Hibernian chairman, Rob Petrie, yesterday told BBC Radio Scotland “Integrity is beyond purchase”. It’s incredible to think that we live in times where this is actually news.
It’s hard to imagine how anyone would go about arguing with Rod on this matter. Kilmarnock chairman, Michael Johnston’s recent comment, “The [SPL] clubs are mindful of a sporting integrity aspect but the commercial benefits may outweigh that” offers the alternative view, but the logical conclusion of Petrie’s argument is stark. If integrity of top clubs can be purchased, what about officials, referees and players with bookmaker friends?
We can assume Hibernian will join Celtic in voting against admitting a Newco directly into the SPL, should such a vote occur. Five clubs in total are required to block such a proposal. With Petrie declared against, would Romanov at Hearts vote for Newco? His previous public pronouncements suggest he would relish the opportunity to take on one of the big Glasgow clubs.
Dundee United and Aberdeen are two other clubs under significant supporter pressure. Both teams are also keen to change the 11-1 voting rule, which would be possible without a Newco.
Rangers, Kilmarnock, St Johnstone (through manager Steve Lomas) have all declared in favour of admitting a Newco, I expect Motherwell and St Mirren will do the same. Ross County and Inverness may fancy adding Dundee into next season’s relegation fight instead of Newco but there has been no indication how either club would vote.
The 7th May vote was the best chance of getting Newco provisions voted through. The more time clubs have to consider the decision the more susceptible they will be to supporter lobby.
I am of the view that SPL chief, Neil Doncaster, will not allow himself to become aware if Rangers have a prima facie case to answer as a result of the SPL inquiry into contractual arrangements until after a vote is taken. Deadline for clubs to respond to the inquiry passed over five weeks ago. A simple check of submissions against SPL records is all that is required. Even if each clubs issued an all-clear, the inquiry should have reported.
Doncaster perhaps has no idea of the flood that will come his way soon and wash away all of these questions. His opportunity to act before events overtake him is limited.
You can buy a hard copy of the new issue of CQN Magazine via Magcloud here.
The graphic below is just for a flick through, to read the magazine go here to it’s dedicated site.
1,098 Comments- Pages:
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stpatricksbhoy on 15 May, 2012 at 22:24 said:
my fav memory of hangin with uncle Dom was in Sacred Heart Bridgteon when Dave Narey put a screamer into the roof of the Brazilian net, all went downhill after that!!!!
mighty tim on 15 May, 2012 at 22:37 said:
My mum and inlaws stay in cadder
HH
Lennybhoy
7.30 for 8 ko..
I’ll be there about 7 to give out tickets and collect the dosh…
suttons volley on 15 May, 2012 at 22:22 said:
Danny McGrain was the best full back in world football in the mid 70’s to early 80’s.
This was the pretty much undisputed. He had to play many games at left back for Scotland to allow a poor excuse of a Hun right back to play in Dannys preferred position,
Charliecooksleftpeg:
If your lurking mate, Hail Hail!
I smell liquid…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
St.stivs.
I stayed in the Elvetham three years ago, when my niece got married.
Lovely place, lovely gardens.
Brother lives in Lightwater. Founder member of The Wee Bunnet CSC.
Chuffed wi the responses guys cheers
I’m late 20’s and played RB in my day at a decent level, loved Jackie Mac, tried to watch his movement at RWB, a real solid type & never one to play to the crowd. did his job for the team wi passion.
My old man told me on many occasions McGrain would have been worth £30m these days, I thot it was a combination of whiskey & romance for the old days talking.
Thanks again guys.
HH
I’ll be telling my bhoy in a couple of years D.McGrain was the best fullback to ever grace the game :)
THE EXILED TIM,
I must admit this dude is new to me, never heard of him before but he has a lot to say. Of course that might be a very bad thing when he is talking about such serious stuff.
BTW, I am looking to lower my blood pressure and synthetic wonderpills are not an option for me. I have decided that a Gluten free diet is the best route. Do you have any advice on food that can be eaten that eliminates it?
As it is a struggle to find food in the UK that is totally free of the stuff?
…and Jangly Sardine couldnae lace even wan of his boots!
blantyretim on 15 May, 2012 at 22:42:
And buy me a Guinness…:)
Will be there between 7 and 7:30, see you then.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Does anyone remember St Columbas of Ohio school?
SV
Danny McG was as good as everyone has said
Suffice to say he always had the legend that was Davie Cooper in his back pocket!
He could also deal with genuinely good players!
HH
fantastic post from the battered bunnett from earlier that needs to be reposted. a must read for everyone
The Battered Bunnet on 15 May, 2012 at 14:16 said:
Well played Rod Petrie. I think our own Leadership will need to declare Celtic’s position ahead of the vote, but the situation remains complicated by D&P/Green’s insistence on performing the CVA charade.
My sense is that while this CVA charade is being played out, the Green People are busying themselves with creating the structure that will permit NewClub to be Licensed in time for next season. In essence, in a short number of days the SFA and SPL will know the intention of the Green People, but will be bound from revealing that to the rest of us by non disclosure terms.
Meantime, we have the SPL Inquiry into the issue of the invalid Registration of Players by Rangers. D&P, acting in their capacity as Court Appointed Managers of Rangers, are obliged to cooperate fully with the governing bodies of the game, acting at all times according to the various Articles, Rules and Contracts regulating Rangers’ participation in the Game in Scotland.
They are obliged to disclose any and all relevant information requested, albeit that disclosure of documents that form evidence presented to the Tax Tribunal may be subject to restrictions.
Nevertheless, what the SPL have asked Harper McLeod’s top legal brains to undertake is essentially a simple Quality Audit. Such a process is very straightforward, requiring little more than a clear description of the Process and Procedures in question, and a comparison of Rangers’ actions against that Process to determine Compliance.
My understanding is that Rangers registered around 75 players in the period in question whose registrations may be questionable.
The SPL will have provided Harper McLeod with a written Instruction that includes Methodology, Deliverables, Stage Gates and Timescales. A formal brief.
As with any audit, a sample of transactions will have been tested initially. This is a practical approach that prevents unnecessary expense from being incurred. Harper McLeod will initally have tested perhaps 10 Regostrations against the defined Process. The results of this will have been reported on within a short timescale, at which point the Brief reached a Stage Gate, and the SPL will have had a decision to make on whether to proceed or not.
If the testing revealed no breaches of Process,the purpose of the audit has been satisfied,and it is likely that the Instruction will have been terminated, and the book closed.
More likely, the testing has identified one or more breaches of Process, and the SPL decision will have extended the Instruction to investigate all relevant transactions to quantify and qualify the extent of the breaches.
It takes around one hour to audit a transaction, if you’re really, really slow. I’ll betya even BlantyreKev could do one in less than 55 minutes. All you require is the relevant Documents and the defined Process. Follow the trail. Was the Process implemented properly? Yes/No. Tick/Cross. Next.
The initial brief was provided on 5th MArch or thereabouts. The SPL knew the result of the initial testing when they received the draft report weeks ago. It is likely that they have instructed a full audit, which would have been completed within 100 labour hours. Perhaps further issues have arisen, and the Auditors are testing other related Processes.
Whatever the situation, it is a given that the Final Report is not delayed by Harper McLeod’s diffidence or restraint.
The consequences of breaches of Player Registration are profound. A player whose registration is invalid, is INELIGIBLE to play. Rangers are suspected of invalidly registering around 75 players, who subsequently participated in as many as 500 SPL matches.
The purpose behind the breaches in Registration was to disguise a multi-million pound fraud on the Treasury, itself conceived to gain competitive advantage on the football pitch, which subsequently delivered 6 Champions League participations worth some £20M per season.
Additionally, Rangers were awarded an additional £1.5M per season in results related SPL prize money over and above participation fees.
The economic benefits to Rangers of this approach to Tax and Football regulation, is in the order of £50M of payroll costs saved, and in excess of £100M of SPL and UEFA prize money won. Perhaps as much as £200 Million of benefit in total.
During the period of this ‘irregular’ approach to regulation, Rangers Directors Campbell Ogilvie, John McClelland and Martin Bain were at various times Directors of the SPL. McClelland was Chairman of Rangers during the period of acceleration in the use of these schemes while being SPL Director 2003-2005.
He was also a member of UEFA’s Club Competition Committee and a member of the European Club Association.
Martin Bain was an SPL Director from 2008 to 2011, a period in which Rangers use of the Tax scheme continued despite HMRC having determined that it was illegal in 2008, and submitting a £36M demand for payment that same year.
Campbell Ogilvie was a SPL Director for a short period only at inception, while simultaneously a Director of Rangers and Director and then Vice President of the SFA.
Bain and Ogilvie we now know were benficiares of the EBT scheme, in addition to being responsible for implementing it.
Rangers, if the allegation is held, will have breached a number of SPL Articles and Rules, the most significant of which is the undertaking to act ‘in the utmost good faith’ to the SPL and member clubs at all times.
Rangers in such a situation, will have rendered the SPL a meaningless circus since its inception in 1998.
The only reasonable sanction for such a breach of faith is expulsion from the SPL.
The results of this inquiry are germane to the integrity of the competitions run by the SFA, the SFL and UEFA. Each in turn will require to consider any appropriate measures for Rangers having breached their Articles and Rules, and corrupted their competitions in the same manner as the SPL’s.
At face value, the outcome is a given: Expulsion.
However, this is Scotland, and it seems the Rules of the Game are applied to everyone equally, except Rangers, without whom we would….. well, we would have honest competition and a fair Game.
RodPetrieCSC”
lennybhoy…
c u then…..
I saw Danny score two goals one night in a 4-3 ?win at Murderwell
A few years ago a young hun workmate was at the Celtic vRangers legends game where Murrays boy trousered all the gate money.
He said most of the players were late 30’s but standout was some old guy with a beard. He asked his dad(a bitter old hun) whos that
and he said the best fullback he had ever seen.
EDB,
Many thanks, so did we!
Rascar, about to return to my usual state – getting to much stick from certain quarters here.
Night night all
Bashi
suttons volley
Danny was FANTASTIC.
You know how FBs now are usually either good defenders OR good going forward, Danny had it all (except a shot!)
Great tackler, wonderful movement to get past opponents, not just speed but footwork & deception. Wonderful positional sense both in thwarting the opposition and in supporting team-mates. Extraordinary awareness between Danny & Kenny D. Truely a player you’d pay money to see. Overcame both a fractured skull & diabetes to reach the pinnacle of his profession. Tremendous self confidence without arrogance, a joy to behold, the Jimmy Johnstone of full backs!!!
That said, he was not the same player following 18 months out through a mystery ankle injury picked up v Hibs at CP. On his return he had lost his electric turn of pace, he was more stocky and relied more than he had before on his physical strength. However he was still an excellent player though some way from his peak. Danny I’m sure was simply glad to be back playing!
A lot of thoughts and praise today for Tommy Burns (quite properly) but for me Daniel Fergus McGrain is THE exemplar of a Celtic Football Club player.
Hope that helps you appreciate the great man!
suttons volley on 15 May, 2012 at 22:43 said:
…I’ll be telling my bhoy in a couple of years D.McGrain was the best fullback to ever grace the game :)
And you will not be exaggerating and you’ll be telling the truth!
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Tonloc – I was in Sae that night right behind the goal. What a night. Brazil what a country what a great race of people
77ECW
Lennybhoy…Supporting Neil Lennon and CFC until I die on 15 May, 2012 at 22:21 said:
===================================
Lb, I was lucky enough to meet the great Man back in 95/96 season. We had just finished the yearly fundraiser cycle run to CP. This year Joe OR said I’m going to have somebody come meet us when we finish.(Aye ok Joe!) Anyway finished the cycle run and had just loaded the last of the bikes onto the vans and were sitting around the car park, then who comes round the corner with Joe,no other than Tommy Burns.
I was speetchless, he invited us all in the front doors of the main stand and we just sat about talking in the seats of the main stand. After about 10 mins Tommy said he had to go, no doubt he had another appointment somewhere else on this Sunday morning. I managed to get his autograph that day, made out to my Daughter, ” To Lisa Marie, best wishes Tommy Burns”.
God Bless You Tommy
Hail Hail
Danny McGrain- Quite simply the best full back ever to grace a football field on these islands.
As for the Rangers scout who thought that Daniel Fergus McGrain sounded like Catholic name?
The worst mistake since Decca Records kb’d The Beatles.
Last post should be Saville and 67ECW. Obviously I have been drinking
kevin hughes, Danny McGrain was spoken of in the same terms as Kenny Dalglish. They were contemporaries and broke into a team of Lisbon Lions alongside Macari, Hay and other young graduates. He suffered two serious injuries in the 70s, the last of which, some would suggest he didn’t wholly recover from.
When he missed the 1978 World Cup due to injury he was a huge loss to Scotland. Four years later, he went to Spain with Scotland but at 32, he was no longer at his best.
In the early 80s Celtic were a great attacking team but defensively we were poor. Looking back, I think we were tactically out-foxed. European football was a beyond us and Aberdeen were able to pick us off. Danny was not the only great player to suffer during this era, in fact, we had several great players who didn’t fulfil their potential with us.
He was a skilful overlapping full back, a very modern player, but in the 80s Celtic used him to launch high balls up to the strkers, a very un-modern tactic, which was symptomatic of our relative decline during the period.
He played his last game in 1987, a home defeat against Falkirk, on what was a horrible day all round. Former team mate, now manager, Davie Hay, let him go a few days later. Danny wasn’t afforded the opportunity of saying his goodbyes to the fans but it was a straight football decision for Davie, who concluded he needed to make changes and 37-year-old Danny was one of them.
He is an absolute gentleman and true Celtic great.
Thanks again for the replies.
I always savoured the stories of great Celts I was told, made ye proud even tho you never seen it!! If you know what I mean
I’ll tell my bhoy the same stories, might even mention a guy called Henrik :)
Just goes to show that the game, players and memories are more important than we often realise. More than a club
HH
Palacio67 on 15 May, 2012 at 22:48:
On my previous Birthday, we did the Walfrid ahain; this time we caught Tommy was coming back in from training, got a cracking photo taken with him.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Bundoran Bhoy – Saying NO to Newco!! on 15 May, 2012 at 22:38 said:
mighty tim on 15 May, 2012 at 22:20 said:
The school that took the catchment from Augustines was John Paul in Summerston, my misses teaches there now
—————————————————————————–
I went to John Paul and live in Summerston now, have family at John Paul
I have a lot of family living in Summerston, quite often catch a beer with my eldest brother in the scotch as thats across from his house but mainly in the Rams Head.
Loads of cousins and nephews that went to John Paul mind you they are all a good bit younger than me mate.
Paul
did you ever have the opportunity to seek clarification on the info I gave you a few months back?
HH
petec
I am a great believer in, if it works why change things.
I wouldn’t have much info on what you are asking, but this stuff, imo will do what you require.
If it can help with aids and cure cancer, high blood pressure is a doddle.
This site will take you to everything you need to know, I started taking it as a preventitive about 8 years ago,had less than a handfull of colds in that time, and touch wood, nothing else as yet.
http://www.healthfreedom.info/Essiac%20AIDS.htm
Paul67 on 15 May, 2012 at 22:50:
Makes a change to be concentrating more on talking all things Celtic instead of Govan Utd. (formerly RFC (IA))…long may it continue for a few days at least.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
mighty tim on 15 May, 2012 at 22:37 said:
thomthetim I ran about cadder my family still live there Tresta rd. We went to St Agnes’ on Tresta Rd. You may have went to school with my brothers and me although I think I would have been a few years behind as I was born 1959.
HH
share on F’book or Twitter
******
I lived at 81 Skirsa St. Just opposite Vaila St. We were the first tenants there in 1953
Cadder was a great wee scheme, probably due to the layout of the different designs of the buildings and, of course it’s compactness.
As for school, I went to st. Columba’s, Hopehill Rd, then St. Aug’s.
kevin hughes on 15 May, 2012 at 22:27 said:
DANNY McGRAIN was incredible …… Simple as that
mighty tim on 15 May, 2012 at 22:52 said:
I used to work in Rams Head and still drink in it occasionally
HH
bournesouprecipe on 15 May, 2012 at 22:37
You really have so much Class my man, you are a Brother of Tommy Burns.
I thought of you when I read this amazing comment about Tommy.
Stringer Bell on 15 May, 2012 at 10:35
just like to point out, it wasnt me that asked the question about danny mc, it was suttons volley. i copied and pasted his question and gave a simple one word answer. “yes”
thanks for your replies anyway
KH
your a decent sort
btw from me thats a massive compliment! :)
HH
Looking at the history of Celtic captains I believe they all had their own individual qualities. But before and after Danny I get quite nostalgic when I you remember who they were.
20. Billy McNeill (1963-1975)
21. Kenny Dalglish (1975-1977)
22. Danny McGrain (1977-1987)
23. Roy Aitken (1987-1990)
24. Paul McStay (1990-1997)
They all had that something about them and ALL greats in my opinion. I don’t mean any disrespect to captains before or after BTW. (You lurking Tommy Boyd! ;-)
/Broonie/ is growing into the role and I hope he leads us on to great times.
HH
Paul67 on 15 May, 2012 at 22:50 said:
thats exactly my recollection of danny mcgrain, a memory almost entirely made from what my father told me about him – a great player who would have been even better were it not for injuries quite early in his career, and as intelligent a footballer as he’s ever seen.
Thomthethim, my wee mammy lived in Vaila St, and sure her sister lived in Skirsa Street, did you know the Burkes ?