The momentum for a confederated regional league in Eastern Europe continues to gather pace with clubs from Belarus keen to join. With a population of around 10m, Belarus is sandwiched between Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, but their league has been rendered uncompetitive by the domination of Bate Borisov, who are on their way to eight-in-a-row titles.
Bate, who are now Champions League regulars, have no opportunity to progress while the rest of the league do not have the resources to compete with them. A regional league would solve all their problems.
Russian and Ukrainian clubs are aiming to have a confederated league in place by the start of 2014, with sponsors thought to be keen to step forward and underwrite whatever is necessary to smooth the way, but the Ukrainian FA suggest 2016 is a more viable date.
Scottish football stands to gain more from regionalisation than anywhere else on the planet. We need to have this debate before blindly stumbling into another Management of Decline while legislators in Minsk leave us behind!
Today is the last guaranteed posting date for CQN Annuals before Christmas, so if you haven’t ordered yet, this is your chance.
Many thanks for the tremendous support of the Annual in recent weeks. We have shipped lots to Australia, Canada and USA, across various European and Asian countries, and to hundreds of towns and cities across Scotland, England and Ireland. Even Ayrshire!
Last guaranteed date before Christmas. You can order the CQN Annual here!
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Hail Hail
Oooft
Could it be?
16th…….
I’ve just had a conversation with a hun I used to work with and was ripping him about the latest fakeover. He was in the “I got a prospectus but decided not to buy bracket”. He went on to call chuckles a chancer, a con man and informed me that he thought chuckles would be offski PDQ with crisp tenners flowing from every orifice..
If carlsberg did huns…………………………..How refreshing.
Afternoon Celts, where’s my prospectus chic?
Tick-Tock
HH
1st Page ? and i read it all Paul -))))
…. rolling over from the previous article.
Taking the family to NY for Xmas, staying in Midtown Manhattan. Hoping to see the game on the 26th. Which of the local CSC’s is best to take a 3yr old to?
Anybody?
Just made it in time for Christmas
With the UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw looming, UEFA.com hands out its awards for a group stage lit up by the likes of Philippe Mexès, Celtic FC and Burak Yılmaz.
Team: Borussia Dortmund
Though Málaga CF deserve considerable admiration for their campaign, the size of the task facing Dortmund in Group D makes their achievement all the more impressive. Unbeaten in six fixtures against the champions of Spain, England and the Netherlands, Jürgen Klopp’s side learned fast from last season’s group stage exit and will fear no one in the knockout rounds. The speed with which Marco Reus has settled into his new surroundings has been crucial, while striker Robert Lewandowski now appears at home at this level. Mats Hummels and Neven Subotić have been superb in the centre of defence.
Player: Burak Yılmaz (Galatasaray AŞ)
Burak scored six of Galatasaray’s seven Group H goals and has already netted more times in a single UEFA Champions League season than any other Turkish player. Before his prolific streak, the 27-year-old forward had failed to register in his 16 previous matches in the competition, including qualifying. Cimbom’s seventh goal, at SC Braga on matchday six, came from Aydin Yılmaz and proved the most significant as it took the Turkish champions into the last 16 for the first time since 2001/02.
Goal: Philippe Mexès (AC Milan)
Without a goal in 18 months, Mexès sensationally ended his drought in the Rossoneri’s 3-1 Group C win at RSC Anderlecht on matchday five. Controlling on his chest, with back to goal 20 metres out on the right, the French international conjured a magnificent overhead kick that sailed into the far corner – not bad for a centre-back. Honourable mentions also go to Málaga’s Eliseu, for his blistering strike against Anderlecht on matchday two, and Chelsea FC’s Oscar for his sensational second effort against Juventus in September.
Match: Real Madrid CF 3-2 Manchester City FC
How different life in Group D could have been for the English title holders had their trip to the Santiago Bernabéu not had such a venomous sting in the tail. Still goalless midway through the second half, this matchday one contest exploded into life when Edin Džeko put City in front. Though Marcelo swiftly equalised for Madrid, the visitors appeared to have won it through Aleksandar Kolarov’s free-kick five minutes from the end. However, there was still time for Karim Benzema to lash in an equaliser and Cristiano Ronaldo to complete a remarkable turnaround.
Quote
“Yes, we watch Braveheart, and before every game we also put our kilts on and all dance together … ”
Celtic FC captain Scott Brown, with tongue firmly in cheek, reveals the secret to the Glasgow club’s success in Group G.
Number: 6
Zlatan Ibrahimović became the first player to score for six different teams in the UEFA Champions League when he converted a penalty in Paris Saint-Germain FC’s 4-1 Group A triumph against FC Dynamo Kyiv on matchday one. The Sweden striker had previously registered in the competition for AFC Ajax, Juventus, FC Internazionale Milano, FC Barcelona and Milan.
Rocking the boat: FC BATE Borisov, Celtic FC and CFR 1907 Cluj
Having failed to win in 12 group stage fixtures, BATE opened their 2012/13 campaign with victory at LOSC Lille. If that put the Belarusian champions on the front foot, very few could have predicted what followed on matchday two – a 3-1 home win against Group F favourites FC Bayern München. Elsewhere, on matchday four in Scotland, Celtic – agonisingly denied a point at the Camp Nou two weeks before – went one better at home and secured a memorable 2-1 success against Barcelona in Group G. Romania’s CFR were the last of the giant-killers, concluding their campaign with a 1-0 Group H victory at Old Trafford.
Unwanted record: Chelsea FC
Attempting to become the first club to retain the UEFA Champions League title, Chelsea set another, far less illustrious precedent. The London outfit had made it into the last 16 in all ten of their previous campaigns, yet missed out this time in Group E – the first occasion the holders had failed to get out of the group stage.
Persistence: GNK Dinamo Zagreb
Such was the delirium following Ivan Krstanović’s 95th-minute penalty on matchday six, in the 1-1 Group A home draw with Dynamo Kyiv, you could have been mistaken for thinking Dinamo had won the UEFA Champions League. In fact, the forward had just earned them their first point and ensured the Croatian side avoided equalling RSC Anderlecht’s unwanted record of 12 successive group stage defeats. Krstanović’s celebrations in the snow, shirt above head and mobbed by thrilled team-mates, were a sight to behold.
Christmas? Or Winter Solstice? Mr Spock’s view on the festivities.
The Real Meaning Of Christmas
P67
spare a thought this Christmas, for poor Chuck Green…waaaahhhhaaaaaaa
hhplc
Paul67
My main concern is that we are thrown into a Scotland/Wales/Eire regional league.
No thanks…
“……. Even Ayrshire” , that’ll be pfayr Christmas in then :>)
rioskorrie @ 12:12
Jack Demseys is good to watch the games in, child friendly too and do decent food, close to the Empire State Building. Have a drink in the Patrick Sweeneny lounge upstairs and raise a glass to Patrick on my behalf, great Celtic man sadly taken from us too early.
Who is it gonna be?
Knowing that two clubs from the same country or from the same group can’t get drawn together, here is our chances:
PSG 12.36%
SCH 12.52%
MGA 20.14%
DOR 13.20%
JUV 14.48%
BAY 13.20%
MAN 14.11%
So it looks like I could be taking ma lager to Malaga
PSG will have to wait till the quarters
;o)
asonofdan
12:15 on 18 December, 2012
………..
Anything that diminishes the power of the sfa lodge, is got to be good IMO.
V
legislators in minks leave us behind even legislators in Minsk will leave us behind Paul
did you see what I done there.
HH
Paul/ Bhoys loads of Tims in Ayshire…even one or two in Kilwinning ..with Ed edging closer to the good guys,from the dark side.
If, and a big if, we join a new league with the likes of Ajax, Porto, Benfica etc, what happens to the Champions League? What happens to the SPL, do we play our “2nd” team? If we want to be challenging the likes of Ajax where do we find the money to buy the overpriced and overpaid players to compete without falling into the debt cycle of most of the so called challengers in the EPL…maybe I need to my lunch cause my brain ain’t getting the end game here!! When fans are struggling to travel to away games in Scotland how will we afford to go abroad every 2nd week? Just askin!
paul67 – I hope one of those annuals is on the way to Wales too !
AsonofDan
We’d be as well staying in the SPL if that were the case.
The Scandies are our best bet for something more interesting. Denmark get 30 Million Euros a season for their TV coverage a season. Imagine Celtic with a slice of that kind of contract which would be bigger when it involved Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
mighty tim
You still up for beers on Saturday after game ?
Cardiffbhoy 12:17
Thanks for that. Was in the Manhattan CSC (pre 3yr old bairn) and was hoping to visit Dempseys this time. Just wasna sure about the bairn situation.
Consider the glass raised!
I was just thinking about that cracking movie ‘The Sting’ with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw.
I wonder if Chuck has a dud computer set up showing this phantom take up of shares while pocketing the cheques from the deluded.
Major dilema….
CQN annual shoul dbe arriving any day now (woohoo!) ….
Should I:
a) Keep it for me as my own Christmas pressie (as was the plan), or
b) Give it little AmberGhirl who would love it! (but steal it each night for a quick read when she’s sleeping)
Help!
I hear Campbell Ogilvie is the star of the SFA 2013 calendar, wearing nothing but a very small, strategically placed piece of mink.
Phil’s latest on the ECA nonsense
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/the-eca-and-sevco/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
4GF Is the Pope a Catholic. Looking forward to it mate.
HH
Snake Plissken
UEFA will want to control which leagues amalgamate. They would certainly want 3 very weak leagues to join up.
Quinnlado
These leagues will attract MUCH greater TV revenue .
This will provide the extra income for additional expenditure.
We will admittedly attend fewer away fixtures.
As someone who attends almost all our away fixtures, I personally will put up with that loss .
Scottish fitba is dying.
It has lost it’s appeal.
Celtic must find a better environment to play in.
A67
Your right mighty tim.
It may well be that your Belarussian football exec prefers a nice fur coat to a Smart Blue Blazer, but the capital is of course Minsk.
I posted this at the end of last thread.
‘GG @02:59 your post made me think.
The following report comes out every year based on detailed surveying.
It’s results are an eye opener. Esp. as regards Italy and Greece.
As you’ll see, the Scandinavians might not want the problems that come with link ups to Scotland.
Your post made me think “Where would an independent Scotland, with the SFA, the lodges and the murky connections between Glasgow council and criminal gangs, rank on this table?”
Celtic fans must consider whether the countries mooted for a new league might see Celtic as part of the problem.
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/
mighty tim
Are you saying there could be some doubt on the Popes religious persuasion :-))))))
BBC – “Southern part of British Antarctic Territory named “Queen Elizabeth Land” to mark 60 year reign, UK foreign secretary announces”
It’s 2012. Where to begin with how utterly ridiculous this is?
Season’s Greetings to all CQN ers everywhere ( Mineshafters, Happy Clappers, Moonhowlers, Babbitys, Lurkers and indeed huns.
And a special Merry Christmas and HNY to you and yours Paul.
Paul67
What do we want to make happen?
How do we make it happen?
Who needs to be persuaded it is the way to go?
How will they be persuaded?
How do we force the SFA and FA to merge?
What are the alternatives if they do not wish to do so?
A lot more questions than answers I’m afraid?
Sky and other broadcasters would seem to be the key. Would BT Vision for example back regional leagues below the EPL to compete with Sky’s EPL offering?
At the same ECA meeting that admitted New
rangers as an associate member, Aberdeen was promoted to full membership.
Scotland has now two full members of the ECA, the Dons and Celtic.
lol!