Petered Out
The arrival of the season’s first international break is like the Christmas cessation of hostilities during the First World War.
Comfortable victories over Sevco and AIK helped to heal the wounds of our baffling performance against FC Cluj and ensured that much of the vitriol surrounding that performance and our coach petered out…for now.
Welcome as our performance at Ibrox was, it highlighted just how emotionally attached to the Old Firm brand many of us are. We don’t hear much talk of boycotts any more and we seem to have slipped into our addiction to the ‘world’s greatest derby.’
The trouble with addictions is that they thrive in dishonesty and denial. They lead us to doing things that we know are bad for us, but just can’t stop. In our efforts to justify and rationalise the addictions we just delude ourselves and usually convince ourselves of just about anything.
Make no mistake, it’s a toxic fixture. In every meeting there’s always a victim on the field or off the field. It’s an opportunity for our darker sides to emerge and justifiably stick the boot in literally and metaphorically.
The euphoric high of a convincing victory exacerbates this and a state bordering on insanity usually prevails. A victorious coach who many believed couldn’t coach for toffee a couple of weeks before is immediately elevated to a precariously lofty position. Every tactical decision and substitution is hailed as a work of genius.
Paradoxically coaching reputations are often left irreparably damaged by a defeat. No matter the circumstances, failure in this fixture remains a capital crime. It’s filed under ‘resentment’ in the support’s elephantine memory.
In the wake of a victory players who a couple of weeks previously couldn’t pass a ball or who had poorer coordination than a worse for wear reveller on the dance floor at the Barrowlands, miraculously develop previously unidentified superhero footballing capabilities.
So much rests on the result that a victory or defeat gives life to a peculiar form of myopia that seems to blind us from the facts that the standard isn’t great and the game remains undermined by a climate of cheating and financial foul play.
Many of us suffer from this euphoric loss of proportion in the adrenalin rush of victory. It’s why we keep coming back. Our day to day struggles and concerns are forgotten for a while. Even the pain of a defeat provides an escape from what’s really bothering us.
And that’s no bad thing, we all need a break from the daily stuff.
Other things happen too.
After a few days, the withdrawals from the high of a victory in this fixture always kick in for me. A sense of regret kicks in. It’s almost like I had a few too many and those doubts about what I did or said the night before begin to trouble me.
In this case I just feel embarrassed that the mood-altering effect of the Old Firm narcotic has got me hooked or high again. The immediate aftermath of a victory against or loss to Sevco is a dangerous time.
One side in our internal debate about the strategy and direction of Celtic Plc very quickly takes to the keyboard. Whatever the result one side or the other wastes no time in grabbing the bragging rights. On this occasion, we’ve had brickbats thrown at the so-called panty wetters.
Deep down we all know that the keyboard keys are currently being sharpened by the other side of the debate and come the first reversal the tit for tat bloodletting will resume.
Our two welcome victories allowed the momentum behind our team rebuild to peter out. As usual our transfer dealings in the window had more subplots than Hamlet.
Talk of the return of Victor was wide of the mark. Whether it was ever a possibility we’ll never know. But if it was ever going to happen the minute Jonny Hayes scored our deserved second any hope of a return of Victor disappeared.
So too did the talk of Birger Meling.
Days before our victory at Ibrox our Chief Executive was rumoured to be negotiating Meling’s transfer. That bit the dust with Sevco’s capitulation.
Stevie Gee’s selections and their inept performance meant the Lennoxtown bins saw some more action on transfer deadline day.
The Sevco board didn’t spend much time sitting with the withdrawal pains of humiliation and reached for the sedative effect of the transfer war chest the following day.
Their £7m transfer of Ryan Kent ‘on the never-never’ is intended to have the impact of Clark Kent. It’s either an inspired move or knee jerk insanity?
We’ll see.
Other Ibrox creditors please take note.
Kent’s acquisition after competition from absolutely nobody, may have bought Stevie G and Dave King a bit of time. But if Neil Lennon does Nine in a Row…
Glibby might be better off spending his retirement in his condo in Robben Island.
Predictably Celtic’s Balance Sheet came out the Transfer Window stronger and we have an inkling of what’s coming next thanks to the contents of the bins at Lennoxtown.
Worrying rumours about the Plc’s intentions regarding Eddy have already circulated and any doubters should remind themselves of the contents of our leaked recruitment strategy.
Two goals for the French Under 21s on Thursday look to have sealed Eddy’s fate. If I were Eddy I wouldn’t be signing any 12-month contracts for the gym or internet for 2020.
From the window, we have an interesting mix of permanent signings, loans with an option and loans without an option to buy. Given the mediocre nature of Sevco and their commitments with the Europa League, I’m pretty optimistic.
Should it be this close?
Probably not.
But it’s not easy making the league look competitive given our resources.
It’s a question that’ll peter out so long as we keep our noses in front. That’s the holy grail. Keeping our noses in front and hoping that Sevco don’t self-destruct.
On the subject of who replaces Peter? My money is on Vince McMahon for the Celtic Plc hot seat.
My only question would be if the WWE has equipped Mr McMahon with enough experience of illusion of and kidology to grow the Old Firm model?
Mr Lawwell has set a very high bar in that regard.
On reflection probably not…But the surname ‘McMahon’ sounds Irish and that’s a positive in the Old Firm sectarian, piranha fish bowl…
It’ll never (£) Peter-out.?
HH
******
Above article is by THEGOMBEENMAN.
At Sentinel Celts,we encourage our contributors to send us a piece for Article of the Day,and we always publish ASAP. Send yours to Mahe at
sentinelcelts@gmail.com
Morning,all.
Just a wee reminder that we are still inviting questions for TWISTSNTURNS to ask the legendary KEN BUCHANAN when he meets him next week.
Please leave your question on
https://sentinelcelts.com/2019/09/06/the-main-event-prelude/
That is also the place to leave today’s nags Naps.
Which reminds me,a cowboy bumped into a Red Indian and his squaw in the days before PC made this joke a target for the easily offended.
How,I Running Buffalo,my squaw Five Horses.
Really? says the cowboy. What wonderful names. Especially your squaw.
Aye,says the Red Indian. Then you keep her! Nag,nag,nag,nag,nag!!!
Jaiket,offski…
Bobby
Early today bud. Trying to catch us out? Couldn’t sleep. Up at 3-30?
Toooo early…..
5 horses ??
TWISTSNTURNS
You can have that one for free,bud. I should maybe have waited a month to tell it,what with heading home next week!
Re early,not really my choice. My work colleague called me around 830pm. He had a puncture on the way to Oxford-and it was then that he discovered that his spare was missing. I drove up,used my spare and changed the wheel-a bit quicker than waiting for him to do it-and started a bit earlier than normal.
I’m already booked in to replace the two worn front tyres on mine on Monday anyway,so these things do happen in threes!
Must admit,I prefer to get a puncture-if at all-when there’s a forklift truck and some pallets about. Not a lot of fun on a busy road on a Friday night.
Mick
My last 3 cars have had no spare wheel. Just those fekkin emergency sealant tubes. Absolutely hate them. I only had to use it once so far but of course once used, the puncture can’t be repaired. New tyre. Space saver a bit better but not ideal either.
Just gimme a spare ffs.
TWISTSNTURNS
Must admit,a failure to supply a spare wheel would be a deal breaker for me,no matter the model. As far as I’m concerned,it’s a failure in the design of the vehicle. It doesn’t take up much space-most spares fit beneath the floor of the boot with the jack,etc,snugly inside the wheel. On our vans,the jack is beneath the driver’s seat,the spare is fixed at the rear to the undercarriage.
I’m a lazy bugger. I leave my spare inside the van. Because no-one can nick it. As happened to my colleague. I’ve told him to get down to a scrappy,because otherwise he’ll have to report it. Not good,not with our new manager.
Btw,when I worked in Honda down here-for a very short time!-I got on well with most of the Japanese managers. Not so much with the English ones,which had more to do with their ambition than me being Scottish.
I mentioned their use of space saver wheels to a couple of them and they agreed,but that was how the industry was heading. Save space,save money. Not always right,pisses off customers!
I worked in the paint shop-the one department I’d hoped to avoid. Knew I was doomed from Day One unless I could get a transfer. The paint colours were known by code to us,but were always marketed under exotic names. ”Twas always thus,British Racing Green,Soul Red,Arctic White. You get my drift.
We got a new colour,and I must admit I wouldn’t be seen dead in it. It was literally the colour of shite! Okay,that might depend on your diet,but you get the drift. So I was fascinated to discover that not only had the design department done their homework and decided that this was an acceptable-and desirable-colour,but that the marketing department had done theirs too. And come up with a proprieteral name for this particular shade.
Mojave Mist.
So I approached one of the younger Japanese guys and asked him if this colour would be marketed in Germany. Oh yes,he replied. Under the same name,I asked. Oh yes,we keep same name to emphasise that they are British,European. Not Japanese import.
So I suggested that he check the German translation of Mist.
He came back giggling. He was a good bloke,but they still sold it under that name.
Rolls Royce didn’t.
https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/2020/6-disastrous-car-names
TWISTSNTURNS
We were discussing KEN BUCHANAN yesterday on here,and in a mail I think I described Marvin Hagler-who will also be there on the 27th-as an an animal. A supreme fighting machine.
We all love Ali,it’s a demographic thing. We all admire Tommy Hearns. But as a brutal animal in the ring,I’ll have Marvin Hagler in my corner anytime.
Though SOLKITTS has never let me down when required. Good lad,that. So maybe a toss of the coin.
Bobby
Hagler was such a strong fighter. Absolutely a fighting machine.
There’s an outside chance I will meet him on the 27th but that depends on someone else doing me a favour. I’m truly hoping it comes off. I’d love to chat to him.
On Ken Buchanan. He had a few attributes going for him. Most boxers have one or maybe two strengths. Ken had a few. He was so hard to hit because his feet were lightning quick.
He also had a tremendous jab, which wore fighters down, and he also had intelligence. With a strong jab and quick feet he was incredibly difficult to pin down.
Boxing for the purists.
Excellent article TheGombeenMan, I think a lot of us could identify with some of the thought processes there.
Enjoyable read TGM.
I always feel a sense of relief when we get a result v TRFC Ltd, it keeps the insanity level under wraps.
TGM
Very good read.
Remiss of me not to comment earlier.
Auldheid, What are your thoughts on UEFA’s role in all of this? I don’t think they come out of it smelling of roses. They saw the paperwork provided by Rangers & The SFA in 2011 to compete in Europe. There had to be questions asked about money due to HMRC.
Putting aside the big tax case EBT’s which were in limbo legally, the wee tax case ones were not.
Did UEFA ask questions about player registrations after the LNS revelations?
As you said earlier it is possible the 5 way agreement was passed to them. For scrutiny presumably. Yet they said nothing!
I get the feeling UEFA would be as uncomfortable as the powers that be in Scotland to see any of this stuff going to CAS.
They say they are a new club but still they don’t challenge the continuity myth. Why are they not proactively demanding the stripping of the tainted honours won by the old club?
BMCUWP
My Beamer doesn’t have a spare, or even a can of tyre sealant. Fitted with run-flat tyres. If you get a puncture, even if you lose all the air, the tyre keeps its shape and you can get to a tyre shop. Unfortunately, this type of tyre can’t be repaired, so you need to buy a new tyre, and they’re not cheap. My last one cost £240, thank God the company pays for them.
Even Mrs Kitts’ wee 108 has no spare, she got a tin of sealant.
It’s the way of the world, why let us get away with a cheap repair when we can boost GDP with lots of expensive replacements?
Just as well Zenit Saint Petersburg won the Uefa cup final in 2008. How many Rangers players were on EBTs that day? In normal circumstances after discovering ‘irregular’ registrations a reverse result would be declared. If Rangers had won that day I wonder what action Uefa & Zenit would have taken after LNS was published.
We know you can get away with that in Scotland and Uefa apparently turn a blind eye. But would Zenit S.P. have done so?
Nap
Motawaj 9/2 Kempton 3.13
CCE, you are supposed to post it on the previous thread pal.
CCE
I’ve copied across.
Thanks Jim
How are ya Jim? All good I hope ?
TnT Not bad, been better! Just hope BP gets back to normal. I laughed at last week’s Nap results. Packy picked one called ‘ Just another bottle’? So I picked ‘Breathalyze’. He won, I came second!
Thanks for reading the article and for the comments. There was a wee bit of tongue and cheek in there.
I think Vince McMahon might be older than Pedro, so that’s probably a non-runner.
Thanks, BMCUWPs for posting and enjoy the weekend.
I hope the salon isn’t too busy today Paddy and good luck everyone with the naps.
I see that Lee O’Connor played well for the Irish Under 21s last night. He got a 7/10 in the ratings and had a good performance in our 1-0 home victory against Armenia. Lee played at right back, not a bad week for a 19 year old.
HH
Jimthetim
An interesting question.
What is known that in Sept 2011 UEFA verbally approved the June monitoring submission from RFC.
That same submission now forms part of the charges of non compliance placed in May 2018.
So how was approval given?
Well if it was verbal then there had to be a conversation between the SFA Licensing guy and UEFA. During it either.
1. The SFA accepted the RFC submission that the status of the liability was postponed even although by Sept 2011 it was public knowledge Sherriff Officers had served a warrant on overdue tax in Aug 2011 and told UEFA the matter was still under dispute or
2. The SFA came clean with UEFA about the true status and the financial state of RFC but as they were no longer in competition agreement was reached not to probe.
One of the benefits of the decision was that RFC , 5 months from administration did not have to provide UEFA with future financial forecasts.
So UEFA do have questions to answer which is why Res12 should be passed, to put their house in order.
The tone of the exchange between the SFA and RFC when SFA passed on the “good news” that RFC’s submission had been accepted is conspiratorial and you can read the documentation at the Res12 Archive https://www.res12.uk
There is no documentation to confirm UEFA were consulted on the 5 Way. My feeling is they wouldn’t want to be and respected the right of SFA to handle a domestic affair.
“Should it be this close?
Probably not.
But it’s not easy making the league look competitive given our resources.”
I find this difficult to understand. Everyone in the SPFL has played 4 games so far. What kind of gap should we be expecting? Is 3 points not a pretty healthy gap after 4 games?
Or is this a prediction- that after 4 plus x games- it will still be closer than it should be?
I don’t know- you need to spell it out for me- what gap would you expect Celtic to have after 10, 20 , and 30 games?
The only factual measure of a gap we have is
a) The table shows 3 points after 4 games, and
b) we beat them 2:0 at their place- should it have been easier than it was?
TGM
Good post, keep them coming please.
HH
……………………………………
Auldheid
” What say you ”
What say I, all that tells me is that the sfa and the huns have been caught and are banged to rights and the club have said were no happy, that’s it, oh they have asked for a review, which has been refused, I wonder why, woopie feckin doo, the sfa have basically told them to eff of and they have, that mi amigo is the bottom line, they don’t want to rock the boat, they are scared of something.
After all the years of cheating and rule breaking the club have sent a letter saying they are no happy, that is a total joke, millions have been stolen from the club, potentially hundreds of millions, this happened before the elite clubs entered another stratosphere, we were competing with Barca at the time and imagine if we had had all that extra cash and were competing in the CL every year, who knows where it may have taken us, but no, the club send a letter to an organisation known to be corrupt saying they are no happy, if it wasn’t so fecking serious it would be laughable.
That’s it, a couple of letters back and forth expressing their dissatisfaction at decades of cheating and corruption, what is even more galling is the club accepting this crap, they could and should be shouting about this from the rooftops, why haven’t they taken this to CAS as they were told they could.
As far as I recall they have made a public statement expressing their dissatisfaction at the result of the LNS outcome and that’s about it, nothing was ever followed up thus allowing for it to be quietly forgotten, it’s pathetic, it’s a joke, as for Res 12, the bottom line is the PLC are breaking the law with their refusal to take this to it’s end game, they have the information that a fraud took place and are not acting on it on behalf of their shareholders who initiated this action, that is against the law, now if this didn’t involve the huns the media would be all over it if they thought that the club were not acting within the law, wouldn’t they, the club know this and don’t give a duck, it’s all about the money.
What was it Dr John said……”Those days are gone”……… Aye and he was shut up and shipped out in a heartbeat.
HH
SFTB,
Your interpretation of the question I posed seems a wee bit superficial.
As I mentioned earlier in the piece we can justify and rationalise just about anything but sometimes the truth lies a little bit deeper.
That might sometimes involve a bit of pain but unless that’s a task that’s undertaken we can spend a lot of time analysing the black and whites and never get see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I hope you are well.
HH
Jim
BP has to appear . He needs to put his nap up… cos…. he’s going for the treble this week! If he doesn’t put a nap up, he has to run around the track at CP bollock naked at the next home match. It’s in the rules ?
The man who invented sandbags has died,tributes have been flooding in…
PF Ayr- if you have a Sky Bet account, you can sign in abroad via the website, other bookies as well sometimes
TnT, I think if Packy was on-line he would have picked He’s A Keeper 3.00 Haydock. Cause he likes big Fraser.
Happy birthday to Andy Thom Andy Thom Andy Andy Thom.
Packy- Thinking about you, mate
Auldheid, That is a great resource. https://www.res12.uk/
I’ve been following this from the days of The Rangers Tax Case to TSFM and CQN, SC. My memory is not good but their are so many elements to this, so many people involved, never mind a timeline! I have read the home page and Part 1 – The Wee Tax Case, Timeline.
I can’t begin to tell how well laid out your site is and understandable. Well done to yourself and anyone else involved.
Wish I had it yesterday when I was trying to remember the individuals who had ‘cross over’ roles at Ibrox and at Hampden. It was of course Andrew Dickson and Campbell Ogilvie. Imagine AD RFC football administrator also sat on the Licencing committee of the SFA. !!! CO a vice president of SFA was involved in the establishment of the DOS scheme at Rangers in 1999.
And some people wonder why we are suspicious!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvPNakjRQyw
Remember these days when we could compete in Europe. Sadly It really wasn’t that long ago. I know the whole structure of football has changed radically but!!!!!
If we had a team like that today you can imagine our current custodians drooling over how much they could sell Henke, Lambert, Valgaeren, Mjällby etc for. ‘Ay, there’s the rub’ Our current board would never ever sanction building and keeping a team like that. We might still have signed Rab Douglas and Didier Agathe, Didier cost a massive £50k from Hibs but one can imagine pistol Pete haggling to lower that if he had been CEO then :-). In fact Lawell assumed the role in October of that year and has, allegedly, amassed an incredible £11,320,000 in wages and bonus payments up to 2018 as well as overseeing a massive downsizing of player quality and supporters hopes.
Aye but we really can’t afford to compete for players.
Welcome to the slow lane (MO’N)
Them were the days CSC
Between the years 1922-1966, Celtic won 4 Championships.. 1926,36,38 and 54.
Now that is a stat you need to read a few times. And that was with McGrory scoring 500 goals for us!
Pretty sure Mark Viduka would have thrown a few pairs of boots across the dressing room floor, if he played for us during that period.
Watching Kosovo hold Czech … or so I thought. Just learned that Kosovo have not lost a game in over two years!
The football world* is definitely changing.
*scotland excepted. I hate to say it, but even English football is changing and improving. Good foreign coaches will do that. Hell, they even have Sterling looking like a player! And their under 21 team was looking better.
It’s a funny old world, right enough.
As I say that, Schick scores for the Czechs .. 23 years old, 6’3” centre forward, strong as an ox … score 4 in 4 games … and cost Roma 3 million 3 years ago … now worth about 40 million …. so deals are out there if you have a decent scouting system….. although he signed for Sampadoria in Seria A, and not sure what his wages would have been there ….
And as I say that, Kosovo come back and equalize
A new scouting system for Celtic?
Canada – MIT
North and South America – Mahe
The rest of the world – Fan-A-Tic.
I was going to give Ireland to Corkcelt but I’m not sure if he is still talking to us! 🙁
(MIT you also have Alaska)
SFTB
You put the expression “Should it be this close” inside quotation marks. I’ve c&p from your post,and in the same context. Can you c&p the original,please?
I’m not suggesting that you’re making it up,you’re way too smart for that. I’d just like to know who thought that was worth a few hundred touches on his device.
JIMTHETIM53
CORKCELT will always be there to talk to us,bud. He has marginally different opinions from us,but we have the same goals.
Due to circumstances I’ve shelved my State of the Nation-tranfer window-article. Maybe next week.
Corky is Celtic daft like we all are. It’s good to be a Tim
JimtheTim,
Presumably Rangers beat teams on the way to the final vs Zenit. Those teams should protest. They have a case, especially the semi opponent.
Rebus
The Gombeen Man
Thank you for a well thought out article.
Big Packy
Hope your day is going well.
HH
TET. 11.24
Well said but (and there is always a but) it means you cannot say they did nothing although you can say the did nothing effective (a point made very loudly at a meeting a few years back).
Celtic can also point their efforts to the shareholders/support at large, who are not likely by and large to delve, so you need to be able to back up the points you made with evidence.
A lot depends on knowing what Celtic knew and being able to demonstrate it in other words transparency.
The very thing the documents at the link were intended to provide except:
1. No follow up to what SFA suggested Celtic/The SPFL do iro approaching LNS. (Just as there was no follow up to Traverso letter)
2. There is no and never is in either the JPP that judged CW guilty of bringing the game into disrepute by not paying taxes, nor the LNS Commission itself of the unlawfullness of the wee tax case ebts.
3. Although the WTC is mentioned in the exchanges it is as a result of court testimony that just proved what was known the year before as result of Res12 work, and even there it’s been 2 years with no result to show.
4. Rumsfeld style, there are unknowns we didnt know what they know and when but we know more now.
5. By they I lump Celtic The SFA and the SPFL together, quite a cosy circle to push letters around to create a particular advesarial impression.
6. Without hard enough evidence its tin foil hat territory which does not mean its untrue any more than it means it is.
Howevr to sum up, whilst action speaks louder than words, so too does inaction.
JtT
A few problems with that…
Firstly, Canada is part of North America.. and the biggest and best part of it…. we Canadians might need to invade you guys and sort you lot out …
More importantly ….Why do the two married guys get the places with the hot women? …Mahe gets the beautiful Brazilians while Fan gets the stunning Swedes … while I get ….bloody Alaska?! What is up with that?
Not that I am selfish … I just want to protect my married pals from any temptation … so I would take one … or two … for the team.
?
Mike, geography isn’t my strong point. In fact I thought Swedes were a type of turnip!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RfVKFjbZLGE Ken Buchanan
So far it’s looking like my bet is gonna falter at the first hurdle, Dun Utd struggling at home against Arbroath ffs, oh well, someone else next week I suppose 🙁
Auldheid
Aye it wouldn’t be life without the but in it.
Technically you are correct but I claim the moral high ground cos morally I am correct, they have done nothing [effective] or not.
I understand all you are saying, trust me I do, all it goes to show is how bent the board actually are, had they been whiter than white with clean hands……..
As for the Res 12 stuff, they have the info re a fraud taking place, or at least a suspected fraud, no it’s a fraud as has been made clear in the courts, they are still breaking the law by not bringing it to a conclusion re the shareholders wishes, I still think that a crowd funding should happen and take someone to court over this, be it the club or the sfa, imo all it would take is for someone to raise an action in the court, I doubt that it would proceed far before either one of them to poop their pants, but as I haven’t a scooby I’m sure our resident brief will inform us of the proper protocol.
HH
https://sentinelcelts.com/2019/09/07/petered-out/#comment-31169
Hi Bobby – I don’t understand the point and it does need spelling out for me.
I copied and pasted 3 consecutive sentences from TGM’s article- I put them all in quotation marks” to show I was quoting and quoting accurately from the original.
The intent of these sentences is to talk of a reduced gap and a competitive league.
I posed the question- what kind of gap should we expect after 4 games?
So far, I have not received a clear reply to that question.
TGM,
Thanks for the article, I agree with a lot you say. I do think though that we have to accept that young talent will be sold at Celtic. That is not all the fault of the board, it’s just economics and a crap league. I am on record as saying if a player of any note stays with us for more than three years now they’re due a testimonial. Edouard, if he continues to develop as we know he can then he will be gone this summer. There is no point in even considering anything else. If we can’t keep Keiran Teirney for the possibility of the ten then rest assured edouard is not going to do us a favour by jeopardising his future. So sad but true I’m afraid.