In the European football aristocracy guide, few sit higher than Milan, even though performances in recent seasons are well down on their historical standards. After giving new manager, Rino Gattuson, around €200m to spend last season, they qualified for this season’s Europa League group stage.
But therein lies the problem: you cannot just throw money at football these days and hope to pass Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Europe’s governing body yesterday banned Milan from European football for one year as a consequence.
The club indicated they would appeal, noting that new Chinese owners invested €88m in capital “not loans” and were on a firm financial footing. This is true, but that one-off splurge on bling for our old pal Rino pushed them outside of the scope of FFP; the ban has been in the post for a year.
For Milan, this is humiliating and will cost them north of €10m, but it sends out an important signal to all. Financial Fair Play has taken its first big scalp.
Stiliyan Petrov match worn Champions League shirt raffle
We have a very special raffle, running until tomorrow. The shirt Stiliyan Petrov wore in Celtic’s 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich during our 2003 Champions League campaign is available. You can buy a ticket for £1 here on ebay. Stan signed the shirt.
All proceeds go to the Stiliyan Petrov Foundation to aid research into leukaemia and cancer treatments. Stiliyan’s recover from leukaemia shows us just how far treatments have come, but as our own CQN community knows too well, more progress is needed. The draw will be made at Woodside Hotel, Aberdour, where our CQN Open Golf Day evening events take place.
It will cost you £1, or £50 if you want 50, and you might win a great memento.
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South of Tunis – if you’re lurking
Thanks for the info on the Great Deceiver.
I only get the news that others consider fit to print or post, and haven’t gone looking for stuff on him. I recall financial & corruption scandals about him but despite that was always left with the impression that he was Mr Teflon & always came out of them all with more power & money than before.
Dodgy conclusion & fading memory perhaps but that’s what I had as a core presumption about him.
Sounds like he was much more like David Murray and jumped before he was pushed.
Your neighbour being an Internazionale fan would have all the scoop.
HH
Dena29
But in this weather it gets too dry and ironing is a mare
steamironworkingovertimeCSC
dena29 on 28th June 2018 3:53 pm
voguepunter on 28th June 2018 3:50 pm
A good washing day is recognised all over the world :-)))
——————————————————————————
Except in Sevconia where they don’t know what a good wash is…
TimMalone – their dirty washing is always on the line
HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE on 28TH JUNE 2018 3:24 PM
Columbia’s Manager looks like a “baddie” from an episode of The Avengers or Man in a suitcase ?
————
Nah. Department S.
Actually, man in a suitcase wasn’t too bad, whereas department s was total chank.
gene on 28th June 2018 4:07 pm
Ironing whats that :-)
Tim Malone Will Tell on 28th June 2018 4:09 pm
used to drive to work with one (driver worked with him) and he wore the same wool coat every day when it got wet and then dries it stank to high heaven , you just reminded me of that cheers. :-))
Poland score at last
Delaney’s will be a little happier
HH
Dena29
it’s what men do when they retire
The transfer window has been opened for 19 days. It has 42 days to go.
Every year, we are encouraged to be proactive and to do our business early as if we were jsut ordering items that are readily available on Amazon.
What we are trying to do is to get the best possible players, out of those who are willing to come to the SPFL, at near to the best possible price.
For sure, we COULD do all our business in the first week easily. We could make a signing in each and every one of our problem positions. Only trouble is that we would be recruiting amongst that grade of player for whom the current Celtic are the best club into which they could hope to transfer. We could recruit Level 3, 4 and 5 players whose alternative is to stay with lower league clubs or go to clubs of a level lower than Celtic’s.
We have seen evidence of this with players like Lee Tomlin over the past 10 years. They can earn more with Bristol City and Cardiff and still more readily catch the eye of the Premiership than they feel they can in the SPFL. Chancel Mbemba has been seen to prefer Anderlecht to us, and they have the same disadvantages as we do.
So, if we want to recruit from Level 1 and 2 players, we are forced to wait until nearer the end of every transfer window, until the players concerned run out of more attractive options or get overlooked by the club of their choice in favour of some other galactico. We might, just might, in those circumstances, ofer them an SPFL shop window and, if it is late enough in the qualification programme, Champions League football.
Remember! We cannot offer CL football jusyt now; we can only offfer CL qualification matches. Some of the better players we are interested in, will wait to see if qualification for group stage is achieved before they will say “Yes” to Celtic because they will now have a very big shop window.
But be under no illusions- the likes of Dembele, N’tcham, and, even, Armstrong, did not come here because of their childhood affiliations and a hooped subbuteo set. They see us as a stepping stone and they see themselves as the next Forster, Wanyama and Van Dijk.
So, I am happy not to see us lay all our dosh down on the first trip to the roulette wheel. I am happy to see a longer game played.
Every year we hear these siren calls that “it looks like we are not signing anybody else now” and each year the majority of such posts are proven wrong. It won’t stop them happening but the facts of life and Celtic’s position in the hierarchy is what it is.
We will sign people. We already have, even those discounted as not counting, such as Edouard, who is a smashing piece of business, but was derided as a loanee, a project and a guy we will never be able to buy and are just developing for another club. All those accusations made and not one word of “Well, I got that wrong!” or “I must be more careful in future”.
I really worry that, if we make the unlikely (to me) signing of Paddy Roberts, people will discount him as “not a new face”. I wonder if the modern fan, used to clubs who chop and change squads and coaches at a massive rate, prefers novelty over quality.
Our biggest signing will be made late in the transfer window, if we have secured CL Group Stage qualification. And you will be pissin in the wind if you ask for it to be done before then.
gene on 28th June 2018 4:23 pm
Enjoy :-))
noironingformecsc
Whilst doing our business late in the transfer window might be the best commercial strategy its high risk Football wise
We have a CL qualifier in 2 weeks
Pintaguiness
And that’s true every year and we have to live with that reality. We could have bought a load of Jack Hendry type signings to meet the challenge of Alashkert.
Or we can trust to the squad we already have and hope we will have more signings, of a higher quality, for the more challenging qualification ties. But, either way, we will not get any of our top of the list options until CL Group Stage is achieved by the current crop.
We cannot square this circle.
With Colombia scoring, it looks lie Mags/Celtarella will be right as Senegal will go out on having 2 more Yellow Cards than Japan.
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on 28th June 2018 4:24 pm
accurate but still quite sad reading .
Being a glass half full ghirl I still hope the lure of football at paradise will appeal to some great footballers
and then I get to the bottom of the glass and realise …………your right
The transfer window is what it is and we are in the position that we cannot compete with the monetary imbalance tv revenue gives the English leagues, we must therefore make the most of what we have and then hope that our scouts unearth some gems.
HH
Japan are playing keep ball, happy to let Poland win 1:0.
Very much like Hibs did with the old rangers.
Is there not a rule in boxing or Judo to penalise combatants who are not trying?
Japan should be fined 2 Yellow Cards for this tactic.
MIKE IN TORONTO on 28TH JUNE 2018 12:46 PM
BIG NEWS
I have just been informed that I had a post deleted yesterday! Woo hoo! Only took me 15 years of trying!
Seems likesaying ‘‘grumpy old b’s’ might have done the trick … although getting deleted for that just seems to prove my point, so I’m a bit confused.
:)
*
Congratulations,mate-you must be very proud!!!
Wee word of advice though-it can get addictive after a few of them.
WESTCRAIGS on 28TH JUNE 2018 3:17 PM
Our transfer strategy at this time of the season seems to be that we wait to see if we qualify for the champions league and then buy.
We should strengthen first to help us qualify for champions league.
#####
You are way to sensible mate .spot on ..
Happy retirement twisty
One of the Poles has the cheek to go down with cramp during this non-football spell
ok …. I want a moderator’s ruling ….
I had a post deleted yesterday (my first ever deletion ….thanks to those of you who sent congratulatory emails!) … seemingly because I referred to CQN’ers (but not Dena) as grumpy old b*****s….
but SFTB can say ‘pissing’ with impunity?!
where is the justice?!
:)
Is there a cooler coach in football than the Senegalese coach? I was hoping Senegal would go through just because I like him.
Senegal out for having 2 more yellow cards than Japan…..absolute joke
TWISTS N TURNS on 28TH JUNE 2018 1:44 PM
Just on way home to Scotland after popping down to England……….18 years ago
Retired today. Well ,kinda…
Will feed odd not having to set alarm tonight.
*
Congratulations on your first retirement!!!
Attica! Attica!
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on 28th June 2018 4:48 pm
Very disappointing . and more than a little risky to leave so much to chance that Senegal wouldn’t score
but it worked for them in the end . so many would say the end justifies the means (not me )
Didn’t like how it ended but if they play England Iknow who i’ll be cheering for
HH
!!BADA BING!! on 28TH JUNE 2018 4:55 PM
Senegal out for having 2 more yellow cards than Japan…..absolute joke
————————-
Imagine having that rule in ole Scotia ,the huns ( old and new) would win league every year before a baw (leg) is kicked.hh
Ok not purchasing till we make the CL. Then why are we selling and weakening before then?
Its a 2 sided equation
So referees are deciding who goes through? I can see that coming into Scottish football, before goal line technology and VAR…….I think we know who would benefit in this country…
mike in toronto on 28th June 2018 4:54 pm
That was a laugh out loud moment for me
but two out of three aint bad I’m not a b*****d
HH
People who have posts deleted (other than caught up in a trail of comments in which they did not cause the offence) should have to pay a £10 re-application fee to get back on the blog. All funds to Mary’s Meals
First candidate Mike in Toronto.
People who boast about having a post deleted, should pay a £50 re-application fee to get back on the blog. All funds to Mary’s Meals.
First candidate Mike in Toronto.
MIT
“but SFTB can say ‘pissing’ with impunity?!”
A libellous statement- I typed pissin without the g- world of difference
And as for impunity- it has lasted for 40 minutes only.
And now that you have done your Lee Wallace impersonation……… :-)
Ex Celt in 3 million pound move…
or
Celtic dud in 3 million pound move…
Which sounds more SMSMish?
JOHN51
I think the English transfer window closes early this year,around 8/8. If they want any of our players,we will lose them before the qualifying rounds are over.
Additionally,if we want any of their players,are they allowed to sell after that date?
I think we need to go back to using the January window as our qualifying window. Give the players time to bed in,etc. The summer one is of little use to us.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX
We’ll never pay the money for Eduoard”
:)))
Ganbare Nihon:))
Hrvatkski Jim ….
You cheeky &(*&(^% …
If grumpy old b’s warranted a deletion, I am assuming that calling you a cheeky bugger (oops… wasnt supposed to type that) will also be deleted….
I’ll happily pay my 20 quid for that one!
:)
Moderator … Moderator ….
That mean old SFTB just called me a …. gasp … a Sevconian … and not just any Sevconian … a Lee Wallace one …
I dont mind being called a grumpy old b… or even a grass… but a Sevconian!
surely that has to be a red card offence!
(I am now running about my office flashing an imaginary card at the CQN moderators … hey, that is what the do in the World Cup when they want someone sent off).
:)
Wee Laura Bassett covering the Engerland game on SSN….bless….must be Mike’s daughter….