There comes a time during any endeavour when you have to ask, is this worth all the hassle? News revealed by Phil MacGiollabhain last week and swiftly picked up by the newspapers today that an SFA executive has had his life threatened for what some regard as holding a firm line on application of the game’s rules, are one of these occasions.
This is sport, it is not the struggle against apartheid. It really, really, isn’t worth putting your life on the line for.
The SFA executive who received the threat has not been named but he will hopefully find a degree of fortitude in the face of such intimidation. We have called for resignations from the SFA but not under these circumstances. If the recipient of the threat continues to work as normal they should be commended for their bravery.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to put football back on solid ground but whatever our game looks like in future, it must take on a different face. Ordinary football fans want their sport back, a sport where honesty and endeavour can be rewarded by success on the field.
That will have consequences for us. Celtic are far too powerful for any other club in Scotland to genuinely compete. 35 of our 41 clubs figured out they can do without Rangers and 34 of them know they can do without Celtic too.
They should remind Sevco rules are there for a reason and tell Celtic to stop mumbling about finding another league to play in and go do something about it. I could not be more convinced that every other club in Scotland would be better off if Celtic Park and Ibrox didn’t exist.
Question is, do the rest of the clubs have the balls to do something about it? Is the ‘Arab Spring in Scottish football’ over, or does it still have another chapter?
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AND it turns out that kitalba and Tom McLaughlin are the same person!
foxy..,
yer right I dont do enough, another burden, cheers pal pile it on
Martin Luther, that wellknown propagant of homosexual adoption.
Point me to those theses.
Neil
lol, just dont forget whose footprints they are. He’ll see you alright :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L97zXJJLiu0
What distance has the player who has run the most covered in the first half of the MLS All Stars v Chelsea game?
foxy..,
yer no gettin it, I’, an agnostic who wants god to win even though it will condemn me to roast in the eternal big bad fire.
So they are definately my prints :o)
hail hail
a country mile :o)
canamalar
Close! 1.9 miles. Wonder what the stats are for Celtic. Y’know, in a couldnae care, doesnae matter, but show me that stat anyway kinda way :-)
http://youtu.be/m085I8rLpMA
tarrant on 26 July, 2012 at 02:49
Well, it’s true. Luther started this Protestant caper.
With the exception of the better late than never General Church of Scotland’s intervention, up and down the country practicing and lapsed protestants of one variety or another (there’s aprox 100,000 protestant sects to choose from) are campaigning to allow same sex marriages.
Name me a practicing Catholic who advocates same sex marriage or for that matter, the guinea pig children that will go to boot?
I rest my case. Luther has a lot to answer for.
LiviBhoy – congratulations.
Song of Life
Neil
I got it alright. Did you? :-)
HH
Anyroadup,
the second to Charlie big news today is that the sfa will drop all investigaytion into Rangers FC Plc corruption charges.
The sfa will also transfer a compromised license to a new entity to Scottish football.
The new entity is to be given preferential treatment, that it will play professional football ahead of clubs who qualify using their own membership and license.
The more things change the more they stay the same innit geez
licenses that meet the 4 year audited accounts criteria and get this, full membership, no wan ay they scabboy associate jobs
Neil
I dont believe the SFA can or will circumvent the SPL investigation into Dual Contracts.
oh and another thing, sleeps good,
night night n
hail hail
No excitement tonight then.
MLS 2 2 Chelsea with 17 mins remaining.
Ball over top of Chelsea defense from Beckham. Cut back and keeper beaten rather softly at near post from about 15 yards.
“practicing and lapsed protestants of one variety or another (there’s aprox 100,000 protestant sects to choose from) are campaigning to allow same sex marriages.”
There are lapsed Roman Catholics campaigning for the same thing.
100,000 Protestant sects? Really? All operating in Scotland? Do they all have a consistent view on same sex marriage?
“Name me a practicing Catholic who advocates same sex marriage ”
I can’t name any that I know you know. Does that make me right and you wrong? What’s your point? I wouldn’t expect many practising Catholics to publicly advocate same-sex marriage, but I know some people who grew up Catholic, go to mass every week, and live in same-sex relationships. How they reconcile those aspects of their life is their problem; I am sure Darwin and Luther are foremost in their every waking thought.
Just as they are in my own married life.
tarrant
that’s a coherent argument you’ve presented.
live and let live.
HH
MLS score 1 minute into added time from a rather lucky deflection.
MLS come back from 2-1 down to beat Chelsea 3-2.
Hold on Xhelsea have a free kick on edge of box with the clock on 93 minutes. Wall blocks shot 3-2 Chelsea beaten.
I wonder if the Chelsea Quick News site will be full of negative comments.
European Champions humbled in PA.
Just wondering, given the acute timeframe, if Brechin have understandably gone ahead, in good faith and splashed out a lot of dosh on various facilities, security etc…. for the impending clash with SSL, what if SSL don’t get their registration and the whole thing collapses into a cesspit (oops too late – I should say “fails to get out of the cesspit”), who will compensate Brechin and all other businesses who lose a packet when the SSL (w)hoardes don’t show up?
Or are they just added to the long list of victims of the RFC (deid) fraud?
Also, given the fact that the SFA have discarded the rule book so as not to apply any real punishment to RFC (deid), will any punishments ever be applied to any club again?
Obvious answer is, Yes, providing your club isn’t any mutation of RFC (deid).
Certainly, when it comes to looking up any SFA rule books in future, I will be sure to look under the fiction section in the library.
the sfa cant circumvent the Dual Contract investigation.
the sfa are the governing body for any appeal process.
should be interesting.
if oldco Rangers have been found guilty of fielding ineligible players surely the vast majority of football supporters will demand sporting integrity?
Or is that a step too far for Scotland?
Stripping oldco Rangers of honours would mean Celtic would be the main beneficiaries.
Sporting integrity in the best wee sectarian country in the world might not stretch that far.
Livibhoy
Congratulations to you and your good Lady. As a poster said earlier… Brings it all back. Heartwarming indeed. Your life now has another beautiful dimension Livibhoy…
Welcome Charlie!
Foxy: you have the choice of beneficiaries:
1. Sporting Integrity (and Celtic primarily benefitting from reawarding of titles etc..).
2. Sevco (with the game clearly being run purely for their benefit).
The crux of this whole saga is :
if you are not going to apply the rules equally to all members, no matter how large they are, no matter costs in terms of TV contracts etc…, then your rules are not worth having.
One of the worst aspects of this is that not only RFC (deid) one of the largest clubs in the game, they are also by far and away the worst flaunters of the rules in the history of the game.
Allowing them to get away with it is telling every club in the land, if you are going to cheat, make sure you do it on a large scale.
Oh, I keep forgetting that particular rule only applies to RFC (deid).
Every club in the SFA should be screaming at the top of their heads, “if you are going to kick teams out of competitions for trivial misdemeanors, you MUST kick RFC out of the game for their gross misconduct and outright corruption.”
Don’t ask the SFA executive to do this, they are simply an extension to RFC (deid) anyway. It must be the whole of the SFA.
Why are we even discussing this? That in itself is a disgrace.
RFC (deid) should only ever be disgussed in the past tense.
.
Champions League review
Drama at Zagreb, TNS lose out
July 25, 2012
Email Print
By ESPN staff
There was drama at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League qualifiers as Domagoj Vida scored a 98th minute winner against Ludogorets Razgrad to avoid a shock away goals defeat.
After the first leg had ended 1-1, Ludogorets twice went ahead through Emil Gargorov and Marcelinho only to be pegged back by a brace from Ante Rukavina.
And with an incredible eight minutes of added on time already passed, Vida popped up to give the Croatians a late win and send them through to meet FC Sheriff Tiraspol.
Elsewhere, Welsh side The New Saints were eliminated after a 3-0 second-leg defeat to Helsingborg.
TNS earned a creditable goalless draw in the first leg but fell behind after only eight minutes tonight when Walid Atta scored from Jere Uronen’s corner.
Thomas Sorum made it 2-0 before half-time and Alvaro added a late third for the Allsvenska outfit.
And Linfield were also eliminated after a goalless draw with Cypriot side AEL, having lost the first leg 3-0.
Summa
disgussed = discussed
.
Courtesy The Herald..
Celtic must put the brakes on Helsinki momentum
CELTIC are at that daft yet entirely logical point of a season when HJK Helsinki are a whole lot more worrying than Inter Milan.
A Finnish club with little continental pedigree can suddenly seem far more dangerous than a three-time European Cup winner when millions of pounds are on the line.
Celtic and HJK meet over the next two Wednesdays to contest a place in the Champions League play-offs, preceded for the Parkhead club by an attractive but meaningless home friendly against the giants from Italy. The Scottish champions are a bigger, richer and more prestigious club than their Finnish counterparts . . . and yet there are grounds for them to feel anxious. Being up-and-running in competitive football is a major advantage at this time of the year and Helsinki have already motored through 18 league games and two European qualifiers since their season began in April. Celtic aren’t even out of the starting blocks, have played only five friendlies in which they have conceded seven goals and scored only two.
It is to their detriment – and a great leveller for a tie in which they would otherwise be favourites – that they are short of match fitness and touch just when a pair of strong performances will be essential. “Helsinki are probably in their best shape now,” said Mikael Lustig, Celtic’s Swedish international right-back. “To be honest, I don’t think we are going to be in our best shape in a week’s time, but we will be better than we are now. I think can get through without being at our absolute best but you cannot have that attitude in your mind. The possibility of playing in the Champions League here had a lot to do with my decision to sign. Celtic is a club that should play in Europe every year.”
Interestingly, given his own nationality and previous career in Scandinavian football, Lustig understood the general perception in this country that the champions of Scotland should usually get the better of the champions of Finland. “Absolutely. And we should be better than them. That is the answer. But they won 2-0 against Schalke last year so anything can happen in football. Why do I say we should be better? Because hopefully we have better players and are a bigger club.”
It was a year ago today that HJK defeated Schalke 2-0 in Finland and Celtic manager Neil Lennon will be as mindful of that as he will be that they crashed 6-1 in the second leg in Germany. Celtic have lost late summer/autumn qualifiers against Braga, Utrecht and Sion in Lennon’s time in charge and if the Finns represent a step down in class compared to those teams, the drop is not enormous.
“Helsinki have got momentum from playing in their league, week in week out,” said Fraser Forster, the goalkeeper whose contractual conversion from loan to permanent signing remains only Celtic’s piece of incoming business so far this summer. “That makes it tough but it’s pointless worrying about it.
“And fitness-wise you can achieve so much in a week at this stage of the season. It’s just about that balance of getting the fitness work in and playing games as well. We’ve still got another week before the first game and we’ll achieve a lot in that time.”
The first third of what became a championship-winning season was deeply turbulent for Celtic a year ago. They were immediately eliminated from the Europa League by FC Sion only to be a given a reprieve, and a place in the group stage, because the Swiss were punished for fielding ineligible players. In the Clydesdale Bank SPL they were 15 points behind in November, albeit with two games in hand. There was a lack of stability which was reflected in the fact their first 16 matches of the campaign featured 15 back-four combinations.
That degree of uncertainty could be unsettling for a goalkeeper, Forster admitted. “Whether we play a three or four, or whatever we play, it’s just nice to have a settled team. When we went on a great run last year it was almost the same 11 players every week, and then the ones who did come in did really well. But I think it is most important to have a solid back unit and spine of the team.”
Forster was at the club’s Lennoxtown training centre yesterday to promote ticket sales for the Inter Milan friendly, which kicks off at Parkhead at 1.30pm on Saturday. “It’s a great game to play just before going into the Champions League. It’s a real test because we’ll have to work hard for 90 minutes against their quality players. It’s the perfect game to get everyone that bit fitter and sharper.”
Tickets for the match are still available and can be purchased from the Celtic Park ticket office, by telephoning 0871 226 1888 or via http://www.celticfc.net
Summa
Who in Dec 2011 believed the Ghosts of Govan would be in D3 and not 3D?
Despite the best efforts of everyone from Alec Salmond to Ally McCoist they have been mercilessly and remorselessly pursued and punished.
Despite the best efforts of the MSM succulent lamb consumers, a grass roots effort by genuine fans of every club in Scotland, except for the Ghosts, has seen some kind of integrity prevail.
All of this and no sign of the BTC verdict from the FTT.
Thanks to the efforts of the cyber flash mobs, we are all familiar with the rules of the game, and have continually embarrassed the establishment to such an extent that they are cowering in cover protecting their fat sedentary sinecures.
Now what?
Given current negotiations is it feasible that the Ghosts will inherit their predecessors’ license?
Will we be satisfied that despite their lack of the proper qualifications they will still take their plaice in the chip shop cup?
Not me. I will only be happy when Celtic use their clout to ensure the rules are strictly applied without fear or favour.
Will Peter pursue the people responsible for this charade?
I hope so, but I have no confidence that he will.
Hoping that the FTT will provide cover to ban them and strip their titles is not an option. You can be sure that having avoided their due punishment, an accommodation will be found to allow them to slither back into life.
How will we feel then?
Let’s enforce the rules today to avoid tears tomorrow.
.
GG..
I Wonder how the Succulent Spam will taste in Brechin..
Summa
Mea Culpa on 26 July, 2012 at 04:53
Der Hunnes believes she is holding all the cards.
McCoist Khrushchev’s “Strip our titles and we’ll go down, but we’ll take the whole lot of you with us. No Sky sponsorship etc. Just try it”
That’s what he said in so many words.
Brinkmanship’s in play here.
Question is, is there a Kennedy within the SFA/SPL that is willing to demand Sevco stand down, or else?
No other club in Scotland, except Celtic, will demand Der Hunnes pays for her dual contract crimes.
No other club will take sporting integrity that far.
I hope I’m wrong but there’s still a danger of a carve up in these proceedings.
Breaching is a remarkably unremarkable town in an unremarkable county.
Abroath has haddies.
Forfar has Bridies.
Carnoustie has a golf course.
Montrose has the marines.
But who has heard of anything useful or famous coming from Brechin?
Perhaps the Huns will complete their Manchester mission and bring fame and pain to the town everyone bypasses.
Breaching = Brechin. Bloody iPad.
Morning Celts
Did Mr Green pass a fit and proper person test or is that transferring from Whyte to Green? Or D&P to Green?
One of them took the old Huns into administration the others took them into liquidation.
A test and a half that eh!
‘GG
If Sunday goes ahead, hopefully the wee toon will be fondly remembered as the location of the first game in which Sevco Scotland Ltd got their smelly-Rsees whopped!
Good morning CQN and lurkers wherever you are. It’s a beautiful morning in G72 and just the day for cycling round old Millport wi’ a picnic.
HH
Livibhoy
Welcome to Charlie the newest addition to Timdom!
Congratulations to you both!
Hail Hail
Livibhoy 01.07 – hehehe what a way to make an announcement.
Sincere congratulations to you, Mrs LB and wee Charlie Bhoy.