Lazio won their ninth successive Serie A game at the weekend, a club record. Currently, the second longest winning streak in the league is two games. They are third in the table, three points off top. They have not dropped a point since before their first game against Celtic in October, and in that time they beat Juventus in the league and Supercoppa Italiana.
Apart from the two defeats to Celtic, the only other game they have failed to win in this sequence was the Europa dead rubber in Rennes.
Not that Rennes are a pushover. They have not dropped a point in five Ligue 1 games since their loss at Celtic Park in November, a run that puts them in third place. By contrast, Moussa Dembele’s Lyon, who are twelfth in Ligue 1, qualified for the Champions League knockout stage.
Were it not for one horrible performance we would be glowing at the halfway point of the season. We won a remarkable Europa League group, picked up our customary League Cup and sailed through the league campaign until a December, when a few narrow wins were a portent to a painful defeat. This does not make achieving the improvement that is required easier. Paradoxically, revisions need to take place on the side that won their Europa group to ensure we improve in the SPFL.
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Hoops Fans:
Check out Milan TV during their recent 5-0 humiliation by Atalanta. Incredible emotion, builds up gradually. Just wish it was RangersTV a couple of weeks ago.
IniquitousIV
https://youtu.be/jiPP_FNlewc
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 6TH JANUARY 2020 8:57 PM
The kneejerk anti – Board response to any , and that is ANY , reversal in the fortunes of Celtic , on or off the field , I used to find concerning.
It`s starting to become amusing .
If supporting Celtic is so painful for them , why do they continue to do it ?
=============================
Alternatively as it becomes ever clearer that Celtic are not only ripping the piss out of the support and shareholders since 2012, by pretending to be taking the SFA to task, but are turning the p into a fizzy drink, that some will still drink it, in spite of the smell?
Now why would I, a guy who likes to be able to post evidence based comments, say that ?
HOT SMOKED on 6TH JANUARY 2020 8:02 PM
” Naturally, we will be contacting the Scottish FA regarding our concerns. Scottish football deserves a disciplinary process which is fair, consistent and fit for purpose.”
ie The SFA process is not fair, not consistent and not fit for purpose.What else could The Board say?
Remember, also. We are in Scotland where Celtic ARE treated differently.
=========================
Hot Smoked
If Carlsberg did irony .
Here are the arguments put to the Celtic Board at the AGM for taking Resolution 12 away from the failed SFA Judicial Panel Protocol (which houses the disciplinary process) but Celtic voted down and were content to leave judgement with the SFA on questionable grounds the matter is between the SFA and another member club.
It isn’t , it is about the SFA . A professional accountants report being delivered by disrespected shareholders to Celtic spells this out and leaves Celtic with little piss to rip and no fizzy drink to serve back.
1. Was just an opening attempt at a joke at BRTH’s loquacious expense.
2. First of all, can I congratulate the board and the club as a whole in winning a record treble treble, for securing continued European Football in the new year and for delivering a set of business results which many businesses, let alone football clubs, would envy.
3. Regrettably, however, I stand before the board and my fellow shareholders with the unenviable task of reminding everyone within this room of a real and present danger to the value of this club in footballing and commercial terms.
4. As a Scottish Football Club, Celtic can only play football, market its footballing brand, its famous shirt, this iconic stadium and the whole club’s unique, unbroken and remarkable history – if it abides by the rules and regulations of the Scottish Football Association – a body which is a Governing body, a mandatory trade association, a legislative authority, a licensing authority, and which, when necessary oversees and administers a judicial function.
5. Without membership of a properly functioning SFA this club cannot -simply cannot – play or trade.
6. In 2013, shareholders came before the board and requested that certain matters be referred by the board to UEFA – of which Celtic is a valued and key member – and which body entrusted the granting of licences and the enforcement of their rules in Scotland to the SFA.
7. Our position was that the SFA had failed in its licensing and administrative function, had failed to properly oversee the licensing process, and was so compromised that the situation demanded a referral to another body – we recommended UEFA – and still do.
8. In response, the board said that our resolution was not necessary but expressed sympathy with the matters raised and advised that it shared our concerns. We were also told that the board were in correspondence with the SFA about these same issues and concerns.
9. After various meetings, it was agreed to adjourn the resolution to allow matters to be properly pursued with the SFA rather than with UEFA leading to jibes on social media that the resolution had been kicked into the long grass
10. Long grass could perhaps be better described as a jungle – and I can assure everyone here that the modern SFA would not enjoy any length of time in what was Celtic’s Jungle.
11. Six years on, after maintaining that there was nothing to see, that nothing had been done wrong, that there was nothing to report to UEFA, that even if there had been something wrong they could do nothing about it because of time bar, and for all sorts of other reasons that have since proven to be either inaccurate, misconceived or to be just plain rubbish, we now find that we are in a truly remarkable situation whereby;
(a) The SFA ignored and rejected this board’s call for a full independent legal inquiry into what occurred over a number of years within Scottish Football – which call was also made by SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster. Neither the SPFL nor Celtic seem to carry sufficient weight with the SFA in this regard.
(b) Instead the SFA wrote to all clubs in 2017 and advised that they would carry out their own internal inquiry into the UEFA licensing process followed in 2011/2012.
(c) As a result of that inquiry the SFA determined that they had uncovered sufficient evidence to bring disciplinary charges alleging breaches of both SFA and UEFA rules – this many years after we had claimed that there had been such breaches and after many years of telling us and Celtic that there was nothing to investigate.
(d) In June 2018, a formal judicial panel appointed by the SFA to consider the evidence and determine the charges, formally reported that – THE SFA WERE NOT THE COMPETENT LEGAL BODY TO CONDUCT ANY HEARINGS OR MAKE ANY RULINGS ON THE CHARGES CONCERNED OR THEIR SUBJECT MATTER – WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT WE AS SHAREHOLDERS ASKED THIS BOARD TO RECOGNISE SOME SIX YEARS AGO!
(e) Unbelievably, it would appear that, according to the judicial panel, in relation to this matter and for the only time in its entire history, or in the history of UEFA, The SFA has by way of a secret written contract agreed that it cannot legally conduct hearings or enforce the implementation of its own rules or the rules of UEFA within its own jurisdiction thereby creating a fissure in its own judicial
(f) Not only that, the three corporate officers who implemented this process, Messrs Reagan, MacKInlay and McGlennan, must all have known that the SFA had entered into this contract which plainly says they cannot conduct the disciplinary process which they implemented.
(g) All three officers have now left the building, bolted out the door, leaving behind an administrative and judicial mess of farcical proportions.
(h) However, that was fully 18 months ago. In the interim period SFA officers told this board that that there was no reason not to implement the judicial panel ruling which said that the charges should go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. THEY TOLD YOU THAT SO THAT YOU WOULD TELL US AND SO WE WOULD WAIT AND WAIT AND WAIT FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS EVENTUALY POSED AT LAST AGM AND STILL NOT ANSWERED.
(i) The current position is that Iain Maxwell SFA CEO made a public statement in mid-June saying that the SFA would not let the issue go on for ever, that it would come back to the SFA board in the not-too-distant future and that going to CAS was still under consideration.
(j) The latter is completely different to what they said would happen last AGM and how far into a not too distant future is 5 months?
(k) We are not at all sure what signal this sends out to everyone involved in Scottish Football , what degree of confidence they can have in a Judicial process cracked by a clause in the no longer secret 5 Way Agreement.
(l) As the board know, we have instructed solicitors and indeed have consulted counsel about this farcical administration and all correspondence from our lawyers to the SFA over an 18 month period costing around £11K have met with no response, continued obfuscation and deliberate and calculated delay in giving any sensible or coherent explanation.
And yet this board maintains that the matter should be left in the hands of this wholly dysfunctional corporate body who have no idea what they are doing or what they are legally entitled to do.
SO I have to ask The Board – are you crazy?
The argument to AGM then went on………
We know you have said that no other club or its directors want to take any interest in this or give support to any initiative which would see the judicial panel ruling implemented.
We have taken legal advice on this.
The SFA is a distinct and separate legal body.
It has a duty to its member clubs to implement its rules consistently, fairly and judicially.
All clubs trade on that basis.
It is against that background that they contract with their customers, arrange their finances, attract sponsorship and commercial support, and indeed in some cases offer their shares for sale on the stock market.
If the fundamental basis for applying the rules of football, the rules under which this club MUST trade – are not maintained – and more importantly are seen to be maintained – then all of that commercial and legal activity cannot be undertaking with safety.
So, we ask you to refer all of this to UEFA for the sake of the club both on and off the field.
To not do so, to continue your support for a wholly flawed process instigated by a legally and administratively flawed governing body amounts to a derogation of your corporate duty to us as shareholders.
Finally, in anticipation of you rejecting our plea, and anticipating your blind inexplicable continued support of a wholly useless Governing body, let me ask what this board will do if and when the SFA simply chose to bin the whole matter with a view to hiding their own corporate incompetence.
Will you undertake to refer this matter to UEFA at that point or will you look at Judicially reviewing the procedures and decisions of the SFA – SOMETHING THAT WE AS SHAREHOLDERS AND PART OWNERS OF THIS CLUB HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO EXAMINE JUST IN CASE YOU DON’T DO IT.
BUT IT SHOULD BE YOU WHO DO THAT
And finally will you explain, candidly and openly, to all shareholders, season ticket holders and every single fan by way of a club statement what your clear and unequivocal position is on these matters as soon as possible but by no later than MARCH 2020 prior to asking a single person to make any payment for a season ticket in respect of season 2020/2021 that they may purchase knowing The Board have complete confidence in an SFA whose judicial process is being operated with authority and without fear or favour?
Jock Stein once said football is nothing without fans is nothing.
THE EXECUTIVE OF THE SFA ALREADY TREAT FOOTBALL FANS WITH CONTEMPT AND THINK WE ARE DAFT AND CAN BE IGNORED.
PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF THE CLUB AND THE BUSINESS OF THE CLUB, DO NOT FALL INTO THE SAME TRAP.
WE WONT WEAR IT AND WILL HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE IF YOU DO.
HH – AND BEST OF LUCK NEIL.
=======================
Res12 was an opportunity to make the SFA accountable to everyone with an emotional investment in Celtic who bought small amounts of shares (but are many) /tickets/strips etc but were resisted by the financial investors who bought large amounts of shares but are fewer and who make their money off the emotional investors .
Its not what Fergus wanted.
Good morning CQN from an insomniac, dark, cold, windy and wet Garngad
A great read back with some great posts.
Has our custodians made a statement yet?? No not that 2 sentences of pish.
An actual statement written by someone who actually cares.
Nah didnae think so. Spineless, gutless and could not give a flying feck. That’s a statement to describe them… Straight to the point and true to the point.
HH
D. :)
Auldheid
Having read you over the years, and been persuaded by you in this seemingly convoluted and complex case, I once again salute you for bringing it up to date for the umpteenth time.
I will not address the intricacies of the matter as I do not have your informed grasp, however I should, in light of the club’s latest ‘tussle’ with the SFA disciplinary procedures, ask this: what exactly is being hidden here?
Prevarication and procrastination have reached such ridiculous levels that there must be some separate connecting matter which is preventing Celtic and the SFA from dealing evenhandedly and openly with supporters and shareholders.
Is there some ‘quid pro quo’ berween Celtic and the SFA? If so, what does it pertain to?
Are the officers of our club ‘working hand in glove’ with the SFA to mislead our supporters and shareholders?
What hold does the SFA have over Celtic that necessitates the club to act in this way?
It must be something very serious.
THE STATEMENT
Celtic Football Club and Ryan Christie are extremely disappointed at the outcome of the hearing today.
Given the recent treatment of Celtic players and the lack of sanctions being imposed on those responsible, the fact that a sanction has been imposed on Ryan for the incident in question demonstrates a worrying lack of consistency in the Scottish FA fast track process.
Naturally, we will be contacting the Scottish FA regarding our concerns. Scottish football deserves a disciplinary process which is fair, consistent and fit for purpose.
———————————————————
As far as I am concerned, the above was not composed by someone in a senior business position, nor, someone with a high level of legal expertise.
It’s ‘cobbled together’ and lacks expertise and gravitas.
This is nothing like a serious high-level response by Celtic.
Auldheid CSC
Respect to you and all the Res12 band. Including, of course, Canamalar and BRTH.
If only others in high power had your integrity and resolve.
HH jg
Thank you Auldheid for the update.
I hope you know how much you are appreciated by thousands of regular fans like me all over the world.
FT
I appreciate the up-date on the argument, Auldheid. It could not have been spelled out any more clearly
AULDHEID on 7TH JANUARY 2020 3:47 AM
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 6TH JANUARY 2020 8:57 PM
The kneejerk anti – Board response to any , and that is ANY , reversal in the fortunes of Celtic , on or off the field , I used to find concerning.
It`s starting to become amusing .
If supporting Celtic is so painful for them , why do they continue to do it ?
=============================
Alternatively as it becomes ever clearer that Celtic are not only ripping the piss out of the support and shareholders since 2012, by pretending to be taking the SFA to task, but are turning the p into a fizzy drink, that some will still drink it, in spite of the smell?
Now why would I, a guy who likes to be able to post evidence based comments, say that ?
===========================================================================
” clearer ” to you.
If you have ” evidence ” , please post it .
Thanks Auldheid for keeping a calm head and the meticulous detail/reasoning, reading back last night a few others could take a leaf out your book. They know who they are.
HH
Auldheid
:-)
I see you have .
Looks like Fabricio Bruno moving to another Brazilian club
HH
As has been referred to before , the time to take the authorities to task is after a win , not a loss .
With the SFA mob , it probably makes no difference .
Auldheid
Bravo! The old line about infinite patience springs to mind, but the concern is you may yet discover the limit of infinity.
Auldheid
Excellent.
If the Board do not do as you suggest by March, I would hope all prospective ST purchasers will reconsider buying. I certainly will……even if it is for a potential Ten in a Row Season.
BURNLEY78 on 6TH JANUARY 2020 11:28 PM
I am as frustrated as to how we have ended up in this position following events of 29th. I am not sure why we have been quiet until now. I assumed we were ‘keeping our powder dry’ but it seems not so. This is very frustrating all round I get that.
However I am unclear has anyone come up with a realistic approach the Celtic board can take to this specific current issue ?
Lots of blame the board and rattled being thrown out of prams from keyboard hard men.
No real answers as to the simple question of what to do in this case.
……………………………………………………………….
Test
Hot Smoked on 7th January 2020 9:33 am
Auldheid
Excellent.
If the Board do not do as you suggest by March, I would hope all prospective ST purchasers will reconsider buying. I certainly will……even if it is for a potential Ten in a Row Season.
####
Won’t happen.
The time when Celtic fans could do anything has long since passed.
So long as the current owner(s) remains in place this is how it’s going to be.
Incidentally does anyone know when The Great Desmondo attended his first game at CP? What kind of age was he?
Fix Fitba: Empty Hampden.
HH.
Many,many thanks,Auldheid.First time I have thanked anyone for making me more depressed
So Ryan Christie will be missing from the Thistle cup tie, Killie away game and Ross County at home.
Concerned about Killie away. Due to the plastic pitch mainly.
Many thanks for the update, Auldheid (and to your fellow ‘Resolutioners’, without whom this whole sorry mess could possibly have died in the long grass many moons ago).
As Hot Smoked said @9:33: ‘If the Board do not do as you suggest by March, I would hope all prospective ST purchasers will reconsider buying. I certainly will … even if it is for a potential Ten in a Row Season.’
There seems to be no other feasible means of applying pressure on this Board.
With Celtic being such a cash cow and vanity project for a few wealthy types, there is an inevitable and eternal tension between shareholders and supporters/customers, whose aspirations are seldom identical. Res 12 is a classic (and very visible) illustration of this
Time is fast approaching when the Board (which we must always remember exists to represent the interests of shareholders) will need to demonstrate if it can reconcile the slogan ‘More than just a club’, as translated by fans and [the major] shareholders …
VIP
Addendum to my post of 10:16
I’d also strongly suggest that any of us re-considering ST renewal should (well ahead of March) send a message to the club (e.g. via jptaylor@celticfc.co.uk) letting it know what we’re thinking of (not) doing …
Celtic just need to sign a bloody striker. Tyrese Campbell or Sporar sound good options.
Worst comes to worst just sign Sam Cosgrove.
Tim
Cosgrove. Ive been thinking the same. Takes no prisoners. Takes pressure off Odsonne . Useful against the huns.
However , the sheep would screw us over the fee.
AULDHEID
Thanks for the update all the great work you and the other guys have done is much appreciated , it looks as if things are starting to unfold , Alastair Johnston would have been well advised to keep his mouth shut last week !
Well the Blog that’ was dying on it’s feet ‘a couple of month’s ago.. has certainly been rejuvenated, Delighted to see Tiny Tim posting.
The word is we are looking to bring 4 in, hopefully 2 by end of week. At the other end of the merry go round we have Sinclair, Hendry & possibly Griffiths & Morgan
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 7TH JANUARY 2020 10:45 AM
That’s the problem. He’s contracted with the Sheep til summer 2022.
A deal could be done but not cheaply.
27 goals in 48 games aren’t something to be sniffed at.
The only other option I’ve heard is Jordan Rhodes who’s only got 6 months left on his deal.
In the words of the immortal Kojo , the blog thrives on controversy.
I try to do my bit .
:-)
Were it not for a horrible performance we would be glowing at the half way point.
That’s spot on. Regardless of how Lazio and Rennes perform this season, it doesn’t impact us one bit.
We’ve a series of away fixtures we need to win in order to stabilise our league fight.
If we can get to the 16th Feb with a 100% league record then our horrible performance at Celtic Park will be put to bed. We’ll still have plenty of big games to win there after but getting to the 16th and overcoming those group of away fixtures is vital.
Tim.
60`s terracing patter.
We need a ” rummel `em up ” centre forward in attack.
And a ” hatchet man ” in defence .
We`ve got wee Jinky on the right wing .
Don`t know much about Rhodes.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 7TH JANUARY 2020 10:53 AM
Rhodes would have been a great signing 5 years ago. Not sure he’s got anything left in the tank, to be honest.
Tim
Perhaps then out on a limb for Cosgrove.
Fire with fire.
Can`t imagine Lennie having any problem with that.
If there’s a reasonable chance of selling French Eddy in the summer then we need to be buying two ready to go strikers this window.
AN
I still harbour hopes for Leigh.
Happy to see him training withe the boys in Dubai .
Auldheid
Thank you for update
HH