Celtic Shareholders who put forward a resolution to the Celtic AGM in 2013 are preparing for the 2019 AGM tomorrow and some of their conclusions are reproduced below. Celtic are planning to vote the current resolution of 2019 down after several years of kicking the can down the road after an agreement to adjourn the 2013 motion was agreed at that AGM.
Given the weight of evidence, and the prevarication that has gone on for this extended period of time, you don’t have to be a student of politics to infer that Celtic are failing their own shareholders over this.
There appears to have been, at best, a failure of SFA governance over this issue. At worst? Well that doesn’t really bear thinking about. That Celtic (and other clubs too) have been in possession of the evidence outlined below but have failed to act on it is a damning indictment of the quality of people running our clubs. Peter Lawwell’s words from 2008 about the integrity of competition seem hollow coming from the same lips as the man who has failed to pursue any kind of sporting integrity over upholding the rules of the game.
Of course we are talking about a fundamental difference in how people see the game. There are those of us who (some say naively) consider that upholding the aspects of fair play and competition are paramount, and those who see the commercial aspects of the game as the foremost consideration. A pragmatist might find a way to accommodate both, but there are apparently no pragmatists in boardrooms all over Scotland – just financial accountants.
It would be unfair to categorise the latter constituency as suffering from some kind of character defect of course. Doesn’t make you a bad person because short term financial gain is your thing.
But it puts you at odds with the paying punters – or at least some of them. As a Celtic fan myself, I’m not so sure that I can take any real joy from my own club’s success if I have come to the conclusion that they themselves are happy with a rigged competition. I am not so sure I can credibly throw stones at anyone who is caught cheating when I see that serious evidence of malpractice is being ignored and hidden under the rug by my own club.
I am sure there are those who feel the same as I do. Are there enough of us? Probably not, but the effect of it all from a personal perspective, is that it disconnects me from the process where common goals and objectives are shared between fans, players and clubs. That’s what clubs are for after all isn’t it?
In short, if the game is rigged, there is no common objective.
And consequently, many of us, deprived of that shared mission, that bond broken, will be forced to re-evaluate their relationship with their clubs.
We all have our own thoughts, but the urge to walk away forever is strong with me.
The Resolution 12 Story
In 2012, Celtic shareholders brought a resolution before the Celtic PLC AGM which asked the Celtic Board to refer certain matters to UEFA because they felt that the Scottish Football Association was compromised, no longer fit for purpose in relation to these matters, at least, and had failed Celtic and all the other football clubs in Scotland and in its duty as a Governing body, and it has separately failed UEFA as the Licensing Authority appointed by UEFA to grant licences to play in European Football in relation to Scottish teams.
The actual wording used was as follows;
“This AGM requests the Board exercise the provision contained in the Procedural Rules Governing the UEFA Club Financial Control Body Article 10 with jurisdiction and investigation responsibilities identified in articles 3 & 11 (Note 1), by referring/bringing to the attention of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), the licensing administration practices of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), requesting the CFCB undertake a review and investigate the SFA’s implementation of UEFA & SFA license compliance requirements, with regard to qualification, administration and granting of licenses to compete in football competitions under both SFA and UEFA jurisdiction, since the implementation of the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations of 2010.”
The response of the Celtic Board was to argue that this resolution was NOT NECESSARY because the board itself had already recognised that there had been failings within the SFA Licensing process, and they were already in correspondence with the SFA in relation to much the same issue.
The difference between the board and the Resolutioners was that the board wanted to continue corresponding with the SFA rather than refer the matter to UEFA or anyone else, whereas the Resolutioners argued that the SFA were hopelessly compromised, were unfit for purpose, could not of themselves remedy the situation they had created, and so wanted to refer the matter to UEFA as an independent and overseeing body whose rules had been flaunted, broken, ignored and to be frank, completely manipulated as a result of SFA inaction and inactivity.
After much discussion between the board and the Resolutioners, it was reluctantly agreed that the resolution should be adjourned and to allow the SFA to be given the opportunity to demonstrate that they could operate as a proper Governing body should and to answer all and any questions put to them via the Celtic PLC board and , where appropriate, the Resolutioners and ,if necessary, their solicitors.
In the interim period, it has become clear to the Resolutioners that the SFA are not fit for purpose, just as they originally argued, and that they are not, and never could have been, the appropriate body to consider and determine the failings in the licensing system that the Resolutioners had complained of.
This is not merely opinion on the part of the Resolutioners but is the determination and judgement of a formally constituted judicial panel appointed by the SFA itself.
The Resolutioners complain that the SFA have failed, and continue to fail in the following areas;
- They failed to oversee a fair and robust European Licence application process before and after March 2011 in respect of the appropriate season.
They had failed to mount any sort of investigation despite being contacted by HMRC from 2006 onwards in relation to the unlawful activities of a member club – they should have had a watching brief and requested regular updates from HMRC directly but didn’t. - They failed to properly apply the necessary tests demanded by UEFA in considering licence applications, and subsequently, through their then CEO, sought to justify their licensing process and the grant of certain licences on a number of different contradictory grounds – none of which stood scrutiny.
- They failed to monitor, update their records or make specific enquiries between 30th March 2011 and Mid May 2011 when the list of application grants was formally intimated to UEFA – and by which time there was widespread public rumour and speculation about the state of the tax affairs of a member club together with specific legal documents which outlined that there was indeed a tax bills due which would have disqualified that club from being granted a UEFA licence – had the rules been applied properly.
- They failed to grasp the situation between March 2011 and August 2011 when the Sheriff Officers were seen arriving at the same club and had still made no enquiry.
- They failed to carry out any monitoring duties at all post the grant of the licence, with then CEO Reagan telling Celtic that once a European licence was granted – which it was in April 2011 – all further compliance monitoring and any necessary action was the province of UEFA. This was later contradicted by UEFA themselves.
- They failed to monitor through the June 30th and September 30th, two key datelines specified with the UEFA regulations, and there exists a damning e-mail from one SFA officer to the offending club which effectively says that he hopes UEFA will be too busy to notice the deficiencies in the latest submissions sent by the SFA to UEFA in respect of the club concerned.
Throughout, the SFA denied that there were any failures in their procedures, that licences had been correctly granted, there had been no breaches of the rules and maintained that their procedures had been audited and approved by UEFA during the period.
According to the official UEFA website, no such Audit actually took place with the same website confirming which Football Associations were in fact audited at the relevant time. There is no mention of any SFA Audit.
The SFA claimed that not only was there nothing wrong with the grant of the licence, but that there was nothing for them to report during the post grant period as it was not their responsibility – and then added that even if something had been wrong, or was later found to be wrong with the grant, they could not report the matter to UEFA and could take no action because they were time barred from doing so.
Post the Craig Whyte Trial, where long held evidence was publicly noted and commented upon, Celtic and the SPFL publicly called for there to be a full independent Legal inquiry into all that had transpired during “the EBT years” and all aspects of how what had occurred, impacted on football Governance in Scotland.
The SFA rejected those calls and instead insisted on their own internal inquiry into the UEFA licence process for 2011/2012 – despite previously insisting that there had never been anything to investigate or report to UEFA who had entrusted them with the administration of their Licensing process.
The SFA wrote to every club in Scotland to say they were undertaking that investigation and later publicly announced that as a result of that investigation they had uncovered sufficient evidence to justify bringing formal charges alleging breaches of both SFA and UEFA rules.
This despite denying for a number of years that there had been any need for an investigation and despite reassuring Celtic that their licensing process was robust, had been conducted properly, and had not resulted in any incorrect grant of a licence.
The SFA appointed a judicial panel to hear those charges, determine whether they had been proven or not and then to hand out an appropriate punishment.
That Judicial panel have ruled that legally they (the SFA appointed panel) and the SFA itself cannot bring, hear, determine and act on those charges, nor consider the activities of the football club concerned in any judicial forum, because apparently the SFA had previously decided and formally entered into a contract which says that the SFA will not, and cannot, administer their normal Governmental and Judicial function (which would normally apply to any other club in Scotland and at any other time in the history of the SFA or UEFA) in relation to the acts concerned and the specific football club in question.
Instead, the Panel ruled that the charges concerned should be considered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport as a matter of contract and law – and could not be considered by an SFA appointed panel.
In other words, it has been judicially determined that the SFA cannot as a matter of law enforce its own rules or those of UEFA in relation to one club, and have signed away their entire right to oversee proper football Governance and the implementation of SFA and UEFA rules in this instance.
Further, that contract must have been known to all the appropriate SFA officers who decided and took part in the inquiry that led to the SFA bringing the disciplinary charges – Stuart Reagan, Andrew MacKinlay and Tony McGlennan – and when the SFA rejected Celtic’s call for a fully independent inquiry.
In effect, those same officers mounted their own internal inquiry and brought proceedings which they knew, or ought reasonably to have known, which would end in a legal dead end.
Such a course of action amounts to professional incompetence on a monumental scale – at best!
Further, subsequent SFA officials, assured the officers of Celtic Football Club that following the decision of the Independent Judicial Panel there was no reason why the SFA would not take the matter to CAS and in turn used the officials of Celtic Football Club to relay that message to the Resolutioners in the knowledge, and with the intention, that Celtic PLC shareholders would rely on those assurances and would act accordingly. Those actions and those assurances should now be the subject of a wholly separate inquiry.
Since those assurances were made to Celtic officials, Solicitors acting on behalf of shareholders have written to the SFA on no less than three occasions requesting clarification on what the SFA is doing, whether or not the decision from the independent tribunal advising that the matter should go to CAS will be implemented, and requesting a proposed timetable when this will happen. All such letters have been ignored or avoided by the SFA.
Subsequently, the current CEO of the SFA has stated that whether or not the matter should go to CAS will only be determined prior to Christmas 2019 – some 18 months after the ruling by the independent judicial panel.
This position is a complete volte face from what the SFA told Celtic officials immediately after the 2018 panel hearing.
The conclusion to all of this can only be that the SFA is not fit for purpose and that the governance of Scottish football is so bad, so broken and so far removed from normal judicial and corporate business practice that it must be looked at by an independent body if the matter is not referred to CAS.
Further, all of this must be made public, must be out in the open and must be properly disclosed otherwise any future investment in any club whether by private individuals, stock market listed entities, banks, loan houses, credit houses or whatever is predicated on the wholly fraudulent notion that the SFA will consistently apply its own rules or those of UEFA.
Celtic, as a respected member of UEFA, should not and cannot, stand back and allow this shambolic governance to continue unchecked and without external examination as to do so would be doing a total disservice to UEFA, and such a course of action would potentially make Celtic a party to the entire shambolic administration we have seen thus far.
The resolutioners have stated consistently since 2012 that SFA governance is not fit for purpose and have requested that this entire matter should be referred to UEFA as the overall governing body for European football and as a footballing authority who has entrusted the SFA to oversee the fair application of its rules in Scotland.
Despite what is now accepted as continued and regular SFA failure, that request has met with obfuscation and resistance.
However persistence beats resistance and no matter what the outcome of the 2019 Celtic AGM this is an issue which will not go away and is worthy of consideration and determination in a more formal legal forum.
https://twitter.com/deaks1ey/status/1208163075393753090
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard blames Hibs bench for sparking angry touchline rammy
Now , all the videos I've seen show him leading the charge , then seemingly remembering where/who he is , and backing off quietly .
I definitely don't want VAR in the Scottish game.
Our referees are truly hopeless but i think VAR will just make them worse. Imagine how long the Glasgow derby would take as the ref refers to var for every decision ,terrified to make a mistake.
Absolute scenes at Easter Road yesterday evening. I await the forthcoming summit with great interest. Perhaps if VAR was in situ then the kerfuffle involving both sets of coaching staff could be sorted out quickly.
easyJambo 20th December 2019 at 23:30
What is not in dispute is that the club’s progress in the EL will provide substantial income in excess of what they had budgeted in their cash flow forecasts. They only signed Kent after they qualified for the group stages, so those elements may balance themselves. Their subsequent results and progress to the knock out stages must be a bonus.
……………………
The gamble to sign players you can’t afford to get the club further in europe so that you can afford the players, is paying off for king at the moment.
I was looking at the practicalities of implementing VAR and found this informative .
http://hottechgadgetnews.com/var-how-many-cameras-are-used-for-turf-technology/
It's a quiet night on the blog, so I have spent some few minutes having a read at the 'UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill ', which passed its third stage in the Scottish Parliament the other day.
What's on the Parliament's website is still the text of the 'Bill' and not yet the text of the 'Act', although I think that what appears on the website is the version of the Bill as passed which will be the 'Act', all and any amendments made earlier having been debated and voted upon' The link is
http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Bills/UEFA%20European%20Championship%20Bill/SPBill54S052019.pdf
I have a wee personal experience of attempted ticket touting going back to 1966
In that year, I was asked to drive my brother , brother-in-law, and brother-in-law's pal to Liverpool to see a match.
Not having driven further than Carlisle at that time, I was pleased to agree.
The three of them had tickets for the game. I did not.(God's honest, I was skint, 'between jobs' and toiling to keep up the payments on the car! God bless my mum and dad [whose grave my brother and I visited the other day]for their patience with me at that time)
In the days before satnav, you had to use maps, and in cities you thought nothing of winding down (!) your window to ask the traffic policeman on 'points' duty at an intersection whether you were on the right road to, in this case, Anfield.
The policeman I asked, who bore a striking resemblance to PC Graham in 'Z Cars', very helpfully and cheerfully assured me that , yes, I was on the right road… turn left at the next lights, carry on for a half mile… etc. All car windows now open, we all began to thank him and I prepared to move off.
And 'PC Graham' bent forward , and genially hoped we would enjoy the game, and just as genially remarked ' ..and I hope you get f.cking beat!'
Anyway, having arrived at the ground and parked , we made our way to the turnstiles, with my brother saying we might be able to buy a ticket for me. Sure enough , there was a wee guy standing there holding a ticket in his hand, 'ticket here' he said, offering it for sale.
In a trice he was surrounded by four quite tall ( relative to him) chaps, two of whom were actually quite hard looking ,hard muscled men in the building trade. My brother said 'Let's see the ticket', and more or less snatched it from his hand., and said to me that it was in a different section from theirs, but did I want it? I said yes, and he gave the guy the price that was on the ticket.
You know, I still feel a twinge of guilt!
But the memory of that made me think about ticket touting.
And a possible weakness in the anti-touting law. Shouldn't people who are prepared to pay or attempt to pay a tout a premium above the face value of a ticket ( because they've got more money than sense) be prosecuted?
If there were no buyers, there would be no sellers?
Just in passing, can I say that Mrs C and I had a very nice afternoon walking about Princes Street gardens in and among all the stalls and merry-go-rounds, like in George Square and St Enoch Square in Glasgow .
As it happened we bumped into two old friends of ours that we haven't seen for years, beside one o' they stalls where you throw things to try to win a prize.
This stall invited you to throw three balls into a kind of narrow-necked bin, about three or four feet distant, to win a big teddy-bear [ no football reference: not much of a market for TRFC in Edinburgh, is there?]
My old friend and I looked at the charge for the privilege of throwing 3 balls: £4.00!
And seeing my astonishment , explained that the lowest price any of the stallholders in Princes St gardens paid to have their stall for the four (I think)weeks of the 'festive period' was £10,000.
And I think to myself: what must the stallholders have to be charging us for anything we buy, if they have to find two and a half grand just for their rent? How many sales of tat and fast food and chair-o-plane rides etc must they make, in order to make any kind of profit?
But it is clearly worth their while, else they wouldn't be doing it!
Call me Scrooge if you like, but really! How stupid we all are when we allow ourselves to be hyped up by hype!
In the same way as Scottish football governance was so taken in by the hype and threats of CG as to turn itself into a propaganda machine for (in its own way) as evil a piece of lying as ever came from the The Third Reich!
John Clark 21st December 2019 at 23:18
In a similar vein , we were staying in Tuscany, Borgo a Mozzano , courtesy of (still) friend Marco , and were short of one ticket for our group for the match against Brazil . The worthless SFA had us all over the place promising tickets (some of which had been paid for but never materialsed ) so we went up to Turin on match day in the hope we'd all get tickets . We found out that anybody with a Brazillian passport could buy as many tickets as they wanted from their Embassy ,and the tickets were being sold on with a massive mark up . We did the negotiation in the nearby bar , and the Brazilian guy went to the Embassy , came back with tickets , and duly ripped us off . Unfortunately for him , he dropped a small wad of notes on the floor , and one of our company duly put a foot over it until the guy departed . We ended up quids in , and enjoyed seeing us lose a game that Brazil wanted to lose , as they feared meeting Argentina in the knockouts , and Argentina duly put them out . Earlier in the tournament in Genoa , we met a group of Scotland supporters who had pooled their spendies to buy a book of match tickets , and were sellng them on at face value to Scotland fans to defy the touts . They had to be protected by a rolling maul from the Italian police who would have arrested them and confiscated the tickets . The first group march I was involved in was in Turin , as it was the only way to guarantee safety for fans getting to the stadium . As an aside , all the bars were closed to Scotland fans until midnight after the that match , but we'd filled the boot of the car with cheap beer, and had a swally anyway . I also had the privelige of meeting Fish from Marillion in the said bar in Turin , also looking for tickets , and to my shame , the first words that came out of my mouth were " Yer music's sh*te , big man " . He accepted the compliment graciously !
https://twitter.com/ianwsmith82/status/1208463443491196929?s=21
Football and BBC Scotland.
I see the totally unbiased BBC asked outgoing Aberdeen Chairman Stewart Milne whether Peter Lawwell has too much power in Scottish football. That will be the same Peter Lawwell who wrote to the SFA asking for an independent inquiry to be held into how the SFA handed the Rangers EBT situation. It is also the same Stewart Milne who instantly came out to veto it and tell everyone to move on. The SFA response to Lawwell was basically 'get it right up you, no-one else cares'. Of course we could never expect the BBC to ask any searching questions of that. We can't have anyone getting their apron strings in a tangle can we!
The BBC are a disgrace. The power base in Scottish football remains where it has always been, and it certainly doesn't lie with a club that many in Scotland still regard as socially and morally inferior.
Bill1903 21st December 2019 at 08:01
I definitely don't want VAR in the Scottish game.
Our referees are truly hopeless but i think VAR will just make them worse. Imagine how long the Glasgow derby would take as the ref refers to var for every decision ,terrified to make a mistake.
=================
Sorry Bill, I have to disagree. VAR gets far more right than it does wrong, and not every decision is referred to it in any case. I agree about our Referees being hopeless, but they are not helped by so many cheating players either.
On a more controversial note I might soften my attitude to VAR if the SFA introduced a refereeing recruitment policy that is open to all. At the moment it is heavily weighted in favour of Scottish people from Lanarkshire who grew up supporting Rangers. That in itself is not evidence of bias on the field of play of course, but the fact (and it is a fact) that it is the SFA's favoured policy is concerning to say the least. What makes people from that background so much more suitable than non-Scots, non-Lanarkshire people, and non-Rangers fans?
upthehoops 22nd December 2019 at 10:00
'..the same Stewart Milne who instantly came out to veto it and tell everyone to move on.'
+++++++++++++++
A wee song sung by a bare-footed Sandie Shaw in 1967 had the words 'like a puppet on a string' among its lyrics. That wee song just popped into my head for some reason.
Guys like Milne we can do without , guys who want to bury truth under constant cries to us all to"move on, going forward!"
Is there something about property developers?
I was idly wondering which whistler had refereed the most Ladbrokes Premiership games this season. It's an easily found statistic, available at:
https://www.soccerbase.com/referees/home.sd?comp_id=12
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scottish-premiership/schiedsrichter/wettbewerb/SC1
There's been 111 matches in the competition, overseen by 15 different Category One referees (there are 33 Category One officials listed in the SFA 2019-20 Handbook, BTW. What's 'wrong' with the other 18?).
That's an average of 7.4 matches per 'utilised' referee. The lowest figure is 3 for Gavin Duncan (and no Premiership match since 09.11.19, although he has refereed two League One matches in the interim) & the highest number of matches handled is 11 by John Beaton, including matches on 04.12.19 & 07.12.19.
Regardless of what we think about VAR, it looks like it's coming to the Scottish top flight anyway – because that is what UEFA / FIFA want.
The introduction of VAR could – and should – be the catalyst for a thorough review of the whole match officiating structure, (and its performance and complaints), conducted by the SFA, SPFL, the clubs,
…and maybe the paying customers could be asked for their opinions as well? (Too radical?!)
EVERY Scottish football supporter must want the best possible standards for match officials?
VAR should be an improvement, and more so given time.
But, VAR should be only one element of a top to bottom review – and change – of match officiating.
…so I fully expect the SFA/SPFL to simply introduce VAR.
And not just any VAR, but a 'Scottish football version' of VAR.
You just know they'll cock it up…
StevieBC 22nd December 2019 at 13:59
"…..EVERY Scottish football supporter must want the best possible standards for match officials?"
++++++++++++++++++
Sadly, StevieBC, when the very Governance body has abandoned any notion of honest governance, it is morally impossible for it to talk in terms of high standards of integrity and competence being demanded of match officials.
Scottish Football is living a lie: a lie created at the very top and for the grubbiest of self-serving reasons.
For as long as they live that lie Scottish Football governance must be viewed as corrupt, and not to be trusted.
The crass, wicked men who sold their souls to CG/Sevco/TRFC can be expected to behave like dogs returning to their vomit if circumstances required the creation of another new club.
Make no mistake about that!
Jingso.Jimsie 22nd December 2019 at 11:59
I was looking at the Transfermarkt link to referees that you posted and noticed in the banner that 167 of 310 players are foreign to our country , 53.9% . I would imagine that a fair number of them would be English . Welsh or Irish , but that would leave a rather large number who aren't qualified to play for the national team . Mibbes after Brexit we could go back to the three foreigners rule or similar to help our players progress . Sorry for the politics . (also that the most expensive player is Mohamed Elyounoussi at £13.50m . Saying nothing about the record holding champions !).
John Clark
I have a wee personal experience of attempted ticket touting
……………….
Since it’s quite.
All the way down to London Docklands, no ticket and had given up hope, last min a big guy got out a car just as i sat down on the pavement. “Anyone want to buy a ticket” Snapped it up, got in and as i sat down the man in the next seat leaned over and asked how i got the ticket for that seat.
The man had told me he had bought 5 tickets for the family and at the last min his daughter fell ill, So when he parked his car Half an hour ago he sold the spare ticket for face value to someone. I then explained i had just bought the ticket minutes ago from a tout for 5 times the face value, The look on his face.
paddy malarkey 22nd December 2019 at 01:05
———————–
Since it's quiet.
9 days earlier I found myself in a bar in Rapallo, near Genoa, trying to drown my sorrows after the Costa Rica match with soft drinks. Who should roll up but a seriously inebriated M. Johnston and J. Bett. This was not the time to annoy any of the Tartan Army, let alone the CFC supporters in there. Seeing the way things were going, Bett had the sense to phone the Scotland HQ up the road, and Roy Aitken arrived in the nick of time to summon Johnston. Aitken has a natural air of authority and was the model of decency, apologising to the fans and offering to buy drinks as he huckled a sheepish Johnston off the premises.
We are in the middle of a calm period – usual for Christmas – where little is being said about the corruption, cheating and complicity which is now the norm in our game.
Sadly it appears to have emerged that more than one club is involved in telling barefaced lies, sometimes to the authorities, sometimes to their own fans.
I am pretty sure that evidence of that kind of mendacity will emerge before long. It will then be an opportunity for everyone who insists they are on the side of sporting integrity to walk the walk.
We shall see.
BTW, Jim Craig has asked me to pass on his Christmas greetings to you all. He got his felicitations in early as he is in New Zealand at the moment attending his son's wedding.
The SFM mods can wait a little longer until Christmas Eve to emulate and reciprocate.
https://twitter.com/FansScarves/status/1208908502477033472/photo/1
Someone has had a word in the SFA’s ear.
Some people having login problems today. Working on it right now. Clearing browser cache will hopefully sort
Cheers , BP .Sorted .
Hopefully now there will also be efforts made at other stadia , including at Parkhead and Ibrox , to combat and eradicate this behaviour. Doesn't happen there , did I hear you say ?
I will get my Christmas best wishes in early to all on the monitor, mods, & management, as I will undoubtedly be busy or pissed the next few days…..All the best !
To all the Italia '90 writers…..We must have been yards from each other at times. Fine memories !. Left with Roughies gloves, from a practise session in Rapallo, and a ba' hoofed at us by Roy Aitken. We gave them to a wee Engerlundish boy, (Scottish da)……..Along wi a few sips of beer when his da wasn't watching..
Actually they were Leighton's gloves…..Clearly the wee boy wasn't drinking enough of my beer.
Hope you and yours all have a great festive season and an even better 2020 !
We got relieved of some tartan stuff in Turin by locals as Engerland were visiting after us and we were going home , and they wanted them to feel welcome . Left us our kilts though !
paddy malarkey 23rd December 2019 at 20:37.
We struggled to get a hotel in Turin, but met a wee Italian wummin frae Maryhill, (back in Italy after divorce). She took us to an hotel on the outskirts where she knew the owners. We only stayed 3 or 4 nights, but she came down every morning before work to cook us a "Scottish breakfast". Italian sausage, baconny ham and egg swimming in olive oil…..
Had to force it down, but the hotel was chokka with Brazilians, so it was worth it. She got our jerseys for her sons before we left.
I was a lot more innocent then than now, and won't go out of my way to watch them on the telly now.
A shame really, but I just can't bring myself to follow what I consider to be the "SFA team".
I sometimes wonder at the language I have used in some of my posts on the blog.
On occasion, I have felt that it may have bordered on the harshly intemperate and possibly may have been seen by some as being unnecessarily vitriolic.
But harsh words in defence of Truth against the inveterate unrepentant denial of truth by men who know they are liars does no harm equal to the the harm that Lies have done to Scottish Football.
The very second that any one of the liars involved in the 5-way Agreement and the nonsense of 'continuity-after-Liquidation-Rangers' confesses openly to the lies, I will embrace him as a brother, all ill-will dispelled….conditional of course on appropriate governance action being taken to have the Truth simply acknowledged and record books etc put to rights.
It is almost certain that not one TRFC supporter's season book would be torn up, and not one walk-up's gate money would be lost, if it were to be publicly acknowledged that TRFC is NOT RFC of 1872.
The mental and emotional gymnastics that at present allow the 'Rangers' support to delude themselves would not, perhaps, be altered: but no one cares what their delusions may be, as long as 'Official' Football recognises that RFC of 1872 is no more and that TRFC has won nothing in its short life other than the 3rd and 2nd divisions' and the championship's league flags.
But I wish even the families of the 'Liars' as well as the general run of TRFC fans, as ordinary human beings, as happy and innocent a time of family peace and joy over the next few days as I hope to have.
And, of course, it goes without saying that I wish the same in spades for my fellow-posters on this sfm.scot blog!
.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/hibs-hailed-for-identifying-rangers-missile-throwers-as-neil-doncaster-condemns-incident/ar-BBYhNQe?ocid=spartandhp
"…And SPFL chief executive Doncaster has gave credit to the home side for swiftly addressing the issue as he branded the behaviour 'unacceptable'."
Mr Doncaster, none better, knows that there are other things done, not by isolated 'fans' in the heat of the moment, but by coldly calculating , lying, besuited executives sitting in Board rooms around the country and/or on the Sixth Floor at Hampden, that are even more unacceptable.
And we will not forget just who was in the middle of it all.
There were two CEOs.
One had to go.
The other must surely follow!
Corrupt official 23rd December 2019 at 22:17
Like yourselves , we found ourselves without accomodation . We had an hotel reservation in Alessandria, but there were folks in our rooms that had paid fortunes by the time we arrived . So it was a long drive down the coastal road (soberest driving , wrang side of the road , lots of tunnels with the occasional sight of the sea .) I was co pilot and kept dropping off . How the driver managed is beyond me . Anyhoo , we arrived back in Borgo about daybreak . The next bit might be hallucination , but we dumped the car , and me and the driver crossed the river and went for a stroll in the absolutely gorgeous dawn , with a couple of beers and some herbal cigarettes ( which were legal up until the week before we arrived ! ) . A big black limo pulled up beside us at Ponte della Maddalena (or the Devil's Bridge) and a back window rolled down . A Scottish voice asked " Are you alright , lads ? " , us stoating about in the middle of nowhere in kilts and tops . My mate replied "Aye , we stay ower there ." There was mirth in the motor as it left us , and I'll swear that it was Andy Roxburgh's wee wizened face laughing at us . If he looks in , he could mibbes confirm , but I am certain ! There's tons more from that trip , which is why I'd like to see us qualify for tournament finals again -what a life experience . And if you ever find yourself in Tuscanny , visit Borgo a Mozzano – absolutely beautiful with the loveliest people you could wish to meet .In my cups so might be a bit maudlin !
Not that I in any way condone the bottle thrower's action, of course( my post of 00.34 above)- I'd deal with him as I would deal with any pyrotechnic idiot and would-be criminal assaulter.
But the men in suits, the greedy, grasping leeches who coldly and calmly sell their personal moral integrity and the very concept of sporting integrity for profit's sake are more evil and wicked than some terracing lout.
And much more damaging to the rest of us.
John Clark 24th December 2019 at 00:34
" has gave " ? Deary me !
paddy malarkey 24th December 2019 at 00:58
'…In my cups so might be a bit maudlin !.'
+++++++++++
Not at all!
Those were good days, days when we respected Scottish Football , and were respected in world football.
And you capture that wonderful feeling of solidarity that I felt decades before you with a Scotland team abroad.
A lovely story, well told, if I my say so.
John Clark 24th December 2019 at 01:05
They'll be loving this in the Hampden bunker , idiots taking the heat off them and turning scrutiny in a different direction . You sometimes wonder if some of this isn't orchestrated , just filtered down to base level . Too convenient for me , sometimes .
John Clark 24th December 2019 at 01:16
Cheers , JC . Unfortunately , these clowns have ripped the soul from Scottish football , in pursuit of their dream business landscape . Imo , the same sh*t is happening at Parkhead and Ibrox , fans being sold a pup but expected to pay for it's upkeep .
Sorry , wasn't allowed to edit the last post (if only for the SFA ! ) . Was meant to end " and that of it's previous owners " , if that makes sense ! It's like the RFC ans who have now aligned themselves with TRFC – they need something to support . Same with me supporting Thistle and Scotland – it's in the blood and you'll do it regardless of what people think of you . These parasites know that and are willing to suck you dry .
“English football’s racism crisis took a new twist…”
”Rangers announce new partnership with Orange County SC”
“Covert, racially biased decisions are often hidden or rationalised with an explanation that society is more willing to accept”
paddy malarkey 24th December 2019 at 01:20
'..You sometimes wonder if some of this isn't orchestrated , '
++++++
There is no doubt in my mind that among the ordinary flow of discussion on the sfm.blog diversionary posts are put in ( as Putin's folk would do!) to take people's attention away from the lies.
The baddies know first, that they are baddies, and second, that we know that they are baddies!
They are on the defensive, arguing a case that they themselves know to be nonsense. They know the reach that this blog has as a forum for truth telling.
Try as any lying lawyer (called out by a Judge as such ) or any of his masters or the PR people for his(and their ) masters may to prevent it, the actual truth remains the truth.
And no attempts by them to get us to 'move on, going forward' will succeed.
John Clark 24th December 2019 at 02:00
We're sitting in a car with a broken engine – it's going nowwhere bar the scrappies . Looks good on the outside , though . Can't move forward until it's fixed . Thanks for your company , spleen vented !
Good to be back posting again after a few days with login problems on three different browsers and my phone. Thanks to Big Pink for his help.
I've been keeping myself amused by following the twitter discussion about the 2011/12 licence between Auldheid, Fanswithoutscarves and steerpike/lawman/jasboyd or whatever handle he uses these days.
As ever with steerpike (et al), all he seems interested in is taking the discussion down to the minutia of the licensing procedures to find some ambiguity in wording that supports his position, while ignoring the weight of evidence against his argument. He does accept that Rangers "probably" lied at the monitoring points, but for some reason that all seems perfectly fine by him, most likely because it can be blamed on Craig Whyte. He's still arguing that the grant of the licence following the March 11 submission was all hunky dory and above board, though. The discussion, like all similar ones before, will ultimately end up going round in circles, with no chance of anyone changing their entrenched views.
UEFA appears to have come down on the side of "continuity Rangers" in their financial distribution for the Europa League last season, details of which were published at the end of last week.
https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/63/74/66/2637466_DOWNLOAD.pdf
TRFC received €857,160 for its coefficient which is based on the last 10 years UEFA performance plus any historic trophy wins and is probably three or four times as much as the "new Rangers" would have received based on its own record.
For comparison, Celtic earned €2,285,760 for its coefficient element.
The above is not unexpected, as UEFA appear to accept "new clubs" as "continuity clubs" if they play in the same stadium, colours etc. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sings the same songs as a duck then it’s probably a clone.
easyJambo 24th December 2019 at 12:25 UEFA appears to have come down on the side of "continuity Rangers" in their financial distribution for the Europa League last season, details of which were published at the end of last week. https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/63/74/66/2637466_DOWNLOAD.pdf TRFC received €857,160 for its coefficient which is based on the last 10 years UEFA performance plus any historic trophy wins and is probably three or four times as much as the "new Rangers" would have received based on its own record. For comparison, Celtic earned €2,285,760 for its coefficient element. The above is not unexpected, as UEFA appear to accept "new clubs" as "continuity clubs" if they play in the same stadium, colours etc. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sings the same songs as a duck then it’s probably a clone.
_______________________
'Clone Rangers'. Seems to have a certain ring to it, EJ. No longer 'bears', then, more a case of 'Dollys' (the Sheep).
TRFC does kind of fit in this following definition of 'clone':
'NOUN
biology an organism or cell, or group of organisms or cells, produced asexually* from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical.'
The bit in italics seems rather apt. Think about it. They took the DNA (assets) of RFC, and that included a good helping of the original bigotry, along with the gene that produces an acceptance of cheating and lying and expectation of privilege and aid from football's governance, added a 'The' and hey presto…football's equivalent of Dolly the Sheep.
*not so sure about the asexually bit, though, for they certainly f…ed Scottish football.
I was looking at the finer detail of VAR and the minimum requirements for it's implememtation and was surprised to find it can be done using only four cameras . And also that the provision of offside lines is not a minimum requirement .
https://football-technology.fifa.com/media/171902/var-iaap-technology-tests.pdf
PM, that's a very interesting article about VAR.
I noticed that it was published in March 2018 – i.e. 21 months ago.
…and presumably, there would have been several months of discussions with FA's before finalising this document?
So this begs the questions;
– What EXACTLY has the SFA and SPFL done WRT the preparation for the implementation of VAR – over the last 2 years?
(Given that VAR doesn't seem optional for 'top league', in the long term.)
&
– Was this FIFA paper discussed during the 'Refereeing Summit' in Perth last February?
The only detail released from that meeting with the SPL Managers was that, (and I paraphrase);
'VAR would be looked at', and that 'costs were prohibitive'.
At the very least – you would think – that the SFA would be obliged to distribute any VAR material to SPL Managers directly, to ensure that they are aware of future developments in the Scottish game?
StevieBC 24th December 2019 at 15:36
Stevie , IFAB wrote VAR into the laws of the game on March 3 , 2018 . IFAB is comprised of of five members: the four British football associations: England ( The FA ), Scotland ( SFA ), Northern Ireland ( IFA ), Wales ( FAW ) as well as FIFA who represents its other football associations. So the SFA have been involved from the very start , long before it was adopted into football laws . I would imagine that the SFA have been keeping their member clubs in the loop from day one (or not ).
A bit more detail here .
https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-laws/ifab.html
Surprised ?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50904552
paddy malarkey 24th December 2019 at 19:30
—————————————–
No update on the "potential" referral of the TRFC case to CAS (by Christmas) though. In fact there's been no official update since 19 July 2018. I can't recall if Ian Maxwell said which Christmas he was referring to.
Big Sam's appeal kicked oot! Don't know anybody, including two celtic supporters in the pub tonight, that agreed with that! You guys, UTH especially, don't have a monopoly on paranoia. Not saying for a minute that the result would have been different but we do miss out top scorer for two games for a shocking decision (in my opinion after seeing several replays)
easyJambo 24th December 2019 at 19:43
No update on the "potential" referral of the TRFC case to CAS (by Christmas) though. In fact there's been no official update since 19 July 2018. I can't recall if Ian Maxwell said which Christmas he was referring to.
================================
The Celtic Board pretty much left the SFA an open door to push at during the last AGM, I would imagine the only issue left for the SFA is the wording of the statement to say they will do nothing, even though they already say there is a case to answer.
So Santa is almost here and I expect the forum will be pretty quiet over the next two days going by past experience.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish a very merry Christmas to each and every one of you and your families.
bordersdon 24th December 2019 at 20:45
Big Sam's appeal kicked oot! Don't know anybody, including two celtic supporters in the pub tonight, that agreed with that!…
======
As it is quiet…
I took the family to the game, and we were seated close to the location of the Cosgrove tackle.
In real-time I thought it was a perfectly good tackle.
A good old fashioned, hefty tackle – and any contact with Ajer was after contact with the ball.
I watched it several times on TV and still thought the same.
But others have said that this type of tackle is regarded as 'reckless' in today's rules (?).
If that is true, then I don't the rules of the game anymore.
…and how does Cosgrove's tackle compare to a 'seen by the referee' kick to the goolies, stamp on the back, etc… ?
Been having log in issues for weeks and thought I'd give it another shot tonight. The bad news is , I'm back.
Merry Christmas
StevieBC 24th December 2019 at 21:07
I'll raise you any John Greig tackle . Big Sam only got sent off because the Hibs boy got sent off . Both took the ball first . You are not allowed to damage a company's assets by any means , legal or not . If you pay £200 million for that asset , the last thing you need it doing is playing football . At least not as I understand the sport . Where's wur ladies gone ? I miss the slabbery kisses at this time of year !
easyJambo 24th December 2019 at 19:43
I sent an email to the SFA asking if there has been any movement on this issue . It is a difficult site to manouevre around ( mibbes deliberate ) , but I think they would welcome some others , just to keep them occupied in this fallow period .
info@scottishfa.co.uk
PS I hope Santa brought us a striker . Merry Christmas to one and all from the resident heathen !
I have been skyping Oz and the granweans, so i'm up quite late.
And I see I have had two (apparently contradictory) replies from HES to my email about Ibrox being a listed building.
I have to get to bed now, and consider these replies in full clarity of mind-as well as a proposed email to Mr Ceferin , President of UEFA, about club coefficients and how a 7 year old club can somehow have 10 seasons!
Ref VAR – I had this discussion at our Xmas shin dig. Their argument (old firm fans incidentally) was its too difficult and expensive to implement – no of cameras, etc.
My argument was you don’t need the Rolls Royce version. There are cameras at every game and the 4th official could look at the stream pitch side and give advise to the ref, with the ref able to come over to also view if in doubt. Basically any level of VAR is better than none and gives the officials extra info. Also this shouldn’t be mandatory at all games – we don’t have linesmen at amateur games but they are still allowed to be played
It is totally embarrassing and shocking that listening to the radio the commentator with the aid of a TV screen can tell if a decision is correct but the referee can’t
Finally I also think VAR has got too technical and having cameras show if someone’s arm pit is offside is nonsense. It should be clear and obvious decisions only – either amend the rules or reduce the number of cameras e.g 6 in defined locations only
'Menace 25th December 2019 at 09:15
Ref VAR – I had this discussion at our Xmas shin dig. Their argument (old firm fans incidentally) was its too difficult and expensive to implement – no of cameras, etc.
My argument was you don’t need the Rolls Royce version. There are cameras at every game and the 4th official could look at the stream pitch side and give advise to the ref, with the ref able to come over to also view if in doubt. Basically any level of VAR is better than none and gives the officials extra info.'
########################
I agree, it should be relatively simple to implement suitable technology in the Premiership & the Championship.
We need to be honest here & accept that referees want this to come in as it's extra income for them. It's not for any altruistic 'good of the game' reasons: it's so that they can get access to lucrative UEFA & FIFA VAR-monitored matches which they are currently excluded from. There'll also be extra income from acting as VAR & assistant VAR for Premiership & Championship matches (eleven games is twenty-two additional officials per round. Kerching & doubles all round!)
I don't think your fourth official monitoring a stream on the touchline will fly. The whole concept of VAR is based on remote-monitoring (either in a van in the car-park or further away in a bespoke location, but isolated from the hubris of the stadium) on a full time/real time/full concentration basis. The fourth official can't do that & his other duties. (There's currently no requirement for a fourth official in the Championship, anyway.)
A very Happy Christmas to us all here at SFM. Last year not a good one for our sport in term sof fairness, honesty and transparency, but hopefully next year will see some truths incovered.
Thanks to you all for your support in this community – still the only effective cross-partisan football forum I know of.
"For the attention of Mr Aleksander Ceferin
Dear Mr Ceferin,
Can you, as a lawyer and President of UEFA, explain to me in simple lay terms why the club co-efficient of 'The Rangers Football Club' which did not exist before 2012 (appears be based on performance in the last 10 years?
What magic has been worked?
What lies may have been told to UEFA about the true origins of the club that claims to be the Rangers Football Club that was founded in 1872?
I am not a lawyer, but I know with absolute legal certainty, that the 'Rangers of 1872' went spectacularly bust and died as a football club in 2012, when it was put into Liquidation by its creditors, and lost its entitlement to participate in Scottish professional football!
I know also with absolute legal certainty that , renamed RFC 2012 plc, it remains in legal existence in Liquidation, until the Liquidators finish their business, when it will be dissolved as a legal entity.
One need not be a particularly clever metaphysician to be able to reason that an entity cannot be both dead and alive at the same time!
Rangers Football Club of 1872 played its last football in season 2011/12.
The Rangers Football Club that was created de novo in 2012 has participated in Scottish football only from 2012/13. Seven seasons in total.
There is absolutely no way that an honest Sports Governance body can legitimately treat a seven year old member club as having been in existence for ten years.
If the 'The Rangers Football Club' founded in 2012 want to tell lies about their origins, and if the Scottish Football Association (SFA) wants to buy into those lies, it is surely the responsibility of UEFA, and your particular responsibility as UEFA President [committed in your 'manifesto' to good governance etc etc] to scotch those lies and deny the false claims made.
Will you live up to your manifesto, act in accordance with Truth, and tell the SFA that 'The Rangers FC 'founded in 2012 are not and cannot possibly be Rangers Football Club of 1872?
They are therefore not entitled to have a Europa Cup competition 'club coefficient' based on a number of years which includes a number of years when they simply did not exist?
I hope you will live up to your manifesto promises: or at least give a damned good reason why you will not!
It is Christmas day as I write. On the assumption that you are more honest than the SFA, let me wish you a happy Christmas and my best wishes for the new Year,
Yours sincerely,
(and with apologies for sending this to your email address at your law firm: but the UEFA web-site appears to be shy about making things easy for complainants)
JC "
Big Pink 25th December 2019 at 15:16
No disrespect intended , and I'm sure that you're as sober as a judge , but "incovered" done for me and reminded me of this . Merry Christmas !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUeKDtMV1gA
I am replete after a splendid Christmas dinner (celery soup, turkey with all the trimmings and roast potatoes, panna cotta with blueberry jus to follow, a decent Valpolicella to wash it all down, a little cheese and biscuits with coffee and a brandy to round off: well done, Mrs C-buoyed up by the news that our boy in Pennsylvania will be coming home on a visit in February).
Earlier I mentioned that I had two replies to my email to HES about Ibrox as a listed building.I have now bestirred my stumps and present the two emails them here. I should say that I had not seen the earlier of the two before I read the later.
The first email:
On Friday, 20 December 2019, 16:36:34 GMT, Laurence …………..@hes.scot> wrote:
"Dear Mr Clark,
Thank you for your email which I’ve just read with interest.I can see what you’re saying about how the two highlighted sentences read together, and propose the following minor update:
'The district of Ibrox has been home to Glasgow’s Rangers since 1887. The original Rangers Football Club formed in 1872 and initially played on Glasgow Green.’
The proposed change to the Listed Building Record will likely be processed early in the new year.
Kind regards,"
The second response (contradictory to the first)
24 Dec at 11:05
"Dear Mr Clark
I refer to your email of 18th December and my colleague, Laurence’s reply of 20th December.
Thank you again for your interest.
We have now had the opportunity to look into this further and, on reflection, we have decided not to make any changes to the listed building record.
Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. In this case, the statutory address is Ibrox Stadium (The Stand by Edmiston Drive or Bill Struth Main Stand Only), 100-170 Edmiston Drive, Glasgow.
The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight. These records are not definitive historical accounts.
In this instance, we consider the detail in the more recent legal history of Rangers (albeit of importance to the football world) adds little to an understanding of the architectural and historic interest of the building.
With best wishes
Dr Julie Candy | Senior Designations Officer | Heritage Directorate "
———–
I am considering best how to reply to that piece of self-contradictory nonsense. Just how far-reaching is the malign influence of those who tried to shield RFC of 1872 from death that academics, and public servants and public servants at that, can feel so intimidated as to be prepared to let an untruth stand uncorrected in one of their papers?
It is absolutely appalling.
Beware the All Seeing Eye , JC
John Clark,
The death of the 1872 TRFC actually occurred, in one sense, in 1899 when the limited company (later the liquated PLC) was formed to take over the running of the football club.
The original "clubs" are dissolved in the course of incorporation. Little known fact.
Big Pink 25th December 2019 at 15:16
A very Happy Christmas to us all here at SFM. Last year not a good one for our sport in terms of fairness, honesty and transparency, but hopefully next year will see some truths uncovered
===================
Happy Christmas.
I think now that is twice you have hinted that you know of some things that may come out. The last time you said that other clubs had been less than honest with the authorities and their fans. I await with interest, but sadly the mainstream media still hold all the aces when it comes to deciding what is and isn't a scandal. For example, despite the fact the Celtic Board are not pursuing Resolution 12, the MSM have enough info to go after it themselves. I am quite sure the Celtic Board are not who they are protecting by not doing so, and it doesn't take a genius to work out who they are protecting.
So in terms of what may be revealed the cynic in me says if it would be harmful to 'Rangers' to create a scandal, then it won't happen. However, if 'Rangers' can go unscathed but Celtic or indeed any other club can be exposed as being up to dirty deeds then I'm sure they will go after it.
It's just the way Scotland is.
Paddy Malarkey
Sober, but thick of finger?
Just finished watching the third episode of the “new” Christmas Carol. If Old Scrooge can redeem himself then there is hope for the movers and shakers of Scottish football. Merry Christmas.
Aye , just the fingers .
From BBC Sport
Steven Gerrard's side have had all the possession
Also from BBC Sport
Home TeamRangersAway TeamKilmarnock
Possession
Home47%
Away53%
paddy malarkey 26th December 2019 at 16:07
From BBC Sport
Steven Gerrard's side have had all the possession
——————————
Apparently their goal today was well offside, although try as I might, I can't find a single outraged Journalist out there, likely to bleat about it for days on end. I doubt very much if pathetic figures like Gordon Smith will be demanding VAR because of it either.
Paddy – i watched our game, Rangers dominated from start to finish – 23 goal attempts vs 3 – so the possession stats are absolute nonsense. BBC had it at 50/50!!
I really wonder how they calculate such things to enable the raw numbers to be so inaccurate. Even the shot tallies were off. Given the game is treated increasingly as a science by the protaganists I wonder if they have an alternative source of statistics on which to base their conclusions – I certainly hope so from the Rangers point of view!
Not seen a replay of the Morelos goal but a screenshot on twitter appeared to show him in-line.
The old/lazy, 'PR 1-2' we've observed soooo many times at Ibrox.
1) Positive PR p!sh.
Traynor has let it be known that Giroud of Chelsea is being 'connected' with The Rangers.
[Alternatively, Giroud has been incredibly helpful by informing the French paper L'Equipe that the Ibrox club 'is interested in him'… right before Sunday's game?]
2) Negative PR p!sh.
Traynor just has to dream up something suitably negative about CFC – and instruct the SMSM to copy/paste tomorrow or Saturday.
I'll guess – something personal about Lennon, which has zero to do with the game?
Job done for Traynor: invoice issued to RIFC.