Friday is the 8th annual Celtic Quick News Open. The event, in which our guest speaker will be Livingston FC Manager and former Celt John Hughes, is completely booked up with a record 54 golfers. In addition to playing golf and having fun the CQN Open raises funds for good causes
Our good causes this year are The Haven Centre in Blantyre, Oscar Knox Neuroblastoma Appeal, Martin Chambers Ecuador Trust and Aberdour Primary School Parents’ Association.
We have already distributed over £2000 thanks to the sale of a Joseph Gormley painting back in April. We have two further fantastic paintings by Joseph; one of Scott Brown and one of Henrik Larsson. We also have a wonderful signed Neil Lennon print by the artist Gary Brandham.
The items are being raffled on ebay right now for the price of a £1 ticket. Winners will be drawn at the CQN Open on Friday night. There will be further raffles and auctions on Friday night with some excellent golfing and other sporting activities been donated by the Celtic family. Perhaps the pick is a limited edition canvas print of John Thomson, donated by the John Thomson Memorial Committee. There are only 22 of these in the entire world, representing the 22 years of John’s life.
This is a unique opportunity to win three great pieces of Celtic memorabilia, items which would normally be pushed out of the reach of most people at auction. Tickets cost £1, buy as many as you like, but participate. This is what your club is all about!
Many congratulations to Sean Fallon on his 90th birthday. I am delighted his autobiography is currently being written. Sean is our last remaining link to huge parts of our history. He was there, participating in the decision process, on so many of the things we now take for granted. The research, preparation and publicity surrounding his autobiography will be an opportunity to make sure younger generations get to appreciate the great resource he is. Let’s hope we get a CQN interview one day.
Sighs of relief will be heard around many dens of iniquity as Rangerstaxcase sails into the sunset; well done on excellent work. RTC’s “99% crap” has teased, entertained and informed for over a year. History is already being rewritten, but the inescapable fact is that Rangers diaspora were far better served by RTC than by the army of cheerleaders Sir David Murray or Craig Whyte depended upon to make their work possible.
The ‘buy lots of raffle tickets’ message if for you, b.t.w. so what are you waiting on, they are only £1 each!!!
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hoopy-do on 31 July, 2012 at 13:53 said:
Aye surely not from you anyway…
John Barnes @JohnBarnes01
Neil Lennon response to C Green bigotry comments “I find them quite funny. He’s only here 5 mins and he’s calling us all bigots already”
The 2pm news on RC has D.Shiels signing for ‘ranjurs’.
The lassie then goes onto mention he played in the Killie victory over Celtic in the LC win last season.
And whit?
Plus ca change.
SPF
starry plough- yes it doesn’t take them long to go native- Goram, wee Nacho and now Green.
Any day now he’ll change his name by deed poll to Orange.
FC Sevco want FPLG for life! for LIFE!
Whooooooopppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Get that contract our pronto!
Text saying we have taken James Vaughan on loan from Norwich-to be confirmed.
Guys, I posted this last night. Hope you dont mind a repost…
A few weeks ago on here I wrote about John McClelland and Michael Russell. One of you replied about Russell’s Lodge membership and, if memory serves, an interesting snippet about his admiration for the old Orange Walk as a ‘tradition’. If there is a link to a story about this, could somebody please post it as I am researching on that topic at the moment.
HH
SP-I think our statement yesterday should have sufficed IMO.
BB
I just got a Text saying that they have added 200 minutes and 500 Texts to my allowance.
Love
From Setanta Site;
(oops, first, Bhreith Lá Shona do Sean Fallon)
Rangers will become known as The Rangers Football Club Limited after shareholders voted in favour of the name change.
An extraordinary general meeting of ‘oldco’ shareholders was held on Monday and it was at this meeting that Sevco Scotland Limited was granted permission to change the name to The Rangers Football Club Limited.
Chares Green’s Sevco consortium completed the purchase of Rangers in June after the club failed to secure a Company Voluntary Arrangement resulting in the old Rangers being liquidated.
“The process that took place today is the penultimate piece of the jigsaw that will see The Rangers Football Club move forward, with the transfer of SFA membership being the final piece,” Green told the club’s official website.
“As every fan knows, Rangers is Rangers – it always has been and it always will be. The Club still has its 140 years of history and we are now embarking on the next 140 years.
“We are back playing football and the Board is focused on rebuilding this great Club over the next few years.
“Our fans were fantastic on Sunday at Brechin and their support at Ibrox and away from home this season will be instrumental in helping the team achieve the success we all desire.”
ASonOfDan on 31 July, 2012 at 13:58 said:
Third=First :0)
I like the thought that they might not hack it in the 2nd and come straight back down.
SOAL-Make sure you use them wisely ……
Years of being brow beaten by the media/establishment has resulted in some/many (?) Celtic fans always looking on the dark side were der Hun are concerned. As regards THEM being in SPL 1 next season, be vigilant IF the ssue is raised but, for now, enjoy their Wee Brother in Div 3.
Out cycling this morning and, as any runner/cyclist/rower ets will tell you, it is an activity which allows for calm refelction. The result of mine this morning was that if we started viewing Paddy McCourt as a fine passer of the ball rather than as a mazy dribbler of a player, we might have lower expectations and higher returns.
If I could morph any two of our players, the two would be Brown and McCourt. Scott`s energy and Paddy`s silkiness of passing would create a magnificent player ( Now, I suppose, the Negs on here will say : What if he gets Paddy`s energy and Scott`s silkiness!? Help ma Boab!
Happy 90th birthday Sean, you were there at the start of our greatest days and you’re still there now, Slainte!!!
A few years ago I was walking into a golf club on the south side of glasgow to play 18 holes with my brother and Sean’s son, young Sean:)
As we were going into the clubhouse the great man himself was just coming out. My brother introduced me saying, this is Tony he’s over from Canada on holiday. Sean asked me how i was enjoying myself and hoped i’d enjoy the rest of my holiday. He then said with a wry smile, “I don’t think much of the company you’re keeping” and we all burst out laughing:).
I’m pre-booking myself for the CQN Open next year, by hook or by crook i’ll make it over.
Paul67, keep up the good work amigo; stellar stuff to say the least.
slainte
tony
!!Bada Bing!! on 31 July, 2012 at 14:12 said:
Text saying we have taken James Vaughan on loan from Norwich-to be confirmed.
Totally underwhelmed if true. File alongside Murphy, Rasmussen, Bangura. Would rather see Tony Watt get a run in first team.
Listened to Tommy’s tow curling interview with Imran Ahmed. The plan is simple: Float the club in the autumn for “£20-30 Million”.
One wee problem with that idea – Rangers fans don’t do share issues in a big way. What chance this one when the fans don’t trust the guys in charge sufficiently to buy a season ticket let alone a bundle of shares?
And if the floatation is to be used to fund working capital rather than exit Green and Co, it seems apparent that another financial crisis is a short number of months away.
And on the basis of this plan, the SFA have seen fit to give them a licence to play?
Mental.
Good Afternoon.
A young journalist, Alistair Cooke I think, was setting out in the early days of a career when his then editor gave him sone advice….. or perhaps it was an instruction rather than advice.
The tenor of the message was “Bring me the news! I don’t care if it is late- just make sure it is right!”
The author then went on to explain that throughout a career in journalism, the mantra of getting it “right” was always the Golden Rule which had to be followed without deviation or distortion.
Deviation and Distortion are good words. Good– in the sense that Scottish sports journalism, in my opinion, starts each and every morning, and has started each and every morning for some time, in the shadow of deviation and distortion and with a natural instinct to deviate and distort.
Or to put it another way, sports journalism in Scotland has become, by accident or design, an amplifier for whomsoever wishes to broadcast their message to the sports nation on any given day. The Broadcaster can be a journalist, or an editor in search of sales, a player wanting a move, an agent wanting a client to move or secure a new contract, a manager, a chairman, a football authority or just about anyone else who has access to, and the ear of, a hack who can get things into print.
Whether the broadcast contains the truth, or any analysis of the message concerned, has until recently fallen by the wayside. The press scramble to carry the message has become paramount. Get there first, carry the exclusive, give us the sensation and the headline– that is what seems to dictate the ideology of the modern sportswriter in Scotland, with no one carrying or caring about the mantra ” Bring me the news! I don’t care if it is late– just make sure it is right!”.
Before going further, let me add that this is not always the fault of the written press or any particular journalist– even though it is easy to blame individuals who write on a daily basis and who broadcast into our homes and cars almost nightly.
I have a friend who holds a very senior position in broadcasting in London– a global position. He is a scot– a native Glaswegian– and without wishing or meaning any insult to journalistic colleagues who remain in Scotland ( he originally trained here and returns for visits regularly ), he describes the press pack in Scotland ( with a few exceptions ) as a “Gang with sharp elbows” who are always scrambling and climbing over one another to get to the story or a story which no one else has!
That is the culture. That is the rule of the playground. Being First with something appears to be more important than being accurate– and as a result we find many many examples of a news story coming into print by way of an interview with absolutely no attempt to test or question the views of, or the information provided by, the interviewee.
If you watch any political interview on BBC Breakfast, you will find that guests are repeatedly ask about their policy and a counter argument or differing interpretation is put to them– sometimes making them most uncomfortable or sometimes forcing an answer which in itself becomes a news story later in the day!
Not so in Scotland– or at least in the land of the Sports Press– where over a number of years there has grown the impression that the press will carry a statement or interview but will simply not ask any difficult questions.
Take the famous interview of many years ago where Walter Smith ridiculed Chic Young for asking certain questions. Young was belittled but just laughed and shrugged it off Take Jim Mclean physically assaulting John Barnes at the BBC. yes he was sued and had to apologise– but did he really feel free to just banjo the BBC man?
Take Jim Traynor telling the story about a former Ibrox chairman calling a young reporter to warn him that he- and his organisation– would be watching what he wrote in future and passing on the message that the said chairman knew where he lived, where he went to school, who his family were and so on. What are we to make of such an attitude towards the press?
As examples of the press being first with the story at the expense of getting it write– Hugh Keevins famously told us that Artur Jorge would be the next manager of Celtic only to be horribly wrong. Years later I recall watching a broadcast from outside Celtic Park, where Chic Young exclusively revealed that he expected Owen Coyle to be the new manager of Celtic within a 24 hour period.
Kenny Dalglish, became so disenchanted with the press that he conducted press conferences in the slightly hostile ( to certain press men anyway ) enviroment of Bairds bar in the Gallowgate– resulting in some dreadful journailism concerning Dalglish’s diction, with personal attacks on his social skills and so on. I disagreed with the idea of a press conference in Bairds at the time and I still do now, but some of the writing at the time was absolutely shameful.
It is against this background that I personally come to examine the value of both RTC and the blog that has been given that name.
These pages are not so much an internet phenomenon as a journalistic one.
There are hundreds of thousands of blogs which have never reached the reading figures that have amassed on these pages. I believe that is because the author made it plain that he had information on one very specialised and precise topic– The Rangers Tax Case.
Further, the information that he or she had, was completely contrary to the message being spouted through the Mainstream Press by those who were engaged in that very tax case.
In short, this blog arose because the press were being used and allowed themselves to be so used– possibly by design, or desire but probably out of sheer bad habit and by this time– custom.
Going back to many many moons ago, If David Murray came out and stated categorically that Rangers PLC or MIH had taken detailed legal advice on the tax issue and had nothing to worry about re any tax liability– then that is precisely what was reported– without question– without dare I say it– deviation or distortion. Without hesitation or pause for thought– or enquiry!
No counter argument, no alternative view point seemed to reach the headlines– unless and until it was forced.
To be fair– over a series of years Graham Spiers tried to question Murray and indeed Rangers ( although please note these habits and practices were not exclusive to matter a la Rangers ) about accounts, finances and indeed the policy on sectarianism. Equally over the years, with no offence to Graham, his voice became weaker and the qustioning seemed to wain.
The RTC blog became what it became because in many respects the public had had enough of lickspittle journalism– especially when large sections of that public knew that much of what was in the printed press was just not true– and that same section of the public could work out the consequences of the truth far quicker than the daily journalists could.
No one could have forseen the impact that Craig Whyte– and the reaction to Craig Whyte– would have on the Scottish Press.
When Whyte’s existence was first reported, that race to be first I spoke of earlier took off like Usain Bolt– the only problem was the runner was blind and headed in completely the wrong direction.
Who can recall Whyte being described as the owner of Braehead? The Motherwell Born Billionaire with the wealth off the radar? Who can forget Roddy Forsyth’s much later lament at the absence of proper financial journalists who could actually look into such things?
“Bring me the news! I don’t care if its late– just make sure it is right!”– aye well not in Scotland unless someone sends in some real proper financial journalists eh?
Well those “journalists” were not in fact needed, because their place was taken by ” The internet bampots”– a motly crew of punters who could check things on Company House websites, google earth, court records and other such places which were as good as foreign countries to your average Scottish Sports Journalist– at least that seems to be the cry!
I recall a period on these pages where contributor after contributor came up with piece after piece of information which countered the Gospel as spouted by sections of the press. The professionally placed spin was disseminated, dismantled, examined, disected and corrected on here— with the result that the very same press turned their attention to these pages and pronounced that the contributors were without integrity, had their own agenda, were wannabees and followed no professional code.
Names such as “Phil the chancer” were bandied about the net,”Internet Bampotery” became a publicly known phrase and a degree of ridicule was heaped upon anyone who dared to write or bring information to the fore outwith the MSM.
But then– slowly but surely– as others continued to decry as nonsense the comments of the “Bampots”– things began to change.
As more and more was revealed– and remember there has still been no written decision or detail of evidence released by the FTT—some of the mainstream press changed course and in their race to be first ran headlong into that most starnge of things– The Truth!
A Sunday Newspaper broke with the story re Dual Contracts– previously fabled as the stuff of nonesence on both Radio Clyde and Radio Scotland– and suddenly the MSM had the whole story and the whole truth all along!
Suddenly there were questions to answer. Tom English ran two interviews that contained some searching questions of Mr Whyte– not devastating questions– presumably Whyte would have refused to answer them– but questions none the less!
Jim Spence gained greater and greater airtime with his knowledge of the views of clubs and fans from the lower divisions of Scottish Football and was able to counter the certainty that “Rangers” in any shape or form would be subjected to the actual laws of the game! Suddenly on air you had debate between commentators rather than just a broadcast which brooked no or little deviation or distortion of the MSM reported point of view.
Mark Daly and Panorama really took the news mainstream on certain issues– those same issues which were common currency on here way long before they were ever accepted as non myths by the MSM.
The point I am making is this. The RTC blog is not, and never should be, a football forum. Yes its subject matter is football related, but it should not be the meeting place to exchange views on Celtic ( there are a predominance of Celtic fans on here ), Rangers , Hearts, Aberdeen or anyone else. There are loads of very good fans forums for that sort of thing/
This was– possibly still is— the place where the football fan can log on, come on and simply say ” Hey– that is not true” or ” I have information on this” or ” there is another side to that story” because there is no such room for that in the MSM other than the comment columns at the bottom of the page– and they are bediviled by the partisan and the prejudiced in the main.
Further, the contributors to these pages ( the writer excluded lol ) brought knowledge and skills which with respect to the MSM they could not immediately source from their own knowledge.
Accountancy skills, forensic analysis, system analysis, banking knowledge, legal expertise, marketing knowledge, insolvency processes and trends, court reporting and record access. Whilst the blog never became ( thankfully ) the sole domain of the professional, it did house a multi disciplined bevvy of information.. and indeed opinion and debate…. the like of which is not – or was not– openly fostered on phone ins or newspapers!
At no time did the blog as a whole seek to preach– it encouraged debate and information sharing, and in so doing it outpaced the MSM in the all important race to be first with the news or the story– but with the desire for the truth remaining in tact and ever present.
This blog has changed a number of things in terms of reporting the events that it concerned itself with– but I hate to say it– I do not agree with RTC’s most recent post on the issue of wrapping it all up.
My reason is that I am not at all sure that the changes that we have seen are in fact permanent– and for the blog to carry a lasting legacy the cahnges do have to be permanet in my opinion.
The FTT decision is not yet out. When it does come out it will contain many many details which may well raise many further questions. The detail will be poured over, and is capable of not only interpretation but also manipulation and spin.
Remember that the FTT is only a tax tribunal, and the detail of evidence may well give rise to all sorts of other questions that are more suited to another forum and involve rules and regulations which are outwith the competancy of the FTT. We will not know until the fat lady has sung so to speak.
For now, I echo the sentiments expressed by others who state that we have a lot to thank RTC for– and an awful lot to thank so many others for as well– others who brought their knowledge, expertise, time and effort to make the RTC blog a deserving Orwell prize winner.
But the fat lady has not sung– and unless she sings to an audience, and in a language which her audience can understand and have explained without distortion and deviation, she might as well not sing at all– because no one will hear her and her message.
No this blog must stay open– so that when the FTT reports, the decision can be analysed, explained, discussed and clarified.
That RTC has chosen or saw fit to retain anonymity is understandable– some things are not necessary to throw into the public domain, but the readers of these pages– and I genuinely do not know how many there are— have come to expect truthful analysis and explanation of both fact and statements of opinion and will no longer accept without question bland unverified and unchecked statements from the MSM.
Craig Whyte never owned Braehead, had numerous companies with names similar to extremely successful ones as a matter of practice, had different dates of birth on compnay forms, was never a Billionaire, was disqualified from being a company Director…… and helped destroy Rangers PLC.
David Murray oversaw the running of an unlawful tax scheme, witheld full details of players contracts from the SFA & SPL, ran up huge debts at Ibrox and with the Bank of Scotland.
Various others were complicit and were party to the actions of these men, actions which were not openly reported in the MSM, actions which deceived and fooled the footballing authorities in Scotland and Europe, actions which were not disclosed and covered up by some of the most influential people involved in Scottish Football.
The MSM failed in many respects to report or investigate these matters timeously when they came to the fore, and were slow to accept the fact that RTC and others on here were not fooled by the press proclaimed pronouncements of Murray and Whyte on all or any this, and that they wanted to make the truth public.
” Bring me the news! I don’t care if it’s late- just make sure that it is right!”
There is much more news to come in my opinion– so who do you trust to “Make sure that it is right”?
If the reounding answer is not the MSM……. then the job is not yet done!
Kayal33-Agree (if true),saying that he looked quite sharp last week but injury prone.
No value in Vaughan; although as ever I’d like to be proved wrong.
hoopy-do
p.s. none of your suggestions mentioned ‘free jars from>/b> first timers’ but i’m guessing that’s a given!
Fixed that for you
That`s the spirit Kayal 33. Critical of Vaughan already and all we have so far is a rumour.
Doh !
Epic Fail
See…I’m an unreconstructed Socialist of the old school,for whom INTEGRITY is the greatest principle : all else follows from that.
I live within my means and begrudge no human being anything,so long as they haven’t cheated to acquire it and look to their fellow man who is less fortunate.
However,I recognise the world I have to live in is crammed with greedy,selfish people and that is why we have institutions that are supposed to at least give the appearance of equity in society.
Now,even that is breaking down…badly…and the shenanigans of rfc(dead) is proof of that,and reflects the true nature of the country we live in.
And so,today,we are expected to accept that the reincarnation of that hideos club can just waltz on like that’s okay?
No Way.
Th phrase,’rearranging the deckchairs on The Titanic’ comes to mind.
We,collectively,need to ensure that the deserved iceberg smashes into them,sooner rather than later.
~~~~~
And,btw, I don’t begrudge anyone a game ae ‘gowf’……do they still have corpy courses,affordable to all or have they, too,gone the way of all things thatcherite?
Anyway,I’m of the Oscar Wilde school of thought re. ‘gowf’…”… a good walk,ruined”
Cheery bye! I’m off to plot the revolution and check out the ebay stuff Paul67 mentioned. How 21st. Century is that?
YouCan’tFoolTheChildrenOfTheRevolution CSC
!!Bada Bing!! on 31 July, 2012 at 14:13 said:
I’m guessing that was a response to a question in an interview, the kind of thing the MSM love to ask our club, I don’t see any reason why Neil can’t answer the question..
Jungle Jim-he’s only 24 but his injury record is poor, to say the least.
For a club like Celtic the value is not in players from the EPL, not if we want to unearth another world class gem ;/)
Miki- Mark Twain, not Oscar ;/)
So he signs on with a Third Division club who have sold 600 season tickets to hear the ‘roar’. I am seriously peeing mysel laughing!
Dean Shiels ‘I Love Ibrox Roar’
DBBIA
So we have taken him on trial have we?
Dontbrattbakkinanger on 31 July, 2012 at 14:12 said:
>>>>>
It’s a disease….
miki67
Was Oscar Wilde doing his Mark Twain impression when he said that?
Dontbrattbakkinanger on 31 July, 2012 at 14:29 said:
>>>>>
I stand corrected….is ageing any use as an excuse?
Read a couple of Norwich blogs this morning and they don’t want to sell him and think it is a non-starter anyway, as he is coming back form injury and looking quite sharp in pre-season.
TBB
and dont forget those that bought the last time round and actually contributed to Moonbeams share issue . all 1,102 of them WILL NOT DO SO AGAIN !!!
HAil HAIl
DBBIA
I also believe mark Twain to be the origin of that but I have heard it bequeathed to many, mant others.
Bloke109 on 31 July, 2012 at 14:30 said:
>>>>>
ok ok ok…..
Gordon Dalziel has just been promoted to the Vanguard Bears hitlist. Dazzle has proved once and for all that he is a taig-lover of the lowest order- he committed the most heinous crime imaginable for a hun: he was caught in public speaking reasonably and having the temerity ( or should that be timerity?) to vaguely hint at contemplating the hun fiasco in a remotely balanced manner…the Vanguard bears are organizing an afternoon lynch mob with tea and biscuits at the Ibrox community hall tomorrow. Poor Dazzle. He should have known better than to sound reasonable on radio. It’s a red rag to a bull headed hun…and now he has been excommunicated from the High Pagoda of Hun Execration…he should have went all bandwagonesque like Chuckles Green, DJ, Bomber, FPLG etc and jumped on the caravan of spite with its knuckle shaped wheels…the line between between love and hate is a razor thin wan when yer a hun!
hamiltontim on 31 July, 2012 at 13:19 said:
Minceyheidman on 31 July, 2012 at 13:13 said:
Talk of a few of us going out but we’ll need to wait and see how many are granted leave of absence after the CQN Golf Day on Friday!!
Hamiltontim,
Please keep me posted as I am flying tomorrow and then getting the train up Sat morning.
Looking for a place after the game, of course after the girls have spent all my money in the souvenir shop.
Still have enough for a few beverages.
Have fun and good luck Friday.
Cheers.
James Vaughan is ‘quick’. When we’re interested in players, even on loan, I prefer the words ‘goal’ and ‘scorer’ to join together and prefer actually not to see the word ‘loan’. He has however scored against us, so maybe he was scouted by Charlie Mulgrew.
An player on loan with an injury record. The store we’re shopping in I guess.