Not one of you will be surprised at reports this morning that Celtic escaped punishment for “sectarian chanting” when the club and its fans were not, and never have been, accused of sectarian behaviour. Last month one Irish title suggested Celtic fans stood accused of racism before amending their online content to read sectarianism and eventually paying enough attention to zone in on “offensive chanting”. If they’re going to make things up, I really would prefer they accused us of something a bit more original in Scottish football, like genocide. Ironically it would be less offensive.
Celtic have been open to all since its inception and are supported by groups right across Scottish society in increasing numbers. It’s the other lot, you know, them, who brought sectarian practices into the game. From Neil McCallum, our first goal scorer, to Gary Hooper, our last, Celtic have never had this peculiar social deficiency. Never.
The SPL decision not to act against Celtic, after a Strathclyde Police match commander complained, was assured, as Celtic could demonstrate they had previously taken action “all reasonably practicable steps” to prevent what the league called “chanting in support of the IRA”. Both Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell have spoken in unequivocal terms on this subject in recent weeks.
The league goes on to say, “Such behaviour is unacceptable and unwelcome at SPL matches.” All the league have done here is pitched the ball back into Celtic’s court to prevent a reoccurrence. I don’t fancy that job.
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tontine tim 14.57
ron bicardi
thanks for your replies,the piano logue was Tom,who became a teacher,then left that to work for the M O D at Coulport,got a Redundancy package and now lives in Kilcreggan and plays the piano at St Kildas at Rosneath,and has as many tatoos as big Dan on his arm.I played football with Danny Mcginty for O H R boys guild his Dad was the manager lovely man,Tony Ran Lisbon Promotions Travel company for a long time,last saw him at my friend John logues funeral (Toms older brother in 2009)
Hooiveld your hand through all of these years
bj
Cool, – it’s quite fetching just thought it was a Movember addition.
BROGAN,ROGAN,TREVINO and HOGAN 1543
Good stuff,but are you possibly overlooking another reason for the article in the Herald being slanted that way?
Could it be that the message they had tried to get across from the very instance of the original charge was that we were being charged for sectarian singing?
And that their campaign was so successful,it became accepted fact?
Even to the hacks who started it?
Donati forsake me oh my darling
Kikinthenakas, TheOriginalSadiesBhoy and Celtic_First
From a previous post: – Yes I’m a bit of an “auld haun” I’ve been coming on here since the first posting way back and seen the different shapes the blog has gone through over it’s lifetime (so far).
I don’t get much chance to contribute as I’m so busy at work so can’t stay on long enough to follow a story.
I am on here every game though, waiting anxiously for updates and wearing out my F5 key!
Thanks for remembering me Celtic_First.
Best regards
James_Oregon
Mowbery does it better
BRTH……….If I was wearing a hat i’d tip it to ye, brilliant post.
I’m staggered at the lengths that are being gone to (STV Report) to drag us into the Hunnish mire.
DBBIA
That tattoo chappie – I didn’t see any dolphins or unicorns – So I maybes will just hang onto my airfare for now…
U
Its gonna be a Cadwell lonely Christmas without you
Meat is Murdoch
I can’t stand up for Fallon down.
The Mighty Quinn
Br\o/gan R\o/gan Trevin\o/ and H\o/gan says:
6 December, 2011 at 15:38
Not too long ago the DR apologised for a headline villifying Neil Lennon and we were told that “journalists” do not write the headlines. Presumably they apologised to head off litigation. Would it be possible to sue The Herald for wilfully publishing an untruth?
Oh We are in a jolly mood today.
Bakers Theme Song – – Donut forsake me, oh my darlin’
Fisher’s Theme song — Salmon chanted evening
Farmer’s Theme song – There’ll never be another Ewe
I’m sure you lot will add a few more.
Hail Hail
KINGLuBO
HOUL YER WHEESHT 1601
That might clog up the courts!
Sonnnaayyy
“Such behaviour is unacceptable and unwelcome at SPL matches” say the SPL……
The charge would now appear to be “Offensive Chanting”
I’m just wondering if the the filth and bile that Rangers fans sing, about Jock Stein, whilst shivering in the shadow of the great man, comes into any of thgese categories……
Is their behaviour unacceptable?
Is their behaviour welcome?
Is the chanting offensive?
Have the SPL/SFA any comment?
Does any media outlet have any comment?
Bjmac…,
I really dont see how it could work, a few years ago I naievely suggested the club put a list of songs in the post to all season ticket holders, in the days when we were told there was 40 odd k ticket holders.
I was advised that it would cots the club too much, but with all the promotional crap they bombard us with I cant see it being a big issue.
However that when I was a lot more naieve than now, I would not trust that board for the weather anymore.
I’d suggest a website for voting, but how would access be controlled ? I mean when people on here are trying to protect the huns reputation how could we trust the “illiteratti” to offer only their own opinions and continue to deny access to the hun ??
I’d be very happy to help, my problem is, my big question would be the qualifier to get access, so you see the problem, when there are so called good Celtic men who refuse to accept the huns responsibilities, why would anyone trust them not to be as bent as the club they are trying to protect ??
Whitecrook Tim
I spoke to Tony McGinty just the other day. Known him for years and years. He is alive and well and as large as life– 5 great kids and oldest now living and working in Japan.
Still a regular at Celtic park too!
Walter WHO ? Walter WHO ? ABBA
neveralone says:
6 December, 2011 at 14:44
Yorkston – a loathsome individual. There is no chance he would have made such a comment had a Celtic player won a pen in such circumstances.
BUT
He is quite right in saying it is absurd that an offence (simulation) which would earn a yellow during a match should be increased to the equivalent of 2 yellows under the review process!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Seem to remember a certain Aiden McGeady receiving a STRAIGHT RED for… ahem… simulation… 50 yards from the Hibs goal… running at full pelt… whilst trying to hurdle a KNEE HIGH CHALLENGE… that was intended to put the wing wizard OOT THE GAME!
Wonder what would have been the outcome if the defender had, just like Sean O Luko’s offender, farted slightly on young Aiden???
The other thing to remember is that IN EVERY GAME THAT HAS HAD A PENALTY IN SPL GAMES THIS SEASON….
each of the offenders that gave the penalty away was…
Given AT LEAST a yellow card!!!
Not on this occasion!
Makes you wonder, eh?
Houl yer..,
doubt yu’d get anything for their lies, better chance at defamation of brand
Houl yer
Celtic would be likely to lodge a complaint, but probably fall short of suing for defamation– though they probably could.
Wonder what Lord Justice Levenson would make of it?
The Auld Rugged Cross
Look away , look away Look away , DixieDeans land
Lads any of you read that article on the STV website
Neil Lennon is (and always will be) a Celtforlife (*O*) says:
6 December, 2011 at 16:10
I’m sure Aiden got a second yellow,not straight red.
He should have been given neither,cheatin bassa dougie
dougie ,could not see the two players from his position,
plus linesman was giving fall our way.
They have laid their table out for all to see. As if we didn’t know, they are going to get us, anything will do.
SCUM
KINGLuBO
Just been watching SKY’s SPL “highlights” programme. There was a definite penalty in that game and the MIB was even closer to it than the Aluko best-man-fall caper. Whittaker arm locks a Dunfermline player at a corner. Oh, and MacLean, commentating, never even mentions it.
This bhoy ponders the future of our club,,,,,,
Recent events mostly off the field of play has seen the game in Scotland reach a critical stage were the decision’s about to be made at the uppermost levels will make or break the sport as we know it.
Should the game , or alternatively TV contracts, collapse due to one of its biggest teams failing just where would we be as a club and what are our option’s?
Should competetive rules be ignored solely to enable one of the big clubs to survive, what would we do, as a support and a club?
Well I’ll state right now that the following ponderings are just my humble opinions and certainly not meant to cause offence.
When I read Stuart Regan say that the new TV contract contained a clause that stipulated four derby games a season I immediately thought it was the death rattle of this league. The rule’s of competition that every club signed up for were out the window. The men with the money had told the SPL we’ll have your best selling product and you better deliver it!
In a nut shell Ranger’s wont be relegated under any circumstance’s, administration or not.
What is the point of showing up to a bent game, propping up a corrupt system?
What we do should these event’s happen to pass is possibly the biggest decision ever faced by our club, and its support. We should be mindful of one very important thing when looking at this, we have a duty to preserve the club Brother Walfrid and co founded and all that the club stand’s for,, it is imperative for the future generation’s of supporter’s that we look after the club now as best we can.
We simply shouldnt, no, CAN’T, accept the club to be gerrymandered into a dead duck of a league where one team cheated and got away with it. Accept it and the club dies,, most of the fan’s will see through the scam and spend their time and money on something else. Celtic will eventually become a nostalgic topic in the bar among the “oldie’s”, joining Elvis and the Beatle’s someday.
Sure some shell of a team might be playing in hoops in a stadium but it wouldnt be the same without , well, all of us. So what do we do?
This is where the crux of the matter is,,our options will largely determine our path and you would have to hope better mind’s than mine are and have been exploring avenue’s, reading fine print and looking at option’s.
Now FIFA rule’s state that a club’s home stadium must be within the geographical boundaries of its home association. There a few exception’s, Cardiff and Swansea etc, but they are there on historical ground’s, not recently applied, so I think we can safely say that if our ground is in Scotland we MUST play in Scotland, our ground is in Canada we must play in Canada etc. To an extent I must say I agree with the rule,, as to be able to “freelance” your club would lead to such madness as Barcelona joining the Quatari league for 5 years previous to the world cup solely to raise the profile of the game there and the billions of oil money they would receive, then return to the Nou Camp and expect their fans to just resume as if nothing had happened! You can just picture the “hawking around” that would take place and have clubs simply globetrot about to the highest bidder.
If the horribles get punished and the TV deals collapse we will have to cut our cloth accordingly, thats pretty obvious. We would slowly phase out our top and middle wage bracket earner’s and probably go for promoting youth from within. We would win the league every year and the main challenge would be trying to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League which we would probably be entering in the first qualifying round after a while due to a fall in league ranking’s. I would expect to get to the group stage occasionally , and Paradise to fill only for European night’s in this scenario. To use an anology, we’re gonna live life in the slow lane.
If the horribles get away with it the I say we give our 2 year notice to the SPL immediately and call an EGM to decide our future. Whats our options? More like WHERE is our options!
Theres 2 as far as I can see. Ireland or England. Full stop.
England,,,well the first thing to say is we would have to start at the bottom and work our way up, no doubt about it as the Championship or Premiership would not vote to allow us straight in (turkeys voting for Christmas and all that) but thats not a game stopper. Now that actually doesnt sound too bad to me,, back to basic’s for a few season’s, more focus on real sport and less glitz and glamour, our home games would be the biggest game of the season for the opposition, our presence would raise the profile and the profit margin’s in our respective division, and then at the end of it all we could be at the very top table, realising our massive potential and who know’s , challenging in Europe again. So we buy an existing lower league club , change the name, and basically adopt it and watch it grow. Another option is build a stadium and apply as a new team and new name.
But yet to me something just wouldnt be right. We are a Scots/Irish club who many purists will believe should never ally ourselves with anything Brittania , and its hard not to agree. We wouldnt be welcome in many place’s we would travel to thats for sure. And even the promised land of the premier league is in its own turmoil with net debts totalling over a billion between the club’s, and many in the game believe it will soon topple when rich foreign owners are no longer amused by year on year losses and bail out.
No , I really dont think Engerland is the answer here.
Which leaves us with the emerald isle.
Well for one, I would confidently predict being voted into the Eircomm premier league without first having to gain promotion from the lower leagues. The turkey/Christmas anology doesnt apply here as we would enhance the current set-up, both in terms of competition and viewing interest. The 2 year gap between notice of leaving being given to the SPL and joing the FAI could be used to lobby the neccessary bodies and let us not forget we could be potentially be giving the Irish economy a shot in the arm with our arrival so we would be welcomed strongly by many on the island.
The league itself is a league on the rise, its member club’s have been doing better than expected in Europe and theres a steady stream of young talent produced by the country. We could probably expect to see a youthful team playing attacking flowing football once we are away from the hammer throwing get-into-them-hard scottish team’s.
Location is the next choice,, and Dublin would be my city of choice. Belfast would bring political problems galore and Cork or Donegal are too isolated and the infrastructure not well enough built up to sustain the influx of fan’s. Indeed Dublin being one of the major European capital’s is well used to seeing visitor’s in large number’s so it would have the infrastructure already in place to cope.
Stadium,,,tricky one,,rent the Aviva short term while were building our own,,or buy it,,but lets not also forget the local authorities would be under instruction to accomodate us so I couldnt see any problems with finding a home whatsoever.
What we see on the park however will be most influenced by finance’s and it would be worth asking what kind of finances could the club expect if it made such a move.
Better qualified people than me could provide better intel on this but I expect we would eventually earn more than we do currently,,the leagues ranking would rise (slowly at first) and with it TV deal incomes; a new wave of passion and interest would sweep the isle and the new generations of supporters will throng to our new home; indeed the Irish tourism board could tie in a visit to the city with match tickets giving us more foreign exposure. I think Ireland offer’s more opportunity than Scotland which IMO is at saturation point for Celtic were the opposite is true should we move to Dublin. Throw in a marketing campaign aimed at the east coast of USA, only 5 hours away and you could hit a home run. There exists great potential in the link ups between watching a game and vacationing in Dublin/Ireland.
And this version of Celtic would surely be more in keeping with Brother Walfrid’s , giving young Scotch and Irish boys a platform to rise and something to aspire to,,rather than fighting for scraps in the bent SPL.
But what about our Scottish supporters!
Well,,many would oppose the move,,I understand that. To many Celtic play in Scotland! Full stop! Its where Parkhead is and thats our home! To those people I would say this,,what would Brother Walfrid want,, stuck in a corrupt league where rules are bent to keep the status quo and teams cheat with no consequences or a club genuinely striving to bring through the cream of Ireland and Scotland to play attacking football in a fair set-up. If you didnt chose the later then we see things very differently.
But we cant run away,,its what our enemies want and they’ll win! We’ve gotta stay and fight our corner!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,To which I reply if that was the case there would be no Celtic as the Irish immigrants wouldn’t have been in Scotland in the first place for Brother Walfrid to found the club,,their families would have stayed in Ireland to scrape a living and not run away so their enemies would win etc. You see what I mean, its a bit ironic. And as for our enemies winning lets say in 15 years we have grown our new league into a stronger more competitive league than the SPL and every time we draw a Scottish team blow them off the park with our youthful attacking play while our growing influence and footballing philosphies have helped the Republic of Ireland re-emerge as a strong side qualifying for tournament after tournament with the club reaping the benefit of players returning with increased experience and value. Now tell me that if that takes place our enemies won. Turning your back and walking away isnt always a bad thing believe it or no! And certainly not always cowardly as sometime’s it takes a bigger man to stay his hand rather than throw it.
Its true that many Scot’s would be heartbroken should such a move take place,,and I do feel for them but many Irish travel to Parkhead, its not that far. You would have to return the gesture, maybe for a while,maybe for good, but you could rest assured that the team you love is secure and thriving.
As for Parkhead itself,, well we could rent it out? our enter our reserve team into the SFL ? or she could remain a shrine awaiting us the day the league is ready for us again? Who know’s!
So with that I firmly nail my colours to the mast,,give Regan a chance to sort it out once and for all and if he can’t resign from the dying SPL and take the club in a better direction,,by going “home”.
Hail Hail
Mahe the Madman
(im off out to work here but will check up later for comments/replies)
James_Oregon-
I’ll be up your way soon, hope we can get together for a blether over a pint. Would value your advice about the area. Give you a shout on match day nearer the time?
BRT&H,
I expect they could win a defamation case and highlight an agenda by submitting the number of previous apologies and past successful litigation, that would also act as a line in the sand, as any future issues would be dealt with a tad more harshly, I’d also take a tip from the whyte night and buy/read the herald in london to take offence, would be a sign hat the board are serious, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, did you read that, as if ? Getting delusional here, must be the flu coming on.
Van Morrison – Brown Eye’d Girl… Then got a slap of his misses for looking..
Looking for advice…..
Had the car in the garage today as I thought I’d been sold a suspect brand new tyre last week. Was told that I need a new wheel as the alloy has a hole in it, the manager said I be better getting a brand new wheel. My question is can the wheel be refurbished (and where) OR would I need to get a new one?
As headlines go…..
“Fox News accuses Muppets of pushing leftwing agenda” – Grauniad.
Gene’s a Bhoys name says:
6 December, 2011 at 15:54
Mowbery does it better
Funny but not true.
Ah preferred when bjmac and canamalar and Big Joe were getting into it, instead of all this songs stuff.
Only kidding!
;0)
Got Yourself McGinn – Alabama 3 (Sopranos theme)