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Is Scottish football in decline?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 19:55:11 +0000

In the past two decades there has been a massive change within the sport. In the first year of the English Premier league the average yearly wage was £77,000 and the first division was £41,000 per year. In 2010 these had went up to £1.2m and £211,000 on average. A footballer can now easily buy a mansion without a mortgage, have several cars and retire in their 20s.

The point is, Scottish Football is not going to compete financially with English football. As long as there is no restriction on how much money they can scam their fans out of.

Sure the SFA can try do the same and milk more money from the fans by trying to attract bigger TV deals or raise ticket prices. But that isn't a long term solution as English Football will one day find out.

For now we are at the mercy of English football, talented players like David Goodwillie aren't interested in improving the Scottish game. They want their dream home with a car made of gold.

What we can do is make the league more interesting for the fans and action is being taken like the league reformation. This isn't going to have an immediate impact but it might entice a few young promising players to stay within Scottish football.

In the long term we need to hope that the game is financially rebalanced to help smaller league's regain their former reputation. I want to see players and fans regain their interest in the sport and less on the fame and wealth.

But lets get back on topic, how is Scottish football coping this season. It's actually doing quite well compared to last season, attendances overall are around the same. Some clubs are up and some are down. Scottish teams are really trying hard against Celtic, several of them have managed to pull out surprising wins like Kilmarnock, Inverness and St Mirren. It's been a great season for the smaller SPL clubs. Between 2nd and 11th there is only an 8 point gap and there will be three SPL sides that aren't Celtic in the cups.

There is something holding the game back and it's not the absence of Rangers. It's the media and some fans still being in Celtic vs Rangers mode. The fight between 2nd and 11th is being ignored by the media and some fans. Just because Celtic are 18 points ahead doesn't mean the whole league is wrapped up.

I will tell you right now, the English Premier League is going to be won by Man Utd. Yet no one cares about that, the media and the fans will always ignore that until it's mathematically impossible for them to lose it. Even when the title is sealed the media and fans still tune in for the relegation battle and the European spots.

I think it's about time the media get their act together because right now they aren't pushing it forward they are only holding it back. Yesterday's reaction by them is a prime example of this, they don't want to look for positives, they are only interested in the negatives.

Overall Scottish football is coping well, we are looking ahead to some exciting changes and there is hope that English football will loosen their grasp over the next decade or two. Be sure to check out Hibernian vs St Johnstone on ESPN at 7:30, Monday night.

Efe Ambrose to miss Juventus clash

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:32:08 +0000

The final is on the 10th of Febuary at the National Stadium, Johannesburg in South Africa. This means that Ambrose will only have 24 hours to prepare for the Juventus game. Ambrose will have also taken part in six matches over a period of three weeks.

There are several ways Lennon could cope with the loss of Ambrose. He could move Mulgrew in centre back but against Helsingborg he had a lot of trouble dealing with very agile players. Alternatively he could play Rogne but the main problem with him is his inexperience at this level and lack of playing time this season. So it looks like Lennon will have to forget about playing four at the back.

Against Barcelona at home Lennon started with a 5-3-2 of Lustig, Ambrose, Wilson, Mulgrew & Matthews. The best back line Lennon could choose is probably Matthews, Lustig, Wilson, Mulgrew & Izaguirre.

As for the rest of the team, Lennon has been testing 4-3-3 which has had mixed results and the 3-5-2. In the recent 4-1 win over Kilmarnock at home Lennon played a 3-5-2 with the same backline that I mentioned. In midfield he played Brown, Commons and Wanyama with Samaras and Hooper upfront. I think Lennon will go for a similar team but replace Commons with Ledley and push Samaras into the wide role that he loves.

To progress I think it's essential Celtic limit Juventus to one goal, if they can get away with a clean sheet all of the pressure is on Juventus for the second leg.

What's your lineup and score predictions, reply in the comment section below.

Views from the Opposition: Benfica

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:41:35 +0000

So Celtic faced Benfica back in the UCL group stage back in 2006 with two vastly different legs. How would you compare that Benfica side to the current one?

We have a much better team and manager. However, we have just been weakened by two key exits in midfield and the suspension of our only right-back.

We used to struggle to get results away from Europe, even though it isn't much different to now, we have been fairing better. For example, first away in Germany vs Stuttgart in Europa League 2 seasons ago, draws away to PSG, PSV and more recently Manchester United.

With the current coach we have also won away to Everton, Otelul and FC Basel. Although we are aware we have never won a single point at Parkhead.

Benfica sold two highly rated players, Witsel and Javi. Without them how do you think Benfica will approach this game?

We will have to rely on our old guards, Carlos Martins and Pablo Aimar, both were key to our title winning season in 2009/10. Carlos Martins was loaned to La Liga side Granada last season and we did miss him on occasions this past season.

Likelihood that our manager, Jorge Jesus, will start with one of them. Although neither plays the full 90 minutes.

In the defensive midfield position, we only have Nemanja Matic (former Chelsea, Vitesse), a young Serbian international who missed most of pre-season due to injuries. He will have to step up.

Most people already know about Cardozo but are there any other players Celtic should look out for?

Without a doubt Rodrigo and Eduardo Salvio. We got Rodrigo from Real Madrid 2 season ago and loaned him to Bolton. Had a season stint in the Premiership, mainly as a sub and scored a few goals. He has been one of our key players this season and also in the first half of the season before his injury in St. Petersburg in the Champions League Last 16 vs Zenit. Rodrigo is the main Spain under-21 striker

Eduardo Salvio we first got him on loan from Atlético Madrid after he won the Europa League, he instantly became a fan favourite in season 2010/11 and we still rue his injury in the Europa League quarter-finals against PSV, if he had been fit we would have made the Final in Dublin. He went back to Atlético Madrid, won the Europa League again and signed for us permanently for a club record of €12m.

Are there any Benfica weaknesses going into this game that Celtic could exploit?

Maxi Pereira is injured so central defender Miguel Vítor (on loan with Leicester last season) likely to start in his place. Our left-back is a young Paraguayan forward and we are still waiting on Luisão's verdict on his suspension.

Garay is the only one who will 100% play if not for any last minute freak injury. We also have a captain crisis at the club if Luisão is out, as Maxi Pereira is suspended and Javi García has been sold. Aimar next logical choice but he will have to start for that to happen.

Defence also a weakness because our manager has a philosophy of scoring one more than you, but it will be interesting on his choice of tactics on the day. Miguel Vítor at right back certainly won't be bombing forward like Maxi Pereira does.

Finally have you got any predictions for the match?

I would be slightly happy with, which is a 1-1. But can already imagine the support the home fans will give to their team and it will be 12 vs 11 in that respect.

Formation and starting line up baffles not only me but most Benfica fans because of the last minute changes (selling Witsel and Javi). It's really tough to predict what he will think of this game but I can almost give you the following.

Artur
Miguel Vítor, Luisão(if available), Garay, Melgarejo
Matic
Salvio Pablo Aimar (Gaitán, Nolito, Enzo Pérez, Bruno César)
Rodrigo Cardozo

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ask me these questions where can we find you? You can find our website at http://www.planetbenfica.co.uk/and you can also follow us on twitter @planetbenfica

Opposition look: S.L. Benfica

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:30:42 +0000

Benfica our first UCL group stage opponents are a very attacking team filled with several big talents. Several of them have left but Benfica wouldn't be silly enough to leave themselves with an empty squad.

First lets look at Benfica's performance last season and their form so far in the current season.

Benfica finished second in the Primeira Liga last season six points behind the talented Porto. Benfica only drew 6 games and lost 3 but they conceded 27 goals in 30 league games. Celtic conceded 21 goals in 38 games, this is the drawback of their team.

In last season's champions league they got through via the non-champions path. Beating Trabzonspor 3-1 on agg and Twente 5-3 on agg. They were put into a group with Man United, Basel and Oțelul Galați. Benfica won 3 and drew 3 two of the draws were against Man United.

In the last 16 they defeated Zenit 4-3 on agg and were knocked out in the quarter finals by Chelsea 3-1 on agg.

In the current season they have refreshed their squad in several area's with 10 players leaving permanently and signing 7 new players. The big leaves are Saviola, Javi Garcia, Axel Witsel and Emerson. However they have signed Luisinho, Ola John, Eduardo Salvio and Rodrigo Lima. A left back, two wingers and a striker.

Salvio is the only one who has settled into the squad so far (starting 3 games scoring two goals) although the other two came on as subs in a friendly against Real Betis which finished 1-1. Rodrigo Lima started in that game as well.

So who should Celtic look out for and what potential weaknesses do Benfica have?

Starting from the back Benfica don't have a world class goalkeeper but I hear that he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Benfica will not have Luisão due to a ban but Ezequiel Garay signed from Real Madrid last season and is very solid. They don't have a lot of cover for Luisão and Jardel will probably step in who only got 10 starts last season. Pereira and Lorenzo Melgarejo will probably be in the full back positions but new signing Luisinho could start at left back if fit. In midfield 6ft 4in Nemanja Matić will replace Javi Garcia, Carlos Martins will probably fit beside him. Ahead of them there should be Salvio, Enzo Pérez and Nicolás Gaitán. We played against Salvio last season when he was with A.Madrid and Gaitán is suppose to be the new Riquelme. Then Cardozo should be leading the line as a targetman. For backup/other potential options Benfica have Rodrigo, Lima, Pablo Aimar and Nolito but are all attacking players.

So overall Benfica even with their departing stars have very talented replacements. Benfica have a fearsome attack with some nasty wingers and strikers but they lack defensive players in depth. This Benfica is better than the one we played in 2006/7, the main players to look out for is Salvio, Gaitán, Cardozo and the 4 backup players I mentioned. Celtic can probably get the majority of possession but Benfica are experts in counter attacking football so we will need to be alert.

If Celtic keep it tight at the back Celtic can probably seal a win, this Benfica side are around the level of Udinese. A bit more of an attacking threat and not as tight defensively.

The future of the CelticTalk Blog

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:18:16 +0000

Basically I've not had the time to contribute articles to the blog so I will instead be working on encouraging people to submit their views and content to the site.

So now anyone can easily submit an article. Simply go to http://celtictalk.org/ (make sure you are logged in), click the add article button and have fun writing something up.

It will then be checked and approved if it's suitable for the site and sent to over 7,000 twitter followers, 5,000 people on facebook and the newsnow network.

Also if you have any social media links or sites feel free to include them at the bottom of the article.

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Paradise Preview - S02E06 (Inverness CT)

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 02:37:54 +0000

After beating Helsingborg 2-0 to go four games undefeated away in Europe Josh and Graham look ahead to Celtic's weekend tie against Inverness CT.

Paradise Preview S2E05 (Helsingborg)

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:27:43 +0000

Paradise Preview S2E04 (Ross County)

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:10:20 +0000

Paradise Preview S2E03 (Helsinki)

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:44:05 +0000

Use the player below or click here

Celtic 1 Aberdeen 0 - Commons saves the day

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 13:50:53 +0000

Celtic were playing well in the first 15 minutes with some simple, neat passing from Kayal, Matthews and Commons. Naysmith took out Kayal with a horrible tackle that seemed to be two footed. Minutes later Jack booted Samaras in the face, neither player was even warned.

Commons was the first player to really test Langfield with a shot that moved through the air on the 21st minute. After that Aberdeen started to get more into the game as they slowed the pace down. Aberdeen were dangerous on the counter attack and from set play. McGinn was played through and almost got a 1v1 with Forster if it wasn't for Wanyama who covered well.

Vernon could have put Aberdeen ahead from a corner, Forster was pushed as he tried to punch the ball. It fell to the feet of Vernon who tried to place the ball into the top corner. Although he put to much power on it and it floated over the bar.

Celtic near the end of the first half were struggling to near Aberdeen's box and this continued early into the second half.

Lennon knew it wasn't working as Celtic needed a goal. He brough on Wilson for the ineffective Samaras as Celtic moved into a 3-4-3 formation with Wanyama in the middle.

The formation change helped Celtic as they went through a good period of play seeing Langfield save another Commons blast from outside the box.

The team needed more changes as Kayal looked tired and Stokes was having an awful game. Murphy and McCourt came on in the 77th minute.

Two minutes later Celtic earned a corner, Celtic played it short, Commons took a low driving shot and it sneaked into the near post. Langfield had a howler, Commons shot was weak but it bobbled just infront of Langfield, went over his hands and into the net.

After that Celtic didn't really get any clean chances as they walked away with the 1-0 win.

It wasn't a bad game but yet again we seen that we need a target man. So far in pre-season and in our first two competitve games we have been ineffective upfront. Stokes was hardly in the game at all today, couldn't hold up play, his shooting was poor and never made any good runs. From Lennon's formation changes today we can clearly see that he is desperate for a new striker.

Paradise Preview S2E02 (Helsinki)

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:40:02 +0000

Use the player below or click here

Paradise Preview S2E01 (Inter Milan)

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:09:09 +0000

Use the player below or click here

Celtic draw HJK Helsinki

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:45:27 +0000

The draw today will see Celtic face HJK Helsinki who beat Icelandic side KR 7-0 in the first leg with the second leg being away from home on the 24th.

Celtic have faced Finnish side Helsinki before in the 00-01 season as MON took Celtic through the Uefa Cup. We beat then 2-0 at home and lost 2-1 away. Larsson scored the two home goals and Sutton scored the away goal in Extra time to put Celtic through. That was our only loss against a Finnish side winning the other 5 games.

Helsinki might not sound like a great side but they have an advantage going into this game, fitness and sharpness. They are currently 17 games into their league season and are currently second in the table. They also have two good strikers, Juho Mäkelä who is 6ft 3in and played for Hearts on season. They also have a really good youngster, 17 year old Joel Pohjanpalo who has scored 13 goals in 26 games this season and score two goals against KR.

Last season they managed to get a 2-0 win at home against FC Schalke in the Europa League playoff round but were beaten 6-1 away.

In this same round last year they were beaten by Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 on agg losing 2-1 at home and 1-0 away. What is interesting is that Zagreb played against Ajax in the UCL group stage losing 4-0 and 2-0.

This will certainly be a tough game but a good performance from Celtic should see us through.

Best Celtic goals of 2011/12 - Part 2/2

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:19:32 +0000

Make sure you have checked out part one first, you can find it on youtube here.

FC Augsburg 0 Celtic 0

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:03:43 +0000

Celtic: Forster, K. Wilson, Mulgrew, F. Twardzik, Blackman, Kayal, Ledley, McGeouch, Forrest, Stokes, Hooper
Subs: Zaluska, Murphy, Toshney, Watt, McCourt

vs

p Jentzsch, - P. Verhaegh, G. Sankoh, P. Langkamp, M. de Jong, - K. Musona, D. Baier, T. Werner, J. Moravek, J. Callsen-Bracker, - S. Grove;

Celtic played a 3-4-1-2 formation with Forrest then McGeouch sitting just behind the strikers. This is Augsburg's 3rd friendly for the upcoming season.

I'm only going off several twitter sources so this report isn't the best but highlights will be up tomorrow.

Augsburg got off to a good start getting several chances as Knowledge Musona(former transfer target) and Marcel de Jong looked dangerous. Then Kelvin Wilson made a sloppy pass back to Forster who couldn't reach the ball in time but Moravek shot wide of the target.

Slowly Celtic became more composed, became settled at the back and began to push forward torwards the end of the half. Mulgrew and Hooper had good chances deflected away from goal.

Early on in the first half Kayal shot just wide of goal and Musona tested Forster yet again who had to make a double save.

Paddy McCourt and Daryl Murphy came on for Hooper and Forrest on the 60th minute and Forrest's armband was passed to Ledley. 10 minutes after came on Murphy had the best chance of the game with a shot that hit the side netting.

Torwards the end of the game Toshney just came on for Stokes, Watt for Kayal. Celtic made a last push to try and get a winner but the game ended 0-0.

Obviously being the first game this is really just a fitness game but it seems like Augsburg gave the side a good test.

Click here to read the match thread

Newco Part 3: A bigger Gretna?

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:02:53 +0000

Before reading this please read part two of our blog posts about the situation at Rangers. Click here.

What seems to be the main backing of people wanting Newco to enter the SPL is that the Newco is Glasgow Rangers. It would harm the Scottish game if they weren't allowed in and it's an unfair punishment since it was the previous owners who did all the harm.

First of all this isn't Glasgow Rangers, this isn't my view it's the view of Uefa. That is why Newco can't play in Europe for three years because Uefa need the club to have three years of audited accounts. To make sure the club isn't doing anything suspicious and to make sure the club is stable(unlike Gretna).

So we have a brand new club entering the league system with a good chance of some high quality players playing for the club. A big chance of getting the second largest set of attendances in Scotland. With the third biggest stadium in the country being managed by some high up figures within the Scottish game. Essentially it's like Gretna multiplied by a factor of ten or a club like Newcastle deciding to join the Scottish game.

Would you treat Gretna differently if they had a 50,000 capacity stadium, big name players, big name manager and a lot of the Scottish public have signalled interest in being a fan of the club? How would you treat Newcastle joining the Scottish game.

In the interest of sporting integrity a bigger Gretna would still have to go through the same route as they did, so would a team like Newcastle. It's essentially buying advanced entry, pushing back three other Scottish football teams. It's comparable to Man City in 2008 saying, we are going to pump in $1bn to this club over 5 years but only if you give us UCL next season. We don't want to wait until 2011/12.

Another argument coming out for pro-newco is how much the football league has helped clubs in England with financial issues. The only help given by the Football League to Portsmouth (800,000 in 200,000 payments). This was to ensure that Portsmouth could complete their fixtures for that season. It would have cost the Championship more to allow them not to complete the fixtures. Bring in the fact as well that the SFA wasn't big enough to help Rangers.

Lets have a look at the three clubs that got liquidated in England without a CVA being agreed. Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham all of them at the time were at the very bottom of professional football(League two is like our division 3). They were all punished via league point deductions and were forced to sign something like a CVA with their old creditors. The only other punishment would be to kick them straight out of the professional league system and go into semi-pro football. Newco won't be treated as harsh, they will likely play professional football and will not be forced to pay any of the Oldco debts or face any point deductions. If Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham were higher up in the league system they would have been pushed down into League two.

Rangers your a new club, no one in the world was willing to pay to save your club from liquidation. Fortunately someone was willing to buy your assets and keep football at Ibrox instead of a shiny new Tesco. This is a benefit given to you, you should be grateful that after mounting up over 134m of debt that dwarfs your club that football will still be played there.

As for the likes of Jim Traynor, your excuse of why Newco getting put into division 3 isn't sporting integrity is ignorant. You probably have no idea about Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham. You completely ignore the fact that Rangers for the past 20 years has had a lot of success in Europe and Scottish football due to tax avoidance. Meanwhile Rangers mounted up debts they had no chance of paying. Clubs and fans will like seeing a big opponent fall but it's way down on the list why Newco won't be admitted into the SPL. Open your eyes and see the big picture. Stop thinking that this is Rangers football Club, you can be related to your history but if Newco win's a title it will be it's first.

Rangers will never wipe the slate

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 13:06:51 +0000

The life of a football fan is punctuated with levels of extreme high when your team scores a goal, wins a match, wins a cup or wins the league. Sometimes a single goal in a match midway through a season is celebrated more than seeing your team lifting a trophy, its all about the build up to that moment and the occasion surrounding it.

Similarly your life is punctuated with extreme lows when your team loses a goal, a match, a cup or a league. Nick Hornby stated that the natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score and there’s an element of truth in that. Sometimes the memory of that crushing feeling of defeat and loss far outweighs the memories of victories and celebration.

As a Celtic fan of some vintage, I have been witness to some scarf over the face moments; Inverness Caley Thistle, Clyde and Ross County being three most notable moments. I have felt the disappointment of losing the uefa cup final in a manner that left a real nasty taste in the mouth; however none of these memories linger too long or inflict a feeling of dread.

Nothing compares to the two league titles that were lost on the last day of the season in 2003 and 2005. I can recollect every moment of these games, every emotion during the 90 mins and the hours and days in the aftermath of them, more so than any title win.

In 2003 we travelled back from Seville on the Friday and headed down to Rugby Park on the Sunday more in hope than expectation as most of us had in the backs of our minds the realisation that Rangers would be able to do what was required, even if we scored 9 goals that day. My disappointment was compounded that the team that had given me one of the best of seasons of my life had finished with no trophies to show for it. It was a hard double blow to take in the space of five days and weren’t we reminded of this fact by gloating rangers fans.

The press would eulogise in the aftermath, pointing out how good a team Rangers must be and what an achievement for the club to beat a Celtic team in the league and league cup final. A Celtic team that was generally agreed was the most talented Celtic side in decades, what an achievement for Rangers, what a manager they had.

Well now we know the truth of the matter, Chris Sutton was half right when he said we were cheated that day, we had been cheated for years. By utilising the EBT tax avoidance scheme and not declaring side contracts / letters / additional payments to the SFA and SPL they intentionally cheated. It was a club policy to pay players in this way; players who would have attracted the highest tax rate were able to be paid twice as much as the club could have afforded otherwise. By doing so they were able to employ players who ordinarily they couldn’t attract or afford and covered up the fact they were doing it with the SFA / SPL.

Heres the Rangers Team That played against Dunfermline the day they won 6-1 and pipped us to the title;

Klos (EBT),

Ricksen (EBT), Moore (EBT), Amoruso (EBT), Numan (EBT),

Ferguson(EBT), Arteta (EBT), Caniggia (EBT) (McCann 45 EBT), de Boer (EBT),

Mols (EBT) (Thompson 62 EBT), Arveladze.

Of the 13 players involved that day 12 were recipients of the Employee Benefit Trust, 5 of the goals were scored by EBT Players; they were managed by someone in receipt of an EBT.

Fast forward to 2005 and we are standing at Fir Park watching the most gut wrenching end to the season and you want someone to vaporize you on the spot, you’re numb from shock and disbelief. You can’t even begin to analyise where it went wrong, although some are already doing so as you leave the stadium. I just want to be alone with my thoughts but it’s a long crowded walk back to the car and you can’t escape the collective feeling of disappointment and downright heartbreak.

Again we had this loss rubbed in our faces, it was dubbed Helicopter Sunday and the celebrations and eulogizing lasted for weeks, the feeling of disappointment still remains. Alex McLeish was quoted recently that nothing has given him as much satisfaction as snatching the league title from Martin O'Neill's Celtic in the final three minutes of the 2004/05 campaign.

But again we were cheated, heres the Rangers Line up that day;

Waterreus (EBT),

Ricksen(EBT), Andrews (EBT), Kyrgiakos(EBT), Ball (EBT),

Arveladze, Ferguson (EBT), Alex Rae (EBT), Buffel (EBT),

Prso (EBT), Novo (EBT).

Subs Not Used: McGregor, Thompson (EBT), Malcolm (EBT), Burke (EBT), McCormack, Steven Smith (EBT), Lovenkrands (EBT).

Apart from Arveladze, Mcgregor and McCormack the whole team and substitutes bench were being paid in contrivance of the SFA / SPL rules and of course the manager who rates this as his greater ever achievement was also evading his tax. Without breaking the rules Rangers would have been unable to field any of these players, they would have had to operate within their means and utilise a squad that would have been considerably under strength.

In the EBT years Rangers were able to entice players on salaries they could not afford and then subsequently sell them on for massive profit which they were then able to reinvest in the squad. By recruiting Boumsong and Cueller alone in a short space of time Rangers netted almost £14 million in profit from there sales. So on top of the money they have cheated from HMRC that’s another £14 million they accrued that they wouldn’t have been able to outwith using the EBT’s

In reality since the days of Graeme Souness sweeping into ibrox (Note: Only Rangers men sweep into anywhere) whether it’s been from excessive borrowing, EBT Tax avoidance or bank funded share issues we haven’t seen the real Rangers. Before this when I started watching football Rangers were a shell of a club, dwindling support, substandard players (not aided by their sectarian signing policy) they had not won a league title since 1978 – nine years of wilderness. For the people who talk about the league needing “a strong Rangers” back in football I would ask who are the real Rangers? Because they have been operating artificially and outwith the rules for the best part of twenty years.

Spare me the claims of those deluded followers and journalists – Jim Traynor especially who’s over exposure in the written, radio and television media has allowed him to popularise the myth that they have been punished enough. The Rangers fans have had their celebrations, title parties, flag days and triumphalism for years on the back of these cheated titles. The good times they have enjoyed have been so plentiful that the punishments so far imposed and the potential punishments awaiting do not out weigh that in my opinion.

The old Rangers are in a sack filled with bricks at the bottom of an ocean getting devoured by plankton, this new club which as yet have no where to play are lying like injured road kill on the side of the road awaiting one final juggernaut before they are terminated too. All of it self inflicted but don’t expect any contrition or making amends as decades of entitlement and “we are the people” have removed the ability to see what is in front of them.

In the words of Thomas Aquinis three conditions are necessary for Penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works.

Even after seeing Rangers die and even after hearing that titles may be stripped it still doesn’t erase from me any of those memories of gut wrenching disappointment we suffered on those two specific seasons, the slate will never be wiped clean.

This was an article contributed by twitter user @ViewsfromtheJun

He also has a blogspot where you can see more of his articles here

Craig Burley - Lennon needs Strachan?

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:54:19 +0000

In Craig Burley's column he starts off with sensationalism, no time to charm in the person got to make this article seem like the sporting article of the century. Neil Lennon faces the most important decision of his career in the next few weeks and if he calls it wrong it may well cost him his job as Celtic manager.

Choosing a first team coach is the most important decision in his career. This should leave most sane human being's confused, I guess at half time against Kilmarnock was nothing. I guess the death threats were nothing, signing players that will cost millions of pounds is nothing compared to choosing a first team coach. Bad start Craig maybe your article still has a chance to redeem it's self, maybe he will come out with several good arguments to back his initial paragraph.

As expected he gives no arguments why this could cost him the job. I can only read between the lines and guess that he is suggesting Lennon's behaviour could cost him his job. His behaviour isn't perfect but his performance vastly outweighs it. I don't think Lennon can afford to get a touchline ban every season. He is still learning as a manager and I just hope that he learns from his small niggling mistakes to improve his performance season after season or at least maintain it at the same level.

Craig for the whole article only names one potential candidate, Gordon Strachan. Strachan was close to coming into some sort of role at Celtic but it was during the time that results were going bad for Celtic and in the end Strachan refused to come to terms on a deal. Is this a suitable move now, I really don't think so. Lennon has overcome his challenges that confronted him to win the league title, get to a League cup final and a Scottish cup Semi final. Strachan was suppose to come in to help him on that issue, not issues relating to his touchline behaviour and I certainly don't think that is a valid reason to bring him in.

Is Strachan the perfect candidate anyway, could he bring something to Celtic. Strachan was bad at transfers, he couldn't get the best out of his players, Lennon's league record dwarfs his and his relationship's with players is far from perfect. I can't see any reason why Lennon would bring him in now, I've got no problem if Lennon personally wants to do that because there could be reasons behind the scenes.

As we move back to the article Craig make several statements. Rangers could be stronger next season, Lennon is far from the perfect manager and if results are bad the fans will turn on him. I don't think there is a problem trying to be better than last season and not being complacent. But what will Strachan do to stop this from happening other than Craig saying Strachan can ENSURE Lennon has the job as long as he wants.

Let me conclude this by saying Craig gives no evidence that Strachan will improve Celtic, no justification to bringing him in just because of Lennon's touchline behaviour and caps it off with sensationalism. I personally think that Lennon doesn't need a big name singing to his back room staff, the appointment should suit him personally. He has done a fantastic job so far and I don't think this is an issue the fans should really be that concerned about because Lennon has already shown that he can overcome massive challenges.

Gordon Strachan, 3 league titles with two of them coming against poor Rangers sides with the help of £31m to get a win ratio of 67% over 4 seasons. Neil Lennon 1 league title over two seasons against a stronger Rangers with the help of £13m to get a win ratio of 75%. You can also take into account that Lennon really had to build the entire squad from the ground up.

Celtic FC becomes Scotland biggest team on twitter

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:04:15 +0000

This morning Thursday 24th of May 2012 the Celtic FC twitter account was only 100 followers away from the top spot. Several days before it was a few hundred behind that spot but there was a recent surge of followers after the testimonial against Norwich.

It took just over one hour to get those extra 100 followers and claim the top spot of 51,982 which puts Celtic FC as the 63rd most followed football team in the world. It also put's Celtic in the top 10 followed teams in the United Kingdom just a few thousand behind Aston Villa.

Celtic is far away from getting near to teams like Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City. Although Celtic's next big step is to get into the top 20 most followed teams in Europe. #20 is currently Zenit St. Petersburg at 105,000 followers. It is predicted that within a year the Celtic twitter account will be followed by at least 160,000 people or perhaps even more.

The amount of followers might not seem like anything important to some people but it's a representation of how big our football club really is despite the league we play in.

"Being a Celtic supporter is the only role that gives me any sense of communal identity, that gives me a feeling of being part of something bigger and more important than myself, that links me in any kind of deep emotional bond with other human beings. What are the alternatives? To be Scottish, or a Socialist, or an existentialist, or a nihilistic misanthrope, or an alienated atheist? Being a logical positivist is a source of some comfort, but only intellectually. In the final analysis being a Celtic supporter means that I am not and never will be totally alone, or beyond the understanding of similar beings."

David Bennie

http://www.theceltic... - About Celtic

You can find the Official Celtic twitter feed @celticfc

Newco FC's without CVA's are ALWAYS PUNISHED!

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:41:53 +0000

Another week and another article on Neil Doncaster. In my last article CVA or Die I missed some information about the history of Newco's as I missed three clubs which did exit Admin via Newco without a CVA. In this article we will look at these clubs and see if it's really as simple as the situation at Rangers.

Basically should a newco Rangers without a CVA enter the league without conditions or penalties.

Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham are three clubs that have exited Admin via Newco without CVA. Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Plymouth Argyle are the recent clubs to exit admin with a CVA and Newco. Chester City, Farsley Celtic, Rushden and Diamonds, Airdrieonians and Gretna failed to agree CVA's and vanished. Out of these 11 recent football clubs entered Admin only three of them exited via Newco without a CVA.

Luton Town, the smallest of these three clubs. It entered Administration near the end of the 07/08 season and it intended on entering the 08/09 season via Newco which it eventually did. It sounds like what is going on with Rangers but they got deducted 20 points PUNISHMENT FOR GOING NEWCO, an extra 10 points relating to deal with Agents through a company not the FA. Also the Football League board also imposed the condition that Luton Town 2020, the new holding company, must pay any unsecured creditors 16p in the pound.

So Luton Town did have to pay their creditors 16p in the pound and they were deducted 20 points in the year 2008 and at then end of the season they were relegated out of the Football league. These punishments were very tough to a club their size.

Bournemouth were relegated into League two for the 08/09 season, upon failing to agree a CVA and going Newco they were deducted 17 points. They first entered administration in February 2008, they were put under pressure as they almost had their licence pulled away as League two wanted confidence that the club could fulfil their fixtures. Yet again they had to pay their unsecured creditors as with Luton Town with at least 10p in the pound within two years or face sanctions.

So two Newco's without agreeing a CVA and both of them were punished via points and were forced to pay creditors 16p in the pound and 10p in the pound.

Rotherham you guess it, faced a 17 point penalty for failing to exit administration via CVA. I couldn't find information about the clubs new owners having the pay the creditors but they were forced out of their stadium and have to return to within the town's limits within four years. So I'm taking an educated guess that the new owners came to terms with the creditors in some way.

So based upon the 3 clubs that failed to agree a CVA before going Newco out of 11 clubs that entered Administration in recent years. I can safely say that Newco without a CVA deserves a severe punishment which should include paying the creditors a minimum of 1p in the pound but in my opinion 10p or more would be more suitable.

What needs to be talked about is the scale of the punishment and seeking conditions that means that a newco Rangers would be liable for issues like the second contracts if found guilty.

Neil Doncaster has no excuse for his interviews that contain a lot of nit picked information. These are the public messages that must be set in stone.

3 clubs in recent history have exited administration via CVA and Newco. None of them were punished.

3 clubs in recent history have exited administration without a CVA and went Newco all of them faced large punishments scaled to the size of the clubs.