So far, it is clear that Covid hygiene rules were not followed at St Mirren, where seven non-playing staff tested positive for the virus. Additionally, the SFA have launched an investigation into allegations Newco fielded nine players against Dundee United on Wednesday without receiving the required negative test results.
The anomaly came to light because Newco arranged two games on Wednesday. Motherwell, their opponents in the second game, had their results delayed by the same testing backlog. This brought attention to the fact that neither club received the all-clear until Wednesday evening, several hours after the Newco-Dundee United game.
There are significant health and commercial risks at play here. The seven staff at St Mirren could easily (and may have) infect the playing staff. If St Mirren then played a game, the virus would almost certainly infect not only the rest of the team but their opponents. Games involving these teams would be postponed for weeks, perhaps months. Dozens of carriers would travel home from that game and Scotland would have a fresh wave to worry about.
The SFA Joint Response Group reached a deal with the Scottish Government on how and when to return to training and then games, all predicated on safety rules being adhered to. Celtic, and others, have transformed their stadiums into an environment where socially distanced spectators can attend safely and be seen to do so.
They want fans back soon and wait on Government clearance. That possibility disappeared yesterday, when allegations emerged that one club has been cheating. Football is as trustworthy as its greatest rogue. I doubt the SFA considered how to discipline a club that flaunts Covid rules and risks the entire game in this country. No fine would be large enough to match the financial consequences for others.
There is no infection at Ibrox, the pain of any breach there will be felt by fans of all clubs not attending fixtures until later. St Mirren were less negligent but their issue is more serious and spooked me. If this happened in my workplace, when most others have returned to work, it could threaten the entire business. We are going to move into a stage when most of the world is getting on with things, and some businesses will be halted by infection, acute illness and worse.
I have spoken to staff at Celtic who have been impressed at the processes in place to protect club employees from infection, from everything I hear, we are getting things right. The evidence elsewhere is that others are complacent. If that is allowed to continue, next season and the health of many is in jeopardy.
You have to wonder what’s in the water at Ibrox with the incessant flouting of rules.
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Put this on SC this morning regarding the Club’s Corona Virus testing, maybe controvertial but I think it is relevant here…
This one is a bit of a headscratcher for me, without knowing the processes that are undertaken and the timelines (are they laid down by the government?), it’s hard to say exactly what’s going on.
For me it’s the Football authorities not doing their job, not excepting their responsibilities and once again damaging the game.
At a guess it seems like the St Mirren guys were swabbed and for such a high percentage to be spoiled sounds like the exacting and necessary instructions were not communicated &/or followed.
In the Rangers case it seems like the tests were undertaken and they went ahead as no positive results were reported. Can a referee allow kick-off without ensuring all concerned have a negative test result… they check the studs don’t they?
Football matches start at a certain time, it is crucial that the system ensures swabbing is properly conducted, safely and carefully transported to the test centre and crucial tests are carried out and declared within a timely manner.
If the system is failing already then it’s not fit for purpose. Are they using standard NHS testing for cheapness? Well surly a sickly hospital patient or keyworker should have precedence over a healthy footballer.
What happens when hundreds of games are kicking of on the same day.
Their should be an arangement in place with an organisation that can turn around these tests for the Club quickly or the timelines should be extended.
If the timeline is extended there has to be quaratine between the swabbing and negative test result.
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2020 10:10 AM
One regular starter in forrest has left this summer all the other players were bitpart and their roles could easily have been taken up by an academy prospect without difficulty. As a club we spend way to much on poorer players to add numbers No point spending on the academy then not using it and to be fair when used it has served us well both in players in our first team and even the kids that go to B Munich, man city etc result in a few 100k a pop and future % resale if they make the grade.
Keep the faith.
Or maybe every SPFL club should have their own testing machine.At the moment,only Celtic,who have two,and Ross County have them.While the tramps across the City fill their ranks with more players,we spend 80 grand on Covid machines,as we should.I agree,the SPFL,SFA should be responsible in the fact this should have been a pre-requisite for every one of the 12 teams competing.That shower really do beggar belief.
TB 10.21am
If same Charlie F who used to play the Fountains St Patrick’s day (numerous other days/nights) he sadly passed away a few years back, “if” the same Charlie F then I played under-21s with Charlie F junior (cracking big goalie) circa 89/90… Charlie F junior fae Whiflett around that time
Good shout weeks and weeks ago with Barkas … I still think Neil & Fraser are waiting on Southampton settling part of his contract before we do the deal… who blinks first :-)
Came across Chris McLaughlin’s piece on the news last night.
Am always suspicious about what journalists DON’T say in their reports.
BBC piece was careful to ensure St Mirren were all over the masthead.
Strong lead, pictures of empty stadium etc.
Angle – false positives can cause problems.
Inference – don’t jump to conclusions if positive tests emerge.
Irresponsible message.
What he did say – “more than half SPFL clubs use the same company for testing”
What he didn’t say – the names of those clubs.
Questions no one seems to be asking.
Which SPFL clubs have purchased their own testing machines?
If the club with the lowest turnover in the league (Ross County) can buy one why can’t the others?
Stephbhoy @ 10:35am
`Best thing to do is ignore the media noise and wait for white smoke.`
I quite agree. Unfortunately,a great many, in spite of what they say, are greatly influenced by the Media.With a fair, professional media that would be acceptable but the MSSM ?
….and whilst I am such a benevolent mood, I also agree with your 10:52am post (Apart from the news re Forrest leaving :-)) ).
GREENPINATA on 25TH JULY 2020 9:33 AM
AN TEARMANN
Our financial reserves are not even close to being emptied ffs we had 38 million in last account, lost out on 4 home games and a semi and potential final, we may have lost out on income from those games but we have also stopped all matchday expenses which is very expensive, have had 80% of staff wages paid by government, substantial savings on player, management and boardroom cuts, delayed paying VAT. Since june we have emptied our squad with just about all the non contributors fringe players away and even picked up 1.3 million for kouassi. We have now sold over 50000k season tickets and have entered into our new most financially rewarding kit deal with Adidas and JD sports.
Things may not be rosy but they are not as bad as some think, not at this stage.
STEPHBHOY67 @ 10:52 AM,
Well agree with the majority of that, yet in Forster leaving we have one of our top performers leaving. Good news is, it looks like we are going to replace him rather than bring in a number two to Bain.
Yet we still have three or four positions where we need a first choice player.
I share your enthusiasim for the Academy but the fact is the official site updated the first team and reserve team squad recently. None of the development squad were promoted to the first team, of course it doesn’t mean they can’t make a first team appearance but with Lenny’s track record the betting is they will remain development players.
If you combine our first team and reserves apart from 15 senior players all the others could play for a Celtic U23 team.
With relative rookies like, Hazard, Frimpong, Connell, Henderson and Klimala making the first team squad my thoughts will be Lenny feels he needs experience.
Whether he gets it or not is another matter.
Hail Hail
jullien, ajer, elhammed, bitton and welsh is not a poorer backline than last year,
can’t agree with that
elhammed, bitton – 1 kick away from long term lay off
ayer – performances as a centre back going downhill at a fair rate on knots
juiiien – jury still out
welsh – untried
Ron 67
If your assessment of the rest of our players is equally damning, we did well to avoid relegation :-))
Ron67 continued assessment:
Forrest: Invisible;
Christie: Big-headed and wants to leave;
Broonie: Past it;
Ntcham: Not interested;
McGreggor: Had a poor game once;
Edouard: Leaving;
Griffiths: Say no more;
Elyounoussi: His name is too difficult to spell;
Johnston: Too weak .
PS, Ron, I think you are being overly negative but don`t take the above too seriously. They are simply an amalgamtion of many of the comments I have seen on here and I typed with a smile :-)). See?
ron67 on 25th July 2020 11:23 am
jullien, ajer, elhammed, bitton and welsh is not a poorer backline than last year,
can’t agree with that
elhammed, bitton – 1 kick away from long term lay off
ayer – performances as a centre back going downhill at a fair rate on knots
juiiien – jury still out
welsh – untried
————————–
What was your assessment of last year’s defence?
elhammed, bitton – 1 kick away from long term lay off
ayer – performances as a centre back going downhill at a fair rate on knots
juiiien – jury still out
Simo – sicknote
Listen and this is my opinion Celtic under Lawwell and some managers to the present day ,have gave out the same old line regarding transfers of bringing in players,we’re looking at targets but these things take time,same old spin we Celtic Supporters are treated with contempt with this club so nothing has changed,and I’ll say this when when it come to selling players at a good price they can’t punt them out the door quick enough,I’ll be glad when I see the back off some off them on The Celtic Board ,imagine one off them having a heated drive way says it all were the mone is heading to
yip
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2020 11:21 AM
STEPHBHOY67 @ 10:52 AM
I dont like squad fillers they are rarely have the motivation of the academy players or the potential to improve themselves or the team when they do step up.
RON67 on 25TH JULY 2020 11:23 AM
Oh dear not sure you actually watch celtic ps injuries happen to players all the time, injuries are part of the game and if the jury’s still out on jullien then perhaps we need a new jury
HOT SMOKED on 25TH JULY 2020 11:09 AM
The media are a joke they are simply sponsored advertisers these days. Free press aye alright 🤣
or perhaps some need to remove the blinkers or green shades.
HOT SMOKED @ 11:40 AM, STEPHBHOY67 @ 11:51 AM
No squad fillers for me or for Lenny, here’s what I think could be Lenny’s assessment as things stand in the first team squad…
Goalkeepers
29. BAIN – Regarded as second GK
65. C. HAZARD – Development Player
Defenders
2. C. JULLIEN – First Choice
3. G. TAYLOR – Second Choice
23. B. BOLINGOLI – Not fancied
30. J. FRIMPONG – Great Prospect
33. H. ABD ELHAMED – First Choice when fit
35. K. AJER – First Choice
56. A. RALSTON- Not fancied
Midfielders
6. N. BITTON – Utility Back up
8. S. BROWN – Skipper
12. I. SORO – Development Player
17. R. CHRISTIE – First Choice
18. T. ROGIC – First Choice when fit
19. M. JOHNSTON – Sub, when fit
20. M. SHVED – Not fancied
21. O. NTCHAM – Quality back up
27. M. ELYOUNOUSSI – First choice, loanee
28. L. CONNELL – Development player
42. C. MCGREGOR – First choice
49. J. FORREST – First Choice
52. E. HENDERSON – Development player
Strikers
9. L. GRIFFITHS – Black book
10. V. BAYO – Not fancied, when fit
11. P. KLIMALA – Development player, good prospect
22. O. EDOUARD – First class
Now you will note as things stand Lenny has 13 – 15 “go to” players, many have taken part in our recent success and have many a trophy between them, yet several haven’t. So in that regard is our first team is in good shape?
Yet the issue of course is outside the dependables, is our back up good enough? Maybe a moot question if we have some long overdue luck on the injury front and the likes of Calmac can continue to play a record number of games per season but we are very vulnerable if we lose key players, they are simply irreplaceable as things stand.
As I said before, there are also positions where we haven’t replaced top talent, Lustig, Tierney, Dembele maybe not the easiest to replace but a regular first team level players surly where necessary.
If Klimala turns good, if Leigh gets sorted, if Frimpong can continue to improve, if El-Hamed can stay fit then that’s half the issues fixed – lots of “if’s” though eh!!
The GK, CB, LB and any other position you feel may need strengthening by bringing players in, they have to be of a certain quality and first team ready or else as Stephboy says we may as well stick with what we have.
Of course then we have the perennial issue… “high value” players for sale… during the transfer window players like Edouard, Ajer, N’tcham… are in the shop window, if any move on they MUST be replaced by quality – this has rarely happened. VVD, Dembele, Tierney etc in fact the last quality player to get sold with a ready available back-up I can remember was FF, we had CG waiting in the wings and all credit to Craig his absence was barley noted.
At the end of the day it depends on what we want to achieve this season and how we are going to play tactically, formations and ambition are the key.
Although light and lacking depth in a couple of positions a 4-2-3-1 set up looks good, but in our managers preferred formation is 5-3-2 can we play this week in and week out? No, the midfield is where our strength lies, yet we will be playing three ghuys instead of five, we have two centre backs we “trust” and one striker. If we are interested in the league and only the league then we can shoe-in players (Bitton, El-Hamad, Elyanoussi up front etc) and if Rangers don’t live up to the hype, we should be good enough.
Is that ambitious enough? Well, for most the TEN is the be all and end all so maybe.
Hail Hail
As ever some here starting to panic a bit.
Not saying that in a mocking way, Celtic is a huge part of all our lives and we all want what;s best for the team & Club.
We certainly do need a few in and I have no doubt we will get them.
The Huns do seem to get their business done earlier but to a large extent they are fishing in a different pool to us.
If we brought in their latest recruit who was playing with Wigan, I can only imagine the comments here,
We have plenty of quality in squad but a Keeper & a centre half are a must,
Stay calm, reinforcements are on the way.
Well constructed post, Chairbhoy, Think most if not all of your comments are very much on the ball.
No one has mentioned if Sevco have been given access to a Government guarantee loan from the banks. It appeared that they would have qualified under the special Covid 19 scheme. I can see how they could have access to many millions for a club with £40 m turnover.
Sevco have been able to sign the guy from Brighton quickly as it’s a loan and he’s not in demand. Very easy to pick up these type of players as there a literally thousands waiting by their phone. Celtic on the other hand have to negotiate a very complex deal because of the quality of the player, agents fees, players wages, bonuses, signing on fee, % of any sell on fee etc etc this takes time lots of time and they then steadily reach an agreement. I know what type of player I’d rather have and if it takes a bit longer so be it, por cierto
CORKCELT @ 12:11 PM,
Many thanks, hope you and yours are well in these “interesting” times.
Hail Hail
STEPHBHOY67 on 25TH JULY 2020 11:11 AM
We are still spending circa £5 million per month with nothing coming in. We have and are taking a massive financial hit.
The ST money is vital, however in reality that is next season’s money.
Of course with around £38 million in the bank we were in an excellent starting position.
Now imagine we had spent every last dime ?
Cheers and HH.
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RON67 on 25TH JULY 2020 11:56 AM
Take a look at the trophy cabinet over the last 9 seasons, it would suggest our pragmatic approach to signing players works better than the quickfix, kiddy on stars that get rolled out every season by sevco and their media lap dogs. Could we do things better? Yes, but there is a difference between constructive criticism and bullshite. I prefer the former you prefer the latter!
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2020 12:02 PM
Just to confirm I would like a 1st choice gk and leftsided centreback and I would take any other players who are better than what we have in our starting 11, but I dont want some journeyman who will come in play 5 games a season in which they adds nothing better than an academy player, reduces an academy players opportunities and take a fortune that could be better spent. That also applies to loans, I am happy to have quality loan players but I dont want unless better than what we have.
I agree we have reduced numbers significantly this season. Add 3 players of a higher quality in correct areas and we will benefit far more than signing 6 or 9 journeyman to fill a gap taking £5 million or so a year for jack.
We have produced a lot of good players over the years. I would like to see a better balance so that the transition from academy to first team is more thoughtfully managed. Many of our best academy graduates have broken through because of a percieved lack of cover, rather than being viewed as the cover. The most recent example recently left our club for £25 million pounds. If we want the best young players to co.e to us and to break through and we want a world class academy we need to integrate the 17, 18, 19 and 20 year olds players it into the first team picture.
HH
Bigbhoy
I pondered that when Spurs accessed Bank of England for £140 brought to blog by WDH .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52924157
Sumdi elseez money as per!
Stay safe mate
:-)
HH
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Good afternoon all from Govanhill.
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GREENPINATA on 25TH JULY 2020 1:03 PM
We are not spending £5 Million a month, it may look like that ibased on last years accounts but a massive amount of overheads have been reduced. Also season ticket money is banked and sponsorship money will be added to the income. Lots of cost will remain significantly lower as a result of games being played behind closed doors.
Not dismissing the fact we will not be bringing in the same amount of money or there is not consequences as there clearly is, but the mass hysteria about our income from the media is just another negative story to feed the WRTP audience, all media outlets do it.
It’s also not true to say season ticket money is for next season, I usually renew in april/ may not june and we have signed a very luctative agreement with Adidas and JD sports and last I heard preorders were through the roof.
The doom and gloom can sometimes get you down fella, we are in as good a place as we could be and I agree there is value in living in our means and celtic do just that.
HH
Hmmmmmmmm!
Still no furore over the huns kovid kapers???
(Cannae confront or embarrass ra Berrz?)…Naw……..
And thuv “signed” sumbdy………….!
:0
I keep sayin’ it,…… nobody querying where the money’s comin’ from?
Fix fitba; Empty Hampden.
HHH.
#CQN #OnThisDay in 1997!
Ron97
FFS, Larsson. Utter pish. No ambition Celtic. Cannae get a game for effin Feyenoord. Last season – 7 goals. Spends more time on his effin hair than his goslscoring it seems.
Just doing a bit of checking there . So far sevco have in defence ,
goldson, balogun, Edmondson, helander all at 6ft 3 inch add Katic at 6 ft 4inch ,and barisic at 6ft 2 inch ,a lot of danger there at corners ,not counting the free kicks they will get in suitable positions to flight a cross over, still wee frimpong and wee Taylor will get them at the back post . Deary me .
On a different note, Fear City is a good watch on Netflix.
About the Mafia and FBI in New York.
HH
D :)
STEPHBHOY67 on 25TH JULY 2020 11:11 AM
GREENPINATA on 25TH JULY 2020 9:33 AM
AN TEARMANN
Our financial reserves are not even close to being emptied ffs we had 38 million in last account, lost out on 4 home games and a semi and potential final, we may have lost out on income from those games but we have also stopped all matchday expenses which is very expensive, have had 80% of staff wages paid by government, substantial savings on player, management and boardroom cuts, delayed paying VAT. Since june we have emptied our squad with just about all the non contributors fringe players away and even picked up 1.3 million for kouassi. We have now sold over 50000k season tickets and have entered into our new most financially rewarding kit deal with Adidas and JD sports.
Things may not be rosy but they are not as bad as some think, not at this stage.
———————————-
Hi Stephbhoy
I at no time have called into question plc accounting or asset management or general adoption of government policy/funding since covid came into play
Locking down is easy.opening back up with the same confidence in these uncertain times is something we have to be prudent about.
I am missing match days.Celtic are too as we are reliant on match day income,
Keep posting mate stay safe
:-)
HH
D66
Thought you would be out for another 10 in a row or is it too wet ? 😂