Managing decline and urine-soiled shoes

244

I have a recurring complaint whenever a politician talks about the economy.  We have millions unemployed with no shortage of policies, from back-to-work schemes to aggressive incentive-isation of the unemployed, offered as a solution.

Back-to-work schemes are all right, as far as they go, especially for people who need retrained, but they do not address the clear and glaring problem – millions are unemployed because there are not enough jobs available due to a collapse in demand across major economies.  Get demand back on trend and jobs will follow.  Whether your back-to-work schemes are effective or not, unemployment will drop and the latest Phantom Menace, the budget deficit, will revert to the surplus it was a few years ago.  Our political thinking appears to be limited to dealing with the consequences of the economic crisis, not its causes.

The same is glaringly true of Scottish football’s latest suggestions to reorganise the league structure.  We have many problems:

At least 40 of the 42 clubs have no chance of ever becoming Scottish champions

Large SPL clubs (like Aberdeen) cannot convince teenagers to sign new contracts reducing the rewards and incentive to develop talent

Wealthier, more competitive, English football dominates our TV screens and culture

Financially, most clubs are either surviving hand-to-mouth or depending on scarce benefactors

A new 12-12-18 league structure will not change how many teams will be able to become Scottish champions.  It will not make it easier to Aberdeen to retain teenage talent, it will not halt the process of English football increasingly dominating our cultural and it will not bring an extra £1 into the game.

So why, when there is an appetite to actually do something, are we wasting the opportunity by putting a structure in place which will only serve to re-enforce the current decline?

I expect this arrangement will give lower league clubs a modest increase in the money handed down from selling tickets and TV subscriptions to SPL games.  Modest, but not environment changing.  The question Scottish football should be addressing is, if they are going to survive on solidarity payments trickling down from clubs at the top, how do you fatten those clubs sufficiently to make the trickle-down as large as possible?

The Aberdeens of our game need to have a reward and incentive to continue developing youth talent.  The likes of Inverness and St Johnstone, who run excellent clubs, need to be able to see-off badly-run English clubs chipping away at their foundations.  Community clubs, like Alloa and Albion Rovers, could be transformed by a secure stream of income that pays for a modern sports infrastructure.

Yesterday the Scottish Football League chief executive, David Longmuir, promised that fans would be consulted before decisions were taken.  If we are the most important people in the game, let’s open this one out, before we resign ourselves to managing decline.

Every now and then we read a comment on Celtic Quick News urging the club to publicly get stuck into someone or other, let them have it, show the fans how much they care.  Somehow I think anyone coming away with this nonsense in future will be referred back to an article from yesterday.

You don’t achieve anything by playing to the galleries.  You don’t build influence and you don’t win support for your position, all that happens is people laugh at you.  It is too easy to sound like an old jakey, ranting aimlessly while squelching along in lace-less, urine-soiled, shoes.  “”Dear God”, squelch”.

Have you ordered your CQN Annual yet? Get it here!

You can read the latest edition of CQN Magazine free online by clicking on the double headed arrow at the bottom right of the graphic below.
[calameo code=000390171cc0c3617c8cc lang=en page=40 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

244 Comments
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7

  1. If I were a potential sponsor, I’d look at a team who didn’t pay their taxes, left many creditors unpaid, had disrepute charges against them, have allegations of cheating pending, play in the 4th tier of Scottish football…and think…..nah! I don’t want my company associated with that.

     

     

    Then I’d look at Celtic :-)

  2. Good article.

     

    The last bit prophesises Jabba’s ultimate fate.

     

    He is the prime exponent, in his trumpeting of t’rankers and its menacing attitude to all who would gainsay their strutting arrogance, of that whch you caution us against, i.e. wanting Celtic to get stroppy about stuff which would only bring ranting hatred at a nuclear level towards us all.

     

    Meanwhile, on the plethora of Celtic-minded sites (of which this is the one that works for me) we can say what we like on any issue and there is little that the sevcovians can do about it except chew further on their own limbs.

  3. Not sure who posted originally but I have heard through someone who has watched fitba in Germany that it’s more expensive to stand.

     

     

    Can anyone confirm?

     

     

    LB

  4. vmhan12:30 on 9 January, 2013

     

    “A re- arRANGEd league set up, for the benefit of one team in Scotland.”

     

    >>>>>

     

    Did you mean re-arRANGERed?

     

    That’s what it sure looks like, regardless of all the oil being poured on very troubled waters.

     

    HH!

  5. We are a Scottish team, so we play in Scotland, end of story, if other options are created in the future, such as an Atlantic style league combining the best of other small national leagues then so be it

     

     

    I live in England and see the dross that passes for football down here, it is no better and below the premiership the clubs get little money from TV etc and they are struggling just as badly as the sevco huns to make a penny, England is not a viable solution for Celtic

  6. The Battered Bunnet on

    Caveat Emptor…

     

     

    “..This [confidence in the future] has been further reinforced by the Club’s progress in the Scottish Third Division currently top of the division after 11 matches and cup competitions, as well as the potential league restructuring which would accelerate the

     

    Club’s return to top league football.”

     

     

    “…Under the current league structure, 2015/16 would be the earliest that the Club could return to the Scottish Premier League, although these timescales could be accelerated should there be a restructuring of the Scottish Football League”

     

     

    “…This [new leagues] structure could lead to an increase in teams in the SPL and in addition a realignment of teams and the division in which they play which could facilitate a faster return for the Club to the SPL than under the current structure.”

     

     

    “…The Board believes that the coming years may see some significant changes in the structure of Scottish football and that the RFCL Group and the Rangers Group are well positioned to benefit from these should they occur.”

  7. Estadio I,ve got his mobile no and email I,ll get in touch with him toutes suite. Hail Hail Hebcelt

  8. Mort

     

    12:36 on

     

    9 January, 2013

     

    Vmhan

     

     

    I was referring to Glasgow’s second side, Partick Thistle.

     

     

    Mort

     

    ******************

     

    Jumped in too quick there, its a known problem in the Vmhan household. Sorry Mort.

     

    V

  9. TONYG

     

     

    Regarding no drawn games, any of these types of ideas should be tested in the League Cup. I always thought the idea of penalties before extra time was a shout. The penalty shoot out is a cruel way to lose so it gives the losing team in the shoot out 30 mins to try and win the match.

     

    There are plenty of daft ideas out there but that one makes some kind of sense to me. certainly not the worst I have heard. Extra time is usually boring anyway with both sides happy to take the penalty shoot out and hope the other teams bottle crashes.

     

     

    LB

  10. Headtheball

     

    12:47 on

     

    9 January, 2013

     

    If I were a potential sponsor, I’d look at a team who didn’t pay their taxes, left many creditors unpaid, had disrepute charges against them, have allegations of cheating pending, play in the 4th tier of Scottish football…and think…..nah! I don’t want my company associated with that.

     

     

    Then I’d look at Celtic :-)

     

    ——–

     

    Some of this was already known by the CEO’s of major companys but they still went ahead.No morals in business

  11. Gordon_J

     

     

    Rumours are that it will remain Tennents but that Rangers will go it alone after being offered a much reduced sum from Tennents.

     

     

    Mort

  12. Celtic are set to announce a new shirt sponsorship deal at a news conference on Wednesday.

     

     

    C&C Group currently sponsors both Celtic and Rangers, with their lager brand Tennent’s displayed on both teams’ shirts.

     

     

    NTL and Carling have also entered combined deals with both clubs, who have shared a sponsor since 1999.

     

     

    It is not yet known whether the new deal will be in conjunction with their city rivals, or an independent sponsorship.

     

     

    The current joint agreement is worth £1.5m per season to both clubs but expires at the end of the 2012/13 season.

     

     

    Celtic shareholders raised a motion at the club’s AGM in October to end their association with their Glasgow rivals, which was described as “increasingly unpopular with supporters”.

     

     

    In response, the club’s board said such a move would “seriously limit the number of potential sponsors available and hinder the company unnecessarily in any sponsorship negotiations that did take place”.

     

     

    On Tuesday, leaked pictures of Celtic’s new shirt for the 2013/14 season were confirmed as being legitimate.

     

     

    The photograph of the new kit featured Tennent’s as the principal shirt sponsor

  13. Glendalystonsils likes a mr whippy with his lime green jelly on

    I see Regan is quoted as saying that the new set-up (or should that be stitch-up?) will benefit all 42 clubs and those wishing to join the leagues.

     

    Unless of course Sevco go down the tubes again, in which case they will once again leapfrog all of those who have been patiently waiting for years ,while managing their fifancial affairs honestly and within the rules.

  14. Dick Byrne ‏@DickByrne1

     

    Sevco media guru James Traynor has announced plans to sue ex-Record hack James Traynor for an article in which he claimed Rangers were dead

     

    Retweeted by Phil MacGiollaBhain

  15. dont understand this shite about sevco being better off under the new structure, at the end of this year they will be in the third teir of scottish football, under the new structure they will be……..in the third teir of scottish football, but instead of 11 opponents to cope with, they will have 17 which isnt any kind of advantage

     

     

    Sevco have quickly become the second biggest club in Scotland, quite an achievement by a start-up, but I really dont think anyone is trying to do them any favours, they have to be the biggest poisend chalice in Football with all the 2nd contract stuff still unresolved

  16. The Pantaloon Duck on

    New sponsor? It would be nice if it wasn’t booze or moneylending, but I expect that it will be the former.

  17. midfield maestro on

    Just checking on Sevco shares there. On top of the 2 punters who offloaded 400,000 shares each yesterday, someone got rid of 10,000 this morning. More importantly, at 10.37 this morning, 1 lucky punter sold his 1 share for 89p, making a huge profit of 14p. I wonder what FPLG will buy with his 14p?

  18. HUTCHYBHOY

     

     

    Just get yourself to Eyre Square( pronounced Air) IN Galway and you will be fine. Its the only show in town in terms of where to visit. Pubs, clubs everything you want is in Eyre Square. Its “THE” tourist hotspot in Galway. Its a bit like a tourist heading to Glasgow, Celtic Park IS THE ONLY SHOW IN TOWN! :)

     

     

    Enjoy Galway, its a great spot.

     

     

    Hail Hail

     

     

    Roccobhoy

  19. I tweeted David Stoker (Livingston director) last night Re: reconstruction

     

    and if anything has been said about conditions on stadium capacity, undersoil heating etc. because this could still leave the door open for Zombies getting fasttracked if the smaller teams don’t meet requirements

     

     

    he said he would be “astounded if there isn’t” any conditions

     

     

    Should we be wary or are we still confident they will be in the bottom 18?

     

    Taken from CM

  20. goldstar10

     

    12:59 on

     

    9 January, 2013

     

    Might be Bulmers cider as that is how Magners is marketed in Ireland, not many Sevconians there.

     

    *************************************************

     

     

    There are 1000s of them in the North of the country mate.

  21. This may have been covered before.

     

    The sponsorship deal involving Tennents is for domestic football. Do we have a separate European shirt sponsorship agreement.Is it not time we did.

  22. This deserves a repost every day for 125 days (may 5th)

     

    10p a day £12:50, 20p a day £25:00.

     

    A fantastic gesture I’M IN :)).

     

    Vmhan

     

    10:48 on

     

    6 January, 2013

     

    While its quiet I’ll repost Kitalba’s message from the KANO 125 CFC fundraiser:

     

     

    kitalba

     

     

    11:15 on

     

    28 December, 2012

     

    Kano got sick one night, very sick. If it was not for so many Celtic Supporters, from so many places, then Kano would be an ornament in a sterile hospital room. That is not nice because Kano still breathes and he still thinks and he is still a Celtic Supporter to his very core.

     

     

    A lot of money, by a lot of people, was raised to take Kano home. He can’t ever balance the books, but he’d love to.

     

     

    None of us gets more than one go on the roundabout of life.

     

     

    Celtic is celebrating their 125th Birthday and indelibly stamping it into their history by encouraging all to embrace the simple ethos of the clubs founding… let’s try and help those who just don’t have more than the air that they breathe.

     

     

    A lot of Celtic Supporters are doing a lot of different things to raise money for to help those less fortunate than ourselves. To a lot of people that is no big deal.

     

     

    I’m determined to help Kano pay back the kindness shown to him by the Celtic Support by supporting my club to help unfortunates. No big deal.

     

     

    There are some from here who have said they will help me to help Kano to help Celtic to help others.

     

     

    I give up the bevie for 125 days and I give up posting on here for 125 days as of the 1st Jan.. No big deal really, Kano has done both for the best part of four years.

     

     

    I ‘m going to put a wee bit aside for each day that I don’t drink or post and forward it to Celtic to hopefully fill a belly that needs a feed or to make an unfortunate hope where only darkness is their dawn.(but maybe I can have St. Pat’s day off so I can share a day with some good Tims)

     

     

    I’ve only one life and when I’m gone I soon be forgotten but if I’ve ever managed to feed one hungry person, if only for one day, then my life was worth something.

     

     

    No big deal to me or you but the person I fed, he/she will never know where the food came from and they won’t ever be visiting my grave to put some pretty flowers at the base of a head-stone, they’ll be too busy worrying about tomorrow.

     

     

    I can live with that and like Kano, once I’m gone, I’ll know that I never changed the world, hardly left a mark, but still I took to Celtic and I did something to try and ease the pain of others… sort of the Celtic way.

  23. West Wales Celt on

    Paul:

     

    Radical keynsianism?

     

    You’ll upset the ‘trickle down’ contigent…

     

     

    I’m always curious why those espousing radical positions on CQN are so often labelled incontinent. Not sure exactly which ‘call to arms’ is the subject of your critique Paul but I’m sure you can do a whole lot better than the pish-stained allusions…

  24. http://t.co/vjFSpVX

     

     

    This from “Oldshed” on @tsfm …… a brilliant find and well worth keeping for future reference

     

     

    #IncorporationDay

     

     

    Legal status of unincorporated associations:

     

    1.4 Scotland shares with the other parts of the UK a law of unincorporated associations which rests upon common law and has been little developed by statute. Its most striking feature is the absence of legal personality accorded to associations and clubs which do not choose to establish themselves as companies or as some other form of incorporated body.

     

     

    Put shortly, the current law does not recognise the existence of such organisations as separate legal entities.”

     

     

    I’ve taken a snapshot of the wikipedia page that someone has already edited. It is now corrected…. ;)

     

     

    http://t.co/H6mZGT7

     

     

    strangely the writer had “The Rangers Football Club business ran by the 4 founders & sole partners from 1872-1899 until its incorporation”

     

     

    The Club appeared to be a company before it was incorporated? .. there are of course no records of any such business at companies house? :)

     

     

    The legal status of unincorporated associations

     

    1.4 Scotland shares with the other parts of the United Kingdom a (cont) http://t.co/wuJQBaa9

     

     

    This item here >> http://t.co/Fo0fCkH8

     

     

    #IncorporationDay

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7