For Celtic, summertime business is every bit as important as the more traditional cup finals and league deciders held later in the season. We face qualifers for Champions League or Europa League group stage, which define our financial health and desirability as a potential employer.
The most important achievement was recorded on Wednesday when we qualified for the Champions League, but now we’re there, how prepared will we be?
Seven players left the squad, Daryl Murphy, who had already spent two years out on loan, Thomas Rogne and Paddy McCourt, who rarely saw first team action last season, and Tony Watt, who seems to be less effective than he was in the opening weeks of last season, and is now out on loan.
More importantly, Gary Hooper, Kevlin Wilson and Victor Wanyama all left, three players who were instrumental in our European victories last season.
Hooper is a textbook big game player who scored home and away against Spartak Moscow but he missed the home win over Barcelona and scarcely got a sniff of the ball home and away to Benfica, or in the Camp Nou, where his role as a penalty box poacher was less effective.
Kelvin Wilson had a disappointing first season at Celtic but as last season progressed there was a noticeable rise in appreciation of his talents. He had an exemplary Champions League campaign.
Victor Wanyama was the most effective central midfield player Celtic have had for some considerable time. We saw little of Roy Keane at Celtic but in Wanyama, you could see a player with the potential to go as far in the game. He is young and still has lots to add to his game, concentration, for a start, but we saw him grow from a place on the substitutes’ bench to a £12m player in 18 months.
It surprised a few that Victor (along with Gary) went to a team often found at the wrong end of England’s top flight, but he is still potential. The acclaim he received at Celtic is similar to that bestowed on Liam Miller nine years ago, whose Champions League performances were breath-taking. I still can’t fathom what happened to Miller but I hope Victor continues to improve; if he does, he could appear in the Camp Nou as a home player.
21-year-old Israeli central midfielder Nir Biton looks like a straight replacement for Wanyama. I don’t know enough about any of the new recruits yet to put my name to them but on paper, Nir works. At 6’5” he continues our current tradition of signing players born to shoot hoops, as well as wear them. A trial at Manchester City fell apart amid a diplomatic incident involving his nationality. He was going to make a move to a Champions League team at some point and, for the player, Celtic will look like an excellent option.
There was a moment during THAT game at Fir Park in 2005 when Craig Bellamy tore up the turf with the ball before looking up for someone to accept his cross, only to throw his arms up in frustration that there was no one in the box. Having one fast player is just not effective.
We’ve had pace-merchant James Forrest for a few years but we don’t play a speed-based game to suit his talents. With fellow-sprinter Derk Boerrigter also in the team now one of the things I know Celtic were looking for in a striker was pace, which is what I expect to see from Teemu Pukki.
Much of our Champions League game will be about playing counter-attacking football so we have to recruit for this model.
Teemu has been playing a supporting role for Schalke since they played against him, then signed him, from HJK Helsinki two years ago, but we have not had a striker who could claim a regular starting place in that company in nine years. He is another one who, on paper, works for me.
Amido Balde has been given some protection from too much responsibility and exposure to allow him to settle into the club, city and language, Celtic is a lot different from Vitoria Guimaraes. I heard that, like Wanyama during his first season, he’ll be allowed to settle into life as a Celtic player.
Virgil van Dijk was simply delicious against Dundee United yesterday. He has height, build, speed, can run with the ball and can pass. Build a defence around him. Steven Mouyokolo is one of those gambles managers like to take on players, who were once lauded but have had injury or other blemishes on their record. Most don’t work but we’ll soon find out if Steven has overcome his injury problems.
Derk Boerrigter has skill and pace. He is another one recruited with Champions League football in mind (not to face 10 defenders in the SP), a competition he has already performed well in for Ajax.
The comment was made to me that the players coming in were uninspiring compared to the three key players who left but while I could contest that, there doesn’t seem much point. We recruited Hooper and Wilson from the lower leagues in England, and Wanyama as a teenager from a small Belgian club. It’s not what you know about a player when he signs that counts……..
For years we have been encouraging Celtic to scout better markets and find value. They have been doing this to great effect in recent seasons. The gap between where we were last season and one stage further in the Champions League was enormous. To bridge it will take a while during which time we need to make every pound work.
Enjoy the ride.
Tomorrow we’ll talk money. In short, while I blogged a couple of weeks ago illustrating the circa £17m operational gap we have before Champions League or player trading income (i.e. we are not a rich club), notions that we are anywhere near being a poor club is laughable.
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starry plough
Thoughts and prayers with your Mum. Take care.
Starry, thoughts and prayers are with you and your mum. Safe journey.
Miserable people give me the dry boak.
Sydneytim – maybe we bid the maximum we thought Finbogasson was worth straight away.
Messi gets it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,he said:
I’ve been fortunate to play in some great stadiums in Europe with Barcelona but none compare to Celtic. The atmosphere their fans create make it a very special European night of football. I’m very excited to play at Celtic again in the group stages. Of course the last time we played in Scotland it was not a good result for us, but next time we will be looking to win. It’s the most competitive group and we know we can’t take nothing for granted.”
Sydney Tim –
Finnbogasson is still with Herenveen and the window is closed, so nobody bought him.
Could it be they wanted too much money and it wasn’t just Celtic who thought so?
I don’t know. I am speculating, which at least I admit to in this instance.
Starry plough
Thoughts and prayers for your mum -stay strong
Tom
Window is still open -only closed in scotia
See, even Messi got more positive things to say about Celtic than half the moaning attention seekers or % of Huns that come in here, PL haters, Board Haters pick the category you like and continue moaning, you will NEVER take the smile I have had on my face since last Wednesday , ach! And even before that, so moan away.
Via twitter 5 way agreement.
Today, CharlotteFakes leaked a copy of the Five Way Agreement. While not signed, given the generally high level of authenticity maintained by Scotland’s Julian Assange, there is little reason to take it as anything other than the real thing.
The Five Way Agreement is something that has taken upon somewhat mythological (or pathological, depending on what team you support) importance as the document which would clear up exactly what Rangers are doing in the Scottish League system once and for all. While it is perhaps impossible for it to clear up everything some may promise it to do so, it can be condensed to certain important concepts – Who are Rangers and how did they obtain their place in the league in spite of precedent from, for example, Gretna, that they should not be allowed to do so.
The full document is available to view at http://www.scribd.com/doc/164607084/5-Way-Agreement-As-issued-to-all-parties-for-signature but, as with my other documented blogs, rather than go through the whole thing, there will be a point by point narrative meaning it may be helpful for those with Windows 7 to do the thing where two windows take up half of the screen each or just to refer to the document while reading.
Page 2 – For those who love semantics, Rangers and Sevco Scotland are two separate entities. Take from that what you will but it would appear to lend handy documented support to those who will call Rangers a New Club and a stick to beat those who call it the Same Club with. Personally, I don’t care for that debate, but I know some do love it for it’s banterous purposes.
Page 2, Recitals B and C – Interesting to note this in terms of timeline, that the SFL at this point has 30 members and the SPL 12, suggesting that, at this point, Dundee have not been “promoted” nor Rangers “relegated”. Considering that this document was actually signed after Rangers were evicted from the SPL, it seems odd to me that neither organisation have chosen to reflect it. It would suggest that Rangers membership of the league never lapsed and that it was never in question and that, as such, the matter of league membership was not up for discussion as part of the Five Way Agreement process. Recital D staes that OldCo Rangers still owns a SPL share despite, in recital G on Page 3, it clearly stating that Rangers will be entering Division Three. This is particularly odd as the SPL share generally lapses as soon as the season is over (or, in Rangers case, should have lapsed when initially voted out of the SPL) which would suggest that precedence was ignored to allow Rangers a “share” in the league so as not to leave them without a league to play in. As the SFL works on a membership basis only and Rangers NewCo were not granted any membership status at this point (as they had, in effect, no club), without this share, Rangers would be, by default, out of the league. It would suggest that precedent was ignored to ensure Rangers still had a grip on a league spot.
Page 4, CW Enduring Acts – This is notable for making accusations not publicly made previously. Why mention bribery, match fixing, undisclosed payments to players (rather hilariously noted as an enduring act from Craig Whyte, rather than David Murray) or undisclosed payments to match officials? Why mention those things if there wasn’t something going on? By mentioning that it has to be put into this document that Rangers commit not to do these things, surely it suggests that they have in the past. While financial doping rigged the game to an extent, were Rangers rigging games in a more literal sense and if not, why is it mentioned?
Page 7, Articles 2.1 and 2.2 – More separate entity evidence – Sevco become liable for Rangers’ misdeeds but, at the same time, don’t. Note the last 5 words – full member of the SFA – Rangers NewCo were an associate member. The associate membership loophole to get Rangers into the SFL in the first place would surely apply to this also.
Page 8, Articles 2.3.1 and 2.4.3 – Commits Sevco to paying Scottish and European Football Creditors. That would appear to diminish the difference between OldCo and NewCo.
Article 2.3.2 – This, in itself, ins interesting and marks a break from the Gretna precendent once more. Sevco/Rangers renounce any right to monies owed to them by the SPL in terms of prize money from 11/12 or any other season for the SPL to dispose of as it sees fit. Gretna, of course, were given an advance on their prize money so they could complete the season. Why the change? Considering Rangers, as the team who came second in the 11/12 season, would have been entitled to a large chunk of cash, is it that the SPL couldn’t afford to pay it or just didn’t want to. And how was it disposed of? Until it was disposed of, was it sat accruing interest? If so, what happened to the interest? Were the SPL actually making a profit from the demise of Rangers?
Page 9, Article 2.4.4 – This is an interesting one. Based on UEFA rules, Rangers should be able to qualify for Europe 3 seasons post an insolvency event. This article appears that, in addition to that, they should also have to be given permission to do so by the SFA, which would seem an unnecessary bureaucratic layer to pass through and suggests Rangers can ask UEFA to bend the rules in that respect. Why?
Article 2.5.4 and 2.5.3 – This is exceptional hypocrisy. Put it in writing that Rangers not only have to pay the fines meted out by the judicial panel (fair enough) but also the SFA’s costs in administering these and then in the NEXT BLOODY PARAGRAPH saying Rangers agree not to chase the SFA for payment of costs they were awarded in the Court of Session. Staggeringly arrogant.
Article 2.6 – This begs the question, when did the share transfer and how does this affect the Brechin game played before the deadline of 3rd August given here?
Page 10, Article 3.2, also Page 11, Article 5.2 – The debate on whether players should or shouldn’t have TUPEd over to Newco is complicated here. It states that any player registered with Rangers as part of the SPL side would transfer to be part of the SFL side which would appear to reflect that the SFA were of the opinion that those players who departed the club for nothing in the Summer should not have been able to do so and that, had any left after this document was signed, the SFA could refuse the transfer. Of course, doing so would have led to an entertaining case in the European courts, but the SFA appear to be trying to weigh in on it anyway.
Article 5.1 – This, to me, is the real nitty gritty. The Gretna precedent would be to refuse entry of a liquidated club into the SFL unless they were passed fit to do so by an application panel (hence why we have Annan in the league). Instead, this commits the SFL to irrevocably take “whatever steps are necessary” to ensure Rangers take part in the Third Division. Now, while the SPL also is t take “whatever steps are necessary” to get Dundee in the SPL, it is odd language to use. Surely this could have been done without needing to state authorities were to do whatever needed doing to allow Rangers to play. While it does not suggest misdeed, it certainly suggests mistrust between Sevco and the SFA/SFL/SPL.
Page 11, Article 8.1 – Yes, the Five Way Agreement needed a Non-Disclosure arrangement aside from to say that it existed in the first place and a pre-written statement would be released on it. Stewart Regan must think he’s Tyler Durden.
Page 12, Article 10 – This would appear to suggest that, had Rangers gone back to the SPL/SFL/SFA and said they had no intention of paying footballing debts, there could be an amendment to the Five Way Agreement to ensure that they didn’t have to, that it would be swept under the carpet and that the creditors would have no say in that whatsoever. Due to the non-disclosure agreement, the creditors would also be unable to find out that this was the case. Certainly, if any football creditor of Rangers is still waiting for money, this might seem like carte blanche to try and get it from the SFA/SPL/SFL as they would appear to be complicit in allowing it to be possible for Rangers to not pay creditors and to withhold information about not having to pay creditors after initially agreeing to.
Article 12.1 and 12.2, also Page 14, Article 16.2 – That says Rangers/Sevco have no recourse to take a pop at the SPL, SFA or SFL about their conduct with regard to Rangers. This would also include that Rangers are not able to take the SFA, SPL or SFL to the Court of Session to obtain something as basic as, oh, I don’t know, the costs they were awarded by the Court of Session itself. Slippery.
Page 18 – The Registration Embargo. Here, times get mixed up. Rangers are not allowed to register a player between 00:01 on 01/09/12 and 00:00 on August 31st. The Transfer Window in Scotland ended at 23:00 on August 31st meaning Rangers’ registration ban ended after the transfer window. Now, let’s look at the SPFL rules on this (located at http://spfl.co.uk/docs/067_324__therulesofthespfl_1375800603.pdf – Page 97 is the relevant bit) – it clearly states that players cannot be registered outwith the transfer windows (article 7) unless (as per Article 9), the registration is given special dispensation by the SPFL board to do so when the player was, on the last day of the window, out of contract. That Rangers have committed to the signature of 8 players must mean that they were very confident that the SPFL would allow them to do so. Why?
It would appear, on the face of it, to be clear and blatant collusion from the SPFL to be seen to be giving Rangers carte blanche to be signing players outwith the transfer window and to guarantee that they will be given special dispensation to do so in spite of the ultimate decision being one made by the SPFL board. If that is the case, what is the point of the transfer window when the SPFL board are simply rubber-stamping everything that is put in front of them without taking a look at it. While it is hard to doubt that Rangers should be able to sign players, that they are able to sign 8 players on pre-cintract deals would suggest that the deals were assured to be given the OK by the SPFL before they were made, in spite of the fact that the SPFL’s own rules would suggest that that should be impossible. The rules on transfer windows and player registration do not appear to be worth the paper they are written on.
To conclude, in my humble opinion, this document may disappoint a lot of people. Many will enter it looking specifically for a smoking gun on behalf of Rangers. Instead, what is found is further evidence that the men running Scottish football are not fit for purpose – slippery as a fish, they appear to make up the rules as and when they want to suit them. Do Rangers want to sign 8 players outside of the transfer window? Let them. Should we pay Rangers costs they were granted by the courts? No chance. Evasive in the extreme, more inconsistent than your average Samaras season – it would seem that, in their own words, they will take whatever steps are deemed necessary to keep their grip on power.
Every team should be treated equally. The SFA and SPFL seem to think some are more equal than others. It’s time for the iron curtain that surrounds the offices at Hampden to be torn down
Alan stubbs on bbc1 now talking testicular cancer
SydneyTim
06:54 on
2 September, 2013
Tom. Neil did asked for a goalscorer. He has admitted that twice now
He did not get him
He got a 2.4m pound project which Neil admitted was a little further down the project line than Balde
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That’s the facts bhoys ~ like it or not. let’s just deal with it and…………..
ENJOY!
Whither the cash strapped scrofulous hillbillies the day?
From James Forrest.
Last week, an as yet unnamed serving soldier died whilst mountain climbing, in a tragic, wasteful death. Doubtless, his family and friends are devastated right now, but they will mourn him in a dignified, and proper, way, and they will lay him to rest.
That’s how it’s done. That’s how it’s always been done. Armed forces families live in fear of a call that says their loved ones have been taken away from them. What made this one especially senseless was that the call came whilst he was on leave. It must be dreadful, and my heart goes out to them.
They are currently engulfed in not only grief but in a brief firestorm of media interest. The media interest will fade. It always does. The grief will too, but that will take longer.
Yet in the end, that family will find peace.
According to recent figures, 179 serving soldiers in the UK died whilst on active duty in Iraq. In Afghanistan, the number was even higher, a shocking 444 at last estimate. Every one of those deaths was senseless, and horrific, and every one of the dead came home to a memorial, a funeral, and the families and friends mourned them in a respectful fashion.
Their names will be remembered by all those close to them, yet the rest of the world will go on as before, not recalling names or deeds.
That is the way that goes too. Every soldier who ever put on a uniform knows that if he or she dies the chances are good that it will be in a time and place, and in circumstances, no-one will remember in years to come. Few of the young men and women who choose to join the military do it for the glory.
In June of this year, a former British Army soldier named David Ryding was attacked at a taxi rank in Wirrall, and later died.
His death was shocking, and tragic, and un-necessary.
His local community mourned him, in a dignified way, and he was laid to rest. There was a brief flare of media interest in the aftermath of the event, and then it too faded into time. His name is not burned into our collective consciousness. He and his family were afforded more respect than that.
Sad to say it, but Lee Rigby and his family are not being afforded that kind of respect, because that young man’s man death stirred up something that isn’t part of the natural order here. It stirred up hate. It stirred up anger. It stirred up xenophobia.
As a consequence, Lee Rigby is not being allowed to rest peacefully. He’s been elevated to something other than the young man whose life was tragically, and horribly, taken from him on a London street.
He has become a symbol, one he wouldn’t have wished for.
His image, and his name, have been appropriated by people with an agenda. His memory will forever be linked with those who want to divide us, which is the absolute opposite of what he and those who wear the army uniform are fighting for.
Lee Rigby has become a tool of propaganda, a shield behind which are found some of the most grubby, diabolical and shameful characters in our country today. They have no interest in this young man.
They have no compassion for his family, or the grief they feel. On the surface, they can mask those things, with fake sympathy and expressions of regret, but they don’t do it well, and they do not hide well the real reasons for their “concern.”
Some of those people were out in force at Ibrox yesterday, and their sickening display was all the more abhorrent for the presence of some of Lee Rigby’s family in the stand. For the club itself now stands accused of using the family of the dead man to pursue it’s own distorted agenda, to get onside a lunatic fringe who might otherwise be directing their considerable ire inward.
I will not say they should be ashamed. They won’t be. Yet this cheap, cynical stunt is an outrage that demands a response. They have drifted so far over the line of bad taste here they can no longer even see it. There is nothing “patriotic” about what these people are doing. There is nothing generous or decent in hiding behind a corpse.
At times, the club is a disgrace. Some of its supporters remain mired in hate, no matter how much the rest of the world has moved on.
Lee Rigby’s murder was an appalling, and unsettling, event. No rational person can have watched it without feeling creeping horror. In all my life, I’ve never seen anything quite so disturbing. No words can do justice to those awful television pictures.
Yet I saw other disturbing television pictures later that night, when the gruesome EDL held a rally where they anointed Rigby a martyr in their undeclared war against Islam. The tactic was as depressing as it’s ancient.
Marc Antony used the funeral of Caesar to whip up the Roman mob against the assassins. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party used the murder of a young party activist, Horst Wessel, as a rallying standard against their enemies, to the extent one hack wrote a song for him, which they adopted as the party anthem.
There was not even the slightest pretence from these people that what they were doing was in any way concerned with honouring the dead man.
Like Antony, they were engaged in nothing more than an act of political theatre, standing over his body, holding up his bloody clothes and pointing the finger at those they claimed murdered him. But at least in Antony’s case the people he pointed to were, in fact, the guilty parties.
What the EDL scum did that night was make a sweeping generalisation, elevating the murder from one committed by two psychotic individuals to one committed by a whole section of the population.
In the days that followed, hate crimes against Muslim’s leapt 800%, which was the result these people wanted, the result they’d held their rally for, and we should all be grateful that the body count didn’t rise in direct parallel. They’d have loved that.
I gave you the numbers of the dead in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts earlier in the piece. Not one of those young men, not a single one of the dead, was given the “honour” of near deification by the right of the EDL, and not one of them had their memory stolen and used in the grubby manner in which some sections of the Rangers support have attempted to use Lee Rigby.
They died in uniform, overseas, making the supreme, the ultimate, sacrifice for their country, yet none of them was the subject of a full on “we will never forget” rallying cry from the hordes at Ibrox.
In 2012, more British soldiers died by suicide than were killed in action. Where is their memorial? Where was the banner in support of those men?
Lee Rigby died after being attacked by mindless thugs on a British street. They may have claimed a political agenda, but Jason Campbell did the same thing, and he too was little more than a low-level loser, a psychopath, who tried to elevate his insanity into something more. David Ryding also died after being attacked on a British street, but I bet there were less than a couple of hundred people at Ibrox on Saturday who even knew his name. Because there was no political gain in trying to make him a martyr. It didn’t suit anyone’s agenda.
Does anyone know who David Collins was? He was a 19 year old serving British Army soldier who was murdered, in Cyprus, by three British Muslims carrying flick knives and knuckle dusters. These guys got high, stalked Collins and his mates, provoked a fight and then murdered him. His killing wasn’t commemorated in flags, banners and posters at Rangers either. No local boozer sponsored a memorial event in his name.
The EDL tried, briefly, to capitalise on it, but they didn’t have the “benefit” of TV cameras at the scene, and as it didn’t happen on the streets of the UK it didn’t have the same shock or propaganda value.
So why Lee Rigby? Why is this young man’s death such a worthy cause for people at Rangers? As good and decent a young man as he might have been (I don’t know him or anything about him really, and I’m betting few Rangers fans do either), what made his death different from those others? Those hundreds of others?
Why is his memory more sacred than theirs? Why is his name the one that rings out in the stands, and is emblazoned on banners?
Some of the people – not all of them, but some of them – have picked him for two reasons, and neither has anything to do with honouring the dead man.
There are links – undeniable and undisputed links – between Rangers and the far right, and everyone knows that full well.
The far right has appropriated the death of Lee Rigby for their own selfish, destructive ends and it would not exactly have shocked me to see banners in the Rangers end bearing his name regardless of other circumstances. There are people in this country who are determined to provoke some kind of major conflict with the Muslim community, and those people will stop at nothing. Some of them watch football, and some of them are Rangers fans. There’s no doubting that at all.
The second reason, and I suspect the one that’s even closer to the truth, is the series of internet rumours being spread about Celtic fans signing a song about the murder. Before I go on, let me go on the record as saying that I believe much of what I’ve heard about those “events” is plainly untrue, but I am not daft and I won’t act that way. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that there were a couple of drunken idiots in a pub somewhere who thought it might be funny.
If they exist, and doubtless these sort of people do, they are degenerate halfwits, and they don’t need to be dressed in club’s colours to let their fragmented brain cells flare and get them into trouble. They exist on the internet too, and they do, unfortunately, pollute football stands across the land.
They have no natural home anywhere, in civilisation. They are tuned to a different frequency from the rest of us. They don’t live in the same world.
So yes, a couple of drunk lads in a pub, a couple of halfwits probably so out of it on booze and brain-dead enough they think Aaron Seltzer’s movies are the height of comedic art, I can buy that. I can probably see that happening, and of course it is worhty of nothing less than outright condemntation.
What I don’t believe for a minute, what I know for a fact to be an utter falsehood, is that there were dozens, or hundreds, of Celtic fans involved in it, and it has nothing to do with refusing to believe that about “my own people.”
I don’t think there are many people, anywhere, who would stoop so low as that.
Let’s be blunt. A lot of this Lee Rigby nonsense comes down to folk wanting to feel morally superior to other people. Yet there are Enron executives who are morally superior to the kind of people who would sing a song mocking a murder victim.
This goes well beyond “banter”, beyond anti-social behaviour. This is purely and simply inhuman. It degrades those who sing it, as well as those they sing about. It pollutes the airwaves, and it makes the rest of us feel grubby and sick.
Do not think for one second that I am denying these people exist or making any allowances for, or excuses for, their behaviour. They aren’t any. They have none.
Yet as reprehensible as that is, it’s equally reprehensible to invent lies about such things as a means with which to attack other people you don’t like. It is disgusting to create an urban myth which dehumanises others in such a cold blooded manner.
Celtic. The club who’s fans mocked a murder victim. As if every supporter of the club was dancing on his grave. As if the entire institituion can be measured against the behaviour of a few drunken idiots.
This is a depraved way to try to score points.
It pisses on the dead. It disgraces their memory, because it uses that memory as a weapon. There is no honour or decency in doing it.
It corrupts the very idea of those things.
Those banners at Ibrox yesterday, those posters hung around the ground, those “memorials”, they didn’t speak of the dead man with reverence. They spoke of “lest we forget”, as though any one of us who saw those pictures ever could, or would.
For too many, they were about keeping a memory alive, but not the memory of the dead man or his life, but of the myth that surrounds songs that may or may not have been sung in a pub. Some of those people are not about remembering a life, but about keeping alive the circumstances of his death, and that’s not the same thing.
Before I go on, let me clearly state this does not apply to every Rangers fan who applauded that banner, or passed it around the ground. Almost all of us had the same visceral, sickened reaction to those pictures on TV, and it is right that we should focus more on the victim than we do on the killers. To do otherwise would be to give them what they want. I think it is right that, for once, the importance of the dead is elevated, and I am certain many at Ibrox feel the same way.
Yet I know some of those same people feel a profound sense of disquiet over the way in which this individual solider, of hundreds, has been turned into an Ibrox poster boy.They know full well the things that make his case different, and they are wary of the way in which some amongst their ranks are using his name.
Taken at their most literal, those banners and posters can be seen an open entreaty to hate. In the context of that section of the support which has allied itself to those determined to use this man’s memory to justify some kind of race war, they are a promise of some future revenge.
As such, they do not belong in a civilised society, far less a football stadium.
They are not gestures of respect but rallying calls to thought processes every bit as dangerous, and extreme, as those which motivated the men who committed this horrendous murder.
I have rarely been as appalled as I was yesterday when I saw a picture of the crass posters hung around Ibrox, bearing a dead man’s image, a half threat, the badges of Rangers and the name of a pub. They reminded me in a way of those garish images I saw in a newspaper, of a man who had chosen to celebrate the recent passage of the same-sex marriage laws by parading in a London street in a red leotard waving a three foot pink inflatable cock with yellow stars on it.
They were cheap, nasty and devalued the memory of the man.
There are some who will say I am reading more into those banners and posters than I should, but this insults our collective intelligence when no other member of the armed forces out of all those hundreds has been treated to a display like this.
The people who made those banners might just be stupid enough to have missed the inference, but I am going to give them more credit (if that’s the word) than that. Because it would take someone lacking any intelligence at all not to have seen it, and sure as Hell someone around them would have drawn their attention to the possibility of it being misread. It wasn’t misread.
I have no doubt in my mind that I’ve read them exactly as intended.
There is value to the idea that these things give comfort to the family, and that is something no-one should overlook. Yet I wonder at how many messages of “support” on the family Facebook page, or the Twitter feed, were nothing more than shameless attempts to publicise the myth? How many times at Ibrox, yesterday, did the family have to listen to some drunk yahoo lean over them and mouth something about those “terrorist loving bastards” at Celtic?
That has nothing to do with paying respect to their son.
At first they would have been puzzled by this, then possibly angry. Now I would guess they are weary, and fed up, with all of it. They would probably rather their son was allowed to go the way of all the others who have died in uniform, and for the “grief” to once more be the province of family and friends.
They will have realised there is more to some of this than that. They will, on some level, know their son’s name is being used to do great harm.
Yet something like this was always going to happen at Ibrox.
The way in which this club has decided to set itself up as some kind of voice of the troops, the way they’ve embraced militarism, and the glorification of war, is eerie and unsettling, and grown, in part, of a desire to embarrass Celtic over the now annual Poppy fest. Born of cheap point scoring, it was a matter of time before some section of the support found a way to truly plumb the depths.
It’s especially ironic that this week, in the House of Commons, the political face of this country changed with one of the most unexpected votes in my living memory. Our parliamentarians, scarred by the memory of sending British soldiers off to die on the basis of lies, decided that it would not allow the government of the day a blank cheque with which to set the machine of war in motion all over again.
No more of our young men and women will be put in harms way, to give political cover to those who lack the imagination to build a better world. We have safeguarded the lives of our soldiers, by refusing to send them to die needlessly.
It was a breathtaking repudiation of the last 10 years, a moment I think this country will look back on with pride in times to come, a moment when we stopped embracing the horror of conflict and turned away from it instead.
At Ibrox, yesterday, the club’s militaristic tendency met in perfect sync with the outriders of hate who have yet to learn that lesson. As per usual, these people are so far behind the rest of us you almost feel sorry for them.
Almost. The memory of Lee Rigby deserves better than this shabby, grubby point scoring. It deserves more than to be chiselled onto a monument of hate.
Shame on those who would use it as such. To those Rangers fans who do truly care about this young man, and the sacrifice he made, I say it’s time to let it go. It’s time to put this one aside, and let his family move on. There are ways to pay your respects that don’t involve such public displays.
In the end, this might very well not have been intended to give succour to the haters, but that is what it does, and what it will continue to do. You ought to realise this and let this young man rest in peace.
His death, like all death, was, when stripped of all the politics and PR, a tragedy.
It would be a greater tragedy to let those things define it.
Morning all. Drab down here today. How’s the mood on here? Any brighter?
Starry Plough
Thoughts with you and yours
YNWA
Starry, all the best for your Mum.
tonydonnelly67
08:35 on
2 September, 2013
See, even Messi got more positive things to say about Celtic than half the moaning attention seekers or % of Huns that come in here, PL haters, Board Haters pick the category you like and continue moaning, you will NEVER take the smile I have had on my face since last Wednesday , ach! And even before that, so moan away.
——————
Totally with you bro’………we are CELTIC
HH
hen1rik
08:35 on
2 September, 2013
Thanks for that.
Quick question
Window closed in Scotland – But not in England – I assume that means no loan deal possible for Man Utd player Buttner (spelling?) ?? Or is there a way round it ??
67ECW
Listening to the new material on Charlotte Fakeover twitter, it seems the dominos are starting to fall and Grier is the first of oor Craigie’s victims….cringe worthy and he loads the gun for Grier to shoot himself. Craigy boy must have recorded every single conversation he had with everyone involved
Starry, you your Mammy and all your family are in my thoughts today.
There is nothing like being in The Celtic Family and I never underestimate the support and comfort I draw from being a Tim through good times and hard times, faith, family and Celtic abide, they maintain my heart and soul….
See you on the other side Bhoys and Ghirls…
Play nice now!!
Hen1rik
Which Twitter user is the source of that critique of the five-way agreement?
It would be good to know. I didn’t read it all because it’s obvious from point two that the author is making a fundamental flaw, confusing Rangers with Sevco. The thing about the five-way agreement is that Rangers and Sevco are two of the five. If you don’t get that, you cannot analyse this.
Be advised my passport’s green……..
No glass of ours was ever raised
……to toast the Queen.
hen1rik
08:41 on 2 September, 2013
From James Forrest.
……………………………….
Wow, where to start with that. There is no doubt that anything Rangers now do with regard to the armed forces will be gauged against the jingoistic jamboree on Remembrance Day at half-time at Ibrox in 2012.
I watched this live on Rangers TV and was absolutely gob-smacked at the display of the troops in triumphalistic mode decked out in Orange scarfs etc while The Sash, Rule Brittania etc was belted out by the fans.
The most shocking thing to me was that the commentators on the TV broadcast seemed to think that this was perfectly acceptable!
A wee taste here from a fan who also thought this was great :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6d1TZE9ZFk
Best wishes to all those who have elderly parents ill in hospital. Myself included!
Just back from seeing my dad and he looked a whole lot better, thankfully. One of the first things he asked me was – “When can I go home?!”
On the way back I stopped off for a coffee (honest!). Two wummin sitting at a table outside – one of them was slugging a bottle of, wait for it, Tennents Super lager!
9 15 in the morning! Italy is going to the dogs!
HH!!
Starry Plough
thoughts and prayers mate. Stay strong.
Tallybhoy
positive news about your dad. Pleased to hear that.
That’s why I am convinced that the ones who come in here moaning about PL and the Board have another AGENDA , as in trying to get us to take our eye off the ball regarding the SFA SPFL , the 5 way agreement, these are the things we should be discussing, not ripping apart our club, our board and CEO’s, and I find that they are distracting the very large amount of intellectual people on this site ( I am not in that league) away from the real story and that is what I said above, we take our here and we are done for, let the moaners/ Huns/ attention seekers post what.they want, but keep your eye on the prize .
Given the list of free agents without a club just now. Anybody think we might make a move before the CL deadline?
Mladen Petric for one is up for grabs.
He is a natural goalscorer as well.
Tallybhoy
08:58
It’s not the Super Lager, old thing. It’s instant coffee in otherwise smart hotels. In Italy. Yeeeucchh. Sacrilege.
Jim White actually believes transfer deadline day is all about, ahem … Jim White.
——————————————————————————–
Goalkeepers:
Craig Gordon,Damien Rascle,Hilario SampaioIain Turner,Lee Camp,Peter Enckelman,Yves Makabu-Makalambay
——————————————————————————–
Defenders
Anton Ferdinand,Bob Malcolm,Breno Borges,Chris Baird,Diego Arismendi,Fabio Grosso,Francisco Pavon,Gonzalo Sorondo,Habib ,Cullingworth,Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe,John Mensah,Jonathan Fortune,Kenny Strickland,Lee Naylor,Michael Ball,Pablo Ibanez,Pascal Chimbonda,Paulo Ferreira,Ricardo Gardner,Rui Marques,Sammy Kuffour,Sammy Traore,Takura Mtandari Tamas Kadar,Thierry Gathuessi,Titus Bramble,Wayne Thomas,William Gallas
——————————————————————————–
Midfielders
Alieu Darbo,Amdy Faye,Astrit Adjarevic,Danny Murphy,David Bentley,Dean Parrett,Dwayne Mattis,Ewerthon,Fabian Yantorno,Ferne Snoyl,Ferrie Bodde,Fode Mansare,Francis Duran,Freddie Ljungberg,Gavin Williams,George Boateng,Geremi,Gianluca Zambrotta,Harry Kewell,Jason Lampkin,Khalifa Cisse,Lee Cook,Lewis Gobern,Liam Lawrence,Luciano Civelli,Luis Boa Morte,Mahamadou Diarra,Makhtar NDiaye,Mehmet Aurelio,Michael Johnson,Michael McIndoe,Mickael Tavares,Owen Hargreaves,Papa Bouba Diop,Philip Mulryne,Rob Brady,Robbie Foy,Robert Pires,Roudolphe Douala,Rudi Skacel,Salif Diao,Sam Dalla Bona,Simon Davies,Simon Vukcevic,Stephen Appiah,Stephen Hunt,Teemu Tainio,Thomas Hitzlsperger,Vicente Rodriguez
——————————————————————————–
Strikers
Aaron Spear,AdrianoAngelos, Charisteas,Aruna Dindane,Berlin Ndebe-Nlome,Bjorn Runstrom,Caleb Folan,Carlton Cole,Ched Evans,Cherno Samba,Cristian Tudor,Derek Riordan,Emile Mpenza,Filip Sebo,Goran Slavkovski,Jason Euell,John Carew,Jordan Robertson,Julius Aghahowa,Liam Dickinson,Louis Saha,Michael Mifsud,Mido,Mladen Petric,Pablo Counago,Phil Jevons,Richard Offiong,Robert Flik,Robert Mirosavic,Shabani Nonda
Stephen Appiah
A blast from the past
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi admits he is looking forward to returning to Celtic Park next month for another encounter with the Hoops.
Celtic and Barca meet, for what is becoming an annual Champions League fixture, on 1 October in Group H – with the Catalan club hoping to avenge their 2-1 defeat against Neil Lennon’s men last November.
The group of former European Champions also includes AC Milan and Ajax, but Messi is anticipating another special night at Celtic Park.
Messi said: I’ve been fortunate to play in some great stadiums in Europe with Barcelona but none compare to Celtic.
“The atmosphere their fans create make it a very special European night of football.
“I’m very excited to play at Celtic again in the group stages. Of course the last time we played in Scotland it was not a good result for us, but next time we will be looking to win.
“It’s the most competitive group and we know we can’t take nothing for granted.”
out of that i’d take a punt for 6 months on a couple of those defenders for left back.
Petric is a snip so is Julius Aghahowa for stirker
Please please please can we get Sebo?