McCann, for every tenner, WH Ireland

629

I know many of us are annoyed that a Celtic player, who didn’t appeal for a foul, is not being charged for inappropriately looking for one, is headline news today.  This is all a consequence of Sky Sports pundit Neil McCann’s insistence that John Guidetti cheated, while he simultaneously acknowledged Guidetti didn’t actually claim for a penalty.

TV analysis can enrich viewers’ appreciation of the game, but it has to carry a degree of responsibility too.

Those of us from Scotland will be familiar with the summertime noise of a scramble – pennies dropping all around you.  It’s a wedding-day tradition, when the father of the bride throws coins into the street for kids to collect as he and the bride leave for the ceremony.

Today’s story in the Record, lifted from a fans’ group, that newco Rangers receive approximately 75p for every £10 spent with Rangers Retail, the joint-venture between the football club and Mike Ashley, must have had pennies dropping everywhere.

These figures are for last season, so predate whatever new arrangement Ashley was able to negotiate for the return of stadium naming rights.  We’ve covered this point before, but it’s worth reiterating:

Football clubs are in fact a series of business units.  Few make a profit over any business cycle but there are profitable business units inside every club, including retail, trackside advertising, media rights and kit deals.

Football operations almost always lose money.  The considerable cost of operating a stadium, recruiting and employing footballers (and occasionally a manager on an onerous contract) isn’t met by ticket sales, even at community football level.

The club accounts detail how much financial control Ashley has over newco’s profitable revenue streams, from retail, to kit supply to trackside advertising.  The true consequences of forming the with investors looking for a financial return, as newco did in 2012, should now be apparent.

If the club has a future it will have to survive pretty much on ticket sales alone.  As we’ve covered before, when you need to pay circa £17m p.a. to open the doors at a club which will occasionally house 50,000 spectators, and your gate receipts and hospitality sales totalled £12.3m last season, you have a chronic problem.

Even if ticket sales doubled in value, there would still leave only around £7m to pay for football operations, a figure the likes of Kilmarnock can survive on, but you have to wonder if a ‘Rangers’ brand is viable at that level?

Does this sound like a viable football club to you? If so, let’s see how it looks after Ashley has his pound of flesh for financing the second half of the season. No wonder fans are so keen to stop him.

I see newco have appointed WH Ireland as their nominated advisers, a name you may be familiar with.  Back in May 2012, Kitalba, with an astonishing degree of understatement (“It couldn’t be clearer”), noted here in the comments section the breadcrumb trail between Craig Whyte, a whole series of his companies and associates, and the aforementioned WH Ireland.  It’s worth a 15 minute read.

It’s the big Glasgow derby tomorrow and Celtic sponsor Magners have offered us two premium seats in the Jock Stein Stand.  All you need to do to win the seats is to email me the name of our opponents, at celticquicknews@gmail.com

Competition closes at 22:00 tonight, so check your email thereafter.  Tickets can be collected from the ticket office before the game.

Planning is underway for Mary’s Meals to build a kitchen Chibwata Primary School, Dowa, Malawi, which we in the CQN community have committed to paying for.  We have already built three school kitchens in Malawi this year, so I am sure we will complete this one sometime over the coming months.

If at the same time you entered the Magners’ competition, you wanted to donate £1 (or more) to the Mary’s Meals appeal, you can do so here.

Sorry, the MyDonate page is now open for business!!

Many thanks.

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

629 Comments
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. ...
  12. 17

  1. gearoid1998-thanks for that mate,the more people down south that know about the Quintisential British Club,the better.

  2. MWD

     

     

    256%, does that mean it’s a return trip :-)

     

    Or a tandem ? With the sleigh of goodies

     

    Brilliant Bhud

     

     

    Hail Hail, deputy to take oot noo

  3. Delaneys Dunky on

    Embramike

     

     

    Tanner would say, “The Celtic supporter Johnny Russell tried to end the career of the young Brazilian there. What do you think Neil?”

  4. Moonbeams WD. Wee Oscar’s our Bhoy and Kano’s our mhan. The Vow – Critically Rebuked by 45% of this fine nation.

     

     

     

    20:55 on 2 December, 2014

     

     

     

    Finalllllllllllllly :))))))

     

    A text donate button ,I have kept rewards on my phone for you .

     

    give me a min :)))

     

     

    Well done sis

  5. Liquidation is coming …….

     

    Think I will make a wee investment by registering a new company name with the view of making a sure fire wealth of the radar profit ….

     

    Fc RANKERS of GLESCA or

     

    THIRD RANKERS mmmmmmm !!

     

    This is a hard one ;)

  6. oldtim67

     

     

     

     

    20:01 on

     

     

    2 December, 2014

     

     

     

     

    Cosy Corner Bhoy.

     

     

    Sorry but I ain’t bringing wine to the BV for drinking, I’ll be drinking it in my hotel room before I go to the Blane V.

     

     

    OT

     

     

    Do you have any white wine with you ,must be chilled of course.:-)

  7. So let me get this right…..

     

     

    Ashley lends Sevco £3m secured and gets £7m from merchandise?

     

    He ain’t no daftie is he?

  8. Paul,

     

    I’ve just received an email confirming my donation but It looks like I’ve missed the ‘Gift Aid’ box. Is there any way to go back and fix it?

     

     

    Ginger1

  9. Bada@21.05

     

    My pleasure.

     

    If they only knew what a bunch of low life, cheating,fascist scumbags they attract. Having said that for some darn surf that would make them an infinitely more attractive proposition.

     

    HH

  10. delaneys dunky

     

     

    20:59 on 2 December, 2014

     

     

    Aye the half time score line DD, what about the second half :-) HH

  11. burghbhoy

     

     

    21:13 on 2 December, 2014

     

    Loaning them there own money back and taking the assets hahahahahahaha

     

     

    Only sevco could strike a deal that good nice one Ashley HH

  12. Emailed John Paul Taylor about the Club’s position re. McCann and Taner’s outburst on Sunday. So far I have had no reply. Can anyone tell me if JPT still holds the position the Celtic website claims he has?

  13. connaire12-the club will do nothing as per,the Compliance Officer at Hampden might be better mate.Hh

  14. Not sure if anyone’s posted, now the club isn’t going to be able to say Sevco, but in fairness to them they have said on the official twitter feed “Glasgow Derby” which they said they would. Fair play and what a result. Broonie inspired?

     

     

    Celtic Football Club ‏@celticfc 2 hrs2 hours ago

     

    FT RANGERS 1-6 CELTIC A stunning Glasgow derby victory for Celtic’s Development Side at Murray Park

  15. Greeninbingley on

    Well done the Wee Hoops tonight on an excellent result.

     

     

    Delighted that the Captain was there – that’ll have given them a lift.

     

     

    Scott Brown has grown into his responsibilities and I am well pleased he is involved in coaching the wee us.

     

     

    All good tonight, warm glow. Only…

     

     

    … I want to call Murray Park Murray Park. This Auchenhowie film-flam strikes me as a pre-emptive scuffing-under-the-carpet distancing exercise.

     

     

    They were shouting Murray Park from the rooftops when they built it, in their triumphalist years, magnified of course my the megaphones of the Scottish sporting press.

     

     

    Now that the net is closing, I don’t see a reason to call it anything other than… Murray Park. Named after Sir David Murray.

     

     

    Reap what you sow, Huns.

  16. Dontbrattbakkinanger on

    With ole Santa dustin’ off the sleigh if any bhoy is lookin’ for a book to fill his well earned stocking then ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ is just about the best book I’ve read all year.

  17. pod i

     

     

    From KDS

     

     

    Bhoys n Ghirls

     

    I have run this by the mods and this has been given the go ahead.

     

     

    I have been taking part in MOVEMBER from 1/11/2014 to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer nurses and I’d really appreciate your support.

     

    Its basically growing a moustache for 30 days and collecting for your charity.

     

    I have been collecting through my Facebook account, then through all my emails contacts…so far I have raised nearly £3000 for Marie Curie Cancer nurses …..now I am asking for some help and small donations from KDS anything, no matter how small.

     

     

    Donating to my Just Giving page is easy – just follow this link and click Donate:

     

    http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/Mizpahab43

     

    JustGiving sends your donation straight to Marie Curie Cancer Care so it’s a quick and safe way to donate.

     

    Thank you,

     

     

    below is my story.

     

     

    please take the time to read this blog and help if you can.

     

    At 7 pm on 22rd May I was all packed and ready to head off the next morning to go to Angola and my work on the rig, I sat down, picked up the TV remote and noticed my left fingers were twitching, then my left arm, then my left leg. I called to my wife, who was in the same room as me, and then the seizure really kicked in and I knew no more. 15 seconds from fingers twitching to total unconsciousness. I woke up briefly 40 minutes later being carried into the ambulance and then through to Aberdeen hospital. And that is how quickly my illness and problems started. 15 seconds!

     

    The next few weeks I spent a lot of time In and out of hospitals, lots of tests and treatments to try and stop the ongoing seizures. In June alone I had over 50 seizures. Every time I went back into hospital the news and diagnosis seemed to worsen. On 30th June I had 7 seizures in 1 day, and was re-admitted back into hospital for 12 days, lots of more tests and another brain MRI. On 17th July my wife and I met the Neurologist and Neuro-surgeon and it was confirmed that I had 2 inoperable Brain tumors on the right frontal lobe cortex of the brain, Neurosurgery and biopsy’s were not to be considered due to the strategic positioning and that any surgery could cause severe complications, mainly paralysis or serious disablement to my left side.

     

    The diagnosis has been devastating of course. For me and for my family.

     

    Even worse to be told nothing could be done with a “most likely low grade glioma” and the only steps for me were a MRI every 6 months to monitor the development of the 2 tumors, and to try and contain the seizures with medication. The NHS call this Watch and Wait!

     

    At first Different Medications and mixes of them were tried to stop the seizures but then the seizures became more drug resistant. You are only supposed to be on 2 medications for seizures, I soon maxed them out. I currently am on 4 at the maximum level plus the 2 rescue emergency medications, basically to help reboot the brain.

     

    The seizure medication now is not working or containing them so I am having frequent daily seizures and still cannot even leave my house. And of course all the associated problems with taking all these various medications into my body.For attending hospital appointments, it is like a pre planned operation with everything pre organized and planned well in advance, I am being supervised 24/7 by my wife and by Marie Curie nurses. So my only choice now is surgery, 2 months ago I was told it was inoperable, absolutely no surgery, Now it seems I’m left with no other option but to have surgery.

     

    We now are gathering information on surgeons from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh hospitals for the surgery .The main problem is I am having 2 operations together. Grid Neuro-surgery to place the grid and find and try to remove the main electrical trigger points in the brain that are causing the Seizures, and then hopefully the other operation to de-bulk the tumors, only if safely to do so, remember the tumors cant be removed but hopefully 1 can be made smaller to stop the pressure / headaches / seizures / and other problems.

     

    It has taken 5 long months to get to this stage. In the next 2-3 weeks I will have an EEG head scan in Aberdeen then into Edinburgh Western General Hospital for a continuous 4 day Video Telemetry of the brains electrodes and nerves and hopefully seizure activity, also a special MRI scan will be done to map the brains motor cortex strip that works the left side of body and various other things, that mapping is needed for seeing the limits of how much brain can be cut away without damaging my left side. Lastly I will get a Surgical image MRI to help with operation procedures and airway problems during surgery. Hopefully this sets everything up with all the information needed to go towards brain surgery and remove some of the biggest tumour .The surgery should go ahead after Christmas. it sounds like it is a very long operation and i am awake and speaking to the surgeons for a part of it. telling them i can still feel fingers toes etc.

     

    this has been a bit long winded story but i appreciate you reading it and hopefully some of you will donate £ or ££ to help my charity.

     

     

     

    Best regards and thanks

     

    Jim the tim

  18. Greeninbingley on

    Martim1980

     

    21:26 on

     

    2 December, 2014

     

     

    Why isn’t the club able to call them Sevco?

  19. Delaneys Dunky on

    Jude

     

     

    Have avoided the horses since taking a doing fae the fat bookie on Saturday. Missed them, my mate said a big price treble. Wee Fanning has won me a load more than he’s lost me.

  20. connaire12 @ 21:21

     

     

    I emailed JP yesterday and today about a number of issues, including McCann, and received responses in good time.

     

     

    According to JP, ” the panelist in question appears to hold strong views when it comes to Celtic players “, and the matter has been passed over to the PR department to address – been a number of unhappy bhoys onto the club.

  21. I have telt yooz for more than a couple of years that Cowdenbeath would come into the equation, never wavered from that, never will >}

     

     

    Found this interesting.

     

     

    The Count ‏@oisin71 25m25 minutes ago

     

     

    You know the way Sevco used to get 75p for every £10 spent on merchandise, well they don’t get that anymore. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Nothing.

     

     

     

    The Count @oisin71 · 21m 21 minutes ago

     

     

    Offering up the £1 deal for the remaining 7.5p in the £ deal. But hey, the Stadium name is safe, right? ……Right? #TheSantaClause

     

     

    HH

  22. connaire12

     

     

     

     

    21:21 on

     

     

    2 December, 2014

     

     

     

     

    Emailed John Paul Taylor about the Club’s position re. McCann and Taner’s outburst on Sunday. So far I have had no reply. Can anyone tell me if JPT still holds the position the Celtic website claims he has?

     

    ===============================

     

     

    He does and he will respond,

     

     

    I imagine Celtic are considering their position before replying. Football politics at play.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. ...
  12. 17