We have another great issue of CQN Magazine for you, free of charge to read online – there’s not even any tax to pay! Hard copies will be available soon. Click here to go to the magazine site for a proper read. The graphic below is only there to allow you to flick through it.
The magazine is packed full of fantastic articles from Celtic supporters from near and far. We have coverage of our title winning season, tales of supporting the team from disparate locations as well as some great recollections and tales of following Celtic in years gone by.
Slovenian football journalist fan Blaz Mocnik speaks of his delight at learning he wasn’t the only Celtic fan in his village, the infectious enthusiasm of the Good Child Foundation has brought the club to a new followers, and there is a great reference article on money in the SPL.
As always, tons of work went into pulling the magazine together. Many thanks to James, David, Thom and all the readers who submitted an article (some of which have slipped to the next issue).
We like to give each magazine a title, this one, with a special dedication to Pablo, is the L-I-Q-U-I-D-A-T-I-O-N issue! Enjoy.
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Gordon J
Robert Malcolm
Paul 67
Do you know if the full text of the SPL proposals to amend their rules is available? I anticipate that the clubs will have seen the full text of the resolutions which would no doubt have been available at the meeting on 30 April.
Gordon_J
Your too quick
Jungle Jim on 3 May, 2012 at 10:36 said:
I suspect a delay a postponement
Hail Hail
Is Lee Wallace not their no.12 just now? Does this mean that he’s going back to Hearts ?
Jungle Jim@10:32
The Huns are handing in their appeal for the sanctions today
There has been no date set as of yet for when that will be heard, but most probably when the season ends
‘most probably when the season ends’ – so season to be extended? Yes? No?
Kittoch,
Sorry!
FA Cup the springboard as ESPN plots Premier League expansion
The Disney-owned channel will target more games and better picks in the Premier League rights auction but is pleased with its progress in growing its audience and losing its American tag
Owen Gibson
For either the red or blue half of Wembley, lifting the FA Cup on Saturday will represent a degree of salvation at the end of rollercoaster league seasons for Liverpool and Chelsea. For ESPN, too, the Disney-owned sports giant that has used the competition in its drive to become an integral part of the domestic broadcasting firmament, the competition has played a crucial role in augmenting its Premier League action.
Ross Hair, ESPN’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, claims it has been an important factor in embedding the broadcaster in the UK and ensuring audiences have continued to climb despite a reduction in the number of Premier League matches it is able to show. Having established itself in the UK, Hair has promised to bid “aggressively” in a Premier League rights auction due to begin imminently as it looks to further expansion.
Although ESPN is the junior partner to ITV for the FA Cup, it has marked itself out with innovations such as presenting from pitch side. For the second year running, it will also broadcast the buildup to the final live without a break from Wembley from 8am.
Hair, who like most over 30 goes misty-eyed at memories of the days when the FA Cup final was the undisputed end of season showpiece, argues the broadcaster has more than played its part in the partial restoration of the competition’s lustre. “The FA Cup has been very important to us. As we’ve seen it grow this season, it really goes back to the fact that the FA Cup had been in a bit of a lull and we want to bring it back to how I remember it from growing up.”
If ESPN has been good for the FA Cup, then the competition has been good for the broadcaster – domesticating the brand and providing some of its biggest audiences. Ratings for the all-Merseyside semi-final were up 68% on the corresponding match last season. The FA Cup has also helped grow ESPN’s audiences – it is available free to premium cable subscribers but costs an extra £9 a month through Sky – despite the early drop from 46 live Premier League matches a season to 23 under the terms of the deals it inherited from the bankrupt Setanta.
April saw its 12th consecutive month of year-on-year ratings growth, with audiences up by 18%. All of which, argues Hair from its headquarters in Chiswick, makes it well placed for the next phase of expansion as the Premier League tender process looms.
It has taken a softly, softly approach to growing its brand in the UK after definitively announcing its arrival with the purchase of Premier League rights in 2009. But that could be about to change. With tender documents for the Premier League’s crucial domestic rights auction for the three seasons from 2013-14 onwards about to be sent out, Hair has said it will bid “aggressively” for “more games” of “better quality”.
Hair has been in the post for 17 months after arriving from Sony with a remit to plan for the next phase of growth and says the looming tender process is a “pivotal moment” for the broadcaster in the UK. He says the addition of FA Cup, Europa League and Scottish Premier League football, plus Premiership rugby, to the 23 live Premier League matches it can show per season had been key in broadening its appeal during its three seasons on air. “It’s been very noticeable from the research we’ve done that the whole ‘American-ness’ of ESPN is no longer an issue. The hiring of talent like Ray Stubbs, Kevin Keegan, John Barnes and Robbie Savage – they are the face of the channel more than ESPN’s roots in the US sports business.”
Potential bidders have been circling one another during the familiar phoney war period prior to the terms of the tender being released. While Hair emphasises that he is talking in general terms and will not be drawn on bidding strategy, nor has any prior knowledge of how the auction will be structured, ESPN’s goals are clear.
“The next time around, is 23 games enough for us? I think we would like to see more games as an outcome. And within that greater number of games we’d also like to see the ability to make some better picks and grow the quality of the matches. Those are the two things I’m looking to achieve. It’s a pivotal moment for us.”
In addition to Sky, which currently shows 115 live games per season and is determined to maintain its dominant position, there has been widespread speculation about a likely bid from al-Jazeera, which has been buying up premium rights in France, and possible interest from Google and Apple.
The Guardian understands that neither of the US internet giants is likely to bid, viewing themselves as platforms rather than rights owners, but that al-Jazeera is still considering its options.
“Looking back over previous auctions, there has always been a high level of competition for these rights. I don’t think this time will be any different. I think we will see other people coming in,” Hair says.
“We will bid aggressively and we will bid to a degree that is consistent with growing our business in the UK. We have a very specific outcome – more games and building the quality of those games.”
Despite the hype about potential new entrants, the overall income from domestic rights is expected to remain roughly stable. The real growth will continue to come from overseas income, which could start to rival the amount of money brought in from the domestic market for the first time.
Under the existing three-year deals, the Premier League receives a total of around £3.5bn – £2.1bn from the domestic market and around £1.4bn from overseas.
Following the so-called “pub landlady” court battle that legalised the sale of overseas decoders and cards but also appeared to protect the Premier League’s rights in pubs and other commercial premises, it was speculated that it may sell the rights on a pan-European basis. However, it is understood that such a course of action is highly unlikely.
Instead, Hair believes it is more likely the auction will continue on a country-by-country basis but that the number of games on offer to European broadcasters (currently 380 compared to 138 in the UK) may be reduced to mitigate against consumers importing boxes from overseas.
ESPN now shows more live football than any other channel, claims Hair, once its Serie A, Bundesliga and SPL coverage is taken into account. He insists he is not alarmed by Rangers’ financial travails or the deep-rooted structural issues facing Scottish football. ESPN’s deal with the SPL runs until 2017.
“We want to see that situation stabilise and Rangers back in the fold. We think it’s very important that Rangers and Celtic are part of that league and I’m sure that would be the same for every fan. We’re very pleased with our long term relationship with the SPL and we look forward to that situation stabilising itself,” he says.
Football aside, Hair’s other ambitions are to harmonise its range of digital brands, further broaden its rights portfolio and expand the range of its studio programming, potentially including a domestic version of its long running US Sportscentre format.
It held discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board about splitting domestic cricket from the international rights but it opted to do an early exclusive deal with Sky instead. However, Hair said it was looking at other opportunities in cricket, as well as athletics and tennis – where it recently signed a deal for 15 ATP and WTA tennis events. It also recently signed new rights deals for golf and darts in an attempt to build its range further.
“We’ve come an awful long way in the short time we’ve had. We are still in investment mode, we’re still building our business,” he says.
alex thomson @alextomo
@blacky1988 SFA told me unambiguously that they can’t possibly accept Miller’s demands on punishment of Rangers being dropped. Non-starter.
Retweeted by andybhoy
Today’s Thommo Tweet
Guys
Hope you all like the new design for the magazine. Credit for that goes to Thom Burges, who did a fantastic job.
The interactive magazine graphic that appears at the start of the article is just an illustration. As you’ll see, certain functions on it don’t work very well, because it’s not meant to be read there. Clicking on the link Paul has provided, and which I have added below, is the best way to enjoy the mag online.
http://en.calameo.com/read/000390171f00e38a3786d
Once in that view, you have a number of options on the top right hand of the screen. I’ll tell you what they do, from left to right.
The first button allows you to change the way you view the magazine. It’s set to “Publication” as default, which means it opens like a book. You can set it differently, however, so only one page is display at a time (Slide), or you can view every page at the same time (and who wouldn’t want to do that?) by selecting Index as your option, and simply click on the one you want to read.
The second button from the left simplifies this even further. It’s the “Table of Contents” button, which, if you press it, will give you a list of all the articles in the magazine and allow you to go straight to the ones you want to read, whilst skipping long winded tat like mine!
The third button is called “Subscriptions”. It will bring up a graphical list of every publication CQN Magazine has put up, including the European programmes, our single issue (so far) of the CQN Citizen, our 1965 Cup Final Souvenir Special and, just for fun, the full Duff and Phelps Financial Statement!
The fourth button is “Search” which will allow you to look for any word or phrase in the magazine. Type in Mulgrew and every mention of Charlie should be indexed for you.
The next buttons are fairly simple; Zoom in, Full Screen, Download and Print, all of which should be working fine for this issue.
Anyway lads, thanks as ever, and hope you enjoy reading!
Just how good is the new mag? Had a quick flick through & watched the vid.
Okay,bearing in mind I’m not the full ticket…..how do I go about getting a hard copy here in darkest Ingerland?
I think a subscription is the only thing to do.
A whole lotta praise and respect to CQN in all your efforts to keep us enlightened.
If Rangers go into liquidation before the appeal process has completed then the SFA cannot punish Rangers FC.
Hail Hail
CelticResearch@CelticResearch
Hearing that the recently retired RFC* Number 12, is actually Number 25 once you add on unpaid transfer fees & PAYE/NI.
haha
ESPN want a better quality or pick of the games on offer.
Give us a better quality of commentator and no one will argue.
HH
Ten Men
Ah. I wondered why it had not been mentioned on here..
JJ
Apologies if previously posted…
“Were doing The Huddle on the A9 when Rangers Die…..”
“Were doing The Huddle on the A9 when Rangers Die…..”
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Perthshire/article/22526/dangerous-and-foolish-celtic-fans-slammed-for-doing-the-huddle-on-a9-near-perth.html
Bill Miller rumbled by RM:
“Boniface Engineering
This is the UK arm of Bill Millers empire?
What’s in a name? Should we be concerned?
9 popes have been called Boniface
hi all
quick question of opinion for you.
whats the thoughts on Rabiu Ibrahim as i haven’t seen the lad play at all.
could he be a player we see tonight?
tictalker talking tic
Congratulations to Charlie Mulgrew, Sprotswriters Player of the Year.
Never has humble pie tasted so go Big Man..
@weesamsdad: BREAKING NEWS: Bill Miller to be confirmed as Rangers’ preferred bidder this morning. Staff to be told within the next hour.
From David McCarthy of the Record.
tictalker on 3 May, 2012 at 10:56 said:
I don’t think he has made an appearance for the first team yet. I hope tonight’s the night. Looking forward to seeing what he has to offer.
Jungle Jim@10:54
I would imagine they will want to avoid any demonstrations, Huns rioting at their last game of the season etc, hence why the end of season looks likely
But then again it is the SFA we are talking about :)
Oh, congratulations to Cha Mul Grew. Again. Well deserved.
Huddle on the A9 vs Huddle on flight to Hamburg for St Pauli-Celtic party…….
You decide!
HH
We should see a few fringe players tonight; a sell-out bounce game on a pleasant May evening.
I’d like the young C/H Fraser to get a start as well, and also Tony Watt upfront with Super!mo.
The Pantaloon Duck
no he hasn’t came on for first team yet.
tictalker talking tic
Miller time indeed!
Roll out the incubator. Let’s see what you can grow from hun DNA.
(Warning: do not try this at home. The results may be too horrible to contemplate.)
“Liquidation’s Painless”
Through early morning fog I see
The loss of players, no transfer fee
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see…
That liquidation’s painless
It brings on many changes
And Duff & Phelps can arrange it if we please
The game of footy is hard to play
We’re gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I’ll someday lay
So this is all I have to say
Liquidation’s painless
It brings on many changes
And Duff & Phelps can arrange it if we please
The sash of orange will burn our skins
It doesn’t hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger…watch it grin, but…
Liquidation’s painless
It brings on many changes
And Duff & Phelps can arrange it if we please
Craig Whyte once requested me
To answer questions that are Ki
Is it to be or not to be
And I replied ‘oh why ask me?’
And liquidation’s painless
It brings on many changes
And Duff & Phelps can arrange it if we please
…and you can do the same thing if you please
rankers most famous no 12? Step forward Rev Mike McCurry.
wrote some of this a couple of nights ago. details now fleshed out. apologies, boring post coming up.
According to the New York stock exchange (which i frequent regularly, of course) Miller Industries…. Bill Miller’s towing “empire” is in a wee bit of a low. In the last year its shares have gone from a high of $21.29 to their current $16.00, a fall of nearly 25%.
The company, according to NYSE details, correct as at 1st May 2012, has 11058300 shares worth $16.00. This values the company at $176,932,800. The exchange rate at that date makes that £109,076,164. Now, for sure that’s a lot of money, but that’s not quite the whole story.
http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=mlr
According to the company’s accounts last filed… Mr William G Miller is credited as owning… 342,755 shares, today worth $5,484,080, or £3,380,765. Now, there are other investment companies which have ownership of the business too (his amounts to only 3.1%) but even the largest of these still accounts for only 11.12% of the company. He may have involvement in these companies, however as yet I have not been able to ascertain any link between him and them. There is also a group ownership of 550,313 shares, (worth $8,805,008 or £5,443,143) which is owned, presumably jointly and equally, by all 9 “directors and executive officers, as a group.” See page 8.
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=8212027&cik=
However, this is where things get interesting. He appears to be dumping stock like it’s on fire. In the last month or so he has disposed of…
5300 shares on 14th march
1400 shares on 15th march
2600 shares on 16th march
4342 shares on 19th march
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=8150756&cik=
11657 shares on 26th march
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=8164372&cik=
and 5600 shares on 29th march
4965 shares on 30th march
24900 shares on 2nd april
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=8176313&cik=
Now, I’m no expert in corporate finance, but at average price of around $17, that’s around a million dollars worth.
This dumping of stock started on 6th June 2011, according to filings at the NYSE, by ALL major stockholders, his (president) son included. It has continued unabated on an almost weekly basis since.
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=7661339&cik=
Prior to this time there is no evidence of any regular large stock movements, and certainly none by him historically stretching back many years.
This document outlines William G Miller’s stockholding at that date to be 678,619 shares. Currently, his stockholding, as previously mentioned, is 342,755 shares. Thus, in 11 months, he has disposed of 335,864 shares (almost half of his entire stockholding). Prices, naturally, have fluctuated in that time, however a rough average would seem to suggest a selling price of around $17.50 over the last year. This means the gross value of his disposals would be approximately $5,877,620 (£3,633,757). The remaining value of his shares are, as mentioned previously, £3,380,765.
This would appear to suggest that Mr Miller’s entire worth would be £7,014,522, or thereabouts.
Interestingly, prior to this, the last disposal of shares by Mr Miller dates back to 13th October 2008. At this time he disposed of 500,000 shares (exactly) at a value of $5.01. Naturally, this massive disposal accrued the princely sum of $2,505,000 (£1,548,937).
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=5925666&cik=
So it would seem fairly safe to assume, Mr Miller’s wealth (he draws a salary of $319,727 or £197,625 per annum) would be unlikely to exceed £8.5M. Prior to this, he did not dispose of any stock since May 2005, and the price at that time is not quoted. See page 13
http://secfilings.nyse.com/download.php?format=PDF&ipage=8212027&cik=
Interestingly, on 5th May 2010 he purchased 200,000 shares in his own company. The purchase price is not quoted.
He may of course have other investments, but having worked for Miller Industries for over twenty years, it seems unlikely they’d be vast resources. Certainly not “off the scale” wealth.
Of course, if one were to assume that Mr Miller is endeavouring to self-finance a takeover of, say, a football club, disposing of his other assets is by no means absurd. However, looking at the facts…
His wealth appears to be around £8.5M, at most optimistic levels. According to Craig Whyte, Rangers running costs, whilst in the SPL, were around £45M, and income was around £35M. To take on such a financial commitment would require extreme wealth, not including the purported massive debt (and financing of that debt) which has escalated since those assessments.
I draw no conclusions, but leave you to draw your own.
Preferred Bidder the title given to the man who has never set foot in Ibrox, my how we roared, the Orcs will lap this press conference right up, there’s a good Orcy, turn a round and follow the drill..
Hopefully tonight and Sunday sees a few youngsters get a run in the team.
in our new favourite 3-4-1-2 formation
—————–Zaluska——————-
———Lustig Wilson POTY———–
Matthews Wanyama Ledley Izaguirre
—————McGeouch—————–
————-Watt—–Stokes————-
Subs
Forster, Fraser, Samaras, Irvine, Ibrahim, Hooper, Commons
Green Lantern – nice one :) but puppet master dallas would probably take it off him.
Jungle Jim on 3 May, 2012 at 10:32 said:
” Meanwhile, Rangers will today attempt to reverse the decision of a SFA Judicial Panel to fine them £160,000 and impose a 12-month transfer embargo.”
SFA knows that money is tight and may reverse decision as appealed …….. £12 fine and 160,000 month embargo.
Your cheatin’ (five) stars, will tell on you…
Your cheatin’ stars,
Will pine some day,
And crave the love,
You threw away,
The time will come,
When you’ll be blue,
Your cheatin’ stars, will tell on you.
Your cheatin’ (five) stars,
Will make you weep,
You’ll cry and cry,
And try to sleep,
But sleep won’t come,
The whole night through,
Your cheatin stars, will tell on you…
Kayal33 on 3 May, 2012 at 11:09 said:
Good looking team, I think Big Fraser will want to play, he’s chasing the shut out title!
Would love to get a look at Ibrahim tonight..
Countdown to Paradise..
stv tweeting bill miller IS preferred bidder…
STV Sport@STVSport
Bill Miller has been granted preferred bidder status by Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps. More at: http://sport.stv.tv