As newco chief executive, Derek Llambias reported to his AGM yesterday, he meets the SFA today to discuss further involvement of Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley at his club. Ashley is nearing the end of a power-struggle between his faction, which appears to include the Easdale brothers, and pretty-much everyone else who goes to Ibrox, as well as Dave King and other worthies noticeable by their absence when the assets of oldco were to be paid for.
One of this morning’s newspapers appears to suggest SFA board member Peter Lawwell may retire from this meeting on account of him apparently having a conflict of interest, however, I believe this would be extraordinarily unlikely. Peter is no more or less incentive to see business being conducted appropriately than anyone else.
That’s not to say there’s not a conflict of interest. SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie, will also attend the meeting. Ogilvie passed his Rangers shares to his wife when he became an executive director of Hearts. SFA Articles of Association expressly forbids a person from having an influence with one club while “directly or indirectly” being a shareholder in another without the prior written consent of the SFA.
Mr Ogilvie may have attained prior written consent of the SFA on this subject before accepting the Hearts job, but if he did, I don’t see the need to transfer his shares to a family member. This makes Ogilvie look like a tawdry ducker and diver, wholly inappropriate to lead the Association. If I was Llambias I’d challenge Ogilvie the first moment he opened his mouth.
As I said earlier in the week, don’t get too hung up on Ashley’s shareholding. If it proves a stumbling block he could play The Offshore Game and quickly disinvest to an entity based in the British Virgin Islands (seems to be the hot location for these types), the control of which could never be traced to him.
Those hoping the SFA will inhibit Ashley’s land-grab of retail and other rights are also likely to be disappointed. JJB and Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan established precedent that he was able to conclude extensive trading contract with other clubs while in charge of Wigan without compromising multi-ownership principles. Ashley can own and exploit all commercial rights of newco.
The key point Ashley will be concerned about in SFA rules is article 13. (3), which forbids persons from having “any power whatsoever to influence the management or administration of another club”.
The rules permit the SFA to grant Ashley permission to increase his shareholding but the phrase “any power whatsoever” is patently clear. Ashley cannot appoint board members or offer loan players.
The Dear Green Place
Yesterday’s uncertainty alarmed many in Glasgow but the reality of the news brought disaster to some. May God help each of them.
There’s always a spring in the step when news of our pal Kano arrives. That changed when I opened the email from Carolyn yesterday to hear Martin was in Intensive Care. We know through his time on the blog that Kano brought vigour and resolve to his life years before his illness struck. If anyone can overcome this, it’s him.
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Phyllis Dietrichson
Agreed – Beckham used to say the same – his job was to make sure that the ball got into the zone between keeper and defenders – up to strikers then to get on the ned of it.
SFTB
3 options:
Option 1: You need two dedicated holding midfielders – this allows full backs to support the front 4. Occassionally one of the central 2 can go forward if he sees a gap, but if this happens, a full back has to tuck in to have the solid 4 square (two CBs and 2 holding midfielders).
Option 2: One dedicated holding midfielder, but only one full back goes forward at a time. The other tucks in to make a 3 at the back – one to mark the striker, one to cover behind, and one to step up into midfield if needed (this one should mark a second striker if there is one).
Option 3: Switch to 3 at the back, with holding midfielder: again one CB should step up into midfield if needed (again, this one should mark a second striker if there is one), one to mark and one to cover.
Whichever option you follow, there should always be a base of 4 in defence/defensive positions. The odd break by one of them, should it be on, is permitted, but should not be a routine VVD style charge forward at every opportunity.
What is the Stars
15:16 on
23 December, 2014
You were asking if I knew though.
Anyway the point I’m struggling to make is that it’s not impossible the clubs didn’t know the detail of the 5-way agreement.
Regarding TET’s point that Eric Riley is on the board and is therefore elbows deep. In a number of places I’ve worked the board dictate the policy without taking part in the detail of how it’s implemented. So again it’s not totally implausible that he was able to remain at arms length.
I’m totally open to being wrong on this. I just see it as desirable and possible for the club (and the other clubs) to have been aware and approve of the idea of the 5-way agreement without knowing the details of what it would entail.
bsr and Spidey100
Much appreciated.
That is what I am talking about- we need to hear a bit more of this. Potential solutions alongside the criticism.
Now I need to pop out and buy some decent but reasonably priced white wine for Xmas as I already have the reds.
Any suggestions?
Weeminger
I agree of course. This nonsense that celtic conspired to save the huns is nonsense
Of course as a business they could do with more competition which would increase revenue but they are dead
And may the Lord have mercy on their soul
By the way, one wrote finnegans wake and the other wrote faust.
Any irish builder could tell you that
setting free the bears
depends if your have, fish , meat or poultry.
eldorado would be my first recommendation.
down that first, dinner disnae matter.
hun skelper
15:01 on 23 December, 2014
Hes suffering from the same sydrome which hit most of the Celtic squad 2 seasons ago – he is approaching the cannon fodder of the SPL in a lethargic ‘im gonna get another 4 chances anyway’ kind of manner.
He’s a kid whose just started to believe in his own hype a bit – I think Deila is a good man to bring him back down to earth and re-focus his mindset.
I think he might be a big game player – unfortunately for us all we havent seen him in one yet.
Regards to Izzy – I thought with the new brand of football played at a high intensity with lots of movement meant the cross into the box tactic was being phased out.
I have noticed a reversion back to the cross recently, I think we need to ask why.
Not only is it a dinosaur tactic when being used as your main tactical objective – its absolutely useless when you are playing with 1 man up front.
If the main issue is his crossing – tell him to stop crossing and tell those around him to start moving in triangular shapes when he has the ball.
Simples?
bournesouprecipe
You’re rapidly becoming the Arthur Montford of CQN, decent good quality football reporting divorced from SMSM hyperbole and bollocktalking.
Enjoying yer Celtic views:))
Izzy I wish we had five mair like him..
A battler in every game..
sftb
oyster bay marborough sauvignon blanc
Griffiths – 152 minutes/goal this season – 607 minutes 4 starts, 1 full game
Guidetti – 103 minutes/goal this season – 1135 minutes 14 starts, 5 full games (I’ve counted an 88 minute appearance as a full game)
Being on the pitch more may not improve Griffiths’ strike rate. Although it might improve his understanding with his team mates.
I don’t personally think he’s better than Guidetti.
marlborough
Spidey100 / sftb
Option 2 could be the coaching manual alternative, and is the best scenario
you picked.
RD didn’t even consider one holding midfielder was required until we
were out of the CL, and the system was blasted.
He’s tried with Kayal (discarded) and Mulgrew (injured) and now Biton is the man of the moment, and arguably doing best.
I’d like to see two holding midfielder’s if he continues with Izzy and Matthews so far up the pitch, but if not, would make one full back staying at full back, a prerequisite.
Inter – more worthy of the label charitable these days .16 Serie a games played – scored 25/ conceded 23.Last Sunday’s game v Lazio featured Dodo/ Juan Jesus and Ranocchia competing for the Who was the biggest defensive liability award.
On Ronny’s system and style of play.
I am not knocking him but the first thing I reckon a manager should do is sort out his defence. I think Ronny has found that difficult this season. We have had a number of injuries to our defenders and Efe is so out of form it is unreal. We have no natural leader at the back.
Defending is an art form. It’s very under rated. It takes a partnership in the middle with the CB’s and the goalie. Usually they are main stays which is why WGS stuck with THG, Heid and Mick. They may not have been the best player sin the world but they were constant. He has replicated that at International level and tries to play the same keeper all the time. He has given Gordon a run just to see what he can do in a friendly but in the main his defence is pretty much easy to pick. Ronny has not had that luxury. Most managers will be loathed to change their back 4 at all. It’s natural that partnerships and understandings need to be build up. There is a reading of the game and usually a centre back will be a natural leader and motivator for the team. Lead from the back so to speak. They do not have to be captain but certainly a well respected member of the team.
We do not have a recognised leader at the back. The other thing I have noticed is that usually one centre back attacks the ball while the other one mops up any loose balls. Historically looking back at defensive partnerships the best example in a Celtic sense would be McNeill and Clark. Billy would win everything in the air and Clark would sweep up. Obviously more to it than that but in the main that is how they operated.
We have no natural leader at the back and no idea between VVD and Efe who is attacking the ball and who is mopping up which leads to comical kamikaze defending like we seen on Sunday when the hesitancy creeps in. The understanding has gone.
You can almost read their minds. Should I attack this cross? Should I mark the striker? Where is my partner?
Taking time to think like that causes poor goals. It should be almost telepathic. You hear centre back pairings like Bruce and Pallister and others talk on TV about their time playing together and saying things like anything in the air I know Bruce would attack and I would pick up the striker. Anything in the 6 yard box is the keepers, etc, etc.
Our system is flawed because we either haven;t ear marked before the game who is attacking the ball and who is mopping up. Just my view on it. Last season Efe attacked the ball and VVD swept up. When Denayer plays he attacks the ball and VVD looks more confortable. VVD seems to talk Denayer through the game too and they look a much better pairing.
Talking at the back is vital. Any of us who have played the game or coached will hear the same thing from the sidelines. No hearing ye talkin in there or something along those lines. I am not wittnessing a lot of talking going on with Efe and VVD. Maybe that is just me as most of you know I am not at the games often these days.
What is the problem then? Either VVD and Efe don;t get on or they are no longer able to play in the system Ronny is asking them to play in. We have also got a relatively new keeper and although he has played very well it’s going to take time to gel and work properly. The CB’s and the keeper need to be as one and work together on set plays and players playing in cross balls in training. That would be my focus all week. God knows our wingers need the practice after the atrocious final baws at the weekend. I would also have Brown involved as capatin and say to him that if they are not doing what is being practised in these drills rip them a new one when the ball is out of play. The captain should be the managers voice on the pitch.
One other point about Sunday is that I would be getting Johanssen practising his one on ones with the keeper because he should have been on a hat trick by half time at least at the weekend. Maybe a bit critical of the Bhoy but he appears to be a Petrov type midfielder who gets behind the strikers and should be scoring goals. He needs to get practising that side of his game.
Ronny has always said that the team will be well drilled in training and fit. I would assume that after last weeks defeat that the players are being worked harder than ever. We contributed to our own downfall on Sunday and through missed chances and crazy defending we cost ourselves the game. These defeats should allow us to learn where we have went wrong and rectify it in the next game. Hopefully a solid 5-0 victory at the weekend and some fancy fitba!
LB
Cathedral View
14:56 on
HMRC view an 125k unreceipted expenses account the same as normal salary and as such is liable to paye and NI. Failure to pay this will incur a penalty.
=========
A penalty for something makes a wee change from getting a penalty for nothing.
starry
That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.
Izzy has been the ‘weak-link’ in the team since his injury.
Only bad management has been the reason that he is continually played, whilst he is the ‘weak-link’ which he is but, not coz of his crossing but in his annoying habit of continually giving possession away.
The best performance from a Celtic left full back since Izzy got his injury, came from AM v’s Barcelona.
All of the above is in the humble opinion of a fan who stood in the Jungle for nearly 2 decades.
Take care Tims, bye.
Rangers International
ARE A NEW CLUB
Apologies for my post at 15:15, I mean’t to type Jack. Sorry.
an tearmann
wrong
rangers international is a new club
off to fetch the grandaughter
pedanticCSC
bournesouprecipe
I’ve been subliminally programmed over the years by the barrage of images of the Divine Miss Hendricks, no man can withstand that:))
We have 3 natural full backs in the first team squad. 2 of them are constantly injured and the other is Izzy.
I would sell Matthews and buy a back up LB and RB from the Scottish Premiership.
Cheap, hungry and ultimately they may replace Lustig and Izzy in the long run when they decide to leave the club to head to England.
We also have Charlie who can play LB but only Fisher from the development squad for RB. If Fisher is able which I think he is then sell Matthews and promote Fisher.
No harm to Matthews but 2 RB’s who are pretty much never both fit are no good to us. Lustig looks the better of the two and could also slot in as part of a back 3 which may be the route we take to protect Izzy.
Just my thoughts.
LB
an tearmann @14:47,
Cheers for that reply and explanation.The Hun’s don’t like the Spivs, but the Hun’s are spivs also. I can see how they are so confused, it must be a real challenge for them when they brush their teeth in the morning and look in the mirror(for those that brush their teeth). :)
A much better explanation than jamesgang’s only kidding JG.
Thanks to you both!
BodyswervingthespivsatchristmastimeCSC
HH
gsu
weeminger
It’s scottish football we are talking about, a different ball game altogether.
The 5 way agreement is basicly an agreement for thems to get a licence to p[lay football, forget all the add ons.
The clubs voted to allow them to play in the bottom tier.
Whatever way you want to dress it up, our club were party to them getting a licence, as were all the other clubs.
Had Celtic said NO, can you imagine the delight some hun at hampden would have taken leaking our views to the msm.
Personally I care not if anyone believes they were party or not, I know they were, decisions like that, and the hun going bust was the biggest thing to ever happen in scottish football, are not taken by the puppets, Doncaster and Regan are the puppets, those who control their strings make the decisions, the puppets carry them out.
Or if some want to believe, the puppets made all the decisions and their masters just nodded in agreement, without knowing what the agreement contained…Oh Dear :)
HH
South Of Tunis
It must have been Dodo as Mancini hooked him with 2 mins to go to HT and he was showing no sign of any injury. I had a few quid on the draw so when Lazio went 2-0 up and Inter were all over the place I was kissing goodbye to my money. Still, Inter showed a bit of character with their comeback and will probably see this as a bit of a watershed for themselves. Kovacic is a wonderful player and could do us a helluva lot of damage if we don’t work out a way of dealing with him.
Marti
Defensively we look a lot more solid when Mulgrew plays in midfield. The disadvantage to that is Charlie slows up play when we are trying to move into attack, or he tries the Holywood pass when it’s not on. Biton offers next to no defensive cover, and affects little going forward, but is a neat and tidy move the ball 10-20 yards to the side and keep possession type of player. If we had someone who is a combination of Mulgrew’s defensive discipline and Biton’s ability to keep it simple and maintain possession then there would be little discussion about the relevant merits of our full backs defensive abilities, they would be given licence to bomb forward.
The other alternative viewpoint is Matthews and, particularly Ambrose, are playing poor at the moment and we miss Lustig and Denayer more than we think.
Kelvin Wilson was a better than average Centre Back in England.
He never really convinced me as a Celtic player and I feel bad about that because he has been a huge loss for us.
Neil Lennon knew what he could do and what he did and was also gutted when he left.
That speaks volumes for Neil Lennon’s ability because Wilson and VVD may just have been the perfect defensive pairing with Wilson attacking the ball and VVD sweeping up.
LB
Gary67
Denayer at CB and Ambrose in the holding role protecting the back 4. No idea why Ronny doesn;t give it a try. He has tried everything else!
LB
LiviBhoy
I think you need to look at the practicalities of selling any of them, they are after all so bad who’d pay money for them?
Can’t defend, can’t attack, can’t avoid injury CSC
p.s Fisher has only been injured once.
livibhoy
16:19 on 23 December, 2014
Not for me. Ambrose is no better than back up centre half, after a long break away from the team to recharge, and sign a proper dominant holding midfielder. Perhaps the manager realises this hence the link with the Senegalese guy from Genk (Mbodj).
bournesouprecipe
I think you have misread me. I didn;t say that Fisher had a long term injury issue but in my opinion I would sell Matthews because he is not fit much. When he is he is a very fine player. Do you propose keeping both him and Lustig and playing Fisher most of the time?
LB
“Griffiths would be banging in the chances guidetti’s missing”
I have a feeling that if Griffiths was being selected and Guidetti wasn`t, someone would have posted the above but with the names transposed . Opinions, eh?
JJ
THE EXILED TIM
16:07 on
23 December, 2014
We we agree that Celtic and all the other clubs agreed that The Rangers should be boosted into the league setup.
You say the MSM would have delighted in reporting us saying No to this.
Given that a huge portion of the hordes believe the 5-way agreement has been an injustice to them, do you not also think the MSM would be delighted to report how Celtic FC had engineered this low blow? You only have to look at the PL conflict of interest story about today’s SFA/MA meeting to know this is true.
That’s why I think it suited all parties to a) agree to The Rangers getting the licence and b) keep the clubs at arms length from the full detail.
This way the clubs and the SPL/SFL/SFA/The Rangers all win. It’s just the plebs that actually pay to watch football that lose out.
Izzy is a great wee player, he gets ZERO cover when he bombs forward. He put at least 3 brilliant balls across the goal at the week-end.
He’s not a machine ffs, the amount of times he bombs forward in a game is incredible, yet he ALWAYS shows for more. He must at times be knackered with the effort he puts in over the 90.
At times we only have 2 at the back and have overcommited in midfield, that’s when we are vulnerable. Our wide midfielders need to be reading the game better (or coached better) to cover so that full backs and midfield are not ALL in the opposition box.
We should be defending as a team, Izzy and Efe are FAR from from being the problem.
Winter Training games against PSV & Sparta Prague. http://t.co/jIiorKTXku
what was that guff about giving the bhoys a well earned rest? ,well worth remembering this when we get the faux outrage ,at TV companies changing fixtures at CP
LiviBhoy
It’s unusual for Celtic to have two let alone three potential RB’s.
It’s more usual to have only one natural left back, as at the moment
with Izzy and only Twardzik ( a midfielder ) seen as cover.
Matthews hasn’t fully recovered from his injury, and isn’t really a transfer target,
but reckon he’ll continue, to keep Fisher out of the picture.
Lustig will remain likely to be injured, and for the pragmatist in me, I’d try and sell
him because he is also debateably the best of the three, and therefore more likely
to be saleable.
That said, I think what will happen is we’ll shuffle along until one of them runs out
of contract, and drop off the squad.
!!bada bing!!
16:36 on 23 December, 2014
Will probably be the same as last season when we went to Turkey mid season. Games will give fringe players, youngsters, maybe even new signings a run out. Imagine most of the main players will not be playing.
* Apols crazy walking texting last post *
!!Bada Bing!!
16:36 on 23 December, 2014
________________________
Hi, does this mean that what few Saturday games Celtic fans get at home on the SB will be moved to midweek?
HH