Our best wishes to Jos Hooiveld, 28, who has managed to resurrect his career at Southampton 23 months after completing an unsuccessful move to Celtic. Southampton, newly promoted to the English Championship this season, sit top of the division, with Jos a key part of their success.
The big defender clearly has more than he was able to demonstrate during his time here, despite Celtic clearly being in need of a strong central defender. Last night, after Georgios Samaras was send forward to lead the line, it occurred to my just how unsuitable he is as part of a front two. All that gutsy energy, running and yes – bravery – both in terms of diving into challenges and always being available for a team mate, no matter what feedback he is receiving from the stands, is hidden when he’s up front.
Give him space to gallop into on the wing or let him find his own Southampton.
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The Honest Mistake,
Mort probably knows more about this stuff than I do, but I don’t think you can just replace auditors. If Grant Thornton were appointed at the last AGM then I think that if they were to be replaced it would mean calling an Extraordinary AGM to do so. That would look good, wouldn’t it?
Must ask the Security Guard in our work who hails from Cranhill, why he greets everybody
every single morning, with – God Morgon
I would be stunned if any auditor signed off their accounts without insisting on provision for the big case and a going concern warning. I would be equally surprised if they found anyone willing to do it due to the professional consequences of an auditor doing so.
These accounts are 5 months late. 5 months. So they have had the normal period every other company in the world has had to produce accounts PLUS another near 50% and yet they still cannot get them signed.
As has been pointed out audited accounts being available to shareholders for 21 days is a condition for holding an AGM. Rangers have till the 31st December to have their AGM. Not holding an AGM is very very very serious.
Not that Whyte will be bothered about stick market rules and filing accounts, he has been there before, many times.
Leopards don’t change their spots.
Luckily you will all be pleased to hear that on FF it is still all a timmy conspiracy by the Daily Rhebel, the BBC, the SFA (who PL controls apparently) and the stock markets to bring down Rangers.
UEFA’s rules are quite clear that a domestic association cannot approve a club to participate in European competitions if they are “owing to a tax authority”. It was this stipulation which, in part, led to the English FA refusing to award a licence to Portsmouth FC in 2010 despite the fact they had qualified for European competition on sporting merit.
In any event, in order for a club to obtain a UEFA Club Licence for the 2010/11 season they need to show that as of December 2009 they had no outstanding money owed to the tax authorities or football clubs. This is manifestly not the case for Portsmouth FC.
And so to the SFA criteria. The Finance Criteria within the SFA Articles states, at 8.2.20, that:
A licence will be refused:
a) If the information in respect of payables overdue towards employees and social/tax authorities is not submitted to the licensor
b) If the club submits information that does not meet the minimum disclosure requirements
c) If the club has payables overdue at 31 March towards employees and social/tax authorities which arose before 31 December preceding the season to be licensed.
There are however exceptions to what is above, notably in relation to part C. These, in laypersons terms, are that the respective club has either paid the bill in full or, been able to show that the claim of a creditor is without foundation or, had written agreement from the creditor, in this instance HMRC, to extend the deadline for payment.
The additional exception is that the individual club instigates and appeal against the claim. It is of course through such a process that Rangers are currently travelling in relation to what is now commonly referred to as the ‘big tax bill’ and it is such an appeal that has allowed Rangers FC to compete in Europe before this season.
Earlier this year, at the start of April, Rangers FC released their Interim Accounts. These were made available for public consumption and from that there is evidence that within these accounts, for the six months to December 31st 2010, there is reference to the tax bill of £2.8 million, the sum based on a core amount and interest.
http://www.rangers.co.uk/articles/20110401/interim-results-announced_2254024_2328318
This is, of course, the same tax bill that had Sheriff Officers enter Ibrox last August.
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/photographs-you-were-not-meant-to-see/
I know that HMRC had instructed a firm of Sheriff Officers about this unpaid tax bill on June 2nd.
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/the-sheriff-is-in-town/
This piece from the Daily Mail in April suggests that the bill was known about well before the SFA deadline of March 31st, 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1372818/Rangers-Ally-McCoists-transfer-dealings-hampered.html
All I have done is to put questions to UEFA and to the SFA in the approved fashion through their respective media departments.
UEFA provided answers on the general rules and regulations, but would not comment on the specific matter of Rangers FC.
I have had correspondence with both the UEFA media office and the SFA over this matter for some time now. It is perhaps useful to share that to give a fuller picture of the state of play.
I initially put questions to UEFA last month about their regulations apropos the granting of UEFA licences:
On what date(s) did national associations nominate their representatives to compete in UEFA Club Competition for season 2011/2012?
When National Associations nominate clubs do UEFA accept that the respective clubs are criteria compliant apropos the Club Licence?
If a club, qualified to play in UEFA competition, is ‘Owing to a social/tax authority’ on and after June 30th does this jeopardise their entitlement to a UEFA Club Licence?
BMCUW
My main point is that largely both were successful yet WGS is still slated by many of the Celtic support whereas MON is proclaimed as a god.
I really wish we had others who spoke out on our behalf as eloquently and passionately as wee Strachan does now. And that includes MON.
Some of the football in the ole Martinist time was pretty limited but some of it was pretty damn good.
He may have been handed a good hand when he came to Celtic but he played it pretty well.
Next door neighbours Cat
bearing in mind deepest dark Rug’len
Neil Alexander is still the ideal back-up for Rangers
By Mark Hateley on Dec 2, 11 08:19 AM in rangers
THE fear of losing Allan McGregor has always been lessened for Rangers fans because they’ve seen a ready made replacement in Neil Alexander waiting in the wings.
And I think the supporters’ feelings should remain the same despite doubts cast over Neil’s ability to step into Allan’s shoes after his mistake in the midweek 2-1 friendly defeat by Hamburg.
It was a friendly game and the referee should have disallowed the goal and re-started the game with a drop kick anyway.
That blunder against the Bundesliga side was Neil’s second error of the season. He was also blamed for Falkirk’s winning goal in his only other appearance this term as my old club crashed out of the Scottish League Cup.
But I wouldn’t look too much into either incident. I think, particularly in a goalkeeper’s case, you have to consider what a player has done over a period of time and there can be no black marks against Neil’s name as far as that’s concerned.
When he’s been given a run and settled into the team, then he’s shown exactly what he can do, pulling off the type of saves you expect from a top-notch goalkeeper. He was probably fortunate when he was handed an extended run in the past that he didn’t make any mistakes in the first couple of games.
This season, unfortunately, the Falkirk match was high-profile because they went out of the League Cup. The Hamburg match was only a friendly – although it still highlighted a bad mistake.
But these have been one-off games when Neil has come in from the cold. It’s a difficult thing to do and I sympathise with him because he has to wait a while to get it out of his system.
It’s fine for Allan, who has made mistakes against Celtic and Aberdeen and Malmo and Maribor already this season. They ended up winning both domestic games however so he stays between the sticks – and there’s very little made of it and rightly so.
Plus, he knows 100 per cent he’ll be in the team the following week to get it out of his system. To do this you need to play another match quickly – but Neil doesn’t have that profile at Ibrox yet.
Still, nothing that happened in the Imtech Arena has changed my opinion of Neil.
As No.2 keeper, he has to be in tip-top condition mentally and physically, ready to come into a side that needs to win everything.
Every little mistake from every player is scrutinised week in, week out. But if you are a goalkeeper then it’s twice as hard. It’s even more difficult again if you’re a back-up goalkeeper. You’re on a hiding to nothing as second-choice – so just who would be one?
You’d need to get inside a goalkeeper’s head to discover why you would be satisfied with this. Guys such as Roy Carroll, who was signed by Walter Smith, wasn’t content being No.2 to Allan, which is why his time at Ibrox was brief.
When I was at Rangers I often sympathised with the back-up goalkeepers because they were behind an excellent first pick in Andy Goram.
I can take it back to my Italian days because some of the No.2 guys made a whole living out of being second choice.
It’s still the case in Serie A. You find some of these guys at clubs for 15 years yet probably only play about 60 games. I don’t know how much job satisfaction they get.
I suppose they get to be at a big club and if they get far in major competitions – as a lot of these teams do – then you’re always picking up a medal.
But I could never figure it out. If you’re a professional athlete, you want to play all the time. That was what I wanted. But they say goalkeepers are strange ones!
I’m sure Neil has told himself throughout his time at Ibrox that Allan will one day leave. I don’t believe he’s just sitting there happy to pick up his money.
I think he’s ambitious and would love to be No.1. The January transfer window is just round the corner and with the financial situation at Rangers it is a certainty that Mc Gregor will be leaving along with Jelavic and Davis.
Neil has already proved not only to the fans but to himself he can on occasion do an excellent job. He joined from Ipswich midway through Walter’s first full season in charge when he returned to Ibrox.
Towards the end of that campaign he was exceptionally good on the run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final and in winning the Scottish Cup – and was called upon a year later when Allan was dropped over Boozegate to play his part in the title win.
I’ve listened to Rangers fans saying if they had to sell one of their star men out of Nikica Jelavic or Allan then they would go for the Scotland goalkeeper.
My fellow Record Sport columnists Kenny Shiels, Keith Jackson, Jim Traynor, Gordon Waddel, Stuart Dougal, Alastair Forsythe, Billy Brown and Jim Mc lean all said the exact same thing recently. My old club have an able deputy in Neil and I still totally agree with that assessment.
With Jelavic, people are asking where the penalties, freekicks and goals will come from if he leaves. It’s as simple as that.
EWO
I disagree buddy. Lenny has stated on numerous occasions that it was with WGS advice that he opted to change his system that day. Kayal was effective, as were all the others in hoops that day but he wasn’t a stand out.
Regardless of individual perceptions and views on our long haired Greek god, Sammi won that game for us and effectively turned our season on its head.
DUSHANBE BILLYBHOY says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:35
What that? a memory test/questionnaire to prove timmy credentials.
FAILED
I cannae even remember game from last week.
Whyte is the best thing to have happened to the Huns in my lifetime. From a purely Timmish point of view you understand…What have we had so far since he took over ?
Fellow directors being sacked via the media
Those same fellow directors taking the club to court
the wee tax bill
various other small claims dragging them humiliatingly through the courts
the BBC documentary
The Banning of the BBC which turned out to be an empty threat
Unaudited accounts
His non disclosure at being a disqualified director from less than 5 years ago
Now the threat of a Euro license not being issued if he proves not to meet the ‘Fit and proper’ guidelines
The whole thing is a circus with Whye playing the Clown.
Have I missed anything ?
What will tomorrow bring I wonder.
Thank God Minty didn’t keep his pledge to only sell to someone who had the huns wellbeing at heart :-)
The club knew about small Taxcase before deadline but the ? remains how do we find out if it was agreed to be paid.
HAMILTON TIM 1041
Without wishing to reopen old sores,Gordon did himself no favours with some of his decisions during his time with us. For example,the square pegs in round holes,devil dogs and kestrel type comments,and his insistence that unless you had played the game at a similar level to him,you were unfit to comment on it.
Just for starters……
That doesn’t alter the fact that his record with us was as good as any,bar Jock Stein. But his clear empathy for Celtic now was masked then by an apparent contempt for the fans.
“We were outstanding today” was a regular soundbite after we had played badly and lost. But hang on,we’re not entitled to opinions! If he had tried harder with the fans when he was here,he would STILL be here.
IMO.
RANGERS’ Indian trialist Sunil Chhetri last night branded their trip a complete waste of time.
Chhetri and fellow striker Jeje Lalpekhlua headed back home after trying to win deals at Ibrox. But they barely kicked a ball.
The duo’s trial period clashed with Sunday’s SPL defeat at Kilmarnock and Tuesday’s friendly loss in Hamburg.
Visa problems meant the duo were unable to travel to Germany and that left Chhetri frustrated.
He said: “On the first day we came here they were preparing for a match the day after, so we couldn’t train.
“The second day was the match, then the third day they had to rest after the match.
“On the fourth day they left for Hamburg and we couldn’t go. It was a bit disappointing.
“But this was the only week we had a break in our league. It was the only chance I had to come and have a trial. I’m just disappointed I didn’t get much time with the first team. Even the gaffer didn’t get much time to see us. The organisation left a lot to be desired. It would seem that the invitation was just a publicity stunt and unfortunately at our expense. ”
But Ibrox boss Ally McCoist says the club will keep tabs on the pair.
And he said: “Sunil and Jeje did fine and showed up well in training. They showed some lovely touches and adapted to the different surroundings they experienced.
“They are away back home today – but we will keep monitoring their situations and their performances back home. They will continue to play for their sides in India and it was great to have them both working with us as they are talented boys.
“It was a good experience for them and I think they enjoyed it. We enjoyed having them here too. Kenny and I watched them playing. They did absolutely fine.”
Chhetri added: “If given a chance, Jeje and I would love to come back. In the summer hopefully. It is a huge club with a huge history, we’d love be a part of it. It would be a shame if such a big club was to cease trading”
Sorry, but Strachan did a somersault in front of the jungle after a penalty and some of us have long memories!
hamiltontim @ 10:27
Re: O’Neill – I must disagree with your points , it’s not a competition between O’Neill and Strachan, both should be considered on their own merits.
O’Neill took over when the club had won one title in the previous 12 years. We were utterly dominated and lorded over by the Huns, even in 98 when we stopped the 10, and with the exception of Dr Jo’s 5-1 game we had found it hard to hold our heads up after a derby match for sometime.
He changed that, his record against the Huns, both at home and in the bigotdome, stands comparison with any Celtic manager before or since. As Chris Sutton would say, he put them in their place. I would love to have seen him up against Smith’s thugs and bullies, guys like Cousin and Lafferty would not have considered their career ending challenges against O’Neill’s teams.
We knocked out teams superior to us in Europe such as Liverpool and Barcelona who would go on and win the Champions League within 2 years of being outfought by Celtic.
We should have won 5 titles, and would have had it not been for Seville, and for some dodgy refereeing by the likes of Dallas and Andy Davis that we all seem to forget didn’t start in the last 3 seasons.
Some of the football we played was the best I’ve seen played by the club, and games in Turin and Seville showed it wasn’t just about the winning.
He will be a fantastic appointment at Sunderland. Look at how Villa done before his appointment and since to see what he does for a club.
My God, the Martin O’Neill debate – worth coming out of retirement for…
He turned a 20 point defecit to a 20 point win in 1 season against a well-oiled, high spending and damn effective Rangers team…in 1 season. Another year later we were one of the most respected teams in all of Europe.
And the football wasn’t good, what wasn’t good? The 7 consecutive wins in a row against Rangers, the treble, the league that followed it, the European nights, the 26 wins in a row (home and away against every team in our domestic competition – that beats any season unbeaten in my book).
He built partnerships all over the park, he re-built our club from nothing to something so special we might never experience it’s like again.
The last season was unfortunate and difficult to take, we deserved better. But I’d take one season like that out of five if the previous four (and three that followed) bring so much.
It’s Christmas morning for Sunderland fans, good luck to them and to Martin O’Neill.
Lots of bold Feenyin posts.
Paul67 et al
If Darrent Bent, Kenwyne Jones, Jordan Henderson and Asamoah Gyan were still at Sunderland I could see them doing quite well, but they are not, and that is the reason they need a new manager!
cardiffbhoy says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:58
Agree
thismancraig says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:00
Agree
Amadeus @ 10.57
Congratulations on the most embarrassing post of the week.
Off now to Donegal for the weekend so no CQN for a weekend
All il have to disagree with is the Mrs.
Here we go again!!!
bournesouprecipe says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:06
Amadeus @ 10.57
Congratulations on the most embarrassing post of the week.
_____________________________________________
Correct,by the way your catgu was the best post of the week.
Dontbrattbakkinanger says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:43
He may have been handed a good hand when he came to Celtic but he played it pretty well.
________________________________
That quote originally referred to Bismarck, you old clever richard. Not that Bismarck ever managed Celtic, of course. He was interviewed for the post but the Board felt that he was an opportunist.
hen1rik
Rankers have appealed the £1.4M fine relating to the “small” £2.8M tax case, so could they argue that while they are in dispute with HMRC they should be granted a licence to compete in Europe?
FRITZSONG
Liked your reply yesterday.
Now gaun tae boozer….
“It would be a shame if such a big club was to cease trading”
Very funny, Awe Naw!
The Prince of Goalkeepers – they cannot argue that. The actual “tax” part is not in dispute and they have agreed it is due.
Cardiffbhoy/this man Craig
I’m not belittling the achievements of MON. What he did at Parkhead was extraordinary. I have so many wonderful memories from watching Celtic throughout that period in our history.
However, I also get that same tingly feeling when I think of going to watch us under WGS reign.
At no point did I say that it was a competition between the 2. I simply feel that Gordon is often remembered as a dour wee guy who produced dreary football. That’s patently not the case.
thismancraig says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:00
The O’Neill/Strachan debate is a bit like the argument Woody Allen’s parents had over which was the better ocean – the Atlantic or the Pacific.
Both did significant things for Celtic. But MON’s achievements are impressed on the support’s psyche more than those of GS. And they were – 3 consecutive titles and a narrow defeaat in the last 16 of the CL. Not inconsiderable.
The pessimist in me thinks that SFA and Ragers will use ignorance and lack of clarity as the reasons for doing next to nothing. It will be accompanied by the promise that the rules and regulations will be made more clear and definitive so that the situation will be avoided in future.
In short, Ragers/Whyte get off without a blemish but if anyone else tries it on then they are getting hammered.
The optimist in me says that I should not listen to that depressing pessimist.
DUSHANBE BILLYBHOY says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:35
Sad to see some posters (Paddy Gallagher and Honest Mistake and others) getting stuck into Dushanbe Billyboy during the game. That does you no credit lads.
*****************************
You are surely twisting the truth at least. You were slagging off a very young and brave team that were excellent on the night and very unlucky. All I replied to you was ‘It’s all in the name’ and you responded with some drivel about ‘what age are you’?
You either choose to alter the facts or suffer from poor memory. I never ‘got stuck in’ as you put it.
hamiltontim says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:27
Ave Ave Marty…..
The greatest time for me as a hoops supporter were during the MON years. The 6 – 2 game will live long in the memory and his arm aroung Lenny at Ibrox giving it laldy was a joy.
He galvanised a team and support and should’ve had 5 in a row.
WGS did a great job as well but MON was on a different level.
The only conclusion i can come up with is this.
1. They didn’t inform the SFA about it when they knew it was to be paid.
2. They did inform the SFA but they ignored it and guess who was part of the SFA at that time look below.
Gordon Duffield Smith (born 29 September 1954 in Kilwinning[1]) is a former football player who played for Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion. After retiring as a player, he worked as a football agent and BBC football pundit before being appointed chief executive of the Scottish Football Association in 2007, a post he held until his resignation on 19 April 2010.[2] Smith is currently the director of football of Rangers.
3. George Peat had a part to play in this.
4. They told SFA it was in dispute and they asked no questions.
Thats the only explanations i can come up with lads but i know there’s a few clever bhoys on here that may have other ideas.
iki says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:23
Good post m8 the ranger can do what they like in Scotland I’m afraid.
Fin75 says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:23
I will remember both managers tenure with a smile on my face.
I think WGS’s 3IAR was special because of the calibre of player that he was able to sign at the time.
Celtic_First says:
2 December, 2011 at 10:36
Paddy G
Informed speculation is that the MBB is allegedly paying wages, but only wages. Allegedly, NICs are slow in making it to their fit and proper destination and, as we have all seen, the only way for some creditors to get even relatively small bills paid is to go to court.
**********************
Thanks for the reply mate.
Paddy Gallagher says:
2 December, 2011 at 11:23
I can confirm that the only thing that Paddy G gets stuck into is,Guinness.