While captain Scott Brown will return to first team action this week, with the league encounter with Aberdeen out of the way, Brendan Rodgers will almost certainly continue to rest players ahead of the teams next meeting in the Scottish Cup Final.
Getting it right for Hampden is only one aspect the manager will be concerned about. Celtic’s first Champions League qualification round starts eight weeks tomorrow, between now and then the entire squad has to get their annual rest period and a significant portion of preseason. Several will also be on international duty four weeks from now.
While you and I want to see out the league programme undefeated, it is more important players are rested for the various cup finals which take place between now and the end of August. The Partick Thistle game on Thursday doesn’t register on what is important.
Celtic FC Foundation
Six days from now, while you are watching Celtic skelp Hearts, I’ll be running my first marathon, in aid of the Celtic Foundation. I’m now in mild panic about what lies ahead, but on this Anniversary month, it’s important that we pay more than lip service to what being a Celtic supporter is all about.
If you are able to, please support the Foundation here. If you are unable to, perhaps you know the Hail Mary…….
Thank you for the unbelievable support I’ve received so far. There will be a time on Sunday when it will fuel the legs.
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James Doleman
Withey on the Albion car park: “It was a very odd sale and leaseback agreement.”
Me ????????
ASTORMHACHROI
Their fabled Albion Car Park has always seemed more important than The Big Hoose.
It’s sad,really. Got this mental image of ACGR taking a wrecking ball to The Big Hoose,and pissing over the rubble.
And various huns attending the wake-or the show!-distraught but resigned.
And then he moves on to the car park.
“Naw,no the car park,leave us with some respect!”
So he magnanimously agrees and uses his last thirty minutes on the supersized dodgem on Edmiston House.
His dream,in mine I’m the driver!!!
Rest in Peace wee Fearne.
God Bless the Pope and the Queen
I’ve got a fair recollection and understanding of what went on back in 2012 but from what is being tweeted from the trial (and I am confused) I’m not sure how the indoctrinated could possibly follow. It appears to me that lines of questioning are left hanging like bait rather being followed to conclusion.
I appreciate that James Doleman can’t be expected to communicate 100% of what has been said.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS:
But who was it sold to and who leased it back and at what cost?
“the un-indoctrinated”
Big Jimmy.
League Cup semi-final 73-74.Harry scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 victoryat the wettest Hampden Park ever.
In my Celtic sopporting lifetime-1960 onwards – we’ve had threesomes from Stevie Chalmers, League in 65-66; Bobby Lennox, Glasgow Cup in 66-67;Moussa Dembele, League in 16-17 and of course Harry.
Hope this doesn’t come across as ultra pedantic. HH.
BRTH: what a marvellous menu you have set before us. If we all eat and drink all that you have negotiated for us, the returning planes may not be able to take off. Don’t forget I have a promise to keep.
Thanks for all you have done to set up Lisbon 2017.
Fan a Tic- If we are building a team to tie in with Brendan’s 4 year contract, we are looking at a smaller squad , which he wants, but better quality.So IMO ,we are going to have to pay Armstrong and the likes, £25-30k a week to facilitate this.HH
The catering at Poundland , was sold to Azure, a company Minty’s son owned for pennies as well…..allegedly
Craig Whyte profile: The Scots billionaire on the brink of taking over the club he loves
FINANCIAL whizz-kid Craig Whyte stands on the brink of pulling off the biggest deal of his life – and finally bringing the curtain down on one of the longest-running sagas in Scottish football.
BYKEITH JACKSON
00:00, 18 NOV 2010 UPDATED19:01, 1 JUL 2012
Craig Whyte started playing the stock market at the age of 15. By the time he left school he had more than £20,000 in his bank account.
Today, aged just 39, this financial whiz kid from Motherwell stands on the brink of pulling off the biggest deal of his life – and finally bringing the curtain down on one of the longest-running sagas in Scottish football.
Record Sport understands self-made billionaire Whyte has entered into the final stages of negotiations to buy control of the club he loves from Sir David Murray.
And he’s still one year younger than captain Davie Weir.
A deal worth around £30million is now believed to have reached such an advanced stage that sources say Whyte, a high-roller who splits his time between a home in London and the idyllic Castle Grant in Granton-on-Spey, could even have the keys to Ibrox in time to fund a major refurbishment of Walter Smith’s top-team squad in January.
The news will delight Rangers supporters who have been fretting over the future of their club ever since Murray first slapped a For Sale sign on the front door of Edmiston Drive around three years ago.
As the club’s financial health deteriorated to such an extent the banks moved in to control the purse strings, a series of false dawns came and went.
First, a consortium headed up by South African-based tycoon Dave King came to the fore only to fail to meet Murray’s asking price.
Then, in March this year, London based property developer Andrew Ellis emerged as the front-runner and was granted a period of exclusivity in order to get the deal done.
But Ellis, now part of the consortium, did not have the financial clout to back up his bold promises and his bid collapsed, leaving Rangers firmly in the grip of the Lloyds Group.
Exiled Glaswegian King was then talked up once more as the possible saviour but he was also engaged in a long-running battle with the tax man and while those issues remained unresolved, he too looked like an increasingly unlikely white knight for a club now engulfed by crisis.
But yesterday, quite out of the blue, Record Sport learned a new man is at the table and that a deal to end Murray’s 22-year reign is ready to be completed.
And that man is a relative boy.
By the age of 26, Whyte was already Scotland’s youngest self-made millionaire. Now, 13 years on, and in charge of a vast business empire, his wealth is off the radar.
Whyte is a venture capitalist who has made his millions from playing the markets – a skill he secret ly began honing in his third year at Glasgow’s Kelvinside Academy. In one of his few interviews he revealed how he immediately regretted going to the private school – because he despised playing rugby.
He said: “I hated the discipline of it. It was a rugby-only school, which I didn’t play as I was interested in football.” Whyte worked weekends for his dad’s plant hire firm. And he saved up his wages to fund his habit of gambling on Stock Exchange.
It is said that, by the time he left school, he had more cash in his bank than many of his teachers.
At 19, he was in charge of his own hire plant.
Now he owns his own castle – one of the most historic buildings in Scotland. And very soon he could be adding Rangers to his portfolio. It remains to be seen if Whyte’s move to capture the club will f lush any other parties out of the woodwork because – despite their failure to strike a deal with Murray – King and his consortium have yet to throw in the towel on their own ambitions.
They had put together a package worth around £18m but this was flatly rejected and Ellis drove the price up when he agreed to pay Murray more than £30m.
The club’s debt has been reduced by around £10m since then but the selling price remains the same.
Now, quite clearly, Whyte believes he will be able to close the deal and the young gun must have said enough to impress Murray, who has stated all along that he will only sell the club to the right people – men with enough money to take the club forward.
Who knows? Murray may even regard Whyte as something of a kindred spirit.
After all, Murray was himself aged just 37 back in 1988 when he launched a takeover of the Ibrox club.
It was the beginning of one of the most successful periods in Rangers’ history but Murray’s aggressive pursuit of European glory eventually saw him writing the kind of cheques that his club could simply not afford.
Now Whyte is bringing his money to the table but it remains to be seen if he will adopt the same scatter-cash approach as the man who has owned the club for the past two decades.
But if he brings in even half of the number of trophies Murray delivered then the fans are unlikely to be complaining.
Elvis
Magical Elvis
Really looking forward to Lisbon next week. Well done BRTH. You deserve a medal. I remember a few weeks ago there was talk of having a wee night in the Admiral on Wellington street. Have I missed it or was it hit on the head? Thanks in advance of any replies.
Calleyroadbhoy57
HH
BIG JIMMY on 15TH MAY 2017 12:31 PM
WILLIEFERNIE on 15TH MAY 2017 12:16 PM
Cheers mate, his goals return in ration with appearances are not to be sniffed at !
I always liked Harry and seeing him in my mid to late Teens. He also scored a hat trick v the Huns didn’t he (Glasgow Cup Tie ) ?
*League Cup semi Jimmy on a dire night at hunden with the floodlights due tae the emergency powers act being enacted as a result of the power workers strike being about 75%, the country was also on a 3 day week.
Saw a bit of graffiti on a wall in an elevator in Ballantynes in Dumbarton “don’t be silly, vote for Ted, 3 days at work and 4 in yer bed”. During this period locked out workers were allowed “broo” money and as Saturday was still classed as a working day they got paid for that tae.
Harry Harry scored a 4th which was disallowed for offside, but there had been a trial offside rule for the LC that season which stated a player could NOT be offside within the 18 yard box so Harry was actually onside.
Ironically when we signed Harry I was a bit urinated of as he had turned us down 5 years earlier for Sunderland FFS, he played for them against us in the hill of beath beviers debut, a 0-5 loss for the home side.
He came back tae the Bully Wee after only 31 appearances and starred against us in the SC semi and replay, which it seems he caught the Big Mhan’s eye.
I must admit though tae changing my tune about him as not only was he a lovely player but he also had an eye for goal.
He also has the unique distinction of scoring for us on his debuts in every competition as well as against the deid team.
March 29 1969 L St Mirren 0, Celtic 3 League debut away
April 9 1969 L Celtic 5, Falkirk 2 League debut home
Aug 9 1969 LC Celtic 6, Airdrie 1 LC debut home
Aug 13 1969 LC deid team 2, Celtic 1 LC debut away
Oct 1 1969 EC Celtic 2, Basel 0 EC debut (he came on as a sub that night)
Jan 24 1970 SC Celtic 2, Dunfermline 1 SC debut
A STOR MHA CHROI on 15TH MAY 2017 2:07 PM.
Thats a nice wee read over a cup of tea mate, although most of the tea is now over me.
H.H
A Stor Mha Chroi on 15th May 2017 1:52 pm
Remember, old mutton chops only has to establish reasonable doubt to have his man acquitted. His “leave it hanging” ploy is designed (IMHO) to do just that!
KTF
https://twitter.com/celticlisboa/status/863817729425453057
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821:
I don’t want it to end until appropriate address is achieved and a level playing field is bequeathed to our children. How we get that result…. whatever personal grudges have to be settled, whatever Machiavellian methods are used… academic; as long as we get it.
Let justice be done and let justice be seen to be done.
50 SHADES OF GREEN:
Keith Jackson self-nominated for the FUD Oscar, which I don’t begrudge him his winning, but if you ever want to check back, he didn’t skoosh it; he had strong, incompetent, competition.
What’s the heat in Lisbon?
sixteeee se-ven.
degrees.
One week to go!
Best of luck Sunday, P67.
I often find that when marathons are concerned it’s best to have a skinful the night before, then it’s less daunting and just a case of running the hangover off…
A Stor Mha Chroi on 15th May 2017 2:31 pm
I believe that if Findlay can settle a few old scores, he will but his main task is to get Whyte acquitted.
At this point in time, if I was a publisher I would be setting up his book deal! Get acquitted and none of it is sub judice so he can spill the beans and make some dosh in the process!
There will be far more to follow when this particular circus rolls out of town!
KTF
Stuart Armstrong,will be a mainstay of BR team for years.When he wa at Unt,he was always thought of as a star of the future.Ronny sadly had some strange ideas about his best position.BR not so.The work he is now doing for the team is phenomenal.Similar to Fabregas when he first hit the scene for Arsenal.Of course its down to money.If some noncom EPL team offer 60 grand a week,anybodies head would be turned.I would like to think that Celtic,under BR would start to narrow the wage gap,especially with the middle of the road EPL teams.They are nearly all hocked up to their @sses in debt.There are certain players worth going the extra mile for.On that note,what do people on here reckon Scotty is on?.
Paul67:
The art of running marathons as an amateur is to run well within yourself for the first 12/14 miles. Then you’ll put ‘the wall’ of until the 18/19 mile mark. When you hit the wall, just concentrate on the road at your feet, sing a song in your head, you’ll be through it before you know it, and once you get to 20 miles… ain’t no stopping you now.
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821:
If I was a development executive at Sky or BT I would be hounding the court for exclusive TV broadcast rights with all fees going to the judges’ Christmas piss up fund.
I don’t think this year will see the end of it, but I hope I live long enough to see it concluded, and then, if I get a freebie bus ticket to heaven, I’m going to burst the nuts of every Tim up there behind God’s good gates with tales that will make the very heavens thunder and rattle with joy.
“Craig Whyte,you have been found “Not Guilty”of all charges brought against you.You are free to leave the court,
Ya wee sly bugger that ye are”.
Maybe, after a couple of minutes of reflection, I might have to curtail my rush to heaven to tell the bhoys the news and instead behave myself politely for a few millennium in purgatory, but after my time is done…
In the GHetto
F Work.
TURKEYBHOY
BADA BING
I hope we keep Armstrong for many more years.
Also the idea of a smaller but higher standard squad makes sense.
There are a lot of good players in our squad but some will have to be released or sold to make way for a higher standard and free up space for talented youth.
The youngsters we have now are of a very high standard and seemed to be groomed in what it takes to be a professional footballer.
The future is indeed bright.
Last Friday night we witnessed Shay Logan try to incite the Celtic Support, bounce the ball on Leigh Griffith’s head with the no doubt intent of again trying to illicit a negative reaction.
Now remembering this is the man who alleged he was racially abused by Celtic loan player Alexander Tonev.
I’m sure we can all remember how that played out with AT being found guilty “on the balance of probability”
There were no witnesses to support Logan’s allegations so in essence it was one man’s word against another with the outcome being AT was deemed to be a racist and therefore Celtic were also slurred by association.
Logan’s actions need to be addressed. There was nothing “probable” about his antics.
There is no question as to his guilt in the matters raised above.
He was caught bang to rights on camera sleekitly hitting LG on the back of the head with the ball and in inciting the Celtic Support.
To my mind anyone who can act in the manner that SL did is showing his true colours.
You’re not a victim Mr Logan you’re a despicable, dangerous, calculated cheat who deserves to be held accountable.
May Karma pay you a visit very soon
When I run marathons, I try not to go into the lead too early unless I’m fairly sure of the route :-)
Is that you Kit?
TONTINE TIM on 15TH MAY 2017 2:15 PM
cheers mate, very informative.
I remember Harry scoring a hat trick against THEM , didn’t remember about the 4th Goal that he scored etc.
Yes..the 3 day week I remember well enough…having to BUY candles from our Parish Priest….trying to play feckin SUBBUTEO by candlelight is not recommended !
HH
A Stor Mha Chroi on 15th May 2017 2:50 pm
Yeah, this is beginning to make Nick Leeson: Rogue Trader look like a minor aberration in comparison!
Rogues and thieves could possibly be a working title ……………………..
KTF
IMATIM:
The killer for me with Tonev, was that he had played with, and against, players of all nationalities, colours, creeds, his whole career, without trouble or accusation. There was no precedence in his past for them to base that verdict of – in all provability – on. They elevated themselves above sacrosanct common law that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. They did not prove him guilty, they needed him to be guilty. And if he was guilt as charged by the SFA, what he was found guilty of is a criminal offence… why did the police in Scotland not arrest him and have him slimmed through the judicial system of Scotland?
Why did they not do so? Do they normally allow such high profile law breakers their freedom?
IMATIM:
2010 Never Again…. And if Celtic ever come back to Australia, please let it be Brisbane and not Sydney. Sydney just doesn’t know how to host party people not on drugs.
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 8m8 minutes ago
Findlay on the £1.7m bill for the stadium “football was played the next season, something must have been done”
Withey “I believe they got a safety certificate”
CALLEYROADBHOY57 on 15TH MAY 2017 2:13 PM
Really looking forward to Lisbon next week. Well done BRTH. You deserve a medal. I remember a few weeks ago there was talk of having a wee night in the Admiral on Wellington street. Have I missed it or was it hit on the head? Thanks in advance of any replies.
Calleyroadbhoy57
HH
……………………
CALLEY…I am hoping to go to the Admiral on Thursday and meet a few Bhoys and watch Celtic v Partick thistle ?
I face a late ” Fitness” test ?
HH
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 12m
Withey says non-embarrassment clause was in agreement to avoid bad publicity for Murray
Findlay suggests a budget of £5m for players would be as useful as “a plaster on a slash wound”
Findlay “These are undertakings from Mr Whyte to Mr Whyte” as he controlled the company “he asks himself for the money?”
Withey on the agreement “I’ve never seen anything like it before, it didn’t make any sense.”