10 years ago today Jimmy Calderwood was manager of Aberdeen. If a nostalgic journalist troubled the Tanned One on what his old club could do to prevent Celtic disappearing further over the horizon, can you imagine him saying: “The board need to bridge the gap with Celtic, spend big and put Aberdeen back where they belong”?
It would be a ridiculous suggestion. Celtic turnover circa £65m more than Aberdeen, trying to match the champions in any meaningful way would jeopardise the club’s 112 year history.
Calderwood, isn’t so daft. But Walter Smith, who 10 years ago was Rangers manager, now advises Newco to spend big in order to catch and stop Celtic. Newco will turnover around £50m less than Celtic.
Football clubs who are engaged in a competitive struggle, either cut their cloth to suit their circumstances, or are destined for insolvency. Of the tens of thousands of registered football clubs in the world, Newco, more than any, should be wedded to a strategy of matching expenditure to income. They should know better.
Live within your means, pay your bills, build up a track record of responsible trading. Develop youth talent to the best of your ability, plan seasons in advance, and you have an excellent chance of improving as a football team year-on-year. Whip up unreasonable expectations, become a serial loss-maker, crave short-term hits like an out of control addict, and your chances of sustained development are zero.
It beggars belief that in 2017, not five years since the shadow of liquidation walked up Ibrox’ marble staircase listing every asset in the building for sale, that a hugely experienced authority is putting a futile trophy hunt before the financial security of the club.
The ball is rolling on this now. The vast majority of fans only hear “Spend, spend, spend”. Responsible voices suggesting Newco spend what they earn, irrespective of the consequences on the league table, will be abused as heretics (been there).
David Murray’s ‘speculate to accumulate’ narrative needed Rangers to be competitive at the top end of an inflating market. It worked while these conditions were in place but fell apart when the market in England softened in 2001. Rangers could no longer sell their duds at a profit and the game was over. It’s not been a viable strategy in Scotland for 15 years. The subsequent crash and burn was inevitable (although liquidation wasn’t).
Any team wedded to a strategy which requires them to spend money they can ill afford, to achieve an outcome which is beyond their reach, is destined for insolvency.
Is competing for second place really that bad that you need to risk it all to ‘stop Celtic reaching 10’? Aberdeen, Hearts and Motherwell seem to enjoy their football in this reality, most fans pitch up week-after-week despite lesser ambitions. I haven’t heard a single voice of reason on the financial strategy across the city from within their own ranks.
You know how this story ends.
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Man Ure 27/10 -3 goals……
Man U v Hull free on Sky Sports Mix 407
Good evening Jobo
Bada Bing
Hull at 20/1 !!!! stranger things have happened
This has gone viral,
https://twitter.com/ebouekouassi97/status/818881901754798081
What if sevco were chasing red bull money to keep afloat? Red bull would want to change their name to red bull sevco or similar and the angry mob would get even angrier. The only way to placate the uglies would be to focus on the fear of us doing the ten.
Why haven’t the English football authorities or clubs investigated ebts being paid to managers of other clubs?
QUONNO on 10TH JANUARY 2017 7:31 PM
giving the bank manager the monkey’s paw
—————
I spat red wine across the room when I read that.
Celtic Mac on 10th January 2017 3:15 pm
Yes it just meant those on the lower reaches of MIH got swept away sooner by the wave of debt. Here is A wee addition to my post on page 2 re Walter Smith’s spending and debt levels thanks to SFM.
” RFC’s net debt peaked in 2004 at £74M. It dropped to £23M in 2005, following the £51M MHL underwritten, but BoS funded, rights issue and a £15M “windfall” from Rangers Media.The further reduction to £6M in 2006 was achieved off the back of making the last 16 of the Champions League and an £18M payment from JJB Sports.
Over the next three years the debt went up to £17M, £22M then £31M, despite reaching the CL Group stage and the UEFA Cup Final in the middle of those three seasons.”
===============================
I knew that there had been a transfer of debt due to the underwriting but could not remember the details.
Thanks for that and the other information.
Of course at the time the bank wanted their £18M back in 2011 Alistair Johnson and the media (if you include Chick Young) were stating that the debt had been reducing year on year, but not that it was the result of CL income from 2009. At £18m it still stood at 3 times greater than it had been before WS arrived and when CL income stopped, so did the merry go round.
Spin, spin spin.
Causes of Rangers Downfall?
1. Sir David Murray.
2, Walter Smith
3 Ally MCoist
Craig Whyte was more of an instrument than a cause.
There’s been a fantastic response to ***GOALS FOR SHAY*** and we now have 92 in the clique. Could we get to 100 before midnight on Friday .
You know what to do – just send a short “Gie’s a game” or “Gonnie tell me more” email to cqnpredictor@gmail.com . So that’s cqnpredictor@gmail.com . We’ll get back to you normally within 12 hours.
Remember, unlike Last Man Standing, with this new competition everyone remains in the running for the full 10 weeks. So you get a real run for your money. This is the first time we’ve tried this version but my own expectation is that there won’t be too much of a spread across the whole field. The decision about which week to play your joker could be crucial. But crucial in a fun way! ;-)
At the moment (provided everyone pays!) we’ll have raised £515 for Wee Shay and there’s a competition prizepot of £460. It’s be nice to get that up to £500.
Thanks for your support and also for your patience with these constant plugs.
AULDHEID
In my humble opinion, reasons for the downfall?
– the WATP mentality
Err, that’s it.
Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on 10th January 2017 2:52 pm
Auldheid,
How many legitimate teams did wacky watty field on the way to Mancheste, to put it another way, how many of those games would have been awarded to the opposition had registration irregularities been known.
===================
Sorry for delay. Have man flu.
It depends on what form UEFA FPP took in 2008 but if the situation at Giannina FC with reference to private agreements violating “fair presentation” in their accounts applied in 2008 (and I think it did apply ) then RFC should not have obtained a licence but the UEFA view of the Giannina case in respect of private agreements wasn’t tested by CAS and as long as they were kept private how would the SFA know (as an organisation) and so refuse a licence?
With regard to non disclosure in registration affecting eligibility, it would depend on Bryson’s interpretation being accepted by the clubs who lost out. They would have a better chance of complaint being heard and adjudged by avoiding the minutiae of the registration route and going more for a failure by RFC to act in good faith under SFA Article 5.
So would the SPFL instead of Commissioning LNS.
jimtim on 10th January 2017 5:17 pm
Are Sevco trying to Court red bull by playing there German team , and jetting in thousands of fans .
Copyright the magic hat.
——–
That’s what they seem to be praying for.
Although if I had to come up with a two-word phrase about a mega-million investment in Sevco including the word “bull”, the other word wouldn’t be Red……
Brrrrr it’s c-o-l-d
I just put the heat up. Cost ? Don’t care. Fed up Wearing’ “layers”.
I shouldn’t have looked at those Dubai pictures.
Auldheid,
So are you saying up till 2008 it was ok to have undeclared contracts ?
jmccormick on 10th January 2017 8:34 pm
AULDHEID
In my humble opinion, reasons for the downfall?
– the WATP mentality
Err, that’s it.
=================
But how does that mentality manifest itself but through individuals?
It is an attitude of mind that does not serve the holders of it well as consequences show but how do you go about changing such an attitude? My ol pal Gibran has it sussed.
On Pain
Kahlil Gibran
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
MUCH OF YOUR PAIN IS SELF CHOSEN.
IT IS THE BITTER POTION BY WHICH THE PHYSICIAN WITHIN YOU HEALS YOUR SICK SELF.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
Avoiding the pain for what? 4 to 5 years now, has postponed its healing effects.
They might need to take another dose.
MUNGOLIAN BHOY on 10TH JANUARY 2017 8:46 PM
Whack it right up and have breakfast in your Celtic kit
AULDHEID on 10TH JANUARY 2017 8:50 PM
Might just be me, but the line…
“For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,”
….seems to be missing the word “Fenian”?
;-)))
Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on 10th January 2017 8:47 pm
Auldheid,
So are you saying up till 2008 it was ok to have undeclared contracts ?
=================
No I’m saying I don’t know if I can say with certainty that the rules that saw one of the reasons Giannina were refused a licence in 2013 applied in 2008 and that not enough is known about Giannina private agreements to know with certainty that they were the equivalent of side letters.
Only UEFA would know for sure and you know what its like trying to get an answer from them.
Ask what day of the week it is and they say “new club/company” lol.
NatKnow on 10th January 2017 8:54 pm
That thought has crossed my mind a few times. :)
Celtic40me
I drew the line at tumbler of scotch and a funny cig. Your suggestion of the kit is good but a little over the top because my wife will not be amused. Cranking up is good (crank as in thermostat just be clear)
NATKNOW on 10TH JANUARY 2017 8:54 PM
AULDHEID on 10TH JANUARY 2017 8:50 PM
“For his hand, though thuggish, unfair, heavy and hard, is guided by the tender, compassionate and green Unseen Fenian Hand.”
Might just be me, but the line…
Philbhoy.
May big Moe rest in peace. Thoughts with you and your family . Take care.
PHILBHOY I missed your post about Big Moe. I think I may have known him.
Prayers said.
KTF
Philbhoy
Thoughts with your familly.
YNWA
HH
PHILBHOY-we prayer said
AULDHEID
Thanks for the reply. I concur with much of Gibran and the sentiments. However , they acknowledge no pain, just harbour a grudge.
They do not feel pain, they just crave revenge. They cannot accept the fact they have been given a second chance, they will not accept the remedy the physician has handed them. At some time in the future, decent Rangers people will accept facts and move on.
At the moment, their need for cash overcomes all reason, so they play the victim card. Charles Green rode that pony for all it was worth. However , as Dave King now sees it is a law of diminishing returns.
I have friends who are Rangers fans and I am almost embarrassed to talk to them about football now.
That shows how irrelevant they are in my eyes.
Hello muckers
Hope all is well in CQN land
The old Blogger DBBIA is now working in auld Wishaw
Free drugs all round
Love
Anyone reading the blog will know I’m a massive fan of Brendan Rodgers. However, I believe that the contact with Moussa Dembele was initially made at the end of 2015 so the credit for finding him goes elsewhere I think.
KTF
Auldheid 8:27
The debt went down from 31m to 18m in two CL seasons (say 30m coming in), so clearly they weren’t viable without this.
Knowing there was no direct entry in 2011-12 they could have sold some players in 2010. Might have helped them survive?
What did they do? Went out and spent £4m on Jelavic!
VFR800 9:29
I heard that as well HH
MUNGOLIAN BHOY on 10TH JANUARY 2017 9:00 PM
a fine way to start any day and far preferable to any 5 star Dubai buffet brunch up
I’m going to give it a go tomorrow and then go to the zoo to shake a monkeys hand
The scouting and contact was done at the end of 2015, there wasn’t any contract, I very much doubt that he would have signed had we not got Brendan in as manager, and he wasn’t scouted by John Park, that is a stone cold FACT.
VFR800
May I suggest “halo effect” for tomorrow’s word of the day
Yes I know, but
The writing was on the wall for RFC in those last few seasons. From about 2009 it was just a matter of time.
Smith’s comments nowadays are largely designed to protect his “legacy” of multiple championships and cups. That these were bought with the bank’s money and via an outrageous tax scam bothers him not one jot. His friends at Level5 will continue to cover for him by churning out absolute guff like today’s efforts.
And yet he is not a stupid man. So you have to wonder, during those last few seasons, why he didn’t take evasive action? Why didn’t he sell players – or at least stop buying them? I cannot imagine a Celtic man ploughing on like Smith did, ignoring what he must surely have been seeing with his own eyes?
I suspect Smith and Murray believed they were bulletproof. That, no matter what, RFC could not – would be allowed to – go bankrupt. Perhaps it was that famous “air of Protestant superiority” Smith himself had detected that lulled him into a false sense of security…
But throughout history, clever people do stupid things until disaster befalls them. No-one believes things will ever get really bad until they do… and I think Smith believed that RFC would be saved by a bank, a billionaire, or ultimately, a government, and he is still bitter that they weren’t.
And so, like the bandmaster on the Titanic after the iceberg had struck, he kept on playing that old familiar tune, as the briny deep engulfed all souls…
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821 on 10TH JANUARY 2017 9:29 PM
Anyone reading the blog will know I’m a massive fan of Brendan Rodgers. However, I believe that the contact with Moussa Dembele was initially made at the end of 2015 so the credit for finding him goes elsewhere I think.
KTF
=====================================================================
Was he lost ?
:-)
And the credit for signing him goes to ………………………….Brendan.
Philbhoy
Lovely words about Big Moe
May he rest in peace .
Thoughts and prayers are with u and your family.
YNWA
Game against Albion Rovers sold out already !
Thunder Road. If you’re looking in , parcel received , much appreciated . HH. Big Jimmy. Clocked your post on last thread , hope all is ok & keep quiet in the library ;-))