It’s kicking off in all directions today but keep an eye on the English Football Association proposals to introduce a series of changes to lower league football. One option on the table is for Premier and Championship sides’ “B teams” to compete in a new structure with League Two and Conference teams.
The FA are eyeing an opportunity to allow the best young English talent, often cosseted in the youth squads of top Premier League teams with little chance of first team action, to be exposed to competitive games. The proposal includes a geographical split of northern and southern teams.
While the FA Premier League is bust by any known measure, the Football League is in an even worse financial state. Average income in the lower leagues is remarkably high but the steep pyramid-model, which has clubs chasing huge increases in revenue in the Premier League, leads to excessive over-spend.
With these proposed changes on the table the Scottish FA could do worse than discuss their own game’s future with their English counterparts. Well run Scottish clubs are hamstrung by their better-funded neighbours cherry-picking their best players for a relative pittance. Scottish Premiership clubs regularly cannot compete financially for players in England’s fourth tier.
It’s surely time to federate the top Scottish league with the English league structure.
Information slipping out of Switzerland this morning that Manchester City and Paris St Germain are each facing a fine of circa £50m for breaching Financial Fair Play rules is encouraging – if Uefa are able to deliver on the deal.
When you consider financially punishing an entity which owns the oil wealth of a sovereign nation the figure needs to be a big one. £50m just about hits the mark.
Apparently the Great Sevco Shakedown began this morning when the club’s first every goal scorer, Andy Little, was released. The news is harsh on the player but the club needs to learn the lesson – income needs to match expenditure.
Imran Ahmed’s court hearing today against Rangers International comes exactly three years after liquidation expert, Craig Whyte, was triumphantly welcomed into Ibrox, an ominous anniversary, for some.
Issue 20 of CQN Magazine, CQLisboN is out and enjoying great reviews. Click here to read for FREE.
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It’s not just me
U20 victory with reaction from John Kennedy
JOHN Kennedy declared his delight at Celtic Under-20s’ second –half showing as they overcame Rangers 2-0 at Lennoxtown to move within three points of a clinching a fifth successive league crown.
The young Hoops held the upper hand in the opening 45 minutes but they increased the tempo after the interval and struck twice in quick succession through Denny Johnstone and John Herron.
And they remained resolute in the closing stages to do the double over their Glasgow rivals this season and claim a priceless victory in the title race.
Anything other than a win would have handed the Ibrox side the championship but now the destiny of the trophy is in the Bhoys’ hands.
And should they prevail in their final fixture of the season away to Dundee United on Thursday evening then the title celebrations can get underway.
“I’m delighted, the coach told Celtic TV after the game. “It was always going to be a tough game and there was a lot of tension initially in the game.
“It started quite scrappily for both teams. Rangers had one or two half chances early on but once the game settled we dominated it.
“We were the far better team and I thought we passed and moved the ball really well in the second half and scored two excellent goals. We are delighted to get three points and the level of the performance in the second half was first class.”
“It’s part of their development, having a couple of games going into the season and knowing that if Rangers had won the game that they would walk away today with the championship.
“There was a lot of pressure but we tried to calm the players down before it and let the football do the talking and not get caught up in the situation, and once the game settled I felt we dominated it.
Once they had settled into the contest, the young Celts dominated possession and were able to launch their attacks, and Kennedy praised the midfielders for providing the platform for the derby victory.
“After about 20 minutes we started to play, mostly down our right side for a spell,” he said. “Liam Henderson came into the game, Paul McMullan started to get a bit of joy and Jamie Linsday and Connor McManus started to get on the ball more, which we needed.
“We wanted to get those two on the ball and try and suck them out as we knew it was going to be tough to break them down as a point would have done Rangers, and they were quiet happy to come here, sit in and make it difficult for us.
“We were delighted with the way they got on the ball. They were brave for the full game, working hard to get into space and from there they dictated play which we wanted.
“It was important the three midfielders, in particular, got hold of the game, and made sure they moved the ball from side and took every opportunity they had to get through Rangers.
“The game opened up after the first 20 minutes and we got more joy, and the player settled and we went on to dominate the game.”
Both goals for the youths were impressive in their execution, with Johnstone thumping in a header from Filip Twardzik’s inviting delivery and Herron slotting home following a magnificent passing move which started deep inside Celtic’s half.
“It was a terrific cross from Filip, and we were delighted for Denny,” said Kennedy. “We are always on at him to get in the box, and he deserved his goal as the work-rate he puts in for the team is fantastic and it’s great for a striker to be rewarded with goals.
“Since John has went to right back he has been great for us. Defensively he is sound and he gives us a really good attacking option. Being a naturally attacking player he wants to get forward, and when he and Paul McMullan combine together they can be very influential.
“It was great well-worked goal, and it was important to get a second goal at that point game as we knew Rangers would come strong toward the end and it gave us a bit of a cushion.”
BRTH
I do not give two tuppenny sucks personally about it but what about my point about the 10,000-30,000 possibly being fleeced ? on the back of what can only be described as an entirely inaccurate judgment. He has completely accepted every argument coming from Sevco to arise at this judgement. Hence why they also faced costs I presume. A big big favour but at a wee cost. The argument will be proffered that he is only looking at the minutiae of this case. Surely a supposedly learned judge must also consider the implications of his ruling. He is failing in his public duty for the cause.
Last word on it.
Get a dish washer !!
HH
Fieldofdrams, thanks. Unfortunately thursday is not good for me. Stuck in aberdeen in meetings all afternoon and wont get away till late. Clynliesh is a lovely dram. Skyeisalandfill had some in his hipflask at the cqten night and was kind enough to give me a swallie. I used to buy it from the buccaneer in elgin years ago but hadnt tried it for a long time. Definitely on my buy next list.
HH
BRTH at 1947
Who’s Lard Armstrong? Are we to assume he’s a fat bassa?
In re Lord Armstrong…
He’s put on a bit of weight recently (what with having gone senatorial and what not) but the term “lard” would seem to be unjustified.
OTOH…
Yer man’s not exactly Knights material
As the possession stats are displayed on screen at 50/50, Andy Walker tells everyone it’s been a fairly even game……
FFS!
Could someone please explain this to me……….
Rangers were liquidated, the creditors were bumped for millions.
Why were they not able to force the sale of any assets ( ie The Bigotdome & Murray Park)and retrieve the money owed?
Same scenario now…… Sevco are liquidated. Could the institutional investors force a sale of any assets or can they not because RIFC is seperate from Sevco? ( assuming Craigy doesn’t own the assets!!)
Really enjoyable game at Tannadice!
BHRT,
Paper plates and plastic cutlery and create landfill all that detergent is no good for the environment :o)
Walker praises a blatant foul,fud.
Justafan
I am enjoying it too, chances good saves and hard tackles..
Burghbhoy
Greengo bought the assets for £5.5m
Weren’t worth anymore …apparently
Blantyre…..
And (can’t believe I’m saying this) sensible refereeing!!!
BT
Very enjoyable game to watch, despite Walkers predictable comments.
Walker is very irritating even when he’s not involved in miscalling CFC
Trumpet!!!
Great saves from Langfield … a very strange goalkeeper IMO!
Burghbhoy 20:15 on 6 May, 2014
The assets were sold to a company fronted by Charles Green.
Well I see there are two rather unsurprising developments tonight.
Firstly the Ahmed case. I am surprised that BRTH and others are trying to rationalise the court decision today. It is an absurd decision given public pronouncements by the new club. Absurd that unsubstantiated promises by directors should be considered.
Put simply a corrupt decision made by a corrupt Scotland to protect its institutional sectarianism. It’s not a surprise. We see it all the time.
Could it be the politicians that say things like blood of our blood are involved?
Perhaps we are worried about public safety.
The other news is classic celtic parsimony. NL tells us about player turnover and already speaking like Forster has gone. My god celtic aren’t even waiting till the season book deadline has passed before screwing us. They must think the celtic way will sway us all.
Pathetic unambitious celtic. Aspiring to mediocrity again.
Ah plus de change
justafan
20:36 on
6 May, 2014
Great saves from Langfield … a very strange goalkeeper IMO!
_________________________________________________________
Indeed, first one was as good as save as I have seen all season.
Good contest and decent crowd at Tannadice. Further dispels the Armageddon myth.
Pfayr
Surely the creditors would have got more than £5.5m if the Bigotdome and Murray Park were flattened for real estate.
Can’t see those hedge funds being so understanding this time?
Surely they will want to recoup every last bean?
Sound down so walker not annoying me…
Burghbhoy
You might have thought so
The hedge funds will stuff them if required….
Ha ha, this must be the funniest headliner from twitter tonight.
BBC Radio 5 live @bbc5live 4m
Mohamed Al-Fayed says Michael Jackson’s statue could have kept Fulham up, we kid you not. http://bbc.in/Rl6l9d #FFC pic.twitter.com/ptm8Pn7Iz1
My spelling is shocking. O)
John Hewitt was a player we got a couple of years too late.
Why were ALL the assets allowed to be sold to a company fronted by Charles Green by the Administrator when that is the job of a Liquidator?
Did Duff and Phelps overstep their remit?
What do BDO have to say?
cv
neganon2
“Firstly the Ahmed case. I am surprised that BRTH and others are trying to rationalise the court decision today. It is an absurd decision given public pronouncements by the new club. Absurd that unsubstantiated promises by directors should be considered.
Put simply a corrupt decision made by a corrupt Scotland to protect its institutional sectarianism. It’s not a surprise. We see it all the time.
Could it be the politicians that say things like blood of our blood are involved?”
———————————————-
Paranoid, moronic guff, even by your standards
A few bhoys were commenting on Logan ( from Aberdeen) after Saturday
My understanding is he is a RB who was filling in at LB on Saturday
Tidy enough player …miles behind Lustig and Matthews and not any better than Fisher …not for me
BB
Agree, would hardly recognise him now though!
iPaddy McCourt Supports Wee Oscar
20:45 on
6 May, 2014
DIsagree.
HH
Cathedral View
As I understand it HMRC didn’t object to the sale to Greengo …might be wrong ….so much fun has been had since then I may have forgotten :-))
‘Former Rangers commercial director Imran Ahmad has been unsuccessful in his latest attempts to have £620,000 frozen in the club’s account.
Ahmad claims he is owed £500,000 in unpaid bonuses.
But Lord Armstrong said: “There is some scope for concern about the financial position of the defender [Rangers].
“It cannot be said there is a real possibility of the defender being insolvent [in early 2015 when any potential liability would fall due].”
At the Court of Session, Ahmad’s QC Mr McBrearty pointed out the possibility that this year’s sales could be badly dented by ongoing problems between the board and fans.
However, key to Mr Summers’ argument in defence of Rangers was that current institutional investors would provide further finance to stave off any prospect of an insolvency event, even if season ticket sales were to fall to a level that would cause financial difficulty.
In February, Lord Tyre disagreed with Ahmad’s claim that Rangers were trading while insolvent.
Now, with doubts over season ticket sales, Ahmad was concerned about Rangers’ ability to pay out should he win his ongoing legal battle with them.
At the February hearing, Lord Tyre made his decision in Rangers’ favour because of what he described as the cyclical nature of a football club’s finances.
Since then, Rangers have made it clear that a significant drop in season ticket sales would leave them unable to trade without seeking external finance.
The chairman of Rangers’ football board, Sandy Easdale, also told BBC Scotland that the League One champions are in a “fragile situation”.
The implications of the decision going in Ahmad’s favour could have been potentially devastating for the board.
The Glasgow club declined to comment when contacted by BBC Scotland.
After Tuesday’s ruling, solicitors for Ahmad said in a statement: “In light of the recent developments at the club, particularly so far as season ticket renewals are concerned, our client remained reasonably apprehensive that Rangers may not be able to meet its obligations to him, in the event he succeeds in the current litigation.
“Our client is content that the court recognised the public interest in bringing the application before it, in particular in refusing the club’s motion for expenses.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27251815
BT 20-43
YES
Hasn’t GG got a vested interest in our promoting from the Academy for RB? Anyway, we are probably stronger there than any other department in the team. Logan isn’t for us, imo. Now, a lb must be high on the agenda.
The Kano Foundation Golf Day 2014
will take place on Friday 12th September 2014 @ Mount Ellen golf course.
Entry fee is £50 which will get you a round of golf , some good craic , breakfast roll and tea/coffee as well as a 2 course meal and prizes afterwards (for those good enough , or bad enough to win them).
Places are limited . If interested , drop a line to golf@thekanofoundation.com
Sanna
Burghbhoy
20:38 on
6 May, 2014
==============
Are you the same burghbhoy who has been frequenting TSFM ?
cathedral view
20:45 on 6 May, 2014
Why were ALL the assets allowed to be sold to a company fronted by Charles Green by the Administrator when that is the job of a Liquidator?
Did Duff and Phelps overstep their remit?
What do BDO have to say?
Another cover up.