Pot 4 for Celtic

Goals from Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama secured Celtic’s presence at European footballs top table for the first time in four years with us now looking forward to Thursdays draw to see who we’ll face in the group stages.

UEFA have confirmed that Celtic will be in Pot 4 when the draw is made in Monaco which will see us face 3 teams ranked with a higher coefficient than ourselves. This obviously means we could be facing our toughest test yet of getting to the knockout stages.

One possible outcome is that Celtic could actually be the only team in their group to have won the competition less than twice.

Personally here is the teams I would love to see visiting Celtic Park again.

From Pot 1, Porto. After the pain felt in Seville the chance for revenge against the Portuguese side would catch the imagination of the Celtic faithful. I just know the atmosphere in Parkhead would be something special.

From Pot 2, Manchester City. A battle of Britain match up and a chance to show our neighbours from across the city how to have an away day in Manchester without destroying the place. The superstars of the Etihad would provide stiff opposition for us but I always want to see Celtic tested against the best in Europe.

From Pot 3, Juventus. I remember sitting in the south-west corner watching Celtic beat Juve 4-3 and if a rematch provided a night half as good then a ticket would be worth every penny. Those were the days when no team, no matter how good, won a Celtic Park. Lets hope Neil Lenno can bring those days back.

To be honest I think the chances of us progressing to the last 16 are slim, but starnger things have happened. Lets hope for the best and at the very least the experience of these big nights will stand us in good stead for the future.

Heres the seedings for Thursdays draw.

Pot One: Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Porto, AC Milan.

Pot Two: Valencia, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, Schalke, Manchester City, Braga.

Pot Three: Olympiakos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Juventus, Paris St Germain, Galatasaray, Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Kiev, Lille.

Pot Four: Celtic, Borussia Dortmund, BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, Malaga, Montpellier, FC Nordsjaelland, CFR Cluj.

Plans revealed for Newco in Div1

So it’s official.

The SFA has made plans to move the goalposts of Scottish football to allow a Newco into the First Division.

The new set-up, ‘The Scottish Professional Football League’, will be formed for the start of the 2012/13 season but some of the changes will be forced through for the current season.

Now there are some changes that I’m actually pleased to see on there such as the new pyramid system that allows for relegation from/promotion to the Third Division and also an extra promotion place from the First Division into the SPL which will be decided by a play-off.

I feel these change are positive and will create more competition. What isn’t good for competition though is allowing a Newco access straight into a place high up on the football pyramid ahead of other teams who deserve it a lot more.

Current SFA rules would require for 3 years of audited financial accounts to be produced as part of an appliction for membership. How is this going to be met? Are the SFA just going to ignore there own rules?

These changes are to be approved by all SFL and SPL clubs within the next week. There is already plenty of clubs in the SPL and First Division who are set against allowing a Newco into the top two division in Scotland.

We can only hope now that there is objections from lower clubs as well to ensure we’re not changing rules to accomadate one club.

No to Newco to any league but the Third Division.

 

MickC

Bomber Brown wants to buy out Charles Green

Former Rangers player, Johhn Brown, has spoke out today against Charles Green and his company Sevco. He has resigned from his posistion as a Scout at Ibrox and has now urged the fans not to buy season tickets.

There was a lot of questions asked in his statement but this part should really have people wondering whats going on at Ibrox.

He said: “I was called to a meeting with Charles Green on Friday afternoon and he said a few things that alarmed me, I’m not going to go public with that just now.

“I’m going to give him a chance to show us who owns the title deeds and whose name’s on Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park. That’s all that matters.”

Charles Green has struggled to find investment in Sevco and it is likely that Green will stuggle with the costs of running a football team if fans stay away from Ibrox.

Rangers fans have a right to ask questions of Charles Green and until now clear answers haven’t been given. The only way Green is going to win over the fans is to make public all the details of his purchase of the assets of Rangers FC Plc.

Clearly John Brown thinks Charles Green is upto something that may jeapordise the future of football at Ibrox.

Keep it up Charlie bhoy, We’re loving every minute of this.

A quick summary on the NewCo fiasco

After being away from my computer for the last few days I thought i would write a quick summary of where Scottish football is at and what still has to be done before the end of the season in regards to Rangers/Sevco

So it seems this is the beginning of the end for Sevco. It is certainly the end of there being any chance of top flight football at Ibrox for the foreseeable future.

It’s a certainty that when clubs vote on July 4th it will confirm what I wrote on this blog last week. There will be no NewCo in the SPL.

St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Inverness have joined Hearts, Dundee United and Hibs in announcing their intention to vote against Sevco gaining entry to the SPL.

Even if the other 6 SPL members vote in favour of Rangers SPL share being transferred to Sevco it wouldn’t be enough as Charles Green’s company required 8 out of the possible 12 votes to go in their favour.

If the vote goes ahead on July 4th it will be a formality confirming that Charles Green has failed to achieve a SPL share for Sevco, one of his many failures since his arrival at Ibrox.

So what’s next?

There is now a vacancy in the SPL that has to be filled, most likely by either Dunfermline, who were relegated after finishing bottom of the SPL, or Dundee, who finished second in the First Division last season.

Whoever gets the place of Club 12 on the SPL fixture list will then leave a vacancy in the SFL. Clubs will be moved up the pyramid until the vacancy is in Third Division.

For this there is precedent, this is the way it should happen.

The SFA has plans to restructure the league. Chief Executive Stewart Regan and his SPL counterpart Neil Doncaster have made it very clear they intend to do everything in their power to ensure Sevco enter the Scottish football pyramid as high as possible.

This is the motive behind the fast track reconstruction, nobody buys the SFA’s reasoning for change and if they want fans to back change they need to be transparent and stop trying to deceive.

So Sevco apply to the SFL, most likely in the Third Division. If they have competition for membership it will come from teams such as Cove Rangers and Spartans, who applied for membership when Gretna were liquidated in 2008.

The applications will be considered and the 30 SFL clubs will vote on which club should gain entry to the league. Raith Rovers and Falkirk have already stated their intentions to vote against Sevco but I fully expect them to gain the most votes and be playing their football in the Third Division.

So Sevco will have a league to play in but who will be playing for them?

As much as Charles Green insists player contracts have been transferred from Rangers FC Plc to Sevco 5088, TUPE employment regulations state that employees of the company are not obliged to join the new company and can leave if they wish to.

Many players have said they have received no information on the transfer of their contract which is against TUPE regulations and may incur penalties; I am currently trying to find out what these penalties could mean for Sevco.

Also four players have already lodged objections to the transfer over the last few days and now consider themselves free agents. Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker have joined Rhys McCabe and Sone Aluko in choosing not to join Sevco and start looking for a new club.

Now that it’s all but guaranteed that the NewCo will be playing in the lower leagues of Scottish football I expect many more to exercise their right to terminate their contract.

Rangers will be left with a skeleton squad, which is probably just as well because with Third Division football it will be impossible for Sevco to maintain a high wage bill.

Matchday revenue will drop along with attendances. Also the money received from the league and sponsorship will be considerably lower. Also it’s already well known Charles Green has struggled to gain investment in his company, even going as far as approaching rival bidders such as the Blue Knights to invest, and he has failed to find a bank that will provide Sevco with banking facilities.

So between now and the end of the season we will see Sevco have to apply for membership with both the SPL and SFL. They will then have to convince the playing staff to agree to the transfer of their contract. Charles Green will then need to find the funds to pay what’s left of the squad. All of this whilst the SFA tries to completely restructure the league system. And this is just what’s happening with Sevco.

Rangers FC Plc now faces an investigation from Strathclyde Police regarding Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club. They still await the outcome of the big tax case, the SPL investigation into dual contracts and the SFA Appellate Panel.

The beginning of the new season seems so long away with all this going on but it’s not, it’s in just over six weeks until the SFL season starts.

But things should not be rushed to accommodate one club and if things at Ibrox are not ready in time for the coming season then they must sit it out.

Anything could happen in the next six weeks.

 

MickC

Rangers season ticket cash in reach of creditors

After Charles Greens assurances to fans that their season ticket money would be ring fenced until after the current crisis at Ibrox is resolved, it appears that creditors could actually be entitled to the cash.

Yesterday Charlie told the media: “I can reassure all fans season-ticket money will be ring-fenced in a secure account and will not be used before the current issues are resolved”

But it actually turns out that Green has been unable to arrange any corporate banking facilities for his new company Sevco 5088 due to its links to Rangers who are due to be liquidated. because of this the season ticket money paid by direct debit has gone into the bank account of the Oldco, Rangers.

This would put the money within the reach of creditors because it becomes the assets of Rangers FC Plc who are due to be liquidated.

Any chance of Sevco 5088 retaining the money would now require legal agreement from Duff & Phelps and BDO who have been appointed liquidators as well as a guarantee from Sevco, this process can take upto 6 weeks.

This could now have a serious impact on Charles Greens ability to fund the club going forward. With this issue along with their ongoing application to the SPL, the outcome of the dual contract investigation and many other unknowns still to be resolved, anything could happen before the end of the season.

Its looking more and more likely that there might not be football at Ibrox next season after all.
MickC

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Dundee United say No to Newco

Following Mad Vlads steatement earlier, Dundee United have said they intend to vote against a NewCo in the SPL.

Following a meeting with several supporters groups the club decided to make a statement to make clear their position on the matter. The full satement can be read here.

The Board of Directors has said after discussions with the Dundee United fans there was an agreement that the club “cannot vote the newco into the SPL”.

In my earlier blog I wrote that I expected Dundee United to vote against a NewCo in the SPL. The other clubs I expect to vote with them are Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs and St Mirren which should see an application to the SPL from a NewCo rejected.

After the Hearts statement today I’m pretty confident there will be no NewCo in the SPL next year.

Bring on the 4th of July.
MickC

No to NewCo “under any circumstance” – Romanov

Now either I’m losing my marbles or Vladimir Romanov is actually talking sense for one. I hope it’s the latter.

worst problems to hit Scottish football and must not be allowed back in under any circumstances.

Mad Vlad has stuck the knife into Rangers and vowed they “must not be allowed back in under any circumstances.”

In my previous post I had Hearts down as voting in favour of a NewCo in the SPL after some of the comments made from Director Sergejus Fedotovas.

SPL Vote – Who will vote against?

Now it seems Hearts are certain to vote against a Newco as Romanov went into one of his legendery rants about Scottish football.

Here’s the full statement-

“The opinion of Heart of Midlothian FC in regards to the current situation of Scottish football is clear and robust.

“The football mafia represented by former owners of Rangers FC and Rupert Murdoch’s media are to blame for some of the worst problems to hit Scottish football and must not be allowed back in under any circumstances.

“As regards the club itself, we can only express our deepest condolences to its supporters, who have been lied to for so many years.

“It had to happen sooner or later. Victories were achieved not by sporting merits, but through slander, conspiracies amongst players and their poaching via third parties, unfair pressuring of referees, who in themselves are as valuable to the fabric of football as the football stars themselves.

“All of this brought hollow victories and destroyed football. We can also mention the attempts to eliminate Hearts with the help of the tax petitions, through false accusations and threats to revoke the club license. There is a saying about digging a grave for someone: you get it for yourself …

“Without these people football will become cleaner and stronger. Without Murdoch the whole of society will improve, in particular sport and culture.

“Supporters deserve a new beginning and have to accept the fact that their club has to start from the lower league, keeping order in the SPL and without creating unfair competition with other clubs.

“As regards the pitiful state of Scottish football finances, a lot of the blame should be placed at the doors of Murdoch’s media. They pay huge sums to English clubs, whilst in Scotland, where football is better supported per capita than anywhere else in Europe and there are more cable or Sky subscribers per capita than in England, clubs receive peanuts for their broadcasting rights.

“At the very least this is discrimination and protectionism for the English football product, which at the same time stunts the development of the game in Scotland, that is regarded as the cradle of football.

“I feel that it is absolutely realistic to create a company that would bring to Scottish clubs at least the same broadcasting income, and even grow it by 50-100% over the next two to three years. This company should be in the hands of Scottish clubs and work with those who want to earn money the honest way, instead of conducting business the Murdoch way.

“They have lived beyond law and all morals, and should now be declared beyond the pale. A society that allows the destruction of integrity in sport, which is a crucial part of Scottish culture, is destroying itself – and all for the benefit of a media aborigine.”

So it seems I’ll need to update my previous blog now that it seems Romanov will vote against a Newco in the SPL. Thats a vote that I didn’t expect so it’s only good news for us.

Hopefully more clubs will follow suit and declare their intentions to vote against a Newco.

Sevco’s scare tactics

Charlies at it again, making promises he can’t keep.

Charles Green reckons that voting his company Sevco 5088 into the SPL is the only way for Scottish football to survive.

Unfortunately for you Charlie, it’s not.

It seems many think there will be no TV deal if the vote goes against a NewCo even though Sky have already confirmed they have no plans to pull out of Scottish football. The likelyhood is that even if a NewCo Rangers have to start in Division 3 Sky would still broadcast the SPL.

Sky get good viewing figures for the little sum the pay to the SPL and the drop in viewing figures probably wouldn’t be what people are expecting.

Sky recognise that they still get decent value for money and wouldn’t want a backlash from supporters

But Green is insisting on scare tactics to get support. He said: “It’s not about passion, it’s not about commitment to a cause.

“It’s purely about doing what is right financially because if there is no money – and that doesn’t just include Rangers Football Club, it includes the SFA, SPL and the old mantra of going right down to grassroots football – we go out of business.”

My feelings are quite clear on this. Look after the football and the money will follow.

Sure, some teams will have to cut their cloth and they may struggle to begin with but it will be worth it and it will be for the good of the sport.

SPL clubs have already been told they must live within their means, but they must also surely adjust their business model so that it does not rely on 2 home games against Celtic and 2 home games against Rangers (NewCo of course).

There have been a few times when officials at smaller SPL clubs have said that relegation would cripple them. Celtic and Aberdeen are the only SPL clubs never to have been relegated so any good business model should have relegation taken into consideration.

The best thing to come out of this whole saga is that clubs must now look at having a financial plan that will stand up against any potential pit-fall be it relegation or the loss of income from a big match.

Now clubs are going to come against a backlash fom their own fans if they vote a NewCo in. This would cause a major loss in revenue if fans stop buying season tickets. Fans don’t want their national game to be a fix, where any big team that falls can just drop their debt and get back in the league like nothing has happened.

Vote in the name of sporting Integrity and you’ll win the support of your own fans.

Don’t and fans will percieve the SPL as being fixed.

To quote Hibs chairman Rod Petrie-

“integrity is beyond purchase”

MickC

Follow @blogbhoys

Charles Green’s new plan – Bury Rangers

You couldn’t make it up.

According to The Sun, so you know it’s got to be true, Charles Green is looking into the possibility of buying over League One club Bury so Rangers can play in England.

Apparently Green plans to takeover the Greater Manchester club, move them to Ibrox and rebrand as some from of Rangers.

A Sun source said: “Yes, Rangers really are thinking about this.

“They are in a position at the moment where they have no idea what the future holds.

“They don’t know whether they will be in the SPL next season and do not want to go to the bottom of the ladder.

“Acquiring an English club would get them the foothold they have always wanted down south.”

Aye right!

The suggestion of this happening is almost laughable but after everything thats gone on at Ibrox this year I wouldn’t put it past them trying to pull it off.

The Football League in England would need to approve any club moving from their current location, mostly to prevent clubs moving into the catchment area for fans of other clubs.

I seriously doubt the Football League would be willing to allow someone move an English club out of England, especially a club claiming to be connected to Rangers FC (1872-2012) who have created the biggest sporting scandal ever to take place in British football, if not world football.

The Football League will not bow to pressure from Rangers fans and Scottish media unlike here in Scotland. The concern of the Football League would be of supporters in England.

This would no doubt result in any application to move a club out of England being rejected.

It seems to be getting desperate at Ibrox, they must know the end is near.

Hurry up and bury them.

MickC

Squad stories – Latest transfer news

Forster now ready to sign

Acording to the Express, Neil Lennon had a lengthy phone call with the Fraser to make him aware he couldn’t afford to wait on him much longer.

Peter Lawwell has been in talks with Mark Curtis, Fraser’s agent, for weeks but Curtis seems to have wanted to wait to see if any interest from the Premier League materialised which it has failed to do.

Hopefully the goalkeeping siotuation can be sorted out as soon as possible so we are prepared for the Champions League.

Celtic eye Tranmere defender

The agent of Tranmere defender has confirmed Celtic are interested in Danny Holmes who plays at full-back.

Holmes can also play as a central defender and is in his second spell at Tranmere after a spell with Welsh side The New Saints.

His agent said: “We know of Championship interest but Scotland is the better option and Celtic is a club he would be extremely interested in joining.”

Whether this is genuine or just another agent trying to increase interest in his client remains to be seen.