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.
498 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 14
- »
Good morning cqn
SFA, a friggin joke as per usual.
Quite right of Paul67 to do an article on Imrads comments, if you don’t think it is has anything to do with us then you’ve been living under a rock.
We are having issues on and off the field but this kind of thing needs to be highlighted, and the club should be taking notes
HH
gsu
Good times
A few comments have been made re the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.
I have just listened to a programme on BBCiPlayer entitled “Keir Hardie: Labour’s First Leader.” The parallels with today’s situation are quite striking. Well worth a listen!
Quotes from Hardie’s speeches from the 19th Century show that capitalists and careerist “left” politicos have changed very little over the last 125 years.
Sorry that I can’t do the link thingy.
Paul67
Good article, how dare you write about whatever you want, on your own Blog.
Ahmad’s words will (maybe already?) be dismissed as the lashing out of a potential suspect in an effort to muddy evidentiary waters.
That’s likely to be the chatter in some closed blue circles this morning.
Did Ahmad tolerate with a painted smile some unacceptable behaviour while working with that regime?
Taped conversations?
Written records?
That sound we hear is any nervous investors running for the door of no return.
For what it’s worth, in my post at 11.29, I posted;
“Who and what would the MSM, and followers of Sevco (and possibly even people paid to do so) would like Celtic supporters to be discussing?”
Personally, I would have to be paid an OBSCENE amount of money to support Sevco, however, I actually meant;
“Who and what would the MSM, and followers of Sevco who post on here (and possibly even some people paid to post on here) would like Celtic supporters to be discussing?”
When you have a moment to spare, our latest wee piece on individual victories over overwhelming odds.
http://wp.me/p6DYht-i2
No On Walks Alone
I have to say I find it astonishing that some posters feel that the SFAs almost acceptance of sectarian bigotry against Celtic supporters is deemed to be off limits on here.
Likewise the reporting of an ex Rangers directors accusations about things we Celtic fans have being saying for generations.
Off topic? Seriously get a grip.
JimTheTim53, Bournesouprecipe
Yes, these are serious issues directly affecting our club and we shouldn’t be discussing them on here nor Paul67 posting about them – ridiculous!
I do not agree that Paul’s post is a distraction. In many ways it in fact reflects the main event, with the football as a sideshow.
To many (though I appreciate not all) Celtic is a cause. A vehicle to help us tackle the racism that exists in our midst.
Scotland is an institutionally racist society and is unwilling to confront that racism or tackle it.
You keep getting all these clues to that. What passes now for Rangers is the focal point of that racism and the SFA is in place to ensure that it all operates effectively.
Any organisation which has seen anti catholic e-mails passed around senior figures, that has had the CEO sacked for deliberately harming one club over another and now which passes judgement on what the outside world should judge as offensive or not should be investigated, outed and made to tackle their problem. But of course the very institutions who should be the ones pushing for and carrying out the investigation are racist themselves.
Thats the very definition of institutional racism and how it grows and defends itself.
during the white hot heat of the referendum debate many of you just couldnt accept Scotland’s instituional racism because it didnt suit your world view. It has got better you screamed. Well here we are with laws to outlaw aspects of irish catholicism and ongoing evidence all before you.
For me Celtic are there for us to take the fight to the country.
But here’s where I part company with Paul. Celtic will not ask the question of the SFA, not will they tell us whether they did or didnt and even if they did they will not share with us, their support, the answers. Why? Because those who currently run celtic believe that the racism is good for business. After all they colluded to ensure that the vehicle for that racism survived. Why would they change now.
They couldnt care less about defending their support.
As an aside I loved TD67s rather startling observation that he doesnt care about whether or not the training ground spat is a symptom of a deeper malaise which is impacting on the field performances. Wow TD67 what an incredibly insightful observation. You just keep knocking us out the park with that razor sharp intellect.
Ernie
Why are you equating Scots Gaelic with Ulster Scots
RWE, Don’t forget it was Ahmad who accompanied CG around the supporters clubs (Starting in Ulster!) to whip up support. He had good insight to what he now calls ‘The Tribe’
Am I the only one old enough to remember Lanarkshire Constabulary? Was almost impossible to join if your were a Catholic up to it’s abolution and Strathclyde was created. These things happened and we must always be on our guard that it cannot happen again. Any hint of it and it and should be called out.
Just a note on the Corbyn situation before I return to more mundane matters.
Corbyn’s victory, and the ground swell of opinion which prompted it, is a monumental step forward for the labour party and wider labour movement. debates which for so long had been considered off limits will re-open. And for our young people, who were being lined up to live with a backdrop of partial employment forever and for the poor, soon to grow in number due to ideologic madness (dressed up in an austerity dress) from the tories this represents real hope of change.
It is likely that Corbyn will fail at the next election – but I suspect that would happen anyway. But these idiots within the labour party refusing to join the shadow cabinet and the like have now been outed as anti democratic parasites. They should be forced to leave the party and will go with their tails behind their legs.
The hilarious campaign by the UK media to attack Corbyn in a very “red under the bed” fashion is brilliantly going too far and I think we will see a bit of a backlash against that.
As it goes through these growing pains labour will no doubt appear somewhat all over the place – good – thats the way it should be at a time of siesmic and very necessary change.
Jimthetim53 – did you use the past tense there? If you believe its in the past you arent paying attention.
up_over_goal on 15th September 2015 11:52 am
Should at least be considered, even as a Plan B. We have enough central midfielders to fill the 4 in a diamond twice.
NEGANON2. I dont know how many footballteams there are in the UK starting with Schoolboys up to the professionals but I bet 90% and that may be low will have training bust ups its part of a competitive game.So it is hardly a big deal that it may have happened at Celtic.Usually by the next training session the players have made up and moved on.So I fully understand why many of us are not worried about it but this morning another rumour has appeared on CQN that Celtic are only paying Ronny 2 to 2.5k per week now how on earth other than Ronny and Peter know Ronnys contract and im sure they would not pass information on it to others.So once again someone is trying to destabilise our club before a big game I think we should be circling the waggons and positively supporting our manager and our club. H.H.
TD67
While you are not bathing in vagisil (or even when you are, which appears to be most of the time) why don’t you take your own advise and scroll on by all the post and posters you deem to be negative.
I scroll on by you all day every day. Sadly others refrence you and when I am reading their posts. But when they do I don;t feel the need to read further and, yip you guessed it, I scroll on by that post albeit sadly after having the misfortune to pick up the gist.
Hence this post to your slipper wet self.
MWD said AYE
PS. No point replying as I’ll just scroll on by. Enjoy your bath today.
QUONNO on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 9:35 AMI for one would not put my mortgage on Celtic officials asking any potential boat rocking questions this week or any other week.-
Could have posted this every day for the last 4 years mate HH
Those poor lost souls in the Labour Party that refuse roles in leadership need to adjust their career plans and (word chosen carefully) aspirations. and join the party that best reflects their values – the Tories or UKIP in some cases. Like it or not, Corbyn won with a greater majority than Blair, so the argumentt that he represents some kind of fringe minirity is patently false. When the right wing press attack with such vitriol, you know you’re saying the right things.
coolmore mafia on 15th September 2015 11:03 am – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/police-scotland-and-the-sfa-in-the-dock/comment-page-2/#comment-2678559
Must have missed that on KDS….can you direct me to the Threads & Times please?
Dharma Bam
Yes, too right………………….. good luck to “Fenian b…….” all around the world.
Especially those travelling to support Celtic Amsterdam.
Mon the Hoops
Neganon2, I get your point it probably does still happen today but nowhere on the scale it used to, I could tell you stories that would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Thankfully I never worked for a firm like that, anywhere I worked, if you were good enough ypu got encouraged and promoted.
NegAnon2
I don’t think people should be chased out of the Labour party because they don’t agree with Cobryn. What a ridiculous notion.
They have done the right thing and moved to the backbenches.
Aberdeen v Hamilton acs. tonight should be a good game im interested to see if the dons can keep up there winning run. I think the might just manage a narrow win say 2-1. H.H.
NATKNOW
When the right wing press attack with such vitriol, you know you’re saying the right things.
When the right wing press attack with such vitriol, it’s because they smell blood.
The hounds don’t view the fox as a threat.
Gary67
No chance. I’ll bet my entire collection of dots Ronny goes 4-2-3-1 on Thursday.
Joe Fillipi of course they are trying to destabalise the club – that is the factory setting.
However while your instinctive reaction is to circle the wagons I’m afraid your commanders are sitting within the circle shooting the troops that are defending them.
Timaloy29 I am not actually suggesting they get thrown out. But if they are going to set themselves against the vast majority of the party then clearly they have no future within said party. For them to behave in the manner they are is rather pathetic. A clever person would accept the will of the party and still try and influence from within the shadow cabinet. It would help Corbyn manage his own excesses (and I am sure he knows he will need that).
Jimthetim53. 20 years ago my brother left Scotland for Australia – he couldnt get promoted in scottish shipyards because of his religion. He has gone from strength to strength since. 20 years ago isnt ancient history so then I would ask you – when did it suddenly change?
The OB act is confirmation, should you need it that, rather than tackle their racism, scotland decides to outlaw aspects of the religion it hates.
Do you really need any more evidence/
As an aside I loved TD67s rather startling observation that he doesnt care about whether or not the training ground spat is a symptom of a deeper malaise which is impacting on the field performances. Wow TD67 what an incredibly insightful observation. You just keep knocking us out the park with that razor sharp intellect. – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/police-scotland-and-the-sfa-in-the-dock/comment-page-2/#comments
That what I posted? Ehhhhhhhhh, could you show me that?
In fact post my whole post, with no spin on it please?
Just to clarify what I said.
up_over_goal on 15th September 2015 1:21 pm
Or maybe 4-1-4-1 like he did away to Qarabag.
Doesn’t matter what formation he plays on Thursday if Gordon, Brown, Johansen and the defence play as they’ve been doing recently then we’ll lose. Its time for the players to step up and give us a performance.
We have been poor defensively this year, particularly from cross balls, so a quick check, of our defence which has in the main been three youngsters from Manchester reserve sides, an overplayed Izaguirre, a want away Van Dijk and an injury tortured Mikael Lustig.
Throw in a long term returning ‘handyman Charlie Muldini’ and ‘Efe he’s a bombscare Ambrose’ and Ronny Deila has very clearly been dealt a lamentable, hand to sit down at the table with, especially when he hasn’t even had time for a our £5m defender to have trained let alone, played and settled in.
In midfield we have looked very good at times this season and we have scored 17 goals in 7 games. We have dispatched a good Qarabag side from the qualifiers, underlined by their subsequent humbling of Berne. We have also been ahead in both games where we’ve lost points in the league and in the CL it was the same before defensive frailties, eventually caught up with us.
We are signing up, Scottish and SPL players ( a previous CQN clamour of demand ) the signing of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay Steven, Scott Allan, Ryan Christie, Saidy Janko, Dedryck Boyata, Jozo Simunovic, Kieran Tierney and Liam Henderson are all very welcome and heartening, and we subsequently are still way ahead of the game in Scotland despite another season of ‘lower tier’ European football and SMSM filled propagandaists, trying to undermine, all the good work.
Onwards and upwards csc
Neganon
Save you the trouble here’s my post.
I wouldent rule it out, and I’m really not concerned either way, as I said it happens all the time. – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/police-scotland-and-the-sfa-in-the-dock/#comments
I’m not concerned what he thinks….get it?
But he can think what he likes his prerogative.
And you can do the same, as I say I’m not concerned what you think, that’s up to you, I don’t care, get it?
Neganon and Timbhoy
I agree with Timbhoy that those who refuse to join a Corbyn shadow cabinet should not be expelled from the party, but there is no reason why they should not be deselected as parliamentary candidates. If their reasons for being in the party are careerist, which I believe they are, then they will leave of their own accord and their motives will be clear for all to see.
The right wing expelled the socialists from Kinnock’s time onwards and left the Labour party with no foot soldiers at elections. If Corbyn is able to energise the left, and encourage young socialists back to Labour, it can only be a good thing. I agree with Neganon that the OTT attacks on Corbyn and McDonnell will backfire. The new leadership has a one off platform to enunciate their policies directly to the general public. Thereafter the media will close ranks and filter their message through the usual MSM old boy network.
Moonbeams
Are you on it?
Appols. If I interrupted anyone posting about DD,PL, or The Board, but is it ok if I post this, once again I do apologise.
The truthfulness of strangers
Leave a reply
Mr Imran Ahmad arrived on Planet Ibrox as an outsider.
That much is undeniable.
Sociologists believe that outsiders can unwittingly carry out a ‘common sense inventory’ of a culture or a sub-culture.
The newcomer simply does not know the locally agreed rules of conduct and consequently they have to ask questions.
A culture is a shared set of assumptions that people are socialised to understand.
The targets of the klan are fully aware of what the appropriate themes and memes are when they assemble.
There are very few people native to the West of Scotland that would feel the need in their daily lives to state the crushingly obvious of what is at the heart of the Ibrox culture.
Given that it is a cultural given there is no need to.
As well as that those who are socialised into that subculture have among their ranks people like Jason Campbell.
Therefore best not to say too much.
That reticence has also been abroad among members of the Fourth Estate in Scotland.
This journalistic reticence has been particularly extant since the collapse and death of the original Rangers three years ago.
It still amazes me that no journalist living in Scotland has put a book out about those amazing events in 2011 and 2012.
As you will note dear reader, your humble correspondent does not labour under any such impediment.
Before I became journalistically interested in the impending financial collapse of Rangers (1872) I sought to shine a light on what The People really believed.
When I brought the Famine Song to the attention of international colleagues in 2008 and 2009, they were quite unequivocal.
When they analysed the song and the historical and cultural context, it was clear to these journalists that what was being manifested was a racist and xenophobic belief system.
Because they were knowledgeable outsiders, they could see the klan for what they were.
Another outsider Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News also came up against the assumptions of Scottish life apropos The People.
Here he is in October 2012 asking perfectly reasonable questions about the apparent cultural toleration of the fascist underclass attached to Rangers.
What Mr Imran Ahmad encountered was a subculture of anti-Irish racism.
He made these observations on the Ibrox culture when answering why he would not present himself in court on a previously agreed date.
Obviously on all such matters he has the presumption of innocence and these live proceedings cannot be commented upon.
However, Imran Ahmad is already guilty of a heinous crime in the eyes of many people in Scotland.
He has spoken the truth about The People.
In a sense, it is a reality that can only be uttered by outsiders.
Ah your so rebellious TD67 with that devil may care approach……
It certainly didnt work in the two most important games of the season against Malmo.
Kennedy defends Celtic’s use of zonal-marking system
John Kennedy has defended the zonal marking system used by Celtic, and insisted that their eyes light up when an opposing team uses man-to-man marking against the Hoops.
The Celtic defence has come under fire in recent weeks following the loss of crucial goals from set-pieces, most notably against Malmo and Aberdeen at the weekend.
But first-team coach Kennedy, who takes particular responsibility for drilling the Celtic backline, says that it is up to the team as a whole to clamp down on the slackness that has crept into their defensive play.
“I think we’ve made some costly errors,” he said.
“We all know that and we all take responsibility for that.
“But it’s not a case of us pointing fingers at individuals. Team performances are what win you games.
“That applies defensively, everyone defending as a unit, as much as it does to creating chances at the other end.
“But, overall, defending has not been great.
“It’s the same thing that happens all the time, the debate kicks off whenever the zonal marking system concedes a goal.
“We’ve scored plenty against other teams that use man-to-man, we see it as a positive for us when other teams set up man-to-man against us. We find that we get more joy from it.
“In the past the system’s worked. We’ve changed one or two little things but it’s not as tight as we would want it.
“We’ve conceded a goal, but we’ll make sure we fix it.”
Kennedy revealed that there is a chance that new signing Jozo Simunovic could be given the nod for the Europa League group game against Ajax in Amsterdam on Thursday night after impressing in training.
“He’s fit, he’s come in and trained well,” Kennedy added.
“The weekend was too early for him after having very little time with the group, it would have been a big ask.
“But he’s training well and he’ll certainly travel with the group for Thursday.”
Give phil the hits…
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/the-truthfulness-of-strangers/
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 15TH SEPTEMBER 2015 1:29 PM
Agree. It’s been a tough transition in defence…. again.
Out of RD’s control.
A settled period with players working together under direction should reduce the number of daft mistakes.
Bring on Ajax!!
up_over_goal on 15th September 2015 1:21 pm NATKNOW
When the right wing press attack with such vitriol, you know you’re saying the right things.
When the right wing press attack with such vitriol, it’s because they smell blood.
The hounds don’t view the fox as a threat.
—————————————————————–
If they didn’t feel threatened they wouldn’t need to bother. After all, he’s just a beardy-weirdy in a vest, right? Whatever they do is designed to sell papers. But it tends to refelct their values also. If Labour had elected another Oxbridge PPE clone, they would have suited them far, far better, no?