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Celtic Diary Saturday March 28: While No One Is Looking

Dave King has finally done something he said he would.

He’s stood down as chairman of the Rangers International Football Club.

In a statement, he said:

“I thank all supporters, club management and the board for the magnificent support I received while guiding the club post regime change to put that specific crisis behind the club,” 

“The deputy chairman Douglas Park will chair the board during the interim period and a new permanent chairman will be elected by the board at the next board meeting and will be announced immediately thereafter.

“I considered the possibility of extending my time as chairman until the coronavirus crisis is over but that is not practically possible. After I returned to South Africa last week from the board meeting, I was mandated by the South African authorities to go into self-isolation for 14 days – which I am presently undergoing.” 

 

Self isolation ? Couldn’t he just pay a fine ?

 

“At my final board meeting in Glasgow on March 14, the board was close to finalising a new round of funding,” 

“However, this has been put on hold while the board considers the financial consequences of the rapidly evolving global impact of coronavirus.

“The subsequent severe developments within the sporting and general business environment – that have now resulted in global lockdowns – has necessitated that the careful financial planning assumptions presented on March 14 are revisited.” 

 

Reading between the lines, that means that the supposed investment from the far east is now not happening, if it ever was, and King has stepped aside in a desperate attempt for some kind of staunch investment to save the new club from going the same way as the old one.

The interim accounts have no doubt been digested and it’s time for the crisis committee to meet, new chairman Park will be desperate to get at least some of his money back.

 

We heard his car business was taking a pounding before the Coronavirus appeared, so one can only wonder if it will join the list of companies going to the wall during the current economic meltdown.

 

So, Douglas Park, who has shares in another Premiership side, now has the added responsibility of rescuing this short lived version of the Peoples Club of Scotland.

 

The club/company /basket of assets said:

 

” Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce that Douglas Park has been appointed as Interim Chairman of Rangers International Football Club PLC.

“Furthermore, we can confirm the appointment of John Bennett as Deputy Chairman of RIFC.

“Douglas Park has decades of experience as a successful businessman which is invaluable to Rangers, as we continue to work towards our 150th anniversary. We are indebted to Douglas’ financial backing and support with fans fondly recalling his part in the “Three Bears” takeover of 2015.

“John Bennett joined the RIFC board in March 2015 as part of the regime change when he invested substantial funds in Rangers. His consistent investment in the club is set to continue, with further funding in the coming months.

It appears these two are the new saviours, although what they can feasibly afford to lose is open to question, and no doubt the fans will be asked to pony up for this latest round of pony and trap.

 

In the statement was a line that meant either King was lying, or the new crew are, when they stated;

 

RIFC is pleased to confirm that the funding plan announced at the recent AGM is well advanced, with significant investment already received and further commitments in place. 

 

I did have a wee chuckle when Park said;

It is a privilege to take on this position at the world’s most successful football club. We have experienced some difficult days but have emerged stronger than before.

In the paragraph before he called them Rangers International football club, presumably because thats its name…as opposed to the original one, which was simply Rangers.

 

Either he’s as dumb as the hole in a cows arse, having fallen for the media spin, or he hopes the fans are…

 

The SFA haven’t commented on the possible conflict of interest with Park having two clubs to deal with, presumably because they know that before long he’ll only have the one…

 

The interims should be out early next week, and they are written in mostly red ink…they can’t even launder money over there as there is simply no cash about.

 

We tried to ask insiders at Ibrox what they thought, but they made a break for it..

 

Image

 

By the way, if anyone is now in any doubt that they are about to go under, consider this…

 

James Cairney
@yenriacsemaj
Replying to

Nobody has asked why is it announced at 10.30pm on a friday night during a pandemic?
10:13 AM · Mar 28, 2020Twitter for Android  
I’d say thats because we know the answer….

 

 

Meanwhile…

 

Celtic planning at least six signings in next transfer window as Neil Lennon plan emerges

Celtic boss Neil Lennon is planning an overhaul of his squad in the summer transfer window.

 

football | A Thousand Flowers

 

Hang on, it’s from the Daily Express….

 

Celtic board left to count the cost after shock defeat – Daily ...

 

Predictably, however, what starts as an attempt to lure in Celtic fans with some good news ends up pretty much saying that funds will come from the sale of Oddsone Edoaurd…

 

We should know better by now, and we do.

 

The cynicism we have garnered from watching sports stories in Scotland should also spill into the wider mainstream, and bearing in mind how the media works these days, take that into account when you read that Boris johnson and his health secretary Matt Hancock have both tested positive for the Coronavirus, meaning they can happily self isolate just as the crisis begins to peak and they would have had to face questions about their lack of adequate action to at least lessen the effects of the virus.

 

Then again, maybe I am too cynical, especially as I am beginning to feel that while a considerable number of us were genuinely applauding the NHS staff, and rightly so, how many wer eapplauding to allay their own guilt at having voted Conservative over the years and thus giving them a mandate to cut away at funding in the slide towards privatisation ?

 

Yeah, I know.

 

I’m starting to sound very bitter about of all this, but hopefully enough of us will afterwards to demand real changes in society.

 

Andy Ritchie, the former Celtic and Morton legend is the latest ex Celt to be infected, along with former defender Mick McCarthy.

We wish both of them well.

 

Neil Lennon summed it all up …

 

“The word I keep hearing on the news, from leaders of countries and leaders of sports associations, is unprecedented,” 

“It’s the word of the year. Everybody is saying it and they’re right. Look, I don’t want to be getting up on my high horse and preaching to anybody but we might look back on this as a time when our society changed.

“I’m really missing football, I’m missing the players, the staff, the games, the colour, the noise, but it’s no bad thing to take a moment and appreciate what you’ve got.

“I think football will mean a lot more to a lot of people when it returns. What I’m seeing now is us going back to our roots, going back to community life with people looking out for each other and maybe we’d gone away from that. What’s happening is tragic but everybody is pulling together to try to get through it and that’s brilliant.” 

 

Football, our own club that is, is the one constant in life. It was there when we were kids, it was there when we had kids, and it will be there when we leave this earth. Indeed, the last thing i did with my own father was to watch highlights of the game against Aberdeen, on Sunday 22 December last year. 

 Everything else comes and goes, wives, husbands and partners, friends, jobs, houses, even our own kids up sticks and move on. 

One thing, however, is always there. 

For me, and for you, that’s Celtic. 

 

From Manchester to Milan - Clubs around the world show respect to ...

 

It’s why we will always fight for it, why we never walk away.

 

And there may be another battle on the horizon….

 

Chris Williams, a FIFA and UEFA accredited journalist, has heard a whisper…

 

Source at UEFA: leagues who void seasons could find it difficult to nominate UCL and UEL reps, ESPECIALLY if other leagues complete their comps. Non-completion could lead to non-qualification, could be seen that teams did not qualify if voided, brings coefficient issues also.

 

History has proved we were not paranoid enough.

 

Will the SPFL go against their own rules and not only deny Celtic the title, but deny them a place in the UCL to cost them millions ?

For those who don’t think they would, remember Resolution 12, which kind of proves they already did.

 

We can only hope that Lawwell is ready to fight this time, and as it affects his bonus, perhaps he just might.

 

Of course, it is in the rules that should the league campaign be halted, Celtic will win the title, but there has to be some way of placating the hordes, at least as far as the SFA/SPFL are concerned.

The last time they were short of a few quid, rules were overlooked to allow them entry into the cash laden premier European tournament, and one cannot help but be alarmed that they will try it again.

 

Yesterday, we had this…

 

Boris Johnson's aides warn he's ready to 'fight fire with fire' if ...

 

Bognorbhoy
Caption .(a few days ago)

Ok cabinet let’s show the people that we fear no virus …crank up that conga song… Ah one an two an chewwwwww..  

 

Today…

 

Image

 

Remember, stay safe…and

 

Image

 

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Chic.Dunbar
3 years ago

Why are we using the RIFC chairman’s buses?

3 years ago
Reply to  Chic.Dunbar

Join the discucssion…parks don’t charge celtic the rangers or the s.f.a. and it used to be hearts also because dougie park father used to be some kind of share holder with hearts and celtic the rangers and the s.f.a. was about advertising fans would see the team coaches and think if its good enough for my team well am going to hire them aswell ,,,, ev driver of parks .

Arsene Parcelie
3 years ago

“Once you’ve checked the spelling, can you just put that up on the web for me Carol? Thanks.”

The Cha
3 years ago

Surely, Charlotte?

Dennis Doherty
3 years ago

Stick the knife in even further by changing the coach company we use!
The huns hire a new PR man who is a known DOB, with obvious full consent from Donald Park and we continue to give him our business????
I know what I would do.

Hail Hail.

Malcolm McKinlay
3 years ago

As a man born in the North West of England and have been on this planet for 73 years have witnessed the biases of the Scottish press over the years,and over the last ten years about the saviour in the shape of Dave King,I have spent a lot of time in South Africa and actually know people that know the man (How much was it that was owed to the SA government).To come to the new co sounds about right as any body read Whites book, the new co broke the laws of the land with HMRC and will be paying that price for many years to come.

Whitearra
3 years ago

Caption : ‘So, you have expertise in applied science, chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, and mechanics. What makes you think the NHS can use you in this crisis, “SPIDER” man?

Simon
3 years ago

Celtic they’re the team for me

Cortes
3 years ago

“So, Peter, you’re a web designer?”

Alan Pickering
3 years ago

So Mr Parker, even although we are on lockdown you say you were outside just hanging around?

Cartvale88
3 years ago

Caption

Slippys no away, is he?

The wagons are being circled at Sevco as they try to keep the crisis in-house. Administration looks to be about to happen as they are screwed by Close brothers, Ashley and Hummel/Elite are also still pursuing them. The begging bowl will appear asking the Orcs to invest for the future, also note how the Scottish journos are playing it down.
Agree with previous why do they continue to use his buses, surely if we are big league we should imitate large Euro teams

3 years ago
Reply to  Cartvale88

nothing celtic get a free coach .

Cole Burns
3 years ago
Reply to  Cartvale88

Parks buses would normally be moving 7 days a week, Celtics own bus would be sitting most of the week doing nothing and paying a driver. It makes sense to hire. There must be a few Celtic fans who work with Parks so I think it could backfire if Celtic cancelled their contract. Anyway, what about the Celtic supporters groups who hire his buses also?

You don`t want to be getting into anything childish and lowering yourself to their level.

BroxburnBhoy
3 years ago
Reply to  Cole Burns

We can shop around. There is more than one coach company. We can choose what company we use or we can buy our own and on off days it can be used as free transport for people in need

3 years ago
Reply to  BroxburnBhoy

there aren’t lots of companies who will have the stuff and things that parks get there coaches fitted out for Celtic and also Celtic don’t have a garage to park a coach and fix and maintain or have another,just in case of a breakdown beleave me Celtic get a very good deal of parks of Hamilton I worked with them trust me .

3 years ago
Reply to  Cole Burns

parks of Hamilton have only 2 coaches that are used for Celtic and the mob and the s.f.a and they 2 coaches are fitted out with tables and lots of other things that are not on other coaches , so its not as the public or even people who have a few bob can hire these coaches ,so if celtic was going to try and hire from anybody else, I doubt it very much and just have a wee think the overheads for such a coach would run into thousands each season ,and now here is the kicker , Celtic park the midden over the other side of the city and Hampden all have corporate boxes there are no charge say dougie park or one of our on would like an a way box to impress some party of people the calls get made and everyone looks good , so Celtic have boxes at ibrox wink wink and the same goes the other way that’s why Celtic and the others get there freebies they are all paw grabbing barstewards FACT.

Puggy67
3 years ago

Caption: I’m afraid when it comes to teenage boys we don’t regard the ability to fire off sticky stuff with your wrist as a superpower and your application for self-employment income support has been rejected.

henkesdreadlocks
3 years ago

Caption…….

Is that your spider sense tingling or are you just happy to see me?

Puggy67
3 years ago

Caption: I accept that Wonderwoman looked as though she was inviting you to have sex however the Invisible Man is entitled to press charges for buggery.

Stevie D
3 years ago
Reply to  Puggy67

A hahaha!

Cole Burns
3 years ago
Reply to  Puggy67

?

alzyerpal
3 years ago

Caption; “…Then, while I was tackling the mindless zombie army, cunning Dr Glib managed to escape, disguised as a Statement.”

Una
3 years ago

Caption

Kings web of lies begins to unravel

3 years ago

So Park is allowed to have an interest in 2 clubs.
One of whom has their manager suspended for betting irregularities the other the biggest cheats ever to grace the game of football in this country.
Caption: Aye spidey your cv is great but even you cant save sevco.

3 years ago

What do Dave King, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have in common?

Mendacity.

They have made careers from it. Yet before we scold the scorpions for their very nature, remember we are the foxes who allowed them and their supporters to hitch a ride over the torrent of life.

No more lies please, no more lifts.

3 years ago

An advantage of living a longish life is the perspective on humanity that it offers if one looks in that direction.

To me, over recent years in particular, there is a global meanness of spirit afoot.

The opposite of meanness is generosity and when it comes to sport, if it is to retain claim to be sport, generosity should be paramount.

We are seeing signs of generosity making a comeback across communities which augurs well for the future.

On a Scottish football level those advocating null and void as the Way forward demonstrate a meanness of spirit in not recognising that the season’s placing have been earned on the field of play.

No change there really.

Tyrone9
3 years ago

CAPTION
“Sorry officer.It’s all this self isolation, it had me climbing the walls.”

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  Tyrone9

Caption: Officeress: ” The charge says you have been watching porn, anything to say for yourself”?

Spiderman: ” I can’t stay off the web “

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  Monti

So far today, I got up first, let the dog out for a pish, fed him, bairn get’s up next, weetabix is her order, done the dishes, hung the washing out.
Took the dog for a walk, got back home, painted the garden fence, cut the grass, brought the washing in, took the bairn out & now going to paint the cupboard under the stair…….i want to go back to work 🙁

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Fuck knows how i’m fat because i don’t stop moving 🙂

The Cha
3 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Mm, 2 journeys out in the 1 day.

Careful now, else Dads Army will be beating a path to your door.

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  The Cha

You are allowed to exercise ffs, i’m observing the two metre rule etc.

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  The Cha

I’d just replenish his nosebag.

Puggy67
3 years ago

They’re planning a statue for King outside Ibrox. They had intended he would face south gazing towards his adopted homeland but cancelled when they realised his other eye was looking at us.

3 years ago

This is very poignant.
A letter to the UK from Italy: this is what we know about your future
An author in Rome describes what to expect based on her experiences of lockdown

Coronavirus – latest updates
See all our coronavirus coverage
Francesca Melandri
Fri 27 Mar 2020 13.36 GMT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email
The acclaimed Italian novelist Francesca Melandri, who has been under lockdown in Rome for almost three weeks due to the Covid-19 outbreak, has written a letter to fellow Europeans “from your future”, laying out the range of emotions people are likely to go through over the coming weeks.

I am writing to you from Italy, which means I am writing from your future. We are now where you will be in a few days. The epidemic’s charts show us all entwined in a parallel dance.

We are but a few steps ahead of you in the path of time, just like Wuhan was a few weeks ahead of us. We watch you as you behave just as we did. You hold the same arguments we did until a short time ago, between those who still say “it’s only a flu, why all the fuss?” and those who have already understood.

As we watch you from here, from your future, we know that many of you, as you were told to lock yourselves up into your homes, quoted Orwell, some even Hobbes. But soon you’ll be too busy for that.

First of all, you’ll eat. Not just because it will be one of the few last things that you can still do.

You’ll find dozens of social networking groups with tutorials on how to spend your free time in fruitful ways. You will join them all, then ignore them completely after a few days.

You’ll pull apocalyptic literature out of your bookshelves, but will soon find you don’t really feel like reading any of it.

You’ll eat again. You will not sleep well. You will ask yourselves what is happening to democracy.

You’ll have an unstoppable online social life – on Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom…

You will miss your adult children like you never have before; the realisation that you have no idea when you will ever see them again will hit you like a punch in the chest.

Old resentments and falling-outs will seem irrelevant. You will call people you had sworn never to talk to ever again, so as to ask them: “How are you doing?” Many women will be beaten in their homes.

You will wonder what is happening to all those who can’t stay home because they don’t have one. You will feel vulnerable when going out shopping in the deserted streets, especially if you are a woman. You will ask yourselves if this is how societies collapse. Does it really happen so fast? You’ll block out these thoughts and when you get back home you’ll eat again.

You will put on weight. You’ll look for online fitness training.

You’ll laugh. You’ll laugh a lot. You’ll flaunt a gallows humour you never had before. Even people who’ve always taken everything dead seriously will contemplate the absurdity of life, of the universe and of it all.

You will make appointments in the supermarket queues with your friends and lovers, so as to briefly see them in person, all the while abiding by the social distancing rules.

You will count all the things you do not need.

The true nature of the people around you will be revealed with total clarity. You will have confirmations and surprises.

Literati who had been omnipresent in the news will disappear, their opinions suddenly irrelevant; some will take refuge in rationalisations which will be so totally lacking in empathy that people will stop listening to them. People whom you had overlooked, instead, will turn out to be reassuring, generous, reliable, pragmatic and clairvoyant.

Those who invite you to see all this mess as an opportunity for planetary renewal will help you to put things in a larger perspective. You will also find them terribly annoying: nice, the planet is breathing better because of the halved CO2 emissions, but how will you pay your bills next month?

You will not understand if witnessing the birth of a new world is more a grandiose or a miserable affair.

You will play music from your windows and lawns. When you saw us singing opera from our balconies, you thought “ah, those Italians”. But we know you will sing uplifting songs to each other too. And when you blast I Will Survive from your windows, we’ll watch you and nod just like the people of Wuhan, who sung from their windows in February, nodded while watching us.

Many of you will fall asleep vowing that the very first thing you’ll do as soon as lockdown is over is file for divorce.

Many children will be conceived.

Your children will be schooled online. They’ll be horrible nuisances; they’ll give you joy.

Elderly people will disobey you like rowdy teenagers: you’ll have to fight with them in order to forbid them from going out, to get infected and die.

You will try not to think about the lonely deaths inside the ICU.

You’ll want to cover with rose petals all medical workers’ steps.

You will be told that society is united in a communal effort, that you are all in the same boat. It will be true. This experience will change for good how you perceive yourself as an individual part of a larger whole.

Class, however, will make all the difference. Being locked up in a house with a pretty garden or in an overcrowded housing project will not be the same. Nor is being able to keep on working from home or seeing your job disappear. That boat in which you’ll be sailing in order to defeat the epidemic will not look the same to everyone nor is it actually the same for everyone: it never was.

At some point, you will realise it’s tough. You will be afraid. You will share your fear with your dear ones, or you will keep it to yourselves so as not to burden them with it too.

You will eat again.

We’re in Italy, and this is what we know about your future. But it’s just small-scale fortune-telling. We are very low-key seers.

If we turn our gaze to the more distant future, the future which is unknown both to you and to us too, we can only tell you this: when all of this is over, the world won’t be the same.

© Francesca Melandri 2020

Stay safe everyone

Cole Burns
3 years ago
Reply to  jimmybee

Enough of the doom and gloom. Pray the rosary and all will be well.

3 years ago

Sevco players will take one for the team. They will be loyal and true staunch even in their support of the club.
This what will come from sevco and the obedient media.
But the truth is they are on their last legs. If players dont fo this they will simply have no club to play for.
Let the fun begin.
God Bless all our front line staff tonight and always.

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  jimmybee

When all this shit is over i’m going to St Vincents for a rebel night!
Big time!

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Just watching some quality footage on youtube…..
Did Wood & Howes not read maps 🙂

Not one fucking ounce!

Brits out!

Monti
3 years ago

Not enough of those murdering bastards were sent home early!

Magdalena’s Chestnut Gelding
3 years ago

Caption

Spider-Man attends his interview for Police Scotland,
“What school did you go to “Peter”?”

Paddybhoy67
3 years ago

“And the white sticky substance you squirted … tell me more about that.”

Monti
3 years ago
Reply to  Paddybhoy67

Caption: ” look are you going to release me, i’m climbing the walls stuck in here “?

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