I see the Sun have a steer today that Celtic “will join forces” with clubs from Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium to oppose the suggestion from Barcelona and Bayern Munich that the likes of Manchester United should get automatic access to the Champions League, whether they qualify or not.
The consensus spreads beyond the countries mentioned above, Greece and Turkey also have large teams, unable to take advantage of lucrative domestic TV contracts.
As Barcelona’s Josep Bartomeu told the BBC, the FA Premier League presents a real threat to all clubs outside it. The suggestion is that TV and commercial values of the Champions League should be bolstered (which it would by having Manchester United next season instead of Galatasaray) to raise the income dividend for all participants.
This proposal would put more income onto Barcelona and Bayern’s top lines but it would not change the fundamental issue that the English and Welsh league generates vastly more income than any other domestic league. Raising income generated from Champions League football would not reduce the disparity in income from domestic football between England and Wales, and the rest.
What’s needed is a league to replace the existing domestic leagues, filled with big teams with large stadiums packed with supporters each week. There are enough big European clubs outside of England capable of fitting this criteria to fill two 20 team leagues.
Two divisions of 20, broadcast live across the world on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, each game played by huge clubs in front of >50,000 seater stadiums would dwarf the England and Wales league.
The earning potential is there to make it happen. What’s needed is someone to put money on the table.
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Blantyretim
No problem , haha yir wee pal K will be sohhh dissapointed
See you Friday.
Don’t know what has happened at Easter Road tonight, Hibs have a strong team out. A good thing for us though i we had anyone thinking that Morton would be a walkover.
Could add a few to the gate for the cup game, mostly at the away end though…
Don’t let tonight’s result fool you into thinking morton are a good team. .. tonight’s result merely proves that the championship is second rate … but we all knew that despite the smsm campaign to big it up
I’ve not really bought in to the praise hibs have been getting. Or stubbsy for that matter. It’s not a good league and they should be doing better more consistently. They still tend to shoot themselves in the foot.
Looking like automatic promotion for Sevco. Hibs will get it tight in the play offs.
The best I can say about that is Sevco will be Getting regularly humiliated in the S P L.
No other positives about it.
Marspapa
Checked the train times fae Dalmuir to Hamilton West. Hope to be in the Vaults the back of 6 onFriday. See ye there pal.
I don’t usually watch the Brits but fancy watching the tribute to the one and only Bowie.
Hrvatski Jim
And if a 4 year old club appear in the top tier next season being officially credited with 54 titles by the Scoddish football ‘authorities’, it won’t so much be a question if walking away, but rather not walking through the looking glass to a land where all kick-offs commence at Farce o’ clock.
Jabberwockyin’ away, maybe.
Of not if.
We have been well warned by Morton tonight – they had a much worse team when they beat us a couple of years ago….I certainly would not bet on the match.
Not getting much time to spend on bhlog as this is the busiest time of the year for me. However, lots of work being done behind the scenes to make the Dublin hootenanny a big success and fair play to Cloghercelt for keeping you all well informed.
Cloghercelt: loved that link to the Mick Blake song, worth reposting on a regular basis. Sometimes, history is very simple – like this song:
http://youtu.be/mIILCtCtk9o
Proudbhoy: Hope all works out well for you getting to Dublin for our event – mucho respect. Hope to see you there.
1916 currently on RTÉ1 – narrated by Liam Neeson. Well worth a watch or catching up on rtéplayer.
Sipsini
Bet you Coldplay and Adele win prizes. Wee Justin Beaver tae. :)
http://www.fenianwines.com.au
Justin Beaver? Sounds like a guy with a 3 inch willy.
Mr pastry
I will bet you a box of doughnuts the celtic beat morton at the first attempt
DD…
I quite like Justin’s latest song:)
Maybe something to do with my daughter playing it constantly.
I watched last 25 minutes of Hibs v Livingston. Hibs were awful. Second to every ball. No threat.
The Hearts result suggested they might have had that game in mind but tonight suggests Stubbs has a bit to go.
Sipsini
Brainwashing you! Beware! :)
Sips
Are you a beleiber?
I was a tad surprised that bjork won the best female from another planet …
MR PASTRY on 24TH FEBRUARY 2016 9:45 PM
We have been well warned by Morton tonight – they had a much worse team when they beat us a couple of years ago….I certainly would not bet on the match.
-================================================
The last game vs Morton was decided by a penalty courtesy of Madden after the ball hit Efe who was on the ground if I recall.
Watched Morton vs Sevco,they are very poor,and if we prepare and select correctly we should progress with little problem.
Cant understand how Hibs messed up tonight,but reinforced my view they are at best reasonable,in a poor League,and not near the level of praise afforded to them and their Manager.
Beatbhoy
I don’t disagree with your point. I see it as a different situation to stand by my club when we are the victims of any injustice rather than if we were the perpetrators.
To be honest I would rather watch Celtic play at a lower level than join any franchise league.
As I am likely to be back up at 2am I will take my leave tonight.
DD/TBJ…
Ye need to keep up with the youth of today :(
Hrvatski Jim
Same for me with a top tier based on the Big Lie.
If all the Junior Doctors go on strike, who is gonna fix wee Jamesie’s injuries?
Big Ya Ya is some finisher with ‘curlers’ from around the edge of the penalty box, if not with free headers from 3 yards out. Brilliant goal tonight.
Citeh finally getting the hang of this CL thing, and could be dangerous if they keep Kompany, Silva and Aguero fit, and remember to get big Ya Ya something special for his birthday.
Beat bhoy
Give pep 2 years and they will win the cl
Change FIFA ? our best hope is a woman
Moya Dodd, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, says passing the proposed reforms is the “only way we can start changing the culture.”
FIFA will hold two important elections on Friday at its latest all-expenses-paid gathering in Zurich. Most of the attention will be on the second vote, to pick the organization’s new president. Fans, though, should pay closer attention to the first one.
In that election, most likely before the federations break for what will undoubtedly be a delicious free lunch, the 207 eligible members of FIFA will vote for or against a package of proposed reforms that would modernize the organization and, in theory, set the foundation for a transparent, trustworthy global governing body of soccer.
Be hopeful if you want. Hopeful because someone other than Sepp Blatter will be the FIFA president. Hopeful that the entire organization is on the cusp of monumental changes, from the inside out, and will change the way it does business.
Forgive me if I need some time before buying in.
Still, Moya Dodd, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, is calling the reform issue the most important vote in FIFA’s history, much more critical than the vote for president, which, naturally, has been brighter and shinier and has commanded more attention because of the personalities involved.
Who’s Running for FIFA President?
Five candidates are on the ballot this week for the election to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. Who will win the vote at the special FIFA Congress on Friday in Zurich?
“The reforms will alter the entire institution and change the way people view FIFA, for the better, and that’s exactly what our sport needs right now,” Dodd told me. “The reforms must pass. It’s critical. It’s the only way we can start changing the culture.”
No argument there. Installing a new president — whether it’s one of the front-runners or someone else in charge — won’t bring much change under the current system, which for decades was a hothouse for corruption, if it’s not coupled with institutional upheaval.
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In the past, FIFA and its leadership thrived in a culture of lined pockets, skimmed contracts and bribes. The assortment of indictments, arrests and guilty pleas of top soccer officials within the past year is evidence of that.
Now the proposed reforms are exactly what the disheveled, discredited organization needs to right itself. FIFA’s interim leadership has come out publicly urging their approval. But can we trust FIFA’s member federations to do the right thing? We’ll see on Friday. And only then — maybe — can we begin to believe in FIFA again.
We know where Dodd stands. She is a FIFA insider who thinks like an outsider and, in many ways, remains an outsider in the current FIFA men’s club. That status automatically gives her a stamp of credibility that officials who long have been entrenched in the organization can never claim.
Dodd, an Australian who is the chairwoman of FIFA’s task force for women’s soccer, has worked behind the scenes to ensure that the reforms work to include more women in decision-making roles in the organization and for women to rise within the sport.
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“There are some studies that show that gender diversity in companies makes those companies less prone to fraud, and I believe that,” said Dodd, who wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times in November about the need to increase the number of women in FIFA. In that piece, Dodd noted that boardroom diversity advocates say that “once a 30 percent gender balance is reached, a culture shifts.” And if any boardroom needs a cultural shift, it’s this one.
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The current reform proposals, watered down from Dodd’s original suggestions, include having six women on a newly created 36-member FIFA council. That ruling council would replace the current 24-member executive committee that long ago surrendered its usefulness and the people’s trust.
The reforms also include term limits for the president, background checks and the publication of salaries of top officials, and oversight by independent audit and compliance committees with the power to raise red flags about wrongdoing.
If you think that sounds as if FIFA is at last preparing to do business in the 21st century, you’d be right. Better late than never.
It will be up to the new president, however, to ensure that FIFA’s members understand the rules and live up to them. And that, not deciding who gets how much money and which seat at the table, will be the new leader’s toughest job.
“The goal is to dissect the organization, spread the power around and create a situation where there is visibility of decision-making,” Dodd said. “The goal is for the president to be a less all-powerful figure, but he has to lead us in the right direction, too. Of course, he’ll be doing it with everyone under more scrutiny. That will be a big difference.”
Soon we will know if voters are willing to accept this new structure, or if they prefer the outdated structure of the past and the benefits it brings them.
Is it possible to change that mentality? That’s what we will find out on Friday, and in the months and years ahead. But by approving the reforms — and then following through — at least FIFA can show that it recognizes what the rest of the world has figured out: that FIFA’s old way of doing business just won’t cut it anymore.
TBJ
Especially if he can persuade you-know -who to join him in sunny Manchester.
Couldn’t care less about England’s representatives anywhere,
Tonight, I found a pub that would sell me a Guinness and let me watch PSV v Madrid. Thanks Horse & Barge, Dalmur. Much appreciated.
Beat bhoy
Mark Warburton?
TBJ
Nah! Can’t see Pep agreeing to being a number 2.
GuyF
Let me know when you are next in Horse & Barge and I will stroll along and buy two Guinness for us.
Hail Hail
POGMATHONYAHUN AKA LAIRD OF THE SMILES on 24TH FEBRUARY 2016 9:54 PM
Justin Beaver? Sounds like a guy with a 3 inch willy.
———————————————-
In the week we found out Hitler had a “micropenis”! As huvin’ wan baw wisny bad enough. No wonder he was a murderous dictator…
Ronny D
Well said tonight, as reported. You do a good job, in your second language, every time you speak to these cretins. Stay strong.
Celtic forever.
Jawohl, Adolf really was a wee dictator.
Delaneys Dunky on 24th February 2016 11:09 pm
No worries, I had seven tunes on the jukebox before I left for home tonight.
I live a simple life. I’m a Celt
Delaneys Dunky, will text you what train I’m on but your times suit me.
GuyF
I also live a very simple life. My family and Celtic in that order. Look forward tae a blether wi you.
Hail Hail