Former Newco Rangers director, Imran Ahmad, made a few headlines yesterday, the most disturbing of which was: “I firmly believe Police Scotland have their own agenda and are deeply emotionally connected to Rangers Football Club. In my view Police Scotland have a clear conflict of interest.”
That’s an extraordinary claim but I’m not sure it’s supported by extraordinary evidence. There is certainly evidence that Police Scotland investigate and arrest supporters of the club at football games, where prosecution levels are comparatively high. There is not extraordinary evidence to support the claim, but perhaps that’s the point.
The police go after fans, but how does it shake down when it comes to corporate matters? Set aside issues of corporate responsibility from the early 70s, and there are no concerns of criminal activity at Ibrox until the spectre of malfeasance of recent years.
By speaking publicly yesterday Ahmad is now engaged in a PR campaign. He’s marked Police Scotland’s card. This may be the rantings of a fantasist, but we should recognise that Ahmad has been an insider at Ibrox, where he would have had the opportunity to deal with senior Police Scotland officers on a regular basis. Superficial friendships would have been struck. Ahmad would need little in the way of private support when a director of Newco to substantiate his claims.
The headline grabber from Ahmad, “What the rest of the world will never understand unless they experience it first hand is that Rangers Football Club is a religion, in itself, built on centuries of religious bigotry” is also a curious think to say.
To be fair to Newco, they can bat away accusations of religious bigotry easily. Employment criteria for them has never been questioned, but Ahmad’s stuck his neck out on an issue which I’m 100% sure he wasn’t asked about. What chance he’s made notes during his time at Ibrox of any inappropriate police behaviour, or matters which allude to religious bigotry?
Mr Ahmad is asking Crown prosecutors for a letter of safe passage. I reckon he stands a decent chance of getting one. Now.
No matter whether they are innocent or guilty, the SFA have been landed in a very awkward situation by Ajax, who told Uefa the Association made it clear they saw no ground for action against fans chanting “Fenian b…….”
It’s inconceivable that Ajax have an email to that effect. If they do, it will come out, and Operation Deny and Deflect will swing underway again, but these comments would surely never be committed to record, if at all.
Ajax are also in a hole. They have made a claim and will be asked who at the SFA made the comment. You can put your mortgage on the fact Celtic officials will ask this week.
Prejudice at the police and the SFA. It’s been a difficult week for conspirators.
Our auction for hospitality at Sunday’s Dundee game for three people, eat and drink in the Walfrid and watch the game from the Directors’ Box, ends at 12:38 TODAY. Check in here for your last chance to bid. Many thanks to club sponsor Intelligent Car Leasing for donating the prize.
Thanks also to everyone who has participated towards the work of your Foundation.
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I HEARD HE WAS DEAD on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 10.51 PM
macjay1 for Neil Lennon
Well it was.
===========================
Maribor was definitive for me.
By Malmo,I would have thought it was obvious to all.
We have a problem.Solve it.
Good players are now not good.
How does that happen?
Derk got hooked at h t in last weeks 20s game.
Who scored the sheeps goal??
TOMMIE20: I think he is asking if you will be going to The Hootennany on the 10th October. See BMCUWP for details!
I heard he was dead…and what if That perfornance comes against Fenerbache…Point im making is trying to say that a game in the future Defines a season.well, this early in the season…Dont think so….
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry Lee
https://youtu.be/QzmMB8dTwGs
CONEYBHOY on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 10:57 PM
I have watched Celtic cream Hearts 5-0 under MON and wondered how we did it despite no decent passing, movement or urgency.
Dead simple. The presence of quality players.
Prime example of this was Alan Thomson who was far superior to what we have now, appeared ordinary when surrounded by Henrik, Lenny, Lubo and Sutton.
Jude
Adam Rooney,pen.
ONEYBHOY on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 10:57 PM
Macjay
Malmo was definitive, showed that we need to get our energy sorted.
There could be many reasons for not having it but hard to spot.
I have watched Celtic cream Hearts 5-0 under MON and wondered how we did it despite no decent passing, movement or urgency.
Equally I watched us miss the chance of a record win vs Motherwell last season with brilliant pass, move etc.
All about being a man on the park and wanting the win
========================================================================
Whose job is it to motivate on the park? P.L`s?
Ronny`s whole style is ” laid back.”
He`s the wrong fit.
He will leave under a cloud. Yet another cloud. Stupid prediction,of course.
How long do we have to wait for the inevitable?
Unfortunately,it should have been many clouds ago
Meanwhile ,our ideologists take this opportunity to blame the Board.Because that`s what`s in their D.N.A.
P.S.Where`s Kris? Where`s Anto?
Last season.Where`s Leigh?
All proven performers.
We have the players.
He doesn`t play them.
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 15th September 2015 10:58 pm We have a problem.Solve it. Good players are now not good. –
How good were they to start with?
FRANNYB67 on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:08 PM
Jude
Meanwhile ,our ideologists take this opportunity to blame the Board.Because that`s what`s in their D.N.A. – 7
Ronny sure as shit did not appoint himself.
Saint Stivs, Back for a quick mo. If you are still around fire ahead with your question.
Long day spent in Englandshire
Anyway really warming to our Sponsors Magners
easyjet flight back up from Luton to Edinburgh is delayed on Tarmac, as we have 2 passengers with same name trying to board flight and only 1 booked, but both cases on plane
So I decided to read the Easyjet September Magazine, and Magners have a 6 or 8 page spread, advertising Irish pubs around Europe where Easyjet fly
Anyway, O’Brady’s in Marseille, and the picture is off the hoops using the pub as supporters base
Fair cheered me up :-)
Hail Hail
OOH CHILD The Five Stairsteps
https://youtu.be/yrotsEzgEpg
The Band, The Weight
https://youtu.be/sjCw3-YTffo
Macjay,
Who put the Norwegian Project in charge ?
Our CEO, Dierector of Football and Bonus Thief….Mr Lawwell.
When Ronny is sacked , the culprit Lawwell needs to go as well.
Death – Politicians in my eyes
https://youtu.be/OwehxN2ipCU
Saint Stivs, I’m off to my leaba as I have an early start for Golf in the morning. Will get your question re Clonmel on another day. God Bless and Goodnight All.
Harry Nilsson…” One ”
https://youtu.be/-nB5VxPOoio
I heard he was dead
Are Ajax playing like a team of individuals, with their best player (arguably) sitting on the bench? Are they playing untried newcomers, drafted into a team, inexplicably, a pale shadow of last season’s outfit ?
The one sided nature of many of the CL games tonight got me thinking that the CL is getting farther and farther beyond Celtic with each passing year. Its almost at the stage where its a waste of our time entering the competition.
The Champions Route for the smaller nations` champions entry into the CL was introduced in 2009/10. In that season and in 2010/11 Scotland`s league ranking was such that the champions of Scotland automatically entered the CL at the group stages. Rangers made a backside of it in the CL in those seasons. That, combined with poor performances from other Scottish clubs in Europe, including Celtic, set Scotland`s league co-efficient plummeting from 10th in Europe in 2009/10 to 23rd in Europe in 2015/16.
In little over 5 years the champions of Scotland have gone from being automatic entrants into the CL group stages to having to enter at the 2nd qualifying round and go through 3 qualifiers just to get to the main event.
In theory the Champions Route should offer us a relatively straightforward passage to the CL but the champions of Scotland have tried to qualify through this route on five occasions, succeeding only twice, despite being seeded on every one of these occasions.
Even if you get through the Champions Route, you`re more likely to be no more than cannon fodder for the teams from the big leagues in the group stages. Between 2009/10 and 2014/15, 30 teams qualified through the Champions Route. These teams finished bottom of their CL group on 20 out of 30 occasions. 6 out of the 30 finished third dropping into the Europa Lge, 3 out of 30 made it to the CL last 16, and 1 made it to the CL last eight.
In over half of the instances (16 out of 30) the teams qualifying through the Champions Route finished their CL group on 3 points or less. Over the last 2 seasons, 8 out of the 10 Champions Route entrants came bottom of their group suggesting that the gap between the big leagues and the smaller leagues is getting even bigger to the extent where its pretty much impossible to compete at all.
It looks more and more like Celtic`s run in season 2012/13 was a complete one-off. Scottish clubs, ourselves included, continue to do poorly in Europe and its hard to see anything other than the country`s co-efficient continuing to slide further down the pan making Europa League qualification, far less CL qualification, a tough ask for Celtic in the years to come.
Bob Ross Remixed | Happy Little Clouds | PBS Digital Studios
https://youtu.be/YLO7tCdBVrA
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL @ 10:48 PM,
To be realistic even from this early stage Aberdeen’s form suggests it’s going to be much closer this Season.
They lost nine games last Season we lost four.
It was said the heads to heads made the difference – we won them.
Well the fact is even if we had lost some points to Aberdeen we’d have still won the league.
Not so this Season, Aberdeen are looking more consistent, now with our squad and their’s that is going to change sometime this Season, they will falter, we’ll have a run. But it’s the head to heads, if they can continue to take points of us it’s going to be very tight.
Maybe not a bad thing for Scottish Football but certainly bad for our nerves.
Hail Hail
QUONNO on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:11 PM
macjay1 for Neil Lennon on 15th September 2015 10:58 pm We have a problem.Solve it. Good players are now not good. –
How good were they to start with?
==============================================
Aaaah.Opinions.
Good enough for me.
Good enough for Maribor.
Good enough for Malmo.
QUONNO on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:13 PM
FRANNYB67 on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:08 PM
Jude
Meanwhile ,our ideologists take this opportunity to blame the Board.Because that`s what`s in their D.N.A. – 7
Ronny sure as shit did not appoint himself.
===============================================
Hear Hear.
But start with the team on the Park.
Aberdeen had a rotten start to the season last year losing 3 out of the first 5 matches.
They downed tools at the end of the season after the league had been settled, losing 3 out of their last 4 matches.
They only lost 3 of the 29 league games in between, of which 2 were against Celtic.
I think this shows that provided they avoid injuries to key players Aberdeen are capable of stringing a fairly long run of consistent results together against other SPFL teams.
Unless they suffer long term injuries to Hayes and/or Rooney they are likely to be a bigger threat to Celtic than they were last season. By the same token, if they are seriously weakened by the loss of Rooney and Hayes, then we are in a bit of bother if we lose griffiths to injury or suspension.
So i think the league will be a close run thing this season. I think the challenge might well be a good thing for us in the longer run, keep everyone on their toes.
LATCHFORD on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:17 PM
Macjay,
Perhaps.
But I refuse to believe he alone made the decision.
Group Think, let me think about that Group thinking.
.eMBARESSINg.
Control all aspects, that is what a controller does.
………………………………………………………………………………..
In a Utopian World (and that is impossible, despite what anyone says, certainly not prominent Transhumanists) the case of the Celtic Manager, he Must control all aspects of the Football players. So a Dictator is actually a good thing, especially when the Western World has went so Anti Christian.
There are Liars and Deceivers, changing things.
More than anyone can possibly imagine.
Christianity has always been the Target.
PL runs the club from top to bottom.DD threw Keane’s name in for publicity,knowing full well RK would never take the job,and that Lawwell would never work with him.Does anyone think Desmond knows who we play on Sunday? Me neither.Lawwell appoints the mamagers(and the Chief Scout).
the glorious balance sheet on 15th September 2015 11:26 pm
The one sided nature of many of the CL games tonight got me thinking that the CL is getting farther and farther beyond Celtic with each passing year. Its almost at the stage where its a waste of our time entering the competition.
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/police-scotland-and-the-sfa-in-the-dock/comment-page-9/#comments
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I think there is a lot in what you say. My thoughts on it copied from SFM (perhaps to extreme a solution though for a Celtic blog)
Its Not A Fragile Plan Its a Poisoned Pill.
There is a reasonably well balanced article in the Herald in terms of the economics it covers
http://m.heraldscotland.com/sport/13717543.Resurgent_Rangers_can_aid_Celtic_s_flawed_financial_plan_by_securing_a_Premiership_place/?ref=twtrec
But it was this part on that which caught my attention and hence the Title above.
” Still, should Rangers maintain their current run, win the second tier title and clinch promotion it will make Celtic’s commendable efforts to live within their means far easier than they are at the moment.
Depending on success in the transfer market and relying on qualification for the lucrative Champions League group stages in order to break even is, in the unprecedented circumstances, understandable. But it remains a fragile economic plan.
I have argued in the past for a wider sharing of CL money amongst others clubs because without them there would not be champions, but I’m moving towards the lot being divided up because of the effect of CL qualifying failure on Celtic (I support them so I want what I think is best for them).
The recent failure has just become another rod for the media and supporters to beat the club with. It is divisive and fails to recognise what a poisoned pill the CL has become for Scottish clubs.
We all know it killed Rangers, yet is that the pill Scottish football is going to be asked to swallow again only this time it might be Celtic or Aberdeen that dies?
Celtic are already on a slow path of decline because of the economics of Scottish football and its limited supporter base.
I don’t like it and it is understandable why Celtic supporters are so keen on CL qualification, not just for the 6 games but the money that means the club might (and it all depends on the player) be able to hold on to the guys mentioned in the article and so reduce the churn rate.
The policy of buy low and sell high might work to keep the books balanced but it leads to unacceptable churn and a cycle of lower levels of performance as a result that stop supporters being entertained and is that not supposed to be the point of football?
Undermine the Divinity of Jesus Christ – It is not that hard to attempt that, Every Time it Fails.
In the same Herald article referenced above above
http://m.heraldscotland.com/sport/13717543.Resurgent_Rangers_can_aid_Celtic_s_flawed_financial_plan_by_securing_a_Premiership_place/?ref=twtrec
It ends with
” Their fans, though many would not openly admit it, would relish the prospect of doing battle with the opponents they love to hate and, deep down, have missed the presence of during these last three years. ”
That is a sweeping statement that certainly does not reflect my views. I don’t miss the poison one bit and if our game can only be sold on toxic grounds is it no wonder it is dying?
However the main reason I would not want TRFC as opposition is that I simply do not trust them as currently constituted to play the game fairly.
Worse I do not trust the SFA to fairly police the playing of the game fairly.
When RFC failed to fully register players (regardless of the nature of the ebts used) they cheated the game. No amount of SFA slight of hand to twist rules to suit will convince supporters of other clubs, never mind Celtic, that cheating Scottish football did not take place. It did and trust was destroyed.
There is evidence that concealment of side letters was deliberate as far back as 2005 and there is plenty of evidence that in 2011 and 2012 other evidence, that would have produced a different result had it been made available AS REQUIRED, took place under a negligent or compliant SFA.
If CL money is a poisoned pill the breaking of trust by RFC and then the SFA and SPL in 2012 is a slow killing cancer and until that is addressed, I for one certainly do not relish watching a game (in general terms) that I know, based on the evidence and failure or reluctance to use it to restore trust, is not worth my financial or emotional investment.
Hail Hail , my first post and no I am not , never have been and never will be a hhhun. We need to stick together, be strong and Steadfast and listen to our men who went through the 70’s.
does pl report to bankier?
I said we would win the league last year between 5-7 pts..never thought it woukd be 17..so This year …between 5-10 pts…more like 10…aberdeen will crack…They aint as good as looks at this time..
If everyone was fit and I was manager, this would be my team for Thurs
Gordon,
Janko, Lustig, Boyata, Izzy
Forrest, Johansen, Armstrong, Stokes
Commons
Griffiths
Auldheid,
If there is evidence of deliberate concealment of side letters at RFC as far back as 2005, then should Celtic not be pursuing that with a vigour on the grounds of CL income wrongfully denied them? Do celtic’s directors not have a fiduciary duty to do this in the interests of the club’s shareholders?
RFC were automatic entrants to the CL in 2005 helping themselves to CL revenues to the detriment of Celtic who came 2nd in the league. If evidence has come to light suggesting that this may have been achieved through improperly registered players contracted on concealed side letters then I would expect Celtic to ask for this to be investigated by the appropriate authorities.
The same goes for rfc’s CL entry in 2009 and 2010.
Coney – really ? Are you from a basketball background ?