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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Well I don’t know about anyone else but I am really looking forward to the game tomorrow and the Tic raising the champions flag once again .
With all the corruption that has gone on in the close season , It will be a pleasure to attend matches this season thanks to all decent Scottish football fans .
Here’s to a great season ahead
hail hail
Neil Francis’s side for flag day *via my imagination* taking into account injuries
Forster
———–
Matthews
Wanyama
Mulgrew
Izzy
———–
Commons
Kayal
Ledley
Samaras
————-
Hooper
Stokes
Paddy is our Rique.
I love Juan btw, one of the finest attacking midfielders in the last 20 years, slow downstairs but lightning up top.
WGS – please stop drinking drain cleaner. The short buzz is no compensation for the long term damage it will cause you :) :)
Seriously, Bangura is awful and no amount of hoping/ wishing him better will change that. Wednesday was hugely important to us but he could not make a squad of 18.
Unfortunately we made a bad mistake that needs to be cleaned up ASAP so we can move on and try and get in someone better.
ESPN………………… announce 30 live games next season ( and 10 dead ones showing Sevco )
The annual CQN Empty….
Wine poured.
!!Bada Bing!! 17:22
Its a tradition of mine to raise the Riquleme thing, maybe this is the year…
ChadHoganCSC
Whits the story with the golf?
Estadio Nacional on 3 August, 2012 at 17:18 said:
Greensideup 17:11
Fella from the excellent band Mogwai has a bar in Berlin, good chance it could be on there.
EN
Das Gift
Estadio, I will also pass on this on to him, much appreciated. I think he is feeling a bit homesick and is looking to meet up with some fellow celts and have a few pints.
HH
gsu
Apparently Neil had “a constructive meeting with SPL managers and referees yesterday on the season ahead, new rules and how it will affect us.”
Anyone any ideas what those new rules are? Operation Save Rangers put on hold for time being?
aldersyde
In fairness to ole Mo (the bounce) Bangura – he is injured ξ(⌒.⌒)/ξ
Greensideup
Get him in touch with Awe_Some he’ll make him feel at home.
Football season is back tomarrow, buzzing. Back to betting aswel ..usually start every season well with loads bets up them after Christmas goes pearshaped.
Anyone any good betting tips (apart from don’t bet) or good tipsters ?
Ceeeeltic
petec 17:22
Link didnt show up in that post.
Today Ive been mostly listening to Massive Attack Blue Lines, classic album.
EN
EN
All those mugs wasting a good walk, hitting a wee ball with a stick ;-)
Paul67
If you are around
Would you consider re-publishing your previous 8 state of the club articles, on quieter moments of the blog?
I’m sure you have more right than wrong in the content(!) and it would give a very acute snapshot of our recent past , in what has been the most turbulent time in scottish sporting history.
Flag day
Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 12:30pm (kick-off is 12.45pm) as ahead of the match the league flag will be unfurled at Paradise by Celtic legend, Sean Fallon. Flag day at Paradise is always a great occasion, and it’s one that supporters won’t want to miss.
Tickets for this match are on sale, priced from £29 adults and from £17 concessions. So you can get along to Paradise to see the league flag being unfurled, and then cheer on the Scottish Champions.
Whooo Hooo CSC
Just found out that CelticTV will NOT play on iPad…….man,I am hacked off..
: – (
bsr,
Every day is a Friday night on CQN. It is a privilege to have this medium. ;)
I told the boy to watch Victor closely wednesday as we were literally pitch side, the man is the epitome of a Celtic Great. He has decent pace but if he was up against someone faster, he would just make sure he ran even faster than ever before. He will not be beaten.
I talk about Captains, I talk about Real Men who you would really want in the trenches when the going gets tougher than ever. Celtic are developing a good few of these types. I blame the Manager.
bournesouprecipe 17:32
Haha, aye, loonatics so they are… we can say what we like now.
EmptyCSC
bournesouprecipe on 3 August, 2012 at 17:31 said:
I spoke with Awe Naw through email last year, but I believe he is about 3 to 400 miles away, it was just prior to Awe Naw’s nuptials and subsequent honeymoon I believe
gsu
August 2006.
That was the month. It was warm and it rained a bit. It was also the only time in the last twenty-five years that Estadio Nacional didn’t mention ‘Riquelme for Celtic’.
Maybe this time mate :-)
miki67 on 3 August, 2012 at 17:35 said:
Just found out that CelticTV will NOT play on iPad…….man,I am hacked off..
: – (
Miki….apparently, there is an app called swifter that is said to work….
EN,
Cosmic Baby -Space Track.
Youtube it my man.
Massive attack – Wow they were supreme and I’m now going to gorge myself on it.
Fassreifen on 3 August, 2012 at 17:29 said:
Apparently Neil had “a constructive meeting with SPL managers and referees yesterday on the season ahead, new rules and how it will affect us.”
Anyone any ideas what those new rules are? Operation Save Rangers put on hold for time being?
—————————
Callum Murray was saying that dangerous tackles will be punished this year (worked well against Norwich), someone mentioned the shocking challenge on Forrest against Killie, Callum said he didn’t remember that one. Oh, and they are clamping down on the colour of tape players use on their socks, they have to be the same colour as the socks. Great stuff.
Jim Spence@bbcjimspence
Dundee United have been written to by the SFA regarding policing and stewarding after trouble at last night’s match v Dynamo Moscow.
Nice to Know we have a fast, reactive ruling body in charge of the game. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
bourne
Do you know how to put a website together?
Fassreifen on 3 August, 2012 at 17:29 said:
The MIB probably told Lenny that because of circumstances outwith their control ,there will be a lot of honest mistakes made this season which will have to spread over the other 11 teams instead of just one but not to worry normal service will be resumed in 3 yrs (or less if the SFA have their way) as their less able counterparts have been given a crash course in the football rules and the 2012 fc rules
Bloke109 17:37
Haha, majic. Wonder whatever happened to that poster ‘JuanRomanRiquelmeCSC’ fella that was on here a few years ago saying he was going to sign?
EN
the_huddle
Cheers. I’m thankful it’s not “Neil sent to the stands each game for good measure”.
petec
For me, Paddy exemplifies certain qualities that are best described by the word ‘Celtic’.
Play him in the middle by all means, but a back three allows more creative/less industrious players in the centre. I like 3-5-2 – it’s one of our trademark formations, and against teams who stick 10 behind the ball, there’s more unpredictability with which to bewilder opposition players.
Also sprach Zaraluska.
petec 17:39
Good tune, very Orb’y.
Re-visited The Orb a while ago, oooft, Im sure music like that is illegal here. Got to be.
EN
Bloke
Only via Mac (for Dummies;-) – iWeb – but not so hot on Windows, you thinking of
setting up?
SFA confirm they are a corrupt organisation by giving SevCo a licence
Ten Men Won The League 17:52
Totally corrupt, and very visable and public about it the past few months.
Listening to this weeks Superscoreboards there was points put across that the SFA giving them a licence when you need three years accounts was proof its a continuation of defunct FC and not the daft wee new division 3 club. Utter madness.
EN
bourne
I am, yes. One’s a proper business which needs loads more preliminaries (I am ungainfully employed so it can take the time it needs). The more immediate one is Celtic-related (not a blog!) and a labour of love unlikely to be a cash-vache.
up_over_goal
As always, I love reading your tactical thinking.
Now your getting me worried about deep and hidden things though….
“sprach Zaraluska”
phone the I blame? :))
weeron on 3 August, 2012 at 17:38 said:
>>>>>
Mhan……yer a diamond! Got the app! Working a treat!
HH!
SFA is therefore merely the first coward not to blink. They are scared of being the ones to pull the plug. It’s over to Sevco to self-combust, which it will do by season’s end.