Under the cover of coronavirus, Dave King resigned as chairman of Newco. Four months ago he said the club needed £10m before the end of the season. In his farewell statement, released last night, he noted a hoped-for round of funding “has been put on hold”. With the postponement of fixtures since last month, the funding requirement could now be as much as £20m.
The statement was unnecessarily wordy, had he got to the point, he would have said ‘The proposed funder has bailed out and so have I. You’re on your own.’
Claiming he hoped to extend his tenure as chairman until after the coronavirus crisis, but was unable to as South Africa authorities insisted he self-isolate for 14 days, insults the intelligence of even his advocates. The world is self-isolating at the moment and the rest of us have figured out how to communicate by phone or videoconference.
This football club needs tens of millions to pay the liabilities incurred to get this close to Celtic. Hopes of selling its player assets for inflated figures have disappeared from their fantasies. Ex-pats prepared to sink millions into covering previous losses do not exist.
Without Dave King menacing to get his hands on the club within days of Charles Green buying Oldco’s assets, Newco would now be solvent and competitive. Instead, Green was forced to cut ticket prices and pay Ally McCoist and his squad over the odds in order to keep the fans onside, blowing his business plan apart from the off.
The architect of this clusterstaunch has left the scene, unwilling to be held accountable for what happens next. Dave, you will be welcome to make the Paradise Windfall draw any time the South African authorities permit you to travel – but I realise you are unlikely to visit Glasgow again. When the history of our 20-in-a-row, or whatever the sequence becomes, is written, there will be a chapter dedicated to fools like you who made it possible.
519 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- »
God Bless SOT, take care CQNer.
Terrible pictures coming frae doon there.
I’ll say a little prayer for you.
Bobby Sands was such a keen ornotholigist like so many, Yer goodself, DBBIA and Ernie always did get me checking out yer stuff. Dad has everything documented for as long as I can remember. Magical.
Canamalar.
Emphatic.
You never went to Cliftonhill did you?
Canamalar. I pray you have friends and family around you to assist with the grieving process.
It’s not the kind of thing you can easily cope with.
I remember bursting out crying months after my dad died.
Prayers for your dad and yourself.
Neil Lennon: ‘Football will mean a lot more to a lot of people when it returns’
By Tom English
Neil Lennon insists captain Scott Brown has been his most influential player over the years
Like so many, Neil Lennon took a minute to applaud the NHS workers on Thursday evening, standing at the window of his Glasgow flat and clapping appreciatively as others around him clapped and banged their pots and pans in acknowledgment of these incredible people.
He found it emotional and he wouldn’t have been alone in that either. “The word I keep hearing on the news, from leaders of countries and leaders of sports associations, is unprecedented,” he says. “It’s the word of the year. Everybody is saying it and they’re right. Look, I don’t want to be getting up on my high horse and preaching to anybody but we might look back on this as a time when our society changed.
“I’m really missing football, I’m missing the players, the staff, the games, the colour, the noise, but it’s no bad thing to take a moment and appreciate what you’ve got.
“I think football will mean a lot more to a lot of people when it returns. What I’m seeing now is us going back to our roots, going back to community life with people looking out for each other and maybe we’d gone away from that. What’s happening is tragic but everybody is pulling together to try to get through it and that’s brilliant.”
Lennon’s decade as a boss in 10 moments
Celtic say season ‘cannot be voided’
Caged animals & mental health
Lennon is communicating with his players from a safe distance. It could be five months, and possibly longer, before they’re back out there and he knows how they’re feeling right now. “They’re like caged animals,” he says. “These are young, fit men who’re used to an almost regimented way of living. Their routine is training and playing. All of that is gone. Some of them will be cooking for themselves for the first time in their lives.
“Mentally, the change can put a strain on them. They’re used to intensity and suddenly it’s not there. We’re very aware of the mental [health] side of this. We all need to keep our well-being in order. As long as I can get out and get some exercise for my own peace of mind then I’m fine. The silence is deafening when you go out for a walk. The place is deserted. We just have to ride it out as best we can. We’re all in the same boat.”
This past week has marked 10 years since Lennon became a manager. He was only 38. “I’m a year off 50,” he says. “All of a sudden, it creeps up on you. Where has it all gone? There’s been a lot crammed in and you never really get much time to take stock.”
Now is as good a time as any. What else would we be doing? Lennon in Scotland is an epic tale that would take an awful lot of telling with more time and space required than we have here. He’s a Netflix series unto himself.
There’s the football, the trophies, the cut and thrust of his professional life and there’s the poison. He’s had a death threat from the Loyalist Volunteer Force, he’s been knocked unconscious in the street, he’s had a guy try to run him off the road, he’s been spat at and head-butted, he’s had bullets in the post, he’s had a viable parcel bomb intercepted, a person has done time for a threatening him in a social media post, another person has depicted him in a mock hanging on the internet, somebody else daubed a message on the wall outside Tynecastle saying that he should be killed.
We could go on and on. The rampant bigotry he has been subjected to, the attack by a fan at Tynecastle – “that guy lacked social skills” he says, in a magnificent and intended understatement.
It’s hard to remember them all, unless they’d all been done to you, in which case it would be hard to forget. Without question he’s the most disgracefully treated person there’s ever been in Scottish football.
‘I had a great upbringing’
But he’s made of tough stuff. “I had a great upbringing,” he explains. “My parents kept us out of trouble. We didn’t have much to live on but they did their best and as you get older you appreciate more and more what your parents did for you.
“Growing up in the 1970s in Northern Ireland wasn’t easy. The most vivid memories were of the year of the Hunger Strikes, the rioting and the tension. I was about 10 or 11. That was a really intense period, especially in the nationalist, republican community where I grew up. I saw some stuff. The plastic bullets. I used to see them lying on the street, six inch cylinders, heavy and hard things, but my parents kept me away from it.”
There’s a story about the younger Lennon that tells you something about the steel in him. He was playing for Crewe when he broke his back, 16 metal staples being inserted to hold things together. There were doubts about whether he would ever play again but there were also doubts if he would ever walk again if things went wrong. He was 19-years-old, was earning £120 a week and was out for year.
From that to this, it’s quite a journey. We’re talking on the phone because that’s how things are done in these strange times but even without the face to face his humour and intelligence shines through.
Ten years since he became a manager. What would he tell the Neil Lennon of 2010 if he was sitting in front of him right now? “I’d tell him that I admire his passion and his drive, but that he can’t do it all by himself,” he answers. “What I’ve learned is how to adapt to players rather than trying to get them to adapt to me. I’m far more rounded now than I was then. You just learn, don’t you?”
Snapshots from his football life. One of the scariest moments came in October 2011, a day when it could have ended even before it really got started. Celtic trailed Rangers by 10 points at the top of the league and found themselves 3-0 down at half-time at Rugby Park. “That was a pivotal moment,” he recalls. “It’s a bit of a walk down to the tunnel and I was looking at our fans and I said to myself, ‘I’m not giving this up just yet’. The reality was that if we continued in the same vein I was going to get sacked. My personal pride and the pride I have in the club was hurting, so I got after the players a wee bit.
“I gave them an ultimatum, basically. I went in and said, ‘Look lads, see if you want me here on Monday, you have to turn this around because we’re embarrassing the club and the fans out there’. They got the draw and then won 17 games in a row and we won the league and we won it back at Kilmarnock, 6-0 on a gloriously sunny day.”
‘A golden moment’ against Barcelona
Neil Lennon celebrates Tony Watt’s famous goal against Barcelona at Celtic Park
Neil Lennon celebrates Tony Watt’s famous goal against Barcelona at Celtic Park
His greatest moment was beating Barcelona in the Champions League in 2012 and making the last 16 of the most illustrious club competition in the world.
“I’m standing on the touchline that night and I’m a few feet away from Messi and Iniesta and Xavi – some of the best players who ever played the game,” he recalls. “I’m thinking this is what it must be like if you walked up the 18th fairway with Tiger Woods on the Sunday at the Masters or you were ringside watching Muhammad Ali. Proper legends – and here was my team beating these incredible players.”
Does he remember who Barca brought on that evening? “David Villa was one of them… Who else?” Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas.
“And we brought on Tony Watt!,” he says. “We brought him on for (Mikael) Lustig and Adam Matthews went from left-back to right-back, Charlie Mulgrew went from left-wing to left-back, Georgios Samaras went from centre forward to wide left and we put Tony up there and told him to do what he could. It was the kid’s golden moment – and a golden moment in my life.”
He cites his brief spell at Bolton as his biggest low in management. The club went into administration, they started selling off assets, the chairman Phil Gartside passed away and every day was stressful, a world away from what he had left behind at Celtic Park when he exited in 2014.
“It was a bad experience, but one you learn from,” he says. “You’re used to winning up here. You never take it for granted, but your weekends are normally quite good. Bolton was the total opposite.
“Football management is lonely at times. Everything stops with you. You have to strike a balance, you can’t let it dominate your life. If it’s 24/7 and you’re winning then everything is brilliant, but when it’s 24/7 and things are going wrong you have to have a valve you can turn off.
“You have to find other things to do even though at times it’s virtually impossible. I always remember Fergie [Sir Alex Ferguson] telling me that when Roger Federer lost a final he would take his family out to dinner and they weren’t allowed to talk about tennis. That’s a good one.
“You analyse a game to death but you can’t get it back. Deal with it on the day and move on. Fergie had the horses as a distraction. I like to read. It can’t always be work, work, work or it will grind you down eventually.”
He says Virgil van Dijk has been his best signing and that Odsonne Edouard is as good as anything he’s seen up front for Celtic since Henrik Larsson. The most significant player on his watch has been Scott Brown.
“He’s an outstanding captain and an outstanding footballer and that gets overlooked sometimes,” he says. “He still covers the ground well even at at 34, which I didn’t do at 34. He still has that great cardiovascular capacity. People try to take him on all the time but he’s got the dark arts you need to have in the throes of a game. He sets standards every single day.”
There’s not much opportunity to do that now. Everything is on hold. Lennon wants the Premiership played to a natural finish – Celtic are 13 points ahead at the top – but the mood music tells us that this league could be called pretty soon. The financial imperatives may demand it.
“We want to play all the games but I don’t know if that’s possible,” he says. “It’s not the main concern. We’ll do what we can do, but the most important thing is that all everybody stays safe and well in these scary times. That’s the thing that matters.
——————
Lenny speaks well, he’s a Celtic legend imo.
HH
First – Hampden Park
Last – HBF Park (Perth)
Best – Celtic Park
Worst – Dens Park
HH
I watched the 2008 Rangers, the original ones, at Celtic Park.
Nakamura’s blockbuster from Cape Canaveral left McGregor the twisted bitter bar steward he is today.
The one where obnoxious Novo scored the equalizer against a poorly positioned Artur.
The one where a cheating Hun stopped a goal bound Nakamura shot with his hand.
The one where McDonald had the penalty saved by the angry bitter McGregor.
And the one where gorgeous Giorgios played it back to Caldwell, who chipped the ball forward to McDonald, who found JVOH who scored a sensational, memorable winner.
The one where the Huns took it so poorly they were fighting on the park at the end.
What happens to players who go there?
They all become nasty, belligerent, entitled rats.
Must be the water.
We are all Neil Lennon 🇮🇪☘👍
AN TEARMANN on 28TH MARCH 2020 5:19 PM
Ah Leftie
Thanks for posting the anagram.it made me smile and that is a good thing..hope you and yours keepin safe P.will catch up soon.
😊
HH
Big Jimmy
BBC2 is going to start to show classic comedy films around 3pm each day…
Mon 6th: School For Scoundrels
Tue 7th: The Man In The White Suit
Wed 8th: The Titfield Thunderbolt
Thu 9th: Whisky Galore!
Fri 10th: The Lavender Hill Mob
Erz yir telly kick off times sorted for next week.
1985 Glasgow your club? Pub? Was
Keep on
HH
…………………….
I had a Flat in Glasgow city centre at that time ( 1985) near the Top of Sauchiehall Street so I tended to visit some of the local Pubs around my Flat. I also had Two Jobs literally 50 yards away from my Flat at that time.
The Pubs were “Nicos, The Griffin, Pythagarous, The Norsk and Oceans ( ?).
The only reason that I was down at the Broomielaw that day was that I had been in the Sheriff Court and on my way for some Beers, I had to cross The Suspension Bridge which was quite close to the Fast Eddie Pool Hall.
Stay safe.
HH
CONNAIRE..
My thoughts are with your Cousin and others at this time.
Stay as safe as you can.
HH
DBHOy @ 7:42
Thanks for posting that article about Our Neil.
That’s my bedtime story.
It’s 3am and this isolation is playing havoc with my sleep patterns.
Good night and God bless and keep us all.
Best eleven…
Yashin
McGrain Moore Maldini
Ronaldo Viera Xavi Matthaus(C) Cruyff
Maradona
Pele
HH
One of the times that I was in the Divorce court….
The Judge said…” Big Jimmy….I am going to give your wife £100 per week”.
My reply was…” Thats very kind of your Honour….I’ll try and slip her a couple of quid myself” !
HH
GG,
Partick born and bred.
I see the first diagnosed baby has died in Illinois, poor wee soul.
Connaire…,
Thoughts and prayers with you and yours.
‘GG CQN needs you for games to be played in the future. Sleep well and Dream Good, hopefully with laughter in there.
God Bless and Protect ye.
I saw wee Dena posted….good to see you back ,hope family are all well.
BIG JIMMY on 29TH MARCH 2020 8:22 AM
One of the times that I was in the Divorce court….
The Judge said…” Big Jimmy….I am going to give your wife £100 per week”.
My reply was…” Thats very kind of your Honour….I’ll try and slip her a couple of quid myself” !
————————
An oldie but a goodie.
BIG JIMMY on 29TH MARCH 2020 7:53 AM
AN TEARMANN on 28TH MARCH 2020 5:19 PM
………
I also drank with my Fitba mates in “Archies Pub” in Waterloo Street in the early mid 1980’s. This Pub was usually frequented by the Celtic players on a Saturday night in the 1980’s.
McGarvey and Provan in particular were always in.
HH
Bsr- you seen who has a prominent part(s) in Hap and Leonard on Prime?
VIP,
I am truly blessed to see my wee Laddie laughing in his sleep when he was so young. Sometimes for a while. Cannae Believe we are still getting harrassed by the Best Taxi Driver ever.
God Bless ye Bro.
During the EU Referendum the Tories claimed on the side of Buses…The NHS will get £350 Million per week if we leave the EU. I realise that the Tory govt are putting more cash into the NHS at this time because of the Corona Virus.We left the EU almost Two Months ago ( Jan. 31st 2020), so where is the £350 Million per week ?
Any evidence of it ?
Barmy Boris also stated numerous times during the UK Election that HIS Govt are putting an extra 20,000 Police on the streets.
How can Police Cadets etc train to be a Police Officer during this Virus with no mass meetings, self isolation etc , so therefore NO Training for any new recruits ?
Following the tragedy of The Greenfell Tower block….many Rise tower Blocks were having risky Cladding removed for obvious safety reasons…is that work STILL being carried out during this Virus ?
I havent heard any Politician mention that work ?
Why hasnt the Govt commissioned the Balck Hack taxis all over the country to help ease the strain on the Ambulance Service ? A Tory MP raised this in Parliament days ago .
HH
Have been taking my dog out at 5am, lucky if you see anyone else at that time of the morning.
This morning, I stepped outside and was immediately struck by the total silence, no traffic noise whatsoever, as if we lived out in the middle of the bush.
And we have now been shut-down even further, public ‘gatherings’ limited to 2 people.
And more to come….
First – Celtic Park
Last- Bo’ness Utd
Best – Celtic Park
Worse – Greenfield Park (Shettleston Jnrs)
‘I want to give’ by Perry Como.Heard it few minutes ago on local radio.
The NHS both Tories ‘privatized’ and Labour ‘marketized’it.They are still
at it..If a politician talks of our great NHS they are lying imo.
https://twitter.com/johnpilger/status/1244176532194463744?s=20
HH
Connaire 12
Thoughts and prayers with you cousins son.
Day 7 After serious consideration, the Executive Management Task Team (me) has reported back to the full Board (also me) as follows; the fridge shelves are good to go for another few years, no cleaning investment required.
————————-
STADIUMS
First: Hampden LCF Celts 5 v 3 Dundee, North Stand
Last: Celtic Park Griff hat-trick v Saints, Jock Stein 143
Best: Skydome Blue Jays v Yankees, think CP with a roof, great food outlets, good toilets and a train station underneath the Celtic Way
Worst: Brockville, wend a mazy path of planks to reach a god-awful ground full of god-awful peepul
Stadia…
First – Celtic Park 1966 (Celtic 4 v 1 Man Utd)
Last – Griffin Park Brentford (Brentford 5 v 0 Sheff Wed)
Best – Celtic Park
Worst – White Hart Lane (Old Stadium)
I think all new recruits to the club which operates from the bigotdome that is Ibrox park are first of all told to claim in their first interviews that they are working for ‘the most successful club in the world’ (sic).
Çccccc
Prayers for your family connaire. Prayer is going to be very important over the next while
Good morning, friends from a relatively bright, pleasant looking but chilly East Kilbride. Stay safe.
Anyone got this Paul Taylor’s (if that’s his surname) email address for Celtic Park, cause buying ST’s at this time is a no no and they should be asking fans to drop a deposit on their ST’s until this pandemic is over
Anybody seen ‘mike ashley is….’ on YouTube – a lot of swearing from a Geordie bruiser but it’s heartfelt.
Good morning CQN from a bright, sunny and still sleepy Garngad, that’s the longest sleep I have had in years and I know the clocks went forward an hour and I still feel knackered.
We have had the 8 year old grandson staying with us for over a week now to give his mum and dad a wee break as they have an 9 month old as well, bhoy is the wee man a bundle of energy. He has only been up about 30 mins and he has already played football in living room (soft ball) organised my day and had breakfast. Now he is away up to his room to play Fifa before beating me outside in the garden at 1 on 1 (headies and kicks).
I’m knackered at the thought.
Hail Hail
D. :)
Ooooft,James Forrest,that was a paint blistering article on King.My eyes were watering reading it.
Congratulations.
First – Hampden (SCF replay v Dunfermline)
Last – Vale Park
Best – Celtic Park ( aka parkheid )
Worst – Annfield ( Stirling Albion )
First – Celtic Park (the Jungle)
Last – Celtic Park
Best – Allianz Arena Munich
Worst – Brockville
HH