You have to love the weeks of anticipation ahead of the new season, when teams can consider that just about anything is possible. Nowhere is this truer than at Newco, where the pages of newspapers proclaim the signing of some or other no-mark you have never heard of.
From a purely football aspect, the imminent challenge for boss Caixinha, to qualify for the Europa League group stage, is fascinating. Do not for a second believe he has been asked to lay a glove on Celtic, pragmatism determines this is clearly not possible.
After a season of domestic invincibility, there are a few in our ranks who believe our own imminent challenge, to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League, will be a formality. I doubt it will be. We will certainly be better prepared than we have been for many years, but you can expect to see tense times in Scandinavia, Easter Europe, or perhaps Central Asia.
Celtic teams with Larsson, Sutton, Hartson, Thompson, Lambert and Lennon failed this task. Peter Lawwell has money to spend right now, but he cannot count on a huge dividend from Uefa until it is guaranteed.
The Road To Lisbon
The Road To Lisbon team announced this morning that they achieved their target of raising £50k for Celtic FC Foundation, Solving Kids Cancer and Children in Crossfire. It is a breath-taking achievement by CQNers and others. When Mouldy67 looks back on his life’s achievements, this chapter will put the biggest spring in his step.
Well done to all on a fantastic achievement. Here’s a message from Mouldy (who you can still support here):
We r delighted to announce that we have now reached (& surpassed) a magical….
FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS
Watch Paul’s thank you message… pic.twitter.com/TI58ofuv0r
— Theroadtolisbon (@theroadtolisbon) June 5, 2017
289 Comments- Pages:
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Almore
Plenty of time to hang about in cafes so
Na Trachtali Abu !!!
Hola, buenos dias de Calnegre, mucho calor aqui :) por cierto
Neil Cameron: Celtic signing Patrick Roberts for a record fee of £7m would still be a bargain
The Herald: Neil Cameron (spelling by The Herald)
THERE are an awful lot of ifs, but and maybes standing in the way of Patrick Roberts signing for Celtic but one word which cannot be used is impossible.
This could happen. Compromises would have to be reached, the player himself has to want it and much depends on whether another English Premier League side come in for a 20-year-old whose exquisite performances in Scotland have not gone unnoticed down south.
For all the winger is a talent, Roberts is not going to make it at Manchester City. This is a football club which can with one or two notable exceptions sign anyone in the world. Being surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium is no disgrace.
Interestingly, Brendan Rodgers initially wasn’t completely won over by the little Englishman. The Celtic manager’s attackers must know how to defend, to close down, to harry the opposition to within an inch of their lives.
This did not come natural to a man who when he signed on loan 18 months ago at Parkhead made the bold statement that he wanted to be as good as Lionel Messi. However, Rodgers got the message home – doesn’t he always – and in the final four months of the season it was a joy to watch Roberts jinking and dribbling past opponents.
And so the situation now is this: Celtic are ready to offer £5million. City want a few extra million. Celtic therefore must decide whether to break their own rules and pay more than they have for years in a fee and probably wages.
They should do it. Just this once. It would go against the principals of Peter Lawwell but, come one, when have principals and football gone together. If Celtic are ever going to dig that bit deeper than they would be entirely comfortable with then now is the time.
City have so far spent £8m on Roberts, the other £4m which has been quoted in terms of his fee were add-ons which have yet to kick in. Fulham, it is believed, would receive a cut for the player they brought though.
Now a couple of million to Sheik Mansour, whose family owns rather a lot of oil in the UAE, is nothing but that doesn’t mean that City are going to all of a sudden turn away from their capitalist ways and allow their player to leave on the cheap.
However, what I would argue is that £7m – even a few pennies more – for Roberts is cheap. Celtic can afford it. He is a player with definite sell-on potential. Oh, and is one who could make a huge difference when it comes to the Champions League play-offs .
Also, Virgil van Dijk’s imminent move to Liverpool is going to bolster the Parkhead coffers by the best part of what Roberts would cost.
Rodgers stated he would have no qualms about breaking Celtic’s transfer record, which stands at £6m, and while the club understandably have stuck by their financial plan, there has always been scope to tweak said structure.
Let’s say Celtic were prepared to pay £10m – they aren’t but bear with me – and ask yourself what does that get a club these days. I’ll tell you. A bang-average player quite a bit of the time who wouldn’t particularly add anything to the current squad.
Roberts is far from average. He loves Celtic He could stay two more years of winning trophies, playing every week and showcasing himself on big European nights and then get a move back south, which is most likely what he would want, for an increased fee. Everyone would be a winner.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 6TH JUNE 2017 9:18 AM
ONEMALLOY
S would have swapped those three months for six days in Lisbon!
Thanks again for your company,you and J were in fine form.
————————————————————————————————————————–
She would have no doubt, to enjoy the amazing company that J and I did, many of whom she knows and likes.
Your own form is always fine too M as is your Dads
J loved the whole camaraderie experience which was going on, though the blog name/real name thing had her puzzled, me too at times :)
HH
I don’t think Fulham would get any cut, of any fee, that Celtic might pay Man. City. It was not a negotiable fee transfer, might be wrong though.
Judge says jury should pay no heed to claims of Craig Whyte as a Rangers pantomime villain
The Herald: Martin Williams Senior News Reporter
The judge in the Craig Whyte fraud trial has told a jury “not to be swayed by emotional considerations or prejudices” including any notion that the former Rangers owner was a pantomime villain.
Lady Stacey also urged the eight men and seven women to apply a “cool head” and to not to draw “any adverse inference” over Mr Whyte not giving any evidence in his defence.
The judge in giving legal directions, said to the jury to take a “long hard look” at what they have heard and be “impartial” pointing out that Mr Whyte’s defence said they should pay no heed to what they have read, seen or heard about Rangers in the time from when Mr Whyte bought the club for £1 from Sir David Murray in 2011 to date.
Donald Findlay QC, defending, in completing his summing up earlier told the jury that they would be the first in the country to ever consider the crime of “financial assistance” and that a secret £24 million loan from London-based agency Ticketus against future club season ticket sales which was conditional on him becoming the club owner, was not illegal and did not amount to fraud.
Whyte, 46, denies the two charges against him, one of acquiring the club fraudulently in May 2011 and another of “financial assistance” under the Companies Act – which centres on the £18m payment, between Whyte’s Wavetower company and Rangers, using Ticketus to clear the £18 million bank debt with Lloyds.
Part of the allegations against Whyte is that he pretended to Murray and others that “funds were available” to make all agreed-to payments.
Lady Stacey told the jury: “Mr Findlay said Mr Whyte had been portrayed as a pantomime villain, now I don’t know if you ever read or saw any report to that effect. But if you did, put it out of your minds, please.
“What has happened to Rangers or to anyone else…are not matters you have heard evidence about, and that is for a good reason. They are not on trial. What happened to them, or didn’t happen to them, or what the press or social media may have said in the last six years is neither here nor there.”
She added: “Please do not be swayed by emotional consideration or any prejudices. “Some of you may be sympathetic to people in the case, others may take a dim view of big business and large amounts of money being moved about by businessmen. You only have to say these things out loud and think about it for a moment to see that these matters are irrelevant to your role.
“I am asking you to apply a cool head and take a good long hard look at all that has been put before you and make your decisions based on the evidence.”
She said Mr Whyte had neither given evidence or led evidence from any other witness but he “doesn’t need to” and that the jury were not entitled to assume the Crown had as a result proved his guilt.
“He doesn’t need to prove his innocence. That’s presumed for the purposes of the trial,” she pointed out.
“He is quite entitled to leave it to the Crown to prove his guilt if they can. He doesn’t have to prove anything. So you must not draw an adverse inference on Mr Whyte, because he has not given evidence. Earlier Mr Findlay said that for the Murray group it was a “matter of necessity” that the club was sold, that Mr Whyte was “the only show in town” and that “failure could not be contemplated”.
And he revealed an email written by former Rangers finance director Mike McGill to solicitor David Horne, a key adviser to Mr Murray and Murray Group Donald Muir among others a month before the club takeover was complete saying: “I don’t think the purchaser has enough resources… In simple terms we have no idea if they have the funds to run the club after purchase.”
Mr Findlay said: “If you have no idea what do you do. You find out or you pull the plug. What did they do? Absolutely nothing.”
Another email two weeks before the sale was complete from Mr McGill to Mr Horne said that “the useless twits don’t have the funds” but decided to continue with pursuing the deal.
“Ladies and gentlemen that tells you all you need to know,” he said. “They didn’t care . They just didn’t care. The deal was all that mattered.”
Last week Advocate Depute Alex Prentice QC said Mr Whyte had committed fraud by dishonestly representing to Mr Murray that he had funds “immediately and unconditionally” for the takeover.
The prosecutor’s assertion came as a High Court jury heard conflicting views over the interpretation of a single sentence in the takeover share purchase agreement, which has become a key factor in deciding the fate of Mr Whyte.
The prosecutors maintain the key to Whyte’s guilt comes in his signing up to a share purchase agreement which included a clause that Mr Whyte and his company Wavetower “warrant and undertakes” that it has “immediately available from its own and third party resources on an unconditional basis (subject only to completion) the cash resources necessary….”
But in completing the defence summing up, Mr Findlay said that the mention of third party funding “tells any and every businessman that.. it is coming from a source other than the individual.. and inevitably there will be some condition”. He added: “Nobody in the commercial world has any difficulty with it.
“The funding obtained from Ticketus was entirely legitimate. Whether it was a good business plan or a bad business plan is not the issue here. There was nothing illegal about. There was nothing unusual or untoward about it. Of course it benefitted Rangers, it saved it £1m a year in interest payments.”
He argued that Mr Whyte had got the Ticketus money by providing personal guarantees which “is in any view, putting your own money at risk”.
Prosecutors argued that what Mr Whyte’s deal was “financial assistance” because he used a club asset, the purchase price of season tickets for the purpose of the purchase of the majority shareholding. It was argued that the effect of the Ticketus contract was that the club effectively funded the purchase of its own shares.
But Mr Findlay said there were exceptions in the Companies Act which which allows for deals to be done “in good faith and in the interests of the company”.
And he argued it was in the interests of Rangers for the bank debt to be paid off, and for the club to make £1m a year in debt interest savings. Judge Lady Stacey is due to complete her summing up to the jury on (Tuesday).
The trial continues.
Good Morning Bhoys from a wet Central Scotland. Well the transfer window continues to move on with no Celtic signings as yet.However, there are plenty of rumours but we will have to wait until Celtic announce any new signing before we can believe what is spouted by the MSM. H.H.
Word of The Day (What awaits the Gullibles later in the year)
penurious /pɪˈnjʊərɪəs/
adjective
1. poorly or inadequately supplied; lacking in means or resources.
2. extremely poor; destitute; indigent.
3. lacking money or means
4. extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly.
5. yielding little; scanty
6. niggardly with money
Derived Forms
penuriously, adverb
penuriousness, noun
Word Origin and History for penurious
adj.
1590s, from penury + -ous, or else from Medieval Latin penuriosus, fromLatin penuria “penury.” Originally “poverty-stricken, in a state of penury;”meaning “stingy” is first attested 1630s. Related: Penuriously.
KTF
JOE FILIPPIS HAIRCUT on 6TH JUNE 2017 10:14 AM
Good Morning Bhoys from a wet Central Scotland. Well the transfer window continues to move on with no Celtic signings as yet.However, there are plenty of rumours but we will have to wait until Celtic announce any new signing before we can believe what is spouted by the MSM. H.H.
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Morning Joe. The transfer window isn’t open yet mate. In Scotland it’s from 9 June – 1 September. But you are right to wait for official announcements from Celtic. Most of what you’ll read is just made up or rumour.
JOEFILIPPISHAIRCUT
Howdy,stranger!
For once,I’m relaxed about signing targets. I would love to see Paddy return but anything else is really tinkering at the edges.
But…
I think we are gonna have huge problems next year.
Broonie,Lustig,Gordon will all be winding down their careers. Dembele will,I think,be off. And Jozo and Erik will probably be angling for similar-their contract situations will make selling them the sensible option.
Additionally if Rogic has a good World Cup,we will struggle to hold him.
That’s a bad situation to be in and I expect the club to be aware of it. We can’t replace them all with the development squad.
VFR800 IS NOW A MONSTER 821
I was wondering if you could perhaps help me, with some info relating to Dennistoun.
You can ask Paul 67 for my email addy, or remind me of yours, which I have noticed on the blog previously.
Cheers & HH
BMCUW
Which of Brown, Lustig and Gordon will retire within 2 years? None of them, I;d have thought.
If any of the younger players go because they are in demand, the market is at a place now where we can demand huge fees.
It’d be a bad situation if we didnt have players we were worried about losing.
Plus we are already in a great financial position, any more big sales and CL qualification just means we are in a better position to replace any retirees and big sales with proper quality.
Plus there are a few youngsters with big potential.
So I’d have thought with none of the 3 mentioned retiring within 2 years we have plenty time and money to consider replacements. Its all part of the game – theres not a club out there not planning for years down the line.
HH
theres not a club out there not planning for years down the line.
===========
Apart from Sevco :)
HH
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Scott Brown winding down his career at 32, doubt it mate:))
He’s our ten in a row Captain barring serious injury..
You’re selling off seven of our team:))
Must be raining doon there…
We’re doomed we’re doomed
I found this interesting in A Stor Mha Chroi`s 9:33 link:
” Rodgers got the message home – doesn’t he always “.
Digs at Celtic in the MSSM are not always blatant. It is the insidious stuff that has the greatest influence in shaping opinion. Likewise, praise of Celtic is often barbed and the apparent `praise` is not as effective as the `subtle` digs which accompany it.
Cameron`s comment on Rodgers is VERY complimentary and couched in such a manner that much as all readers of that article will take an interest in his point about patrick Roberts, they will ,at least equally, be affected by his obvious respect for and admiration of Brendan Rodgers. he Times ( or in this case, The Herald ) They are a – Changin ` ?
JJ
PS And thanks, A Stor Mha Chroi for these links.
BMCUW
Is there a Guinness strike in Swindon ?
It is in the nature of humans to worry about the future but something seems to have startled you !
Has Neganon 2 hijacked your blog name?
JJ
Macjay
Interested to hear your view on current Melbourne terrorist incident an how Austrian immigration rules have worked with regards the incident. Further to that what has the UK to learn from Australian policy on this occasion?
MWD
I think you may be missing the point,fellas. The one I was attempting to make is that while the players I mentioned can be relied on week in week out next season,I doubt they can be to the same extent the following year.
As such,we have to plan for that.
Or maybe I should stop with the negative waves,Moriarty!
Anyway,minute’s silence now…
HOT SMOKED:
You’re more than welcome mate.
My favourite barb is the oft repeated “Rangers bitter rivals Celtic” as opposed “Celtic’s fierce rivals Rangers”.
Bias-rich prejudice prominent in both commentary and print.
Morning all.
Rubentus fans here in Italy getting it tight and being mercilessly baited by the supporters of every other club.
Rube have now lost 7 EC/CL finals, and won 2.
Milan fans, eg, are taking great delight in reminding them that they(Milan) have won it 7 times and lost 2.
Even Inter have won it 3 times.
May appear childish and vindictive, but I’m enjoying their pain!
HH!!
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 6TH JUNE 2017 10:56 AM
I think you may be missing the point,fellas. The one I was attempting to make is that while the players I mentioned can be relied on week in week out next season,I doubt they can be to the same extent the following year.
As such,we have to plan for that.
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I think your point is a valid one – especially given the number of games we’ll have to play if we quality for the Champs League. The effort and focus this year has been phenomenal but will be very difficult to sustain with the same group of players. However, I think that Brendan and the team will be well aware of this and I expect will plan accordingly. Anyway – hope the Guinness is Swindon is still cold despite the weather.. :-)
BMCUW
” I think you may be missing the point,fellas”
Possibly we are, Bobby, but in defence , this might have been a factor in our misunderstanding:
” I think we are gonna have huge problems next year.”
0:-))
Jury has retired according to James Dolman
Celtic in no plan shock
Sack ra board says Bobby M in Swindon:))
The sooner the windae is open then shut the better..
The Madness Of King Transfer
MOONBEAMSWD:
As far as terrorist acts go I found the most recent reported act a strange one indeed. For me, the modus operandi just didn’t seem to be in tandem with a committed terrorist’s indiscriminate contempt for innocent lives.
They are reporting it as an act of terrorism but I am skeptical.
Giuliano Sarti has died at the age of 83 after a sudden illness.
RIP Sarti
The Inter keeper from Lisbon 67, Sarti, has passed away today at 83. RIP.
A Stor Mha Chroi,
Yes. Another one is that every time it is a positive story, it is ` Rangers and Celtic` whilst for every negative article, it is ` Celtic and Rangers`. Just a coincidence, I am sure.
Cheerio for now,
JJ
Charlie Telfer has left Dundee United
If I remember there was some bad blood
Between Newco and Utd over transfer fee
Maybe he will head down the road
Back to the south side .
I guess if CW is free at the end of this trial, he will probably go to back to Monaco to live, just to avoid any hassle from the peepil. :-)
STARRYPLOUGH
Far from it,mate. We have a great side at the moment,the board are backing the manager and the next twelve months are looking rosy.
But the nature of players running down contracts and others ageing is likely to work against us.
Additionally,the better our players perform for us,the more they are likely to be targets for predators.
It’s not a Cassandra call,nor an anti-board comment. It’s merely how I see it,and I’m sure the club are aware of it too.
As for Scott Brown,he won’t be 32 in two years time,he’ll be three weeks short of his 34th. Craig Gordon will be 37 and Mikael Lustig 33.
All have suffered frequent injury problems in their career and it makes sense to plan for a future without them.
I see Level 5 have organised another stunt by having the sevco manager and staff filmed arriving for work from 5.30 onwards,they might even have beaten the milkman if they have one. Plenty flash cars who is paying?
TRADITIONALIST88
CORRECT.
I have a minor youth scouting role for 3 senior clubs in Scotland. Each has a fairly extensive database of players from 6yr olds to potential signing targets at the top of their respective budgets. These databases are continually updated.. At every stage positions are monitored to ensure a feed through.
I was recently shown the Aberdeen system and its quite interesting just how prepared these teams are. Which as you allude to beg questions of those who don’t have these arrangements in place.
Margaret McGill on 6th June 2017 2:48 am
Res 12 will die along with SFA accountability.
Celtic PLC have closets full of skeletons.
The huns will limp along until 10 in a row.
If they go doon the swanny it will only be if Craigy bhoy is found guilty of fraud.
The recordings will show that Murray hasnt got a leg to stand on.
As far as I am concerned its still Glasgow rangers that play out of Ibrox.
Anyone who doesnt bvelive that needs a twitter account.
Methinks DC robertson is got something up his sleeve on McBride.
Lets wait for another 5 years of total shite.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Res12 was never about Glasgow Rangers although they were the catalyst that caused the Resolution to be raised.
It was and still is about accountability. It wasn’t about being a new club/company, a bone thrown by UEFA in June 2016, to justify not doing what Res12 requested.
It will have failed in accountability terms if Celtic simply refuse to respond to what caused Res12 to exist and the more information folk have now trial is almost over, the more difficult that position will be to hold and those who received an update before the AGM will be supplied with the latest version in due course..
It will not have failed in accountability terms if Celtic do provide an account of events having contacted the SFA to clarify their withering that BRTH has mentioned subsequent to your post, whether that account shows an overdue payable existed or not or that SFA acted properly or not
However it should not take five years for skulduggery to be uncovered and it is the very lack of scrutiny or delaying scrutiny that allows the skull to be dugged in the first place. Something needs to be done about that and it requires a mechanism which football supporters of all clubs in Scotland can avail themselves of and that is being created.
Back to Res12 and accountability, the message it sends out to the SFA (and Celtic and other clubs) is even if the SFA have the first line protection of being only accountable to clubs to hide behind, determined shareholders can make their clubs accountable to them if shareholders think the SFA are party to or behind decisions that aid the share value of one club to the detriment of the others.
Had their been proper accountability in 2012 there still would a team playing at Ibrox called Rangers, but had the views of supporters at large been taken into account in the 5 way agreement thinking, the cost would have been TRFC were not the same club and titles won during ebt years by RFC removed or asterisked.
Well that is me back in Aotearoa after several weeks in the Northern Hemisphere. Loved every minute of it especially the time in Lisbon. Thanks to all the CQNrs i met for taking me into your company and sharing great times. Cannot remember all the blog names but enjoyed the company of you all. Special thanks to Kick in the Nakas and Embra Mike for helping out when my camera went on the bung. And of course extra special thanks to BRTH not just for his organisation of events but for giving me assistance with accommodation and travel advice. Hopefully not too long before i am back . In the meantime will keep spreading the word down here. I got back to Auckland just in time for NZCSC’s own Lisboa 50 celebrations. Obviously not on the same scale as what happened in Lisbon but nevertheless an opportunity to appreciate how widespread and passionate the Celtic Family is.
BMCUW
At this precise moment in time, there is little concrete evidence that the Celtic Board are backing the Manager, there is only SMSM and Bampots speculation.
I will pass my judgement on the level of Board backing for the Manager on 1st September.
HH