When we drew Maribor I wrote about their performance in last season’s Europa League, when they were eliminated by eventual winners, Sevilla. Our man, Blaz, in Slovenia, also warned me that this was a settled team who had improved since ending Rangers’ interest in European football three years ago.
I watched Red Bull Salzburg destroy Ajax in Amsterdam last season with some sublime football, and my pal in Austria tells me not to put too much store in their 3-0 humbling by Malmo, who, apparently, rode their luck to an incredible degree. Having said that, on the balance of probabilities, they are by far the top seed we would have chosen.
As Croatia Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb bossed Celtic out of the Champions League play-off round in 1998, our first attempt at the tournament. Zagreb’s stock has fallen since, so while you could make a good case to suggest we are far from ready to tackle any European team right now, this is a good draw. They are also not Legia Warsaw, which would have been an unwelcome confrontation at this time.
So far, so good. Then we draw a complete unknown from pot 4, who happened to eliminate Lyon in the last round.
Between now and the middle of next month Celtic have to be ready for these challenges. We have an opportunity to progress in the Europa League, earn some badly needed coefficient points, and revenue in the second half of the season.
Bring it on.
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According to reports on here the Serb won’t be signing and VVD is off.
Do we have another centre forward lined up?
Do we have a replacement centre half lined up?
Not looking good.
and 2
Ronny Dee is the Man Fur Me~
Ah like the Guy.
So.. There~
Kojo
Stll,Laughin’
CultsBhoy
I think it’s been done in the past with rival German clubs?
We could buy them and close them down tomorrow, but you’ll only read that
on the internet.
Sevco are a basket case….why on earth would we ever need to depend on them for anything.
Unless of course….the bigot card is being played.
Sad state of affairs indeed.
We have to depend on bigots now.
Well done Peter.
HH
CultsBhoy
I’d buy Auchenhowie, using Lennoxtown in part exchange.
Wallace too, buy him with instalments, wait until they need money again, and offer less to access cash at a critical moment, as they did to Hearts.
It’d keep them open for a wee while. ;-)
Still no striker worthy of the name, me no understandy…
In response to a poster saying he was proud to be Scottish, Ernie replied that he is perplexed that anyone can be proud by an accident of Birth. Total crap Ernie, we are Celtic by accident of birth, are you perplexed that we are proud to be Celtic also. You get born into a Country, a Family , a Football Club, a Tradition. You learn to love it and it becomes part of what you are and yes of course you are bloody proud of it. If I was Scottish my words to you Ernie would be F**k your Union Jack, I want my Country back.
Money Money Money –
Option 1 —— a currency union with thae English basturts . That would require a banking and a fiscal union . That makes you as Independent as a teenager who has to tell Mummy and Daddy what the pocket money is being spent on . .
Option 2 ————the euro .——–join the club -play by the rules -do what your told -or else . A very dependent form of Independence .
Option 3 ———– Sterlingisation ( following a default ) Like failing to repay money a mate lent to you and discovering that the next time you badly need money nobody is willing to do lend you a penny. .
My last words on the subject . Off oot -on holiday . I will be back late September .
Scorchio-way down south.
Bigot £ is worth £20 million by my calculation and we can have it all if we want it …
Personally I don’t want any of it but if Peter is keen on £10 m of it we ‘d be as well going for the lot..sheep and lambs..
starry plough
I can’t get my head round that either. Some predicted the deal would fall at the last, leaving no time for a replacement…………
Just can’t figure, a Celtic team without a goal in it ?
First Win on the way to Ronnies First treble !
Hail ! Hail !
Mon the hOOps :)
Have we sunk so low that we allow a player to delay signing for us to see if he gets any better offers?
We should be telling him to GTF
corkcelt,
You may be born into a family that has certain views or certain beliefs. But that’s very different from saying you are born with those beliefs.
You may be encouraged, or forced, as a child to follow the same beliefs. But eventually you are able to make up your own mind. You can have different political, religious or philosophical views from your family. You can vote for a different party. And you can support a different football team. We all have choices.
But where we are born? That’s a fact. We can’t change that. And why should be be inherently proud of exactly where our mothers happened to be when they gave birth?
The Spirit of Arthur Lee
10:30 on
31 August, 2014
3000 not out
paul is keeping it going in honour of me for being first.F.U.
BMCUW
we shall agree to differ and arrig the piece next time we meet.all I can say is if the figure was as low as you suggest it would have been ’rounded’ up in govt calcs and the bail out would not have happened :-)
I will stand by 1976 fig of £583billion.
I stand by new labours betrayal to their class.
New labour are just a wee bit to power hungry for me and the good thing bout this debate up here it is highlighting how new labour are the andrex for Tory asshole policies.
HH
:-)
John Park is a major problem in all this mess.Remember NL quizzing him at Hampden during the Ross County debacle,asking what qualities attracted him to recommend certain players.Lucky if he has a 25% success rate.Get rid.
Good Morning Timland.
What a joyless place cqn is these day’s,a victory
Celtic please,any kind will do…..good luck to
the travelling support,God I hated Dens park.
Dear Peter,
Why don’t you tell SMSM that we were £20m short every year that the old Rangers qualified for the CL at our expense with EBT’s, side contracts, and players they didn’t pay for?
Thanks
That’s the problem with discounts, isn’t it. It resets perceived value.
At first we think: “Hey, great, £100 off. Great offer”
Next time we buy it and the discount remains it’s: “OK, that’s pretty good”
Come back the third time and we tend to expect to pay the discounted price: “It’s gone up £100. That’s not right”
We have become accustomed to the discounted price as the going rate. We now actively question the value of the product we’ve bought by rote for years.
The discount Celtic offered on season tickets was in part motivated to maintain the number of seats sold following the demise of Rangers. It was, in my view, while well intended, misconceived.
It told the world that supporting Celtic had less value without a Rangers to compete against, and the reflection, that with a Rangers to compete against, Celtic has more worth.
All wrong.
Wrong on the marketing level, and wrong at the conceptual level.
Of course in offering the season book at a discount the club has lost income. It’s not quite the £4M stated because many tickets are sold as concessions, and the discount on the concession was considerably less than the discount on the full price, but let’s give the club the £4M figure.
The one I take exception to is the £3M per year ‘lost’ as a result of the removal of the Glasgow derby from the fixture list. Historically, Celtic Park sells out for this fixture. That means 58,000 tickets sold.
Prior to season 2009/10 – coincident with the economic collapse and WGS’ fizzled out tenure – Celtic’s average (paid) gate was 57,000 according to data at http://www.fitbastats.com/celtic/club_records_league_attendance.php
With the economic impact, the average paid gate fell to 45,000 in 2009/10. It recovered in the following 2 years to 50,000, but for the last 2 years has been steady at 47,000.
Taking that recent average – 47,000 – there are an additional 11,000 tickets available for general sale in any given domestic game (factor in crowd segregation), which at the £42 price previously charged for derby matches, gives £462,000 of ticket money, plus any additional catering, minus the additional cost of policing, stewarding and repairs.
The total income from 2 derby matches each season does not exceed £1M. Still a significant number, but not the £3M quoted.
Of course, in parallel, we have a diminished number of season tickets sold, and the average attendance has diminished from 50,000 in the pre-liquidation era, to 47,000 for the past 2 seasons. Down, yes, but still considerably in excess of the low point in 2009/10.
The major hit on ticket sales occurred in 2009/10, and has yet to recover to that level.
On balance, the hit on (paid) attendance following the demise of Rangers is seen mostly average attendances, and it seems perhaps 3000 poor souls can’t live without their Old Firm fix.
3000 tickets times 19 matches at £25 (or £475 per season book) gives £1.4M less income each season since Rangers died, less £200K to factor for those already counted in the Derby matches above.
So, pre-liquidation, our revenue from League matches was around £2.2M greater, plus the impact of the season ticket discount of < £4M.
We can see that purely in terms of reduced income from league attendances, the season book discount is double that of the impact of 'losing' Rangers from the league.
Factoring in the reduced prize money for winning the SPFL – £500K – the total reduction in income attributable to the loss of Rangers fro the game is £2.7M in gate receipts and prize money,plus an unknown factor for corporate hospitality, and around £4M from discounts.
Substantial sums, absolutely, but still considerably less than the £10M bandied about.
And the season ticket discount has reduced the perceived value of supporting Celtic, a value hit that is not going to be recovered simply by virtue of a shambling Sevco outfit stumbling into the SPFL sometime.
My sense is, for all that we talk about those who will return to Celtic coincident with a 'Rangers' team to play, the real danger to Celtic is the under-appreciation of those of us who have continued to support the team regardless.
Bring back the 'Old Firm' and we might see the return of up to 3000 bigot-festival goers.
And we'll see the loss of many of the 47,000 who have supported the club come what may.
Nice work.
I hope the bigot resurrection plan is a busted flush.
We had years and years of vile hun bigotry at CP, I just cannot understand why some would welcome that sectarianism back.
I don’t want to hear their knuckle dragging fans at CP ever again.
Sevco should be banned from CP.
Whoever tells you we need them….is deluded.
We don’t need no stinking sevco.
They can burn in hell.
HH
“When Rangers went down we took £100 off the season tickets,” Lawwell said. “So that is £4m for two years. The Rangers games, that is at least another £3m. The fact there is a perception among our supporters that there is no competition and you are going to win anyway, and you don’t go to the game, so it could be £10m. We could have lost £10m a year, quite easily, on the back of Rangers going down.”
This quote shows the stupidity currently reigning at CP. This is simply voodoo economics/accounting. Read the statement again. It makes no sense. Peter is exaggerating the impact of the Hun demise.
Why?
Well because the mask has well and truely slipped.
The game plan emerges and it’s as we thought.
Tread water until the Hun come back and we can all pretend nothing happenned. This strategy is the real strategy. It also explains why we won’t say anything about the corruption and cheating. We want it all back.
Remember when Reid said we wouldn’t be treated as second class citizens any more. Well forget that. We will because it’s good for income (though not as good as peter makes out).
So when they said we would stand alone we lied. So whatever strategy they told us they were running they lied.
They are lying to us with impunity.
But the cat is now out of the bag and we have a massive decision to make fellow celtic supporters.
Do you want to return, as our board clearly do, to the days of being cheated and then being called paranoid, of honest mistakes and the SFA doing everything it can to prop up the establishment club? Do you want to pretend that the last few year, much like that classic Dallas episode, was just a dream and actually didn’t happen at all????
Are we like the submissive in a SDM relationship? We enjoy being treated badly. It’s our pleasure. What’s our safe word Peter?
Are we willing to prop up corruption and sectarianism and all our forefathers fought against?
Strip away all the nonsense. This is the real thing. The real choice that faces us.
I remember when Paul said that the old firm race was over and that we won.
Did we really………….????????????
Don’t know?
Don’t ‘NO’!
Do ‘YES’!
Hail hail
Estadio
Ronny out
BIG-CUP-WINNERS
Maybe that’s why the big Serb has had so many teams!!
Trying to remain positive but the idea of us not having a proper striker could the straw that breaks my half filled glass..
mixedmetaphorsCSC
Ah read the Report.
Dae Ah believe it?
Soitenly, Not.
Why Should Ah?
fur..
Ah Don’t Believe Everything that Ah read In the Newsies.
Ah believe, only.. the Parts of the News..
That Ah wanna.
Disnnae Everybuddy?
Na.. Ah guess , No.
Ah must be unique.( THAT.. Ah Believe!..ed)
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
bournesouprecipe
10:47 on
31 August, 2014
Dear Peter,
Why don’t you tell SMSM that we were £20m short every year that the old Rangers qualified for the CL at our expense with EBT’s, side contracts, and players they didn’t pay for?
Thanks
spot on soup.why can’t all the peter fans see that.watch oot here comes TONY D.
Parkheadcumsalford
09:18 on
31 August, 2014
Morning all. Beautiful day down here. Great weather for a football match. Hope that’s true for Dundee.
NatKnow,
What I was trying to say last night was that I am not really interested in a cultural revival among the Glasgow West End chattering classes, from whom the bulk of those mentioned by Andrew Marr are probably drawn. I would far rather see all of us imbued with a sense of Scottishness which is not portrayed as it has been by the media from the Sunday Post to Hollywood. Bill Forsyth captures us closest, I think. Billy Connolly too reflects us to ourselves. Imo, the spectators at the Commonwealth Games gave us a true reflection of what we essentially are. If I believed that spirit were to be nourished , I would happily vote Yes. The SNP don’t inspire that sense of inclusivity in me.
—————————————————————-
I thought the Andy Marr programme punctured the stereotypes – at the outset he mentioned and showed the usual Harry Lauder stuff as an example of how Scots portrayed themselves pre-MacDiarmid. Then he delved into that poet’s work which he suggested had re-written Scotland’s own perception of what it could be. Finally, he suggested that modern Scottish culture (as a result of MacDiarmid) was far more self-assured and railed off a list of writers that produce world-acclaimed literature framed in a modern context that is demonstrably Scottish. It was a homage to MacDiarmid from a very personal perspective. I’m not sure how much of his argument I buy – Scotland may well have exerted it’s modernness in spite of MacDiarmid who was clearly a divisive figure. Or, as some would say, wingnut.
Regards Glasgow’s West End set. My experience is that there is little new culture that comes out of that mindset due to the insularity. Most of Glasgow’s cutting edge comes from it’s working class when they involve themselves in culture. Foreign artists are attracted to Glasgow because it is a cheap place to live and self-expression if allowed. That’s not true of every country/city. I live in Edinburgh where the arts is patronised and funded very well. In my opinion that’s because it’s quite a transient and multicultural place. However, the East Neuk should not be disregarded, not the Borders. Apparently there’s even public art in Aberdeen these days.
I’ll leave the politics aside – it’s been covered already!
• corkcelt
10:40 on31 August, 2014
In response to a poster saying he was proud to be Scottish, Ernie replied that he is perplexed that anyone can be proud by an accident of Birth. Total crap Ernie, we are Celtic by accident of birth, are you perplexed that we are proud to be Celtic also. You get born into a Country, a Family , a Football Club, a Tradition. You learn to love it and it becomes part of what you are and yes of course you are bloody proud of it. If I was Scottish my words to you Ernie would be F**k your Union Jack, I want my Country back.
=================================
Let’s just rephrase that slightly.
Total crap Ernie, we are Rangers by accident of birth, are you perplexed that we are proud to be Rangers also. You get born into a Country, a Family , a Football Club, a Tradition. You learn to love it and it becomes part of what you are and yes of course you are bloody proud of it.
If this is what matters. If this is what counts and this is what is most important on what possible grounds therefore can you object to the Orange tradition etc?
Gordon, Its not a case of where our Mothers happen to be. Sometimes a Scottish Mother could have a baby while on Hols in Spain.. Wouldn’t class that baby as Spanish. If you are brought up in a Country, A Tradition, a Family, You naturally learn to love it and for the most part it becomes a part of what you are. To be proud of that is to me the most natural thing in the world. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule and some people have bad experiences and can end up hating even their Family. I am not saying that the same rules apply to all, what I am saying is that I totally understand any person saying “I am proud to be Scottish” or Irish, English etc.
Neganon- if/when Sevco go into admin,PL in his SPFL Board role ,will make sure there is zero punishment for the Zombies.Any punishment will be suspended ,or my tip of League Reconstruction next year will come to their rescue.
mon the hoops
starry plough- I’ve resigned myself to Scepovic not coming, but have reconciled this by the notion he may have just been too much of a disruptive influence, another Marko Viduku.
Still I hope I’ m proven wrong.
Ernie- I take it you don’t want to answer my question but no worries, it reinforces by perception of you.
I truly despair.
Just when you think things cant get any worse.
Along comes Big Peter and tells us…we need sevco.
Which is slightly different from his previous claim, that Celtic stand alone on their own merits.
Now…many voices on this blog, have been telling you of Peter’s bigot plan( and being slaughtered for it)…will clappers now concede at least…that PL speaks with a forked tongue.
Its getting out of hand now… its about.time responsibility was taken, changes are quite obviously needed.
HH
We are champions for the third year in a row, we are in Europe ’til Christmas, at least.
We are in good shape financially.
Why am I fed up with Celtic?
Smsm playing the fans like a fiddle again. Expect a few boos and anti – Lawwell chants at the game today.
Takes me back to the Bunnet flag day.
wee Jack’;s back…………………
BrayStreet, I don’t object to the Orange Tradition, I strongly objected when for decades they tried to trample my traditions into the ground. When Catholics were denied a vote, when constituency’s were gerrymandered, when the Irish Flag was banned, when the Police Force in part of my Country actively supported Orange rioters to burn Catholics out of their homes. Those days are over now Thank God, hopefully never to return, I am happy to let the Orangemen have their traditions as long as they don’t trample on mine. They will not be marching down The Garvaghy Road anytime soon. ipeople