We all know Craig Whyte doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the wonderful job he is doing for Scottish football but his cause was not helped by rookie manager, Ally McCoist, who when asked today if Nikica Jelavic asked to leave Rangers said, “No he didn’t, not at all. I have a wonderful relationship with Nikica. He never said that.”
The Rangers manager then passed the buck onto the unfairly beleaguered club owner, telling STV, “We received a bid from Everton which Craig [Whyte] found acceptable. Therefore business was done.”
McCoist refused to take a manager’s responsibility for deciding who leaves the football club. Craig Whyte made it clear to all concerned yesterday that Nikica Jelavic wanted to leave Rangers and there was no point keeping a player who didn’t want to be there. Whyte needs the backing of everyone with the best interests of Scottish football at heart, including his manager. The intrusive scrutiny he has been placed under in recent months will not help him achieve his objectives.
Whyte hasn’t put a foot wrong so far, we should all mind our own business and let him get on with his job. Eye on the prize, Craig.
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I was visiting one of our companies factories yesterday. I heard that some guy was let go last week after an analysis was done on his first month at work. The guy was a 22 year old BS’r Apparently he had been driving around the factory 8 hours a day in a forklift without actually doing anything. Now you have to admire that.
Neil Lennon
!we dont need Rangers”
MOM
Hahahaha
Just sat down with a coffee.
Smooth radio switched on
1st song = Money’s too tight to mention.
I kid you not. Gonna be another good day.
Oh my
next song?
Respect!!
Seriously. ch 0128 on sky right now
Margaret McGill says:
4 February, 2012 at 06:32
Hope you caught George Galloway you tube on here the other day,destroying the members of the U.S.senate who were quizzing him on sanctions busting in Iraq.
Couldn`t believe how good he was.
Not a guy whose political affiliations I would normally agree with.
As I`m sure you know.
Israel and Lemmings.What do they have in common?
BBJ Hartson.
RANGERS are a laughing stock.
And going by what he said yesterday no one is chuckling more than Neil Lennon.
He owes the Ibrox club NOTHING after all the abuse he’s had from their supporters down the years. Yesterday he spoke like a man pretty pleased they’re now a club in the grubber.
Funny that… no one can be surprised he feels that way. Personally I can understand why he’s taken his pot shot. If it was any other club he’d probably have kept his mouth shut and resisted the temptation.
But this is Glasgow. This is life at the Old Firm.
I can imagine Lenny picking up his paper every morning this week and grinning from ear to ear while he’s been eating his cornflakes.
It has been one thing after the other with Rangers with the club virtually down on its knees. If anyone thinks Neil isn’t delighted about that they’re kidding themselves on.
Apart from anything else he is 100 per cent RIGHT in what he says.
Rangers have brought this mess upon themselves.
What was it David Murray said all those years ago? For every fiver Celtic spent he’d spend a tenner… hollow words now, don’t you think?
Murray clearly saw this coming because as far as I can see he bolted before the s*** hit the fan.
He left Craig Whyte to deal with it and he’s now the one getting it in the neck.
Listen, I’m not going to claim to know everything that’s going on behind closed doors these days — does anyone? But as an outsider looking in the club is in the depths of despair and they have absolutely no one to blame but themselves.
You can argue the Celtic manager would be better keeping his opinions to himself.
Rangers have been SPL champions for three years on the bounce, let’s not forget.
Some might say he’d have been advised to wait until he’s got the championship trophy in his hand before speaking his mind.
But where would the fun be in that?
Lenny has clearly had a close eye on the situation at Ibrox and wanted to have his say. If anyone has a problem with that, tough.
It might come back to haunt him, of course it might.
But he’s decided to take a swipe at the team on the other side of the city and I for one refuse to have a go at him for that.
If it was me I’d probably do the same thing. Let’s not under-play this, Lenny is HATED by virtually every Rangers fan out there. They despise him and the club he manages.
If it was Celtic in this situation the punters who go to Ibrox would probably be singing songs about it.
I don’t have a problem with that. It’s the world we live in and if you don’t like it then I have a solution. Move.
While a lot of Rangers fans might be appalled at what Lennon had had to say for himself I imagine most probably expected it.
He’s just being honest, at the end of the day. If he said he felt sorry for Rangers as a club it would have fallen on deaf ears.
That said, reading his quotes, he actually says the people suffering most are the Rangers supporters so maybe he does feel for them in a strange kind of way.
But having sympathy for that club? Not on your life.
One thing I would say is that the title race isn’t over. Rangers can still win the league. Ally McCoist will believe that, regardless of how bad things are at Ibrox right now.
And trust me, so will Neil Lennon.
Everyone seems to think the championship race is over because Nikica Jelavic has left to join Everton.
Not me. And I’ll guarantee both Old Firm bosses will agree with me.
McCoist is in a dark place right now. He’s been given virtually no backing by the club’s owner Whyte and Rangers are in a desperate state.
But anyone who thinks the title is finished is ahead of themselves. I just don’t believe it.
Sure, Celtic are firm favourites now. They are a point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. But Rangers are more than capable of going on a run and keeping their four-in-a-row bid alive.
For a start you can’t tell me Jelavic has been outstanding this season.
He’s played well at times but hardly ripped the SPL apart.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s obviously going to be really difficult for Rangers because of the off-the-field situation.
Their supporters are worried about how things are going and I can totally understand where they are coming from.
And clearly they would have no chance of retaining the title if they went into administration and were hit with a ten-point punishment.
But if you thought Lenny had a smile on his face yesterday wait and see what it’s like if that happened.
His grin would be fixed on his face for months.
HANDS clasped behind his head, leaning back on his chair.
Neil Lennon sat with his feet up at Lennoxtown yesterday like a man who doesn’t have a care in the world.
Possibly because compared to Ally McCoist he doesn’t.
It’s tough times for the Rangers boss who has just seen star striker Nikica Jelavic join Everton with no replacement signed.
Lennon has a certain degree of sympathy for his biggest rival in football.
But for Rangers as a club? No chance.
Lennon spoke with a frank openness when asked about Gers’ problems.
And he insisted their cash crisis has been on its way for years.
Lennon said: “Tell me this… why was Ally forced to sell Jelavic?
“Because of the financial situation at Rangers that has been going on for how many years?
“I’m not saying it’s Ally’s fault. But it’s been a build-up of mismanagement, if you want to call it that, on the financial side for a long time.
“If you have mismanaged — if you have spent beyond your means for a long time — then eventually it comes home to roost.
“It has happened at a lot of clubs. The people who suffer are the fans.
“With us, people keep going back to the Steven Fletcher thing.
“We didn’t have the money Hibs were looking for so we had to let that one go.
“People say it cost us the title, but there is no guarantee we’d have won the title if we had got Steven Fletcher.
“It might have made us stronger, but it’s all theories and hypotheses — the Steven Fletcher myth.”
Lennon didn’t pay too much attention to what McCoist was up to on transfer deadline night.
He was too busy trying to sign Leon Best from Newcastle.
But by the sounds of it the Celts boss was a happy man when Jelavic sealed his £6million move to Everton — a move that Lennon admits is a savage blow to Rangers’ title hopes.
Lennon added: “Significantly, the move weakens Rangers. If I was to sell Gary Hooper that would significantly weaken us. That’s the bottom line.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of what’s gone on at Rangers, but they felt compelled to sell Jelavic.
“Does that make us stronger? Well, our squad hasn’t changed — we’re as we were, apart from Brozek coming in.
“But in a lot of people’s eyes losing their leading goalscorer significantly weakens Rangers.
“Maybe it will galvanise them, I don’t know. Maybe they will just dig in now.
“They won 4-0 last week without him. But Jelavic played in all the games when there was a 19 point swing in the league.
“Sometimes you have have a big superstar in your ranks and it can be detrimental — sometimes.
“Jelavic is a superb player and Everton have got themselves a really good signing. He lit up the game here for a couple of seasons.”
Lennon is definite when it comes to the idea of hitman Hooper being sold — it’s just not going to happen. As SunSport revealed this week, Russian clubs CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg are both interested in the striker.
Lenny said: “Hooper’s not for sale at any price. He’s our player and we’ve worked very hard to improve him.
“Goalscorers like Gary are a priceless commodity. They are very difficult to find and he’s been a consistent goalscorer in his career for the last four seasons and he’s only 23.
“Who knows where his career can go. But it’s not tempting for us to sell him, even for big money.
“For one thing, if we sold him to a Russian club now we wouldn’t be able to spend the money.
“Would it affect our chances of winning the title? Yes it would.
“We have to look longer term and we have talked about this with Peter Lawwell and I’m sure the board are well aware of where we stand on it. I don’t really want to sell Gary at any time, while I’m manager here, because he’s such an important player for me.”
Lennon, whose Hoops face bogey team Caley Thistle in the Cup, claims Hooper is destined to join one of the top four in England.
He added: “I would like to think he is. He’s a really intelligent footballer. He’s clever. I think Gary has all the qualities to go really far in the game.
“At the minute though, there’s no reason why he cannot achieve a lot of his ambitions here. For the next two of three years anyway.”
NEIL LENNON has taken an amazing swipe at Rangers by insisting the skint Ibrox club DESERVE to be in a cash crisis.
Celtic boss Lennon let rip in an astonishing rant yesterday, admitting he has no sympathy for his Old Firm rivals.
Gers face administration amidst a tax battle with HMRC which leaves their future uncertain.
But Lennon hit out: “I have a certain sympathy with Ally McCoist because it’s his first year in the job and I’m sure he didn’t envisage the problems he has had.
“But somebody must have seen it coming. Do I have sympathy in that respect for them? No.
“Have they brought it upon themselves as a club? Yes.
“We have cut our cloth accordingly for years and have had to bite the bullet a few times.
“In my opinion, it would work that way if it was any club.” Rangers spent much of the transfer window trying to sell their star man — with Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic eventually joining Everton on deadline day.
But Lennon did all he could to add to his squad, just missing out on Newcastle United forward Leon Best.
He added: “The window is a nightmare, it’s mental.
“You go through three or four scenarios where you think ‘This is getting really close’ and think you’re almost there and then, bang, something else happens.
“In the Best case I spoke to Alan Pardew, who was fantastic about things and didn’t have an issue with the player coming to Scotland and quite liked what we were doing here. Peter Lawwell spoke to Newcastle and we had a deal done.
“Then I spoke to the player and it was ongoing for a good couple of hours.
“In the end I got the feeling he wouldn’t have come and that proved to be the case for family reasons more that anything else.
“He’s got a 10-week-old son and he felt it would be a bit disruptive for the family to move up here for three or four months.”
Celtic are one point clear of Rangers in the SPL with a game in hand but Hoops boss Lennon insists the title race is NOT over yet.
He added: “I won’t fall into that trap. People are trying to crank the pressure up on us now, saying things.
“I saw this week a pundit who works for a TV company broadcasting Scottish games basically being totally disrespectful to the rest of the SPL by saying if we don’t win the league the majority of our players should go out the door.
“That doesn’t help.
“And for me it’s just pub talk. Being an ex-professional he should know how difficult it is to win titles. It’s never given to you.”
Nae wunner I have high blood pressure.
————————————————
A COUPLE who scooped a £10.2million EuroMillions lottery jackpot are still claiming £500 a month in BENEFITS 6½ years later.
The payouts to Mick O’Shea, 73, were last night branded “barmy”. But ex-builder Mick said: “We’ve nothing to hide. I’m entitled to it.”
Money-bags Mick and his wife Jean, 72, scooped the life-changing jackpot in October 2005.
But despite having a mountain of cash in the bank, he is eligible for £500 a month Disability Living Allowance because it is NOT means-tested.
On top of the money, Mick is given a shiny new car every three years under the Government’s Motability scheme for disabled drivers.
The couple — who were photographed spraying champagne when they celebrated their massive windfall — have since splashed out on luxury holidays in Australia, Canada and Alaska. They also had a five-bedroom mansion built in Co Kerry, Republic of Ireland, where Mick’s family hails from.
But the canny pair use it only for holidays, because if they lived in Ireland — where disability benefits ARE means-tested — Mick would lose his income of £6,000 a year.
Instead, they live in the modest former council semi in Sneinton, Nottingham, they bought for £5,000 back in 1977. Their Motability Vauxhall Zafira sits on the drive.
Last night Mick admitted getting “around £500” a month in benefits but insisted it was his due.
He said: “I worked for forty years and I’m entitled to it. I’ve been getting it since about 1996.
“I declared the win to the authorities at the time, but it doesn’t matter as it’s not means-tested.
“I’ve got osteoarthritis in my legs, and rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and I’ve just had my hip done. It’s been better recently, but some days I can’t get out of bed.
“We only do about 2,000 miles a year in the car. We only really use it to go to the shops. They swap it for a new one every three years.”
Mick claimed: “Every year we give away ten times what we receive to good causes — charities and things like the local health centre and hospice. We’ve given a lot to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
“We paid off the mortgage of a friend when her husband fell ill.”
Jean, 72, added: “Michael needs it. It’s for his eyesight and arthritis.We’re entitled to it.”
But a neighbour said: “I’m not the only person around here who thinks that multi-millionaires still claiming benefits is wrong.
“It may not be illegal but is it morally right that they get benefits when they don’t need them?
“There are people out there who are disabled who genuinely need that money or a car.
“They can afford a life of luxury and a fleet of cars — yet they are pinching every penny they can get from the Government and the taxpayer. They go on holidays and cruises a couple of times a year.”
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “It’s barmy that taxpayers are funding benefits and new motors for a multi-millionaire.
“The Motability scheme is to help those who would otherwise struggle to get around. He should pay for it himself. Many taxpayers who fund the scheme are worse off than him.”
Another source said: “They have built a mansion in Ireland. It’s huge. But they stay in England because they know in Ireland they would lose all their benefits.” The house at Ballinclogher, Lixnaw, Co Kerry, is worth nearly £600,000.
It sprawls over 4,000 square feet and has its own bar, two ornate living rooms, three massive downstairs bedrooms with double doors leading to a wrap-around patio and two more bedrooms upstairs.
tnt
Cheers for my reading material for the next ten minutes.
Maybe 15.
I want to take my time and savour.
Macjay
enjoy bud.
Seems the frost has lifted here in Inverness. Still very cold, but at least the ground’s not like concrete!!
Looking forward to it immensely.
Hail Hail
TBhoy
Our manager “ranting” again surely not.
Trossary Bhoy stands up for Neil Lennon says:
4 February, 2012 at 07:14
Cheer the bhoys on for those of us who would love to.
Hail Hail
MacJay….
Will do. I know lots of the Bhoys dont fancy the trip up north, but it’s great for fans here in the Highlands. 20 minutes to the game!!!
HH
TBhoy
Will be back on about 11ish with a weather update if required..
HH
TBhoy
Sydneytim: I’ve not decided yet but will be in Kellyville for at least another two months, the travelling is doing my head in. Still trying to get to know the place but my latest thoughts are to get a place around Drummoyne, Lilyfield, Balmain or Homebush. Do you know if Setanta on the laptop is ok ?
Trossary Bhoy
I live in Sydney.
Otherwise……………………
Good morning Celts, hey twisty you’re up early! Thanks for the reading mat’l from the rags.
Re today’s game, I can’t see it being pretty and a one goal victory is all that’s required, the league game is more important against hertz and ICT on the 11th.
Celts to win 2-1.
V
HH
Good luck to our intrepid walkers today, CRC and co are walking the green miles into town today to meet up with a few other Celts.
Any Monies raised will go to help wee Vanessa.
V
HH
More confident than usual about today.
I just think that this Celtic side has a stronger mental side than it did a year ago.
Vhman
I am always up early. All the worlds greatest have never needed much sleep. It is a fact.
(I wont say the greatest what:-)
Claireisland. Laptop don’t know
My few try’s watching the hoops on pc usually endup in frustration here
Dark ages when it comes to broadband
Depends in your local exchange
Mine Is just rubbish
Saw your list of places
Homebush. Still isolated
Balmain nice but public transport mince
Lillyfield also nice , but when tram stops poor public transport
Still suggest to check train lines
Might head in tonite
But just heard trains are off
So thinking about it
St
Morning, A big 5 days for Celtic to really show they mean business.
The Scottish Hun today us absolutely disgusting today. Twisting Neil Lennon’s words and stirring up hatred. Ban it Celtic!
HH
The SFA pulling out their main men for their teams game tomorrow, William Collum, Martin Cryans & Francis Andrews.
Still think Dundee Utd 7/1 is a good bet, Dundee Utd who have beat the muck the past three times that have met in the cup.
Clareisland. Also check out the new optus box
It has setanta on it and you don’t need foxtel
I wonder what security Craig Whyte has arranged on their loan? They must be in their death-throes to have to borrow future earnings on such a scale, this is also very risky given the current economic climate and the fickle nature of the Rangers support.
Claireisland. Fetchtv
SydneyTim: had thought of going in but the distance is putting me off especially for getting home. I was in Cheers a few weeks ago but none of the members were in. I met up with a few of them last week(Vanessa the vice president) at the game against the local Huns.
Had thought of Homebush as I’m working at Olympic Park so it would at least make getting to work easy, will be glad once I get settled.
Will check it out, cheers!
Clareisland. Yea told I worked at Olympic park , just around corner from your place
Considered near work, but quirky realized that depression would set I as he haw to do out there
Still suggest for you to commute from city 30 mins max
And you drive up parramata rd empty as traffic goes towards city
.
A dark, rainy morning here in North Ayrshire.
Come on the Bhoys!
Morning Bhoys
Setting off in 20 mins for our green walk for Vanessa.
Hope to hit the Admiral bar around 12. Maybe a wee pitstop in between.
Wish Us luck.
HH
CRC
RANGERS are a laughing stock.
And going by what he said yesterday no one is chuckling more than Neil Lennon.
He owes the Ibrox club NOTHING after all the abuse he’s had from their supporters down the years. Yesterday he spoke like a man pretty pleased they’re now a club in the grubber.
Funny that… no one can be surprised he feels that way. Personally I can understand why he’s taken his pot shot. If it was any other club he’d probably have kept his mouth shut and resisted the temptation.
But this is Glasgow. This is life at the Old Firm.
I can imagine Lenny picking up his paper every morning this week and grinning from ear to ear while he’s been eating his cornflakes.
It has been one thing after the other with Rangers with the club virtually down on its knees. If anyone thinks Neil isn’t delighted about that they’re kidding themselves on.
Apart from anything else he is 100 per cent RIGHT in what he says.
Rangers have brought this mess upon themselves.
What was it David Murray said all those years ago? For every fiver Celtic spent he’d spend a tenner… hollow words now, don’t you think?
Murray clearly saw this coming because as far as I can see he bolted before the s*** hit the fan.
He left Craig Whyte to deal with it and he’s now the one getting it in the neck.
Listen, I’m not going to claim to know everything that’s going on behind closed doors these days — does anyone? But as an outsider looking in the club is in the depths of despair and they have absolutely no one to blame but themselves.
You can argue the Celtic manager would be better keeping his opinions to himself.
Rangers have been SPL champions for three years on the bounce, let’s not forget.
Some might say he’d have been advised to wait until he’s got the championship trophy in his hand before speaking his mind.
But where would the fun be in that?
Lenny has clearly had a close eye on the situation at Ibrox and wanted to have his say. If anyone has a problem with that, tough.
It might come back to haunt him, of course it might.
But he’s decided to take a swipe at the team on the other side of the city and I for one refuse to have a go at him for that.
If it was me I’d probably do the same thing. Let’s not under-play this, Lenny is HATED by virtually every Rangers fan out there. They despise him and the club he manages.
If it was Celtic in this situation the punters who go to Ibrox would probably be singing songs about it.
I don’t have a problem with that. It’s the world we live in and if you don’t like it then I have a solution. Move.
While a lot of Rangers fans might be appalled at what Lennon had had to say for himself I imagine most probably expected it.
He’s just being honest, at the end of the day. If he said he felt sorry for Rangers as a club it would have fallen on deaf ears.
That said, reading his quotes, he actually says the people suffering most are the Rangers supporters so maybe he does feel for them in a strange kind of way.
But having sympathy for that club? Not on your life.
One thing I would say is that the title race isn’t over. Rangers can still win the league. Ally McCoist will believe that, regardless of how bad things are at Ibrox right now.
And trust me, so will Neil Lennon.
Everyone seems to think the championship race is over because Nikica Jelavic has left to join Everton.
Not me. And I’ll guarantee both Old Firm bosses will agree with me.
McCoist is in a dark place right now. He’s been given virtually no backing by the club’s owner Whyte and Rangers are in a desperate state.
But anyone who thinks the title is finished is ahead of themselves. I just don’t believe it.
Sure, Celtic are firm favourites now. They are a point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. But Rangers are more than capable of going on a run and keeping their four-in-a-row bid alive.
For a start you can’t tell me Jelavic has been outstanding this season.
He’s played well at times but hardly ripped the SPL apart.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s obviously going to be really difficult for Rangers because of the off-the-field situation.
Their supporters are worried about how things are going and I can totally understand where they are coming from.
And clearly they would have no chance of retaining the title if they went into administration and were hit with a ten-point punishment.
But if you thought Lenny had a smile on his face yesterday wait and see what it’s like if that happened.
His grin would be fixed on his face for months.
Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4108338/Lenny-is-right-to-put-boot-into-Gers.html#ixzz1lOq6boMp
Hartsons take on Lenny telling truth,
what we need to remember is Lenny was asked the questions and he just answered them with honesty, he didn’t bring rangers demise into the interview they brought it to him!
Ask me and I’d say the same just with less big words and more laughing!
Well done Lenny, no point lying as they expected. The truth is out there!
Good luck CRC!
twists n turns says:
4 February, 2012 at 06:55
‘Nae wunner I have high blood pressure’
It’s a wunner though that one off cases like that give you high blood pressure rather than good old run of the mill tax fraud, evasion and avoidance.
They tend to go unreported but dwarf benefit fraud and abuse.
Maybe you should be asking who is yanking your chain with articles like this and why they’re doing it.
ST: hopefully can meet you for a beer fairly soon, my views change from week to week on where to stay as I find out more. Heading out shortly, going to Castle Hill RSL for a few beers. HH