Enormous congratulations to Georgios Samaras, Celtic’s Player of the Year, 2012-13. Scoring in five consecutive Champions League away games this season was a remarkable feat. His last minute winner in Moscow was a seismic moment in our progress in that tournament. Georgios is a player who thrives on positive reinforcement but endures negative sentiment without hiding. No wonder all his managers have valued him so highly.
I was also delighted Fraser Forster won the Players’ Player of the Year award. His performances against Barcelona were nothing short of incredible. It should surprise no one that Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson received a large number of votes for the Players’ Player award. Kelvin will play for England if he continues to perform at the level he has this year. Victor was a genuine contender for all awards, including goal of the year, but was honoured only as the Young Player of the Year, reminding us all that his is gifted beyond his years.
I was referred in the direction of yesterday’s Sunday Mail online story about Rangers International FC’s finance director, Brian Stockbridge, showing a reporter the “deeds”, made eloquently famous by John Brown. Stockbridge used the deeds of Ibrox, Murray Park and the Albion car park to “prove Craig Whyte is on a loser”.
Craig Whyte’s current actions against the newco club and his report to the Serious Fraud Office are based on the belief that RIFC inappropriately took possession of Rangers assets, including Ibrox, when the club were liquidated last year. Proving RIFC have the deeds is no defence against Whyte’s claims, in fact, this merely establishes the premise of his point.
Despite discussing these matters with a reporter Mr Stockbridge made no comment on how Sevco Scotland Ltd (since renamed as The Rangers Football Club Ltd), acquired the entitlement to the assets which Sevco 5088 Ltd had an irrevocable agreement to buy after paying an exclusivity fee.
This interview contrasted with Scotland on Sunday’s interview with former oldco Rangers director, Paul Murray, who without a whiff of irony said, “Whoever is involved going forward has to look after the club’s interests first and their own interests second. You are a custodian of the assets and you’re passing it through the generations. That’s your role.”
Well done as a custodian, Mr Murray. I wouldn’t let you be custodian to corner flag (memories of Dougal from Fr Ted on corner flag-watching duty). He also suggests the club “should also get back to some of the values that were there under Bill Struth and William Wilton”. “Some of the values”, do you think he means that most distinct value? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but why on earth could he not chose an inspiring custodian from a period when oldco was not blighted by their controversial employment policy? There must be someone. Surely?
Murray does, however, nail several issues in his interview. “You have Charles Green who said he had no involvement with Craig Whyte and that was patently not correct.
“The problem is that when you get found out on these things you then start to question other things. And one of the most important things in all of this is the SFA. The SFA sought very direct and specific assurances that Whyte was not involved and Charles Green gave them those assurances and I’m not sure that was actually correct.
“If Charles Green had a set of documents that proved that Whyte is lying then this thing would have been put to bed in two minutes, but it was then discovered that what Whyte was saying was broadly true.
“I’m not saying he does, but say Whyte owns the assets but on the other side he’s just lost a multi-million pound claim to Ticketus. Are we saying that Ticketus would then own the assets by default? And if they own the assets they’ll want to be paid in order to give the assets back to Rangers, but how will the club do that bearing in mind that it had an IPO [Initial Public Offering of shares] that is potentially not valid?
“It was then discovered that what Whyte was saying was broadly true” is perhaps the most significant understatement I’ve heard in years. The moment Pinsent Masons report will be a watershed.
[calameo code=00039017118d2251efdd9 lang=en page=136 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
972 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- ...
- 26
- »
Could this be the answer to reverse Greggs falling sales?
New Scottish sandwich becomes instant hit
HT
Pharmacy opened, pop in on the way home o))
I imagine they ran off the park to pamper themselves before packing their hair and moisturising products into their little man bags before putting on their dr dre headphones in case someone wants to speak to them..
Meds not kicked in yet although GP has just given me an eight week line..
TET @ 14.41
I thought “thems” didn’t do irony!! The 1st photo seems to show a bunch of enlightened huns finally understanding what we’ve been telling them all along!!
HH
mickbhoy, I couldnt tell you about the bus to dingwall sorry M8
Mort, its a fair example. I think I heard there were more than 200 voters so extrapolating this it means that if you get something like 20 votes out of 200 you become the player of the year. Considering that 10 or so votes may come from your own teammates, its probably not a worthwhile/prestigious award then.
Hamiltontim 14:29 on 29 April, 2013
Try getting a first team player to attend a Player of the Year dance and you’ll be onto plums.
However, you could have paid £125 last night to sit in the company of our over inflated egos.
I don’t remember a time when the Celtic support have felt so disenfranchised from the club and the players in particular………….
HT. For sure, (now and) even not so long ago, our CSC was expecting a so called ‘superstar’ all primed and ready for our do in the Chapel Hall only to be told the night before that he couldn’t make it….
The reason for such is a story in itself….
Anyway at the last minute the unsung hero that is Tom McAdam (and his wife) ‘filled in’ with a young Shay Given in tow. Now at that time TMcA had his own troubles to contend with but he was an absolute star. Never forget his demeanour and affability that night……..
Tommy Burns used to insist that players made the effort to get along to CSC functions….
Recently have been lucky enough to be in the company of so many of the surviving Lisbon Lions when they visited our club every year without fail…..True Celts in every way…
BTW, BBJ is also a star! He was actually on holiday and phoned up to ask if it was OK for him and a few friends to visit the CSC…………… Whit??? God Bless him………
Regards & Hail Hail
TBM
All Quiet here, on the Western Front.
I think that may be about to change fairly soon …
Some very interesting information should soon be in the public domain …
O.G.Rafferty
Yeehaaaaaa!
o.g.
Gonny gies a wee hint!!
Just so that we can credit you with the info, long before it happened/happens!
HH
goldstar10
The thing is, I really don’t remember ANYONE mentioning “holding company” when they went into administration – it was all about the “football club”. The “holding company” thing only seemed to take hold after they were liquidated. I guess it helps them to perpetuate the “same club” nonsense…..
TBB
At least you know somebody reads your posts
Love
GlassTwoThirdsFull
Does it matter, they will just make it up as they go along, no wait that will be for another club.
Late here……….
Good Night, God Bless………….
TBM
GlassTwoThirdsFull
Well off course not. Never before in the history of football has anyone attempted the old switcheroo that Rangers attempted and to be successful a compliant media changing definitions of what a football club is was needed.
If we lived in orwell’s 1984 there would be no mention of administration or liquidation in any written records and we would be expected to believe they didn’t die at all.
Mort
Celtic paid a fine to UEFA after some Celtic fans waved a banner expressing an opinion re UEFA at the game in Udine .
Will the SFA fine the Sevco for this wee banner being displayed during last weekend’s East Stirling /Sevco game ——?
SFA + SPL.
CORRUPT TO THE CORE.
It was always thus that games played after the dust had settled on title, were anti- climatic.
The edge was off and results often reflected this.
The term used in the media was ” typical end of season stuff”.
Perhaps the difference in some fans not accepting the fare being offered now is, understandibly, due to the high cost of tickets.
Whether Neil is correct in giving players time off, even though there are games left, in order to have them back in training for early qualifiers, could be open for debate.
It surely has an effect on destabilising the team performance.
Other than having the League being decided on the last game of the season, withthe nerve shredding excitement and the players still on high adrenalin levels, I see no other scenario than clubs, no matter what League they play in, playing the equivalent of end of season friendlies.
It’s not players not trying, it’s the competitive edge being reduced, plus disrupted team formations, due to e.g Rogne and Mulgrew at CB.
Personally, I’m glad that the title was secured early. Admittedly, I don’t attend games very often, so I don’t feel any financial loss which may accompany Celtic losing a game, when no prizes are at stake.
However,for me, the saddest sight in football still, is the ball in the back of the Celtic net.
What a tangled web…
BT/TBM
I just typed a big, log and boring post which thankfully for you has disappeared into the mist!!
Funnily enough it was about Tommy Burns and my recollections of watching the film which was made while he was still manager at the club.
He spoke with great passion about the need to re establish a link between the support and the playing staff and how he aimed to address this by ensuring that players attended POTY functions.
His words have always stuck in my head.
“Never will they be better taken care of than in the company of Celtic supporters, never will they be better looked after!”
I wonder what’s happened in a relatively short space of time.
Not sure exactly when it will start coming out but next few days could be interesting
Regarding the tawdry tabloid………….
If we’d been the culprit……..they’d have been running a full blown ‘popular’ campaign goading and deriding the club we support at every turn – the venomous copy written used to swell the dwindling ranks of knucledraggers who read their paper.
Bhoycott.
O.G.Rafferty 15:23 on 29 April, 2013
What a tangled web…
——-
Time scale?
South Of Tunis
Tis the truth, but the stupid zombies just canny see it…..
Anyone in any doubt how the Celtic board feel about Sevco getting back into the the top flight of Scottish football should take heed of Ian Bankiers comments during his short speech at the POTY awards last night.
” I wish them a long and arduous journey back to the top “.
Maybe not his exact words ,but pretty close to it.
Our board want them dying the death of a thousand cuts.
So do I.
TT
TinyTim
15:29 on 29 April, 2013
‘Anyone in any doubt how the Celtic board feel about Sevco getting back into the the top flight of Scottish football should take heed of Ian Bankiers comments during his short speech at the POTY awards last night.
” I wish them a long and arduous journey back to the top “.
####
Back to the top?
BACK?
If that’s what he said then yes he has cleared up any doubts.
thomthethim
15:22 on
29 April, 2013
I think that you make fair comments about yesterday being an end of season game etc.
What I will say is that I don’t think that there was one Celtic supporter in the stadium who felt that Gary Hooper tried hard enough.
tommysbhoy
13:32 on
29 April, 2013
it seems sevcos audited accs.due at the sfa tomorrow…that should clear up the £22m in the bank pash..new licence at the ready??mmmmm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This from TSFM covers some of the issues.
Auldheid says:
Monday, April 29, 2013 at 11:59
Zerotolerance
Re what financial info can The Rangers supply in place of audited accounts I have been asking this question since the turn of the year.
My supposition is that to get the go ahead from the SFA some financial forecasts were provided last year. Now some 9 months on the SFA have some actuals to look at and I have already provided a link to figures that suggest there may be trouble next season and insolvency the next acertainty unless The Rangers run their business on a sustainable basis.
I believe an earlier version of that revised forecast without the sale and lease back scenario in the latest link was given to the SFA by a journo across the water who has asked on what basis a licence can be granted in view of more recent information that has come into the public domain since.
What I was assuming would happen was a response to rubbish the forecast and state on what basis the SFA would grant a licence. As far as I know the SFA have not responded and here we are at crunch time.
_______________________________________________________________
Zero Tolerance Replies
TRFC should have readily available (unaudited) monthly management accounts. They should also have financial forecasts.
The SFA should have received financial forecasts and plans when TRFC were admitted
The SFA could reasonably ask for copies of the latest management accounts and current projections, etc. They could ask for interim financial statements and they could ask for those to be audited.
They could compare the information they got 9 months ago with what they get now and they could ask some meaningful questions as result. They could ask for supporting documentation to any information they get now e.g. copies of bank statements.
They could ask for evidence to support some of the other licensing criteria – such as owning their own stadium or having an unreserved right to play there.
Or they could just let things continue on a nod and a wink.
O.G.Rafferty 15:23 on 29 April, 2013
What a tangled web…
——-
That should have been – when do you think it will break.
Are we talking days or maybe weeks?
tommysbhoy
Phil MacGiollaBhain (@Pmacgiollabhain) says:
Monday, April 29, 2013 at 13:30
@Auldheid You are entirely correct about the SFA and their failure to respond to questions on this matter. Very strange. Must chase them up.
O.G.Rafferty
15:23 on 29 April, 2013
What a tangled web…
Match fixing against Queens park… the spiders. What do I win?
If CQN needed someone working for them to push up the number of hits the site takes O.G. Rafferty would be worth a punt.
Steinreignedsupreme, 15:26
This week. So much stuff to wade through…
THE EXILED TIM @ 15 27 .
Yes —–it looks like a reasonable proposition. .
Classic example of being right for the wrong reason .
Imagine the SFA and the SFL will turn a blind eye ———– if anybody could prove the truth of that statement it’s Sevco.
The Moon Bhoys, 15:36
I’m on a percentage
If Hearts go into Admin, will their points deduction mean that they and not Dundee will be relegated?
I hope so.
No matter what one thinks of DFC as a club and I have no affection for them, I tnink they suffered due to football’s procrastination in dealing with Corpse FC, last close season.
The SPL should have suspended relegation, as Dundee had no time to budget for the SPL, so were doomed from the start.
Hearts, Dunfermline and Them out of the SPL, who’d have thunk it?
oopla .
SPL not SFL !
tommysbhoy
Finally a look at the principles at play as opposed to how the SFA use the rules as suit and why there is no will to apply the rules…
jerfeelgood says:
Monday, April 29, 2013 at 12:14
That (a description of the SFA articles and powers) about sums it up although the degree of discretion under National Club Licensing in the event of non compliance is a lot wider than the UEFA FFP standard that all SPL clubs are subject to. I say standard to make the distinction between what UEFA are prepared to tolerate in terms of risks to UEFA tournaments of a club going belly up during such a tournament and what the SFA are prepared to tolerate in the same respect. In short if a club fails to comply on financial criteria which includes audited accounts or social tax unpaid, or no “going concern” notes to accounts then UEFA will not allow a club to play in their tournament.
Thus when Rangers failed, UEFA ruled them out of UEFA tournaments for not having audited accounts (and unpaid social tax – the wee tax bill) to submit and ruled out The Rangers because
Article 12 – Definition of licence applicant
” 1 A licence applicant may only be a football club, i.e. a legal entity fully responsible
for a football team participating in national and international competitions which
either:
a) is a registered member of a UEFA member association and/or its affiliated
league (hereinafter: registered member); or
b) has a contractual relationship with a registered member (hereinafter: football
company).
2 The membership and the contractual relationship (if any) must have lasted – at
the start of the licence season – for at least three consecutive years. Any
alteration to the club’s legal form or company structure (including, for example,
changing its headquarters, name or club colours, or transferring stakeholdings
between different clubs) during this period in order to facilitate its qualification on
sporting merit and/or its receipt of a licence to the detriment of the integrity of a
competition is deemed as an interruption of membership or contractual
relationship (if any) within the meaning of this provision.”
(Note that there is no three years accounts requirement here only continued membership of the same LEGAL entity of the SFA)
The SFA obviously were prepared to ignore UEFA standard licensing under the 5 way agreement to get The Rangers into the SPL, but even had The Rangers been able to join the SPL, UEFA would still have refused entry to UEFA tournaments on their new entity/non transfer of UEFA licence rule (to circumvent new entities risk doing to UEFA tournaments what the SFA were prepared to tolerate under the 5 way agreement )
(Article 14 – Licence
1 Clubs which qualify for the UEFA club competitions on sporting merit or through
the UEFA fair play rankings must obtain a licence issued by their licensor
according to the national licensing regulations, except where Article 15 applies.
2 A licence expires without prior notice at the end of the season for which it was
issued
3 A licence cannot be transferred. )
When The Rangers became an SFL club, National Club licensing applied and as I said this gave the SFA more wriggle room than the UEFA standard rules in terms of what the SFA were prepared to tolerate with a set of rules whose interpretation they are quite happy to change according to prevailing circumstance – witness Bryson’s never before considered construction to LNS on eligibility that protected the SFA from possible compensation claims.
The problem we face is that the principle on which such rules are built is ignored as the SFA does what it can to preserve itself , but one of the principles behind licensing is not just about setting standards, it also contains a risk assessment function in terms of the impact on a tournament and the clubs taking part if a club fails to fulfill its fixtures. Interestingly it is the SFA who have the responsiblity of conducting the licensing process but the clubs who lose out if the SFA fail to carry out their responsibility properly. Nice work if you can get it.
For this reason I suggest (unless it is already part of the process) that clubs ask the SFA for an indemnity against any loss to those clubs should any club granted a licence fail during the course of a season.
Of course when it comes to The Rangers,, clubs in the SFL are going to be asking themselves will we be making more from their admission than we risk losing if they fail and if they think it worth taking the risk of a couple of big gates over any failure before they get a bite at the cherry, then they are likely to take a punt and say nowt. The SFA are therefore more likely to let them place their bets with no comeback on the SFA to let clubs taking the risk get at The Rangers supporters dosh.
This of course provides no assurances or protection to the poor Rangers supporters (I am beginning to feel sorry for the over an emotional barrel position they find themselves in.) that the governing authority is doing nothing to protect them from spivs and charlatans milking our game and The Rangers supporters pockets for all they are worth.
When you have a system where the immediate benefits of doing things wrongly outweigh the long terms costs of doing it properly the result is Scottish football.
Steinreignedsupreme
14:45 on 29 April, 2013
English stated as a fact that he’d seen the emails.
His opinions are worth squat, but I don’t think he’d tell a bare faced lie. Why would he?
And if the matter is as clear as you say how come The Great Desmondo got it so wrong?
ernie lynch – you forgot this bit of TT’s post “Maybe not his exact words ,but pretty close to it”
So TT says it’s not a quote but you treat it as a quote. Why not try to find out exactly what was said before rushing to judgement on TT’s interpretation of it.