UEFA Club Licensing. – To Comply or not to Comply ?
On 16 April 2018 The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) adjudicatory chamber took decisions in the cases of four clubs that had been referred to it by the CFCB chief investigator, concerning the non-fulfilment of the club licensing criteria defined in the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.
Such criteria must be complied with by the clubs in order to be granted the licence required to enter the UEFA club competitions.
The cases of two clubs::
Olympique des Alpes SA (Sion Switzerland )
and
FC Irtysh (Kazakhstan)
are of particular interest to those following the events under which the SFA awarded a UEFA License to Rangers FC in 2011 currently under investigation by the SFA Compliance Officer because
- The case documentation tell us how UEFA wish national associations to apply UEFA FFP rules
- The cases tell us what might have happened to Rangers FC in 2012 had they not gone into liquidation and as a consequence avoided the same type of sanctions that UEFA applied to Sion and Irtysh.
FC Sion (Olympique des Alpes SA)
Here we are told how the Swiss FL and then the UEFA CFCB acted in respect of FC Sion in 2017 where a misleading statement was made in the Sion UEFA licensing application.
Full details can be read at
but this is a summary.
In April 2017 the Swiss FL (SFL) granted a licence to Sion FC but indicated that a Disciplinary case was pending.
In July 2017 the CFCB, as part of their licence auditing programme, carried out a compliance audit on 3 clubs to determine if licences had been properly awarded. Sion was one of those clubs.
The subsequent audit by Deloitte LLP discovered Sion had an overdue payable on a player, amounting to €950,000, owed to another football club (FC Sochaux ) at 31st March 2017 as a result of a transfer undertaken by Sion before 31st December 2016, although the €950,000 was paid in early June 2017.
Deloitte produced a draft report of their findings that was passed to SFL and Sion for comment on factual accuracy and comment on the findings. Sion responded quickly enabling Deloitte to present a final report to the CFCB Investigation Unit. In response to the Deloitte final report Sion stated:
“il apparaît aujourd’hui qu’il existait bel et bien un engagement impayé découlant d’une activité de transfert. Ce point est admis” translated as
“it now appears that there was indeed an outstanding commitment arising from transfer activity. This is admitted”
What emerged as the investigation proceeded was that the Swiss FL Licensing Committee, after granting the license in April and as a result of a Sochaux complaint of non-payment to FIFA, had reason to refer Sion’s application to their Disciplinary Commission in May 2017 with regard to the submission of potentially misleading information by FC Sion to the SFL on 7th April 2017 as part of its licensing documentation.
Sion had declared
“Written confirmation: no overdue payables arising from transfer activities”, signed by the Club’s president, stating that as at 31 March 2017 there were no overdue payables towards other football clubs. In particular, the Club indicated that the case between FC Sion and FC Sochaux regarding the transfer of the player Ishmael Yartey was still under dispute.
The SFL Disciplinary Commission came to the conclusion that FC Sion had no intention to mislead the SFL, but indeed submitted some incorrect licensing documentation; the SFL Disciplinary Commission further confirmed that the total amount of €950,000 had been paid by the Club to FC Sochaux on 7 June 2017. Because of the inaccurate information submitted, the SFL Disciplinary Commission decided to impose a fine of CHF 8,000 on the Club.
Whilst this satisfied the SFL Disciplinary process the CFCB deemed it not enough to justify the granting of the licence as UEFA intended their FFP rules to be applied.
Sion provided the CFCB with a number of reasons on the basis of which no sanction should be imposed. In particular, the Club admitted that there was an overdue payable as at 31 March 2017, but stated that the mistake in the document dated 7 April 2017 was the result of a misinterpretation by the club’s responsible person for dealing with the licence (the “Club’s licence manager”), who is not a lawyer. The Club affirmed that it never had the intention to conceal the information and had provisioned the amount due for payment and that, in any case, it has already been sanctioned by the SFL for providing the wrong information.
The CFCB Investigation Unit accepted that the Sion application, although inaccurate, was a one off misrepresentation and not a forgery, (as in intended to deceive ) but that nevertheless an overdue payable did exist at 31st March and a licence should not have been granted.
Based on their findings, the CFCB Chief Investigator decided to refer the case to the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber and suggested a disciplinary measure to be imposed on FC Sion by the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber, such measure consisting of a fine of €235,000, corresponding to the UEFA Revenues the Club gained by participating in the 2017/2018 UEFA Europa League.
The CFCB Investigatory Chamber submitted that it was appropriate to impose a fine corresponding to all the UEFA revenues the Club gained by participating in the competition considering the fact that FC Sion should not have been admitted to the competition for failing to meet one of its admission criteria.
The Adjudicatory Chambers took all the circumstances (see paras 91 to 120 at http://tiny.cc/i8sxsy ) into consideration and reached the following key decisions.
- FC Sion failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 49(1) of the CL&FFP Regulations and it obtained the licence issued by the SFL not in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- FC Sion breached Articles 13(1) and 43(1)(i) of the CL&FFP Regulations. (Documents complete and correct)
- To exclude FC Sion from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next two (2) seasons (i.e. the 2018/19 and 2019/20).
- To impose a fine of two hundred and thirty five thousand Euros (€235,000) on FC Sion.
- FC Sion is to pay three thousand Euros (€3,000) towards the costs of these proceedings.
Comment in respect of the award of a UEFA Licence in 2011 to Rangers FC.
It is now public knowledge that an actual liability of tax due before 31stDecember 2010 towards HMRC, was admitted by Rangers FC before 31st March 2011.
This liability was described as “potential” in Rangers Interim accounts audited by Grant Thornton.
“Note 1: The exceptional item reflects a provision for a potential tax liability in relation to a Discounted Option Scheme associated with player contributions between 1999 and 2003. A provision for interest of £0.9m has also been included within the interest charge.”
The English Oxford Dictionary definition of potential is:
Having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future.
Which was not true as the liability had already been “developed” so could not be potential.
This was repeated by Chairman Alistair Johnson in his covering Interim Accounts statement
“The exceptional item reflects a provision for a potential tax liability in relation to a Discounted Option Scheme associated with player contributions between 1999 and 2003. “ where he also added
“Discussions are continuing with HMRC to establish a resolution to the assessments raised.”
This could be taken as disputing the liability but In fact the resolution to the assessments raised would have been payment of the actual liability, something that never happened.
In the Sion case it was accepted the misleading statement was a one off misrepresentation, but at the monitoring stages at June 2011 in Ranger’s case the status of the liability continued to be misrepresented and in September the continuing discussions reason was repeated, along with a claim of an instalment paid whose veracity is highly questionable.
The Swiss FL Licensing Committee did at least refer the case to their Disciplinary Committee when they realised a misleading statement might have been made. The SFA however in August 2011, when Sherriff Officers called at Ibrox for payment of the overdue tax , did no such thing and pulled up the drawbridge for six years, one that the Compliance Officer is now finally charged with lowering.
The case of FC Irtysh of Kazakhstan is set out in full at http://tiny.cc/y9sxsy and is a bit more straightforward but is nevertheless useful to compare with events in 2011 in Scotland.
Unlike Rangers FC , FC Irtysh properly disclosed that they had an overdue payable to the Kazakhstan tax authorities at the monitoring point at 30th June 2017. This caused the CFCB Investigatory Unit to seek further information with regard to the position at 31st March
It transpired that Irtysh had declared an overdue payable at 31st March but cited their financial position (awaiting sponsor money) as a reason for non payment to the Kazakhstan FA who accepted it and granted the licence. The outstanding tax was paid in September 2107.
The outcome of the CFCB Investigation was a case put to the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber who agreed with the CFCB Investigation Unit that a licence should not have been granted and recommended that Irtysh be fined the equivalent of the UEFA prize money, (that had been withheld in any case whilst CFCB investigated.)
The CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber however decided that a fine was not sufficient in sporting deterrent terms and ruled that:
- FC Irtysh failed to satisfy the requirements of Article 50bis(1) of the CL&FFP Regulations and it obtained the licence issued by the FFK not in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- To withhold four hundred and forty thousand Euros (€440,000) corresponding to the UEFA revenues FC Irtysh gained by participating in the 2017/2018 UEFA Europa League.
- To exclude FC Irtysh from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next three (3) seasons (i.e. the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons). This sanction is deferred for a probationary period of (3) three years. This exclusion must be enforced in case the Club participates again in a UEFA club competition having not fulfilled the licence criteria required to obtain the UEFA licence in accordance with the CL&FFP Regulations.
- FC Irtysh is to pay three thousand Euros (€3,000) towards the costs of these proceedings. “
The deferral was because unlike Rangers FC, FC Irtysh had properly disclosed to the licensor the correct & accurate financial information required, so the exclusion was deferred for a probationary period of (3) years.
Comment in respect of the award of a UEFA Licence in 2011 to Rangers FC.
From the foregoing it could be deduced that had Rangers FC qualified for the Champions League (or European League) and not gone bust as a result and so not entered liquidation BUT it became public knowledge by 2012 that a licence had been wrongly and possibly fraudulently granted then
- Rangers would have been fined the equivalent of their earnings from their participation in the UEFA competitions in 2011
- At least a two year ban from UEFA Competitions would have been imposed, but more likely three in view of repeated incorrect statements.
- The consequences of both would have been as damaging for Rangers survival as the real life consequences of losing to Malmo and Maribor in the qualifying rounds of the Champions and European Leagues.
Karma eh!
Interestingly in the UEFA COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION ACTIVITY REPORT 2015 – 2017 , the CFCB investigatory chamber recommended that both the Kazakhstan FA and Swiss FA as licensors
“pay particular attention to the adequate disclosure of the outstanding amounts payable towards other football clubs, in respect of employees and towards social/tax authorities, which must be disclosed separately;
Would the same recommendation apply to the Scottish FA with regard to their performance in 2011 and will the SFA responses thereafter to shareholders in a member club be examined for compliance with best governance practice by the SFA Compliance Officer investigating the processing of the UEFA Licence in 2011?
This would be a welcome step in fully restoring trust in the SFA.
Regarding Jimbo’s comments about G Shinnie. He is very much a marked man by most refs. He is invariably booked for his very first tackle of the game and has to play out sometines 80 minutes knowing that another foul and he will be sent off. So I think we should be congratulating Mr Shinnie for managing to finish so many games despite the referees falling over themselves to get the cards out.
AOB
MAY 14, 2018 at 11:02
Regarding Jimbo’s comments about G Shinnie. He is very much a marked man by most refs. He is invariably booked for his very first tackle of the game and has to play out sometines 80 minutes knowing that another foul and he will be sent off. So I think we should be congratulating Mr Shinnie for managing to finish so many games despite the referees falling over themselves to get the cards out.
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Perhaps his first tackle shouldn’t be of the kind that ‘invariably’ requires a card to be produced?
All this ‘players laying down a marker’ stuff is soooo last century dahlink
AOB, not a big fan of referees myself so we can at least agree on that!
Anyhoo, I hope Broonie gubs him at the golf today
Hey Jimbo
The worst tackle of the weekend was by a Celtic player!
Scott Allan was very lucky only to get a booking in my opinion for his tackle on Rossiter.
Referee Dallas couldn’t have been better positioned either.
Bill, it was a bad tackle and could have been a red.
BUT,
Did you see Jordan Rossiter’s challenge on the Hibs player immediately before it? That could have been a red also! Scott Allen’s was in revenge for his team mate.
Besides, I’m not happy with you complaining about a tackle on a player from Ibrox. I thought after yesterday we would be friends!
How do you upload an attachment
It’s OK I managed it.
This is where I was playing 30 years ago when Celtic won the Centenary double.
It’s all a bit of a blur.
May I suggest that the people needing mental health assistance are the ones roaring the offensive messages who think they are doing nothing wrong . There is where intervention should be focused . Any sign of the CO’s report yet ?
Further to my comment yesterday about Steveco needing a big name to be relevant, I note the headline “Scott Arfield Signs For Steven Gerrard’s Rangers From Burnley”
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers?!? It’s like a licensing deal! Trump Rangers!
JIMBO MAY14 12.44
In what way could Rossiter’s tackle be considered a red card?. No endangering his opponent, no excessive force, in fact the complete opposite of the Scott Allan assault (not tackle).
Jockybhoy – “we know what you mean” – not sure i understand. Pretty straightforward, if Celtic werent trying then the keeper wouldnt have had to make a number of saves in the last 10 minutes and i understand there was at least 2 fairly decent penalty claims where players and fans gave a shout for them.Think thats reasonable to assume that Celtic were trying. Not sure whats controversial about stating that.
Screaming headline from the DR;
‘Cheats’ Fans clash over Celtic ‘lying down’ claim – Hotline
==============================
At last!
The bears have grasped the term ‘Sporting Integrity’!
…only took them 6 long years…
Phil MacGiollabhain is suggesting Scott Arfield will earn £38K a week at Rangers. Given what he would probably have been on in the EPL that is not a fanciful suggestion in my view. Soft loan time in August this year?
THELAWMAN2MAY 14, 2018 at 15:04
Jockybhoy>
Game stats…
BILLYDUG – Proves my point is corrent then yeah.
FAO HOMUNCULUS
.
The arch plagiarist is gunning for you again.
If his description of you is accurate there is help out there
Didn’t know BP & Tris were into cross dressing though. Each to their own i suppose.
upthehoopsMay 14, 2018 at 15:26
Phil MacGiollabhain is suggesting Scott Arfield will earn £38K a week at Rangers.
———————————————————-
I find that very hard to believe! If true would probably be more that AFC’s first pick starting eleven!
£8m over 4 years. Shirley no.
Truth needs correct terms to be used correctly. Liquidation is not a minor company restructuring it is corporate death.
In the same vein there is much talk of mental health problems, does anyone know why such is not referred to as mental illness? The euphemism diminishes the severity of these illnesses and might tend to encourage the. “What do you have to be depressed about, pull yourself together” school of amateur therapy which is near enough the worst thing to say to an ill person.
I see the latest attempt at diagnosis by imagination from the arch plagiarist. My guess is that Homunculus will get over it, he comes across as a sensible fellow on here, someone has taught him the basics of Socratic argument.
Excuse my lack of attention , but do we know about this aleady ? Tomorrow .
LORD DOHERTY
PETITION DEPARTMENT
UNSTARRED MOTIONS
P367/18 Pet: Charter Court Financial Ltd re S859F
Clyde & Co
P341/17 Pet: The Panel on Takeovers & Mergers for orders sec955
It’s gonna be a hard day’s night for us and Livvy on Thursday , accordng to the BBC .
PLAY-OFF QUARTER-FINALLivingston19:45Partick Thistle
PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALLivingston19:45Partick Thistle
PLAY-OFF FINALLivingston19:45Partick Thistle
Sevco have signed Scott Arfield
happy fans.
geronimoo
Posted 4 hours ago
So no admin 2 then?
When did they come out of the first one.
BORDERSDONMAY 14, 2018 at 15:58
I find that very hard to believe! If true would probably be more that AFC’s first pick starting eleven!£8m over 4 years. Shirley no.
==============================
On the face of it I agree, but even average players in the EPL probably earn £50k a week. Arfield is not costing a fee, so to pay him a salary of nearly £40k a week might have been the only way they could get him. Strikes me as a bit of a Graham Dorrans type signing though, and that was not too successful.
BORDERSDON
MAY 14, 2018 at 15:58
upthehoops
May 14, 2018 at 15:26
Phil MacGiollabhain is suggesting Scott Arfield will earn £38K a week at Rangers.
———————————————————-
I find that very hard to believe! If true would probably be more that AFC’s first pick starting eleven!£8m over 4 years. Shirley no.
——————————–
Don’t TRFC only offer 48 week annual contracts to avoid salary payments in the fallow month of June? If that’s the case, his £8m is only (ha!) £7,296,000.
The employer’s NIC on that £38k (based on 13.8%) is £5.2k per week, so TRFC will pay approx. £251k per annum based on their legendary 48 week annual contract. That’s another million over 4 years.
As always, happy to be corrected if my calculations are inaccurate.
SLIMJIM
MAY 14, 2018 at 15:42
It’s the SFM way SJ
And whilst we’re at it, if Homunculus is up for it (fnaaar), we could open a viagra appeal – mind you, failure to raise (
) enough cash might cause a withdrawal (
) of comments for the down (
) season.
Got ma coat ……
PORTBHOY
MAY 14, 2018 at 09:09
Can’t see anything wrong with someone empathising with another – no matter the allegiance or provenance of the poster. The message is the thing not the messenger. Isn’t that what we have been saying to Rangers fans for six years?
JINGOJIMSIE MAY 14 17.28
Many football clubs pay the players salary over a 10 month period rather than 12.
Rangers used to favour this method (many years ago) but not 100% sure if they still do.
When all the talk a while ago was of DK and AJ Fit and proper. I never knew that when it was Mr Greens turn to pass the SFA’s fit and proper test.(you know the SFA’s test that they don’t really have)
The SFA ducked out of it.
Barry Ferguson
So it could be that the Stevie G roadshow winds up at Murray Park on June 1st and the squad are on their hollybags ? That he has to wait on their return before he can assess the current squad, decide who stays/goes , replace as required plus add more quality, then get them into shape in time for the Euro qualifier on July 12th? Even for TRFC , that would be farcical .
NeilLennon https://twitter.com/daviekirky/status/996101786887966721?s=20
BILLYDUGMAY 14, 2018 at 19:17
5
0 Rate This
Attachment
Barry Ferguson
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Why can’t he speak about it and why can’t he go into it in depth?
Paddy, how do you see the play off final panning out? Have to admit I feel split about it. Don’t want to see the Jags go down but I have a big soft spot for Livi. At the end of the day I will be happy for the winners but very sad for the losers.
SLIMJIM
MAY 14, 2018 at 15:42
===========================================
Given that he is presumably responding to my latest please tell me he didn’t do any or all of the following.
1, reprint someone else’s work, or rehash material already in the public domain 2, pick a fight with another blogger or site, or throw out some gratuitous insults 3, play the victim card, make it extravagant 4, hope that’s enough for people to send you some more money.
The irony would be just too much to take, even with his lack of self-awareness.
Homunculus
Predictably all four of your wild guesses are correct he also classifies you with Pele not for your on field prowess but in line with his later commercial work regarding flaccidity he also believes that you are like Winnie the Pooh in being of small brain. Should you tell him or shall I?
If John James is an avid reader and lifter of things from here, could i please ask him to ask “The Mensch” if he met Willie Henderson in 2001 at a charity event as described above:
Or if he met Willie Henderson at Rogano after having a strange phone call with him in a book store like he described above.
PS – Am i right in saying one of the members of this forum attended the awards with him ?
PADDY MALARKEYMAY 14, 2018 at 19:51
So it could be that the Stevie G roadshow winds up at Murray Park on June 1st and the squad are on their hollybags ? That he has to wait on their return before he can assess the current squad, decide who stays/goes , replace as required plus add more quality, then get them into shape in time for the Euro qualifier on July 12th? Even for TRFC , that would be farcical .
—————————————————————————————————–
Gerrard has never bought or sold a player in his puff Paddy. I don’t expect that to have changed by the time he has left Sevconia.
BFBPUZZLED
MAY 14, 2018 at 20:45
=====================================
To be fair neither of the organs he has disparaged are particularly impressive.
However given my advancing years I think they have both served their purpose and deserve a rest.
The Lawman2
Guilty as charged. I stupidly went to Old Trafford to be at his table at the Blogging awards 2016. He started off as a good blogger.
He hates me now cause I know so many of his lies. I can’t be bothered listing them all he is a waste of space and a con man. But if he keeps making reference to me in such a disparaging way I might feel inclined to spill it all. And I won’t stop at just this site. By the time I’m finished there won’t be a Celtic supporter left on his site.
if he hates this site so much, then why be even more of an idiot and read it? Or does he need it? Exclusives/ sources/ baloney.
When DK said it does not matter were the money comes from.You know things must be bad as Charles Green did have a few exceptions.
May 14,2012
HOMUNCULUS MAY 14 20.09
Guilty of every charge i’m afraid.
You forgot to mention the daily use of a word that may require a quick check of the dictionary Today’s word was “animus”.
I would pay the entry fee to see that Jimbo so if you need some crowd funding…….
…
Can you say if it was him that collected the award by the way ? Was that all a ruse ? (Im nosey)
Forgive me for appearing to indulge in semantics, but don’t you mean many companies, rather than football clubs, in order to conform to the officially approved revisionism?
Your supposedly immortal floating ethereal entity thingy has no legal personality, so can’t enter into a contract to pay the minimum wage to a spotty youth selling burgers at Ibrox, far less the squillions of pounds reportedly being paid to a player who hasn’t featured in Burnley’s squad, far less line-up, for a long long time.
Just yet another example of Rangers morphing between entities to suit whichever argument and agenda meets their needs at any given time.
JIMBOMAY 14, 2018 at 20:25
Let’s get ready to rumble ! Looking forward to it . If we can’t beat them over two legs , we don’t deserve to be in with the big boys . Same applies to them . We’re the guys in possession and I don’t see us bottling it . Hope the football is decent, though . I must admit to disliking their stadium and the walk up to it from the train terminus – nae station or other facilities .
JIMBO MAY 14 21.10
You could have saved both money and your sanity by simply buying a “Virtual seat” whilst eating a “Virtual meal” or perhaps volunteering to be a bodyguard to ensure his safety from the various loyalist paramilitaries who are “hunting him down” as we speak.
Can you confirm/deny the “Mench” underwent plastic surgery so as to appear as our “hero in exile” at the award ceremony.?
HIGHLANDER 21.20
Not biting i’m afraid . Good try though
paddy malarkeyMay 14, 2018 at 19:51
So it could be that the Stevie G roadshow winds up at Murray Park on June 1st and the squad are on their hollybags ? That he has to wait on their return before he can assess the current squad, decide who stays/goes , replace as required plus add more quality, then get them into shape in time for the Euro qualifier on July 12th? Even for TRFC , that would be farcical .
12th July will be a no goer some of the fans and board will be out breaking in their new walking boots and aiting their bowler hats.
I find it strange that a fuss is being made over Neil Lennon and his Aeroplane. Big Jim Leishman did his plane impression for years much to everyone’s amusement and good wishes. What is the difference one wonders.
On this link
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-scotland-rfc-gerrard/gerrard-keen-to-channel-klopp-at-rangers-idUKKCN1IF0XG
Reuters news agency has this:
Sports NewsMay 14, 2018 / 9:34 AM / Updated 13 hours ago
Reuters Staff
“Gerrard keen to channel Klopp at Rangers…”
In the text of the report, there is this:
“Rangers have won a record 54 Scottish league titles but are still recovering from the financial problems that saw them reformed in the bottom tier of Scottish football in 2012. ”
On the Reuters’ ‘contact us’ page I have made the following observation:
“That is an absolute untruth. Rangers Football Club (founded 1872) was Liquidated in 2012. It was not ‘re-formed’.
The club presently playing as ‘The Rangers football Club Ltd’ is only 6 years old, having been admitted as a new club into Scottish football in 2012.
Show some integrity, do your research, and do not pretend that the old Rangers somehow survived Liquidation.
Rangers of 1872 vintage died as a football club when it lost its entitlement to membership of a Scottish football League.
It was not demoted, it was not relegated-it ceased to be!
Gerrard is prostituting himself by buying into a sporting lie.”
Lawman2 you said you thought Celtic were only giving 100% for the last 10 minutes impying they weren’t trying 100% for 80 minutes. I think the stats posted by BillyDug show that not to be the case – Aberdeen have proven themselves 2nd in the league yet again and I am pleased another of these nonsensical records has gone and McInnes has finished what was a very disruptive season on a high.
I’m prepared to say nothing for now.
But I caution Auldheid not to engage with his site.
Infra Dig.
JOCKYBHOYMAY 14, 2018 at 23:16
Lawman2 you said you thought Celtic were only giving 100% for the last 10 minutes impying they weren’t trying 100% for 80 minutes.
___________________________________________________________________________
No Jockybhoy, im afraid thats what you thought i said or perhaps what you wished i had said.
What i actually said was that my friend (who is a Celtic fan and hospitality holder) said that “especially for the last 10 minutes Celtic were 100% trying to score and claiming for penalties etc” This doesnt imply they were not trying the rest of the game whatsoever, it implies that in his mind, during the last 10 minutes Celtic were really going for the equaliser. He said that the keeper had 2 excellent saves from Griffiths and 1 other from someone else.
If Celtic really wanted to accept defeat, in my opinion, they wouldnt have been threatening the goal in the last 10, wouldnt have been forcing the keeper to make saves and wouldnt be claiming for penalties. That in no way ever implies they werent trying for the previous 80.
It strikes me as odd that when i attempt to cut off the conspiracy nonsense which no doubt will be raised elsewhere you somehow find an agenda or angle in it. Occam’s razor at play.
Met the wife after work, in a Manhattan bar. An Irish acquaintance thought it was great that Gerrard was going to Ibrox. When I mentioned the finances was confused.
Point being; if they can spin bollox to fans based in the USA, then the SMSM can spin all sorts of BS…until they die.
IMO.
What do I think is…for the good of Scottish football?
Well, 6 years ago I didn’t realise how ignorant I was about Scottish football.
Now…my opinion hasn’t changed:the sooner the Ibrox club dies, the better it will be for the remaining, honest clubs.
And as an aside I have declined in the past any freebies, or gifts for my kids which have an SFA association.
The SFA is a blight on Scottish football, IMO.
.
Occam’s razor? I had you down as more of a Trigger’s broom kind of guy…
CORRUPT OFFICIAL
MAY 14, 2018 at 20:53
Gerrard has never bought or sold a player in his puff Paddy. I don’t expect that to have changed by the time he has left Sevconia.
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I expect there’ll be a few signings however long SG’s reign at Ibrox is. The DoF should be critical (as he should be) in player recruitment & disposal. However excellent or not Mark Allan’s work proves to be, he will forever be in SG’s shadow & the signings (the good ones at least!) will all be down to the manager.
A word of caution for TRFC fans: in spite of DCK’s statements that the football club operator needs to become a nurturing, developing & selling organisation, much like CFC, their first signing of the new era is a 29 year-old, on a four year contract costing upwards of (reportedly) £8m, who will have little or no potential sell-on value in one or two years, never mind in three or four.
(I’ve belatedly realised that £2m per annum is the equivalent of 4000 season books at £500: a twelfth of the capacity of Ibrox goes to pay Arfield! Crikey, indeed!)
JIMBO MAY 14 21.10
The time to “spill it all” may just have arrived.
Calm down Calm down.
Not one to agree with much that THELAWMAN2 says but his reply above about his post regarding his mate is exactly how I took his original post that Celtic were 100% committed to winning.
Just to point out even though Celtic will have been 100% committed to winning every game that doesn’t mean they were very good in fact I would go as far as saying they have been piss poor all season. The fact that they won the league playing so badly shows how poor the rest of our teams were still at least with the Hibees I expect them to be superb one week and absolute crap the next so they never disappoint me even when we were 3-0 up on Sunday I still expected we would lose goals.
shugMay 15, 2018 at 10:13
Not one to agree with much that THELAWMAN2 says but his reply above about his post regarding his mate is exactly how I took his original post that Celtic were 100% committed to winning.
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Apart from their undying belief in the BIG LIE I tend to agree with much of what THELAWMAN2 and SLIMJIM say and think his Celtic supporting mate’s summary was fair. Watched the game on TV and any suggestion that CFC lay down is nonsense. Not saying we fully deserved to win but we did, and this happens in football. As an aside my Celtic supporting pal was hoping his team would lose on Sunday. NOTE: not saying they should let AFC win but hoping they would lose.
Sevco had one focus on Sunday and that was to forget about what happens at Parkhead the game at Easter Road has to be won first. When you have a two goal lead with ten or so mins to go and you need the points when you blow it and you earn a draw it sort of makes any conspiracy theory, appear as sour grapes when you have failed your end of the conspiracy.
Picture up in the louden, aye billy celtic mob lay down so we would not finish second, aye after the effort the palyers put in to get the draw as well, ah know we had to win and were two goals in front but whits the point when that mob have lay down.
Playing the JJ bingo this morning and I was dissapointed I didnt get a single one of the following in his article:
– Personal attack on PMG
– Criticism or threats to folk on this site or this site in particular.
– Recurring threat to close his site if donations don’t improve.
– Reference to the continued threat to his life
Daily Record Today 15/05/2018
Rangers, The Road To Manchester . Free Pull Out.
Daily Record 15/05/2008
Police release video of Rangers fans in UEFA Cup riot
Daily Record 04/09/2010
Football thugs who rioted in Manchester during Rangers’ UEFA Cup final appearance are jailed for 16 years
Pull Out (unlikely to sell in Manchester ?)
When someone new and relatively unheard of ( i.e. not a household name like say Gazza was or Ronaldo is), joins a team on a much bigger salary than everyone else they don’t normally congratulate the said person and get on with the business of working together for the common good.
It destabilises everyone and everything.
Putting aside the fact that the numbers don’t add up (and never have)
Maybe the whole point was destabilisation.
FinlochMay 15, 2018 at 11:33
When someone new and relatively unheard of ( i.e. not a household name like say Gazza was or Ronaldo is), joins a team on a much bigger salary than everyone else they don’t normally congratulate the said person and get on with the business of working together for the common good. It destabilises everyone and everything.
Putting aside the fact that the numbers don’t add up (and never have)
Maybe the whole point was destabilisation
—————————————————————————
Still don’t believe he is on £38k per week (for 48 or 52 weeks)!
James Doleman
@jamesdoleman
At the Court of Session today, unstarred motion P341/17 Pet: The Panel on Takeovers & Mergers for orders sec95512:02 pm · 15 May 2018
Shug
May 15, 2018 at 10:23
===================================
Celtic won the League Cup
Celtic won the League by 9 points and had a superior goal difference of 29 goals
Celtic are in the final of the Scottish Cup
If Celtic win the Cup they will have won a treble, a rare achievement in football
Celtic Player dominated the POYT competitions, wining POTY and Young POTY (Writers and Players)
How does that equate to “I would go as far as saying they have been piss poor all season”.
In my opinion the three top performing teams this season have been
1, Celtic, see above.
2, Motherwell, reaching two Cup Finals with the resources they have compared to others. Still a potential Cup win.
3, Aberdeen, second in the top division.
HomunculusMay 15, 2018 at 12:07
Shug May 15, 2018 at 10:23 ===================================
I’ll agree with your top 3 IF Motherwell win the cup. I think a 2nd place in the league beats two cup finals and a seventh place 25 points behind second!
Josh Windass getting some grief on social media for being friendly with Scott Allan in Dubai.
Deary me. The day when players of opposing clubs can’t be friends will be a sad one. The friendships between many Celtic & Rangers players over the years are legendary.
As a mere fan, my life would have been greatly impoverished without family, friends and work colleagues who support/ed clubs other than Celtic.
Grow up.
jimboMay 15, 2018 at 14:02
Couldn’t agree more, Jimbo. It’s something that really annoys me and seems particular to Scotland. In the EPL and other leagues, you invariably see opponents standing talking at the end of a game or walking off together blethering. These people are effectively workmates in the same industry albeit different companies (let’s not start that one again!!) so why wouldn’t they be friendly? When I worked with RBS, I had great mates in other banks who I socialised with, played football with etc.
It seems that only in Scotland do fans and the media build up the conflict aspect so much that players aren’t allowed to be themselves.
Homunculus
There is something of the classic diddy team about Celtic this year where performances were never guaranteed to be good and results never guaranteed to be positive.
Even during the financially doped years, when Clyde came close to the then Premier League and were the only second placed team in a lower league in Europe to get nothing for there efforts by way of promotion or play off, there was always an expectation that things might go wrong and often did.
Which is the better life, that of those who travel in hope in the face of experience or of those who follow a team which almost invariably wins?
There is of course a third way, one where the experience is that of the follower who believes his Club is a behemoth entitled always to win yet results and other aspects confirm the contrary.
I see that you claim to be advanced in years, I know a fellow way over 70 who collects degrees as a hobby ranging from Theology to Geography and some others. He is fortunate to have the time and funds to do SD,even without going so far as him, there is always new stuff to learn, new interests to follow, that next book to read, that next place to see. One day I intend to learn punctuation and clarity of expression.
What if I just say Celtic played the way they did just before Ronny Deila left rubbish at times but getting the breaks.
This is strange:
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/rangers-website-lists-celtic-hearts-and-hibs-players-in-ibrox-squad-1-4739600
HS
I managed along for the first 90 minutes or so of the first day’s proceedings at the Court of Session in the case of Whitehouse and Clark v the Lord Advocate and Police Scotland. JC was already there so I’m sure he will provide a full report later.
Gerry Moynihan QC outlined the case for the Lord Advocate where there three main arguments on behalf of the respondents .
1. That the case should only be against the Lord Advocate and not Police Scotland
2. That the Lord Advocate has immunity from prosecution based on precedent. (Hester v McDonald 1961?)
3. Rejection of the pursuers Section 8 claim that their human rights had been violated
The first argument is quite a clever one, if accepted, as it would mean that the Police’s acts and ommisions would fall to the Lord Advocate rather than on individuals. Subsequently if the second argument on immunity was also accepted then the police would be off the hook, regardless of what they had done or not done.
He then went through a high level timeline of events, including the purchase, administration, arrests and hearings which JC and I were familiar with.
Whitehouse’s legal team also sought to have the Charlotte Fakes material (100,000) documents available to them. Lord Malcolm seemed happy about it but the respondents chose to reserve their position in order to be able to challenge the admission of any particular documents as they arose. “Cross that bridge when we come to it” was the phrase used.
BFBPuzzled,
“One day I intend to learn punctuation and clarity of expression.”
I think you’re doing fine.
stephen.mcgowan
@mcgowan_stephen
Dundee United clear-out on the way. Up to 13 players heading for the door.3:05 pm · 15 May 2018
Pretty sure that happened once before Mr Shoes, maybe a couple of years ago.
I think they pull data from a third party site then filter out their own players or some such.