Paul Simon wrote about ‘a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires’ but if you want to raise money to rescue a company you need more than a loose affiliation. ‘The rebels’ at Celtic managed this in 1994 (somehow), but Paul Murray’s Blue Knights affiliation unravelled over a few days.
While Duff and Phelps were casting aspersions on the SPL for spiking their plans to announce a preferred bidder last week, the Blue Knights were already struggling to pull £0.5m together as a covenant to secure a period of exclusive rights to buy the club.
18 years ago a Celtic supporter walked into a branch of Bank of Scotland and paid £1m into Celtic’s bank account to bring it back under agreed limits and prevent the club going into administration – without any security or negotiating rights. A discrete but hugely important act by a man still on our board. No one from the Rangers consortium was prepared to gamble half as much last week, they even asked Ticketus, finance provider for Craig Whyte’s doomed venture, to stump up the non-refundable cash! The ticket agency declined.
The Celtic consortium soon fell apart with a modest degree of acrimony but personal issues were put to the side until the job of securing the club was complete. Paul Murray’s group was less fortunate. As a chartered accountant Murray would have been fully aware of the Employee Benefit Trusts which brought the club to its knees. What he knew and whether he benefited are likely to be some of the questions other consortium members were asking. He was not best placed to lead the recovery.
Murray also tried to keep a broad church together, from wealthy but detached Rangers fans to various elements of the support. This sounded ambitious from the off.
The most important comment from the Blue Knights yesterday was “The consortium believes that the whole deal process has become incredibly complex and it is critical that a preferred bidder is appointed this week.”
If it’s possible for the words “incredibly complex” and “critical” to be an understatement this is the occasion. The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League announce their fixtures in the middle of June. If Rangers are to phoenix before then they better hurry up and die. The liquidation process will take weeks (if it goes smoothly) and can be open to legal challenge. Stadium ownership has also to be secured and the claims of Ticketus and Andrew Ellis have to be satisfied.
Add to the mix creditors, the big tax case, punishments from the SFA for their on-going inquiry into the last takeover, potential punishments from the SPL inquiry into improperly registered players, increasingly widespread opposition from within the SPL and the rest of Scottish football to a place being created for a phoenix and you get the picture.
The last few years reads like a lesson in how to destroy a huge football club. Chances of SPL football at Ibrox next season? No more than 50%.
Bids for the original canvass painting of Neil Lennon by US based artist, Joseph Gormley, have hit an incredible £500. Keep an eye on the auction, which ends on Thursday, here.
Buy a hard copy of CQN Magazine, issue 7, by clicking on the button below. You can read online here.
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blantyretim on 18 April, 2012 at 11:10 said:
has it been aw_nawed? 0))
Que ?
Hail Hail
LABOUR leader Johann Lamont has admitted the SNP is set to make gains in next month’s council elections – but warned it will be a further “step towards separation”.
Handing Alex Salmond control of town halls around Scotland would be like leaving ex-Rangers chief Craig Whyte – who led the club into administration – in charge of public finances, said Ms Lamont.
Labour has pledged to campaign against the cuts to local services as Scottish councils see their budgets reduced by £350 million by the SNP government at Holyrood in the year ahead. She blames First Minister Alex Salmond.
“Frankly, if I might say so, after Alex Salmond passed on 90 per cent of Tory cuts to local government, putting the SNP in charge of a local council is like putting Craig Whyte in charge of your tax return,” Ms Lamont said.
“You don’t need to be a football fan to be sick of empty promises which sound good at the time but end up making the future of your community uncertain.”
Courtesy of The Scotsman.
Serge
Burley?
In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.
Serge,
thats Burley himself selling it!
Well he seems to have forgotten that he ever played for us when “commentating” thats for sure.
cant say on here my true thoughts about the…….nincompoop ;-)
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy @ 10.47
In my opinion this is an outstanding and accurate summary of the NFL situation and obviously written with a clear and honest view of a situation that many posters on here have a mental block about and refuse to see his behaviour for what it is. My question to TOSB would be why P.L. has not stepped in before it got to this level? That is a question I just cannot work out. We all share NFL’s severe frustrations but his behaviour is not befitting of a Celtic manager. I also think his back up team should have stepped up before now to take the spotlight off Neil. Well done TOSB I look forward to future posts.
haha your quick Bhoys good 1. HH
Junglejam67………. CORRECT……….. We don’t need fans like that…
My brother phoned me on Monday morning, beefing about NEIL…..I sent him away with an alternative view……….gave him chapter and verse for about 15 (LOL)……final comment, “and you should know better”
…It’s an XL….I don’t remember him wearing it on his head
15 MINUTES …..BLOOMIN’ iPad …..cannot get used to it at all….LOL
Serge
That will be TTT strip then
I am Neil Lennon…..and so is my Wife
Soal
not an xxl, can’t be his then…. 8-)
BT
He was slightly slimmer in the Burley day’s
not much right enough
are we bringing out a new home strip for next season?
jungle jam67
hunbelievable……… surely we must have guarantees from the SPL in the event of non payment……. surely??
yours in naivety
PC67
The Original Sadies Bhoy,
Im not going to slate you for your post, we are all entitled to our opinions after all, however the following line…..
“He also needs to curtail the unfortunate snarl expression that he has when he gets angry.”
Why should he?
And “unfortunate” in who’s eyes?
Just coz the MSM/LL dont like it (or perhaps love it as you seem to point to)?
Tough for them.
As well tell him him to change his accent, the colours of his eyes.
That is a natural part of him, its part of the man. Its a natural process.
I know when I get angry I dont specifically contort my face into a certain expression – the expression happens naturally.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
killerheels on 18 April, 2012 at 11:24 said:
three new strips next season
Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps have instigated legal proceedings against owner Craig Whyte‘s former lawyers – a claim which is understood to be in the region of £25million (€30m).The move came as the administrators remain hopeful of announcing a preferred bidder for the club this week after holding talks with the two remaining interested parties today.Administrators hope a deal for the Glasgow giants can be concluded “without any further delay”, with manager Ally McCoist today calling for a quick resolution to the bidding process.
“This is the £25m Warchest that I was promised ny Craig Whyte. I think it is only right and proper that we take this issue to the lodge…oops courts.
I have a number of players line up with this money to boost our squad. Players from all over Europe are wanting to join our project. We will be league champions next year wherever we play.’
Sometimes we should reflect on the anguish filled nightmares of the noble profession of referees.
I think that Matt McGinn’s lament for referees just about sums it all up. :-)
Hail hail
Estadio
I would love to see Lenny wear an “i am Neil Lennon, We are all Neil Lennon” Tshirt when we get the League Trophy.
Breeny on 18 April, 2012 at 11:16 said:
“his behaviour is not befitting of a Celtic manager.”
Maybe you would like to explain what behaviour is befitting of a Celtic manager.
I am guessing you don’t remember Jock Stein, Billy McNeil and Davie Hay..
It’s got to this level to answer your question because of an unrelenting campaign against Neil Lennon by every lickspittle mouthpiece in the country of Scotland demonising the man for doing his job.
There are hundreds of examples of managers doing what Neil did with no consequences in Scottish football, hundreds, Steven Pressley did exactly the same when we knocked Falkirk out of the cup last year.
Did they trot out all the mouth foamers then??
There’s a bigger picture to be seen here and it’s being going on for years. it traces it’s ancestry through all of our managers..
Hai hail
Starry
I think Neil Lennon’s claim that it is personal can be backed up when the lack of action against Butcher and Shiels (I’m assuming he has not been charged) and Lomas are cited.
When you have such an obvious imbalance there has to be an explanation and that is what is behind the statement.
It also heightens and explains the anger that cause the incidents in the first place, in fact there is a case the referee community are provoking or bullying the Celtic manager.
It does no harm to make this point even if unprovable and based on circumstantial evidence of 3 decisions in big games that were result changers, two of which are inexplicable and one 50/50 (Cha).
Folk argue we did not play well on the day and by that they mean sa Killie title winning performance.
That expectation is unrealistic, we are not Barca and many games will be slogs decided by the odd goal and this is where referees can and do make all the difference to the result.
Funny that in the big games we have lost recently the common denominator was referee decisions in all three and the inability to find the net in two.
The last factor is in Celtic’s power to fix, the other is a longer war of attrition until we do.
Serge
What about “why always me?”
Breeny
Or “See you in 3 years Huns”
BT/SOAL,
back then i was merely a “L”!
Remember I was still playing Sat 11s, training and playing 5s/7s several times a week – something SOAL should remember as he forlornly attempted to chase me around the 5s at Pitz hamilton on more than a few occasions.
I suppose his view was slightly warped as all he saw was a rear view (after I waltzed by him again and again) and ma erchie even then was not insubstantial…….
;-)
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
pedrocaravanachio67 on 18 April, 2012 at 10:46 said:
”Ernie, not sure if your comment was tongue in cheek, but if not, where the hell are they getting £300k from?”
Not tongue in cheek. The Administrators will honour any contract they enter into, they have no choice.
That’s why Celtic don’t have to ask for the money up front.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy
Agree with most of your points especially what Jock Stein said about taking the referee out of the equation.I feel whats been missed here is that someone has to take Neil Lennon aside and teach him some media savvy,it was obvious the cameras would be on him at full time and Neil duly obliged and gave them the story which would be used in a negative manner.It bothers me that issues surrounding team selection get knocked into the background,mistakes were made in selection for the League Cup Final,substitutions and tactics,I did not see any proof on Sunday that Neil had learnt anything from that game.
I’m with Neil Lennon 100%.
He is taking on an organisation which has cheated Celtic for decades. They have lied to him, cheated his (and our) team at every turn, and told lies about him to try to get him punished more than any other manager. They are attempting to bully and intimidate him. Bully’s prefer their work to be done in underhand ways and out of the prying eyes of the world. That way they can deny being bullies and lie about what has been said.
Neil is tackling the bullies headon. He was very clear and open about what he was directly asking the cheat in black on Sunday. He was letting the world see there was no swearing, no physical attack. Just two simple questions. ‘Did you see it’ ? ‘Are you sure’ ?
Some people talk about his behaviour not befitting a Celtic manager. Utter tosh. If directly and openly confronting liars, bullies, and cheats is not the behaviour of a Celtic Manager, then I don’t know what is.
Keep exposing them Neil, and keep fighting them. With you 100%.
I completely fail to see what is to be gained from psychological slavery to the Hun Hegemony .[ apart from earning ” oh you’re a good boy” approval from the likes of Shortbread, Sportscone, The Lap top Loyal etc ]
Neil Lennon should be judged by the quality of his enemies.. —– I hope he keeps on sticking it to the puppets
‘” The bourgeoisie sees its historical development like a sporting competition, with its own referee and its own rules which need to be followed ”
Antonio Gramsci
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy @ 10:47
A fine comment, and much of what you say I have to agree with.
However, in effect what you are asking is that Neil Lennon should behave differently from managers in opposing dugouts across Scotland because he is the Celtic manager, and is going to be treated differently. Whatever way he looks the press will use the images they wish to use, do we ever see an angry picture of the quiz show captain ?
Already this season we have seen Butcher, Pressley, McCoist, McCall, Sheils and Lomas all question decisions and integrity of the match officials, some more forcefully than others. Craig Brown has appeared on national TV, not Twitter, the night of the match concerned, and been allowed a platform to criticise the referee. None of these managers have been treated the same way as Neil Lennon.
Yes, I wish sometimes Neil would count to 10, or bite his tongue, but then you put yourself in his position. How many of us, honestly, did not scream cheat or words to that effect, at the TV , or in the ground, last Sunday when that penalty decision was made ? How many of us, within the last month, have had to contend with a court case in connection with our attempted murder, and carry the coffin of one of our dear friends. No-one in World Football, never mind Scottish Football, has had to contend with that.
Neil Lennon is far from perfect, he doesn’t always get his team selection right, but he is 40 years old, he is learning in the job. It is sad to see guys like McNeill and Hay putting the boot in, guys who have knocked out journalists and threatened to take the team off the pitch in a derby, telling Neil he needs to calm down !
I’d rather have an honest manager than a dishonest one any day of the week.
Starry plough
Neil Lennon has a history which day by day puts his life in danger and many admire him for that and indeed enthusiastically encourage it. He has overstepped the boundaries and this has increased the anti Celtic feeling amongst non- Celtic fans and this should not be encouraged. Don’t brush that off as being irrelevant. The man has serious security problems, just think about that for a minute and hence my point from a previos post that his back up staff should have raised their game and protected Neil for his own safety. That should be the major consideration here with his baggage not looking to him to continue to take the fight to SFA, Rangers, Refs etc. Do Not Underestimate the danger that man is in because he has overstepped the mark too many times. Where are you Peter Lawell?
For all you Neil Lennon critics
http://larianlequella.blogspot.de/2012/02/brainwashing-or-stockholm-syndrome.html
No no need to thank me unless your cured.
Hail Hail
Fully behind Neil Lennon.
The refereeing fraternity lost any right to “respect” once it was proven they had lied to our manager.
I know who I believe.
TTT
These days we keep slim running around you.
Take care
Whirlies CSC
ernie lynch on 18 April, 2012 at 11:31 said:
Cheers Ernie.
I suppose that makes sense, when we consider the noises the Celtic board were making, regarding the game in December.
They are obviously confident the money will be paid.
But my other question about where are they getting it from, considering they are pretty (not usually a word associated with rankers ) much operating on a hand to mouth basis.
PC67
Why are Celtic fans even talking about Neil Lennons behaviour?
This is all I’m saying or have said about it,those who are even discussing it,have a word with yersels.
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby on 18 April, 2012 at 11:44
because they are first and foremost Old Firm minded Celtic fans
Hail Hail