You and I have been in some dark places. While we remember winning nine-in-a-row by brilliant scouting, tactics and athletic endeavour, we also remember when that proud achievement was violated in 1997 by a considerably less wholesome achievement.
At the end of season 1995-96 Celtic finished second but lost only one game. I convinced myself that our world was about to be put right. Tommy Burns’ team would go one step further and win the league in 1997; it had to happen.
It didn’t.
Today I don’t want to talk about the reasons why we didn’t win the league in 1997, we will discuss that in the weeks ahead, but that season taught us the lesson that simply wanting something to happen doesn’t make it likely.
I thought of those dark days yesterday when I hear Ally McCoist’s rallying call:
“We’re going to march right through it
“I’m as positive today as I have been in a long time.
“This institution has been around for 140 years and I want it to be here for another 140 years.
“You’ll see what Rangers mean to so many people. We are really looking forward to the game.
“We have the best fans in the world.
McCoist loves his club the same way his good friend Tommy Burns loved his, but irrespective of the challenge he faces in the league from Neil Lennon’s awesome team, there is nothing McCoist can do to ensure his club survives until the end of the season.
When you’re on the wrong end of history there is nothing you can do about it.
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I think we have all been blown away by the bidding on eBay action for the signed Celtic top in aid of the Vanessa Riddle Appeal. The auction ends today and currently sits at an incredible £5000. That’s three zeros, count them! I am very proud of you and your club.
Check out the events on eBay yourself by clicking here.
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hamiltontim says:
19 February, 2012 at 09:57
they had 3 protests yesterday, the BO RST and ICF all starting from different points, all ending at different points
Unity is strength?
The bould Hector’s bhoys says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:00
Ta ar la anois!
Che @ 08:47 – I’d give every one of the LL a medal to honour their role in the demise of der Hun. Heroes, every last one of them….! :-)
TTTTtomsawyerCSC
che
That’s ominous, not only for them, but us also. Time for vigilance.
In the meantime, Rangers are no closer to a final decision on the so-called ‘big tax case’ – HMRC’s bid to reclaim up to £75million from the club for their use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) under Sir David Murray’s previous regime.
And it was revealed yesterday hundreds of UK businesses are anxiously awaiting the outcome, fearing the taxman could be knocking on their door next. It is believed several major banks, as well as City of London investment funds, manufacturing companies and English Premier League football clubs are also facing repercussions over their use of EBTs, designed to reward high earners.
If HMRC chooses to act, it is believed that the potential tax claims could reach a staggering £2billion.
Neal Todd, a lawyer at Berwin Leighton Paisner and an expert in tax planning, revealed his company alone has knowledge of some 300 inquiries launched across Britain.
He said: “There is a deep anxiety that EBTs are now being challenged [by the Revenue] in a retrospective way. The amounts at stake are potentially sizeable as this was a widely used way to remunerate staff in a tax-efficient manner for many years.
tommytwiststommyturns says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:03
your in a right good mood,
anyone would think youd got a nap up
HMRC, whatever else they have in mind will never accept a few p’s in the £ in respect of the PAYE £9m.
Why?
Firstly the £9m is such a recent debt all accrued in the current tax year. Even Rangers have assets which cover £9m. Those assets may not be able to be realized now but will be come the season’s end. Coming out of admin will not happen without settlement of this bill.
Secondly HMRC would be banking on an unknown if, in some bizzarre circumstance, they did cut a deal for the £9m. Imagine if Rangers won the Big Tax case & HMRC had, in advance of the tribunal decision, given away £Xm in the pound. The reaction against HMRC would be huge. No matter how confident HMRC are about the tribunal they just can’t take that risk.
Thirdly with crimminal proceedings now more likely than not HMRC could not be seen to take a dimminished attitude to illegal practice.
Lastly, it is the Big Tax Case where HMRC might take a more flexible attitude because if the ‘discount’ was even a generous 33% they would still be seen to be getting £30m rather than nothing. They may even allow a payment programme. Either way the Gers are rooked!
hamiltontim says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:04
worrying indeed
the banner they had up something like “mr whyte we want answers” on the bottom corner there is a clear ICF sign…its the old british rail one of crossed lines!
ach its irony sunday.
That last snippet was from the Herald.
Would David Cameron really question one of his biggest saving workstreams.
As for Salmond I think he was only referencing the £9m
Sky Sports 1, Sunday Supplement going to cover the Rankers story during the programme which is on now. Now to find out what the English press think about it.
Che
Good man,…Thanks for that.
;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXyBLnScuCU
Che/RL/MWD
Ok thanks.
Just need to leave the ice cream in the freezer.
che
The banner was even more sinister than that. Something along the lines of Bain, Murray and Whyte – We will NEVER forget and NEVER forgive.
You know it’s not nice to mock the afflicted, bhoys. Bloody good fun though.
The pressure is off Lenny and the bhoys today. Suddenly a four point lead could become a massive seventeen. But I’m sure the team and the management will want to keep the long unbeaten run going and to show that we are worthy champions. Hibs are fighting a possible relegation, if there is to be a relegation this season, but we have more than enough to record another win.
che
the huns come across like the guys in “life of Brian”
Soon we might have
the loyal rangers
the empire loyal rangers
the sons of ulster rangers
the masonic rangers
the true blue rangers
Which one will get the spot in the Third Division?
HH
HT
your right sorry i had wrong one,
it read
Memo to HMRC we will not stand idly by and let our club die
strange given thats what its current and past chairmen have did
croppybhoy says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:10
with all the political shenanigans going on itll be the Re arrangers
HT
Just sent you the proof via txt.
MWD
Is it wrong as a Celtic fan to prefer Real Madrid over Barcelona?
If they try to rename it’ll be ‘Glasgow ranjurs’
Dead clever.
Might be a useful day to remind Mr Salmond and the SFA of sectarian chanting, and the widespread reporting of it in today’s national press, at Ibrokes yesterday. Just in case they take their eyes off the ball because of the MBB’s behaviour.
Nakagod says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:16
Is it wrong as a Celtic fan to prefer Real Madrid over Barcelona?
share
No. There is nothing more boring than people who tell you who you should support, based on some alleged “affinity” to Celtic.
Support who you like.
Personally, I have absolutely no preference, but at the moment it is impossible, as a neutral, not to admire the style of football Barca play.
Morning Bhoys!
Take care on the M8 if you’re travelling through for the game today quite icy after Harthill (didn’t see any jelly)
3-0 Today Hoops to score first with Stokes and Big Vic completing the rout
Hail hail
amadeus
A Hun in my work was worried on Thursday as their ticket office couldn’t confirm if season tickets would be valid for yesterday.
Thankfully they were so more got to see the fun.
amadeus says:
19 February, 2012 at 09:54
There is a hun rumour that their ST’s are about to be rendered invalid for the rest of the season.
Plenty more laughs to be had yet, bhoys!
——-
Now that would be funny!!..
Anyways, I went a walk down the shop for the rolls etc this morning, and as i’m browsing at the papers etc I hear man talking to another ” te gae them the title yesterday says it all, 10 point deduction then we lose yesterday, I cannae believe this is happenin’ tae us, whyte should be in jail fur this!!” ….
Wheres the jelly I asked the shop keeper!
It would be interesting to see what new company names and websites have been reserved in the last year or so. No doubt the carpetbaggers are well in there already.
Very interesting comment from Andy Kerr of the Rangers Supportes Association in this Herald article. Perhaps reality and acceptance are setting in.
“This is a club that once understood its status to be an expression of fortitude, decorum, honour and self-respect. Fans still delight in the notion that the legendary Bill Struth demanded his players wore bowler hats to training, and that the current squad must always wear a shirt and tie on official duty. There are times when it seems as though the only danger of a mutiny at Ibrox would be if the manager wore a tracksuit.
The traditions are not inconsequential. They provide a form of distinction, and the club made a lasting impression on Dick Advocaat when, during his first visit to Ibrox, the commissionaire opened the front door of the main stand and said: “Welcome, Mr Advocaat.” The reflections must seem bitterly quaint when each of the past six days has brought a different cause for suffering. The history of Rangers seems vandalised by the sight of the club falling into administration and facing the prospect of trying to avoid paying all of its debts.
Supporters used to crow at Rangers’ depiction as the establishment club. It is a cruel irony that a government agency is central to its downfall. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are not persecuting the Ibrox side, it is the business of football that they are intent on reprimanding.
The financial irresponsibility of Sir David Murray and the sleight-of-hand of Craig Whyte have left the club on the brink, but supporters, too, have been forced into a confrontation. It is with their sense of themselves as Rangers fans, what that identification means and what values their club stands for.
Some would still enjoy a vindictive glee if Whyte pulled off a scheme of liquidating the club and starting Rangers afresh, while the tax debts were left unpaid. Yet many others are distraught at the notion of 140 years of history coming, at least legally, to an end. The chain of events is still only theoretical, but it does pose the question about whether the essence of a club resides in its corporate entity or in the sentiment, judgment and reminiscing of its supporters.
In the face of this crisis, of finance, of faith, of self-identity, there is a growing feeling among Rangers fans that they should endure a period of atonement. Many, particularly older fans, believe the tax bill should be settled. The means for that might lie beyond the club’s reach if the tribunal into the use of Employee Benefit Trusts delivers a damning verdict and a bill of up to £49m next month. The truth is Rangers may be unable to meet their obligations, but there are other possible ramifications.
The Scottish Premier League will seek to handicap a newco Rangers, out of a sense of justice but also to deter other clubs from a similar path. The extreme option would be to force the Ibrox side into the third division, and that might also be the clearest route to moral redemption. Rangers fans, and the club itself, needs to reclaim a virtuous authority.
The bombast and egotism of Murray, and his rampant ambition, saw Rangers become an expression of capitalist values. He sought to distinguish the club by the money he spent, and previous values of conservatism and discretion were lost. The club is paying for these excesses now. Starting anew in the third division, where budgets, values and standards could be reset, then earning a return to the SPL, would be a purge. The instinct might first be to recoil, but most of the Rangers support would respond to the challenge, and accept the novelty of their journey.
The team would remain comparatively strong enough that it should take only three years to return to the SPL, by which time Rangers would be stable and there would be no cause to denounce the club. Even in directly re-entering the SPL, a newco Rangers would be unable to play in Europe for three years. The Calciopoli scandal resulted in Juventus’s demotion to Serie B, which was once considered unthinkable, but six years on the Turin club is enjoying a period of pre-eminence.
“If that’s where the consequences take us, the vast majority of the support would embrace that, almost out of the feeling that we’ve got to stick together,” says Andy Kerr of the Rangers Supporters Assembly. “I don’t think it will be fatal. It’s about re-examining yourself, and galvanising. We would rather get out of all this properly, in an upstanding way. If that meant we had to go down to come back up, that’s part of that package.”
There are other more likely developments for Rangers. Yet supporters might come to wish for a stringent penalty, so that they can reclaim their club’s traditional standards”.
Che – ha, I only waited about 18 months for one! Hoping to go on a roll now.
The tenner on Killie at 7’s was nice as well.
At work just now, but in a few hours I’ll be home supping some cold Stella watching the footie and gratuitous conga dancing from Leith!
For all the Hoops going to the game…enjoy the perty!
TTTT
Incidentally BBC website now updated with points deduction.
BBC, last weeks news today!
Discussion on TFOD starting on Sky Sports One now
croppybhoy
Could it be that we will see all those different ranglers teams? .
In-fighting and divisions could lead to several new ranglers being formed.
Help.
nakagod – no. Both Barca and Real fans make vile monkey chants towards black players, so Celtic fans should, in fact, choose neither.
SwanseaBhoy loves wee Craigy Whyte and Rangers going into Administration. says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:23
“There are other more likely developments for Rangers. Yet supporters might come to wish for a stringent penalty,
so that they can reclaim their club’s traditional standards”.
Wonder what “traditional standards” he could possibly be alluding to?
Orangeism?
Sectarianism?
Tax Evasion?
Or just all round Dignity…?
too many isms in there.
amadeus says:
19 February, 2012 at 10:24
Are you happy now???
Starry…
Octopus do many things but they do not lend money.
Maybe they will build a garden in Govan ?
bamboo
I have this vision of all the different groups sitting in an even more dilapidated Ibrokes in various parts of the ground constantly warring with each other over the exact shade of blue in the jerseys etc
HH
@ starry,
yes I am, you auld moaning get!
amadeues
that was a waste of someones time, come 445 they will be amending it again