I read Michael Lewis’ Moneyball 13 years ago. It was an exploration of key metrics missed by most of baseball and exploited by the then Oakland Athletics general manager, Billy Beane. The lesson from the book was that while each sport has a standard set of metrics the vast majority of coaches and execs follow, if you want to over-achieve against richer opponents, you need to find different, better, metrics.
Adopt the same operational rules as everyone else and over any period, you will punch your weight, not more and no less. Oakland (the A’s) understood this and chose a path less worn. They sold their most saleable assets and bought better players from the unfashionable counter. Some with awkward gaits, overweight or for various reasons just didn’t look right to the rest of elite baseball.
If Billy Beane was working in football today he would sign Leigh Girffiths in a heartbeat. Read his recent rap sheet, he is the most Moneyball player on the planet. The new manager is likely to take a look at the headlines and shrug, which is a pity.
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Morning from a grey and overcast Denia – For what it is worth, I am convinced the new manager deal is done, whoever that is.
For the past couple of weeks there has not been anything to suggest that the search is still ongoing. No meetings in London with DD, no sightings of anyone in Glasgow, no agents saying their clients are interested in the job. Nothing. If the search and interview process was still ongoing, there would be leaks from interested parties. Instead, the only thing hitting the newswires, like the Mourinho story, is indeed lazy journalism of the highest kind. A manager gets sacked so let’s put him to the top of the Celtic wishlist. We know it is absolute BS.
So whether it is Howe, Keane, Clarke, Kennedy or another from left field – I think it is done and dusted. Why it is not being announced, who knows. Maybe the DOF from City needs time to agree terms or Howe has to finish his gardening leave or Clarke has to wait until the Euros . . .
TET. Hope everything goes well for you today.
Morning all.
Good luck TET
The Exiled Tim
Best wishes for your hospital visit today
Hope everything goes well for you
Blog on strike?
Not sure where we are heading regarding the next big shake up in football.
Some would say that Scotland started it all in 1975 with the SPL.
That was based on a desire for the home team to keep the gate money in full.
Before then the gate money was shared — sorry the published “gate” money was shared.
To the point that you knew the crowd before the game kicked off …
TFOD — Published crowd was always 55K.
Dons — 35K
Hertz — 30K
Rest — 25K
Until the crowds fell below these numbers and the real numbers were put instead.
Biggest published crowd at CP — I will go for Dons in 71? — 1 all draw / BMcN OG.
League decider that year so the Dons wanted their proper share.
Surprised when the crowd was given at 61K in the papers.
It was big but not that exceptional.
All the numbers are from memory but hopefully my point will stand.
Consequently the SPL kicked things off in 1975 — 10 teams / 4 games a season.
That was elitism to me and brought with it some issues.
Consequently the SPL kicked things off in 1975 — 10 teams / 4 games a season.
That was elitism to me and brought with it some issues.
The EPL was 17 years later in 1992 — and then everything changed.
Old Monkey Glands got involved and the rest is / was the slippery slope that was this week’s shambles.
And then you have the political angle.
And the DD — arbitrage is my middle name — financial angle.
Get us into the EPL — to hell with Scotland we just want the easy money.
And who cares if that is a mirage — DD just want’s his big pay day.
So what if this is all based on a combo deal with TFOD in any of its incarnations.
This will be our fourth attempt to get into the EPL.
Even BoJo will be onboard this time.
My base point is that DD / PL / some in the support just want the quick fix.
A growth agenda is too hard / too problematic when we can just flick a switch.
What percentage of the support would support a move into the EPL / EPL2?
And what percentage of that percentage will vote for the Nats / Not-Jacinda in 13 days time?
Surely the absurdity of this viewpoint is too big to hide?
The EPL is the lazy way out.
Blog on a go slow?
MADMITCH – Was thinking the same. Maybe they have all decided to go and do something productive with their time instead :) I am working of course . . .
Hi, just on to wish The Exiled Tim and his Mrs all the best at hospital.
Bless you both.
Re the Saville pic that was an attempt at a smear of Galloway.
You have to remember that nobody knew anything about Saville’s antics until he died.
Did we know about Saville when he was being paraded around Celtic Park?
Of course we didn’t and neither did Galloway.
To sneakily and hunnishly try to to distort Galloway’s image with that picture, says more about the cheap punk who sneakily and hunnishly posted the pic.
Galloway is tapping into the unionist voting circles, rather than tapping into a Lefty politics that has been killed by the so called left in USA, and here in UK were Tony Blair destroyed the left, BUT, he didn’t destroy the working class, if Celtic and Rangers fans got over themselves and dropped the boring, so yesterday, identity politics, about flags and what school did you go to then they’d be unstoppable.
But Celtic fans have jumped into bed with the despicable SNP, hoping for Indy to annoy the huns! Really?!?
From Galloway’s point of view, why would he try to recruit Celtic fans who’ve proven beyond any doubt that they can’t stand up for themselves especially when it comes to confronting the millionaire Tories who run Celtic FC, these Tories have taken the club from the fans and the fans are utterly useless at trying to get their club back, so why would Galloway waste his time chasing a group of football fans who are proven losers in terms of gaining any power at what should be their club. Utterly shameful.
Galloway is urging folk to fight a guerrilla war against the SNP/anti Celtic establishment, by holding their noses and to vote for the nearest unionist msp in your constituency to challenge the swamp, and vote for Galloway’s party on the list – ‘All For Unity.’
Galloway is leading by example, holding his nose and voting the unionist in his constituency, which happens to be a Tory. That’s what you call taking one for the team. Why do you think BBC Scotland News and STV news have blocked any coverage of Galloway, or any of his shrewdly assembled party since last summer they launched, and SMSM have given Galloway the biggest suppression, since Thatcher blocked any coverage of Sinn Fein.
The Party Political Broadcast couldn’t by law be blocked by TV companies, and Galloway threatened to take STV to court, a lot to ask from a party with no offshore donors, unlike SNP/Con/Lab/Lib/Green.
What do the SMSM and SNP/Hollyrood and the useless opposition parties fear about a party of integrity who will not be recruited, or EBT-ed into any swamp, as all that ‘All For Unity’ want to do, is open the books!
Do Celtic fans not find it strange that a new party appeared, last year, only wanting to open the books to tell the public where all the publics money has gone, and not any other Scottish political party, or any SMSM wanted to help to remove the lid from this can of worms, hundreds of millions of pounds£ have been spaffed up the wall by SNP as they prosecute every squirrel in the forest, maliciously, for the RFC corruption scandal, whilst not a glove has been landed on David Murray?!?
Surely an honest mind would conclude that even RFC fans deserve to know what happened at their club, whilst not even the average RFC fan had any idea about the corruption being carried out at their club, indeed we Celtic fans found out about the RFC corruption scandal before any RFC fan did. How would we have felt if it was the other way round?
Meanwhile, only Galloway’s ‘All For Unity’ Party are going to open the books. All of the books!
Galloway said “We are for justice. Not matter who its for, no matter who its against.”
No wonder the SMSM are giving the ‘All For Unity’ party the Sinn Fein treatment. lol
Only in Scotland, a party with red white and blue rosettes, treated like Sinn Fein.
Off the top of my head, four people should be very worried if enough savvy people back up Galloway’s audacious plans by voting for his underdog swamp draining party.
1. Sturgeon – for trying to jail Salmond on a pack of lies that was laughed out of court by a majority female jury, and a female judge.
2. David Murray for the RFC corruption scandal.
3. Peter Lawwell for his part in the cover up of the RFC corruption scandal.
4. Dermot Desmond for looking the other way from Lawwell’s role in the cover up of the RFC corruption.
Both Celtic and Rangers fans should be wanting these corrupt people dealt with for what they have done is ruin Scottish football, all for money, the root of all evil.
Let’s be honest here, both clubs have been dipped into a toxic tank because of the happenings since 2012.
Only a politician with integrity and backbone will open the books, not cook them, which all msps must be doing inside Holyrood hence the lack of opposition to Scots govt, that is where Galloway’s ‘All For Unity’ come into play, thats all that Galloway wants, no left, no right, non middle, but a mix of them all providing Scottish voters with politics that gets to the point!
Interesting times ahead eh. :)
Will Celtic fans get over themselves and make the above happen?
MADMITCH – We all know DD wants us in the EPL. I have no real issue with that. I don’t think there is any other viable option to grow as a club. We can continue to swap titles and trophies with sevco for another century or go and test ourselves in a much more competitive environment where we might win nothing for several years while we adjust to a new reality of being one of several big clubs rather than one of two.
What I don’t see, is the idea that DD’s ambition for us is being solely driven by money because, in the grand scheme of things, we are chump change for a multi billionaire. He could have invested in thousands of other businesses around the world that would have generated a much higher return on investment than anything he gets from Celtic.
Instead, I think we are a plaything to him. Being our major shareholder and having controlling influence appeals to his ego. If we happen to get to the EPL, sure he may sell us to another billionaire, but I don’t think he ever cared whether that would be achieved or not.
MADMITCH on 23RD APRIL 2021 10:59 AM
Getting into the EPL would give Celtic the chance to escape from The Old Firm straightjacket.
Playing the huns would no longer be the standout highlight of the domestic season.
It would be the same for them too.
Scottish society would benefit.
DB @ 11.20
DD bought us / bought into us for SPL money.
He wants to sell for EPL money and money is important to him.
He is not a great businessman — he is just into arbitrage with unloved / orphan assets.
Consequently I do not have the faith in him that you seem to have.
He needs the TFOD2 to make money so he will help the TFOD2 when required.
The events of 2008 till 2011 should be seen in that context.
EL @ 11.30
We are our own fools if we see the games against the TFOD2 as our highlights for the season.
They are not mine but I see our success through our results in Europe.
If we do well in Europe then we will be competitive in the SPL.
As for us in the EPL we will be exotic curiosity for our friends and foes down south.
If we were to move then I would hope we would leave a team behind — U23 / U25 or similar.
If we do move then we would be hobbling ourselves — less chance in Europe so that we can play Burnley / Brighton / Norwich — not for me.
Regarding growth I would put my efforts into the US and Aus while going for glory in Europe.
There is also the opportunity to grow a team down south or in the 26 counties.
If Wimbledon can do it so can we.
We need a bit of energy and ambition.
Dear Santa – and we want raspberry sauce on top as well.
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Celts for Change 2021
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Open letter to the new CEO
Dominic McKay
Dear Mr McKay,
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Celtic Football Club and congratulate you on your new post of CEO, we sincerely hope your time with the club will be full of success both on and off the park, as we could not wish for anything more, all we supporters ever want is the very best for our club.
We at Celts for Change 2021 are not special supporters, our views are no more valid than anyone else’s, but we believe there are many thousands who feel like we do, but all our views are not reaching or being heard by the board.
Therefore, we are going to be as frank as we can be, and put all the views of the support to you, as with most clubs there are good and bad times, and looking from the outside, you would be forgiven for thinking what could be wrong with our club, but the club have lost a lot of fans over the last few years. And will continue to lose more, as they lose faith in their club and the game in general.
This is because of the inaction and failures of the club on and off the park under the tenure of the present CEO, as supporters of any sport will not continue to support a game that is rigged. The disconnect between the board and fans is reminiscent of 1994, something that we never thought would happen again.
You will have objectives set for you by the PLC, but the fans have some of their own, that have been ignored, which we will list for you under the following categories – football operations, football governance, and club persona. We will set out the failings as we see them first, and then the solutions for you.
FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
There has been no balance in the quality and experience of some of our managers in the past, to highlight this look at the average revenue over 2 full seasons that these two managers had, Ronny Delia £51 million compared to Brendan Rodgers £96 million, nearly £50million of a difference per season.
We have missed out on players because of numerous bungled transfers for small amounts of money that if signed, would have made an impact at the club, e.g. John McGinn, Fletcher, Toney, etc, etc.
We have on the other hand signed players for big fees that have contributed nothing to the team e.g. Marvin Compper £1million for 80 minutes, one alarming statistic is that from the beginning of the 9 in a row, we have spent over £34 million on players who never managed a full season of 38 games.
There has been an abandonment of the sports science, diet, data, and all round professionalism on the football side of the club, with key posts coming and going with whatever manager we have at that time.
FOOTBALL GOVERNANCE
There are historical failures that have been festering away like an open sore since 2008 and 2011, all from your predecessor’s time, we have listed them below.
The secret 5-way agreement, which Celtic accepted, but for some reason UEFA have had no knowledge of.
Failure to take RES 12 forward, now RES 11.
Evidence ignored that could have had the LNS Commission that legitimized EBT titles set aside.
The Traverso letter in 2016 calling Sevco a NEW club/company ignored including taking up UEFA’s offer to investigate.
No robust challenging of the SFA, SPFL about numerous referees not applying the rules of the game when it suits them, and acceptance that they can do this without any repercussions.
The speedy, and on the hoof sanctioning of our club and players, this season over Covid breaches, that have not been applied consistently at other clubs.
CLUB PERSONA, IDENTITY
Some of the actions and public statements from the club have been nothing short of embarrassing to the ordinary fan, and not in keeping with a large PLC.
Some examples are, hiring the last manager in a shower, not looking at any of the CV’s that were submitted for the same job; these were left in a drawer unopened.
Briefing the press against the club manager, and using a paper that mocked dead football supporters at Hillsborough, as its main PR outlet, is frankly obscene and deeply offensive to any human being.
Being seen to aid and abet the reappearance of a brand that thrives on hatred of our club, our ancestry and religious beliefs and all it stands for, as its core function.
Our club has given a casual nod of acceptance to all the crimes on the other side of the river, from tax dodging, to racism, to cheating, and the biggest crime of all, acknowledging that the liquidation in 2012 didn’t happen.
The use of Parks of Hamilton while its owner mocks our club, perhaps a small example, but it again just underlines the disconnect the club has with its fan base.
And finally but not least Dubai, well words fail us while the fan base were in lockdown trying to stay safe, someone at the club thought that it would be appropriate to jet across the globe just baffled us.
Solutions
FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
We supporters see Celtic as a football club not a balance sheet, and all we want is the club to hire the best available at that time in all departments.
Going forward your first remit should be a Director of Football, who will have full control over what happens on the football side, they should have vision and always be prepared for change, and open to innovation in the modern football world.
Secondly remit will be for the DOF to recruit a first team manager who has the quality and experience of O’Neill, Strachan and Rodgers, no more projects to save money are acceptable for a club the size of ours.
Equally important is the support network, this is inclusive of youth system, scouting, analytics, medical facilities, fitness and diet. This has to be a separate internal department, therefore it will not be affected by managers coming and going. That will mean it will be able to maintain a constant professional standard, and in the first instance a option could be a partnership with some of the Scottish University departments that specialise in these fields to help build up the knowledge base.
FOOTBALL GOVERNANCE
The club has to pursue all of the failings listed above, and make public statements about the secret agreement, rule breaking, tax evasion, tainted titles and new club status. This will encourage a greater take up of Season Tickets than would otherwise be the case if the club remain silent.
The club, to keep its undertaking to shareholders under Resolution 11 at last AGM, to engage with the relevant authorities and pursue and be seen to be doing so.
If this is not done it will haunt your tenure as CEO, and the sport will continue to be rigged, and what appeal will that have for anyone who has played the game, or wants to pay to watch the game.
VAR and FFP must be introduced, and its implementation monitored.
Please don’t forget the hero’s of the club that have fought the SFA,SPFL, during our history, Bob Kelly the right to fly the flag of Eire in 1952, Fergus McCann proving cheating by Jim Farry the SFA CEO over the registration of Jorge Cadete in 1996, and don’t forget the lying referee’s with Dougie-gate in 2010.
CLUB PERSONA, IDENTITY
Being a Celtic supporter means that you are likely to face resentment, discrimination, bigotry and racism in your everyday life, this in turn inspires strong and passionate commitment to this club; some even bleed green and white.
It also means that you join an estimated 9 million fellow fans worldwide, so we know that we never walk alone, and are part of something bigger; we have a communal identity and a common cause. Every time Celtic wins a game our suffering is eased a little and we can look on the bright side of life at that moment in time.
The club needs to understand that it is the only powerful champion of that community, and a focal point of their everyday life. The public statements from the club therefore have to reflect that, and stand up for them and the club itself, and call out any wrong doing, misconduct, and discrimination against it, because a lot of our community has no other outlet to do this in certain countries.
The review and cancellation, of all contracts with companies, who mock and despise our club and its fan base.
Our chairman Ian Bankier position is now totally toxic with the support and will remain so until he is gone, the other members of the board, some being there for a great numbers of years, are as complicit in the failings by their silence, and not holding each other to account.
There must be a reconnection with the fan base all season long and not just during season ticket renewal time.
The fans have invested £750 million since the club became a PLC and have post Fergus McCann’s era, had a growing lack of connection with the club, this has to be reversed and can be done so by doing the following,
Actively start updating current shareholder records to find nonvoting shareholders.
In addition, season ticket holders can be offered the chance to add say £50 to their annual renewal each year this will be combined and converted into shares and given to the Celtic Trust, this in time will lead to a reconnection with the club, which was always part of Fergus McCann’s original vision.
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If you can achieve all of this you will remove all the barriers, that are reducing the fan base, and you can maximise the clubs potential with 100% support from all fan groups.
With all this achieved, it will also give all the fans a vision to buy into and believe in. The revenue will increase, the share price will increase, which will lead on to some of the projects that have been shelved during the downsizing to be realised, a 80,000 seated Celtic Park, the Hotel, the indoor training centre at Barrowfield, and the shopping centre.
This will in turn sustain and define the club for our Children and Grandchildren and many generations to come thereafter.
If you are unable or are not allowed to fix all of the above, it means that the game in Scotland will remain rigged, and there will be no way to achieve maximum support from us and many other supporter groups going forward, and this would be a heartbreaking waste of our clubs future potential.
Best wishes
Celts for Change 2021
new article posted.