You know what side of society you live in when the print and online media carry claims from former Hearts chairman, Leslie Deans, that a football game should be replayed because a player was hit by a missile.
It is to the credit of the player in question, Barrie McKay, that he made nothing of the cup thrown at him, but when we have seen actual assaults on Celtic players on the field at Ibrox in recent seasons pass with scarcely a mention, you see the context of life in Scotland.
Digging out these relics of a former era to make completely untrue allegations (that Celtic have not issued apologies) is the extent to which some will go to establish an impression that Celtic and their fans are dishonourable beneficiaries of illicit gains. Before you get into it, all charges against solicitor Deans were dropped five years ago, there are no criminal charges outstanding. His character remains as it was.
The motivation of Deans, the journalist who quoted him, or the many others who make a living by having a kick at Celtic, are different, but the effect is the same. To win as we have in recent seasons, Celtic need to be exceptional.
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CORKCELT on 8TH DECEMBER 2021 7:55 PM
This Blog is becoming embarrassing.
For God’s sake Paul clean it up or shut it down.
——————————————————————
I think that’s exactly what some of the Timposters on here are trying to achieve.
Madmitch
You are a pro board trouser snake
Not sure if you are driven by ego and your supposed intellect or you are driven by some connection to the board or the G74 5** postcode.
You really need to let go of the attempts to defeat a counter argument by attributing any of the following:-
A relationship with the Board or major shareholder
A motivation that underlies any truth in the proposal being made
A job or occupation that you consider inferior and , therefore, a provider of worthless opinion
An invented psychological defect that renders opinion worthwhike
An association with a false opinion (not expressed by the original poster) through which you can diminish what they actually said.
These are al childish and see-through rhetorical tricks that allow you to refute an argument without actually saying what is wrong with it.
P.S. You are also sh*** at guessing these things
AngE or me talkin Li
HAHA
Wind it
Canadian Jonathan David scores third goal in last three CL games for Lille, with 14 in French League 1. Pity we missed this lad.
Hibs really Hibs it. 2 red cards in 2 minutes
Don Robertson and the MIB taking it out on Hibs for having the audacity to knock Sevco out of the League Cuo.
Hibernian need to get rid of Jack Ross terrible manager /coach.
Tom I Dinnae thonT
eASYGROOve,
Glasgow Celtic.
Little ol’ Lille, 11th in the French League, 18 points behind PSG, are top of their Champions League Group, and into the last 16.
That’s Lille, people.
If we had done our job properly and not dropped five points against Livingston, we would be top of the league and they would be bottom😕
I’d skin Dr UG DEALER/
sCOOBY sCOOBY dOO. ANNOYED,
I dae care.
2 red cards and a missed penalty – who needs porteous?
I lost an actual Great in Gthang.
Corkcelt- agree with a lot of your points HH
INIQUITOUSIV on 8TH DECEMBER 2021 9:43 PM
Lille tonight is it?
Know anything about their recent history?
VAR in Scotland
Whatever is the current world record in seconds and minutes, winding back from a disputed goal scored to note a relevant infringement which renders the aforementioned goal out, a Celtic goal scored will beat that record inside the first three months of VAR in Scotland.
Iniquitous @ 7.30
So Bankier said “We’ve had a regular few pastings in the Champions League.” and that “comports” with my view.
I would ahve thought that it comports with your view and that of all supporters with a memory.
We have had several pastings in the CL and elsewhere in Europe. We have been having them intermittently since 1980
Neuchatel Xamax 5:1
PSG 0:3
Artmedia 4:0
Benfica 3:0
Man U 0:3
Braga 0:3
Utrecht 0:4
All between 1991 and 2011
Sice 2013 we have had
Barca 1:6
Milan 0:3
Legia 1:4
Lincoln Red Imps 0:1 (small score but it belongs to this group)
Barca 0:7
PSG 1:7
Munich 0:3
Zenit 0:3
Sparta Prague 1:4 (2x)
Leverkusen 0:4
These pastings happened and cannot be denied. The 2nd group which has the bigger defeats and a lengthier list happened in the past 8 years. It took 21 years in Europe to accumulate the 2nd list.
But then you interrogate this phrase “We have taken a regular few pastings” and interpret it as showing a lack of ambition on Bankier’s part and, by extension, on mine.
Well maybe Bankier does have low ambitions; that is a possibility. But these words neither reveal them nor do they “overtly signify” (good word that- leaves room for listener interpretation and distortion) “zero interest in progressing in the CL”.
Similarly, I never said that we reached our zenith years ago but I see it being attributed to me. We’d all agree that Lisbon was our zenith and we’d all agree that Lisbon was many years ago but nowhere did I say that we are doomed to perpetual diminution.
What I said, was “under current economic conditions” we cannot reasonably expect regular challenges to the mega rich clubs and leagues from those that are not.
But, if economic conditions change and Celtic get to compete in a genuinely free market, then, given time we can do what we did in the 60s and 70s. But, to mix metaphors the log jam must break before we can breach our glass ceiling.
Under current restrictions, on any given day we can still beat the best team in the world, even on aggregate if we string two stupendous performances together. But we just cannot manage to sustain a season long campaign of beating thm and those.
People cite Leicester as the example – winning a Premiership at odds of over 500 to 1. It happened so it can happen again, we say. But Leicester winning the prem is a feat akin to Hearts or Hibs winning the SPFL (and with the silent drift of economic poer from Glasgow to Edinburgh over the past 20 years, I would not bet against Hearts winning the SPFL within 10 to 20 years, especially if Sevco implode again.
But more telling than the Leicester example are the examples of Chelsea, Man City and PSG, moderate clubs who became big time through Arab or Russian money. Or the lesser examples of ths via Hoffenheim, Red Bull Salzburg or Shakter Donetsk. Money injections are a more surefire way to become a bigger winner. The money of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was not insignificant in reducing those 500:1 odds. But, even with that input their monies are dwarfed by the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. Even Leicester under BR are not gonna be winning the CL anytime soon, and look at poor Everton, spening more than Real or Bayern, for what? Were they ambitious or foolhardy? How long did it take Leeds to get back when their overspending led the to drop out of the Premiership for 16 seasons? when are two time winners Notts Forest gonna get Euro success again?
My point abot cannon fodder is being borne out still by final 4th placed teams
Bruges – 4 points
AC Milan- 4 pts
Besiktas – 0
Donetsk- 2
Kiev- 1
Young Boys _ 5 (this year’s comparator club for ambition- stilll bottom and out)
Wolfsburg -5 (unsurprisingly- a strong club from a strong league and they prioritised Europe over league unlike AC)
& Malmo- 1 (still they deprived Sevco of thisposition and money)
Iniquitous @ 9.40
This Lille??
Since the 2017-18 season, Lille have made at least £112m in the transfer market, second only to Lyon in Ligue 1 in that time. Striker Victor Osimhen joined Napoli this summer in a deal that could rise to £74m and Gabriel moved to Arsenal for £27m, a year after Nicolas Pépé’s £72m deal to the same club, while Rafael Leão (Milan), Thiago Mendes (Lyon) and Yves Bissouma (Brighton) all fetched around £20m each in that time.
Nevertheless, financial issues persisted. French football’s notoriously strict financial watchdog, the DNCG, banned Lille from signing players in January 2018, handed Ingla a three-month suspended ban in May 2019 for supposedly providing false financial information about the club, and told Lille to rise €30m in player sales during the summer of 2018 after threatening the club with relegation to Ligue 2 for financial irregularities.
Debt has long been a concern. When Lopez raised the funds to buy the club four years ago, he did so with loans of €225m from JP Morgan and investment fund Elliott Management. Over the last four years, Lille have paid back around half of those loans, with €123m due to be paid back in August. Concerned that they would not receive the money they are owed, Elliott have now pressurised Lopez into selling the club. It seems as if the investors Merlyn Partners have taken over Elliott’s debt and installed the former Rennes and PSG president Létang in Lopez’s place.
We use the term “seems” as the new structure of Lille’s ownership is not yet entirely clear. The club’s new parent company, Merlyn Partners SCSp, is a special limited partnership based in Luxembourg of which we only know the identity of the general partner (Merlyn Partners GP) but not the limited partner(s) who remain(s) anonymous. Létang said on Monday: “Merlyn is a fund that wants to have a great deal of confidentiality.” A further unresolved matter is whether Ingla will continue to retain his stake in Victory Soccer. Létang says Ingla will remain at the club at the moment “for the transition” and assured manager Christophe Galtier that he will not need to offload players quickly in January. Lille have become a credit to French football under their Ligue 1 veteran manager.
Since Galtier joined Lille at Christmas in 2017, perhaps only Jürgen Klopp has proved more effective as a coach across Europe’s biggest leagues. He rescued the 2011 champions from a relegation battle and his brand of balanced but positive football took Lille as far as the Champions League last season. This season, Lille have only lost one of their 16 games in Ligue 1 and they dismantled Serie A leaders Milan at San Siro in the Europa League. Over the weekend they held their own against PSG, who dominated possession but struggled to create many clear chances in an underwhelming game.
For now, miraculously, Lille are top of Ligue 1 and remain financially viable but changes are coming and sales are a must in the medium term. They could win the league, but be relegated soon after by the DNCG if they do not repair their financial damage. Partly due to the league’s own incompetence, 2020 has been a financially disastrous year for Ligue 1, but 2021 could show the scale of that disaster to be far greater than was initially feared. Most worryingly, Lille may soon consider themselves more fortunate than most.
Lille are now owned by Vulture capitalists Elliott Capital
They did exactly the same thing at Milan – lend large amounts at high interest rates and then seize control when the club defaulted
They nearly bankrupted Argentina when they ruthlessly pursued debt that the government defaulted on. They’re doing the same with India now
SS @ 8:06
Not lies – satire, old fruit!
SS @ 8:06
Not lies – satire, old fruit!
A satirical swipe at a gang of narcissists.
I’m not sure any of us who spends half their life posting shite on an Internet forum can dig anyone up for being narcissistic
Let’s be honest, we’re all at it
Apologies for the language
Loving the chat that the CL is not for the likes of us …
This year’s CL — oh the humpings we would have had.
My erse.
Group winners — the likes of Ajax / MU / Lille.
Group runners up — then you have Sporting / Benfica / Villareal or Atalanta / Salzburg.
What do you get when you cross the Scottish cringe / SPL flat track bully syndrome / finding your next manager in the showers / OF love in the boardroom / a second rate property bean counter phoning it in / an Irish Raj living his retirement?
A SFTB sermon on the need to know your place.
If we were to lift our eyes above our friends in Govan — my how we would fly.
Some proper planning and a positive pre-season — you never know but it might just work.
What a good scout ( Campos ) did for Lille:
“Having clashed with Marcelo Bielsa over the club’s recruitment policy during the Argentinian’s blink-and-miss-it tenure as head coach, Campos has played a central role in Lille’s renaissance. The cash-strapped club spent a measly €8.9 million on transfers last summer—their shrewd acquisitions including Jose Fonte (free), Zeki Celik (€2.5 million), Jonathan Ikone (€5 million), Jonathan Bamba (free) and Rafael Leao (free)—but the team Campos helped to assemble spectacularly outperformed expectations under Christophe Galtier, going from relegation peril to Champions League qualification in just 12 months.”
And now they are in the last 16 of the Champions League.
IQV @ 11.37
So they seem to have spent less money than us — makes you think …
A bit of planning and preparation goes a long way.
Enjoy listening to Ange at media conferences but (shakes head) the simple art of asking a clear, concise question seems to be dying.
Recently I posted an interview of Ange by Australian radio
The interviewer absolutely enhanced the engagement.
Single sentences with pitch rising at the end.
How hard can it be?
Do the wannabes over here listen to Peston and think he is some kind of exemplar?
🤦
Sluggish, stuttering monologues stuffed with Op Ed type tripe that go on for an age ….
…. followed by the inevitable “Do you agree” or “what do you think” ?
Desperate stuff.
INIQUITOUSIV on 8TH DECEMBER 2021 11:37 PM
That article was written two and a half years ago.
Campos left Lille a year ago, but not before, it was reported, he agreed personal terms with Alfredo Morelos with a view to a transfer fee of £18m
Lille’s previous owner spent so little that at the time of the takeover their debts were reported at between €120 and €200m
Ernie.
Re Britnat vermin.
That is jhb and the posse of prick Galloway sychophants.you read on here daily.Have you not checked out the vermin links?
Refugees are welcome is the answer every time to that here,a club founded from refugees,
You.fritzrong.not a word.yet am the one who’ll get the eyeroll for reacting to that guff.Have neither of you noted the lack of criticism of corruption central? Boris.et al.
Ta for the wee bit on dissent.its as pointless and vacuous as it altered not a jot.not one life saved in Iraq with Tony.your(new).not1 life,nada,was saved,or repetition used to emphasise a non point Ernie.
Tony for a time was your cult ideological leader.The snp( cult)are not mine.no hurt here.
Ernie I would ask are you ok? You own nothing of his.
classless.
Our lion was our lion.rip.
Apologies Celts
Game day.to the business of the day now.
Madmitch.i have a spare? :-)
HH
Lille’s record signing at €30m, Jonathan David couldn’t find his arse with both hands in his first season (2020/2021)
as reported in l’equipe
Does anyone think we will be allowed a full house at Celtic Park on the 2nd January ?
Cases of Omicrom in UK are reported as doubling every two to three days and we may have as many as 1,000,000 cases by the end of the year.
If that happens, I think we will see pressure to restrict many aspects of everyday life.
The Onlooker
Lille’s business model was based around profits from player trading. Buy young, cheap, showcase in a top 5 league and sell to the epl or another big league. They couldn’t have hoped to win Ligue Un, against the richest club on the planet. They did but it couldn’t have been in the business plan, it would be fantasy and folly to include it in your thinking
From the outside it looked like it was working, they sold Nicolas Pepe for a stupid amount, 75m or thereabouts and someone else who I forget, to Napoli for even more. They borrowed big to speculate not on footballing success but on profits from player sales.
They didnt die, like rangers, but theyre living a life almost as bad, stuck in pergatory, owned by an American fund who make their living from buying cheap national debt and threatening to bankrupt entire countries who default
The worst of capitalism
It’s possibly the worst example of a small club doing well in Europe you could use as an unfavorable comparison with Celtic
The onlooker.
Let us see where the numbers take us.
If it is to be so and for health reasons.so be it.
I hope not as game day is all imo.
HH
AC Milan, also owned by Elliot Capital, finished bottom of their Champions League Group