Celtic Banter Archive May 28 2020

28 May 2020 22:44:22
Maybe a bit left field with this one but I'd like to see John Hughes come in as part of the back room staff. I've always thought the teams he managed played a really good brand of football and have always enjoyed listening to his philosophies on the game. Anyone I've heard who has played under him only have good things to say about him. Would be a good option in my opinion.

28 May 2020 23:30:49
Not a bad idea Ice Man, and he's Celtic to the core. HH.

29 May 2020 09:11:58
Loved the big fella! Not the most talented but always gave his all. What a goal at ipox on Paddies day!

28 May 2020 12:23:13
I see that the EPL have just been served notice that SKY and other broadcasters are looking for a rebate of 330 million pounds for games not played.

A lot of thought that that might be the case in Scotland too.

Now, given that all clubs voted to end the season up here, where does that leave the clubs in our league? I would imagine that these broadcasters will presumably come looking North in the near future, if they haven't already?

If/ when this transpires I would like to have been in the room of our governing body/ bodies when this was discussed. Calling an end to the leagues early must.

28 May 2020 12:28:14
Sorry Ed - my wee lassie posted before I finished that!

What I was about to say was has this scenario been factored in when calling the league early?

Who would lose out as a result? Clubs or the governing bodies?

Is this evidence of our clubs being turkeys voting for Christmas in order to get league payments early or is it rank incompetence from the guys that run our gam

28 May 2020 13:26:54
What could they do there was no chance of resuming and no chance playing behind close doors and to void it would have been a financial disaster.

28 May 2020 13:50:49
Sky could sponsor our league for a few seasons. ( I don’t think there is a sponsor for next season )
They could take X amount of the sponsor money off each season to cover this season’s shortfall.

28 May 2020 14:05:41
Mally - I don't agree that there was no chance of resuming - many leagues are gearing up for a return and a few have already done so - I believe that if there was a will then there was a way. Personally I think they were wrong to call it and it should have been finished one way or another.

Regardless - I just wonder what the possible ramifications are if/ when the TV companies come asking for their money back.

{Ed007's Note - You can't compare what happens in other countries during the pandemic while they're all working the lockdown to different rules - and people seem to forget that the government(s) have a massive hand in deciding how & when football can move forward.}

28 May 2020 14:25:25
The clubs, players and associations were not unwilling to fulfill their obligations to each other and any broadcasting contract.
What happened was influenced and directed by not just health and safety, but risk of deadly which is still out there.
I don't see SLY contacting myself or any other subscribers with a discount or rebate for weeks and weeks of repeats and virtual chat?
If it was to go to some sort of insurance tribunal, I think it might well come under the 'Act Of God' clause and they would get hee-haw.

{Ed007's Note - I see a couple of Fulham players and the Blackburn captain have tested positive for the virus. The English have put £ before people's health, safety and welfare.}

28 May 2020 14:43:01
Correct Ed - but football WILL return and I feel it was called too early. There was only 8 games to play and that could be played out in 3 weeks - surely there would have been 3 weeks available at some point. Instead of going to America for pre season etc then these games may have provided a better set of competitive "tune ups" for the prevailing season. We just don't know what the lay of the land would have been in the future so why call it so early? The next month could have allowed us to facilitate some kind of resumption.

With all clubs giving the governing body a mandate to call the league done, I feel they should have been smart enough to set in motion a caveat that they will call it when it is IMPOSSIBLE to finish the league and not before. I understand there may be issues to that but surely playing the games should have carried most weight?

If the prime driver was handing prize money out to struggling clubs then that could have been done on current league position with redress occurring after the final games had been completed.

{Ed007's Note - It was called early on the advice of the government and so that clubs that needed their prize money could get it.
I doubt it would have taken 3 weeks but where would you find them? It doesn't matter when football comes back players are going to need to basically to a preseason whether that's in Scotland, the US or Dubai.
Who would pay for the TV rights for the games that were contracted to BT and wouldn't be covered by the new deal? What about sponsorship deals, players registrations etc supposing Accies are forced to play with a lot of youth players after this but Hearts gamble £3 or 4 million on catching Accies, would that be fair?
Do you really not think that the government, the SPFL and it's member clubs didn't look at every possible option? It's not ideal but it was the best way to move forward - remember the majority of people running clubs agreed - and allow everyone to plan for hopefully having some form of football being played in August for the new TV deal starting.}

28 May 2020 16:05:56
On the advice of the Government - the two governments that have had highly placed officials totally ignore their own advice on CV19 - I wouldn't take their opinion/ advice on the colour of sh&&e tbh? When they are not kissing babies they are stealing their lollipops! In my opinion they made a decision for today and not tomorrow. I don't know much about horse racing, but I know the drill - you don't jump your fences until you have to.

Of course the majority of people running clubs agreed as they wanted the loot and voted for the best fit for their preservation. I don't blame them.

I did say there were issues and I'm sure I am not privy to all of them. Perhaps they were not surmountable but this keyboard walla is just disappointed it wasn't all played out.

{Ed007's Note - We all wanted the games to be played but I've yet to hear anyone come up with any realistic way that could happen.}

28 May 2020 17:23:48
Even if they did bill us for the games not played, we would owe them about 10 bob.

28 May 2020 19:36:33
I may be wrong here but I believe the English clubs and those in Germany have to continually test the players and the clubs are paying for this.
As much as I would have liked to finish the season, in reality clubs in Scotland just couldn't afford to. The big leagues in Europe have huge TV deals and don't rely so much on gate receipts whereas in Scotland clubs need the gate receipts and can't afford to play in front of empty stadiums.

28 May 2020 19:51:04
Anyone who thought that the SPL called league over early just for the craic of it and without studying all possible permutations really doesn’t understand the complexities involved . If SPL didn’t have definite dates when they made decision many SPL clubs, and certainly Rangers2012 would have fallen into administration and possibly liquidation .

Rangers going that way may not have annoyed many of us, but if 5 / 6 other SPL sides and similarly with Championship teams due to lack of knowledge when football could start again. Of course cost of playing games bcd is just another unknown making return to football in the Gods.

28 May 2020 20:25:18
You are right Old Man Chris.
Our FA didn’t have the luxury of giving the lower division clubs
£125 million to keep them going, like the English FA.
Totally different ball game.

28 May 2020 20:33:04
Premier League to restart on 17 June, .

We would not have been far behind if we had stayed our hand IMO.

{Ed007's Note - Thankfully the Scottish government took the opinion of medical experts and people who know better than us. You do know that different countries have had different rules during lockdown, what has happened in England is absolutely nothing to do with us so to the same extent why not talk about the French or Beligian leagues reactions?
As Gerry says as well, where was the millions of £s needed to constantly test players, staff and officials from under the English plan?
You're offering nothing except your opinion that we should have waited without giving any better way to solve the numerous problems while and ignoring the numerous implications of if we had continued with no plan going forward.
The majority of clubs in Scotland needed their prize money to help them survive the crisis and THE only way that could happen is if the league was called as per the rules allow - when the SPFL board decide.}

28 May 2020 23:33:53
This is becoming something of a circular argument.

The reason EPL was mentioned was not because we are tied to them but merely as an indicative example that things are slowly getting back to normality, same as the Bundesliga and other leagues around the world.

Not sure Gerry said it cost millions to test but I suspect it would be rather lower than that.

What's wrong with just offering an opinion Ed? Do you want me to submit an action plan? Project management at national level is my business and my experience tells me that nothing that is based on human decision making can't be altered. I don't have all the facts on the machinations and intrigues that go on at the SPFL to create a contingency plan - none of us have. I am not the guy being paid £300k. In these types of scenarios it's wise to believe nothing and question everything.

I have already stated that doling out the cash was the right thing to do but why did awarding a title and relegation have to be decided now?

Suppose in a land of Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows that the many boffins in this country succeed in creating a vaccine next week and it became widely available in two weeks?

It looks like I am in a minority one here as no one else seems to be willing to stick their head above the parapet so we shall just leave it there where we agree to disagree.

{Ed007's Note - You've still not came up with anything constructive about HOW we could possibly manage to start football. Why not look at France, Belgium or Holland as an example of how to do things?
Tests cost about £150 - £180 each and each member of the squad and ALL staff etc involved in playing games will need to be tested 3 times a week - across our 4 leagues that would cost millions.
Awarding the title and relegation had to be decided now so that the SPFL were allowed to give out money, the league had to be finished for the prize money to be distributed, what is so hard to understand about that, it's in the SPFL Regs.
How can you pay out prize money if you don't know the final standings?}

29 May 2020 23:10:09
The figure I heard was £200k per premiership club per week .
They are testing everyone who is anywhere near players, about 100 people . I think this is excessive but even with making considerable savings it would still be a lot and likely unaffordable for many.

30 May 2020 19:26:05
Thanks Ed

I don't have the full set of circumstances to make informed decisions - none of us have.

Since I have posted (which seems to have drifted off my original topic slightly) there have been a couple others ask if we have called it too soon. It's a reasonable opinion - it doesn't need to be followed with a 200 page dossier on the how's and where to's of how it could have been achieved. If you care to furnish me with ALL the available info then I am willing to take a decent stab at it though!

Just because the powers chose to make the decision they did does not mean it was the ONLY one that was feasible. It was simply the one that was most AMENABLE to them at the time. Their reasons are their own and I can guess what they were. Making a decision does not invalidate the other options.

As far as paying out money - this has been touched upon before so I'm not going to repeat it. In these unprecedented times it was surely not out with the realms of possibility to change these regs and rules to suit the circumstances? After all we know who makes these rules. If it is possible for governments of many nations to amend their constitutions then it is surely not out with the wit of our footballing controllers to do the same. Then again!

Anyway stay safe Ed.

{Ed007's Note - You're just repeating yourself, you've still not told us how we could move forward and as you admit you don't have the full set of circumstances why not respect the decision of those who do have them - including the government, the medical experts and every single professional club in Scotland.

1) The Scottish government said it wasn't safe to play football.

2) The clubs held a vote and voted to end the season.

Everything else is just bluster and white noise.}

30 May 2020 19:35:01
Hi - I forgot to add this. The leading article from the Express. There are lies, damn lies and statistics aplenty out there. You pay your money and you take your chance. What it does exemplify is the fast changing environment and terrain that we currently find ourselves traversing through.

C.V. testing: £6 C.V. test could be rolled out - and claims to be 98% accurate

C.V. testing has been one of the biggest topics of conversation this week, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing plans for more people to be tested. Now, a C.V. test claims to be 98 percent accurate and costs just £6.

{Ed007's Note - The Express?? 😂😂😂😂

28 May 2020 06:27:39
Anyone know when the new strips are going to be unveiled?

28 May 2020 09:38:48
The contract kicks in on the 1st July Davie so I wouldn't expect to see anything before then. Not officially anyway.

29 May 2020 17:47:13
Have you seen the state of the leaked Arsenal kit 🙈 I hope they don't fob us off with anything rubbish like that lol.