grant you that in light of St Johnstone’s success, it can be argued that Aberdeen could/should have picked up a cup, or, two.
What was McInnes doing so wrong that it meant ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater”?
I felt that although perennially playing second-fiddle to the big two in Glasgow, Aberdeen were always the ‘third force’ in Scotland – that is no longer the case.
McInnes will bring Kilmarnock back into the Premiership next season, but where are Aberdeen heading? – they appear to be in free-fall.
The gl(r)ass is not always greener……
Joe Ledley interview from herald.
IT’S fair to say when Joe Ledley signed for Celtic his old club Cardiff City were raging.
Then Celtic boss Neil Lennon exploited a loophole in the transfer system which under normal circumstances would have seen the Glasgow side pay a development fee to the Welsh outfit.
Ledley had garnered attention from a whole host of clubs. Cardiff had even turned down bids of up to £6 million from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Stoke City, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Hull City.
Cardiff wrongfully rejected bids even during the final season of Ledley’s contract believing that would be due compensation from any club who signed him under freedom of contract.
The compensation fee was only due from clubs within the same association and critically Celtic were not a member of the FA or the Welsh FA.
In the end, the Hoops got an absolute steal as they landed their man for nothing. It is a small wonder the Bluebirds weren’t singing and chirping after that piece of business was concluded.
Ledley admits that it took just one conversation with Lenny and a guided tour of Celtic Park to seal the deal.
Ledley said: I signed for Celtic when I was 23.
“Cardiff City wanted money for me and it was classed as moving abroad to Scotland.
“I didn’t know how the system worked but Celtic got me for nothing in the end.
“Cardiff City weren’t happy and I can understand that. I had a few offers from the English Premier League but at the end of the day, it was my decision – and I made the best decision of my life.
“The club really looked after me and my family and they flew us up and took us out for a meal and I spoke to Lenny and he sold the club to me.
I went to have a look at the stadium and I thought ‘wow’. I have seen Celtic Park on TV but once you actually go there and see it for real it is something else.
“I just knew from the minute I clapped eyes on it this was the place for me.
“People do not have a clue about Scottish football or Celtic.
“It is easy to criticise decisions when you haven’t been there and done it.
“I look back at my friend’s reaction to when I was playing for Celtic and they came up. They couldn’t believe the stadium. They were just blown away by it all.
“That is why players sign for Celtic. You don’t realise how big this club is. All around the world, there are Celtic fans. It is non-stop.
“I could go anywhere in the world and I guarantee there would be a Celtic supporter.”
Suffering a brutal start to his career in Glasgow, Ledley experienced being dumped out of both the Champions League and Europa League to Portuguese side Braga and Dutch outfit FC Utrecht.
However, things soon picked up and the Welsh internationalist won the hearts and minds of the Celtic faithful when he bossed the December game against Rangers and scored the winner in a 1-0 win at Celtic Park.
It is a treasured career memory.
Ledley buried a back-post header from a corner to earn instant hero status and the subsequent iconic image of him celebrating the goal has entered club folklore.
He said: “We started that season off very poorly losing in the Champions League and the Europa League.
“Results weren’t going Rangers way by the December and it was judgement day in that fixture. We had to win that game and we did.
“Scoring the winner is one of the best things I have ever done in my life.
“That goal took us to the top of the league and we never looked back after that.
“It was a special feeling to win the title that season.
“That’s why I came to Celtic Park to win cups and trophies.
“Fans always remind me of that winning goal I scored against Rangers.
“It’s a brilliant feeling.”
Celtic would beat Rangers to the title that season but it was not all plain sailing, to begin with.
Ledley believed that Lenny was heading for the exit door on a fateful October day at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock in season 2010/11.
Celtic was unexpectedly trailing 3-0 at half-time.
Ledley fully expected the teacup treatment and fireworks from Lenny.
The only thing he can remember is the eerie silence as a team of Celtic players knew they had 45 minutes to save the manager’s job or he was a goner.
Two goals from Anthony Stokes and a counter from Charlie Mulgrew in an incredible second-half fightback saw Celtic salvage a point and it was the catalyst for the club to go on clinch the title.
Ledley said: “Things came to a head that day at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock.
“I will never forget that for as long as I live.
“Celtic were 3-0 down at half-time.
“Lenny has since said that he was contemplating his future at that moment.
“The players realised it there and then that we were not performing for Lenny and if we did not go out in the second half and salvage something then he was going to walk.
“We didn’t want that as players and we had to pull our fingers out at the end of the day.
“I actually thought that Lenny was going to read the riot act and tear strips off us as Rugby Park that day.
“What struck me most was the silence.
“For Lenny, he was actually quite quiet.
“That’s why I thought he might be going here as he looked on the verge of quitting.
“Normally you would see tables and chairs getting flipped but there was nothing like that.
“We just knew as players that we needed to work hard for the manager otherwise he was going to go.
“We had a team full of cracking players and we got a 3-3 draw and we went from strength to strength after that.
“We knew it was totally unacceptable not just for the manager but for the fans as well.
“It is an impossible task trying to keep Lenny quiet.
“That pin drop silence struck me the most as the players knew we were in a serious situation and we dug ourselves and the manager out of that hole we were in.”
Celtic would lose the title in season 2010/11 to Rangers but Ledley credits Neil Lennon as the sole architect of the club’s success back then after embarking on a buy British signing policy.
He insists that the likes of Gary Hooper, Kelvin Wilson, Adam Matthews and Kris Commons allied to the foreigners and homegrown players in the side have never been in a dressing room like it ever again.
It was a definite case of “Bhoys Behaving Badly”.
Ledley said: “It was just a special moment in all our careers.
“Lenny signed the best of British football players that were around and he assembled a team that was rebuilding at the time.
“He brought in the likes of myself, Gary Hooper, Kelvin Wilson, Adam Matthews and he set up an unbelievable recruitment process.
“We fitted in straight away being British based players as there was no language barrier or settling in period having come from foreign shores.
“Scott Brown, Mark Wilson, Kris Commons, Paddy McCourt, Charlie Mulgrew and Anthony Stokes were all there during my time at Celtic.
“Even the foreign players who were at the club during that time like Victor Wanyama, Virgil Van Dijk and Georgios Samaras bought into it and they lived it and breathed it.
“It was a fantastic Celtic dressing room. It was carnage with those players around honestly.
“There was always something going on. We were always up to mischief either outside or inside of football.
“We all just bought into the club and we all got it from the get-go. To a man we all loved it.
“If you spoke to all those players, it would not matter where they have been in their careers they will tell you that Celtic dressing room was the best they had ever been. It was second to none.
“We were a band of brothers off the field as you have to be careful when you go out in Glasgow. We were a tight group.
“I loved working under Lenny. He is one of the best managers I have ever had and I still keep in touch with him to this day.
“Lenny sets the tone and as a manager, he treated his players like mates and friends. There was a time and a place to push boundaries with him.
“Don’t get me wrong, you never wanted to be on the receiving end of a Lenny bollocking as he can lose it.
“He just had total respect for his players and he let us play with freedom. He never drilled anything into us at training and he never said do this or do that.
“Training was always about short, sharp possession and being better and sharper on the ball.
“When we went into small-sided games all we did was try and keep the ball moving.
“Even when we didn’t win the league the first season I was there, I still felt some of the football we produced under Lenny was unbelievable.”
In the following campaign, Ledley would lift the title again and score in a 3-0 Scottish Cup final win over Hibs at Hampden.
Although even those achievements were dwarfed by comparison when Lenny’s Celtic put the mighty Barcelona to the sword an unforgettable Champions League night at Celtic Park in November 2012.
Victor Wanyama and Tony Watt grabbed the goals that sent Rod Stewart into a tailspin as he wept uncontrollably from the stands.
It was Celtic who grabbed the football world’s imagination as well as the limelight for their unbelievable feat.
Ledley insists that the Celtic supporters showed that night why Celtic Park is the best arena in world football to ply your trade.
Ledley said: “The Barcelona game was incredible. When I was younger I always watched Serie A and La Liga a lot.
“Everybody watched teams like Barcelona and I bought their kit as a young kid. I think I had Rivaldo on the back of my shirt.
“I signed for Celtic to play against the best teams in Europe. To play against your idols and beat them at Celtic Park was sensational and an unbelievable achievement.
“We actually lost 2-1 in the Nou Camp and that boosted us as we felt that we could give them a game in Glasgow.
“We worked on the premise that nothing is impossible.
“Scott Brown wasn’t playing, Gary Hooper was missing and a lot of first-team players were out for that match.
“Celtic did not have much of the ball as you have seen the stats but we still managed to beat them. It was an insane experience.
“You are just learning your trade though as they are the best in the world. It will take something special to eclipse that achievement.
“The stars just aligned as Celtic were celebrating their 125th anniversary as a club and it is just one of those special European nights at Celtic Park.
“Once the crowd start singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, Celtic Park just erupts. It is utterly bonkers.
“When that full-tie whistle went against Barcelona we were all in a state of shock. It was really emotional.
“Playing at Celtic Park on a European night is the best atmosphere in the world – easy!
“There are some places in South America like the Boca Juniors vs River Plate derby that might rival it.
“For me, Celtic Park on a European night is the best place to play in world football. People need to witness it first to give it even more credit.
“Once you are in that mix and among the Glaswegian supporters of this wonderful football club it truly is the best place in the world to play football.
“I have a treasure trove of memories from my time at Celtic.
“This is what the Cardiff fans could not understand. This is why I left the club to sign for Celtic.
“Once you look back in your career, I want to see medals. I wanted to lift trophies and win things and play in cup finals.
“A football player’s career goes in so fast and you want something tangible from it to say that you played in a successful and winning team.
“Maybe I am being a bit harsh but I actually feel that Celtic could have won more during my spell there especially with the team we had.
“Winning trophies with Celtic was just a pure joy.”
Ledley won three Scottish Premiership titles and a Scottish Cup winners badge with Celtic during his three-and-a-half-year spell with the Glasgow side.
However, he readily admits to having initial reservations about not being able to get on with fellow midfielder Scott Brown.
He reckoned that both their dominant and loud personalities would have clashed in the dressing room. How wrong could he be?
The two hit it off instantly and despite being one of the most decorated Celtic players in history, Ledley believes that Broony’s football talent has still not been given the credit it deserves.
Ledley revealed that he used to love it when Broony went into the heat of the Glasgow derby battle against Rangers and he would give firm friends like Steven Whittaker the silent treatment in the tunnel by looking straight ahead.
The 77 times capped Welshman insists that he fed off it and couldn’t take his own eyes off Broony’s death stare.
Ledley said: “I told my family when I signed for Celtic that myself and Scott Brown might clash because we were similar in terms of personality.
“We both love the banter and we hit it off straight away. Scott is such a good guy and he welcomed me with open arms.
“He is one of those guys who gets criticised but without him, Celtic would not have been as successful as they were. That’s a fact.
“I thought he was under-rated in terms of his ability as I think he is a fantastic footballer.
“Off the pitch, Broony was just a larger than life character.
“I used to just watch him in the tunnel before Rangers games and he had that fixed stare.
“I would take my lead from Broony and I would be like “Come on let’s have it!”
“He is a force of nature and what a character. Steven Whittaker was one of his best friends and before every Rangers game, he would custard pie him.
“He wouldn’t even look at him. He wouldn’t even talk to him and I would be thinking, ‘Jesus… here we go!’
“I think he is still truly missed by Celtic. I’d love to see him return one day as a coach or something like that.
“It is actually great to see him still playing at his age for Aberdeen and doing very well.”
The end of his Celtic chapter when it came in January 2014 was a painful one for Ledley.
He revealed that it broke his heart to call time on his Celtic career as he signed for English Premier League side Crystal Palace in a deal worth £1 million.
Ledley admits that he agonised over the decision for weeks and despite ticking the box of playing in the self-proclaimed best league in the world, he is still not sure to this day whether he made the right choice or not.
Ledley said: “I was devastated and it broke my heart to leave Celtic. It was such a difficult decision.
“I had everyone on the phone to me and I did not know what to do as my head was all over the place.
“I did not want to be involved in an English Premier League relegation battle with Crystal Palace as they were near the bottom of the league and I did not want to go back to the Championship.
“So my decision was do I stay at Celtic or do I have a crack at the Premier League which I had watched growing up?
“I was 26 at the time and I thought it was the right decision to go and have a crack at something. I don’t have any regrets as playing in the Premier League was every boy’s dream.
“I look back and I’m not too sure whether it was the right decision or not.”
Ledley though would not swap his time in Glasgow for the world.
It was the most successful spell in his club career and the Celtic fans still love him and remember him fondly.
That means more to him than anything else.
Maybe it’s the Welsh/Celtic connection who knows but in Ledley the Celtic supporters found a kindred football spirit.
Ledley said “I look back on my career and it is totally unbelievable for a boy from Cardiff.
“I went back to Celtic Park recently and the fans gave me such a wonderful reception. It made me so emotional.
“Celtic supporters just realise what certain players do and bring to the club.
“I loved the city of Glasgow and my time at Celtic. It is a football-mad city full of amazing people.
“I had a unique bind with Celtic as a club and their supporters. We just got each other really.”
Ledley was a wonderfully proficient box-to-box midfielder, Ledley was an integral and valuable midfielder for Celtic.
He was a highly consistent but never flashy performer who rose to the challenge of playing for Celtic and then some.
Not bad for the grand sum of zero pounds.
As a Celtic player, Ledley just got it.
After all, Ledley was no ordinary Joe.
Glass clearly not upto the task………………
I heard Broony’s shattered…………………….
Neil Lennon for Aberdeen with Broonie his assistant.
TOM
I think that would be interesting, and troubling for der hun.
H H. Mick
TOM – was just thinking that could be good for everyone concerned – and the wider league.
Guid evening Quad, ready for the early morn Celtic call. 👍
H H. Mick
LIONROARS67 on 13TH FEBRUARY 2022 8:41 AM
……………
GREAT POST Mate.
100% SPOT ON.
HH.
Howdy MICK.
Yep the phone alarm is set –
Nae skwerr sausage tho – might have to be TimTams and Shiraz.
I wish that I had tried Ice Hockey when I was young…the thought of Beating up opposition players ( especially the ones who you knew were Huns) with a BIG STICK is so appealing.
MISSEDCHANCECFC.
LOL.
VOGUEPUNTER
Thanks for joe ledley interview. HH
LEFTCLICKTIC
You’re very welcome big P.hh
Play our STRONGEST Starting X1 Today and hopefully WHEN the game is WON…THEN make Substitutions.
I doubt the Big ANGE will do as I ask, but if you dont ask…
HH.
So Aberdeen “part company” with Stephen Glass?
Better than being sacked I suppose? 🤔
Have to admit to feeling a bit sorry for both parties.
I quite like Aberdeen.
I quite like Stephen Glass.
I even (grudgingly) quite liked Derek McInnes.
Bigger issue for me is what this says about our game.
Scottish football occasionally deludes itself that it wants (what is often referred to simplistically as) “progressive football”.
So, clubs bring coaches like Glass and Maloney …
… into a totally antiquated culture and structure ….
… and watches them wither in an environment where skill is neutralised and brutality is rewarded ….
…. then typically revert to “a safe pairs of hands” ( translation DINOSAURS)
Martindale, Neilson, Davidson
Hhmm
QUAD
I’ve been dancing around the Lorne sausage all night, princess says
“ Why don’t you just eat it and get something else when you get up”
But no not me, I’ve got discipline, I’ve also made roast onions in
Balsamic vinegar to put on top, but not much of them left.
Never mind plenty of the rid biddy left 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
H H. Mick
So Aberdeen finally saw through him
Yes GENE it was crystal clear 😜
H H. Mick