Reconstruction in the time of near-universal insolvency

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It fell to Elgin City chairman Graham Tatters to call out Hearts chairwoman, Ann Budge:

“We go and put the two teams who are bottom of the league in charge of the reconstruction talks.

“I just feel all of this is being done just to find a way to stop teams going down.

“We’ve lost out on the chance of promotion but when the resolution was put out to end
 the season it was a no-brainer for us.

“I’ve got no problem with Neil Doncaster and the SPFL. They are
 doing what they can and have been fantastic at getting
 information to all the clubs. Someone had to make the decision – there was no point fannying about.”

Tatters moved on from not fannying about to the crux of football’s problem:

“People are scared to say it but we might not be playing until Christmas, or even until they have a vaccine.

“Forget about playing behind closed doors. We have a real problem here. Reconstruction talk is a bit of a joke – it’s a total red herring.”

It is impossible to decide how many teams should occupy each league on a temporary two-year basis (which Budge hopes will give her enough time to avoid relegation) if you do not know how many games it will be possible to play next season, what cash flow there will be in the game or how many professional clubs will remain in business.

If Motherwell and Kilmarnock cannot sell a match ticket until January, and then only for around a dozen home games, will they want the league’s commercial income distributed 14 ways instead of 12?

With so many clubs sitting precariously on the edge of insolvency, do you expect them to vote to reduce their share of the pie?  I think Ann Budge will meet resistance in her plans to reconstruct Scottish football on a temporary basis to allow Hearts to avoid relegation.

Reconstruction is in the wind, but will look different to what many imagine.  Pretty much all of the community clubs, occupying the bottom two leagues in the SPFL can cut their cash burn to near zero and survive, the same is true for some in the Championship, with Alloa  and Arbroath.

The vast majority of the rest will have to go into administration, make relatively high-earners redundant, in order to survive.  How else can Aberdeen get through a £1m per month cash burn?  There will be a Bonfire of the Vanities, from Edinburgh, to Aberdeen, Dundee and, of course, Govan.   The same is true across Europe, most particularly, in the English Championship.

There is an almighty reconstruction ahead, but I don’t think anyone can imagine what it will look like yet.  Dare we hope for the biggest change of all?  I’m not sure.

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  1. Happy Wednesday eve CQN from another mild and clear morning in Kentucky. 

     

     

    Speculation over a possible link between coronavirus cases in Liverpool and the club’s Champions League match with Atletico Madrid last month is an “interesting hypothesis”, a scientific adviser to the UK government has said.

     

     

    Why did the iPox game go ahead again? Ah, yes. They needed the cash so screw everyone else.

     

     

    Twas ever thus. 

     

     

    HH!

  2. Coronavirus is a matter of life and death and football is not more important than that.

  3. Paul67

     

     

    Says it all Leanne Dempster of Hibernian has pulled out of Hertz league reconstruction talks, presumably she has more important things to do.

     

     

    Somebody should also tell Zombie 2 FC, that nine in a row is the least of their concerns.

     

     

    HWG TIAR

  4. The Battered Bunnet on

    Paul,

     

     

    Welcome to the party. It’s been pretty clear for a month or more that football will be reconstructed according to who is able to field a team after Covid. It’s mental that some folk continue to ignore the inevitable. I suppose it’s a comforting distraction from the horror around us.

     

     

    I wrote a few weeks ago that it seemed to me highly likely that the movers and shakers in European football would be war-gaming the current crisis and seeding ideas for how to change the game after. I’d be surprised if Celtic wasn’t at least within arm’s length of such discussions.

  5. In fact my greatest piece of film… See what I did there.

     

     

    The Celtic story 🍀

     

     

    D. :)

  6. The God Father I & II

     

     

    In The Name of the Father

     

     

    12 Angry Men

     

     

    Lord of the rings trilogy

     

     

    Star Wars

     

     

    The Great Debaters

     

     

    The Green Mile

     

     

    Avatar

     

     

    Schindler’s List

  7. This did make me chuckle.

     

     

    “For the first time in history we can save the human race by lying in front of the TV and doing nothing. Let’s not screw this up.”

     

     

    Then I turned on the news to see some states over here opening back up their restaurants. We have Trump sanctioned armed protests in many states to end the lockdown, people with military grade weapons demanding the country open back up.

     

     

    This is not a time for fannying around. More so since The WHO are now saying far less people are carrying antibodies than first thought. Sure I read only 2-3% by some studies. Herd immunity, aye right then.

     

     

    And by The Who I do not mean the Pinball Wizards. Budge can b*gger off.

  8. Ref Herd Immunity etc from previous thread, and the thoughtful insights of TBB, Chairbhoy and Jamesgang. With apologies to anyone I’ve missed.

     

    Thanks for answering my vague questions lads.

     

    Your absorbing, fatalistic feedback has led me to the stark conclusion that we are doomed.

     

    Those of us of a certain vintage and/or with underlying comorbidities are merely marking time, fiddling while Rome burns. Sitting on the ice floe waiting for the polar bear.

     

    Our ambition to see the 9 in a row we have already witnessed surpassed by an unprecedented 10, will not be realized. Football, or society, as we know it will not survive in the face of this pandemic.

     

    Hunkering down will only postpone the inevitable.

     

    The necessity to return to some kind of economic activity to restore a veneer of civilization will inevitably result in the loss of the elderly, the chronically ill and those dependent on the support of family and society.

     

    It’s not a bright prospect.

     

    Unless the holy grail of effective treatments and or a vaccine are made available soon.

  9. GG

     

    There will be a vaccine ready to roll out sometime in the future – estimates from 6 months to 18 months. In the meantime a way to treat the symptoms without the need for intensive care is the other focus. They’re the only real hope because the virus won’t go away on its own.

     

    Was disappointed you didn’t comment on my Pennsylvania 65000 comment yesterday.

  10. GG – Don’t hold back😂

     

     

    I hope there is a bit of tongue in cheek in your post.

     

     

    It is a very trying time and we have some right eejits not paying attention to what’s going on.

     

    But, but there is some real acts of Human kindness and it will take a while but we will get out the other side of this.

     

    I don’t think this is the end of the world as we know it, for sure it will be for some poor unfortunate souls and yes it’s very sad.

     

     

    You need to look after yourself and loved ones first and foremost and by doing so (lockdown, social distancing, rigorous cleaning of door handles/ work tops etc) you will be looking after your fellow Humans and without that touch of Humanity we are nothing.

     

     

    I hope you are safe and well my Celtic friend

     

     

    Hail Hail

     

     

    D. :)

  11. !!Bada Bing!! on

    Barcelona to sell naming rights of Nou Camp,for 1 season, money going to coronavirus aid.

  12. GG………………….take heart Bhoy, ye are in the right place, doing the right things to keep away from this hun-like virus. It’s in our hands to get the better of this thing – it’ll take time tho’…………..kick back and let yer kids and missus look after ye. Ye deserve it… and anyhoo, us ex-pats need yer Live commentary for the games!

     

     

    :)))))))))))))))))))

     

     

    HH.

  13. In no particular order:

     

     

    Shawshank Redemption

     

     

    Dirty Dancing

     

     

    Breakfast Club

     

     

    Only the Lonely

     

     

    Last of the Mohicans

     

     

    Cal

     

     

    In the Name of the Farther

     

     

    Rabbit Proof Fence

     

     

    Brasses Off

     

     

    Girl Interrupted

  14. In the Name of the Father, obviously.

     

     

    Could have been worse…… In the name of the Farter.

  15. Bankiebhoy

     

    It will be a wee while before we will have any games.

     

    Unless we find a cure.

     

    Talking of commentary I was thinking of providing virtual updates of our remaining fixtures and seeing how many points would have separated us from the pack.

     

    Food for thought.

  16. Hate to be proved right but what have I been saying for the last couple of years about not joining in the rather premature and presumptuous ‘here we go, 10 in a row’ chant…. ;-)

  17. Notthebus @ 12:36 ” 10 in a row scuppered by a germ” you are having a laugh this thing has killed perhaps hundreds of thousands wrought havoc throughout the world, caused millions to be laid off and that’s your response,dearie me. Explain or get it deleted btw virus not germ.

  18. Oil prices went negative yesterday.

     

    Hard to grasp I know.

     

    Producers paying suppliers to take it away to help defray storage costs.

     

    I look forward to gas stations paying me to fill my tank.

  19. What is the Stars on

    The reality is no one knows what the future holds.I don’t go along with the prophets of doom and gloom who would have us beleive that nothing will be the same again.Air travel will stop,bars and restaurants will never be as we knew them before,Sport as it once existed is dead,forevermore we have to wear masks and gloves and socially isolate and work from home blah blah blah…Total baloney…Nobody knows of course so like Rangers winning the league it remains a possibility ..However as a betting man in the contest between human ingenuity and random new viruses I will back human ingenuity all the time..Might be no football matches this year or everything might be back by August..Nobody knows..

  20. A Celtic Season Ticket Renewal poll elsewhere is running at

     

     

    * Renewed already 

28.57%


     

    * Planning to renew 

47.75%


     

    * Won’t renew 

6.31%


     

    * Undecided 

18.02%


     

     

    HWG TIAR

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