My friends in Celtic, pause for a few moments and peruse your domain. On the field of play your favourites matured into accomplished football players. 2011 ended with an acclaimed Joe Ledley header confirming what we already knew, Celtic were the best team in the land.
Despite ‘losing’ the previous three league titles Celtic held firm in the January transfer window; a difficult decision. We needed to win the league – at any credible cost – but without jeopardising the financial stability of the club. More than sporting form was under debate on these pages at the turn of the year, continents were shifting.
Since 2004 readers of Celtic Quick News have read the gospel of financial responsibility. Bills need to be paid, debt cannot be allowed to rise year after year without enormous consequences. Back then we asserted that Rangers would crash and burn. By 2008 we predicted they were on course to go out of business. This message was not always welcome among our own. It was mocked by some, who demanded ever-higher spending to match the Murray Millions, but on 1 January 2012 there was scarcely a Celtic fan alive who didn’t think Rangers were going out of business. It was only a question of when.
When the crash was confirmed, on St Valentine’s Day, Scottish football embarked on a remarkable period of soul-searching. Rangers last owner, Craig Whyte, had a plan, which we explained in some detail in 2011. Whyte subsequently revealed he met with SPL directors, Neil Doncaster and Ralph Topping in October 2011, told them the likelihood that Rangers would go into liquidation, and asked them to back a plan to catapult a Newco-Rangers into the SPL.
The plan was nonsense. Whyte should have been sent away with told to pay his bills but Doncaster was oceans out of his depth. A fait-accompli would be presented to the SPL clubs, vote to change the rules and elect a Newco into the top flight, or deal with “Armageddon”.
Football eventually did the right thing, as many, perhaps most, Rangers fans wanted all along, but hundreds of scribes attached themselves to Whyte’s Cunning Plan, which was presented as a bastion of responsibility, not the work of deception it was. The fight-back started on these pages. Soon it encompassed fans of every club in Scotland and the SPL clubs have no choice but to stick with the established rules.
Rangers creditors voted against a CVA and liquidators were appointed. Pop, and they were gone! Football fans of every colour, who has endured defeat to Rangers but still asserted that expenditure must be limited to income, enjoyed three seconds of glory as they turned to the bling-addicts beside them and said, “Told you”.
A man from Yorkshire with a group of partially-known investors nipped in ahead of various groups of Rangers fans to secure the assets of the club. Evidence suggests he believed the club would achieve a CVA (the assertion that “the history, the tradition, everything that’s great about this club is swept aside” if they were to be liquidated confirms this), but he bid more than any group of Rangers fans for the liquidated assets so ended up with an opportunity to issue himself with 5 million shares worth 70p each a few months later. Beautiful.
We’re on our own.
Celtic began as the solitary voice at SPL meetings speaking against Whyte’s plan. They were not responsible for the demise of Rangers, but let the record show, when the moment of reckoning arrived, the Celtic board liquidated the Old Firm.
On the field of play we were a well-oiled machine. Our first league title in four seasons arrived with consummate ease. Kilmarnock showed what a well-drilled team could do in the League Cup final, with a little help from a last minute blind-spot when Anthony Stokes had his legs whipped from him in the box, but let’s be generous, you know it, I know it, we would have missed the penalty anyway.
Last minute Hampden penalty decisions would crop up again in the Scottish Cup, when the whole Deliberate Handball rule was cast asunder, but refereeing is always been an emerging art in these parts.
The new season, our first ever as the only superpower in the Scottish game, held one major challenge – qualify for the Champions League. Four wins in four qualifying games was better than expected, so the team who were slapped by Sion, attacked by Atletico and usurped by Udinese a year earlier, were in the Champions League.
Be generous to those who dismissed our chances. One poor guy writing the ITVFootball tweets wrote “Bye bye Celtic” on the day we were drawn against Spartak Moscow, Benfica and Barcelona. Based on the evidence available, it was a fair call.
It is nothing short of fantastic, in the literal sense, that we qualified out of that group. Even now, halfway through the season, Barcelona have lost only one competitive game, when Victor Wanyama, Tony Watt and their pals ripped up the form book. It took Barca until the 93rd minute to secure a win over Celtic in the Camp Nou, or they would have three competitive draws on their record for this season, one to Real Madrid in the league, and a meaningless draw against Benfica being the only two.
I honestly thing we have overachieved in Europe this season. Neil Lennon and his players got everything right. The corner and free kicks from Charlie were immense. No one in Europe does better (some supporting evidence here). Forget the more fancied thoroughbreds, Charlie Mulgrew is our Moneyball player, a team full of them and we’ll win the Big Cup.
Victor’s leap and Tony’s finish will be replayed in our minds for years. Despite leaving ample hints, the DVD didn’t materialise at Christmas. Georgios has scored in all of our five European away games, a record.
Expectations will rise as a result of these achievements but we got so many things absolutely right in this Champions League campaign the odds against doing so again next season are high. Celtic will need to start preparing for next season’s Champions League now if they are to have any chance of remaining in the tournament next Hogmanay. If we were operating at 90% capacity we would have finished bottom with one or two points. As for Juventus, bring them on.
These end-of-year reports are often a lot less encouraging. 2010 was far from easy reading, the distance we have travelled since 2010’s is incredible. Celtic end 2012 as one of the most admired clubs in the European game. We develop great players, compete against the best better than anyone else, and have a sense of purpose which will never be extinguished.
Take care and may 2013 bring you all that you hope for.
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McLeish working his magic again.
Artur Boruc starts for Southampton against Arsenal
Gordon_J
Have they removed all the water bottles behind the goal?
Artur – he krazy.
Frazer Forster takes all the bi kicks
bi – cycle kicks?
Afternoon and Happy New Year to all
This will be my last night if alcohol for 1 month – signed up to the Dryathlon for Cancer Research. It’s a cause dear to my heart but roll on February!
Watched Only An Excuse thus afternoon- was switching between reruns of Father Ted and the Hootenanny- and like Hogmanay itself ( when I used to bother with it as a major social event) i was left thinking that you look forward to it for ages and then you don’t actually enjoy it very much when it’s here. A good line about making Rangers History and a couple of affectionate digs at Craig Brown made me smile and whilst not particularly funny the Brother Walfrid and Jim Kerr skits did, at least, have acidic edge to them.
Most of the time though it was as ciosy as the MSM with it’s predictable digs at obvious targets. And if 2013 brings us anything it will surely be the death of the Gangnam Style parody- lazy enough to do it once but twice?I’ve liked OAE in the past and liked Watson the one time I met him but the show has surely had it’s day.
H x 2
From the official site, year overview by month very last line :oD
CELTIC bounced back from two consecutive defeats to beat St Johnstone 2-0 on April Fool’s Day, though it took two second-half goals to sink the Saints. The significance of the victory, however, was that it meant Celtic travelled to Rugby Park the following weekend, knowing that a victory would deliver the SPL title back to Paradise. It was the same ground where, back in October 2011, Celtic had trailed 3-0 at half-time and their title challenge seemed on the verge of collapse. A second-half comeback rescued a point that day, and now Neil Lennon’s side were intent on sealing the title. It was another six-goal thriller against Kilmarnock, but this time all the goals were scored by Celtic. Neil Lennon’s side were now the champions, and deservedly so, and the three stands at Rugby park which were packed with Celtic fans celebrated the triumph. Any hope of a double was ended the following week, with a 2-1 defeat in the Scottish Cup semi-final to Hearts, but Celtic followed that up with consecutive 3-0 victories – against Motherwell at Fir Park and in the last ever derby against Rangers at Paradise.
Cosy even
Ah Artur
Brings a smile to your face…
U
Paul67 and all,
Happy New Year!
craggy
artoo borritz??????????????
Help needed.
Anyone in here heard of a disease called Primary Progressive Aphasia?
PPA may take a number of forms, it commonly appears initially as a disorder of speaking (an articulatory problem), progressing to nearly total inability to speak in its most severe stage, while comprehension remains relatively preserved. The disease starts with word-finding disturbances (anomia) and frequently proceeds to impair the grammatical structure (syntax) and comprehension (semantics) of language. The speech output in PPA can be fluent or nonfluent. Memory, visual processing, and personality remain relatively well-preserved until the advanced stages and help to distinguish PPA from Alzheimer’s disease.
My cousin in her early 50s has just been diagnosed. Have any of you any experience of this?
Any feedback would be useful.
(1000) 1st?
Ok (1000) 2nd.
Ah well…
…I’ve broken the blog
Artur drops first ball in to the box…..
jimbo67
17:07 on 1 January, 2013
Afternoon and Happy New Year to all
This will be my last night if alcohol for 1 month – signed up to the Dryathlon for Cancer Research. It’s a cause dear to my heart but roll on February!
Think I might join you in that. Will look into it.
Craggy-Happy New Year.
And his second….
Hamiltontim,
From earlier re: smoking. Don’t want to sound patronizing so hopefully this comes across as intended. My decision to quit New Years Eve 2011 was actually made in October 2011. I attended my 7 yr old daughters violin recital with my wife and eldest daughter (22). During the recital I had a bit of a cough that wouldn’t let up so I excused myself from the theater. Once I had composed myself I returned to watch my daughter finish and thought, I want to see my wee lassie grow up to graduate and some day get married. If i don’t quit gags theres no chance. I don’t know if I’ll get to see either but I sure as hell wanted to give myself a chance. I know you have weans as well. That may be enough. As I said I hope this comes across the right way and no offense intended pal.
googybhoy
I was tested for PPA last summer. Turns out though that I am experiencing heamopoligic migranes which were having a similar effect to stroke symptoms.
MWD
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A_iVGDKCAAA27rS.jpg:large
A wee Celtic new year message.
So we were only formed in 2013 – i keeed
Happy New Year CQN
Boruc having a bit of a stinker, for guy so confident with us, looks nervous as..
Googybhoy (and anybody else)
Dryathlon accepting volunteers until 6th Jan I think
Slainte
Jimbo
TimsinOhio –
When I stopped smoking, I did it like you. Decided a few months in advance of my stopping date. Never told anyone I was stopping. I actually did it cold turkey, and it was made easier by the fact that I had been telling myself for months that I was going to do it this time.
It will be 10 years on 1st March since I had had my first smoke free day as an adult. Love the fact that I am no longer reliant on the weed, and that I am not sending all my hard earned up in smoke.
I know that it is not easy, but I would urge everyone to try, it makes so much sense.
Curly
come on the MORTON
ulryc
Best wishes for 2013. Hope all’s well mate.
Saints score 1-0
Weefra HH
Haven’t been watching the game
Are arsenal worth an investment to win at 5/2?
Arsenal the better team for the first 20 mins but Saints a lot better now, and scored. Arsenal score goals though so if they get one theyll win.
He who hesitates.
And in it goes :O)
4/5 now the arse to win.
Bah!
1-1 own goal.
Weefra HH
Arse -1 goal at 11/4
That’s for me
5 of your English pounds invested.
Curly, well done sir. If I make 10 years I’ll at the very least attend a graduation ceremony. Congrats to you and thanks for the encouragement.