Photo by Vagelis Georgariou, Biglens.
Almost exactly 10 years after Celtic fans alleged Porto’s adherence to the rules was less than faithful, when they won the Uefa Cup after extra time, their creative genius, Deco, failed a drugs test a substance used to mask performance-enhancing substances were found in his blood.
Is anyone surprised?
Congratulations to the Celtic under-20 team on securing league and cup double, the fourth consecutive season Celtic youths have recorded this achievement. John Kennedy and Stevie Frail’s operation is years ahead of what was previously known as their domestic competition.
Celtic have been fine-tuning youth development since Tommy Burns returned from Amsterdam all those years ago with new strategies, some of which are still being used. The cream graduate as Champions League players, but Celtic are pretty much running elite-level youth development in Scotland, a fact made clear when you look at the enormous number of Celtic training academy graduates earning a living across the rest of the league.
It used to be the case that Celtic wasted young talent. Perceived wisdom was “Go to Aberdeen or Dundee United, they’ll turn you into a player”. The opposite is now true.
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As I sat interviewing the legendary 1970’s Radio 1 DJ – Mr Tony Blackburn, I started by asking him when he first fell in love with Celtic?
He replied: “Eh?”
Ha, ok Tony – what about your comment that Punk Rock groups should’ve sang about flowers instead of nasty stuff like being beaten up in an underground station?
” I still love my ex-wife” said Tony B
….at that point I decided there was no point in continuing the interview so I woke up. got showered and dressed and went to work.
Season Ticket Pricing – the bones of the Mail Article.
£104 – the bargain price of a Bayern Munich season ticket… and German chief explains why it puts rip-off Premier League to shame By Adam Shergold:
They’re now just 90 minutes away from ending their 12-year wait for the Champions League, have already been crowned Bundesliga champions by a resounding margin and could complete the Treble when they take on Stuttgart in the German Cup final in June.
And it seems Bayern Munich – by popular opinion the best team in Europe right now – can do little wrong off the pitch either.
The Bavarian giants have some of the cheapest season tickets anywhere in the world, with an adult one in the standing section at the Allianz Arena costing just £104.
By contrast, the cheapest one at Arsenal will set you back £985 and Liverpool £725. Even the least expensive in the Premier League for the 2012-2013 season – at Wigan – is £255.
But while it’s well-known that the Bundesliga has some of the cheapest seats in world football, it’s their philosophy towards pricing that is so refreshing.
Bayern’s brilliance in setting up an all-German final with Borussia Dortmund has been marked not with eulogies about their style of play, but a quote from president Uli Hoeness on looking after the fans that has gone viral on social media.
In the soundbite, from last year, he says: ‘We could charge more than £104. Let’s say we charged £300. We’d get £2m more in income but what’s £2m to us?
‘In a transfer discussion you argue about that sum for five minutes. But the difference between £104 and £300 is huge for the fan. ‘We do not think the fans are like cows, who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. ‘That’s the biggest difference between us and England.’
Full house: Low prices mean the 71,000-capacity Allianz Arena is always sold out for Bayern games
Given their exciting brand of football and the regular success it brings, Bayern would have every right to charge a premium rate, yet their prices are among the lowest in the division.
The most expensive for 2012-2013, in excellent seats overlooking the half-way line, come in a shade under £550 for the season.
Disabled fans, meanwhile, can watch their team all season at the Allianz Arena for just £67.
Bargain: Borussia Dortmund fans can watch their side, one of the most exciting in Europe, for as little as £250 a season
Indeed, the most expensive season ticket in the entire division comes in at £823 – and for that you get to watch Jurgen Klopp’s European finalists Borussia Dortmund from the best seats in the Westfalenstadion.
Members’ benefits at Bayern also outstrip those available at Premier League sides. Adults pay around £50, 18-25-year-olds £33 and concessions £25 each year.
For this, they get priority when booking tickets for home and away matches, with a small discount on the ticket price, and a subscription to the matchday programme.
With the ticket discount, the cost of watching the prospective European champions can be less than a tenner.
Little wonder everybody is talking about how German football got it spectacularly right. Are you watching, Premier League?
DBBIA
Or, according to the BBC website, liver failure.
Hhhhhmmmmm……
Just popped on for my habitual coffee break read there and quite simply I have to ask, what sort of parallel universe took over all of page 16 for 2 and a half hours? Back to the reality of you for ole Jobo ;-)
Those records stay intact at Ipox.
Bayern Munich came within one goal of snatching a 53 year old European record as they destroyed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate to reach the final of the Champions League.
Jupp Heynckes side followed up their 4-0 home win with a 3-0 destruction of Barcelona in the Nou Camp that had fans searching for the biggest ever semi-final aggregate score.
That search goes back to 1960 when Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers 12-4 on aggregate scoring six times home and away to deny Scott Symon’s side the chance to win the big cup with a Hampden final awaiting the winners.
Eintracht won the first leg 6-1 in front of 80,000 fans then followed that up with a 6-3 win at Ibrox before getting pumped themselves with Real Madrid running out 7-3 winners.
Cheers Videocelts
SMASHY. 1016
TessaWyatt,IIRC?
If he was daft enought to let her slip through his fingers,he could hardly be smart enough to be a TIM….
hooped dreams- on ole Wiki he had necrotising fasciitis [or ole flesh eatin’ bug disease], which caused his liver to pack in.
In the true spirit of ole Spinal Tap I’m hopin’ the ole spider bite turns out to be true.
DBBIA/CSITinPanAlley
Ole Cadizzy is the real expert on when Tony Blackburn checked in to the ole Heartache Hotel.
proudbhoy – I am terribly sorry,it was not my intention to argue with or offend anyone,especially fellow Celtic supporters.
All that i said was this – corruption is everywhere in soccer/football,and that Derry City FC is up there with the old Glasgow club,and that Huckleberry Finn club that is Linfield FC,in terms of their cheating ways and scheming.
With regards to Shamrock Rovers of South Dublin,i have visited that splendid wee stadium on occasion,supporting Cliftonville…and both sets of fans got on like a house on fire.
Also – there are Celtic supporters on this blog,whom live in that Derry place,that would never set foot in that midden that yous call a football ground.
Furthermore – and no dis-respect to anybody,Cliftonville fans were among the worst to visit that hovel eh? Are you for real?
They should have brought along with them a couple of bulldozers & jcb’s and levelled the thing.
Apologies for the rant.
DBBIA-Billy Stark’s eulogy at TBs funeral was unforgetable.
Question for anyone who has Sky with ESPN.
What will happen when BT take over the EPL/SPL stuff ?. Does the subscription just move over to BT as they have taken over ESPN ?.
Thanks in advance.
Adi dasler
I received a letter this week stating that I would not be receiving ESPN nor would it appear on my Sky bill in future.
Adi_dasler
I got a letter saying my espn subscription would stop at the end of July but but if I wanted to cancel just now let them know. No mention of transferring over to BT.
Mick
Doc
I’m sure a read/heard that BT would be taking over ESPN ?.
Inclined to disagree a little with Paul’s analysis of youth development.
The YD process is not about creating winning youth teams, in fact, as a predictor of successful YD, the success of the youth teams is an unreliable indicator at best.
Consider that a given club carries a first team squad of 25 players, and a football career lasts 15 years. A given club, were all first team players produced by the YD system, would require a little less than 2 youths to graduate to the first team squad each year.
At SPL level, we need 20 boys each season to become established first team players to backfill for retirement.
Having an under 17 squad that wipes the boards with the opposition is largle irrelevant to the progrssion of youths into the first team, as in the very best of years, only 2 of them will make the jump, the remaining 18 kids released before age 21.
Of course some of these kids will be signed to the first teams at other clubs, Paul Lawson for example, but the fact remains that the purpose of a YD system is to produce players who become established first team players, and consequently, elite player development is about creating the environment in which one or two of the kids will emerge each year and start upon a career of significance.
In this light, Aberdeen and Dundee Utd, the clubs referred to by Paul, are doing just as well as Celtic, perhaps better.
Of course we need to benchmark expectation, and Celtic’s purpose in this regard is to develop players who can compete in the Champions League, while perhaps other clubs have expectations set at a lower level.
Nevertheless, both Aberdeen and Dundee Utd are producing kids who are making the step into the professional game at an encouraging rate.
In terms of elite, let’s benchmark international caps. Recent Scotland squads (the vast majority of kids at Lennoxtown are Scots) contains the following players brought through Celtic’sYD system:
Marshall
Caddis
Mulgrew
Maloney
Forrest
McManus
We ought to add McGeady to that list as he is an established international, albeit representing Ireland, but who came through the Celtic development process.
That is 7 players from 54 selected in recent times, who came through YD at Celtic Park over the course of the past 10 years, 2 of which play in the current Celtic squad, and 2 others – Maloney and McGeady – playing at a similar level elsewhere.
The remaining 48 players have been developed by other clubs. who is to say that Stephen Fletcher is no better than James Forrest, or Russell no better than Maloney?
Elite is a fraction of a fraction of one percent of the population of aspiring young players. Predicting the future career of a given 16 year old from the collective success of his peer group is not a reliable process.
Fyvie, McCarthy, Russell and many others blossom from what might be considered poorer soils, but it is no less fertile.
TBB
I didn’t hear that but the fact that Sky are removing it from the sports package at the end of July must mean it is going somewhere. Why not BT? Frankly I won’t really miss it.
Sorry. Above post for adi dasler.
I see Gough in the papers today pleading for King to return, I thought he was being investigated in South Africa.
SFA fines Green for supposedly racist remarks.
All a smokescreen.
It’s like wiping dog shit off your shoe and deliberately not muzzling the rottweiler.
Hen1rik
I saw a film called Return of the King. Had a place called Mordor in it and it featured thousands of creatures called orcs.
hen1rik
10:56 on
3 May, 2013
I see Gough in the papers today pleading for King to return, I thought he was being investigated in South Africa.
==================================
I believe he got away with it. Who would have thunk it? Even in S.A. the huns escape punishment.
Venrik Hegetable @HenrikVegetable 12h http://i44.tinypic.com/34dpkra.jpg http://i43.tinypic.com/2emcuad.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/307ucyp.jpg sevco private eye article. Crooks charter
hen1rik
10:56 on
3 May, 2013
Apparently, although still owing South African authorities a few bob, King has been cleared of major tax evasion.
It has even been suggested that the SFA has been approached about his ‘fit person’ status.
As I have previously posted ‘Sic a parcel o’ rogues in a nation’.
Ha Ha Ha from the Day Record.
Could Celtic bail out Rangers to stave off liquidation? Not so far fetched
Borussia Dortmund were bailed out by rivals Bayern Munich
Reuters/Juan Medina
By Craig Swan | 3 May 2013 10:26
PICTURE the scenario. Rangers are stumbling from one financial crisis to the next with the threat of liquidation looming.
They look sure to be heading out of the SPL, dropping to the Third Division and out of sight.
Celtic can see that they are going to be the top dogs. Rubbing their hands, they realise they can be champions for the foreseeable future.
Yet there is a snag. They also consider the prospect that without a genuine challenger for their crown, the lack of competition may have a detrimental affect on attendances.
They know their fans will be looking for an edge to their matchdays.
And supporters of other teams will also be affected as they will see their clubs
cost-cutting year on year because they have no hope of competing.
Weighing up the pros and cons, the big announcement comes.
In a shock move, Celtic are going to hand out £2million to Rangers to stave off liquidation, give them a chance to get on their feet and ensure there can be a strong competitor for them. Far fetched?
Well 10 years ago that is exactly what Bayern Munich did for Borussia Dortmund.
They saw one of their main rivals in the grubber and, knowing the consequences of their absence, decided to bail them out.
Okay some of the finer points of the above are adjusted slightly to suit but the bottom line is Bayern handed out that loan to stave off Dortmund’s imminent bankruptcy.
Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke verified the long-held suspicion at a fans’ meeting in February.
For the last two years, Dortmund repaid their saviours by taking the Bundesliga titles which the residents of Munich believed to be their own property. Bayern, though, roared back to regain the crown this season. The result of Germany’s two superpowers pulling each other along and throwing down challenges for each other to match?
Well, it’s two-fold. Firstly, the pair of them heading to Wembley for a Champions League Final this month.
Secondly, a vibrant and dazzling Bundesliga right on their shoulder to back them up.
It’s a quite a story and one that says competition makes you stronger. A decade ago, Germany was on the slide.
The Bundesliga had gone stale. The national team had already suffered.
With no quality in their own league, they were subjected to sub-standard imports.
Sound like anywhere you know?
Euro 2000 – in which Germany failed to win a game and scored only one goal – was the tipping point.
They invested almost £1billion into youth programmes and it has been justified.
Of the 44 players that made up the starting line-ups of the four Champions League semi-finalists, 14 were members of the German national team.
The strength of the Bundesliga goes beyond talent development and into the solid business model in Germany.
Dortmund forgot that in 1997. When they made the Champions League for the first time they lost the plot.
Chased the dream. Paid money they didn’t have. Almost put themselves out of business.
But even their biggest Bundesliga rivals realised that without them, a vital cog would be ripped from the country’s machine.
Bayern thrust out a hand to haul them from falling down the black hole and started the German revival.
Now those hands will again be joined.
Not just tomorrow in the Bundesliga but also at England’s national stadium on the biggest stage in European football.
Makes you think, eh?
Reply from @Atomicpe
The @Record_Sport claiming”competition makes you stronger”yet the same paper taunted Celtic when rangers spending put them out of sight.
Anyone remember McCoist’s taunt at us on 94 hmmm.
Nice people over Govan way..
“Mr David Cunningham King and his former business associate, Mr Ian Gregory Morris, appeared in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 20 May 2010, facing charges of fraud and racketeering in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, No. 121 of 1998. The NPA has provided them with a copy of the indictment which includes 37 counts. Although a trial date has not yet been set, both accused will ultimately stand trial in the South Gauteng High Court. They are currently out on warning.”
henr1k
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2013/03/20/king-strikes-confidential-deal-with-sars
From twitter check date.
SARS acts to freeze King family assets http://t.co/xzD9j0KND2
Sally said “next season will hopefully be more of the same…”
We can but hope.
What is it with all these fraudsters McGill’s, King, Green, Whyte and who could forget the biggest crook Mr David Murray.
henr1k
re that laughable piece in the rectum, that was huns helping huns. In this country that would mean hertz helping them , or vice versa. Only problem is, they`re both fecked :<)
What begins with H and sounds like Hearts?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
hen1rik
Seen these earlier,
Henriklubo @Henriklubo 3h SARS acts to freeze King family assets http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/02/11/sars-acts-to-freeze-king-family-assets …
——–
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2013/03/20/king-strikes-confidential-deal-with-sars
adi_dasler 10:46:
As with Doctor Whatfor I got a letter from Sky, as of end of July I will no longer be charged for my ESPN.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Hen1rik
More Daily Rubbish twaddle. Bayern and Dortmund are rivals in the same league bit to compare their rivalry to that which existed between them and us is exaggeration. Michael Ballack named Dortmund’s bitter rivals after the match the other night. I cannae mind their name but it wasn’t Bayern.
Thing SA government took land King owed as he wasn’t paying fines/taxes etc
leftclicktic
11:11 on 3 May, 2013
hen1rik
Seen these earlier,
Henriklubo @Henriklubo 3h SARS acts to freeze King family assets http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/02/11/sars-acts-to-freeze-king-family-assets …
——–
http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2013/03/20/king-strikes-confidential-deal-with-sars
Yes mate I got that article from HenrikLubo but didn’t want to post his username, some users are weary of posting their details.
* owned
BobbyRussell
&
hen1rik
I’m too slow :))
BobbyRussell says 11:10
lol