And then the lights came back on.
You and I have discussed this before, but one week from tomorrow Celtic could be in involved in a +£20m penalty kick competition. Between now and then I’d have the players take 100 each. Preparation is everything and there’s no amount of preparation for penalties next week which will be too much.
You have to suspect that it’s too soon for Brendan Rodgers to throw new keeper, Dorus de Vries, into such a critical game, without a proper opportunity to work with his defenders, or be assessed by Stevie Woods.
After the Aberdeen game later this month we have a two week international break, where de Vries will be able to work with the coaching staff for an extended period, but that precedes the group stages of European competition, so I’m not sure when the new keeper will get a first team break.
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Happy Hoopy Birthday to Mr Fallon and to Didier……
Yesterday was the 113 th anniversary of the Hoops first appearance.
So Hoopy Birthday Hoops …..
The Green Man says SACK THE Board
‘Structural Integrity’
I’ve heard they’re coming to understand what that means…
BT,
Hoopy Birthday to TOHG!
If you are lurkin away, hope you actually have a smile on your face today ya auld sledging bam ye ;-)
Have a good one JF!
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Blantyre Kev 8:47
Very good post, I agree completely.
Bognorbhoy
Hope you and the folks are well.
Ive had a crazy few weeks…tell you about it.
It reminds me of the time when i was at school….Religious Education they called it.
Teacher takes the class over to the chapel…..Stations of the cross.
Mrs K says to me….Stephen, i want you to imagine the pain of jesus as he dragged the cross.
I waited for about 30 seconds and said…..’That must have been heavy’
She never spoke to me again:)……which i was quite pleased with.
Saying things like that to an eleven year old wasnt clever:)
HH
DAVIDOPOULOUS
They truly are stupid…..and bent.
Worst of it is…..they believe it.
They are demented.
Wait till they find out that Glibby is taking the P…..the penny might drop soon…..but then again, they arent the brightest.
Scott Sinclair v Lee Wallace is a Grass……that should be fun:)
HH
Boo
the Rutherglen ghost
Within CQN bad gateway time Celtic fans all over the world were able to get the Lee Wallace done.
On SFTB’s post on the distribution of Lottery funding for elite sports, the following gives the distribution per sport for the current cycle of funding.
Some interesting figures: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/current-funding-figures
The sport benefiting from the most support is Rowing, with £32M in funding, followed by Cycling with £30M.
Then Athletics with £26M and Sailing with £25M.
Combining Equestrianism (£18M) and Modern Pentathlon (£7M) gives £25M.
Then a load of sports including Swimming, Canoeing, Gymnastics, Hockey, Boxing.
Seems mental that Sailing, which has a rther low participation rate, and Athletics, which has a very high participation rate, should benefit equally.
Meanwhile, as SFTB points out, sports such as Volleyball and Basketball are not funded at all at elite level.
We should though be careful to note that this funding is provided in 2 parts: The first directly to the Athletes; The second to the sports’ governing bodies to salary Coaches. Awards are based on the level that the athletes in each sport are competing at. Hence why there is no funding for the Volleyball and BAsketball teams.
Grassroots funding – community facilities and the likes – is funded via a different route (not UK Sport), albeit largely the same source of funds – Lottery money, plus local authority investment.
Concentrating spend at the elite level ensures current competitors are supported to train and compete at a high level. Failure to invest in grassroots though means that the number of elite performers in subsequent years is diminished.
BT, thanks for that. I put a wee Happy Birthday to him on your FB page as well. I hope he has a great day.
Just bought a wee bottle of wine to say sorry to Mrs PMYTH. I was supposed to make the dinner last night for her coming home but she introduced me to one of the neighbours who plied me with several cans of Tiger beer (nice 5%) and got back to a not very happy wifey. Her fault really :-))
waylaidbybeercsc
Paddy Roberts and Scott Sinclair.
Moussa and the Griff.
Erik, Kolo, KT, Ajer
If Poundland are not concerned about those players…..good
Because if they are that stupid….it will be hilarious.
Paddy Roberts and Scott Sinclair v Sevco.
Pitch invasion after the 4th goal….within 15 minutes:)
HH
Macjay
I know your politics. You know mine.
I described your politics . Not you.
Are your politics not part of you? Are they a separate entity which are not really a part of you? I would say that you (and my) politics are part of our values and are what make us who we are.
I try very hard not to be personal.
You don`t.
Interesting, let’s see if the evidence stacks up that way. You would have to be saying that you were not accusing me of being envious and ridden by class war thoughts, you were just accusing my politics of being so. Very neat side step and compartmentalising so that you can give yourself a bye on that charge whilst maintaining that the other protagonist is personal. Kojo used to do something similar by putting all his offensive insults into adjectival form rather than labeling by nouns. He, too, was fond of awarding himself a bye.
You prefer to play the man , not the ball.
Viz. Cheap jibe. Passive aggressive.
Interesting way to refute the charge of passive aggression by taking that personally but feeling that my “envy” was not personal.
Let me remind you, for the 3rd time, of what the “ball” actually was before you introduced the irrelevancies (irrelevant to my point) of giving Olympics to poor Countries and of Russian State colluding with drug cheats (both topics I am happy to debate but they are red herrings to the point you continually fail to address.
My first “ball” was that monies largely raised from contributions by the poor (Lottery money) are being skillfully diverted to private school facilities because of the arcane rules adopted by the people appointed by the government to manage those monies. The fact that those people are largely the products of the schools to which the funds are diverted is, I am sure, just as coincidental as the fact that most of Mrs. Thatcher’s privatising ministers found employment with the companies to which they sold our national assets, within months of leaving office.
My second “ball” was that in choosing to emphasis the success measure as being the number of Olympic medals gained to boost national prestige (a very Soviet approach) they have, by default (?), invested heavily in the equipment rich sports of rowing, sailing, equestrianism and high end cycling, the first three of which are disproportionately peopled by the products of private schools as there is a financial barrier preventing equal access to all but cycling.
I deliberately excluded athletics and swimming from the accusation because they are more, but not wholly, meritocratic in access. It did not stop posters attacking this point even though it was not one made by me.
Now, quite simply, do you agree that it is unfair (not envious) for money to be diverted so blatantly on a class (in its widest sense) basis?
And do you agree that it would be better for the nation’s wellbeing and general health to be targeting sports which generate wider participation and aerobic benefit (to stop it going to snooker and darts- even though we could boost our Olympics medal hopes and national prestige)?
And, if not, why not?- Time to actually notice where the “ball” is if you are going to claim you have played it
Nevertheless , by and large U.K. can afford the money spent on sport.
Can we? And can we afford to prioritise the money spent on a few? Should the UK not be looking for a bigger bang for its buck rather than £5m per Olympic medal. Have the participation numbers in equestrian events justified that prioritisation of funds?
Where is the outpouring of anger over the billions spent on the London Olympics ?
Many countries can`t afford the cost of staging these games.
Greece , patently , was one . Brazil is another.
Perhaps you should stick it to Brazil , rather than U.K.
Maybe, as in Muslims condemning Isis, that anger cannot exist if you have not read about it or noticed it or actually searched for it. There were plenty of protests about the Olympic expenditure and about the white elephant stadium being sold on the cheap to West Ham (whose owners and shakers were friends of the government).
Maybe all countries need to scale down the operations, like the US tried to do in Atlanta, but would the IOC let them?
We could end with the games rotating between North America, Western Europe and the Far East (China/Japan/S.Korea) only. In the same vein we could play all SPFL matches at CP and Hampden because all other clubs cannot afford the upkeep of a stadium to the requisite standards. We either have meritocratic and fair distribution of venues and scale down the costs involved, or we allow the bigger richer nations the advantage of home soil.
The class war is over in U.K.
Why won`t you let it lie down ?
God, I missed that memo. When did it end? Who won?
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD
All ok here …and with you I hope .
A.M has a bit more Info on old Paddy (Dublin) through her ex ( American ) who is doing family tree .
D.N.A. sample says we are Irish (whodathunkiteh)
BLANTYREKEV
Great post,and an excellent suggestion re the 10%.
Two minor quibbles.
Aberdeen called off a match around this time last year simply to rest up,so no participation fee applies.
Secondly,Thistle would still moan as they will have ‘lost’ two participation fees and the law of averages has them not getting one in the next decade!
Dunno what Thistle are moaning about anyway. It was our home game,they don’t get a penny. They might though get a TV fee for a midweek match.
POGMATHONYAHUN
Wait till she hears about your romantic weekend(!)
Bognorbhoy
Id like to see that.
Some man Paddy:)
Yeah, we are all good.
Seemingly, we are moving house…..so the boss tells me.
Not very far…..about 15 minutes away.
Hope i can cope with the radical change:)
The boss says she will let me know when…..which is good of her:)
HH
POG,
Hope you are almost settled in Brunei now?
Far better off with Tiger than Bintang, which you must have been introduced to also by now?
Altho Bintang should be a bit cheaper.
Not sure what the situation is re links to kodi addons here so I have PM’d you on FB with a link to DC Sports, in case you havent tried that. Pretty good with a smasshing Celtic area included!
Have fun and watch out for the monekeys stealing your shiny stuff :-)
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
SETTINGFREETHEBEARS
I understand your points about elitism at the Olympics entirely. The funding methods aren’t ideal and they are skewed towards the haves in life.
But no matter,they should still be lauded for their achievements and their dedication. Hugh MacDonald wrote a good article in The National about Andy Murray playing for the love of it.
He makes a very good point.
Anyway,even elite sports aren’t only for the elite. Here’s a BRTH special about showjumping to prove it
https://broganrogantrevinoandhogan.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/the-tale-of-the-little-giant/
BlantyreKev on 16th August 2016 8:47 am
Great post; several very pertinent points well made. The SMSM and other SPFL clubs are delinquent in their research time and time again (Waddell on dearth of young Scottish talent being produced was a prime example). Celtic have literally crowd funded the Premier League teams over the last 4 seasons and will this season make sure they all benefit from the CL windfall.
We also used this option in 2012 to play Ajax (I think) in the precursor to the International Champions Cup. The flow down of money from participation is philanthropic but I’d beware. You would find out that we had an early home game against Sevco every year so we would have to pay them the £300K ………………………..
Morning Bhoys from a lovely sunny Central Scotland our youngsters play the Blue Brazil tonight away from home it should be a good match I am looking forward to it.Then there is the big match tomorrow lots to look forward to.H.H.
PETROLHEID
Give it to the face painter and co!
Happy Birthday Mr Fallon, a true Celt in every sense of the word..
http://tirnaog09.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/light-in-dark-place.html?m=1
Thoughts?
Btw,I don’t think Robert Kelly took his stance because of the Russian invasion at the time. I reckon it was because of that bliddy Russian lino in 66. Quite right too.
Tony
Struck me I’d seen that La Foot article before. It’s from 2013.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Global/Issues/2013/10/25/International-Football/Fan-Rankings.aspx
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 16th August 2016 9:55 am
____________________________________________________________________
Great wee piece and it sums up the dilemna perfectly. By all means, make some statement, but do it in a way that isn’t deliberately antagonistic and leads to a partial or full ground closure!
You really do have to hand it to our upper middle class “betters”.
When it comes to elbowing their way to the front of the public ally generated funding queue there are none better. The whole set up has being developed to make sure the privately educated upper middle class have the pick of this particular funding stream.
To be fair they are very flexible — elite sport / medal results are the chosen parameters at the moment because that is the formula that delivers the result they want.
If it didn’t then the parameters would change in a flash and the great and the good would be brought out to back up a media blitz telling us things were changing and why they had to change.
Totally shameful but that is the way this country works, how the cap doffing is maintained and how the upper middle class never want for anything.
The sport is elitist therefore we must fund the elite is the new mantra.
Simple message, widely spun to the detriment of us all.
Finally you have to hand it to the privately educated upper middle class.
They have moved on from the “Chariots of Fire” vibe without missing a stride.
100 years ago they did not have the same level of competition from the poor and from Africa so they still were competitive — now too many people are involved and they are getting grubbed on a regular basis.
Time to move on to rowing — get it in the Olympics and Hoover up the cash.
You have to hand it to them and their sensibilities — half the world suffers from dodgy drinking water and they are building artificial lakes in deserts to train on.
Interesting how public opinion handles this?
Will the cap differs win — at least we have someone to cheer.
Or will their be a backlash against all this upper middle class welfare being funded by a blue collar gambling levy?
Interesting to see where the Lottery money is spent?
My two biggest gripes / local to me:
AM’s other grandparents — the town where they live only has a couple of red ash tennis courts in a poorer state than they were 35 years ago when they were busy during the summer post Wimbledon tennis season.
New town without a proper synthetic 400m track.
And a set of public sector tennis court left rotting through slack of interest.
No one is spared in my book.
The local authority lacks vision, focus, belief and money.
The Auld Reekie establishment has blinkers and a lack of desire.
The Lottery is just looking for any easy life.
Summa 001 coincidental Nigel Latta TV program on suicide, powerful stuff from a right down to earth dude bringing it out in the open. Smart man, NZ has far too many bad stats , especially young men in a she’ll be right society. The more men talk about depression they will realise that there is support out there and that they are not alone. Take care mate, remember the good times. May your friend rest in peace , sad.
TBS @ 9.13
Lack of new blood coming into the elite programmes !?!
That is what they want as it makes it easier for the privately educate upper middle class to get to the front of the queue.
From my time at Bearsden a Tech it was always interesting to see how poor the Egg Chasing team was but marvel at the true believers in the Rowing fraternity who could compete at a high level.
The Egg chasers were always looking for new blood.
The FP teams held on to the talent so the uni teams were struggling.
The rowing mob seemed to be one small happy family to the point of inbreeding.
Every year a new generation turned up ready formed just needing to bulk up.
MADMITCH
Good post.
Sharp Elbows….Public Funds…Class Hatred.
Yeah…That about sums it up.
And in a tight spot….they can always brandish words like ‘Democracy’
Social Darwinism….Tory Style.
HH
I’ve just read that the word Hapoel is connected with worker’s groups and trade unions in Israel. Clubs with Hapoel in their name incorporate a hammer and sickle in their badge.
Now…shouldn’t the political dimension of our opponents be dividing CQN instead of flag waving???
;)
Our club is shocking. £30 for a kid to watch the dead team. Champions league tickets don’t even cost that for kids. Scandalous.
BMCUW @ 9:55am
Really enjoyed the blog. Well written, and I agree that, if people feel they really must make a statement, then what better way to do so, than one that not only highlights the plight of innocent children, but also does so in a fashion that may be seen as humanitarian rather than merely politically agressive/divisive?
I’d suggest that is a win/win situation. Although whether UEFA see it that way remains to be seen.
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
As I posted last night, there was an interesting (if short) discussion on Newsnight about the cost of GB winning medals at the Rio Olympics. If Team GB achieve their target (48 medals?) then the cost per medal will be £5.7m. In Sydney 200 the comparative cost was £2.1m per medal. Now, you might argue that this is not a useful was to measure value for money, but I guess that very much depends on what we mean by VFM.
The total funding figure to support Team GB at Rio discussed on last night’s programme was quoted as c. £350m from Lottery funding and distributed via UK Sport.
How much money should be spent on Team GB in preparation for each Olympics and how should it be distributed?
That very much depends on the reasons why we participate in the first place.
THE TOKEN TIM on 16TH AUGUST 2016 10:22 AM
What’s wanted is a Palestinian version of Aidan McAnespie but I don’t think such a song exists.
1) I described your political stance. Not you.
2) An opinion which I hold is no more part of me than a changed opinion would be. I am not my opinion.
If I change my opinion , am I a different person ?
3) “Interesting way to refute the charge of passive aggression by taking that personally but feeling that my “envy” was not personal.”
I didn`t describe you as being envious.
4) National assets ?
Actually National liabilities.
Loss makers every one. And a perennial drain on the tax collected from profit makers including the individual tax payer.
5) “Contributions by the poor.”
Gambling is now a contribution ?
You are suggesting that only the poor gamble on the lottery ?
Poor,but rich enough to gamble ?
Is it just possible that the ” poor ” get as much enjoyment out of the successes of eg. the equestrians as they do out of other sports ? Why do you assume that they wouldn`t ?
Do you think they need you to tell them how to spend their hard earned and how it should be distributed ?
Big brother ?
5) “Now, quite simply, do you agree that it is unfair (not envious) for money to be diverted so blatantly on a class (in its widest sense) basis?”
Class is an oudated concept.
The distribution of funds is apparently there for all to see.
If the ” poor ” don`t like it they can gamble elsewhere. No ?
======================================================
The class war is over in U.K.
Why won`t you let it lie down ?
“God, I missed that memo. When did it end? Who won?”
The people won.
And have the right to gamble as they wish .
But sadly, still not the Venezuelan or Cuban people.
They`re still under the ideological boot.
NatKnow
Aw that money for medals?
Just superimpose your face on a picture of someone wearing medals. Sorted.
Good enough for Allan Woods innit.
A Fiver….
I am happy for you to think I am deluded, but I will ask you the same as I asked MacJay, provide me proof from an indy source that doping in Russian Athletics-Sport is State Sponsored.
Nothing from a pro brit or pro american source.
I have said I believe that there was a state cover up, a world away from being State sponsored.
But never mind, we can all watch and marvel at the brit and septic drug cheats and take comfort that the big bad Russians are not stealing their medals.
HH
The 10.32 above for SFTB.