My friends in Celtic, for the first time in four years we start a league campaign as champions. We carry a slender-but-hopeful lead into the second leg of our Champions League third qualifying round tie, and we are hotter favourites to win the league this season, than North Korea’s Supreme Leader’s favourite Pyongyang team would be, if he was to playing as striker.
Quite simply, the return on money placed on Celtic to win the league this season more accurately reflects a tax-free savings plan than a gamble. The bookies will hold your money until March or April then return it with some interest. Your rate of return will directly reflect the interest they can earn elsewhere.
This is the ninth eve-of-the-season we have reported on the state of the club. During this time we have gone toe-to-toe with a competitor who tried so hard to get the better of us, they ran up unsustainable debts, which could reach £134m, and which will never be paid or forgiven.
Celtic ran a better operation, were commercially sharper, had by far the best scouting system in the country, but paid their bills and ‘lost’ five leagues in this time.
Living with this was hard. In fact, it tore the Celtic support apart. The question was simple, “If they can, why can’t we?”
They couldn’t, and now the ideological debate is over. Mantras we have heard for decades have proven to be false. ‘Speculate to accumulate’ and ‘For every fiver Celtic spend….’ were suitable for an inflating market, where player values, TV contracts and match day revenues rose consistently, but this strategy was fatally flawed.
Whatever was accumulated in Scottish football it was never financial reserves, so when revenues dipped, or the vagaries of sporting fortune denied the wealthy their anticipated earnings, Armageddon happened – for one club!
Students of economic history will be able to tell you that even the most obvious economic lessons are eventually forgotten. New people arrive, achieve some early successes which reaffirm their ideological beliefs (in this instance ‘We deserve more money to be spent on footballers’), make no provisions for the inevitable change in circumstances, before disappearing into the obscurity from which they came, leaving others to live with the consequences.
Here is the true State of your Club. Celtic will continue its trajectory without changing what has been orthodoxy since the last century. Over any business period we will spend whatever money comes into the club. In normal times debt levels will trend downwards, providing space for the afflictions of fortune to be accommodated. We will most likely promote more players from our precocious youth system and buy fewer squad fillers than in the past.
The blink-junkies, who still believe in the values of Sir David Murray, will be reminded on these pages of their consequences *.
When this period of our history ends, we will reflect back on what, by then, will be the most successful period of any club, in any country. Ever. Those of you who lived through Lisbon are now enjoying the second Golden Generation of our club, but this time, nine years will not contain it. This Generation will stretch from 2000 as far as your mind’s eye can see, if only someone would coin a catchy phrase to encapsulate this successful period!
The Battle of the Ages is over, Celtic have prevailed, as did every Scottish football fan who wanted the madness to end. We won!
Thanks to everyone who bought a raffle ticket to help with our summer charity causes. Enjoy the season. I will.
*At the moment I’m reading End this Depression Now by Nobel Economics Laureate Paul Krugman, an excellent insight into how even the most eminent allow what they want to believe to obscure some of the lessons every economics under-grad is taught. It’s also a fine retort to the political classes who believe there’s nothing we can do for the economy but strangle it a little tighter.
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…..meant to add. My arse…..
31003 on 3 August, 2012 at 21:17 said:
You out tomorrow after the footie?
HH
CRC
Irish
Scottish
Korean
Honduras
English
Welsh
Israel
Sweeden
celticrollercoaster supporting wee Oscar on 3 August, 2012 at 21:16 said:
Round 2: In Celtic’s opening SPL game last season against Hibs, name the 9 different nationalities that were represented by our starting line up that day
(2pts per first correct answer: 1pt per answer if you are correct but not first. Remember only 1 submission per round)
Honduras
Scotland
England
Ireland
Honduras
Kenya
Wales
Holland
Spain
Wait all night for the quiz then the youngest of them family goes missing.Eventually found him,face all dirty and the snooters tripping him.
Oops put two Hondurans in I meant to say S. Korea
WonkyRadar at 20:01
Angus McCaskill is buried on Cape Breton Island. The giant mound at his burial site gives some idea of his huge size. His family established a museum on Cape Breton, which still exists. Exhibits include his specially made bed and chair, and photographs of four of his normal sized siblings inside one of his vests. My recollection is that the anchor you alluded to slipped and struck his head, and that he later passed away from the injury.
Iniquitous
Scottish, honduran, English, Irish, Israeli, dutch, sth Korean, polish, Welsh
theglasgowcelticway on 3 August, 2012 at 21:19 said:
Wait all night for the quiz then the youngest of them family goes missing.Eventually found him,face all dirty and the snooters tripping him.
Do what I do and tie them to the trampoline until the quiz is finished.
That should have been,the and snotters.
Papa New Guinean
Yemeni
Quebecer (Although French Canadian/Canadian)
Montenegrin
Tobagonian
British Virgin Islander
East Timoresian
Burundian
Irish
theglasgowcelticway on 3 August, 2012 at 21:23 said:
Not too late to join in!
Kenya
Wales
Honduras
Scotland
Ireland
Honduras
Poland
England
Korea
Cheers, the Cat. (that seems wrong, somehow, a bit like an Irish comedienne, who’s name escapes me, once said about the U2 guitarist “Ah, poor The Edge”). Thanks anyhoo
HH
PV
Is it just me or are all the Olympian ladies looking sexier than ever, even the Russians with trimmed arm pits.
apologies for the tardiness but getting ready for the trip to Glega tomorrow, up at 5:30.
HF
english scottish hondurous irish welsh skorean israeli swede
Calm down lads, Muldini’s on the wind up!!! No news of this on the celtic website.
Tried to get on SSB 3 times this week “can’t put you on, new callers only” think he meant NEWCO callers only!
When THEMS titles get stripped I WANT THEM!!!
They cheated… Simples! The runner up is recorded as the winner I want this acknowledged by SPL and SFA records
celticrollercoaster supporting wee Oscar on 3 August, 2012 at 21:16 said:
Round 2: In Celtic’s opening SPL game last season against Hibs, name the 9 different nationalities that were represented by our starting line up that day
Scots
Irish
English
Welsh
Swedish
Israeli
South Korean
Honduran
Kenyan
crc
Unfortunantly……non…..mrs 3sy has 1 over me at the mo for the fact that smashy spoiled my credit rating last week by tying me up in the club last week and poured copious amounts of Budweiser down my throat much against my will
dutch, pole
Jessica, either you’re getting old and standards are slipping or your real name is Milly Tant!
Answers to round 2
England
Holland
Honduras
Israel
Poland
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
South Korea
Wales
East Kilbride
Largo
Stonehoose
Wishae
Hells bells bells hill
Hamilton Asda
quarter way, close to Halfway.
Rio
Madinat Jameria
Greenhall
Wee Oscar scoreboard after round 2
The Spirit of Arthur Lee 25
Seven Fishes Four Steaks 23
glasgowbhoy 17
Vmhan 11
DJBEE 8
CQN is changing so am I 7
Uly aka Signor Mysterioso, Ace bucketeer 1
Round 3: Celtic Picture Board: Name the tims?
(2pts per first correct answer: 1pt per answer if you are correct but not first. Remember only 1 submission per round)
Mrs CRC got 6 right, so it is easy tonight!!
http://i47.tinypic.com/35alpq0.jpg
Korea utd shall never be defeated
Do I get a point for Korea kind sir of a famous surname ……. brothers like :¬)
Pole ? Only remember having one pole and he was only here for end of the season big Pavel
celticrollercoaster
Me and my country have not got a point? You’ve always had a thing about us.
That or yer racist.
EN
Creaney
Deans
Fulton
Coyne
O neill
Aitken
Gerry Creaney
Dixie Deans
Sreve Fulton
Jackie Dziekanowski & TT
Brian O Neill
Roy Aitken
CQN is changing so am I on 3 August, 2012 at 21:32 said
Zaluska
Celtforlife
Standards are rising and thats not the only thing.
Crainey
Dixie
Fulton
Coyne
O’Neil Aitken
Gerry Creaney
Dixie Deans
Stevie Baggio Fulton
Tommy Coyne
Brian ONeil
Roy Aitken
Forgot The Tiger
1gerry creaney
2harry hood
3fulton
4coyne
5b oneill
6aitken
1. Cascarino 2. Hood?3. Fulton 4. Coyne 5. B O’Neil 6. Aitken