ONGOING SAGAS.
Morning,all. Once again,I’m going to return to a recurring theme. Licensed thuggery,and all condoned by referees in particular and the Scottish game in general.
And it seems,also by our beloved board,who are obviously quite happy to see their highly-valued assets being set upon by have-a-go kiddy-on hardmen. They say sod all about it,and are equally silent when one of our players is sanctioned in an unbelievably over-the -top reaction by Beaton on Wednesday night.
Go back to the opener against Hearts. Naismith kicks both Brown and Hayes while they are on the ground. No action taken. Lafferty is booked for at least his third yellow card offence,and then simply carries on doing the same without further sanction.
St Johnstone in midweek,we are awarded three free kicks against them. The huns last month,where do you start? But McKenna’s is the worst I’ve seen for a while,and for it not even to be deemed a foulshould lead to both the player AND the referee up before the Compliance committee and severely punished.
Had McKenna caught Edouard properly,he could have suffered very serious injury. In fact had he tried it in the street,he would have got five years min for GBH. Madden is an experienced senior referee who knows the rules. There are only two explanations for his inaction on Saturday.
Hes either incompetent or he’s a cheat. I think that he’s both,actually. That he is so much of a cheat that he can’t even do it right. Or maybe he knows he doesn’t have to be subtle,doesn’t have to bother trying to hide it. Because he knows that he doesn’t have to worry about being called to account.
When I discover that he is to referee one of our games,I know we are in for a hard time. Same with Thomson,McLean,Dallas and Beaton. Some of the others I think are less inclined to look the other way ALL the time,though in the case of Willie Collum,that famously isn’t enough to stop him giving a penalty against us!
As for the board while all this is going on-as it has done for decades-time you stood up to be counted. Your silence is acquiescence and cowardice in my opinion.
*
The other big talking point of the weekend was the strong rumours doing the rounds about “that” meeting between DD PL and BR. That it was so widely reported on TIMTERNET and that all versions of it were broadly the same,suggests a degree of accuracy. Or a Press release(!)
I actually got the info on Saturday morning in an e-mail from a good friend. He’s not the type to lie,nor to propagate scurrilous rumour-mongering. Nevertheless,I couldn’t divulge it here as I couldn’t verify enough of the important details.
That didn’t stop it being trailed on virtually every Celtic blog in the days to follow. You’ll know the gist of it by now,BR on a big-money move to China,he’s dissuaded from it by promises of backing in the transfer market plus a £6m cash and shares bonus for CL qualification.
Glad to get that sorted,he hands his list of targets to PL and concentrates on CL qualification. PL decides to do sod all about the players requested-Edouard was already finalised by this time-and we are where we are.
DD apparently read them both The Riot Act. Got them told to grow up and behave themselves,start earning the shedloads of money they are paid,otherwise they’ll both be out and DD will make it his personal task to ensure they are both unemployable in the future. No,I don’t know how he would do that either-but would you take the risk that he wasn’t bluffing?
Me neither!
I must confess my surprise that BR even considered an offer from China,much less had seemingly decided to take it. I’m prepared to accept that he has felt undermined beforehand,and certainly under appreciated. He has some rehabilitation to make in my eyes,but hey,I’m sure he won’t worry too much about that.
PL,different kettle of fish. My opinions of him are well-known so I make no apologies for this,but his actions-or otherwise!-during the summer transfer window are a firing offence.
______________________
Guest article by majoc
If you would like to contribute an article,please mail Mahe at
sentinelcelts@gmail.com
This is a repost of a reply to MAGS on the previous article.
Timely stuff,Mags!
*
Morning,Mags.
I can’t disagree with much of what you say,even if your terminology wouldn’t necessarily be mine!
We are allowing ourselves to be cheated,to be battered by hammer throwers,to be laughed at by everyone who wishes us harm. And that is one long list,btw.
Someone is going to be seriously injured because of this. And the perpetrator won’t be entirely to blame,there are also those who facilitated it. And I include our board in that.
hi majoc on the first part of your post I remember the whartons the taits and the symes of this world Scottish refs and orange masonic bassas to the core madden beaton and dougie McDonald not forgetting mr dallas are just joining them. don’t get me started on lawell if he has got celtic in his heart.im a Dutchman.hh..ps. hope you are well.
Scottish referees, refereeing in a land where season ticket holders of certain clubs are allowed to referee their games, who would have thunk it.
It’s all been said before about the referees in scotland, it will be again for sure, again money or the lack of it is the answer, make them accountable, demote them and deprive them of the money, which is quite substantial and I’m sure we will then see a dramatic rise in the standard, people say that VAR would help in scotland, it would as long as those who are in control are minded to be honest, people who presently run the referees are not to be trusted, just look at the role of the assessors, they condone the cheating so that rules them out, foreign referees, for sure but the cost would be the biggest drawback, so we are back to cheats with the whistles, make them accountable and demote them for not performing, problem is how do we do it.
First off, have a panel of ex players, ex referees, ex managers, journos, they must be known to the public, their deliberations must be accessable to the public, they must be seen to assess the referees fairly, they have a similar system in Poland, it works, it could be implimented at the stroke of a pen, only problem with this is…well you know the answer.
BIGPACK,THEEXILEDTIM
My oul’ pal SOL KITTS told us all the other night about the pre-season interrogation he and his colleagues received every year in Essex. Any suggestion of an allegiance to,or animosity towards,a certain team precluded you from refereeing any game in which they were involved.
Madden in his OL regalia,the season tickets,it all sucks. He’s far from the first,or even the worst. The problem is,while our board stay schtuuum it won’t improve. It emboldens them. They’re laughing at us while are players are being crippled,or sent off for sod all.
It’s not the way I live my life,and it’s not the way we should be accepting our club behaving either.
I agree, problem is without the majority shouting about it, it will stay the same, yet we are the ones who are branded anti-Celtic for complaining about it.
The support is made up with total ejits, they can’t see what is in front of them, else they can and don’t care, it’s a funny old trait that some just need to be down trodded so they can whinge about it, they wouldn’t have a clue what to do if they assumed power, so best doff the cap.
Majoc
Good post buddy.
Part of the problem seems to be inertia in the Celtic support.
Too often we hear about how we’ve never had it so good and risks of throwing the baby out with the bathwater….double trebles and fiscal domination. Onto ten…and the Huns are deid. How we laugh.
The present board look to the attendances/revenue and it’s clear they only take positive action when numbers fall below a certain benchmark.
Those numbers are Not measured in leagues or cups or Europe!
There is enough dough in the Scottish market with a “strong Rangers” for our Board/specific shareholders to take their salary/bonus & dividends. A wee Euro group qualification is just extra gravy… when it happens.
The problem is exacerbated when we have fans just ‘happy’ with leagues and scottish cups and a wee ‘go’ at Europe…their needs are being satisfied. Especially when they are achieving despite all the sfa skulduggery. Durty Huns etc.,
Moan a wee bit about the cheating and hacking and dodgy backroom deals. typical hunnery etc., but don’t do a damn thing to change it…..Cushty (sic) Grunt.
There is a second group who aspire to more. Want Board to Invest sensibly from a position of strength – kick-on. They see where the lack of vision and the acquiescence to SFA/Sevco cheating will lead, eventually. They can see what is going on and recognise the potential if it were sorted out! For all of Scottish football not just Celtic. They see Europe as the true benchmark of success, and want revenues (not profits) reinvested sensibly back into the team ( also a sensible amount in repairs and general improvements to infrastructure…). Most probably see an hotel as a ‘folly’. They probably don’t see any benefit whatsover in holding a reserve of more than a few millions for a rainy day. When that reserve/provision is achieved, expect board to point all resources to building a team for Europe. Ongoing £1 in the ‘black’ each season would be an acceptable model.
Pay taxes as they fall due, of course. Just don’t pay revenue in unecessary tax…( that means profits and lovely dividends for an elite few)use the cash to buy goalscorers.
Of course some in Group One will take everything that Group 2 aspire to. Why not? The difference is they will not do a damn thing about lobbying the board or starving the SFA… until it’s too late.
This Board have read the runes/tea-leaves/bones. They know their market very well.
They accept the majority of fans broadly want, and more importantly will accept, what they are getting now. They are utilising that ‘mandate’ to deliver just enough. There will be grumbles and even a few taunts directed at them, but they are nothing if not thick-skinned. They console themselves together in the warmth of their Executive Rooms and think fondly about personal bank-balances. Another G&T…
The Board won’t mobilise until the majority (group one) see a Celtic team with only a losing league cup final to celebrate, in any given season. Attendances fall and kit doesn’t shift from the 10 (ten) shops. Even then this board know how to chuck them a few buns…new manager and one or two top signings. And they are off again … a few tumbles and a fall and a submission. Groan.
The second group will just have to suck it right up.
THEEXILEDTIM
As you know,I’m a Kilwinning lad. Few towns less Tim-friendly than that. But still,it’s full of friends of mine. They didn’t become friends overnight,they became friends because I stood up and earned their respect.
Good lads,every one of them. But give them an inch and they’ll take a liberty,as we know. Give them that inch,don’t act all surprised or offended at the result.
It’s looking like Moyes is getting lined up to replace Brendan.
He has been seen at a game just last week and today he has said he wan’t to manage us, I can only hope and pray that DD doesn’t sanction it, a disaster in the making imo.
SES
Kwality again, mirrors my thoughts entirely, put better than I ever could 🙂
HH
TET
Cheers. You’re nae slouch btw…most stuff came from reading contributions from guys like you over the years.
The thought of Moyes ..decent guy…style of fitba..No thanks!
It occurs to me if Peter found a right good number in EPL now, his legacy would stand well for all time. Generally, over 5 years as CEO is too long for any man. No matter how good he is. Needs a fresh challenge.
Then Brendan could be locked in for a few more seasons.
New guv’nor working hand in hand with Brendan creating fresh impetus.
Win Win
If Brendan acted in the way that some rumours suggest after an alleged approach from China, then is he any better than Morelos, who ‘spat out the dummy’ and was ridiculed by us after a similar phantom Chinese bid?
If he was offered a £6m ‘bung, you can rest assured that if it involved shares it would have only come from DD, not PL – & who’s shares was he getting by the way?
This whole story including the Moyes link is complete and utter fabrication by blog-people with over-active imaginations and too much time on their hands.
That there has been some kind of disconnect between the ‘powers that be’ at Celtic is obvious, how and why it happened is subject to speculation, however Hans Christian Andersen versions are not helpful, especially when they come from our ‘own kind’.
majoc/the exiled tim,. why should we always be a the back of the bus because of our religion. it galls me to think our forefathers had this shit, and its now 2018 and the guys with the bowler hats and funny handshakes still rule the roost, oh what id give for someone like rosie parks to say enough is enough.hh.
Gold
Brendan himself confirmed that he got an offer from China, unlike the Moreloss bid that was fabricated, unless Brendan is telling porkies of course, I have no idea about any bung so won’t comment on one.
The Moyes thing is real, he was at Celtic Park the other week taking in a game and he did say he would be interested.
“Yeah I would be [interested in the job]. It’s my home and I’d like to come back and do it sometime, but while the Premier League’s so strong, that would probably still remain my interest.”
Not definitive but far from utter fabrication.
As for the disconnect, there is a common theme, there has been for years and it’s highly unlikely it’s the managers fault every time, that leaves the other person who has been at the center of them all, I’m sure you can guess who that is.
Gold,
If Brendan did listen to an offer from China, then there is a significant difference between his behavior and that of Morelos. In Brendan’s case he has ushered in the most successful period in the club’s recent history in terms of both footballing and financial achievements. For his sins, he is rewarded with a hefty negative net spend and an intransigent CEO (whose opinion of himself proceeds him).
Brendan is a Celtic fan, but he will not meekly sit idle as he is shafted by senior management; targets being missed, senior players being sold and not replaced and £40+m sitting in Celtic’s bank account. There is a thin line between loyalty and stupidity and Brendan appears savvy enough to know the point of change.
I agree that there is a lot of speculation in the Celtic-sphere, much of it will be unverified and based on speculation and supposition, but the prosaic fact is that we have reached this juncture during the most successful period in our recent history. The question must be asked how this happened.
Brendan up until this window has been happy. However, given his comments in the media and the events in the transfer window, we can infer that he is displeased with the transfer dealings. Seemingly he does not believe that selling your best players and not replacing them is a prudent tactic.
On the other hand, we have PL (CEO and so ministerial responsibility applies) who has previous in Strachan’s last year, in Lennon’s last year and now in Brendan’s latest (although hopefully not last) year of significant failures in the transfer market, leading to a poor season relative to those that preceded them and then a significant downturn in performance over the next season (Mowbrary succeeded Strachan and was a disaster; Deila succeeded Lennon and while not a disaster was certainly a failure). I just hope history does not repeat itself again, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Yip, he has become complacent imo, he gets all the kudos for having loads in the bank, take Brendan out of the equation there is no money in the bank, a point, a major point that his groupies seem to ignore, best run club bollix, any CEO worth his salt will procure contracts, any CEO doing his job properly would make as much, if not more for the PLC than Pedro is, he may also have a desire to take the team to the next level and sustain it.
Pity it’s not gonna happen but we can dream.
THEEXILEDTIM et al
He didn’t get complacent. He decided he knew best. He knew more than MON,GS,NFL,BR.
He’s been found out time and again for a useless bastard when he meddles with football affairs.
He’s a bean-counter who should stick to what he is very good at,and leave the football to people who know what they are doing.
ROLLINGSTONE
PL holds all the cards. He overplayed them in the summer. And not for the first time.
What is for a first time is that DD seems to have realised that,and got him told.
Now,it might not be before time,but it seems to have happened. January will be the defining time for this. One more bad window and PL still in place,we will know the script.
You are correct in that January will confirm the lie of the land, I just hope it is not a little too late.
I anticipated a Tony Mowbray-esque January window, i.e. panic buys/loans to appease the fans and try and turn around an ailing season. Time will tell.
ROLLINGSTONE
I also think that it’s time for BR to stand up and be counted. If,as has been alleged,a number of signings were not of his making,don’t just not play them to make your point,tell them NAW,he’s not signing for us.
No more Mr Nice Guy. This player is not Celtic class.
Gonna tell us what you really think?
Seriously,yes,absolutely on the button again
Mail you later,got a wee plan for the international fortnight-its a hellhole for a blog-and you might be interested.
I agree with regard to any current and/or previous disconnect you are probably right , it cannot always be the manager’s fault.
My take on this current impasse is that Brendan may well have been stopped in his tracks on the transfer-front. We have a surplus of bit-part and no-part players in a bloated squad, e.g. De-Vries, Hayes, Compper, Musonda (gone), Kouassi, Gamboa, Hendry, Benyu, Christie & Allan, most of them down to Brendan – that’s probably the best part of £6/year in wages. I’m sure we have a policy of holding wages to 55% of turnover. Last year’s figures showed wages at 59%, so perhaps PL was insisting that some bodies must be moved on before new ones came in, remembering of course that Morgan & Eduard had been purchased, two more of Brendan’s pick, and Izaguirre brought back.
It was on the last day that Dembele went and so it was not a factor in what had gone on before, and of course we kept Boyata and secured Benkovic, probably at a cost of £2/£3m for the season.
McGinn wanted guaranteed first-year football, he said so himself, so PL is not culpable as far as I can see.
If not for Dembele’s final day strop, I think most of us would have been perfectly satisfied with the window.
Our form in the CL & domestically is another matter.
Hi there, rather than repeating myself, can I refer you to my answer to The Exiled Him.
I was not being disparaging to Brendan, I agree with you on all his accomplishments – his coaching abilities are not in question – his recruitment decisions are – in my humble opinion.
Ok buddy, interesting…
Mahe
“That it was so widely reported on TIMTERNET and that all versions of it were broadly the same,suggests a degree of accuracy. Or a Press release(!)”
There is another possibility:-
They all copied the work of the original who delivered the story. After all there are a lot of right wing conspiracy sites that repeat and disseminate rumour based on a belief that “my good mate said it and I have no reason to doubt him, therefore it is likely to be true”.
“DD apparently read them both The Riot Act. Got them told to grow up and behave themselves,start earning the shedloads of money they are paid,otherwise they’ll both be out and DD will make it his personal task to ensure they are both unemployable in the future. No,I don’t know how he would do that either-but would you take the risk that he wasn’t bluffing?”
Now, how can we possibly know this? Were there witnesses to this meeting and, if so, why were they allowed and trusted if they immediately leaked this to the blogs?
Did the two “alleged scoldees” publicise it? If so, what could their possible motivation be for publicising their respective humiliation by and censure from Dermot Desmond?
Did Dermot Desmond leak the information? What could the possible motivation be for someone trying to heal a rift to publicise such a rift?
It all gets very twisted, unconvincing, Machiavellian and double-agenty unless you include the option that all those “apparently’s” and “it seems’s” are a sure sign that someone is speculating and, while it is highly likely that there was a meeting, the contents and tone of that meeting are pure speculation.
Gold
Brendan is being restricted by out transfer policy, his remit will be to buy potential, develop and sell for a profit, a very decent policy, it’s paid dividends for us in the past but like everything else there are risks and some bad buys, just the gamble you take, but in general I agree that a fair few of his signings haven’t worked out.
At the risk of repeating myself, but I will in case it has slipped your mind, the reason we can’t offload players is their wages will be too much for other clubs to take on, that is the fault of Pedro, he sanctioned wages that are too high.
The dogs in the street knew that a last min bid would have come in for Dembele, there should have been a plan for such a scenario, not to have one is rank bad management.
Not a manager on the planet will tell a player he is guaranteed first team football, no a single one, to use this again as an excuse is plain wrong.
There can be many, many reasons for our out of sorts form, Brendan’s situation could be one, player unrest another, no protection from the referees another, there can be a host of reasons, reasons that could be sorted if our board were minded to, they are in control, if they wanted to clear out the cabal at the sfa and the spl all it would take would be a phone call to uefa and tell them to sort things out or they go public, never gonna happen sadly, better the bigot buck they know etc.
Agree 100% – so many looking to embellish the rhetoric on some perceived ‘crisis’ at Celtic – crisis, what crisis?
We are in the midst of the second-most successful footballing period in our history. Celtic is the most financially successful club ever in Scottish football. We have just posted our biggest ever turnover and our biggest ever profit.
Loss of form? Yes we are stuttering a bit, but…..crisis, what crisis?
SFTB
No like you not to read everything before you post !
SFTB,
Hi partner and hope youre well. Please keep on gracing us with your thoughts, honestly.
Majoc wrote todays article and no doubt will address your reply .
My thoughts for the record ,,, its too detailed,,doesnt sound plausible .I wanna go,,,heres 4 top players and shares ? Very strange indeed . Hence I didnt say a word , until now youve forced my hand.
Everyones at fault imo for the current malaise and they owe it to the fans to give it their all to turn it around.
I must admit though there does seem to be a policy of say nothing about the refs as intimated earlier .
Very strange indeed.
Hail Hail
I miss our spats btw, I reiterate what Mahe said, keep posting, people like you are well worth reading.
HH
You’ll have to point out to me what I missed TET
I think Mahe already has 🙂
I don’t mind the speculation.
It is the technique of conflating speculation with fact that I mistrust and see too often used in fake news circles.
I can agree that it is highly likely that a meeting took place between DD and either PL and BR or both seperately. The rest of the detail re what was discussed and what was agreed is speculation and I find it difficult to know which of the three had any motivation to make this detail public.
BTW , I agree that Brendan was unhappy and I agree that he has recently looked less beset by worries. But I am no more enlightened as to whether it was a dispute resolution process or just better results that brought this about.
I still fear for the low mood around all matters Celtic as we have 2 tough European fixtures upcoming and they re likely to generate some adverse results and more fuel to the speculation.
Hope you and yours are safe in the land of wildfires and scary animals (and Trump).
I may be being particularly thick and tired here ( I have driven to Fife and back today) but all I see is Mahe being equally sceptical about the anount and claimed precision of the detail being revealed from this confidential meeting.
He als o adds that there is a strange silence about the refs but that was a blog subject I did not reference far less disagree with it.
So, I remain unsure of what I failed to spot.
TeT , ” Clappers ” usually roam in packs’s ,,, this one is either foolish or confident ? 😉
I would agree with all that and from where I sit next season will see one of those 2 leave end of season and I think we all know which one the majority of fans wish to depart and who stays. I just cant see PL jumping off if we are only 2 years from 10 and I cant see BR sticking him for another 4 windows. If the league slips from our grasp it will have been down to incompetence and nothing else imo.
And Moyes,,,I aint got nothing against him although it seems he would be unpopular ?
Never been scred to share my opinions with good Celtic men, even those with whom I disagree on certain matters.
I would hate to see all “mineshafters and happyclappers and the 40 shades of green between them disappear into blog silos where they only hear their own thoughts reverberating amongst people who think the same and never question them. And, with that in mind, I felt Sentinel Celts took a few unjustified hits on CQN as a result of similar silo thinking by CQNrs.
I am too busy to go much beyond one blog and I have been with CQN a long time. Used to post a little and read a lot on the “madhouse” of The Huddleboard but I have barely read Kerrydale Street or other Celtic sites just because of time pressures.
That is wasnae Mahe !
Majoc posted today and yer buggin me 🙂
That Mahe didn’t write the post, I assumed when you addressed your post to Mahe you were under the assumption he wrote it.
I really shouldn’t assume stuff, it’s gotten me into bother over the years, sorry 🙂
Confident for sure 🙂
hey you ghuys, wish I could put my thoughts into words like you lot, ill keep trying its a pleasure to share this blog with tet/majoc/mahe sis/sftb/gold.sorry if ive missed anyone.hh.
Come on Valencia
TET-please god no Moyes
Gold,
I agree we have a bloated squad. Some are the vestiges of a previous era, some are of Brendan’s own doing. Although, in his defence, if he has a budget of £1m and is resorting to purchases from Aberdeen and Dundee, I’m not sure how much you can expect. During Brendan’s tenure he has only spent £2m or more on four players (Edouard, Kouassi, Sinclair and Ntcham). I would class three out of the four as successes and the other as a failure.
As for the wage structure, I’ve heard 60% to turnover as the figure quoted, although this may be as accurate as 55%, as no one is privy to that information.
However, the % of wages to turnover has decreased this season from last. Indeed, under Brendan our % wage to turnover is lower than under Deila and lower than all but one of Lennon’s years i believe, so there is really no basis upon which to found an argument that wages are becoming too high.
Add into the mix the nearly 10 players out of contract next year and it makes this summer’s inertia even more baffling. Even if PL did believe wages were creeping up, it certainly doesn’t make sense to halt all forward progress, sell off our assets and not replace them and cause animosity with the manager; especially in the knowledge that the wage bill will be reduced significantly next year as a number of players will not be offered further deals.
Also, not sure if most fans would be satisfied with the window, even if Dembele stayed. Brendan was clear dissatisfied with the lack of movement and, as we have seen from the accounts, he had a net spend of next to zero. Hardly backing the double-treble winning manager.
I also hope no, he would be a disaster imo.
“BTW , I agree that Brendan was unhappy and I agree that he has recently looked less beset by worries. But I am no more enlightened as to whether it was a dispute resolution process or just better results that brought this about.”
This distills down the position. A lot of speculation and inference, but no one truly knows the happenings behind the scenes. I doubt everything is now functioning seamlessly, but at least there has been a move in a positive direction with Brendan’s demeanour.
However, how we got to this impasse does deserve consideration. We achieve a double treble and the best financial results in our history and follow it up with that summer. Something has gone very wrong.
SETTINGFREETHEBEARS
I recall only recently where you outright denied that a certain comment was made. When I c&p it for your benefit,you then denied that the words were meant to be read as anything other than the opposite of what they said.
This despite your frequent posts along the lines of “Read what was said,you can’t read meaning into words,only what was said”
Well,the use of certain words like “apparently” and “it seems” is there to make plain that I have no absolute knowledge of the events,that is what prevented me revealing the issue as told to me on Saturday. Once it becomes public,as it has,it becomes very worthy indeed of discussion. There is clearly a major problem behind the scenes at Celtic Park,and while I’m delighted that “it seems” to have been ironed out for the future,there is no denying the damage that has already been caused.
Anyway,as Mahe and others have pointed out,I’m glad to see you dipping your toes in over here. Your views are always welcome and worthy,whether in print or in person.
And,aye,that IS a hint for 10 Nov.
Have to dash,duty calls.
Hi M
Hope you are keeping well.
As has been acknowledged we know very little other than a meeting has taken place and brave faces are now being put on for public consumption.
The reasons behind those bare facts may invite some speculation but, unless you were one of the involved parties or had a version confided to you by one of the involved parties, then you and I and all the rest, can only speculate as to what was said and what was resolved or unresolved.
Beyond the existence of the meeting, there is no “public knowledge” on which to base anything. Once we start with “apparentlies” and “it seems’s” then we can add whatever we like after that and it stands just as much chance of being correct as a completely opposite opinion would. There is very little public knowledge on which to base anything? There was a meeting and there was an offer to Brendan from a Chinese club. All else is made up.
Which brings me to :-
“I recall only recently where you outright denied that a certain comment was made. When I c&p it for your benefit,you then denied that the words were meant to be read as anything other than the opposite of what they said.”
Firstly, I asked the question as to where this had been said (I did not deny its existence- merely my awareness of its existence). When you provided the proof, I acepted the source without any demur; I merely questioned the interpretation being put on it. To believe that Paul 67 was saying, in all seriousness, that Celtic would win the league forever and ever, would be to believe that Paul 67 is delusional. Now, you and I have both met the man and we know he is not. I still hold to my interpretation that he was braying to all and sundry that we were in good shape financially and in playing terms to keep winning more often than we are losing. He was not guaranteeing 10 in a row, far less 20 or 200 in a row. A generation of domination is not one where you win everything. It is one where you are the most dominant team. It is now 2018 and, in this millenium, we have won 13 leagues, 8 Scottish Cups and 6 League cups. This is a lengthy spell of domnance by Celtic. It is hard to find any other 20 year spell that is better. Sevco have won 5 titles this millenium, 4 Scottish and 6 League Cups. That is a historically poor return for that club and it happened when they were involved in illegal player payments for , at least 12 of the 18 years so far.
Finally, though my drinking days are near over; I barely manage a 2nd pint these days- I would be happy to meet up at some point on the 10th Novemeber, if suitable.
P.S. I have e-mailed you a question about your da.
Good to see SFTB on here.
New Article Posted!
SETTINGFREETHEBEARS
Keeping well,thanks. I don’t recommend double pneumonia to anyone-I used to be able to walk faster than most people can run,now I can barely walk the length of myself. It got me off the fags though!
I’ll mail you the details re Nov 10 in my reply to yours about my Dad. He’ll be delighted to see you too.
HH