I’ve said for a while that very few people realise the enormity of what happened in Scottish football in 2012. Some thought there would be a three-year blip before ‘normality’ was restored. Until very recently prevailing perception is that the current ‘abnormal’ circumstances may last 10 years. The old normal isn’t coming back.
When I talked about how few people realised the permanent consequences of Rangers liquidation on the Scottish football to my brother, he was of the view that the penny wouldn’t drop until Newco were in their second season in the Premiership.
They had all the excuses in the world when they were in the lower leagues, and a genuinely good excuse during their first season in the top flight, but when things don’t improve in the second season, a retrenchment will start.
By then it will be evident that the legendary gap below Celtic is huge, that Newco are effectively cannon fodder, that their fans are a cash cow topping up the coffers of every club they visit (including Celtic), but that no matter what they pay for their season tickets, Newco will always be underfunded.
Season ticket sales at current levels are not sustainable to watch a team fail so miserably. Even this miserable team is not sustainable with the current business model. The retrenchment will be real and painful. Questions are now being asked about how they get themselves out of this mess (16 years too late). There will be no answer.
They will win the odd game against Celtic, and pick up a cup occasionally (if Ross County can do it anyone can), but Newco will only win the league if Celtic get their big move. Many football fans in Scotland will live the rest of their lives only seeing Celtic win the league. Just think of that for a moment. Buying your losers ticket each season will be a painful business. Some will find other things to occupy themselves with.
The real question that should be asked, is how sustainable is a Rangers club that’s as much chance of winning the title as St Johnstone? The answer will be evident by this time next season.
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Petec,
Thanks, sorry about the typos.
Wish I was in Glasgow today….but circumstances didn”t allow.
Was there last weekend. Ate a nice meal in the toon centre..with my wife. I suggested after the meal that we have a drink in the ….cant remember the right name….the pub that ACGR said he might be in. St Vincent St. Got there about 17:30…..it was packed and a good guitarist/singer in full flow. So packed that it was going to take a while to get a drink….and my wife was keener to get to the music hall at the top of Buchanan St…..to watch budding musicians do their stuff.
So ACGR….sorry didn’t text….need as ever to wait until I have an afternoon to myself in Glasgow.
Rough today after a big sesh in the Black Isle last night.
Voguepunter……sorry not using your services today to the hun dome!
Fred Colon: No. just over today and tomorrow. Will be in The Dubliner, near Sol, tomorrow for the match
Countless supporters you have spoken to haven’t forgotten of forgiven the board is that right?
Not saying it’s not correct but it’s at odds with the supporters I count as friends and have spoken to about the subject.
And as usual you didn’t answer the question.
You always come on talking about us we etc so in which capacity are you saying these things and who is it you represent?
The problem I have always had with you is you’re complete lack of balance and also your personal attacks on Paul 67 are framed in such a way as to leave no real room for discussion and as you famously said to me once would you say that to my face so would you say that to Paul’s face?
As to wether it’s correct or not the stadium been more or less full all the time seems to say that perhaps some of the support are not so entrenched in their positions as you are.
SP
TACT: The ability to make a point without making it personal.
T
TOBAGO STREET on 4TH FEBRUARY 2017 2:15 PM
….without making an enemy.
Yeah, I changed it slightly to make my point, Ernie.
T
Fasan starts for vale
Neganon/Lennybhoy/Starry
Interested to read your discussion re the board/support.
I have to say that last season I thought the mood amongst the support was, from very early on, the worst I have ever known. At games like the Molde at home , Ross County at Hampden, away matches v EK Thistle and Hamilton the abuse of some of the players from the stands- Forrest, Armstrong, Bitton, Boyata and Johansen- was excrucuatingly bad. Even when we won the game with a last kick goal by Leigh Griffiths v Thistle the mood walking along Janefield Street was venomous.
When we reached the semi with ‘Rangers’ there was, despite the bravado on social media, an expectation that what happened would happen. The supporters I spoke with in what were dark months whether it be my friends and family, guys on the Bus or just walking away from the parks were almost unanimous in believing the buck stopped at the top of the club. And these people were not glory hunters or innate malcontents – they were diehard Celts who were not stupid. Had we replaced Ronny with almost any one of the candidates mentioned ( excluding Brendan and perhaps Moyes) we’d be playing in front of KevJ’s fabled ( and possibly desired) 30000 empty seats. I accept that neither I nor Neganon’s samples were scientifically measured but what struck me was the near unanimous discontent.
As for the board thinking us ‘scum’ I would like to think they don’t though having briefly been in close proximity to Bankier and Wilson in a bar in Moenchangladbach I would not be prepared to bet much money on it.
Jimbo67
Well said Willie Miller.
Wow!
Alasdair MacLean,
Glasgow is a Great place to have a night out.
One day the penny will drop.
You Sir, yer a Giant, Like the Donegal wans.
NEGANON. 148
Strong start,strong finish,bit woolly in the middle. Apart from that…
I wish I’d said that!
Keep dishing it,mate. These are good times,aye-but arrived at only due to serious serious errors in our direction and ambition over a number of years previously.
Any number of years without having to remove your shoes and socks to count.
We all won the lottery when we were born as Celtic supporters. PL wins it every month he still gets paid,because he nearly drove us to the wall trying to match the spending of our nearest rivals.
What did Willie Miller say?
JIM PAYNE
Thanks Jim for your post as you maybe know I live abroad so I tend not to rattle the bars too much as I don’t attend games that often. So thank you for your accurate summary of the mood among the support.
The guys that I speak to regularly are also die hard Celts and what I hear from them is not about the past but about the future so it’s a roundabout of views.
I read Neganon’s post and the agreement he gets on here and I wonder if that reflects the wider support who still want to hold the board accountable for say the appointment of Ronny who after all did deliver two titles.
What I mean is is there still a venomous and bitter feel among the support about those dark times as you describe.
For the record I am neither board lover nor board hater. I try to see the positive and negative things around the club as clearly as possible.
From my own point of view last season, there were a few games I didn’t watch because the fitbaw was crap and I found Ronny less than inspiring.
To end what would be the forum to hold the board accountable for previous mistakes? And who would lead such a quest?
HH
NegAnon2 on 4th February 2017 1:48 pm
Damn right!
Minutes silence at Poundland for an ex Linfield player wtf? An ex UVF leader as well? Maybe one of the Irish bhoys can confirm?
On the subject of Celtic’s undercard teams’ fixtures disappearing into a mist like Brigadoon, would Eastcoast Tims look out for our outstanding Youth Cup quarter-final away to Hibs.
The game was postponed on 22nd January because of illness affecting several of the Hibs development squad. Since then, the same squad have won two league games, they’re flying top of the Development league but there’s no date set for our tie yet, as far as I understand.
Celtic haven’t won this trophy since 2013 (4IAR!, then) so a bit of support for the bhoys when the tie come’s around will be grand. I’m counting this and the Albion Rovers Friendship Cup as part of our bid for a Lisbon-50 years on, quintuple.
JIM PAYNE
I wish I’d said that anaw!
STARRYPLOUGH
Last few years…
If you speak to my Dad,everything in the garden was always rosy. Speak to my kid sis,harrumph. Speak to my other sister,och she’s seen worse.
One thing about the Celtic support-we all want THE VERY BEST for our club. But we never ever agree on the best way to get there.
For me,that is healthy. Dissent is a means of righting wrongs. Plenty of clubs have gone wrong over the years by overselling,many others by overspending. It’s why I always congratulated the board on good financials,while disagreeing with the method of achieving them.
Fergus gave us a 60000 stadium. He didn’t plan for the support to be so pissed off at things that we would be lucky to half-fill it.
Someday hopefully we can look back at say Morton,0-1 and 8000 crowd as a blip. Had we continued as the last five years or so,it might have been the norm.
HH.
TheTimReaper
They were discussing Warbs. Someone said he had tried to defend himself by saying how they were in the process of rebuilding the club after being down the divisions.
Miller was completely unsympathetic and said how they had gone years winning trophies by spending money they didn’t have.
Bada bing – I was remarking to my big son on Wednesday that they were wearing black armbands again – it’s almost part of the jersey they wear one that often.
Are Sevco a football club or death cult?
You can all Make up your own 2012 related jokes.
Imo, there has never ever been a worse board than that controlled by the Kellys and Whites.
Anything is preferable and way better.
We live in great times. Enjoy it folks. Oh that we move to a better league.
Lastly, my thanks to Paul67 for this site.
Michael,
You are right.
It is just Good to see so Many youngsters going into the Ground. The Holy Ground.
Brendan is Awesome to me, he, well He is just Superb.
Leigh is an awesome natural finisher, I’m the laziest guy ever, I’m not getting multiple thousands a week though.
Brendan is Ruthless.
Magical
LogicalProgressionSessions.CSC
RT- i heard he was a leader in a hun gang too
On the subject of UVF leaders and ibrox (no one mention the stair case) I often wondered do uvf aligned sevconians get seats in different parts of the stadium from UDA ones? I assume their drinking dens in Glasgow are similarly divvied oot?
I’m only very very mildly interested so please nobody go to any lengths to get answers …….
Ross score. Chick sounds a bit glum.
Huns getting beat. Chick sounds sick, although he admits Ross County are the better team.
Bada Bing – they are taking the ‘underclass’ thing and really embracing it.
Depressing.
Kolo Kolo Kolo Kolo Kolo Toure
Starry
As you know I know you are based overseas.
I think at the moment everything seems fine but I think it is never going to be too far from the surface. I can only speak for myself when I say that I am happy at the way the club acted in the last close season and hope lessons have been learned. We shall learn a lot in the next transfer window about the club’s thinking. A summer of inactivity or small fees being paid whilst stars leave will bring currently dormant fears alive again.
As for last season I would have to say I seemed at times to be in the minority in thinking that the sense of gloom and despondency was too much. The team was underperforming and the manager painfully out of his depth but it was nothing like as bad as say the early nineties or Big Jock’s last season. We now have fans in their late twenties or even early 30s who have no experience of year after year of real failure who do I think , subconsciously perhaps, believe we should always win. I would not be too critical as until I was 27 all I really knew was success.
Jimbo67
If Ross County hadn’t scored it would still be 0-0
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
I have no problem with dissent, vitriolic bitterness now that in my opinion brings nothing but more of the same or alienation.
Criticism without suggesting for change is also a dead end, anybody can come on here and puke on their gutties.
Those trying to affect change generally don’t..
HH
It’s about the Celtic Future
Celtic
Kolo
Africa
I’d love the Sevco managers job.
First 6 months you get compared to Alex ferguson and touted for a top job somewhere.
By the time the honeymoon is over I’d have screwed them over even worse than the bread man, the gardener and the glib and shameless liar combined.
Must dig out my cv.
RC player misses an open goal…
JIM PAYNE
Maybe a lot of people missed the huns:)))
I’ll get my parachute!
Hun getting beat, deary me I’m nostalgic for the day’s
when that mattered.
I see Shalke scored at Ibroke, thought the huns had moved to the Bundesliga for a second there
County looking like Barca against the Deady Bears.
Whats wrong with obliterating the huns?
Not just on the park but forever?
DO NOT RESUSCITATE !
Just as we were all paranoid about the cheating that turned out to be so real, many Celtic supporters such as myself, are convinced that the custodians of this great club are giving them oxygen so they can line their own pockets at your expense.
You dont think there is a correlation with the presence of the hun back in the SPL and Brendan Rodgers being brought in?