I’ve been to a few non-Celtic games over the years and always found is striking the different reaction mid-table teams have to a defeat compared to how we react. There is simply not the expectation that every game has to be won. For most of the last 40-odd years Celtic have been nip-and-tuck with a direct opponent at the top of the league, so a single defeat can have a significant bearing on league title prospects.
Even when we were not involved in a close league race, the desire to win by an astonishing number of points provided an edge, whereas, back in the 90s, the chasm between Celtic and the top was made increasingly unbearable by each passing defeat.
This season is different. We’ve dropped 10 points in 10 games but substantial evidence exists that the team is making solid progress, a fact not disputed by the support, even as they left Celtic Park on Saturday. For most, the distress of defeat has tempered.
We’re two points ahead of three teams at the top of the league, with a game in hand, which makes this the most competitive SPL ever. The gap between second and second last is just six points, St Mirren who sit second bottom, would be level on points with joint-second St Johnstone had they won the game between these two earlier this month.
All this honest competition has resulted in a rise in average attendances for most clubs during “Armageddon”. It’s too easy to poke fun at the miscalculations of the SPL and SFA chief executives who believed the game needed a fatally flawed giant in the top flight. Instead, what it needed was genuine competition, which we have, to a degree.
Hibs, Aberdeen and St Johnstone are all two points from the top of the table while Inverness and Killie are only one win below them. Can you imagine how good a league this would be without the last remaining over-sized behemoth?
The SPL didn’t need Rangers, in fact, it is a better, more competitive league without them. The same goes for Celtic. We are not good for the league and do nothing for Aberdeen, United, Hibs or clubs who want nothing but a sporting chance in the game. Many of these clubs seem to have Stockholm Syndrome; locked into the belief that they need to be with their tormentors.
If I was writing a blog about any of these clubs I’d tell Celtic to go find themselves some fantasy football league and let the rest of the country get back to a proper sporting endeavour. They have nothing to lose but their loser labels.
The next issue of CQN Magazine is due out shortly, let me know if you would like to advertise, advert@cqnmagazine.co.uk.
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Conrad Black : another mendacious old fraudster using HIGNFY as a platform to spout his tripe….who got him on there? Some rank apologist PR ratbag no doubt.
They’ll have Minty on there one day to give the duped the benefit of his affable bollox and lies.
This is the world we’re forced to tolerate. Airbrushed atrocities and glossy fantasy to substitute for truth.
The so called Shame Game.
Red cards for huns.
Huns assistant manager threatening our manager.
Hun players manhandling the referee.
Government calling a summit.
The only one who gets punished……Lenny….go figure.
Bada, yeah it is a little bitchy.
Decent prog but I think the two regulars are as funny as cancer.
Who is Conrad Black ?
ThickasminceCSC
How does the average fan register support for the GB? Is there a way?
TET
Ex-Canadian publisher who is now.a lord.
Was sent to the big house a while back but got some of the charges overturned.
miki67
Ian Hyslop gives him a right hard time!! Good to watch btw.
Geordie Munro
Never heard of him, that’s what I get for living in a cave I suppose :>)
TET,
I could lie and say I had before tonight;)
ConRat Black used to own The Torygraph and got caught bang at it. What he’s doing over here on a top visual valium show is mystifying. Some funny handshake deal I’d think.
Whyte? Green? Black? Neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
RTC on TSFM
I do not know when the news will be released publicly, and I do not know the exact outcome yet either. However, this is unfolding as we would expect. The amount that went through EBTs for MIH companies (obviously excluding Rangers) is just about £11m. This includes over £6m for David Murray himself.
The MIH exposure is obviously not huge then. The next biggest beneficiary who is not a Rangers employee received less than £800k.
The company (various subsidiaries) will be responsible for paying the tax bills in the first instance. As MIH is still going, it will be Lloyds that will effectively pick up most of the MIH bill.
As Rangers have no means of covering bills, it is quite possible for HMRC to go after individuals- including players.
If MIH have a significant liability it will be clear that the panel agrees with HMRC that the entire Murray usage of the scheme was a sham. By this I mean that a significant MIH bill would mean that the panel was not requiring evidence of a contractual basis on an individual transaction basis. Under these conditions, Rangers’ bill would be large. Very large. Of course, we do not know this to be the case yet.
The other biggest factor in determining the bill is whether the FTT contributions are considered net of tax or gross of tax. To explain in detail, Rangers contributed about £49m to staff through EBTs. If this is considered before tax, then the bill would be at most £24.5m (before interest). If considered after tax, the bill would be as high as £49m (before interest).
Justice would require a bill approaching £49m as this was the economic benefit obtained from using the scheme. (If they had paid tax, they would have had to find an extra £49m). However, on some legal technicalities, it is quite possible (even likely) that the payments will be ruled to be pre-tax i.e. we just take roughly half of the amount as the tax bill.
Interest is likely to roughly double the amount of the underpayment. So we can expect to see bills of anywhere from £16-49m plus that again in interest. Any result in this range would be conclusive proof that Rangers were engaged in cheating on a huge scale.
To be savaged by Ian Hislop is to gain credence in the public eye. See Boris Johnston for proof. That evil buffoon used the programme as a launch pad for his dubious political career….successfully.
Makes me wonder what Black wants….a tax-free domicile, probably, like half the world’s super rich see London in these wonderful times of ours.
Scum like him won’t have problems with fuel bills this miserable winter.
FTT?? doh!!
WTT as well please.
RTC has seen the report then :>)
Miki, there’s a lot of anger in there. Let it out ;)
Buddy M, cheers for that. Very interesting.
Get that tip iPox levelled, fenced off and dismissed as a toxic waste site in perpetuity.
That’s do for me.
And to see Sally and Jabba on the lash, floggin’ the big issue. A double act on Sauciehall St.
And Murray bein’ visited by Walturd in the Bar-L.
And..
And…
Merry Christmas to all orcs…..hahahahahaha!
Anger at injustice is cathartic….
Rave on, rave on.
That’s me.
Nae worries.
: > )
buddy morrisey23:45 on 29 October, 2012
>>>>
Ta for spreading the joy!
HH!
I love Borris, cracking actor so he was :>)
BBC2. Bafta tribute to Bond.
Jayne Seymour…..ffs
Time for bed.
Should get a lie in, the weans are home now, long time till Easter till we see them again :<(
Take crae and god bless Timland.
HH
WTT?
FTT?
So ill go to my grave not knowing!!!
Afore I go, I don’t supose our game is on the box the morra ?
I looked on the sausage site and it wasn’t on their schedule.
Sanna,,
Understand but just my view and perception, think though that you are in the minority.
I don’t think so TET.
Bbc doing hertz v utd on Wednesday is the only lc game I see.
The Exiled Tim
Conrad Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaH7yj4w_Ag
zimmerman
I quite enjoyed that :>)
Wonder if Jeremy would fancy a wee shot at minty ???????
Anyways, was DI worth it ?
GM
Looks like it’s the radio then, unless the sausage channel deems our game worthy :>)
Really have to go now.
Nite again.
HH
KTF
By EWING GRAHAME
SO dismayed was Celtic manager Neil Lennon by his team’s display in Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by Kilmarnock that he revealed yesterday that his players no longer enjoy his complete trust.
Fortunately for the miscreants, they have the opportunity to perform an act of contrition by beating St Johnstone in tonight’s Scottish Communities League Cup quarter-final at Celtic Park. That outcome would partially redeem them in Lennon’s eyes, although one suspects the disappointment he felt on Saturday will take some time to recede.
Lennon was as scathing in his assessment of his team’s performance at the weekend as he had been fulsome in his praise for their defiance in the Nou Camp four days earlier and, while he concedes that the five changes he made was too drastic an alteration to his starting 11, he was swift to point out that those who came in could hardly be described as peripheral players.
“[James] Forrest has been playing, [Kris] Commons has been playing, [Adam] Matthews has been playing,” he said. “[Beram] Kayal hadn’t been playing because he was injured but he came in last week at St Mirren. Miku has been in and out of the team. So it’s not as if none of them have been playing.
“I don’t want them to be seen as bit-part players, I want them to be part of the squad like everyone else. When they play like that, it makes it a little bit more difficult for me to trust them. They are going to have to earn that trust again. [Saturday] was an unnecessary performance off the back of things going so well for us. It was a huge dose of reality. I just want the players to show a little more humility at times as well.
“But we have discussed it and it will not be mentioned again. I don’t want to keep taking four steps forward and one back, or whatever it is. They have been playing some scintillating football and I just want them to get back to that.
“What surprised me was the drop in performance and tempo, compared to what it has been over the last three or four weeks. I didn’t envisage us playing so poorly and so flatly, but that just shows you it can happen. When things are going well I don’t want them getting carried away. I’m not saying they are getting carried away but all the great teams have [humility].
“There’s Barcelona, who won 5-0 away at the weekend. The great teams just keep going: they don’t rest on their laurels, sit back and say ‘I’m a good player, I’ve cracked it.’
“They just keep going the same way. They don’t get too carried away with themselves, they have that even balance. That’s what I want: they don’t get too low when they get beat and not too high when they win. I want a good response to Saturday.”
Lennon experienced the undulations of playing AC Milan in midweek and Dunfermline in the following match as recently as 2007. He also knows that it’s bread-and-butter results which fund a caviare lifestyle and not only does he refuse to make allowances for his players, he has warned them that they won’t be involved in the European theatre unless they justify their selection in domestic games.
“That’s an easy way out,” he said. “There was just no excuse for the lack of quality in our overall performance. Up until then our domestic form has been blistering, if you look at Motherwell, Hearts, St Mirren. Interspersed was winning in Moscow, doing so well there. So their form going into the game was pretty good.
“It’s a learning process for me because of the different demands and for the players, who are maybe playing Champions League for the first time. But we can’t, and they can’t, pin all their hopes on Champions League football and raise their game for these glamour games or whatever you want to call them. The SPL is the priority and if they are going to [under-achieve as they did against Kilmarnock], then they won’t play.”
Lennon exonerated Venezuelan striker Miku from blame, however. The 27-year-old, a loan signing from La Liga outfit Getafe, has yet to score in four appearances but the Irishman believes that the goals will come. “Miku I have a certain sympathy for,” he said. “I think the other players could have done a bit more for him. He is taking his time to adapt to the Scottish game but there was a lot of good stuff off the ball that he was doing. We didn’t get the benefit of that because we were so pedestrian and lacklustre. So he can be excused: the rest can’t.
“He’s desperate to do well. There’s nothing wrong with his attitude, he hasn’t been behaving badly or anything like that. He has been an excellent professional. His young wife and baby are here now and it takes a bit of time to acclimatise. Sometimes it takes six months. I’m sure we’ll see the best of him over the course of the season.”
Celtic haven’t lost three successive games since Lennon was a member of Gordon Strachan’s side which was beaten by AC Milan, Rangers and Falkirk five years ago. He has no intention of repeating that unwanted treble against St Johnstone, whose seven-game unbeaten run began with a victory over the champions at McDiarmid Park last month.
“I want a positive reaction from the weekend,” he said. “Plus St Johnstone have already beaten us. That’ll be echoing round the dressing room before the game.
“So we will be very motivated. It is also the quarter-final of a cup competition and we want to maintain our participation in all four competitions that we’re in. The next game is the most important one and we will be pretty strong tomorrow.”
It’s pathetic that Peter Houston has to apologise over a number
By James Traynor | 29 Oct 2012 00:33
HIBS scored four goals at Fir Park and you’d have thought all of their fans would have been high as kites.
Of course referee Stevie O’Reilly made a complete backside of his work, disallowing what was a perfectly legitimate goal and awarding three penalties, all of which were debatable.
The official didn’t finish the match because of a leg injury but it was probably just a chronic case of embarrassment. But don’t worry, Stevie will recover to do it all over again. Referees always do.
Despite the blunders, Hibs fans should have been thrilled with the 4-0 win over Motherwell.
But instead they preferred to rage at Peter Houston. The Dundee United boss was working as a pundit at the match and later told of being assailed by fans upset by, wait for it, a number.
Houston said Hibs supporters were storming down the aisles to have a go at him because he allowed short-term signing Rudi Skacel to be registered as player 51. An obvious reference to Hearts’ 5-1 Scottish Cup win over Hibs at the end of last season.
Skacel scored two of the goals which heaped humiliation on Hibs and their fans, who clearly are still suffering. They rounded on Houston claiming he must have known what Skacel was up to when he asked for the No.51 jersey but United’s manager insists he didn’t make the link.
Houston, of course, also has a connection to Tynecastle, where he spent eight years, but he had to plead ignorance. And he offered an apology. “I never thought of 51 in terms of it having anything to do with Hearts. That’s the truth,” he said. “Hibs are a fantastic club and it’s not my style to go out to be a wind-up merchant.”
A lot of Hibees won’t believe him but I heard the interview and he sounded genuine. Besides, I know him to be an honest broker and it isn’t in his make up to deliberately bait others.
Even so, he shouldn’t have said sorry. He shouldn’t even have been explaining. It’s only a number.
Have we really become so precious and PC that a childish sense of humour can cause such offence that a manager, who must have much more to worry about, feels he has to apologise because one of his players wants to wear a number signifying a famous win?
Those Hibs supporters who rushed to remonstrate with Houston need to get a grip. They should lighten up and realise that by reacting the way they did when Skacel was given the 51 jersey they were doing what he wanted.
If they’d ignored him it might have become an empty gesture but instead they’ve made him feel important. They’ve given him credence and allowed him to laugh at them.
This bleaching of the game has gone too far and this ludicrous row over a couple of digits proves it.
Also, are these Hibs fans suggesting that the 5-1 battering be purged from memory? It’s easy to understand why they’d like what was, for them, an awful Hampden experience to be erased but it can’t be dismissed. It happened. Live with it.
If they really want something done about it they should be looking to their own players and manager. Tell them the only way they can make the hurt go away is to win something.
It won’t be the League Cup but there’s always the Scottish. And no, I’m not having a laugh at Hibs’ expense. It’s true they haven’t won the trophy since 1902 – a number that should cause genuine anger –and have been found wanting in finals since but this side look capable.
Also, the way things are going at the other end of Edinburgh the chances are it will be Hibs who are gloating. Hearts are in serious trouble with HMRC pursuing them for a £1.75million tax bill that could be close to £4m by the time penalties and interest are added.
The tax man has been looking at the way players have been brought in from Lithuania during Vladimir Romanov‘s scatty reign and, like Rangers with their EBTs, serious questions have to be answered.
Also just like the Ibrox club, Hearts are hoping to raise cash through a share issue. But fans of both clubs should set their passion and loyalty to the side and think long and hard before handing over any more money.
Hearts desperately need almost £2m just to survive so their need is obvious but Rangers, we are told, have their investors.
The new owners always said they wanted to let fans be part of the rebuilding of the club but the truth is they’ve already bought into the new beginning.
They’ve bought the tickets and turn up for Third Division matches in incredible numbers.
There needs to be a clear indication of how any money brought in through the issue will be used. Guarantees will also be required because owners and directors come and go. Supporters stay for life.
They are always the ones who have to pick up the pieces when the daft and usually outrageous visions of chairmen and owners are exposed as empty rhetoric.
In Rangers’ case fans did get some kind of heady run for the massive, and often ridiculous, sums spent on players.
But Hearts? Their long-suffering saw the team win the Scottish Cup twice – don’t mention the most recent triumph in case Hibs fans get upset – and reach a Champions League play-off. They also saw their team split the Old Firm.
On the face of it that’s not bad but when you consider what Romanov promised, it isn’t too clever. He said there would be good times, titles and European success but now fans have to pay again just to keep the club going.
They know the plug can be pulled at any time, especially if they don’t come up with the £1.79m required, and are on the horns of a horrible dilemma. It’s they, rather than Hibs fans, who should be raging at the numbers.
Exiled Tim,
If your still around,DI was excellent,
will post a snippet when your back on.
“Besides, I know him to be an honest broker and it isn’t in his make up to deliberately bait others.”
Ha ha ha ha ha the kiss of death, jabba knows how to spot an honest broker, Houston might consider legal action :oD)))))
.
Summa of Sammi….
22:52 on
29 October, 2012
.
Mea Culpa..
The reporter at Parkhead started his commentary : “Larsson” that’s all we heard. The room erupted in celebration.
That moment will live with me forever.
Much has been said about which event played the biggest part in the death of RFC.
Yes, big Jock’s achievements cannot be matched and obviously played the biggest part.
But that goal, by Henrik Larsson, WTT’s great gift to Celtic, not only stopped TIAR but proved to be the death-knell of RFC.
From WTT to FTT, so it was written. So it was done.
..
Sorry Mea Culpa..
Need to Disagree..I Know the Exact Minute..The H*ns a SDM Tea was Oot..
The Famous YouTube Classic..’Last Day of the Transfer Window’
2 Mins 58 Secs in..
SDM Says to His Loyal Inner Circle..”Get My Jet go to Manchester and..Get me Samaras..!!”
To Which His Inner Circle Replied..whilst stairing at the floor..”Sammi has Signed for Timmy..!!..Mien Fuhrer..!!”
That was THEE Moment The H*ns were Gone..:O)
Summa of TheBeginingOfTheSummerOfSamarasCSC
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
OK..My Memory is Not the best..
It is even Better than l remember..Still Very Funny after all this Time..I Forgot they had Christian Dailly Jeezo..
Last Day of the Transfer Wind at iBrox..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yqh09ga1Z8
Ps..Is it Just me or Does the Guy playing SDM in the Clip look like a Young Charles Green..:O)
Summa of DisiplesOfTheProphetSamarasCSC
SUMMA
Good to see that one again.
This one came up as an option afterwards-nearly as funny….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dolQLnfXzCk
.
Watt claims his future is in east end of Glasgow
Hugh Macdonald
THE conundrum for Tony Watt is to move forward quickly while staying in the same place.
The 18-year-old striker has made a sudden but significant impact at Celtic with his 10 appearances producing five goals.
He is not about to be distracted by speculation about moves away from Parkhead.
“I am a Celtic player. This is where I want to be, so it doesn’t bother me,” he said of reports of Barclays Premier League scouts watching him. “If the club want to tie me down for the next couple of years, then they can. I am happy to be there. I want to play for Celtic and that’s it.
“My agent knows I want to stay here. Everybody does – my family, my friends.”
This air of certainty is also reflected when Watt talks of his future. Asked if he is ahead of schedule in his career, he replies with a blunt “No.”
He believed he was on a “high” at the end of last season and has capitalised on the absence of Georgios Samaras and Anthony Stokes through injury.
“The gaffer obviously feels I have done well because he has moved me up the pecking order to be in the squad regularly,” said Watt. “I do not know if it has come quickly because at the end of last season, I was high. Obviously, I have not just been a one-hit wonder.”
He added: “I can keep going higher if I do the right things and, hopefully, I can keep going at this pace.” Celtic play St Johnstone tonight in the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final and Watt rues a miss in the last moments in the recent defeat to the Perth side and in the loss to Kilmarnock on Saturday.
However, his confidence remains undimmed. “Obviously, it was a bad miss,” he said of the spurned opportunity on Saturday. “But there is nothing I can do about that, bar put the next one away.”
Summa