Deadwood
It was a great tv show and theres a wee town of that name about an hour away but thats not the type of deadwood that Brendan is being held guilty of collecting . It has been stated and opined in various places that he has bought mostly fillers despite promising quality over quantity and when he went to Peter this was pointed out .
Do I agree we have far too much deadwood ? Absolutely we do , tons of it .
Is that to be laid at Brendans feet ? Yes and No
Should you be a domestic based player the chances are moving to Glasgow Celtic is the pinnacle of your career and with that pinnacle I think we can all assume would come the peak pay packet of your earning days . When it comes to money everyman is different , some players will not leave that club and wage under any circumstances if asked / wanted to leave ,, and some will say I have enough in the bank I just want to play games at this stage .
Theres probably a few layers in between those two polar opposites also , for instance I will move but only for X , Y or Z for instance.
If a manager is stuck with players he did not sign and doesnt want , and those players refuse to move on , he should have our sympathy .
If he signed the players he is now stuck with , well thats his own issue isnt it .
Unfortunately the information vacuum surrounding the PLC’s actions and intentions leaves us uncertain as to who exactly signs the players . My belief is its a mix, when you start you get mostly your own picks and when bedded in getting handed players becomes more frequent . Just a guess though , no information reached these ears or anything like that .
Its possible the gaffer okayed every player but the list of players to ok isnt the quality he wanted but its better to have someone than no one . Thus “ he okayed them “ would be a very unfair statement , in my opinion anyway.
So now it seems we are unable to pin the blame for the squad fillers on anyone as we don’t know who is buying the players , we must move onto who is deadwood and how much exactly do we have ?
I consider deadwood non youth / promoted players that are not near or in the first team when fit . As we arent a Spurs type club that use their entire squad rather than have a first 11 , then I think its fair to say if youre not in the match day squad at all for a prolonged spell when fit you are deadwood .
Sinky ? I will state right now he’s a great player when on form , but it seems getting him to hit that form is the issue. Hes on top first team player wages I believe so if he’s not a top first team player then theres a problem. Hopefully he’s being rested and not just dropped but Peter could well see him as deadwood if he’s not a top performing player. Could go either way this one I feel.
Jozo is probably biggest piece of deadwood we have . When we signed him I was delighted . Fitted the bill , to me at least ,,, like Croatian players , seemed a big strong boy , I thought we had stole a march and then when you later hear him linked to Lazio I was thinking so he does have the goods or they wouldn’t take him right ?
After 4 years or so the fact he is not the first name on the teamsheet when fit should tell us all we need to know , and he must be on a decent wedge no ?
“ Marvellous “ Marvin Comperr could take on Jozo for that second spot but loses by virtue of not being around that long . I dont know if I actually want the full story of just what exactly and who exactly to come out in this case as it would probably be bad for the ol ticker but if the blog ever compiles a biggest waste of money article then I will eat my hat if he’s not in there , along with Scheidt of course .
Kouassi,,,he came from Russia and surely a pay rise was involved yet we have got basically nada in return . Waste of money so far I would have to conclude.
Gamboa is an International and its nice to have 2 International player vying for the right back slot but even with Mick on the wane he is not getting the opportunities that would accompany recognition that he is in the frame to take over the slot . Looks to me like we need both right backs replaced .
Benyu , I have yet to see him play and I remember bloggers raving about his first few appearances. No way he joined for less dosh , why would he ? Doing jack at his loan clubs theres another whack out the door with nought in return.
Mulumbu,,,rumour is he leaked to Boyd there is unrest in the dressing room and has been told he wont play again for his sins . If true we must file under deadwood also.
Scotty Allen , Johnny Hayes , Arzani could be added to the list while Bitton might get added to it . If Griff is out of the picture due to a behind the scenes fall out ( thats whats being rumoured isnt it ? ) then he may as well be added to that list even though I would never consider one of our two strikers anything but essential right now .
So yeah we have a lot doing not much at all , and shifting them isnt proving easy and thus the wage bill has never sat higher . It could be argued the wage bill needed to be raised anyway .
In this event you can buy out contracts but that sets precedent you might not like , or just bide your time and let the contract run down and have nada to show at all . A cut price fee is another option as is loaning with the loan club picking up some of the wages.
But hopefully management learnt a ( expensive ) lesson or 10 .
Lets hope we do see what was promised , quality over quantity . Starting in January .
If no significant January signings arrive I personally will assume Brendan will be leaving in the summer and the board , being aware of that fact , are holding back for the new man.
The Deadwood stage is a coming over the hill, “whip crack-away”.
Brendan’s so called scout… Lee Congerton, his total unsuitability proceeds him, the Sunderland supporters rail at the “deadwood that he brought into the club, “wey-he man” so he has to take his share of the blame, how much? not so sure.
There are other players not mentioned including the much talked about “Charlie Musonda” who’s sole contribution was a deft flick in a European game. But there is a whole list of crap players whose total unsuitability just adds to the staggering £60 mill. football department wage bill. Crikey, you just have to look at the players we DIDNT bring in that was on Brendan’s wish list in the summer, were they any better than we have? absolutely not.
Then we look at the long list of “gathering dust list” that came in with the previous manager, Scott Alan, GMS, the Turkish striker, who was so good that I have blanked him out my mind. Now we all know who’s fingerprints was all over that list, don’t we.
The point is this….. its patently obvious that our CEO is playing the director of football at the club, with his sons attachment to Manchester City, the one good thing about that is that the players hoovered up by City are off a decent standard. But surely the point is that, a non footballing person has his hands in the till of something he should be nowhere near. Why pay a manager such a huge salary and not trust him to do the job he has been immersed in for years, unless of course you don’t trust his head of scouting.
The very fact that we do not know who does what in the football department should tell us that the lines are muddy, that is a weakness that needs to change, if it doesn’t then I can see the manager leaving soon, totally frustrated and disillusioned.
That would be a travesty.
It is clear that things must be changed, demarcation lines drawn and if the manager does leave then the new manager must be in sole charge of all things related to football. A proper footballing scout appointed and this bringing in squad numbers instead of quality must change. £60 mill. for winning the league in Scotland that brings in £3.mill. is wholly unjustified, the target must be C.L. participation every single year…..
MIKE
I agree with much of that,particularly a CEO playing at Director of Football,a role entirely outwith his remit. His actions suggest that he wants only to have a team good enough to get over the line,that he is happy for the team to be just that bit better rather than the best possible.
There is no way that this plan can make us successful in Europe,nor even competitive on that stage. He is happy to be competitive with the other teams attempting to qualify,and you can see how that’s gone over the last few years. The margins are too tight for even that plan to work.
majoc,
Remember the previous manager being reprimanded by Bankier because he failed to qualify for the C.L. in his two years spell, how could you possibly bring in a manager with limited experience and sign low quality players and expect him to qualify, the fault lay with the person who appointed him and who signed the low grade players.
If it was in any other field you would call him a patsy, an easy target to take the blame that clearly belonged to others. Brendan is no patsy, you would have to think of the behind the scenes ramifications that must have occurred because of the failure of the CEO to bring in the players that the manager wanted. He had identified them, set them up to be signed and then watched growing increasingly frustrated as Lawwell sat on his hands doing nothing, clearly there must have been a reason for that, was their wages or signing fees too much?
If you do not back his judgement, then he will leave, but the support will only find out the real reasons why he left in his autobiography, a totally unacceptable situation, one that could be easily and quickly rectified. With that budget for the footballing department we should be doing better, much better. Yesterday was great, another treble would be fantastic, but is it enough for that huge budget?
Mick
I’m never clear if that £60 million includes, executive, office staff, groundstaff etc., plus transfers (although that is mainly a cash plus..),
If it’s only playing staff and coaching staff at all levels, it’s equivalent of 56 bodies on one million per year (plus NIC).
The club must take ownership of every employee it signs, if on day one the employee is considered good enough to play for Celtic then we can hardly blame the player if they don’t match up to expectations. ( i agree there have been a few chancers…) Generally players do want to play but can easily lose confidence or become disenchanted.
Managers taking absolute decisions about not playing players adds to the mix.
I agree there must be a clear line on who decides whar player comes in to club.
Manager identifies player ( or absolutely has final ok) but experienced contract negotiators complete the deal. It’s a lot of money. 3 year deal max unless you are Kieran Tierney… even then obvious risks attached.
To be fair every club will have a clutch of players at a dead-end and pobably more should be done to reach amicable solutions. I don’t support isolation of players and treating them like shit. If they break rules then disciplinary processes should be applied. My sense is that standard HR processes do not apply in fitba. They should. Sack them for breaking standard rules. ( EG if what is being said abou leaks to press is admiitted that is Breach of Trust and or Gross Misconduct ( if they have an Employee Handbook) – Summary Dismissal etc.
22 players should be enough in one season.
Mike not Mike
Freudian slip?
Mike not Mick
Doh!
saltires,
You would think that it related (the 60 mill) to all elements of the football department, sports scientists, weekly massages ((cough) the lot, that is a huge sum for only one year. I remember WGS saying that one year he used his whole transfer budget to sign Jan Vennegour of Hesselink.. wooft.
So for me confusion still reigns, but in any business demarcation lines are firmly drawn, frustration grows if these lines are crossed. With Delia, to me he seemed so weak, Peter picked a pickled pepper would have easily talked him into who to sign. That will not be the case with Brendan.
The thing is that when any Scottish player comes to Celtic, he either progresses his career to a bigger league or he sees out his whole Celtic contract because no-one else could afford his wages. You are absolutely right though, these young men need to be treated fairly, if they cannot make the grade with us then the fault lies with those who thought that they were, although its not a definitive science and there is an element of risk.
In my opinion, Celtic have the means and a core of players some of whom are still developing but are clearly very talented to progress in the C.L. with two or three quality additions, a settled first team squad of players to make a small step up, everything else is in place, even the fairy lights for Christmass. 😉
Mike
If the buying and selling were perfect we would have no room to debate mump n moan etc., so for that we should be thankful ?
Ideally with 3 year deals 33% of the playing squad should be reaching the end if their deal at any one time, leaving room for any new manager to bring in 33% of his own choices in first transfer window. 66% at 2nd year.
Factor in some injuries and moneyball sales plus the good players any manager will want to keep in his team. Any new manager should be able to rinse the squad with 50% changes, if he wants, by the start of his second season.
I know it’s not that simple, but some of the guys we sign that cannot ‘cut it’ seem to hang around forever.
SALTIRESENSEVILLA
“I know it’s not that simple, but some of the guys we sign that cannot ‘cut it’ seem to hang around forever.”
Canny blame them-they get a loyalty bonus for seeing out their contract!
Mike,
The day Lee Congerton joined joined us I looked up his profile and was completely underwhelmed. The only positive was that I felt that Brendan might be responsible for who comes and goes. It’s pretty difficult to evaluate Brendan in the Transfer Market.
The Fenway Sports Group at Liverpool, introduced the Transfer Committee shortly after Andy Carroll left.So it’s pretty hard to know who did what.
I remember watching an interview with Brendan very early in his tenure. Scott Sinclair had just signed and when asked about the protracted negotiations to bring Scott to the club Brendan said ‘We got him eventually.’
I’m probably looking too much into it but my gut feeling was that there was already a gap between BR and Lawwell’s thinking.
Scott Sinclair in my opinion, has looked unsettled for over a season. I remember he met his agent the late Cyrille Regis after the Sevco game last Christmas. At the time I felt that things weren’t looking great and Scott might be looking for a suitable move. That hasn’t happened and Scott’s stuttering form has continued.
Moving ‘deadwood’ is difficult. If players aren’t playing and are on good money, what’s their incentive to move? Do they take a drop in wages? Do we continue to subside their wages to make any shortfall?
Do we pay up contracts and take the hit?
Jozo is an enigma. He nearly moved to Italy but that collapsed. He claimed he was fully fit and passed the medical and Torino wanted to change the terms of the deal ‘at the last minute.’ Who knows what happened but he has been unable to regain full fitness on a consistent basis since. I remember the deal to sign Jozo was in the balance due our concerns about his knee and the need for a second specialist opinion.
I think we took a punt knowing his injury record in the hope that 18 months down the line we’d make money by selling. At the time Dinamo Zagreb told their supporters that his contract at Celtic included a healthy ‘sell on clause’ and Celtic had a good record for selling to the EPL for a profit.
Recruitment is risky and it’s a key money earner for us.
The consistent factors are Peter Lawwell, Confidentiality Clauses, deadwood, frustrated supporters, European mediocrity, domestic success, a healthy share price but… concerns over a possible drop in earnings from Market Analysts if we fail to qualify for the CL and can’t make up the gap from ‘player trading’ etc.
MIKE
“PL sat on his hands…” It’s not his job to sit on his hands,doing so was a dereliction of duty,and a firing offence.
If budgets are agreed prior to the window,it’s PL’s job to sign the identified targets within that budget. And if they don’t work out,the manager carries the can.
Take the curious case of Scott Allan. He was purchased from Hibs for a fee of around 375,000 GBP, after they picked him up from West Brom on a free. He has been with 10 clubs in his senior career, some of them more than once. He is 26. When he signed from Hibs, who were in the Championship, he would be on 2000-3000 per week. Celtic, I guess, would pay him double that. His contract runs out in May, 2019. Several SPL clubs would like to have him, including Hibs. Why would he leave before his contract runs out in May next year? If he does, his salary is cut in half for the remaining six months of his Celtic contract, plus he misses out on a hefty signing on fee from his next club. He would need to be desparate to play.
Rebus
Majoc
Agree the guys are entitled to get the deal we were happy to give them. 100% they signed in good faith.
Rebus
Yes agree what incentive would he have to ‘drop’ earnings.
In that case,and similar examples, there could be an option to find an harmonious ‘sweet spot’
A deal suitable to both teams and the player. Perhaps not the full value of the unexpired contract, but close enough to allow the player to move on and play, and save a few thousand for the club.
Even 50,000 saved might fund a future McStay into the mix at youth level.
Plus the added advantage of having one less player (non) hanging around the squad feeling glum ( but well compensated)
But then you have to factor in that Lawwell hates Petrie’s guts, it has been said that Petrie wants to be the next SFA President and Lawwell rightly IMO doesn’t want that, for all the right reasons. For me that was the real reason that we never matched Hibs/Petrie’s price for McGinn.
But you are right, he would need to take a drop in earnings to return to Hibs, so a big signing on fee might just be the catalyst that makes his move to Hibs or elsewhere. “Anywhere but Hibs is P.L. mantra….
hi bhoys. the sunderland fans were glad to see the back of lee congerton that tells you something. now deadwood here we go. comperr simunovic allan, not sure about kouassi or bitton, gamboa hayes and if mulumbu is causing trouble. he can go as well, got to give arzani a chance.hh.
Heartwarming tale about what football is really about-a totally inexplicable love for your club!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/oct/26/dulwich-hamlet-fc-champion-hill-improbable-tale-tiny-football-club-that-lost-its-home-to-developers-and-won-it-back
Loved your article BTW. TGM.
Absolutely right about Congerton and Brendan, like your good self I too thought that Brendan would be in total charge of all football matters at Celtic, it was so disappointing to find out that, that was not the case and it seemed that the fractured relationship happened early doors, that was not though a surprise given the lack of transparency over who identified and signed new players. Brendan looks totally scunnered and I fear he may not last long at Celtic, which would be a real travesty for an awful lot of supporters, including myself.
Signing new players is a minefield “Boariggter” springs to mind, nothing makes a supporter so despondent as to see over £2.00 mill. sitting on the treatment table doing nothing especially when you later hear his nickname is “sicknote”, another Compper. The pattern continues as you rightly say about Mr.50% Jozo. Allan, Benyu, GMS, etc. etc. “Summit’s not right Gov.”
It is easy I suppose to critisise not knowing the full facts, competing in a backwater, but its so frustrating seeing so many players coming in and not contributing. When you look at similiar size leagues we seem to get less bang for our bucks. The C.L. is our holy grail and there is less risk attached to a better quality, established player, it seems an easy jump up to better quality players but there is the downside of dressing room unrest if players brought in are earning bigger wages. I rember Henke, when he was thinking about moving and Sutton and others arguing for a better deal for Henke, they were right, he was worth every penny. Could it happen again..you would like to think so.
Hardly the most professional approach,that…
The £59m on wages is for the full organisation (excluding directors’ remuneration, although unsure whether directors’ bonuses are included within £59m fee).
There is a fascination with the current wage bill, however, when looked at in relative terms as opposed to absolute terms, BR has reduced our wages bill (as a % to turnover) from his first season and the % wages to turnover is lower under Brendan than anytime under Deila and lower than all but one season under Lenny (I believe).
Speaking absolutely, the wage bill is higher than ever but there are multiple contributing factors, one of which is or recent and, as until now, unprecedented domestic domination. I’m sure a lot of bonuses have been forthcoming for a domestic treble, CL participation and Europa league post-Christmas.
Wasn’t Allen’s signing more of a put down to Sevco who had three bids rejected by Hibs for the player?
It was a cheap way of putting Sevco in their box.
Whether he was ever good enough to make it at Celtic is anyone’s guess?
In fairness to Petrie did knock back Sevco three times (allegedly) when both Hibs and the Sevs were in the Championship?
majoc,
Perhaps not but who wants another self-seeker becoming SFA president, like Ogilvie, or McRae. Going by them Petrie would just fit in fine there, even the Hibs fans hate him….
Cheers Rolling Stone that is good information, we are only fascinated because of the lack of information. Interesting that Brendan has in fact “reduced” the wage bill, I like many others just don’t want him to feel undervalued.
It is the C.L. participation that is key to future success and investment, we all want the team to progress and to be successful, continuing domestic success and pulling away from the rest. Plus of course the £4.00mill. that it brings to the other Scottish clubs, much needed revenue for lesser clubs, they will miss that next year.
Yes they did, but all the bids were very small, I thought to destabilise a Sevco supporter, one of there favourite sleekit tricks.
Ironically,the £2.5m bonus that PL is due to receive will be added to the total wage bill,and then used as a stick to beat Brendan with.
Rolling Stone
Thanks for clarifying buddy.
60% seems to be a general guideline for staff costs in well run clubs. I suppose the real challenges begin when revenues reduce significantly – gawd forbid to £60m.
…paying Vat would be a challenge. Nevermind all the other runnign costs.
HH
I have to say,Phil Mac is on fine form today. I thought I’d bust a gut laughing at Levein,Naismith,assorted hunnery,but he took it a wee step further.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2018/10/29/natural-order-sunday/#more-12516
“Its good to talk”.
How and where do we improve the team. Spreadsheet Phil telephoned me to give me his advice, he said…
Scott Bain did well yesterday a goalkeeper who is not afraid to come of his line and has better distribution than C.G.
Mikel Lustig did exceptionally well, but his promotion to chief inspector will hasten his retirement, new player replacement required.
Kris Ajer is a fine young dedicated player but is he a centre-back or a better defensive midfielder?
Benkovic, is an excellent centre-back, a swap deal for Boyata plus a £150 pound voucher for the Celtic merchandising. Yes please.
K.T. Is the son of God, hallelujah, stick him in a golden fleece and guard him 24hours.
Ntcham is a fine player, he blows hot and cold, on his game he is a top player, I just wish that he got stuck in a bit more.
McGregor, he is just getting better and better, I never seen that coming, but he is…
Forrest, I always, but always rated him as being much, much better than he was being credited with.
Rogic, The Australian Wayne Sleep, twinkle toed, bundle of talent, we won a prize with big Tom.
Oddsonne, Destined for the top, a wonderful talent, he will develop and get better and better.
Sinclair, can change the game opening up defences, his form might have dropped a bit by his own standards.
I, like others am quick to find fault, but when any Celtic player crosses that white line he gets my fullest support 100%
In January we have another opportunity to bring in good quality players, I want to see another right back, centre-back if Boyata goes and I hope he does purely so that the club gets a big transfer fee for him, I would hate for him to go for nothing. A centre-forward is a must, a big strong goal scoring talent that can hold the play up until the other forwards get up the pitch.
“What ‘s that Phil, the budget, tell it to wait, we have more important issues to discuss”.
You could be right Mike. Shame the lad hasn’t kicked on with his career, in fairness too he didn’t down tools when Sevco tried to unsettle him.
Top post!
“When they cross the white line they get my support” – fine words that I back up entirely.
However, what our European form shows, in contrast to some of the sparkling displays domestically (yesterday included), is that we are the best of a mediocre bunch here in Scotland.
Some have said we have players with an inbuilt inferiority complex whenever we play European sides – is that really the case?
Maybe Brendan knows this to be a fact, and so as we witnessed in Leipzig, will prioritise domestic success over making a fist of it in Europe.
If we can get to the CL group’s every three out of every five attempts and the EL group’s in the other two years, would we be satisfied?
The money generated by the above should ensure we continue as title winners, however we have to win titles to get access – a conundrum.
This year is a pivotal year domestically – we have had an indifferent start, however we are seeing light at the end of a very perplexing tunnel. A strong January transfer window is essential – “deadwood” must be jettisoned and 3/4 quality additions signed.
okay what about the deadwood, gave my response at about 3 hours or so ago, but if you don’t want to talk to me ,there is plenty of other blogs out there.lol.hh.
A few scattered thoughts.
Are the days of Broonie being the fulcrum of the team overwith ?
Clearly our plc wanted as is it’s want to have a terminally ill hun in the SPL. All boxes ticked from the PLC perspective. Well except for one. I’ll come back to that later. They didn’t manage it and instead got a zombie back a few years later. By the time the hun was back in the SPFL and after the Sevco semi final defeat it wasn’t lost on the PLC that if this were to happen in the SPFL there would be absolute and utter carnage to the balance sheet.
Since the start of the Sevco journey it took a couple of years for it to sink into our PLC that Resolution 12 wasn’t going away , nor were the issues of title stripping going to disappear. Unfortunately that was part of the deal that we shook hands upon. Although the clamour hasn’t reached a crescendo and never will due to the intellectual capabilities of the majority our customer base. There isn’t much but what transpired due to a handful of fans was that they managed to prove in Scottish courts of law (plural) what the PLC knew fine well about , even before it happened. Blame the game of financial projections. The PLC are truly expert on this. They realise that it still could come back and blow up in their faces. Hence why they are still on good communicative terms with the SPFL and their members and why they are loathed to take on the SFA. If all the gory details came out they would undoubtedly look to be the biggest snakes in the grass.
Luckily for us, our PLC is so craven they will always attempt to have their cake and eat it. So when res 12 didn’t die and our very late attempts at trying to get justice done …or at the very least…to be seen to get justice done. The SPFL were not in full agreement. It was a case of moving the newly created issue that everyone thought was buried but Celtic PLC wanted back. Title stripping. When that wasn’t countenanced then the compliance officer got Res. 12.
A new box needed creating and it needed a tick in it. It didn’t happen. So the verbal deal established on the back of a handshake in a smokey room was vanquished. No more were we going to allow the provincial teams to be allowed to deny us trebles on the back of a Steve McLean bicep flex. No more were we going to buy players from SPFL clubs . No more were we going to loan players to SPFL clubs. No more were we going to allow a foreign rookie any more leeway. No more were we going to spend for Europe. We decided to do a bicep flex for ourselves domestically until we got that new box ticked. Clearly Sevco have to start winning silverware without making too much of a loss at sometime in the future. How long ?@
You see I feel within the greater support that this box will need to be ticked before Sevco are allowed to beat us to a title. That is to say before the old firm alignment project can be successfully closed. Us doing poorly in Europe is more telling to the.provincal clubs budget than it is ours. Size of profit margins versus being a sustainable provincial outfit.
So it begs the question how long can we keep doing this ? How long before another SPFL club goes bust and how do they want to handle it when it does happen. Precedents have been set.
I think we’re happier with this strategy rather than vicariously going through the Res 12 bhoys and CAS. The reaction at the AGM will be one of : we’re currently taking advice from lawyer’s….stonewalling naturally
It’s a real shame that we have hyenas dressed as Lions on our board. The litany of deception is utterly appalling.
≠———
I watched Gerrards post match. Second one O have seen. He is either still acting as a pundit or has personally invested.
Treble Treble bigger than any European presence this season, possibly the season after.
gold could not agree more about the January transfer window, but every year its the same old shite,we tried to get him or him. but it just does not happen.lookon the bright side.com.hh.
awenaw you know ive read your posts for years on another site that will not be mentioned, and saw how badly you were treated, well fuck them love your posts and there is nothing in that post that I don’t agree with, you are definitely not a happy clapper more power to your elbow.hh.
Thanks Packie,
It is entirely supposition. It’s a case of joining the dots. Picture might not be perfect but you can clearly see what it is meant to be.
as long as you and mags and canman are about the huns will never win,hh.
Oh Dear, the desperation is palpable.
Personal Statement by Dave King
I note with interest Sports Direct’s press Statement following Wednesday’s court judgment. I also note Sports Direct’s failure when it went back to court on Friday, October 26, in an attempt to extract from the court a more favourable interpretation of Wednesday’s judgment than was clearly warranted by the court’s narrow ruling. In my view, this failure was another significant setback for Sports Direct – it clearly misunderstood the impact that Wednesday’s ruling would have on the Club when making its Statement.
In its Statement Sports Direct expressed the hope that Rangers will now move on and put in place commercial arrangements with Sports Direct and that this would be for the benefit of Rangers fans and the Club. There is no mention of what benefit such arrangements might bring to the Club and its supporters. I challenge Sports Direct to follow up its Statement by sharing with Rangers supporters how much last season’s retail agreement benefited the Club.
In terms of profits from Sports Direct’s sale of Rangers kit under the prior agreement, the Club has still not, despite repeated requests, received a proper accounting for the retail activities or payments due under it. That certainly does not provide me with any comfort in dealing with Sports Direct as a partner. It is solely because of Sports Direct’s refusal or inability to act as expected of a normal commercial partner that Rangers now has no choice but to litigate to secure payments that are due and are long outstanding.
My advice to Sports Direct is that whatever short-term success it might enjoy through its courtroom manoeuvrings will not affect my resolve, nor that of RIFC’s other investors to ensure the best deal for the Club and its supporters. We continue to show the resolve we have demonstrated over the last three years in resisting all attempts by Mike Ashley and Sports Direct to take further advantage of our Club.
As in previous litigation, Sports Direct’s urgent court injunctions will always be complied with – but will not be the final word.
My opinions on the squad are well known, the manager has said he has feck all to do with the financial side of things, even the most ardent Pedro supporters have to concede that he is the one with the cheque book, he is the one who does the deals, he is the one who decides on the length of the contract, he is the one who decides on how much of the clubs money he is spending for the said players, so he is the one who is to blame if we can’t shift them because we are paying them too much.
A tad more transparency wouldn’t go amiss, this masonic way of secrets are really not doing the club any good, it divides, I am not asking for 100% info to be made public, that would be suicide, but things like transfer policy would be a good start, it causes division within the support, but this could well be a ploy from the board, divide and rule has been a weapon of the powers since day one.
On another note, our post office didn’t open today cos our postie Pedro, the real Pedro, was last seen at 9 this morning as pissed as a drowning his sorrows cos Real were pumped yesterday, I spoke to my neighbour an hour or so back and he is still in the pub, I may have to go to the next village the morra to post my packages 🙂
TET,
Did Sevco lose an important game yesterday? ………………………
https://www.google.com/search?q=aberdeen%20v%20rangers%20score
Thought so.
It’s not as if Sevco are in the habit of issuing statements when things aren’t going well 🙂 🙂
the exiled tim maybe that Ashley guy had a point .hh.
TGM
Had a very quick look on a couple of their blogs and it’s worked a treat, the squirrel has done it’s job, thank feck they are so stupid, with all the resources they have behind them, add in brains and it would not be a good thing for us.
HH
………………………..
BP
Mash is a real billionair, the fools chased him, I hope he destroys glibby just for the hell of it.
HH
Aw Naw
As you say, dots being joined there.
It feels closer to reality than anything else I’ve seen.
HH
TET
King has Big Mike by the nuts…
In other news
they have discovered a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The cow jumped over the moon…
Apparently Neil Armstrong was going to say ” there’s no way a cow jumped over this…”
Anyway, folk can say anything they want and some paper will publish.
Great innit!?
?
That Dave King statement in full…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
Yep, Ashley was chased by the Real Rangers Men. He probably won’t sleep tonight having seen King’s statement.
The statement is typical of Jabba’s and King’s deflection.
It works every time.
KARMA
Real Madrid de-rail the Spanish International Squad by ‘stealing’ the manager – 14 weeks later they sack him – what a f***** up world football now inhabits.
New article up,folks.