I received a text early evening on 18th August last year: “Gongalves starts”. Former Hearts player, Jose Gongalves, was one of a handful of players FC Sion signed illegally in the summer 2011 transfer window and he had been named to start against Celtic in the Europa League qualifier, first leg.
As a contest, the tie was over. There followed two matches with considerable effort and drama from both teams but the eventual outcome was, literally, never in doubt, the courts would have their way. Sion would be expelled from the competition and Celtic would progress to the group stage.
Today Celtic’s only remaining competitor from the chasing pack for the SPL title is up in court to face the HM Revenue and Customs. The courts will have their way again but although you may feel the outcome of Rangers tax case is inevitable (I do), the impact on this season’s league championship is less assured. Should they lose, Rangers have the option to appeal, postponing any negative impact on the company until next season at the earliest.
If Rangers have, or can generate, enough cash to keep the lights on this season the league will be nip and tuck until the end of the season. The tax case will attract most attention but if you are looking for indications of how the season is likely to go, keep an eye open for cash related incidents.
Well done to Rangers’ broadcast partner, STV, for their story this morning on SPL discipline. They report the Ibrox club have the worst disciplinary record in the league, having accumulated a total of 41 bookings, contrasting starkly with the cool class at Celtic Park who are best behaved in the league with only 20 bookings.
With Beram Kayal out for the season Ki Sung-Yeung is the Celtic player closest to a suspension, a further three yellow cards would put the Korean over the threshold. Rangers have Lafferty one booking, Edu and Bocanegra two, with Goian, Broadfoot, Bartley and Whittaker all three away from a suspension. Lee McCulloch has only been booked twice this season but shows enormous potential.
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thomthethim says:
16 January, 2012 at 20:01
Serge says:
16 January, 2012 at 19:42
I was at the game.
*Me too, Bobby Murdoch missed a penalty late in the game.
Heard a wee story around then fae a mate of mine that worked at the sunday mail. When beck was with St Mirren he was reckoned to be on 100 quid a week, lot of money back then.
They wanted him off the payroll as he wisnae that good and seemingly in a return for land re-zoning in the Paisley area john lawrence offered to take beck off their hands. He only played a handfull of games for them.
The strange thing about that incident, is, that it was one of three similar cases.
Beck ,was one. Aird of St. Johnstone, was another.
The third, was a winger from P. Thistle, whose name I can never remember.
Cowan was his name, another “never was” as opposed tae a “has been”.
All three guys were about the same height as Jimmy and all three involved Jinky retaliating from a tackle from behind. Tackles that he never saw coming.
Prior to that time, wingers never back tracked, but such was JJ’s ability to destroy left backs, reinforcements were needed.
Jimmy took all sorts of abuse from the Greigs and Lunns of the game, because he could see them coming and was prepared.
It was the tackle from the back that brought on the red mist.
topkat says:
16 January, 2012 at 21:57
Jon Daly
Yesterday Channel 10pm
Warsaw
The story of the military operation in the Second World War fought by civilians in Poland who formed a resistance movement against the Nazis.
very ineterstin program this re Warsaw
Bada
Not disputing it just extremely surprised and probably disappointed if it were true.
ntb
any comments on ff about the stv article? – biased mhedia etc. campaign to intimidate refs last year has paid off etc,.
Johann M-Interesting mate,these guys know how to turn a coin.
Fergus- I dont know what penalties if any, a Newco would have mate.It cant possibly be as simple as that…….can it?HH
Do you not need to be a director to buy a floating charge?
How does that stand up in a court if he shouldn’t have been a director?
Or have I missed something?
Another thing. After the dust has settled with TFOD who investigates
the possible/probable collusion of the SFA inthis sorry seedy affair?
BadaB
Don’t like the epl, too easy to lose just like you have tonight, just like I did as well, took a punt on Napoli @ 7/4 had a saver on the draw but still ended up with less than I started with, such are the perils of gambling :>)
Here’s another daft wee bet I did today,one of about a dozen
West Ham @ 6/5…to win
Charlton @ 5/6…to win
Southend @ 7/2….to win
Robin Van Persie (Arsenal) @ 1/1…top scorer
Celtic @ 4/11…to win
Ross County @ 5/6…to win
Cowdenbeath @ 4/6…to win
Alloa @ 6/4…to win
AZ @ 5/2…to win
Nine-Folds, 1 bet * €3.00
4k return
I would have hundreds of these daft bets, only need one to come up, I have about 30 at the moment at the races, I would be happy with one up, and honestly expect about a handfull to come up.
There are some good odds in the lower divisions btw, some good ew to be had, but you need to put about 5-6 together to get a good return.
Stokes @ 6/1
Stenhsemuir @ 10/1
etc, they are out there
Support the Facebook “Campaign to Finance the New Royal Yacht with Rangers HMRC Debts”
Text as follows:
“Celtic fans, today is a dismal day for someone near and dear to many in this green and pleasant land. A person who, very soon, will paying a visit to Celtic Park, where she will partake in sampling the unique atmosphere and savour the taste of a Celtic Catering sausage roll. (Maybe not.) She is an old lady, so comfort is important to her, and it is clear that her happiness is of great concern to many, up and down the country, and as she will soon be our guest I think it important we too show our concern and find a way to alleviate her current unhappiness.
What has caused her this unhappiness? Well, it’s simply this. She is the owner of a rather nice pleasure boat on the Thames, and her ship of dreams is, like her, getting on a bit now. She has been having some trouble maintaining it, and desperately needs help. Now, at one time she would have been eligible for all manner of government aid, but like many others up and down the country she is suffering from a raft of cuts to her benefits, and she has had to change her lifestyle to accommodate these changes in her circumstances.
She has a very special celebration coming up soon, and she had hoped for at least some government aid in making it a grand occasion. Unfortunately, she was informed earlier today that this will not be forthcoming, and this, understandably, has spoiled her mood in the run-up to this important event. It would take a heart of stone not to feel sympathy for an old lady who has been denied something which brings her joy in these, her twilight years.
The bill to repair her pleasure-boat is so high it has been mooted they simply build her a new one. If repairing the old one is problematic, and expensive, this option is virtually inconceivable without some form of government aid. Again, this will not happen.
Fortunately, she is the office holder of a rather large and influential institution. In fact, it bears her name, or rather her title. As she, Elizabeth Windsor, is sometimes known as Her Royal Highness, or Her Majesty, the organisation in question is titled Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, or HMRC. She is its figurehead; indeed, it bears her official emblem, as every penny it collects (and that is its job, to collect revenues for her) bears her image.
Much of that money is earmarked, of course, for other uses. But future revenues, or uncollected ones, hold great potential for distributing in a manner which would allow her to regain much of what she has had to give up in recent years, as the cold economic climate we live in has bitten hard into her living conditions. Remember, this is an old lady, used to a certain standard, to certain comforts, and she nears her final years, it is no more right to deprive her of her comforts than it would be to deprive us of ours, those things we take for granted.
As it just so happens, there is an organisation which, right now, owes her a sum of money which would certainly allow her to repair her pleasure-boat or finance a new one. This would allow her to celebrate her sunset years in the style she is accustomed to, which will allow her the dignity of not having to scrape up the necessary funds on her own, and give her back the dignity which has been robbed of her in being seen to publicly beg for a hand-out which was then refused. As it so happens, said organisation which owes her claims to have an inordinate amount of respect for her, and for the history of her family, which they claim reflects their own.
(In other words, they have their share of Nazi sympathies, racist and fascist sentiment, anti-Catholic rhetoric and persecution and hatred of the Irish.)
Said dignified organisation, Glasgow Rangers Football Club, based in Scotland (but maybe not for much longer) owes her somewhere in the region of £50 million (including backdated tax, interest incurred and associated penalties.) If they were to pay this money back, in full, in a timely fashion, this old lady could have her pleasure-boat ready in time for her coming celebrations. It would allow her to bask in the warmth of that special Celtic Park atmosphere when she visits a few years hence for another important celebration of her time on this Earth.
Everyone who cares about human dignity should rally to this cause. Everyone who respects the dignity of the old should support this plea.
Rangers Football Club, if you accept your responsibilities this old lady can live out the remainder of her life in the comfort she deserves. Anything less and you will look like the most callous, the most heartless, swine who ever were.
Friends, please support this campaign to pay for the Queen’s Yacht with Rangers’ back taxes.
Rangers, pay your debts and help an old lady out, or forever be damned for your callousness.”
theweegreenman says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:08
‘Do you not need to be a director to buy a floating charge?’
No.
Bada Bing
Exiled Tim
A friend of mine went to Udinesse as a sponsors guest on the team flight.
On the trip he spent time talking to a director who named these guys including WH as the people
waiting in the wings to put money into the Orcs.
He showed me photos from the flight home.Broony & Hooper getting verbals from
Neil Lennon for throwing nuts at our Chief Executive. They were warned any more nuts get flung
and ur fined £1000 !
sothestorygoescsc
Paul67, a quick look at the league table tells me we are 2 pints clear with 10 games to go before the split.
The current top 6 teams look attractive enough in comparison to other seasons. I would have no issues with away games to St Johnstone and Killie.Though on balance I think we would be due a Hearts away trip and no doubt the SPL will want to send us to Fir park. I think 3 away and two home are due and we are at home to Rangers.
So,
Motherwell a
Rangers h
Killie a
St Johnstone h
Hearts a
Earlier in the season I said we could only afford to drop 11 more points. This was after Hibs. Champions normally lose 5 games per season. We have found our feet thankfully but have not rid ourselves of not killing off the opposition. We still need another striker who is capable of putting the ball in the net out of nothing and when we are 2-0 up at home. The margins for error are still paper thin and the Rangers are still getting the hand outs. If it means we need to sell some of our midfield (which now includes Samaras) I would be happy to make that sacrifice in favour of a match winner.
Rangers bookings will take their toll, their injuries have. Maybe its time we tested their resolve with a public offer for Jelavic?
KAYAL33……………Thanking you
Is WH Willie Haughey and who is DP?
Árd Macha
Whatever happened to Willie millers tache………..edward ursus………..its all celtic on here nowl
This one pays 2k for places, not a hope in hell of all wining obviously, but worth a couple of euros imo.
Sunderland @ 16/1
Anthony Stokes (Celtic) @ 6/1
Falkirk @ 7/2
Stenhousemuir @ 10/1
Stranraer @ 9/4
Cardiff @ 8/1
Sheff Utd @ 9/2
Swindon @ 11/2
Eight-Folds, 1 bet * €1.00 EW
DP Douglas Park of Parks of Hamilton buses..
was previously on board at Hearts I believe..
new blinds at the burnside hotel next week.
my window news.
Mullet and Co says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:13
Not sure if it is another striker based on not being able to kill teams off (even though that sounds contradictory).
If an Italian team goes 1-0 up, thats usually it – games a bogey.
I agree with you entirely about not being able to kill games off – however 2 goals at home should be just that. Unfortunately we genuinely need to be 3 goals clear for that to be case.
Personally – and believe me when I say I am totally akin to big Jock with regards my football philosophies – best place to defend is the oppositions area.
However, the reason 2 goals in not enough is because of 2 reasons.
Firstly our central defence.
Secondly our lack of any purposeful, coherent tactics.
We have 2 strikers at the half way point of the season, 1 with 15 goals and 1 with 16 – so we potentially have 2 x 30 goal + strikers playing week in week out. To look for an improvement in that area is being a tad picky and a tad selective.
I dont mean that in the literal sense because I agree with you that we do need a striker – in fact I completely agree, however central defence has to be the number 1 priority.
In my opinion we dont have a single centre half good enough – and we have half a dozen.
This is where id like us to be focussing – however it appears Lennon agrees with you and not me, because I believe his last comment was, if its going to be any it will be a striker.
(lessons not being learnt imo)
Hail hail
If Wille Haughey gets involved with that lot is it to make them our feeder club
ET
I picked Celtic 4/6 West Ham 7/2 Crawley 4/1,pre season treble.
Since then Celtic 10/11 ( kept the faith ) Man City 11/10 Ross County 6/5 mid season treble.
City missed some chances tonight,had visions of another Sunderland.
angelgabriel
True or not it’s a good story :>)
So we have Willie H, Donald P, James M all looking to throw money at the hun, tis a strange world we live in, these guys don’t throw their money away willie :>))) nilly, we will see what transpires.
Thanks BT & Serge.
Árd Macha
TopCorner says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:01
Cheers bud, V+ing it.
Another prog that may be of interest to some- “Black Wax: Gil Scott-Heron” Sky Arts 1, 22.30-23.55 Virgin Ch 281
THE EXILED TIM says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:23
If I had a spare £25M, I’d pay-off Craig Whyte just so I could shut them down. It would be my philanthropic gesture to football and the world in general. Perhaps that’s WH’s aim.
angelgabriel
I took my biggest punt of the year when we were 9/2.
I think I will be all the richer for the gamble.
I must admit I gambled on a fire sale at the hun, which doesn’t look like happening,but the way we have turned the points gap around I have the faith.
Folks,
do you want to read something about as absurd as you are likely to for a long time!?
Taken from the rte website
Beware – this isnt for the faint hearted..
.
.
.
New charges introduced by Dublin City Council for fire brigade call-outs come into effect today.
A fee of €500 will apply for the first hour attending domestic fires, chimney fires and false alarms. The fee rises to €610 for road crashes.
For every subsequent hour, a further €450 to €485 will be charged.
Dublin City Council says most home insurance policies will cover the call-out charges.
Mullet and Co says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:13
*********************
Jellylegs gets a lot of decisions and goals due to his prolific diving qualities, we wouldn’t get those same decisions, I’d rather have a prolific striker based on his footballing and goalscoring stats, definately not for me.
V
ET
Strange indeed, WH,s Celtic credentials are not in question so why put money into that lot ?
My only answer is that by doing so if the hun becomes aware, then they will surely accept the club
known as rangers fc died with the tax case. HH
Eyes Wide Open says:
16 January, 2012 at 22:22
*********************
Our defence has vastly improved since earlier in the season, partially due to the strength of midfield IMO. Its goals we need to win the league, and I fully expect at least one of our two strikers to get injured, suspended or hit a poor run of form, we desperately need another striker in.
Hasta Luego Celts!
Vinny
weeminger
It’s a strange one WH being involved, I heard his name mentioned when CW was doing his due dilligence and thought little of it, but the regeneration around the stadium and his contacts make sence.
You never know.
I posted months ago about the hun talking to GCC about the regeneration of the bigot dome and the corp using their apprentices and giving their services for free so they could get quality training, nobody took me up on it, but for sure it is being talked about at high levels, that is from a source that was/is in on the talks.
You could be right vmhan
Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Celtic 23 10 1 1 26 6 8 1 2 20 10 30 56
In comparison
Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Man City 21 10 0 0 31 4 6 3 2 26 12 41 51
2 Man Utd 21 8 1 2 33 14 7 2 1 19 6 32 48
3 Tottenham 21 8 2 1 21 9 6 2 2 18 12 18 46
Personally I want a striker and a centre half (would love 2 but wont be greedy).
However, if it came to one or nothing – id like……………….. willo flood!
Paul,
As you know, today is a holiday here in the United States. Martin Luther King Day.
By coincidence I’m reading a fine book about earlier American heroes who led the
fight against slavery. It’s title is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and it tells the story
of Abraham Lincoln’s journey to the White House and how he brought his main rivals for
the prize into his government after his unexpected victory. The central issue of their times
was the struggle to abolish slavery and one of the key proponents of the cause was New York
senator William Henry Seward. (Seward’s early political career suffered due to his campaign to
provide schooling for poor Catholics)
Here is Seward speaking about the different positions existing in early 19th century America;
” There are two antagonistical elements of society in America, freedom and slavery. Freedom is
in harmony with the spirit of the age, and is therefore passive and quiescent. Slavery is in conflict
with that system, with justice, and humanity, and is therefore organised, defensive, active and
perpetually aggressive”
I was struck by the similarity of this comparison by another closer to home; the establishment club
and ourselves. But we cannot afford to be complacent that our views on life differ from the Govannites.
In a week when a so-called Celtic supporter sends racist texts to two black Rangers
players we need to redouble our efforts to protect and promote our values. Values such as inclusiveness,
fairness, charity and justice. Values which, like Lincoln,
Seward and MLK, see all men as equal.
Or as Martin Luther King said in his famous speech;
” I have a dream that one day even the State of Mississippi, a desert State, sweltering with the heat of injustice
and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
Weemonger
I concur.
ET
My thoughts entirely. 9/2 ! Dear doctor,good man.
Were the bookies not clued up on the admin possabilities ? I had faith if given a level playing field
we would catch them but never did I think we would be in front by the new year. HH
On itv now Ali comes to Britain.
Worth a watch.
Bed time again
Different day, same poop.
Spoiled 7 month old and 3 unsuccessful nights of attempting to let her cry it out about to roll on to the 4th….
ahh the joys!
Hail Hail