BBC 5Live got into a bit of bother yesterday for asking if Paris St Germain’s domestic domination is turning the French league into the SPFL. PSG (60) are 21 points ahead of second place Monaco (39) in Ligue Un and could win the title next month. Celtic, of course, are only 6 points clear in the Scottish Premiership and will not win the title until April.
The pertinent point that 5Live were a bit clumsy in making is that PSG, who will win four-in-a-row this year, and Celtic, won will win five-in-a-row, are competing in one horse races. Karl Heinz Rummenigge made a similar point about Bayern Munich earlier this month (an example 5Live could also have used). Bayern are 8 points clear and also on their way to four-in-a-row.
Then there’s Juventus, who, like Celtic, hope to win five-in-a-row this season. Juve had a horrible start to the season but 11 league wins on the bounce have seen them close to within 2 points of Napoli at the top of Serie A.
Basel are 10 clear and on their way to seven-in-a-row in Switzerland, while Red Bull’s money will collect a third consecutive Austrian title for Salzburg this year.
Ajax are not quite there, having only won four of the last five titles, but Dutch football has been shrinking in competitive terms for over 3 decades (Ajax and PSV between them have won all but 3 titles in 31 years). Anderlecht, who have won three in four in Belgium, are also a little short of complete domination.
England’s different, no one has retained the title since 2009 and it’s not going to happen this year. Spain have seen a change of winner in the last four years and, with the world’s two biggest clubs, are likely to remain competitive, while Benfica and Porto are still nip and tuck in Portugal. These three are the outliers of Western European football.
Reality is that three of the ‘big five’ European leagues, and many others, are no longer competitive. Successful clubs know how to stay ahead of their peers, there are several formulas to help them. Permanently breaking this domination has never been more difficult.
Scottish football is not an uncompetitive outlier, it’s the new norm. The same questions being asked about Celtic are also being asked about dominant teams across the Continent. What football does about it is another story. Keep your eye on Rummenigge. He’s ambitious and wants to change things.
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Teacher – Spell Rangers?
Pat – Sorry Sir but there is no Rangers!
Teacher – Look Patrick, don’t be smart. Just spell Rangers?
Patrick – Ok. R-a-n-g-f-e-r-s.
Teacher – Patrick. There is no F in Rangers!
Patrick – I told you that already Sir.
MWD (stole from bro on FB)
LP
So if we don’t attend we are no Tims, when did that become a reality then ?
Oh and for contributing to the club, you don’t have to go to the games.
And if you read my posts properly, you would see that I said the threat of withholding you season book money was enough to make a couple of clubs take action.
But you carry on contributing to the corruption, and don’t bother bitching about it when you are cheated again and again :-)
HH
Bada
Was McIntyre on the commentary last night or was this his reation tnite when tryin to get Pat Nevin an easy ride re his spat with PH ?
Biscuits Preston was good with him …..ha ha
Adi-McIntyre was hosting the Sevco v Morton game,the abuse and accusations he dished out to the ref,would possibly have you believe he was a Hun ….
Best piece I have read on Offensive Law. Alex Massie, The Spectator..
Scotland’s free-speech opponents remain as hypocritical as they are illiberal. Shame on them. – http://bit.ly/1OYJabM
Macjay1
You just have to read Terry Butchers book for the answer to that.
Huns don’t really like big Terry that much no more.
MWD
LP
And to clarify
I said if you want change, the only way you will get it is to withhold your cash, I never advocated withholding your cash for the sake of it, and if you don’t withhold your cash, you are contributing to a corrupt rigged game, we now know it’s rigged and corrupt, we always thought it was, we now have the proof, then you have no right to complain imo.
HH
Heartily sick about the Newco/Oldco debate.
Only in this warped country would there be any debate.
Rangers went into liquidation and a new club was formed, albeit playing in the same midden and same venemous support.
If it weren’t a new club why would League membership need to be transferred and why did the new club not get transfer fees for the players who didn’t TUPE.
Anyway, much as I’m sick of the whole farce I could never take out my frustration on my club, never withhold my support.
CELTIC are too precious to jeopardise .
CELTIC are our heritage , born out of the noblest ideals of any team.
Surely, we cannot consider withdrawing our support?
We must mobilise and ensure justice is done .
We owe it to Brother Walfrid, Big Jock and Tommy Burns and all of our greats.
Also to my Dad, and yours and your grandparents and those who went before that.
Celtic means so much.
Please don’t muck it up
HH
lennon’s passion – On the meeting with the Police I think the CSA missed a trick there. They should have produced this and asked for comment, I also think the Trust should have played this at Holyrood when they were there….
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2945/exclusive-i-will-fucking-ruin-your-life-football-fans-recording-of-alleged-police-abuse-revealed
You don’t have to withhold money from the club
The Celtic support are scottish football, withhold your cash from the other clubs, I bet they will get a voice quick enough then.
Burghbhoy to true.to chuck it is a slap in the face to all Celtic Supporters who have through thick and thin.to the chuck it mob just delete your post on here.we don’t need you or want you.
Burghbhoy
I hope every club in the country,including us, has someone with a wee bit o’ Turnbull Hutton in them.
Big bad John keeping up with Celtic
John Hartson @JohnHartson10 16m16 minutes ago
Come on Celtic let’s put this league to bed tonight
BSR-maybe for this time next Wednesday….
Bada
Yes…possibly…..
I seem to remember way back where he was raging that about Neil Lennon (when manager I think but posters might clarify) saying ‘ he should have been sent off- surely’ for some incident
Common denominator….he’s a hun
Some absolute hypocrites on here. Won’t put a pound into Celtic due to the injustice. Portray themselves as modern day crime fighters, fight for justice. Want nothing to do with Celtic but spend days commenting on transfers, tactics and all things CELTIC.
If your disowning Celtic fair enough leave the turnstile fodder to worry about the famous GLASGOW CELTIC.
Remember the last guy who told BBJ he was wrong………..Berkovik, was it no?
My statement on Rangers FC and The Herald’s apology:
https://t.co/TbX9q7a122
More bully boy tactics from the gang,and an expected capitulation from a compliant Scottish rag.
A statement from Graeme Spiers
LP
If that’s directed at me, you are way off the mark and talking pish, if not, fine.
HH
!!Bada Bing!!
thats appalling
Awe Naw @ 15:32
Interesting article relating to Lord Tyre’s decision.
Unrelated to football – there is an infamous shadow bank very much at large at the moment which is headed up by one Dan Quayle Internationally.
This entity specialises in buying up “distressed debt” from other financial institutions and governments at a discount and then proceeding to realise the assets and chase the debtors in what might be described as “unorthodox fashion” and with a relentless zeal that is hard to fathom.
Thus far, quite a few have fought them in court and one – and the entity has gained some pretty adverse publicity.
However they are sufficiently rich and well connected that they don’t give a toss.
Yesterday I wss told that they were dragged into court by way of an interim interdict – the hearing of which is a very common court occurrence.
You will never guess who this mob “instructed ” at great expense for such a routine hearing?
Yup – one Colin Tyre QC – or Lord Tyre as others might know him!
The Clydesdale Bank dumped their debt onto this lot before selling on the stock market, but the FSA – not to be confused with the SFA – ordered they they reserve the sum of £2 BILLION for meeting out fines and penalties for the wrongful selling or administration of financial services and products – just think about that.
But If the shit hits the fan legally they can always pay for the services of Lord Tyre!!
Now that is the kind of “Establishment” move that minty and his Ibrox cohorts could only dream of!
Everton hard done by there.
Bada
Ureal
Especially one bit….
R*ngers duly complained to The Herald about my column. As the weeks passed a dispute arose, and the pressure brought upon the newspaper became severe.
Whats the pressure ?.
Either you sue or you are maybe told……..there may be trouble ahead…..
I assume Speirs will make it public
MOONBEAMSWD on 27TH JANUARY 2016 8:27 PM
Macjay1
You just have to read Terry Butchers book for the answer to that.
Huns don’t really like big Terry that much no more.
MWD
============================================================
I`ll look out for that one.
—————————————————–
Not too bothered about Warbs.
Don`t fancy Weir,though.
Very effective player.
Same mentality as John Greig except that he`s got nous.
Betcha he takes over.
Bada bing … Graham has shown integrity here, and courage in the shadow of the history of intimidation / violence against those who stand up to them….
Macjay
Weir can replicate his performance with Sheffield United when he takes over sevco…id be delighted
Is Spiers the next casualty? By the way , looking at the game at the Etihad Stadium, it seems the spirit of bad decisions is not isolated to Hampden.
Unreal
Adi -Spiers has made it public,and rightfully defended his corner,will be interesting if he has any more articles printed by them.
31/08/15 ……..Rangers Director tells Graham Spiers that “the Billy Boys is a great song”
deadco CSC
Re Daviie Weir, a nice guy by all accounts that I hear from, but a true disciple of the Walter de Cardigan school.
Night bhoys
Strange one from the boul’ Spiersy………..
The paper not backing their man eh?
Interesting use of bigot and offensive – one and the same for Graham…………..
Good Evening!
Here’s something on the fascinating Graham Spiers ‘apology’ story.
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/fire-brigade-to-spiers-towers/
Teuchter
Too true mate.
Turnbull appeared to be to have no axe to grind, just a sense of fair play and a hankering for sporting integrity.
He spoke out and when this story is laid out in all its gory detail in years to come , Turnbull Hutton will get his due recognition, albeit posthumously.
I think I should get a Wee Mick fired up.
Hagar would certainly red them oot!!
RIP Turnbull.
You did your bit
HH
Governance in Global Sport
Athletics, cricket, football, now tennis and many more major sports have credibility problems regarding governance, fair competition, corruption and betting scandals. As this post addresses global sporting governance, I am not wanting to focus on our “little local difficulties” which we have in Scotland but the tenet of this post embraces everything that is likely to apply to our domestic game of football.
There is a gross lack of structure to the governance of global sport. Every sports association manages its own constitution and tournaments globally and within each country member association. Apart from the Court of Arbitration of Sport, there is little/no independent scrutiny by national or international governmental or judicial bodies. Indeed, some sports specifically bar member clubs from taking any legal issue outside their association to national courts, FIFA being one.
Association personnel are normally “insiders”, either ex-participants of that sport who are elected based on popularity or career administrators who rise to senior executive positions of power or influence.
Whilst there are likely to be many people of great integrity involved in sports administration, they may not have governance skills and have nowhere to turn to if they become aware of suspected corruption or malpractice. If they break cover, they can be seen as the one who brought scandal to their sport, at least in the early stages of an investigation, and face the pressures that this can bring rather than the whistle-blower who did their sport a long term service. When there is no external scrutiny, it is easy for people to be sucked in to accepting modest hospitality but greed takes over and corruption becomes endemic and each official has to cover for each other to protect the body and themselves.
The Danish Institute for Sports Studies has tried to review the situation regarding governance in a publication called “The legitimacy crisis in international sports governance” published October 2015.
The report looks at the application of governance in 35 Olympic Sports, including Football based on standards set out by Action for Good Governance in International Sports Organisations (AGGIS) a body comprising Play the Game/Danish Institute for Sports Studies in cooperation with six European Universities.
The main areas scrutinised are:
1. Screening and selection mechanisms (for officers seeking election)
2. Monitoring and reporting requirements (publishing of minutes, explaining decisions, standing committee reports, external financial reports etc.)
3. Administrative procedures (including if the organisation has a code of ethics which should be followed)
4. Institutional checks (ethics, audit and appeals to an independent committee)
5. Elections (clear and proper rules, secret ballots, terms of office)
Based on the criteria set, many of the scores were abysmal. The conclusion of the report is summed up as:
“These findings demonstrate that the majority of the 35 Olympic international sports federations do not have an institutional design implemented that allows their constituents to monitor and sanction decision-making body members. Therefore, senior sports officials are not sufficiently incentivised to act in accordance with their constituents’ interests.”
Now please ensure that you are sitting down and have smelling salts available.
The second highest compliance score was for FIFA (only the International Equestrian Federation beat FIFA). Yes, FIFA……you read it right!
The report states FIFA’s main strengths are:
• Robust internal audit committee, sic.
• Good ethics committee, sic.
• Solidarity and development programmes
Main weaknesses are:
• Lack of term limits (for people such as Blatter)
• Lack of gender equity policy
• Inadequate procedure for allocation of world cups
• Weak legacy and sustainability requirements for world cups
FIFA scores well for Transparency (sic), Checks and Balances (sic) and Solidarity (we do know that money was channelled to developing countries which is fine if no conditions or personal support obligations applied…….anyone believe this?)
The report is 126 pages but if you read the Executive Summary and Page 83 re FIFA you will get the picture. Download the report at: http://www.playthegame.org/media/3968653/SGO_report_web.pdf
Well if, on paper, FIFA scores well because it has a lot of proper procedures in place, the other sports must be even more vulnerable to corruption with fewer boxes ticked.
So, where does this leave sport?
Who checks on the reality behind the paper procedures? Where do people with concerns raise them? Who can investigate without fear of loss of their own position? How can justice be seen to be applied?
My view is that a totally independent body is required to be established to oversee governance in global sport. It must be able to operate without internal influence and to publish its findings openly so that the public gains some improved trust in the operation of each sport.
Sorry for such a long post.
HJ with respect
Davie Weir changed when he joined the huns – his grabbing Big McManus by the throat showed he’d been fed on the hun raw meat diet.
The Herald /Spiers fiasco is pretty much unfathomable except that , clearly, whatever “pressure” was brought to bear on the Herald has been sufficiently intense to cause them to sacrifice their journalistic integrity and professional obligation to publish and then stand by the truth.
What else is a newspaper for, if not that?
Convinces me , again , that my decision of a few years ago to stop buying that paper isn’t going to change anytime soon.