If you’ve been here for 12 years you’ll know that Celtic Quick News started because there was a great untold financial story going on in Scottish football. Celtic were castigated by many, including a large portion of their own support, as “prudent”, while Rangers, then under the majority ownership of Sir David Murray, were lauded for their willingness to ambitiously push the boat out.
But there was a problem. Celtic were losing millions every year. Rangers were losing a lot more, £35m in one season alone. David Murray’s company, Murray International Holdings (MIH), were ½ a billion in debt to Bank of Scotland, and rising.
By this stage MIH’s steel business was dwarfed in significance by its property portfolio. They borrowed from the bank and, perhaps with an eye on the fantasy Ibrox Super Casino, gambled that the market would rise inextricably.
For a few years the debt kept rising. “What’s the problem?” many said, if the Bank are prepared to lend MIH and Rangers, their strategy must be sound. These were difficult times to be preaching financial responsibility in Scottish football, but the reality was written in mile-high font for many of us. “They’re going to crash and burn”, seemed inevitable.
Today we read the news that MIH are, like Rangers before them, finally liquidated. Ignore the reported £200m that Lloyds Banking Group (now owners of Bank of Scotland) lost, that’s just the loose change. The Bank had swapped debt for shares in MIH as clouds gathered. The true financial cost to Lloyds (significantly owned by UK taxpayers) is vastly higher.
Much of the story of David Murray will never be told, not while he’s alive, anyway, as it took place well away from verifiable sources. This might change after he’s dead. The one redeeming positive he brought to football was to end the sectarian signing policy at Rangers in 1989. For that he should be lauded, many before him had the chance to do the same but chose not to.
That aside, the influence of Murray and MIH was poisonous to his club. He sold out for £1 to a liquidation expert in May 2011, against the wishes of his own board’s advisory committee, as his club claimed its last ever league title. The rest, is poetic history.
As luck would have it, tonight I’ll be with some Celtic supporter friends. We’ll raise a glass to Sir David and his legacy. Thanks for all you achieved, David, it could never have happened without you.
Erik Sviatchenko is a lesson in the difference good players make to a team. He’s started 11 games since joining in January, we’ve lost four goals over that period. In our previous 11 games we lost 12 goals. His impact on team performance has been phenomenal.
We’ll miss him tomorrow – so should make tactical changes to accommodate the perceived risk.
Motherwell are on fire. Less than two months ago they were in the play-off spot. Now they need just one point to guarantee a top six finish. They will battle every second for that point. If we are going to win tomorrow’s game, we will need to put in our of our best shifts of the season.
Time to get it together, Celtic.
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Good Morning Bhoys from a Sunny Central Scotland in my opinion we dwell to much in the past at Celtic. I am now an old man and dont look to far forward either my future is in the Lords hands.However Celtic should be about the here and now we should be playing total football with freedom for the players we should be a threat in all positions an attacking exciting team.The fact we are not is very sad the English keep going back to 1966 and it is boreing that is a long time past while for us it is 1967 and while we should never forget our history we need to live for today things are not right at Celtic and I believer there are more than one reason for that.Things need to change Celtic need to get the support back on board they need to stand up for themselves and the support I hope that we will get 3 points today but the future for our once great club if it keeps on its current coarse is bleak. H.H.
Frank ends with the story of when Barcelona FC paraded the Champions League trophy through the streets of ther native City after defeating Juventus 3-1 in the 2015 final, their open topped bus had to drive by a huge banner which read:
“Barcelona FC 2015 – we are now the true successors to the Lisbon Lions of Glasgow Celtic: Lisbon 1967″
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someone has got to have a picture of that,
John Hughes, Charlie Gallagher, Tommy Gemmell, and EuroChamps67……….oooofffffttttt.
JOE FILIPPIS HAIRCUT on 9TH APRIL 2016 9:58 AM
I`m more optimistic than you are, Joe.
The major problem for any team in Scotland is beyond our control.
Mr.Murdoch and his funding of the English game to the exclusion of ourselves.
I hope things will change .
As do we all.
Brogan Rogan – thank you
BRTH
Simply brilliant.
JFH
Without our past we have no future
Sure we must look forward but we can’t forget the journey
BROGAN ROGAN TREVINO AND HOGAN SUPPORTS OSCAR KNOX, MACKENZIE FURNISS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO FIGHTS NEUROBLASTOMA on 9TH APRIL 2016 9:28 AM
A very jaundiced view of Jock Stein from the three venerated (and rightly so) footballers. Big Jock transformed a group of individuals whose stop start careers were going nowhere into a legendary European team. He moulded them into a team where the whole became much greater than the sum of the parts.
It’s not hard, in retrospect, to demonstrate this. Charlie went to Dumbarton, Yogi went to Palace, and big Tam went to Forest. Not one of them enhanced his career.
I think the entire tenor of the post is very disrespectful to the memory of one of our greatest ever Celts.
BRTH
Wonderful post – will get up as a CQN Magazine article too as it deserves a wider audience.
When I get back from Motherwell I will post the second part of last night’s Raffle on CQN.
You can buy a ticket or as many tickets as you like but your name will only go into the hat once.
The winner gets s very special Lisbon Lions shirt signed by the three Lions in Stirling last night at the Tommy Gemmell CSC 20th Anniversary Dinner and also signed by Willie from Australia. How appropriate that last night’s event took place in the shadows of the Wallace Monument.
All raffle funds from last night and on CQN to the CQN Mary’s Meals school kitchen project. We will add runners up prizes of books and DVDs etc
MACJAY. Fella you have a point but worrying about the money in the English game is rather pointless as we cannot change it.What we can change is the boreing one up front against every team and the pedestrian way we play the game. We have in my opinion a large squad of first team players which lacks real quality our manager ( who I wish well ) does not know his best team and that is worrying.We have only the one real striker and as we are seeing when he goes of the boil we have no replacement.So we should in my opinion concentrate on getting things right at Celtic and let others worry about themselves. H.H.
—–
Macjay…
Pfttttt….
Our Friend ,BMCUW…
Has Often Claimed On The Blog..
That He Has Several Volumes By Historian,Robert Service…
On Russia & The Bolshevik Revolution..
He clearly, has never read them…
Or he could not possibly hold his present views….
Indeed,nowadays…
Ah doubt he could read ‘The Bunty’ Comic in One Sitting’….
“Peoples Friend”…Now You’re Askin’..
:-)
——-
Trotsky,With Christopher Hitchens And Robert Service
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cuzXR-5w4Qk
35min
——-
Trotsky wanted to immediately spread the Bolshevik Revolution to the Whole World…
In 1921,He Exhorted his ‘Red Army’ to conquer Berlin….
And ‘Don’t stop till you get to Paris!”
Lenin was more cautious..preferring to solidify the Bolshevik Regime in Russia..
Before any thoughts of Western Expansion…
I reckon Oor Friend Learns His History..
From reading “Commando” Comics..?
———–
Off Oot…
Afore “Losing Captains’ Logs Me Out..
AGAIN..!
We wonder if the CLIQUE….
Encounter such difficulties…?
~~~~
BRTH
Fantastic……..I’ve had the privilege to be in ‘The Big Shots’ company many days, nights and holidays……some of the stories he tells are amazing and what a knack he has delivering them!!
Anyway here’s a song that was always belted out by him at parties.
His words (TG) The German Song :)
https://youtu.be/SaAoFHymJVg
HH
The case for Rogic
TSD
Seems The Bunty went out of business 15 years ago.
Do keep up…
Btw,it was to your jejeune alter-ego,Antifa,that I offered Service’s book. Strangely,the offer was passed up.
Nir has been very poor this season, sorry Nir yer crab passes are the easy players play.
Tom Rogic is the Man who is on it.
I hope that Tam is in there…. and he signs a new contract.
See that MSM plant?
Celtic legends talking to Celtic supporters within the Celtic family.
BRTH
Thank you.
HH
Kill Ultra-
No one has ever thought of Jock as being a nice person footballing wise.
As a man, with his political beliefs, his love for the common man, he was a normal product of his time. A very decent human being.
As a coach Im sure he was a total b*****d, just as Fergie, Mourinho, McLean, etc were.
At school for example, I always found myself doing better when the teacher had iron control of the class. If the teacher was a nice guy, soon the class would be bedlam and no one would learn anything.
I dont think they were disrespectful-its just a bit shocking to hear the truth in this easily offended society
Kill Ultra
Thank you for your comments.
However, can I just point out that what I wanted to convey was the message that the three ex players clearly wanted to get over last night.
There was no criticism of Jock Stein the football manager. I have compered Q&A’s with some of the lions and others on many occasions – and invariably they will doff their cap to Stein the tactician, the coach and his footballing knowledge.
However, what comes across is that once the football career was over, they look back and were not necessarily too keen on Stein the man and the way he handled certain personal situations.
There can be no doubt that Jock Stein played a massive part in making Celtic great, in makig them great and in making the players they became and what they achieved.
I would never suggest otherwise.
The whole point about the piece was to stress how the footballing legacy of that team and those players lives on to this day and in places where true football is worshipped, respected and remembered, yet the players themselves are much less dewey eyed and somewhat blunt in assessing the cost and the consequences of that legacywhen looked at from the autumn of their years.
They are funny yet opinionated. They neither seek nor shirk controversy and despite being “old men”, who you might expect to be kind of soft or concilliatory etc, they are sufficiently comfortable in their own skin to deliver their opinions straight from the hip.
Whether you or I or anyone else likes them or not, or agrees with them or not, is not something that bothers them too much.
The Donald I don’t usually comment on your posts and of course you are free to post what you like but I am puzzled as to your latest burst of posts about Russians/Bolsheviks and their relevance on CQN hours before a big Celtic game . Can you enlighten me. H H Hebcelt
Celtic exactly the same as this time last season …..Who’d have thunk it?
WINNING CAPTAINS on 9TH APRIL 2016 10:22 AM
See that MSM plant?
Celtic legends talking to Celtic supporters within the Celtic family.
——————————-
Why don’t you address the points I make instead of your facile dismissal. Do you really think that it’s acceptable for an ex-player to refer to his late manager as a ‘c**t’?
Good luck to the Celts today, expect to see goals.
Not fussed about the football last night, we played on Tuesday 4 points clear and today’s game is played 5 points clear.
Haven’t had one second’s doubt about where the league flag will be flown this season. On we go, to 5IAR.
BRTH – wonderful post again.
I think Stein was typical of managers in those days – zero sentiment. Busby and Shankly were the same.
Ian St John tells of after playing something like 300 games for Liverpool s a nailed on selection, the way he found out he was dropped was to see the team sheet on a Friday. Shankly never spoke to him again, more or less.
JOE FILIPPIS HAIRCUT on 9TH APRIL 2016 10:11 AM
Joeboy.
My ambition for Celtic is in the European theatre. Can`t stand the acceptance of being “also rans” .
The ” management of decline.”
When we`ve been at the top table ,we shouldn`t be settling for less.
That`s why I referred to England.
Players? We are chock a block with internationalists.
Don`t want to be bangng the same old drum ,but we ain`t going to progress with a man who has achieved s.f.a. anywhere.
The two year experiment is not a success.
The clowns in the Board room better acknowledge that and rectify it.
Soon.
God Bless the late great Jock Stein.
Kill Ultra
I agreed with your post.
If it hadn’t been for that c**t Stein, neither Hughes, Gemmell or Gallagher would have been anything other than ordinary footballers.
With no books to sell.
I don’t remember anyone calling Jock Stein by a foul name while he was alive.
Cowards.
could be construed as a compliment
coolmore mafia on 9th April 2016 10:28 am
Kill Ultra-
No one has ever thought of Jock as being a nice person footballing wise.
As a man, with his political beliefs, his love for the common man, he was a normal product of his time. A very decent human being.
As a coach Im sure he was a total b*****d, just as Fergie, Mourinho, McLean, etc were.
At school for example, I always found myself doing better when the teacher had iron control of the class. If the teacher was a nice guy, soon the class would be bedlam and no one would learn anything.
I dont think they were disrespectful-its just a bit shocking to hear the truth in this easily offended society
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
You are correct, and certainly not politically.
When I was @ St Pats the young Arithmetic Teacher had a breakdown – the Belt had just been outlawed, the old History teacher knew how to treat the bampots.
C’mon the Ronny D. Knowing Ronny is taking so much Time with the Future really warms me up.
A whole lot of not realised Money spent
Big Jock…………………… Not nice.
Ronny Deila …………….Nice .
Celtic end at Motherwell…………………sold out
BOURNESOUPRECIPE
Wish I were there.
You going?
Celtic sold John Hughes and Willie Wallace to Crystal Palace for a combined total of @ 30 K .
John Hughes played @25 times for Crystal Palace ——-Palace fans who were lucky enough to have seen the man play have a really high opinion re how good he was ( and not just for that goal v Sheffield ) .
My Crystal Palace supporting mate has a framed photograph of John Hughes on his kitchen wall..
BMCUW
5 hours ago – I do believe you :) … it’s the one!
Kano foundation
All this talk of Jock and the players he sold.
Was there not the intention of introducing the Quality Street Gang by way of transition ?
Did that not happen ?
Can`t remember any whingeing at the time.
Kenny,wee Lou,Hari Hari ( purchased ) , Davie , George Connolly et a few al.
Ex celts who talk like that about big Jock, shoud just be ignored, if you can’t say anything nice about someone who has passed on, then better you say nothing at all, to call the big man a c*** is bang out of order in my book that is, and only MO.
From what I read and hear.. most of the lions have bad words to say on big jock .
He was a strongoing man manager … kris commons outbursts / even Scott browns kebab gate – would have been dealt with differently … and we wouldn’t be nervous about the remaining games of the season
Just saying
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 9th April 2016 10:39 am
Big Jock…………………… Not nice.
Ronny Deila …………….Nice .
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And the game, indeed Society, is totally different now.
I listen intently to Pope Francis.
He is the Leader of my Religion.
I am so happy when dudes I listen to from the Proddy side are Praising Francis, and they are well aware of Marxism.
Ronny, hopefully, will be given the TIME – it is, IMO a Test.
It’s our Future