So how do you feel about playing a couple of teenagers, Filip Twardzik and debutant Jackson Irvine, in central midfield, but dropping a couple of SPL points? Good, I hope. Welcome to the world of player development.
For a decade or more Celtic produced prodigious youth teams but watched as Dundee United, Hibs, Hearts even Hamilton Accies graduated more effective adult players. Key to this is perhaps ensuring that players are tested at a higher level at key times in their development. In short, if you have not played regular first team football by the time you are 22 there is a good chance you will not fulfil your potential.
There is cost to this development, you’re not going to win all the time, especially when the two teenage central midfielders are surrounded by other young players: Adam Matthews, 20, Tony Watt, 18 and James Forrest, 21. Half time substitute, Victor Wanyama, is still only 21.
I’m looking forward to seeing more teenage kicks in the coming months.
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Interesting stuff wi the blog descending into a good-natured cat-fight.
Almost enough to keep me out of the pub for a couple of hours-but no,not quite.
Not on a Monday,that would never do.
See ya….
BMCUW
Cin cin and cheers!
HH!!
Michty me -that was one extremely well-skelped erse :@)
HH
Looking for a wee bit of advise.Anybody familiar with Budapest i.e.cost of a transfer from Airport to the Mercure Korona Hotel, I believe it is pretty central.Also any Celtic friendly pubs to watch the Benifica match on the 19th.Any information would be greatly recieved,Thanks Hail Hail
Msm = main stream media
Msm = Murrays succulent marionetts
anyway nevertheless whilst its not good to drop points , injury played a big part in the team selection imho.sure lenny would much rather bring the youngsters through bit by bit.
Still lets look on the bright side of life
cracking group stage coming up in the next couple of months.
New faces in usually helps ( most of the time).
And of course we ain’t them.
Lets all trust in lenny .
More power to the gb.
Was it just me or did we miss out on the fans doing the singing to each other on Sat .Always love that.
Hail hail
50 your friend in green
I’m assuming PhilMG would have had a contract with the Sun over the serialisation of his book and that he will be paid whether they publish or not.
msm = minty’s succulent mutton?
HH!!
Lawyers set to cash in as SPL and Rangers prepare for EBT battle
By Jim Traynor 3rd Sept 2012
AFTER avoiding punishment for comments, Rangers duo Charles Green and Ally McCoist could be soon back at Hampden as the EBT probe continues.
CHARLES Green and Ally McCoist came through their latest unnecessary confrontations with the authorities relatively unscathed and rightly so. But they’re now bracing themselves for the real battle.
Last week McCoist and Green were hauled before the SFA to answer disrepute charges and were extremely unfortunate to be let off with slaps on their wrists instead of being congratulated.
However, any relief was swamped by fears that last week’s fairly polite verbal exchanges might just have been the calm before the storm.
This pair fully expect that pretty soon they’ll be forced against their will to pay another visit to the game’s HQ.
And next time they could be marching up the stairs with an army of Rangers fans banging drums and playing flutes in hand right behind them.
The SPL’s investigation into the use of EBTs at Ibrox and whether players had dual contracts may be about to bring some simmering resentments back to the boil. It could be very messy.
Yet the governing body see it as a straightforward issue of seeking to uphold football justice. Well, of course they do. But Rangers suspect the entire process has become a bitter campaign to even old scores and they are correct.
And although an independent committee of experts on sports law will rule on the case, Rangers can’t be dissuaded from thinking they are under siege, that the SPL, or some people acting on that body’s behalf, are after only one thing.
Actually, to be precise, it’s not one thing. Rangers are convinced it’s a handful of things. About five titles and too many cups to mention and about 31 million pounds in prize money.
They claim they’ve heard enough in meetings about this case to convince them there is a determination to have titles won by Rangers during the EBT years erased from the record books.
Rangers’ lawyers Biggart Baillie have written to the SPL’s operations director Ian Blair seeking some clarification on a number of issues but haven’t received any replies nor have they even been paid yet.
This is considered strange given the governing body have set aside a couple of days at the beginning of next week to deal with the issue.
Perhaps Rangers should have addressed their correspondence to law firm Harper Macleod because they have been appointed to probe allegations of dual contracts and have been fully paid and in advance.
But Rangers really should have known that. After all, Green and McCoist have been taken aback by the SPL’s vigour in tackling this case, especially Mc Coist Furthermore, it’s thought Rangers had been made aware that all enquiries relating to this case should have been addressed to the SPL’s lawyers.
Not SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster, Blair or anyone else.
This raises other questions. Is this a changing of the Hampden guard? Did we miss some sort of silent coup that deposed Doncaster and Blair unlike Whytes Coup of buying Rangers which only THE Record covered with any degree of integrity.
Rangers are wondering if it’s just coincidental the make-up of the independent committee is exactly as was suggested at a meeting in June. It was mentioned by me on Radio Scotland Sportsound that a panel of experts should have the final say and this group ought to have at least two members from outside Scotland. The question has to be asked however can the English be trusted to handle Scottish affairs fairly especially after Rangers embarrassed Leeds on the way to the CL semi final ?
Soon afterwards the SPL announced their commission into EBT payments would be chaired by Lord Nimmo Smith and would also include Charles Flint QC and Nicholas Stewart QC.
Exactly as was suggested at that meeting in June. You might want to ask who selected this trio but you know what, so what if it was Peter Lawwell?
This group’s integrity is beyond doubt even though you might come across all sorts of wild conspiracy theories if you are of a mind to trawl the internet. Thankfully I’ve better things to do and while some may not be convinced, I believe this commission will not be compromised and will find according to the evidence placed before them.
However, other people, some of whom have been whispering in the background from the day Rangers lurched into administration, have allowed their own judgement to become a little clouded.
It’s even been said that one or two close to the case – possibly former Rangers managers have taken to blustering and getting all red and sweaty on occasion when challenged.
Oh dear, could it be a tad personal with some of the loudest characters? Surely not.
But I must say it is surprising that someone like Doncaster hasn’t stepped in and put some of the people involved in their places. He needs to take the lead if another collision between Rangers and the SPL is to be avoided because that is what lies around the next bend.
McCoist and Green are committed to opposing any move to have history books rewritten even though they accepted they had to begin again as a new concern after Rangers, the club with history, slipped into liquidation and closed. That should mean the titles aren’t really any of their business.
But on the other hand, the SPL refused to hand over £2m, which should have gone to Rangers for finishing second last season even though they cheated, pointing out that the club no longer exists.
Yet, the SPL insist Green’s Rangers pay the old company’s football debts due to Charles Green agreeing to do exactly that to obtain a license for Sevco Rangers.
The SPL also now say there is no such thing as prize money. It’s “club fees”, stupid. But aren’t the amounts based on the finishing positions of each club? Yes. So, the higher up the SPL the more you get? Yes.
That means then that clubs are awarded monies for their efforts? Yes.
And is an award not the same as a prize? Eh … well … no, now go away. We’ve a mess to make worse.
There are many contradictions in this case and the SPL have not exactly covered themselves in glory but I understand that they could not be seen to give £2m to Rangers and then be found of cheating the rest of Scotland for at least 10 years
So you’d have thought they’d be seeking to close this Rangers case quickly and had they acted way back in October 2010, when HMRC made it clear to them they were investigating the use of EBTs, the job might have been concluded long ago.
In fact, if they and the SFA had been remotely competent they’d have asked Rangers about these payments when they first appeared on their annual accounts about 12 years ago.
But, as usual, our leaders were last to spring into action and probably in fact due to their own lucrative EBTs in their determination to make it appear as if they’re now in control, they’ve made a real backside of things.
As it stands Green doesn’t even know if he or his club will be in the dock or someone from a company which no longer exists.
He has asked for clarification but hasn’t been given any.
Someone probably Ally is going to combust with rage before this is over and Doncaster should be aware that unless there is a change in approach the division between Rangers and the SPL could widen to a chasm which even Brunel couldn’t span.
Believe it or not, this whole thing could get even messier yet. Green, I believe, has stated that even if Rangers start galloping through the divisions they will not return to the SPL. They will refuse promotion to the SPL and stay in SFL 1 thereby hampering SPL TV contracts.
It’s time for calm heads and compromise but it looks as though the only people who’ll get something from the process are the lawyers and the EBT beneficiaries.
It’s anyone’s guess how much Harper Macleod are making out of this saga much less that Rangers´s prize money I would suppose but isn’t it bizarre the way a poverty-stricken game like ours always finds money for legal eagles against Rangers?
Even stranger when we know UEFA will jump all over any association if one of their members dares to turn to the law of the land for help unless your name is Charles Green.
Yet another of Scottish football’s many contradictions, I’m afraid.
Steadward67
10:05 on 3 September, 2012
_—————————–
The booing at the end was bang out of order!
celtic suporters faithful through and through?
Not all of us it seems :(
Here’s hoping all the boys who were injured on Saturday are withdrawn from their international squads. Anybody heard anything?
hen1rik – Right must flie iv got a degree to study for in LAW.
I already knew the higher education bubble had caused a precipitous decline in standards, but – help ma boab.
The 1 thing I’m puzzled about is if your oops you’re as clever as you say you are why didn’t you just google who Chris Graham was.
It’s a common sounding name and I’m not aware of anybody famous or significant who goes by that name. Since you brought it up, I didn’t think it unreasonable to ask you a straightforward question but thought it interesting that you declined to answer.
I wouldn’t be surprised if “Chris Graham” is you.
Not that it matters. (thumbsup)
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
11:17 on 3 September, 2012
If it turns out the huns were operating dual contracts for over a decade it’s surprising than none of the laptop loyal were aware of the fact.
An enormous scoop of cataclysmic proportions and not one journalist or pundit, all deeply embedded with the huns, ever had a sniff of it.
How do they explain that to their editors and proprietors?
Does anyone know at what point will BDO take the stadium & Murray Park ?
Please make it soon – CSC
philvis returns
Flowers for Algernon .
Know nothing re a film but here is a wee story re the novel .
Glasgow -mid 90s — my door bell rings —— middle aged man and woman on my doorstep —– Mr and Mrs ——- . Waving the book in my face -not happy bunnies . Transpires they found ” this filth ” in their daughter’s bedroom . Seems my daughter had loaned the book to their daughter . Did I know my daughter was reading ” such filth ?” and -[ even worse ] was corrupting other peoples minds —?
”
They instructed me to instruct my daughter that she was never to speak to their daughter again , threw the book onto the doorstep and stomped off .
My daughter was 14 , their daughter was 14 . Funny old world .
Re: All the empty seats on Saturday.
If, we would have signed Johnny Russell
I think we could have had a sell-out.
Ernie Lynch
Murrays slush fund
Sir David Murray was not lying when he said he never took a penny out of Rangers
His 6 million quid EBT was used to keep journalists, editors, football administrators, judges ??? if Amoruso , Goram and Novo had to pay their hundred pound fines in instalments … why did that not raise any eye brows ? The Police and Strathclyde police spokesmen, other clubs players etc.
Hail Hail
TimJim
There is Irish pub in the central place in Budapest. It’s called Kaledonia. I’ve been there when in Budapest couple of years ago. If I’m not mistaken that pub is run by CQN friendly guy.
http://www.kaledonia.hu/index.php?lang=en
weeminger, 10:42
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo 10:39 on
You are entirely right as to his interest in the story and with fan power forcing the SPL/SFA to make them start in Div 3 the story has more or less run its course, though when the EBT and HMRC results come in I’m sure he’ll be back for those
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
11:28 on
3 September, 2012
Re: All the empty seats on Saturday.
If, we would have signed Johnny Russell
I think we could have had a sell-out.
…………………..
Since when did we start spelling the name Lionel Messi with the letters J o h n n y R u s s e l l???
Patience is the golden key
That opens the door of Opportunity
Into a green room scented with glories perfume
– A garden where a million roses are all in bloom.
Ernie Lynch
I have official correspondence from the ECA in writing that they will be dealing with the Sevco issue on the 12th of September.
This is after the SPL experts deliver their verdict.
Seems carefully coordinated to me. The Hun The Daily Rangers … The SPL independent tribunal, The ECA announcing something – they have too as Ranger FC 1873 are one of their founding members and proudly so stated on their website.
HAil Hail
Zbyszek
Thanks for that I’ii check it out
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
11:28 on 3 September, 2012
_____________________________________________________________________
Agree with every word.
But, there’s only one wee worrying aspect relating to all of that.
What can we do about it ? Nothing !!! imo.
I think that BDO will be, lets say – apprehensive – to liquidate der-hun.
The riots/carnage of Manchester 2008 will be fresh on their minds. imo.
All that, because a tv-screen broke down.
At least two policemen – almost kicked to death.
The leading police officer of the Manchester division – being subjected to an
almost daily smear campaign since her move to Scotland ?
Now, can you imagine all those nice wee huns – all standing outside ibrokes watching
Mr BDO’s bulldozers flattening THEIR stadium ?
There would be civil war up here. A wearing of the green type of culture would be the order of the day. imo.
TimJim : Taxi rank is right outs side maid door of the airport, can’t remember the exact cost of taxi but its not dear, they will tell you the cost and give you a ticket before you get in the taxi.
A Small Irish “theme” pub round the corner from the Mercure Korona but don’t usually show games, anytime I’m there Kaledonia is the best place to catch the games
Aiki
I heard no boooooing!!!!
greenjedi
11:32 on 3 September, 2012
________________________________________
:o)))
Hail Hail
Spot on Kev
Tannadice is packed out every week wi Johnny fans.
polmikcfc
Thanks for that m8 I’ve emailed the Kaledonia waiting for a reply Cheers
SiciliaBhoy
11:46 on
3 September, 2012
Spot on Kev
Tannadice is packed out every week wi Johnny fans.
————————-
That can’t be true otherwise Dundee wouldn’t have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe :-)
Traynor is yet another Scottish sports journalist who claims to support a provincial club, this time Airdrie, really going out of his way to defend poor wee Sevco…why do these guys who support other clubs care so much about FC Sevco?
He has used his column in the Daily Record to pander to the lowest common denominator of the Sevco gutter hordes…stoking up their paranoic conspiracy delusions with more sensationalistic claptrap…taking away the intellectual confusion, the moral cowardice and even the factual inaccuracies of his dire column, the very worst aspect of the writing is that it is potentially dangerous- have these hacks no sense of professional responsibility? We are dealing with one of the most deranged and dangerous set of supporters in the football world and this moral moron is pandering to their baser instincts and ‘thur aw oot tae get iz’ siege mentality. All for the sake of sensationalism and selling more copy.
Will anyone in the Scottish journalism community take any responsibility when one of these nutters separates from the mob and ( God forbid) does something truly deranged?
SiciliaBhoy
11:46 on 3 September, 2012
________________________________
The point I’m trying to make here is that – Neil and his Lion’s – had given us good momentum with the qualification to the Champions League.
The bean-counters on the other hand have – burst the bubble – with yet more free transfers. imo.
The bored have decide that – Celtic fans don’t deserve to see a player being bought from dundee United. We’re not worth that !!! imo.
Just like when we wurny worth – a Hibs player(Stephen Fletcher) when going for 4 iar !!! imo.
Kev
I think that Charles Green will go relatively unscathed under the SPL. Agreed.
Rangers 1873 will be stripped of titles and cups.
The focus will be on the actions of Murray, Bain, Mc Lelland .possibly even the SFA and the SPL bodies.
meantime BDO will be beavering away in the background.
Their focus will be on the behaviour of the gentlemen and bodies above, The EBT beneficiaries, The Craig Whyte take over, The ticketus deal, Duff & Phelps and the sale to Charles Green.
But Sevco will still exists at the end of it.
Still lots to look forward too.
Of course it will be corrupted.
Scotland always has been.
HAil Hail
KevJungle – Murdo..10 men Championees..1979
Do you think Johnny Russell is worth 2 million pounds sterling??
wonkyradar
Your ‘deranged ,dangerous and delusional’ could be an update for
the ole ‘bewitched .bothered and bewildered ‘
Kev
Is it possible that Neil Lennon wanted the players that he actually brought in more than he wanted Russell?
This site is as slow as Heid today esp when I refresh anybody else having problems
I like Miku already.
“Swansea and Reading both wanted to sign me in the summer and Getafe wanted money for me before the season started but I said I fancied moving to a big team.
“I was the best striker at Getafe. I played every game and felt if I was to go to another team and another country, it would have to be a really big one.
“Swansea and Reading are both good teams but for me, it would be similar to Getafe.
“Celtic is different. It has the support, the history, the Champions League. There is more here for me. I want to win three trophies and I think we have the team to do it.”
Starry
Hope everthing’s going as well as can be expected mate.